Looking back: Sep '25, Week 4

Minerva Murasaki
Sep 29
6 min read

Updated: Sep 30

Whoa. Remember that I was sleepy last Monday? I ended up being sleepy for most of the week! I wonder why? 🤔

Also, I didn't gain weight at all even though I was stuffing my face with a LOT of chocolate, biscuits and sweet drinks all week to stay awake. I wonder why?! 🤔🤔🤔

On the bright side, I slept in today and I don't feel sleepy anymore! 🥹☀️

✨ Gaming -- Finished Ratatan's base game and started a new game of Don't Starve Together with friends

First, please perceive this Whalody attempting to game. It's SO CUTE. 💕

Ratatan is so much fun. I haven't played it since my friends and I finished the base game, but I'll definitely play it again to try to beat the New Game+ (Goddess Games)! It's fine even if I don't -- the game is engaging, and the little bit of randomness with the power ups and being able to change your starting passive (choosing your Ratatan) makes every round feel fresh! 💜 It's not a mindblowing game as of Early Access, and still has bugs that I hope get resolved before full release. But the visuals are great, the music is energizing, and the inputs are simple yet take some experience to master.

Also, I've grown to like more than just Nyandola. Are you proud of me? 🤣

So did I die less this week in Don't Starve Together? No. : ) Did I make fewer bad decisions? No. : )

Did I have fun even though I was half asleep most of the time? Yes. : )

After taking out a boss we've never fought before, we decided to start a new world for 2 reasons:

To generate a new world with the latest game updates.
For a newbie friend to join.

I respec-ed my Wormwood to have some skills that I never used before, so the game was a little refreshing (carrats!). Once our base and newbie didn't need as much taking care of, I respec-ed again to have skills I was more familiar with for boss fights.

But I find myself wondering... Which character should I play next? 🤔

I was way too excited to wear a Shelmet and Snurtle Shell at the same time. Also, why do I keep taking screenshots outside of Autumn?! 🥹

✨ Housewarming (THE FINAL ONE) -- Had my family over!

My niece and nephew were clearly very happy to have so much open floor space to run around. My dad seldom has nice words for anything, but he did tell my mum that he finds our house nice. My brother and sister-in-law were very intrigued by all the details. My mom has been over several times at this point, and seemed comfortable enough to use the space freely (she's the kind who would awkwardly stand in a corner and wait to be told what to do if she feels uncomfortable).

All in all, I think they had a good time! 💜

To celebrate being done with housewarming and feeling like my home is now truly mine and can be closed from the outside world (except on Saturdays for board game sessions hahaha), my partner and I had a glass of high ball!

Cheers! 💜 Also, I can never get used to seeing my veins through my skin. 💀 Turned it down with the magic of photo filters! ✨

✨ Projects -- Worked on a commission! (and an update from me)

It's funny that I am willing to spend more time and effort on commissions than my own covers. 🤣 I'm trying to have some fun with this one because I almost never get commission requests (haha that's on me), so I hope that the end product will be nice and the client will be happy. 🥺 Hopefully I'll finish it by this week so that I can work on my own projects!

Speaking of my own projects, I've had time to think about what to do moving forward. I realized that earlier this year I was attempting to chase an arbitrary goal that ended up being too ambiguous in terms of motivations and outcomes. I wanted people on the internet to know that I was moving away from major SNS platforms because I was (and still am) unhappy with the state of the world and internet. So I created a Discord server, and felt the need to put out more content to justify the change. I wanted to entice people to join me on my new platform, offering to stream because it'd be an opportunity to see the person behind the voice.

But my anxiety goes through the roof waiting to perform, even more so when I'll be the only one on stage. As with all presentations I've done in my life, I never show up unprepared (preparation fueled by anxiety), and have been made to speak publicly enough to learn how to command attention (I find it more difficult through a screen though), so I find that streaming itself is not the issue. It does bother me a little knowing that my voice is not conventionally pleasing to the ears, or that I think I'm probably entertaining only to very specific types of people. But those are non-issues because deep down I knew that getting cheers and applause was never the prize.

Feeling like I belong, and sharing a moment with someone always has been. When I locked eyes with someone in the audience and gave them a smile, as my gaze falls listening to someone turn their emotions into words... these moments made me feel way more alive than the times I saw my penlight color fill the floor, when someone screamed my stage name in manic excitement, or even when someone thanked me for my hard work, showering me with praise and/ or treats.

I can't be with someone if I'm alone on the stage. It's lonely, and I'm a demanding princess. Haha. 🌙👑 So for now, I'll make it a point to do only what feels right, whatever that may be. Even if it means people leave because I no longer meet their expectations.

Though, it would be nice if people stuck around. 🥺🥹

That said, I enjoyed singing and recording every song that I covered this year, and the 2 streams that I did! I got to do genres I wouldn't have previously, and tried to find my voice (still looking). I finally got to be a truly 2D anime girl, because for the longest time I only had 3D VRoid models. The year isn't over yet, but I'm satisfied with how it has been! ⭐️

Onwards! ⬆️⬆️⬆️

✨ Random interesting thing -- Enjoyed Meiji Oceanland biscuits

I love printed biscuits. I like digging my hand into a bag, not knowing what I'll get, pulling out a biscuit and appreciating the print on it before eating it. I genuinely feel sad when the bag is empty, which is why... I learned not to indulge in these. 🤣🤣🤣

But I recently learned about Dinoland biscuits, and the print on the box was so cute... So I didn't buy it. 🥹

Yet one day I found myself visiting my neighborhood Daiso to buy stationery, and with my partner's coaxing I left with... 2 Oceanland, 1 Zooland, and 1 Dinoland. 🤔 Why not 2 Dinoland, you ask? Because as much as I like Dinos, I find wrongly placed mouth parts on cartoon drawings of sea creatures really entertaining. 🙃 The last box of Oceanland I had was leftovers from my niece's tea break, so I was a little sad that I did not get many designs to look at.

So this time I made it a point to photograph all the designs I got! :D