Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Several years back, when I saw the trailer for this game, I hastily concluded the Dragon Age series was over for me. The characters looked cartoon-like, the presentation hopelessly overstated and melodramatic, Varric had apparently turned into a brunet, and I just wanted nothing to do with any of it. Not even the occasional glimmer of Tumblr enthusiasm on my dash could tempt me. But then a friend talked me into getting the game during the winter sales, and once I started it, I could barely put it down.

Hades game

(Accidentally posted on the game’s five years anniversary. The Fates willed it.)

Late to the party as usual, I discovered this brilliant gem of a game just as its sequel is about to be released. Hades charmed me every which way. First and foremost with the unbelievable quality and quantity of content; the care put into every little detail; the ingenuity of Greek mythology adaptation; the flawless writing and acting; the art; the music; and last but definitely not least, the rich queer representation.

HP Rec Fest 2024

It’s a Tumblr event where every day throughout December, people make Harry Potter fanwork recommendations in response to a set of prompts. And I took part! I didn’t have a rec for every day, but I did for more than half, and the exercise helped clear some of my rec backlog. It was also an opportunity for me to use some of my artwork! In what follows, the background of each banner is my very own scanned watercolor or acrylic painting. 😊

Books of 2023, part 2

If my Goodreads summary is to be believed, I managed to read 53 books by the end of 2023. I don’t think that’s exactly right, but it might not be very wrong either. Some of these “books” were novellas that felt more like really long short stories. Others were actual short stories that are, for the lack of a better alternative, also labeled as “books”. If five substantial short stories or two novellas make a “book”, then the honest count would be 45. But, this year I read dozens of short stories that are not on Goodreads at all; also, I read some (gasp!) book-length fanfiction. So I’m good with “around 50”. It’s still twice as many as usual.

Let’s dive in!

Devoured by Baldur’s Gate 3

What it says on the label, darlings. I picked up BG3 in the first week of September and haven’t been able to drop it for more than a couple hours at a time since. It so happened that I was kind of bed-ridden in this period due to trivial but annoying illness, allowing me unprecedented levels of unchecked obsessing. And here I am, at last, to tell you all about it. (The obsession, not the actual game. Shocking, I know.)

Books of 2023, part 1

It’s not even June yet, and I’ve already read 25 books. If I keep this up, I might reach the unprecedented count of 50 books in a year! This is the first time I’ve had reason to split my yearly reading report in two parts, and it feels good.