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foxingpeculiar · 7 months ago

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FF7: R&R

It's been a minute since I've posted about it, but I have been playing Rebirth. About 28 hours in--the party is about to depart Costa del Sol at (what I assume is) the end of Chapter 6. Spoilers up to that point (and for the original, I suppose).

First, just off the bat, I'm curious how much this game is going to cover. It seems like it will probably end at what was the end of disc 1 in the original--at Aerith's death. I still think that's inevitable--the story would be fundamentally different if that didn't happen, and there's so much in both these games that seems to be reminding us of that. Take, for example, the white materia becoming clear. Because I know the story, I understand the implications of that--for like, the whole planet. It has to happen, and the fact that the game is leaning so hard into the love-triangle story makes me feel like... that's what it's doing? It's making you FEEL it as much as possible when it necessarily happens? I dunno. I'm very curious.

That idea kind of justifies the whole "whispers" plot in the first one for me. That was a new part of the story, and felt weird and tacked on, but this game kind of retroactively seems to be making a point with it--it was going somewhere. Remake was good, Rebirth is great (at least, so far) and makes Remake better. That feels like a helluvan achievement.

Okay. I'm looking at my notes for the last few sessions and there's a lot going on. So this might be kind of scattershot. Bear with me.

I never really considered the idea of voice-acted moogles. Did they do that in like... 13-16? I don't even remember. But I'm vaguely disappointed the moogles just have like... normal voices. It doesn't seem like that should be. They're whole different animals.

On that note, I'm interested by how Nanaki speaks differently when it's just him and Aerith. They've done that twice now--once in the hotel in Junon and once in Johnny's place in CdS. If you don't know his backstory, I could see that being an interesting little mystery, but because I do, it's very endearing and in-character for him. And I do kind of wonder how Bugenhagen is going to be represented in this game, cos that dude is weird, so how are you going to sell that?

The chocobo costumes just make me think of "horse armor," which makes me laugh. IYKYK.

I have done 100% intel on both the Grasslands and Junon regions at this point. Haven't gotten out into the Corel region yet. I'm not bothering to do EVERYTHING, though. There's SO MUCH stuff in this game. In some of the rare fiend battles, I have not met all the objectives (I can kill enemies easier than I can stagger them, it turns out). Same with all the various minigames (turns out I'm no better at this piano than I am at real piano). Like, i could spend time getting good at these things for trophies or whatever, but I've got things to do. But I am trying to at least dip my toes into everything. And there've been a couple of fights that have tested my mettle a little--Quetzalcoatl, Mindflayer. Both battles weren't that hard, but were nonetheless very satisfying. Am curious what future regions will hold in that regard.

Chadley is a fun addition. He's very endearing. And the tension between him and MAI is kind of interesting too--I wonder where they're going with that. How did he get free of Hojo though? It's implied someone set him free--who was that, and why?

Ok, so the whole Fort Condor thing. I was prepped for that, because I played the Intergrade DLC. But there's some stuff going on there. First of all, what the fuck is Gilgamesh's deal? It's obviously him, but he's a weird presence in this one. I'm actually kind of impressed by the way they worked the tower-defense minigame into this, AND how we still have the actual condor, so if/when we need to get something from its nest later (I forget what, exactly--it's been a while--but I know that happens), it's there. Also, that last required battle? Fuck, that took forever. I could get to the point where it was obvious/inevitable I would win, but time would run out before that could actually happen (so many times, I was like "No! If I had 30 more seconds, I'd HAVE this!"). It took like 15 tries to beat, but I did it. (Also LMAO at "Why do we look like this?" when it's the original polygon models.)

The Midgarsormr moment was okay. It didn't hit me as hard as the original did when I was 13, but nothing was going to, and I do feel like it was a suitable display of Sephiroth's power.

Queensblood. Fuck, it's a good one. It might be my favorite of the FF card games, actually. I am owning that shit. Have all the cards, have beaten every player I've come across so far. The tournament was a pleasure, including seeing Nanaki in people-clothes, which I kind of missed during the Junon parade sequence (more on that in a minute). And the card puzzles in Costa del Sol? *chef's kiss* My brain had a LOT of fun with that.

So, the Junon sequence was great. Exactly what I wanted it to be. The parade went okay--I fucked a couple bits up and lost the first award to Roche's mobile unit, but whatever. (I love that he's back too, and I love Barrett's comment in Under Junon: "You've got some weird friends.") The whole bit with the Seventh Infantry was kind of fascinating--seeing Cloud as the hesitant leader, Aerith as the quick thinker. And I love how they wove Yuffie into the plot--cos she was missable in the original.

The whole dolphin thing was... still silly, but handled well, I felt. And I like the expansion of that section--the bit with the Crows and Rhonda and her son. That all feels... right.

Seeing the Highwind was kind of a moment. Curious if/how that'll work.

Glenn Lodbrook. I know he's from Ever Crisis and there's something going on there, but I don't really know that backstory. Rufus playing both sides--defying the ceasefire because he's secretly in league with the provisional Wutai government--is interesting. He's not a part of the story I remember super well, I'm not sure what his interests are, exactly.

I do like how they're following through on some of the characters and ideas from Remake. Kyrie, Madame M/Andrea, the Shinra Middle-Manager, but especially Johnny. Are we going to watch this doofus mature across this trilogy? Is that what's happening there? And he's not totally ancillary--they're weaving him into the main plot with what happens with Hojo in CdS (a bit of the original I forgot about, but yeah, that did happen--and it's even more jarring how out of place and creepy he feels in that environment in this one).

Regina is a fun addition. Are they gonna do anything with her, or is she one of those characters who's just kind of there? I wonder.

Oh man, okay. The Cloud/Aerith/Tifa dynamic. Rebirth is leaning HARD into that. I think I have them on about even footing at this point, but I'm not sure. Tifa is kind of my OG, the one 13 y/o me was into, but I dunno. But yeah. Aerith has to die. That has to happen, I'm convinced of that at this point.

Haven't dipped into the Zack timeline in a while. When will we get to that again?

Also, is Demon Wall going to be a thing in this game? Cos like... I love what they did to Jenova on the Shinra boat, but how are they going to design that? Am very curious.

#personal #video games #final fantasy vii #ff7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth

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tankbredgrunt · 1 year ago

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End of year wrap-ups, 2023

It's presently June while I start to write this, and I thought if I wanted to put together a list of media consumed over 2023 I could at least get an early start, for as much my sake of mindfulness and talking about the things I loved/hated. If you're interested too, you can read more; first is video games, then music, then movies and tv, then books. If you feel like talking about anything in here don't hesitate! This is going to be a nightmare to tag though so, I probably won't lmao.

Nothing is necessarily ranked in order either btw, and just because I didn't write any thoughts with something doesn't mean I disliked it. Just no thoughts you know? I could have thoughts though. For the right price.

Viddy Games

For the games I haven't yet beaten but did spent some time playing, I made 12 hours of progress into Hollow Knight and am very keen to get back into it; I played Cyberpunk 2077 for about 47 hours, and am very keen to get back into it; Baldur's Gate 3 has ~9 hours at this moment, and I'm keen, etc; and Starfield has 32 hours in it and I am NOT keen to get back into it. I can get into that later though. 🏆 means I got the Platinum achievement trophy too :3

Last of Us Part 1 (x2)/Last of Us PS4 Remaster (x3)/Last of Us PS3 (x1) 🏆 - 5 stars On top of regular playthroughs, this year also marked the dip into Grounded mode. I completed one Grounded round on the Part 1 PS5 remake, and 2 more on the PS4 remaster (for the achievements). It would be impossible to discuss the reasons why I love this game so much so I will spare yall, a mercy dedicated to anyone who's already had to/gotten to hear me go on about it. I also got two TLoU tattoos this year. Ask me about my theories still though. One of my favorite moments from my 2nd Grounded run (Including one of the nearly-100 fuck ups leading up to that point):

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Death Stranding - 5 stars I'm coming in to write about this one retroactively, because I've spent all this time since beating the game thinking about it. Did I understand half of what was going on? Vaguely, but it was beautiful, and heartfelt, and the world was interesting, and it satisfied the need I had to go outside and run my errands. Loved Cliff's character, and his plight as a father, how he carried it with him to the afterlife, and his speech to Sam is on loop constantly as a goosebumps generator. All the webs this story weaved came together and fray in such intriguing ways.

Detroit: Become Human (x2) - 5 stars These were my third and fourth playthroughs of this game and I find myself fonder for this little game each time I play. The perfect example of how a setting is so much deeper for the things it DOESN'T say than the things it does, once you think consider it. Under the cover of fun little robots, this world is so bleak, and I love the thought experiments. A very good example, imo, of what kind of tool cyberpunk really is as a setting. Quantic Dream also slips in one unanswered aspect into each of their stories, and while it's true that the ambiguity can be frustrating, Quantic Dream accidentally does it in a way that I find so alluring. Ra9, in this case, examining the clues on my own, coming to my own conclusions. It lets the world live on after the games have ended. I don't care about having answers--the game focused on what it needed to. It was not a portal into the greater world, it was one into Kara, Connor, and Marcus. We can look at the world on our own.

Disco Elysium - 4 stars Admittedly while this one took me a few months to finish, with a break spanning between November 2022 to March, and often found it VERY dense with information, I still really enjoyed myself. It's also the sort of narrative that is very self-aware, and as such pokes fun at itself, and as another such is sometimes lost under a few too many layers of irony and sarcasm. It's a bit hard sometimes to know what information to take seriously and what to disregard. As wonts these sorts of games the content is made entirely of dialog, very reading heavy, and puts me to sleep--I couldn't imagine playing this game without the stellar voice acting. Haunting and comedic sometimes even in the same line of dialog, I'm glad I found it after the Final Cut was released. Highly recommend, looking forward to another play-through.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 4 stars I loved BotW from the moment I got my Switch on launch day. Interestingly with TotK, I found my high opinion slipping the more I played, and too afterward. It seems more and more to me that Nintendo isn't exactly as keyed into what people are looking for with Zelda as they thought. TotK comes complete with shallow villains and anime tropes and a bastardization of a fair bit of the work done in BotW. It is not a story that is aware of it's own narrative, characters, or concepts. I don't say this as a person who demands to know which timeline and where exactly it takes place, only as someone invested in the universe and hopes to have somethings meaningfully extrapolated on. I'm hungry for subversion. Won't get much of that with this game sadly. That said, where gameplay was concerned I still really enjoyed myself. Before release I was worried how they would fill a world I've already spent 300+ hours exploring, and it turned out the answers were 2 entirely new maps and a largely transformed overworld. Discovering the newness in a world I already knew so well was fantastical. The building mechanics were enchanting, the shrines legitimately challenging, and the world still fun to explore. Don't see myself replaying for quite a while though, if ever, which was also the case with BotW. EDIT: having read and heard of all the nightmares about this games development since I've played it, just have to say 😬 yikes dude. Really recontextualizes the story for me. Idk though the gameplay was still super fun, so where an overall rating is concerned, I'm a bit conflicted. I'll leave it where it is I guess but let the record show it's still a Yikes from me about certain things.

Heavy Rain - 3.5 stars So, in the driver's seat of this, I found myself not doing much else besides complaining. The controls on the PC port are horrible; the 'twist' was less that and more... dishonest; voice acting was rough; David Cage exists; etc. But idk dude!! Something about it was still as charming as the first time!! It's been just about 10 years since I first played it at release, and the nostalgia was strong. It was a perfect distraction from real life at the time, and I've always looked back on the game fondly, though I've never replayed it. There ARE functional things I do dislike about the plot and writing and the awful ending, which discounts its score to the 3.5 star rating, but idk yall. I find Norman dorky and lovable, flawed yet well-intentioned; Ethan is a desperate dad trying to correct mistakes he still can't reconcile with; even Scott's motivations are understandable. I, like one key character, cannot deny that seeing a dad do whatever it takes to save his son? I'll have what he's having.

Oxenfree - 3 stars One thing about me is I have a great hatred for time travel stories. They always inevitably fall short. Oxenfree however used what I believe are the true assets of the trope. The struggle of fate, predetermination, and how-could-anything-be-different. (I also believe a key function of time travel stories is the character's understanding that they aren't the first version of themselves caught in the loops but that's a different convo). Anyway the ambiguous ending was also a big win to me. All in all a fun little game. Give it a try if you want some low-stakes entertainment with a good story.

The Uncharted series - a mixed bag So this doesn't include Uncharted 1, which I played damn near a decade ago when I first got my PS4 and the Nathan Drake collection. My thoughts on that are hazy but one I remember vividly--fuck the ship level. Anyway I mark this as mixed bag because my feelings towards it are complicated. I still felt the essence of NaughtyDog throughout, their care for their characters and sympathetic storytelling. While not as morally gray as their TLoU stuff, and rated Teen, it was still compelling, and despite my intense grievances with the combat systems in 1-2-3, I never questioned whether I would continue with the next game. However. Those grievances. Holy shit. Snap-to-cover is NEVER the answer, game devs. I know and forgive that games 1-3 are over a decade old, developers have better tools and understanding now. See an example of my jimmies being rustled here:

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Take a shot each time a headshot doesn't hit. For gameplay reasons only I can't give the first 3 games any higher than 3 stars. And even though 3 has the best story of the 3, gameplay might even knock that one down to a 2. Anywho, the whiplash in quality between 3 and 4 was insane. I played the PS5 port, and loved everything about 4. Loved Sam, loved baby Nate, loved the story. It was as if ND had kept a .txt file of every single issue up till that point and corrected each of them. Seeing the bones of TLoU2 was also nice. Phenomenal game, and I look forward to playing it again sometime soon. Ratings for each game go: Uncharted 2 and 3 - 3 stars Uncharted 4 - 5 stars Uncharted: Lost Legacy - 4 stars Sadly I don't have the tools or plans to play the PSP game. PS Vita? Either way.

Last of Us Part 2 (x3) - 4 stars This was probably my 3rd time playing TLoU2, and while I don't have many strong comments to make concerning the story, I feel like this was finally the first time I truly understood Ellie's character in this game. The truth of her grief and what it was really over. And Abby as well, how she wasn't just a foil for Ellie, but for Joel as well. That said, I do still feel I would love this game so much more if it was just told linearly. The pacing is DOGshit dude, wow. Love it though. I've also completed a Grounded playthrough and got the Plat trophy this year as well, which I only mention for bragging rights 💅

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice 🏆 - 5 stars I don't think I have much to say about this game besides general comments about how phenomenal the experience was. Never played anything like it. Fun exploration, environmental puzzles, great visuals. Combat was good, sound design was excellent. Story was good, acting was amazing. All around VERY thrilled I played.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage 🏆 - 5 stars I GOTTA SAY, This game surprised the hell out of me. I’m on a journey to play all the Assassin’s Creed games; so far I’ve finished 8 out of ~18. For how badly Valhalla sucked ass I was hesitant to play this one, since it acts as a sort of prequel to a particular character, but DAMN if this didn’t completely surprise me. The world was incredibly fun to explore, and even included environmental puzzles. You will legitimately feel like an assassin with the amount of player freedom this game gives you, and the story was just as good. Best Assassin’s Creed game? 👀 Hard to say till I’ve finished them all but so far it’s absolutely a contender. Basim I love youuuuuu

Unmentioned, in alphabetical order: [Assassin's Creed 1 - 2.5 stars; Assassin's Creed 2 - 3.5 stars; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: China - 3 stars; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: India - 3.5; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: Russia - 3.5 stars; Beyond: Two Souls - 3 stars; Ghost of Tsushima - 4 stars; Gone Home - 3 stars; Indigo Prophecy - 2 stars; It Takes Two - 3 stars; A Plague Tale: Innocence - 3.5 stars; The Quarry - 2.5 stars; SEASON - 3 stars; Spider-Man 2 (2023) 🏆 - 3 stars; Stray - 3.5 stars; Super Mario Wonder - 4 stars; Twin Mirror - 3 stars; Viewfinder - 3.5 stars; A Way Out - 3.5 stars; Where the Goats Are - 3 stars]

Starfield: Putting this one down here at the bottom so I don't start this list out with complaining lol. Anyway the fact this game was nominated for Best RPG at the game awards tells me they don't play some of the games they nominate lol. I don't think I've ever had an experience like this game gave me. I somehow played 30 hours, and had a great time, before realizing it was bad. Nothing happened in the story to stop me, there wasn't suddenly a new gameplay mechanic that I didn't agree with. There was just something in the glamour of those 30 hours that got me. Maybe it was the father figure referring to me with neutral pronouns. But anyway I guess I just came to my senses. I took a break to play something different, came back, and it was an entirely different game. The overworld is barren. They expect you to explore hundreds of plants that have nothing on them besides some minerals and animals you scan. These are laaaaarge swaths of time spent running back and forth in near silence, because not only is there next to nothing meaningful to interact with on these worlds, your companion repeats the same 5 quips the entire time. There are no tools to traversing the overworld more quickly, so you are running for thousands of kilometers so you can scan a useless monument and get 20XP. There is no incentive to exploring, there is no incentive to doing anything other than fast-traveling to your next destination--until the game stops you for not having the appropriate ship parts installed, and you realize it's going to be a 5 hour grind to upgrade that part. Looking back at those 30 hours I enjoyed, this was all still there, but idk man, idk. For this amount of content this should have only been a $30 game, MAX, and they sell it for $70. But I bought it for $70, so who is the real chump here. I think the only thing I truly enjoyed (besides Sam Coe) was the mission 'Entangled', where you are unwillingly forced between two alternate universes, due to an experiment in a research facility. It sits right on the cusp of horror, between one universe where the research facility exploded and nature took it back, and another where the explosion never happened. There is drama, intrigue, decisions, exploration, everything. Nothing else in the game came close at all to touching that and I'm mad I spent so long before realizing it. Who wrote this mission, so I can thank you?

Music (and the lyrics that make it)

My complete 2023 favorites Spotify playlist

Favorite albums: Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Cain Slut Pop by Kim Petras Guard Dog by Searows I Let It in and It Took Everything by Loathe Heavy Glow by Soulkeeper

Individual tracks and my favorite lyric: Master & A Hound by Gregory Alan Isakov 'Where were you when I was still kind?' Sun Bleached Flies by Ethel Cain 'If it's meant to be then it will be.' Don't Keep Driving by The Paper Kites 'There's nothing wrong with a little space. But not right now; don't leave.' Honey Dripping Sky by Georgia 'No matter how hard we try, I won't deny--it's for you.' Coming Clean by Searows 'If I kill you would I have to forgive you still?' Francesca by Hozier 'I’d tell them put me back in it. [Darling,] I would do it again.'

TV and Movies

I am severely illiterate when it comes to movies so the goal this year was to have watched at least one movie a week. Did I succeed,Future Me? [Yeah!]

Kingsman: Secret Service and :Golden Circle - 5 and 4 stars The cinematography?? The choreography? Hello? Across both movies, they were all so incredible. While Secret Service was my favorite of the two, Golden Circle had my favorite fight (though the church scene is a clooooose second)(Pedro Pascal I love you):

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Gentlemen Bronco - 2 stars This movie was dull as shit BUT, it had one of my favorite scenes of the year.

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Knock at the Cabin - 3.5 stars Just wanna put this one here real quick to get the Worms out--what was the point? Narratively, what was the point? I have been rolling this movie around my head since I watched last night and I'm hoping to read the book soon for better context, but man. While I enjoyed this movie a lot I just do not follow the themes, more so considering the ending. Was it a fight against providence and predetermination, only to prove its own point? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (Mr. Spock)? I can't tell exactly what this movie was asking me. As a rule I generally don't enjoy stories where the psychos are proved right with no closer examination of the themes and circumstances. Like yeah the MCs being a gay couple framed the story differently but that is also just a side effect of having distinctive characters lmao. It also insulated some sacrificial-minority stuff? Weird. And asks no questions about fate or anything, which is a wild loop considering Andrew's previous history with Redmond (a red herring? However I feel if the intro of a red herring completely recontextualizes the larger possibilities of the world, then it's not a good red herring, it's lazy). Ultimately I understand a theme is save your family or save humanity--it's on the DVD cover lol. But yeah man idk. All the other stuff, it made for a weird soup that I just cannot decipher. Anyway. EDIT: I have since read the source novel and it was incredible. I will not be watching any more Shyamalan movies lmao

Pacific Rim - 5 stars I also don't have anything much deeper to say about this than gotTDAMN dude, what a good fucking movie. I decided to watch because of all the Pacific Rim AUs that take place in fandom, and I decided I finally needed to know why and I DO know why now because good lord. What a good movie. That said the sequel was a hot pile.

The Arrival - 3 stars The way this movie had my heart racing the entire time--and shat it all away at the immediate end. Pure whiplash. "You know what surprised me the most? It wasn't meeting them. It was meeting you." What kind of straight nonsense. What kind of anticlimactic. What kind of bullshit. I was immediately snapped to my senses, I'm not over exaggerating. Insanity.

Unmentioned, in alphabetical order: [After Yang - 4 stars; Assassin's Creed (2016) - 2 stars; Asteroid City - 4 stars; Barbie - 4 stars; Begotten (1990) - 2 stars; Bullet Train - 4 stars; Come and See (1985) - 3 stars; Dead Poets Society - 3 stars; El Dorado - 3 stars; Grave Encounters - 3 stars; The Green Knight - 4 stars; The Hateful Eight - 5 Stars; IT and IT: Chapter 2 - 4 stars; Jennifer's Body - 3 stars; King of the Hill (all 13 seasons) - episode determinate; Knives Out - 5 stars; Knives Out: Glass Onion - 2 stars; Labyrinth - 2 stars; Lady Bird - 3 stars; Lake Mungo - 3 stars; The Lighthouse - 3 stars; Mad Max: Fury Road - 3 stars; The Magnificent Seven (1960) - 4 stars; The Magnificent Seven (2016) - 3.5 stars; Martyr (2008) - 3 stars; Matrix - 3 stars; Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions - 1 star; The Menu - 4 stars; Midnight Mass - 4 stars; My Own Private Idaho - 3 stars; NOPE - 4 stars; Once Upon a Time in the West - DNF; Possum - 3 stars; The Power of the Dog - 3 stars; RE: Damnation, Death Island, Degeneration, Infinite Darkness, and Vendetta - 3 stars; Saltburn - 3.5 stars; Seven Samurai (1954) - 3 stars; The Shape of Water - 4.5 stars; Skinamarink - 3 stars; Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 2.5 stars; ST: Search for Spock and ST: Voyage Home - 4 stars; ST: The Wrath of Khan - 4.5 stars; The Thing (1982) - 3 stars; The Thing From Another World (1951) - 3 stars; Tideland (2005) - 2 stars; Unforgiven - 4 stars; The VVitch - 3 stars]

Favorite Books

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez - 5 stars I have never EVER in my life read a book like this one, and I urge everyone to give it a try. Two men must escort a dying god across the country in order to stop the control of her tyrannical children. If you aren't digging the book, at least try and make it 100 pages in. The beginning, like every chunky fantasy, is a bit of a tough learning experience, and the uniqueness of the prose didn't exactly make it an easier task. However, it makes it extremely lyrical and poetic, and intriguing. The entire package is mind-blowingly unique. AND it ends happily, if that makes you feel better.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers - 5 stars My thoughts on this little story aren't overly complex or anything, I just found the setting very nice, the B plot concerning Earth interesting, and the ambiguous ending intriguing. While the events might be a little harrowing it was the hopeful attitude of the prose and characters that made it very comforting nonetheless. I loved the experience while I was reading it, and think about the ending now, even all these months after reading.

The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr - 4 stars A black sleep car porter tries to keep his job and his sanity after their train is stopped by a mudslide. Before this I can say I'd never read anything in this setting before, and it was what drew me in initially, but it was the writing that really captivated me. The narrative has a very intimate feeling, nostalgic almost, as if you're hearing the story secondhand even as you read. It's also refreshing when a book just says 'cock', and no extra-curricular euphemisms. Where's that video of Taron Egerton saying cock over and over btw cause I can't find it

The Magpie Coffin by Wile E Young - 4 stars The first in a collection of splatterpunk westerns?? It was so fun to read, and the cover is so badass. It knew what it was and it did so well.

In the Distance by Hernan Diaz - 4 stars A young Swedish boy, separated from his brother, fends for himself in the early USA west. I was on hold for this through my library for nearly a month and a half, so by the time I got it in my grubby hands my exciting was pretty high. Though I found much of it slow, I was still somehow on the edge of my seat. It's a crime that this was the Pulitzer runner-up, and that Less by Andrew Greer won instead. It's been a very very long time since I've felt so strongly about the well-being and outcome of a character but Hakan if you're out there--I love you.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 5 stars

Nothing to add to this decade long conversation other than this holds up :’) I was gasping like I was in high school again, reading it for the first time.

Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order by author last name: [A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers - 4 stars; How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - 4 stars; Texas Outlaw by Richard Jessup - 4 stars; Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - 4 stars; Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - 4 stars; Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum - 4 stars; The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage - 4 stars; East of Eden by John Steinbeck - 5 stars; The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay - 4.5 stars]

LEAST Favorite Books

I'm nothing if not a hater so I wanted to give some space to the books I most disliked.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer - DNF SAUR upset that this won the Pulitzer prize of its year instead of In The Distance by Hernan Diaz. 100 pages into it and I could not find anything redeeming about the main character. Pretentious, bitter. Like maybe that was his arc? He would outgrow that maybe. But it was just not the book nor the characters for me, unfortunately, so I did not stick around long enough for that to happen.

Bath Haus by PJ Vernon - DNF WHEW boy was the writing in this one bad. Like yall ever read a queer book and just know it was written for straight people? Let me find a picture I took of one paragraph.

Yikes and a half, dude. Anyway

Meat by Joseph D'Lacey - 1 star This was just plain bad. Like 'Oh isn't it so crazy they're eating people?? They're treating people like cattle, that's so demented right??' No. Not really. There's cannibalism in the cannibalism genre? Get a grip. I live near Donner Pass, we got cannibalism in the water here. Although maybe I'm also partially to blame for expecting some deeper storytelling from splatterpunk.

The Troop by Nick Cutter - 2 stars I don't know that I have anything really critical to say about this book other than I just didn't enjoy it. Writing was fine, prose was fine. It's told a bit out of order, think Carrie by Stephen King--snippets of interviews and articles detailing the aftermath of the events of the book. I do remember thinking that the facts were contradicting themselves a few times but was really not invested enough to care too deeply. The isolated, abandoned feeling we get from the island was nice, and the atmosphere good, I just don't believe Nick Cutter is a good writer. A bit too many slurs in here as well, methinks.

Books I DNF'd: With 15 in total this was the year of DNFing for me; it's amazing was Prozac can do for a person. (Disclaimer: I've only listed 13 of them here. The other two had to go back to the library before I could finish them so I marked them as technical DNFs :( and it doesn't feel right to include them in this list for haters)

Bath Haus by PJ Vernon (explained above) The Singularities by John Banville (nothing offensive, just didn't vibe. Books will often try way too hard on the opening paragraph and I'm not here for a philosophy lesson as I crack open a book you know what I mean) Heartless by Marissa Meyer (I just don't think YA does it for me anymore) There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins (" ") If We Were Villains by ML Rio (I just don't like being lectured and this book was clearly written for someone who wasn't me lol) Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter (I find that a lot of times thrillers written by women employ stereotypes against men and their 'perverse' sexual tastes. The lines between pornography/fantasy and reality don't seem as nuanced in this genre, unfortunately. A man is not immediately a villain because he enjoys CNC or roleplay, and the pearl clutching is a little tired) Campfire Cooking in Another World by Ren Eguchi (why is every light novel like this:

The Lies of Locke Lamore by Scott Lynch (this was too quippy for my tastes. It was a little too busy being clever and not busy enough being interesting.) Less by Andrew Greer (Mean Gays, the next Tina Fay movie) Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (just wasn't my cuppa) Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (I read a review that counted how many times Zane Grey used 'sage' in this book. I don't remember the number but there was a lot of them. Too much mormanism going on, just wasn't my cuppa) The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson (only alright, not bad but wasn't going anywhere fast. More of a character focused, soft bit of mystery, which was fine, I just didn't find myself enjoying the characters either) Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett (I just wasn’t vibing you know how it is)

2023 Reading Statistics

I also keep a track of the pages read and ratings, as well as genre, where I read the book and in what format, so I'll put that here too for posterity's sake. And If you'd like, I use GoodReads, and we can be friends!

62 books read 18,217 pages in total 3.25 average star rating 19 (30.6%) of the books read were owned; 43 (69.4%)(nice) were from the library 14 (75.8%) were physical books; 12 (19.4%) were ebooks; 3 (4.8%) were audiobooks

That's it! I don't make reading goals anymore, in terms of how many to read, but I do know I want to TRY and read the copy of Battle Royal I've had since my junior year of high school. And I'd like to try and finish the Tsubasa manga series, since I never made it past volume 15 I think. I can't think of anything other than that! It was a good year!

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skalecsz · 1 year ago

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4, 21, 27, and 30 for video game asks!

>:3

4. Do you like to get 100% achievements/trophies?

I used to be a completionist but now with the amount of games that have random bullshit you can collect (zelda series with their koroks) i've stopped because it's so tedious. If I really like a game tho I'll try to get as much as possible, which is why my bg3 playtime is 100 hours and I haven't even gotten half way haha

21. A boss that was disappointing

In the game Okami the final boss is basically just a giant sphere that takes away all your powers which, I like when my powers get taken away and I have to be creative with how I use my combat but the first boss of the game has such a rich backstory and intricate movements and cool design but the final boss is a sphere that's barely mentioned? Man.

27. Agame you love the atmosphere of

Too many to list but I'll just say Dragon Age: Origins since it's my favorite game ever. It's just such a perfect dark fantasy that builds on the middle ages so believably and has this ugly, apocalyptic feel to it. The world is ending and you found love. You're a teenager meant to save the world yet the world is against you. It's gross and bloody and dark and a genuine chore sometimes to get through but I love it all the time.

30. Game you think you’ll finish next?

Probably it takes 2 with you but if we don't get to play soon my friends have wanted me to play mass effect for a while and its apparently that not long of a game so I'll maybe get back into that since bg3 has a shit ton of bugs in it rn.

#mine #answers #ask

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bankaizen · 2 years ago

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4, 12, 28!

4. do you like to get 100% achievements/trophies?

absolutely not lmao. i don't have the attention span nor do i have the patience. i get overwhelmed by games so easily (huge games specifically), there's no just way. there was a point where i thought i might get all the elden ring achievements because i was convinced it was just the bosses and endings. i was wrong and i gave it up immediately

12. a character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing

i know this probably doesn't count because i haven't gotten to her yet, but i'm playing bloodborne for the first time and i cannot wait to see lady maria

28. pick a series you like. what was the first game you played for it? was it a good starting point? would it still be a good starting point now?

i have to go with assassin's creed, which is the most of a series i've played i think. the first ever game i tried to play was odyssey. never finished it, sadly (got overwhelmed lol). i'd say it wasn't the best starting point for me personally and i still don't think it would be unless i was really invested in the story. it's still on my list to finish though because my sister loves odyssey

#thank you for these!!#answered #alethiometry

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mxbrightsky · 2 years ago

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2, 4, 8

2: Game(s) you're currently playing

I've been getting back into minecraft quite a bit recently, specifically I'm playing 1.17.1 with a bunch of mods, not limited to but including Biomes o Plenty, Farmer's Delight, Croptopia, and Pam's Harvestcraft to name a few. I really like all the farming and cooking

4: Do you like to get 100% achievements/trophies?

It kinda depends, actually- if I've beaten a game and still have a fixation on it, I'll start going through and getting achievements, but it basically just lasts until the fixation ends. I thiiink that Little Nightmares might be one of the only games I've actually gotten all achievements for

8: A series you haven't played but are interested in trying

Persona- people talk about it a lot and idk it seems like maybe it'd be my thing stylistically, even though I don't know much about it.

#ask game #thanks for the ask <3

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curiouslilbird · 1 year ago

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Last game you finished:

Child of Light (3rd playthrough)

Game(s) you’re currently playing:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (sorta. I was trying to get those last few recipes and that ONE BUG I cannot find, but sometime in May I just...quit for a while)

Township (free mobile game, like SimCity meets Farmville but better)

1-3 games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)

Mini Motorways (Switch)

Pokemon Quest (Switch)

Do you like to get 100% achievements/trophies?

If it’s not too grindy, yes. I really don’t like when I am forced to grind for hours...hence why I haven’t played ACNH in a couple months

Game(s) coming out that you’re looking forward to

The Princess Peach game

Super Mario RPG remake

A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to

Super Mario series. I think I’ve owned and played most of them by now, and I’ve been playing since I was 5!

A series you’ve lost interest in:

The rest of the Pokemon games. I played Pokemon Blue and part of Yellow back in the day, and after I finished Blue I was just...kinda done with all that questing around and getting attacked. I didn’t want to start over again.

A series you haven’t played but are interested in trying

I’ve heard Stardew Valley is really great! I’m getting into “cozy games” more and more as I get older (and realize I have no patience for skill games LMAO)

A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved

StarFox 64 wayyyyy back in the day! I was not the greatest at it but I did manage to finish it (despite throwing the controller against the wall one day lmao)

Spyro (the first one, I think). Mannnn the aesthetics of that game are so gorgeous even though I had a lot of trouble with the gimmicks on each level.

A console and/or handheld you’ve never played but would like to try

I always liked the look of the PS Vita but never owned one, nor did I ever get any games for it or look up a list of what was on it. I figure Sony has moved WELL past that console and won’t make anything like it again, but the aesthetics of it, the size of it, were just really intriguing.

Do you prefer ‘blank slate’ main characters you make yourself or otherwise project onto, or characters with a set personality and backstory?

Blank slate is always great, but if they have a graceful and powerful lady character, I’ll play that too!

A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing

Celeste in ACNH. I actually have a fanfic going trying to build out her character, and might start another one! I love that she’s connected to astronomy, and from the little bits of dialogue we get, she’s a gentle soul. It would be cool to see some DLC involving her in the next game!!

Quick, name the first song from a game that comes to mind

Fortress Boss from Super Mario World. This plays in my head when I'm going through difficult traffic situations lmao

A song that’s sure to hit your nostalgia buttons

Yoshi’s Island from Super Mario World. It plays in my head every time I’m learning how to do a brand new task!

Do you have a backlog and do you keep track of it? If so, how?

Nope! I don’t play enough games these days to really prioritize playing through everything I’ve got (plus most of mine are from childhood and involve skill games that I still struggle with)

A game you’d like to replay that you haven’t

Super Smash Bros. Melee. I need to find my Gamecube games...they are MIA somewhere in my house ;_;

A game you didn’t finish but would like to get back to or restart someday

ACNH at the moment, mostly because I’m really close to 100% complete and I’ve never gotten this close to completing an AC game before.

A game location you really like

Dire Dire Docks in Super Mario 64, PURELY for the music. I literally used the water world theme as one of the songs in my wedding preludes!!

A game you started up for the first time and you knew from the start it was going to be great

Super Mario RPG, for sure. That intro sequence is just ART and epic.

Mario is Missing. The intro sequence flips the usual Mario game on its head!

A boss you think is really cool

Master Hand from Super Smash Bros. series. So different and funny just fighting a giant hand! LOL

A boss that was disappointing

Bowser in Super Mario 64. Once I figured out the gimmick, it became so easy to whoop him that I started playing it and beating his ass each afternoon after school for an ego boost. I guess that’s not necessarily disappointing, but I did master it pretty easily, and I've come to learn I'm not all that good at skill games, LOL.

A game ending that’s really stuck with you

The end of Super Mario RPG, with Geno becoming a little star again and returning back to the Star Road. Definitely cried each time I watched that, because it is a little like his character dies even though you know he's just chillin' on the Star Road and could come back again.

A “Wow” moment of awe

When I first flipped into 3D space on Paper Mario! It really showed what a game could be like, how many Easter eggs could be hidden!

A game with a cool art style

Child of Light. GLORIOUS. I love how the characters’ costumes flow, how soft and beautiful the light is in every scene, the way magic sparkles...it’s just AESTHETIC af.

A game’s art style that had to grow on you

We Love Katamari. Once I realized it was like an acid trip (LOL), I understood, and it became one of my favorite games!

Realism or stylized?

Stylized. Realism can get too gritty and grimdark, as well as getting creepy. (Uncanny valley I guess?)

A game you love the atmosphere of

Paper Mario, especially the different star/fortune telling areas.

Pick a series you like. What was the first game you played for it? Was it a good starting point? Would it still be a good starting point now?

Super Mario--I started with Super Mario World, and it was a pretty good starting point for me, given that the only other versions out there (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels), were a LOT harder. Today, there are a lot of better starting points--Super Mario Galaxy is probably more approachable for today’s audiences, even though I could not make head or tail of that game LMAO.

On average do you have one game or multiple games going?

Multiple (usually 2)

Game you think you’ll finish next?

None of the games I’m playing right now have an “officially finished” state, but I hope to finish out the bugs and recipes on ACNH!

Someone has never played a video game before but is open to trying any genre. What game would you recommend as their first?

I would probably recommend something like We Love Katamari, because the controls are really simple, and there’s no real “loss,” only “winning more” and “winning better.”

Video Game Asks!

Adding my own pool of asks about video games because I always like to talk games and asks are fun. Send numbers, reblog for yourself etc.

Last game you finished

Game(s) you’re currently playing

1-3 games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed

Do you like to get 100% achievements/trophies?

Game(s) coming out that you’re looking forward to

A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to

A series you’ve lost interest in

A series you haven’t played but are interested in trying

A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved

A console and/or handheld you’ve never played but would like to try

Do you prefer ‘blank slate’ main characters you make yourself or otherwise project onto, or characters with a set personality and backstory?

A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing

Quick, name the first song from a game that comes to mind

A song that’s sure to hit your nostalgia buttons

Do you have a backlog and do you keep track of it? If so, how?

A game you’d like to replay that you haven’t

A game you didn’t finish but would like to get back to or restart someday

A game location you really like

A game you started up for the first time and you knew from the start it was going to be great

A boss you think is really cool

A boss that was disappointing

A game ending that’s really stuck with you

A “Wow” moment of awe

A game with a cool art style

A game’s art style that had to grow on you

Realism or stylized?

A game you love the atmosphere of

Pick a series you like. What was the first game you played for it? Was it a good starting point? Would it still be a good starting point now?

On average do you have one game or multiple games going?

Game you think you’ll finish next?

Someone has never played a video game before but is open to trying any genre. What game would you recommend as their first?

#video games #video game asks #asks #my .02

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frostehburr · 3 months ago

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Echoes of Why Nintendo Games Are Difficult to 100% Complete

So I had gotten Echoes of Wisdom and had played it for the past week and I think I managed to 100% it.

I say I think because I went over a check list to get all echoes, side quests, smoothies, automations, stamps, and outfits.

Nintendo game completion is different than the achievement/trophy completion. In order to determine if you 100% a Nintendo game or not; the game either has a type of percentage in a pause menu much like Pikmin, gives you a cosmetic reward much like Mario Odyssey, or nothing and you just keep going until you assume you're done.

For Echoes of Wisdom, there were no rewards or percentages to track my progress so I just kept going until I was sure I was done.

Most of my aim was to fill the empty spaces in the pause menu. So jars from side quests and stamp tickets. Everything else was unlocked through main story progression. The echoes I had to loop around to make sure I got all of them and deal with some very durable enemies. Lynels are a bane no matter which Legend of Zelda game they're in.

Same with side quests. I scoured around each town multiple times to make sure I didn't miss anything. Double checked Dampé's journal to be sure there weren't any more automations. And walked back and fourth on interesting looking parts of the map just in case something was there. Mostly a lot of heart pieces and stamp stones.

I think the prime reason I managed to finish the game so quickly was due to three decades of experience with video games. Of course, there's always those who say Nintendo games are supposed to be easy enough a child could complete it but I know several adults who have extreme difficulty figuring out how to plug a charging cable into a portable charger. Stupidity has no age and neither simple puzzles.

There's also the Tears of the Kingdom esq method to the puzzles in Echoes of Wisdom. That being the "use what you have in whatever way you want" method everyone loves. Whether it's summoning a murder of crows to peck a monster hoard to death or creating a bed staircase, the way you solve each puzzle can change depending on how you process it. Which may go much faster for some people than others.

Like I said, I have three decades of video game experience so my type of thinking is bizarre. I'm not a speed runner but I do know how to abuse a glitch or bug when I see one. Or they're not glitches and are just features the developers didn't notice.

I'm not entirely certain I really did 100% complete Echoes of Wisdom but I can't find any more to do in the game. It is very fun though, so I am more than likely to go back in an complete it again because I enjoyed my time in the game.

#100%#100% complete #opinion not a review #super coin

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maximuswolf · 8 months ago

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I need help with a Skyrim achievement!!!

I need help with a Skyrim achievement!!! Bought the Anniversary Edition for my PS5 because I wanted to platinum the game for the first time. I got all the trophies besides the Oblivion Walkers trophy, which is collect 15 Daedric Atrifacts.I looked up the list and I have all of them besides the Mace of Molag Bal. For some reason my current save file will not spawn Vigilant of Stendarr outside of the abandon house. So I went back to a way earlier save, he showed up, I beat the quest and got the Mace, but still have not gotten the achievement.Am I just SOL? Did I just put 100 hours into this playthrough to get fricked over by 1 trophy? Any help would be greatly appreciated Submitted April 21, 2024 at 11:06AM by gnarlycharlie420 https://ift.tt/omKcX5G via /r/gaming

#reddit

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tmarshconnors · 1 year ago

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100 questions to ask a gamer.

Now a few weeks back I did "100 questions Q&A about me" well I thought why not do a 100 questions to ask a gamer. Since I am a gamer I thought why not? So here we go. Here is part 1

1) What is your favourite video game of all time? Tricky but the first one that comes to mind is Grand Theft Auto Vice City (2002)

2) What is the first video game you ever played? Now that is a tricky one it is either Super Mario 64 (1996) or Tomb Raider (1996)

3) Are you more into single-player or multiplayer games? It all depends on the game but when I was younger it was definitely multiplayer. As I have gotten older it's single player.

4) What gaming platform do you prefer (e.g., PC, console, mobile)? Console.

5) Do you have a favourite gaming genre? If so, what is it? Third person or RPG

6) What is the most challenging game you've ever played? You know I don't know.

7) Have you ever completed a game 100%? Yes.

8) What game do you think has the best storyline? I don't know

9) Are you a competitive gamer or more of a casual player? I am extremely competitive.

10) What is your preferred control scheme (keyboard and mouse, controller, etc.)? Controller

11) Have you ever participated in any gaming tournaments or events? Yes.

12) Do you prefer cooperative or competitive multiplayer games? Competitive.

13) What game(s) are you currently playing? Currently I am playing World of Warships Legends (Xbox Series X), Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo Switch)

14) Have you ever cosplayed as a video game character? No

15) What video game character do you identify with the most? I don't identify with any of them.

16) Have you ever streamed your gameplay on platforms like Twitch or YouTube? Yes

17) Are there any video game franchises you collect merchandise from? None currently but I did collect Assassin Creed busts for a while.

18) Have you ever played a game that made you emotional or cry? First one came to mind was Halo 3 ODST (Xbox 360 2009) Something about the music made me feel a emotional.

19) What is your opinion on DLCs and expansions? They shouldn't be so highly priced.

20) Do you prefer open-world games or linear story-driven games? Depends on the game if you can mix the two then you have got a great game.

21) Have you ever been part of a gaming community or guild? Yes

22) What is your favourite video game soundtrack? Don't have one.

23) Have you ever made your own video game mods or custom content? No.

24) Are you a completionist, trying to collect all achievements or trophies? Use to be not any more.

25) Have you ever attended a gaming convention or expo? No

26) What game do you think has the best graphics? Right now of time of typing this blog. I would have to say Forza Horizon 5

27) Are there any video game genres you don't enjoy playing? First person shooters. I find them boring.

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spencersawkward · 4 years ago

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not to go full fluff central but omg can you write a one shot about matthew hanging out with his kids?? i see him as a girl dad and he would 100% play dress up with them and they would be wrapped around his finger and itd be so sweet it could cause cavities lmao i just want that man to have children so bad

ugh yes i want him to have kids so bad and YES he 100% is a girl dad i definitely agree. this was super interesting to write tbh bc i did it from his perspective but i'm glad i did and i'm glad you asked for it bc we love a saccharine one-shot! also i'm so bad at names for characters i'm sorry lol.

summary: Matthew has a day off with his two daughters!

content warnings: none! literally just fluffy fluff with a side of fluff.

word count: 2.1k

masterlist

when Matthew wakes up to the press of a crayon on his forearm, he nearly startles. his head jerks up to see his daughter, Juniper, trying to draw on him. her hair is neatly braided and the other side of the bed is empty, indicating that his wife has already gotten up.

"good morning, sweetpea." he says to Juniper with a tired smile, wincing when she tries in vain to draw on him. wax on skin doesn't work that way.

"it isn't working, Dad." she pouts. she throws the purple crayon onto the bed and stares at him. she's got dark lashes framing huge, beautiful eyes, and a gap between her front teeth. she pried out the baby tooth a week ago-- seven years old and already determined to take it out herself-- and has been showing it around the house like a trophy.

"maybe we can try with markers after I get up." he suggests. she peers at him with an impatient expression.

"fine." although the word is venomous, she crawls up the bed until she's tucked beneath his arm and he kisses the top of her head. Matthew smiles to himself as he holds her, happy to have the whole day to spend with his kids. he hasn't had a day off in forever.

"should we make breakfast for you and your sister?" he asks cheerfully.

"yes!" she leaps up to stand on the bed, jumps around a little bit on the cushy mattress. "come on!"

"okay, okay," he chuckles, throwing off the covers. "let me brush my teeth first, sweetheart."

"I'm coming with." Juniper is insistent as she follows him. he takes out his toothbrush and toothpaste while she paws through her mother's makeup drawers and skincare. she grabs a bottle of perfume and examines it carefully. "what is this?"

"let's be careful with that." Matthew turns from the mirror, where he can see the rat's nest of hair on his head while he brushes his teeth, and gently puts the glass bottle back on the counter. Juniper crosses her arms.

"what is it?" she repeats. her father finishes up, then lifts her into his arms like she's a sack of potatoes.

"it's your mom's favorite smell." he clarifies. after kissing her little cheek, he walks into the kitchen with Juniper's arms wrapped around his neck. she clings to him like he is everything in the world, and he realizes that this is one of his favorite parts of the day. whenever he holds his daughters, he feels the kind of joy that simply can't be replicated. his heart overflows for them.

"morning, sleepyhead." Y/N looks up from the counter, where she's biting into a piece of toast and talking excitedly to their other child, Autumn. Matthew grins at the sight of her, so beautiful when she's laughing with her daughter.

"morning." he's smitten.

"I have to go in a minute, but I figured you'd be able to handle a day with them?" she comes over to him and kisses his lips, saying the last part softly. Juniper leans her head on her father's chest, staring at her mother with those enormous eyes.

"with these two devils?" Matthew nods to the girls. "of course."

Y/N shakes her head with a laugh and gives each of her daughter's foreheads before grabbing her purse.

"bye, Mama!" Juniper and Autumn say in unison.

"bye, my angels. I love you very much." she smiles warmly, ruffling Autumn's silky curls before touching Matthew's arm tenderly and heading out of the kitchen. he watches her go, waits for the sound of the lock clicking into place, before he looks conspiratorially between the remaining household.

"who wants pancakes?" he smirks. their ensuing squeals are affirmation enough.

...

"Dad, can I show you my ballet tutu?" Autumn surprises Matthew by grabbing onto his leg while he's making pancakes. Juniper is standing on a stool beside him, watching and helping to flip the flapjacks.

"nobody wants to see that, Autumn." Juniper scowls impatiently at her younger sister. Matthew turns to his little one and smiles.

"I would love to see your new tutu, sweetheart." he says. Autumn gives the other girl a triumphant look before running off to her room. when Matthew looks at Juniper, she blushes. "be nicer to your sister, Juni." he says gently.

the little scolded creature crosses her arms over her chest and turns her gaze to the pancakes. she knows she's not supposed to be mean, but sometimes Autumn is just so annoying. Matthew can't even pretend to stay mad for long, however, and offers the spatula to her.

"do you wanna flip it?" he smiles.

"yep!" Juniper quickly slides the utensil under the pancake, her father's hand guiding hers to make sure she doesn't accidentally burn herself. she's a smart girl, but she's inherited his lack of coordination (and his nose). they giggle together at the sound of the batter slapping the pan.

"dad, look!" Autumn tugs on the leg of his pants and he glances down to see her wearing a bright pink tutu over her leggings. his jaw drops open in wonderment, tinged with a smile.

"oh my goodness!" he gasps, hoisting her into his arms and burying his face in her curls. "you look just like a princess!"

she giggles. Matthew turns off the stove for a moment to spin her around in his arms before setting her down again and crouching to look at her. "can we see your dance routine after breakfast?"

Autumn nods shyly. he holds her tiny hand in his and kisses the back of it before standing back up. Juniper waits for him on her stool. they get back to cooking, both girls chatting about anything and everything while their father listens intently.

once they set the plates out on the table, Juniper volunteers to distribute forks and knives, and soon they've got a whole spread of golden brown pancakes, whipped cream, and fruit. they heap their dishes with food. the girls have a tendency to take more than they can actually eat, but that's okay. he loves the look of excitement in their eyes when they drizzle syrup over everything.

"nice job, kiddos." he nods, impressed, like they've made the whole meal themselves. both siblings grin back at him proudly. "let's dig in!"

he's hungry. Matthew cracks a couple jokes while they eat, pokes Autumn's stomach when she gets full halfway through her third pancake, and then both he and Juniper watch her do her ballet routine for them. she spins, twirls, smiles as she finishes the dance by throwing both arms into the air like she's won an Olympic gold medal. in his eyes, she has.

even Juniper is supportive and claps with a smile at her sister's achievement. although she teases and can be a bit too harsh with her younger sibling at times, the truth is that she's proud of her. it's evident in the way they play together in the summer, running around beneath the sun while Matthew and his wife sip on glasses of iced tea.

"brava!" he cheers when she skips back to her seat at the table. "a royal performance!"

"dad, can we have more whipped cream?" Juniper eyes the canister on the table with hungry eyes. he mulls this over for a second, enamored with the fact that she is so clearly his daughter. down to her features and mannerisms, her tendency to crawl onto the couch and watch the scary movies with him that she probably shouldn't be watching at her age. Autumn looks more like her mother, sweet and optimistic. a dreamy expression on her face.

he grabs the canister from the middle of the spread and pops the cap off the top.

"only if you don't tell your mother." he laughs. Juniper shakes her head vehemently like a half promise and opens her mouth as he puts a pile of whipped cream in it. he does it to Autumn next, then himself. they lean back in their chairs, rubbing their bellies with satisfaction.

"yummy." Juniper grins.

"whipped cream is the best topping in the world," Matthew says matter-of-factly, passing down a pearl of knowledge that will stay with them forever. "don't ever let anyone tell you different."

the three of them clean the dishes together, blowing suds all over the room while they listen to Sam Cooke and dance. the house rings with their laughter and the sounds of feet hitting the ground in rhythmic elation, the kitchen their personal concert hall.

if he could only bestow a few life lessons on them, one of them would be the importance of listening to old music.

Matthew wishes that he could spend all his days with them, making breakfast and hearing their crazy ideas. the world is so full and open to them, he sometimes finds himself thinking about how they're going to conquer it. they've got a grittiness to them that they could only get from their mother-- an absolute sureness that stiffens their little spines-- and an imagination that could fill books with stories. he wants to paint for them, do everything for them.

but for today, they head to Autumn's room and play dress-up with the enormous chest of costumes by her bed. should he work on not spoiling her so much? maybe. he doesn't care. she's absolutely adorable when she hauls out princess dresses, doctors' jackets and stethoscopes, other disguises. he thinks she's going to be an actress; she loves to take on different jobs and throw herself into them, walking around the house ordering that her next patient be brought in or for someone to prepare her microscope. her mind is full of ideas.

Juniper pretends to be disinterested in dressing up, but she gives up the act once Autumn hands her a tiara to wear and pours her imaginary tea.

"what flavor is this?" Matthew takes a sip from his miniature cup, fanning his mouth like it's hot. "it's divine."

"it's normal tea, you cuckoo bird." Autumn giggles. she sets the teapot down on the plastic table.

"I'm a cuckoo bird?" he pretends to be offended. "you're a cuckoo bird!"

"no I'm not!" Autumn protests, but Matthew is already wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into his lap. he tickles her sides.

"you're the cuckoo bird!" he repeats through her fits of laughter. she squeals and kicks with joy until he sets her back on her feet.

"your hair is crazy." Juniper scolds. Matthew sighs and runs a hand through the unruly curls. they always tease him about it, and somehow it never gets old.

"probably because this one messed it up with her claws." he pokes Autumn's side and he suppresses a gleeful smile.

"Dad, you need a tiara, too." Juniper points to the empty spot on his head. "Autumn, get him one."

the younger sister looks like she's going to defy her sister's bossy demand, but decides against it and runs off to grab another bejeweled piece to place on her father's head. it's comical, the way the tiny thing sits.

"thank you, sweetpea." he smiles at his youngest, pinching her cheek before glancing between the two of them seriously. "how do I look?"

"silly." Juniper giggles. she straightens it out on his head and he wrinkles his nose.

"hey! boys can wear tiaras, too," he defends with mock attitude. "now, can I have more tea, please? I finished mine already."

"of course." Autumn stands diplomatically and pours him a new cup while they pretend to snack on baked goods. Matthew tells them about the new movie he's directing, dipping into his storyteller voice and wiggling his fingers with every mention of a spooky plot point. the girls sit at rapt attention, hanging on his every word, despite the fact that he's got a miniature tiara on his head.

they adore him, and every second he's there, they revel in it. they love their mother, too, of course. but days with their dad are just... different. he lets them eat whipped cream by themselves and tells them stories, kisses their foreheads and dances in the kitchen with them. they always have fun together, no matter how dreary the day is. and those feelings won't change as they get older; he's their rock, their security. he always will be.

#mgg fluff #matthew gray gubler #fluff

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asleepinawell · 4 years ago

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Been having a lot of Thoughts about the nier series recently and the larger themes of both games and wanted to jot them down and toss them into the void of the internet.

Massive spoilers for nier automata follow, including for ending e. Do not read this if you ever intend to play nier automata. There are spoilers for nier replicant as well, though not for ending e.

One of the biggest themes both nier games tackle is the tragedy of an uncaring universe. Bad things happen to good people, people who think they're good and doing the right thing find out they were actually committing atrocities, the very idea that there's 'good' and 'bad' people is dissected and rejected. At the end of the day, the universe doesn't give a shit about any of us and none of it matters. Enjoy your existential despair!

In nier replicant, the main character starts off as an optimistic young boy who wants to save, not only his sister, but the entire world. After the time skip, nier is a young man whose optimism has (partially) been tarnished and whose goal has narrowed down to just saving his sister. As you move through each route you understand more and more how tragic the world is and how, despite your best intentions, you are only adding to the tragedy of the world. The original 4 endings of nier replicant are all tragic in some way. Ending D has a glimmer of hope in it in the form of nier being able to save kainé at the cost of his own existence, but it's a bittersweet ending and the world is ultimately doomed anyway.

Which brings us to nier automata. Even more so than replicant, automata hammers home the meaningless of everything, the uncaring universe, tragedy both avoidable and unavoidable. The main characters are locked in an endless loop of violence and despair. The worst that could happen, does, again and again. It thrives off the type of tragedy porn I usually hate.

Except....

Except it doesn't. If endings a and b are the opening statement, endings c and d are the facts and body of the essay, but then there's ending e, the concluding paragraph which takes everything we've been told and gives you the chance to draw your own conclusion from it.

Route e starts after you've gotten both ending c and d and is no longer about the characters in the game at all. Route e is about you, the player, and what you believe. It says "we've given you a story of complete despair, we've shown you the universe is unfair and doesn't give a fuck about you, we've shown you things that end in tragedy. despite all of this, do you still believe it's worth fighting for the hope of something better?"

And then it asks you to prove it.

Route e is the ending every fan has asked for when they've said "I'll fight the creators to give my favs a happy ending." Today is your lucky day!

Route e is the ending credits of the game, except that the ending credits have turned into a bullet hell mini game. In fighting the actual credits themselves, you are fighting the game devs. You are saying fuck you I don't believe that everything is pointless. Fighting for better is always worth it. The meaning that we imbue in life is important to us and that matters.

The bullet hell of the end credits starts out fairly simple and gets harder and harder as you go, lasting something like 15 minutes total, which is a brutally long time to be playing something that requires split second timing and 100% of your focus. It's meant to feel insurmountable, just like the challenges the characters in the game faced (the larger plot challenges, not the combat). You will likely die a lot and check points are few and far between.

But there's more to it than that. The first time you die, a prompt comes up:

And then when you die again:

Except now, there’s a message on the screen. A message that appears to be from another player, somewhere in the world.

And again:

(this one really fucked me up, but that’s for a different post).

And then finally:

(thank you user MR-YE-1996)

When you accept the rescue offer, you go back to the bullet hell again, but now you have a wall of other players around your weak little avatar, shielding you from harm. The music, which has been a single vocal track up until now, gains an entire chorus of voices to represent the army of actual players who’ve shown up to save you (and there’s a lot I could say about the use of the (exquisitely good) music in the nier games, and especially about the difference in lyrical themes between ashes of dreams and weight of the world). Every time a bullet hits one of the players surrounding you, there’s a message saying that user’s data has been lost. Users from all over the world are sacrificing themselves to help you. It’s a very nice, heart-warming moment that you still don’t understand the full impact of quite yet.

After you beat the credits, you’re rewarded by a final cutscene. The android protagonists have been reconstructed and will receive a second chance at life. The narration at this point talks about how life exists within the spiral of life and death we are all trapped in. One of the two pods talking points out that even though the androids are being given a second chance at life, there’s a possibility that things will go just as poorly once again. And the other pod agrees, but adds: “However, the possibility of a different future also exists.”

And then the scene ends with this quote: “A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself.”

And this is really the final conclusion of the game. There is no inherent meaning in the universe, so the meaning we give our lives is the most meaningful thing. (And the ‘you’ here isn’t necessarily an individual either. It can be, or it can be humanity as a whole, or even one group). And you, the player, thought that it was worth fighting to give these characters a second chance, and other players out there in the world thought it was worth helping you to do so.

It’s such a wonderfully beautiful piece of meta interpretation posing as a game ending, and also a departure from the final conclusion of previous Yoko Taro games. It feels like a much more mature and nuanced interpretation of the world than the ending of replicant was (I won’t comment on the new ending e of replicant just yet since it didn’t come out that long ago). (Also, for the record, I love nier replicant and the characters in it with my entire heart. This post is not bashing it).

But the game has one more surprise in store for you. After the cutscene ends, you’re given one last choice. The game asks if you have any interest in helping other players the way you were helped. And if you say yes, you’re told that the only way you can do this is to sacrifice all your save data.

I think that sacrifice hits differently for different people. Some people genuinely won’t mind that at all. As someone who probably still has save data from games I played 20 years ago, it felt like a gut punch. To me, save data represents all the time and emotion and energy I’ve put into a game. Games are so deeply important to me in so many ways and have been since my childhood when they were one of the few ways I could escape from a lot of terrible shit going on in my life. (There’s a reason my blog title is what it is). I could talk a lot more about that point, but I’ll leave it by saying that when I saw what the game was asking of me it felt like someone had knocked my legs out from under me.

For more practical players, it also is locking you out of chapter select, the best way to go back and get all the things you missed and grab the achievements/trophies you still need.

The game will point out that you’ll get nothing in return for this (not a lie, there’s no secret reward), that you will likely never know if or who you helped, that you won’t be thanked, that the person you help could be someone you intensely dislike, etc. And with all of this comes the realization that all those people who came to help you in the credits had already done this. Those people whose data was sacrificed to help you get to the final cutscene had already sacrificed their save data to help you.

We’ve now gone from a world where everything is meaningless, to a world where other real actual human beings out there have sacrificed something that represented hours of their time and a varying amount of emotional investment without any hope of reward to help a stranger see a message of hope.

When I was younger, I was more drawn to dark, hopeless stories. Stories about how dark and meaningless the world was. The world was a terrible place then too. 9/11 happened when I was in highschool (an incident that influenced yoko taro’s creation of nier replicant and had a huge impact on me at the time), the pointless wars that happened after and the recession and a million other things seemed to infuse everything with hopelessness. In that world, stories about everything being meaningless and hopeless felt correct. They felt validating. Yes, everything really does suck that much!

That sort of story lost its appeal for me later on. Pointless and horrible things continued to happen, and still continue to happen. The world events of the last few years have been an unnerving reliving of those earlier years, except even worse. The cycles of tragedy are still there with no end in sight. I’m exhausted from all of it. It really does feel hopeless a lot.

But stories that stop at that point no longer appeal to me. Stories like nier automata--stories that say yes, things are terrible, but there’s always hope, you can create your own meaning, it is always worth it to fight for better even if you fail, your life is worthwhile simply for existing--those stories are the ones I think we all need more than anything.

#nier automata #nier automata spoilers #nier spoilers #nier #nier replicant #niermp #mp #sitting around having existential thoughts on a sunday afternoon #as one does #nier meta

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smashy-headcanons · 4 years ago

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Normally I would not ask this here but I posted it to my main and got like one response so

To those who have gotten the secret ending in Origami King,

I have saved all Toads.

I have filled every hole.

I have hit every block.

I have obtained every Collectible Treasure.

Lastly, I have gotten my hands on every trophy..... except one.

All I have left to do before I achieve 100% in this game is to get a perfect score in Shy Guys Finish Last.

My question is this: Will I be able to proceed to the secret ending, only missing out on the sense of achievement I would've gotten by getting that last trophy? Or will I have to spend six hours or so grinding in the godforsaken game show until I get the last trophy?

#I barely made the 100 points I needed for actual story completion #I can't imagine trying to get a perfect score unless I have to #mine #not deleting later bc someone else might want the information too #not a headcanon

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danwhobrowses · 4 years ago

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AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament - Full Review

So as of tonight’s Dynamite the winner of the Eliminator Tournament is in the books, either Nyla Rose or Ryo Mizunami have overcome the other to earn the right to face Hikaru Shida at Revolution on Sunday

But now is time to look at the tournament as a whole and review how well AEW’s latest ambitious Women’s Division Project would/should be received

Warning: There will be immediate spoilers for the Winner under the ‘Keep Reading’, if you do not wish to know the Winner do not read until you have

So when the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Ryo Mizunami came out on top having pinned Nyla Rose for the win, claiming the spot at Revolution and the tournament.

Boy was my prediction wrong eh?

After being given the trophy by Shida however, Aniki refused to let go of the champion, trading and inviting blows from each woman until Shida was able to knock Mizunami down and raise the title aloft.

Was she people’s first choice to win? Probably not Is she an unworthy winner? Absolutely not

Mizunami is extremely experienced, her charisma can reach all ages, she has a genuine love for the wrestling (her sunglasses even have ‘I <3 AEW’ on them), she has aforementioned history with Shida and she went through 2 Fan-Favourites, the legendary Aja Kong and finally the previous Women’s Champion and No.1 Ranked Woman to get here.

And while we are on that topic, to the people who immediately condemned and criticized the tournament when Nyla made the finals: Don’t you get tired of being worked so easily? Honestly we had the exact same thing with the Deadly Draw, people don’t want competitor A (Nyla/Brandi and Allie) to win: so AEW put them in the finals so they root for competitor B (Aniki/Diamante and Iveliesse). Ye of so little faith

I also like to mention that it’s quite nice of Mizunami to be this rewarded by AEW and Shida given how she appeared on their first show at Double or Nothing, I didn’t know it at the time of my bracket rundown but apparently Mizunami was about to retire after DoN, but the crowd and energy of the match inspired her to keep going and push to reach a wider audience - which AEW is now letting her achieve.

Get it out of the way - The Negatives Make no mistake this tournament was great, but it doesn’t mean it was perfect. Of course my earliest criticism was that we could’ve had more, a bittersweet feeling I got when I realised the tournament was nearing its close. While yes it would’ve been nice to see the likes of Big Swole, KiLynn King, Allie, Penelope and perhaps even some debuts/returns, we cannot slight AEW too much for keeping the bracket small.

Time however was a bit of a constraint on AEW’s part. Having revealed late that the winner will face Shida for Revolution, the tournament matches started coming out fast...but on Youtube. Personally, I had no problem with the matches being a sole focus stream on Youtube, but I can also understand why not putting at least the entire American bracket on Dynamite would’ve hurt the tournament. If the tournament had more time I do believe that each match would’ve had a Dynamite showing and not a broken BR Live stream (but please note that BR Live were the problem there, not AEW).

A non-AEW criticism as well for Injury screwing over Anna Jay right as she was about to have her match, extremely rude of the world and we hope her shoulder heals up faster than usual.

The final criticism is probably with the BR Live US Bracket Finals video, simply put it was lacking compared to other streams. Madi vs Leva and Leyla vs Alize didn’t shine as much as Riho vs Rosa and the 6 Woman Joshi tag did in the prior stream, we could’ve probably gotten better matches out of that.

Why I loved it - The Positives I will look at anyone who says that this tournament was a waste and meaningless dead in the eye and tell them they are wrong, and they will be shocked to find that I am not lying.

The tournament not only put a lot of attention on the competing women but became a platform for AEW to show that they have some impressive women on their roster. The returns of Yuka, Emi and Riho paired with the stalwart performances of Baker, Rosa and Nyla as well as the bright showings of Madi, Anna, Tay Conti and Leyla shows that AEW still have a really good Women’s Division - I mean I love WWE but you have to admit their NXT women’s division bought many of their stars ready-made; Io, Toni, KLR, Meiko and Candice were already established names before WWE. Stack that on top of impressive performances by Red Velvet and Jade Cargill last night and the ranks of Big Swole, Allie, Penelope Ford, Kris Statlander, Shanna, KiLynn King and Tesha Price and you still have a strong division.

The tournament proved its worth also by the fact that there was not a single bad match on there, we had some bangers on each stage ranging from Yuka vs Emi, Rosa vs Riho, Nyla vs Baker and Leyla vs Rosa, among several others. The tournament succeeded in giving us great wrestling even with different formats of face vs face, heel vs heel, speed vs power, technique vs power, and even some new shades to the women such as heel Sakura and face Nyla.

I cannot praise the tournament without heaping a ton of praise on the Joshi. Shida and Kenny had always been adamant to show that the Joshi can be a revelation to Western audiences and they were paid in kind in that regard. All six Joshi brought out their A-Game to the point where several are asking for them to be signed, Sakura’s heel ‘Killer Queens’ faction rose interest with a fantastic entrance, while VENY dazzled with their gymnastic talent (and their wearing of the late Hana Kimura’s kimono), Mei Suruga and Yuka Sakazaki lit up the room with their speed and fun and Maki Itoh continues to be adored by the wider world into megastardom. The six woman tag as well was a nice cherry on the top to once again showcase the women, including Rin Kadokura who was fed to Aja Kong in the tournament, every bit of energy and charisma from the Joshi landed on the mark, it has opened several new fans to their home brands (TJPW however did kinda give away that Yuka wouldn’t win given how she was booked for one of their shows, but they’re still great) and have us gasping for more of those six and perhaps some extra, Miyu Yamashita for instance? Think about it TK

One thing that can really harm a tournament too is predictability, which this tournament did not have. You have to commend the balls of AEW to set up 5 fan favourite choices to win and have them each be felled and swerve the entire fanbase. It was for the most part good swerves as well, leading up to the Nyla work included, and actually made me feel like this tournament had big stakes for each member. People will criticize its unpredictability but I won’t be one of them, just because it didn’t go how you personally predicted it doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Also a stand out yes for Rosa’s several gear, especially the Selena one against Riho, and Hikaru Shida herself slaying it in the white suit, like lord almighty thank you for this food.

Was it worth it? - Conclusion This is an emphatic yes for me. AEW will always have its critics, fair and unfair, but if you have to wonder whether this tournament is a success you have to simply look at it this way

Were you entertained?

For me yes, there was a 100% consistency in good to great matches in this tournament paired with genuine surprises that got people talking and invested in the tournament itself.

Did it give you something fresh?

A dark horse winner who earned her way to face Shida for the 5th career time and 1st time in an AEW ring through outwrestling, outpowering and outwitting their previous opponents, unique heel/face changes and a showcase of new wrestlers and matchups? I’d say that’s a yes

Did anyone get over?

You ask anyone before this tournament was announced who Ryo Mizunami, Maki Itoh, VENY or Mei Suruga was and you’d likely get blank faces, thanks to AEW they are known and commended by several fans outside of Japan. You ask people if Tay Conti can bring a physical match to Nyla and almost win and you’d get a few murmurs, if you asked people if they though Kenny was valid for his push to bring the Joshi into a wider audience prior to this may’ve said no. Those minds were changed because these women got over. In addition to that the popularity of Thunder Rosa, Riho and Yuka Sakazaki has continued to rise as some of AEW’s top babyfaces, Leyla Hirsch, Emi Sakura and Tay Conti’s stock have rose thanks to the tournament and Nyla and Baker have delivered on strong match performances.

When you consider those three, there is no way you could call the tournament a failure or a waste, people benefitted from it in a good way which means it was a good tournament.

I for one will look forward to seeing Shida take on Aniki and see how it unfolds at Revolution - which I hope to do a review for, I’m also guessing that Paul Wight’s aquisition is either Christian or Okada. Many will of course assume that this is an easy retain for Shida (and act like winning the tournament means you should win the following match as if people don’t win the Royal Rumble/MITB/KOTR/Dusty Classic and lose in their title shot), but how many of those people thought that Itoh, Kong, Yuka and Nyla would beat Mizunami? She keeps on extending the party and coming out on top, you cannot underestimate the tournament winner, Shida produced this tournament, she’s picked her winner now she needs to fight them.

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