That Last Post:
From all appearances, I posted a few lines about stuff I did in 2024, promised more, and nipped off. I actually do have this post mostly completed on my hard drive, but in the interim, I landed on a new professional job that involves a lot of watching franchise material. With the demands of work and the Translation Project (below), something had to give, and the something was that post. I held off on blogging further primarily due to lack of time but also because I wanted to see that post finished before moving on, but, well, this existence of this post proves that that ain't gonna happen. It will be finished, but not before more new material appears. Sorry.
The Translation Project:
The Translation Project is continuing apace. Not a glamorous update, but there are certain phases of projects where it's just a lot of heads-down work, and the best you can say is "yep, still ongoing." I should be able to make the "end of April" date I projected for my end of the work - that is, of course, providing that no other work or life matters intervene. If that changes, I'll post notification here. (I will say that for purely personal reasons, it would be hard for me to stay on the project past June, and there is a practical limit to the amount of time I can take up from folks who are graciously volunteering their sweat & tears here, so there's a built-in hard stop to faffing about on my end.)
I'm knocking out the larger files first, dedicated to love interest lines; there are numerous smaller files I have basically done but want to check something in the actual game before I send them on. In any event: The part that was the big sticking point for me alone, having a format for the script that's usable for a patch, has graciously been remedied by other parties, and I'm dedicated to seeing a properly-translated version of this game happen, no matter what it takes.
Other folks' writing projects:
On a note: Kimimi wrote an appreciation a few days ago of a certain game. It's a strong overview. It's an excellent fond summary of the Angelique experience: "sitting in a room so pink Barbie would think it was a bit much while a grumpy Guardian tells me how much he dislikes lobster." No, seriously: as essential as that is, Kimimi brings home many of the core characteristics of the franchise: how safe the game's romances and universe are, or its smart use of the smallest actions or bits of dialogue to illustrate character (such as Clavis during the tutorial jumping, so far as he jumps, at the opportunity to teach you how to cut out of conversations quickly), or the importance of soft power on the road to the throne (admittedly, I have a more mercenary view than Kimimi on this).
My site:
Effectively on hiatus until I finish The Translation Project. I'd like to finish up the Beep! magazine Lunar interviews before the Steam rerelease at the end of the month, but that might not be in the cards. It seems as if most people have concluded I'm making up the interviews and Kei Shigema's Lunar 0 ideas, but I can say from decades of experience that that's the Lunar fandom for you (the part of it off Tumblr, anyhow; the fans on Tumblr are uncharacteristically friendly).
Dead by Daylight:
Dead by Daylight is taking a break from content for a big quality-of-life update, and so am I. I was aware of how much of my gaming time it was taking up - mostly not wasted time; I genuinely enjoy the game, and it's made with great love - but it feels so good to make actual progress in other titles I want to play. There was a Resident Evil-themed 2v8 mode I wanted to try, but I missed the deadline, and I think I'm better staying on the wagon, in the end. In retrospect, Brad's years-long obsession with a live service game to the detriment of his personal and professional well-being, considered an anomaly in the day, is more of the more prophetic bits from Giant Bomb.
Tumblr:
I am back on Tumblr. Reservations aside, with the world going to hell (or the United States going to hell and trying to drag the world with it), it's no time to disconnect, I suppose. I don't post there often, but it is my sole social media presence. There are folks there I'm very happy to see again, but there are times when I wonder just what it is I'm doing. I still think the AI mining is, well, a minefield, but it's the only place to social media platform to post and view art that has a opt-out option for AI.
