2023 coming to an end

 

    Well, looks like I haven't published anything this whole year. But I really wanted to post at least one thing before 2023 ends. So I guess I will look back on the year in this post and we will see where it gets us.

    Near the end of the last year, I've been moved to the HR department at work because my colleague left on maternity leave. I was thrust into it with very little training but managed to get the hang of it. The only downside to this position is having to use the phone quite a lot and I don't like that. Still, even with that, I write e-mails, or text whenever possible. 

    All in all, the year went past very fast. I spent most of it playing video games and reading fanfics while also watching anime and other things. Whenever possible, I also made art and even got back into oil painting a little. And by that I mean I did two canvas paintings. Other than that, I used mostly just colored pencils or crayons. Sometimes charcoal or pencils. 

Pokemon Go

 

I have been playing way too much Pokemon Go. However, I finally got my own Mewtwo. I wanted that one probably right from the moment I started to play the game back in (I think) 2018. Well, I finally figured out how to get myself invited to 5star raids and that is how I got him. Very happy about it. Really. The only problem with this is getting the remote raid passes needed for it. So the reality is that I'm basically limited to one raid per two days. And that is if, IF, I have enough pokemon in gyms and get at least one knocked out per day and get those 50 poke coins per day. If not, it can be even three or four days between raids. Still, so far, it is the best way I have to win 5star raids. 

I have also found a semi-working way to farm stardust. Mostly just entering one league battle after another and occasionally winning. Mostly losing though. Because I'm not putting in much effort. Just collecting the stardust reward for five-battle participation. Still, good enough for me. For now. The only problem is that there doesn't seem to be enough people battling in the league so I have to wait way too long for the system to find me an opponent. So far, that is the only downside to this. Oh, and the fact that you are limited in the number of battles you can participate in per day. 

Stray

 

So, it's been about a week since I finished the game. It's gorgeous. And adorable! But!!! It's also a tear-jerker. And I'm not kidding about this. It will make you cry. Unless you have the emotional range of a rusty spoon or something. 

What's it about? Well, if you don't know, you play as a cat that got separated from its other cat friends and fell down into this city filled with humanoid robots and Zurks - little critters that try to eat you.

It all takes place in some kind of a dystopian future where there are no longer any humans and the robots live in this walled city they have never been out of. 

As the cat, you get to explore this city and meet a group of bots trying to get out of it and see the outside. With their help and the help of a little bot called B-12, you manage to get the city open. 

But!!! The little companion bot dies in the process! And it will make you cry. And, if you're like me, the first thing you will do after finishing the game, is go on AO3 and look up some fics where B-12 either survives or the humanoid bots the cat befriended manage to save him. 

Staryu spotlight hour

 

It's gonna be a Staryu spotlight hour soon in Pokemon Go. Starts at 6PM. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I'll finally be able to get a good one or even a shiny. I would really love a shiny Staryu. but honestly, I'll be happy with a normal one as long as it has some relatively good IVs. 

And maybe I'll also be able to evolve it. I had a Staryu, but it had pretty bad IVs and I didn't have enough candy to evolve it. So I transferred it. Right now, I don't have one.

I have recently started checking ongoing and upcoming events for Pokemon Go on leekduck. That's how I know what's coming. 

On another note, but still quite related. I have managed to finally defeat Giovanni, the Rocket Boss. I honestly don't know how I managed that, but I did. And yet, I'm not very happy about it. I did not necessarily need a shadow Latios (? Or was it Latias right now? Don't remember, but one of them).

On the other hand, I had like 3 Giovanni radars saved and I wanted the new research. So I used one and somehow won the battle. And now I'm working on the new research. 

And I guess that's it for this post. Hope to see you at the next one. 

~AnnElfwind

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness [2022]

I finally had a chance to watch the movie. And honestly, it was great! The one thing I was really happy about was that Wanda was not one of the good guys (even though she got a bit of a redemption arc at the end). Still, she died, and frankly, I'm happy about that. Really happy. Mostly because when I watched the trailer for this, it seemed like she was going to be one of the good guys. And I just really hate her. She is one of my least favorite characters. 

But like I said, the movie was great and I really enjoyed it. Action-packed and I just couldn't stop watching. The multiple Doctor Stranges were really interesting, though (spoiler) when our Strange possessed the dead Strange, I had a bit of a flashback to the movie Army of Darkness (Evil Dead franchise) as well as the new Evil Dead game and the titular Evil Ash (main bad-guy). There was just a little bit too much of a resemblance. Including the dead Strange's clothing. 

Fantastic Beasts 3 - The Secrets of Dumbledore [2022]

So, I saw the movie over Easter. Went together with my mom, cousin, and my cousin's daughter. And even though it was with Czech dubbing, it was great. I really enjoyed it. Though the first thing out of my mouth as we were leaving, was that now I will have to rewatch it in English (without subs). Mostly because I believe that there is a chance that some things may be lost in the translation. And considering that I am really into all the related conspiracy and other theories, I just need to see it with the original audio. So that is something to look forward to. 

The movie did answer some questions that people (me including) had. It definitely stated that Ariana really WAS an obscurial and that Credence's father is Aberforth Dumbledore. Though there are still some unanswered questions. Mainly about what the heck is McGonagall doing there when she is not even supposed to be born yet. She started school after Riddle left. I checked the facts. Even though some fanfics put her in first year when Riddle was in his last. Still, Considering the movies take place around Riddle's birth, it still doesn't fit. So the only plausible explanation I have so far is this McGonagall time-traveling theory I saw on youtube. However, I don't think there will actually be an explanation for this one. I think they just forgot she is not as old as Dubmles and now don't know how to fix it so they are ignoring it. But who knows, maybe they will surprise us in one of the following movies…

Robert Scott-Norton - Dark Corners 01: The Correction Floor

It has been a while since I've finished this book but I still remember it pretty well. Mostly because it was the kind I simply couldn't put down. It was really great to read, the text flowed beautifully and the story was really engaging. Which was, honestly, really surprising. The book falls into the supernatural genre as well as horror. I do like horror, but most of the time, the main character is a girl which I don't really like. So this book was a nice surprise in this regard - the main character was a young man named Seth. 

Most of the book takes place in a haunted asylum. I like that. I like horrors that take place in abandoned buildings. Be it a school, an asylum, a hospital, or just a normal house. Or a castle. That could be an interesting read too. Though to be honest, most of my experience with horror stories comes in the form of movies or fanfiction (or anime). And I'm very picky about my movie horrors. It has to be really good and I prefer psychological horror instead of gory ones. All the bloodbath horrors just seem too fake. It's not scary, it's just gross. I don't mind blood or death and killing, but it has to feel real.