# Arya FrouzaanFar ## Posts - [The 15-Year Pattern Behind Every Dragon Age Protagonist](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/dragon-age-power-pendulum/): I remember a review of Dragon Age II (which I’m sure you remember was badly received) commenting that the game’s theme was an obvious step down from the grandeur of the theme from Dragon Age: Origins. Smaller stakes, smaller map, smaller hero. I hadn’t made that observation myself, so the line stuck with me. Then, the other day, I was in my third replay of Dragon Age: Inquisition and it hit me: that “step down” wasn’t a one-off stumble. There’s an up-and-down pattern in how much power Dragon Age heroes get. The series has been swinging a pendulum for fifteen years:... - [I Was Diagnosed with MS. I Didn't Take It Well.](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/ms-diagnosis/): I went to an ENT about dizziness. A small thing. The kind of appointment you schedule between errands and forget about by dinner. I described the symptoms, and I watched his face change. He went quiet, and then he wrote me referrals for four MRIs. Four. I had never seen a doctor go pale before, and I don’t recommend the experience. Whatever he suspected, he wasn’t going to say it out loud. The worst he suspected was Ménière’s Disease, and I had MS. This is the story of the diagnosis, what I think caused it, and (because this is not a... - [14 Years Later, Skyrim Music Still Feels Like Home](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/skyrim-music-feels-like-home/): I don’t know what it is, but “Far Horizons” just calms me down instantly and puts me in a better mood. And the feeling isn’t exclusive to that one track that’s been sitting at the top of my Most Played for more than five years now. I have a playlist called “Calm Skyrim” that holds every peaceful piece in the game. I should probably make one called “Rough Skyrim” too, and put everything else in there for, say, when I’m running. Or fighting a dragon. You know, everyday errands. The point is that I’ve played the game on and off since... - [90 Days Off Caffeine: The Withdrawal, the Reset, & the Comeback](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/no-coffee-experiment/): Cards on the table: I love coffee. It’s my favorite drink. I could write poems about it. I wouldn’t, but I could! There was a time in my life when I couldn’t survive without it. I even have a record of 1.3 liters in a single day. (I remember the sleepless night after! It wasn’t all espresso, but I’m still lucky I didn’t OD.) But, as you might guess, I’d grown dependent. So, when my neurologist told me to patiently mix it up and gradually wean myself… I quit cold turkey. I’d tried that before. Once! And I’d failed miserably. The... - [The Psychology of Zoom Fatigue](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/zoom-fatigue-psychology/): My coworker and I sit in the exact same meetings. Same calls, same screens, same little grid of faces. By mid-afternoon she’s breezing through her to-do list, and I’m lying on my bed staring at the ceiling, trying to work out where my entire personality went. For the longest time I assumed I was just doing it wrong. And it doesn’t help that I seem to be the only one. I think I’m officially the no-meetings guy now. Just two weeks ago, our project manager seemed genuinely surprised when I voluntarily agreed to a meeting. The point is that nobody seems... - [A Security Take on Telegram's New Smartwatch Apps](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/telegram-smartwatch-app-security/): Telegram continues to impress, this time with native apps for Wear OS and Apple Watch. The messaging-app nerd in me is delighted! These aren’t the half-baked companion apps we’ve all tried once and deleted. You can actually type replies on your wrist, send genuinely high-quality voice messages, and the connectivity holds up well. Your watch behaves like a proper little Telegram client, not a glorified notification mirror. Wonderful, right? But there’s a detail in that last sentence that deserves a whole article: your watch is now a proper little Telegram client. In other words, a native app means another active session... - [How My Trading Strategy Changed in 2025](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/trading-strategy-shift-2025/): “I wash my hands of this chaos!” That was me in December 2024, four years into trading cryptocurrencies. I was liquidated twice in that time, and nothing much seemed to work. So, I decided I needed some more calm and logic. I got out of the crypto exchange altogether and decided to get more acquainted with Forex, precious metals, and even stocks. And man, was I wrong! All’s well that ends well though. Here’s how it went down from the start! Cryptomaniac Start I look back at 2020 and I genuinely wonder what mad thoughts went through my head to decide... - [Four Stories About How to Get Work Done on a Trip](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/work-while-traveling/): I’ve been 100% remote for the past 6 years. I entered the job market smack-dab in the middle of the COVID pandemic. When it ended, I’d already grown to like working in my pajamas! Sounds glamorous, doesn’t it? Well, wait until you’re hunching over your laptop in an airport with no Wi-Fi. Seriously, ever since I landed a job, I’ve never been able to stay away from work on trips! I do have a list of feats over the years: participating in a meeting at 1:40 AM in a remote cabin in the woods, finishing an article inside a taxi, doing... - [The 3 Best Alternatives to Pocket After It Goes Away](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/best-pocket-alternatives/): Mozilla is retiring Pocket, one of the world’s most beloved read-it-later apps. I didn’t take it very well. The app was my go-to article reader for five years! I ranked among their top readers for two of those years. And all the while, I was insanely grateful for their email newsletter, clean interface, and unwavering stability. Still, I trust Mozilla will do some good with their freed-up resources. (They better!) And you’re not alone if you’re wondering where to go next. I tried a few read-it-later alternatives for when Pocket says au revoir on October 8, 2025. Here are the three... - [Howard Shore’s “The Lord of the Rings” Orchestrations, Ranked](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/the-lord-of-the-rings-orchestrations-ranked/): The music of “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy is nothing short of monumental. Those tracks weren’t written just for the movies; they have their roots in the books. It took J. R. R. Tolkien roughly seventeen years to write, Peter Jackson about six years to direct, and Howard Shore around four years to compose. Most of the music didn’t even make it to the movies. Not even the Director’s Cut editions! But “The Complete Recordings” albums have almost all of it. Listen to those and you’ll agree that they’re among the most intricate film scores in history. I have... - [How to Start Listening to Classical Music](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/start-listening-to-classical-music/): A friend of mine recently went to a classical concert and was apparently dozing off for most of it. Earlier that very day, I was rediscovering Brucker’s Symphony No. 7 thanks to Seiji Ozawa and Berliner Philharmoniker. Then it hit me. Up until two years ago, I didn’t get classical music at all! I’d tried to listen to Bach and Beethoven and all the good music, but to no avail. I’m still definitely not an expert, but I do thoroughly enjoy it now. So, the question is why many of us don’t have classical works on our musical palate, and how... - [Light Exposure Can Supercharge Your Brain. Here’s How](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/light-exposure-benefits/): I recently took a trip somewhere without a fridge, which meant I had to go out every time I wanted a meal. Sounds like a chore, doesn’t it? Interestingly, I kind of enjoyed the morning walks. I seemed to be more tuned into the day ahead, and turned out to be more productive! So, that got me thinking. Was it the fresh morning air? There was definitely nothing fresh there! Was it the physical exercise I got from walking? It couldn’t be all that, I already had an indoor morning exercise routine. Then a new idea dawned on me. Maybe it... - [My 3 Actionable Tips for Better Sleep](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/better-sleep-tips/): We’re always hearing about how important restful sleep is. (Or at least I am, thanks to a voice in my head!) Even if you or people around you don’t really care about it, we can all agree that bad sleep is a prick. So, there are always people who are researching sleep and those who experiment with everything to sleep better. I belong to the latter group, and I’ve been reading articles and papers from the former group since 2012. I don’t know exactly when, but I discovered early on that I love sleep. You can call me lazy, but sleep... - [My 4+1 Top Recommended Meditation Apps](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/top-meditation-apps/): So, you’d like to start meditating but don’t know where! Or maybe you do it already, but you’re looking for a little more. Regardless of how long you have been meditating, you may find something of value in this article. I’m only writing this because there’s a lot of apps out there, and it can be difficult to know which is right for you. Plus, a little research wouldn’t hurt given the cost of meditation apps these days. I’ve tried a lot of them, and this piece includes five of my absolute favorite apps. Out of these, four have rich meditation... - [I Found a Natural Migraine Cure by Accident](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/natural-migraine-cure/): I had blinding migraines for about 9 years. And when I say “blinding”, I’m exaggerating only a little. The memories are vivid though! There was this particular day in college when the pangs started hitting harder than before, so I decided to ditch class and get to the dormitory. I don’t remember the bus trip back. My brain must have blacked out! Then, just as I was about to get out of the scorching sun, a friend pops up and so, I decide to talk to her. Good decision. Remember nothing about the conversation. The point of that story is that... - [My 2024 in Music: 30 Most Played Tracks](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/2024-most-played/): It may be more convenient to go to Deezer or Spotify to get my annual report, but I like the personal touch of a blog post! So, here goes. The First Top 10 …Or songs I listen to at least once a week! I don’t expect these to change a lot from this year to the next; these have stuck with me for a long time. 1. Far Horizons I think this one has been at the very top since 2019! The story, however, goes back to 2011 when Skyrim first came out. It’s an open-world role-playing game (RPG) with many,... - [How to Start Therapy: Tips from a Patient](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/how-to-start-therapy/): “I have an appointment with three other therapists after you.” That’s one of the first things I said in the first session with my current therapist. The last time I’d gone to therapy was a disaster, so the perfectionist in me had agreed to start therapy again only if I made sure it works %100 this time! As a result, I’d carefully chosen four therapists and booked times with all of them. Fortunately, this first one turned out to be quite a professional. She didn’t get into my “who’s better” game, she didn’t try to stop me from going to the... - [Thoughts on the Dragon Age: The Veilguard Soundtrack](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/about-dragon-age-veilguard-soundtrack/): The next Dragon Age game has been out for a month after a lot of anticipation and outrage. It’s also unofficial Dragon Age Day today, which we chose waiting for this fourth game. So, let’s talk about its music a little because it’s on-brand and because this one involves a lot of Hans Zimmer. But before we dive into the tracks, let’s get two things out of the way. I’m as outraged as the next gamer about Bioware disregarding most of the choices we made in the previous games. You’d think they’d have learnt from Mass Effect: Andromeda to run a... ## Pages - [Blog](https://frouzaanfar.com/blog/) - [Homepage](https://frouzaanfar.com/): Arya FrouzaanFar Pieces about games, music, stories that change us, and the work of changing. Read recent posts Show All App Reviews Experiments Health Life Music Personal Development Productivity Trading Video Games Filters Show All App Reviews Experiments Health Life Music Personal Development Productivity Trading Video Games Date Name Desc Asc Clear Filters I Was Diagnosed with MS. I Didn’t Take It Well. 8 July 2026 I Was Diagnosed with MS. I Didn’t Take It Well. By Arya 14 Years Later, Skyrim Music Still Feels Like Home 4 July 2026 14 Years Later, Skyrim Music Still Feels Like Home By Arya... ## Optional - [Agent (MCP protocol)](websites-agents.hostinger.com/frouzaanfar.com/mcp) [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)