Vernal

   Fallout New Vegas was superb- for my first playthrough. I took my sweet time with it, but drawing it out was well worth it. The timing of finishing it while Fallout gains public notoriety is kinda funny. And, the show was decent. Wasn't planning on watching it. Didn't care about it. But other Fallout peeps from work cleared it. And if you can't trust other Fallout fans to discriminate the show, who can you trust?

So, a lot has happened.

For starters, we hosted a big thing.

Ophelia made new friends.

Sup gamers

Happy bros

Meow meooowwww ^-^

The turnout was huge and was so much fun. Lotta funny memories. Real friends chase friends down the street and shout Japanese exclamations to try to find you. I forget why we even put this together, but who cares lol. All our friends were there and it was dope. :D

Lifa and Suna stayed the night and treated us to breakfast burritos. Best morning ever.

And since Lifa brought over his PS5, we got to watch him play some Elden Ring before everyone split for the day.

These are the kind of "morning afters" that dreams are made of, lol.

Work has been ... surreal. This is my background and everyone respects it.

My coworker here was trying to express that she'd definitely use feature builder on Mona right in that spot. And that's fair. I get it. I would too.


Disneyyyyy

Food & Wine festival yay! Lifa hadn't been, so we went kinda nuts.

We all got the food & wine passes :D
Das how ya gotta do it!

Was pretty busy for Wednesday, but still good times.

There was a cute kinda street style performance where a kitchen staff starts drumming on kitchen equipment and the characters come out and dance to it. Was fun!

Pwnage

Idc, the strawberry horchata is the best drink ever.

These chile empanadas were immaculate

Fries from Smokejumper's grill. Looks smol but they were beastly.

Dragonfruit, kiwi, ginger? Soju mixer thingie flight? I think? I can't remember.

There was a Filipino inspired burrito at the California grill place way in the back of the pier. So bomb.

Third wheel :)

The dark portal

We had so many tickets left... but were so full. But this coffee was so good T_T
BUT THEY ORDERED MORE OF IT

Y O U   D I E D

Look. We're not perfect, okay. But remember that one time I wrote about how we were walking through Avenger's Campus and there was this one guy that was posing all ... band boy/emo and having his friend take photos of him for like instagram or something LOL

We can't go to the parks without flashbacks
I'm sorry. One cannot just come upon these types doing stuff like that in public and not instantly default to raillery.

LOL

What is happening on social media lmao.

And then I had to go to the ER one day lol.

Gat dang awful. Funny thing about me, I've a pretty severe phobia of hypodermic needles coming at me to install or retrieve anything at all. If it's damaging my tissue to achieve either, I'm going to hyperventilate, cry, and have a full on panic attack. That's just how I'm programmed.

It's stupid because I work with hypodermic needles every shift. They're very useful. Super efficient. Just... don't come at me with it because I will cry.

Piercings are different. Piercings are performed with laser sharp, hollowed, beveled needles that glide through tissue like nothing. The canal, with most piercings, is performed in one second flat. 4 to install jewelry. It is generally a mild discomfort that is seldom felt with a quick motion of a well seasoned professional. The needle enters and exists in the blink of an eye.

IVs and blood tests and shots HURT AND STAY INSIDE YOUR TISSUE AND YOU CAN'T MOVE OR IT STABS YOU EVEN MORE WHAT IF I SNEEZE. 

NO. FUCK OFF.

Thankfully Mr. Chicken was with me. I got both of my arms mutilated by hospital vampires- as one of the sweet nurses referred to himself. As sweet as both vampires were, their warmth was no match for my irrational fear. But I survived.

And we got FGC food after, which made it all better.

There was also an embalming seminar that a bunch of us from work went to. Was extra excited for this because my embalming prof was presenting. He's a huge chem nerd, has a passion for what he does, and on top of that is a great orator. Which... I feel should be the most basic requisites for even hinting at hubris in academia lol. But I'll never forget my 4th grade teacher, Ms. Snell and her cigarette breath. Definitely slipped through the cracks, that one. And am sure there are many like her. I digress!

I was especially excited for the squishies. Very important. There were embalming machine stress balls and I needed one. Did I take two? Yes. But only because another one was given to me. And who am I to refuse it? That'd be rude.

Hi, thanks for putting up with me and my terribad papers.

If you wanna see what I put this poor man through, here are two essays that I wrote in delirium: 

Part Une
Part Deux

One is about how blood travels through the body
Two is about ... postmortem discoloration

I promise they're not boring. I mean, not that these topics are boring. But. I'm gonna shut up now.


We were the later group. Heard there was food so we showed up kinda early...

Was a great seminar though- learned stuff, had a good time, ate. Personally, those are the 3 markers for a successful anything. Enthrall me with your acumen. And food.

There were raffles! Lucky raffle winners would go home with goodies. One of them was the Frigid Fluid starter cosmetic kit. Another was a standing cooler. All sponsored by Iverson Funeral Solutions and Frigid Fluid.

These are just a few of the incredible women I get to work with. They are radiant beacons of knowledge, strength, analysis, and compassion. They're protective, ambitious, detail oriented and equipped with razor sharp precision that meets, and to my constant delight, surpasses my own. Women morticians are a different breed, it's remarkable. They make me feel empowered, but most importantly, normal.

Cristal won the cosmetic kit! And I won the cooler
:D

Iverson was kind enough to have the cooler mailed to my work. We def gon use that bb.

 Aaaaand we got to take some fluids with us at the end. This is great, because while my mortuary has some Frigid stuff (that work well), there were some that we don't have. I'm still waiting for the right time to use the bottles I ended up taking. Aaaaaand we have one Frigid machine at work. I've only gotten to use it just a few times. I like it, it's cute.

Theenks for the presentation. And the black squishie.

Always learning :D

Virgoooooooos

Good times. I like learning, I'm just bad at retaining stuff if it's not exercised through action. I envy people who can just memorize stuff sometimes. Granted, I don't think that's the optimal way of learning, as memorization is just that... meaning has to matter, too. But for retention's sake, if I could remember stuff on the fly I'd be unstoppable.

With my cosplay, I ran into the biggest reality check. Like, I can't conceptualize size, dimension, or what numbers mean LOL.

I bought the wrong length of trim three times. So, here I was, with 3 different trims, and just had to make it work because the one I really wanted to use took 2 weeks to get here, but I didn't order enough of it so that was reserved for the hood. The cloak got the rest of it. It was barely enough. And one would think, well Cynthia, didn't you measure? And to that I answer; I did! Apparently, wrong...ly. I did it wrong. How is that even possible, one may wonder. Well, it's not. Only when I do it. Admittedly.... I eyeballed it the first time. And that was stupid. I can get away with doing that while cooking, but eyeballing with sewing costumes doesn't translate as well. Learning!

I also had to maker her necklace our of wire because I couldn't find anything remotely close to what she wore. I made it too big because again, I can't conceptualize size or dimension out of thin air, so just half assed something together. It was enough.


Wondercon 2024

Every convention at the Anaheim convention center starts off great because we get free parking.

We were greeted by a Plo Koon. Outside of Kit Fisto, Plo's another Jedi I like. He's dope. I like that I can't see his face, lol.

I look like an unstable yt lady.

Awwwww. They looked so good! Makes me think back on the very first Blizzard Holiday Party I attended with Mr. Chicken. It was Haunted Mansion themed in the Disney hotel, and had people (cast members?) dressed up as characters from the Haunted Mansion inside the ballroom. Was so cool.

Wasn't crazy packed, but was still packed.

Was chill.

After walking around, we went outside to take some silly photos. Because everyone loves Fia.

Lifa was a good sport, LOL. Was so hard to stay serious. Mr. Chicken didn't want to, but they talked him into it, bwahahaha.

If you haven't played Elden Ring; Fia's a character the player runs into and opens a dialog/questline for her and her backstory. Her title is "Deathbed companion" and she, to put it simply, advocates for the dead. In her own way. But... every time you go to let her hold you, you receive a "blessing" which decreases your max health, like she siphons some of your life away. But there's an item that the player can use when she gives you the debuff, which increases damage negation and I think improves your stance or something. It's supposed to symbolize no longer feeling pain when life is taken.

Fia is tired and wants food.

I am Mr. Chicken's maiden and he is my Tarnished. Hee.

She's honestly so much cooler than the other female characters that blew up. Malenia is everywhere because she's an insufferable boss to fight. And Ranni is like... okay, I guess. Melina is prominent because she's always there. Doesn't automatically make her appealing. I'm biased. :(

Maybe I'll bring Fia to Anime Expo just to use the pink bedroom set lol. Idk if I'll even wanna go. I kinda do... just to cosplay. But... do I wanna cosplay? Kinda. Do I wanna make new ones? Not really. Idk, we'll see.

Val and I have been hanging out more. I'm so happy for her. She's achieved so much and is able to breathe a little bit now. I totally get it.

Brunchie at one of my favorite little cafes.

This place makes me so happy, lol.

We found ourselves back at Claire's, reliving our adolescence. I couldn't resist and got myself a couple scrunchies.

And din din ^_^

She da bess. She embodies so much that I wish I could embrace more of in myself... or even recognize? LOL. But I think that's where we balance really well. I love her energy. Makes me wonder what kind of energy I give off sometimes. She's so unafraid to feel stuff and express it. It's brave. Totally opposite of me. When I feel, I analyze it because I'm unsure of where I think my emotion will lead me, and breaking it down helps me understand what I want out of it. It's dumb. Mr. Chicken does this also. But she just says it and I'm like whoa. Lemme dissect this for a second LOL. Meow meow ^_^

Hole in the wall curry place Mr. Chicken took us to a few weeks back.

It was bomb. Tiny place in Buena Park called Curry DO. If you miss Curry House, this won't heal the pain of that loss, but it'll be sufficient for the day.


Ren Faire! Ho boy.

It was forecasted to rain. So I draped myself in my cloak, just in case. God, I'm so weird looking lol. Anywho, we arrive, start looking around, when it starts raining.

And kept raining. But we found a booth that Mr. Chicken wanted to get a hat from last year. He talked himself out of getting it, but this year he got it. It suits him really well.

And then it started pouring. And it wouldn't stop. Oh, the humanity!

So they went to throw javelins. Mr. Chicken landed every single throw. All 20 of them. He ended up drawing a little audience. I was so proud of him because those things are awkward to hold and super heavy!

He landed one for Lifa, too uwu. lol awww

It definitely got colder. And colder. And wetter. We fared on.

I was so distracted by the cold, wet fabric sticking to my skin that it was hard to enjoy the moment. But we made the best of it.

It's funny because last year that we came, it was scorching hot. Like, just rude, unfair, wtf kind of hot. The sun was blaring, it was dry, gross, all of the above. So I guess this year was a balance lol. Which would I prefer? The hot day I think I could better tolerate, at least with a parasol and beverage. When it's pouring heavy rain and really cold out, there's not much one can do to counter it.

Our teeth chittering, bodies shivering, outfits soaking wet and on the verge of probably getting sick, we shimmied our way towards the exit, following the mass retreat of patrons. As SOON as we stepped through the front gates, it stopped raining and the clouds started to part. LOL. Sigh.

Our clothes were too drenched to go back. We were hungry.

Huzzah

There was moments where Mr. Chicken and I couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. Thanks to Lifa for that. Homdre tanked the damage. But it was fun. Just had to concentrate a little more than I was prepared for lol. I didn't get to show my outfit for that day at all, but ah well.

It's been a lot of fun. Mostly chill. Am excited for the future. Lots of fun stuff coming up. I just wish I could get better sleep, but Ophelia is against it. I'm sure of it. But at least I finished Fallout New Vegas, and I'm freeee. There are other games I need to get through... old news. Speaking of games and news... lotta stuff going down right now.

I've always been against microtransactions, battlepass, and gamepass. That model of business is catering to a different type of consumer. And... it's finally coming round and being felt by all. And studios are suffering for it. There's no room for nuance anymore. Not that my one game purchase matters, but I rather buy games at full price. Complete games. No microtransaction shit. No battlepass shit. DLCs. Bring them back. It's crazy what games are heading towards now, like I almost can't believe it. But here we are.

I mean, I'm fine. But these publishers with this modernized model... nope. I don't even have to say get hyucked, because it already is. At least Square Enix is pushing for something that makes sense. Console cowboys may get upset, but in reality whose fault is that? Who actually buys a new console for ONE exclusive? I would NEVER do that. No matter how hard I want Bloodborne. My PC will last me several years between upgrades. And that's all it needs. But foolish fools gonna go out and trip over every new console. Doesn't make sense. I mean it's great for the companies that people wanna be that impressionable and impulsive, but guys.

Competition is important, I get it. No one wants a monopoly and competition in the market is healthy for consumers. But if games can be played across all platforms on release, and the worst thing to come from that is that console sales drop... is that really the worst thing that can happen? Isn't access to games BETTER for studios? For the consumer? Period? Like. This whole pissing contest about consoles and exclusives is the stupidest war. Who gives a shit? I CAN EMULATE IT ON PC, SO?! I don't want to because I rather support developers, but I can. Which makes the whole console exclusivity thing sound stupid as shit.

We're concluding lol. Hope everyone has been awesome! Having a good time and stuff :D
There's more to come, I'm just tired of writing, and this conversation doesn't even really pertain to me. It's just frustrating to watch.


Have a good weekend, get rest and hope things are dope ^-^