The Posts

• Day 1: [General] Welcome to Blaugust 2021 – Some advice to get you started on Blaugust.
• Day 2: [General] Back to Streaming This Week! – Spoiler alert: No streams have happened yet because… *gestures*
• Day 3: [Reading] TBR Stack August 2021 – A look at what I want to read for the month of August.
• Day 4: [FFXIV] Corpse Groom – Tam-Tara (Hard) was absolutely mind-blowing!
• Day 5: [FFXIV] To the Crystal Tower – My thoughts on my first time through Crystal Tower quests/raids.
• Day 6: [FFXIV] Ding 60! – I hit level 60 for the first time in FFXIV!
• Day 7: [FFXIV] [Reading] Gathering and Audiobooks – Some thoughts on pairing gathering professions and audiobooks.
• Day 8: [General] How Week One of Blaugust Went – Not… great.
• Day 9: [General] Getting to Know All About You – Intro to getting to know you week.
• Day 10: [Gaming] Have You Ever: Gaming Edition – Evergreen Q&A post!
• Day 11: [FFXIV] Stressing Over Dancer – Thoughts on the Dancer intro quest in FFXIV.
• Day 12: [General] Creating a Second Blog – A follow-up to a post from Blaugust 2019.
• Day 13: [FFXIV] Ding 80! …On Fisher – I hit 80 in FFXIV! But on Fisher.
• Day 14: [General] Revisiting the WP Content Calendar – A follow-up to a post from Blapril 2020.
• Day 15: [FFXIV] Big Ugly Cry – Heavensward hits hard after The Vault.
• Day 16: [Gaming] Developer Appreciation Week: Games – A shoutout to the devs for the games I’m currently playing.
• Day 17: [Gaming] Developer Appreciation Week: Streamers – A (somewhat diverse) list of streamers I love that you should check out.
• Day 18: [Stationery] Developer Appreciation Week: Sticker Shops – Shoutouts to my favorite sticker shops!
• Day 19: [FFXIV] Master Matoya Appreciation Post – Title explains it all.
• Day 20: [Gaming] Five Games for a Year – If I could only play five games for one year…
• Day 21: [General] Website Issues Stink – I love having my own website, but holy heck do I loathe it at times.
• Day 22: [General] Staying Motivated Week – Advice for staying motivated.
• Day 23: [Review] Book Review: The Raven – My first ever book review! Book by Sylvain Reynard. I was not a fan.
• Day 24: [General] Social Media as Promotion – Rambling thoughts on the title.
• Day 25: [FFXIV] Tip-toeing Into Glamours – I’m trying them out! Or… at least I put stuff into my Dresser!
• Day 26: [Gaming] Would You Rather: Game Edition – Another evergreen Q&A post!
• Day 27: [Life] Spoons, Please – I think I’m hitting IRL burnout.
• Day 28: [FFXIV] So Much I Want to Do, So Little Time – Thoughts on my current situation in FFXIV.
• Day 29: [FFXIV] Why Am I Rushing? – More thoughts on my current situation in FFXIV.
• Day 30: [General] Currently Nerding, August 2021 – A recap of what I’m enjoying this month.
• Day 31: [General] Blaugust 2021 Recap – This post!

Final Thoughts

I wrote a lot about FFXIV specifically this month. And I dipped my toes into the waters of some book blogging, which was a fun change of pace! While I don’t think my book review is the greatest, I’m pretty proud of it, especially considering I DNF’d the book so hard.

Every year I typically write about the lessons I’ve learned during my time in Blaugust, but I don’t have much to add this year from what I wrote in Blapril 2020.

• Blogging every day is not something I can manage.
• When life gets overwhelming, content goes poof—but I can manage to catch up!
• I love the content calendar plugin so much.

The only new bit I learned would be that micro-posting is the best way for me to manage Blaugust without feeling burnt out at the end of it. Granted, I am burnt out at the moment, but not specifically because of Blaugust nor content creation.

This is post 31/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

Well, I decided that today I wanted to zerg my way through Weaver to unlock glamour stuff. But by the end of the day I had spent the million gil I picked up through quests and healer roulette queues just getting to level 40 weaver.

And I had to stop and think again. Why am I trying to rush crafting? The thing I enjoy the most in MMOs? Why am I trying to zerg my way through it? Does it fall back to the same reasons as yesterday?

In both WoW and WildStar I would spend hours so that I was self-sufficient with my crafting and gathering. That includes time leveling alts and their professions and gathering.

So when I can do everything on one character… why do I feel the need to rush? More and more I think going back to a gaming goals post will help me with that rushed feeling behind everything.

This is post 29/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

I really just want to do all the things. Explore everywhere I have unlocked. Do FATEs just because. Fill out all the different types of logs there are. But then I also feel like I have to rush to get to Endwalker.

But then I have to think about how I’ve never been playing at current level in FFXIV, so why am I rushing myself now?

Maybe I’m feeling pressure seeing so many folks I know at or close to end game, especially my polycule and partner? Or maybe it’s that whole unspoken MMO pressure to finish old content before the new stuff drops?

I dunno. But I do think that trying to catch up to Endwalker is a lofty goal. And I need to take things at my own pace right now. Maybe a gaming goals post at some point will help me sort it all out.

This is post 28/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

I’m not sure how often others run into these issues. Especially those that fall more towards neuro-normative. But after a long day at work, I do not have the physical and/or mental capacity to do much. And it was even worse when I had to go into the office and spend all that time in the car.

Lately I’ve been wondering a lot how I limped by for so long. Especially when things as they are in the world (ah, COVID) have made work environments, among other things, so different.

Anyway, I guess all that to say that I really think I’m finally heading towards my burnout limit in the current state of the world. I just wish I knew how to manage it.

Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash

This is post 27/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

This originally started over with Mr. Peril, then found its way over to Krikket, and I personally yoinked it from Thyanel. I’m sure it’s been all over at this point, though! (I’m still catching up on all the wonderful posts folks have made, so I’m behind on actually seeing where else it’s been… yet!)

Like Krikket and Thyanel, I’m adding “for a year” to these so they’re less… long-term and possibly anxiety inducing at the thought of one-or-the-other. Regardless of the fact they’re a thought-experiment. Without further ado, let’s begin.

Would You Rather…

Play games only on console OR play games only on PC?

This is an easy one. The vast majority of my games are on PC, so I’d have a much wider selection of games to choose from without having to buy new ones.

Play only single player games OR play only multiplayer games?

Right now I’m playing multiplayer games as if they were single player games. So again, mostly an easy one. Though I’d need to find a different game to play with my bestie. Unless you count Animal Crossing as a multiplayer game?

Play only games you already own OR play only games you would need to still acquire?

Only games I own. I have no ultimate desire for anything coming out that I’d even be able to make the time to play.

Play only games that challenge you mentally OR play only games that challenge you physically?

This one hit a nerve. As someone who suffers both mental and physical health issues, I’d really like to choose neither. Games are a way for me to escape from physical pain, and emotional/mental drain the vast majority of the time.

Play only long/endless games OR play only games that are less than 20 hours long?

I guess the long/endless games? Because that’s mostly what I’m playing right now, anyway.

Play only games released in the last 10 years OR play only games released more than 10 years ago?

Okay, this one was the hard one. I had to google the release dates for the games I’m currently loving. They all fall into the first category—games released in the last ten years.

This is post 26/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

I had to search for advice to understanding the Armoire and Glamour Dresser but I finally found information on how to put things into them. I dislike that the Armoire doesn’t hold much, though.

Not all of my classes/jobs have been leveled up much because I’ve been zerging through the MSQ to try and get ready for Endwalker, but I decided after much waffling to get rid of the gear I wasn’t using outside of a base set of gear for each class. A lot of it overlaps which helps.

Now, my bags are clean! Though I still have much trepidation on trying to glamour stuff, because I don’t want to go through the work of doing it all individually and then also trying to re-glamour gear after I get upgrades.

This is post 25/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

I’ve been trying to follow some social media posting/promotion and engagement advice provided by Amberly to grow my NSFW business, and have also been trying to apply it to my SFW content creation. However, after a few months of doing it for both accounts, it’s just… overwhelming, and not fun in the least.

I know that I should do more of it for my adult content, but I also don’t have the time and energy, and honestly… my SFW(ish) account is where my friends are. It was surprisingly tough to come to the conclusion of just… stop pushing myself.

I thought I might have more to say for this post, which is why it took me so long to get to, but I think it was more of just coming to terms with the fact I’m not going to be able to do everything while working a day job, and trying to focus on my content at the same time.

In the near future I might try to do more engagement on both accounts, but try not to make it such a forced task, and let myself be involved and interested in what my friends and acquaintances are doing. On both social media accounts.

Image by Thomas Ulrich from Pixabay

This is post 24/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

Raven Wood spends her days at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery restoring fine works of Renaissance art. But an innocent walk home after an evening with friends changes her life forever. When she intervenes in the senseless beating of a homeless man, his attackers turn on her, dragging her into an alley. Raven is only semi-conscious when their assault is interrupted by a cacophony of growls followed by her attacker’s screams. Mercifully, she blacks out, but not before catching a glimpse of a shadowy figure who whispers to her…

Cassita vulneratus.

When Raven awakes, she is inexplicably changed. She returns to the Uffizi, but no one recognizes her and more disturbingly, she discovers that she’s been absent an entire week. With no recollection of the events leading up to her disappearance, Raven also learns that her absence coincides with one of the largest robberies in Uffizi history – the theft of a set of priceless Botticelli illustrations. When the baffled police force identifies her as its prime suspect, Raven is desperate to clear her name. She seeks out one of Florence’s wealthiest and elusive men in an attempt to uncover the truth about her disappearance. Their encounter leads Raven to a dark underworld whose inhabitants kill to keep their secrets…

Series: The Florentine #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: 393 pages
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Content Warnings

Chapter one gave us a disabled and fat lead character in Raven… who is walking home alone at 1:30 AM. But she’s not bothered by this fact like some women. She’s practically invisible in every-day life due to her disability, looks, and weight.

Raven comes across three drunkards who physically assault (and subsequently murder) one of the intellectually disabled homeless folks she’s friendly with. Unable to watch it happen, Raven calls on them to stop. They obviously turn their attention to her instead.

The drunkards mock Raven’s physical disability and her appearance as she tries to get away from them. They catch up with no issue, toss Raven’s cane in the street and play keep-away with her backpack. She once again attempts to get away, but the drunkards grab her, and drag her into an alley.

Raven tries to fight back and get away, but is physically assaulted by the three men, then sexually assaulted. It is unclear whether Raven is actually raped or not, but it’s such a close call that it doesn’t particularly matter.

She is rescued by a vampire, and in chapter two awakes in her apartment not remembering anything after leaving a work party at the start of the weekend. It surprisingly takes Raven some time to realize that her disability is miraculously cured, her eyesight is no longer a problem, and she is now of a skinny body type. Thinking she’s experiencing head trauma that is making her see things, Raven runs off to work for the support of her coworkers.

It was at about this time, 5% through by my math, that I turned off the audio book and raged. My first thought after Raven is introduced as a fat and disabled character was, “If she is turned into a vampire and “magically cured” I’m going to DNF this so fast”. So by the end of chapter two, this book was swiftly DNF’d.

Paranormal romance is probably my favorite genre. There’s just something about the fantastical in our everyday world that I love. And that leading characters love… if you catch my drift. But when a book is so riddled with inconceivable character actions (Why didn’t Raven just go to the hospital instead of running to her coworkers? Why was she walking home alone at night?), as well as brutal violence, graphic sexual assault, ableism, and fatphobia all within the first two chapters… Well, I don’t hold high hopes for any of your other books, either.

This is post 23/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

You are getting close to the final stretch. The idea here is to share some of your secrets on how you have stayed motivated while blogging on a regular basis. You might share some tips or ideas you have for making topics happen when you are feeling uninspired. If you are fresh to the initiative you could talk about some of the ways you have managed to keep yourself engaged this year.

First, my biggest callout would be to use the content calendar plugin! It has helped a lot with creating ideas and readjusting based on ideas I get from the blogs I read. It’s a great way to pre-schedule content so that you don’t need to necessarily sit at the computer every day writing a blog post—instead you could have a few hours once a week of blog writing if the mood so struck! The content calendar plugin has also allowed me to create a pretty ample collection of evergreen posts to pull from.

My other biggest advice would be to keep some easy evergreen posts to pull from. Memes, lists, easily answered prompts… they can all sit there in your unpublished posts waiting for the day they’ll be used, even years down the line. That day when you’re not motivated to blog but still want to get something out. Or that day when you’re experiencing writer’s block. Or even that day where you have low spoons. Just remember to keep a link to the original post to reference and give credit!

This is post 22/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

I switched from one host to another not too long ago, and I have been having nothing but issues with the host I switched to.

I’m contemplating switching hosts after next year if things don’t improve.

This time it was just so many issues with SSL certificates of all things.

But for the moment looks like things are sorted. Crossing my fingers it stays that way.

Image by Dok Sev from Pixabay

This is post 21/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!