2023 Microdiary
Time: 22:17. 1/30/2023.
Weather: Clear
Listening to: 恋がたし
Often I have things going on that I can talk about but aren't really enough to justify a full diary entry. I prefer not to go months between writing new entries if I can. So I've decided to make this little miniature diary for miscellaneous thoughts. It can be as simple as just stating something I ate, played, or worked on. Anything sufficiently random and that I don't have lots to say about. On that note, I've spent hours and hours scouring through Youtube for new Vocaloid songs the last couple days. I definitely won't be able to keep up this kind of depth and consistency of my listening up for very long. Already I'll have to stop tomorrow because I have too much homework. Still, it's nice to add so much to the playlist for now!
Time: 00:05. 2/9/2023.
Weather: Clear
I went to see a movie in theaters for the first time in literally four years yesterday. It was a bit of an impulsive decision but it was nice as a change of pace. Because I'm physically pretty weak I haven't been able to go out much even when I have the option. I've gained a little more strength recently so I'm not 100% limited to work and school like I used to be. I think I did overdo it a little since I'm very exhausted today. It's all I can do to get through the necessary tasks of the day. Though, as a perk of the improved condition, I know I'll be able to recover in a few days.
Time: 02:59. 2/26/2023.
Listening to: 命辛辛
Nothing much new has been going on lately. I started playing Splatoon 3 last year shortly after it came out. Splatoon has always been on my radar but I generally don't play multiplayer games so I didn't try it out until now. My family play competitive multiplayer exclusively and the environment is so toxic that it put me off trying anything. But Splatoon is super fun and the gyro controls are more comfortable than mouse and keyboard for me. Games with mouse and keyboard are generally what I prefer but they unfortunately really agitate chronic pain. Gyro feels like a perfect happy medium once I got used to it!
I've been working hard to grind the catalog before this season ends. The Onyx O1STRERs are a need, not a want. In between grinding sessions I've been continuing to grab all the text from Slow Damage as I replay. I switched from powertoys to the program it's based on from Github. It's so much better and more convenient to use. Is there a more effecient way to do this? Certainly. Do I need or want to bother figuring it out? Nope.
Time: 00:05. 3/??/2023.Listening to: らいふ。
I've been continuing to play a lot of visual novels. Can't remember if I mentioned it here, but back in January I finished Heart of the Woods alongside Lamento: Beyond the Void (the latter of which I'm pretty sure I've mentioned). At the moment I don't have much to say about Lamento so don't expect a review. That may change when I do a replay in the future. Heart of the Woods was wonderful and I do have some thoughts on it in terms of pacing, art, and so on. However, that will definitely have to wait until after a replay. I intend to review it but I need to take notes and collect my thoughts. Finally, I am working on the Slow Damage review re-write. I actually want to do this in a video format as well as a text one. It's going to be very long so I think having a video format will make it more accessible and easy to watch.
This week I finished Hashihime of the Old Book Town and Sweet Pool. Hashihime I didn't end up liking that much. I could make a review but what I have to say is so primarily negative that unfortunately I don't think it's worth writing. I don't shy away from negativity when it comes to reviews but I prefer something more nuanced. When my opinion is just, "didn't like it and here's a million reasons why," it feels very dull to read and write. Stuff that's good, that's mediocre, or is close to being good but held back just a touch- they're way more interesting. Sweet Pool won't be getting a review either. I also didn't really like it all that much but I knew that going in. Weirdly enough, having my expectations tempered like that made it way more enjoyable to play as opposed to Hashihime which has very positive reviews but I found to be a mess. I mainly played it to see what the game was like. I've been making my way through Nitro+Chiral's entire catalog. Leaving out one game felt weird and would have driven me nuts until I actually played it. So, because all I expected was to sate my curiosity, I feel satisfied. Didn't like the game but I do like that I know all the details about it.
Basically, been playing lots of VNs at the cost of doing actual work. I've still got three more in the backlog to play but I'm forcing myself to slow down a bit.
Time: 23:04. 3/28/2023.
Weather: Clear
Arises from nitro+chiral hell. Well, I've done it. Finished all of their games (minus DMMD re:connect. I'll get to it when I get my next paycheck). Now that I'm finally finished with this project, I do think I want to make a sort of overview of their development as a studio. There's a lot of elements that come up over and over in each game. I don't think what I have in mind will fit well in with the full Slow Damage review re-write. While playing all their games has provided useful context and been great for my curiosity, it's not within the scope. I've been wanting to create an articles section for writing that is less personal than my diary but not outright a review either. The plan is for the first one in there to be about parallels in nitro+chiral games and the way this led into what they've made now.
Going back to DMMD was surprisingly nostalgic. It's been so long since I played that I totally forgot a lot of the stuff in it. I do actually want to make a DMMD review so I won't delve into my thoughts here. The thing I kind of hate about writing reviews is how much replaying they require. This applies to academic papers and stuff too. I don't get into a lot of new media unfortunately because I spend so much time mulling over the old stuff. After a point I've rewatched and replayed enough times that I can remember everything with perfect clarity. However, it takes quite a few plays to get to that point. All this is to say- Lamento was one of the longest VNs I've ever played. For the sake of review, I definitely need to do a replay. It's an enjoyable VN but also. It's going to take a while.
Current plan is basically Slow Damage review re-write and video -> Nitro+chiral development article -> DMMD review -> Lamento review. My mental health has not been the greatest so I expect it'll take quite a bit of time to get to all of them. But I will have fun doing it!
Time: 19:34. 3/29/2023.
Listening to: ミカンチ
Neocities seems to be having error 403s on some sites right now which is a little unfortunate since it's taken out some of my favorite pages here! All my pages which use iframes give 403s so that includes my shrines.
I've been thinking about making a second site for 18+ art. Not only NSFW stuff but also stuff that isn't appropriate for minors or is a bit too bloody. I envision Waterfall as being about 16+. There are definitely pages and subjects here which are adult only (Slow Damage review namely) but the majority is fine. Since playing Slow Damage and using Pixiv more heavily I've been feeling really inspired art wise. I've starting pulling from a lot of different sources and I think I'm approaching a bit of a breakthrough. I just don't really feel comfortable putting it here, only separated by a warning and a couple links. Not 100% on making it though so. Shrugs. If I do make the site it'll be the same basic code as this one just with different theming and styling to give it a unique identity.
Time: 23:00. 4/15/2023.
Listening to: へるmp
Hello. *immediately collapses to the ground*
I haven't been making much progress on any of my personal projects lately, unfortunately. But that's not unusual as I approach the end of the semester.
It's just 2 1/2 weeks now before I'm finally free to relax a little bit. That is... until the Summer classes start. But at least they only take up a month!
I thought I'd be more excited about graduating but really I just feel ready to move onto the next thing. Personal projects-wise,
I need to make a big list of all the stuff I want to
work on so I can keep track by this point.
The new version of Love Live: School Idol Festival was released. I was kind of hoping for some changes to the actual rhythm game system but it's still got that same sort of squishy feeling LLSIF had. I think it'd be better if I was playing on a tablet but the one I have is too old to run it by this point. Still, I'm enjoying the updated UI, systems, and music. I should take some time to actually watch the anime and catch up with the franchise. I got into Love Live when Muse was the only group and stuck with it through Aquors. I dropped off and now there are 2? 3?! new groups.
Also been playing DMMD re:connect. Due to how closely it ties in with DMMD I will be including it as a part of the DMMD review. A 1.5 in one, if you will. I've also got two article ideas, one for DMMD to discuss Aoba's psychology and one for UuultraC to discuss how it uses kaiju as an allegory. Though I will be critical in those articles, I need a format that doesn't necessitate speaking on a game in its entirety. Thus: articles and essays. Lots of work ahead and, in the process, I'm creating a schedule hell for myself. Not sure if I want to outright make deadlines but I think I need to make a priority grid by this point to make sure I get things a little more organized.
Time: 15:17. 5/1/2023.
Weather: Clear
Normally I don't update my site from my laptop since working on desktop is way more comfortable, but it's been a bit of a crazy day! So I'm crossing my fingers that this updates properly. I'm typing this directly in the Neocities editor this time.
Last night I finished up the common route for Slow Damage. I've worked out a pretty good system for taking notes and I got more than I expected from the replay. Mainly notes about foreshadowing and early characterization. It took about 5 1/2 hours so I can extrapolate from that how long it'll take to do the rest of the game. Now that it's finals week I'm no longer working which means I actually have more time than usual. It's funny because finals are so stressful for most people. I've been able to draw, work on reviews, write fanfic, and I've started learning Davinci Resolve.
I also got a new SSD which has been absolutely wonderful for my desktop's speed. I intended to get an SSD when I built it but, to make a long story short, there was an issue with the drive. So I went ahead and finished the build with just the HDD. I freely admit, I put up with the HDD for a long time out of laziness. It's good to finally have it.
Time: 1:11. 5/7/2023.
Listening to: 徳川カップヌードル禁止令
Got all my finals done! Accordingly, I've thrown myself entirely into working on the updated Slow Damage review. So many of my thoughts have expanded and changed from the initial review that I've considered removing it until the update is done. So far I've been working on the review actively for four days. Within that time I've finished 1/4 of the game and have written 5k words. If I keep at this pace, I expect it'll be around a month before the review is done which is pretty good pacing! I probably should slow down a bit though. Looking at all the screens has given me crazy bad headaches.
Things have been going well on the academic front. I feel really burnt out from this semester but I'll survive the summer and fall without too much issue. I actually got offered a paid internship position so there may be some changes in the fall. I like my current job a lot but I've been feeling a bit bored with it. Having a chance to do something different could be a nice opportunity.
In other news (which I don't have much of since games, school, and work are 90% of my life) I went to my favorite cafe yesterday. I saw someone with one of those backpack carriers you typically see for cats. When I looked, it turned out it was a pet pigeon! It had really nice plumage, brown with lighter and darker spots. Birds seem to be a bit of a theme since today we found an injured heron. It's condition isn't great but it's been taken in and will be going to a rehabilitation center to recover.
Time: 4:22. 7/22/2023.
Listening to: フラミンゴ
Hey check this out.
I finally completed the editing for the Slow Damage review!! I'm extremely proud of how it's come along but mostly just glad to be done with it after wanting to redo my intial review for literal months. I'll be working through my backlog from here. I'm admittedly a little worried about running out of stuff to review though. I played a bunch of VNs in a big burst and now I'm not 100% sure what I want to do after I finish them. I definitely want to keep reviewing VNs since they've become some of my favorite things to play and discuss. But the language barrier is something I keep running up against. I'm not opposed to discussing anime and manga but I've found something I really like so I don't want to stray too far from it. I also wanna keep things roughly in my wheelhouse I've built up academically. Which means sticking to LGBT and gender focused media in particular.