five things makes a post

(1) fashion over function

it's a common joke that any couple will slowly "become the same person" over time—borrowing each other's verbal tics, clothing styles, and so on

with my recent acquisition of a North Face jacket i am that much closer to becoming my boyfriend, who as far as i can tell shops exclusively at REI's biannual "garage sale", which means it's entirely outdoor clothing brands (apparently Black Diamond is a favorite).

admittedly this is just a Seattle thing in general—once a dude from Toronto looked aghast at a photo of a big line in Seattle and asked "why are all those people dressed like that?"—meaning, yaknow, wearing all this outdoorsy shit even though they are definitely not presently in the outdoors. (i explained that on the west coast, Patagonia = Patagucci and they got even more confused.)

anyway, sigh, i am becoming the Seattle equivalent of Basic, but dude i can't help it, the jacket was really warm and fluffy and i love it uwu

(2) BIRB

i only went outside on Sunday for about five minutes, to pick up a delivery meal, but in that five minutes i got to see a COOPER'S HAWK GETTING MOBBED BY A HUGE FLOCK OF ROBINS LIKE RIGHT ABOVE MY HEAD OH MY GOSH SO COOL. i pointed the hawk out to the delivery driver and made her get hype too

(3) vidya games and artsy blather

my brief Stardew Valley addiction has got me thinking about compulsions, immersion, engrossment, and so on.

when people talk about their favorite books, movies, etc, they often say they "couldn't put it down"—they praise how they felt so immersed, skipped sleep because it was so good, and so on.

and i'm hardly the first one to point out that in game design, that same standard seems a little off. we call a book we "can't put down" a bestseller and interview the author on Oprah. we call a game we "can't put down" a gacha and write articles for the Times about how exploitative those games are.

furthermore, i'm not the first one to point out that the story in video games, even in "story-driven" games, is often objectively weak or hackish—it's a story you'd never sit through if it were a movie, it's too long and boring for that, but when it's doled out in little Skinner-box increments, little dopamine hits of reward, somehow we start thinking of it as good.

this was apparent in Stardew Valley—the story/writing is just not very good, at all, and yet i was still thrilled every time a cutscene came on, because aw yiss just boosted that relationship meter up another heart! like, even when i was actually cringing at some of the dialogue (Shane getting blackout drunk and moping about being "worthless" was the worst, but him immediately realizing the next day he needed a therapist was just Too Neat And Tidy And I Hated It), like—i was still grinding for those scenes nonetheless.

Stardew Valley was certainly engrossing the same way a slot machine's engrossing. is there a comparison to be drawn to thriller novels—slot machines on one end of the gradient, a technical report on the other, and thriller novels resting somewhere in the middle? or is there something categorically different about the way other mediums tend to handle these issues?

is engrossing the best thing a narrative can possibly be? is a thing that's good but not in excess? or more like a side-effect of something that's good?

i remember a friend telling me he loved Mushishi, said it was one of his favorite shows ever—but he only watched an episode or two at a time. because it felt chill, like the kind of thing you watch an episode of and think about, instead of binging it all at once.

ANYWAY, i would like to think about all this more and do a full post later. i think Breath of the Wild does a remarkable job of feeling rich and full while still letting me walk away, though maybe that means it's missing je ne sais quoi.

(another sidebar: it's interesting to think about how the way we categorize these kinds of games has changed over time. i remember when Harvest Moon was a perfectly respectable thing for a self-proclaimed "gamer" to play, but Farmville was gross and for n00bs. now mobile gaming is everywhere so the few self-proclaimed "gamers" i know who still insist mobile gaming is Not Real Gaming are losing traction, yet telling people you play Dragalia Lost vs some celebrity-branded Kardashian-esque game has subtly different "credibility" implications... i mean, i say this all as someone who has zero interest in the "gamer" community, but having grown up alongside it, it's fascinating to watch these changes.)

(4) fronds

an acquaintance is someone you can hang out and have a good time with. you can have a good time with a friend, too, but you can also be real with them—be vulnerable, be open, and so on.

it occurred to me the other day there's an S-tier of friend, where not only can you be vulnerable and such, but. when you catch up over lunch, they'll ask some questions about how life's going, and you'll notice that they're really listening to the answers—because they hone in on the breezy and glossed-over bits, they know you too well for that, and what they really want to know is—hey, how are you for real, no bullshitting allowed, we're friends here.

seattle BFF has earned said title for a reason, is what i'm sayin. it's such a nice tier of friend to have—we hadn't seen each other in a while because our schedules are stupid but whenever we catch up it's like no time passed at all. (honestly i have some great friends and i should thank them more often for their greatness. space lion theme plays, etc)

(5) onoes

there's an extremely alarming amount of power tool noises coming from downstairs, but i am too afraid to go down and look, or ask my landlord "wtf", because the last time this happened the answer made me feel worse not better

(having a literal mad scientist for a landlord/housemate sure keeps things spicy around here)