7 Photos from Mah Phone for This Week’s Squees

Fire She-Ra Avatar

This week’s squees are dedicated to my phone. Because when Twitpic dies, you better believe I’m going to upload phone pictures to my compy.

This earring is brought to you courtesy of an Unkamen Supplies kit. The spider chainmaille eearings are part of my Halloween costume.

2014-10-20 11.59.32

THOR FLASK! THOR! (Part of my anniversary present. And yes, that is a skull cookie jar. Because skulls.)

2014-10-13 14.41.12

Because onesie design contests are fun when it’s for friends. Also: fabric crayons are teh suck. TEH SUCK! (But Star Wars is cool.)

2014-07-20 15.00.25

This is Rimmon, my black cat. I don’t know if you know this, but black cats are the least adopted because of their color. Often, there are no adoptions allowed of black cats either during the month of October. NOT COOL! BUT I LOVE RIMMON!

2013-09-20 08.04.09

The coolest effing thing I’ve ever seen at a comic book convention. A fantastic Munny. (My bad on losing said business card for fabulous artist.)

2014-04-27 15.31.55

My last Pandemic game. (GREAT GAME, by the way!)

2014-03-14 21.28.32

OSCAR WILDE WAS SAVED! We rescued Oscar this summer, and he was adopted! Huzzah!

2014-05-21 20.36.10

52/365 through 59/365

    Mood: Stress? WHAT STRESS?!?!
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: I had a lot.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Yoga
    In My Ears: On the phone. What? I can do two different things at once.
    Game Last Played: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
    Book Last Read: Work-related.
    Movie Last Viewed: Little Witches WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!
    Latest Artistic Project: An origami bookmark. FAILED! FAILED!
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Last Man Zombie Standing.
    Latest Game Release: Things Don’t Go Smooth
    What I’m Working On: Primarily tie-in games work, original comics, and novels.


October 21, 2014
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7-Link Salad for This Week’s Squees

Black and Tan Cats

Good morning! Well, I suppose it might not be morning where you are, but the sentiment is there. As you may recall I started the 365 Days of Squee over a month ago, and I have to admit that some days are more challenging than others–especially when reading the news. News poisoning is especially problematic, in my mind, to writers like myself who take inspiration from words that come into our brains. If it’s all tonally negative? Yeah, it can get depressing super-quick.

Though it initially took a concerted amount of effort for me to focus on what’s positive, I feel that I’m starting to train myself to look for those things now. That doesn’t mean I prefer every topic or work to be sanitized; I do feel that we should need to address problematic issues. It’s just that there’s so many problems–humans are very good at bitching about everything, even the small stuff–that I want to focus and pick my battles more carefully. When I don’t “battle” persay, I would rather be on the ground and doing what I believe instead of simply saying it (if that makes any sense).

On to the squees!

1) Applewood Books recently made over their website. I was poking around a bit when I saw a book written by the Stowe sisters called American Woman’s Home Or, Principles Of Domestic Science: Being A Guide To the Formation and Maintenance Of Economical, Healthful, Beautiful, and Christian Homes. If you’re into history, being able to read books written by people from the time period is a great way to get a hands on feel for what went on. This is pretty cool!

2) Unbelievably talented, I love the figurines designed by Virginie Ropars. Her dolls are fantastic! Be sure to check out her website!

3) If you’re looking for women writers to read in science fiction, I found a monthly column by A.C. Wise called “Women to Read on SF Signal.” It’s a great way to build a list and find new writers you haven’t heard of before.

4) Mouthwatering recipe for apple crisp in the crockpot. Need I say more?

5) Cartoonist Roman Jones is offering a printable version of the insightful How to Live with Introverts comic. It’s spot on!

6) 30 Second Films with Bunnies is a site that basically sums up films with… erm… bunnies. In 30 seconds. Anyway, it makes me giggle and they’ve got a huge variety of movies on there, like The Cabin in the Woods (With Bunnies) and The Princess Bride (With Bunnies).

7) These pumpkin earrings from Beadaholique are really cute! The wirework at the top really nails it for me. They have a ton of other instructional videos on their website, too.

44/365 through 51/365

    Mood: I think I’m finding my zen.
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Lower than normal.
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Yesterday was my day off.
    In My Ears: Dance with Wolves by Inca
    Game Last Played: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
    Book Last Read: Work-related.
    Movie Last Viewed: Constantine
    Latest Artistic Project: An origami crane
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Last Man Zombie Standing.
    Latest Game Release: Things Don’t Go Smooth
    What I’m Working On: Primarily tie-in games work, original comics, and novels.


October 14, 2014
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Now Available: Things Don’t Go Smooth

TDGS Cover

Our first supplement of new material to use at your table is now available in digital. What’s more, we just sent THINGS DON’T GO SMOOTH off to the printer. Want to know more about it? Read on!

Life’s not easy. Don’t matter whether you’re flying a leaky boat along the Rim or dodging Alliance cruisers in the Core, there’s always something or somebody getting in the way of a Crew’s honest day’s work.

THINGS DON’T GO SMOOTH presents a baker’s dozen of shady crews, crime bosses, megalomaniacs, and unexplainable phenomena designed to get in the way of your Crew. Each includes a wealth of story hooks, supporting characters, locations, ships, and background material to help you bring the ‘Verse to your table. GM’s will also find over 50 new Distinctions and Signature Assets, new enemy boats, rules for scene Traits and triggers, plus the Episodes “Merciless” and “Thieves in Heaven” to bring these characters to life! The Firefly RPG corebook is required to use this supplement.

We think you’ll appreciate the following:

  • Find 4 types of Antagonists ranging from crime bosses to the unexplained.
  • Offers advice on how to handle Reavers using Cortex Plus.
  • New rules introduce scene Triggers—giving GMs more dice to roll!
  • Use our fancy Episode Generator. Never get stuck for ideas again!

THINGS DON’T GO SMOOTH is a softcover supplement for the FIREFLY RPG and uses a freewheelin’ version of the award-winning Cortex Plus System. You can pre-order the print edition directly from Margaret Weis Productions or buy it in PDF via DriveThruRPG.com.

October 7, 2014
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Ni No Kuni PS3 Review

Ni No Kuni Cover

I don’t even know where to start with this review of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, because I haven’t written one for some time and I have a deep, profound love for this game, its artistry, and its story. One of the first RPGs I played was Final Fantasy IX, and I was really fond of the way you could travel on the world and find little easter eggs scattered throughout. And, as you know, I am a huge fan of Miyazaki’s storytelling because it’s often challenging (From Up on Poppy Hill) without being dumbed down. Not to mention, the more traditional style of animation is something I prefer given the feel of painted landscapes, etc.

The story is about Oliver, a young boy who’s lost his mother. To rescue her, he travels to another world with the guidance of a fairy named Drippy, to battle alongside his wizard’s familiars. The game mechanics are easy enough to learn and there’s an incentive for leveling, for your familiars grow in power and might alongside you.

NNK Battle

Since you have the option of switching out familiars, you can alter how challenging the game is when you explore the world and change your battle style on-the-fly. Learning spells and alchemical formulas, finishing sidequests, and advancing the story is evenly spaced so you don’t “forget” where you are in the story. The animation and world exploration is, by far, one of my favorite parts of this game because playing it is like being immersed into a Studio Ghibli film that lingers on…and it’s quite delicious.

I don’t want to give too many spoilers on this, partly because I’m only a third of the way in, but if you like Studio Ghibli, Kingdom Hearts, or Final Fantasy IX and older games in that franchise I really think you’ll dig this game and enjoy the experience. It just hit a “Greatest Hits” status, too, so the price has dropped considerably.

Level thee well!

October 7, 2014
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This Week’s Folded Squees

Fizgig Avatar

What’s not to love about Fall? Before I get to today’s list, I want to say “Thank You” to those of you who’ve commented and enjoyed my Letter to Humans Regarding Halloween that I wound up writing and cross-posting. I had a blast writing it!

Okay, on to this week’s squees!

1) Seriously, Pinterest. How many cool things are on this corkboard? WOW!

2) I’m trying to learn origami. The book of papers I picked up is for beginner’s, so it’s stiffer and holds its shape differently. Ah well, gotta start somewhere!

3) Kind of cheating here, but because origami is my New Thing To Learn, I found out that toilet paper origami is a “thing.” Amazing!

4) Discovered Room on the Broom via Hulu.com. Turns out it’s a book, game, app, and has loads of activities for kids. Neat-o!

5) Sephora.com has a photo gallery and they’ve started to upload pictures of Halloween-inspired makeup and nails. This Halloween manicure is pretty cool!

6) Assembled (hopefully) the last of our replacement furniture. We’ll probably have to get another bookshelf though. Joy of joys… Still? It did NOT sit in the box and for a few hours I was an expert mechanical engineer!

7) And last but not least? Elsa and Anna have made their way into the land of Storybrooke on Once Upon a Time. I have to say, character-wise? Anna is a breathe of fresh, heroic air!

37/365 through 43/365

    Mood: I will conquer Monday.
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: I deny nothing!
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Darkness fell and I went to bed early.
    In My Ears: A lawnmower. (This is a good thing.)
    Game Last Played: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
    Book Last Read: Some book about the fall harvest and corn kings.
    Movie Last Viewed: Merlin
    Latest Artistic Project: I made an origami heart-shaped bookmark.
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Last Man Zombie Standing.
    Latest Game Release: Echoes of War: Thrillin’ Heroics
    What I’m Working On: Primarily tie-in games work, original comics, and novels.


October 6, 2014
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