Chapter 19 can be read below the cut.
Art Shop: ZhilongArt
After thinking about it for over a year, I’ve finally opened up a Redbubble shop.
Last year, I decided to paint/draw some print-size artworks (11″x17″) with the expectation that I’d open up a print shop in the fall. I did two, got a new job, and completely forgot about it.
I didn’t think about my goal of opening up an art shop until recently, primarily because…I needed to buy some fridge magnets. I’ve been following a bunch of artists for years on social media, and assumed that at least one of them would be selling fridge magnets (they are). Then I remembered how I’d drawn this piece of art in January:
I’d originally imagined a line of stickers with cats wearing different hats, but that seemed like too much work at the time so I just drew this instead.
I decided I wanted to do the stickers after all, but that would mean I had to redraw everything, since I hadn’t kept a version of the witch hat cat file with layers. So I did that, and ended up with these eight designs:
Then I decided to redraw another piece of art that would make a good sticker: an upset desert rain frog.
Then because I hadn’t seen it done anywhere, I also made a bunch of “conlanger” pride flags:
Then, after I’d drawn everything and set up the Redbubble shop, I realized…that I’d completely forgotten to buy fridge magnets.
I plan on redrawing some artwork from the last few years to make into prints. I’ll make a blog post every time something new is available. And I definitely plan on updating the “Art” page on this website at some point.
Nostalgia Time: Various Other Things
This is the last of the Nostalgia Time posts! I toyed with the idea of doing more, but none of them were long enough to justify making separate blog posts, and I’m a little tired of this series. I want to move onto other subjects!
Linkin Park
I was really into Linkin Park in my younger years. They were the band I primarily listened to in middle school and then later in high school. I sort of lost interest in university, but I don’t know why. I still like their music.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to listen to a single Linkin Park song since Chester Bennington died. Maybe I will be in the future.
Nintendo games
I didn’t have console games as a kid. If I wanted to play video games, I’d have to go over to a friend’s house (they had a GameCube) or wait until my family went over to my aunt/cousin’s house (they had an N64). It was there I was introduced to a lot of Nintendo games – primarily Super Smash Brothers, Mario Party, Kirby Air Ride, and Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg.
I think what I miss the most is getting together with friends and playing those games. That’s definitely not something that happens any more – not even due to covid. Video games are mostly set up for online play nowadays.
Teen Titans
This was a show that practically everyone in my friend group watched. I know I drew a ton of fanart for Teen Titans, all of it on paper (I have zero digital fanart, surprisingly). Some of it was done in my notebooks at school when I should have been paying attention.
I’m still salty that this show got canceled. I really wanted to see season 6.
Warrior Cats
Warriors is another series I discovered in middle school. I was on Neopets at the time, so I did what seemed reasonable and looked for Warriors roleplay guilds so I could have my own Warrior cat adventures.
Oddly enough, this is how I learned about Deviantart. A guild member posted their artwork there.
I ended up reading all the books of the first three series. At that point, I’d lost interest as it seemed like the story was just going to go on and on indefinitely.
I started this series of blog posts not only because I wanted to get back into blogging, but because I assumed that writing more frequently would help me improve my writing in general. It’s probably too early to say whether or not this is true, but it has certainly helped me get back into blogging. There are going to be a lot more posts this year than in 2020.
The Book of Immortality: Chapter 22
Chapter 22 can be read below the cut.
Short Review: Cat Quest
Purchased through: GOG.com
Hours played: 8.5 (level 77, main story complete)
Cat Quest is an open-world RPG (role-playing game) where everyone is a cat. It’s really adorable and light-hearted, and it’s something I’ve been spending time on here and there on the weekends.
It’s also full of cat puns. There are so many cat puns.
Like with other RPGs, there are enemies wandering the overworld and in instanced dungeons. There are some boss fights in the overworld – mostly dragons – and tons of sidequests. It’s very easy to get sidetracked by sidequests to the point that I’m overleveled by the time I get back to the main storyline quests, which probably makes them a bit too easy.
Not that I’m complaining! It’s super easy to level up just by doing sidequests and everything associated with them. There is essentially no grinding in this game, which is something that I am supper happy about.
There is one thing in particular that I don’t like: not being able to choose which weapon or piece of armor to upgrade. It’s completely randomized as to what item gets an upgrade and to what extent the stats are boosted.
Overall, this is a nice little game that can be completed in 6-8 hours. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a no-stress RPG to play for 30 minutes to half an hour here and there.
