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A Spooky Treat? SU&SD Newsletter #38
🕑 Added 2022-06-22 10:12:26 +0000 UTC
Matt: Hello, you! We hope you've had a pleasant October. Be careful to wash your hands, there’s a nasty bug doing the rounds - I should know, I’ve got it! But enough of my bragging: it’s Halloween time. And have I got a spooky treat for you? Absolutely not, no. Sorry.
Last month’s newsletter had myself and Quinns excited to immerse ourselves into a couple of frankly beefy games. After digging further into Black Angel - the fantastically pink and purple euro that sees you hurtling through the depths of space - I found myself pretty underwhelmed by the experience once I’d got to grips with it. And as for Western Empires? I can’t comment exactly how things went for Quinns in his nine player game, but when I asked him about it his face went pale and I get the impression it wasn’t a fabulous experience. If you expect me to put aside a whole day for a board game, I’ll personally need a pretty good reason why we shouldn’t simply be playing TI.
I think I’ve now played Twilight Imperium 5 or 6 times in the space of a year? Last weekend I came a close second (although let’s be real - it’s all about winners in space) and sadly had to pass on the trophy that I snatched from No Pun Included’s Efka in our day-long stream that some of you may have seen. I’m *almost* getting good at this game, I think, although obviously that’s mostly because I’m a terrifyingly evil and manipulative git.
On the note of streaming stuff (which a few people have been reasonably asking about), I’m currently in the process of making cool plans about how to get it going again in a way that isn’t quite so energy and time-intensive: we decided this summer to take a break to focus on consistently getting out video reviews, and to allow me to focus on prepping some bits and bobs for SHUX - and it’s often only when you take a break that you tend to realise you’re a little bit knackered. Case in point: Quinns is currently on holiday somewhere warm.
And after a run of me doing mad back-and-forth commutes to Brighton - book-ended with intense technically tweakery - and after a decent chunk of time of Quinns and his other half very patiently allowing us to use their living space to store the equipment and run broadcasts from, it became clear that it wasn’t the most sustainable setup. I’m currently in the process of setting up something *new* that - touch wood! - will be COOL, but I can’t say any more at this point without risking disappointment, both for you lot *and* me.
Honestly I feel like it’s been a year of mild promises, and I’m a bit gutted that many of the things we’ve invested time and energy into behind the scenes haven’t come to fruition. I’m confident that some of the plates I’ve been spinning silently (like a cool ninja) will soon become tangible things that I can share with you. It’s been a frankly exhausting year, but a lot of the energy we’ve spent planting seeds will be worth it in the long-run, I’m sure of it.
For now though, we’re doing our best to take the time to breathe: leaping straight back into things after SHUX ended resulted in me getting a rule wrong in my review of the Barenpark expansion, to the extent to which the whole thing needed to get pulled so I could go back and play the game again properly. It’s tough not to beat yourself up when making mistakes like this despite really, really trying - but we’re lucky to be supported by people who care about details and quality enough for us to be able to calmly step back, take it offline, and return with a finished piece of work at the time at which it is ready and done.
Thank you again so much, from all of us. See you next month for a pre-Christmas explosion!
What are we watching? 📺
Matt: I’ve just finished Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which honestly just completely blew me away - what a fantastically rich, fun show! I can’t say I’m usually a fan of anime, but it’s easily one of the best things I’ve ever seen. I’ve been poking at The Dark Crystal thing on Netflix too - which is remarkably bleak for a show about cheerful puppets - but I can’t help but wish it was just 100% podlings. That’s my request for everything in life, now. 100% Podlings. Thanks.
Ava: I’ve been on a bit of an odd one, lately, catching up with the ends of things I had long ago abandoned. I downed the last two and a half seasons of Orange is the New Black, despite not being sure I was enjoying it. It’s been a bumpy ride, but I think it stuck the final landing pretty well. There’s still a lot of weird jolts in tone, and the sudden shift to being very unsubtle in its messaging on some topics, and quite unusual (and problematic?) in its takes on others. I cried at the end, for a very unusual reason, and that’s perhaps a recommendation in itself?
I also just caught The Farewell, starring Awkwafina as an American visiting beloved Chinese family under weird and melancholic circumstances. It felt like a delicately observed non-orientalist take on modern China and how strange families are. Well worth a look.
What are we reading? 📙
Matt: As part of my unsuccessful attempts to read more, I joined a book club. One of the books I read in 24 hours, the other one I entirely skipped, and I’m still late to finish The Bridge by Iain Banks - which I’m enjoying, if only as a blueprint for the shapes and style that would later be fleshed out in his brilliant sci-fi.
What are we music! 🎵
Matt: I’ve literally spent the whole of the month listening to nothing but Thee Oh Sees, which honestly isn’t something I ever thought you’d hear me say. I first got hooked to their song Minotaur many years ago, but found the rest of it way too noisy. Now I’ll lap up almost anything, pour it raw into my ears.
Ava: I’m still getting weirded out by how Spotify has shifted me from someone who adores albums, to someone who is pick’n’mixing a million different things at once. It makes it hard to summarise my listening habits, though it’s nice listening in the same way I used to DJ, which I struggle to find time for these days. I danced and yelled to Pharoah Sanders’ Love is Everywhere at a barn in Norfolk, and have had it playing in the background of my heart ever since. I also haven’t been able to get The Beach Boys’ Kokomo and Okay Kaya’s La Meg out of my head. Very different songs, both a challenge not to sing along to. I love voices. I just love voices.
