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If You Don’t Like It, It Doesn’t Exist

If that really worked, I could pinpoint things on my body that I don’t like and it will magically fix itself. Oh, the power of ignorance.

It’s something we tend to do though, isn’t it? We don’t agree with it or don’t like it, so we shut our minds unable to accept the actual reality of the situation. It’s a truly amazing thing, right? Except, it’s not. That’s not called “wishful thinking” or “ignorance”; it’s called “delusion”. And there seems to be an abundance of delusion going around.

This isn’t just about our President, who seems to ooze delusion. Maybe that’s the trickle down effect I keep hearing so much about these days. I know, I tend to never so crudely say things like this about politicians. But delusion is a lot more dangerous than hypocrisy. When you spout hypocrisy, people can see it easier. I don’t think people buy into their own hypocrisy quite as much as they swear by their delusions. That’s what’s so scary about it.

When any politician dismisses any negative news about themselves, it’s delusion that drives them. When they bash polls as rigged or fake news, they are being delusional. For instance, when Trump bashes the primary network that backs him for the polls numbers they show as “Fake News”, it’s pure delusion. What news isn’t fake to him? Alex Jones’ InfoWars? Breitbart? IE: actual fake news? You know who else gets that delusional over their existence? Tyrants do.

I’ve never used this harsh of a language when talking about the president. Mostly because as criminal as I found him to be (and I thought Hilary was suspect as well, so don’t give me that “you’re just a lemming, dumb liberal” crap), I just thought he was too… “not there” to really be an issue. He wasn’t an actual racist; he just was dumb enough to allow himself to be surrounded by them. He doesn’t want to be president, he just wants the title. He sold himself to the American people and people buy into it. Fortunately for me, I’ve never been one to like salespeople or trust them any more than those “Windows is closing and wants to give you a refund” phone call.

But when delusion gets tossed in the mix. When there is a real fear to those who write their opinions, or even worse write the truth, that they will get shut down or blacklisted. Or even jailed for whatever reason they can. I feel like I’m no longer watching those insane television shows where there is a massive government conspiracy; I actually wonder if I’m living it.

The problem with delusion is that people firmly believe it. When people believe that strongly in something, you can’t convince them otherwise. They think that if they don’t like something, it ceases to exist. It doesn’t. It still exists for everyone around the delusional person. Bashing polls as fake because you don’t like what you see means nothing. It just means the people that follow you buy into it without question and those who don’t, think you’re insane.

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Overwatch League, Season 2, Stage 3, Week 2: Seriously Boston?!

As much as I want to talk about how great the Houston streak has been, especially since I have a lot of respect for the team and Danteh has been on fire, this is probably going to just end up as a rant against Boston Uprising. Which I guess can be easy when you consider that the only real surprise this week is how on fire Houston has been. Seriously, I’m glad they found their stride and it’s exciting to watch even though I’m a Boston Uprising/London Spitfire fan.

Biggest and only Overwatch League shock of the week? Houston getting the win over the best team in the League right now: The San Francisco Shock. Really, that’s the only surprise. Danteh beat his former team. In fact, that match should have been the Overwatch World Cup tryouts for Team USA. Just fill the roster with Sinatraa, Danteh, Jake, Muma, Super, Moth and Rawkus on Ana and call it a day. Maybe add in Sleepy and Harbleu. Not the point. The point is that Houston has found their stride for now and things are looking up for them.

The team that things aren’t looking up for is the Boston Uprising. Uprising is still doing some crazy things. First of all, they didn’t put in Aimgod again. Which was probably their first mistake of the week. The first matchup against the on fire Houston was rough to watch, but at least it wasn’t a team I hated. The big desk slam from Fusions was the reaction that us fans had at home. Persia kept getting caught out of position, dying first way too many times. Persia’s ults were always either way too late or felt like he repeatedly fat fingered it. Or, it was just like when you first start playing and you see the “Q” button light up and you immediately get twitchy, too excited not to hit it. He’s a pro; that shouldn’t be your big problem. Making a mistake happens; consistently screwing it up shouldn’t.

I had mixed feelings about the switch of Colourhex on Brig and blasé on Zarya. blasé is definitely one of my favorites on the team right now and I feel like he steps up and does whatever he’s told to at least an adequate level, if not an amazing level. Having him play Zarya definitely crossed my mind as half the time I spend saying “Colourhex sucks on Zarya”. He’s inconsistent and GOATs is so heavily reliant on a solid Zarya that it was one of our biggest weaknesses. Did that experiment work? No. blasé is definitely a solid Brig, but with Persia not being the greatest healer it was hard to tell if blasé sucks as Zarya or if he just didn’t get enough heals to be viable on that role. The team lost horribly to Houston.

Sunday, I think Boston fans (at least I did) had some hope that we learned some valuable lessons. Maybe we’d try something new. Maybe put Axxiom in as either Zarya (where he did well that first week) or as the main tank since he has more flexibility and seems to be more technically skilled than Fusions. (I stand by my belief that Fusions is a GOATs main tank 1 trick and if GOATs goes out of meta, he’d be useless to us.) Maybe put Aimgod in since Persia is severely under-performing. Or, if Aimgod is injured as some of the rumors say, put Alemao in instead of Persia. I can’t imagine he’d be much worse as Zen and from what I’ve seen, his Ana isn’t terrible.

But Sunday, they went with the same roster. Then something magical happened: blasé on Doomfist, pulling off the Hackfist with rCk. It was amazing to watch. blasé was definitely in his comfort zone and he looked really happy on stage. They won that map, despite Persia only being noticed in the killfeed. 2nd map, Paris. Again, went DPS. Looked solid, but that caused a draw. Not a loss. 2 maps left. They could win it. Then… they went GOATs. It seemed like it all went to hell when they went GOATs. blasé was back on Brig and Colourhex on Zarya. Hollywood should have not been as awful as it was, but Persia was caught out too often and his ults were still so horribly mistimed that I’m not even sure scrimming is helping the synergy with him. rCk did his normal thing of EMP and run, which seems to hurt us more than help us. That map was lost.

Then… to Gibraltar. Did I mention that Fusions is a very lackluster Winston? In case you didn’t catch that when he ulted off into a pit on Nepal, he is. You could easily pick out his mistakes like jumping into his shield with an enemy when he should have jumped out for healing. Persia was… his usual self. And those gravs Zarya…. why? That map was a disaster.

Boston needs to fix it. I’ve been a Boston fan my entire life, so I get it. The new generations have been spoiled by the Patriots domination. They don’t know what it’s like during the Missin’ Sisson days of Patriots fandom. The Uprising seems more like a Contenders team than a pro one. Anytime a player shows any skill, they get sold off to the highest bidder. Is that why Aimgod hasn’t been playing? Because he’s the next one up on the auction block? Or are the rumors true and he’s injured? Or did Boston just give up and wanted to test things out on the main stage? Aimgod is a far superior choice, I feel. Even if Colourhex dies on Zarya, which he does way too often, you know that Aimgod can frag out and compensate. What about Axxiom? If you’re so willing to mess with the support line, why not mess around with the tank line? Next week we’re up against the Shock and Paris. Paris has been really owning it right now and they are going to be a rough on. We’ll see what happens.

I don’t know if I think the fans deserve some answers, but the team should be saying something. Even a “yeah, we’re total dog crap right now” is better than seemingly ignoring fans. Even King Bill offers us something. But no, we get dead silence and artwork with a simple caption of “We go again.” Maybe come out and say why Aimgod isn’t playing. They keep talking about transparency, but what transparency? You mean Reddit leaks and conspiracy theories? It’s nuts. If you’re going to sandbag the year, just us know so that we’re not completely crushed by the obvious heartbreak our players have there on stage.

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The Balance Struggle

The reality we all have to face is that it’s very hard to balance everything that you want and need to do in the day. Those people that say they can handle it all either have an addiction that causes them to never sleep, thus seemingly like they are more productive than the rest of us. Or rich enough to get help to compensate in other areas of their life so that they can accomplish everything. I can’t. Plus, the fact that my ribs feel like they are on fire and being stabbed all at once has drastically reduced my productivity. Especially if it involves lifting anything, bending down, or twisting my body. The struggle really is real.

I have so many projects on my back burner as a result of contractual obligations to clients for guaranteed-ish money, brain not worky, and family struggles. Projects may be easy in concept, but really have not worked out as well as I had hoped by now. I had planned to start my comic series already. I had planned on at least being in the late stages of my next children’s book. It’s not happening for the foreseeable future unless a miracle happens. We’ll see how it all works out. I’m hopeful that maybe soon, probably when the kids are home from school over the summer, I’ll have more time to dedicate to this.

The problem is that, mom’s especially, are held to a higher standard than everyone else. We’re supposed to be able to balance full-time (or more) jobs, bake things for bake sales, attend PTO meetings, manage sports/extra-curricular activities/doctor appointments, have laundry done regularly, have food out on the table every day, and have a spotless house. Oh and did I mention that we’re supposed to be simultaneously a size 0, with curves, and a large chest? Yep. Go us.

Sacrifices are inevitable. You’re not going to be perfect. You’re never going to be perfect, even if you are. Society dictates way too much of how we function. No, your makeup doesn’t have to be perfect every day. It’s okay that you’ve decided that today is pajama day and you’re going to lock yourself in your room watching trash television eating ice cream while the kids are watching the same episode of “Paw Patrol” on repeat. Stop worrying about finding the “perfect balance” because the truth is the perfect balance is whatever you say it is. It’s your life. You just go on doing you.

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The New Healthy Journey Begins

I did document my weight loss, finally getting back to my weight after I had my youngest son. It took about a year, but I did go from the 200lbs at my pregnancy to my pre-pregnancy weight of 125lbs. It was seemingly easy, and without too many plateaus or hurdles. I maintained this weight loss probably until my youngest started preschool and I spent my time in and out of meetings, managing a baseball schedule that was a daily thing, eating convenience foods because there was really no time for much else. That tipped the scales, but things weren’t bad. Then, I had a medication switch and had to juggle even more hectic schedules. Add in stress eating, and here we are.

While I still haven’t crossed back over that 200lb. threshold, I still gained a lot of weight back. At first, with the new medicine, I tried to get back into things. But I was always tired and it seemed just looking at food made me gain. Weight gain as a side effect is never good, but that wasn’t the only reason. My husband would bring home fast food at lunch time. Everyone would just eat crap food. It’s easy to fall back when it’s there all of the time. That’s why healthy eating really is a family sport.

But then it happened: my husband decided that we would go on this journey together. I had lost some weight thanks to switching back to my old medicine, which was great. We banned soda from the house, we found alternative snacks that would help us get those hunger pangs without a lot of calories. It’s been only a week and I’m already down 2 pounds. I’m proud of that small progress. It would probably be better had my youngest not bruised my rib, making working out a little more difficult. It’s not a necessarily hard journey for me, if you keep things out of the house.

I don’t like a lot of awful things. I’m not a huge french fry person, I don’t really like baked goods, and I hate things that are too sweet. I stay away from chocolate, not a major fan of pasta. I do love buttered bread, garlic bread, ice cream, sour Skittles, and some chips. Those are my weaknesses. Iced tea is my weakness, though it’s still a much healthier option than a can of Coke. My biggest weakness is feeling stressed out and wanting to hide in my room with junk food. Fortunately I have kids, so that’s not always a possibility.

With a new calorie tracking app and a ban on crappy foods, I think I can do this again. Hopefully soon, my ribs will not feel like they are being stabbed and I can get back into workout mode. I’ve done this once, I can do it again.

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Overwatch League, Season 2 Stage 3, Week 1: AKA, WTH Boston?

The first week of Stage 3 has concluded and there were a lot of interesting things that went on. Including some shocking movements from Boston. What were the biggest surprises? What on Earth happened to Boston? This was quite a week for matches, so let’s get into this.

First match of the week was Stage 2 champions San Francisco Shock up against the tragically underwhelming Atlanta Reign. Though, honestly what should have been a 4-0 match where the Shock easily trounced the Reign, the Reign actually put up quite the fight bringing the match into the tiebreaker map. Did the Reign get better or were the Shock having an off-game? Considering the Reign took a map off of the Titans, both situations could have been the case. Do I think they are a playoff contender team? Still, no.

Another amazing moment this week was when the Houston Outlaws decided to take a different approach to their match against the NYXL. The casters and analysts have long been calling for them to play to their strengths and not stick to GOATs, their obvious weakness. This week, they may have lost against NYXL, but they made the match go into a tiebreaker, proving that maybe the analysts were onto something. It was great to see them smiling on stage again, looking like they were having fun.

NYXL also had a fun surprise up their sleeves in probably their strongest showings this entire season. On the stage, appeared the one and only SBB. Saebyeolbe. In what seems like forever when we saw him last. Like, back when Tracer was in the meta, SBB showed a different side: Sombra. And he was utter destruction. I feel like the team played stronger with him out there and that he was a huge part of their 2 wins this week.

Finally, the Boston Uprising. My beloved team. They did some out of character things for them this week. They didn’t play the typical 6 men that they have played 90% of the year. Against the Spitfire, they started Alemao over Kellex and Persia over Aimgod. While I never felt like Kellex was the strongest support out there, Boston has never been known to “try something new” in terms of the players they start every week. Persia, as much as I hear he is a beast, never seemed like a stronger player than Aimgod. This was proven when on the second day, they put Aimgod back in for the matches. Boston lost both matches in a very disappointing way.

On Friday’s game (which I enjoyed at the first Western Mass Uprising watch party), they were easily 4-0’ed by the Spitfire. Why? The support line lacked support, Colourhex had his normal level of performance on Zarya, and Fusions seemed to not be getting any real big plays. It was a mess. It was hard to watch. They got stomped. Granted, Spitfire looked the strongest they have looked all season. But it was not a great match. Paris, which should have been a much better match, wasn’t. Aimgod was back to his amazing self, Alemao was decent but different from Kellex’s playstyle, but the problems were still with Fusions and Colourhex. Colourhex dying all the time doesn’t help. Him seeming like he never has energy doesn’t help. When he’s on DPS characters, he’s great. But he’s forced into a role that he’s obviously not comfortable with and definitely not consistent at. Fusions still has a terrible Winston. He wasn’t getting those big shatters he was known for. It was a mess to watch.

What does Boston need to do to get back on track? First of all, fail less would be a huge start. Was the performance that bad because Kellex is just really good at calling the other team’s alts? Maybe that would have helped the couple times that rCk seemed to be flanking while his team was getting grav’ed. I think that the time has possibly come to put in Axxiom over either Colourhex or Fusions, because we know from the first week that his performance on Zarya was far superior to Colourhex. Statistically speaking, he’s a more technically skilled main tank than Fusions. Giving him another shot could be a great thing to try. I think in their first match, their starting 6 should be: blasé, Axxiom, Colourhex, Aimgod, and Alemao. If that doesn’t work, then they should try the same 6, only replacing Colourhex with Fusions and Alemao with Kellex. At this point, trying everything can make a difference. Oh, and maybe if you’re going to get rid of NotE because he “can’t Sombra”, maybe try pulling out the Sombra. I feel like it wasn’t productive to get rid of an amazing D.Va if you’re not going to use the flexibility that you traded for.

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When Your Little One Has Anxiety

As a parent, you go into it realizing that you’re going to have to make some hard choices. Where are you going to live to ensure they get the best education? Private, public, or charter schools? Religion or no? How strict are you going to be? Anytime a parent tells me about a plan that they have for their child, I do chuckle to myself in judgement. A friend mentioned to me about their birth plan as if that plan was going to be a reality for their process. I half jokingly told her that her birthing plan would be better tossed in the trash, because the real reality is that things with children hardly ever go as planned. Did I plan to have a baby over 2 weeks overdue in the middle of what seemed like the hottest summer/fall ever? Nope. Did I plan on an induction? Nope. Is that what ended up happening? Abso-freaking-lutely.

One of those things that parents rarely plan for are those “what-ifs” that seem impossible. Did I think that anxiety in children displayed at such a young age? No way. Did I understand that my child having anxiety was a real reality that may come to life? Yes. But I didn’t plan for an approach other than “I don’t want to medicate my child unless it’s absolutely necessary”. This isn’t a debate about whether I think a parent is wrong for choosing another approach; everyone’s different. I’m not there yet and that’s my choice of what I think is right for my child. Should a time come where I have exhausted every other approach, this will become more of an option. But I’m not there yet.

That was when my husband came across this program called Mightier, which apparently is a program that was created at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Expensive? Yes, but when you factor how much the co-pay would probably be for the medications, it probably equals out to the same amount. Plus, it teaches coping mechanisms and ways to ease the anxiety rather than just giving medicine to cover it up. Yes, these are medical issues. But if I have to choose a painkiller over physical therapy to find relief rather than just mask the problem, I would rather deal with the cause and not just the effect.

It’s only been a few days, but I can definitely see it started to sink in for him. When he starts to get into his “anxious episodes”, we calmly tell him to do his “Mightier breathing”. The program comes with a heart monitor and it stops the game on the tablet and pops up a meter with a breathing exercise, making it a game for the child to get their heart rate from the red to the blue. It’s training him how to do these breathing exercises in a way that I have failed. If this has been my experience after only a couple days, I can’t wait to see his progress grow. But so far, I’m taking these little wins.

I don’t expect to cure his anxiety. I still suffer my own anxiety issues. But it’s not about curing it; it’s about finding ways to manage it. I manage mine by exercising, music, knitting, art, and writing. Does that work for everyone? Absolutely not. Are there people who do benefit from having these life-saving medicines? Absolutely. Medications for anxiety and depression are not a crutch or a weakness; they are the same as taking medication to keep your heart beating properly. They can be essential to life. Mental illness is just an illness, and you treat illnesses in the way that you feel is the best for you while taking a medically practical approach.

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Overwatch League: Preview of Stage 3

Unfortunately, with Stage 3, we are one stage away from the Grand Finals. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun to speculate about what to expect this stage, which starts tomorrow. While a lot of my focus is going to be on my team, the Boston Uprising, I will discuss my thoughts and theories on a few of the other teams as well.

The first team up will be the Vancouver Titans. Yes, I’m still actively rooting against them as I just have an issue with people who tend to be overly arrogant. (Bumper’s “I can beat any team with any hero” really, really rubbed me the wrong way.) It was easy for them to stomp all over teams with their early schedules. In fact, they haven’t even faced the NYXL in the regular season yet. Though, I’d be awful at this if I didn’t point out that in the Stage 2 playoffs, these hyped up teams did go against each other and the Titans walked away with a 4-1 win. I was excited to see the Shock beat them in the Stage 2 playoffs. First of all, the Shock seem like genuinely cool dudes. Secondly, because let’s face it everyone wants to see an undefeated team lose.

But how will the Titans handle this loss? Has it shaken their confidence? Will they be easier for teams to beat now that Shock has let everyone see their weaknesses? It’s hard to say. A lot of teams seem to struggle after getting taken down a peg, but the exceeding levels of confidence that the Titans have may compensate for this. They could be angry and out to reclaim the top spot. Only time will tell, though I hope that the crack has had a lasting effect on them as their schedule will be getting more difficult the next 2 stages.

The London Spitfire, my second favorite team, is also struggling. Despite being the Season 1 champions, they have had some difficulty finding their footing in this GOATs meta with any real consistency. I hope that they pick it up because they also seem like a cool group of players. They are a strong team, but they just need to find their way in this crazy meta. If a DPS comp becomes meta again, this is going to be a team to watch out for.

Lastly, my precious Uprising. Like many Boston teams, you get the highs and the lows with them. In Season 1, they defied all expectations and ended up in 3rd place overall. Not bad for a team everyone predicted would be in last place. Again, this year, the team was predicted to be one of the lowest ranked teams. Sure, a lot of this had to do with the team being pretty much gutted from last season. (NotE leaving still hurts.) Instead, they find themselves right at the 12th spot overall, which isn’t great but it isn’t completely terrible either.

Stage 3 was the turn around for them in Season 1. This year, I think if they really pull together, they could start turning this around. They are another team that is struggling with GOATs. There are a few reasons for that. One, Colourhex is not a great Zarya. I know. I say this every time that I post about the matches. I’m not sure if there are struggles with communication. I’m not sure if he’s just not in sync with Fusions like he needs to be as a Zarya player. It’s just not working. Put him on a DPS player, and he’s so impressive. Having him on Zarya? Not so great. Is this their only issue? No, but a team is only as strong as their Zarya player in this meta. Look at Sinatraa, who just melts other players while still being totally in sync with Super. There’s a reason why the San Francisco Shock are probably going to win it all, and it’s that tank duo of Super/Sinatraa. That’s also going to be the Boston Uprising’s downfall.

Overall, I predict that the Titans and Shock will end up facing off in the Stage 3 playoff finals again. And I predict the Shock will win it all again. Their only real competition would be the NYXL or Spitfire, if they could just come together and work out their issues.

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Finding Controversy Where There Isn’t Any

“How dare Google not have the American flag on Memorial Day?” , I saw on Facebook. I didn’t consider that. I went to my Google homepage and I saw a screen that was plain, in the colors of mourning, with a link to listen to Taps, a song that sends a chill down any American’s spine. I remember listening to my son practice it on his trumpet as he was being groomed to be the person to play it at the parade when he was old enough. I would have been so proud to say that was my son playing that song in honor of those we have lost. (He ended up quitting band upon entering high school, due to the band director being disapproving of those people who wanted to do both band and sports.) I found nothing offensive; in fact, the opposite was true. I appreciated the simplicity, the focus on the mourning of these men and women who fought for our rights to be offended at whatever we wanted to be. I thought the somber simplicity was the perfect approach. The day is about those who we have lost. It isn’t about arguing about patriotism or being outraged.

I don’t need to see an American flag everywhere to know someone loves their country. I don’t have a flag on my lawn, doesn’t mean I don’t love my country. People equate a symbol, the flag, and boast it as if it’s the only way to show your patriotism. We’re not supposed to honor symbols; we’re supposed to honor the spirit. Yes, I do believe in saying the pledge. Yes, I do believe you don’t talk during the anthem and you show your respect as you would if you were praying. I don’t need to wear the flag to show my love for those who are serving, have served, and sacrificed it all for us. I believe in showing respect to our soldiers when we see them in public, with my sons saying “Thank you” or saluting them. It’s the little acts, not the grand gestures. I believe that you show your patriotism fighting for those who can’t whenever you can. I believe that you show your patriotism by giving thanks to those who chose to fight so that you didn’t have to.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in the flag. I repeat, in bold this time: This doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in the flag. This is a symbol of our country, this is something to be revered. I just mean to point out that the most important thing, the thing that we are actually fighting for, is the American spirit. The spirit of not being told to sit down and take it. The spirit of fighting for our beliefs, for justice, for peace. The American flag is a symbol of the American spirit; not a replacement for it.

This need to be outraged about everything has gotten crazy. Some people on the far-right insist that it’s only the “snowflake libtards” that get outraged over nothing, when it’s both sides that want to make everything “a thing”. I recently joined groups for my community because I wanted to see about our local politicians. I wanted to see how us citizens could inspire change. Instead, I see dumpster fire level outrage over nothing. I see people flaming each other for nothing. I see the worst in humanity when really, I just wanted to see how these people wanted to help our communities. Instead, it’s all fake outrage. It’s finding controversy where there isn’t any. Apparently this is the new American way.

I don’t believe in searching out controversy. I don’t believe in following those who do. I believe the politicians and the media want us to be outraged at whatever they tell us to, in part, just because they can do it and no one will question it. I question it. I wonder why they are making a mountain out of a molehill. I believe in getting back to the true American spirit.

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The Wheel Was Broken… Along with Our Spirits

I could have easily written this post yesterday, when it would have been more relevant. However, rather than striking while the iron of this topic is hot, I’ve opted to give it another day to make sure that most people got around to watching it before I accidentally spoil it. There’s really nothing more infuriating than dedicating so much time to a series, waiting so long for the ending, to have some keyboard warriors spoil it all for you. I’d want to punch that writer in the face. Especially when they do things like say “You Wouldn’t Believe who Died” only to post the picture of the character who died. It’s that reason that I stopped watching “Orange is the New Black”. I don’t forgive so easily. (That being said… there are spoilers. So don’t read if you didn’t watch.)

“Game of Thrones” fans waited so long to get their conclusion. Fans of the book series are still waiting for the next book, the supposed second to last book of the series. Feel sorry for us, not the television show fans. We’ve waited longer, so we have every right to feel disappointed in the show right now. When you really think about it, they had 2 years to put out something great. Something memorable. (And not just for the many blunders, like coffee cups and water bottles. Seriously, 2 years and their editing team couldn’t catch those things?) They shortened the season but promised longer episodes. The hype train for GoT was real. And I was all aboard, ready to go, counting down the days to get what I felt would be the only conclusion that book readers would get at this rate. I have resigned myself to the fact that the only closure for the nearly decade I have dedicated to this book series would come from the television show. I was Team Targaryen all the way, whether that came from Dany or Jon. My husband, he is Team Stark. He spent more of the series upset than I was. Understandable; the Starks got screwed the entire series up to this point.

Spoilers, incoming. You’ve been warned.

Last season wasn’t great, but it was watchable. This season? I would put it more in the “passable” category. It became more of a means to an end rather than enjoyment. The story was rushed. The writing was inconsistent, as if they just focused on Tyrion’s impact and tossed a bunch of other words to the rest of the cast and hoping for the best. Tyrion was still flawless in his speeches. Did I mention that the story was rushed? I would have rather them give us the usual sized season with the 50 minute episodes than 1hr and 20 minutes of a rushed story. Did we even get real closure on the situation? Sansa is the Queen of the North and Tyrion is the Hand of the King, again. Nothing shocking there. Arya has decided to become Christopher Columbus. Makes sense, but it seems out of the blue. In the books, she seemed to idolize Nymeria Targaryen, who traveled and was a warrior princess. But in the show, this was never really mentioned other than that was what she named her direwolf.

And Jon? He didn’t get the throne, nor did he ever really want it. He did save the world more than a few times, only to be thanked by being sent back to the Wall as a punishment for doing the right thing. Does he abandon his duty to become the “King Beyond the Wall”? That seems both out of character and a reasonable conclusion, depending on which version of Jon you’re going with. The dutiful Stark raised by Ned wouldn’t break his oath. But a Jon with nothing to live for, who has nothing left, just might. Or was he just making sure the wildlings got settled in nicely? I would have loved an answer either way. And Bran becoming King Bran the Broken? It wasn’t a shocking twist. It was odd how he seemed like he didn’t want it and then all of a sudden it seemed that he planned that turn of events.

In the end, the Starks were the real winners after an entire series of losing. I’m happy the Starks ultimately won the “Game of Thrones”. The ending isn’t my issue: it’s how we got there. That episode was the best episode of the season, and if the rest of the episodes were as good, the season wouldn’t have been terrible. My hope, as a reader of the book series, is that we get more answers than the barely-there cliff notes version that we actually received.

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Noob Adventures of Guild Wars 2

There is no Overwatch League until June 6th, so instead of a recap you get my adventures playing a new to-me.

As a more casual player that struggles with wanting to suffer through LFR to get more gear and content, there seems to have run out of things for me to currently do in World of Warcraft. I refuse to level alts past 110 without flying and I want to finish my horde War Campaign, but that requires you to do LFR. Maybe I’ll get to it, though I suppose I’ll have to just to get the story finished. It’s dumb that they make the horde do LFR and not the alliance. Anyways…

A friend said “Try Guild Wars 2”. You can play it for free and you don’t have a subscription to play. Why not? I was failing hard at farming for the Deathwing mount. (I’m apparently so terrible that I can’t solo that or BWL’s first boss.) So I did. I picked out this cool looking character, a human necromancer with Winter Sky pigtails and a demonic doll face. What first struck me was how you were able to make decisions that affect the story. I like that custom experience because it offers more playability. The game itself was fun enough; it was easy to pick up and figure out. This could be because of my WoW obsession, since a lot of the playstyle was the same. With the exception of the manual parry ability, which was really freaking fun to do whenever I could.

It also works for someone who’s a completionist freak, as I tend to be. I like to finish zones in WoW when I’m doing my first play through because I want to see the story. Even if I have leveled past the zone, I like that I can just keep going to see how the story plays out. It seems as though Guild Wars forces you to do this, and rewards you rather nicely for it.

I haven’t figured out the talent or profession system. I never played the first one, despite having several friends who raved about it. Right now, I’m more concerned about learning mechanics and experiencing the story. The game impressed me enough where I did buy the expansion bundle pack, getting 2 level 80 boosts. I refuse to use them though, now anyways. I don’t want to be that noob that boosts a character without knowing how to really play. I want to have that experience of leveling to 80 and getting to do the storyline. I’m a lore freak, so I like the immersive story experience that you get from games like Guild Wars 2 or World of Warcraft.

Is it my favorite game? No. I still think World of Warcraft is the superior game. Is it good as a filler while there’s nothing left to farm but mounts and you’re still recovering from the Overwatch Storm Rising event burnout? Yes. Will I be playing it much this week due to the release of the Overwatch Anniversary event, where D.Va (my main) gets one of the coolest skins? Nope. As of Tuesday, I’m all Overwatch until I get all of the skins. But, it’s a decent game to play when you’re bored of other games and you aren’t forced to play it because you pay the sub fee.

Where could it improve? There’s something lacking in the social department, when compared to my WoW experience. Maybe it’s because I don’t know as many people who play. When streaming it, I did get some good advice and meet some cool people. I like that the story instances (at least so far) are solo instances that don’t require you to group up with people, especially since I’m self-conscious about my play being so new at the game. I feel it’s a little disjointed, maybe not quite as streamlined as WoW. But, games should try to do something different from WoW to give us entertaining options. Which this is a great option, just not a replacement to World of Warcraft.