Looking back: Mar '25, Week 1

It's a new month! ✨ Thought of changing up the flow of these weekly updates to sort my experiences by categories instead of by the day of the week. Hope that makes it easier to follow!

✨ Spent a surprising amount of time watching streams 🤔

I usually prefer to watch produced content like long-form videos because I like having information/ food for thought jam-packed into 10~40 mins. (I'm a long-form content kinda person!) So... I only ever watch the streams of people who I want to give my time to... if time allows. 🤔 That turns out to be not a lot of people. However, this week was an exception.

Saying hi in chats several times this week reminded me of the days when I used to perform IRL. I'd show up at gigs with no expectations, focused on putting on a show, and when familiar faces appeared... it always felt so magical. There are so many other things that people could be doing at that time, but in that moment they were there. Even if they weren't there to show support for me in particular, I always felt... electrified. They're living, they're sharing an experience - the sounds, and sights. Yet what I'll take away from the moment would always be different from what they will. We're so deeply connected, yet so acutely distant at the same time - it's always so bittersweet to me. Sometimes I miss the stage, but I wonder: If I ever found the courage to return... would the same people still be there, or would they be gone?

Maybe I'm too sentimental to be an entertainer. 🤣 I'll just enjoy watching old recordings and be content that I was there. 💜🥹

Wanted to find the song that I enjoyed performing the most back then, but there were so many memorable ones... 🥹 So here's one! We danced to this choreography as 4 people instead, and it was still a lot of fun. (The song's still so good ;u;)

✨ Cover projects: Worked on a cover instrumental and recorded vocals for another!

My ears hurt all week, but I managed to get things done! Here's a very raw, tiny snippet of the completely unmixed instrumental, with casually sung unedited vocals, that I was working on this week.

mimi cover inst_sample clipMinerva Murasaki

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If you know the song, great! If not, I hope you'll still look forward to the full cover. 🥹

There's a lot more work to be done, plus I need to do a proper vocal recording... But I hope to share the finished product within the first half of the year!

Since I had time this week, I had also recorded the vocals for another cover I have planned! ⭐️

Hopefully now I can really give my ears a break from hours of continuous loud sounds for about a month... or a fortnight... or a week... 🤔

✨ Gaming: Slowed down with Monster Hunter Wilds, and ended the week with FFXIV's Little Ladies' Day event, fixing my Reshade and trying out Don't Starve Together's Wendy skill tree!

After putting together a comfy set of armor and weapons, I felt that it was a good time to play some other games! Didn't want to get burnt out since I had been playing the game for a whole week too.

I'll return for event quests every week though! :)

I've read some reviews that MHWilds graphics is bad because everything looks washed out. But doesn't it look so cinematic like this?! TTuTT💜

Taking these pics with the in-game Photo Mode reminded me that I had yet to fix my Reshade for taking screenshots in FFXIV. So I went ahead to do just that!

I... didn't do a good job looking for a filter that worked well for this shot... oh well! And yes, I play a male character in FFXIV.

I have a tendency to play male characters because back in high school, I felt that masquerading as a guy/ not being girly allowed me to truly be myself without being accused of being unfriendly/ cold/ fishing (because I got along with reserved guys better). There's just something about being perceived as male that suddenly made it okay to be aloof - aloof girls "always have some issue", some of my peers used to say. I felt that I could be left alone, and my skill in any game would be assessed critically - without biases like "good for a female gamer" or "oh I see, it's because that player's a girl". I'm not very good at games, but I don't want to be celebrated for passing a lowered benchmark! 🥺

So don't be surprised if some of my in-game screenshots show a dude in it! That's just my safe space! 🥹

Anyway! On a lighter note, I returned to playing Don't Starve Together last night! I've been a wormwood "main" for quite a few years now (something about being a treant makes me very happy), but I used to play Wendy a lot! So I was excited to try out her new skill tree. I'm still in the first Autumn, so I'm looking forward to challenging myself to change my playstyle as the game ramps up in difficulty and I unlock more skills!

This video skips to Wendy's rework section! ❤️ Go Abigail!

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Hopes for this week

♪ Edit vocals for the collab. cover.

☆ Play Viewfinder with you on Discord! 💜

Thank you for reading! 🌙🐰