I pared down my August goals to try and be more focused in tackling them, so let’s see what I accomplished!

• WHM to 50 (FFXIV)
• Complete updated base game MSQ (FFXIV)

I’m less than 50% away from dinging 50 on WHM, though I haven’t had the time or energy to do a lot of gaming as of late. Some of that is changes at work, and some of that is just trying to work my way through depressive episodes. I just don’t have a lot of desire to game during the work-week due to how my days have been going so far, but I’m going to try to carve out a bit more time for myself on the weekends to sit and play, some. I am hoping to finish these in September!

• Complete three more books for the month (total: 7) (Reading) Check!

I accomplished this! I think I’m more surprised that I finished this than I thought I would be when I set the goal. I’m not sure if seven books is a goal I can keep up with, but I definitely want to try to read a book a week going forward. We’ll see if it’s attainable as I continue.

• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Start Season 1 of Stargate Universe (TV)

I had honestly intended to watch these this month, but then I got caught up in Outlander and reading. So they’ll probably roll over to this coming month, as I really don’t want to bring these with me into 2021 like so many other series I never finished despite wanting to.

September Goals

Pared down worked for me last month, but I don’t know if I want to keep them that way going forward, or beef them up a little bit. So for now I’ll keep them pared down and see how I progress. I did consider picking up a game for the Community Game-Along this month, but I’m not sure that the theme appeals to me. I will be participating in October’s theme, however!!

• WHM to 55 (FFXIV)
• Complete updated base game MSQ (FFXIV)
• Start Heavensward (FFXIV)
• Complete four books for the month (Reading)
• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Complete Seasons 1 and 2 of Stargate Universe (TV)

I set some goals for July, but I honestly didn’t glance at them much during the month, so I’m not sure if I completed many. Let’s find out together!

• WHM to 45 (FFXIV) Check!
• Complete MSQ through level 45 (FFXIV) Check?

I definitely hit my goal of getting to 45! And I think I was in story quests that were level 45? I know that with the big patch earlier this week everything has changed with MSQ for base game, so I’ve yet to dip back in to check where I was.

• Complete How I Made $10K as a PSO (Reading/Business) Check!
• Complete Don’t Keep Your Day Job (Reading/Business)
• Get halfway through A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (Reading)
• Complete Sunstone Vol. 2 (Comics)

I had a lot of reading goals for July that I seem to mostly have accomplished in August. I completed the first goal in July, but I didn’t complete Sunstone Volume 2 and A Song of Wraiths and Ruin until earlier this month. In fact, I’ve already read four books this month, which is the most I’ve read this year so far. I’m still working my way through Don’t Keep Your Day Job, but I think it’s going to be a slower read as I thoughtfully work through the prompts in each chapter.

• Complete Warrior Nun (TV) Check! 
• Complete Season 7 of Star Wars: Clone Wars (TV)
• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Start Season 1 of Stargate Universe (TV)

Unfortunately, I haven’t completed any of these except zooming through Warrior Nun. Not for lack of wanting to. More for lack of losing access to Stargate (it left Prime before I finished it) and Clone Wars (when we built my new rig, I lost access to Disney+ because I’m using Manthing’s login). I very much want to finish both, but I just got access to Manthing’s Hulu (which has Stargate), and I need access to Disney+ again.

Overall, not too shabby on goals, so let’s see what I can accomplish for the remaining 16 days of the month!

August Goals

These are a bit pared down compared to what I would normally choose as goals, mainly because I only have 16 days left in the month. Let’s do this!

• WHM to 50 (FFXIV)
• Complete updated base game MSQ (FFXIV)
• Complete three more books for the month (total: 7) (Reading)
• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Start Season 1 of Stargate Universe (TV)

Much like last month, I’m behind on my monthly wrap up, but I feel like I’m getting into the swing of content creation more a bit this week… which I hope continues! There’s not too much I’m currently nerding over this month, so let’s get to it.

Warrior Nun

Manthing and I ended up turning this on one date night, and then we both finished it separately because we couldn’t wait to finish it. I loved the pacing and the characters… though I still feel a bit odd about a male character just not showing up anymore after the halfway point when they were a big part in the first half (it felt like an odd pacing thing, though it’s true to character and situation). The ending felt a bit predictable to me (though I may an outlier, as many reviews call it a twist and a cliffhanger), but I’m very much looking forward to how season 2 (if it happens) will progress.

Fringe

Another date night, Manthing and I were flipping through shows trying to find something to watch when we discovered IMDb TV. We briefly browsed through it and found Fringe. I expressed interest, having never made it past partway through season four, and he mentioned never watching it, so we popped it on. IMDb TV has ads, but they weren’t long and bothersome, so we decided to watch the first two episodes of the first season. I forgot how much I enjoyed Fringe. We’re still trying to figure out if it’s something we’ll watch together, or I’ll zoom ahead on, but I’m looking forward to re-watching it and finishing, finally!

Stationary

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My love of stickers and planners and stationary in general has continued without decline. I’ve even recently picked up some Travelers Notebooks (B6 size) to try out the system, in a modified way of course. I should receive all of them sometime in September, so I’m looking forward to all the exciting covers I’ll have available! I’ll end up writing a more detailed post at some point detailing my thoughts on the Travelers Notebook system, and why I think moving to it will work out well for me. But for now, I’m just enjoying that I have pretty things coming in the mail!

I set up some May goals that seemed like I would manage most of them. I didn’t manage many, however, due to changes in the world and my own changes in game interests.

• Inventory Management (ESO) Check!
• Pick up the last items I need for learning crafting traits (ESO)
• Do a few quests in Grahtwood (ESO)

I worked through my inventory management and tackled that, but I also realized that ESO really isn’t what I’m enjoying right now, as much as I may want to. So I’ll likely be putting ESO goals on the back burner for now, even if I do happen to log in and play some this month.

• Finish Phoenix Wright: Justice for All (Visual Novel)
• Play Muse Dash (Community Game-Along) Check!

I played quite a bit of Muse Dash, and have enjoyed myself greatly. However, I never did write about my thoughts on the game for the Community Game-Along. I’m not currently playing Muse Dash, but I do still have it installed because I will never say no to a game that works out well for depression days, or nights when I just need to unwind with mindless entertainment. I don’t think I’m going to participate in the Community Game-Along this month, as it’s JRPGJuly, and I don’t have the mental bandwidth to pick up an RPG right now (unless FFXIV counts!).

As for Phoenix Wright? Well, I saw that all of the games are available as a bundle on Steam, and well. I unfortunately missed the sale for the bundle. However, since I now know they’re on Steam, I’d rather play them there for ease-of-play, if I’m being honest. So I’m holding out for another sale on the series. For now, however, it’s coming off of my goals list.

• Complete Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 of Sunstone (Comics)
• Complete The Lesser Kindred (Reading) Check!
• Start Redeeming the Lost (Reading) Check!
• Complete one of the two books I am reading for my business (Reading)

I have yet to pick up anymore Sunstone, but I flew through both The Lesser Kindred and Redeeming the Lost. Business books got nowhere, but I think that’s partly because I didn’t call out which one I wanted to focus on, and partly due to the world environment making things feel pointless.

• Complete Season 5 of Star Wars: Clone Wars Check!
• Complete Season 10 of Stargate SG-1 Check!
• Complete Season 3 of Stargate Atlantis Check!

I finished both season 5 and 6 of Star Wars: Clone Wars, but I’ve yet to start season 7, which I addressed briefly in my last post. I also completed season 10 of Stargate SG-1, the two Stargate movies, as well as seasons 3 and 4 of Stargate Atlantis. I am looking forward to finishing Atlantis out, but I also don’t want it to end. Overall, I didn’t do too badly on my goals over the two months I worked on them.

July Goals

• WHM to 45 (FFXIV)
• Complete MSQ through level 45 (FFXIV)
• Complete How I Made $10K as a PSO (Reading/Business)
• Complete Don’t Keep Your Day Job (Reading/Business)
• Get halfway through A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (Reading)
• Complete Sunstone Vol. 2 (Comics)
• Complete Warrior Nun (TV)
• Complete Season 7 of Star Wars: Clone Wars (TV)
• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Start Season 1 of Stargate Universe (TV)

While July has officially started, I’ve been afk from much of social media and blogging just due to, well… *gestures at the world* and it’s effect on my mental (and physical) health. So I just wanted to do a quick recap of things I nerded out over the past two months to not only just talk about some fun things, but also get my blogging fingers working again after some time off to take care of myself.

Monster Prom

I spent quite a bit of time during May talking about my time playing in Monster Prom. I even dabbled in it some during June. But I kind of left it by the wayside for some unknown reason. I think because I got into a, “nothing is bringing me joy because STRESS” mode for so long. I’m thinking of picking it up again this weekend (since I shouldn’t have to work, and I’m feeling less ill) just to get in some laughs and try to work my way through the achievements. I adore this game, and I’m very much looking forward to nerding out over it even more!

Clone Wars

I finished out season 6 of Clone Wars these past two months, but I have yet to pick up season seven. Partly due to the “ohgodstress” mindset, partly due to the fact that I know season 7 is the last season and I don’t want it to end, and partly because I got caught up in a binge of something else…

Stargate

(Fan trailer may contain spoilers) Oh man, I’ve about finished the Stargate chronology and I am both sad and excited. I made it through all of Stargate SG-1 (including the two movies), and am on the final season of Stargate Atlantis, which just leaves me with Stargate Universe afterwards. I’m not sure what series to pick up next for binging after I finish Stargate. I’m open to suggestions of similar shows, though! Maybe Babylon 5. Or Farscape! I never finished Farscape, and it’d be cool to keep with two of the SG-1 season 10 characters.

Animal Crossing

After finally managing to get a Switch, I dove head first into Animal Crossing. I’m still figuring out how things work, and slowly working my way through upgrading my house and getting neighbors, but I’m having so much fun, and have appreciated hanging out with one of my best friends, and getting some help and hangout time with Jae, which I appreciated so very much. I hope to be able to play some more with others as I continue to get into Animal Crossing. I very much love the fishing, bug hunting, and just picking up sea shells (and giving everything I can to the museum!).

Planner Stickers

It may come as no surprise (after mentioning this was becoming a thing back in May) that I have become utterly obsessed with planner stickers. I think it brings me back to a time when I was allowed to like stickers as a kid. Liking them as an adult is kind of a thing people look at you weirdly for, so finding this world of stickers that also help to keep me functioning has been a blessing, to be honest. It’s a creative outlet that I’ve much needed. I still get to collect and play with stickers, but it also gives me a visual of what I need/want to do so that I stay focused on tasks and feel much less stressed out about it.

I use my planner quite functionally, and pair it with my bullet journal so that the two together are a schedule and plan of what I need/want to accomplish each day. The month or so I’ve been doing this, has been quite helpful in helping to calm my mind. Especially after changing up my bullet journal style (for the second time this year) to allow myself more freedom to write and be creative and journal and put down stickers that I’m also using for the week in my planner.

FFXIV

I called it when I wrote about bouncing off of ESO. While I am still paying for a subscription, I haven’t really logged in (though I might want to do so for daily rewards this month…). I very much want to play it, but I don’t feel like I have the time or patience to do so right now. Instead, I have found myself diving into FFXIV once again. This time, I think it’s sticking more than it has before because I’ve been gaming some with the polycule.

Manthing and I either level some classes together (ARC/NIN), or we sit in Discord and play our own things. It also helps just being around the polycule as a whole even if I don’t get to play much with them. I’m still trying to figure my way around the FC, as I’m very much feeling an outsider right now, but I’m still enjoying my time playing mostly solo. I’ve been leveling my White Mage, and have been enjoying my time quite a bit.

I forgot how much I’ve loved healing. I haven’t healed in a very long time due to the fact that ex was always the healer, and I was always the tank. It feels comfortable, and has a more rhythmic flow to me than DPS does. Though, to be honest, I am very much looking forward to leveling Dancer, eventually!

At the start of April, Bel posted about some games he was regularly playing, and it inspired me to try something similar. Except, I’m not playing a bunch of games, lately. I’m nerding out over different things, though, so I figured in line with my goals now being called “Nerding Goals” instead of “Gaming Goals”, that this wrap-up of the month would be best to be named similarly.

These wrap ups may or may not cover things that are in my goals for the month. Sometimes, things just hit me differently during the month for whatever reason, and I’d still like to talk about them, but it’s not enough for a full-blown post itself.

Currently Nerding: April 2020

Star Wars: Clone Wars

One of my goals for this month was to try and finish season four of Clone Wars, which I’ve done, and have started working my way into season five. The end of season four blew my mind, and got me so pumped up! I know it’s been out for “forever” at this point, but I’ve never watched it until now, and I appreciate that folks are shying away from spoilers for me. I’m looking forward to what season five brings, though I’m a bit sad knowing that I’m getting close to the end.

Stargate

[SPOILERS IN FAN TRAILER] I wrote about how I finished up Stargate season nine (which was also part of my goals list), but I have also made it all the way through Stargate Atlantis season two, and into season three. I’ve hit a point in my chronology where things will start to get a little wonky (e.g.: After I finish SGA 3.4, I jump back to SG-1 for 10.3-10.12, then back to SGA, then…), so I’m going to have to think about what I want to tackle for my goals for next month in regards to Stargate, soon.

Soap Packing Videos

I couldn’t tell you why I’ve been nerding out about this, but it’s so relaxing to me. They’re sort of vlog-like, but they also show off neat products, and are a behind-the-scenes sort of look at soapers and what they do for taking care of their customers. I’m especially loving Missouri River Soaps for her packing videos, and I’m looking for more soap channels that do the same.

Nail Polish!

I’m trying to get better about doing my nails weekly to help them grow and keep them strong, but I’ve been holding off because I just hate what nail polish remover (even the acetone-free one) does to them. So I’ve been working my way through Simply Nailogical’s videos on YouTube, and have found a few about growing out nails and keeping them healthy. So now I’m waiting for a few nail supplies to come in (peel-off base coat means no nail polish remover!) so I can start taking better care of my nails and cuticles.

I also have dermatillomania, and the biggest thing I do is pick at my cuticles and skin on my fingers until I am bleeding. I’ve noticed when I wear nail polish I do this much less frequently, so I’m also aching to get back to wearing polish because my skin is pretty intense looking with all the stress thanks to the current world situation. I’m also lusting over some Holo Taco products right now, but will have to wait until my next paycheck to think about picking them up.

This is post 22/31 for Blapril. You can find out more and sign up at Belghast’s original post. You can view those participating on Twitter via the Twitter list I put together. Nogamara of Battlestance has put together an RSS feed of all Blapril participants.

I first saw this floating around Facebook, but didn’t pay much mind to it until I saw it floating around the blogosphere. Endalia was kind enough to link it in the Blaugust Discord, so I saved it for a rainy day. Today is that rainy day.

You can take the personality test for yourself here. You can find my full results here. I’m only going to post my top 10 from the full results, and then dive into some of my favorite fandoms!

1. Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer): 79%
2. Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter): 75%
3. Donna Moss (The West Wing): 75%
4. Kaylee Frye (Firefly + Serenity): 75%
5. Alice Cullen (Twilight): 75%
6. Daniel Jackson (Stargate SG-1): 74%
7. Rachel Chu (Crazy Rich Asians): 73%
8. Abby Sciuto (NCIS): 73%
9. Samwell Tarly (Game of Thrones): 72%
10. Pam Beesly (The Office): 72%

I’m sad that certain fandoms aren’t in the top ten, but I’m going to see what my percentages look like as we delve into them specifically… in alphabetical order. Though, I’m confused why some fandoms show up in the big list (e.g.: NCIS, Stargate SG-1), but don’t show up in the Universe drop down.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

1. Willow Rosenberg: 79%
2. Rupert Giles: 65%
3. Buffy Summers: 58%
4. Xander Harris: 55%
5. Angel: 47%

Willow was always my favorite character in Buffy, with Cordelia as a close second, so I’m happy that she ended up being my highest in Buffy, and I suppose overall, as well. But ugh, Xander. At least it’s only 55%.

Firefly + Serenity

1. Kaylee Frye: 75%
2. Hoban Washburne: 71%
3. Inara Serra: 69%
4. Derrial Book: 67%
5. River Tam: 59%

Kaylee and Inara were always characters I identified with the most in Firefly. I love all the characters, but I very much gravitate towards Kaylee as someone I could see myself being. So I feel it’s fairly accurate!

Harry Potter

1. Luna Lovegood: 75%
2. Ginny Weasley: 69%
3. Arthur Weasley: 68%
4. Remus Lupin: 66%
5. Nymphadora Tonks: 66%

Okay, Luna is just so underappreciated! Everyone goes off about how she’s so odd and naive, and she’s really not. Neville and Luna were always my favorite Harry Potter characters (I mean, I appreciate the main trio, but, eh), so I’m glad I got Luna… because that means I get Mr. Sexy Herbologist.

Star Trek: Deep Space 9

1. Jadzia Dax: 69%
2. Julian Bashir: 69%
3. Kasidy Yates: 69%
4. Jake Sisko: 68%
5. Nog: 64%

Deep Space Nine is absolutely my favorite Trek. I love many characters, but I don’t know that I could pick a favorite (okay, I lie, it’s Elim). Despite loving the series and characters (minus the rush that was Season 7), I’ve never particularly identified closely with any of them. Dax is definitely up there as a favorite, though, so I’ll take it!

Twin Peaks

1. Dale Cooper: 71%
2. Norma Jennings: 68%
3. Lucy Moran: 68%
4. Shelly Johnson: 64%
5. Pete Martell: 60%

While I would be classified as “too young” to appreciate Twin Peaks, it has swiftly become one of my favorite fandoms. I think it’s the one thing that has remained of the fandoms my ex-husband introduced me to. It was not the first David Lynch work I’d seen, but it gave me a much better appreciation and understanding of how he works as a whole. Plus, you just can’t say no to the quirky cast, and occult undertones. I will wear with pride all of the names I was given, even if they all have their own weird flaws.

The West Wing

1. Donna Moss: 75%
2. Charlie Young: 71%
3. Sam Seaborn: 69%
4. Joey Lucas: 67%
5. C.J. Cregg: 66%

The West Wing is probably my biggest go-to show when I’m struggling emotionally. It’s one of the few television shows I grew up watching (along with DS9) in full, and being able to binge it on Netflix multiple times the past year has been a help when I needed something to get me through the depression rut I was stuck in. It’s also one of the things Manthing and I love to watch and share. He’s told me many times that I remind him of dear Donnatella, so I wear it with pride that I got her as a top result, as well.

This is post 14/31 for Blapril. You can find out more and sign up at Belghast’s original post. You can view those participating on Twitter via the Twitter list I put together. Nogamara of Battlestance has put together an RSS feed of all Blapril participants.

Seriously Geeky Sundays is a new weekly blogging prompt put together by Heather of Just Geeking By. The idea is to answer some questions about various topics. The nice thing is that she gives you all of the prompts for a month up front so you can decide if you’d like to participate in particular ones, or go ahead and start scheduling posts for Sundays to answer the questions.

Kings and Queens

I think this set of questions are going to be difficult for me to complete because I don’t consume a lot of media with royalty in it, but I’m going to try!

Who is your favorite female royal character?

So figuring out the answer to this one took me longer than I wanted to. I had to eventually settle on Queen Nehelenia. Don’t get me wrong—I love me some Neo Queen Serenity, but I always loved the villains in Sailor Moon more than the main cast. To the point of making a Geocities fan-site dedicated just to all of the villains, including the single-episode monsters of the week. Yes, seriously. I think it was the goth-aesthetic that they all presented that captured me more than the story of them. I would have chosen Wicked Lady for this question, but I don’t think that she was technically classified as royalty, even if Chibi-Usa technically is. While I enjoy the Black Moon Family arc, Queen Beryl was never as interesting to me as Queen Nehelenia. Honestly, the whole Dark Moon Circus arc was more interesting in general.

Who is your favorite male royal character?

Mmf, there was some serious lusting after Prince Diamond as a young girl. Earrings, white hair… Needless to say, this line just got better with age.

Who is your favorite royal couple?

I thought long and hard about this one. It was a tough call. Do I choose more Sailor Moon characters? Do I partake of another fandom? I ended up deciding to mention another fandom. While the movie is nothing like the book, I have a soft spot for Stardust. It’s one of my go-to movies when I’m feeling down, and I need something to cheer me up. So my favorite royal couple is actually Tristan and Yvaine. (Plus Charlie Cox, I mean…)

What is your favorite story line involving a royal character?

This was another tough one, but I decided on one of my favorite book chronicles. The Hythrun Chronicles by Jennifer Fallon. The Wolfblade trilogy within the Hythrun Chronicles has some of my favorite characters, and Marla is a pretty intense character that I can’t get enough of. I should add all of those books to my reading list and pick them up again, soon.

If you could live in any fictional royal residence, which one would it be?

I honestly have never thought about living in a royal residence. Any time I think about living in a fictional residence, it’s always some witchy cottage filled with plants and cats. So I sadly have no answer to this question.

The main character of the last fandom you experienced just became King/Queen of their universe; how do they react?

Oh goodness. I most recently watched some Stargate: Atlantis, which happens to be an ensemble cast. So there’s no true main character in the series. Besides, nobody can beat Harry Maybourne as a king. And the one and only time I’ve seen Wayne Brady not be the one making jokes.

This is post 10/31 for Blapril. You can find out more and sign up at Belghast’s original post. You can view those participating on Twitter via the Twitter list I put together. Nogamara of Battlestance has put together an RSS feed of all Blapril participants.