Tiny Tea Dispatch – issue #039
ISSUE 039 | ||||
Fermentation
Doesn’t look very appetizing in there, but these peppers will turn out just right for making hot sauce 😀
I managed to ripen a few of them but most remained various shades of green, so that’s just how I threw them in my fermentation jars. Seems they weren’t all jalapeño either, as a couple turned yellow instead of red. Those were probably a variety of Aji.
Today’s topics:
- Pixels
- Metal hands
- Pew pew pew
- Trash music
- Remembering
# Made #
Game making
I finished all the world screens that I needed for my Magritte-inspired game. Close to 30 unique screens, not counting a bunch of variations, extra elements and ‘in-betweens’ (transition screens and extentions).
The next month or so, I have 2 things to tackle:
- see how the scenes tie together into a coherent world (which will involve making tables and excel sheets), with some randomization thrown in.
- test out how those screens will ‘connect’ in GB Studio.
Then there’s still the various game screens and additional graphics to make (title screen, inventory, …). So December will mostly be about those graphics and starting on the scripting.
Sunflower soup
No pixels were harmed in the making of this image.
# Seen #
Violetta Evergarden
I’ve been watching Violetta Evergarden, an anime (wait, don’t go just yet!) about a war veteran with prosthetic arms, trying to cope. Besides the beautiful imagery, I found it to be a very touching rendition of someone coming to grips with their place in the world and having PTSD. There’s a lot of WWI and European events inspiring the narrative and world-building. In that way, I found it has a lot more in common with something like Fullmetal Alchemist (the first animated series) than, let’s say, a Studio Ghibli film.
People will no doubt read connections with autism into it as well, though I would argue that a lot of those elements have to do with the way the character was brought up, rather than a part of her inherent nature.
A very striking element, is that she starts out unable to understand her own emotions and trauma, which is a thing people with PTSD and some autistics share (I forget the term for it). This is contrasted with her keen sense of other people’s feelings and in her helping others get their feelings out onto paper. In that way, she learns to see and interpret her own.
Ah, there’s also a couple of typewriters that show up, as letter writing is an important vehicle for the story. So even though I haven’t bought any typewriters lately, I can still put something relating to them in this newsletter 😀
Top Gun: Maverick
It was okay, for a bit of US Airforce Navy propaganda. Nice action shots, some things blow up in the last 20 or so minutes, there’s a moustache in it for no reason. Tom Cruise does his running thing (as stipulated in his contract I gather).
If you liked the original, there’s not much for you to see here unless you want to be told that you’re old and the world has moved on (except when it comes to getting some cash out of your pocket).
# Heard #
Trash Theory
This person makes video essays on various artists and musical genres.
I can especially recommend the ones about Björk, PJ Harvey and Skunk Anansie. Even if you grew up with those artists, this gives you a great insight into what they were fighting against and trying to express when they got started and how they’ve grown since.
# Final notes #
It was both my birthday and my late mom’s birthday this month (a little bit apart). It’s not something I reflect on a lot but we’re kind of surrounded by death and reflection at this time of year and I guess it’s slowly started to become an especially somber time from my vantage point.
These weeks have always been a time of remembrance of course. The fall leading to darker days. The first and second of November are All Saints Day and All Soul’s Day, a time when lost ones are being remembered and which was strategically placed by the Catholic church to take place around Samhain, from which we get things like Halloween. We’re also running up to November 11th, Armistice Day, when the end of WWI and the many lives lost are remembered.
An excellent time for a vacation! People can fuck right off for the next 2 weeks and maybe I’ll make some pumpkin bread & put the ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ soundtrack on while doing so.
Another short one this month. Enjoy Tuesday off, if you have it. Don’t forget to tell people to fuck off every now and then. Have a good week and see you next dispatch!