Writing – The Beige Moth

Suikoden HD Remaster: The Allure of Nostalgia

July 6, 2025 Robin VanGilder2 Comments

It’s been a while, but I’ve really been mulling this one over.

This is a review, specifically of the version of Suikoden included in the package called Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars, available on all modern platforms for fifty big ones. I may review the other half, Suikoden 2, at some point, but I kinda stalled out in it. That one doesn’t have as much juice for me, though it is generally superior in every way. And that’s honestly part of what I wanted to talk about, so perhaps this will serve as a reflection on both.

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Romacing SaGa 2: Personified Empire

June 1, 2025June 1, 2025 Robin VanGilderLeave a comment

Alright, let’s try something else. Again!

Those weekly blog posts weren’t really working for me. I don’t like the pressure of having something to talk about, and then they always felt too big and unwieldy and unfocused. Not the kind of work I can look back on with pride, just kind of filling time, y’know? I don’t like to post just to post. Brings back bad memories of trying to unlock privileges on message boards as a middle schooler by making enough posts, haha.

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Epilogue – But What Does It Mean?

April 20, 2025April 21, 2025 Robin VanGilder9 Comments

Well, here we are at last.

Friends, we’ve come to the end of the road. After this, there’s simply no more book to read. Oh, I may come around and do some sort of official wrap-up post, sum things up, but I would prefer to leave it all on the field, so to speak. Part of me can’t believe I actually got all the way to the end, much like when I read this book the first time, all those years ago. But I did! Or at least, I will shortly.

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Chapter 135: The Chase.—Third Day

April 13, 2025April 13, 2025 Robin VanGilder3 Comments

Alright, I’ve delayed enough, let’s finish this monster up.

I’ve had a real sense of impending doom lately, had some sleepless nights due to anxiety and whatnot. There are things I can do to combat that, and I know that I am in fact given to seeking out portents of disaster and using that as an excuse to take refuge in paralysis, but it would also help a lot if the country I live in wasn’t rapidly descending into fascism. Therapy is all well and good, but sometimes material conditions are the root concern, y’know. And yet, here I am, ready to finally finish out this years-long project. Let’s get to it!

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Chapter 134: The Chase.—Second Day

March 30, 2025April 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder2 Comments

As we approach the end of this great tome, I find myself in a reflective mood.

Thinking back upon the story as a whole, its many detours and sidequests, and the thrust of its narrative. This past week I even went and read some other criticism of Moby Dick, to refresh my memory a bit. The… pacing of this project has definitely been lopsided, with my having covered more than half the book in the first year, and then slowly grinding out the last bit of it. But that feels appropriate, as Ishmael dithered and delayed in telling the end of his tale, so do I struggle to embrace the entirety of this enormous work with the inadequate span of my typing fingers.

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Chapter 133: The Chase.—First Day

March 23, 2025April 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder1 Comment

Ugh, man, I finally feel like I’m waking up again.

Last week I had some minor oral surgery. Nothing too serious, no teeth being removed or anything like that, but nonetheless I had to go under general anaesthesia; that is, I was knocked out cold. It’s always a strange experience, I haven’t had it since I had my wisdom teeth out, and I’ve been some time recovering from it. The last few days have felt a bit like an extended dream which I cannot fully sink into nor awake from. But now, I’m coming awake again, and none too soon: the hunt is on!

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This Shit Sucks So Bad, Man

March 18, 2025 Robin VanGilder1 Comment

So, hey. I need to get some things off my chest.

In recent weeks, I have found myself in despair over the current political moment which we are all currently living through. As an American, I was saddened when Trump won a second term, and I’ve been alarmed and feeling defeated and helpless as he’s run roughshod over the bureaucratic state built up over the last two hundred odd years, ripping out the copper wiring and selling it for parts.

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Chapter 132: The Symphony

March 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder3 Comments

Ahh, man, I had a nice vacation.

Didn’t go anywhere, but just… hung out at home, like the old days. Reconnecting with the version of myself who was a layabout in college and when I worked at the market, playing Final Fantasy XIV for hours and hours every day, sinking time into JRPGs, so on and so forth. It’s refreshing, getting away from work and indulging in old pleasures like that. But, it’s time to get back to business.

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Chapter 131: The Pequod Meets The Delight

March 2, 2025 Robin VanGilder2 Comments

I’m on vacation!

Well, just about, anyway. I suppose it starts properly tomorrow, this is just a regular weekend where my sunday evening does not have any creeping dread. Or not for the usual reason, at least. I already feel myself decompressing a bit, able to open my mind beyond my usual routines. I always try to get completely out of the work mindset for these, though it can be difficult at times. Well, let’s get back to this ancient tome, I still want to keep this streak of posts alive.

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Chapter 130: The Hat

February 23, 2025 Robin VanGilder3 Comments

Another week gone by of 2025, and the world continues to fall into madness.

But at least my little slice of it is relatively calm and peaceful. It’s pouring down rain here today, and will be for the next week or so, and I love it. My favorite weather, as a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. Even living in the middle of a city, there’s a certain peaceful coziness that comes from settling down inside on such a day that is utterly unmatched, at least in my personal experience.

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