You might have remembered hearing about @Buttonhook back in the day. The first issue sold really well! It was a project I was excited for!

But you know how things go, so only one issue ever got published, which sucks. I had written two additional pieces, so, instead of them mouldering on my hard drive, I posted them on my blog.

The first I have to share is about LEGO Rock Raiders, that PC game you might have played as a kid and probably never completed, because how can you expect a kid who can't read to complete an RTS? But, god, was it a fun game.

The second is about a game that wasn't fun at all! And it pissed me off so bad I wrote a whole thing about it! But it's only ~300ish words so it's a very restrained rant. "Gadget – Invention, Travel, & Adventure" is probably the first "walking simulator" to ever be, and it fucking sucks, and I only know about it because Guillermo del Toro said it's one of his favorite games ever, so I thought it was going to be really, really good, so! You can see why I felt ripped off. Imagine how the people paying one hundred and seventy today's dollars for a two and a half hour game felt.

Anyways. Give them both a read! They're super short and more people should play Manic Miners.

Sense the Announcement™️ I’ve been on here WAY more than usual, I’m like terrified of missing out of anymore of it.

Sharing a message I wrote on discord, because I think it's something we can all relate to in one way or another as we go through these last few weeks of Cohost together.

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"I'm kinda shy when it comes to meeting new people or taking the first step to reach out, and I know I'm not alone in feeling that way! But! I'm also good at becoming the Community Manager Mom Friend when one is needed. As soon as the news dropped about Cohost I knew there'd be many who were at loss for where to go or how to stay connected with all the friends they'd made, so I decided to scoop up all the shy little eggbugs I've been getting to know and collect them all here!

'Cause this isn't our first rodeo. We've all gone through our share of forums, sites, or games that shut down overnight. We've all had friend groups that slowly shifted into strangers. There's no permanency on the internet, not really, but 20 years later my phone still holds the ghosts of people I've forgotten for far longer than I knew them. They resurface once a year when I get a reminder of a birthday; for a name that sounds familiar; for a person I can't remember.

Communities will come and go. Cohost wasn't the first, and it won't be the last. But when all is said and done, it's the connections, the people, that I regret not keeping. When I look back and wonder what happened to that person whose birthday was important enough for me to know, but didn't matter enough for me to say, "Hey. When all is said and done, where can I find you?"

I think we lose a lot of connections from simply not reaching out when we have the chance--be it from shyness, or indifference, or anxiety. I have lost a lot of connections to hoping someone would take that first step when I never did, and I have come to realize that someone has to reach out, and there's no reason why 'someone' can't be me.

And so here I am (and here you all are!), and while a discord server can't be a replacement for cohost, I hope it can at least be a place for friends. For connections. 😌"