Category: General Geekery

Neopet's Illusen, the Earth Faerie of Meridell, poses.
General Geekery

Growing up in Neopia – Celebrating 20 Years of Neopets

Alicia 'EightBitBlonde' Alexandra

Neopets has been a part of my life for a very long time, as strange as it may sound to say something so sentimental about a website. Some of my earliest memories of using my family’s first desktop computer are of navigating the Neopets homepage at the age of eight or nine and creating the first of my digital pets.

Now, as Neopets celebrates its 20th anniversary and I get closer to celebrating my 30th birthday, I realize just how much of a constant Neopets has been throughout my life. I have grown up alongside the site and while Neopets has changed throughout the years and I have gotten older, and while it may not be with the same account I started with, I still log on.

It was through Neopets that I got my first taste of internet culture. Neopets was my introduction to interacting with other people online, how I was first introduced to fan-culture and how I was first encouraged to explore basic coding, among so many other things. In a myriad of ways, it was Neopets that made me a little more prepared to go forth into the rest of the internet as a prepared online citizen.

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Bounty of Books, General Geekery, Raves and Reviews

Of Swords & Sisters – Review of A Sparrow’s Roar

Alicia 'EightBitBlonde' Alexandra

Growing up on a strict diet of helmeted heroines and woman warriors, I have long had an affinity for female-lead fantasy. So when BOOM! Studios revealed the striking cover and excerpt of A Sparrow’s Roar, an original graphic novel from cartoonist C.R. Chua (Adventure Time Comics) and co-writer Paolo Chikiamco (High Society, Mythspace: Humanity), I knew I had to give it a read.

Per and her older sister Elena are both knights in the land of Esterpike. But while Per is a mere knight-in-training, Elena is a war hero and the revered commander of the most famous soldiers in all the land, the legendary Lions of Esterpike.

When disaster strikes, Per must do the unthinkable and pretend to be her sister in order to travel to the capital and rally the troops against an enemy that only she knows about. It’ll take all her strength, cunning, and a bit of help from her sister’s second-in-command, Amelia, to pull it off, but with the fate of the people in her hands, Per has no choice but to step into Elena’s boots in order to save the kingdom.

A Sparrow’s Roar is all about sisterhood and the bonds associated, whether they are formed by blood or battle. It tackles the concepts of personal identity, feelings of inadequacy and stepping into shoes much larger than one’s own only to learn how to run before you can walk. 

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Gaming Goodness, General Geekery, Waypoint Washington

Visiting the Indie Game Revolution @ MoPOP Seattle

Alicia 'EightBitBlonde' Alexandra

Games made by small teams of dedicated creators and born of non-traditional production ventures have won hearts and minds all over the place in the gaming community, but it’s safe to say that not everyone that passes time with play is aware of the second thriving ecosystem growing alongside the wonderful AAA games currently at the forefront of popular culture.

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(via Alicia Alexandra)

As someone who works in the industry, I know first hand the blood, sweat, and tears that go into bringing such a personal thing to life. As someone who works directly with independent studios, I know how much more blood, sweat, and tears can be spilled when you’re doing it all indie-style.

That’s why I was so excited to check out the Indie Game Revolution exhibit at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture. An exhibit dedicated to the beautiful gems that are independent games, the players that appreciate them and the talented folks that make them.

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General Geekery, Raves and Reviews

Worthy of Royalty – Review of The Dragon Prince

Alicia 'EightBitBlonde' Alexandra

After re-watching The Office for the 36th time, I decided to give something new a shot when The Dragon Prince premiered on Netflix earlier last month on September 14th (my birthday coincidentally). Don’t worry, this review will be spoiler-free so don’t be scared to read on.

So, if you haven’t seen the series advertised anywhere: The Dragon Prince is an all-ages fantasy series that explores the story of a world torn in two over magic, a tenuously-held peace between races and the friendship that forms between an Elven assassin and the human princes she’s sent to kill as they try to right the wrongs of their peoples’ pasts.

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(via IMDB)

Brought to you by Wonderstorm, a new creative team founded by some of the key players behind Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Dragon Prince is their first kick at the can as a new studio. It looks like they’re in it for the long haul too, with a video game already in development. Definitely intriguing, given the team also consists of some ex-game developers from studios like Riot Games and Naughty Dog.

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General Geekery, Out and About

A Day in the 16th Century @ Bristol Renaissance Faire

Alicia 'EightBitBlonde' Alexandra

My husband and I went on an overnight trip this weekend to Kenosha, Wisconsin. It was a special trip for us as its the first time we’ve been able to travel since getting married but, more importantly, it was our first ever visit to a renaissance faire.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, amid the pouring rain and mud, we made our way to the Bristol Renaissance Faire. (After a pit stop for rain-appropriate shoes.)

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(via Alicia Alexandra)

As corny as it sounds, stepping through the gates of Bristol feels like stepping through to another world. I’ve always imagined renaissance faires as migratory events, “tents in a field” sort of deal and some of them may be like that, but Bristol completely surprised me. It’s an entire city. A living, breathing, permanent construction with storybook-like architecture, landscaping, winding paths, and water features. We spent a lot of time marveling at the sheer “realness” of everything around us.

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