#2023 dev camp

[crosbyism]

okay this might be a helluva ask but i literally somehow don't know about any of the cursed hockey player sex knowledge????? i would very much appreciate elaboration on all of them, or if that's too much, you pick the Big Ones new people should know about pls pls?

wow, it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t at least heard about steers and queers! let me help you out.

so i’ve been answering questions about a fair amount of the chart’s contents over the past twelve hours, so i’ll cover here what i haven’t answered an ask about yet

—tsegs steers and queers. possibly the most iconic hockey tweet of all time. at the time it was interpreted as a homophobic thing but a couple years later the common consensus was that tyler seguin tried to come out and the whole thing failed hard. hilariously, he was used as an example of what not to tweet at the jets dev camp a couple years later.

— jabenn bunchmox gate. Jamie Benn doesn’t eat pussy. he got made fun of for it, deservedly so, even by brazzers, the porn site.

—ladeskog bachelor party foreheard dildo. the bottom left gif. that was at an airport on the way, too, iirc.

—speaking of unicorns, here’s a bonus for you: jack eichel unicorn princess.

—zdeno chara bondage bed. zdeno chara is the now-retired former captain of the boston bruins before patrice bergeron got the C. He was pretty famous for having one of the few nhl exemptions for stick length, mostly because he was absolutely enormous. must’ve been a custom bed for the height alone, and, well, i guess for other things too.

—hallsy gucci4anal. this was when he was a sophomore on the edmonton oilers when they were bad, pre-mcdavid. so before he was much good, and mostly when he was being goofy on twitter. bonus: breeding material 💪

—canonical big dick henrik lundqvist. this is from sean avery’s autobiography, who played in the nhl for 12 years on multiple teams (and with a lot of big names!) and was known for being a pretty big shit stirrer. he has a rule named after him, and originated the concept of goalie interference, more or less. henrik lundqvist is now known mostly for being a pundit, but before he retired him and carey pricey traded off for the title of “best goalie in the league” for like a decade.

—possibly canonical big dick jaromir jagr.

—captain spreadsheet. so deuxmoi is this celeb gossip site that has blind items every now and again. normal shit. the thing is that (for the usual gossip site standards) they’re known to have pretty accurate sources and their info is usually good. about as credible as that kind of thing can be. so sometime i wanna say in like… summer of 2023? they got this blind item that they posted on insta. this screenshot wasn’t the whole thing; there was a couple others that mentioned the time frame and a couple of other details. in the end, there was a lot of speculation and jokes about it. there was never an official consensus about who it was, but i know a lot of people believe it was jonathan toews.

[delilaahh9]

Baby Shark 🦈

(Intro)

June 28th, 2024

“Emily” The brunette heard behind her, she turned from her bestfriend and looked to her father standing with a young boy.

“I want to introduce you to Macklin, he’s gonna live with us next season” he says and she smiles at him.

“Nice to meet you Macklin, congrats on the draft”

“Thank you”

“You two talk for a minute, Emily I’m gonna go get my keys” he says to the girl, patting her on the shoulder as he walks away.

“has he been talking your ear off all night?” She asks Macklin when Joe is out of ear shot.

“Not all night” he chuckles

“well, when you get to know him you’ll find out he likes to talk”

“I hope so, might ease up my nerves a bit, I don’t want to overstep on your family stuff by living with you guys”

“You won’t overstep at all, don’t be nervous, well, maybe when you meet river, I’m pretty sure he’s gonna be in the WWE, kid doesn’t stop fighting”

“how old are your siblings?” He asks.

“Ayla is almost 13 and River just turned 11. They are pretty chill, river also might ask you 1000 questions”

“That’s alright, do you guys also play hockey?”

“I did, until junior year, but I had quit because of an injury, Ayla plays for her middle school and rivers on like.. 3 teams- can I introduce you to someone” she gasp with a smile.

“Go for it”

“Marlee!” She calls to someone behind Macklin, soon a blonde appears next to her.

“Macklin, this is Marlee my other half, Marlee this is Macklin, the rookie”

“Nice to meet you Macklin” she smiles and he seems very interested in her eyes. “Nice to meet you”

“Are you staying with us for dev camp? or in a hotel”

“Hotel, me and smitty are roommates

“Smitty?” Marlee asks.

“Will smith” he says, she turns to Emily with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t he an actor?” She whispers making both the brunettes laugh.

“No babes, he got drafted last year, the cute blonde, goes to BC” Emily smiles, not even realizing how she described him.

“ohhh him- gotcha- so Macklin didn’t you go to Boston U”

“I did..” Emily zoned out for the rest of that conversation, remembering the blonde she met a year ago, would be returning in just a few months, weeks even.

June 28th, 2023

8:34 pm

“Dad, mom wants to know what time are… I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt” she trails off when she realizes her dad was talking with the kid who just got drafted.

“No you weren’t interrupting, I actually wanted to introduce you two, since you’re the same age. Will, this is my daughter Emily, Emily, this is Will”

“Nice to meet you” he smiles.

“tell your mom we land back in San Jose at 8 am.”

She thumbs up and walks away with her phone ready to type.

“Emily, em?” Marlee says to the brunette, snapping her attention. “Sorry what” she noticed Macklin disappeared.

“You were clocked out for like 10 minutes, Macklin went home and your dad is waiting for us, let’s go”

The cute blonde is coming back

[luke-hughes43]

hughes little sister and went second in the 2023 draft and maybe just her brothers realizing how much their sister has grown up and it’s not the little girl who use to hide in their beds when she was scared or would cling to them when they had to leave

oh yes!

she ends up at the ducks with trev (which scares luke and quinn and excites jack) and the boys are so happy for her.

after her draft party, the 4 of them end up in the same room, all semi drunk/tipsy, and cuddling on the same bed like they did when they were kids.

they all just have one big pile of each other and just reminise on their childhood and how much fun they had together. jack says, "remember when quinn ripped off my braces and y/n, you clung to me for days and refused to talk to quinn for like a week."

"i remember. and i remember me and luke always being paired up during mini sticks so you two could beat on us. it's why i became a forward. to be better than you jacky."

"how'd that work out 2nd overall?"

"pretty damn good. we all know it won't matter until games start. as long as my rookie year goes better than yours, i'll call it a win." y/n snides back at jack jokingly.

quinn and luke laugh while jack pouts. luke pulls y/n as close to him as he can. those two were inseperable growing up, being the youngest. luke says quietly to no one in particular, "this is the last time we're gonna be in the same room until next summer."

"no it's not. we have the rest of this trip and the rest of the summer."

"y/n you have dev camp in a few weeks so you'll be gone. i'm going to see dylan and a few of the guys for a few days beofre dad starts training. jack is going to new york to see trev. and quinn is going god knows where. we all have plans for the rest of the summer. and you guys won't be in new york/new jeresy at the same time, ever."

"i guess your right luke." quinn says.

there's a silence over the room that gets broken by y/n, "i'm gonna miss you guys. i wouldn't have gotten where i am and i don't know what i'm gonna do without you guys."

"we're gonna miss you too y/n."

"at least you'll have trevor in anahiema and quinn isn't that fair away and you'll see him 4 times next season." jack says trying to look at the bright side. y/n scoffs, "because having trevor around is supposed to make me feel better? i'll end up babysitting him."

"yea she has a point jacky." quinns says. luke stays quiet not wanting to think about losing his baby sister to the nhl. jack and quinn are the first pass out but y/n and luke can tell that they are both still awake. y/n can also tell that luke is lost in his thoughts.

"penny for your thoughts lukey?"

"i'm not ready to lose you yet. not to the likes of zegras anyways."

"you're not gonna lose me. especially not to trevor. luke, i'm your little sister, i'm always gonna be the biggest thorn in your side and your best friend at the same time. besides, who else am i gonna go to when there's a big spider in my room or who's bed am i gonna hide in during thunderstorms or who's gonna be my first call after my first game? it's gonna be you moose, my big brother who basically my twin. i'm not going anywhere."

"you're going to anahiem."

"i know. but this was the dream luke. we're finally living it. this is a good thing, i know it's sad in the moment but this is a good thing. we're finally living the dream that we've talked about for i don't know how long. we're always gonna have each other and we'll never really lose each other either."

"i know. i just hard seeing you grow up."

"i know. have i told you what number i want in anahiem?"

"no." he shakes shaking his head. she responds softly, "43."

"really?"

"yea. after my big brother, twin flame, and partner in crime."

there's no words said after that. both of them letting their exhaustion consume them. later on that night/early the next morning, ellen pops her head in to check on her kids and see them all cuddling in one bed like the used to when they were little. she snaps a few pictures before leaving them be.

she shows the pictures to jim and gishes about how her babies are all grown up now. jim just says softly, "we did good honey. we did real good. the rest is up to them."

once all the kids wake up, they decide to spend that day as a family and deal with their friends and thte media later. today was about the family and they loved the idea of that.

[royalsunshinehotel]

social media preference (dev patel)

Anwar Kharral (Skins UK): Anwar is the only one on this list active on TikTok. He's not an uncomfortable teen anymore - he's being cringe on main and setting trends. I bet he's got 90K followers at least! He uses Threads and Instagram to back up his TikTok, not much else.

Sonny Kapoor (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 1&2): For the benefit of the hotel, Sonny is active on Reels to promote the corporate 'brand'. He likes the chance to be creative, and the 'Board' likes the chance to show off the handsome CEO.

Neal Sampat (Newsroom): Neal is an OG Tumblr user, who joined the site as early as 2008. As demonstrated on the show, Neal is adept at using Twitter to cross-reference and fact-check various sources, I do think he'd be a prolific shitposter on a side account, rivaling our king @dril.

Deon Wilson (Chappie 2015): Deon is self-explanatory. he likes to support the indie social media sites that sprung up in the wake of the Fall of Twitter. He's a fan of SpaceHey because he went to Computer Camp with the engineer who started it (it's based out of Germany), which he's always wanted to visit!

Sheru “Saroo” Bierley (Lion 2016): I find it harder to deny with each passing day that Saroo Brierly isn't an Instagram thot. Look at @brockohurn on IG and tell me that they don't have the same respectful bro energy. I think Saroo likes the chance to use all the photos in his camera roll, and I think the MILFs of Instagram are grateful for the content.

Jay Menha (The Wedding Guest, 2019): The closest Jay gets to social media is the Polaroids he likes to stick up on the wall of your shared room. Sometimes, if he's having a bad time, he likes to sit in his beanbag and look at the wall. He only gets a ghost Facebook account to keep up with relatives- nothing ever is posted, ever.

David Copperfield (The Personal History of David Copperfield, 2020): I think David would do numbers on Medium.com because he can write self-prompted think-pieces that no one ever asked about, AND get paid for them! He's writing analyses of "Jeyton vs Brucas vs Leyton: One Tree Hill", and he's actually making money. It would be magic to him!

Joshua Madika (Modern Love, 2019): Joshua's social media is all on Tinder. He's perfected his profile, and he likes talking to people. It's all genuine and zero malice. Who wants to be alone with their thoughts?

Sir Gawain (The Green Knight, 2021): I once read a post about Edward Cullen texting that read, "just saw a snail . . . effervescent," and I think that's as close as Gawain should get to the internet. It's just like shitposting, but it's all for you.

Dr. ZZ Chatterjee (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, 2023): ZZ keeps his drama on Facebook. He's definitely showing up in comments to defend someone's mutual friend from accusations of bias when she broke up with her tiny boyfriend because she was having neck problems*. With a doctor on her side, she didn't have to post X-rays of her neck! ZZ will be beefing!

The Kid (Monkey Man, 2024): "Ted, the movie hasn't even come out yet! How can you say The Kid is a Pinterest girlie?" It's all pretty pictures with an indefinite scroll. I also bet he's a big fan of putting things in categories (see also: skittles). We'll see who's right.

*true story circa 2018 on my Facebook page.

[hypnotisedfireflies]

I miss Lachie! I specifically miss Tess and Lachie, their family friendship warms my heart every time. Would you perhaps consider giving us a snippet of the two of them? Perhaps a late night conversation while they’re camping out on their way towards Jackson? (I’m desperate to hear anything more about their road trip)

(Also will Lachie make any appearances in IO???)

Hi anon! Thank you for your ask (and giving me the chance to pop back into Driftersverse!)

I don't think Lachie will be appearing in IO. I tend to keep the OCs to their respective universes, DD/SQ, IO, Charro, etc. But who knows??

Hope you like this little ficlet. It's set during the events of TLOU while Ellie and Joel are off Ellieing and Joeling and Tess is making the trip across country with Lachie. This is as they begin to reconnect after the Firefly crew has perished, and Lachie is experiencing the earliest trouble with his lungs that later leads to something worse.

Autumn, 2023 Wisconsin.

In Little Hope, Wisconsin, Lachie did something that he hadn’t done in years.

Dear Mum, Dad and Col.

Lachlan Maynard had penned letters on scraps of paper up and down the USA and posted them in every undamaged mailbox he could find.  He was very careful to address them neatly and correctly.  If everything got back on track – one day, eventually – those letters might make their way home.  Somebody had to empty the mailboxes eventually, right?  And when that happened – if, if that happened – then Lachie wanted that chance of some small piece of him finding his way home, even if he was long-dead and nobody remembered his name anymore.

Some time ago – when exactly, who knew – Lachie had stopped.  The hope that those letters might one day find their way across the ocean had not dwindled (however increasingly unlikely it seemed) but there were fewer things to say.  Sometimes, he didn’t really want his family to know what he’d done.  It was increasingly difficult to explain or justify the confusing nature of the Firefly cause, which sometimes seemed so righteous and other times seemed like a poorly organised terrorist chapter. 

There just wasn’t much he wanted to write home about anymore.

But on this bright, golden autumn day in Little Hope, Lachie felt the urge tickling his fingers once again.  He dug around until he found a pencil.  Lachie sharpened it carefully with his smallest knife and lifted the shavings to his nose.  He breathed them in.  Fresh, new pencils!  His cousin, Shannon, had a box of Derwents that she only used for special occasions.  Nobody else was allowed to use them, but sometimes Lachie liked to lift up the tin lid and have a good, long sniff. 

I am in Wisconsin, he wrote.

“Lachlan.”

He looked up.  He was sitting on the bonnet of the truck to soak up the sunshine.  Tess only called him by his full name when she really wanted his attention.  He looked right and saw her standing against the vibrant backdrop of autumn leaves.  Many were still doggedly clinging to their branches like they could outlast winter.  Lachie could feel its cold, deadly little talons digging deeper into every day.  It made him cough in the mornings.

“Everything okay?”  Lachie pined the paper to his thigh with the side of his hand.  The wind buffeted up a little whirlwind of dry, crackling leaves.

“Your … friend,” she said with as much tact as he could expect, “has a much warmer jacket than mine.  I’m gonna take it.  I just wanted to … tell you before I did it.”

“Oh.”

Lachie glanced at the low ditch on the side of the road where Toni lay.   She’d fallen and suffered a terrible gash to her leg the day before, and had died in the back of the truck during the night.  Catastrophic blood loss.  Lachie used to think Toni was all right, but Toni hadn’t liked Tess, and Toni had made it clear – loudly and often – that Tess would be easier to transport with her vitals preserved in jars.  Dev (before he got himself ripped up by two clickers) told Lachie Toni’s prejudice was rooted in fear, and she was convinced Tess would turn eventually.  Some of the others were, too.   Toni also wanted Tess on reduced rations, and she wanted her restrained at all times. 

Tess gained her full freedom when the numbers of their team dwindled so pitifully that they desperately needed the extra, free hands.  Toni mouthed off only once more after that.  Tess decked her with two hard, savage hits, breaking the other woman’s nose.  The others just looked on – Toni had said some shit, after all.  And Lachie grinned as he gathered up some supplies to treat the injury.  He suddenly felt just that little bit safer.

Tess never had held back.

“I’ll help you,” he suggested.

Lachie jammed the paper in his pocket and pencil behind his ear.  He followed Tess to the ditch and helped skin the thick, fleece-lined jacket down Toni’s arms. 

“You want her boots?”

Tess considered it.  “No, they’re too small for me.”

“Let’s take her jumper too, just in case.”

“Jumper,” Tess repeated, grinning at him.

“You know what I mean.”

“What happened to your accent?”

“It has its moments.”

They completed the grisly task of stripping Toni for the last of her worth and then covered her body with leaves.  The ground wasn’t too hard yet.  They could bury her.  But Lachie didn’t see the point in going to that effort.  They needed to conserve their calories.  And Little Hope was a nice enough place in the world to become bird food.  Toni could do worse.

“Guess that makes you two even for the hard time she gave you.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Tess muttered, shedding her own jacket and dressing in Toni’s.  She emptied the pockets of meaningless trinkets, then turned up the collar.  “Thanks for making that easy.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“I know she was your friend so … I’m sorry.”

Lachie squinted as another squall twisted a pile of leaves up into a new dance.  “It doesn’t matter.”

The breeze lifted Tess’s hair.   She had long, silver strands throughout now.  It was still kind of hard for Lachie to believe she was really standing there, really alive.  He’d never had any doubt that she’d made it through the years – if anyone could, it was her – but the fact that their paths had crossed again was a miracle he couldn’t overlook.  It was almost more incredible than her surviving becoming infected, for fuck’s sake.

“We should make camp,” Lachie suggested.  “I reckon we’ve come far enough today.”

Tess was scanning the handful of crumbling old buildings.  This must have been a charming little town, once.  There was next to nothing here, but it had a postcard-selling vibe. 

“You feel up to trying a building or two?”

“Sure.” Lachie shrugged.  “What are we looking for?”

“I want to get you out of the cold, for starters,” Tess said, already pulling out her handgun and checking the load.  “The coughing in the morning’s getting worse.”

“Nah, that’s just – yeah, nah, that’s nothing,” Lachie tried to wave it off.  “That’s just – I had asthma kind of bad when I was a kid and sometimes it acts up a bit, that’s all.”

“Well, the cold can’t be helping.  Let’s find something with a bit more shelter tonight, okay?”

He was kind of stoked that she gave a shit.  Tess had looked out for him when they were in Indy, too.  He was definitely just an afterthought behind Joel and Tommy and Rachel, but the fact that she’d given a damn at all had meant something to him then, and it still did now.  And well – hey.  It was probably just strategy on her part.  Two of them stood a better chance of making it cross country than one alone.  But then she met his gaze and he recognised a softness entirely separate to survival. 

“Okay?” 

Lachie nodded.  “Yeah, okay.”

“Let’s try that one first.”

“You’re the boss.”

Tess, who had already turned away, stiffened.  Lachie looked on ahead.  Had she seen something?  And then Tess snapped the cartridge into place and plowed on ahead to the building.

“Come on, move.”

The town had been abandoned by living, dead and infected for a very, very long time.  The general store had been turned over of absolutely everything of value and there was a single, crumpled human who had perished at some phase of infection.  They were almost skeletal, their body and ragged clothing ruptured by powdery, dry fungal plates. 

At the back of the general store was a room claimed by the sky.  Half the roof was missing.  Tess and Lachie built their fire here, where the smoke could pour up into the air, and the walls around them would provide some warmth against the coming night.  Lachie pulled out two FEDRA-issued dinner ration packs.  The grade was excellent.

“Do you want Butter Chicken or Beef Ragu?”

“Have we got any of the Chicken Italiano left?”

“Nope.”

“Ragu, then.”

They prepared the meal packets in boiling water and ate inside their sleeping bags on two sides of the fire.  Tess had been right.  He felt warmer with the wall against his back, and there was no wind in the old structure, save that which whistled through the cracks.

“You know what really pisses me off about these?”  Tess said, poking around her bag with a fork.

“That they’re better than what ration cards could buy?”

“Yes,” she answered, sounding mildly annoyed that he guessed right. “The shit we used to eat in Boston sometimes, you know?  We knew what they were feeding the soldiers was better than what we got, but this is something else.”

Always we.  We did this, we did that.  Tess couldn’t name Joel, but he was always moving in and out of the conversation. 

“Fireflies didn’t have this stuff most of the time either,” Lachie admitted.  “Think we were eating better than most civilians though, if you were stationed outside the zones, that is.”

“Like you were.”

“Yeah, like I was.  Funny when you think we were only a few miles apart for years.”

Tess didn't respond.

“Anyway,” Lachie continued.  “Fireflies were raiding stuff all the time, but when they got their hands on premium rations like these, they stockpiled them for the big ticket events.”

“Like a cross-country trek?”

“Yeah. Build up the strength, that sort of thing. Speaking of.  We should reach that Firefly supply cache tomorrow, all things going well.”

“White Earth Reservation?”

“Yeah?” Lachie shot her a suspicious glance. “How'd you know that?”

“I've been listening. My ears weren't handcuffed.”

“This is gonna be awkward for awhile, isn't it?”

“Till the day you die, Lachlan.”

He coughed softly and set his meal aside. They'd argued about this many times already:  he'd plead his sorry case and she'd stonily stared him down.

“White Earth Reservation,” he confirmed, pulling out a map.  He held it up to Tess and followed a general route along the top of the country with his finger.  “So we’re … like … hereabouts.  We come up north into Minnesota – avoid Minneapolis, I’ve heard shit from there that’d make your hair curl – and come at the Reservation this way.”

Tess was studying the map with great interest, so he passed it into her custody. “Is anyone stationed there?”

“Supposed to have been deserted for a few years. Unless they sent someone up there from the east, I dunno. Seems unlikely, though. So yeah, nah. We'll scoop in and grab the gear, then go down through the Dakotas.”

“To Salt Lake City?”

Lachie held his breath while he calculated his answer. He sighed and picked up his chicken. That had been the original mission. Evacuate Massachusetts, empty the final Firefly caches cross country and regroup with the dwindling remnants of the cause out west. Deliver the subject - Tess - to Salt Lake City for further study.

There was nothing in that mandate about locating Tommy Miller out in whoop-whoop Wyoming or reuniting the subject with her spiritual husband.

“Maybe after,” Lachie mumbled around a mouthful of rations. “See if that dickhead Tommo’s all right first, maybe.”

“How… how was he last time you saw him?”

“I didn't know there was a problem till he fucked off without saying goodbye. I knew he wasn't happy but … shit, is anybody? You really think he's in trouble?”

“Maybe.”

“This trip was really for Joel, huh? He needed to know what was what.”

“It was for us both,” Tess quietly answered. “I don't know if we ever meant to stay so long.”

“In Boston?”

“We had an apartment,” she continued, eyes on the fire. “Living every day in a fucked up dollhouse for thirteen years.”

“A lifetime.”

“A parody.”

“Why didn't you leave?”

“Go where?”

“I dunno. Tommo said you'd come from some place up in the mountains. South? Could've gone back, tried for it. If anyone could've made it, it was you two.”

Tess shook her head slightly. “Bit past happy endings by then, Lachie.”

“Well,” he finished his meal. “Guess it's a good thing it's now. Hey Tess? Can do shitloads with now.”

“You're still painfully optimistic.”

He laughed a little. Sure. It was easy to have hope in and for other people. The heat was off.

He waited until Tess was asleep before digging out his letter again. He deliberated over the cordial lines and wondered what he could add. So deep in concentration was he that the bottom of the page caught on an ember and smoked. He swore softly and smothered both flame and another coughing fit.

Going to Yellowstone.

He didn't write any more until the following morning. Tess helped him sit up as a more aggressive spate of coughs woke him.

“This is asthma?” She asked, passing a flask of water.

“Woodsmoke doesn't do me any favours,” he managed, rubbing his watery eyes.

Tess didn't seem convinced. She did most of the packing up and loading while Lachie got himself together.

“I'll drive,” Tess announced.

“Yeah, no worries.”

“You ready?”

“Yeah, just give me a sec.”

Lachie looked down at his measly letter. He glanced at Tess, who was circling the truck and checking the tyres.

Catching up with some old mates.

He pushed the letter into a mailbox as Tess turned the ignition over.

[allthespoons]

do you think they used to do that with will too? i'd say if that had been will, he would go in the middle right on the crack of the beds and leno would not be so on the verge, all burried in smitty's neck and gabe's there.

quentin musty and will roommates at sharks dev camp in summer 2023 (musty made him do a megabed) -> will saying that his sleepover thing was something he did “last year” in college (will made every single BC eagle do a megabed) -> gabe, leno, and hagens grudgingly checking their phones in a megabed together. this is quentin musty’s handiwork… my megabed king…

[krakenshipwreck]

stucky cup 2024

well, they went from a 3x3 tournament at the first ever kraken dev camp in 2023 to 4x4 last year and i guess this year we finally have enough prospects to play 5x5. i was initially a bit disappointed because it's so much harder to notice individual details when there's 10 goddamned players on the ice, but i came around pretty quick. it was nice to see them play their actual positions, and also very interesting to see how they do in 5x5 traffic.

ty nelson skates very low to the ice and he's like a wrecking ball going straight through everybody. honestly can't tell if that's because he's physically able to force his way through traffic or if it's because everyone else kind of gets out of his way because they Do Not Want this dense pit bull bod barrelling into them.

berkly catton is completely the opposite style but just as effective, he just slides right by people into the zone. it's also extremely fun to watch him slip passes through impossible seams. the nelson/catton/firkus combo was pretty unstoppable. you can really tell when ty's on the ice, he makes the forwards look so much better.

julius miettinen had the most dominant faceoff win of the day, maybe he's not the most skilled but the size and strength matter. it was fun to watch him and my guy VIKING GUSTAFFSON get into it. lleyton roed also had a very nice end to end goal.

i was right about visa vedenpaa: team nelson scored 5 goals on the first period goalie but only once on him.

it was really cool for them to announce the contract signings, but i have some other gripes about in-game production. if they could give us a goal horn and kraken sound effects for the pride tournament, i don't understand why they couldn't today. the announcer also kept mispronouncing jagger firkus's name as "yaeger." ty nelson's acceptance of the stucky cup this year was also way boring compared to his outstanding showmanship last year. no trophy hoist, no victory lap, no fun. also why bother to name 3 stars if you're not going to have them yeet fish?

berkly catton lingered on the ice after everything was over, doing tight turns. that is a personality trait i always like in a hockey player. he and caden price are clearly saskatoon buddies and i love that for them and for us.

[three-headed-monster]

shane wright at dev camp 2023

[lovebirdgames]

Happy 2024, Bandits!!! I hope the new year is treating you well thus far and that the winter doldrums aren't hitting you too hard.

It feels so weird to have passed 2023 because we were anticipating it for so long. And it was truly a great year, which I’m really grateful for, especially after such a hard 2022. It was an awesome year for video games in general!! So many great ones came out! Perfect timing for our break from game development. But I’ll be excited to get back to it this year. May 2024 be a great year for all of us!

To start: In case you missed it, the BCB OST is available for purchase on Steam, Itchio, and Bandcamp! I'm jamming out to Suicide Mission as I write this post.

Next, we are proud to announce that Band Camp Boyfriend has been accepted into the Storyteller's Festival for the second year in a row! This festival highlights video games with a strong and memorable narrative so be sure to check out any deals or livestreams happening. Speaking of which...

THE FINAL BOSS APPROACHES!

We hope you'll join us for our own Developer Livestream happening Monday, January 29th & Friday, February 2nd at 7pm EST on our Steam page! Three guesses as to which route we'll be streaming. Come hang out with the devs, make in-game choices, ask questions, or simply bask in the presence of the One True Himbo: Doug.

Now that the soundtrack is released, our next step is the digital art book. We are not graphic artists so don't expect anything too fancy, but we'll still make it special. <3 Here's a little preview of what I worked on this past week: expression charts!

We're aiming to release that around the time of our 1st anniversary!

Hope to see ya'll at the stream! Stay warm!

[delilaahh9]

This Love - Will Smith

☁️ Will Smith and Emily Thornton ☁️

“Do you believe in love?” “Yeah, Because of you”

Their Pinterest!

summary : Emily Thornton lives and breathes hockey, her father being Joe Thornton and all, she’s lived in California her whole life, loving the beach and sun, but all the sudden, a boy from the east coast arrives in San Jose to play hockey.

She never intended to fall for him, but it’s hard when he’s in her house a lot.

series Masterlist

Meet Emily!

Nicknames: Em, EJ, Emmy

Born July 7th, 2005

She’s studying sports physiology at San Jose State University, so she lives it home.

She was able to start university a year early, due to an exchange program.

Freshman year she was able to study at the university of Michigan, where she also did an internship with the hockey team.

She loves Gracie Abrams and Lizzie McAlpine.

She has 1 younger sister (Ayla) and 1 younger brother (River)

Closest Friends: Marlee, Logan, Reagan

Meet Will!

Nicknames: smitty, William, Willy

Born March 17th, 2005

He attended Boston college for freshman year.

Was on the U20- World Juniors Team 2023-2024 which they came in 2nd place.

Very into country music but he has a soft spot for Adele

He has an older sister (Grace)

Closest Friends: Ryan, Gabe

Will + Em

They are very in between coded.

Favourite thing to do together is either nap with many blankets, or fast food dates.

Timeline

June 2024

- after the draft, Joe introduces Emily to Macklin Celebrini, who will be living with them this season.

August 2024

- Macklin visits San Jose for dev camp and gets close with Will

- Emily and Macklin also hang out a little bit with her siblings since they are going to be living together.

- Macklin also introduces Will to Emily

October 2024

- Macklin, Will and Emily spend more and more time together

- Mack and Emily have gotten close, almost forming a sibling-type relationship

November 2024

- will definitely notice he has growing feelings for Emily but he gets a little nervous with how close her and Macklin are

- Emily also thinks she might be catching feelings for will, but she thinks about her last relationship and all confidence is out the window.

December 2024

- The whole Thornton family notices a change in Emily, like she’s a little more sluggish, Joe decides to try and talk to her but she practically shuts down. While she has a break off school, she decided to take a trip to visit a friend in Michigan.

January 2025

- she sees will for the first time in months and he kisses her.

March 2025

- Emily and will start go on there first date and have there first kiss. After she goes home all happy and smiley which Macklin convinces her to tell him about it.

April 2025

- unfortunately the sharks didn’t make it to playoffs, but Will gets to go back home to Boston, Macklin goes to Vancouver while Emily travels down the coast to San Diego with Marlee.

June 2025

Will isn’t as busy, so he decides to invite Emily to Boston for a week, where they figure out what they are and start dating

[luke-hughes43]

connor bedard!!!

hughes little sister and the first pick of the nhl 22 draft she went (you can pick) and maybe she met connor during game when they were young kids and they stayed friends and started dating when they were 16 only their family and friend know wanting to keep it private from the media. they are really excited when they are going to play each other for the first time and they haven’t see each other in a while so after the game (whoever’s is the home game) they go to one of their apartment and just spend the whole night talking catching up in perosn and cuddling up together and maybe a slight sad goodbye when one of them have to leave in the morning

oooo ok I love this!

so hughes little sister is born in like July of 04 and goes 1st to the Wild which she's excited about especially because she'll have familiar faces in brock faber and matt boldy.

I say that her and Connor met during the 2022 world juniors, a month after the draft and they like run into each other in the hotel or something and he is just blown away by her.

he starts the conversation by congratulating her on the draft. and they exchange numbers and start texting frequently. even though hughes little sister was drafted 1st overall, she decided to still go to college for at least a year at umich like Quinn and Luke.

that made her able to play in another world juniors. she made the team in 2023 just like Connor did. with texting and calling often over the last 4 months, Connor finally decided to ask her on a date during world juniors.

she said yes and they both snuck away from their teams to go on this date. the date went well and Connor asked her to be his girlfriend a few nights later after sneaking away again for a second date.

they decide to keep it just to themselves for a bit given the media attention on both of them. after a few months, they decide to tell their family and a select few closest friends.

and maybe after dev camp that summer, hughes little sister decides to sign her elc with minnesota and makes the team out of camp. and like no one outside her family or Connor's family besides like 3 or 4 people really know about her and Connor and so she struggles for the first few weeks in the league.

lots of late night phone calls between her and Connor just trying to talk each other through everything and through their struggles. they don't get to see each other until December because of their schedule but when the Blackhawks visit the wild, both of them are so excited to finally see each other.

even though the Blackhawks lost, Connor doesn't care. he just wants to see his girl. after the game, he tells his coach that he has a friend in the city and that he's gonna go visit her but will be back in time to leave the next morning and his coach is ok with it.

he immediately gets to hughes little sister's apartment as fast as he can, and they just cuddle in bed for the rest of the night. it's a very soft and fluffy night between the two just cuddling and talking about everything and anything that's happened since they last saw each other despite talking everyday. lots of soft and meaningful kisses shared between the two of them as well.

the next morning is sad because they know they have to say goodbye. it's not a forever goodbye it's more of a see you later but it's still sad because they know won't see each other for another 2 months. they stay in bed for as long as possible and delay Connor leaving for as long as possible.

Connor does eventually leave but they both feel a little better since they finally got to see other and just hold one another.

Connor totally gets chirped by the Blackhawks when they see him retuning to the hotel the next morning in his clothes from the night before and slips up a little bit to the guys about a possible girlfriend. and hughes little sister gets a text from brock faber who lives on her floor saying "why did I see Connor bedard leaving your apartment this morning?"

hughes little sister then tells Connor that the cat might be out of the bag to her team bc brock saw him this morning and Connor tells her that he slipped something to he guys so they agree to tell their teammates and that they are keeping it on the down low which they obviously respect.

both of them feel a little better about their teammates knowing since they spend so much time with them nd they don't have to sneak around as much.

[downtoithaca]

WIP Intro:

LAST RITES

tw: disease/pandemic, gore, violence, psychological abuse, detailed medical imagery,

About

MEXICAN GOTHIC X DRACULA X THE STORY OF BURKE & HARE

A queer Gothic Historical Horror set in Victorian Edinburgh ft. mushrooms, cults, the cutting edge of (1800s) medical science, spooky manors and bodysnatchers.

Synopsis

Dr Ernest Mayweather is the only patient he can't treat. He's dying, and he's looking desperately to find a way to stop it. When a colleague of his at the prestigious University of Edinburgh Medical College discusses the avant-garde idea of using one disease to cure another, he begins a pursuit of the thing that will save his life. It leads him to a strange illness wherein strange flowers and funghi grow within the body. Curious, and keen to study it, he visits Auchindrain House, a sanctuary for the illness run by two mysterious aristocrats and their Italian acquaintance. When the horrifying nature of the house and its occupants come to light, Ernest must soon choose between accepting a quick and quiet death or chasing something potentially endless, with all the blood and horror that might come with it. What will Ernest's conscience allow him to do to survive?

Snippet

Status

It currently stands at around 69k, though by the end of this draft I think we'll be looking closer to 120k.

As of October 2023 I'm currently working on the second draft! I did a detailed re-outline after the first draft which I completed in April 2021 for Camp, and now I'm filling in all the extra scenes I need before I rewrite the novel again following the comprehensive developmental editing plan I've made, focussing on adding extra detail and coherence, especially in terms of the plot. I was initially hoping to finish this by the end of October, but at this rate, it's looking like that's not going to happen, so I'll probably pick this up again in February. (One thing you have to know, is that each month I shift projects to another one of those in rotation. I aim to always have one new project, one dev edit project and one later-stage project in rotation at all times to reduce fatigue!)

[sodapaladin]

✨Top 10 Games of 2023✨

It’s time for my annual list. As usual, these are games I played this year, not that came out this year. So despite all the hits this year, don’t expect to see many of them!

10. Fire Emblem Engage

While I was wary of the new character designs and anniversary excuse-story, Engage turned out to be more enjoyable than I expected. Not my favorite Fire Emblem, but a good one nevertheless.

9. Paradise Killer

What *style*! I went and bought this game immediately after my friend showed me the song “Paradise (Stay Forever).” Going in blind was wild. I sure didn’t expect the protagonist to be part of an extra-dimensional cult. I love exploring the vaporwave island.

8. WarioWare: Move It!

A worthy successor to Smooth Moves. While the amount of extra context seems oddly lacking for a WarioWare game, I love all the creative uses for the joycons. With the major exception of Jimmy’s boss minigame, everything works shockingly well.

7. Super Mario RPG

I debated where to place this. On one hand, I don’t feel like the remake added too much. The QoL improvements are nice, but the SNES original is still perfectly playable. It’s also quite short for an RPG, and on the easy side. But it’s just so charming anyway.

6. Darkstalkers 3

AKA Vampire Savior, not to be confused with another game. On the quest to capture the magic Third Strike had for me, this comes pretty close. If only I could find online matches now.

5. Suika Game

I had to see what the hype’s about, and I understood. So simple and cute, yet challenging. A great way to kill a few minutes.

4. Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp

I held off on this for a while, since I have both original games, and it didn’t seem like much was changed. The QoL improvements have been nice, though, such as speeding up the CPU’s turns. Most importantly, it no longer cheats during Fog of War, so you can actually strategize as intended instead of cheesing certain maps.

3. It Takes Two

Playing this co-op game with my brother was a blast. Solving puzzles through teamwork is a satisfying joy, and I’d love to play again as the other character sometime.

2. Vampire Survivors

So addicting. It was hilarious to find out the dev works on slot machines. Now it’s quite clear that they know all the right bells and whistles to set that dopamine off.

1. Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2

It’s incredible when you can feel the amount of love poured into the development of a game. I picked up this solo-dev passion project thinking it’d be a cute little indie game. I didn’t expect it to be my favorite mystery dungeon experience.

Everything from the writing and QoL features show how clearly the dev loves this genre and wants to make the best version of it. The balance is wonky, some of the recruitment requirements are questionably difficult, and the English translation is extremely rough, but I can’t help but be charmed by the whole package anyway. I’ve put in around 50 hours getting to the “final” boss of the story, and there’s still a massive postgame dungeon. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but for fans of mystery dungeon games, absolutely.

[monkeyjaw]

Year in Review (by way of books) 2023

Books and Comics/Graphic Novels 2023

January

The Doubtful Guest – Edward Gorey (illustrated book/graphic novel)

The Promised Neverland: Volume 6 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu(manga)

The City and the City – China Mieville

Sandman Volume 6: Fables and Reflections – Neil Gaiman, various artists (graphic novel)

Sandman Volume 7: Brief Lives – Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson, Vince Locke (graphic novel)

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas – Frederick Douglas, read by Charles Turner

The Sandman Volume 8: World’s End – Neil Gaiman, various artists (graphic novel)

The Bartimaeus Trilogy 2: The Golem’s Eye – Jonathan Stroud

The Man Who Fell To Earth – Dan Watters, Dev Pramanik (graphic novel)

The Carpet People – Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs

Hikaru no Go Volume 15: Sayanara – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Hikaru no Go Volume 16: The Chinese Go Association – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Witch Hat Atelier Volume 1 – Kamome Shirahama (manga)

February

The Sandman Volume 9: The Kindly Ones – Neil Gaiman, Marc Hemple, various artists (graphic novel)

Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake, read by Simon Vance

Paper Girls Volume 3 – Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang (graphic novel)

Beastars Volume 1 – Paru Itagaki (manga)

Revenge of the Librarians – Tom Gauld (graphic novel)

Lucifer Volume 1: Devil in the Gateway – Mike Carey, Peter Gross (graphic novel)

Saint Young Men Volume 1 – Hikaru Nakamura (manga)

The Sandman Volume 10: The Wake – Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli, Jon Muth, Charles Vess (graphic novel)

Hikaru no Go Volume 17: A Familiar Face – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson

Beastars Volume 2 – Paru Itagaki (manga)

Woman World – Aminder Dhaliwal (graphic novel)

Black Paradox – Junji Ito (manga)

Beastars Volume 3 – Paru Itagaki (manga)

March

Lucifer Volume 2: Children & Monsters – Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly (graphic novel)

Doomsday Book – Connie Willis, read by Jenny Sterlin

Moonshadow – J.M. DeMatteis, Jon J. Muth, Kent Williams (graphic novel)

The Magic Fish – Trung Le Nguyen (graphic novel)

Sleepless Volume 2 – Sarah Vaughn, Leila Del Luca (graphic novel)

The Monkey Prince Volume 1: Enter the Monkey – Gene Luen Yang, Bernard Chang (graphic novel)

Unbroken – Lauren Hillenbrand, read by Edward Hermann

Thrawn: Ascendancy 2: The Greater Good – Timothy Zahn, read by Marc Thompson

Thud! – Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs

April

Operation Mincemeat – Ben McIntyre

Beastars Volume 4 – Paru Itagaki (manga)

Parasyte Volume 2 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson

The Promised Neverland Volume 7 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Parasyte Volume 3 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

The Wheel of Time Bk 4: The Shadow Rising – Robert Jordan

Twig – Skottie Young, Skyle Strahm (graphic novel)

Spring Rain: a graphic memoir – Andy Warner (graphic novel)

The Multiversity – Grant Morrison, various artists (graphic novel)

The Promised Neverland Volume 8 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Goldie Vance Volume 2 – Hope Larson, Jackie Ball, Brittney Williams (graphic novel)

Team of Rivals (Abridged) – Doris Kearns Goodwin, read by Richard Thomas

Stretching the Heavens – Terry L. Givens

May

The Promised Neverland Volume 9 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Parasyte Volume 4 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Parasyte Volume 5 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Conan Volume 1 – Robert E. Howard, L. Sprage De Camp, Lin Carter

Parasyte Volume 6 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 10 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Penric’s Demon – Lois McMaster Bujold, read by Grove Gardner

Kamen Rider: The Classic Manga Collection - Shōtarō Ishinomori, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian (manga)

 Parasyte Volume 7 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Shuna’s Journey – Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Alex Dudok de Wit (manga)

Parasyte Volume 8 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Maggy Garrison – Lewis Trondheim, Stephane Oiry (graphic novel)

Double Cross – Ben McIntyre

The Promised Neverland Volume 11 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

June

The Promised Neverland Volume 12 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 13 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

My Hero Academia Volume 1 – Kohei Horikoshi (manga)

Think Again – Adam Grant

Adventure Game Comics Volume 1: Leviathan – Jason Shiga (graphic novel)

Ranma ½ Volume 35 – Rumiko Takahashi (manga)

Ranma ½ Volume 36 – Rumiko Takahashi (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 14 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Thrawn Ascendancy Volume 3: Lesser Evil – Timothy Zahn, read by Marc Thompson

Leviathan Wakes – James S.A. Corey

The Man Without Talent – Yoshitsaru Tsuge (manga)

July

A Bride’s Story Volume 3 – Kaoru Mori (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 15 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 16 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Almost American Girl – Robin Ha (graphic novel)

The Woman Who Smashed Codes – Jason Fagone

The Swamp – Yoshiharu Tsuge (manga)

The Wheel of Time Book 5: The Fires of Heaven – Robert Jordan

A Bride’s Story Volume 4 – Kaoru Mori (manga)

Pulp – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (graphic novel)

Locke & Key: Small World – Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Breaking Cat News – Georgia Dunn (graphic novel)

August

Labyrinth Coronation Vol 1 – Ryan Ferrier, Simon Spurrier, Daniel Bayliss (graphic novel)

A Bride’s Story Volume 5 – Kaoru Mori (manga)

Worst Journey In the World Volume 1 – Sara Airress (graphic novel)

Best American Comics 2016 – various artists, writers, edited by Roz Chast (graphic novel)

Labyrinth Coronation Volume 2 – Ryan Ferrier, Simon Spurrier, Daniel Bayliss (graphic novel)

Hikaru no Go Volume 19: One Step Forward! – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Hikaru no Go Volume 20: The Young Lions – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Thirsty Mermaids – Kat Leyh (graphic novel)

Criminal: Coward – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (graphic novel)

Parable of the Sower – Octavia E. Butler, read by Lynne Thigpen

Hikaru no Go Volume 21: Great Expectations – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Hikaru no Go Volume 22: China vs. Japan – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Hikaru no Go Volume 23: Endgame – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Dead Boy Detectives Vol. 1: Schoolboy Terrors – Toby Litt, Mark Buckingham, Gary Erskine (graphic novel)

Dead Boy Detectives Vol 2: Ghost Snow – Toby Litt, Mark Buckingham, Gary Erskine (graphic novel)

Seek You – Kristen Radtke (graphic novel)

John Constantinte Hellblazer Volume 2: The Devil You Know – Jamie Delano, David Lloyd, Richard Piers Rayner (graphic novel)

September

Once & Future Volume 5: The Wasteland – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora (graphic novel)

The Once and Future Witches – Alix Harrow

The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives – Ed Brubaker, Bryan Talbot, Steve Leialoha (graphic novel)

Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham – Mike Mignola, Richard Pace, Troy Nixey, Dennis Janke (graphic novel)

Free Country: A Tale of the Children’s Crusade – Neil Gaiman, various writers, artists (graphic novel)

Man’s Search For Meaning – Victor E. Frankl, read by Simon Vance

John Constantine Hellblazer Volume 1: Original Sins – Jamie Delano, Mark Buckingham, Richard Piers Rayner (graphic novel)

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? – Roz Chast (graphic novel)

Edge of Spider-Verse – Dan Slott, Jason Latour, various artists/writers (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 1: Greater Power – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

John Constatine Hellblazer Volume 3: The Fear Machine – Jamie Delano, Alfredo Alcala, Mark Buckingham, Mike Hoffman (graphic novel)

Cosmic Odyssey – Jim Starlin, Mike Mignola, Carlos Garzon (graphic novel)

October

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. –edited by Clayborne Carson, read by LeVar Burton

Spider-Women – Robbie Thompson, Jason Latour, various artists (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 2: Weapon of Choice – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Gender Queer – Maia Kubata (graphic novel)

Black Orchid Book 1 – Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (graphic novel)

Black Orchid Book 2 – Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (graphic novel)

Black Orchid Book 3 – Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (graphic novel)

Tombs – Junji Ito (manga)

Locke & Key: The Golden Age – Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Wraith – Joe Hill, Charles Paul Wilson III (graphic novel)

A Great and Terrible King – Marc Morris, read by Ralph Lister

The Birds and Don’t Look Now – Daphne du Maurier, read by Peter Capaldi

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness – Nagata Kabi (manga)

Spider-Gwen Volume 3: Long-Distance – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

The Birds & Other Stories – Daphne du Maurier

November

John Constantine Hellblazer Volume 4: The Family Man – Jamie Delano, Grant Morrison, various artists (graphic novel)

The Feng Shui Detective Agency – Nury Vittachi

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 1 – Ryoko Kui (manga)

The Saga of Swamp Thing Volume 1 – Alan Moore, Stephen Bisette, John Totleben (graphic novel)

Spider-Verse – Dan Slott, various writers/artists (graphic novel)

Breakfast With Socrates – Robert Rowland Smith

Harleen – Stjepan Sejic (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 4: Predators – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 5: Gwenom – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Flipped – Wendelin Van Draanen

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer – Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin, read by Jeff Cummings

Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen: Sitting in a Tree – Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Latour, Sara Pichelli, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

December

John Constantine Hellblazer Volume 5: Dangerous Habits – Garth Ennis, Jamie Delano, various artists (graphic novel)

My Solo Exchange Diary Volume 1 – Nagata Kabi (manga)

Birds of Prey Volume 1 – Chuck Dixon, Jordan B. Gorfinkel, various artists (graphic novel)

My Solo Exchange Diary Volume 2 – Nagata Kabi (manga)

Shuna’s Journey – Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Alex Dudok de Wit (manga)

When Stars Are Scattered – Victoria Jemison, Omar Mohamed (graphic novel)

My Alcoholic Escape From Reality – Nagata Kabi (manga)

Dune Messiah – Frank Herbert, read by Simon Vance, Euan Morton, Scott Brick, Katherine Kellgren

Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson #12)  - Patricia Briggs

Lore Olympus Volume 1 – Rachel Smythe (graphic novel)

Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank, read by Selma Blair

Lore Olympus Volume 2 – Rachel Smythe (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 6: The Life of Gwen Stacy – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Hungry Ghosts – Anthony Bourdain, Joel Rose, various artists (graphic novel)

I read 156 books and graphic novels in 2023. 119 graphic novels, 37 books. 25 non-fiction, 131 fiction. 69 graphic novels, 50 graphic mangas. 15 re-reads.

Starting in March with Unbroken, I started reading a number of books about World War II. I think I had, as ever a goal to read more non-fiction and since there are so many books on the 2 World Wars, they are often the ones that I’m able to check out from the library without a super long wait list. Then Oppenheimer came out this summer so I was more intrigued and decided to read the basis for the film (which is atypical for me outside of comics). Following Unbroken I read a few spy books, Operation Mincemeat and Double Cross in May by Ben McIntyre that were super interesting.

I had previously read The Confidence Men about 2 British POWs from WWI who escaped a Turkish POW camp by (among other things) a Ouija board. I had started reading The Diary of Anne Frank/Diary of a Young Girl sometime this past year I think and finally finished it near the end of the year and Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning in October. I started listening to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in November or December and read for my family’s book club The Woman Who Smashed Codes about Elizabeth Friedman and her husband who developed cryptology in the US between World War I and II and was treated pretty wretchedly by the US government for her efforts. This was in no small part due to J. Edgar Hoover, who seems to be more and more a villain every time I have the misfortune of encountering him in books and other media.

A manga series I had started last year, The Promised Neverland, I’m close to finishing (I believe there are 20 volumes, which isn’t super long for a manga series. Full Metal Alchemist is 20-something volumes if I remember correctly) and I finally finished Hikaru no Go about a teenager who accidentally finds himself competing in the Japanese game Go due to a haunted Go board in his grandfather’s attic. A web comic that my wife got me interested in, Lore Olympus, retells the story of Persephone and Hades with a combination of contemporary and antiquity culture. The comic is broken up into “seasons” and the second season was recently finished so I wanted to read up to that point while waiting for the end of the third season. Unfortunately, it was long enough ago that I had read up to the end of the first season I ended up having to start over. But this was good as there were a number of things I caught the second time through and appreciated more on a re-read.

      I also read the 4th and 5th Wheel of Time books for the second time this past year, which was an interesting experience. There were a lot of things I remembered incorrectly because of the 25ish years since I read them initially. I don’t think I’m going to read the entire series all the way through again, but I might read book 6. I finished re-reading The Sandman (partly due to the release of the Netflix series) and went on a kick of other Vertigo (an imprint of DC Comics that focused on non-superhero books, more adult and more creator-controlled that is now largely if not entirely defunct) titles (the Dead Boy Detectives, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing). Don’t know where I’ll go with that. Also read a decent amount of Spider-Verse comics (mostly Spider-Gwen but one big crossover book that was sort of the culmination of the Spider-Verse storylines (I think?)) that was interesting. Spider-Gwen is a great comic that has yet to lead to the frustration I felt with the later Miles Morales books.

      Nagata Kabi’s memoirs about self-esteem, her fraught relationship with her parents, alcoholism and eating problems is both interesting and very frustrating. I am very lucky to not have hardly any of her emotional, mental and health issues that are wound up together but reading her mangas it is hard not to want to shake her when she seems to recover from one life-threatening catastrophe only to work herself into another. I’m morbidly curious about her later volumes about pancreatitis.

      Lastly, there were some books on Arthur and some non-fiction or books by African-American authors that I had intended to start or finish that I’m dragging my heels on. We’ll see what happens in the next year with that.   

[thetoxicgamer]

Huge Valheim update Hildir’s Request is live – patch notes 0.217.14

Update on Valheim On active servers, Hildir's Request has arrived. It's time to move on and find Hildir in Valheim if you've been waiting for the major overhaul to be implemented in the actual game. Hildir, the merchant's sister and a follower of Haldor, has encountered issues with missing goods in the Viking co-op survival game. The update also adds difficulty factors, and creator Iron Gate is holding a Valheim competition called the Trial of Tyr to test the mettle of the game's most ferocious players. The Valheim Hildir’s Request patch notes lay out everything you need to know – the full patch notes below are listed in both abbreviated and complete forms to keep those of you who prefer to avoid spoilers safe. Along with the new merchant and her associated quests, there are also several new Valheim dungeons and mini bosses to encounter, along with some crafting improvements and additional items. If you’re wondering how to find Hildir in Valheim, you’ll want to head to the Meadows biome. She’s got a few possible spawn locations that can be allocated at random, so have a wander around and you’ll probably spot her icon or the roaring fire at her camp. Also included in the update are eight new hairstyles and five additional beards – along with a barber station that lets you adjust these in-game. When you’ve made your choice, you’ll also be pleased to know that equipping helmets no longer hides your hair selection, making it all the more worthwhile. Several quality-of-life improvements are also rolled in, such as improved quick stacking and manual snapping to make precise Valheim building easier, and then there’s the new difficulty modifiers. You’ll have a choice of a lower-difficulty casual mode, a ramped-up hardcore playthrough, or the option to adjust server difficulty modifiers individually to customize your experience more thoroughly. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be the best, you might want to join the Valheim Trial of Tyr. This hard mode contest runs Tuesday August 22 to Tuesday September 5, 2023 and tasks you with completing a run up to and including mounting the head of the final Mistlands boss on the game’s hard difficulty preset as a solo player without dying, getting outside help, or using any dev commands. Trials of Tyr rules Those of you wanting to join the Trial of Tyr will need to play with a fresh character on the official world seed ‘MX7L9GYcf2’ on the ‘Hard’ difficulty preset. Your run must be streamed on Twitch or YouTube or fully recorded without any breaks in footage, and then sent to @Valheimgame on Twitter using the hashtag #Trialoftyr. If you manage to record the fastest time, you’ll earn “a custom-made engraved Viking tankard” bearing your name and time. Valheim Hilidr’s Request patch notes 0.217.14 Here are the full patch notes for the Valheim Hildir’s Request update on August 22, 2023, courtesy of Iron Gate: Abbreviated Patch Notes New Content - New NPC: Hildir the merchant - New locations - World modifiers added - 2 new crafting extensions - New hair and beard styles - New items Improvements - Hair and beards are now visible when equipping helmets - Various visual improvements - Quick-stack button added - Manual snapping for building added Detailed Patch Notes New Content - New NPC: Hildir the merchant - New location: Hildir’s camp - New location: Smouldering tomb (classic dungeon) - New location: Howling cavern (classic dungeon) - New location: Sealed tower (open dungeon) - 3 new mini bosses - World modifiers button added to start game screen with many customization/difficulty options (select a preset or design your own) - 8 different Fireworks added (Including Thunderstone and Black Core thrown in the fire) - New item: Sparkler - New clothing: 10 hats & headscarves - New clothing: 14 dresses and tunics - Black forge extension: Vice (Upgrades to level 3 possible) - Magetable extension: Unfading Candle (Upgrades to level 3 possible) - New material: Barber kit - New furniture: Barber station - New material: Iron pit - New furniture: Firepit - 8 new hairstyles - 5 new beard styles - 4 new music tracks Quality of Life - Quick stack button to quickly place all items already in a container from your inventory. Can also be done by simply holding the use key when interacting with a container - You can now manually choose snapping point with Q & E for precision building - Intro sequence can now be skipped from the pause menu and the game can be paused while in the intro - Workbench and Forge now get slightly increased build range when upgraded - Crafting benches’ build range is now cylindrical instead of spherical - Precision placement of buildpieces changed to show when holding ctrl - Added ability to copy build piece while in build mode - Hair and beards are now visible when equipping helmets Additional bug fixes can be found via Iron Gate on Steam. As long as you’re not competing in the Trial of Tyr, there’s plenty of handy Valheim console commands to help you through your journey, or you can turn to the best Valheim mods if you’re looking for some fun ways to spice up your next adventure. Read the full article