So, as part of Blaugust, I said I’d write at least one post on the different themes. This week’s the “Getting To Know You” week, so today I’ll talk a bit about myself, what I do here and all of that so that all the newbies and the returnees as well as other people that are new to Blaugust or my blog may get to know me a bit better.
Well, I’m MagiWasTaken or just Magi or Dan and I’m a blogger, streamer, lich and student from Germany. I am currently studying English Studies and Philosophy intending to become a grammar school teacher. I’m a bit of a Dr Pepper fanatic – which is why my blog and stream used to be Dr Pepper themed. The only thing that remains from that time is the “Cheers!” that I leave at the end of the post. I guess it’s also a hydration reminder for ya, so remember to hydrate plenty whenever you see the end of any of my posts. Hydrate or diedrate!
Now as far as pastimes go, I’m a nerd. I enjoy Anime, Manga and video games but I also read a ton. I actually used to be part of our school’s Drama Club for nine years and later also joined our university’s Drama Club where I ended up performing in two plays: Once as a side character and once as a lead, which was a lot of fun. Sadly, I don’t have quite enough time for the rehearsals and stuff these days and with Covid and all of that, I had to quit that but I still like reading poetry and plays from time to time as well as a bit of prose. My favourite authors are probably Franz Kafka, Patrick Süskind and Howard Phillips Lovecraft, although I dislike Lovecraft’s stories that feature the racism that he often gets criticised for. My favourite stories by these authors are Kafka’s “Der Prozess”, Süskind’s “Das Parfum”, and Lovecraft’s “Colour out of Space”. Currently, I’m reading C.L. Lewis “The Great Divorce”, which I’m really enjoying right now. Apart from that I also took part in six science fairs (three times in Biology and three times in Physics) and I actually won a fair few prizes there. I also am really enjoying the process of creating playlists on Spotify with silly names. I listen to a lot of Alt-Rock and Indie Rock but I also enjoy a fair bit of Metal, Jazz, Indie Pop, Anti-Folk, and essentially anything that goes into one ear and doesn’t leave my head for an eternity before going out of the other one. Some of my favourite bands include “Bonaparte”, “Crywank”, “Fuck Art Let’s Dance”, “Brick+Mortar”, “Chris Christodoulou”, “Desmond Cheese”, “Gunship”, “Rainbow Kitten Surprise”, “Billy Mills”, “The Smiths”, “Catfish and the Bottlemen”, “Dead Poet Society”, and “The Midnight”. (I should have listed less but uh,… there’s a lot of great underrated bands in there and The Smiths are just… You know them. They’re great. On a musical level, at least.)
Apart from that I also used to do Iaido, Iodo, and Kendo for about three years. Iaido is a Japanese martial art that is mostly about the drawing of the sword and the capability of doing it quickly and responding to sudden attacks. It essentially consists of four parts: Drawing the blade from the “saya”, cutting or striking one or multiple opponents (based on the “kata”), removing the blood from the blade using “chiburi”, and sheathing the blade (“noto”). I’m actually a bit rusty with the terms since it’s already been four years at this point since I practised it but essentially, it’s not actually about learning combat or anything like that… It’s more about learning control of your posture, footwork, and attention to detail. It’s quite philosophical and meditative in a way. Kendo is the “Way of the Sword”, a modern Japanese martial art that came from swordsmanship (“kenjutsu”) where you use a bamboo rapier (“shinai”) as well as armour and you effectively fight against other people in your dojo or tournaments. While you mostly practice different “kata” and stances in Iaido, Kendo is more about the practical sides of things of assuring pressure to the enemy using a battlecry (“kiai”) as well as your stance and presence… and you also need to strike at the right moment and get a point before they can land a hit. Jodo is the “way of the jo” aka Jojutsu. It’s a Japanese martial art that is strongly focused on the defence against the Japanese sword utilizing the “jo”, a short staff that you can use to sweep, stab, or hit an opponent. In theory, you’d be able to shatter a “katana” with the right techniques and there are even techniques that focus on incapacitating enemies using a long rope in your sleeves where you either strangle or tie up enemies. Using the rope or jo techniques you can even break the opponent’s bones, although that’s more advanced and I haven’t gotten there. The point of all of that was mostly the meditative aspect and the focus on your form, control and footwork. I really enjoyed that and am a bit bummed out about having sold off my old gear… Once I have a bit more time, I may try getting into it again or maybe some Aikido as it’s also rather interesting. Apart from all of that, I also did play some volleyball although I was merely good for landing points by serving the ball. Since I’m quite tall, I also was great at blocking balls at the front or at slamming them down. I think the best I could do in terms of serving were ten points in a row as I was able to hit it exactly on the line so that it still counts as a point while everyone thought that it was out. But again, I sucked at everything else due to my poor hand-eye coordination.
Oh! I also used to be part of the editorial of our university’s literature club where we worked on an issue featuring poems and short stories by authors from our city and university (primarily) but also other authors from all over Germany. For the literature club, we’d also bring our own short stories, poems and other texts and give each other feedback and that sorta stuff. It was quite fun but with covid and all of that, it kind of stopped working. A club that I actually am in right now is the Debating Club, though! I love discussions and in a way, it’s kind of like playing a role and trying to win your way through an argument by being as convincing as you possibly can be within seven minutes! I’m having a lot of fun there, even if I have to assume positions that I don’t agree with at times. I guess in a way it’s basically Drama Club all over again but I can make use of my passion for discussions… especially since I can’t have them with anyone else offline or online apart from the other Debating Club members.
Now, as far as the blog goes, I’ve been blogging for more than two years. My goal with Indiecator was mostly to review underrated games or give small titles the spotlight that they deserved. I also write about my own adventures in the gaming world with games and franchises that I’m finally playing (because we all have that huge backlog, right?), as well as some other posts that aren’t necessarily gaming-related. My favourite games include Dungeon of the Endless, Catherine Classic, Deadbolt, Risk of Rain 2, and Omensight. The category “The Stray Sheep” is actually influenced by a bar you frequent in Catherine. I just love that game. I really enjoy writing posts on here as it gives me this sort of meaning or closure at the end of the day. I tend to write in the evenings and publish the posts the next day as I’m the most productive before I go to bed… and it also helps me sleep better when I know that I’ve been at least a bit productive, even if I still have chores, assignments and other tasks to do on the next day. Blogging is giving me joy overall and I’m really enjoying it. I think my favourite type of posts are still my reviews as I put in a lot of blood, sweat and effort into (most of) them. I’m having a lot of fun with them and am really looking forward to covering many more games in the Indietail category.
Another passion of mine came along the way in the form of Streaming. Over on Twitch, I run “the Crypt” where I try to create a community of friendly individuals that just want to have a nice time together without having to fear toxicity and/or bigotry. Since I’m a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I wanted to create an inclusive safe space where we would just hang out and chill with some games here and there. I’m not particularly good at games but hey, we have fun so that’s all that counts, right? I tend to play Indie Games as well as stuff from my backlog based on a schedule. Over two years of streaming, I was able to build a lovely community, in my opinion, full of wonderful individuals and I’m proud that I was able to create a lurker friendly environment with mellow tunes, Art Streams, cosy vibes, lots of banter, and lots of great people. Feel free to say “Hello” sometime! I think one of my favourite moments on Twitch includes me doing some silly voices in Aviary Attorney and trying to sound posh while other people really had fun with it… and I also really loved that one time where one of the devs of Little Misfortune joined the chat and watched as I started playing the game… and when I realised that they were involved in the game, I was super excited but they left already.
And apart from that, uh,… what else is there… I blog in English despite it being my third language. I grew up speaking Albanian and German but I figured I’d be able to reach more people by blogging in English while also making more friends and to be fair, thanks to the Blaugust and The Support Role communities, I’ve been quite happy with the number of new blogs I get to check out every day as well as with the different people I get to talk to nearly every day. I also dabble in some Digital Art. I’ve made all of my emotes on Twitch myself and am quite proud of the improvements I’ve shown with time. I’m planning on opening commissions as well soon.
So, uh, that’s basically it. I’m a huge nerd and I love seafood, Dr Pepper, Indie Games, all sorts of music, Blogging, Streaming, and uh, if you read up to this point, you’re a champ! Feel free to ask any questions you may still have about me in the comments or via DMs! Reach out any time. I’m happy to meet new people! Hope you enjoyed this post!
Cheers!
This post is part of the Blaugust 2021 event. For more information on that, check out this post!
This post was first published on Indiecator by Dan Indiecator aka MagiWasTaken. If you like what you see here and want to see more, you can check me out on Twitch and YouTube as well. If you find this post on a website other than Indiecator.org, please write an e-mail to me. Thank you!
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