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… well, month I suppose?

How’s it going? It’s crazy stuff happening here in the land of the North. Election season happened, Switch 2 pre-order season came and went and there’s still so much uncertainty in the world as of late. Odd segue: I still can’t get over the fact that they didn’t call it the Super Nintendo Switch. I mean, C’MON! IT WAS RIGHT THERE!

Anyway, I sadly failed to secure a pre-order, but it didn’t really matter anyway as I had to “switch” priorities. (See what I did there?) Gaming may be one of my favourite things, but writing is too. Putting up posts here and writing my stories is a big deal for me; I’ve been meaning to write something on the blog – anything – for the last month, but to no avail. Writing and posting on my old Chromebook has become impossible, mainly because the specs for it are so terrible (4GB RAM, 64GB SSD), but also because software updates have ceased. It’s hard for me to switch between the work brain and the writing brain during my work hours, plus it’s very busy at the moment. And continually trying to go up and down to my gaming rig to write is straining my relationships between my family and my craft.

In essence, I had to give up the idea of getting a Switch 2 and get a new, more future-proofed laptop instead. I mean, I didn’t get my original Switch until well past my birthday in 2017, so I’m hoping for a repeat occurrence.

Anyway, here’s what’s been happening this past week:

Whatcha Playin’, Coffee?

Marathoned my way through the rest of the mainline Metroid series with Metroid Fusion and Metroid Dread. Having not played Fusion for such a long time, I was a bit nervous that I’d have to rely on a guide to find everything. But once I started playing it, the muscle memory kicked in and I was gliding through it just like old times!

Controversial as this may sound, Metroid Dread feels almost as good – better, even – than Super Metroid. Even though I told myself I’d only play through it once, I ended up doing a second playthrough immediately after I finished, haha. There’s something magical about how fluidly Samus controls in Dread. It’s almost like poetry in perpetual, alien-slaying motion. That said, I also did another Super Metroid run around the middle of May. Honestly, I don’t think I can get enough Metroid in my life. I need more!

As the saying goes: All things are good in moderation. So, I put a pause on Metroid hunting and started up a game that’s been on my backlog for, well, forever: Secret of Mana. I had made it to the end once, maybe around 20-ish years ago, but I never properly finished the game. So, I’m rectifying that. As of writing, I’ve picked up Salamando, levelled up my magic and now I’m off to the Ice Palace. I still have a long way to go.

In terms of library pickups, I gave Paper Mario: The Origami King a try. Something about it didn’t feel quite right; maybe it’s because I consider The Thousand Year Door to be the gold-standard of the series, but The Origami King didn’t pull me in the same way. I returned it and gave Mario vs. Donkey Kong a try instead. I played the original briefly on Kid Espresso’s Miyoo Mini. In comparison, the remake is a carbon copy of the original – same moves, same layouts, same everything. It just looks prettier and is on a bigger screen, and that’s not a bad thing, all things considered. Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a great puzzler and a welcome break from bounty hunting and level grinding.

As of writing, I just got notified that Cult of the Lamb is available to borrow… I’m really looking forward to playing that one!

Whatcha Writin’, Coffee?

Finally finished the next Backlog Busting post on Final Fantasy Tactics. It went live this Tuesday, so check it out for my thoughts on this legendary SRPG. As for the fanfic, despite getting this awesome new laptop, I’ve again stalled on progress. I need to rethink my writing times and it might mean that I have to try to change my night owl ways. Is it possible? I don’t know. But I have to try – I need to finish this story so I can finally play Rebirth!

Whatcha Readin’, Coffee?

I got through Books 2, 3 and 4 of The Malabar House series by Vaseem Khan. Inspector Persis Wadia is such a complex character – she’s strong-willed and stubborn but is also very vulnerable and recognizes the peril and infamy she’s received as India’s first female inspector. She’s driven by a relentless pursuit of the truth, regardless of the collateral damage she caused along the way. And she’s not afraid to confront the views of both British colonialism and Indian patriarchy even if it could cost her the case. I really enjoy these books and I can’t wait to dive into the fifth one next.

I’m also halfway through Mortal Coils; a new book by my good friend, Chris Durston. He also wrote Each Little Universe – a novel that I absolutely love and that you should get ASAP.

Anyway, Mortal Coils is a pretty neat novel about a recently dead necromancer who must find a way to prevent her resurrection before her former master and man who murdered her brings her back as his eternal slave. It’s very heady so far, but stories exploring the afterlife are my cup of tea. And Chris’ trademark humor is out in full force. I’m excited to see how this story plays out.

How’s Trainin’, Coffee?

Rehab continues. It sucks, but it is what it is. Starting from this post, I’ll quit writing updates on training; it’ll just be the same for the next few months.

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

~Coffee