A weekly status update from everyone’s favourite caffeinated weirdo.

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Welcome back to Whatcha Up To! Coffee here, and here’s to the end of another week. And a much more productive week overall, now that the big ticket items at my day job are done. For now, that is. It was busy enough though, that I wasn’t able to post this until Monday! Anyway, here’s what happened this time around: 

Whatcha Playin’, Coffee?

I finished Final Fantasy Tactics, and I hate how it never got a proper sequel. I’m so curious to know what happens to Ramza and Alma at the end. Do they or their descendants ever return to Ivalice? It’s interesting that the story is framed from the perspective of Alazam, Oran Durai’s descendent, as he reclaims Oran’s notes about what really happened in the War of the Lions. We, as the player, are essentially reenacting the events of the true history written on those papers. I like stories like that.

From Tactics, I segued over to Splatoon 2’s single-player campaign, which I had left woefully incomplete. Despite its nature as a third-person shooter, there is some surprising depth in the way you have to approach each level in the campaign. Each section within each level requires some strategy to get through quickly and efficiently. Plus, the Sunken Scrolls hidden in each level offer some interesting lore to the world of Splatoon. If you’ve been keeping up with the blog up to now, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for deep lore and world building. Overall, I’ve been having a lot of fun with the story mode. This and the Octo Expansion might be the kick I need to get Splatoon 3. 

Whatcha Writin’, Coffee?

This week, I’ve started taking online courses in order to hone my writing skills and become a specialist in the field. You can’t consider yourself a Writer Extraordinaire if you don’t take the time to improve your craft, right? I’ve had this on the backburner for some time now. I may have had some good feedback on my writing, but I know I can be better than I am right now. Honestly, this current moment was the second-best time to start taking classes. The best was yesterday. 

Despite my specialization quest, the work never stops. I’ve got a Backlog Busting report on Shadow Dancer to finish, plus the Final Fantasy VII Remake critique. I’m now analyzing and breaking down the story elements within the game. My goal is to finish this critique by mid-July, so that I can return to writing Mobius VII full time. I’ve had the itch to go back to the world, thanks to multiple listens of MegaRan’s Black Materia: REMAKE album. There’s also edits to be done on another short story I submitted to an anthology series a couple of years back. That’s a promising one that I’m sure you’ll all enjoy once it comes out.

Whatcha Readin’, Coffee?

I’ve read a few pages of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and I’m hooked into it. It’s a murder mystery story set in an established estate. What makes it interesting is the sci-fi elements mixed into the story. Things like the body swapping from Quantum Leap, or elements of time travel. It’ll be interesting to see how deep this goes. Alas, I had to return it to the library, so I’ll be picking something new this week.

I’m also reading books on how to improve on my writing, as part of my coursework. This week, I’ve started reading Good With Words: Writing and Editing, by Patrick Berry of the University of Michigan’s Law School. I’m only a few pages in and already it’s helping me be more conscious of my writing. That’s a good thing!

How’s Trainin’, Coffee?

The pains of training continue as I’m restarting my workout program. Kettlebell circuit training with a focus on legwork was the workout du jour. I’m definitely feeling it in my glutes and hamstrings, which do need some work after being so sedentary for so long.

Starting on Monday, I’m going to challenge myself to do 20 consecutive days of workouts for a minimum of 20 minutes per workout. Once those 20 days are up, I’ll do 20 more and so on until I start to see some improvements. I’ll check back with you next week on progress.

That’s it for what’s been happening recently. Anything new on your end? Let me know below. Otherwise, I’ll talk to you at the end of this week!

~Coffee