Contrails: May '26, Week 2

I'm happy to report that this week was a good one! 🎉 I've mostly recovered from the acid reflux/ indigestion without seeing a doctor, and felt well enough to do what I wanted to! 🥹 So there will be no more moping about health issues this week! 💖

🌙 Work as Minerva 🌙

I managed to record vocals despite having a spicy throat! 🤣 I couldn't really do 1 line the way I had intended to, but there is still time to practice more before redoing the lead vocals. 🥹

Most importantly, I had fun! ✨

However, I always feel guilty after having fun because it feels like I am not "living a productive life". I'm still trying to figure out how I want to contribute to the economy... 🙃

🎮 Gaming 🎮

I had planned to join an FFXIV raid on Thursday with some friends, but it got delayed to today. 🙃 On the bright side, I took time this week to gear up my Summoner in preparation for the session! We'll see if I am capable of playing Summoner on tier, eh? 🤣🤔

As for the rest of the week, I wished to play Windrose more, but my partner and I were committed to not progressing the game unless the other friends were available to play. Unfortunately it was difficult getting everyone together, so we mostly spent time gathering resource and upgrading our gear and ships. It was still good fun, of course! I got to enjoy the environments instead of chasing after friends to clear Point Of Interests for experience points.

So I present: Sights of Windrose! 💜 (Had to post-process some of them. Scroll to view more!)

No prizes for guessing which was my favorite. 🥹💜

As the week went on, it became apparent to me that maybe time would be better spent if I played solo games. So if I wasn't watching a friend's stream of Danganronpa V3, I was either playing Ratatan (mostly solo) or Divinity Original Sin.

I walked past this painter NPC so many times because I like to patronize a shop next door, but was surprised when I saw a rooster walk across the market to sit on this stool. 🤔🤔🤔

Surprisingly, I recalled some of the fights that I had a tough time with all those years ago. But despite every fight still being a challenge (as compared to Baldur's Gate 3), I appreciate that I've definitely gotten better at this game after gaining more experience with game combat in general. Maybe I'll retry the Avernum series someday? 🤔

I guess all the years of "playing games and being unproductive" has amounted to something. 🥺🥺🥺

In the same vein was the highlight of my week: Finally clearing a Formidable Foes run solo in Ratatan. 🥹🥹🥹

I recorded the final boss fight for my partner, because I wanted to show him the build I was trying for the first time... that I ended up clearing with. 🎉 The controller overlay's VDRAW, using a random Mimi V2 model I made a long time ago.

It felt like a miracle: I had the perk to revive once per run, but I didn't even die once. 🥹 My Cobun equipment weren't even fully upgraded, and my Super Fever skill was at level 1. Sure, I got lucky with my card draws, but I'd like to give myself some credit for adapting quickly to a play style I had never tried before. 🥺🎉

But why was I using Keroronpa and not my favorite Nyandola? Because I wasn't expecting to clear, and Keroronpa's visuals were growing on me. 🤣 Also, I wanted to unlock Bomber Cobuns for the other Ratatans, which would have required clearing the final area as Keroronpa... Although, I realized that I should probably have done a normal run to secure the clear only after starting on a higher difficulty. 🤔🙃 Oh well, all's well that ends well! 🤣

🍴🐰 IRL 🐰🍴

Met up with several friends this week!

1. Wednesday: Dinner at... an expensive Japanese restaurant... with 2 friends from high school and my partner.

2. Saturday: Snacks and drinks at home with a gaming friend, whom my partner invited over.

3. Sunday: Lunch with my family (as usual, but without my partner who needed to catch up on sleep 🤣)

Having a tough time at work was a common talking point at all the gatherings. I really empathized with everyone, because it was never the work that compelled me to leave employment. But at the same time, it was a constant reminder that everyone was trying their best to make ends meet.

At what point in society did being a homemaker become frowned upon? I understand the need for financial stability and to share the load of keeping the family resilient against financial crises, but why do I feel so bad when I see my peeling and callused hands?

I'll keep faith that I'll figure it out. Surely there is space in this world for someone like me. 🥺✨

~💜~

Hopes for this week

♪ Edit vocals and work on the song arrangement when done!

☆ Have a good time playing SMN in FFXIV.

☆ Play Windrose? ⛵

☆ Find some time to play Divinity? ☆ Resist the urge to buy ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies on release...

Thank you for reading! 🌙🐰