Friday, September 16, 2022

Quick Sips 09/16/2022

So I’m back to being behind on things…kind of. I mean, I did catch up on Sip of the Week posts (and hope to have another one out today for patrons, but I also just feel behind in general. Most of that is purely personal—for whatever reason there’s a lot going on. Some of it’s good, some of it’s not so good, and all of it is taking something of a toll. So the struggle bus continues to roll its way.

But did you hear the news that Suikoden I and II are going to be remastered and released on multiple platforms, including the Switch? Because I am very excited about that. Yes, I’ve played them multiple times on the Playstation, and still have them, but new platform! Yay! And perhaps a renewed interest in the fanfiction! We…uh…we’ll see on that one. Anyway, it’s news that I’m happy about even if it isn’t news of a Suikoden VI. Maybe if the remaster sells very well? Anyway…

I feel like a lot of my life has just ground to a halt. I have no real updates to my X-Men comics reread. And I’ve really only been trying to get people their magic/espers maxed in Final Fantasy VI, so no real progress there either. The only thing in the realms of SFF that I’ve been doing, aside from reading a lot of short fiction, has been watching some actually new Star Trek with my husband and watching Sandman on my own. Which, I mean, I do have some thoughts there.

I’ll start with Star Trek because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen any new Star Trek. I saw the first of the new Star Trek movies and noped pretty hard off of them. I’m sure that I’ll go back and check out Discovery at some point, but that’s just not my favorite timeline. The first thing we actually watched with fresh access through Paramount+ (through Prime) is Star Trek: Lower Decks. Which was surprisingly good. Not only is there good queer rep, there’s also just a sense of fun while playing with the long history of the franchise (and the original franchise, not the reboot). It’s a comedy but has its emotional beats and big action moments, and there’s a lot to enjoy.

After that, we stayed in the original universe with Star Trek: Picard and it’s much less a comedy. In many ways these seasons are shaped like movies, and I really liked the first one with the focus on androids, synthetic life, and possibility. The second season, moving to time travel and (I hope) self care, is just as interesting (even if my husband grumbles about the time travel and Q elements). I really actually hope that (but no spoilers please) the real lesson that Q is trying to teach here is about not sacrificing yourself. About valuing yourself and looking for other ways, and being willing to live, and live invested in your own happiness. Because duty and sacrifice are all well and good, but without happiness, without prioritizing that, they don’t really lead to great outcomes. Anyway, that’s me hoping but also vaguely predicting how this season might end, that Q might here want JL to pick his own happiness for once. But we shall see.

As for Sandman, I admit that I’m less invested in it than Star Trek. I did very much enjoy the series when I read it in graphic novel form. But I wouldn’t consider it transformational for me, and I still prefer the X-corner of comic books. I admit I’ve appreciated most of the updates to the original so far, and I am enjoying watching the series. It’s strange, in part because Dream was always something of a weird protagonist, incredibly overpowered and aloof. As an introvert, as a fantasy enthusiast, it was always easy to identify with Dream, but in the show so far I’m a little less so, perhaps…I don’t even know. Perhaps because seeing him played by a human makes him seem less…something. Or maybe I’ve just changed. I’m not sure. But I’m on board to see where it goes. 

Anyway, that’s me for now. Hope things are going well with you! Cheers!

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