Most notes here are a blogpost already

There are only 20 weeks left this year, that is actually really scary. But well, I guess that’s just how time works right?

In any case, there were a lot of events going on last week, but a lot of them I kinda already wrote about, here are a few notes anyway.

🎂 Tell Happy Birthday to Sylvia!, wishing her the best in this little journey we call life.
👊 I am terrible at doing high-fives and fist bumps with literally everyone at my workplace, especially my boss. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
✍️ I feel like I don’t have a lot of new stuff to say this time because of how many posts I’ve written this week, so some of my notes will just be tl;drs and link to the posts instead—which I guess is what every note would be in an ideal world?
🔧 I’ve done a lot of kinda invisible changes to my website. I think I may build a /changelog slashpage very soon, following on Jedda’s footsteps.
♟️ I decided to put both videogames and board games in the gaming section now, card games might still show up in the regular notes section, unless I have a lot to say about them!
⌚ As promised, I’ve been wearing an analog clock for the past few days, my Militado ML07, it’s been kinda nice I have to say, but I also don’t think everything has changed that much.
🛍️ I went out shopping with my parents, I wrote about that already so, feel free to give it a read. TL;DR: I feel lonelier without my siblings, I updated my glasses prescription and I’m waiting for my new ones, I almost fell for a Steam Deck or a Switch 2, I bought a book: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline which has nostalgic value for me.
👖 I also bought a pair of “tech pants” that have a side leg pocket with a zipper and I actually really love them and I’m wearing them right now! This should be in the previous note but I just liked them and didn’t want you to miss them.
🧻 I have been thinking about starting a Postroll, once again inspired by Jedda’s, but as I already share plenty of links in my weeknotes, maybe I’ll have to reorganize what goes where.
📚 I want to create pixel art versions of the covers of books I’ve read, basically my own little pixel library

Gaming

Since I am now adding board games here, I feel like the name alone may not be enough to know if it’s a game that might interest the reader, so I am adding emojis now, maybe. Also I will try to remember that I should use “✨” for notable/new games.

Videogames

🛩️ Jet Lancer ✨ - This is a very arcadey airplane shooter with heavy momentum based movement, frenetic gameplay and enemies to shot your way through. It is the game of the month in the Low Key Game Club on the TWG Discord server. I usually spend my time in other games, but since my suggestion for next month got chosen, I felt a bit guilty and decided to give a fair try to this one. I am not dissapointed, I played it for 6 hours during the week and have already completed 30 missions or so. It is also really cheap, and the story is quite engaging as well, which I didn’t expect for a shooter at all.
🏫 The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy - I continued my second run quite a bit, and I love how the story has completely turned from the first playthrough, it’s crazy and I want to see more of it! I finally understand the criticism of “let me play the story I don’t care that much about the battles anymore”. They are kinda repetitive, as every battle is basically about the same thing and in the same place. Enemy placement and the boss are the only things that differ, but it’s not much. Thankfully the game lets you skip battles you’ve already fought in previous routes, and I will probably do that as I play more of it.

Board games

🧟 Betrayal at House in the Hill ✨ - This is the first “proper” Tabletop Role Playing Game I’ve ever played, as I really only stuck with the popular games like Clue, Monopoly or Risk. I was a bit bored during the first half hour or so, as the owner of the game (who only unboxed it the previous day but is good at reading rulebooks) explained it to us, and we did our first playthrough! It was much more fun than I thought. The game is about exploring a haunted mansion, there are 50 scenarios available where one of the players is a traitor and sabotages the rest. I played some background music from Parasite Eve and Resident Evil to set the mood, and it worked well. The scenario we got was quite fun, because the “traitor” was hidden among us (in many cases you know who the traitor is and the rules vary in each case), and it turned out to be the most seemingly “bored” of us the whole time! The traitor won, but we had a great time.

Reading

I read a lot more manga this time around, but I also managed to advance a lot on my current book! I mentioned in my last weeknotes some books I was thinking about reading, but I actually might skip all of them for Ready Player One, and I may also read the physical book, just for the sake of it, or maybe I’ll change my mind again.

Nemesis Games - I finally managed to make a lot of progress on this book, I read all the way up to chapter 35, so progress is now at 70%. I am really loving the setup of this story, all the characters are starting to clash together and I can feel the climax coming soon. Amos, Naomi, Alex and Holden are really doing all they can to keep it together as the solar system’s power structure collapsis on itself. This really is just crazy stuff!
Ariadne in the Blue Sky ✨ - A finished manga series from the artist behind Claymore—an absolute masterpiece I read in 2022. I read the first five chapters, and I am really liking it quite a bit. Unlike Claymore, which is dark fantasy and deals with redemption and revenge, Ariadne so far seems much more light-hearted and appealing to the sense of adventure and discovering the wonders of this fantasy world. It does so in a similar way to Chrono Trigger actually, I won’t spoil it but if you played the game you’ll recognize what trope I’m talking about by the first chapter. I am liking the concepts and the world so far, and I am looking forward to discover more of it.
Spy x Family ✨ - I finally catched up with this one after many months without reading it, I’m on chapter 120. I had stopped for a while because I caught up and forgot. I am totally into it once again though, it has developed its side characters wonderfully on these past chapters, it still rules, and it’s super fun too!
My Wife is from a Thousand Years Ago - I read up to chapter 261. I returned to this romcom for a bit and it’s still quite funny, also, the title is finally actually true!
Komi Can’t Communicate - Catched up with some bonus chapters and up to 449. It’s been a while since I read this one, felt like trying it again, I have to admit I kinda ran out of bandwidth and forgot many of the characters here, but I am still pushing along. I want more of the romance side, weirdly enough.
Usogui - I read up to chapter 63, at last. I made piece with having a hard time following the action of this one, and decided to keep reading it. I just want to see how far it can go with the this gambling story.

Around the web

Another week where I barely watched YouTube to be honest, some more blog posts for you!

I’m entitled to write this - A reminder to write for yourself, your feelings matter as well.
Cracking a Family Member’s Password - I love stories like these, I gotta learn hacking techniques.
Letter Club - Exchange emails among internet friends and abandon today’s social frenzy.
El susurro que quedó en la red – En honor a Lupe - In Spanish, in honor of a someone who has been offline for a while.
Your site, your home, your web - A reminder that it’s your website, follow your own terms, and your own rules.
I already have the perfect smartwatch for me - Using the stuff we already have is very much ideal.
Making a customizable wooden phone for my toddler - A fun crafting project, I kinda want one too.
Living Local - Living in a small place does come with some advantages.
Experiment with Simplicity for Friction - Going back to basic writing tools to build up from there.
I’m Attempting Blaugust (again) - I missed that CJ was doing the challenge too, awesome stuff!
Holy cats, my doctor thinks I’m autistic - This and the follow-up posts are a very personal read, give Hollie some appreciation!