I figured it’s odd that my blog doesn’t have any content on Thursdays. I also will be doing streams on Instagram on Thursdays in the future as well, but since I stream at a bit of an odd time not everyone has the chance to see them. Hence I will be uploading them to Youtube and right here on the blog in the future! Sadly this post didn’t make it yesterday, but no worries. In the future, I will try to get the videos up on the same day as I upload them pretty unedited. In other words from now on you will be able to enjoy my Instagram streams right here on my blog.
If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities. – Maya Angelou
So I found this test a while ago and just had to try it. It does seem to be based on an older edition of Dungeons and Dragons but I didn’t mind. Here are the results!
For those in the know: No, the racial ability bonuses are not counted in these results. I finished the character with the rules from 5th Edition and it was quite interesting. A lot of the traits were quite easy to pick, but choosing a background felt very off as none of them really fit, but I ended up with the Folk Hero one as it was one of the few that didn’t feel completely wrong. I also have a lot of skills with this character build, as well as the Jack of All Trades feature, which doesn’t feel 100% right. The scores, in general, are quite low though so it doesn’t make that big of a difference.
Out of curiosity I also made a model with HeroForge to see what I would want my character to look like. I am actually very tempted on getting it as I do like the look of it and it would be nice to have one generic miniature for al Dungeons and Dragons games instead of having to get a new one each time as they aren’t exactly cheap. I also already have a slight hum of how I would paint the mini as well…
If you do the test do comment about your results! I’m curious to find out what others results are.
Here is my finished character sheet for those who are interested.
I have traveled quite a bit as long as I lived with my parents, but after that, it has died down for obvious reasons. There are still a bunch of places that I would love to visit, and I figured that I would share some of my dream travel destinations!
Venice
I Fell in love with Venice the first time I visited it with my family. It’s been quite some time since we last visited and I would love to go again. We only walked around half of the city anyway, so it would be interesting to see the other half. Interestingly enough my SO has also been to Venice, but they were only on the other side, so there is quite a lot that both have missed in the end. It would also be nice to see if the shops and restaurants we visited are still there. I would also definitely be staying at the same hotel as the last time since the location was so great and the breakfast was so good!
Tokyo
I don’t think anyone is surprised that Tokyo is on the list. I have been in love with manga and anime since I was a teen and with time that love has simply evolved to include music, fashion, and culture from Japan. Tokyo is a good and easy place to start as you can experience so much without being completely fluent in Japanese. Most of the YouTubers I follow that have visited Tokyo really recommend it for first-time travelers as well as for shopping and geek related hotspots. Akihabara and Harajuku are, of course, high up on the list of spots to visit but I am definitely not excluding the rest of the city.
Dublin
I have had a few friends travel to Ireland before and heard so much about the place. I generally love The British Isles, so seeing the rest is quite enticing. Honestly, I haven’t looked up too much about what all there is to do in Dublin, but I’m certain that won’t be a problem. Things have a tendency of sorting themselves out.
New York
First of all, somehow I find traveling to the U.S. terrifying. I have no real idea on why, but it just seems a lot more stressful than going to e.g. Japan. I am also a person who tries to not let her anxiety rule over her life, so that is why I dream of going there. Los Angeles was also a good second, so I am unsure of what exactly a U.S. trip would look like. We also have some family living there, so once you are on that side of the pond a visit is more or less mandatory. In a good way.
Kyoto
Yes, I snuck in another Japan destination on this list. Kyoto is so rich in history and culture that I just can’t leave it out. Out of all the places in Japan, I do think that this is my favorite spot for learning more about Shinto and the history of the country. As the city was mostly spared during World War II quite a lot of the older buildings and sites are left to visit.
My SO managed to get me into Warhammer 40k and through that, I really fell in love with miniature painting. I am still very much a rookie at it, but it’s something that I love doing and really enjoy. It takes quite a bit of patience and concentration to do, as well as being a lot of detail work, which means that you simply can’t think about much else while painting. I figured I would show off a few of my works to give you a quick glimpse of what level I am on now. In the future, there will also be a quick “How To” guide coming up for building and painting miniatures, but in the meanwhile, you can learn from the pros at Warhammer TV.
All of these three models are from different ranges of miniatures. The tall one in the back is a slightly modified Harlequin Shadowseer from the Warhammer 40’000 range by Games Workshop. The one with the feather-plumed hat is from the Freeguild General box from the Age of Sigmar range by Games Workshop. The last model on the left is a custom designed miniature made with and by Hero Forge.
Shadowseer
The Shadowseer is actually one of the first models that I properly painted. I am still super happy with the look of it even though I still haven’t highlighted the pants. This is more of a display piece more than anything, even if my original plan was to use it for Dungeons and Dragons at some point.
Freeguild General
This mini has a lot of emotional value to me. I actually used it as part of my proposal to my SO a few years back together with an elf sorcerer model. Sadly the elf had broken off from his base when I took it out of the box so it didn’t make it to the photoshoot this time. I had the idea of making miniatures and the rest of the kit just days before we left for the trip and managed to buy, build and paint the models in just two days, which was quite quick for being just the second proper model I was working with. I am also very happy with the results, even if there are a few splotches here and there if you look very closely.
Zahiri
This model was made custom for our current Dungeons & Dragons campaign. She is a tiefling, in other words a half-demon, warlock. I am absolutely in love with this character and I really hope she gets a happy ending even if doesn’t look that great at the moment. She is also my most long-running D&D character (so far) and it’s interesting to see how she evolves during the game. The timid little secretary she started as is slowly turning into a very confident warrior.
Magic is not always serious or solemn. It is a joyous celebration and merging with the life-force. – Scott Cunningham
I consider myself a Wiccan and that means that I have celebrated the holiday of Litha yesterday. For those who are not really familiar with the concept: During Litha, Wiccans celebrate that the Sun is at it’s highest and it’s most powerful. Traditional celebrations during Litha can include bonfires, flowers, and herbs. Litha is also in prime handfasting season (in other words: wedding season).
In case you want to work your own magic during the Midsummer festivities here are a few very simple things you can try out:
Give it to the pebble. This is an Irish tradition (according to the internet, so take it with as much seriousness as you wish) where you pick up a pebble and walk around a Midsummer bonfire. As you walk around the fire, whisper your wishes to the pebble and once you have made your third turn around it toss the pebble into the flames.
If you have more worries than wishes you can also write your worries and fears on a piece of paper, fold it and let a moving body of water take them away. If you don’t have access to moving water you can also burn them in a fire.
I will mainly be doing a small ritual at home, nothing big and flashy. Light a candle, do a quick tarot reading and just chill. My week has been a bit hectic, so I want to have one evening for myself and to rest up a bit. One of the beauties of Wicca, for me, is that you don’t have to be pressured to do these grand rituals even if it is a holiday. Wicca gives you a lot of freedom to make your faith and how you express it look like you. If you have less energy for work one day and more the other you can adapt and listen to your own body without being ashamed. I might delve more into Wicca and what that means to me, but not today. All in due time.
I guess this means I am more or less officially out of the Broom Closet now, not that anyone is surprised at this point. Thank you for reading and I will see you next week!
My sister and I managed to get our hands on tickets for the added Monday show of Werq the World! We were definitely hyped for this show, but oh boy was it even better than we expected. I was a bit disappointed that Violet Chachki wasn’t present, but the show was still great and very entertaining. We also decided that next time we would get Meet & Greet tickets, because why the heck not! I especially fell in love with the Sailor Moon routine by Kimchi. I could just feel my heart skipping a beat once it started as I had seen a short, short clip of it on Instagram. Here are a few pictures from the show BEFORE my camera decided to die out of happiness… I simply had to enjoy the rest in the moment I guess.
I wanted to do something lighthearted now in between and figured it could be fun to see what kind of people I follow on Youtube! I wanted to take the list down to a 10 or 5 but I just couldn’t do it. I also hope that this might say a bit about me as a person, so do enjoy. I’ll be linking my favorite videos from the channels here for your enjoyment. I know this is a lot, so feel free to check the videos out in your own time.
The Know
The Know is where I go for my gaming news. I like their style and that they are pretty up-to-date with their information but also do roundup style videos where you can get a lot of information quickly. I also really like their style and they have some pretty cool people in their crew.
Annaxemilia
It might be a bit cheesy, but yeah. I’m giving my sister a shout out here. I do actually like her content though so de check her out!
Pixielocks
Pixielocks’ channel is a colorful and glittery place. She does quite a lot of lifestyle content centered around cute fashion, design, and cosplay. She is quite a quirky persona and definitely has her won style, but I love it.
DarkSquidge
TomSka is a Youtuber that I picked up via my SO, but really started to like. His humor can be a bit off for my taste sometimes, but his CONTENT is great. I really miss his Last week vlogs though…
Escapist
The Escapist channel has at least used to have a lot of other content, but now that it’s only Zero Punctuation I have very happily subscribed. Game reviews are a serious business… on other places of the internet.
Extra Credits
Extra Credits is another gaming themed channel. They do educational videos and explain things from the industry, as well as analyze some of its ups and downs from a developers point of view. As an example here is a video about choice paralysis.
Goodnight Moon
Goodnight Moon is the first ASMR channel to appear on this list and I just admire her videos and love them. Her fantasy series is just gorgeous. Everything you see in the background is real and the sheer amount of detail in her work is amazing. My absolute favorite character of her’s is Maybell and I love watching all of the videos if I need a calm moment.
James Charles
I follow a few beauty-gurus on Youtube, but James Charles is definitely my favorite. He is so energetic and unapologetically himself. His makeup looks are also GORGEOUS and his tutorials are good.
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard
How many gay disabled Youtubers do you follow? I actually follow one, but I really find her to be an inspiration. She has so many educational and informative videos about disability, especially deafness. I also love her vintage style and her tutorials. Her channel is also one of the few where I’m going through all her old videos when she hasn’t posted anything that day.
Lovely Lor
Lovely Lor is one of the few more regular Lolita / Jfashion Youtubers that I follow. Her style is gorgeous, albeit a bit sweet for my taste, and her videos are always entertaining.
Lydia Elise Millen
I found Lydia’s channel through my sister and wasn’t really sure it was my thing at the start. Once I had watched her videos for about a month I figured that maybe it was my thing. It’s interesting to see someone with such a different lifestyle and follow their life. She is more into luxury products and a healthy life and I can just feel inspired while watching. With some hard work that could be me. I’d just be poofier, girlier and with glitter.
Molly Burke
I can’t really remember where I stumbled upon Molly’s videos but she is such a wonderful woman. She is blind and does quite a few informational videos about her disability, but also shows how her life looks like. She is so energetic and cheery that you just can’t help but fall in love.
Safiya Nygaard
I found Safiyas’ channel through her work at Buzzfeed. She has her own style of trying out the weird things you find on the internet so that you don’t have to. Everything from weird clothing to Frankenstein makeup where she mixes all of her lipsticks together.
SovietWomble
Womble’s videos are absolutely my guilty pleasure. He is not politically correct, not safe for work and so hilarious. Sadly he isn’t as active anymore, as he was last year, but he still comes out with new videos every few months. He puts in a lot of work in his videos though so it’s so worth the wait.
Philip DeFranco
The DeFranco Show is also something that my SO introduced me to. It’s one of the few ways that I get my news, especially from the US, and I have the habit of watching his videos pretty much daily. He has a great style and a great team behind me so it’ll be interesting to see how his channel evolves as he is starting his own news network.
My sexuality is not a phase. I am who I am. – Cara Delevingne
Up close and personal, right on Monday already? Yeah. because why not. I spent this Saturday at Kokkola Pride and figured it would be nice to do something related to that. Sexuality is still a complicated theme for me personally as I never really figured out things about myself in that part. I’ll go into that in a bit. First, we need a real quick history lesson.
What is Pride Month and why do we need that?
Pride Month is celebrated in June in memory of the Stonewall Riots which occurred at the end of June in 1969. Brenda Howard The Stonewall Riots where the tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the US. The month is meant to celebrate and to remember the impact of members in the LGBTQ+ community.
Our crew at Pride (minus my SO who took the picture)
Well, what’s your sexual identity then?
Thank you for asking! To be honest, I am not really sure. I did identify as bisexual at some point in my teens, but never really said or told anyone about it. (Hi Mom, Dad and the rest of my family who reads this!) Now that I am a bit older and “wiser” I am not really certain if that is true though.
This is also where it gets a bit wonky, at least in my head, as I am and always been in heterosexual relationships. I think it’s just because that is what I saw as normal and just how it was. I never really thought about things in that manner and just rolled with it. Does that mean that I identify as straight now? No, not really. I’m still on the fence between pansexual and bisexual as the two are kind of the same in the end, but I haven’t figured out which label I am more comfortable with. It all also goes very confusing when you stop seeing gender on a binary scale.
Bisexual flag
Pansexual flag
Either way, while I get my own identity together I do consider myself an ally. There is still so much discrimination and hate towards LGBTQ+ people around the world, but also here right at home. Did you, for example, know that trans people must be sterilized if they want to change their gender officially in Finland? If you want to know more about this you can find more information about it (in Finnish) at Kuuluu Kaikille.
So use Pride Month to support your friends, family, and fellow strangers even if their life might look a bit different than yours. Stand up against bigotry, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and hate speech everywhere you can.
Thank you for reading and I will see you tomorrow.
Finally, my E3 coverage week is over. Phuh. This was quite an ordeal to start with especially since I accidentally posted every day of the week… Oops. Depending a bit on how the next few weeks go I might adjust my schedule a bit since I realized that my body interprets my excitement for post writing as stress. Which over time becomes anxiety and that really, really sucks. I might delve deeper into my whole mental health situation (which isn’t as bad as it sounds in the end, but enough to bug me) later in a post, but for now, be prepared for schedule changes as I figure things out.
Today’s post will be on the positive note though! I figured I’d do a quick roundup of my top 5 games from E3 and just give my general opinion on what I saw as a whole. If you want to find my earlier posts about the presentations you will find them here:
First of all: There were so many games with female protagonists this year and one of them was openly gay! Compared to what I am used to seeing in games this felt like Christmas Eve. I was also very happy to hear that EA had defended Battlefield V and their female protagonist. Really bluntly as well as they said that if people have a problem with this they can either accept it or not buy the game. It really shows that the industry is trying to get better at inclusiveness. There might still be a long road ahead, but this is a very good start.
Now for my favorite games:
5 Division 2
Based on a few of the updates that were published at the Ubisoft conference I got really curious about this title. The story seems interesting and the gameplay smooth. the only thing that really worries me is if it’s as team heavy as the earlier game. Even if you could play Division 1 alone, technically, it did feel a bit too challenging at times as enemies soak burst upon burst of shots without taking any real damage.
4 Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
I haven’t bought or been really interested in the Assassin’s Creed series for a while, but this game looks like it could genuinely be fun. I have always had a fascination with Greek mythology and history, so this does tickle my fancy. I still don’t get how my parents happily dragged me around those piles of rocks on our vacation trips… but apparently, it will work in Ubisoft’s favor all these years later! I am also looking forward to seeing how much the game changes depending on your choices and if there is a huge difference between playing a male or female mercenary.
3 The Last of Us Part II
I am starting to sense a theme here with liking games where you can play female characters… But that is one reason why The Last of Us Part II got into this list. Obviously, this is not the only reason in the end. The gameplay also looked really great, albeit a bit brutal, and this gives me the perfect reason to also play through the first game in the series hopefully.
2 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
I kind of feel like placing a Super Smash Bros game this high in my list feels a bit safe and expected somehow. But This is one of the games that we had so much fun with on the Gamecube back in the day that I had to do it. Being able to play all those old characters as well as the new ones I missed by not owning Super Smash Bros. Brawl gets me quite excited. Fighting games are also usually popular with my friends so this is a good middle road with something a bit more fun, but where you still beat each other. I’m not excited enough to pre-order it, but definitely bying it ASAP when it’s out.
1 Kingdom Hearts III
First of all a quick update on an oopsie I did. The female character wasn’t a femme Riku, but a completely another character called Aqua that has fallen to the Darkness. This is how off I am with newer titles in the series sadly. But fear not, I have a bunch of Kingdom Hearts to binge on to catch up before January. I will also be playing in January, maybe even streaming as I cry out of happiness. Also, I have not just pre-ordered this game but ordered it in the Deluxe version because why the heck not. I can’t explain the amount of happiness this game brings me and how much it means to me. It might seem quite silly, it’s just a game after all, but there is so much emotional attachment to this story and characters. It feels like I grew up with them, even if I had to skip out on quite a lot of that by not owning any consoles that the games were released on. Now I can finally meet up with those old friends and see what life brings them and how much they have changed. Kind of like meeting a high school friend over coffee at a café to talk about your lives.
Now that will be it for me this week and don’t worry, next week will not be gaming related. As Kokkola Pride is this weekend I figured I would kick off Monday with a Pride-themed post and then continue with a kind of “get to know me” styles posts. I wish you a happy weekend and leave you with the Theme Song from Kingdom Hearts III: Don’t Think Twice by Utada Hikaru.
Nintendo was one of the conferences I was most excited for, and somehow I am surprised that there wasn’t really that much that was revealed. There were quite a few titles in the end though and I definitely picked out my favorites.
Mario party games are pretty much a staple in the Nintendo line up. The games are fun little party games to play together and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they have updated the formula for the Switch. I am also a bit curious about how you get more than two players hooked up to the same Switch and if it’s even possible. The game will be released on October 5th this year.
More fun party games! Overcooked is a game that I actually have managed to “avoid” so far, but have heard quite a lot of good about. It’s one of those hectic party games that will most likely spin out into shouting and laughing your bum off. Trying to fill out orders with more than one chef in the kitchen is easier said than done after all. The game is coming to Switch on August 7th.
Now… I’m not really sure why I am so hyped about this game. It’s just somehow so cute and with a good cast of female characters. I am usually not a big fan of fighting games, but this I just can’t say no to. There something about having an idol soundtrack and colorful aesthetic that speaks to me I guess. The game will be released on September 7th this year.
The World Ends With You is a game that I have been so bitter to have missed out on. My friend had it on DS back in the day and I have always wanted to try it, but it has been practically impossible to find on the second-hand market. Thankfully it’s coming out for the Switch now with a Final Remix Edition! As the game was heavily influenced by the studios Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories it felt like just up my alley. There isn’t a set date for the release, but it should be out in the fall this year.
Super Smash Bros. has been a game series that I enjoyed a lot for the Gamecube back in the day, so I am happy to see the expected return of the series to the Switch. It’s also nice to see that all fighters that have ever appeared in the game are now available as well as a few newcomers. Definitely looking forward to figuring out how to attach a Gamecube controller to the game as well as they are supposed to be compatible. The game will release December 7th this winter.
Were there any titles that I missed? You can find the full conference here: Nintendo Direct.
And that is all for my E3 conference covering! I will be streaming on Instagram at 3 PM today, so in an hour when this post goes up, and on Twitch at 5 PM. See you there!
Welcome to my realm of madness! Take a seat, have some tea and try not to choke on the cupcakes.
I am a 20-something-year-old business student from Vaasa with more than a few geeky hobbies. Here you can read about Lolita fashion, my life, Dungeons and Dragons and what happens to be on my mind at the moment.
