May Round-Up '24
Hi friends, it's been awhile. As many know, I had my big wisdom tooth surgery & took some time offline to heal... but something unexpected happened to make me stay offline longer than planned. In this month's round-up you'll get some insight into what happened, as well as (good!) things that I enjoyed while resting.
The Medical System has Failed Me
I was on the operating table, hooked up to various machines and ready to be put under for my wisdom tooth surgery, when my oral surgeon gave me shocking news: this surgery wouldn't get rid of the intense pain I've been feeling the past few months. What my general dentist had taken to believe was causing me problems - a cyst on one of the wisdoms, which were both highly impacted and at "unusual" angles - was unrelated to the problem at hand. I was beyond upset (my heart rate audibly doubled on its monitor), but I proceeded with the surgery anyway since the surgeon confirmed that the removal would still ease other things, such as monthly headaches and ridding of the potentially dangerous cyst.
The surgeon suggested I see a root canal specialist, also known as an Endodontist, who I booked just a week and a half later. She confirmed that the painful tooth had a failed root canal and was able to retreat it to remove the infection, which was VERY intense, but seems to have potentially worked to get rid of the pain! A few days post-operation, my dentist removed the old, bad crown and replaced it with a temporary, so I'm still healing from that (I get the final crown the first week of June). After all this, it was an additional $2400 loss... part of which I had covered from the initial wisdom tooth surgery fund, and the other part covered by some dear friends who wished to help (they framed it as wanting commissions at an "inflated rate"... thank you SO MUCH Rachael and Brad!!).
To add fuel to the fire, sensitivity unexpectedly flared up in one of my newer crowns from early March. My dentist was able to adjust the crown a bit, and so far it feels like that helped! I just hope that it's truly fixed, or else I'll have to figure out how to make another large chunk of money and set aside time for a root canal... When I can, I'll be working on some zines just in case it comes to this, so be on the lookout for them. This is the last thing that's bothering me, so after this issue resolves I'll be able to relax for real.
I'm still in recovery mode: I'm slowly starting to return to a solid foods diet after only eating yogurt, oatmeal, and protein shakes for weeks. I have to be careful about cleaning my mouth due to my wisdom tooth sockets, but the pain's not nearly as dreadful as I expected. Could I finally be at the end of my literal year-long dental pain journey...? Things have been ROUGH and I'm not entirely in the clear yet, but I'm feeling hopeful. I almost entirely gave up on my health, but I'm glad to ultimately be approaching the other side of pain. My mouth is not allowed to hurt ever again!!
Here's a phone doodle representing how I looked the week of surgery. My cheeks were large and puffy like a hamster, I looked dead tired (I only slept maybe 30 minutes a night for the first week), my big IV bandage covered most of my arm, and my pajama top's comically huge.
Now that you know the bad I've been dealing with, let me tell you about nice things!!
Games
The final piece of the Final Fantasy 7 puzzle is a game I largely hadn't played myself until earlier this month: Dirge of Cerberus. As a kid I absolutely loved its story - it's very Kingdom Hearts 2 - but I wasn't very adept at shooters at the time so I'd only ever seen a compilation of cutscenes as my experience for the game. As an adult, it was a blast to revisit and play the game on my own terms! The shooting mechanics were surprisingly well done, especially for a PS2 title, and it's become one of my favorite shooters ever. I love its music, the moodiness, and the color choices. Best of all, the featured characters are Vincent Valentine and Cait Sith, my faves!! The only thing that slightly detracted from the experience were a couple unfair portions, such as being boxed in by snipers and a certain boss fight (*coughROSSOcough*), but otherwise I utterly enjoyed the game.
To give me some relief from looking at screens, Chris started playing a game with English voiceacting so I could enjoy listening while resting my head from post-surgery pain: Tales of Berseria. I've never completed a full Tales game myself and have only played some of Symphonia and Vesperia. We aren't too far into this one yet - and are actually about to put it down for awhile - but I'm liking what this game has to offer. The animations are nice, it has quirky characters, an interesting story, and I appreciate its dress up feature!
One of the dress up options is cute little pink cheeks... that also appear in cutscenes!!
Last month, Chris was one of the lucky few to playtest the closed Angeline Era demo, and now a public demo is available for all to enjoy!! This is probably the new game I'm most excited for right now: its music, atmosphere, and gameplay are all utterly fantastic. I look forward to seeing what sort of story Marina and Melos have crafted, and I can't wait to meet all the fae!!
Speaking of playtesting: I was invited to test the beta of Sonic Rumble! I don't really care for competitive games, especially with battle royale-style gameplay, but I had a nice time with this one. The Sonic theming of all the levels and mini games was fantastic! I thought the music remixes were only alright, and it was a little strange to control on my iPad's screen, but overall I thought it was a good lil' game and look forward to seeing what else they do with it. Having Shadow and Metal Sonic run around with a little eggy chao buddy and rainbow trail was very cute.
To relax as I heal, I've been exploring the world of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom even though it's been long since I completed the story. It's been a year since its initial release and yet there's still SO much I continue to find... hidden clothing items, new caves and trials, many koroks, and missed side quests! It's a good game to unwind with.
I really need to draw more Rauru fanart...
Anime
One of my good friends suggested a show that I held onto for watching while I heal, though when it came time to watch, I accidentally forgot its full name and mixed up its title with Kageki Shoujo!!... but I'm SO glad I did because I LOVED this show!! I was immediately captivated by its gorgeous animation and excellent character storytelling. The attention to detail signifying how the characters themselves change - be it growth overtime or personality shifts - as well as shaping each person with ambitions and acting proclivities rooted in their childhood influences made this show stand out. I highly recommend it, though the story itself has elements of realism that get surprisingly heavy, so tread carefully.
So then, what was the show my friend had suggested? Shoujo Kageki: Revue Starlight (can you see how I got it mixed up?) I enjoyed the twists and turns it had, and once the show shifted where you could see its true colors halfway through the first episode it had my attention. Though the characters were hit and miss for me (mostly miss, especially for the main protagonist), the choreography in the "audition" segments entertained, I appreciated how stylistically diverse the songs were, and liked the scattering of silly moments. If you enjoy the vibes of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Princess Tutu, and even the previously mentioned Kageki Shoujo!!, you'd likely enjoy this.
My partner and I watched Black Butler's first season together awhile back, and now that there's a new currently airing season we decided to catch up! We barreled through the tragic Book of Circus, the Sherlock Holmes-ian Book of Murder OVA, and the action-packed Book of the Atlantic movie to make it all the way to the latest Public School Arc. We're watching it dubbed - the English-accented voices are fitting, such excellent voice talent - so the newest stuff is slightly behind the air schedule, but I don't mind. I've always liked Sebastian's character and am looking forward to seeing more of the wily mischief he and Ciel get up to!
I hadn't seen the classic '95 Ghost in the Shell movie, so Chris and I decided to watch it together - WOW what a stunning display of animation!! The details in the backgrounds are incredible, it's no wonder aesthetic blogs love to reference it. So good!!
The follow-up Ghost in the Shell movie - Innocence - was very different right off the bat. Created around 10 years later, there was a huge push for 3D animation (which initially threw me off since the first movie's details were completely hand-drawn), but I warmed up to it quickly because of how well the 3D fit within the world. The visual design and color palettes feel like they were only made better through the intertwined 2D and 3D, making little details pop and huge set pieces spring to life, and I absolutely LOVE how they amped up the horror vibes. The philosophical quotes in much of the movie's dialogue reminded me of Black Lagoon (another classic action-packed series), which to me fit with the questioning of the previous movie's "what makes one human?" Really cool movie!
Books
For my birthday, my partner got me a physical copy of a childhood favorite series book Redwall so I could read it during my surgery recovery (and he picked it up to read in parallel via audiobook)! I'd never read the first book in the series (my favorite growing up was The Outcast of Redwall), so it was cool to see how it all began! I adore the variety of daring woodland creatures and the way the author generously details the incredible feasts they share in the abbey. I'm delighted to report that Chris also enjoyed his first taste of the series! The audiobook is narrated by the author himself, and the small bits I heard make him sound like the coolest grandpa EVER.
Chris got me this copy since the cover's what I saw as a child - I love its art!!
Another birthday gift came from my little sister (at the suggestion of my partner): the omnibus of the manga Orange! What a heartwrenching story this was, with struggles all too familiar... possibly not a great thing to read as I'm going through a very dark time, but I truly loved its heart and message of caring about others. The story centers on the protagonist receiving a letter from herself 10 years in the future, asking her to change history to protect her from having deep regrets later in life. The friendship the main cast shares is sincere, warm, and super sweet, and it made me miss my own friends dearly since I live so far away from many of them.
Aquicorn Cove is a hopeful tale of environmentalism wrapped in a beautifully illustrated short comic. My first exposure to it was actually through its board game, which Chris and I played at Geeky Teas awhile back (it was simple and fun)! A solid message and good story to read when you want something quick, with whimsical character designs and a lot of love.
The Chromatic Fantasy wasn't what I expected but I did like it overall! Delicately designed to emulate the look of an illuminated manuscript, this raunchy jaunt quickly evolves from a story of escape, to adventure, to REVENGE with a queer transmasc romance at center stage. Just know that when I say "raunchy" I mean it!!
Run Away With Me, Girl is all about a woman saving a dear friend from a disastrous, abusive relationship, and finding where you truly belong by running away. Full of soft art, dramatic moments, and reflections on what's most important in life, this was a sweet little love story that was quick enough to complete in a short sitting.
One more thing of note that happened at the very beginning of the month:
Alix's First Jury Duty
That's right!! I was summoned, but thankfully wasn't chosen to serve!!! The process went a whole lot smoother than I'd imagined it could, and now I don't have to worry about getting chosen for at least another year. I was intensely anxious since this happened the week before my big surgery, but it all ended well. The most notable part about this experience is that right afterward I walked down the street to a Square Enix pop-up shop that was only in town for a couple days... so lucky!! It was a much needed pick-me-up after a seriously stressful morning, and one of the only times I've really gone out on the town by myself. I got some treats to bring home to Chris afterward!
I picked up a fat moogle plush for myself to snuggle on during recovery! After everything I've been through, I definitely needed something soft to hug.
June's Right Around the Corner...
I'm sincerely hoping my healing can finally be over with so I can move on from the ongoing medical trauma I've been experiencing. With the pain behind me at last, I'll be able to focus my efforts into creative endeavors, as well as pick up streaming again (hopefully soon)! Thanks for sticking with me, for reading this blog post, and I hope to talk to you soon!
May life bring you immense coziness and joy!