Hello! I meant to update the blog weeks ago at this point but I was busy taking care of my dog and also I had a feeling I wanted to update the look of the site. I still want to see if I can update the blog at least twice a week but who knows.

Anyways, on with the post. (Word of warning, it's really long lol, sorry)

What’s up, Minty?

As mentioned earlier, I was taking care of my dog for a better part of last week! He had several teeth pulled and had to get some extra care while he recovered. I adopted him back in 2021 from a local rescue! When I had first taken him to the vet, they did mention that he should get a teeth cleaning but unfortunately I have a lot of anxiety and suddenly got in my own head about going through with medical procedures for him. (context: some dogs have a very, very, tiny chance of passing away during medical procedures while under anesthesia. Its more of a worry for older dogs but my brain was really mean about it.)

I unfortunately waited much too long to get him his proper cleaning so as a result he ended up getting several teeth pulled. I actually feel really terrible that I put him through this, especially when he wouldn’t have needed any teeth pulled if I had been more proactive about taking him to a cleaning sooner but it is what it is and now I know better. He is now much happier (and eating a lot better too!)

Anyways, this only tells me I really need to get on top of controlling my anxiety for stuff like this. Ughhh.

Other than the stuff for my darling baby boy, me and my twin tried growing some seeds!

And Fantastically Failed!

We determined why most of the seedlings died (our uv lamp was too strong and was drying out the soil despite us hanging it up a distance away.) but luckily we still have extra seeds to start over with.

Despite it all, a single broccoli plant survived! (Though later we realized that some of our green beans survived too!) Hopefully by next week we have some seedlings back up again. We’re hoping to have our usual assortment of peppers growing as well as zucchini, but we’re also going to try growing corn as well (which is going to be a challenge considering we live in a town house that doesn’t have any grass around it, we just have three big pots and a dream at this point lol.)

I did some changes to the website layout too. Decided I wanted to try a more compact layout as well as finally changing the way the navigation buttons are displayed. I think I like it so far! I was thinking about changing the colors on the site a little bit to better match the header image I chose (from Stranger of Paradise. Hee hee) but I think I’ll save that for a day I want to go look through and change some colors… oof.

The blog got a bit of a face-lift too after some css tweaks and the addition of a tagging system. I think I enjoy this display a little more, I even made the navigation buttons easier to see (on desktop at least. Mobile layout is still a bit funny but still easier to see now!)

Finally small health update: Not doing so hot. Fell off being better about drinking water and moving around and my body is paying the price after daylight savings time. Going to try and at least keep myself from dehydrating every day.

I’ve also been struggling to stay focused on tasks. I’ve started many projects but ultimately have had a hard time putting dedicated time to each of them to actually put something cohesive out there (as I write, I have a pomodoro timer going because at this point I need it to do anything recently /o\) I might start seriously blocking websites from myself again until I get a good system and good habits going again. My brain feels like it’s made of mashed potatoes most of the time and I need something to keep me grounded. Gah.

Currently Consuming

Despite my issues with Hoyoverse, I ended up returning to Honkai Star Rail after the recent story update (I’m sorry, I really like the gameplay loop of doing the Simulated Universe a lot. Makes my brain happy for some reason.)

I don’t play a lot of gacha games, and I especially don’t play other Hoyoverse games (I’ve never played Genshin Impact, let alone Honkai Impact) but man…. The story has gotten much better since the last time I played. For context, I did not like some of the last story stuff added (which was the introduction of Topaz and the IPC properly.) The pacing was weird and some of the character writing felt super shitty. Maybe I was expecting too much from story beats in between two long story arcs but man, I kind of burnt out of the game and like I said before, I’m not much of a gacha gamer and don’t tend to stick around them since I’m not foaming at the mouth for rolling most of the time.

I didn’t play initially when 2.0 launched, so I thought I was incredibly behind (my sense of time is Not Good) but I was pleasantly surprised to find that

• Returner rewards are pretty decent for this game!

  • Apparently the ones for Genshin are absolutely terrible. It severely punishes you for not playing the game? But I guess this one doesn’t? Neat!

• I actually wasn’t that far behind at all and accidentally sped ran the story 3 days after the patch launched (oops)

  • I almost ended up spoiling a friend with my dumb reactions (sorry Raphus, if you’re reading this ilu q_q)

Anyways, apparently for this section of the game they got the Honkai Impact writer on board, which people have said their writing is really good. Oh boy did the jump in quality show lol. I won’t say much more because I really don’t want to make this section for HSR that long, but, I can’t believe the story made me care about a character I couldn’t give to shits about at the beginning of the arc lol.

Granted, because gacha games are written and released on patch cycles (very similar to MMOs and their story patches actually, but on a tiny scale) you’re not getting like… Super Incredible Groundbreaking Writing but, what I got to play was engaging and fun to follow (it was actually overwhelming at times. They REALLY packed in as much as they could before the next patch.)

Other than going back to HSR, I finished a bunch of currently airing anime! Which is a first in a long while since I tend to just re-watch my favorite anime instead of watching anything new.

Ended up finishing up Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, and Brave Bang Bravern!

Short reviews/ thoughts time (i’ll try to stay spoiler free, but as a disclaimer, there might be spoilers for all three of these series)

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End- I had heard a lot of good things about this anime/manga and I’m glad I gave it a shot! It’s partially about regret but it’s also just as much about learning how to connect with others. It’s very much the type of show where the destination isn’t really the point of the show, but rather the journey. I dunno! I think I’m just a sucker for stories about long-lived races and how they deal with the passage of time and making friends with others with much shorter life spans (yet another thing I love about Dungeon Meshi too actually!) As a lover of high-fantasy type settings, this season of anime kept me really well fed.

I think part of the reason I liked this show is because it’s slow, but not so much that It feels like a chore to watch. You get to see how each character has dealt with the passage of time as well as get a feel for just how long it has been since the party of heroes defeated the demon king. It shows not only in the people who are still there or who have long since passed, but also in the scenery, you really get the feeling that time kept moving. Frieren learns to appreciate the things that are maybe a bit mundane to her, but are brand new and wonderful experiences for her apprentice, Fern. You can see it also in how easily she can trust the decisions from her former party as well, at the behest of Heiter she knows that Stark is going to be on par with, if not greater than, his master. Its all lovely how the things she thought she didn’t need to learn on her former journey shape and give her a new perspective on life.

Even though I really loved this series, there was a bit of weird shift in pacing near the end of the season. We take a shift into a kind of shounen tournament style arc and It felt a little… odd. It isn’t the worst but it did take me out a bit of what I loved about the series. I started reading the manga but I’m approaching it a bit cautiously since I have heard from trusted friends that the plot gets a little weirdly pace from the end of the anime an onward. Despite all this, Frieren is an anime I can see myself re-watching over and over again as a favorite of mine.

Apothecary Diaries- Probably my second favorite anime of this season (first place goes to Dungeon Meshi) I loved it enough to pick up the manga as soon as I could. Apothecary Diaries feels like a good mix betweeen a serious mystery and some silly antics involving the main protagonist, a young apothecary named Mao Mao set in a fictional version of Imperial China. I watched it on a whim after seeing a few clips on youtube thanks to a friend who was doing a watchalong of it at the time. Each mystery introduced kept me hooked, even after it was “solved” and kept me wanting more as a bigger mystery began to unravel itself form the get go.

A big reason I loved this series was Mao Mao herself. She’s pretty much the smartest person in the room at all times, but she doesn’t let that give her an ego. Everything she does, she does knowing how easily her life can be thrown away as someone who was raised in a pleasure district who now happens to be working in a Palace with the Emperor’s concubines and eunuchs. Among all the funny moments and silly gags, there sits the very real danger of assassination plots and kidnappings of young girls (which is how she ended up working at the imperial palace in the first place.) Mao Mao approaches things with a critical eye, often times her intuition will lead her to ask a few more questions or investigate just a little bit more before coming to a big break through.

There is another plot happening alongside hers about romance with the series deuteragonist, Jinshi, the head eunuch in the imperial palace’s rear palace where all the Emperor’s concubines live. There is a lot more going on with him than meets the eye, and I won’t lie, his childish personality at times can get grating when it comes to how he interacts with Mao Mao, but he’s just as intuitive and cunning as she is and the pair are really wonderful to watch.

This is another series who’s manga I started to read as well and I am constantly checking for new updates lol. If you want a mystery series to look into, I highly recommend giving this one a shot!

Brave Bang Bravern!- Here is the anime that came out of left-field for me and got me hooked instantly. It got recommended to me by several friends who pretty much all described it to me as “Dude, trust me.” and I decided, fuck it, why not? Here is also where I might lose some of you in trying to sell this anime: If you ever liked the wild roller coaster that was Samurai Flamenco back in the day, I think you’ll really like this series too (or Hate it if this type of series isn’t for you lol.)

Bravern starts off as seemingly some sort of mecha war anime where soldiers from all over the world (America, Japan, Russia, etc.) all do military drills together to prepare themselves from any new threats to their respective countries and the world. The stars of these drills being pilots that drive around mechas equipped with rockets, grenades, the works. The show initially sets this up to be some sort of rivalry between two prominent figures in this series, Isami Ao, a lone-wolf type pilot from Japan and Lewis Smith, an upbeat and cheery U.S Marine.

Anyways, then the earth gets invaded by aliens, the entirety of the army assembled for drills is brought to it’s knees against an alien force that can’t be defeated and then, a giant sentient robot falls from the sky claiming that only (an incredibly reluctant and horrified) Isami can pilot him and that together they can save the world! Aaaaaand that’s all I can say about the series’ plot because if I start saying more it’s just going to sound like I’m making shit up.

This series is funny, zany, really homoerotic, but also has me thinking… how on earth was this made??? Did Cygames just go “yeah sure fuck it, make it” or what?? Anyways…. Please give this show a chance holy shit.

The Hololive section

My brother let me watch some of Holofes with him! (day 2 was the day I really wanted to watch because a lot of my favs were performing that day. Also I didn’t want to pay for an extra ticket bc even the virtual tickets were pricy lmfao) The venue for this year’s holofes was HUGE. They had three stages for all the talents and seats were completely sold out from what I remember (though even if they weren’t, holy shit there were SO MANY PEOPLE.)
I’ve watched individual live concerts, like Holostar’s 2^nd Act concert, Towa’s first live concert, and I’ve watched three of Suisei’s live concerts, but nothing compares to how many people showed up to watch everyone get a chance to perform at Holofes. I’m ngl, despite how much the huge crowd for holofes and holoexpo are…. I would love to go some day. I really want to see the talents live and in person some day! I don’t care if it’s for Holofes, a Holostars concert, or an individual concert, I really want to go to one! Maybe next year if the opportunity arises qwq.

I think maybe the only negative stuff I’ve seen about holoexpo has been that they, once again, ran out of food at the venue (I don’t know HOW that keeps happening for two years in a row. They probably really should get the planning for that done a little better…) and that there was, as always, some guys at holoexpo being… weird about women going to holoexpo to see Holostars (and Hololive!) content. There was nothing too bad that happened but I did see a few people on twitter have some passive aggressive or just plain weird comments thrown their way by some male Hololive fans. I won’t dwell on the bad too much but man, I hope those ladies that went still had fun and ignored the weirdos.

Also recently it was UPROAR!!’s second anniversary! They did another concert on youtube in celebration of the second anniversary too! I’m not gonna lie, I cried LOL It’s weird to think about when they were first announced to debut for Holostars, I didn’t think I’d love them as much as I do now. I remember looking at their designs and summaries and thought “Oh, I think I’ll like only Gamma and Rio the most because of their designs/hobbies!” but after watching their Jump UPROAR!! series I ended up loving all four of them. There is just something about watching them feels like I’m watching a bunch of friends just hanging out and having a great time. I can’t understand Japanese, so I’m so grateful people stepped up to the plate to subtitle clips and videos for them (thank you official Holostars Channel for subtitling all the shows in English!!!)
For this year’s anniversary they even animated the manga that Gamma illustrated for their debut! It made SOB at like, 5 in the morning when I watched it live (yes I set an alarm for the concert. I wasn’t going to miss it for the world even though I knew it would have a VOD up after.)

ALSO. STREAM/BUY UPROAR’S NEW SINGLE JACK THE WORLD RIGHT NOW!!!!!1

I’m so excited for Holostar’s next concert, I hope more people give them support q_q If you are able to, please please please check out HOLOSTARS 5^th Anniversary Live Concert- Movin’ On! The boys are all wonderful performers and Uproar is finally going to join them on stage!! If I had less impulse control and more money I’d be booking a flight to Japan right now just to see them ;;!

Last thing that’s cooking up (that I couldn’t figure out where to fit in here on the blog) is cutting up my little dragon png I use for streaming so it can be rigged! Cutting an illustration has been…. Interesting, but fun! Hopefully I can get it done sooner rather than later!

Alright that’s it!

See you for the next post that hopefully doesn’t take as long lol (This message will be at the end of every update post ever I swear to god.)