The Monthly Report: January 2023

Looking to the new year

I was tempted to call this the yearly report, but I think it’s better to take things one month at a time. Still, welcome to the new year. Hopefully the year will be getting off to a good start.

Recap of Last Month

Aris’s story has started and is still underway, with some most likely unexpected characters playing a notable role. So far each of the stories have felt like an improvement over the last in some way. If you lost your place you can hopefully find it in the table of contents.

Table of Contents

Most of the time spoilers don’t bother me, but unlike some people I try to respect the preferences of others. However, I think when talking about Sin & Punishment I might have withheld too much about the plot of the first game. On the other hand, the post was a good excuse to revisit the games and made me appreciate them more.

Sin & Punishment

Since the post on Smash Bros’s original design got delayed there was more time to work on it at the cost of being less recent. Though in terms of quality that’s only an upside. I can accept less views if it means not getting dragged into the hell known as Super Smash Bros discourse, a hell I know all too well.

Looking at Smash Bros's original design doc

Plans for This Month and Year

January will see the conclusion of Aris’s story and transition into Quiahuitl’s. I haven’t done the math to determine when Battles Beneath the Stars should be expected to end, but I suspect it won’t be finishing this year.

I’ll be posting about another Nintendo video game series this month, so after that I’ll have to put a pause on talking about Nintendo games. And throw something in that isn’t a video game as a subject, ideally not too video game adjacent either. For example there’s a non zero chance I’ll be talking about a puzzle company sometime this year.

For non-fiction I’ve decided to go in on making mythology a regular feature. I want to do more research first, but I intend to write posts about other Aztec gods similar to the one I did on Tezcatlipoca. And talk about mythology from other angles, like ways it is used in fiction.

I have a post planned for this month about my approach and beliefs regarding writing. It could be uncontroversial or the most controversial I’ll get here. And it might come off as a little pretentious given my lack of accomplishments that other people care about, but it’s a good exercise.

For later in the year, March will mark a full year of the Warthog Report. I’m going through different ideas on how to celebrate that. You’ll see what comes of that when the time comes.

Speaking more broadly, I’m aiming for this newsletter to see significant growth over the year. I try not to focus on stats, but I have noticed that mine seem to be well behind what other substacks of a similar age report despite my best efforts. So, for a new year’s resolution, I’d like to hit a hundred subscribers.

Before this post comes to a close, I also have a little challenge for commenters, with bragging rights as the sole reward. Erlingr in Battles Beneath the Stars takes inspiration from a certain mythological character. Can you guess who it is?

That’s all for this update. Have a lovely 2023.