June Media Post

[raptureofthemoon]

I skipped May. Whoops. 

Reading

Finished

Garden Spells by Sara Addison Allen. A magical family. A town that looks at them side eyed. A sentient apple tree. It has the feel of Practical Magic, without the same depth of world building. The prose was lovely and the magic was subtle and sometimes amusing. I might pick up the sequel.  

Started

The Clone Wars by Karen Traviss. It's a novelization of The Clone Wars movie. Given I'm trying to participate in a Summer of Clones event over on Tumblr, I felt like diving into some other people's take on the clones/the war might be good inspiration.

Karen Traviss also wrote the Republic Commando series of novels for Star Wars. I've sort of started the second one - Triple Zero - but it's sitting on hold at the moment. I'll get back to it after The Clone Wars, I think.

Re-Read

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. A novel I've read so many times over the last few decades. In addition to Patricia McKillip, Poppy Z. Brite is up there as one of my favorite lyrical prose writers. I re-read Lost Souls every handful of years or whenever I fall into a pit of writer's block. It's always helped draw me back out and find joy in words again.  

Watching

Given the big sadness of Anthony Steward Head's recent death, I just started a Buffy rewatch. The fact that I'm now the age both he and Kristine Sutherland (Buffy's mom) were when the show started gives me pause. Because the 90s were only a decade ago, you know? The episode "Band Candy" has been hitting different with every re-watch. 

Listening

Nothing on the listening front.

Playing

A lot of my time has been spent playing, of late.

Star Wars: Outlaws

A few weeks back, a friend reminded me that Star Wars: Outlaws was a thing that existed. I've already beat the game once and I'm on my second play through at a harder difficulty. Time in game so far? 150.2 hours.

The game didn't do well on release. A combination of the typical games not being truly ready at release wonkery, a very hefty dose of sexism and misogyny and "anti-woke" bullshit (which you can see throughout some of the negative reviews on Steam) and "no one hates Star Wars like Star Wars fans" nonsense. But it's...absolutely fine. The story isn't anything groundbreaking and there's some repetition in the level designs and quests, but it's a fun game. The world is gorgeous and it's great to be able to jump between several systems and explore the planets available as you want. 

There was a sequel in the works but it was canceled due to the lackluster beginnings. Frankly, Star Wars fans are the big reason why Star Wars fans can't get more of the things we love. 

That game has got me wanting to go back and play Knights of the Old Republic and maybe the Jedi Knight games too. (I'd started Jedi Academy years ago but never finished it.) 

And, of course, I still need to play Jedi Survivor.

Firewatch

I don't remember what prompted me to add Firewatch to my list, but I'm glad I did. It was a good story to play through. Full of beauty and tragedy. A microcosm of life. 

Arcadia Cafe

This game is labeled as domestic horror. It's a bit of work-horror sim. I got it as part of a Ukranian Horror bundle on Steam, along with No One Lives Under the Lighthouse and Dread Fields. 

It was pretty short and did end rather abruptly and I think there was a thread or two that could have been pulled to make a more cohesive story, but overall it was a good slice of life horror. Dread Fields is already giving me shivers.