December Pretender 2024
Writing
Indiegames
Signs of the Sojourner and In Stars and Time continue to be on hold but I finally published my Spoiler Free Lessons Learned from Baldur’s Gate 3 for supporters and Light Spoilers Quick Review of Thirsty Suitors for followers over on ko-fi! The mental health recovery is slowly picking up momentum so it felt good to finally produce something in writing that made me happy.
I was part of the Cozy Quest Awards judges panel this year and the award-winning games from all of our votes were: Inbento for Hidden Gem, Tiny Bookshop for Upcoming, Go-Go Town! for Co-op, Tiny Glade for New Release and Unpacking for Coziest of the Quest.
Boardgames
There have been some offerings from Hachette that I’m waiting to hear back from so hopefully that turns into something solid by the time I’m writing for January 2025’s newsletter. In the meantime, my reviews for The Walking Dead: The Dice Game and Potion Explosion are up on the Board Game Quest site now!
Writing Challenge
Gosh I really fell to pieces during this challenge, mostly due to my inability to compartmentalize the part of me that loves to write and the part of me that provides energy for day-to-day tasks. The elections in November took their toll on my psyche so all I was able to manage was an outline for the memoir. I’m going to try to keep at it throughout the year but putting myself through challenges is not feasible at the moment.
Video
Streaming
We finished The Walking Dead Telltale Series, Season 2 so we are back to Dave the Diver this month! I’m excited to see the rest of the main game and also any of the additional collaborations from the fall updates.
There’s a special affiliateversary stream on Friday, December 13th starting at 10am PST / 6pm GMT, celebrating my four years on Twitch. Hope to see you there as I start my first playthrough of Final Fantasy VIII Remastered!
Personal
Currently Playing
I finally escaped the hold of Baldur’s Gate 3 and have rushed into the arms of Mass Effect Legendary. So far I’m mostly on a Paragon path but I’ve found that any time I’m speaking with authority figures that I distrust, my Renegade points go up. I just cannot handle blatant power moves and will always speak my mind against situations that seem unfair. I’ve unfortunately run into some motion sickness issues driving the space vehicle and running through dark tunnels but moving through those areas slowly has helped a bit.
IRL
Japanese lessons continue to be a joy and I’ve been trying to do some listening exercises on TikTok to see if I can identify simple conversations. I love learning new languages even if I’ll hardly use them so I’m starting to wonder whether I’ll start taking French lessons next. In grade school I learned Spanish and I have a good ear for Tagalog from family.
My sourdough starter is finally awake and later this month I’ll be trying out my first loaf! I’m trying to set reasonable expectations just so I’m not super disappointed but it’s really hard not to be overly excited when I’ve been working at this starter for weeks. In the meantime, the discard has been a boon to some waffles and pancakes throughout the month for breakfast.
My partner and I have been making an effort to get out into our local neighborhood to check out events in the area as a way to break the monotony. Our budget has continued to shrink as prices have gone up at the grocery store so finding free ways to keep spirits up has become increasingly important. College football season is finally over as well, so it will be odd to not have any kind of sports to follow until the summer.
Our family has also decided to downsize our holiday gifts to each other this year by just doing a single gift exchange with a cost limit. Everyone has been hit hard by the year and is hoping for better in 2025. I’m just glad that everyone was comfortable bringing it up and agreeing to be kind about it. It’s not easy to discuss money openly, especially in the context of giving.
Picture of the Month
The fall colors have finally kicked in around the neighborhood trees, and I loved how the late afternoon sun hit these yellow leaves against the clear blue sky. Better late than never!
Feel free to reply directly to this email to let me know your thoughts, or perhaps any content that you'd like to see or questions you might have. Otherwise, sending you all my bundled-up thoughts for the month and I look forward to writing to you in the new year!