A bed of roses

 I tried... and tried... and tried to get through the maze in Zau. A couple of times I got to the furthest point I'd reached so far and failed to land on a ledge, and back to the start I went. If there weren't so many opportunities to die on the way there, I'd have found the way to get past it. But... well... I gave up. Not in rage, but in sheer frustration. I haven't deleted the game - yet - but I'm seriously considering watching the ending. I believe I COULD get through, but it would take ages and life is just too short. And I'm at peace with that decision.

I picked up Tunic next. It's very cute - and very light on explanations. I'm just sort of figuring things out as I go - which is not really my preferred MO but it feels familiar enough that it's all making sense. I mean, I have an overall objective and I do have a map, of sorts. And I got through a boss fight with a stick of dynamite - so go me! Progress is being made, and that's the main thing.

I watched today's Doctor Who early, so on iPlayer rather than the recording. I... dunno... Susan Twist being recognised by The Doctor and jogging Ruby's memory was a great moment. The idea that there are NO rich PoC on the entire Earth... REALLY?! It gave The Doctor a moment to be frustrated by the sheer stupidity (banality as WhoCulture put it) of their attitude, rather than personally offended. Big props to the actress playing Lindy for making something of such a vapid, narcissistic character. WhoCulture criticised the character for being one dimensional - but I think that's the point of the character. Banal, vapid, empty - yet an 'influencer'. Are we not in danger of all becoming Lindy's? It did feel like the 'clobber' episode of the series, though. The main message was 'social media bad' - and that was kind of hammered home a bit too hard. The 'real' enemy of the episode is really up for debate, though - at least 3 candidates :D

A couple of things in RL are really disturbing me. Firstly, Borussia Dortmund signing a 3-year sponsorship deal with an ARMS MANUFACTURER!!! I mean... we stopped drinks and tobacco companies advertising at sports events but a company that makes weapons is OK?! In what universe?! Do Dortmund-supporting parents want their kids wearing replica shirts with 'we make things to kill people' on them?! Talk about the banality of evil. It's the most terrifying thing I've seen in a long time.

And America and Germany giving permission for Ukraine to use arms they've supplied to fire on Russian targets. Do we WANT WWIII?! Because my son and grandson are right in the firing line - quite literally. Provoking Russia really doesn't look like a good idea from where I'm sitting. Much like the situation in Israel/Palestine I don't know what the answer is - but escalating the violence surely isn't it? At this rate we won't be able to create 'Finetime' because we'll have already created the world in 'Boom!'.

And this is why I play video games and other people live out their lives on Tik Tok - because RL is just too fucking scary to contemplate.

Oh, but I have been considering a slight glimmer of hope, lately. I firmly believe that my personal efforts at recycling, ethical buying, etc are not going to save the planet and we need government-level intervention (you know, instead of adding to the problems by firing MORE weapons). So, I've been frustrated by the lack of action by governments to clean up humanity's act. Recently, I've been thinking about how cautious politicians are and how they're worried people wouldn't vote for them if they actually stepped up on environmental issues. It needs a HUGE groundswell of public opinion to get governments to change direction. So, we do 'our bit', and 'our bit' gets wider and wider and gets to the point where we're looking for politicians who would actually do the high-level stuff that's needed - and then we vote for them and they can act. 

But given the other shit I talked about earlier, I think the glimmer is fading fast...

Except, you know, I'm on leave, which means...  Cleaning Projects!!!

Yesterday was the windows and bathroom.  Today, the kitchen gets scrubbed to within an inch of its life, including the fridge and bin.  Monday (probably), living room, then hall, stairs and landing.  My life is sooo exciting!  But after that, I'll be free to just chill and finish off FF8R - I'm aiming for my first ever Platinum Trophy!

The reorganisation of the bedroom went well - why didn't we put the bed here YEARS ago?!

Otherwise, life just... is...

I watched a documentary on the Hubble Space Telescope last night.  It's a bit sad to think it's never going to receive human visitors again.  I wonder if it will get lonely?

 I played just under two hours of KH1.5 last night and... it's about what I expected.  I'm not loving it but I'm not hating it.  Donald has made me smile a few times.  I did get frustrated with the hunt for provisions, with myself and with the game.  SOME clue about the location of coconuts would have been nice - although I was quite pleased with myself that I worked it out.  And after I'd got it all together, we didn't even use the bloody raft!  So, yeah - a classic FF-style fetch-quest that actually serves no useful purpose whatsoever.

Rosa is not amused.

And why is the second bloke called Riku?!  And what happened to Wakka's voice?!  And the little black goblin things are annoying.  And I keep getting thrown by the fact that the sound effects remind me of FFX but the fight music reminds me of FFXV.  And the colours are too bright.

And I'm actually struggling to find something I actually like about it...  Oh, I have it on 'beginner' level, so the fights aren't a challenge.  Ummm...

I will keep going and see if it grows on me but, at the moment, I'm feeling a bit like I did with Dragon Age - I'm playing this on a friend's recommendation not my own inclination and my first thought (that this isn't 'really' my kind of game) is right.