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!

Yes, I know; I missed a couple of updates, but work stuff amirite? It sounds like an excuse but my job can be very demanding at times. Between that and responsibilities with home and family, I’m left with little in the tank at the end of the day. And whatever I have left is saved for writing the story or vegging out in bed playing games. Thinking of it now, maybe biweekly posts should be the norm, rather than the exception. I’ll mull it over.

Anyway, here’s what’s been happening recently:

Whatcha Playin’, Coffee?

Landstalker on modern consoles like the Switch is an oddity. As much as I love the Nintendo system, the Joy-Cons make playing this game difficult. Between the joystick and the pseudo-D-pad buttons,I felt like I was fighting with the controls half of the time. So instead, I switched over to my Miyoo and movement was like night and day. Having a proper D-pad in a comfortable and natural location made all the difference. Lesson learned: some retro games need a proper D-Pad in order to get the best experience out of them. Anything less just makes the experience not fun, and Landstalker is anything but not fun! The platforming and puzzles are a treat and the story’s surprisingly deep. It’s turning into an instant favourite for me.

I picked up Kirby and the Forgotten Land from the library and slapped that into my Switch the other day. Man! This is a fun one that’s chock-full of neat secrets that aren’t too terribly out of the way to find. The fact that you can upgrade copy abilities is awesome – it really encourages you to find and test out the new upgrades for various situations. It’s a supremely entertaining game so far.

I’m just about 75% of the way through Shadowrun Returns. It’s actually a very good story! I’m at the part now where we have to break into a corpo to steal a sample of a formula designed to kill bugs dead. Why bugs? Because the main antagonist employs an immortal race of hybrid human-bugs created through demonic rituals! Seriously, as cyberpunk as it is, Shadowrun Returns doesn’t mess around with the high fantasy elements. And to think, all of this started from a dead man’s request… I can’t wait to see how this all ends!

Whatcha Writin’, Coffee?

Chapter 29 is done and we’re on to the next! It’s shaping up to be a nice one so far.

Side note: I’ve been listening to the Final Fantasy VII episodes of the A Gamer Looks at 40 podcast by my good friend, Bill Tucker. A common point his guests have made in the (as of writing) six episodes is that there’s a perception that VII puts heavy focus on the relationship between Cloud and Sephiroth. And they’re right! The story isn’t just about Cloud and Sephiroth, it’s about all of the characters, both heroes and villains.* Listening to the pod and hearing all of the guests and their stories and views of the game has reaffirmed my story’s direction. Combing through the last 30 chapters of Book 2, I’ve noticed that I’ve spent more time on developing the supporting cast than I have with the Cloud and Sephiroth characters. It kind of makes the story long-winded at a few points (something that I can address after the first draft), but I want to make sure that everyone gets some sort of exposure. All of the characters are important in the grand scheme of the saga, not just one book.

*Side note: I’m a frequent guest on this pod and I made this comment! Call it a shameless plug, if you will.

There will be certain characters in Book 2 that won’t get the POV treatment – Nazo (the Sephiroth character) is an obvious one, given that he operates in the shadows. But you also won’t see anything from the POV of Robotnik (who fills Rufus’ role to a tee, IMO). All of Robotnik’s moves and actions are interpreted from the lenses of other characters. The idea is to make it really confusing as to what his motivations really are. Are they simple? Are they complex? Is it in line with Final Fantasy VII? Or the Sonic games? Only I know that answer, haha!

Whatcha Readin’, Coffee?

Nothing finished on the book front these past couple of weeks. I’m still working away at Bullshit Jobs, but I’ve since started another one of my library reads: The Land of Lost Things, by John Connolly Apparently, it’s the sequel to The Book of Lost Things, released almost 20 years ago.

A young girl named Phoebe lies comatose in the hospital after a tragic accident. Her mother, Ceres, stands vigilant by her side, hoping against hope that she would wake up while at the same time losing the will to live. A chance encounter with a book and a Crooked Man traps her within the Land of Lost Things. Ceres must find a way home while also dealing with the myriad wonders and horrors within the lands Mr. Connolly crafts this tale using classic fairy tales as the backdrop while navigating themes of loss and grief. It’s a great read so far.

How’s Trainin’, Coffee?

The regimen is going along swimmingly, although it’s been interrupted by mountains and mountains of snow these past few days. Despite the setback, I can attest that the system is working as intended. I dug out a neighbour’s driveway when my snowblower battery died and did so without feeling too fatigued by the effort. I plan to work more upper body this coming week as a way to make up for all the leg work I’ve done last week.

That’s it for what’s been happening recently. Anything new on your end? Let me know below, or on Bluesky.

~Coffee