If I Get My Coat I’ll Get a Beating
There’s this story circulating around Twitter and Reddit about “Bean Dad,” the parent who wouldn’t help his nine year old daughter cook beans on the stove and expected her to know how. It’s a whole thing. A lot of comments in response to this were about how abusive this type of parenting is, coupled with people surprised that this sort of audacity could even be a thing. I’m here to tell you – it absolutely can be a thing, I lived through it, and while my upbringing has me cautiously shifting my eyes about before stating it’s abuse I’ll readily admit it’s toxic and it instills the wrong lessons in…
Every Year – A New Year
Someone – was it Plato? Buddha? Backaroo Bonzai? – once said “Wherever you go, there you are.” 2020 was awful for a lot of reasons, but many of them were tied to the fact that I still didn’t resolve the issues I had over the last couple of years. Can’t blame Covid-19 for the mental health and interpersonal issues I’ve had for decades. I set four goals for myself this year. I, legit, failed each one, even as I had listed ways to ensure I succeeded. So I guess I should discuss that first. 1.)No More Energy Drinks – Failed. Kind of? What can I say, I tried. I switched…
5 Ways My Son And I Continue To Explore Eorzea Differently
My oldest son and I continue to play Final Fantasy 14: The Hunt for Good Glamour. He has played countless hours grinding up most of his classes to 80 and completing the most recent content; I have beaten the main storyline of the Shadowbringers expansion but have yet to explore many of the bonus dungeons and raids. All in good time, I suppose. Oh hey, our races changed a little bit. My oldest son went from Demon Girl to Elf Girl, and his reasoning was rather interesting – he got tired of how the Au Ra tail looked and how it clipped with his favorite armor sets. My character, on…
Review – The Nightmare Game System
When I was 8 years old I would argue there were two shows I watched religiously. Sure, I’d catch cartoons as I could, but good luck prying me away from the television if these two shows were on. The first was the hit gameshow Press Your Luck, which to my young mind was a neat juxtaposition of trivia and people pushing their luck too far. The second was Unsolved Mysteries, hosted by Robert Stack. I was not a usual child. As a teen and an early adult, I learned that just as eating hot peppers was an acquired taste, so was the desire to be spooked by horror movies. I…
Trying to Be Thankful During the End of the World
Thursday, November 26th, marks some special holidays for Americans. There’s National Cake Day, which is where we sing that one DNCE song. There’s National Day of Mourning, which is kind of a big deal if you or a loved one have ever lived with or been a Native. And then there’s FUCK YEAH THANKSGIVING [ELECTRIC GUITAR WAILS] [FIREWORKS] [DEAD TURKEY SOUNDS]. And that’s the one I’m going to talk about today, because I’m not well and I need help but I also have to keep things together for my children. Many of my social media followers aren’t American, and of those some of you aren’t Canadian (who have your own…
Review – Crimson Sands: Sosaku Online (Book 1)
If you’re looking for a book with big breasted lamias and paragraphs of discussion on hairy dwarf feet, this book will disappoint in every way. If you’re looking for a solid adventure in the LitRPG subgenre that features a likeable character who is smart enough not to hate but not so smart the system doesn’t pose a challenge, this is an easy book to sell you. Consider purchasing this book from the above banner, or this link. The website may receive a commission if you do! As a subgenre, LitRPG kind of struggles a bit with where it’s footing is. Do readers want to see so few stats that they…
Review – Janus and Oblivion (The Nightmares of Alamir, #1)
Sometimes you read a story about a very typical do-gooder hero who sets out to altruistically make the world a better place because that’s just the sort of person he is. Janus and Oblivion is not that sort of story. The titular Janus is, for lack of a better words, a self-serving narcissistic asshole. And these qualities work well for this story, because not only does he get his come-uppance, he also comes up on top. It’s a well crafted, beautiful thing. The fact that it uses LitRPG tropes to get to where it is going makes the story that much sweeter. Consider purchasing this book from the banner above,…
Point Three Percent
I played Genshin Impact for about a week. I didn’t hate it, but I could tell I was going to have to put more effort and more money into it if I were going to continue to enjoy it. It made sense, then, to step away on a good note. While I still could. This is not a review of Genshin Impact, the most popular “gacha” game of all time. There are plenty of people who have sank more time into the game to tell you if the game will fit your needs and interests if you’re so inclined. It is, however, a reflection of my time with other titles…
Review – The Pyre Starter
The Pyre Starter is a book I picked up and put down many times over the course of the month I started it, and I struggled to understand why. It was this journey I wanted to see the end of, but every time I picked it up I found myself reading a chapter or two and then… putting it down. It wasn’t until I got about halfway through the book that I started picking up steam. As I finished it, I understood why. The Pyre Starter is an excellent book. But while what drew me to it was the adventure and mystery of the magical talismans that served to propel…
Review – Monster Girl in My Closet
“Because eating bats hasn’t caused enough problems in 2020, let’s have sex with them!” – Me as I preordered this book, September 2020 I kid, mostly. Jamie Hawke is no stranger to non-human girls as love interests or as part of a harem, and in many ways his newest release Monster Girl in My Closet feels like a natural step in the right direction for him. It’s a rather fitting book given the Halloween season and one I can readily recommend to anyone who is into the idea of reading a story about a harem of women who are, by our world’s sake anyways, monstrous. The author definitely caters to…
