kristajainauthor

[kristajainauthor]

I have been featured on Shepherd.com! A wonderful new website where authors share lists of their favorite books and readers discover new favorites.

Check out my list!

(Psst! If you are an author, you should contact them to get your listing!)

[kristajainauthor]

My Thoughts on Sonic Frontiers

I posted my thoughts about the game on my twitter. @KristaJAuthor, but I decided I want to share it here too because I have way too much fun talking about video games and rockin' franchises.

My thoughts on Sonic Frontiers so far. (No Spoilers!) Is it the best game I ever played? No, but if I had to be honest, it would rank in my Top 3 Sonic games.

My most favorite thing about it is the combat. It feels so good to use the different combos, and there are a lot of them. No longer is attacking relying on honing attacks alone.

This rocks because we see Sonic using a lot of abilities against enemies in other media. I didn't expect I would like the cyloop ability as much as I do. Especially in the comics, you see him running in circles around enemies a lot. The cyloop makes it feel like the same thing

The open zones are huge but don't feel empty. I think the zones were a concern because hub worlds in the games tended to feel empty before. A lot of the fans insist that everything in the games should deal with speed, which a hub world would go against. But there's plenty to see and do. And there's a lot of rails and platforming too. I love using the boost around the island. Since the games are usually level based, we don't get to run in the open like Sonic does a lot. Here I can, and it feels awesome!

As for the island themselves, the formula for completing them doesn't change very much. Once you beat the first, the other two I played work the same way. A little repetitious, but since there's so much to do on the island, it doesn't kill the vibe too much.

I really thought the traditional levels would be a bigger chunk of the game. They are few and far between, but a refreshing break from the island. Exploring the island is certainly the main chunk of the game, and I like that. They are certainly not a hub world to stuff.

I love all the little references we get in the game too. References to lore and other games. They are cleverly integrated. And the story is getting more and more interesting to me as I go on.

(And I didn't miss this old reference of a catchphrase! lol)

Of course, with Ian Flynn on board for the story, I had high expectations and it seems it keeps throwing more and more surprises at me the more I continue. (Again, I won't spoil, so no examples.)

I haven't beaten it yet. (On Island 3!) But I have a theory, and many probably thought of this already, that the Phantom Ruby that Infinite had comes from this same technology the ancients used.

Eggman found the Ruby after it landed right outside his base. Quite the plot convenience... It had no background otherwise. It would be like Flynn to write a story for its origins. It creates digital realms that can trap people. Not to mention it looks similar.

Solid Sonic game! Fun, different, and I would love to see more titles done in this style. There are areas that can be improved, but this is a step in the right direction. What do you think? (No spoilers, please!)

[kristajainauthor]

The feelings that hurt most, the emotions that sting most, are those that are absurd - The longing for impossible things, precisely because they are impossible; nostalgia for what never was; the desire for what could have been; regret over not being someone else; dissatisfaction with the world’s existence.

– Fernando Pessoa

[kristajainauthor]

Hey. I dunno what writer needs to hear this, but,

using the same word twice in the vicinity of the other/same paragraph is okay.

*kisses you on the forehead*

[kristajainauthor]

What?? I never thought of this

You know, I don't like this bit of dialogue.

Especially in conjunction with this unused library book text in Undertale.

If a monster died in a snowstorm and turned to dust, no one would find what was left of them.

I don't think this has actually happened yet...but what if one of the characters in Deltarune thinks it might have happened?

[kristajainauthor]

This is so frickn' beautiful

A conversation

[kristajainauthor]

this is your reminder to write whatever the hell you want. if you’ve been debating on wether or not to write that fic don’t think twice. just do it. it’s your blog. your idea. write it. share it. no more excuses!

[kristajainauthor]

Malle: A Tale of Innocence and Blood is out on my blog now available to read for free!

Malle loses herself in the magic of Aven Forest. Can she make it out alive, or will the darkness claim her?

[kristajainauthor]

Coming Friday!

Malle: A Tale of Innocence and Blood will land on the blog this coming Friday at noon!

[kristajainauthor]

We are making progress! Here is the title of the short story I've been working on with the girl lost in the woods. It's set in the world of A Rokian's Curse, but you don't need to read it to enjoy this one.

This will be going up on my blog for people to read completely free SOON!

[kristajainauthor]

Simply beautiful

A writer in a coffee shop.

I did it. I brought my laptop to a local coffee shop, ordered an overpriced latte, and settled in to write. But write what? The eternal, terrifying question.

So I’m writing about writing, in an effort to look busy while I have my main character moment. Turns out there’s more to this than I thought. More to being a creative person than pretentiousness. Or is there? Doesn’t everyone have a creative side? It’s not just painters, actors, musicians, and yes – writers. It’s everyone. Woodworkers, dog groomers, advertising execs, even accountants. So what separates the so-called “artists” from everyone else? Does such a separation even exist? Or is it, in fact, just being bold or arrogant enough to claim the title of “artist” or “creative” for oneself? 

Is it being able to make a living off of one’s creative abilities? That can’t be it. Too many great artists died broke. 

Am I writing yet? Does this count? Or is this stream of consciousness just a shallow attempt to grasp for the profound?

I take another sip of my matcha latte, a floral design carefully created on its surface. There it is again. Art. In the hands of a barista.

Why do so many writers do their work from coffee shops, anyway? Is it just the change of scenery? The people watching? The distance from a disruptive partner or family? The distance from one’s own fridge, maybe? Or is it the desire to be seen writing? Having others bear witness to your act of creation. Does it feel more like a “real” job when you’re not working in a ratty t-shirt out of your bed?

I am all questions, no answers.

We are a strange species. So riddled in self-doubt. So afraid our creative output will never amount to anything. So hungry to be told we’re talented. That we’re worth something. That our work will be remembered.

I’m getting near the bottom of my mug, now. I feel the creeping dread that I didn’t manage to write anything good start to rise. That I’m a phoney. A fake. A pretender to the throne. Nothing more than a wannabe.

Writing something is better than writing nothing, I tell myself. It’s supposed to console and encourage me, but it doesn’t work. I think it’s easier to lie to yourself and believe you’d have been a talented something-or-other when you’ve never even had the guts to try. There’s nothing to prove you wrong that way.

It’s the trying, and staring one’s own mediocrity in the face, that cuts the deepest. Perhaps it’s confronting that, and daring to try again anyway, that makes an artist. Maybe that courage is the secret ingredient to making something worth remembering.

My mug is empty now, and this is all I have to show for it. Oh well. I will try again tomorrow.

[kristajainauthor]

This touches me as a fantasy-lover, fantasy-writer, and Zelda-fan

I do genuinely believe that the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (and arguably the Zelda franchise as a whole, though i myself have played literally none of these games) is closer to fitting the description of ‘Tolkien-esque Fantasy’ than most other movies/shows/games/books etc that claim that label

Like, compare this post by tumblr user wufflesvetinari, which makes an important point about Tolkien’s worldbuilding, and also lives in my head rent free:

and then these quotes from Jacob Geller’s “Every Zelda is the Darkest Zelda”

and his conclusions about the messages in Zelda games are thematically very similar to the through-lines about friendship and love in LOTR, and what a lot of authors miss about what makes a fantasy story personal and memorable:

“A world without joy and humor isn’t a compelling world to fight for” is exactly why there are so many pieces of fantasy media out there that just feel like carbon copies of each other (i’ve seen many posts that explain this better than I can though I can’t find any specific ones at the moment, just know that I didn’t invent this thesis). You’ve got the cool swords, you’ve got the wizards and the spells and the battles, but first and foremost you need the LOVE.

[kristajainauthor]

New Short Story Fixing to Drop!!

My blog has been collecting dust for a little while, so what better way to spice it up than releasing a short story to get it going again?

Malle is sick and tired of the new home her parents moved her into. When she realizes they have no intention of going back, she decides to return home herself. Only, she gets lost on the way and falls victim to Aven's magical forest.

As the trees themselves pull her in further, can she avoid all of the strange, watchful inhabitants and make it home in one piece?

[kristajainauthor]

Birds. Any kind.

Reblog with your animal. It’s toucans for me

[kristajainauthor]

This is so me! Are you guys in my head somehow??

Back to our regularly scheduled daydream plot

[kristajainauthor]

[kristajainauthor]

stop asking yourself whether you’re “good at” an art. instead ask yourself: am i practiced? am i fluent? am i inspired?

“good” is vague and morally loaded. it places the bar of success on a disappearing horizon without helping you clarify what you’re actually judging yourself over. using terms that are more specific (and less loaded) can cut a lot of the of the negative fluff out of your self-talk.