2023 Week XXII

 Hello Internet,

Summer break.  Ah.  As a child, I loved it.  As an adult, it is a bit more harrowing.  My kids started summer break at the end of the last week, and the last few days have been...tense.  Monkey has been having daily tantrums for a few weeks now, and no amount of positive reinforcement or discussion is changing that.  So, she's been grounded to her room unless invited out until she can, you know, stop yelling at everyone.

Whenever Monkey is grounded, Ratatoskr begins having emotional disregulation.  This has a lot to do with the fact that Ratatoskr micromanages her behavior.  Like, he loves nothing more than to tell her what to do, but when she is grounded, they can't play together.  So, he mills about the house and tries to get into everyone else's business.  He's bored, and he's frustrated, and so he's picking at his sister even more, and it's creating even more chaos.

The two of them have been inconsolable for days now.  Monkey is evening out now that she is realizing she won't be allowed out of her room if she is screaming and throwing fits.  Ratatoskr is just beginning and has a short fuse.  We keep on trying to get him to visit friends around the neighborhood, but he is refusing to and is instead trying to sneak ways to be around his sister.  This is sweet in theory, but in praxis it is extremely frustrating.

Couple this with Kangaroo's sleep regression, and we have two very tired parents.  On the plus side, I have been getting some writing done (though not as much as I would like), and Noodle and I have been spending time together.  Both of those things are good.

I have a number of other, nonfiction projects I want to work on here, like the MCU Film Project I had started, but I have so little time for anything extra right now.  All of the stress has been causing me some emotional disregulation, and I'm feeling very burned out as a father, which kind of bleeds into everything else.  For right now, I think using this place as a venting area is probably the healthiest for me.

Summer Towers are coming up.

Well, until next time...

Sincerely,

RWS

P.S.

-Short Rest-

Schedule

1. Fullmetal Alchemist/Free/Critical Role: Campaign 3 Part I

2. One-Punch Man/Metal Gear/Outlaw Star

3. Discworld: The Color of Magic/DnD5e/Firefly

4. My Hero Academia/Fable: Anniversary/Seven Deadly Sins Season 1

5. Soul Eater/Mass Effect 3 Jean Shepard/Gargoyles

6. Boruto: The Next Generation/Nostalgia/Young Justice

7. Rest/Persona 3 Portable/Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy

Books

Tower: My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

1. Book: Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 6, Ch. 24: “Fullmetal Alchemist”—Extra 60% (3—5)

2. One-Punch Man Vol. 18, Punch 91: “Let’s Go!”—94 0% (1—4)

3. Discworld:  The Color of Magic: Page 1—210 0%

4. My Hero Academia Vol. 14, Ch. 137: “Restraint!!”—137 89% (9—9)

5. Soul Eater Vol. 2, Ch. 3: “The ‘New Student’ and ‘Soul Observation’”—5 50% (3—4)

6. Boruto: The Next Generation Vol. 10, No. 39: “Proof”—39 75% (4—4)

7. Off

Games

Tower: Dragon Age: Origins Kallian Tabris 100%

0. Stardew Valley

1. Free Play

2. Short: Metal Gear 0% (0/5hrs)

3. DnD5e/Movie

4. Multiples: Mass Effect 3 Jean Shepard 2% (1/56hrs)

5. Free.

6. Long: Persona 3 Portable 74% (61/83hrs)

7. Free Play

Shows

Tower: Fullmetal Alchemist Season One 85% (24—26)

1. Critical Role: Campaign 3 Part I Ep. 3: “Trail and the Toll”—11 (Level Up to 5) 18% (3—11)

2. Anime: Outlaw Star 19% (6—26)

3. Online/Owned: Firefly 29% Disc 2 (5—14)

4. Netflix: Seven Deadly Sins Season 1 83% (21—24)

5. Disney+: Gargoyles Season 1 46% (7—13)

6. HBO: Young Justice Season 1 42% (12—26)

7. Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy: “Keep Sharp”—19 16% (4—19)

8. Movies: 14% (2—7)

Disney/Bambi

HBOMax/My Neighbor Totoro

Star Wars/Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Owned/Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Marvel/X2: X-Men United

Anime/.hack//LIMINALITY: “The Case of Yuki Aihara”

DCAU/Batman: Mask of the Phantasm