Yet another month goes by, and now we are halfway through the year. Here is the media I enjoyed throughout all of May!
Well, May was a really surprising month full of all kinds of changes.
Extremely prolific on the blogging side of things, with a total of 17 posts. Which may be less than some other months this year, but still feels like I was pretty consistent overall, and I wrote a couple of new favorites, that gathered quite a lot of attention and conversation from fellow peers. Such as my post on the constant need for a source of entertainment or my feed organization issues.
Of course, my phone decided to start failing on me, so I ended up migrating to a new device, the Xiaomi 12T Pro, and it has been a prety mixed experience, but I am overall happy with the performance and the slightly more degoogled life.
I also managed to start and continue conversations via email and messaging apps with plenty of people from the Fediverse and online friends. Hello to all of you!
And of course I bought a new desk and mechanical keyboard, I reorganized my bedroom and a upgraded my old laptop from Fedora 37 to 42 on a single day (actually, it was right now, but I might write about it anyway).
Overall, a lot of crazy things. For now, let’s go over some of the media that I enjoyed throughout May.
Podcasts
Into The Aether - I have enjoyed a lot of the new episodes, Brendon is on vacation so there have been some nice guests for a couple of episodes. I literally don’t miss a week at this point, it’s a great show.
Welcome to Night Vale - Just the regular bedtime listening, although a couple of the episodes proved engaging enough, so that I relistened to them on my way to work.
Dungeons and Daddies - Finally got full in to Season 3 of this show. I am extremely engaged now and it has been a hilarious time. I listened to like 4 or 5 episodes this month and it was a joy! I didn’t think it would, but it hooked me again.
The Ten Minute Bible Hour - Still reading Matthew 10 after like a year, but I am here for it. Honestly, some very good episodes lately!
Sir Khan - I had a mini craze for Warhammer 40K again, so I listened to a long episode of this show to scratch that itch.
NPC & XL - I have been listening to every episode of this podcast so far, it is almost a ritual for me, although it’s also an extremely tempting show, almost dangerous to me.
Movies
Thunderbolts* - A fantastic superhero team movie, I genuinely enjoyed it. Finally, a good movie where heroes have problems and where there’s actual people to be saved. It has been way too long without one of these, a must watch in my opinion.
Blackjack 21 - A movie I watched in two weekends, it was a pretty interesting and kinda silly premise of a bunch of nerds (who are way too attractive to be nerds) are in a group of card counting (lead by their teacher) and the main guy wants to make money for Harvard so he bets on 21, the card game. It was kinda whacky but an OK time.
Karate Kids: Legends - Went to the movies to watch Jackie Chan again, I was so happy. This movie goes way too fast and makes a ton of weird decisions and skips over way too many things. But when a fight happens, it’s just a delight, you can tell where the choreography comes and is inspired by, and it was all just plain fun. Watching Danie LaRusso was also pretty fun, as well as the post-credits scene!
Anime & TV Shows
The Last of Us Season 2 - Oh boy I pretty much didn’t like the direction this went on. I already knew what happens in the game but I really thought it could be different this time, but man, this was just so mixed for me, the visual effects were amazing sometimes and absolute trash other times, the deus ex machinas were way too much this time around. I will probably keep watching the next season because my sister wants to, I would stop if I were by myself.
Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 & 3 - Finished watching this show for the second time, it was a complete joy. My favorite anime, most likely. I really recommend giving this one a try, as it really is some of the best character development I have ever seen in any story.
Dr. Stone Season 4 - The latest season of Dr. Stone really takes the science to the next level. Now that they are on their way to the United States, our party will have to face against another group of humans who have developed science even further than them. The development of the story here is quite fun, and I really enjoyed it, although I had to turn off my brain a couple of times.
Weak Hero: Class 1 - I initially hated this show, it was so different than the manwha, which is some of the best I’ve read. Turns out, and I realized after a couple episodes, that this is a prequel, and expands on the story quite a bit. So, I ended up really respecting what it did, although I heard the second season is a mess that tries to fit the rest of the story in like 8 episdoes, so, no thanks.
Manga
A Rare Marriage: How to Grill our Love - Up to chapter 89. This has always been a pretty wholesome manga to read, it’s a slice of life romance comedy about the shenanigans of a newly wed couple who bond over cooking, and other things! It’s just a nice comfy read.
Hunter × Hunter - Up to chapter 374. The arc has finally begun, this arc is quite different to the rest, there is political intrigue, there is murder, it’s a bit of a whodunnit, new ways to use nen, it has a lot of good stuff so far.
DanDaDan - Up to chapter 189. I only read a few chapters, and it’s as bonkers as ever, I just love these characters, although I didn’t read that many chapters this time.
Books
I finished:
Cibola Burn: Can I really say more about a book from The Expanse series? I have already written my review for it, and since it’s already the 4th one, I included spoilers, since they are quite unavoidable at this point. It is a pretty great continuation for the story, although, somehow, I felt like the stakes were slightly lower this time, but that’s what happens when most of the plot happens in a single planet instead of in a solar system level scale. Good stuff and great new and returning characters!
The Space Merchants: An amazing book that holds up despite its age, the review is already out too. This is a great satire about a guy in the upper echelon of society, thanks to his job as a copysmith for an huge advertising business. Now he has to advertise Venus as the next frontier for Humanity, but his plans will go south. Good stuff.
And started:
The Big Time: At first I was a bit confused by it, since its style is older, more classic than Space Merchants. However, after some dictionary lookups, I quickly got into the plot of this tale, about a battle across time between the Spiders and the Snakes, two mysterious groups that have fought since times unknown, all of this from the perspective of some really strange characters living in The Place, an area outside of time where warriors go to rest after their countless battles.
Gaming
Dragon Quest XI - The story has had some amazing developments, I have escaped from some people that wanted to capture me, I decided to go to Costa Valor, so I can open the gates to the open sea and navigate towards new places to explore. The objective of the game is now clear, to find the 6 gems that will lead me towards Ygdrassil, a huge tree that seems to be quite important to the world at large, and my destiny as the Luminary. I’m quite happy to see what’s next!
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - I have explored more and more of the castle, defeating plenty of bosses and getting new equipment. I faced some interesting blocked pathways that made me realize my soul skills can be used for more than just offense or defense, but to go through obstacles in fun ways. I unlocked some new abilities like turning into a bat, and one of the strongest swords in the game.
Ys: The Oath in Felghana - I have reached the final door for the last boss fight. I still haven’t gone in, because I still want to farm to upgrade my equipment and get new weapons. This has been quite a journey and I really want to beat it sometime this week.
Final Fantasy VI - I only played this one for a bit, I am on my way to the Sealed Gate, traversing through a dangerous cave filled with lava pits and traps. I think I am close to the exit though enemies here are quite annoying, since they have lots of health and the easiest way to defeat them uses a lot of mana.
Hollow Knight - I barely played anything this time, but I really look forward to play more of it sometime soon, I guess my Metroidvania slot is currently filled with Aria of Sorrow!
Full Metal Furies - We managed to advance to the second world/area and have had a blast unlocking new moves for each of our characters.
Astro Boy: Omega Factor - I am still playing some stages of this game, it’s just a fun beat ‘em up to play during my commute to work.
Solomon’s Club - Another little Game Boy game with one-screen puzzle levels that are quite fun. I have mentioned it before but I hadn’t played it in a while, just simple gameplay and mechanics, not much else.
Hades - I did a couple of runs, but I haven’t really done any more progress other than some interesting story bits and buying new stuff for the House of Hades.
Final Fantasy VII - Barely played anything of this one, but I had some fun setting up my Anbernic handheld with bluetooth controls and HDMI output and exploring the Gold Saucer to get some item I need to continue the story!
