Twenty-five years of perspective

Posted on April 6, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

A reply to a reply to someone else’s tweet has turned out to be the most popular thing I’ve ever done on Twitter. Then it went on & now I’ve got people asking me to impart wisdom and shit.

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Try-It Tuesday: IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT, FOUR TRAVELERS

Posted on April 5, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

My friend and fellow Stardew Valley player IceStella suggested a game called IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT, FOUR TRAVELERS that came out last year. It’s a narrative-driven point-and-click adventure with horror elements that explores the backstories of four characters at a masked ball, on a train, in the late 1920s.

I was surprised by the amount of historic, literary and musical references, as well as the emotional depth of the stories. They deal with subjects such as depression, homosexuality, fascism, racism and war. 

If this sounds at all interesting to you, check out my video and/or play the game for yourself. It’s free on Steam for PC but I loved it so much I paid $3.99 for the pdf art book and game soundtrack, just so I could contribute something to the creators Laura Hunt (coding, writing, audio) & Thomas Möhring (art) of Dead Idle Games. I am looking forward to whatever they make next. 

~ J.L. Hilton

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I’m quoted in someone’s STARFIELD video?

Posted on April 4, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

I just found out that one of my tweets is quoted in Open World Games’ latest video about the upcoming Bethesda space RPG STARFIELD.

About three and a half minutes into the video, he’s talking about the possibility of having vehicles to drive across moons and planets in the unreleased title, and quotes my tweet from August 17, 2021.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Happy St Patrick’s Day 2022

Posted on March 10, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

I’ll be spending March 17 eating some Kerrygold butter on something (sadly not Irish soda bread due to my issues with gluten) and chowing down on my favorite Dubliner cheese, while my husband enjoys Smithwick’s or maybe some Tullamore Dew.

I may not be able to edit and upload as many videos as usual this week, or livesteam over the weekends, because I’ll be playtesting an upcoming video game between March 11-21. I signed a non-disclosure agreement so I can’t say much about it, but it’s from a developer of one of my favorite games so I’m pretty excited!  

FALLOUT 3 videos will continue as best I can. Highlights from Team Trashcake’s recent rowdy STARDEW VALLEY Friday livestreams are featured in the videos “Favorites & Fortune Tellers,” “What happens in the mine stays in the mine” and “What’s in IceStella’s basement?” Most Fridays you can catch us live on YouTube 3:30-5:30pm EST. 

I’m thinking about doing a special 2022 Celebration when I reach 2022 subs on YouTube, maybe do a livestream and some giveaways. Right now I’m at 1,900 subs and will probably reach 2022 by the end of the year. Otherwise, it might have to be a 2023 celebration. 

Éirinn go Brách!

~ J.L. Hilton

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An ice cream scoop’s chance in hell

Posted on March 6, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

Trying to decide if I should eat some ice cream while watching the last hour of MKIceAndFire’s HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST playthrough on YouTube.

It’s midnight. Is that too late?

My mister says “no one ever went to hell for eating ice cream.”

Yes, I’m watching FORBIDDEN WEST rather than playing it myself, which isn’t something I do very often. Usually, if a game is worth watching, it’s worth playing. But I had mixed feelings about its predecessor HORIZON ZERO DAWN and from what I’ve seen, I don’t think the sequel will be any better for me.

Livestreaming and/or recording gameplay always takes longer than playing alone or watching a playthrough, and I’ve made it a policy that I only play games I enjoy or feel excited about. I don’t play games just because they’re new, popular or catch the attention of an algorithm.

While it’s great seeing Dan Donohue (Teldryn Sero, Shriv, Warden Eternal) as Gerard Bieri, and there’s a cameo from Nil where he says, “The night begs for blood and machine oil… You ready to ride?” which I’ve written out and pinned to the wall of my studio, I’m just not wanting to spend another 60+ hours with Aloy in FORBIDDEN WEST.

But it’s a great excuse to eat ice cream.

~ J.L. Hilton

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It’s “only” dialogue

Posted on February 24, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

Wow. My high school daughter is taking Drama Lit and just found out she has to write a 10-page play before she can take the final.

“It should only take a couple days,” according to the teacher, “because it’s only dialogue.”

ONLY dialogue??? wtaf

This totally minimizes the difficulty of writing dialogue. You still need a setting, actions, emotional beats, plot, characters with personalities, costumes, etc. And all of it has to be conveyed entirely via conversation and a few bits of stage direction, while keeping it flowing in a way that sounds natural.

Many writers find it challenging to write dialogue. Just because it looks like fewer words on a page doesn’t mean it’s easier.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Movie Night: DEADWOOD

Posted on February 21, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

This past weekend I watched the 2019 HBO movie DEADWOOD. I’d forgotten how much I loved the show’s beautiful, almost Shakespearian, dialogue. From now on, when referring to my advanced age, I shall say “a whore of my vintage.”

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Chicago cemetery circa 1998

Posted on February 20, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

A photo of me in Chicago, 1998. I’m so goth I shit bats. Make sure to listen to “Burn” by the Cure (off of THE CROW movie soundtrack) or “It’s No Good” by Depeche Mode, for the full effect.

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We’re all time traveling, just in one direction

Posted on February 19, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

Butterfly effect. I think about it constantly. That’s why I have anxiety disorder.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Video game inspired prop replicas

Posted on February 18, 2022 by J.L. Hilton

I recently made the Nuka-Cola bottle, Buffout and Wasteland Survival Guide props in the above picture, and gave them away as prizes for the FALLOUT SCAVENGER HUNT 2021.

I’ve also made bottles of Daytripper (based on the item in Fallout 4) and Nuka-Cola Quantum (based on the version in Fallout 3). I know Quantum is supposed to be blue but it always looks lavender to me when I’m playing Fallout 3 on my laptop.

Or there’s the glowing cannister of nuclear material I made based on the junk item in Fallout 4, shown here on top of my plasma rifle (not handmade, it’s official Bethesda merch) and next to its in-game version.

I love making replicas of items from video games, TV and movies. Sometimes, this takes the form of jewelry, props or even food, like these Minecraft cakes I made for my husband’s birthday about ten years ago.

That’s a very nice birthday you have there…

Or sometimes it’s not crafting so much as finding objects and putting them together, such as this Stone of Barenziah from Skyrim, made with a brass cricket cage, gray silk and Swarovski crystal.

Or there’s the mini Honningbrew meadery bottle necklace …

A larger, LED lighted version of the Honningbrew bottle…

And the bowl of moon sugar I keep beside a bronze statue of Aphrodite that looks very similar to a Dibella statue from Skyrim. I commissioned the handmade ceramic bowl on Etsy to look like the alchemy ingredient in the game and then filled it with rock candy.

Finding bath salts became a running joke when I played through the Dishonored series, so I purchased a lovely pyramid-shaped Italian crystal bottle and filled it with the same color bath salts as those found in the games.

I also painted my own prismatic shards from STARDEW VALLEY using rocks and nail polish.

You can watch me play all of these games and more on my YouTube channel at YouTube.com/jewelsmith or read my video game articles and stories at JLHilton.com/videogames.

~ J.L. Hilton

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