A Summer of Stories

 Hello Hello! 

It's been a minute and a half since I last posted, and for that I'd like to apologize. I still probably won't be super duper consistent, but hey, I still enjoy writing and still have things to share for you! 

I've been discovering a lot lately, so I would like to share my new passions and obsessions be cause my goodness I am certainly obsessed with some new things! 

1. Leigh Bardugo's Books

I spent last month binging through the Grisha trilogy. And I must say, I enjoyed reading it. I didn't quite see the chemistry between Alina and sentient-brick-Mal, but hey, the author made an atypical choice in the midst of a love triangle, which I appreciate. I also found the end of the trilogy just absolutely underwhelming, a huge fall after a crazy culmination of circumstances. Despite that, I still gave the trilogy 4/5 stars, as I had a great time reading it!

But everything change when Six of Crows attacked. I am currently about halfway through Crooked Kingdom, and absolutely ADORE everything that the Dregs are. I absolutely need to know more about them, and cannot wait to finish Crooked Kingdom and fully indulge in the fandom because this was a story I didn't know I needed in my life! 

2. Final Fantasy

About a year ago, some friends introduced me to Final Fantasy XV. I automatically loved it, but couldn't play often, as I could only play at their place. Eventually, just exploring games available on Switch, I saw that FFXV was available... as a pocket version. All that changed was graphics and the open-world angle, but I caved and got it anyway at the beginning of the Curse of Forced Introversion. 

If you like well-thought plots, characters you can only love, intriguing villains, and smooth gameplay, I can only recommend FFXV. Some moments, fights and cutscenes were so epic I could hardly believe that I had just watched it. The end had me bawling like a kid, and I absolutely love the game for what it is. 

I do understand that many people, especially longtime FF fans, are upset at the game for its incomplete angle. I just watched a letsplay of the DLCs and I do see that those were necessary to give the game a sense of completion. But as a first time FF player, I still cannot get over how beautiful the game was. 

Yesterday, I finished playing FF X. This game is much older and, interestingly, feels like a totally different franchise - if it weren't for the Chocobos (CHOCOBOS!!!) it would feel even more alien. FFX was very different, yes, but also did not fail to make me care deeply for the characters, their story (It's not just you, Tidus!), and their journey. The unfolding of the story is masterfully done, and the concluding images absolutely broke me. 

I would suggest playing FFX over XV more specifically if you enjoy building a strategy, and don't mind needing to find save points. Personally, I find real-time fights in games better than turn-based, but it was still certainly fun, and I cannot wait to move on to my next final fantasy game - 7. 

Final fantasy gets all the stars from me <3

3. The Umbrella Academy Season 2

What a masterpiece! Season 2 was so much fun to watch and endlessly intriguing. It pulled at emotions and masterfully represented the issues of the 60s, in many cases mirroring current issues very well. The end had me shook and I really enjoyed binging the series in a few days. And now we have to wait 2 more years for more content... oh boy... 

4. More D&D 

I finally have a consistent D&D schedule! Every Monday and Wednesday, I play one of 4 games, one of which I DM. I just started DMing what I wrote myself two days ago, and I'm so excited to see how that turns out! Up until now, my group had been playing through a module, and I'm really glad I set up my game that way - it gave my 2 new players an opportunity to test out the D&D waters, and my older players to really flesh out their characters. 

I'm also getting to the point in the games where I'm a player where everything is happening all at once. I have been writing diary entries for each of these characters on a new blog, after each session! You can see it by clicking here! 

 

That's all I can think about for now, but I'll make another post like this in the future! I'm in the mood to discover so much all at once!

Stay bookish!  

Caroline