This has been a really warm week, like really warm, unpleasantly warm, like not being able to exist without dripping something warm, and this week doesn’t look like it’s going to be much better. Had to get a new pair of shoes again, since appearantly I’m walking too much for shoe soles, or I’m dragging my feet too much on the ground or something. Went for another pair of adidas this time, since they seem to be the only ones who makes shoes that are comfortable, and last for long enough to be useful.

Books

I finished off Caszandra by Andrea Höst, and with that, the touchstone triology, it was a fun read, a bit all over the place, like the other books in the series, it has a bit of a weird pacing, and it felt a bit too juvenile for me, that being said, it’s a series that I would have loved as a 15 year old, and probably would have blown my mind. So at least I have something to recommend when someone asks for a book for a teenager. I won’t complain too much I read through the whole series, and at parts I really enjoyed it, the whole climax point was short enough to not get annoying, and it didn’t end up setting the new kids in peril like I was worried about when they started to really build up that relationship in the last book. All in all a nice but a bit too YA series for me.

Secondly was Siege of Mortania by J.S. Morin, and this was a fun little story, this one got kinda weird, and I’m all for it, nearing half way through this series of short books, and they are all getting really fun, some of the characters are changing a bit, others just keep on their antics. I would never claim this is high literature, but it doesn’t need to be, it’s just fun stories with fun characters. With how the last couple of books, I’m have no idea what will happen in the next book, I’m just pretty sure it will be something silly, and I’m all there for it.

And then Angular Momentum by Nicola Claire, this is another new series in the sector universe, this time following the AI cassie, it’s taking me a bit to get into this one, as the style is a bit different from the others, but it’s still written in a style that just makes me enjoy reading it a lot. I’m about half way through this one, and it will be interesting to see how I like it when I’m through the first book. I also found that she has been writing a new triology in the same universe that got released in April this year that I promptly got, so I have something more familiar to read while I’m experimenting after having one series done with the Touchstone books. I’m pretty sure I will enjoy them as well and I usually like stories about salvagers so “Sector Salvagers” does seem like it’s going to be fun, I think at least.

Games

I’ve been playing and loving Octopath Traveller II a lot this week as well, it’s just such a beautiful game in so many ways, about 60 hours in by now, and it’s still one that I look foreward to the next session in. I’ve been doing more exploring this week, and a bit of stories, and I got really bested by a boss in a part of Agnea’s story on sunday, so I’ve been licking my wounds for the time in between, and will do a bit of reconfiguring of my team and find a way to deal with her.

Now that I’ve been playing it longer than the last time I’ve been enjoying stories that are new to me as well, which makes it even more fun, they did a really great job on writing for this game, and I feel like it’s getting better too now that I know the characters better. This has been quite a long session of me being into turn-based rpgs, which is nice, I’m still working on getting better at them, as much as I have played them, I’m by no means good at them, but I feel that I’m slowly getting more a hang of them, so that I don’t only have to rely on being over levelled and quit when I meet a boss that I can’t beat quickly with just going all in attack, I hope that I will manage to find my way through at least because I’m really enjoying myself, and I also really am curious about Final Fantasy Resonance, which is getting released in October, and it’s one that I want to get as well when time comes, it feels like so long since we last got a proper turn-based final fantasy game.

I also had a short little visit into Apico again, as I haven’t played any of the new stuff, I got utterly confused with the setup that I had from last time though, and probably will have to just start a new game, because I can’t really make sense of it. It’s such a nice game though, focusing on environmentalism and rebuilding really is something that just makes me feel happy, and it’s a really special game in that everything goes slowly, but it’s still kind of overwhelming, but slowly you get things. And I’ve also been really fascinated with bee breeding in the old minecraft mods that inspired this game, and this just has a real focus on exactly that. Cool game that I probably will put some more time into again, but for now I’m focusing on Octopath.

Other

I’ve been thinking it’s getting to be closer to me having to write another podcasts post with podcasts that I’m listening to, since things have changed around a bit. I’ve been enjoying my relisten to Into the Aether less than I thought I would, which is kind of sad, but I hope that it’s just that I’m in a season where the games that they are focused on just don’t fit as well to what I like, and that I will get more into them, I’m still really enjoying their new episodes when they are releasing, so it I don’t quite know what it is. It and Videogame Podtimism really are pretty solified as the ones that I look foreward to the most, and really try to savour as much as possible, it’s the ones that I watch out that I have a unrestricted and often walking time to get to them.

On the other side of the enjoyment spectrum I’ve been enjoying skeptics guide to the universe less and less as time goes on, they just feel like they are too optimistic and gullible about new things, maybe it’s something about politics being different enough that I just can’t enjoy them like I used to, but at least Skeptics with a K have been great to listen to, and they have been really going up, and have kind of replaced skeptics guide in my enjoyment, and it also helps that they are European rather than American, so it’s easier for me to relate to a lot of the standpoints and other things they are talking about.

They were promising some rain, and I was hoping it would cool down the weather a bit, but it doesn’t seem like it will be coming as much as they said, so at least I hope the weather will cool down a bit, because it’s really uncomfortably warm, and sadly it will probably be the coolest summer in the next 10 years.. I just hate how futile everything feels lately, with every little thing I do, like not using a car, always walking, trying to buy locally, and not use much, my, and probably 100 other people’s efforts gets nixed by a single millionaire’s wish to go somewhere in a private jet once..