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Books

Item Author Date read Status Thoughts
Homestuck Andrew Hussie Reading 2022-current Half way through Homestuck reading thread
Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer August 2023-Sept 2023 Listening to wip
The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It Jonathan L. Zittrain Published 2008, reading in 2023 Currently reading

Will post summary later

Reading thread on Mastodon

Shareware Heroes Richard Moss May 2023 Haven't finished A nice history of Shareware back in the olden days
Legends and Lattes Travis Baldree April 2023 Finished Cozy little low-steaks book about running a coffee shop in a Dungeons and Dragons inspired world.
Rubik Elizabeth Tan June 2023 Not finished reading yet Seems interesting
We Hunt the Flame Hafsah Faizal 2022 Paused Enjoyable so far, I just have an "ebb and flow" approach to reading books, so I usually read a bunch all at once and then stop for a few months, so it's currently on hold. :o
Warlock Holmes 2021 Abandoned with like two more chapters left. It wasn't good.
A Curse so Dark and Lonely Brigid Kemmerer August 2021 Finished! I enjoyed it!
The Age of Selfishness (comic) Darryl Cunningham August 2021 Finished. I would have prefer this as just a book. Also blames crime rate on "liberals" in the last section??
A Heart so Fierce and Broken Brigid Kemmerer Bought, want to read
The Color of Magic Terry Pratchett Bought, want to read
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams Bought after watching the movie for the 2nd time. Wondering if it's actually good, or that's just what dudes say 'cuz it was written by a dude.
Sabriel Garth Nix 2021 Finished It was fine
Drizzt graphic novels - Homeland, Exile, Sojourn RA Salvatore, Andrew Dabb, Tim Seely 2020 Read those 3 Boring.
The Island of Dr. Moreau HG Wells 2020 Finished Eesh.
Crooked Kingdom Leigh Bardugo 2020 Finished I kind of sped through it so I probably didn't enjoy it as much as the first book.
Six of Crows Leigh Bardugo Finished It's good!!
Because Internet Gretchen McCulloch 2020 Finished Great!!
Weapons of Math Destruction Cathy O'Neil 2020 Finished Important!!
An Enchantment of Ravens Margaret Rogerson Feb 2020 Finished Felt too short but I liked it alright.
To Kill a Kingdom Alexandra Christo Feb 2020 Finished It was fine, kind of wanted more.
The Power Naomi Alderman Feb 2020 Finished Oof.
Yonder Comes the Other End of Time Suzette Haden Elgin Finished I don't even.
Star-Anchored, Star-Angered Suzette Haden Elgin Finished It's a thing.
Twelve Fair Kingdoms Suzette Haden Elgin Finished I enjoyed it alright, but it definitely had slow parts.
Technically Wrong Sara Wachter-Boettcher Finished Important!!
Black Box Thinking Matthew Syed
The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
Born a Crime Trevor Noah
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution Steven Levy
The Communipaths Suzette Haden Elgin
At the Seventh Level Suzette Haden Elgin
Furthest Suzette Haden Elgin
The Feminine Mystique Betty Friedan I learned a lot.
The Communist Manifesto Karl Marx etc.
Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates
Unbelievable Katy Tur
Crash Override Zoe Quinn
First, Break All The Rules Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman
The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense Suzette Haden Elgin
Wild Seed Octavia E. Butler
Kindred Octavia E. Butler
The Judas Rose Suzette Haden Elgin
Native Tongue Suzette Haden Elgin
Dungeons and Dreamers Brad King, John Borland
Imago Octavia E. Butler
Adulthood Rites Octavia E. Butler
Dawn Octavia E. Butler I still think about this series.
I Am Malala Malala Yousafzai
In the Land of Invented Languages Arika Okrent
A Wizard in the Way Christopher Stasheff This was my favorite book when I was a kid. Maybe because of the pretty lady on the cover.
Masters of Doom David Kushner
Hunger Games series Suzanne Collins
The One World School House Salman Khan
Mindstorms Seymour Papert
The Blue Sword Robin McKinley
Marmalade Boy (manga)
Kodocha (manga)
Boys Over Flowers (manga)
Sailor Moon (manga)
Magic Knight Rayearth (manga)

Video games

(If you know me you know there are too many games to list.)

Item Date played Status Thoughts
Platinum trophies (also favorites)
Forspoken Jan - July 2023 Platinum trophy Amazing traversal (magic parkour), fun spells and fighting. Story was clearly rushed, incomplete. Played through the story mode with my cousin, thus the slow pace. Was basically super over-levelled by the time we got back into the story after defeating Sila. ;D
Trials of Mana (PS4) 2020 Platinum trophy I always thought Seikden Densetsu 3 was *amazing* when I was younger, though never played through the fan translation SNES version. I definitely enjoyed this remake, though by today's standards it feels a bit shallow as an RPG. But, I basically completed it on both Switch and PS4, so I do like it quite a bit. :)
Death Stranding 2019 Platinum trophy So many hours spent on Death Stranding just having a chill time, delivering packages and setting up my zipline network. :)
Favorites
Divinity Original Sin 2 2020 Finished story After playing the Baldurs Gate 3 early access, I wanted MORE. I picked up DOS2, also by Larian, and fell in love with this game. I first played it a bit casually on the Switch, but then picked it up on PS4 and I immersed myself in the game while our just-bought house was under heavy construction, lol.
Baldurs Gate 3 (Early Access) 2020 Finished Early Access right when it first came out. Look, I loved the early access, I'll probably love the finished game. I bought the early access on Steam, but once I realized they were releasing it on PS5 only a month after the PC release, I preordered that version and will probably be playing it on PS5 instead. (My gaming PC is OLD.)
Dragon Quest Builders 2 2019-2021 Story finished twice; working on platinum trophy This is one of my favorite games of all times. Played through on Switch, then on PS4, and I bought it again on PC, oof. Getting close to platinum on PS4, just haven't done the last few items (cursed armor??).

I don't even play the other Dragon Quest games, aside from Rocket Slime. That was also a good game. ;D
Obduction 2019 Finished story (PC) I was so hyped to finally be able to play a Myst-like adventure game with my adult brain. Myst just didn't make sense to me as a kid! But I've watched a lot of play-throughs of the Myst games and have come to appreciate them as an adult.

I loved exploring and solving the puzzles, and the ending of the story really resonated with me.
Outer Wilds 2019 Finished story (PC) Similar feelings to Obduction, I really loved exploring the universe and uncovering bits and pieces of story over time, solving puzzles, etc. Also the ending had similar themes to Obduction (You can't go back, you can only move forward.), which was really meaningful to me in 2019. :P
Human Resource Machine 2016 Finished story/mainline puzzles I think a student originally suggested this game to me! I adore Human Resource Machine, and how it's basically training you to think about solving problems like you might with Assembly. I also love the follow up, 7 Billion Humans, but I haven't managed to beat it yet. x)

I did a let's play of HRM a while ago: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4!
Life is Strange 1 2015 Finished story Played through with my cousin Rebekah as each episode came out. We've since played through each of the other LiS games and the Tell Me Why game, though LiS1 resonated with us the most.
Rayman Origins 2011 Beat game thru Land of the Livid Dead I grew up playing Rayman on PS1 and always wanting to play Rayman 2 (I had a demo that I adored) and Rayman 3 (I rented it from a video store). Rayman Origins was so good. Such fluid movement and animation. Fun to play with friends.
Bastion 2011 Finished story Bastion was right at the start of the big indie boom of the Xbox 360 era, and it was SO COOL. My cousin Rebekah and I were hooked on it, and I love the narrator in the game explaining each moment, even falling off the world. :) Supergiant Games is masterful, and I love Hades, but Bastion will always be the game with the most nostalgia and fuzzy memories.
Picross DS 2007? I was going to UMKC for my bachelors degree at this time. I was very depressed and stressed, and I would always relax by playing Picross on my DS Lite.
Final Fantasy X 2001? Finished story Even though I've played every mainline Final Fantasy (besides 11 and 16), the only ones I've really cared about story-wise are X and, to some extent, XIV (once we got to Shadowbringers ;)

I still occasionally replay this game. I love the sphere grid customization, I love the characters, I love the world, and I feel like the story is the most coherent of any Final Fantasy game, lol!
Metal Gear Solid 2 2001? Finished story, played on every difficulty I came to MGS late and MGS2 was my first game (so I had no expectations of getting to play as Snake the entire way through ;P). It was such a rush and unlike anything I had played, and I still think about the la-li-lu-le-lo. xD
Quake 3 Arena 1999 I began playing Q3A since the beta, and played Q3A on MPlayer with random internet peoples since I was 12 years old. I LOVE this game.
Final Fantasy XIV Jan 2022 to now Post-Endwalker

June 2023 notes:
Dang people in FFXIV are DRAMATIC. I found a friend group to be part of but was banned forever for wishing the Discord server owner "happy birthday". Lol.

Fuck you chicken man of Limsa Lominsa.

Earlier notes:
As we begin our third year of pandemic life I decided to pick up an MMORPG, since I'm not planning on going out to many indoor activites anymore.

The gameplay itself is very rudimentary, where the story quests just boil down to "flipping switches" in the game, where a switch could be talking to an NPC to trigger something, or interacting with a shiny thing to trigger something, and so on.

The original game, A Realm Reborn, I didn't feel like it had a great story, and I wasn't really blown away by the "Award Winning Expansion Heavensward", but I am getting attached to all the characters and the world, and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

The story itself is a bit lonely, it's like a single-player game that has other people playing, but I have enjoyed joining Free Companies (basically guilds) and meeting other people via that.

God of War Ragnarok June 2023 Finished story Excellent writing and character dialog. Gameplay formula and fighting is getting a bit stale.
Monster Hunter Rise 2022, 2023 Fell off It's fine, but I have a hard time sticking with these games.
Umurangi Generation June 2023 Finished levels Great environmental storytelling. I'm bad at photography.
Genshin Impact May 2023 Fell off I mostly just like exploring open worlds, I don't really want to do the fighting lol. Not into Gatcha things, and also not really into anime that much - not since my community college student days. :)
Return to Monkey Island September 2022 Finished story Similar to being able to play Obduction with my adult brain (when Myst didn't make sense to me as a kid), I was really happy to be able to play a Monkey Island with my adult brain. The MI games (mostly 1, 2, and 3) were my FAVORITE when I was a kid, though I think I played through them all with walkthroughs!

Very charming, and even though previewers complained about the art style, I think it lent itself well to the animation style. It was very heart-warming to see notes on how Ron Gilbert has changed from when he made Secret of Monkey Island to now, just like how my life has also changed in the decades since.
Heaven's Vault May 2022 Finished (1 ending) I was really hooked on the translation aspect and overall enjoyed the game. I want to do a replay but I might wait a bit because navigating the areas is a little slow, so probably not best to run back-to-back.
Haven April 2022 Finished (1 ending) I still think about this game and I love the new update they released where you can choose the gender of each of the two protagonists. It felt very authentic as far as a story about a relationship between two people, and I enjoyed exploring and "skating" around the world. My only complaint is that I got lost a lot? lol
Boyfriend Dungeon August 2021 Finished story I should play more Visual Novels.
Chicory July 2021 Not yet
D&D Dark Alliance July 2021 Finished what was available; worked towards platinum trophy but lost steam My friend bought it and so I bought it and then he never played it, so I did.
Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart 2021 Finished story. Haven't gone back to play more. It was fun! I just haven't had a reason to go back and play it after finishing the story. Tophies look easy though.
Forge of Empires 2021 Meh I began playing this 'cuz my dad plays it. I mostly write Python scripts to automate playing it for me.
Fortnite 2021 The kiddos like to play Fortnite together
Legend of Mana 2021 I've beaten it in the past, haven't finished the remake.
Miitopia 2021 Finished it this time on Switch. Enjoyed it! Haven't gone back to play more.
Greedfall 2021 I've discovered that these days I really like games where I wander around randomly exploring, so I enjoyed that.
It Takes Two 2021 It was good! Played with Will and Rose at different times.
Balan Wonderworld 2021 I enjoyed it! Was thinking of getting platinum trophy but too much work.
Eastshade 2021 I got pretty deep into it but then got lost
Oddworld Soulstorm 2021 This doesn't play like original Oddworld, its not precise enough.
Yakuza Like A Dragon 2021 Kind of lost interest after getting new classes.
Kokopoko Creatures 2021 Finished it! \('u')/
Adios 2021 Finished the story!
Astro's Playroom 2021 Cool!
Dragon Quest Builders 1 2020 Beaten
Hades 2020 Seen credits + then some, but not seen final ending?
Tell Me Why 2020 Played thru with my cousin Bekah. Game made me feel trans feels.
Bugsnax 2020 Finished!

Random other games I've played and want to make note of...

Bolded games are/were favorites~

Early games -- DOOM, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Commander Keen 4, Jazz Jackrabbit, Sim Ant, Sim Town, Sim Safari, Sim Earth, Lego Island, Lego Creator, Lego Friends, EverQuest, Monkey Island 1-3, Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Grim Fandango, King's Quest 1-7, Warcraft 1-3, Starcraft, Space Quest 4, Super Mario World 1-2 (at friends' houses), Legend of Zelda Link to the Past (at friends' houses), Neopets, Shinobi 2 GG, XMen (GameGear), Sonic Chaos, Tony's Teddy/Nobby Nuss/Super Kid (Burkhard Rathesier), Myst/Riven (I didn't understand these as a kid), Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker, Opening Night, Hollywood, Storybook Weaver Deluxe, Math Blaster, Cluefinders, Humongous Entertainment games (Fatty Bear, Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Spy Fox), Bad Mojo, The Journeyman Project 3, Klik N Play,

Tweens/teens? (I'm grouping these as "before I moved out of parents' house" memories) -- Quake 3 Arena, The Sims 1-3, Rayman 1-3, Croc 2, Chocobo Racing, Diablo 2, Septerra Core, Shadow of Yserbius, Spyro 1-3, Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, Final Fantasy 8-10, Runescape, Oni, Unreal Tournament, Monster Rancher 1-2, Harveset Moon (PS1), Metal Gear Solid 1-3, Harry Potter 1 (PC,PS1), DarkStone (PS1), TrackMania, Prince of Persia Sands of Time, EOE: Eve of Extinction, Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!, Ratchet and Clank, MTV Snowboarding, Jak and Daxter, Jak 2, Final Fantasy 4-5, Whatever free-to-play MMORPGs I could find online, Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones, Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland, Summon Night Swordcraft Story, Digimon World 1 and 3, Cave Story, Pokemon Red/Blue, EyeToy, The Movies, Avernum (Demo), .Hack//Infection, Devil May Cry 2, Legend of Mana, Tower of Druaga, Chrono Trigger, Maple Story, RPG Maker 2000 and 2003, RPG Maker 1 and 2 for PS1 and PS2, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, Toy Story 2 (PS1), Insaniquarium,

Early Adulthood (Based on who I remember playing these with lol, probably like til I was 23) -- Half Life 2 (and ep1-2), Unreal Tournament 2000-2k4-3, Champions of Norrath, Skyrim, Fable 1-3, Gunbound, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, Contra: Shattered Soldier, Guardian Legend (NES), Dance Dance Revolution (Extreme?), In The Groove 1-2, Beyond Good and Evil, Kya: Dark Lineage, Braid, Bastion, World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Super Smash Bros Melee, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Doom 3, Digimon World DS, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Resident Evil 4, TimeSplitters 2, Façade, Psychonauts, Saints Row The Third, Team Fortress 2, AudioSurf, Kameo: Elements of Power, Minecraft, Portal, Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead 1-2, Fez, L.A. Noire, Borderlands, Stacking, Picross DS, Brain Age, Tao's Adventure, Hotel Dusk, StarFox Adventures (on my then-bf's gamecube), Okami, Final Fantasy 3 DS, Rayman Raving Rabbids, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, MySims, Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon, Draglade (DS), Dawn of Mana, Drawn to Life, Zack and Wiki, We Love Katamari, Orcs and Elves, Nanostray, LostWinds, Metal Gear Solid 4, Brütal Legend, Eversion, Ragnarok Online (on a player server), Spore, World of Goo, X-COM: UFO Defense, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, LIT, A Boy and His Blob (WayForward), Aliens: Infestation, Mighty Switch Force!, Harvest Moon DS, Animal Crossing Wild World, DeathSpank, Final Fantasy hallway one, Out of Order (Tim Furnish), Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, 7 Days a Skeptic, Alan Wake, The White Chamber, Final Fantasy Adventure, Final Fantasy Legend 1-3, Robotron 2084, Qix, Castle Crashers,

More recent adulthood -- To The Moon, Portal 2, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Indigo Prophecy, Detroit: Become Human, Overwatch, Paladins Life is Strange 1/BTS/2, Human Resource Machine/7 Billion Humans, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Assassin's Creed 1, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Assassin's Creed Valhalla (yawn), Remember Me, Gurumin, Hack N Slash, Massive Chalice, Etrian Odyssey, Dragon Age Origins/Awakening/2/Inquisition, Tomb Raider/Shadow of/Rise of, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, A Way Out, BattleBlock Theater, Nine Parchments, Mass Effect 1, The Walking Dead Season 1, Limbo, Mark of the Ninja, Super Meat Boy, Rayman Origins, Rayman Legends, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Dreamfall Chapters, Obduction, Metroid Prime 1, Game Dev Story (Kairosoft), Dungeon Village (Kairosoft), Monster Hunter World, Monster Hunter Rise, God of War reboot, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles the Crystal Bearers, Secret of Mana remake, Trials of Mana remake, Banished, Prison Architect, Gone Home, Blackwell series (except the last game, which wasn't out when I originally binged them), FTL, Broken Age, Broken Sword 1-2, Cities Skylines, Dark Void Zero, Death Stranding, Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten, Disco Elysium, House Flipper, Invisible Inc, Fran Bow, Primordia, King's Quest (reboot), Later Alligator, Legend of Grimrock, Legend of Grimrock 2, Limbo, Loop Hero, Message Quest, Shadow of Mordor, Freedroid RPG, Nihilumbra, One Hour One Life, Orcs Must Die!, Princess Remedy, Proteus, Risk of Rain 2, Rogue Legacy, Rogue, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, Spelunky, Thomas Was Alone, Stardew Valley, Subnautica, Intro the Breach, The Dig, The Fall, Frog Detective 1, The Journey Down Chapter 1, The Maw, Night in the Woods, Torchlight 1-2, Undertale, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Wandersong, PUBG, Animal Crossing New Horizons, Rune Factory 4, The Cave, Final Fantasy 15, Octopath Traveler, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan, Until Dawn, Overcooked, Baba Is You, Hypnospace Outlaw, BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!, Outer Wilds, Game Builder Garage, Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy, Bibleman (PC), Five Nights at Freddy's, Control, Loom, Yoku's Island Express, Fledgling Heroes, Good Job!, Moving Out, Ring Fit Advneture, Song Bird Symphony, Streets of Rogue, Sky, Wilmot's Warehouse, Super Mario Odyssey, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Destiny 2, Fuser, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Overland, Gender Wrecked, Extreme Meatpunks Forever: Bound By Ash, Transistor, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dream, Antichamber, Realm of the Mad God,

...

We grew up on PC games. Friends all had SNES, we didn't get a PS1 until right when the PS2 was released. My sister had a GBA at one point. Oh, the parents made my stepbro give me his Game Gear, I really loved the games I had on there because it was my only console as a child, haha.

Once I began working at 16 years old I began buying older consoles but this was during adulthood. I also began using NES/SNES emulators when I was a teenager on my first computer.

I had a Nintendo DS during my time at community college and university (Age 14 - 21), I spent a lot of time on those. <3

Consoles I have/have had: ColecoVision, Atari 2600, GameGear, GBA, Gameboy Color, DS, 3DS, NES, SNES, Wii, Switch, Genesis, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, XBox 360, OUYA, Playdate (preordered!!)

Steam Profile

Games I've loved but don't feel as strongly about now, but still fond for: Septerra Core, Quake 1, Curse of Monkey Island, Spyro 1-3, Legend of Mana, Commander Keen, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, Beyond Good and Evil,


TV Shows

Item Date watched Status Thoughts
Better Call Saul 2022 All seasons Waiting for the last batch of episodes! :0
Our Flag Means Death 2022 Season 1 Make more please!! Gay pirates!
Ted Lasso 2022 Season 1, 2 Y'all were right - it IS wholesome!
Shadow and Bone 2021 Season 1 I like it!
Never Have I Ever July 2021 Season 1, Season 2 Yay it's gay. I don't really care about either dude.
Centaurworld August 2021 Season 1 Shiny.
Marmalade Boy 2021 Abandoned I loved these comics as a kid, but why are there so many episodes?? I lost interest.
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts 2020 Season 1 I need to finish this, aaahhh!!
She-Ra 2020 All seasons Great!
Boys Over Flowers (Korean Drama) 2014? Finished Guilty pleasure lol
Rooftop Prince (Korean Drama) I really liked it, but I can't find a way to watch it again. :(

All time favorite TV shows... (In no particular order)

Xena: Warrior Princess, Avatar: The Last Airbender, She-ra,

Stuff I'll definitely watch if you put it on... Breaking Bad, Star Trek (any, but the original less so), The Good Place, probably any shoujo animes, The [movies/toys/etc] that made us, Rilakkuma and Kaoru, most documentaries probably,


Movies

Item Date watched Thoughts
Oppenheimer July 2023

Oppenheimer focuses on the EVENTS that occurred but doesn't do a good job with the human element of the lives of Oppenheimer and those surrounding him and isn't even very educational on the atomic bomb and its horror.

Full thread on Mastodon

Knives Out Glass Onion June 2023 Enjoyable. Also I hate billionaires.
Paper Moon June 2023 Interesting/enjoyable.
The Poison Squad (documentary) May 2023 About food safety and regulation. Interesting.
Young Frankenstein May 2023 Mostly enjoyable
Blazing Saddles May 2023 Enjoyed the fourth wall break at the end.
Three Amigos May 2023 My husband and I have been watching a lot of old movies lately. It was fine.
9 to 5 April 2023 It's so weird seeing old offices pre-computer
Network April 2023 I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore.
Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves April 2023 Enjoyable, good banter.
My Neighbor Totoro As a child
Kiki's Delivery Service As a child I love it and watch when I'm burnt out :(
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra As a teen My favorite movie of all time

All time favorite movies... (In no particular order)

THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA, Kiki's Delivery Service,

Stuff I'll definitely watch if you put it on... Sunset Boulevard, Casablanca, Jackie Brown, Mulan, any Ghibli movie, Arrival, most documentaries, The Matrix, Some Like It Hot, Being John Malkovich,

I don't even watch that much TV or movies because I have a hard time sitting still and not doing anything.