Like previously, I am doing my weekly blog update. I am taking a mental break from writing reviews until next month. I am rewriting my old reviews here and there (old habits are hard to die) but life’s priority is changing. For today’s photo, I chose a picture taken earlier this summer at Coronado Heights as I am preparing to say goodbye to summer.
No, I didn’t throw the controller. Didn’t pull my hair. Didn’t scream at the T.V. I did none of that, but like a crazed gambler, I played until I win. During the battle, I called her the stinking scarlet rotten flower as a coping mechanism to relieve my frustration. The truth is she didn’t stink. She was like an alluring perfume scent that stunned me into a relationship for two whole days. She moved around with her blade elegantly with one swipe. I was obsessed. I kept thinking: “I am almost there if I keep trying,” but the result was the same. It was until I decided to re-strategize, reallocate my stats, level up, and went on a hunt for moon spells that I started to have a glimmer of hope. After all, I was facing a boss who claimed to “have never known defeat.”
For such an intimidating statement, I was beginning to lose hope despite my best effort to dodge and cast spells. Skills can only get us so far until we need luck on our side. If I can recall, medieval writers personify luck and called it Fortune. When things go wrong, we blame Fortune, but when things go right, we thank her. I felt the same way about this boss fight. I tried to beat the boss several times to the point I started daydreaming during the first phase of the battle because I knew her patterns quite well. In the second phase not so much because I was panicking. To defeat any boss in the soul-like games, it’s about natural reflex and timing! And unlike other games, if you die in the 2nd phase, you have to start all over again from phase 1 of the boss fight! That’s why I said this boss fight was almost pure luck. When she consecutively bloomed twice in the 2nd phase, I knew it was my chance to blast her with a powerful spell (Thank you Fortune for being on my side).
There were two phases in this boss fight and what made it so difficult was that not only was she quick with her blade, but she also regenerated her health by attacking the player. In other words, she absorbed the player’s health. It was like one of those soul-sucking relationships where the person took more than give. Not a pleasant feeling. So, I had to really learn how to play this game. I ended up defeating her by using only two important spells: Stars of Ruin in the first phase because it auto-locks the target and Comet Azur in the second phase because of its high damage. The rest was up to me on how well I dodged and blocked her attacks! For talismans, I equipped Radagon Icon, Primal Glinstone Blade, Edtree’s Favor +1, and Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman. My armor didn’t really make a huge difference whether I had it on or not, although I did wear something light so that it was easier to move around and dodge. One hit took a lot of damage. Meanwhile, my summoned Ash War Mimic Tears (a spirit that cn assist you in battle) didn’t take as much damage. I wonder how that is possible when the Ash War Mimic Tears is a replicant of my character. I didn’t use her though–instead, I used Black Knife Tiche who has been upgraded to Plus 10. As for the shield, I equipped Carian Knight’s Shield upgraded to +23 (which I am pretty sure there are better shields but I don’t want to waste materials because upgrading items can be scarce) and my staff/weapon Carian Regal Scepter upgraded to its max.
When I see videos of people fighting Melania effortlessly, I am not fooled by the thought that they probably struggle a bit in their first few tries. It must have taken the player several tries until they got pretty good at it. No damage hit? Yeah, it requires skills, but also a lot of practice too. While that is fun and game to some people, I definitely don’t want to deal with her again in NG + ! I am just happy that I finally learned how to play the game, and that in itself is an achievement! On my next round, my journey with Elden Ring would be less rocky and more pleasant. I hope! Who am I kidding? The bosses would just get harder on NG+!!!
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If you are accessing this blog post on WP Reader, the featured image is a character from AI: The Somnium Files, the game I’m currently playing. The character Mama works at the bar and is used to listening to people divulging their thoughts publicly. I confess when I’m a bit down, I do reach for the booze because I know Mama will listen because she knows everything.
Happy New Year, not really. I am not going to bet that 2023 will get better. I can’t change events that are out of my control, but I can control my personal space a bit. I have disconnected myself from Twitter, meaning I don’t log onto it anymore. Not like I was all that active to begin with. It’s a very toxic place where most people have chronic road rage and strong political opinions, including the CEO. On top of my New Year’s woe, it looks like my email has found itself in the Dark Web. I don’t speak German and have never been to Germany. Why am I receiving a registration confirmation email from Zinser Card? I don’t even go out enough to shop to impress. And why am I being addressed as Herr Droll ( Mr. Droll?). It looks like Mr. Droll lives in a decent neighborhood based on the address found in the registration confirmation email.
Why does he need to steal people’s email address and act all shady? Then I wonder if Mr. Droll is a victim just as much as I am, or if Mr. Droll is even a real person at all. I have been hacked once. It did put a dent in my trust with people online or in general. But don’t worry, I haven’t lost my faith in humanity. The greatest thing I learned from that awful experience is to trust my instinct because going against it came with a heavy price. If karma is real, I hope that hacker gets what he/she deserves. I hope he/she gets it real bad.
On the bright side, I completed Eiyuden Rising and 100 percent it! It was addictive and fun. Short and sweet. Now, I’m looking forward to Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes. I also enjoyed watching Tokyo Godfathers and Millennium Actress during the holiday. And recently, I watched M3gan at the theater and plan to watch Everything, Everywhere All At Once. Yet I’m still debating whether I want to do a proper review for anything I have consumed.
I’ll keep this blogging going, but I can’t promise I’ll be here next year. Until next time have a wonderful day.
P.S.
I quit sharing my blog posts on social media entirely. I figure if someone is genuinely interested in my content they will find me via Search Engine.
Most of the time, I am pretty level-headed and many people (offline that is. I’m not active on social media) said I am pleasant to be around. I am polite, hard-working, and considerate. Even my former boss said I am the nicest person in the world! Wow, I felt so honored to be called that. I suppose you don’t meet a lot of people who skip to work when work sometimes feels like running into a battle. I’m an optimist and sometimes a bit too overconfident by default, which is not always a great thing. I think it’s partly because I have a lot of alone time for reflection. I think and then write, edit then revise. As a result, this blog helps me stay sane, calm, collected, and understanding. Unfortunately, I wish I can say that my blogging experience has been very good. There are some blogging annoyances. Some have to do with indexing issues but it’s more to do with the blogging gaming community that I run into which cannot be helped, but can it?
It’s been a while since I did my 3-list blog post where I just make 3 lists of anything for fun. It’s a great writing exercise. So, today’s topic will be on blogging pet peeves. Brace yourself because this is not a positive, uplifting post, but I hope it’s insightful. I will try to keep it light.
#1) Passive Aggressive Blog Posts
I can never understand gaming bloggers who disrespect their readers. They should be happy that someone follows them because there’s a possibility that they are genuinely interested in their content. What irks me is when bloggers think their readers are inferior to them. I followed a female gaming blog that thought it would be funny to review a coloring book game for little girls just so she can make fun of it. I wish I understood the humor because if I were a kid, I think I’d like the game. The game is intended for little girls and not for full-grown adults. I guess making fun of a little girl’s game makes someone appears bigger?
2#) What Does It Really Mean to Be a Feminist?
I followed a few feminist bloggers back then. I learned that not all feminists (males included) agree with scantily clad women or lipstick feminists. I believe in equality too, but I don’t see a problem with women who are in tune with their feminine side. If you want to pay for my meal after a hard long day of killing zombies, hunters, and lickers, I got no objection. I’ll cover for you next time as long as I can afford it. Sadly, gender inequality pay is still a thing here in the U.S for the girly girl. There’s nothing more irritating than being called a gold-digger just because you are broke from trying to compete in a society that praises and rewards masculine over feminine traits unless you sell your body. I hope you can tell I’m joking. It’s a double joke. If you have played Resident Evil Revelations, I’m referencing and mocking a gamer’s comment I found on a gaming forum about Jessica. Some people called Jessica a gold-digger because she demanded Clive R. O’Brian, another character from the game, to take her out to eat after they are done with their job. You can’t see it in the picture below, but she is wearing a makeup bag around her waist. This portrayal of the woman always irks me a little. What’s so bad with keeping up with appearance while on the job? It’s empowering.
#3) Competitive Bloggers
I support friendly competition, but I don’t support catty competition where someone tries to discredit me by telling me what I like is not cool enough and what they like is better. What’s the point of following each other only to stress each other out? There were a few times I would leave comments only to get pushed back by anxiety-driven gamers who need a lot of work in the self-esteem department. They should be happy at least someone commented on their blog. It means they took the time to read and think about what you got to say. Isn’t that why people blog in the first place? Sometimes I wonder if it has to do with my pen name, Halsdoll. If you are curious, you can check my blog post about the meaning behind my pen name. My pen name was never intended to sound seductively alluring to support the patriarchal society, but somehow, I get pushed aside. The indie gaming community seems to be conflicted with all things femininity because 1) girls are just so weaaak (and that is not a typo); 2) the damsel in distress is not only a threat to another woman’s resources but she is also dead weight, and 3) the shameless hussy woman relied on her looks to get what she wants from men. You see, the suspicion towards women will never end because women were never seen on an equal level to men for having ambitions and desires separate from their counterparts despite the fact that gaming is so mainstream now that even your grandma is probably gaming as we speak and tweeting about it on Twitter!
It always seems like it’s the frailest one who has the strongest determination on the battleground-screen shots from 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
There you have it, my 3 blogging pet peeves, which most people probably cannot relate to, but hey this is my blog and I thought it might be worth sharing since nerds really do like exchanging information. It just shows that oh my, the quiet Asian woman can be so straightforward and have such strong opinions contrary to what some people think. Never assume. I hope you found this post insightful because I was never the type who like to complain for the sake of complaining.
There are times when I feel motivated to write and then there are times when I feel uninspired to write especially around the holiday. I am not all that festive but I tried to be because a holiday is a great reminder that we should celebrate and have fun. Today, I am taking the easy route by recycling some older posts I have written.
It may seem as if I would never run out of things to talk about for Halloween because horror is my favorite genre, but in the past two years since Covid-19 happened, I am just not in the mood for horror and dark. I think we have seen enough of it in the media when people start dropping like flies or at least I have seen enough in my life. There is time to grieve and there is time to celebrate. These days, I want to celebrate life without ignoring that we are living in scary times. For mental health’s sake, I find myself attracted to games like Tales of Xilia on the PS3, which I bought about 7 years ago! The game is about a goddess saving infants from playing with dangerous toys. Okay being sarcastic. I borrowed the words from the game! So far from what I am gathering, the female lead, Milla Maxwell is trying to protect the world from a mass destructive weapon. How does this game fit into celebrating life? Well, it’s about protecting the world and living in harmony with nature. What did you think? Did I make a great saleswoman?
Enough ranting, here are some horror-related posts you might have missed if you are new to my blog:
We got so many options these days to be entertained but too many options sort of discouraging me from binging shows on Netflix. I have seen a few decent films but not enough to write about it:
As for T.V shows, I finally finished Twin Peaks seasons 1 and 2, and Death Note the anime. So, stay tuned for Death Note review but I haven’t decided to write up on Twin Peaks. It’s a great show. Most people know that by now. If there’s a show you think I might like, please leave a comment and I’ll check it out.
Until next time, Happy Halloween. Can’t wait to buy discount Halloween candy!
What was supposed to be a hobby and a side activity has now become a passionate pastime or it’s just I’m addicted to writing. I put so much effort into crafting my blog posts and have found so much joy in doing it. Fishing for metaphors is an art form in itself. And yet, it’s just not looking for metaphors, I also appreciate everything artistic about the making of films, TV shows, books, and video games. I like all forms of art and enjoy critiquing them. Have I ever thought of becoming a critic or a writer myself? Not really because attempting to consume what has already been produced may take a lifetime to discover and appreciate. Plus, I have the attention span of a child to even sit and write a book. On the other hand, writing lyrics, poems and reviews come more naturally. Articulating my thoughts into a post is my idea of fun. And why not do it with style? Did some readers actually think I was attempting to write masterpiece reviews? That’s quite laughable. I’m flattered.
This brings to the question, of why I choose to write as Halsdoll and not my real name after contemplating whether I should use my real name or not. After all, the hard work should go to its rightful owner. In addition, I feel like I owe an explanation whenever I introduced someone I know in person to my blog. They may be puzzled by the name but are too afraid to ask: Why Halsdoll?
“What is in a name?” I quote Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Plenty, it’s about branding. The name Halsdoll was inspired by Shakespeare’s characters from Henry IV Part II: Prince Hal and Doll Tearsheet. The name was created as a joke. You see, Prince Hal understood the world by visiting Mistress Quickly Inn and Doll is one of the working girls. It really is no place fit for a soon-to-be king, but what may seem like an unproductive pastime activity actually served him fruitful information on his subjects. Yes, of all the places, a brothel. If you want to be a respected leader, you learn from the bottom up. It’s humorous and humor is what keeps me sane. I could elaborate, but this is no academic blog for a lengthy research paper behind the meaning of my pen name (as if who cares?). Plus, I just like the sound of Halsdoll. It sounds like the name of a powerful medication, a clothing brand, or the brand of a cosmetic product. It’s a nice staged name for all my nonsense stuff on this blog.
So after much thought about whether to use my real name to sound professional and build credibility with my readers, I decided to stick with my pseudonym. Perhaps, one day I may reveal my name when my blog grows big. In the meantime, I just like being Halsdoll. The name reminds me to never let the inner child in me die because the grownup world is nothing but filled with heart-attack stress and the sad part is we don’t have to make it that way but we do it anyway.
P.S.
This post was inspired by a Twitter email notification, hinting to me that I should use my real name because people feel more comfortable interacting with someone real. I do want this blog to grow. However, a hacker once said to me that my birth name doesn’t sound real, so what’s the irony in that?
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The constant environmental stimulation coming from the downtown Seattle area is hard to avoid. I’ve been in Seattle for some time now and it seems like it’s getting worse. At the beginning of 2020, there was a gunfire shooting on 3rd Ave that killed civilians. And with current national news in the U.S, it doesn’t seem to get any brighter. Asian-American hate crime is on the rise. Even more, scarier is targeting Asian-American women. It’s very tiring and mentally exhausting that I feel it’s okay to withdraw from society and shut myself in and watch martial arts films and play games to save my sanity. No news is ever good news it seems.
Okay that’s just an excuse for my introversion. Even if there’s no crime–I would still withdraw from society to enrich my soul with activities that bring me a lot of joy. But I hope you enjoyed reading my dire news introduction for this blog post.
On the bright side, this blog has become a very good friend. And now I finally reach 100 followers. Wow, that’s pretty awesome. 100 people actually thought my blog is cool enough to follow. Hello, thanks! Nice to meet you!
I am also proud to have published a total of 91 posts (92 if I included this post) which were thought out carefully. Not so bad, considering the fact I was suffering from mental fatigue. I’m in better health now ever since I started cooking and eating properly, and learning to accept that there are some things in life we simply just have no control of.
I know my blog would grow faster if I collaborate with other bloggers and follow SEO rules, but I prefer to work alone and figure out what works and what doesn’t for myself. Plus producing high-quality reviews is more important to me than growing a blog massively. But with the right person, I might consider it. If you are like me, you have a taste for fine things. Your search for real connection and authenticity in the entertainment world or in life generally. I’m also assuming, you’re looking for meaningful content as well as creating it. There’s more to life than just a name; I mean fame.
So what to expect for the future of this blog?
Pretty much, I am here for the long haul and so far, I’m very proud of this blog. As they say, when you take ownership of your craft, it adds more value to you than going to work for a paycheck and in return, I hope my content can offer something of value to you as well.
Well, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for my honest, awesome insightful reviews. Until next time, see you ~
Oh, the power of setting goals. I have many goals (creative, personal, and financial) and then I wonder how I wore myself out easily and ended up feeling lazy from time to time. I realized I am only human. Not a machine. I achieved one of my goals. That I can boast.
If you are new to my blog, a while ago, I set a goal for myself to become a better cook (you can click on the link to my blog post here: Halsdoll’s Diner: It’s Breakfast Time). It’s a good goal. Who can say no to food? The only problem with this goal is the outcome is food baby (a.k.a. potbelly). Now it just won’t go away. It keeps growing. Nooooo!!! Maybe my next goal is to find good belly exercise so I can have a flat tummy again. Life’s woe never ends…
On the positive side, I have more energy than four years ago when I was underweight. Food is supposed to give us the energy to power throughout the day. So a little potbelly is okay. So what’s on the menu?
Halsdoll’s side dish (snacks)
I love eating French Fries like how I like eating chips. They are so good and addictive. Paired fries with a good film, it becomes a recipe for a potbelly. Not a lot of movement going on when you are busy watching the screen and stuffing fries in your mouth. Sometimes when a film is so good you get sucked into its world. It’s like holding your breath for 30 seconds driving through a tunnel. You get the picture, it can get intense, and not eating mindfully will make anyone gain weight fast. I don’t know if I can ever eliminate fries though. They are just addictively good. Now that I know how to make my very own fries, I don’t need to go to restaurants for fries.
Next up…Halsdoll’s Half Sandwich. No literally, the piece of bread is missing on purpose. That’s why it falls under snack. I like to eat this like I eat pizza. It has cranberries, crumbled goat cheese, spinach, turkey meat and buttered wheat bread. Yummy snack! I just can’t get enough!
Halsdoll’s Lunch Menu
I love sandwiches and have yet to make more different kinds. For now, I present my tuna fish sandwich, side with vinegar chips. Provolone cheese goes well with tuna. I like to switch it up with Swiss cheese from time to time.
Next up, who can say no to salad. I love vegetables. I present my salad! Still not as good at some of the places I go to–but I am getting there! At least have mastered boiling eggs! What a big achievement for me!
Lastly, fried rice. My mom made good fried rice. Mine is decent compared to hers but better than some restaurants. The good thing about cooking for yourself–you cook with love and so food tastes better.
Well that’s it for now. I hope you enjoy this little blog post. I did not realize how fun cooking can be but also time-consuming. It takes a lot of patience, skills, planning, and gathering ingredients. Quality foods take time. Now I understood why my mother was so diligent about fresh ingredients and quality foods. It brings happiness and the family together around the table.
Hope you found a good meal to go with your movie time. Until next time, see you~
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