Monthly HapPENings: April + An Announcement!

It's already time to write up another one of these? Since when? 2018, I think we'd all appreciate it if you decided to slow down a bit.

So what did I all do this month? I celebrated Chloe's, my mom's, and one of my grandma's birthdays. I hung out a friend's place over the weekend, which I hadn't done in quite some time. It was a lot of fun to play computer games together and just hang out. I also worked a five-day stretch of 6:00 wake-up times (along with one 4:00), all whilst editing and uploading two parts of my vlogs for you guys. (I know, what lengths will I not go for my followers?)

Other than that, not really anything spectacular that--oh! I almost completely forgot. I voice-chatted with my two New Zealand friends, and we were reading a couple of my stories out loud together. Trust me, it's quite fun, especially when their accents are so amazing. We finished up Of Beauties and Beasts and started Darkened Slumber. Many laughs were had in reading the latter.

Bookish HapPENings

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This was a much faster reader than the one before, Relentless. It was also a much more enjoyable one! I suppose that's why it only took me about a week or so to finish. While the Keys to the Kingdom series isn't perfect from a writer's standpoint, it is still very good. I love its quirks and all the bizarre settings and characters. I also appreciate Nix's humor, so that's a plus.

But you'd think that I would've read more than one book, right? Wrong. I've been slowly making my way through Dreamtreaders, which isn't as good as I'd hoped. But more on that next month, I suppose.

HapPENings on the Screen

I'm currently rewatching S1 of The Flash with Chloe and Kaitlyn, in preparation for S4. It's a bit cheesy at some parts, and has definitely improved overall since its beginning days. But I can still see how and why I fell in love with it so much. Gotta start somewhere, am I right?

Well, I'm (very) slowly making my way through S4, and it's getting . . . somewhat better. The actresses for Elsa and Anna aren't trying as hard to match their animated renditions, but their performances aren't perfect. So far, the best thing about this season is Hook, but it's been that way ever since he showed up in S2.

I'm (also slowly) making my way through S5 of Ninjago with Chloe and Kaitlyn. I'm reminded as to why I like the character of Ronin so much. He's one of those guys who's smooth, suave, and full of himself. You know, the ones you can't help but like. But then his loyalty goes to whoever has the most money, so while he eventually helps the Ninja in this season, he turns on them in the next (at first) because they're declared criminals with bounties on their heads. It makes him very unpredictable, and thus, very interesting.

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I rewatched this with my friend when I was at his place. Man! What a great movie. It has everything from epic action to great casting to delightful music. It even made me almost tear up again. I don't think I'll ever understand why this movie was disliked so much by the critics. I know a lot of people who were fans of the original didn't care for this new take, but that's not the point. Why compare a TV show that's been running for the past several years to a movie that even nods a few times in the show's direction? I mean, I was like that at first too. But none of the LEGO films have disappointed me, and this is no exception.

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So Tracey and I watched this movie on Monday in the theater. And OH. MAH. WORD. The Avengers blew me away when I first saw that. Age of Ultron ramped it up to a whole new level. But Infinity War left me shell-shocked. I want to so badly talk about this movie, but you know how it is . . .

#ThanosDemandsYourSilence

So I will refrain from discussing this movie in-depth. For now, at least. But it was phenomenal, and it took so many unexpected turns. I don't want to go another year without the fourth Avengers film. You can count on me watching that in theaters as well!

Gaming HapPENings

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You know, the more I play Twilight Princess HD, the less I enjoy it. Call me spoiled by Breath of the Wild, if you will, or jaded by all the praise given to TP instead of Skyward Sword. But I don't see what all the fuss is about. I'm not sure I'd drop $60 for this title again.

Snowpeak Ruins was my most recent point of contention. When I heard that it was a house instead of a normal temple, I was like, "Hey, that's a really neat idea!" I was actually looking forward to it! But I was disappointed. First off, the Yetis are a bit ridiculous, and their dialogue being scattered with the word "uh" didn't help matters. What then got to me was the repetitive, annoying nature of the music. It made me want to leave as fast as I possibly could! Combined with one section that aggravated me with the combination of ice, pits, and enemies; a noticeably forced linearity in the temple; and other elements that escape my memory at the moment, it turned out to be a less than enjoyable experience.

Afterwards, I did the Temple of Time, which I won't get into just to spare you more ranting. Suffice it to say that it was better than Snowpeak, but it still wasn't amazing. What disappoints me more is that I went straight from one temple to the next. Why is that disappointing? Because, for all of Hyrule's vast space in this game, there's nothing extra to do. Scarcely any towns to visit, enemies to fight, side quests to perform . . . it's a large land of "bleh." Which doesn't help the game in the slightest.

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My friend in New Zealand and I have been playing Worms W.M.D. a lot lately. It's a fun, strategic fighting game between . . . well, worms, obviously. Seeing as I've only played Worms Open Warfare (just realized you could shorten that to WOW), this game is a huge step up! The graphics and landscapes are pleasing to the eye. They added buildings you can hide, vehicles to use in the fight, and a crafting feature for making cool new weapons.

Because it's my friend's first foray into this series, I've obviously been a lot better at the matches thus far. (Although he actually won his first match on Wednesday.) We voice chat while we play, which makes the whole experience ten times better. Trust me, it would be kinda boring if we couldn't talk to one another in the battle. We'll laugh, joke around, banter, playfully insult the other . . . if you want a clean fighting game that can result in hilarity, especially whilst playing against your friends, this is a good option.

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I recently bought Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia for myself, and it's my first real FE experience. I did play a bit of Fire Emblem Heroes, but I never got into it or fully understood the combat system. This game, on the other hand, is really, really good so far! The plot intrigues me, the characters are very likable or hateable (depending on the person in question) with great voice actors, and I almost cried within the first minute of actually starting the game. So yeah, I think this one's a winner. I'll probably post a full review or something once I'm done.

Writerly HapPENings

So, uh . . . didn't really do any writing in April. But! I've started this month differently. After reading with my Kiwi friends, it inspired to me get back into writing. That's what I aim to do. I know you can't always wait for the write feelings, but that doesn't mean they don't help. (I'm not sorry for the pun.) You can expect a longer section here next month!

An Announcement

In case you didn't know, next month is my first blogoversary! So I intend to celebrate it with you guys . . .

By doing another vlog! Like Christine did for her recent blogoversary, I'm gonna do a vlog Q&A. Because, you know, steal only from the best! Or something like that. I'll provide links to the #KnowJoe posts so that you don't ask me the same question twice. Throughout the rest of this month, in any comment, you can give me questions to answer about anything! Be as creative or crazy as you want. Just make sure you specify that they are for the blogoversary so that I don't miss them somehow. Which I don't think will happen, but you never know.

#KnowJoe Q&A, Part 1

#KnowJoe Q&A, Part 2

What did you do last month? Have you seen Infinity War yet? (I highly recommend seeing it in theaters.) Did you read more books or write more than me? Are there any questions that instantly come to your mind for the vlog? I look forward to reading all your deep, burning queries!