Eluvianii

Just watched My Neighbors the Yamadas. I was very wary of this movie because, well, Takahata. Instead this turned out to be the cutest Ghibli movie I've seen since Ponyo. Pure distilled slice of life, but like, actual "Heh, I've been there" kind of slice of life. Even though it's about a Japanese family the amount of scenes I could relate to was certainly something. I was laughing all the way through. I'm also catching up with 3 years of Doctor Who before the 2023 specials. Was kind of sad to see how little there was to catch up on, barely 10 episodes. Still, today I finished Series 13, aka Flux and this might be one of my favorite Doctor Who stories now. As much as I like the monster of the week format, I've always wanted longer stories, like the old serial format. This was exactly that. So many subplots, so many one-off companions which surprisingly were all great, and above all Weeping Angels are scary again. I didn't think I'd live to see that. I was kinda worried about having only Yaz left as a companion this season since, well, she's barely a character, but all the new additions made up for that in spades. Wouldn't mind seeing more longer stories in the future, but on a smaller scale. So far the whole universe needs to be at stake to keep the Doctor busy for more than two episodes.

Can't personally agree with the last bit, I think Lupin is at his best when he's only like half Miyazaki, but I'm still immensely grateful to him for setting the character on that course. Villain Lupin can be interesting, but this weird middle ground, mostly-hero-but-still-a-thief he has going on now is more fun.

Finished Nier:Automata, endings A through E (plus a few joke ones). That was, an amazing experience. While I think the story could have used more time, I think the repetitive nature of the game kinda prevented it from getting any longer. This game is depressing, it's hopeful, it's sad, and I wanted more out of ending E but it accomplished something wonderful that I think very few games can claim to have done. Also, the game wasn't perfect, but it definitely deserves commending for all the unique design choices it has. Gaming needs more of this, or at least I want more of this. Yes, I want my rpg to turn into a visual novel for a while, I want arcade shooters segments in 3d action games. I want to see the game's UI be used as a tool to drive storytelling. It's so weird and yet works so well. Sometimes nothing is explicitly happening with the story but you know something big is happening because the game itself changed its behavior as a software. I want more of this. 3 routes in a little under 46 hours, so rather short considering each time you're looking at a credits sequences before 20. I might extend that to do some ending hunting, look for the few quests I missed, get all the archives. I want to get all the plot I can out of this game before it's my turn to sacrifice. Heart-wrenching, beautiful game. Looking forward to the original Gestalt/Replicant some time in the future.

I remember the first time I watched Whisper of the Heart I was strictly expecting a romance, and I didn't love it. It would have been in the lower end of my ranking then. But at some point I read the movie being described as "the birth of two artists". I watched the movie again after that and I don't know if it was the comment or simply the years that had passed since the first time but from then on it became one of my favorites. It's a very sweet movie.

Well, as it's becoming habit in October, I watched a few horror movies this month. While this doesn't apply to all of them, the main theme this year was classics I haven't watched. The Thing: Oh this was great. The atmosphere, the cast, the paranoia. And man, the effects. You know, I'm not the kind of person that thinks practical effects are superior to cgi in any and all scenarios, but these effects are certainly better than any cgi gore I can imagine. It looked amazing and I have no clue how they pulled that off. It really sells the otherworldness of the creature. The Wasp Woman (1959): This was interesting. A slow burn, which is impressive considering this is under 90 minutes. Not a lot of monster scenes here but rather works hard on its theme about the consequences of pursuing beauty at all costs. Which naturally results in wasp powers so everyone should go for it. The last 20 minutes are some the most efficient use of time I've ever seen. The Haunting (1963): THIS movie. It's gotta be my favorite from all I saw this month. It's psychological as hell, a little heavy on the inner monologue but hey, it works. The house is beautiful, that staircase will live rent free in my brain for the rest of my days. The characters are great, they break a few stereotypes I'm used to expect from the time. it all feels so ahead of its time. Wonderful movie. Halloween: The Thing kind of raised my expectations for John Carpenter. I wouldn't say they have been lowered that much yet but this movie certainly pushed things in that direction. I don't know, it had a few good scenes but, nothing much. I'm not really attached to any character either, so really, my only takeaway are the intro scene (that one is amazing I'll admit) and a few of the stalking scenes. Not enough though, I don't feel particularly compelled to continue with these honestly. Maybe I'll watch a couple more just to see how things get when magic gets involved. Haunted Mansion (2003): The biggest outlier this year, because it's neither a classic nor a movie I hadn't seen. I always like to mix some non-horror in October, it's always nice to have things that have the right atmosphere while not trying to give you nightmares. I'd even argue non-horror tends to nail the atmosphere more than horror. Case in point, have you seen the damn mansion? I want to live there, like, wow. With this I wanted to revisit one of my favorites as a kid and you know what? It holds up. Plot is as simple as it gets, a mystery held by one single clue, and the whole movie is just unveiling that clue, but this thing shines in that simplicity. I love everything here and if anything I wish it was longer. Give me more of the mansion, give me more of the ghosts, give me more of the family experiencing it all. Gonna rewatch this one more often. Haunted Mansion (2023): This movie is my favorite Seven Samurai adaptation. Jokes aside I did not even see the trailer for this one so the whole thing was one big pleasant surprise. This isn't a remake, this is Disney telling the new director to pretend the previous movie doesn't exist and just do whatever they wanted. The result is the polar opposite of the 2003 movie. This has a much smaller focus on the mansion and the ghosts themselves but in exchange the plot is way more complex and the characters more developed. The tone is more grounded too. The original had this romantic air to it, the ball, the tragic couple, the delightful design of the mansion. This one is more like assembling a team to fight a powerful villain. A ghost villain. And I love it. I love the fact that we live in a world where both movies exist they're so unnecessary to each other yet so complementary to each other. Night of the Living Dead (1968): The classic of classics, I didn't even have the right to call myself a zombie fan before today. And good thing too because this is a really good movie. I was expecting campiness, which I got, but the movie is very tense actually. This is exactly the kind of movie that compels you to yell at the screen telling characters what to do. That's always a good way to make a horror movie.

Nilo helped his mother make dinner. He was just getting back from picking mushrooms. It was a hot day. "Wash your hands first." "Right, mom." It was a stew. A bit too simple but the way life was in these parts, throwing ingredients and water into a pot was the most efficient way to do things. It was almost luxurious really. As he was setting the table his mom started humming in the kitchen. A lullaby. He hadn't heard her sing that one in years. It was nostalgic. His dad got home and the three of them sat down. He looked tired, too tired to talk probably, but he sat down and talked to them anyway. He had never skipped a family dinner as long as Nilo could remember. The fireplace crackled next to them. Had they always had one of those? The fire was too intense, he was sweating. But his parents didn't seem to notice. They talked and laughed. The fire crackled. It got louder. Louder. LOUDER. His eyes opened. It was bright. He could still hear the fire, and there was smoke coming out beyond the bush he had been sleeping behind. He picked up his things and got up. It was everywhere. He needed to get away. A shelter? No, you needed to kill to get into those. The one in the center? It could only hold one person, it would be occupied by now. But the cornucopia was an open area. The fire wouldn't consume it. Hopefully. Nilo started running, he didn't know where the cornucopia was, but he could follow the river to find it. Thing was, with the fire he couldn't hear the river. He picked a direction and started running, hoping it was the right one.

Nilo was hungry, and felt very weak. This was because for the last three days his negligent creator had made a single post about looking for food and none about actually finding it. Even worse, he had forgotten he had written "basic gathering" as part of his skills in his character sheet. With this newly remembered knowledge, Nilo found (gamemakers willing) a few berries and mushrooms to calm his stomach before going to sleep on the branch of a tree, and decided to look for something more substantial next day.

Finished Ys I Chronicles. It was cool, short and sweet, I liked bump combat more than I thought I would. Difficulty is so weird though, everything is either really easy or really hard, no in-between. The final boss took me several sessions while other bosses died in under 10 seconds on a first try. Excited for the second game, can't wait to throw fireballs and turn this into a bullet hell. Speaking of bullet hells, I'm also playing Nier: Automata, finished Route A. It's promising, though Ending A explains nothing so I guess I'll have to wait for the answers to decide how much I like this. Also got endings G and K. I like joke endings, I might start purposely hunting them. Combat is storming amazing, some of the best boss battles I've ever played. No need to talk about the soundtrack. It's amazing, everyone knows that, love every second.

Nilo opened his eyes, noticing he was gripping the quarterstaff, just like he was before falling asleep. He eyed the thing. It was new for him, less comfortable than a knife for sure, but at least with this he could hit without drawing blood. He got up, took a sip from his flask, and started moving east, keeping the sound of the river to his right. His stomach growled. Step two was getting some food.

"Nice." Nilo took the pack and headed north for the forest, still cautious, but more relaxed. Getting that pack had been a bit of trouble but it had taken his mind off things for a bit. A short way into the trees, once he felt mostly well hidden, he tried to open the pack.

"Well, it's not like I have to lift it." Nilo drags the branch, slowly, toward the rock. He tries to stick one end just bellow the rock, then put his whole weight on it, hoping he'll be heavy enough.

"Just my luck." Nilo looks around, trying to find a stick sturdy enough to pry the rock off.

Nilo spotted a pack. He went for it. Slowly. Almost tumbling. But they did warn him not to run, so it was ok. He reached for it.

Nilo stepped down the platform, slowly. Shaking. The woods looked dark but there was movement there. And he knew why. He could see them. Hearing the explanation was one thing but he could see them now. No hiding behind a screen anymore. He snapped out of it, he had already lost precious time. In a haze, Nilo forced himself to walk toward the pile. First, get supplies, then, to the woods and stay close to the river. Come on, is there anything left...?

And I told myself I wouldn't wait until the end of the last day to do this. I uh, hope there's still room? Character sheet just in case.

Oh hey, I genuinely didn't expect anyone else to show up at this point. It is a pretty fascinating topic, and it tends to recontextualize itself with each episode so it's always a slightly different take on it. Anyway, little progress was made. I read just one chapter because that's all the Erika I can take today. And most days really.

Danny managed to stash the costume in a safe place. Well, safer than with the demon anyway. He got to the store just as the demon was firing some sort of deadly laser. Danny opened a portal and shot a thread through it, pulling himself out of the way just in time. "Hey! Watch where you shoot that thing! I'll literally crawl into a hole and die if I have to deliver that costume covered in ash."

Elend. We'll just read and chill. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of characters I'd like to spend time with, but being locked for so long with a single person, they need to be calm and stable. You can lock two Brandon characters in a house for a month and get to see how they get along, who do you choose?

Kiss paintings, marry museums, kill statues. Snakes, spiders, rats.

3am rn, not 2. Sorry I failed.

It does sound like this was low-end even 5 years ago. I'm no expert so take this with a grain of salt, but I would assume the reason it can run a Source game but not its video editor is, well, that it's a video editor. Rendering 3d models and rendering 3d models + rendering a video file out of them are very different tasks. That said, checking the Steam page, while the requirements for the editor are higher than TF2, the thing can apparently run on a toaster. At that point it might be a compatibility issue. Does it just not start or does it run but slowly? It would be easier knowing the specs of your pc. As more general advice, I would look into doing a little maintenance. Clean the fans, defragment the disk, that sort of thing, it might improve overall performance a little bit. If it's that slow just to boot up though, I'd say there are actual things to fix there, probably something to do with the disk. I've seen cases where bloat software or malware were clogging disk usage. All that said, I'd say not to get your expectations too high. There's a reason people get beefy computers just for video editing. If a new one is absolutely out of the question you should at least look into upgrading it a bit. An ssd, new cpu, and/or more RAM could do wonders here, depending on what exactly it's lacking.

I so didn't expect this so soon. Didn't expect a Switch version either. Gotta change companies for the Switch port or it might crash every couple minutes.