Words... what do they all mean?

Nintendo announced yesterday that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting an update in January!

... okay, yes, there was also some news about the new Nintendo Switch 2 edition being released, but I didn't pay much attention to that one. I'm lucky to have a still-working Switch Lite considering just how old it is at this point, and I think it's safe to say that a new system isn't in my budget in the foreseeable future. So I'm much more interested in the update for everyone who already has the game.

ACNH has been my comfort game for over five years now. I'd never played any of the Animal Crossing games before, but one of the players in my Friday D&D group convinced the rest of us to all buy the game after D&D the day it was released back in 2020. The world had just gone into lockdown, and it was a lifesaver then and has continued to be over the years.

It's amazing just how much my mood has been lifted hearing that there's something new coming for it. I honestly didn't think they would be doing another update. 💕

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Okay, I have some specific timestamps to avoid, so I'm going to give last week's episode of Critical Role another chance now that I'm spoiled for some things. I'm still not particularly thrilled with the way they handled a certain storyline, especially since they knowingly don't provide content warnings of any type, but we'll see how it goes on attempt #2.

As with previous posts, it's a combination of quotes, random thoughts, and some speculation. And it's obviously full of spoilers (albeit vague ones in places).

( Spoilers under the cut. )

Complicated feelings? Check. But I at least made it through the episode.

The last of the IPHs has been picked up, so yuletide_admin opened up requests for everyone to see earlier today.

I pulled them up in the app and have bookmarked anything and everything that I feel as if I could even potentially try to write a treat for. It's... a lot. Which isn't unexpected considering the ridiculous number of offers I made sight unseen, but still.

Seriously, it's 240. And these are just the ones that I really felt that I could write without trouble. There were definitely more if I'd added the ones that I felt a bit iffy on.

I'm going to do my best to get my assignment(s) posted early so that I can A. pick up some later pinch hits (as the odds are high at least something that I could write will show up) and B. try to pull off some treats. We'll see how that plan plays out. I wrote 10 fics for Yuletide in 2023, and I'd love to try to beat that number.

As did everyone participating, I got my Yuletide assignment this morning, and I'm very interested in seeing how this goes.

I had no idea what to expect, so it caught me a little by surprise, but that's definitely not a bad thing. That's part of why I tend to offer a ridiculous number of fandoms for this exchange so that I have no way of knowing what I'm going to get for my assignment. I managed to trim it down a little from the 111 fandoms that I was originally going to offer, but the number didn't go down all that much.

It's one of the many, many, many fandoms that I threw in my bucket list because knew I'd be able to write almost anything for it but would definitely need a canon review first, as it's been a while. So, you know, it looks like that's going to be something I need to do in the next few weeks.

On the Critical Role front, a friend has sent me some very specific spoilers about last night's episode as well as timestamps to avoid, so I'm going to try to watch it again this weekend but this time going in prepared. When I watch this time, I'm going to very carefully fast-forward through some scenes to try to avoid being set off again like I was when I was watching it live. Because gods only know the last thing I need is another accidental panic attack.

We'll see how it goes?

I've gotta admit, one of the biggest things that annoys me about Critical Role is their refusal to add content warnings of any type even now that they're prerecording. It made sense when they were properly airing live prior to 2020, because that just wasn't possible, but now? It would help a lot of people to at least have an option to know in advance that an episode was going to include common triggers. They gave warnings for the Divergence miniseries, so it's definitely possible for them to do. They just don't do it most of the time.

Let's see...

I finally managed to get my Yuletide sign-up done earlier this afternoon. It took a lot longer than I was expecting, but I got it in a few hours before the deadline so that I still had time to go back and make a few small edits before they closed. So that's a relief at least. I'm having a few regrets about not trimming down my list of offers a bit more than I did, but that happens every year, so it's not exactly something new.

The Dragon Age Reverse Bang's deadline is Sunday, so my artist and I are both hurrying to get everything finished. My brain's a bit mush right now despite me napping after work, because A. I slept like crap and B. I think that I might be coming down with something, so I think that I'm going to go to bed in a bit so that I can plan on getting up early and curling up with my laptop to spend tomorrow writing until I get this ever-growing monster of a fic done.

Okay, yeah, I think that I may no longer be watching Critical Role.

( Rambling under the cut. )

ETA: In retrospect, I was definitely having a mild panic attack for a while there, so I've apparently found a fun new trigger. A friend is sending me some very specific spoilers and timestamps about last night's episode, so I'm going to try it again when I can go in prepared. It's not as bad as it initially seemed, but the way it was handled was definitely... not great.

I swear that it feels like time's speeding by the last few days, to the point where I haven't been able to get anything done. It's because I've been having to nap in the afternoons to make up for my lack of sleep at night, so it's not like I don't know why I feel like I have no spare time, but still.

D&D starts in about ten minutes, so that's going to take up the right of my night. Tomorrow, I have to finish up my Yuletide letter and sign-up whether my brain likes it or not. It's taking forever because I'm requesting multiple new fandoms this year, so I'm having to write those sections of the letter from scratch, but I'm running out of time so I've gotta get it finished.

Then I desperately need to finish my fic for the Dragon Age Reverse Bang by Saturday at the latest. It's due on Sunday, and both my artist and I are scrambling to finish up. The fic's one of those ones that decided to keep growing and growing on me, as isn't uncommon with that fandom, which hasn't exactly helped.

Come on, brain. Cooperate for just a few days. Please?

First of all, relax! I'm far from being picky, and I can pretty much guarantee that I'll love whatever you decide to create for me. These are nothing but guidelines, for you to take to heart or ignore to your heart's content. Also, hey! You're writing me fic or drawing me art! That's automatically a good reason for me to love you, no matter what. So, please, keep that in mind. Trust me, you can pretty much do no wrong. ♥

( More details under the cut. )