August 2023

[Spoiler Free] Thoughts on Baldur’s Gate 3

stargrace August 11, 2023 0Comment

I have to admit, Baldur’s Gate 3 sort of took me by surprise. I played Divinity Original Sin with my husband, and I liked it but I didn’t love it. I’ve never played any of the Baldur’s Gate games before, but I do really enjoy TTRPG’s and everything they encompass. I picked up the game on a bit of a whim, and then waited until it released before actually playing – and I’m so glad I did.

This game is easily my top 5, and I’ve sunk more hours into it in a shorter time than a lot of other games I own. I’ve got two campaigns on the go, one with a group of 4 people and one that’s just a duo between myself and my husband. The moments have been hilarious, sad, and scary sometimes all at once. There’s so much creativity involved that you could play in so many different ways and have so many different outcomes. I absolutely love it.

I think by now I have over 18 hours invested into it, and I feel as though we’ve barely scratched the surface. In one campaign I play a human paladin, and in the second I’m a wood elf druid. I’ve talked to many cows, owlbears, squirrels, and dogs. I’ve done good things and some not so great things. I’ve pushed enemies off of ledges, and I’ve killed my own team mates (by accident, I swear). The story and narration is superb, and I actually care about what’s going on. I want to complete those little side quests that I typically ignore.

There has only been one case (so far) where I went back to a previous save, to be honest it was really late at night and I just wasn’t making good decisions, and then the dice decided to give me a really rough time on top of my very poor decisions. I don’t regret rolling it back, but on the same hand I also don’t want it to become the norm for my adventures. So far, I’ve held true to that.

I can’t say much without giving away spoilers, which I absolutely do not want to do, so I’ll just leave it at that. I love the game, I’m having a blast, and while combat at times has been difficult, I’ve never found it impossible. It does take a lot of creativity, and I’m glad that there are some less spontaneous members of my party so that we’re not all rushing into things all at once. I am definitely not the one who thinks things through first. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Real Life

It’s Time to get Uncomfortable

stargrace August 10, 2023 0Comment

** WARNING ** This post talks about some important things involving body parts (specifically, the vulva). If you’re not interested or body parts are not your thing, just scroll on by.

At the time of this post, I’m 42. I have a 5 year old and an almost 7 year old. When I was growing up I didn’t realize it, but my family wasn’t really one of those ‘let’s talk about all of the things’ families. I thought we were, but experience has taught me that it was mostly a façade. I want to be better.

I was well into my 30’s when I discovered that the body part I thought my entire life was a vagina – was actually a vulva. Learning this pretty much blew my mind because how could I possibly be in my 30s and not even know the proper name of MY OWN BODY PARTS. No one had taught me otherwise, it was rarely talked about, and when it was, it was referred to as a vagina. WRONG! It is not a vagina! The insides are (it’s the passage that connects the uterus to the outside of your body), but the genitals on the outside are the vulva (this includes the mons pubis, labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vestibular bulbs, vulva vestibule, Bartholin’s glands, Skene’s glands, urethra, and vaginal opening). Not a vagina. Vulva.

Now back to not talking about body parts and I cannot stress this enough – PLEASE TALK ABOUT BODIES. Remove the stigma surrounding simple discussion.

Why? Because it turns out that my ENTIRE life I’ve had a vaginal septum – that NO ONE mentioned to me despite having pap tests since I was in my late teens. This septum separates my vagina into two parts. Basically it’s a line of tough tissue that runs from top to bottom, and I in essence have TWO vagina. Sometimes this also means you have duplicates of other things (I do not fall into that category) but I didn’t discover that I had a septum until I was having issues getting pregnant and went to a gynecologist to see what was up. The doctor looked at me after a failed attempt at trying to get a camera in there and said “you know you have a septum, right?” because how on earth could I be getting pap tests without anyone letting me know that things are not ‘normal’ down there. I had no idea. No one told me.

A vaginal septum can cause lots of issues. I can’t wear tampons, I can’t wear period cups, you can have issues getting pregnant, periods are all messed up, sex can be painful, etc. You basically can only get in so far and then you hit a wall (the line of tissue that’s in the middle). Now, a pap test (or smear) is where they take a few swabs of the inside and test for various things to make sure you’re all healthy (cancer is a big deal in my family, it’s important to get these tests done). The problem with having a septum #1 is you need TWO swabs, one on each opening, otherwise you’re not actually testing things properly, and #2 it’s PAINFUL and difficult, because they have to get inside each of those openings. Usually by moving that tissue from one side to the other. Which hurts.

Why didn’t any doctors before the age of 35 tell me I had a septum? I have no idea. According to my gyno it should have been very noticeable to anyone who was trying to do a pap smear – and once it was explained to me it just made so much sense.

TALK about bodies. There is nothing wrong or shameful or weird about having open and frank discussions and it is just so very important that you know your own. I don’t want my kids to be in their 30s and not know the proper names for things, or have them discovering important medical information about themselves. Just talk.

Gaming

Games – What’s Going on in August

stargrace August 9, 2023 0Comment

Despite what the past week or so has shown, I DO tend to write about video games here, so let’s do a little update on that.

World of Warcraft – I’m “playing” but not really. I haven’t kept up with content or story, instead I do some pet battles and marketing bits. As much as I love World of Warcraft, and I do, the game is old and it shows. It’s comfortable, but there’s nothing innovative and I always get a little bored mid way through expansions. It happened with Shadowlands and I’m not exactly surprised that it’s happening in Dragonflight either. Don’t get me wrong, I think DF is an amazing expansion (compared to previous ones) and I’ve had a lot of fun, but it doesn’t seem to last.

Wurm Online / Wurm Unlimited – I’ve been cautious about playing much WO because I’m not exactly convinced that the ‘new’ CEO won’t completely change the game that I love and adore, so to scratch some of those WO itches I’ve been playing a bit of WU, where the Sklotopolis server is my home and I have a small deed there I’ve been working on. WO has done some great QoL changes over the years that I really wish WU would be able to pick up on, but the Sklotopolis server developers have done well given their restrictions. They can only do server side changes with the way things currently are.

FFXIV – My husband returned to this game sort of out of the blue, because two of his RL friends are playing. I decided why not, and my little bard is mid-way through Endwalker and level 86. Most of my time is still spent crafting and harvesting, but the game is lovely. I’d like to get more into housing (so far I only have an apartment) and I’m learning the markets. Having 40(60) sale slots has been an interesting restriction that I’ve been having fun working around/with.

Baldur’s Gate 3 – Like a lot of others, I picked it up just before release and then held off playing so that progression wouldn’t have to start over. I have a 4 person campaign with some friends, and a 2 person campaign with my husband. I’ve been having an absolute blast, and while I know there are some issues that hardcore D&D players take issue with, I’ve just been relaxing and enjoying the narrative. Combat did take some getting used to, but now that we’re no longer in the tutorial and we’ve been adventuring together for a bit, it’s much more fluid. I play a wood elf druid in my group campaign, and a human paladin with my husband. Probably one of my favourite games this year.

Cook Serve Delicious 3 – When I don’t want to be around people this is the game I head to. I enjoyed the previous two versions of the game, and the third one follows a pretty dark apocalyptical timeline that I wasn’t expecting, but still enjoy. I appreciate that they have a ‘chill’ mode, and it’s just been a great little game to escape to.

School (and thus homeschool) will be picking back up in September, and this time I’ll have my 7 year old son and my 5 year old daughter so spare time (and thus gaming time) will go down as I do lesson plans and all that other fun stuff. I’m also trying to dedicate a bit of free time to hobbies, so games that I can get into (and out of) quickly are usually the winners. Baldur’s Gate 3 is (right now) Tuesday / Friday nights for 2h, and everything else I just sort of rotate around. Hopefully I can continue to balance it all, but we shall see. Life doesn’t always listen to me when I ask things to go a certain way.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

DailyCreative

Hobbies – Round Four: Art

stargrace August 8, 2023 0Comment

It’s the fourth and final round of hobbies for the week, and I’m ending it with one of my most passionate ones but also a sorely neglected one (aren’t they all) – art. I used to do a lot of traditional art but stopped for about 20 years, and then when I picked it up again I found some days my body simply wouldn’t listen, so I now switch between digital art and traditional art.

Tools of the trade: For digital art I use an ipad and an apple pencil 1st generation. Software is Procreate, but I know everyone has their favourites. I use default brushes, and most of my pieces are nature related.

For traditional art I’ve been learning how to use watercolours, though I also have some gouache that I’m trying to learn. My favourite is probably just pen and ink. am fascinated by urban sketching, and my YouTube shows a lot of that. The thing is, art takes time and practice to get better at, and it’s been many years since I was any good at it. I don’t dedicate nearly the amount of time that I wish I did. Last year I was trying to complete one piece a week, and I ended just shy of that. This year I attempted the same, but I’ve only completed four pieces for the year. It’s a mixture of reasons, all of them excuses. I am happy to be back doing art though. It always holds a very special sacred place in my heart.

I try to keep my art supplies neat and tidy and all in one location, but it eventually spills out around the house over time. My computer desk is home to most of it, with a few bins underneath for sketch books. A plastic stand with drawers to the side of my desk holds paint, brushes, and other bits and bobs.

That makes four days of hobbies. Knitting (and fiber related arts), miniatures, cross stitch, and art. That doesn’t included other hobbies that I dabble in, including cooking, reading, photography, and whatever else happens to cross my path, honestly. I love trying different things and finding out what works (or doesn’t work) for me.

Tomorrow? Back to our regular scheduled video game posts!

Cross Stitch Yarn

Hobbies – Round Three: Cross Stitch

stargrace August 7, 2023 0Comment

My Mom taught me to cross stitch when I was around 10 years old. It was her main hobby (besides reading) and I always admired the pieces she created. She would do these elaborate, sometimes blanket sized, pieces full of colours. It was no surprise when I wanted to take it up, but it turns out that I do not have her patience or perseverance when it comes to this hobby. I would get bored easily, want to start new projects constantly, and I’ve never completed anything large. Now that I’m older it’s a bit easier, but because of the number of hobbies I have, cross stitch is probably one of the more neglected ones. Especially since my eyesight has been going. I’ve been thinking about investing in one of those magnifying glasses that you can clamp to the couch, so that I can see my stitches clearly.

Cross stitch happens exactly as it sounds. You stitch tiny little X’s over and over. Sometimes that’s mixed in with other types of stitches (back stitching for outlining, half stitches just for a different look, knots, etc) but the majority are the repeating X’s. I have a huge collection of kits, as well as patterns I’ve bought online or ones I’ve printed out. I subscribed to a yearly magazine for a while that included a tiny little seasonal project, but they mostly sat there, unused.

I have bins of canvas, threads neatly organized in craft cases, bags of threads less organized, and everything in between. The size of my cross stitch collection is (IMO) under control and quite small (I have one plastic tote dedicated to it, I make sure everything can fit into the tote minus my containers of floss) compared to other crafts I have (knitting, I’m looking at you) and I prefer to keep it that way. Like most of my hobbies, if I don’t set aside dedicated time to it, it tends to get neglected. I’d like to do a little stitching each day and then at least over time I might be able to see some progress. As it is now, I tend to rotate my hobbies in and out, so I’ll work on knitting for a few months, then swap over to cross stitch or miniatures, then swap over to my 4th hobby which I’ll talk about in tomorrow’s post.

How do you handle having multiple hobbies? Do they all get an equal amount of attention or do you tend to hyper focus on one and rotate them out like I do? Let me know in comments!

[Spoiler Free] Thoughts on Baldur’s Gate 3

It’s Time to get Uncomfortable

Games – What’s Going on in August

Hobbies – Round Four: Art

Hobbies – Round Three: Cross Stitch

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