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December 14th, 2024

i've been SLACKINGGGGG I've not updated this since OCTOBER!!!!! aaaaa!!!!

It's because I've been going thru a semester at cooleg :] I completed my finals in the first week of December - and passed all my classes to boot! B] My schedule for spring is going to be Monday/Wednesday only for classes, with the exception of a singular online class. It's going to be nicer than running back and forth for four days, but I think I signed myself up for two research papers - one in Comp 2 and the other in History. uh. oops!!!

I went to a Poetry slam at my college one day too!! It was fun! I honestly went there because two of my classes were giving extra credit for going and competing, and I had a poem I had made in 12th grade on a whim once, so I presented that. I'm not really a "poetry person" per se, but it was very enjoyable to hear everyones poems they had made or found! I even signed up for the non-competitive portion on a whim when I was there, and read "When the Frost is on the Punkin" by James Whitcomb Riley I had found on the fly to present. I didn't even fumble a word!!

I also got 2nd place for the competition portion! Ngl though, I think part of the reason I even placed so high was because I didn't mumble LMAO. There were some seriously great poems that I thought would place far higher than me, so 2nd place was a surprise! I won a pair of headphones and a really soft jacket, so I'm definitely not complaining >:]

I also was able to use my poem as my lit class final >:]c I think it's been long enough past the class for me to be able to post it without issue lol

I've recently been preparing a journal to play Her Odyssey! It's a journaling RPG - or you could describe it as a singleplayer ttrpg - where you use a pack of cards and a d4 to envoke hazards throughout your characters journey! I've been getting an itch for some sort of roleplaying experience, and starting this is gonna scratch that itch at least a little. I've got the base components down, a journal, a set of dice, and a pack of cards, I just need to finish my intro thing in my journal before taking on the hazards. My character is one that I had made on a whim one day with HeroForge, and gotten really attached to, so I'm taking her on an adventure/writing her story with this game! I've glued down the ruleset to the pages, but it's making me want to get a decorative tape to tape the edges up, which in turn is making me want to get thematic stickers X]

And the game of the post.....

BEASTIEBALLLLLLLLLL

(Play for dramatic effect)

This game has me by a CHOKEHOLD. This game is SO. DAMN. GOOD!!! Volleyball Creature Battler!!! Woah!!!!

There is SO much love shoved in this game. There is so much care taken into the characters, the beasties, the UI, the music, the flow of the game, EVERYTHING!! Everything in this game oozes charm and love, plus fit the sportsball theme really well. Everyhting is so... energetic and sportsy!

Every character is so delightful, from the main characters, side characters, to even every little NPC you encounter! I don't even think they reuse NPC designs! As far as I can remember, every single one of them is different! Don't quote me on that! They have fun dialogue, fun interactions, and can be found in the stadium when you go to whoop the local ranked coach's butt! (Or get yours whooped! They can be tough.)

The story!! It's so good!! It's a very environmentalist message in regards to human urbanization that's SO good and fits so very well alongside the worldbuilding the game offers, especially with how these funny sports animals came to, yknow, do that!!

And finally, the beasties - the grand stars of the show - are FANTASTIC.

Beasties don't have any sort of "type" system, each Beastie system has differing stats in POW (attack) and DEF(ense) in three different categories: Body, Spirit, and Mind. (Though... I went through the game calling them "yellow, pink, and blue") Every species of Beastie has a baseline range of each of the six stats, some are bulky in all types of DEF with poor POW stats, some have STUPID high POW and DEF in a type with middling to poor in other types, you get the idea. One thing I really like how they handled the stats systems is that NOTHING is hidden. No IVs, no EVs, no "personalties affect stats" etc etc. They even have little tooltips that you can hover over to see what does what!

Stats aside, the designs are absolutely GLORIOUS. I'm so torn on annoucing one singular beastie as my "favorite" simply because there's just... so many good ones!! I can probably count every beastie I have a "meh" reaction to on one hand - if there even truly is one I'd give that reaction! There's something in every design that makes me enjoy playing volleyball with these little guys!! AND AND AND The best part!! There's such a VARIETY of animals used as inspiration for these beasties!! You've got like, one dog and one cat species, while you also have an armadillo, a cockroach, flatwoods monster, spider, hercules beetle, blue dragon sea slug, man-of-war, trilobite, many-plumed moth, and so much more!

They even have a fucking PENNANT WING NIGHTJAR ONE!!! Blitzwift I wish I had a place for you on my main team!! That's my favorite bird!!!!

My absolute favorite part has to be how muhc PERSONALITY each of your beasties get!! They have personality values, which don't impact their stats, but impacts their relationships with the other beasties on your team! They can have rivalries, parterships, besties, sweethearts, and they can change at any time! They can get into fights, make up ,fall in love, and then breakup later! If one beastie is outperforming their partner they're paired with, the partner can become jealous! They teach each other moves, get in each others way, support each other, show off, and its so!! so!!! SO!!! AWESOME!!! They even have ranges of color variance for each individual beastie you encounter, where they can vary a little, or be entirely different colors! Each beastie you get truly feels like their own little guy! No other Kasaleet is like my baby boy Cheeseball, nor do they have the history with my Garood Peanut!!

The only big "kicker" about Beastieball right now is that it is Early Access. However!!! The ENTIRE story is finished, plus every beastie is mechanically complete!! The biggest things left unfinished are some area locations, some character relations, and many beasties lack animations, with some being sketchy placeholders at the moment. it is truly a wonderful game that I hope - no, need - other people to play and fall in love with. It's such a fantastic game that I think many people should experience. I also really want it to pop off in such a way we can get plushies of the starters (and sprecko again) I need a Kichik plush so bad. I would kill for one. Plea se