A weekly status update from everyone’s favourite caffeinated weirdo.
Oh. Hello there.
Coffee here and we’re back with Whatcha Up To!? Yeah, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve been around. A loooooooooooot has happened since the last update back at the beginning of July. In short, work got busy as hell. In fact, this summer has been the busiest since I’ve started in my current position, when usually, it’s not too bad. Throw in typical summer vacation activities on top of all of the overtime I’ve accrued and I’ve been left with very little time to sit and write anything, much less a weekly or bi-weekly blog post.
That said, for every year going forward, I’ll be on hiatus from the beginning of July to the end of August, and maybe even beyond depending on how busy things get. Otherwise, we’ll be back with bi-weekly posts along with the other usual posts I should be putting up.
How was everyone’s summer? I hope it was relaxing for you all. As for me? I’m still recovering from exhaustion and it’s freakin’ mid-October. That’s how crazy this summer has been for me, haha. I still found time to do a few things over the last three-ish months, so here’s what’s been happening:
Whatcha Playin’, Coffee?
I picked up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as a birthday present in July and I’ve been floored at how amazing it has been. I had to put it on hold for the rest of the summer due to how busy things got, but I intend to go right back into it for the rest of October and beyond. On the other hand, my Switch and my Miyoo Mini got in some heavy use as I used it to de-stress after long days of working.
One fun fact you may not know about me – I enjoy racing games. And I’m not just talking about Mario Kart, either. Of the myriad number of racing games I’ve played, Gran Turismo 2 was one of my favourites growing up and I decided to revisit it through the Miyoo during late July and through all of August. Also, this mini handheld has become my go-to staple for travelling as of late. I love taking my Switch with me, but it’s hard to fit it in a pocket. The ultra-portable nature of the Miyoo combined with my curated library of retro games ensures that I’ll never get bored in my travels.
Hollow Knight: Silksong dropped at the beginning of September. I played the original game a few days before to acclimate to its mechanics prior to starting Silksong and it was definitely needed because Silksong came out SWINGING. Everything hurts Hornet much more and Pharloom was just so huge. I just got the true ending of the game this past weekend alone. A 60+ hour game for $30 CAD!? That’s a freakin’ steal in my opinion. Honestly, between this one and Expedition 33, I’m going to have a hard time figuring out what my GOTY is going to be…
Oh yeah, I also played some games starring my favourite belly-dancing waifu, Shantae! First, I scored a copy of Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution for PC, which I wrote a review for. A fun title despite its short length. I then followed that up with Shantae: Risky’s Revenge on my Switch. It’s even shorter than Shantae Advance, and it felt slightly half-baked in my opinion. But it was still a solid title that showcased a lot of neat innovations at the time – innovations that are still in place in future titles and revisited in Shantae Advance.
As it is now spooky season, it is customary for one to play some spooky games. This year, I’m revisiting Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but I’m playing it in Luck Mode – essentially hard mode for the first third of the game and then easy mode for the rest thanks to the insane luck stat, haha.
Whatcha Writin’, Coffee?
Nothing, since, well, summer happened.
Writing may have taken a backseat to other priorities, but I didn’t completely forget about it. I made some slight progress on Mobius VII – not much, but enough to keep me going. Part of the problem was that I wasn’t fully able to tap into the pain and anguish I needed to flesh out Bark’s arc. That, and I haven’t made my characters suffer enough, at least not compared to Book 1. I suppose all I need to do is dig deeper.
October, November and December promise to be much better in the writing department as those are the months where I’ll see the most productivity. This post serves as a good example of that, haha. Backlog Busting posts for Splatoon 2 are incoming, so expect them closer to the end of the month.
Whatcha Readin’, Coffee?
I got back into reading in late September, thanks to a couple of books I discovered while travelling. The first being The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman. It’s his take on Arthurian legend – specifically what happens to Britain after the legendary king’s fall. The Bright Sword has an up and coming knight teaming up with a sorceress and the remaining Knights of the Round to find King Arthur after he disappears in his final battle. It was both highly engrossing and relevant to me, as I’m involved in a collaboration project related to King Arthur.
The second book is the fourth and final entry in the Tomes & Tea series, Alchemy and a Cup of Tea, by Rebecca Thorne. Goddamnit, I love this series. The fourth book ties up the rest of the loose ends introduced in the first three entries while resolving some lingering political threads in the Magicary, leading to a happy resolution for all parties involved. Also, I freakin’ love Reyna and Kianthe and their relationship with one another. This series, along with other cozy fantasy stories, has given me a chance to both reflect on and improve how I write women in stories. I feel like I’m on the right path, but I’m nowhere near where I really need to be in terms of writing compelling and relatable characters. I got more work to do.
Whatcha Streamin’, Coffee?
Yeah, you read that right. I’M BACK! Well, sorta.
I’m making a comeback to streaming. I had to stop due to family commitments, but I actually missed hanging out and vibing online with people. I’m keeping things light and easy – four streams a month, every Sunday night, just like I did in 2020. Unlike in 2020, I’ll be focusing less on Sonic content and more on a variety of things: gaming, building and writing. I’m especially excited about the writing portion as you’ll get a first-hand look at my writing process. Plus, you’ll get sneak peeks at new content, including future posts and chapters for Book 2 of Mobius VII!
I’m aiming for a November debut, so I plan to start test streams in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, I have to rebuild most of my stuff from scratch – alerts, overlays, etc. I want a fresh, new and uniform look to my streams and I don’t want to rely on StreamElements or StreamLabs or whatever to manage my stream experience. Just like I mentioned in the top of the post about posting, I will be doing yearly streaming sabbaticals from July to the end of August or September, depending on how busy things get.
How’s Training, Coffee?
So yeah, no training happened during the summer. Although, I did go on an anti-inflammatory diet to help control my psoriasis. It kinda helped. Since things are less busy, I’m getting back into the swing of things – first by getting some more outdoor time and second by getting acclimated with weight lifting again.
It’s been years since I did any sort of running and I’m happy to say that I’m not too out of shape, haha. I did go a little too hard on the running the other day and now I’m regretting that particular choice. On the plus side, the shoulder is much, much better now and I’m able to safely load weight onto it again, so yay, progress!
And that’s it for what’s been happening recently. Sorry for the long wait. So, anything new on your end? Let me know below, or on Bluesky.
‘Til next time, may your games be awesome, may your coffee be energizing and may your dreams be fulfilled.
~Coffee
Games With Coffee 