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Birthday in a week
Posted a year agoGonna travel for the first time for my birthday. Usually I just stay home, leave it low key and maybe do a dinner with my family, which has been.. fraught the past few years for various reasons if you've been following me.
And it lines up on Mother's day again, which happens every so often, so I really don't feel like being home alone and reminded of mom on my birthday of all days. (Still miss her).
So, gonna go pester
Donryu for a few days :3 Seemed like a fitting way to celebrate, particularly since I had to miss out on FC this year.
Things have overall smoothed out for me, I think. At least the worst stuff I was stressing out badly about seems to have either reduced down to something more manageable or not been a big deal at all. here's hoping that keeps up!
And it lines up on Mother's day again, which happens every so often, so I really don't feel like being home alone and reminded of mom on my birthday of all days. (Still miss her).
So, gonna go pester
Donryu for a few days :3 Seemed like a fitting way to celebrate, particularly since I had to miss out on FC this year. Things have overall smoothed out for me, I think. At least the worst stuff I was stressing out badly about seems to have either reduced down to something more manageable or not been a big deal at all. here's hoping that keeps up!
Tax Day!
Posted a year agoHey kids,
For those in (most) US states don't forget you gotta file taxes by the 15th. If you are scrambling to get it done, file an extension. If you end up owing a lot and can't pay right away, consider contacting the IRS to set up a payment plan, they'll work with you.
And for a handful of states, you might be eligible for free file with the IRS directly!
https://directfile.irs.gov/
For those in (most) US states don't forget you gotta file taxes by the 15th. If you are scrambling to get it done, file an extension. If you end up owing a lot and can't pay right away, consider contacting the IRS to set up a payment plan, they'll work with you.
And for a handful of states, you might be eligible for free file with the IRS directly!
https://directfile.irs.gov/
Neat Critter pin Kickstarter
Posted a year agohttps://www.kickstarter.com/project.....namel-pin-set/
Already funded plus some bonus designs. Pretty neat!
Already funded plus some bonus designs. Pretty neat!
It's Liars Day (Have a free game)
Posted a year agoIt's April Fool's Day so that means don't trust anything and take everything with a grain of salt (and for gods' sakes, save any important announcements for April 2nd)
That said. Here is one of the best liar's day surprises in recent memory, when Sega put out a full Sonic game (basically a visual novel with some mini games) for free.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/....._the_Hedgehog/
It takes about 5ish hours to beat (and you can turn down the difficulty) but it's a super cute game, if you like the Sonic cast I recommend it.
That said. Here is one of the best liar's day surprises in recent memory, when Sega put out a full Sonic game (basically a visual novel with some mini games) for free.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/....._the_Hedgehog/
It takes about 5ish hours to beat (and you can turn down the difficulty) but it's a super cute game, if you like the Sonic cast I recommend it.
Sea of Stars Review (Indepth Spoilers at end)
Posted a year agohi folks!
Well I just finished Sea of Stars. If you're not aware it's a JRPG that was made via kickstarter campaign a while back and made by the folks that did The Messenger (the ninja gaiden style game that was very well received). It was wildly successful and it's apparently getting some DLC too.
So, what'd I think? I really enjoyed it. I am glad I backed it on kickstarter and I'm happy with the results and glad to have my name in the credits. If the studio wants to do more I'd happily toss money at them.
Overall rating... probably an A- or B+? It's good but not perfect and trips in some areas.
The music and art design are top notch S+. All the characters, the enemies, every location, the -bosses- all look fantastic. The bosses especially have some awesome monstrous designs.
Combat is very similar to Chrono Trigger. You have 3 party members on the field (though like FFX, you can swap to your alternate members on the fly, so while you only 'use' 3 at a time, you really have access to your entire cast at any given time, depending on who is with you). Enemies are positioned against you and positioning matters when it comes to certain AoE effects and unlike Chrono Trigger you get some abilities to help you manipulate positioning (which was VERY welcome, even if it didn't matter -too- much).
Full disclosure on the difficulty. The game gives you 'relics' that you can turn on or off, they're really mostly difficulty sliders to make things a little easier for you and I did use some. Chiefly the Bonus XP, the 30% damage reduction, and the one that auto times about 1/3 of your defending hits. The game has a timing system akin to Super Mario RPG where you get bonus damage for timing attacks/abilities and reduced damage from enemy attacks if you successfully time a block. While the game makes a point to emphasize that you don't need to be a master at this and it's merely a nice bonus, I'd kind of argue that if they meant that they could've toned the bonuses down a bit more and evened things out, particularly taking damage. There are some boss fights even with the 30% reduced damage I found myself sucking wind occasionally and if I wasn't timing hits I'd be near dead (which tells me with the slider off, I -would- be dead). There is a relic that auto times all attacks but reduces the bonus. I didn't use it but it's an option. Overall with my settings I felt I had a 'just right' kind of balance. Maybe a bit easy in spots in the game but I never struggled too bad but also didn't feel like I was just blowing things away. With the increased XP leveling felt very smooth and I never ever had to grind at all for levels.
I did have to grind a little for money. Combat gives you very little in the way of gold so a lot of the ways you make it are selling drops (lot of enemies drop food stuffs and the occasional 'this is only used to be sold for money' items, though they're rare and don't sell for much). You tend to 'make' money by replacing equipment finding it in the wild and selling the old stuff or foraging (respawning) food ingredients. I apparently missed a relic that gives a shop discount but it's only about 10% so I still would've needed to hunt for money occasionally, would've liked to see either enemies drop more money or the 'sell for money' drops to be more valuable. I always felt like I was mostly broke and carrying -just- enough to update most/all my equipment and snag one or two odd items like relics or recipes.
This is simplified a bit as there aren't that many types of items in the game. Equipment is your standard weapon and armor stat sticks, every character has 2 slots for basic accessories that mostly bump stats (there are a few unique ones, some character specific that alter abilities, I wish there had been more of these) and then a special accessory that has some global effect like bumping party health or getting to see enemy health/weaknesses (also wish there had been more of these so I had to choose) The only consumables you deal with are food, and you cook that yourself with ingredients you find/buy. There's no status ailments in the game except getting KO'ed, so the only healing items are health, MP, and revives (and mixes thereof). You do only get to carry 10 food items at a time, which felt limiting and made me ration them more than I probably should have (also you really only want to carry a max of 9 with you, as you find the occasional food in a chest in the wild).
Combat abilities generally feel good, especially once you get enough MP to use them regularly (You'll start out sucking wind. Thankfully you can restore 3 MP (4 with an accessory) with a basic attack, which gives combat a decent flow. Using abilities/attacks also builds combo points, which let you execute abilities like the duel techs in Chrono Trigger, so less on demand but they're usually impactful and worthwhile. And then you'll also build an 'ultimate' meter. Every character has an Ult, though with no status effects or even buffs/debuffs, ultimates boil down to 'multiple hits of a damage element' (with one exception, Re'shan's ult will heal your party as well, which is very nice). They're very flashy attacks akin to Summon spells in a Final Fantasy game, but more style than substance (they do come in handy though for the lock system). Characters are limited to 3 abilities and most unlock fairly early on. Not a bad thing, there's some okay variety but I think I'd have liked to see maybe a 4th ability per character. Or some unique abilities like a charm or steal or the like. Also the game could be a little clearer on when abilities need to be timed for the bonus (if they can at all) there are some abilities I just never learned their timing. Most are fairly obvious though.
The element system is very decent as is the associated lock system. Every attack or ability has 1-2 elements associated with it and every character specializes in 1-2 different types, like Valere does a lot of blunt damage and is the only Moon element character. Occasionally enemies will wind up a big ability and present multiple element types as a 'lock', if you can hit the enemy with all the element types (So like, 2 blunt and 1 moon, or 2 cuts and 2 arcane) you'll stop them from casting the spell altogether and waste their turn and even if you can't match all the elements before the spell goes off, the closer you get to breaking the lock the less effective the attack will be when it goes off. And every character can 'boost' their basic attacks with their home element. It's overall simple and effective and can be challenging (bosses for instance will lower the time on their locks the closer they get to being beaten). There is 1 ability that you can use to delay an enemy's turn and it is so stupid valuable I wish one more character could do it in some similar way.
The overworld map is nice and again Chrono Trigger style with little chibi versions of the party running around. Everything is small islands though so the world feels pretty small. There's a twist later on that adds to it but even then it still feels small. I would've liked to see like maybe 1-2 extra areas added just for some fluff? The game has no padding where I think a little might've helped. Travel is fairly standard RPG fare, you get a few quick travel options (that're actually fairly funny) and a ship to get around and eventually you can fly (I won't spoil how, it was a nice surprise though). Dungeon design probably could have been a little better. Every dungeon -looks- amazing, but once you've explored it and completed the puzzles they're shorter and simpler than you'd expect, most time in dungeons is really spent figuring out the puzzles. They're serviceable though. I think I would've liked to see the final dungeon be bigger/more challenging.
The setting is really cool, there's a lot of lore and they give you an NPC follower that is there just for lore dumps in a fairly setting appropriate way. They do have a bad habit of suddenly tossing out names of people and locations -before- this NPC can tell you about it, so that can be -slightly- disorienting. But overall the game does a pretty good job of explaining and introducing things and it feels cohesive.
The plot is overall serviceable. If you're unaware, a -lot- of this story is tied to the messenger and is about setting -that- game up in certain ways, so if you're a big Messenger lore fan this game is meant to fill in a lot of details. You don't need to play the Messenger to understand anything in this (I didn't) everything is explained fairly well enough in game you can miss it, but knowing the Messenger probably makes things click slightly more and feels richer when you recognize the links. There are a couple points where knowledge of the Messenger is needed somewhat to make sense of where some plot threads tie off.
It has a few twists in it I liked quite a bit and didn't see coming. I always enjoy when a story can surprise me. It does wear it's love of chrono trigger on it's sleeve though in both good/bad ways. I will say there's some shades of Phantasy Star too which really surprised me (in a very good way). The team that made this game loved RPGs and it shows highly.
Is the plot good though? Mmm, unfortunately I'd say it's kind of middling. It's not -bad-, but there's a number of elements that needed to be handled -better-. It's very serviceable, there's a good journey here and again some twists I think are a lot of fun and surprised me. Unfortunately I can't discuss my problems with the plot without going into spoilers. Sorta. One issue with the plot is simply that the supposed main protagonists, Valere and Zale, are... just dull as cardboard. I think if they could have gotten away with it they would have used the silent protagonist bit like with Crono which -might- have worked better, -except- there's 2 of them so you can't have -2- mutes responding 'in your head' like Crono does. Honestly the characters are the weakest part of the plot. Again they're not -bad- exactly, but there was more they could have done. Both are 'chosen ones', dedicated to being the chosen ones, and they really like their friend Garl. That's about the extent of characterization.
I guess I should just talk about the cast.
Of the two, I liked Valere better. Her personality, what there is of one, shines through and she tries to stay positive. Or rather I guess she's more stubborn? I picked her as my main, though the choice of who to 'play as' is just cosmetic as both characters never leave you so it's just whoever you feel like putting in the lead when you run around. As I said above, there's not a lot to her character. She's dedicated to being a solstice warrior and being your average do gooder. Her ability kit is nice and varied, she gets a simple AOE, a multi-target attack you can time to rack up hits, and a basic group heal/shield spell I really got use out of. Her ult looks cool.
Zale is a mirror to Valere personality wise. He gets a little more doubt, but not much. He gets the cheapest single target heal, a splash damage AOE, and one of the few multiarget spells that hits all enemies. He'll serve as your main healer and he's fine at it. There's not a ton to say about Zale, he's a bit boring. His ult looks cool too.
Then there's Garl. I have a lot to say about Garl and a good chunk of it I'm keeping to spoilers. Garl is specifically non-magical and non-destined and he's extremely nice and everybody likes him. He's like Steven Universe except he uses more violence and he's more focused on cooking. He's okay in combat, he gets an expensive single target heal, a single target damage that moves enemies (useful), and a non-elemental AOE attack. His ult is the best in the game but it's gated in a way I won't spoil. Ult aside, his kit is only okay and I replaced him pretty much at the first opportunity except for quick tag ins for like, a heal. I'll talk about Garl more later. I don't dislike Garl, but I dislike how much the game loves Garl.
Seraii is my favorite character. She's a cool ninja, her story is honestly pretty surprising and awesome. Her combat kit is good, a very useful multitarget that's just a poison copy of Valere's (but that's fine, and it -looks- cool) a high damage single target spell, and then the single most useful ability you will use every boss battle and probably most general battles, disorient, that delays an enemy's turn. It's so useful I wish another character had something similar, like an AOE version that just delayed every enemy 1 turn or something. Disorient is powerful enough that it feels like a number of boss battles were balanced around you using it frequently. Which isn't inherently bad, but it makes her feel like a -must use-. Given you can swap characters freely so it's not a big deal, but I just kept her in my main party pretty much constantly. Her ult is cool, plot driven, and the only multitarget/multihit attack that combines slash and blunt damage so it's useful (and I think it's the first ult you get?) I would say my only complaint is that I would have liked more of Seraii's story as there's some gaps that.. annoy me a little. But she is otherwise an all around solid damage character and one of the highlights of the story.
Re'shan I can't talk about -too- much without going into spoilers. I will just stick to his name though. His kit is fine, though I rarely used it? He's the first character you get that can use arcane and he's the only multi-element character (his basic attack is Poison damage by default, he can boost with arcane) He has an arcane AOE that clusters the enemies together (not bad but late enough in the game it's not super important) a skill that just breaks up to 2 lock types on default (this is handy, but by the time you get him you mostly have a handle on being able to supply the right elements anyway) and then an AOE heal that's okay? Kinda pricy, I didn't use it all that much, especially for it's cost/healing output. If it were like 3-4 manage cheaper and healed 10-20 percent more I'd have used it, though I also never timed it right (I'm not even sure if it can be timed). As a character I -really- like him, he has probably the most depth out of any character and is extremely lore important. There is a big problem that limits him as a character but that's spoiler territory. Overall I liked him, he's probably my favorite behind Seraii. His ult is the only one in the game that has a function besides damage, it also heals the party which is very useful.
Lastly there's B'st. B'st joins very late in the game and his kit is very basic. He has a single target that can be timed multiple times (I didn't know this until late, it didn't matter much), an arcane spell that if timed becomes multitarget (useful) and then the only character to get a revive (which I never used because late game I was sturdy enough I very rarely had anyone die except from the occasional one shot I didn't time) Probably more useful if you haven't reduced the difficulty. Anyway, B'st is fine, they don't shine really but they also aren't weak. I'd argue they're akin to a Robo analogue? Personality wise I mean. They join late enough you don't get too much time with them but they're fine. My one real complaint is spoilery so I'll discuss later. Their ult is like Valere/Zale/Seraii's in that it's just elemental damage (it does look cool) and I like their design with constantly changing forms.
At one point in the game you'll get to build a town, very slightly like Breath of Fire 2. I liked the feature but it's kind of underused and you rarely end up going to town again except for specific plot contrivances. I wish building the town had felt more organic? Getting plans for new buildings is strictly tied to the rainbow conch collectible, which is just something you'll find hidden through out the game. No real rhyme or reason why, they just tied it to that. And finding the NPCs to recruit is so easy you practically trip over them if you're doing everything. It's overall fine, I just would've liked to see it focused on a little more and some more thought put into it? Honestly the town ends up being the easiest way to farm money as you'll get access to free fish and vegetables/fruit you can just pick repeatedly to sell for quick cash. Also the game could be more clear that spending time at the Spa is -extremely useful- (It gives each character a permanent Stat buff) Probably offering the first use for free would've helped let folks know this, otherwise it seems like an optional flavor thing to do.
The villains are fine. I don't have a ton to say about them, not because some of it is spoilery but because they're just... fine? Most of them are pretty one dimensional, though I did like the ultimate big bad. More behind spoilers.
Like Chrono Trigger every character gets end game sidequests to go fill out their best weapons/armor. I liked these overall, though a couple like Seraii's/Re'shan's probably could've done with having a little more lore to them. Also I wish there was more to the ultimate equipment than just being the biggest stat sticks, I like when they do something extra like buffing defense 10% or giving some resistance or more health or doing more damage to a specific enemy type, etc.
The ending is kind of brief. There's only 2 endings and I will save you some heartburn stressing on it and tell you that you can't miss the 'true' ending and you need to beat the game once to unlock it, and it'll drop you right back at the end of the game to go complete what quests you need to unlock it so don't stress on it, there's nothing missable.
Okay I guess I should get into spoiler territory because I'm running out of things to say that aren't spoilers. So, here's a big break if you want to skip them. Like I said, overall, I loved the game and would recommend it. But...
***SPOILER BREAK***
*** SPOILER START***
Okay, if you see any of this it's your own fault at this point.
So let's get the biggest issue with the story out of the way. Garl.
As I said, I don't dislike Garl. I like positive characters. I liked Steven Universe. I like Ralsei from Deltarune. I enjoy positive characters who want to keep everyone happy and will try to make friends before resorting immediately to violence. Garl is nice. Everybody likes Garl.
And that's the problem. -Everybody- likes Garl. Too easily. He's the cheery extrovert that greets everyone with a smile and a handshake and everyone in this world falls head over heels for him. It doesn't feel earned and it never bites him, the world simply shapes itself around Garl. I would even argue that Garl is the real main character because so much of the story revolves around specifically him, even when it makes no sense to the plot literally hands him the tools he needs to to keep the plot centered around him and bends the world to work by his rules. it feels a little mary-sue-ish and at the very least makes me feel like Garl is an author insert, not egotistical enough to -be- the destined chosen one, but enough to be the chosen one's cool friend that everybody likes and still gets to go on a big adventure with.
And all that aside, the biggest problem is that Garl's presence negatively affects Zale and Valere's characterization, because their biggest personality trait is that they both REALLY like Garl and when he's not there, they have to mention that they miss Garl and how much they like him or what he'd say if he were there. If you cut Garl out of the story you'd have to rewrite vast vast portions of the game, up to and including having to rewrite Zale and Valere. It's really sad to see because Zale and Valere are dreadfully bland and their single minded devotion to Garl is a massive part of that problem. There's a little more I'll discuss later, but anyway about Garl.
Garl also dies. When I say this game wears it's love for Chrono Trigger on it's sleeve, I'm not kidding. Garl sacrifices himself like Crono and it's actually a pretty surprising moment and I didn't think they'd go that far.
Unfortunately, they go all the way with this. The true ending is gotten through -saving Garl-. Once you beat the game, you can restart back at the final save point and then if you've completed all the main character sidequests and the rainbow conch collectables, your reward is to save Garl from his fate in pretty much exactly the same way they save Crono. This is where my main issue with B'st storywise comes in because it turns out B'st's -main purpose- is to accomplish this rescue act by being the Crono Decoy. B'st is essentially a plot device that joins your party and is mostly just another body, which is really disappointing.
I'm not too surprised they saved Garl, but it really hammers home how much the game just loves him that it bends the rules and make him the special boy the rules don't -really- apply to when everyone tells him the rules -do- apply to him. I thought it was more powerful to just let him stay dead but the writers love him too much and stick too close to their inspiration to let that happen. Worse, once he comes back he is again given omniscience so he just -knows- everything that's happened and what to do next. What really put the pin it for me though is he's granted 1 wish upon his return and it makes it sound like a genie wish that it could have been -anything- and.... he just asks for a fancy dinner at an exclusive restaurant and omg I just wanted to fucking scream. It's just overkill niceness. And I'm not arguing the sidequest is bad or the feast scene is bad, it's all very touching and nice but it's also -right before facing the big bad- so the sudden meandering feels less like 'preparing for the end' and more like just fucking around to kill time. It took any sort of build up and dramatic tension and tossed it out the window (especially because you have to beat the game once to even do it). And it just speaks to how childish Garl's mindset is. There's stop and smell the flowers and appreciate the small things in life, and then there's stopping for a fancy meal when the literal fate of the world is at hand. Just not how I would have done it at all. I will say that Garl enacting the real final boss fight by insulting the dude is pretty funny. But the whole 'reverse funeral' thing should have taken place post-game.
Again I don't dislike Garl. The game just bends over backwards too much to fit him in and keep him the center of the story and I think it's worse for it. It just doesn't feel earned because it all happens too easily. There's a way it could have worked, like I can see what they were going for and having him be the 'wild card' that changes how events are supposed to go. I just don't like the execution of it. The ending is sweet and touching, the power of friendship, yada yada. Oh though I thought waking up the dragon with giant bread was just stupid as hell. Didn't like that he's just given how to do it, didn't like that it worked, didn't like that it's mostly a set up to give the dragon a goofy name because the dragon in the messenger had a goofy name/desire to be a butler. I just didn't like any part of it and it left a bad taste in my mouth and it's just another example of the universe bending to fit Garl's simplistic mind/worldview.
The villains are fine but a little underdeveloped. The initial baddies are the Fleshmancer's acolytes, that don't get names and just get numbers. They're standard card carrying baddies though the resolution to their story is essentially they're backstory for a boss in the Messenger which... if you aren't keeping up on the Messenger lore will just make you wonder why they just disappear from the story.
The Fleshmancer himself I really like. They build him up well, he gets some depth particularly with his parlays with Re'shan, he's very lore important. I wish we got more of his motivation and backstory? They tease some of it but he is ultimately 'just evil' and dicking around because he can. He feels properly threatening and you get enough of an idea of his villainy it feels good to pummel him.
I did not like his boss fight though. It drags on a bit too long, though I think part of that was I was just bad at the galaga portion of the fight, which was very frustrating. But he just felt too much like a giant wall of HP. it was nice to have a challenging boss fight (the normal ending boss is mostly just an homage to the Queen Zeal fight, which was fine but a little too bland [besides visually]) I kind of shudder to think of what he's like with none of the relics turned on, I probably would've been racing to keep reviving characters.
The twist villains aren't too shocking. like Erlina just looks like someone that's going to become a villain, so it was a nice twist it just wasn't a surprise one. However I wish their reasoning had been... better? She seems to chiefly argue that the job of a solstice warrior is just never ending when the story makes pretty clear repeatedly that, yes, it does end and they're almost done before she fucks it up. It's weird because they write it like she's intended to instill doubt in Zale and Valere but it just doesn't work? I think this would have been good to give Zel and Valere some depth where they're forced to question themselves and their roles but they just kinda skip past it.
What's disappointing is that she's actually not entirely wrong. Like there actually IS another Dweller they have to go kill and I think it would have been clever to imply that she's just traumatized from it or learns of it in some way and thinks she needs to cut a deal to avoid it? but the connection is never really made. Instead she just wrongly claims that the solstice warrior ideology lies and their quest is never ending. it's kind of disappointing because I think they could have threaded the needle here so her betrayal makes more sense and is tragic in a way.
Also Brugraves is just there. he's kind of like Zale in that he mostly exists because the lore requires there to be -2- solstice warriors. He also just disappears from the story because again he ends up in the Messenger.
Again, some perfectly sound concepts that just fall down from underdeveloped execution.
I really liked Re'shan. I wish his rule against fighting dwellers would have come into play more than the once, it felt like an interesting limitation. The biggest problem is simply 3/4 of the way through the story Re'shan simply peaces out and while he remains in the party it's literally a puppet with no personality or dialogue or anything, it's just a literal body to fill space. It sucks cuz I was really enjoying him and then.. there's just not a lot to say he becomes -just- a gameplay mechanic and that's disappointing. Would've liked to see him either stick around or just be replaced entirely by B'st. But again B'st was -also- just a plot device.
So yeah. The cast is where the game is probably weakest. Combat wise all the characters are fine. But realistically, Garl, Seraii, and Re'shan are the only characters with actual personality, Garl is essentially a Steven Universe mary-sue, and Re'shan is only actually a character for half the time you have him in the party. Leaving just Seraii as the only -actual- character with motivations, depth, personality, etc that's with you the whole game.
And even then, parts of Seraii's story are simply -not told-. She's a ninja-cyborg-pirate-resistance fighter with cool portal powers. I don't mind so much not knowing how she crossed the Sea of Stars, keeping that vague is fine. But I really wanted to know how she ended up masquerading as Captain Cliche (I'm not using the silly spelling) Like it's clear she's largely using the pirates for the goal of getting the magic ghost ship that can travel the sea of stars, but HOW she met them and WHY she masqueraded as a captain or why they made her captain was a story tidbit I really wanted to learn eventually. The story has a problem in that they keep a lot of Seraii's story as a mystery box and when the box is finally opened it's a hell of a twist (I was extremely shocked and very pleasantly surprised) but we still don't get like, some tidbits they felt like they were hiding and I kept expecting there to be a reveal between her and the pirates and it just never happened.
The pirates are fine. They're quirky as a personality and that's fine. Standard RPG NPCs.
Also her end game sidequest about The Queen Who Was needed more explanation. The teeks story involving it is strictly about the expedition and doesn't fill in the gaps enough. Would've liked more info.
Still even with those issues, Seraii still wins best character hands down. Though I wish you could have had the option to keep her cool mask and not look at her freaky terminator mouth all end game >_>
So that's my take on Sea of Stars. I still rate it really highly. It's very polished and the team very clearly put a lot of love into it. From a gameplay and design stand point I think it's absolutely stellar, but it trips over itself with it's story and characters for a number of (I think avoidable) reasons and keeps itself from being as good as the games it draws inspiration from.
I still recommend you buy it, especially if it's on sale. Thanks for reading!
Well I just finished Sea of Stars. If you're not aware it's a JRPG that was made via kickstarter campaign a while back and made by the folks that did The Messenger (the ninja gaiden style game that was very well received). It was wildly successful and it's apparently getting some DLC too.
So, what'd I think? I really enjoyed it. I am glad I backed it on kickstarter and I'm happy with the results and glad to have my name in the credits. If the studio wants to do more I'd happily toss money at them.
Overall rating... probably an A- or B+? It's good but not perfect and trips in some areas.
The music and art design are top notch S+. All the characters, the enemies, every location, the -bosses- all look fantastic. The bosses especially have some awesome monstrous designs.
Combat is very similar to Chrono Trigger. You have 3 party members on the field (though like FFX, you can swap to your alternate members on the fly, so while you only 'use' 3 at a time, you really have access to your entire cast at any given time, depending on who is with you). Enemies are positioned against you and positioning matters when it comes to certain AoE effects and unlike Chrono Trigger you get some abilities to help you manipulate positioning (which was VERY welcome, even if it didn't matter -too- much).
Full disclosure on the difficulty. The game gives you 'relics' that you can turn on or off, they're really mostly difficulty sliders to make things a little easier for you and I did use some. Chiefly the Bonus XP, the 30% damage reduction, and the one that auto times about 1/3 of your defending hits. The game has a timing system akin to Super Mario RPG where you get bonus damage for timing attacks/abilities and reduced damage from enemy attacks if you successfully time a block. While the game makes a point to emphasize that you don't need to be a master at this and it's merely a nice bonus, I'd kind of argue that if they meant that they could've toned the bonuses down a bit more and evened things out, particularly taking damage. There are some boss fights even with the 30% reduced damage I found myself sucking wind occasionally and if I wasn't timing hits I'd be near dead (which tells me with the slider off, I -would- be dead). There is a relic that auto times all attacks but reduces the bonus. I didn't use it but it's an option. Overall with my settings I felt I had a 'just right' kind of balance. Maybe a bit easy in spots in the game but I never struggled too bad but also didn't feel like I was just blowing things away. With the increased XP leveling felt very smooth and I never ever had to grind at all for levels.
I did have to grind a little for money. Combat gives you very little in the way of gold so a lot of the ways you make it are selling drops (lot of enemies drop food stuffs and the occasional 'this is only used to be sold for money' items, though they're rare and don't sell for much). You tend to 'make' money by replacing equipment finding it in the wild and selling the old stuff or foraging (respawning) food ingredients. I apparently missed a relic that gives a shop discount but it's only about 10% so I still would've needed to hunt for money occasionally, would've liked to see either enemies drop more money or the 'sell for money' drops to be more valuable. I always felt like I was mostly broke and carrying -just- enough to update most/all my equipment and snag one or two odd items like relics or recipes.
This is simplified a bit as there aren't that many types of items in the game. Equipment is your standard weapon and armor stat sticks, every character has 2 slots for basic accessories that mostly bump stats (there are a few unique ones, some character specific that alter abilities, I wish there had been more of these) and then a special accessory that has some global effect like bumping party health or getting to see enemy health/weaknesses (also wish there had been more of these so I had to choose) The only consumables you deal with are food, and you cook that yourself with ingredients you find/buy. There's no status ailments in the game except getting KO'ed, so the only healing items are health, MP, and revives (and mixes thereof). You do only get to carry 10 food items at a time, which felt limiting and made me ration them more than I probably should have (also you really only want to carry a max of 9 with you, as you find the occasional food in a chest in the wild).
Combat abilities generally feel good, especially once you get enough MP to use them regularly (You'll start out sucking wind. Thankfully you can restore 3 MP (4 with an accessory) with a basic attack, which gives combat a decent flow. Using abilities/attacks also builds combo points, which let you execute abilities like the duel techs in Chrono Trigger, so less on demand but they're usually impactful and worthwhile. And then you'll also build an 'ultimate' meter. Every character has an Ult, though with no status effects or even buffs/debuffs, ultimates boil down to 'multiple hits of a damage element' (with one exception, Re'shan's ult will heal your party as well, which is very nice). They're very flashy attacks akin to Summon spells in a Final Fantasy game, but more style than substance (they do come in handy though for the lock system). Characters are limited to 3 abilities and most unlock fairly early on. Not a bad thing, there's some okay variety but I think I'd have liked to see maybe a 4th ability per character. Or some unique abilities like a charm or steal or the like. Also the game could be a little clearer on when abilities need to be timed for the bonus (if they can at all) there are some abilities I just never learned their timing. Most are fairly obvious though.
The element system is very decent as is the associated lock system. Every attack or ability has 1-2 elements associated with it and every character specializes in 1-2 different types, like Valere does a lot of blunt damage and is the only Moon element character. Occasionally enemies will wind up a big ability and present multiple element types as a 'lock', if you can hit the enemy with all the element types (So like, 2 blunt and 1 moon, or 2 cuts and 2 arcane) you'll stop them from casting the spell altogether and waste their turn and even if you can't match all the elements before the spell goes off, the closer you get to breaking the lock the less effective the attack will be when it goes off. And every character can 'boost' their basic attacks with their home element. It's overall simple and effective and can be challenging (bosses for instance will lower the time on their locks the closer they get to being beaten). There is 1 ability that you can use to delay an enemy's turn and it is so stupid valuable I wish one more character could do it in some similar way.
The overworld map is nice and again Chrono Trigger style with little chibi versions of the party running around. Everything is small islands though so the world feels pretty small. There's a twist later on that adds to it but even then it still feels small. I would've liked to see like maybe 1-2 extra areas added just for some fluff? The game has no padding where I think a little might've helped. Travel is fairly standard RPG fare, you get a few quick travel options (that're actually fairly funny) and a ship to get around and eventually you can fly (I won't spoil how, it was a nice surprise though). Dungeon design probably could have been a little better. Every dungeon -looks- amazing, but once you've explored it and completed the puzzles they're shorter and simpler than you'd expect, most time in dungeons is really spent figuring out the puzzles. They're serviceable though. I think I would've liked to see the final dungeon be bigger/more challenging.
The setting is really cool, there's a lot of lore and they give you an NPC follower that is there just for lore dumps in a fairly setting appropriate way. They do have a bad habit of suddenly tossing out names of people and locations -before- this NPC can tell you about it, so that can be -slightly- disorienting. But overall the game does a pretty good job of explaining and introducing things and it feels cohesive.
The plot is overall serviceable. If you're unaware, a -lot- of this story is tied to the messenger and is about setting -that- game up in certain ways, so if you're a big Messenger lore fan this game is meant to fill in a lot of details. You don't need to play the Messenger to understand anything in this (I didn't) everything is explained fairly well enough in game you can miss it, but knowing the Messenger probably makes things click slightly more and feels richer when you recognize the links. There are a couple points where knowledge of the Messenger is needed somewhat to make sense of where some plot threads tie off.
It has a few twists in it I liked quite a bit and didn't see coming. I always enjoy when a story can surprise me. It does wear it's love of chrono trigger on it's sleeve though in both good/bad ways. I will say there's some shades of Phantasy Star too which really surprised me (in a very good way). The team that made this game loved RPGs and it shows highly.
Is the plot good though? Mmm, unfortunately I'd say it's kind of middling. It's not -bad-, but there's a number of elements that needed to be handled -better-. It's very serviceable, there's a good journey here and again some twists I think are a lot of fun and surprised me. Unfortunately I can't discuss my problems with the plot without going into spoilers. Sorta. One issue with the plot is simply that the supposed main protagonists, Valere and Zale, are... just dull as cardboard. I think if they could have gotten away with it they would have used the silent protagonist bit like with Crono which -might- have worked better, -except- there's 2 of them so you can't have -2- mutes responding 'in your head' like Crono does. Honestly the characters are the weakest part of the plot. Again they're not -bad- exactly, but there was more they could have done. Both are 'chosen ones', dedicated to being the chosen ones, and they really like their friend Garl. That's about the extent of characterization.
I guess I should just talk about the cast.
Of the two, I liked Valere better. Her personality, what there is of one, shines through and she tries to stay positive. Or rather I guess she's more stubborn? I picked her as my main, though the choice of who to 'play as' is just cosmetic as both characters never leave you so it's just whoever you feel like putting in the lead when you run around. As I said above, there's not a lot to her character. She's dedicated to being a solstice warrior and being your average do gooder. Her ability kit is nice and varied, she gets a simple AOE, a multi-target attack you can time to rack up hits, and a basic group heal/shield spell I really got use out of. Her ult looks cool.
Zale is a mirror to Valere personality wise. He gets a little more doubt, but not much. He gets the cheapest single target heal, a splash damage AOE, and one of the few multiarget spells that hits all enemies. He'll serve as your main healer and he's fine at it. There's not a ton to say about Zale, he's a bit boring. His ult looks cool too.
Then there's Garl. I have a lot to say about Garl and a good chunk of it I'm keeping to spoilers. Garl is specifically non-magical and non-destined and he's extremely nice and everybody likes him. He's like Steven Universe except he uses more violence and he's more focused on cooking. He's okay in combat, he gets an expensive single target heal, a single target damage that moves enemies (useful), and a non-elemental AOE attack. His ult is the best in the game but it's gated in a way I won't spoil. Ult aside, his kit is only okay and I replaced him pretty much at the first opportunity except for quick tag ins for like, a heal. I'll talk about Garl more later. I don't dislike Garl, but I dislike how much the game loves Garl.
Seraii is my favorite character. She's a cool ninja, her story is honestly pretty surprising and awesome. Her combat kit is good, a very useful multitarget that's just a poison copy of Valere's (but that's fine, and it -looks- cool) a high damage single target spell, and then the single most useful ability you will use every boss battle and probably most general battles, disorient, that delays an enemy's turn. It's so useful I wish another character had something similar, like an AOE version that just delayed every enemy 1 turn or something. Disorient is powerful enough that it feels like a number of boss battles were balanced around you using it frequently. Which isn't inherently bad, but it makes her feel like a -must use-. Given you can swap characters freely so it's not a big deal, but I just kept her in my main party pretty much constantly. Her ult is cool, plot driven, and the only multitarget/multihit attack that combines slash and blunt damage so it's useful (and I think it's the first ult you get?) I would say my only complaint is that I would have liked more of Seraii's story as there's some gaps that.. annoy me a little. But she is otherwise an all around solid damage character and one of the highlights of the story.
Re'shan I can't talk about -too- much without going into spoilers. I will just stick to his name though. His kit is fine, though I rarely used it? He's the first character you get that can use arcane and he's the only multi-element character (his basic attack is Poison damage by default, he can boost with arcane) He has an arcane AOE that clusters the enemies together (not bad but late enough in the game it's not super important) a skill that just breaks up to 2 lock types on default (this is handy, but by the time you get him you mostly have a handle on being able to supply the right elements anyway) and then an AOE heal that's okay? Kinda pricy, I didn't use it all that much, especially for it's cost/healing output. If it were like 3-4 manage cheaper and healed 10-20 percent more I'd have used it, though I also never timed it right (I'm not even sure if it can be timed). As a character I -really- like him, he has probably the most depth out of any character and is extremely lore important. There is a big problem that limits him as a character but that's spoiler territory. Overall I liked him, he's probably my favorite behind Seraii. His ult is the only one in the game that has a function besides damage, it also heals the party which is very useful.
Lastly there's B'st. B'st joins very late in the game and his kit is very basic. He has a single target that can be timed multiple times (I didn't know this until late, it didn't matter much), an arcane spell that if timed becomes multitarget (useful) and then the only character to get a revive (which I never used because late game I was sturdy enough I very rarely had anyone die except from the occasional one shot I didn't time) Probably more useful if you haven't reduced the difficulty. Anyway, B'st is fine, they don't shine really but they also aren't weak. I'd argue they're akin to a Robo analogue? Personality wise I mean. They join late enough you don't get too much time with them but they're fine. My one real complaint is spoilery so I'll discuss later. Their ult is like Valere/Zale/Seraii's in that it's just elemental damage (it does look cool) and I like their design with constantly changing forms.
At one point in the game you'll get to build a town, very slightly like Breath of Fire 2. I liked the feature but it's kind of underused and you rarely end up going to town again except for specific plot contrivances. I wish building the town had felt more organic? Getting plans for new buildings is strictly tied to the rainbow conch collectible, which is just something you'll find hidden through out the game. No real rhyme or reason why, they just tied it to that. And finding the NPCs to recruit is so easy you practically trip over them if you're doing everything. It's overall fine, I just would've liked to see it focused on a little more and some more thought put into it? Honestly the town ends up being the easiest way to farm money as you'll get access to free fish and vegetables/fruit you can just pick repeatedly to sell for quick cash. Also the game could be more clear that spending time at the Spa is -extremely useful- (It gives each character a permanent Stat buff) Probably offering the first use for free would've helped let folks know this, otherwise it seems like an optional flavor thing to do.
The villains are fine. I don't have a ton to say about them, not because some of it is spoilery but because they're just... fine? Most of them are pretty one dimensional, though I did like the ultimate big bad. More behind spoilers.
Like Chrono Trigger every character gets end game sidequests to go fill out their best weapons/armor. I liked these overall, though a couple like Seraii's/Re'shan's probably could've done with having a little more lore to them. Also I wish there was more to the ultimate equipment than just being the biggest stat sticks, I like when they do something extra like buffing defense 10% or giving some resistance or more health or doing more damage to a specific enemy type, etc.
The ending is kind of brief. There's only 2 endings and I will save you some heartburn stressing on it and tell you that you can't miss the 'true' ending and you need to beat the game once to unlock it, and it'll drop you right back at the end of the game to go complete what quests you need to unlock it so don't stress on it, there's nothing missable.
Okay I guess I should get into spoiler territory because I'm running out of things to say that aren't spoilers. So, here's a big break if you want to skip them. Like I said, overall, I loved the game and would recommend it. But...
***SPOILER BREAK***
*** SPOILER START***
Okay, if you see any of this it's your own fault at this point.
So let's get the biggest issue with the story out of the way. Garl.
As I said, I don't dislike Garl. I like positive characters. I liked Steven Universe. I like Ralsei from Deltarune. I enjoy positive characters who want to keep everyone happy and will try to make friends before resorting immediately to violence. Garl is nice. Everybody likes Garl.
And that's the problem. -Everybody- likes Garl. Too easily. He's the cheery extrovert that greets everyone with a smile and a handshake and everyone in this world falls head over heels for him. It doesn't feel earned and it never bites him, the world simply shapes itself around Garl. I would even argue that Garl is the real main character because so much of the story revolves around specifically him, even when it makes no sense to the plot literally hands him the tools he needs to to keep the plot centered around him and bends the world to work by his rules. it feels a little mary-sue-ish and at the very least makes me feel like Garl is an author insert, not egotistical enough to -be- the destined chosen one, but enough to be the chosen one's cool friend that everybody likes and still gets to go on a big adventure with.
And all that aside, the biggest problem is that Garl's presence negatively affects Zale and Valere's characterization, because their biggest personality trait is that they both REALLY like Garl and when he's not there, they have to mention that they miss Garl and how much they like him or what he'd say if he were there. If you cut Garl out of the story you'd have to rewrite vast vast portions of the game, up to and including having to rewrite Zale and Valere. It's really sad to see because Zale and Valere are dreadfully bland and their single minded devotion to Garl is a massive part of that problem. There's a little more I'll discuss later, but anyway about Garl.
Garl also dies. When I say this game wears it's love for Chrono Trigger on it's sleeve, I'm not kidding. Garl sacrifices himself like Crono and it's actually a pretty surprising moment and I didn't think they'd go that far.
Unfortunately, they go all the way with this. The true ending is gotten through -saving Garl-. Once you beat the game, you can restart back at the final save point and then if you've completed all the main character sidequests and the rainbow conch collectables, your reward is to save Garl from his fate in pretty much exactly the same way they save Crono. This is where my main issue with B'st storywise comes in because it turns out B'st's -main purpose- is to accomplish this rescue act by being the Crono Decoy. B'st is essentially a plot device that joins your party and is mostly just another body, which is really disappointing.
I'm not too surprised they saved Garl, but it really hammers home how much the game just loves him that it bends the rules and make him the special boy the rules don't -really- apply to when everyone tells him the rules -do- apply to him. I thought it was more powerful to just let him stay dead but the writers love him too much and stick too close to their inspiration to let that happen. Worse, once he comes back he is again given omniscience so he just -knows- everything that's happened and what to do next. What really put the pin it for me though is he's granted 1 wish upon his return and it makes it sound like a genie wish that it could have been -anything- and.... he just asks for a fancy dinner at an exclusive restaurant and omg I just wanted to fucking scream. It's just overkill niceness. And I'm not arguing the sidequest is bad or the feast scene is bad, it's all very touching and nice but it's also -right before facing the big bad- so the sudden meandering feels less like 'preparing for the end' and more like just fucking around to kill time. It took any sort of build up and dramatic tension and tossed it out the window (especially because you have to beat the game once to even do it). And it just speaks to how childish Garl's mindset is. There's stop and smell the flowers and appreciate the small things in life, and then there's stopping for a fancy meal when the literal fate of the world is at hand. Just not how I would have done it at all. I will say that Garl enacting the real final boss fight by insulting the dude is pretty funny. But the whole 'reverse funeral' thing should have taken place post-game.
Again I don't dislike Garl. The game just bends over backwards too much to fit him in and keep him the center of the story and I think it's worse for it. It just doesn't feel earned because it all happens too easily. There's a way it could have worked, like I can see what they were going for and having him be the 'wild card' that changes how events are supposed to go. I just don't like the execution of it. The ending is sweet and touching, the power of friendship, yada yada. Oh though I thought waking up the dragon with giant bread was just stupid as hell. Didn't like that he's just given how to do it, didn't like that it worked, didn't like that it's mostly a set up to give the dragon a goofy name because the dragon in the messenger had a goofy name/desire to be a butler. I just didn't like any part of it and it left a bad taste in my mouth and it's just another example of the universe bending to fit Garl's simplistic mind/worldview.
The villains are fine but a little underdeveloped. The initial baddies are the Fleshmancer's acolytes, that don't get names and just get numbers. They're standard card carrying baddies though the resolution to their story is essentially they're backstory for a boss in the Messenger which... if you aren't keeping up on the Messenger lore will just make you wonder why they just disappear from the story.
The Fleshmancer himself I really like. They build him up well, he gets some depth particularly with his parlays with Re'shan, he's very lore important. I wish we got more of his motivation and backstory? They tease some of it but he is ultimately 'just evil' and dicking around because he can. He feels properly threatening and you get enough of an idea of his villainy it feels good to pummel him.
I did not like his boss fight though. It drags on a bit too long, though I think part of that was I was just bad at the galaga portion of the fight, which was very frustrating. But he just felt too much like a giant wall of HP. it was nice to have a challenging boss fight (the normal ending boss is mostly just an homage to the Queen Zeal fight, which was fine but a little too bland [besides visually]) I kind of shudder to think of what he's like with none of the relics turned on, I probably would've been racing to keep reviving characters.
The twist villains aren't too shocking. like Erlina just looks like someone that's going to become a villain, so it was a nice twist it just wasn't a surprise one. However I wish their reasoning had been... better? She seems to chiefly argue that the job of a solstice warrior is just never ending when the story makes pretty clear repeatedly that, yes, it does end and they're almost done before she fucks it up. It's weird because they write it like she's intended to instill doubt in Zale and Valere but it just doesn't work? I think this would have been good to give Zel and Valere some depth where they're forced to question themselves and their roles but they just kinda skip past it.
What's disappointing is that she's actually not entirely wrong. Like there actually IS another Dweller they have to go kill and I think it would have been clever to imply that she's just traumatized from it or learns of it in some way and thinks she needs to cut a deal to avoid it? but the connection is never really made. Instead she just wrongly claims that the solstice warrior ideology lies and their quest is never ending. it's kind of disappointing because I think they could have threaded the needle here so her betrayal makes more sense and is tragic in a way.
Also Brugraves is just there. he's kind of like Zale in that he mostly exists because the lore requires there to be -2- solstice warriors. He also just disappears from the story because again he ends up in the Messenger.
Again, some perfectly sound concepts that just fall down from underdeveloped execution.
I really liked Re'shan. I wish his rule against fighting dwellers would have come into play more than the once, it felt like an interesting limitation. The biggest problem is simply 3/4 of the way through the story Re'shan simply peaces out and while he remains in the party it's literally a puppet with no personality or dialogue or anything, it's just a literal body to fill space. It sucks cuz I was really enjoying him and then.. there's just not a lot to say he becomes -just- a gameplay mechanic and that's disappointing. Would've liked to see him either stick around or just be replaced entirely by B'st. But again B'st was -also- just a plot device.
So yeah. The cast is where the game is probably weakest. Combat wise all the characters are fine. But realistically, Garl, Seraii, and Re'shan are the only characters with actual personality, Garl is essentially a Steven Universe mary-sue, and Re'shan is only actually a character for half the time you have him in the party. Leaving just Seraii as the only -actual- character with motivations, depth, personality, etc that's with you the whole game.
And even then, parts of Seraii's story are simply -not told-. She's a ninja-cyborg-pirate-resistance fighter with cool portal powers. I don't mind so much not knowing how she crossed the Sea of Stars, keeping that vague is fine. But I really wanted to know how she ended up masquerading as Captain Cliche (I'm not using the silly spelling) Like it's clear she's largely using the pirates for the goal of getting the magic ghost ship that can travel the sea of stars, but HOW she met them and WHY she masqueraded as a captain or why they made her captain was a story tidbit I really wanted to learn eventually. The story has a problem in that they keep a lot of Seraii's story as a mystery box and when the box is finally opened it's a hell of a twist (I was extremely shocked and very pleasantly surprised) but we still don't get like, some tidbits they felt like they were hiding and I kept expecting there to be a reveal between her and the pirates and it just never happened.
The pirates are fine. They're quirky as a personality and that's fine. Standard RPG NPCs.
Also her end game sidequest about The Queen Who Was needed more explanation. The teeks story involving it is strictly about the expedition and doesn't fill in the gaps enough. Would've liked more info.
Still even with those issues, Seraii still wins best character hands down. Though I wish you could have had the option to keep her cool mask and not look at her freaky terminator mouth all end game >_>
So that's my take on Sea of Stars. I still rate it really highly. It's very polished and the team very clearly put a lot of love into it. From a gameplay and design stand point I think it's absolutely stellar, but it trips over itself with it's story and characters for a number of (I think avoidable) reasons and keeps itself from being as good as the games it draws inspiration from.
I still recommend you buy it, especially if it's on sale. Thanks for reading!
Daylight Savings! (Spring forward)
Posted a year agoTo most US folks! March 10th is daylight savings time, move your clocks forward an hour! (hate to lose that precious hour ;-; )
Ninja Sex Party: These Nuts
Posted a year agohttps://ninjasexparty.bandcamp.com/.....m/these-nuts-2
New album :D It's hilarious and pretty banging
Some music videos from the album! (and personal favorite tracks)
New album :D It's hilarious and pretty banging
Some music videos from the album! (and personal favorite tracks)
If you have student loans, check this out
Posted a year agohttps://studentaid.gov/announcement.....ents/save-plan
Lot of folks still haven't heard about this plan but if you're eligible it's 100% worth applying for.
Lot of folks still haven't heard about this plan but if you're eligible it's 100% worth applying for.
Galaxy Hamster!
Posted 2 years agoThis fucking rules XD
Cute Plush!
Posted 2 years agohttps://www.makeship.com/products/boxers-plush
A plush from The Bunny Graveyard, cute little pixel graphics horror game. Boxers in particular is a cute character!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/.....nny_Graveyard/
https://www.pichongames.com/bunnygraveyard
Can check the game out here!
A plush from The Bunny Graveyard, cute little pixel graphics horror game. Boxers in particular is a cute character!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/.....nny_Graveyard/
https://www.pichongames.com/bunnygraveyard
Can check the game out here!
Happy New Year!
Posted 2 years agoSurvived another and now to make it everyone's problem
A few more artist ads!
Posted 2 years agoSo, I know I just posted the year review but... I also don't want that sitting as the front entry on my page, so bumping it already.
So! here's a few more folks with some new ads to check out.
Donryu is doing multislot YCHs. He's doing a batch of 8-10, any slot whichever you want so don't worry about it getting snagged or anything, just go for whichever pose interests you!
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54955013/
Guffaw is doing a follow on from his X-mas card themed commissions, this time a 'wrapped' commission, which can be sweet or saucy (though not explicitly NSFW)
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54944728/
https://twitter.com/HeyGuffaw/statu.....00107229311220
AtomicboyX is back for some pin up commissions. Always a favorite and excellent with bears
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54950406/
Markwulfgar has put up his annual XXX-mas comic and posted last year's on his gallery. Saucy kinky fun!
https://markwulfgar.gumroad.com/l/tfwee
Teaselbone is open for commissions, don't let the long list or the post date daunt you, Teasel is a mean machine when it comes to art so if you're interested put in a request. It might be a bit of a wait but he -will- get to you!
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10760604/
So! here's a few more folks with some new ads to check out.
Donryu is doing multislot YCHs. He's doing a batch of 8-10, any slot whichever you want so don't worry about it getting snagged or anything, just go for whichever pose interests you!https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54955013/
Guffaw is doing a follow on from his X-mas card themed commissions, this time a 'wrapped' commission, which can be sweet or saucy (though not explicitly NSFW) https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54944728/
https://twitter.com/HeyGuffaw/statu.....00107229311220
AtomicboyX is back for some pin up commissions. Always a favorite and excellent with bearshttps://www.furaffinity.net/view/54950406/
Markwulfgar has put up his annual XXX-mas comic and posted last year's on his gallery. Saucy kinky fun!https://markwulfgar.gumroad.com/l/tfwee
Teaselbone is open for commissions, don't let the long list or the post date daunt you, Teasel is a mean machine when it comes to art so if you're interested put in a request. It might be a bit of a wait but he -will- get to you!https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10760604/
2023 in (brief) review
Posted 2 years agoI was thinking of expounding on the past year but thinking about it more just kind of depressed me so I'm just going to leave this here as a bit of a bullet point.
Had a very nice Further Confusion.
A bit afterward my maternal grandmother, my last grandparent, passed away after a multiyear struggle after suffering a debilitating stroke.
Had a very nice Anthrocon.
A couple days afterward my father passed away. I really don't want to go into details. Still dealing with a few things relating to that that's going to take a little while to resolve.
To top the year off, the house water heater gave out (granted, it was in the house when we moved in in 93 or so, and probably the original installed in the house) So had to pay out of pocket to get that replaced straight away.
So been a very rough, stressful year. My mood has been up and down. I think things are settling down and I'm in an okay enough spot for the moment.
Work has been going okay, I love what I do, my coworkers like me, and they're working on getting me set up a bit better so more hope there.
Been playing a lot of games. Still enjoying Dragonflight. Not the best WoW expansion (My favorites so far have still be Pandaria and Legion) but I warmed up to the last patch (despite it shifting from a story about the dragon flights to the night elves and then cramming the dragons back in at the last moment, sure whatever) and have been enjoying myself and even working on alts which I haven't done much in a while.
Also picked up a ton of fantastic indie games, some I backed on Kickstarter and excited to finally have in my paws. Fur Quest was very cute and pretty shocking. Small Saga was everything I hoped and more. Also started Baldur's Gate 3 which has been an amazing treat. I need to get back to Jack Move which is a really cool cyber punk RPG. Currently working my way through Sea of Stars which is a gorgeous love letter to Chrono Trigger. Also got into the Geneforge 1 remake, Mutagen, which has been a treat and looking forward to the sequel remaster, which I had never had the chance to play so excited to try that out next year.
I've also been reading a fair bit. I started the original Shadowrun trilogy which is pretty dense but enjoyable, I've always loved the setting and need to go back and play Shadowrun Hong Kong. Been reading Doctor Who novels, latest was a Past Doctor Adventure for the 4th Doctor, Festival of Death, pretty decent one! I am really sad they quit the line (ages ago, I know) the newer novels are much lighter and young adult oriented, from what I've read of the 10th doctors books so I'm kind of nonplussed there. I got 'To Steal the Sun', a novel I helped back on kickstarter which was a pretty decent set up and story, though it definitely oversold the title (Spoiler that they give away very early on, 'the sun' is just a very shiny treasure trove). I would recommend it though for a decent book.
Also picked up the Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chataeu, a silly romp by Dr Cecil H. H. Mills, uncle to Game Grumps' Arin (which I've also been watching regularly these days) If you like the young mystery novel genre, think Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys, with some flippant humor, it's a treat, I'm going to pick up the 2nd book soon. Now to pick out my next book to read from my (much too sizable) to Read pile.
My own writing, I haven't been doing too much. Mostly little tidbits here and there to tease friends. For those that missed them, I uploaded a few recently. Still trying to here and there. I know i need to get better about posting stuff. Easy for me to just distract myself these days. Still some projects I want to work on that I hope will get steam going on them eventually.
Socially, I apologize if I've been quiet or fallen out of contact. This year has just been murder on my mood so some long streaks of just doing the hermit thing or just talking to a few people. And it's been a rough year on friends, big moves, money issues, home issues. It's been stressful for everyone. have had some losses here too. A friend I knew for a long time and had to cut ties with when he just got very mean and confrontational, I kept tabs on and have watched him slide into what I can only describe as mental illness and I don't think I can help and may have even lost his home. Another, a playmate I knew for over a decade and then began to ghost me. I got some closure. I'm not happy with the answer, but I got it. And then just, growing distant with other folks or folks putting some distance in with me. Hurts but I understand.
So yeah, trying to juggle being social. It's hard and this year has probably been the hardest. So I apologize again if I've been distant or standoffish or have gone quiet. I love my friends and I am so, so lucky to have so many people that I know care about me. I want to do better for all of you.
I've been managing as best I can. I still have my little dog with me and it's been an adjustment with the holidays, my sisters and I have been keeping in touch and doing things when we can. Had a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with my youngest sister and her daughters. We're going out tomorrow (Saturday) for a little early New Year's Eve celebration at a teppanyaki restaurant we like, since most places will be busier Sunday (and she has work). Otherwise, New Year's will probably be like usual for me. I'm up til midnight every day anyway so it'll just be a normal quiet night where I text a bunch of folks at midnight (or when it hits midnight for them). I won't lie that I haven't been hitting depression patches, but I am trying to make sure I stay on top of my responsibilities, including taking care of myself, even starting to lose a little weight now that I have full control of what food is in the house and I've made a commitment to cut back on sweets, both real sugar and artificial sweeteners. We'll see how it goes, though my doctor has been very impressed with how well I did with my cholesterol.
Anyway, I guess I had more to say than I thought. Just a rough, painful year. I'm still kind of anxious with what can go wrong next. But that fades with time. So here's to hoping 2024 will be better for myself and everyone. Thank you all for taking the time to read my little ramble.
Had a very nice Further Confusion.
A bit afterward my maternal grandmother, my last grandparent, passed away after a multiyear struggle after suffering a debilitating stroke.
Had a very nice Anthrocon.
A couple days afterward my father passed away. I really don't want to go into details. Still dealing with a few things relating to that that's going to take a little while to resolve.
To top the year off, the house water heater gave out (granted, it was in the house when we moved in in 93 or so, and probably the original installed in the house) So had to pay out of pocket to get that replaced straight away.
So been a very rough, stressful year. My mood has been up and down. I think things are settling down and I'm in an okay enough spot for the moment.
Work has been going okay, I love what I do, my coworkers like me, and they're working on getting me set up a bit better so more hope there.
Been playing a lot of games. Still enjoying Dragonflight. Not the best WoW expansion (My favorites so far have still be Pandaria and Legion) but I warmed up to the last patch (despite it shifting from a story about the dragon flights to the night elves and then cramming the dragons back in at the last moment, sure whatever) and have been enjoying myself and even working on alts which I haven't done much in a while.
Also picked up a ton of fantastic indie games, some I backed on Kickstarter and excited to finally have in my paws. Fur Quest was very cute and pretty shocking. Small Saga was everything I hoped and more. Also started Baldur's Gate 3 which has been an amazing treat. I need to get back to Jack Move which is a really cool cyber punk RPG. Currently working my way through Sea of Stars which is a gorgeous love letter to Chrono Trigger. Also got into the Geneforge 1 remake, Mutagen, which has been a treat and looking forward to the sequel remaster, which I had never had the chance to play so excited to try that out next year.
I've also been reading a fair bit. I started the original Shadowrun trilogy which is pretty dense but enjoyable, I've always loved the setting and need to go back and play Shadowrun Hong Kong. Been reading Doctor Who novels, latest was a Past Doctor Adventure for the 4th Doctor, Festival of Death, pretty decent one! I am really sad they quit the line (ages ago, I know) the newer novels are much lighter and young adult oriented, from what I've read of the 10th doctors books so I'm kind of nonplussed there. I got 'To Steal the Sun', a novel I helped back on kickstarter which was a pretty decent set up and story, though it definitely oversold the title (Spoiler that they give away very early on, 'the sun' is just a very shiny treasure trove). I would recommend it though for a decent book.
Also picked up the Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chataeu, a silly romp by Dr Cecil H. H. Mills, uncle to Game Grumps' Arin (which I've also been watching regularly these days) If you like the young mystery novel genre, think Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys, with some flippant humor, it's a treat, I'm going to pick up the 2nd book soon. Now to pick out my next book to read from my (much too sizable) to Read pile.
My own writing, I haven't been doing too much. Mostly little tidbits here and there to tease friends. For those that missed them, I uploaded a few recently. Still trying to here and there. I know i need to get better about posting stuff. Easy for me to just distract myself these days. Still some projects I want to work on that I hope will get steam going on them eventually.
Socially, I apologize if I've been quiet or fallen out of contact. This year has just been murder on my mood so some long streaks of just doing the hermit thing or just talking to a few people. And it's been a rough year on friends, big moves, money issues, home issues. It's been stressful for everyone. have had some losses here too. A friend I knew for a long time and had to cut ties with when he just got very mean and confrontational, I kept tabs on and have watched him slide into what I can only describe as mental illness and I don't think I can help and may have even lost his home. Another, a playmate I knew for over a decade and then began to ghost me. I got some closure. I'm not happy with the answer, but I got it. And then just, growing distant with other folks or folks putting some distance in with me. Hurts but I understand.
So yeah, trying to juggle being social. It's hard and this year has probably been the hardest. So I apologize again if I've been distant or standoffish or have gone quiet. I love my friends and I am so, so lucky to have so many people that I know care about me. I want to do better for all of you.
I've been managing as best I can. I still have my little dog with me and it's been an adjustment with the holidays, my sisters and I have been keeping in touch and doing things when we can. Had a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with my youngest sister and her daughters. We're going out tomorrow (Saturday) for a little early New Year's Eve celebration at a teppanyaki restaurant we like, since most places will be busier Sunday (and she has work). Otherwise, New Year's will probably be like usual for me. I'm up til midnight every day anyway so it'll just be a normal quiet night where I text a bunch of folks at midnight (or when it hits midnight for them). I won't lie that I haven't been hitting depression patches, but I am trying to make sure I stay on top of my responsibilities, including taking care of myself, even starting to lose a little weight now that I have full control of what food is in the house and I've made a commitment to cut back on sweets, both real sugar and artificial sweeteners. We'll see how it goes, though my doctor has been very impressed with how well I did with my cholesterol.
Anyway, I guess I had more to say than I thought. Just a rough, painful year. I'm still kind of anxious with what can go wrong next. But that fades with time. So here's to hoping 2024 will be better for myself and everyone. Thank you all for taking the time to read my little ramble.
Felix the Cat the movie!
Posted 2 years agoHey kids!
The official Felix the Cat youtube account has posted the old movie in its entirety and pretty decent quality, for free! It's a weird unfinished mess -but- it's a lot of fun still and has some neat idea and some honestly catchy music. Not a bad way to kill some of the last few hours of the year or the crisp fresh hours of next!
The official Felix the Cat youtube account has posted the old movie in its entirety and pretty decent quality, for free! It's a weird unfinished mess -but- it's a lot of fun still and has some neat idea and some honestly catchy music. Not a bad way to kill some of the last few hours of the year or the crisp fresh hours of next!
Artists to check out and support!
Posted 2 years agoHey folks!
It's the holidays, money is tight, things go wrong, or folks just aren't getting the eyeballs they need. So here's a lot of folks to check out and if you have a spare buck or two maybe toss 'em a kofi or hit up their patreon for a month or something! This is obv going to be biased, it's folks I like and even some friends but it's my list and as always, please feel free to leave shout outs for other folks! So in no particular order except just whoever jumps to mind first:
Donryu Just did a big move over the summer, been really hitting the pavement with commissions and working cons. Unfortunately just got sick this week, so any support would be valuable! Keep an eye peeled on his twitter for commission announcements and other goodies!
https://twitter.com/donryuart
https://ko-fi.com/donryu
Cooner Familiar name! Been leaning into his patreon to work on comics, some really fun ones like My Bigger Boyfriend. Has lost lotteries for a couple cons so support makes a difference!
http://cooner.art/
https://ko-fi.com/cooner
Spooktoons has unfortunately been unable to do art much this year. I don't want to go into details but the home situation is very bad. They do have a patreon but currently not posting actively. However, a kofi donation would help a very wonderful person
https://ko-fi.com/spooktoons
https://twitter.com/SpookToons
https://spooktoons.carrd.co/
Redvelvetbat has been active lately, keep an eye on their FA and twitter for adoptables and the odd commission chance.
https://twitter.com/RVBShush/
Rattusdingus has also moved recently, getting out of Florida. Moving is pretty costly so any support helps!
https://bsky.app/profile/ratgalactic.bsky.social
https://ko-fi.com/ratgalactic
Marcothecat is hard at work doing commissions to cover bills but unfortunately also came back from MFF with a case of crud
https://twitter.com/billcatter
https://ko-fi.com/billyfore
knuxlight has been hard at work on his comic The Were Project and putting out the occasional adoptables and pin up commissions, pay attention to his twitter for announcements or support his comic on patreon! Also recently hit some pricy medical bills
https://twitter.com/tehknuxlight
https://twitter.com/thewereproject
https://www.patreon.com/thewereproject
https://ko-fi.com/knuxlight
k-9 recently closed his patreon after finding it just wasn't clicking for him. He's still been working on quite a lot of art and you can find it in his gallery and on bluesky. Has also moved a few times recently and had a pretty wild year
https://bsky.app/profile/artmutt.bsky.social
https://ko-fi.com/artmutt
Markwulfgar has been hard at work on commissions and his own projects when able, lot of bills though so any support is helpful. Also keep an eye out for his usual christmas comic, they're always sexy fun!
https://twitter.com/markwulfgar
https://www.patreon.com/markwulfgar
https://ko-fi.com/markwulfgar
https://linktr.ee/markwulfgar
Hearthfox Aka Dangerfox, also known as the owner of Wiggle the dancing fox puppet! Has been open for commissions lately but donations always appreciated
https://ko-fi.com/dangerfox
https://twitter.com/TheHearthFox
Plummy does some pretty kinky stuff but also a lot of extremely cute and wholesome stuff where he's mostly active on twitter.
https://twitter.com/ploommy
https://ko-fi.com/A5524G58
Cyberklaw has been hard at work with his patreon on concurrent comic projects so if you like leather, hypno, or superheroes give a look!
https://www.patreon.com/cyberklaw
https://ko-fi.com/cyberklaw
Cirruskitfox has recently changed jobs and has been considering taking up commission work again so keep an eye out!
lapinbeau just went through a small surgery so won't be able to work on art for at least a little bit!
https://twitter.com/naughty_jester
https://www.patreon.com/lapinbeau
https://naughtyjester.carrd.co/
Whiteshadowhare has been doing a lot of fantastic renders and animations!
https://bsky.app/profile/whiteshado.....re.bsky.social
https://ko-fi.com/whiteshadowhare
https://www.patreon.com/whiteshadowhare
Toomuchdynamite has been really knocking it out of the park with his comics lately. I adore his Starship fan series and he's currently working on an original adult comic that's been very sexy so far
https://bsky.app/profile/toomuchdyn.....te.bsky.social
https://patreon.com/toomuchdynamite
Guffaw is currently open for extremely cute Holiday Postcard commissions! Give a look, I'll be posting up my own sometime soon! :D
I am absolutely sure there's folks I've missed and may add later or do a separate journal for. And I don't expect anyone to give or support all of these folks but you know a dollar here or there to who you can is a help, but please don't feel obligated! it's a tough season for everyone.
And again if you have anyone you want to shout out for, someone open for commissions or in need of some extra help please speak up!
It's the holidays, money is tight, things go wrong, or folks just aren't getting the eyeballs they need. So here's a lot of folks to check out and if you have a spare buck or two maybe toss 'em a kofi or hit up their patreon for a month or something! This is obv going to be biased, it's folks I like and even some friends but it's my list and as always, please feel free to leave shout outs for other folks! So in no particular order except just whoever jumps to mind first:
Donryu Just did a big move over the summer, been really hitting the pavement with commissions and working cons. Unfortunately just got sick this week, so any support would be valuable! Keep an eye peeled on his twitter for commission announcements and other goodies!https://twitter.com/donryuart
https://ko-fi.com/donryu
Cooner Familiar name! Been leaning into his patreon to work on comics, some really fun ones like My Bigger Boyfriend. Has lost lotteries for a couple cons so support makes a difference!http://cooner.art/
https://ko-fi.com/cooner
Spooktoons has unfortunately been unable to do art much this year. I don't want to go into details but the home situation is very bad. They do have a patreon but currently not posting actively. However, a kofi donation would help a very wonderful personhttps://ko-fi.com/spooktoons
https://twitter.com/SpookToons
https://spooktoons.carrd.co/
Redvelvetbat has been active lately, keep an eye on their FA and twitter for adoptables and the odd commission chance. https://twitter.com/RVBShush/
Rattusdingus has also moved recently, getting out of Florida. Moving is pretty costly so any support helps!https://bsky.app/profile/ratgalactic.bsky.social
https://ko-fi.com/ratgalactic
Marcothecat is hard at work doing commissions to cover bills but unfortunately also came back from MFF with a case of crudhttps://twitter.com/billcatter
https://ko-fi.com/billyfore
knuxlight has been hard at work on his comic The Were Project and putting out the occasional adoptables and pin up commissions, pay attention to his twitter for announcements or support his comic on patreon! Also recently hit some pricy medical billshttps://twitter.com/tehknuxlight
https://twitter.com/thewereproject
https://www.patreon.com/thewereproject
https://ko-fi.com/knuxlight
k-9 recently closed his patreon after finding it just wasn't clicking for him. He's still been working on quite a lot of art and you can find it in his gallery and on bluesky. Has also moved a few times recently and had a pretty wild yearhttps://bsky.app/profile/artmutt.bsky.social
https://ko-fi.com/artmutt
Markwulfgar has been hard at work on commissions and his own projects when able, lot of bills though so any support is helpful. Also keep an eye out for his usual christmas comic, they're always sexy fun!https://twitter.com/markwulfgar
https://www.patreon.com/markwulfgar
https://ko-fi.com/markwulfgar
https://linktr.ee/markwulfgar
Hearthfox Aka Dangerfox, also known as the owner of Wiggle the dancing fox puppet! Has been open for commissions lately but donations always appreciated
https://ko-fi.com/dangerfox
https://twitter.com/TheHearthFox
Plummy does some pretty kinky stuff but also a lot of extremely cute and wholesome stuff where he's mostly active on twitter. https://twitter.com/ploommy
https://ko-fi.com/A5524G58
Cyberklaw has been hard at work with his patreon on concurrent comic projects so if you like leather, hypno, or superheroes give a look!https://www.patreon.com/cyberklaw
https://ko-fi.com/cyberklaw
Cirruskitfox has recently changed jobs and has been considering taking up commission work again so keep an eye out!
lapinbeau just went through a small surgery so won't be able to work on art for at least a little bit!https://twitter.com/naughty_jester
https://www.patreon.com/lapinbeau
https://naughtyjester.carrd.co/
Whiteshadowhare has been doing a lot of fantastic renders and animations!https://bsky.app/profile/whiteshado.....re.bsky.social
https://ko-fi.com/whiteshadowhare
https://www.patreon.com/whiteshadowhare
Toomuchdynamite has been really knocking it out of the park with his comics lately. I adore his Starship fan series and he's currently working on an original adult comic that's been very sexy so farhttps://bsky.app/profile/toomuchdyn.....te.bsky.social
https://patreon.com/toomuchdynamite
Guffaw is currently open for extremely cute Holiday Postcard commissions! Give a look, I'll be posting up my own sometime soon! :DI am absolutely sure there's folks I've missed and may add later or do a separate journal for. And I don't expect anyone to give or support all of these folks but you know a dollar here or there to who you can is a help, but please don't feel obligated! it's a tough season for everyone.
And again if you have anyone you want to shout out for, someone open for commissions or in need of some extra help please speak up!
Steam Sale Recommendations!
Posted 2 years agoSomeone on another site was asking for cheap recommendations for the current steam sale (lasts through Monday) so I browsed through my library real quick and.. figured I may as well share here too! I erred away from obvious stuff everyone probably has already (Like Hollow Knight, Torchlight, Shovel Knight, etc) So here's a lot of more indie games I've played
Armello - Furry Board game! Cool fantasy setting, fun to play with friends or with AI, multiple ways to win and they've added a lot over the years
Artifact Adventure - interesting retro RPG where quests offer multiple solutions and unexpected outcomes
Avernum series - really cool old CRPG, I love the setting, from 2 onward you can have cat and lizard folk in your party. I still need to play 4 - 6 some day
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 1/2 - -awesome- highly polished retro Castlevania loveletter. I love both but if you have to pick, get 2 (it has a steam punk Shiba inu!)
Endless Bounty - Steamy gay bara romance and adventure! =D
For a Vast Future - neat lil retro RPG, short and has some interesting ideas
Foretales - cool boardgame sorta fantasy game with a cool story telling mechanic and some cool characters
Geneforge 1 - Mutagen - old style CRPG from the studio that did avernum, play as a biowizard and try to solve a mystery!
Inspector Waffles - extremely cute point and click adventure game, lots of furry puns
Jack Move - super cool pixel art cyberpunk RPG
Later Alligator - Extremely sweet/cute point and click adventure, lots of mini games, it's adorable
Nobody Saves the World - cool lil action adventure RPG with a classic Nickelodeon kind of art style
Recettear - cute item shop/dungeon spelunking game
Shadows of Adam - retro RPG, pretty neat!
Armello - Furry Board game! Cool fantasy setting, fun to play with friends or with AI, multiple ways to win and they've added a lot over the years
Artifact Adventure - interesting retro RPG where quests offer multiple solutions and unexpected outcomes
Avernum series - really cool old CRPG, I love the setting, from 2 onward you can have cat and lizard folk in your party. I still need to play 4 - 6 some day
Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 1/2 - -awesome- highly polished retro Castlevania loveletter. I love both but if you have to pick, get 2 (it has a steam punk Shiba inu!)
Endless Bounty - Steamy gay bara romance and adventure! =D
For a Vast Future - neat lil retro RPG, short and has some interesting ideas
Foretales - cool boardgame sorta fantasy game with a cool story telling mechanic and some cool characters
Geneforge 1 - Mutagen - old style CRPG from the studio that did avernum, play as a biowizard and try to solve a mystery!
Inspector Waffles - extremely cute point and click adventure game, lots of furry puns
Jack Move - super cool pixel art cyberpunk RPG
Later Alligator - Extremely sweet/cute point and click adventure, lots of mini games, it's adorable
Nobody Saves the World - cool lil action adventure RPG with a classic Nickelodeon kind of art style
Recettear - cute item shop/dungeon spelunking game
Shadows of Adam - retro RPG, pretty neat!
Daylight Savings!
Posted 2 years agoUS folks (most of you) it's time to turn your clocks back an hour!
Free test kits!
Posted 2 years agoUS Folks, you are eligible to order 4 more free test kits if you need
https://www.covid.gov/tests
And if you have some older test kits, they may be expired, but some have had their expiration dates extended, here's where to check:
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices.....tic-tests#list
And a reminder, the new booster is available for those that want it. There should be no charge for this! Either your insurance will pay for it or, if you lack insurance, there is a CDC bridge program through Dec 2024 that will cover the cost of the shot. Make sure your pharmacy/clinic/doctor is aware of it so you don't get charged!
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/progra.....dge/index.html
https://www.covid.gov/tests
And if you have some older test kits, they may be expired, but some have had their expiration dates extended, here's where to check:
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices.....tic-tests#list
And a reminder, the new booster is available for those that want it. There should be no charge for this! Either your insurance will pay for it or, if you lack insurance, there is a CDC bridge program through Dec 2024 that will cover the cost of the shot. Make sure your pharmacy/clinic/doctor is aware of it so you don't get charged!
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/progra.....dge/index.html
New COVID Booster rolling out
Posted 2 years agoNew COVID booster has been approved and should start being available in the US within the next week. Check your local pharmacies/clinic/general practitioner to book an appointment!
Insurance should cover it and if you don't have insurance there's a bridge program currently set up until the end of december to make it free to you.
Make sure it's the 2023/2024 booster and not the bivalent booster (the bivalent booster was last year's jab and covers different strains no longer prevalent)
Insurance should cover it and if you don't have insurance there's a bridge program currently set up until the end of december to make it free to you.
Make sure it's the 2023/2024 booster and not the bivalent booster (the bivalent booster was last year's jab and covers different strains no longer prevalent)
Sea of Stars Crypt!
Posted 2 years agooh hey if you're playing Sea of Stars and want to find my memorial in the crypt, my code is 699372
...I honestly don't even remember what I put.
...I honestly don't even remember what I put.
Fur Quest is out!
Posted 2 years agohttps://store.steampowered.com/app/.....0230/Furquest/
So I am sure I put out a journal about this game a ways back. I backed it on kickstarter and it's finally out! You might even spot a couple familiar faces if you go check out the sauna in the Moon Festival area ;D
Pick it up! it's a very cute game that deals in themes of friendship and loneliness. I will warn you, it gets dark toward the end, but it's a pretty decent lil romp and the gameplay is fairly low stakes ("combat" is all warioware style mini games) With some fun characters and some very silly jokes. It's got some solid Undertale vibes so if that sounds like your jam give it a look
So I am sure I put out a journal about this game a ways back. I backed it on kickstarter and it's finally out! You might even spot a couple familiar faces if you go check out the sauna in the Moon Festival area ;D
Pick it up! it's a very cute game that deals in themes of friendship and loneliness. I will warn you, it gets dark toward the end, but it's a pretty decent lil romp and the gameplay is fairly low stakes ("combat" is all warioware style mini games) With some fun characters and some very silly jokes. It's got some solid Undertale vibes so if that sounds like your jam give it a look
Birthday ^^
Posted 2 years agoHad a very nice dinner with family on Wednesday to celebrate. Today just going to take it easy and watch an anime a friend got me.
Thank you all for the wonderful well wishes
Thank you all for the wonderful well wishes
Birthday soon!
Posted 2 years agoBirthday this Friday on the 12th ^^
no major plans. Doing a dinner wednesday with family. Thinking I might just hang out and relax day of, maybe get some ice cream or something
no major plans. Doing a dinner wednesday with family. Thinking I might just hang out and relax day of, maybe get some ice cream or something
Happy birthday beau!
Posted 2 years agoIt's lapinbeau's birthday!
lapinbeau's birthday!