This was a fun, smaller DLC that went along with the first game. Apparently a number of these expansions are made for awareness or charity, so that’s a fun fact to know!
Monument Valley – Forgotten Shores
This is the second installment of the first Monument Valley game, with the Forgotten Shores expansion.
I am really appreciating the Indian aesthetic that this first game had. I’ve seen it vary in the other games as I go on, but there’s something unique and special to it with both music and visual design. The last chapter stumped me a little, but you’ll be pleased to know I figured it out on my own, without a walkthrough. So I do apologize for that, but you see the process at least.
Not bad for an expansion, considering it almost ran just as long as the main game!
Mounument Valley Playthrough – Main Storyline
I’ve been meaning to put a playthrough of this game, and decided to lock down and get it done with the third game’s release.
This was very simple, captivating and quite fun to play. I’m surprised I didn’t encounter it earlier, but likely I wasn’t thinking about these sorts of games. To be honest, I didn’t know about this game till I saw fanart with Symmetra (also fanart like this) in the Monument Valley setting.
I got the first two games bundled in a sale discount since, and have been waiting since. Better now than never.
Air Force Thunderbirds – Twilight Zone VHS
I ripped this from a batch of VHS tapes in 2021, and am uploading it for nostalgia’s sake. I’ve had this sitting in drafts since 2023.
The tape had degraded so much, the audio was spotty and non-existent. It took me well over a year (on and off) of searching for the correct version of this song to substitute for the original track. The fact that the VHS had degraded so bad, is part of the reason this is getting uploaded.
I’m not 100% of where this came from, but I believe someone from our church community may have given it to us back in 2000-2001. It had some other clips of a demonstration, but again the audio is degraded so you can’t understand what’s going on.
This is my hat in the ring for some media preservation, so please enjoy.
A Library Liminal Space
The Blount County Library has lots of inspirational visuals to look at. Whether it’s the lobby, their little cafe in the corner or just wandering around, it’s quite a different vibe than most of the libraries I’ve been in the past.
I briefly found myself in this section and quickly grabbed a snap, feeling separated from the rest of the world for one brief moment. If I didn’t have the immediate thoughts of grown up things like paying bills, I swear I almost could’ve felt I was in an alternate 2009 where things turned out better.
The image is almost there:
Swissgear backpack with a bunch of books, iPod Touch. On a high wave from beating Nanowrimo for the first time. Classes are done, you’re just killing time momentarily before going to to the computer lab. And this is the scene you walk through, except a lot less negativity on your shoulders. There’s a world past this institution that you want to explore, and not having to go 50+ miles to another town to see what’s there (or meet someone).
Things could’ve turned out a bit different.
I’ll explore this library in proper one day, considering how many times I’ve found myself at their doorstep.
Dream Journal: November 27, 2012
I’ve always meant to post this, even before I decided to do the Dream Journal series on my blog. It just felt very odd and unusual, and I’ve always held back on it since the artwork did leave a few people speechless or unsettled. Considering what I’ve dreamt in the past few years and recent events, I believe I’m comfortable to share this after sitting in my Drafts for almost 5 years.
This is one of the longest dream journals and breakdowns I’ve ever done so far, so please bear with me. I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned, and I call upon a lot of past experiences and memories. So maybe grab a coffee for this one.
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Original Dream Date: November 27, 2012
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I was in Randolph, living in apartment which had been renovated like Mass Effect. I somehow meet Yorina, and end up going to a hospital. I don’t know if this was because someone was hurt, but it could’ve been that she’d been called there.
read more…
Dream Journal – October 2009
There aren’t a lot of dreams I remember from the first part of my life. A few of them are scatterbrained, a lot of them are more of a feeling than actually remembering a few details. This was one of them, and it turns out was a deep reflection on what was actually going on inside of me.
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These specific dreams started after the summer of 2009. I’d get them about once a month, although in September I got them weekly. They continued all the way up to the spring of 2010. I believe I had it once in 2011, and a few times in 2012. I occasionally have this dream in varying degrees up to this day, but they’re very few and rare between.
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The concept was simple. I’m either be in bed or by myself someplace, and my cell phone would ring. The Caller ID would show someone’s name that I’d know, and I’d just answer the phone. All but once there’s silence on the other end, and I’d wake up in real life vocally going “Hello?”
read more…Eateries – Salmon, Broccoli and Mashed Potatoes
Mom made this for dinner while coming home from work today. Very simple, very straight to the point. Super tasty and I won’t mind having this again. The gravy hit the right way, the fish was delicious and the broccoli worked out alright as the side veggies.
Crystals on the Window
While I usually warm up the car and head out pretty quickly, my car took a lot longer to defrost than it usually did this morning. So I still had ice crystals when I rolled out. I could see, but it weren’t completely gone.
I stopped mid-departure when I saw how intricate the crystals were on my driver side window. I did pause and wonder why I was taking a photo of such a mundane thing, but as you look closer you can see how fragile and intricate the crystals are. It reminded me of something that could be used in a Lo-fi video.
Accessing Yesterday’s Memories
In my downtime from my job, I’ve found myself trying to take care of old things off of my to-do lists. One of these was to get a USB hard drive adapter to PATA drives.
I spent a good week and some backing up almost every loose drive I had sitting around, and I believe it’s a good thing I did. I not only got some of my childhood memories back, but also was compelled to make sure most if not all of my old PCs worked.
This is the flagship of them all, though. The famed Millenium Project.
I’ll do a better breakdown on it at some point; not all these drives and parts work on it; but it will boot up and run it’s installed copy of Windows 98. Getting “hot rod” parts are something that’s a maybe when funds or time allows. Unfortunately, COVID and the Gen Z rush of nostalgia has driven up these components quite a bit, so getting something you only poke at for childhood’s sake weighs a lot.
Speaking of which, this is pretty much how I imagined this system back when. Or, at least how I wanted it to turn out. I never got it to even run till my last year at Walters State. Mostly due to parts, but also due to lack of technical knowledge as well.
Firing this up tonight made me bask in the glow of what could’ve been, but at least older me can experience it now.
Who Am I?
My name's Janeil.
Welcome to my part of the galaxy.
Moonlight game dev, creative writer, sharing my personal experiences.