Honkai: Star Rail - Science Fiction Fantasy Gacha Game

So I promised my next post would be about Honkai: Star Rail, and here we are!

Star Rail is another Hoyoverse gacha game. Honestly, though, I find the story line more entertaining than Genshin Impact. It's that nice mix of science fiction and fantasy. And the humor is great, kind of off the wall at times (which is totally up my alley as you'd know if you've ever read any of my Fractured Fairies stories).

I've also already found two references to Persona 5, which totally made me fangirl - lol. It's awesome that the writers don't take themselves too seriously, making the story a lot of fun, even though there are plenty of serious moments. I mean, trashcans are a huge running joke. You have to play the game to understand... Trust me.

The art style is also fantastic. But you can judge for yourself because it's time for screenshots!

First up is my newest character's splash art - Feixiao.

Here's a nice shot of the Astral Express crew.

Now a few shots from the story line (unfortunately, I'm often too slow to get some pretty neat screenshots, or I'd have more - heh).

And finally, here's one of those humorous moments. The Trailblazer with a bunch of creations from a Genius Society member!

I know it's a gacha game, but as long as you can resist spending tons of money on pixels, it's definitely a game any science fiction and fantasy lover would enjoy!

Genshin Impact - My Newest Addictive Game

OK, so this post is likely just going to be mostly screenshots, and a little bit of my own art. PICTURES. That's about where my brain is today anyway. Processing words = hard (I haven't been sleeping well lately so, yeah...).

As many of you already know, I'm a gamer. Yes, I still play Everquest and Summoners War, but now I have a new addiction. Actually, it's kind of a family addiction since Hubbie and Eldest play as well!

Last October, the three of us started playing Genshin Impact, by MiHoYo. The biggest thing that drew us in at first was that it was available for free on Playstation 4 (it's also available on PC and Mobile, and it's in the works for Nintendo Switch).

As a warning, though it's available on a console, it's still a gacha game. But oh man, have they brought that genre of games to a whole new level! It plays like a normal console/PC fantasy RPG. There's a huge and beautiful world to explore. Chests (some hidden insanely well), puzzles, adaptability in game play, fleshed out characters (the ones we've received stories for at least), and a great overarching story. When I grind in this game, I feel like I'm playing Everquest (fantasy MMORPG) instead of Summoners War (fantasy gacha). Take a look at some world screenshots below.

We have paid in a little bit of money to it, but we're looking at what we've spent as pretty much a monthly subscription for the game (which we pay in Everquest still). The best deals to make the game a little easier but not spend too much is going for the monthly Welkin Moon ($5 USD) and the lower tier of the Battle Pass ($10 USD every six weeks). The Battle Pass especially has helped us with being able to partially build a few more characters to experiment with.

Of course, the characters are the biggest gacha draw, especially if you want some of the 5-stars. Though, if you're patient, you will gather enough Wishes to get a 5-star without spending a penny. The rates are pretty low, but they have a pity system built in, so you're guaranteed a 5-star after so many Wishes.

Here's one of my favorites that I pulled last month. ♥ Yes, I have fallen into the world of waifus and husbandos - lol.

So, me, Hubbie, and Eldest have decided to do some challenges with each other in Genshin Impact as well. It's a PvE game (so no PvP content at this time), but you can group with up to three other people to tackle some things together if you'd like. Our first challenge, though, had us killing as many monsters as we could in our own worlds. We had six categories of monsters to slaughter in an hour. I decided to make some "trophies" for these categories. So I drew some Genshin Impact cards! They're still in pencil only, but the front of the cards are below, and what's on the back of the cards is to the right.

Finally, we eventually plan to do a challenge in one person's world, only using one character each, and each type of mob will be worth different points. I made a big primogem for the trophy for who gets the most points (kind of similar to a wrestling title, it will be handed to whoever the current champion is, as we plan to do this challenge more than once). This one I colored already, but scanning it in dulled some of the colors. It's posted below.

So, what do you think? Am I crazy as usual? (Yes, probably.) Am I playing too much Genshin Impact? (Oh, definitely.) Have you tried Genshin? If so, what do you think? (Hit me up for a friend request if you enjoy the game and plan to continue playing!).

And you do know you'll all be seeing more screenshots from me in the future, right? Happy gaming!

Summoners War - Sister Time

It's that time again! Where I post neat pictures of Summoners War Mons that I intend to work on. ;)

Unfortunately, I'm a little peeved with Com2Us right now. I finally opened the Rift of Worlds on my Water/Light/Dark account to access some new content. While I opened that new content, some changes made it so I now can't open the Elemental Rift Beast Dungeons until I get past a higher level of Rift Raid. I'd be fine with that, but now the Bonus Daily Task wants me to go in those Rift Beast Dungeons to earn the bonus 15 crystals each day (in the past, I was able to do Cairos Dungeons that I can easily access). I contacted support, and they pretty much told me I'm screwed out of those extra crystals until I clear R3 of the Rift Raids. My Mons are no where near that point. I have choice words and thoughts about the whole situation, none of them good. =/

I think today is an emoticon kind of day! =P

Anyway, aside from that bit of drama, I've been hard at work on my Water/Light/Dark account. I 6-Starred both Hwadam, the Light Taoist, and Gina, the Dark Mystic Witch as planned. It took me a bit to figure out Hwadam's mechanism, but he's pretty awesome in the right situations, especially in Arena defense. And I love Gina's AE that summons thorns (speaking of thorns, I did finish the major revision of Thorns Entwine the Blade -- onto the consistency edit).

Along with 5-Starring a bunch of other Mons, I also happened to 6-Star yet another Mon. Lyn, the Light Amazon! She's pretty awesome, and I moved her to the top of my priority list once I summoned her. Great as part of my Giants team, and I think she's what helped me finally get past Giants B10 on this account.

I've also decided I've ignored most of my other Water Mons too much, so it's about time I give them some love and care! This means, my goals for the next couple months will be to work on a select few. Right now, the top two are my Water sisters. These Mons work together to take out the bad guys.<3

As you can see, I just recently 6-Starred Talia, the Water Chakrum Dancer. She still needs a bit of leveling, of course. Conveniently, I already have her fully skilled up! I'd intended to 6-Star her a long time ago, but got sidetracked with other Mons. Her sister, Sabrina, the Water Boomerang Warrior, still needs several skill-ups and 6-Starring. She's next up. =D

After I tend to those two, it's time for Sigmarus, the Water Phoenix. Like Veromos, I needed to fuse this pretty birdy, and I finally convinced myself to do it. Hubbie thinks he's useful in Giants B10. So, he'll get the 6-Star treatment after the sisters.

We'll see what else I have time for before my next post! Oh, and I'll leave you with one more pic. I may not have summoned a Nat 5 Light/Dark Mon yet, but during an event, everyone had the chance to earn a new Dark Nat 5, the Vampire Lord Eirgar. I mean, he's nifty looking, isn't he? I've already 6-Starred him on another account. When should I 6-Star him on my Water/Light/Dark account, though? Too many Mons! o.O

Summoners War - New Toys

Wow, it's nearly been three months since my last Summoners War post!

As mentioned in my last post, I took the time to 5-Star many of my 4-Star (and some 3-Star) Mons on my Water/Light/Dark account. There's still plenty I want to 5-Star soon, but I now at least have a couple more good teams to run Tartarus Labyrinth, which is a fun (in my opinion -- some people hate it) option for guilds. This week we opened up all three mini-bosses and Tartarus himself in less than three days. Now we just have to beat them all down!

OK, I have to admit, I wasn't just 5-Starring Mons. Because... I pulled some awesome Nat 5-Stars that I needed to 6-Star! I definitely got lucky, since both Mons were Water and I can use them.

First, I got Verad. He was one of two options I had to choose from since my 5-Star Blessing still hadn't been used. I think my other option was also a Water Mon, but I hands down chose Verad. He's the dragon I've wanted for a while on any of my accounts, though I'd gotten the Fire and Wind one on my main account previously. Look at that pretty dragon roar. I'm already feeding him devilmon to skill him up, and I love him so much. He's a beast.

Not even a week later (I had a rather great string of luck in the span of two weeks on three of my accounts, after a super long dry spell), low and behold I randomly pull another Nat 5. No Blessing this time, but luckily it was another Water: Lightning Emperor, Bolverk! This is a newer Mon, so I was also pleased to get him. I've already 6-Starred him as well, but as you can see, I'm still in the process of getting him to level 40. He'll be next up for the devilmon after Verad. He has a rather interesting mechanism with gaining Knowledge from buffs and then performing a kind of hitpoint tap with his big skill. I love the graphics of the skill, too.

Oh, and I also finished my fusion for the Dark Ifrit, Veromos, plus I 6-Starred him, too! Man, I've been busy on that account. I don't even know how many other Mons I 5-Starred. Lost track!

Aside from Nat 5 luck, I also managed to get my first Light/Dark lightning on this account. I pulled the Nat 4 Light Taoist (or Stick Boy, as the YouTuber Jewbagel calls them often), Hwadam. He's the next Light Mon I'm working on, currently building things up so I can 6-Star him. Also, he's nice and easy to skill up, since the Fire Stick Boys are only 3-Star Mons. I'd been saving a bunch for my Water Sticky Boy, but they all went to Hwadam once I summoned him.

I'm also hoping I'll have the time to 6-Star at least one Dark Mon before my next post. Here's Gina, the Dark Mystic Witch. I love how the Mystic Witches look, and I wanted to work on her right away when I summoned her, but clearly, as seen above, several other Mons got in the way of that.

This month is also pretty exciting in Summoners War. It's the 5th anniversary of the game, and they've started a pretty awesome event. So, by the end of the month, I might have three more Light/Dark scrolls to possibly get some more Mons to add to my list to work on. Here's hoping for my first Light/Dark Nat 5 ever! (The odds of pulling one of these is 1 in 300 -- never got one on a single account yet.)

Summoners War - Look At The Pretties

Yes, I'm still playing Summoners War (and juggling too many accounts). Before I dive into my Water/Light/Dark account, I wanted to show everyone a pretty from one of my other accounts. I recently gathered enough bits to transmogrify someone, and I decided to apply it to Shaina. She's a pretty awesome Mon -- 4-Star Chakram Dancer, but many believe she should be a 5-Star. She especially kicks ass if you pair her with one of her Boomerang Warrior sisters.

Onto the Water/Light/Dark account, and my poll from the last Summoners War post. It was a tie vote between the Dark Grim Reaper, Thrain, and the Light Living Armor, Silver. So... instead of choosing, I worked on both! Yup, both Mons have been 6-Starred. A lot of work, but I managed to do it and max their levels out as well (skills, not so much -- Thrain is fully skilled, but Silver needs a few more skill-ups).

I worked on Thrain first. He's a bit squishy, unfortunately. But when he does survive, it's fun watching him rain down purple balls of death onto mobs. He's especially fun in Secret Dungeons -- he wipes out the early levels easy peasy.

I thought Silver was going to be more fun than he turned out to be. Right now, he doesn't do much damage, and he also seems squishier than he should be (not as squishy as Thrain, though). That might be due to my crappy runes, of course, but I'm still kind of meh over him. Maybe once he's fully skilled and has decent runes I'll have a better opinion of him.

Overall, Shaffron the Light Imp Champion is still my favorite (and Fran the Light Fairy Queen is a close second) of the Light/Dark Mons I've built so far. He is a wicked little Mon and can hold his own pretty well. They recently buffed him, which made him even better. I can't wait until I get enough bits to transmogrify him -- he's first on my list!

As for my goals for the next couple of months, I'm going to take a small break from 6-Starring Mons (even though I have gotten a few new Light/Dark Mons to work on -- including Light Penguin Knight and Dark Mystic Witch). I'm focusing on 5-Starring a few Waters to help more in Tartarus Labyrinth, plus I really need to finish my fusion of the Dark Ifrit, Veromos. Hopefully my next post will include a picture of him and a couple of the Mons that I desperately wanted to 5-Star and kept putting off for all of the 6-Starring.

I did promise one more thing, didn't I? That when I awakened my Water Druid I'd post pictures. You want to see them? He's so wicked cool! Even in his beast form. Happy farming, all!

Summoners War - Which Mon Is Next?

It's another Summoners War post - yay! (Unless you were hoping I wouldn't post anything else about this wretched game...).

After a couple months, my Water/Light/Dark account is coming along nicely. Slow but sure. As mentioned in my last post, I focused on working on my Light Imp Champion. There he is below - Shaffron, all Awakened and max level at 40. I'm still building his skills up, though, as I haven't gotten many extra Imp Champions to feed to him. Still, I'm pretty pleased with his stabbing game. ;) He can hold his own in a battle as well as pack a wallop.

I didn't just work on Shaffron. There was a special event that allowed us to get the Light Fairy Queen, and she is hands down one of the best healers in the game. Look at my cute little Fran. She's a prefect companion for Shaffron, too, and I don't regret quickly taking her to level 40. She's also max skills, since getting a hold of other fairies is pretty easy.

Now, I had mentioned I might post a pretty and shiny Mon from one of my other accounts now and then, but it just so happens I got a really nice one on the Water/Light/Dark account. Look at the Druid! And I was so lucky he turned out to be the Water one (since I would have had to shove a Wind or Fire one in storage). He's not Awakened yet, but when he is he has the option to turn into a wolf - pretty awesome. I'll make sure to include Awakened pics next Summoners War post. Currently, he's the next up for me to get to level 40.

I was super lucky to pull that 5-Star Druid, but I also feel pretty lucky with the Light and Dark Mons that I've summoned lately. So many interesting ones that I want to work on, that I can't decide which one I should focus on next (well, after I tend to that Druid, of course)!

So, I need everyone's help. Which Mon should I work on next? I'll list the options below. You can either comment on this post or vote using the simple Google Form (if you'd like to stay anonymous, this is the best choice): Which Mon Is Next?

I can't wait to see what everyone suggests! Happy hunting!

Eludain, Light Inferno

Groggo, Light Golem

Shren, Light High Elemental

Karakum, Dark Mummy

Driller, Light Frankenstein

Silver, Light Living Armor

Thrain, Dark Grim Reaper

Current Game Obsession - Summoners War

I know I've mentioned Summoners War at least once in a previous post. I've been playing the game for a few months now, only as a free-to-play player. Actually Hubbie and I played it a bit a couple years ago and stopped due to some annoyances and slow devices at the time. When we tried it again recently, we reset our accounts and started fresh.

Then we added a second account each...

See, we have this blind box itch that we need to scratch and Summoners War helps with that (free, no less, since we haven't spent a single cent on the game).

And we may have just each started a third account this past weekend. Oops.

Am I crazy? Maybe. Have a lot of our other games been neglected? Oh, yes.

The thing is, though, it's harder to play things like Everquest and console games when you have kids (we still do play Everquest, and we will likely until we see the game's sunset, just no where near as frequently as we used to before kids -- I promise another Adventures of Karriya entry soon... TM). However, Summoners War is one of those games where you can easily put it down or pause when you have squawking little interruptions. Heh.

It's also a game where you don't really need to put a lot of thought into it if you don't want to. Battles are pretty repetitive and you can put them on Auto. I know this sounds insanely annoying for some people, but when you're trying to unwind after a day of the squawking, sometimes using as few brain cells as possible is a good thing. There are also so many Monsters (Mons) you can obtain in the game, so it kicks in my "Completionist" gene, so I of course want to max level every Mon I can get my hands on (this is easier said than done because there are also Star Levels and every time you move a Mon up a Star Level, you need to level it again).

Finally, what really pulls me in is the art. It's all so pretty. <3 That's my Hwa up top -- she's transmorgified (kind of like a costume) into Night Stalker Hwa. I must collect all the pretties! Which is tough and even tougher if you're not paying. Even though I haven't spent any money, I've gotten some pretty nice Mons.

With so many Mons, though, I've found myself neglecting a certain subset that I wanted to experiment with. There are five elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Light, and Dark. The first three are pretty easy to come by, the last two not so much (at least not the higher natural 4 and 5 Star Mons, and even many 3s). I wanted to fiddle with the Light and Dark Mons, which is why I made the third account.

Now, it's nearly impossible on a baby account to only play Light and Dark, even though in the progression the game gives you two Light Mons. So, I decided I'd add in one more element -- Water (since your first freebie progression Mon that kicks ass is Water). I also used a couple from the other elements I needed to get past a some steps in quest progression. Otherwise, I've given myself the challenge to use only Light, Dark, and Water Mons. This isn't going to be easy!

Luckily, I summoned a pretty 4 Star Water a couple days ago -- super lucky for an account that's only four days old as of this post! See the handsome Water Sylph? (Action shot!)

I wanted my first Light/Dark scroll, though, so I plowed through a certain scenario to obtain one, and had to fight this cool dragon at the end. Again, awesome art!

And... I summoned a 3 Star Light Imp Champion. He's a Defense Mon. So, he's officially the first summoned Mon (one you can only get from summoning from those rarely found Light/Dark scrolls -- maybe two per month, three if you're lucky with finding scroll bits to buy) that I'll be experimenting with. I have a few Lights and Darks that I got from secret dungeons as well, but I won't regale everyone with those for now.

I may make this into a blog post series, though. At least as I go through and experiment with things on my third account. Maybe I'll even post some of the pretties from my first and second accounts. Got to love the eye candy! Should I come back in a month to tell everyone how I liked using the Light Imp Champion? Or am I boring you all to tears? Lol.

Dude In Distress - Part 1: Frantic Filly

This story was originally written as an RPG campaign for the game Valley of Unicorns. I thought it was such a fun story, so I revised it by creating my own player characters, and I did mock rolls as well to see just how much muck the characters could mire themselves in. Happy adventuring!

You can also find this story on Wattpad.

* * * * *

It's a calm, sunny afternoon at The Watering Hole in the Valley--birds singing, dragonflies flitting from lily pad to lily pad. Murmurs of equine conversation circle the pond, along with laughter and cheer.

"I'm bored," Sun says. "Bored, bored, bored. And you stole my spot at the edge of the water, Star."

Star rolls her eyes. "You're always bored, unless you're at sparring practice. And there's plenty of edge left. You don't need to be on top of me."

Her twin sister has a tendency to suffocate her. She doesn't know why--Sun is a physical type and enjoys to beat things up, but Star prefers to aid the other horses, using the magic in her horn to heal. They may look alike, both storm unicorns, but they are nothing alike. Most times Star helps heal the bruises Sun causes.

"It's peaceful, and I'm enjoying it," says Star. "Go take your foul attitude elsewhere."

A clattering of hooves shatter that peace. A young fire unicorn filly, eyes wild and mane tousled, storms into The Watering Hole, nearly tumbling into the water headfirst.

"Help, help!" She collapses and dips her nose into the pond, taking a long drink. Then she inhales and bellows, silencing the birds and sending the dragonflies skittering. "Help! My fiance has been taken, and someone must save him."

Quell approaches the filly and touches his nose to her shoulder. "Calm now, young one." His voice has a sing-song quality, a hint of the beautiful tenor that explodes from his mouth when he sings. And oh, he loves to sing. So much that he drives many other unicorns away because he won't shut up. Some think he's just trying to make up for his dull bay coloring with a bit of beauty. "I'll help you. And I'm sure some others will too."

"Of course," Burn says. "How can I not assist a lady in distress?" Sparks jump from the end of his horn, lavender to match his gleaming coat. Big show off. Though his magic is powerful enough to back up his ego.

"It's not me that's in distress, but my poor fiance, Dom," the filly says.

Sun pushes herself up from the ground. "We'll help too!"

"Hey," Star whispers, "Don't go volunteering me for things. You're the one that's bored."

"Come on, sis, live a little."

Star reluctantly moves from her quiet spot at the water's edge, knowing she can't allow her sister to gallop off alone, and walks up to the filly. "What happened, dear? Fiona, isn't it?"

The filly nods. "Dom and I were walking along the river, having a romantic afternoon together when she appeared. I recognized her--Dom had mentioned another filly was after his affections, but he turned her down because he loves me. Well she showed up and demanded Dom go with her. When he said no, she used some type of magic and grew to four times her normal size, and snatched him up in her mouth. I followed her to a cave, but then I lost her because it was too dark to chase her down a tunnel. I fear her brain is unhinged and that if Dom doesn't agree to become hers, she'll surely kill him. Maybe even eat him! Will you save him from this Big Bad Girl?"

"Oh, I think I know who you're talking about," says Sun. "That ice blue unicorn? The one that prefers to live underground? I don't think anyone even knows her real name."

"Yes, that's her."

"We'll save Dom, no problem," Burn says. "He'll be back by your side before dinner. Maybe sooner."

Star sighs. This sounds like a quest that might take longer than an afternoon.

"I insist on going with you, though," Fiona says. "There is no way I'm going to stay behind and let you go after Big Bad Girl without me." The determination in her face is evident.

Their hooves are forced. Not only does the merry band have to save Dom, but they have to keep Fiona safe as well. "Let's gather supplies," Star says.

Fiona pushes herself up from the ground and takes one final drink. "Once you have everything, please follow me. I fear we'll have to travel deep underground, into the mountain."

Star takes charge and makes sure all five horses have packs with enough food along. All but Fiona is adorned with some type of armor. Sun and Quell have reinforced horns and hooves, and Sun has a buckler attached to her leg. Star puts on her cloak and blue beads to help if any healing is necessary, while Burn has red beads and a cloak as well to assist him with his more destructive magic.

Once they're sure they have all that they need, they allow Fiona to lead the way to Big Bad Girl and Dom.

NEXT UP: What Am I Reading?

Caffeine--Stat!

It took its sweet time getting here, but I think spring has finally arrived! Which is great because I need the sun and warmth to recharge. I'm always more productive in the spring and summer (so say my graphs!).

I can't say much of my productivity for cleaning my house. *coughs* Well, if my husband doesn't like it, he can clean it - lol. Not that he complains--I can happily say he wouldn't ever tell me to clean if he saw me writing, since he knows how important it is to me.

But I doubt anyone really cares about my messy house, not unless they have to come visit (it needs to be clean by June 28th, yes, must clean for a cookout...it'll happen the week before when hubbie takes off of work just so we can clean the damn thing). I hope some of you care about my writing progress, though! If you don't, that's OK too. You can pass this post by then, and eagerly await my next post instead. ;)

I am going to answer a series of questions (so what if I'm interviewing myself--no one said writers aren't crazy).

Have you been writing the last couple months? Yes!

Have you been revising? Well, no, but--.

No excuses. Have you been focusing on one project? Um, that's a no too. I can explain, though!

I said no excuses! Have you been happy with your productivity and what you've been working on? Oh, I can answer this one with a yes!

Do you feel you've succeeded at your general writing goals? Yes, yes, yes! And that's what matters, isn't it?

What is your main goal? To keep the writing gears oiled, like I mentioned back in January. Any writing counts! I've been working on this fun short story (well, maybe it's a short story) that has rabid unicorns in it, and the baby blows raspberries with squirrel blood, and these things called blurberries--.

Slow down, slow down. No, not going to slow down I don't want to! Time for you to shut up. I haven't put any goals or constraints on what exactly I'm working on because I need the freedom to dabble right now. And I will mention an excuse--I have a 6-month-old who depends on me to take care of her. As a matter of fact she's wiggling on my lap right now while I type one-handed.

Uh, well. Don't you "uh, well" me. I've also been working on another contest entry for Valley of Unicorns. This one is a role-playing campaign. And I'm having a blast doing it. I wrote 1500 words on just one scenario last night. Is it something that I can publish? No. But I am keeping my creativity flowing, plus all writing is practice. 1500 words in one night! Think of how that will translate when I can focus again on material I intend to seek publication for.

And the main point is I'm pleased with my progress. Happy I'm having fun romping with words. There will be more time to focus on revising and such when my baby decides she's going to finally sleep through the night (and not grab at my face and hair when I'm just trying to type up a blog post), or maybe when I can get a constant IV of caffeine without all the unhealthy negatives of soda or sweet tea (which I'd seriously be sucking on all day if I could stop thinking of the acidity and empty calories).

OK, maybe I do need to slow down a bit. I shouldn't have drank that sweet tea.

Clearly I've been productive by my standards. All writing is practice and the more you do it, the more you'll improve.

I've also been running Writing Quest every month still. Don't forget to join in if you have some writing goals!

That's pretty much all I have for updates. Now get me more caffeine, and hurry, or I'm going to crash!

UP NEXT: What Am I Writing Now? -- A snippet of what I'm currently working on.