December 2021 Entry:
2021 has wrapped up. December was all over the place.
MISC=========================
- Ordered a treat for myself from Cinnabon (12.01). Cookie BonBites, BonBites, and CinnaSweeties. I've been craving something sweet from Cinnabon for a while. They're all great, but obviously really sweet. I couldn't eat all of them when they were fresh on delivery, but they still tasted great after the fact. As of typing this (01.12), I still have one piece left.
- Brought some friends together that only knew of each other via streams (12.04). We played some board games, ate some food, and ended with The Devils & The Details. It was great seeing them bond as they were all very alike with similar interests. Hopefully we'll do it again some time.
- Went to my routine ENT appointment (12.08). Not the best one for multiple reasons. I was in the waiting area for maybe less than 10 minutes to be brought into a room, not bad. But the wait to see the doctor was over an hour. I was informed close to the 1 hour mark that there was a delay, which I'm glad they said something, but I was already tired and hungry. When I finally saw him, I had an update for him, which was that the ear wax had been leaking from my problematic ear for the past 2 days prior to the appointment. After inspection, he said I had an infection. He made a few prescriptions and we decided to meet sooner rather than later and have another ear test. This was actually the first time in my series of appointments that we didn't do an ear test.
As I was driving away, I got a text about my prescription being delayed so I figured I can get lunch first instead of after picking up the prescription. It was way past my normal lunch time so I got some McDonald's and ate it in the parking lot instead of at home. Went straight to CVS after and the clerk tells me there's still a delay on the prescription. At that point I was in give up mode. My ear was bad and I couldn't get my prescription. Bought some sleeping medicine (because that was still a thing) and went home. Spent an hour on hold with the ENT office and was told why the prescription was on hold.
Waited a few days to even get the prescription. The plus side was that it costs way less. But it was for 2 different kinds of drops to put in my ear twice a day. Coupled with my sleeping issues, I spent a lot of time lying down on my right side for 10 days. My ear has been fine since then. Not that ear wax had continued leaking, but it stopped. I'll find out in February (couldn't schedule any earlier) how things are.
- Finished Ring Fit Adventures (12.10). The last boss fight actually was quite long. I think I took a couple minutes for a break in the middle of it. I am glad to be able to finish it before the end of the year. We're not done though as it opens up the extra worlds, which are the same worlds with stronger enemies and different dialogue.Also reached level 200 at some point. The second to last session was actually a tough one as I felt super low on energy throughout. Thankfully I had one more thanks to some schedule shifting (12.30). It was better overall and I really needed something to keep my mind off things that day.
- Went to a Holiday Friends Gathering for Games event (12.18). Originally I was unsure because of the number of people going as it would have been the largest enclosed event other than medical or restaurants I'd be at. I pretty much decided the night before after the stream. I'm glad I went. Not only did I see faces I had not seen in a long time as well as new ones, but we had a lot of fun and ate some good food and had some good talks. Thanks for having me.
- Remember the Cinnabon order I mentioned earlier? I still had a few left. I thought it would be nice to eat one warm. (12.21). So I popped one in the microwave, turned around to look at some mail, and about 30 seconds later the microwave was full of smoke. I threw that way and spent a good 30-40 minutes getting the smoke out of the house. I was the only home at the time thankfully so no one else had to deal with the smoke.
- Got a new 2022 calendar from Nintendo (12.23). Just like the previous one, it will sit in the back of streams and change when appropriate.
- I received a message on Discord from someone unexpected (12.24). It was someone I reached out to at the beginning of the year as they were making posts that they weren't in the best of places. We spoke a few times here and there during that time and then things seemed to be going better for them. Due to the holiday spirit, they reached out to me and thanked me for being there during that time. It had actually been many months since we spoke so it was a great surprise to start the day.
- I haven't been digging Instagram lately. It's nice seeing others' posts, but mine (which I understand are only videos and not photos minus the occasional story) doesn't have a lot of interaction. In fact, the majority of interactions are bots that everyone gets. One day (12.27), I had 7 bots post in seconds, the most ever. I know some people are liking the posts, but it really sucks that the majority of my time using the platform is to block bots. At first I only deleted the messages. Now I don't care and I report them.
- My Christmas present to myself; Final Fantasy Twin Pack (12.27). It's been on my wish list for a while and it was on sale. I also pre-ordered 3 of the Final Fantasy music boxes, but those don't come out until August 2022.
- I've spoken highly of supershigi in the past. During the last week of the year, she Radio Shigi (12.27-12.31). It was a lot of her songs played on loop all day with a nice animated image playing. It was awesome to go to sleep to, to wake up to, and to tune in to randomly. And the community was nice as always as well as silly such as the 2-3 times we were all there for when the stream "ended" after 48 hours, ha. Even though that same playlist of songs is on her Spotify, I do miss Radio Shigi being there.
- Round 21 of free content in the books. It was a mix of holiday movies and (if possible) similar non-holiday movies. Despite a few stinkers, the majority were good to watch with my top 3 being My Bossy Girl, 10 Horas Para O Natal, and Jingle All the Way. From now on, I'll be swapping between watching series and movies. Maybe do a combination if there's a short series or some type of theme.
WRESTLING=====================
- NXT WarGames 2021 was fun (12.05). It did a good job highlighting all the new talent and showing the shift in direction. Cheers to Johnny Gargano. It was amazing to hear "His Rebel Heart" and see his gear for his final match.
H.E.R.========================
- I had spoken to a realtor friend about finding places for the new HER. She found a few places that weren't too great at first (far away, not the best space), but about a month later she found that were really good. 2 in particular stood out and I spoke with Agent Ocean to see when he was available to check them out with me. That day became the 29th. The first was a shared office space with some interesting positives, but quite a few negatives. But the second one across the street was its own building in a shopping center. There were more positives as well as potential for more rooms there and seemed very ideal. Leaving that spot, it seemed like this is where we'd plant our flag. Agent Ocean and I went to eat afterwards to hash some stuff out as well as catch up. Felt really good that day.
The next day...I had a panic attack. It was a combination of things. First, my mom wasn't supportive. Even though she knew I was planning to do this, the fact that we finally found a spot was when she decided to bring up every reason I shouldn't do it. I agreed with the concern over COVID, but everything else was to counteract all the other concerns I had actual answers for. After that, I did speak with Agent Raynor. He was excited and cautious, but I felt better. And then fell into another conversation with my mom. Even though I thanked her for her concern, she continued to lay on the same points as before. The rest of the day was filled with anxiety as I had a list of tasks to do and people to contact. Then every possible bad outcome started to overwhelm me such as seeing where all my money was going and how fast it would have gone away. I couldn't focus and I could feel my body hurt more and more. I couldn't relax like normal, I couldn't enjoy hanging out in my crush's stream, or distract myself long enough. That last Ring Fit session helped for a bit thankfully, but I was back to feeling bad shortly after.
Thankfully Radio Shigi was around. It was a great calming distraction, but in doses. I did voice that my day was rough and others were being supportive, which is wonderful about that community. A friend was in there too and I ended up reaching out to them outside of the stream. I was on the verge of tears before we started talking too. We had a good talk about things. She could relate to a few things and understood concerns from all sides. Another friend reached out shortly after she and I finished our conversation and I relayed the same information. I am super thankful for both of them for being there.
Since then, I pumped the brakes a little on HER. I think I wanted to do things way too fast and that was too much pressure. So things are going at a slower pace as well as planning more stuff out before jumping in.
GAMES=========================
- Was really excited and pleased with Jenny LeClue (12.01-12.02). Originally downloaded it for 80% off a year prior and kept pushing it back. It's so good. Wonderful voice acting, great story, and excellent humor. One of my main downsides was that certain puzzles were repetitive. I highly recommend it (ioften goes on sale) and can't wait for the sequel.
- Interesting batch for Demo Showcase 77 (12.03). My favorite became The Ramen Sensei. I liked it so much that I added it to a vote that was going on in Discord. It unfortunately wasn't chosen even though I thought me adding it after the fact and with chat really enjoying would have made it the obvious winner, ha.
- Finally got to play Ristar (12.05). Second game I've tried off the Genesis NSO. I definitely see why people like it. It was just shorter than I thought it would be. Back then, it would have been a good rental.
- Metroid Dread lives up to all expectations (12.07, 12.09). Wonderfully crafted, controls well, challenging, and looks gorgeous. Had I not had to take a day off in between to go to an appointment, I would have used 3 streams worth to 100% it. It may happen in the future, but I was very satisfied with Dread. Thumbs up.
- Returned to Just Shapes & Beats because they added their lost chapter to it (12.11). Played the main story for the first time on stream this way and got to experience the extra chapter. I even got to play multiplayer for the first time with someone from chat. Speaking of chat, I was a little annoyed at someone that was in chat. Apparently they were there for when I played it a couple years ago for Just Shovels & Knights. I didn't remember them, but double checked afterwards and they were. They were one of those people that like to correct others on facts and also not come off kind with how they speak. For example when playing multiplayer, I asked the other person if we can trade off selecting songs. They didn't hear me the first time and still picked the next one. The person in chat responded along the lines of "let WingedVoX choose, c'mon. Play something we haven't played yet" even though I already addressed it. And in the end, that person still didn't choose to follow me. I can understand really liking a game and wanting people to know facts, but there's a better way to come off. Still enjoyed the stream, but that's a blemish on it.
- NES game of the month was Yoshi (12.13). I remember trying this out a long time ago, but not where or how. Fun puzzle game. I liked getting to play against others in chat. Otherwise it was simple and short as there was no way to "beat" the game.
- Nintendo's Switch Year In Review stats were available for all to see (12.14). I wish they allowed to save more images as they only gave 2 and most people opted to post screenshots. Regardless, it's always cool to see these and compare them with others.
- The sequel to The Silver Case that we played last month, The Silver Case 2425: The 25th Ward - The Silver Case was great (12.15-12.17). It was my favorite of the two from almost every aspect (characters, story, interface, etc). I was able to squish this into 3 streams when I thought it might take 4. And there are 100 endings, ha. All are text and only is the true ending, which I didn't choose. I did find a YouTube video showing all outcomes and some are ridiculous obviously because some reference the game, TV shows, Batman, and much more. I haven't finished watching all of them, but watching a few at a time is nice as, again, it's only text. If you liked The Silver Case, you'll like the sequel. Thumbs up.
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was a stream I was looking forward to (12.20). I knew how good it was and it had been quite a few years since I last played it. Unfortunately I realized early on that my skills weren't up to snuff and I was missing a lot of collectibles. Not only that, but I lost my cool when someone remarked on my skills. They apologized, I apologized, but I've never thought it to be cool or funny to criticize seriously or jokingly in regards to someone's skills. For me, I'm already beating myself up and am frustrated and don't need anyone adding to that. It went from 2 streams to one long one to be one and done. Good game, but not a stream I'll think fondly of.
- MEMBRANE, the game that went from $10 to $250 for some unknown reason (12.22). I had purchased it a few years prior for only 10 cents. This felt like a proper time to play it and I was surprised. Simple with the physics mechanic, which adds to the challenge. There's no one way to solve any room either. And the ending, that was priceless, ha. Was it worth my 10 cents, indeed. Is it worth $250...I highly suggest getting it on sale.
- Demo Showcase 78 (12.23)
- KILL la KILL -IF was awesome (12.25-12.26). It was originally a favorite from a Demo Showcase back in 2019 and I got it for 50% off earlier in the year. I didn't know that it was an off-shoot of the anime. I thought it would follow it to a tee. It does for a bit, but then it veers in its own direction. I later confirmed that after asking a fan of the series if certain things happened in the anime and they don't. It's still cool as they have a separate, but parallel story for Satsuji and Ryuko. It could have been a one-off, but I split them and then did other modes to unlock as much as we could. Both streams ended with me going as far as I could in endless mode. Had it not taken so long, I would have attempted again as I either wanted to reach 7012 kills or see if it flips over or continues counting after 9999. Not a solid fighter, but if you're a fan of the anime, I recommend this.
- We reached 700 followers (12.27). Part of me was worried it wouldn't happen by the end of the year as I was still losing a few here and there. But it happened off stream just like it did for 500 and/or 600. Next milestone, 725.
- Circle of Sumo was our free-to-play game of the month (12.28). This was surprisingly super fun. Very simple mechanics to get into after a couple of matches. The big downside for me was that I couldn't host private rooms (always crashed my game) so I had to ask those in chat to make rooms, which was still a little tough. But when we were in with a full team of 4, we went off and had crazy matches. Go try it out. Cheers to the Sumo Squad.
- Our final game of the year and the last of the Yoshi theme this month was Yoshi's Story (12.31). Never played it before. Originally this was going to be 2 streams because there was a lot to do, but if you read earlier in the blog, things changed.
There were a few blah moments because of the chat that I addressed.
But I really liked the game. Can be super short or super long depending on how much you explore and invest into it. I made sure to at least unlock the 2 hidden Yoshi colors. How fitting that the last one we got and finished the stream off with was with the white Yoshi. Thumbs up.
- Just like I did last year, I compiled my 2021 Games In Review. Check out all the stats and top 3s in multiple categories.
https://twitter.com/ArnellragasA/status/1477323756943122437
ETC=========================
- BoA - ID; Peace B (Remastered MV)
- TWICE - Doughnut (MV)
- SMTOWN - Angel Eyes (Remastered MV)
- MINA MELODY PROJECT - Snowman (Sia)
- HOT - Hope (Remastered MV)
- TWICE - Wonderful Day (Member Selfie Movie)
- Happy Birthday, Sana (12.29).
- 2021 was a rocky year. Health fluctuated, streams were consistent, confidence was shaken, friendships were strengthened, and more. I can only hope something amazingly positive happens in some aspect in 2022.
That's a wrap on December 2021. Thanks for reading. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind.
"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits."
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