B.A. Baker's Blog, page 9

Star Wars Clone Wars Conquest Mode… The Proto-MOBA?

Star Wars: The Clone Wars on the Gamecube was one of my all-time favorite games as a kid. Probably a weird one, but I gotta say it. And Clone Wars Conquest Mode was the crowning jewel. I’m gonna tell you all about it.

Obviously, being the very first big continuation of Attack of the Clones made it feel Important and Grand (even if its story was mostly ignored), so playing it felt like it satiated my great eight-year-old hunger for the next movie, still years away. Even if the game was kind of...

Progression Monk [Fantasy Scraps #1]

Progression Monk… A fantasy scrap worth visiting…

I have a lot of story ideas. A lot, a lot. I won’t ever write most of them, so I might as well tell you about the small sparks of imagination I had with these strange fantasy ideas that will probably never come to be. This is the “Fantasy Scraps” blog series.

In July 2021, I visited the magical alien landscape of Hotokegaura. A fantastic little spot anyone should visit if they come to Japan, especially if you can go by ferry like I did!

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Web Fiction Directory Update

So, it’s about time to give a Web Fiction Directory update. The original directory is by far my most-viewed page on the entire website, even more than the homepage itself, so I try to keep it as current and up-to-date as I can.

However, I’m only one person, and refreshing the list takes a lot of work just in checking in to make sure the websites I’m listing even still exist–in my latest update, I had to remove several entries that went under, as well as an entry that was caught using spam and...

Morii Yuka – Pokemon Card Art Spotlight

Morii Yuka is the clay model one. Get ready for good art.

My last blog about Pokemon card art did real big numbers (relative for my blog), so I’m gonna do more blogs that feature individual Pokemon card artists I’m a huge fan of! A lot of the artists have very distinct, very awesome styles that carry over from set to set, and you can see how they bring dozens, if not hundreds of cards to life over many years.

This time it’s Morii Yuka‘s turn, and she’s gonna floor us with her signature cla...

I Have to Throw Away This Cool Star Wars Shirt :(

Sometimes, you have to throw away Star Wars shirts. There isn’t anything else you can do with Star Wars shirts sometimes.

I’ve had this thing for over 3 years now, ever since I found it used at a Book-Off. Sometimes you see a T-shirt and instantly purchase it, because that’s just what you do. This Star Wars shirt was an instant classic.

I mean, look at it. Bizarre colors, weird Engrish vibes but without anything egregious. “Join Us” which doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Jango Fett...

Newsroom Rant: Did Aaron Sorkin Ruin America? [2012]

The Newsroom rant is one of the all-time famous moments from TV in the 2010s. And that’s saying something, because the 2010s were absolutely packed to the brim with hit series and memorable scenes. But it’s also not exactly a “well-liked” scene, if that makes any difference.

The very start of the series has our protagonist, whatever his character’s name is but Jeff Daniels, going on a sudden unhinged rant about how America as a nation is filled with delusions of self-grandeur about its place...

The Weird New Trend Where People Buy The Gay Gatsby For Social Clout

I found a weird new trend on the internet lately where people are literally buying Gay Gatsby. Just to be cool and beloved by their friends online.

Isn’t that crazy?

I hear on Bumble they’re calling it the Gay Gatsby Challenge. Yik Yak is getting a few dozen posts a day on the NYU campus talking about the Carraway Clout they’ve won by buying a copy of Gay Gatsby for four of their friends.

Like a new Music.ly dance trend kicking up a storm in the nation, this weird new trend is obliterat...

I Wanna Play Un-Commander

Un-Commander is like, totally aspirational for me. Silver-Bordered and stupid cards are some of my favorite parts of Magic: The Gathering, and yet it’s such a rare thing for them to actually, you know, actually get used in any point.

(This article once implied I’d write a ton of blogs about MTG and never really did. You probably expected that. Hopefully I prove y’all wrong in the near future though.)

Here’s a good video, although it’s feature-length. It mentions Un-Commander pretty briefly...

Dating Apps Make Me Go Hmmm

Why do I keep coming back to dating apps?

Clearly, it’s not a world I’m going to have much success in. Even in America, online dating never worked out for me, and Japan is significantly worse for that. And yet, I still find myself trying at them, over and over and over and over and over.

I’ve probably uninstalled Tinder 6 times in the last 6 years. Deleted my account at least twice. But still, that lingering hope brings me back to swipe a bunch and invariably end up frustrated and angry.

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Close Talker by nelward – Review

Close Talker by nelward is a wonderful song, one of the best singles of his extremely diverse 2021. Definitely my favorite.

While nelward didn’t have any new albums or EPs in 2021 or most of 2022, what he did have was a slate of music that pushed hard against the boundaries of his typical style, and against the boundaries of pop music as a whole. And Close Talker by nelward is a prime example of that 2021 greatness.

After the gangbusters release of Eat Your Dreams in late 2020 (my favorite...