Welcome to The Blog
This is where I'll post a bunch of thoughts. Some may have heavy topics, will give a warning for them if so.
Welcome to The Blog
12/26/2025- Mouth Hurts :)
For my first post on this blog, I must announce this: I have a cold sore on my gum. Or canker, whatever it's called. Aches whenever I chew food now, and is really hard to ignore at the moment. I actually didn't know the English term for it until somewhat recently; I had only known it by the Vietnamese term (but don't know the spelling sorry). So imagine my friend's horror when I offhandedly mentioned to him that I have a hole in my gums. Anyway, that's what I'm gonna refer to it now, because it certainly feels like it.12/27/2025- Fell For It Again Award (Gacha Vs.)
Today's my ba Noi's birthday. Happy birthday, ba Noi! With that outta the way, let's talk about Fate Grand Order.
I've been playing on the JP version of this game since 2019. I fondly remember my first SSR servant was Summer Musashi, who I keep in her second ascension (yeehaw!). It took me a while to catch up, but soon I was caught up to Atlantis. It took me until near the end of Lostbelt 6 to start posting about it on Tumblr. Took me even longer to actually role Melusine :/ Anyways, fast forward to today, where I played the final battle of Part 2, and potentially FGO as a whole.
The rational part of myself knows this is a gacha game. They're specifically catered to gambling otakus to wrangle as much money out of them as possible. And yet, despite everything, I still view FGO somewhat fondly, even when it introduced Ordeal Calls to pad out the story. Certainly helps that I literally couldn't spend money on it even if I wanted to- I had to switch my iTunes region to Japan to actually play the JP version. The final battle hit so hard, I wouldn't say it was too hard but it was certainly a thrill fighting Maris (Summer Castoria carried me so hard!). And everything beyond it was so good. The credits animation and song I hope will be on youtube soon, and what came after...
Apparently if I waited until 12/31 to fight the final boss, there would have been an alternate ending. A part of me kinda regrets being so hasty in fighting it now, but the other part prefers the ending I got. I wonder if the alt ending gives us a teaser for Part 3? Well, whatever happens, happens. Seeing the Part 1 title screen and menu theme was so nostalgic. Man.
Also, I rolled Kawakami Gensai! Currently farming bones for her, haha
12/29/2025- The Sun is like an LED Headlight
Spent the whole morning answering calls about the online pharmacy technician certificate program I may enroll in. Gonna have to discuss more with my parents on it. Speaking of, I'm being forced to practice driving again to prepare for driving to pharmacy school. Can't complain too much, except they insist on doing it daily, which is insane. Twice a week is fine enough. They weren't this overzealous back when I first practiced driving! Also, yesterday's driving had me staring into the sun half the time, and the sunblocker screen in the car couldn't even shield my eyes because... I was too short. Sigh.12/31/2025- One Hour Left (For TX!)
At the time of writing this post, it is about an hour until 2026 arrives. Depending on how tomorrow goes, I'll write a post for it- the first post of 2026! Anyways, for today my whole family was off, though we spent the morning almost being late to my sister's ultrasound. And when we got to the building where we thought it would take place, we were told to go to a different building (that luckily was only 7 minutes away). We then went to Highland DK Cafe, where I enjoyed a plate of broken rice plate with grilled porkchop. Saw a guy smoking inside when there was a no smoking sign too, which was wild. Rest of the day was spent grocery shopping, which got pretty tiring. Overall, though 2025 was a... wild year, I felt I accomplished a whole lot. Hoping 2026 got some good energy. See you next year!1/1/2026- KBBQ My Beloved
First post of 2026! My family had this day off as well, so we went to a mall outlet in Katy. There I bought a singular figurine of a Waddle Dee at a Miniso. If not for Shy Guys, they'd probably be my most favorite character, but they definitely are up there in one of my favorite types of little guys. For dinner we celebrated my ba Noi's birthday as well, so we went to a Korean Barbecue restaurant, aka one of the best kinda regional barbecues. I actually didn't have fond first memories of the restaurant we went to, but A. that was a long time ago, B. the one we went to today was in a different location, and C. there was alcohol this time around! Something about alcohol helps me eat forever (spoiler: it's the alcohol). The best meat I ate there was maybeeeee the cow beef? Forgot its name, but it surprisingly wasn't the beef bulgolgi. That piece of meat's usually my favorite whenever we go to a KBBQ restaurant.1/21/2026- :/
My favorite author, Mark "Z" Danielewski, is touring in Texas!! But there's two problems: he's not touring anywhere near me (closest is Austin which is about two hours away) AND he's doing it on days where the rest of my family is busy, so noone can drive me. It's his final tour too for Tom's Crossing. I mean, I would have been fine with him not signing my TC book or whatever- I admit it's not anywhere close to my favorite book ever by him- but I would've liked to talk to him about how I missed The Familiar :( And also tell him I love Luther the most because he's a horrible person :) Ah well.
Edit: Happy to say I was incorrect! Turns out it's not next week, but the week after. Whether my dad can take time off AND the weather will be bad or not remains to be seen. Hopefully I can go, but we'll see.
1/29/2026- I WON
To start this off: I'm going to the MZD tour in Austin!! Les goooooo
On to the main topic: Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (LTD) Direct was this morning! Actually had to be fully waken up by my set alarm for once, lol. But anyways, We- and by we I mean myself- won!! Not only do we got nonbinary and sexuality customization, we also got customizable pets, the ability to choose the color of certain interiors, terraforming+customizing the island itself, quirks you can give to your Miis, AND eight-Mii communal household! And also, kimonos are in the global release!! I'm so happy. Only nitpicks are 1. the Direct wasn't in the style of the original TL direct (news story) and 2. No unique shop interiors. Otherwise, everything added is so peak... I'm going to make a Shy Guy pet and NOTHING will stop me.
Another game-related note: Phasmophobia's roadmap. Thanks to my friend, I've been playing A Lot of Phasmophobia, it's their new obsession (which is funny because they used to be a big scaredy-cat). I'm surprised that, along with Tanglewood and a new map, Willow's getting a rework. Reworked bathroom ghost... No info on the Phasmophobia Switch2 release, nor if it's crossplay. I'd rather not have to buy another copy of Phasmo, but for my friend who doesn't have a PC, if I must...
2/3/2026- Allways Meet Your Favorite Author
Yesterday I attended the Bookpeople Presents talk for Mark Z Danielewski in Austin! It was an exhausting trip for both me and my dad (moreso for him because he drove me). We arrived early enough that we could eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant and still be on time. Turns out my paid ticket to get my book signed came with a copy of Tom's Crossing, so now I have two... Guess I'll sell it?
The talk itself wasn't too notable, but then I got my copy(s) of TC AND my copy of The Familiar Volume 4 signed!! I was super nervous waiting in the line, worried I wouldn't be able to say what I wanted, but when it finally came my turn the very first thing Danielewski did was grab my copy of TFvol4 to sign first. It may just be because the page's material, but my worries were immediately dispelled. Told him Luther's my favorite character because he's a terrible person, and he understood! In fact, he mentioned his wife really liked Isandorno's sections, which: good taste. He also noted he misses Jingjing too (seemingly) out of nowhere, and in my view as the world's only Luther x Jingjing shipper on this planet, this is validation. In a way.