A weekly status update from everyone’s favourite caffeinated weirdo.
Welcome back to Whatcha Up To! Coffee here, and here’s to the end of another week. Sorry, weeks. I missed last week’s update. Heck, it’s been a tough couple of weeks, nevermind. Depression hit me like a truck and I hadn’t felt like doing anything creative all month. I then subsequently got sick and am currently coughing out a lung. Fun, amirite? Anyway, let me break down what’s been going on:
Whatcha Playin’, Coffee?
Not much on the gaming front. Still playing through Forspoken, going through the lands and digging through points of interest I missed on my initial playthrough. It’s been pretty fun so far, but I will have to stop eventually. I’ve been slacking on my writing, which I’ll talk about next.
I’ve also continued my playthroughs of Final Fantasy Tactics and Chrono Trigger. Playing Tactics, I realized that Tactical RPGs will never be my thing. However, the story in Tactics has so much relevance to the events of our present time that I just have to keep going with it. I want to put in the work to see what happens at the very end. I’ve hit the Prehistoric Age in Chrono Trigger and spent some time farming items to get new equipment before advancing the story. Like Final Fantasy VII, I can play Chrono Trigger almost on auto-pilot. I know where to go and what to do and I don’t have to think about it so much.
Whatcha Writin’, Coffee?
These past two weeks have been a poor one for the writing game. After I completed the revised outline for Chapter 25, I just… stopped. I haven’t touched the Final Fantasy VII Remake critique. I haven’t made edits that I was supposed to do for a couple of original stories. I haven’t written new Backlog Busting posts. Heck, I even challenged myself to put on a writing blitz for March, but nothing has happened. And I think it’s all to do with my current mental state. Between the rising costs of living and the government’s inability to do anything about it, Akira Toriyama’s passing, some expensive housing repair costs due to a trash panda and her babies squatting in my attic and me getting sick, I haven’t felt the desire to write anything. At the same time, I’m beating myself up for not getting any writing done, which is only making me feel worse. The juice was flowing and then it just… stopped. I hate how that happens, but that’s how life rolls, right? I just have to remember that tried and true motto: little by little, it will all get done.
Whatcha Readin’, Coffee?
Continuing with The Book of Swords, I’ve read a chilling story from Robin Hobb about a young girl dealing with the aftermath of a violent raid in her village. Her father, among other villagers, was taken away, while her mother gave his heirloom sword to another family in return for shelter. This act constituted a breach of loyalty in the daughter’s eyes – that sword should have been hers.
A day later, her father and the other kidnapped townspeople return. Except they’re not the same. Though they look like them, the returning villagers have become Forged – creatures who mimic the appearance of others, but revert to violent and basal instincts. The girl has to make a choice – stay with her family or protect her father, who’s transformed into a monster.
I might end up putting this book down and reading something else. I’m just not into it. Something tells me I need to read something aspirational. Maybe it’s time I sit down with Reggie Fils-Amie’s book, Disrupting the Game? If anyone can get me out of my funk, it’s Reggie.
How’s Trainin’, Coffee?
Not much these past few weeks. Trying to keep myself active, but my mental state plus me being sick has gotten in the way. I’ll rest and recuperate and then slowly ease my way back into routine.
That’s it for this past week. Anything new on your end? Let me know below. Otherwise, I’ll talk to you (hopefully) at the end of this week!
~Coffee
Games With Coffee 