#I like it tho it's a nice challenge to speed myself up and it's fun hopping between different fandoms I like based on the prompts

[floweryfandomnerd]

Attempting drawtober this year and I am already so behind, 8 dead 9614 injured please send help

[rosaline-black]

Hiii there! Hope everything’s good with you and congratulations on the follow count!! I’m happy for you, not surprised tho, cause your writing is 😗🤌 amazing!

Ok, so I’m a girl, she/her and straight and I’d like to request a 🌼 with a guy from the marauders.

I’m an introvert, hard shell to break, I isolate myself a lot, mainly in new friendships, which gives me the smart-quiet-goody-2-shoes stereotype. Socialisation haunts me and I’m shit awkward at interactions. When the shell is broken, I get very talkative. My mind is chaotic 24/7 so I shuffle between topics very fast and I stutter a little and get tangled in my own sentences, mainly when I’m excited. Im blunt and VERY sarcastic and ironic and like to dramatize stuff to make fun of it. Im very kind and put others above me sometimes, which beats my very high empathy and sensibility to pieces but oh well. I can also get very fired up in arguments cause I’m very passionate about my beliefs and values but I won’t cross the line and offend anyone as no matter how stubborn I am (extremely btw) I always try to make amends after cooling down and mediate when I’m not involved. I’m a romantic and a daydreamer. I’m smart and I like to learn stuff and to know how things work and understand them but am an extreme overthinker. I think far too much about every little thing and get insecure. Parties make me really anxious and loud people annoy me so I’d rather stay in. Sometimes I think I’m a little too mature. Like, can we talk about politics and the economic state of the world?? (Pls forgive me, i had to). Im curious but scattered so I’ll easily start a night-in (sponsored by YouTube!) by watching a video on “the most memorable Eurovision entries of all time” and end it with “inside the mind of a psychopath: a deep psychological analysis”. ✨It’s a little bit of everything all of the time✨ which reminds me of how much I love Bo Burnham. In a lot of my free time i listen to his songs or whatch his shows. I love how he’s genially funny but also #deep (I’m sorry) and brutally honest and makes you think. It’s also a good clutch for my anxiety. I consume books at a crazy speed but always love going back to some classics. I love sitcoms and rock music. Sometimes I like to spend time doing online timed questionaries about general knowledge cause I like challenging myself (and I also don’t have a life). Oh, this is very important: my pet peeve is loud chewing and gulping. Please do not eat and drink loudly yall, I beg of you. I’m very observant and have a ridiculously selective memory, I won’t remember my lunch from yesterday but I’ll remember the first words someone spoke to me 10 years ago. Im a firm believer in empathy and doing what’s right and on a completely connected note, I’m a big cuddler. I cant ever tell something funny as I’ll just laugh my ass off and I also have a very long list of musical and cinematic and ¿memematical? references that I sometimes insert all over (initially) nice conversations :) Yeah. Important information right there.

That’s it ig. Can’t think of much more rn. Sorry if I didn’t choose the most helpful information!!

Okay first of all are we the same person? Like fr I’m convinced we are omg. Please dm or something cause I screamed at the jaden smith reference.

Right so I found this one kinda easy but I match you with…

Remus Lupin

- first of all let’s say this is modern day, Remus would be such a big bo burnham stan like come on

- you both would spend long ass days reading together, imagine you resting your head on his lap reading your respective books. Omg maybe you even have book clubs with just you two (and maybe lily too)

- I think your bluntness would coincide with Remus perfectly. Sometimes this man just needs to hear the honest truth, and he loves you for it.

- you’re both a little awkward, but with Remus having friends that are so outgoing, you benefit just like he did when he met the other marauders. They help with your socialisation problems, weeding you into the idea of a party (which I tbh just headcanon is just you all getting drunk and James turning into a deer for bants)

- imagine you and Remus being the parents of the group; you hear Sirius chewing too loud and talking with his mouth full so you both simultaneously throw pillows at his head

- Remus is also used to putting people above his own needs so he recognises quickly that you’re doing the same. He’s there to be like… no no no, eat this damn chocolate and relax right now!!!

- also one final note; cuddling Remus post full moon>>>>

[g0ldengubler]

chapter 3~a night on the town

(*i do not own this gif*)

A/N: hi everyone! this song is what I thought would be playing in a certain part of the story. I'll put a * at the part. yes, it's minecraft but i could care less bc it’s very calming and dreamy. i also quickly want to say thank you so much for the love on nauseous like it truly means a lot and it’s what’s keeping me going :’) if anyone could give a lesson in tumblr fanfic writing tho that would be great bc i feel like such a grandma xD thank you again for reading and enjoyyy :)

Category: fluff

CW: smoking weed (i don’t encourage this but please smoke responsibly if u ever do!)

Word Count: 1545

before you read | last chapter | next chapter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You're suddenly in a beautiful part of the park. You didn't see this on your little mini tour, but it was magical. Spencer took you over to a giant tree on a small hill off the pond. The light from the moon made the water twinkle as the two of you sat under the tree. You felt like you were in a fairytale, and this was like a forest filled with fairy magic. It had rained a bit sometime in the late afternoon, so the ground beneath you and the leaves on the trees sparkled with dew drops. The sight of it all filled you with wonder. The night hadn't even really started yet and already you wished the sun never came up again. This couldn't end.

Spencer sat against the tree as he rummages through his bag to find his pen. "I'm speechless," You said as you sat down diagonal of him, "This place is breathtaking."

"I tend to come by here to read when I can't sleep or during the day having trouble on a case," said Spencer, "I found this spot around the time I first joined the BAU. It keeps me grounded."

You grab your pen out of your bag and hold it in your hands, waiting for Spencer. He finally finds his in the bottom of his bag and takes it out. You click your pens on and Spencer froze, not knowing what to do.

"Do we...cheers?" He asks, "Like we do when we drink?"

"Not usually, no," you chuckled, "But if you want to we can."

"You sound like you've done this before, Y/N."

"Meh, I experimented a bit in high school and college. But I never did it everyday like my classmates. Just here and there if I was really stressed."

Spencer brings his pen close to yours. "Well, cheers!" He says awkwardly.

"Cheers!" You giggle.

You both take three or four hits. On the last hit, Spencer started coughing. "Did you accidentally take a really big hit?" You ask.

"I think-" He coughs again, "-so!"

After his little coughing attack, you both laugh. You shift your weight onto your elbows. Legs straight out, you let the high take over your body. Spencer puts his head against the tree. He takes a couple more hits and let's it hit him. You start to feel the tingles again through your body and your eyes getting heavy.

"I wonder what the percentage of these carts are," you said, "I should ask Garcia."

"It must be a lot if I already feel like I smoked a whole blunt by myself."

"Well I was gonna that it's just because you're a beginner so you'll be a lightweight, but now you sound like you've done this before, Doctor."

"I swear I just know my research! I've never smoked before last night."

"Mmhmm, surrrre," you said as you started to get up from the ground, using the tree as support, "I'm sure it was just for that paper."

You grab your bag and rub the grass and dirt that was on your pants. You give a hand to Spencer as he gets up and you start heading outside of the park. You both stood there, looking around. "So, is there anywhere you'd like to revisit?"

You think for a moment. "How about the Lincoln Memorial?"

"Perfect!"

He lends his arm out and you link yours with his as you walk to the Lincoln Memorial. There was a nice cool breeze as you walked under the city lights, your blurry vision making it feel like you were in a movie. You looked up at Spencer and saw that his eyelids were a little bit lower than usual. You felt panic hit you as you unlock your phone and open snapchat. Turning the flash on, you look at the top of your phone and took a photo. You looked at your eyes and noticed they were a bit pink, but nothing to worry about.

"You ok?" asked Spencer.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My eyes get red easily when I'm high so I'm just checking."

"My dear, you look quite marvelous if I do say so myself!" He says, using a british accent, which made you laugh.

Finally, you made it to the memorial. You debated on climbing all those steps to the top, but Spencer made a bet that he could beat you to the top, and you weren't going to back out of a challenge. You both speed up the steps but Spencer beats you.

"Who's the pussy now, huh?" Spencer teases from what you said the night before, out of breath.

You put your hands on your knees, trying to catch yours. "Very funny, Doctor."

Once your breathing went back to normal, you slowly walked closer to the statue, admiring it. "You know," you began, "While my love for crime fighting was my whole life, I had a small interest in President Lincoln. I have no clue why, but I've been reading books about him since I was 4."

You paused for a moment, then turned around to face Spencer. "I have a fact for you, Doctor," you began, but then Spencer cut you off.

"You know you can call me Spencer or Spence, right? Come to think of it, you're the only one who calls me Spence."

"Ok, well Spence,"  you restated, "Have you heard of the theory that he might've been a closeted gay or bisexual man?"

"No actually, I haven't heard much on it only that it was debunked."

"That is true, but if it wasn't debunked I'd see him more as a closeted bisexual man, not gay."

"Why do you say that?" asked Spencer.

"Because people always forget about it. Bisexuality is real. He truly loved Mary with all his heart and would do anything for her, but I'm sure he questioned his sexuality at some point and just never went deeper into it."

You paused again, seeing if he was paying attention. You then turn back to face Lincoln and continued, "Take Freddie Mercury, for example. Now when he came out to his Mary, he came out as bisexual. But the public just took it as that he was gay because bisexuality wasn't seen by the public as a real sexuality, even Mary. It makes me angry at how long biphobia went on for. As someone who is bisexual, I don't want to feel like a ghost. I want to feel real."

Spencer slowly walks up behind you and puts a hand on your shoulder. He turns you around and you look up at him with glassy, pink-colored eyes. "Y/N, you are real. Everything about you is to me."

You put your hand on top of his, not breaking the look into each other's eyes. Or well, what you could see through his eyelids.

*The two of you then headed down the steps carefully and continue on your tour. But it slowly ended as you ended up walking down the empty streets. At one point, you ended up on cobble road. The two of you were pretty baked, as you would take more hits whenever no one was looking or there weren't too many people walking or driving. Spencer began to act like he was on a tight rope as he walked along parking blocks. He held your hand for support, trying not to fall and twist his ankle.

*You felt content. You never really experienced something like this before, but you always dreamt about it. You never really went out much when you were in school. You focused all your time in your room, working  on schoolwork and keeping up with what Rossi was doing in the BAU and the cases they were working on.  Rossi was like an idol to you. Ever since you met him, you wanted to do what he was doing; Saving people and getting the bad guys, protecting citizens. But you always dreamt of having an adventure like this with a true friend, and even though you had only known Spencer for a week now, he already was like that true friend.

*But you were also feeling something more. There was something about Spencer holding your hand that just felt...right. It was so hard to explain, even to yourself as you tried to figure out what you were feeling exactly. Maybe it was just the high you were feeling, but looking at his face, Spencer seemed to be quite cute. So cute, that you felt butterflies.

*He jumps off a parking block under a tall street lamp and grabs your other hand in his. He looks down to you as you look up. Finally, his lips lock with yours and you don't stop him. You kiss him back as your arms wrapped around each other, feeling every inch of each other's bodies.

Spencer breaks the kiss and cups your face in his hands. "Do you want to continue our little fun we had the other night?" he asked, almost in a raspy tone.

You nodded and kissed him again.

[cloudbatcave]

Cloud Plays White: Finale

This is a long one, folks, since I realized I had a bit in my notes I had forgotten about and only found after I posted this, lol, so I have now edited it in.

when we last left off I was criticizing Alder for being useless in apprehending Ghetsis and Iris for not just taking me to Drayden’s house herself when it is Right Fucking There. 

So I’m still futzing around Opelucid here.

“No way, without pokemon, I’ll be lonely and sad! …but am I just using my pokemon, then?”

wow, seems there’s some brain cells there after all. you keep exercising those, brah.

I run into a guy who thinks that it’s okay for team plasma to take pokemon from weak trainers, even though he considers himself one and feels bad for the people they rob.

There’s another dude in the same room who used to be part of team plasma but left because it was weird for him that everyone thought the same way.

See, I appreciate this part of the game’s writing - I wish there was more stuff like this, people who are conflicted and their viewpoints being front and center instead of the simplistic garbage we’re fed by Iris and Alder and company.

Though there’s an absolute nut job who says that despite the years he’s trained with his pokemon he’ll let it go if it makes it a perfect being and I am just not even gonna unpack all the lunacy there.

There’s a kid who thinks that just because N has the legendary pokemon, he must be the hero.

I am very concerned about everyone in Unova being so gullible.

“Your Scrafty looks like it can try a little harder.”

WELL FUCK YOU TOO RANDOM LADY??? LAD DOES HIS BEST AND I WILL NOT HAVE HIM SLANDERED THIS WAY

I finally go to Drayden’s and get told how the original dragon performed mitosis and now we have two dragons and also they once destroyed the region with fire and lightning but it’s chill.

“People may hurt pokemon even more by imposing their selfish thoughts on them. But no matter what, Pokemon and people believe in each other, need each other, and will continue to live together…”

Drayden is smarter and more nuanced than like, anyone else, why is he not a main character.

Iris chips in about how much she can’t forgive Plasma and Drayden mentions they don’t know how to wake up Zekrom.

Well, to be fair, I’d be very surprised if they did.

Off to the gym, this’ll be interesting since I have no ice or dragon moves on my team.

I get through the trainers okay, now time to fight Daffodil.

Her Haxorus was a bit tricky but nothing I couldn’t handle, and when I walk out Juniper shows up.

And somehow she knows how to resurrect Zekrom. Cool!

She blahs about how it’ll wake up when it deems someone worthy and talks about how much I’ve changed and shows me to the gate where the route to the pokemon league is.

“Chirae? Do you regret setting out on your pokemon journey?”

UH.

MAYBE?

mmm, that’s not fair to my pokemon though - nigh everyone around me may be looney tunes or incompetent, but they’ve been good pals.

So I hit “no” after all.

and she gives me a master ball. dope.

I make it to the gates of victory road and I honestly really like the bit where each section of them is themed after the badges! That’s a nice touch, I think that was only also done in the FRLG remakes if I recall correctly. It makes it feel a lot more ceremonious and important.

Ah here come my two idiots.

Bianca asks Cheren to smile and he’d probably implode if he did. He finally isn’t an asshole though, good for him.

The bug badge guard tells me to “fight valiantly like an insect” which is funny but I guess does make sense. Ants can fuck some stuff up, man.

Honestly I want to be a badge gate guard, seems like a fun job.

Also, I caught an excadrill in a raid the day I wrote this, and caught an excadrill in this game. Their pokedex entry includes this gem:

“Their tunnels can be destructive to subway systems”

Given the battle subway exists in this game, their insurance payments must be obscene. Imagine getting your match interrupted by a giant mole with metal fists that doesn’t give a fuck.

I named her Beans. She looks like a Beans.

I also caught a Deino. The Irate Pokémon that can’t see and tackles people to learn about its surroundings. I feel a kinship with this creature.

I named him Mezzo for laughs.

And I managed to get myself back to the beginning of victory road. Good job, cloud.

Okay I think I’ve found the right path, found a new dude to beat up which is a good sign. Apparently he’s lost too.

Love when a trainer switches out to a Pokémon mine doesn’t have a type advantage against and it gets wiped in two hits anyway. Death is inevitable.

“I’ve thought about what I can do to help my Pokémon win and I finally figured out the answer!”

Is it git gud?

Flame charge raises my speed, opponent’s klang uses automotize to prove it can do that too, dies because it’s too busy trying to go fast.

Then I get nailed by a flare blitz. Darmanitan is toxic to gen 5 nuzlocke runs, I swear. Especially since I have no one on my hodgepodge team resistant to fire. At least my unfezant is faster.

“Read what your opponent wants to do. Your opponent is human and may change plans from moment to moment. Be careful!”

There’s some meta joke to be made there but I’m not thinking of anything witty. Something something AI having a point even if not in this context.

Back to the beginning again but I think I know what I need to do now.

I looked at a walkthrough to check, tho, lmfao. Was tired of climbing up there only to fall down the wrong spot.

“There’s an item at the bottom! Do you want to slide all the way down?”

You’re the devil talking and you tempt me but I will ignore your silver tongue for now.

So I’m at the league and I thought Cheran would pop out of the bushes before I got here. That’s weird. I could swear he fights me one last time before I challenge the elite four.

NO CHERAN. OKAY. WHAT. IS MY GAME GLITCHED??

I guess not! Huh.

All right then. Time to try and see if I can win with my very unbalanced team.

Lmfao yeah my first attempt against the ghost trainer crashed and burned. Literally, thanks to her Chandelure. Very glad I saved on the outside. TIME TO GO TRAIN MORE.

No Marty, you may not learn wild charge, this is a no recoil moves household, self harm is bad.

Some grinding later, I am ready to try again.

Shauntal gave me a little trouble but was much more manageable. Grimsley was easy, only his Krookodile gave me issues.

I really like the elite four battle areas in this gen, I do admit. Very aesthetic.

Ah shit I know that Musharna is coming.

Never mind, that pink and purple snoozeball went down easy. I didn’t have a single Pokémon faint.

Unless Marshal breaks the trend the fights have actually gotten easier as I went.

He actually was a bit tricky, gave me a good show.

Hello endless stairs, hello N and Alder, hello giant random castle that just explodes out of the ground somehow.

“What has just appeared is team plasma’s castle”

Thanks mate, never would’ve figured that out without you. Why do you need a castle. 

Oh wow, the gym leaders finally decided to be useful and fight the sages for me instead of letting extremists wander around unchecked.

Thanks y’all! Trying not being pointless more often!

“Ignoring team plasma...that would be a terrible thing for us gym leaders to do.”

You all already did that, Elena. I watched as Clay and Iris let these assholes go. We could have avoided this whole plot if literally any of you had done more earlier.

So the game says the castle was built by the Pokémon team plasma took but how the fuck did they like...work underground...you know what I’m not gonna even think about it too hard because it makes no sense and I know that. I must make my peace.

I also like how the castle is nonsensical and yet there’s a line of dialogue about how they’ll liberate the Pokémon in PCs too for their Master Plan(TM), which is surprisingly thoughtful. This game is so inconsistent with how much sense its lore makes. It’ll come up with something clever and then wear its underwear on its head the next minute.

“Will you go the Pokémon league?”

Hey what - WHY DID YOU TELEPORT ME HOW CAN YOU DO THAT. DO YOU HAVE AN ABRA OR WHAT

THAT WAS RANDOM

Well at least there’s someone there to randomly teleport me back too.

WHEEEEEE

Hi Reshiram, convenient how that mini fire tornado you made didn’t burn me or N.

Hi Zekrom, convenient how your lightning didn’t hurt us either, you’re a considerate chap

Aight, let’s see if I can catch this bastard

...I did and it only took me like five balls. Okay then.

N gave me a good fight, so there’s that.

Love how Ghetsis’s bouffalant kills itself via recoil from its own move and my scrafty’s rocky helmet.

He gave me a good fight too though.

I do like the ending, despite my issues with how the game presents its message. N is a great character and I appreciate what Nintendo was trying to do with the game’s plot, they just...didn’t really delve into it like they should have.

I’m glad I replayed it. I still have my issues with gen 5 but I see a lot more of its positives now.

We’ll see if I do any post-game content, I have gotten kind of attached to my grump-ass trainersona and his weird team.

[christas-notebook]

City of Light, City of Night… (pt 5)

When Liv gets up the next morning, and leaves for work she finds a note fastened to her door. It is from Arthur, suggesting they meet infront of the building at 7 that evening. It is a very short and concise note. She tucks it in her purse. It makes her happy that he seem to be just as interested as her into getting to know eachother. It would be nice to have a friend here. She haven’t had any since the early school days, then everything became so difficult, and in the end it was easier to just not bother with it.

The day moves so slow. She is working at a café, and might have lied a little about her experience in similiar jobs. She was lucky, and the owner let her have the job - even without having any papers to show for her. She gave him Martins phonenumber for references, he will recommend her for anything anyone will ask about. He is the only one from back home that know where she is. And the only one she trust, but she still keep the contact to a minimum. The clock seem to have stopped. Every second takes a minute, and every minute takes an hour. She is waiting tables, as she smiles. She cleans the tables, as she smiles. She think about the evening to come, and smiles. Finally the day is over and she can leave.

Back home she rushes up to her appartment. Well, as fast as she can rush the 10 floors. She takes a quick shower. Wraps herself in a towel and change her mind about what to wear for the 50th time or so. It is just a cup of coffee, she tells her self. It is not like he invited me on a date. She ends with a light green summer dress, and a cardigan. Low heels, because after walking and standing almost all day at work she don’t think she can move far in anything else. Looking good has never been a priority, and and this moment she wish she had paid more attention to other people, their hair and make-up. She decide on the usual braid for her hair. Some mascara and lipstick will have to do - after all, that is the only things she have.

At 6:45 she walks out in the the main hall. Arthur is allready there. He looks stunning! He is wearing a green suit, with a west and tie, and a dark blue shirt. The colours are vibrant, and looks great on him. His dark hair is pulled back from his face, making him look younger. He hastily walks towards her and greet her smiling. - Hi. There is a nice coffe shop - confectionery not too far from here. It is a bit more fancy than the cafè we went to last time, if you would like to try it? She smiles back. - That sounds lovely. - There was nothing wrong with the café we visited, but I thought it would be fun to try something nicer. They have a broad variety of cakes and confectionaries, tea, coffee, hot chocolate... - I absolutely agree, she says. Besides, you are definitely dressed for a fancier place than that dark café. You are looking so handsome today. He suddenly looks shy. - Did I overdo it? - No, no. You are looking really good. I mean it. - So are you. He chews on his lower lip, and she gets the impression that both giving and receiving compliments are rare for him. - Shall we go then? - You lead the way, she says and put her hand on his arm.

As they walk down the street, they fumbles their way trough the beginning of a conversation. Trivialities like weather and work. The summer evening is warm and humid, and there is againg looking to be rain and thunder later.

The coffee shop is really nice. The interior is dark here, also. It is made to look old fashioned with dark brown wood, and the fabrics are held in dusty pink in diffrent shades - but there is so much glass, and brass and light. There are several display counters with cakes, and confectioneries. The place smells of coffee, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and everything sweet. They walk along the counters and she wonder how she will possibly be able to make up her mind. - Do you see anything you’d like? He ask. - All of it... She giggles. - What a marvelous place. - I’m in no hurry. He laughs back. - We can sit here all evening if you like. And they do.

After they decide on what to order, he leads them to a table for two. Again the start of their talk is a little slow, mainly sharing thoughts about the placeand the overflowing counters. After a while they get more personal again. This is such a unusal situation for her - learning to know someone, trying to make friends. It makes it a little easier that he seems just as inexperienced as her on it.  - Can I ask why you picked this city to move to? He says. - That was just a coincidence. It was the first bus that left the station that night, so I climbed on it, and here I am. - Just like that? - Yeah. Just like that. She stares out the window. Wondering how much she should tell. She turns back to him. - Things had been bad for a long time by then. There were some people in the town that went together and passed the hat... they gave me money enough for a ticket here, and a room at an inn the first days. Said it was to give me a fresh start. But to tell you the truth they did it for themselfes. They could no longer bare to see me walking among them, knowing that they had done nothing - about what they knew was going on. Every day I reminded them of their shame - and this was the easiest solution. But it is OK. In the end - there was nothing I wanted more by then.  I was happy to leave too. She is silent again. He leans over and place his hand over hers. Pats it carefully. - If you want to talk about it, I will listen. He says. - No. He appologises and quickly removes his hand. He should have known. It is to soon to ask someone to trust him with something so personal. She swallows and breath deep in trough her nose. Then reaches over the table and takes his hand again. - Listen, Arthur. I have never spoken about it to anyone. It is such a bad and disgusting story. And it makes me feel bad and disgusting, and I am afraid that might be what others will feel about me too, if they hear it. And I don’t want to risk that with you. Nor do I want you to pity me. I do thank you for your kindness tho. I really do. She changes the subject and ask about him and his mother. He tells that they have been living in their  appartment for 20 years. They moved there when he was 10. His mother have been sickly most of the time, and he have been the one taking care of most things. She asks if he have been married, and he shakes his head. Then he lets her know more about his life, and how everyday can be a challenge. The therapist he sees, and the medications he need. The anxiety, his condition and what it is actually called (Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder), how his co-workers keep a polite distance to him, and how others find him odd, and how he feels like he is not fitting in anyplace. His voice go lower and lower as he speaks, till she can barely hear him. When he is finished she is still holding his hand. - I really don’t want to scare you away, he says. - But I want to be honest. And just like you I am not after any pity. It just feels important to let you know who I am, and what I am and, and... I am not dangerous, he adds, not to myself or anyone else. She nods. - I am not scared of you. And I really do appreciate you trusting me enough to tell me all this. - I know we have only talked a couple of times, and this might be a little to early to just let it all out like this, but... He pauses - It just feels so right when I am talking with you. I can’t explain why... - I feel the same way, Liv answers. I feel confortable in your presence. 

They sit in silence for another while. Arthurs legs are moving up and down under the table, increasing in speed. She won’t ask, just assumes it is something that follows one of his diagnosis. After a while he seem to notice himself and try to stop it. She ask if he would like another coffee, and he does. The next hour they talk about easier themes. She shares of the good things from her days in her hometown, the woods, the lake and the library - places she enjoyed spending time.He talks about music, movies and his mother. He asks what she thinks of the Murray Franklin Show, and when she tells him that she does not own a TV, he thinks she is joking. - I brought very little with me. Just clothes, and my record player actually. - Would you like to go back and get more of your belongings? - Nah. I didn’t have much anyway. - You could come over and watch it with me some day if you’d like. - Sure. That would be nice. - It’s on every weekday, so you can come whichever day that suits you best. He continue to tell her about the city. She have spent her days at work, then at home. The shopping she have done has been at the nearest grocery store. So he offers to show her around some day. She is flattered - he has suggested two more meetings allready. It is only the two of them left in the coffee shop now. The staff is cleaning off tables and getting ready to close for the night. They walk slowly down the streets on their way back to the appartments. And they walk close to eachother. Now and then their hands brush together, and finally Arthur gather enough corage to take her hand. She looks up at him and smile. - You know. I really like you. She says. - You do? - I do. - I like you too. I like being with you. She laughs. Loud and happily. When they reaches the appartment building, he offers to walk her up the stairs. - It’s ok. I can take the elevator with you up till your floor. Now I am prepared that it can stop, and I will be fine. I promise I won’t make another scene. They walk in and he presses the button for her floor. She is moved by how considerate he is. Impulsive she wraps her arms around him and leans into him. -Thank you, she mumbles into his chest. - You are so kind to me. He freezes for a few seconds, holding his breath. Then he puts his arms around her too, and pull her carefully a little closer. She can smell him. Aftershave, and cigarette smoke. Coffe and chocolate. He rest his chin on the top of her head. I could very easily fall in love with this man she thinks. And for once in her lifetime she allows herself to hold on to that thought. To love someone. To let someone into her life again.

[idolish7rabbitchats]

Osaka Sougo: Wonderful Octave Rabbit Chat Part 3

T: Good work! Would it be alright to start the requests soon?

1000: The Kinako who isn’t kinako powder, did she make it home safely?

T: Yes! She’s cheerfully eating dinner at the office now!

T: Everyone, sorry for taking time for this…!

10: Don’t mind it. We were relaxing while eating Anmitsu.

Anesagi: I bought it at the shop nearby. I really wanted to eat Anmitsu; I couldn’t hold back.

8: There was a Japanese sweet’s shop nearby huh. Tenn, you really knew it.

9: I saw that place before.

2: Somehow, I’m hungry...

7: Yamato-san we have snacks! I bought a lot so I’ll bring it to the living room. For Sougo-san too, I bought spicy chips! It’s a new snack!

2: THANK YOU.

5: Thanks, Riku-kun. The habanero ones right? I was interested so I’m happy.

9: Make sure you don’t eat too much.

5: Yes! I’ll be careful with amount of snacks intake..!

9: Ah, sorry. I wasn’t saying it to you or anything...

2: Meaning, maybe, to me? (lol)

9: That’s not it.

100: lololol

6: That’s a short comic skit.

7: Even if you don’t say it, I won’t overeat! It’s fine!

T: So then, let’s start collecting requests again while eating snacks…!

T: Next is from Mitsuki-san. Please take it away!

3: Yeah! From me it’s an “Intro Quiz!”!

3: Because Sougo is knowledgeable about music! Doesn’t it seem fun to play a bunch of song intros and guess?

5: Which genre of music?

3: All genres!

1000: So he really doesn't know what song will be played huh? It will test his ability.

5: It seems really fun!

4: So-chan is really knowledgeable after all.

5: Yeah. I’m purely excited about what song will be playing. Even if I don’t know the song, I’m happy to hear it for the first time.

5: Mitsuki-san, thank you for the challenging request.

3: Jesus lol I’m the one feeling the pressure lol

3: I’ll pick songs that’ll get Sougo excited! Look forward to it!

3: [Thumbs-Up Pudding Stamp]

5: [Hearts Kinako Stamp]

T: The intro quiz seems like a fun game! Next is Yamato-san please!

2: Roger.

2: My request is an “Object Guessing Quiz.”

5: That’s a quiz where you get hints to guess what it is right?

2: Yeah yeah. The thing variety shows do a lot.

1: The game requests are continuing. This will be exciting.

6: It seems fun huh! Can I help think of them too? 

2: Sorry to disappoint but it’s already been decided.

5: Has it?

2: It’s the thing that I saw in the dorms in the middle of the night

2: Ah that was close. I almost said the answer to the quiz (lol).

7: Eh! What was in the middle of the night?! At the dorms? 

5: Perhaps, it’s something scary...

4: STOP STOP STOP!!!!

4: Stop it absolutely not!

4: That is seriously a no!

5: It’s fine, Tamaki-kun. The existence of ghosts hasn't been scientifically proven yet.

1: Nikaido-san just mistook something in his sleep.

4: Don’t say ghost!!!!

3: Tamaki, you’re saying it you’re saying it!

100: Tamaki being scared of ghosts is cute huh~!

1000: Even though humans are way scarier.

100: Right~ （つ∀<●)゜+.

1000:（つ∀<●)゜+.

Okazaki: You two are using cute emojis but saying scary things!

Anesagi: Being the top idol means having tasted the sweetness and bitterness of life huh...

5: I’ll study it...

T: I’ll study it a lot too…! I’m interested in what was seen in the dorms but how about Yaotome-san gives a request next!

8: From me it’s “Run the radio with an arrogant attitude.”

100: An arrogant attitude means making a smug face?

5: S-Smug…?

8: Yeah. It’s a little bit similar with Tenn’s request tho.

8: I forgot when but, Anesagi was saying it too, that Osaka can be more bossy. Also, I just purely wanted to see it because I can’t imagine it.

3: It seems like there are a lot of requests to see a different side of Sougo!

6: Because Sougo’s charms are infinite. :-)

5: G-Got it. I’ll practice until the day I go on-air.

5: How should I practice...

1: First of all, finding a model will be a shortcut. How about watching movies with arrogant characters in it and extracting some samples from them?

5: Right. I’ll try checking online movie sites.

5: Iori-kun, if it’s alright, will you search for reference movies with me?

1: Got it. I’ll hand over some documents later.

2: Putting effort into being arrogant is not arrogant at all.

8: I thought he could do it instantly… But, I’m looking forward to seeing Ousaka’s seriousness.

T: I also definitely want to see a new side of Sougo-san!

T: So then, next how about we hear a request from Tsunashi-san please?

10: From me it’s “Please heal the listeners.”

10: Everyone said it too but Sougo-kun is always nice. I relax when I see Sougo-kun’s smiling face when I’m tired after recording.

10: If the radio’s listeners were told “Good work,” by Sougo-kun, surely they’ll be healed.

4: Oooh. It feels like the opposite of Gakkun’s request.

5: Thank you. Somehow, I’m a little embarrassed but...

3: Certainly. Sogo has a mom kind of side!

2: When I threw my clothes off in the living room, he picked them up, saying “Please put these into a washing machine.”

4: And the used juice cups

1: Please clean up after yourself!

5: Lately, it seems like he does it by himself, so it’s helped me.

5: It’s amazing. Changing yourself by taking care of others is not an easy thing.

1000: Ah. That’s certainly healing.

10: It healed us right!

T: I also felt my tiredness get blown away by Sougo-san’s smile!

T: So then, how about a request from Momo-san next?

100: Okaaay! From me it’s “How far can you go? Let’s Try! Spicy Hell!” \”(*・∀・)ノ

100: Sougo is fine with eating any kind of spicy food. So that’s why I want to see if he has a limit!

5: A spice limit huh… Certainly, that’s something I’m curious about too.

100: Really, it’s totally fine then!

5: Right. Of course when it’s something I make but, I never felt like it was too spicy and I couldn’t eat something that a TV show brought me.

5: I also want to try tasting something that others feel “is spicy enough”.

100: That much?! It would be really difficult to capture a variety show-like reaction tho!

1: Seeing people dying over swallowing spicy food is simply funny.

1000: When it appears on their face, it’s easy to give up cuz you can see their limit.

7: Yamato-san won’t show his face, so it will be hard for you…!

2: Yeah yeah. Even if you want to give up, you have to eat it for a while.

6: You don’t need to force yourself. People should be honest to themselves anytime.

3: Since it’s a variety show ,Nagi should eat a little more! You sometimes put your chopsticks down without eating it at all.

6: Even if it’s Mitsuki’s sake, I’ll refuse it.

5: Really, everyone has trouble with it huh...

100: Right, I got it! I’ll take a responsibility and let Sogo experience the pain of spice!

5: Momo-san..!

100: Expect it, Sougo. I’ll use all of my connections to find the best spicy food!

5: Thank you. I feel reassured!

100: (*ゝω・）ノ★

T: The best spicy food… Just imagining it makes my mouth spicy…!

T: Last is the request from Yuki-san please!

1000: My turn huh. I’m the last one.

1000: “I want to see straight man Sogo.”

2: Ooh. Now the reaction kind of request is going on.

5: Straight man means comedy? That would require a high skill...

1000: Just doing it with impromptu is fine. Since it will be a straight joke man.

100: Yeah yeah! Like if you say “Nandeyanen!” everything will go well ★

3: Momo-san, you just saying it irresponsibly lol

5: I see… Impromptu Nandeyanen huh...

1000: He believed it ^ ^

5: Nandeyanen!

4: So-chan, you seriously

10000: It was so sudden but, was that supposed to be a straight man…?

5: S-Sorry! Was I wrong?!

1000: Nah it’s fine. Super good. Let’s go with that from now.

100: I-Is it fine?! It's a little bit off but that’s cute tho?!

1: If this request is chosen, isn’t that gonna be a disaster…?

1000: Nandeyanen!

5: Ah! That was being a straight man?!

5: I see… I need speed and sharpness right.

2: Sou, you don’t need to applaud.

T: Being a straight man is deep! Yuki-san, thank you for the fun request!

T: We are done with collecting everyone’s requests. Everyone, thank you very much!

5: Thank you. 

3: Since we’re done that means it’s time for Sougo’s request!

8: Yeah. Say anything.

*T: Do you have a request for us?

5: I want to stand on stage together from now on too. That’s my number one request.

5: From now on too, please take care of me.

1000: Even though it’s almost your birthday, Sougo-kun is modest.

100: We have to say “Congratulations” a lot so Sogo can’t be modest\(*´∀｀)/

10: It’s a little early but, happy birthday. Let’s drink together again!

9: Happy Birthday. I’m looking forward to your on-air radio.

10000: Sougo-kun, happy birthday! Let me help you from now on too!

100: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO （δ>∀<)δ　SOGO♪ Let’s be friendly this year too!

Okazaki: Happy Birthday!

1000: Happy birthday. Spend a wonderful day.

Anesagi: Happy Birthday. Don’t drink too much.

8: HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It would be nice if it’s a special year for you.

T: Sougo-san, Happy Birthday from me too!

5: Thank you, everyone. I’m overwhelmed, I can’t say words well.

5: But, I’m super happy. Really.

5: From now on, I’m looking forward to your guidance and support.

3: Even the conclusion is so formal! lol

5: S-Sorry...

2: It’s not something to apologize for. Let’s celebrate on the day of.

7: I’m looking forward to Sougo-san’s HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

1: I’m a little scared of the table becoming totally red...

5: Thanks everyone! I can’t wait for my birthday. To be able to feel like this makes me really happy.

5: Before that, I’ll work hard on the radio job first.

V2:

8: Yeah. Say anything.

T: Do you have a request for TRIGGER-san?

5: Please let me see a TRIGGER live again. I’ll get the ticket by myself…!

5: From now on too, please take care of me.

V3:

8: Yeah. Say anything.

T: Do you have a request for Re:vale-san?

5: They are already being nice enough to me. I don’t have anything I require now…!

5: From now on too, please take care of me.

[whimsically-ominously-auspice]

"Uruguay already landed and took off with no problems"

Matt and Abu start to tear up... And they will make me cry like a hyena laughs

"Suck it up buttercups, i don't need you two that won't even go see your wives (soulmates/half and halves) crying in my face! You got better things to do!"

....

Some have phones, but have limitations...

Abu had told them to call the consulates or embassies if they ever got a chance to escape.

Because he would bring some kidnapped ones, the badder ones here or there and tell them "escape" and i was arguing with one and told her "don't be stupid call the American Embassy, they will protect you!"

Anyways she was stupid and went back to Iraq pregnant.

Because I'm worthless and no good and a liar. So mom says as it was mom. Not that i believed that but now i know she was. And i still tried to help her.

And so Abu was all "explain me everything you know about this"

So i did and how an embassy or consulate is actually a little section of land in a country that belongs to another country

So a diplomat from Liberia, in America, would go to an embassy for the Librerians and it is considered to be Liberia land although its actually our land we allow them to use. They are protected by their laws from us there. As are their people and so on. So we can't go with an American search warrant for their home. We have to call Liberia and say, "look you sent us a fucktard and im about to kill him so you need to help us help you keep him alive"

And so Abu told everyone he could and even wrote the phone numbers on strips of papers.

So, for Uruguay, two people called their consulate and asked for help when they received emails of their release.

Apparently one said "come get me! They said she said we can be released! I don't know where i am! Help please!"

So with the phone call they were able to pinpoint their coordinates although the GPS is disabled in their phone -- no hack can break the GPS and if one ever does someone goes and repairs it.

Uruguay knew about the farms and their people but because the Queen owns them There's nothing anyone would do about it. But the Queen knows i have no trouble beating her ass because last time I saw her i did because she got undressed while Abu and Matt were screaming for help. So i beat her ass and yankyy her facey --- i did sit down and therapy talk her and asked her like she was 5, nice, to get dressed and ber and i would go have lunch in public and be normal. But she refused and got belligerent like we been getting drunk and high for 9 days without sleep or food. So. We came to an understanding about this situation so no one has to get beat up. Plus i terrorized her husband a few weeks ago and he had to move out the next day... Cause she kicked him out and she said she wanted me to kill him and his Goddam light turning on and off pissed me off.

**pet the chin of a dog of someone you hate then yell "you know what poison is?? Its too cold for your dog to be outside!" When they go to the door to see what you're doing at their gate.

He moved but left his dog after crying all night and i see him running all over the neighborhood now. Supposedly he's trained to kill but hes super sweet and doesn't even act mean.. Runs around smiling all sweet and listens and doesn't bark... He barks locked in the yard tho. Pit bull. Male.

Anyways. It could speed up the process if someone calls and says how many they have and etc.

Uruguay had 15 people at 2 farms so one of the smaller farms took two trucks to each farm and picked them up.

Then they waited at the small farm for the pick up from the military. So about 24 hours it took for that but about 2 days to hear whar to do from Uruguay.

Mexico has 90% so they're doing as much planning as possible and preparing the transition site.

At the transition site, they will get stories of the people. Everything they can remember and use newspapers and other information like police records and anything they can find to help the families be found for the victims.

As soon as possible they will be provided a phone to contact their families with a counselor present and they will have constant communication with their families until they are home

Because there are so many people, about 2,000 it will take weeks to cover everyone.

So we have field trips planned for those in the safe haven.

They will go out and see local sights, eat in restaurants and be tourists and be given ("free") spending money for their own souvenirs and goods.

They will be heavily guarded and protected. And it's voluntary. We split them into small groups and they can choose to go to which trip when.

Its their first taste of decision making and freedom to live as they have had the right to all this time.

So we are excited for this for them as well as Uruguay being able to take theirs home for the holidays. Uruguay will have a similar program for them as well.

At larger facilities: Our program has days with a group staying at the temporary home to be interviewed and use computers and to rest if it is not time for them to interview, catch up on laundry and things like that. This way they dont miss out on trips but have time "off" to rest and reflect.

Trips aren't everyday, tho. Because we don't want to overwhelm them with the outside world and make them feel they can't choose to be free.

~~~~~~~💞

Mexico and i worked last night for a celebration in the summer. So the victims can all see each other again. And celebrate their freedom together. Again heavily guarded and protected. There we will have a festival explaining many different religions, including Islam and Iraq customs, in hopes to further develop peace and tranquility. We prepared some fun challenges to recognize emotional PTSD and how to overcome the sudden overwhelming feelings with pride and happiness and most of all personal strength. For example: a fun water park with water slides and such... Realizing many may not be able to swim, the victims may feel intense fear and panic. However there will be life guards in the towers and in the water and swim instructors and life vests and everything to make it perfectly safe and enjoyable. So to overcome that intense fear is a self empowerment movement for the victims. We hope they have so much fun they dont even realize how much progress they made until they are safe and warm in their beds and they drift happily to sleep and God holds their hands and tells them how proud he is.

So Mexico has said they will provide program material with the detailed information of the challanges to expect, this way they can recognize their feelings that they have been taught to suppress. Initially and also how to expect to overcome the problomatic issues.

So we hope all the victims and their chosen family members from home choose to go and see us. And choose to educate themselves and heal and to see their friends they made in captivity.

While it is normal and expected to hate those who captured and enslaved the victims, the victims themselves always made the best of a bad situation and they made friends and families of their co-workers. We don't want to tear apart yet another family for these people. So we plan to have bi-yearly free events for them to see one another. Just as the military and its affiliates would for war veterans here in America.

Being a military brat, I've had my chosen family torn apart all the time. Being a victim of the two main kidnappers and the owner of the farms, i have had my blood family torn apart as well as many friends kidnapped and murdered. Thus I have complete understanding how not having the opportunity to see my family and friends again is harmful to the heart. And soul and mind. So i cannot allow that to happen to these unfortunate souls that have suffered as long as i Have. I see them no different than myself, in the way I want them to be cared for. As i have not been cared for, it will be extravagant, as the days go wearily by, I realize how much more i deserve that i do not receive. So i can only imagine how they could feel without freedom so i hope to maximize as best as possible without interfering with their daily life So they can live as normal as they wish -- with the financial benefits they will receive. They have lived in horrid conditions and received no pay but food and housing and worked daily. Thus they will be taken care of financially and their only job is to be happy, wise and free. And spend time with their families, sharing memories and making more. Live, laugh, love. That is their jobs. And they will be paid nicely for that. The governments are working together to sort all that out. And it seems that it will be a conglomeration of tax payer dollars not from any one country. Mainly the drug manufacturing countries, that benefited financially.

We have elected to have the first one big celebration to televised on worldwide television, including Netflix. So those not invited have no need to crash our party. As There are many surprises scheduled that should delight the nations.

[beecherdrysdale]

Ooo yes that song is a good luck song and I love it.

Huh, I’m kinda feeling brexi? Wbu?. All our love Jamie, we love you .

Ooo I’ve always wanted to visit Chicago!! Take me everywhere lol. That would be a fun day or two. Yessss road trip in Canada! The open road is truly beautiful. Who doesn’t go over the speed limit lol. I think I’m appointing myself as the driver ? And I am absolutely letting you sit upfront, or would you prefer being squished between boys? Lol I’m not sure, but I think you would like being upfront w me. Haha my music is all over the place as well and since we have similar taste it would be fun to listen to!. Lol I can’t sit that long in a car so frequent stops will be happening !! The food, the singing, the chirping would be main things in the car hehe. Yesss I love us, dyl, Jamie, quinner, Braden and quinton in the car! If we raise it to an 8 seater- I think those exist? I might add ryan to the mix just for that extra chaos hehe. Oo Dylan can sit behind your seat and play with your hair 🥺🥺 or Jamie? Ok but first we can start with Toronto and pick up Jamie first and then we can go from there. Is that alright hehe?

I will give quinner that fitness challenge. I believe you since it’s totally true w the engaging your core. Brigid you’ll train them to be competition ready lol. Omg yes I am making those shirts. Team brigid + dylan and the team Canada+ Lexi+ brigid shirts. Love that.

Get ready to be scared by me and ryan! We love you too. Just not on a jet ski hehe. The chin on the shoulder is the softest thing🥺. Ooo yess we are getting spicy here...his hands drifting lower and lower lol 😏. I have seen those pics, I know exactly where he took them . So we are going to be driving to that exact spot. I also know where dylan c took his boat pics because it’s all in B.C. And I’ve been there. Ok I’m kinda imagining one of our vacay’s to maybe be happening in bc because it’s really nice there during the summer. And we can take those photos lol. Yess brigid put those hands on his abs lmao.

Dutch braids are the superior braids in my opinion. Like I love the way they look. They probably look amazing on you since you have long hair! Quinton and devon please braid those for us. Omg they could put in flowers 🌸 It is soothing, playing with hair is just so niceeeee.

Haha yes, I actually have jumped into the log/raft thing and almost fell out but we won’t be talking about that lol. Haha please help me. Yesss the pic would be so cute to put in our matching frames !

Oo I like blue :)) I’ll get you a red Holloway hoodie! And a grey hoodie that has my name on the back lol . Lmao grey +gray.

Ok good you are prepared to slay the dance floor. I can probably guarantee that he would step on my feet lol but I don’t mind since he’s adorable and would be a clingy drunk? Maybe? . Idk slow dances are just so intimate for me personally... 😍

Get ready to be challenged by ryan and I, but you would probably win since you can literally do anything that revolves around that. Awww Dylan helping you up things and you helping him🥺 some reassurance is coming your way team canada. It is super fun!

wow that’s really cool that you got out first! Ya I think the guys could come together and get out of the room. Ok why do I have a feeling that Peyton would be really good at it? Lmao I would probably just be walking around watching the chaos unfold. Wbu?. I think Peyton would be good, Devon, braden, jamie Dylan c . I think that Quinner, dyl, and bowen? would be trying but are confused and then ryan, quinton, Kirby and bo would just be watching the chaos unfold? What do you think ?

aww I do like both :)

yes i like brexi better too:) and i am once again professing my love for jamie 🥰 

hehe ok i’ll take you wherever you want to go bc i honestly don’t have many fun chicago locations in mind. yes i also appoint you as driver bc if it were me we would be going like 100 in a 70 lol (in mph idk if it’s different in canada). hehe yes i’ll sit in the front with you. we should definitely get an 8-seater, or kesh suggested an rv? then we could have ryan too and also kesh bc i’m stupid and forgot to include her when i made the list for the 7-seater lol. yes i also can’t sit still for a long time either so we need a lot of stops and then we can get more food bc based on the people in the car it would be gone very fast lol. oooh dylan or jamie behind me playing with my hair, we love to see it 🥺🥺 yes ofc we can pick up jamie first, after kesh tho bc she lives in michigan so we can pick her up on the way

hehe you and ryan will be so chaotic it’s ok tho bc it would be so funny. me and dyl are getting spicy i guess, his hands drifting lower while i’m driving and then my hands on his abs while he is 😏 oooh yes you can take us to the spots where they took their photos and we can chill there. all of the pics make it look so pretty! 

yes dutch braids are my favorite too! idk french are just hard for me and dutch look better anyway imo. yes quinton and devon we need your help, the other boys have no idea what they’re doing lol. oooh putting flowers in the braids, that’s so cute!

yesss we would be so good on the dance floor together. and yes quinner will definitely step on your feet by accident, but you guys would be so cute together so it’s ok. and i could def see him being a clingy drunk, so then you’re stuck with him the rest of the night lol. not that that’s a bad thing. yes slow dances are so intimate and cute, i love them 😍

hehe sorry but team dylan + brigid for the win. get ready to get beaten again lol. hehe me telling dylan how to do some of the obstacles bc i know the best ways to do them so we can win lol. but it would be super fun to just chill there too, doesn’t have to be a competition

ok so i think i have to agree with kesh’s analysis on this one, but i can also see the points you’re making. so devon and dylan c both being good at it (which you both said) but then i could also see ryan just be good at connecting the pieces and then also peyton i could see connecting the pieces too. and then quinner, kirby, and quinton i could all see trying but they are just confused by how everything connects. and also bowen i could see being the same way, kesh and i forgot him. and then braden would def be trying at first like you said, but then he would get distracted and jamie would just be overwhelmed by everything. so those are just my takes on it and some of them could def happen differently, but the one i will stand by is that dyl would just be standing there watching all of it happening and laughing esp when we told him to help us lmao.

[survivor-mountmerapi]

Ep. 9&10: “I’m just--------peeing quite frankly” - Madi

Steven

Was I entertained by this tribal and Julia playing her idol? Yes I very much was. Was I about to simultaneously puke and cry at the same time? Yes. Yes I was. Can this game have one single ounce of something that wont make me go into tears.

Anastasia

We are so dumb and stupid and dumb and stupid. I dont know why we would all vote for one person?? ESPEVIALLU if the person knows they are going and especially if that person is julia and shes already rlly good at lying. we were all blinded by our mutual force to get her out and we didnt think it out heck frick. sorry moth this is so unfair. moth was trying to get julia out the most bcs julia targetted moth last season. why julia has a thing against moth in this game? i dont know!! anyway we have to get that girl out next round and we will split vote pls it has to happen we cant give up she has to go

Madi

im just--------peeing quite frankly

go off julia, you did that, props to you

Raffy

Julia playing that idol is the best and most iconic play in this game thus far. The dramatics of the fight to ensure that all the votes landed on her? Keeping the people who she knew would get skittish and snake-ish so she has a higher chance of staying next round? Literally, this all works in her favor. To be honest, I don't even want Julia gone at this point. I want someone like Ginnifer or Rachel gone for future security. Sure Julia will eventually snake me, but keep your enemies close and all that.

Ginnifer admitted ON CALL that she almost voted for Steven WHEN STEVEN WAS THERE. She also wanted an alliance with Julia, Madi, Steven, and I in the same call! Then, DeNara gets on call and Ginnifer ADMITS to wanting to create an alliance without her. I'm just kind of shook. Why would I want to work with Ginnifer anyways if she's been targeting me since the swap? There's no reason to other than being chaotic. Then, Julia transitions to pitching with working with her! And Madi is calling her out! This after-tribal call is a mess. But, now the target is fully off of me. Mwahahaha. These people???

Ginny

Moth was idoled out yikes but I tried to make a new alliance but it failed

Steven

Im trying to figure out what Ginny's logic is. First you say that you wanna target all the winners cause we are the biggest threats in the game. Then you tell me TO MY FACE after a wild tribal that you almost voted for me to leave tonight. Even after all that you then turn around and try to align yourself with the winners that you were just targeting to spice it up???????? Im sorry but Im not following this.

Julia

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AxVD3qWAkVmL_7fWiHERvNIg9VkKFS1W/view?usp=drivesdk

Raffy

According to DeNara, Elle wants to create an alliance with DeNara, Steven, and I. This could be a good back up alliance for the time being. Additionally, it gives us more numbers on our side if we ever need to turn on Gian and Madi. However, I don't want to do that anytime soon. They are great allies to have. Plus, they are able to think and are going after Julia. So, it should all work in my favor. I love being able to slip by each tribal with my target not being shot. I am thinking of throwing this challenge so Ginny can get the yeet though.

Madi

hi its madi and im being messy did I just text DeNara and ask her to be in a tighter alliance with me bc its gonna get to the point where the winners have to go? have I been reinforcing since the merge to anastasia that we are working together and that shes my partner in this game? did I just say “partner to partner” to anastasia that we should start an all girls alliance? did I also ask denara? me, denara, anastasia, rachel, and elle? rachel wont talk to me tho:( bc I “lied” so thats a speed bump denara also thinks she is the only one I told ab this and when I asked if we should tell anastasia she said that anastasia is a “blabber mouth” so “not yet”??????? am I fucking up my game? idkkk come back tomorrow thank the lords I have an idol if this blows up in my face???

DeNara

That awkward moment when you don't remember what your confessionals say anymore and you are repeating yourself a lot lol

Steven

https://youtu.be/2NGxkNjrGdk

DeNara

Soooo after Moth got voted out and Ginnifer decided to go a little crazy and try and make new alliances without us, Elle and I have decided to jump ship on the Lucky Charms alliance. She suggested talking to Steven and Raffy which was a great idea. I talked to them and they said they would be down with that so we are going to make a new alliance when Elle brings it up.

TEA. Steven and Raffy want to stick with our alliance of 5 with Madi and Gian because they trust them but Madi messaged me today saying she wanted to make a tighter alliance with me so we can eventually take out the winners. I am not sure if I should tell Steven and Raffy this or not yet, as it could end up worse for me if I do....

DeNara

You know, I should give myself more credit in this game. I have played the middle so well this season so far. I have an alliance with literally everyone in this game except Julia and Anastasia and Anastasia tells me things when I ask her lol I think I can do well in this game if I play my cards right.

DeNara

Oooooh so I made an alliance chat with Raffy, Steven and Elle. Sounds like we are gonna try and get Ginnifer out before Julia now. I did tell Julia I would try and spare her a round since she didn't vote me out o.O

Elle

✨A New Alliance Has Been Formed✨Me, DeNara, Steven, and Raffy ^_^ Which is great bc I trust DeNara, and I feel really good about Steven and Raf (I don't think?? they would betray us 😂but I am not sure of anything anymore lol ahhhh the post merge paranoia is real) I also feel really good about this challenge. I get to work on my layout designs for the magazine me and Madi are working on which is great! I don't know why I always worm in something I want to be practicing into these challenges lol, probs bc I'm prone to being like "I'll get right on that!" and then... not 😂 so the challenges are good excuses. I also would have Loved to make a tarot deck like the example ugh that seems so cool 😭

DeNara

So I told Raffy and Steven about Madi bringing up a potential tighter alliance and I regret it. I feel like that was something I should have kept to myself Stevenhttps://youtu.be/dWdKo0iuaV4

Raffy

DeNara created an alliance with Elle, Steven, and I. Steven and DeNara still don't want to tell Gian and Madi about it. Ok I guess. If they find out though, I am throwing DeNara under that bus so fast. Secondly, it seems Elle wants to target Ginnifer as well this round. I love ur impact. Now, we just need two more votes. One of them being Julia. The others possibly Gian and Madi if I can convince them. Rachel and Anatasia would probably still target Julia. I am trying to not obviously throw this challenge.

Gian

The way I ate Steven up on this lip sync. It was so fun to do! Im really happy we did this challenge :)

Elle

The judges are judging🎶 (to the tune of "The Lady's Improving" from The Prom) Anyway, I just want to preface that the first ad was supposed to be the only like, purposefully kinda bad layout in the magazine 😂 I was low on time and I regretted the color palette, it was way too saturated but Madi and I had agreed on it and I didn't want to be more annoying than I was already being about the magazine 😅. Also, I need to remember people read these afterward 😂 I'm incredibly bad at not just spewing whatever is in my mind sometimes, I feel like I might've overshared a couple of times but it happens! This probably counts as oversharing bc it's not about gameplay... yes okay back on topic I hope we win, if we don't I'll be okay I'll just be ticked at myself for staying up past 2AM but realistically if I didn't hyperfocus on that it'd be something else 🤷🏽‍♀️ atleast this was productive, I got to work on layouts a little (I mean technically I got quite a few layouts but so many are baddd 😭😭😭 like if a professor saw some of these they'd faint and then kick me out of graphic design lmao). But the point wasn't for it to be professional, so it's okay!!!!! I'm telling myself that so I don't go back and fix everything lol.

Raffy

The plan as of right now is to target both Ginnifer and Julia. Personally, I want Ginnifer out because she has been a very chaotic mess since the merge started. I would rather want that gone now rather than later when we no longer have the chance. I made the plan to split the vote 4-4 against Ginnifer and Julia. DeNara, Steven, Elle, and I (the secret alliance hidden from Gian's and Madi's view) will vote for Ginnifer. Gian and Madi know about this. They, along with Anastasia and Rachel, will vote for Julia. So, it should not matter who either of them vote for. However, it would be nice if they could vote each other. This plan does come with its risks though. I am willing to take those risks. And, if I get a bad smell, I will use my SWP to get out of the sticky situation.

DeNara

Well. Today is tribal day. I have been feeling worn down so much the past couple days and part of me just wants to be carried by others for a while. On the other hand, part of me feels like it might be time to make a big move soon because that is how you win. If Julia is still here after the vote tonight, then I feel like I just need to team up with her because clearly she needs to be blindsided. The lack of chatter has me worried.....like why is nobody talking??? Is it because they have all teamed up and are plotting against one of my alliances, or are they just tired and busy like me? I am not sure... I am suspicious that Julia hasn't really been talking. I know she said she had personal stuff going on but who knows if that is all of it, or just part of it. I am feeling the desire to flip on my alliance soon. Idk if I will because I feel tight with Steven and he plays loyal, but if I told him about Madi wanting to flip on the winners soon I may be able to do something... I kind of want to start actually lying to people, like... full blown lies... muahahaha! We shall see what happens if I am not blindsided tonight.

Raffy

DeNara is so paranoid. This is what she told me: "I am pretty nervous about Julia teaming up with some ppl and making a play tonight. Should we come up with some crazy lie just to scare her? I am not sure what we could say, but I am feeling nervous about her?" Like, do you want to become the target? Doing that is a surefire way of becoming one. Everyone is BUSY. They're DOING things. The situation only becomes dire later on in the day. There's no reason to be doing all this when there is still time to discuss tribal. I might just dip because I am not going to get punished for DeNara being paranoid. Like, if Julia wanted to target us, she would have already done so. DeNara is just... very taxing to work with because she thinks that everyone is against her. I feel like I needed to talk her down from making a move that would have certainly gotten her voted out.

Ginny

Ohhh girl I’m scared tonight I better not get blindsided because Lordy I got it when moth left and I wasn’t prepared whooo Jesus

DeNara

So I have been talking to Elle a bunch and someone told her about the split vote between Ginny and Julia. I am trying to play as though she is the one giving me this information, even though I helped plan it. I actually am feeling really close with Elle and hoping I can get far with her. I might make her my real number one with Steven. I like Steven a lot but I am worried he won't turn on Raffy when it is time. Raffy keeps getting a little frustrtaed with how hard I am trying to play this game (which is fair) so he may have to go after Julia and Ginny. I am getting concerned about these newbies though. We should take one of them out soon to even out the numbers. Also, I have been trying to get idol hunt information from as many people as I can and I remembered that Gian got an advantage during a game, so I am trying to get him to tell me what number it was since he didn't add it to our group chart

Anastasia

Me and Julia were paired together for the challenge. Since we're trying to get that girl out I didn't want to win. I was a little worried that somehow ours would win but we got second to last. Julia was sadly going through stuff in real life and struggled. It's good for me but I sympathize with her.. Anyway Julia is out of here tonight.

Julia

Ok so last tribal was so sexy the looks on everyone’s faces are now burned into my brain

Julia

I’m really hoping it’s Ginny tonight. I’m going to try to pull out some shit and hope and pray put nothings in my hands tonight

Rachel

i am so happy to be playing with such nice people. i really do be getting in my own head sometimes, but it is so nice to be reassured that i am playing a fun game and no one feels ill will towards me in anyway. i feel awesome to be supported by this group. i had a tragic event happen in my life this week, but plan to move forward and try to have the most fun while playing in his honor.

Julia

I’m at tribal right now and I feel like I’m going to puke. It’s definitely me. It’s been a ride friends. Julia out

Madi

So I got immunity, Julia went home. Sad but necessary. I really respect her as a player and would love to work with her sometime but just not this game. Also kinda annoyed that raffy called me out at tribal during the revote..... like yeah I came up with the revote but why call my name out for it???? like what is the deal with that. He is my next target tho so like hehehehe raffy its time to go. I am thinking we convince him ginny is going home and blindside him instead??? idk just thoughts

goodnight!

DeNara

So we just voted Julia out and I am actually sad about it. I am glad the threat is gone, but she was fun for sure. Now my alliance of 5 is standing strong, if I stay loyal...

Raffy

R.I.P. Julia, Queen of the Idol. The plan went off without a hitch which is pretty boring, but it means I have a lot of control in this game. I am excited for Touchy Subjects as it will be a very revealing challenge. If I had my choice, a newbie or Ginnifer would get voted out next.

Gian

My game is borderline UTR/Goat at this point and idk if that’s something I’d want to change lol. I’ve been feeling lazy >-<

[survivorreelsmagicwithin]

Episode 2 - “Y'all. Vote me out fr cause I'm inactive as fronk” - Joshua (through Autumn)

I hate flag-making challenges. I will not be helpful at all, and I hope that someone else can take the reigns and lead us to victory. I honestly feel safe going into a tribal council, but I do not want to test that theory.

Next morning

With Chips and Jules working on the crest designs, I feel confident that we will do well in the challenge. Maybe not the best, but definitely not the worst. I still have the same anxious feeling that my tribe is not active enough for my taste, but I will just have to live with it for now. Besides, at least this is not immunity because that we increase my anxiety by so much. But, I keep forgetting to search the idol hunt which is my bad, but it is just so hard and long that I do not really feel like searching all the time lol

ART CHALLENGE <333 i love these challenges. Jess made my picture 110% better and its super cute. The note that she wrote with it is also hella cute and I love the whole HP aesthetics bc i never got to go to real hogwarts ;-; but i'm sure most of yall can related. The boys weren't too helpful but nick was better than jacob who is sick. Nick was way more active aka jacob said 3 sentences the entire challenge sooooo…. if we lose idk I might just save jacob anyways bc pregame relations.

Won reward, but now we have to win immunity again. I really hope that this reward helps us continue to survive. I don't want to have to vote anyone out. We've been getting first, but I really just want to survive this challenge, its known to be hard.

I think I have been stuck with the second most challenge inept tribe in the history of my ORG career. I literally said so many answers in my version of the story and Jules just fucked it up. And then they got the girl's name wrong. And then they started mixing up characters. I know I did well, but fuck these people. God. Now we need a tribe to get 0 which is very unlikely. I will just resign myself to tribal. I hope and pray that these people have some common sense and do not want to vote me out

Listen. Listen. Listen. I dang knew this story was going to be Harry Potter based. I knew in my brain and in my heart that I shouldn’t have been the one to start that thing. What do I do? Start the dang thing. Oh well. We did alright. I would be shocked if we won tho but if we don’t I’ll be relieved. I def don’t feel confident enough but I really had a lot of fun with my tribe. I really miss this and really hope that my time isn’t cut short! I feel really good about my tribe mates sincerely. And that’s kind of scary! I would hate to see any of us to go and how it’s going to affect the bond we have if we vote someone out. In this moment with Max sitting out, it may be him who goes if we go to tribal. I hope that isn’t the case. I’ve got my fingers crossed for us. Huff Puff strong!

Honestly Jules dropped the ball sis!! But it’s okay, I love her. She’s really nice and I know she tried her best. Plus she’s in an alliance with me and Owen, so we should have the numbers against Joanna or Miguel if we go to tribal. Personally, I’d prefer Joanna to go. She’s kinda domineering, but she’s also an asset in challenges thus far. She is organized and direct. I’ve also talked to her a bit more than Miguel, so I guess I don’t really care who goes.

I’m happy I didn’t fuck up the reward comp and the shit that I drew got us a win!

I really hope I don't bomb that challenge, I answered everything that Kevin talked to me about.... I think!  The rest of them tried very hard but I am SOOO glad that I asked to do my part at the end because my memory of repeating things is horrendous but I'm usually pretty good at bullshitting test answers... too bad I got some of the multiple choice stuff wrong.

I think that if we do lose I am still in a good spot on this tribe and hopefully I won't be in danger.  I feel like I'm on everyone's good side and Max kind of just disappeared so maybe we could just vote him out this round? Idk.

Hopefully we don't have to worry about it.  I smell a swap coming up pretty soon and I just hope I'm either with Owen or with some of the people from my tribe.  I have no idea if they know anyone or are close with anyone in the other houses.

I'm still feeling the closest to Lily and Kevin but I have been talking to Landen a good bit too these days so hopefully we'll be safe or we can all just agree on Max.

16 minutes later

OOOOOH IS LANDEN PAVING THE WAY FOR A MOVE TO SEND MAX PACKING???

He just told me that me, lily and kevin are precious angels that must be protected and that he likes Max when he's around too so that sounds like something... HMMM...

I can't get cocky, I always go home when I get cocky. But I like this.

my host chat saw this first (shout-out to Drewie and Dennis): Y’all I’m an idiot. I thought I only knew 2 people in this game (Owen and chips). Then I remembered I also know Jess, Autumn, and dan. Literally love and respect each of you my brain just don’t got the strongest memory no more. I’m so sorry!!!! I literally just told landen I only know 2 ppl. I’m just gonna try to not remember it happened.

Ugh.....I need to get it together.

I love my tribe talking to each other now that we have to!! Everyday I'm like damn either I'm on the bottom or I'm not the only one with piss poor social game. Ok so... the moment the hosts said we got 1 point, I started getting ready for tribal lmaaaooo. No sense crying over it either because all the tribes basically just had to show up in order to beat that

Like how could we not go to tribal with a score of ONE? That shit's embarrassing hahaha. That's like when your teacher passes the test back to everyone sitting around you but not you so you KNOW it's bad. But you know what? It's all good cause I'd rather us take the L now and get it out the way and we can all laugh about it cause losing won't be funny after long. The real question is: will Gryffindor do this the easy way or the hard way caaauusse we all know who the weakest link is. I just wanna see if someone puts two and two together without my prodding. Chips already said we voting together right and I'm like yes sir. There's no better place than being on the same page

WE WON OMG!! Jules basically gave me nothing, which is fine, i understand, but i'm so impressed that we pulled that off. Absolutely killing these reward challenges really helps!

"Y'all. Vote me out fr cause I'm inactive as fronk."

Tonight we learned Joshua is a feminist selfless man that I stan because he's volunteering to go home without me having to put his name out, which I was going to do. Like imagine if every guy had that kind of self-awareness, to recognize why he should be the vote and then embrace it instead of wreaking havoc. And wanting to see others succeed more than yourself? King shit! He knew when to hang it up and did just that. Like the number of times I've seen a vote get complicated for no fucking reason because everyone wants a fight to the death. Enough- I'm old, tired, and cannot exert too much energy at once. We got a long game ahead of us, not to mention quarantine. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you Joshua. We need more players like you and I appreciate your service

im back back BACK AGAIN with another confessional! not much has changed but a few updates for the sake of these being required :) 1. max has become even more inactive, he's not reached out to me personally since the first day and any time i messaged him after that he's sent me nothing back that i can build a convo off of, so we just have stopped speaking. Luckily this challenge only required four people and everyone else SHOWED UP!! or at least spoke about their availability, while he did not. However in his defense he said he was having some issues at home and i feel for him but his inability to connect has been an issue before he spoke about anything in our tribe chat with us. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt but this point my relationships with the other 3 are leaps and bounds ahead of where I am at with Max. Maybe he can pick up some speed if we continue winning challenges but, it's not looking too hot. SPEAKING OF CHALLENGES, well first we lost reward AGAIN, but we won immunity.. AGAIN! thank goodness for not being first or second boot, i always love being able to avoid these early tribals and if i can get to a swap without seeing one that would be ideal, but also if we do go and maybe vote out max? wouldn't be the worst thing. Moral of the story we won and thats exciting! however.. if we didn't.. the first big push of strategic talk came up with landen when he hinted at being frustrated with max's lack of presence which I also share. I do believe if we lost me and landen could have most definitely picked up ruthie and lily to form a four against him, if he even came to tribal. That would be my ideal situation and if we continue on this tribes hopefully it gives me a nice cushion to fall on if we do lose so i dont have to entirely blow up my social game within the first few rounds by voting out someone i've built a connection with. If max can go and the remaining four hufflepuffs can make a swap I would feel good about that, and maybe in the right circumstances we could work together on the swapped tribes because i genuinely like all of these people (yes max too but in this specific scenario he wouldn't be included bc... well..) anyways to close this off i still absolutely ADORE lily, she is fun and our conversations are really good, and same goes for ruthie, hopefully i dont have to see either of them or myself go home before we can really start playing because i think we could do some damage. :) ok anyways this was longer than i thought it would be goodbye

I'm still not over the fact that I was able to answer 7 of those questions right. I have the memory of a plastic fork.  I also love that we are SAFE!

I do kind of hope things get spicy and we swap this round and become two tribes of 9. That'd be cute. I don't want VI to get bored and crack on me. BUT ALSO I think I have solid enough relationships with almost everyone on this tribe... so who knows?!

Also... these hoes really out here trying to search for an idol in PUBLIC. IN PUBLIC. WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON HERE?

Dear diary, seems like we keep winning challenges, which is great but tbh i feel like every time i give a disadvantage to my team because english is not my first Language, and so far its been a vocabulary test and a listening and speaking test. I mean I knew I signed up for school but damn. Give me some macarena  or drinking tequila challenge and I'll crush it

bippity boppity boo im back again with almost no content kdfasjhdskjfh

Ravenclaw working smarter and we keep winning, period!!! Thankful that y'all put Dan and I together....bc truly we will be unstoppable in these competitions. I kind of want to lose soon though to see how things would shake out, but I don't really have bad blood with anyone. Joanna seems passionate enough in the tribe chat and the challenges, even if she's dry in PMs. Miguel still won't give me anything other than a "how are you," but I hope the best for him in life lol

Still love Jules and Dan, and we made a three person alliance, but I haven't talked with either of them much one on one since it happened.... I really need to step the social game up eventually, but right now, I'm coasting, and maybe that's what I need before I find the time and resources in this game to strike!!

The idol hunt is hard but Dan seems onto something. Honestly he's gonna be a big threat sooner or later so he's sticking around as long as I can keep him! The last two games I've been in I've seen "goats" get dragged to the end and locked in final 3 positions, and then these perceived goats have ended up winning. so I want the big players in this game to rise to the top and fight it out in the end!

let’s say i am como we dice.. fed up with a lot :flushed: a lot meaning joshua starting to get on my nerves a bit! he’s genuinely sweet n all but.. the way he complained about us losing by putting down others work HHH pissed me off. which is why i will be voting him out hehe.. but so far my misting has worked because no one wants to vote me out! mwah

Slytherin killed the memory challenge. We thought we were all gonna flop bc all of us thought we sucked at memory stuff. um well we knocked it out of the park? Ravenclaw got 4 and huff/gryff got 1. We got 7 so oops. I do hope things turn out well for Gryffindor but no one I really know/care about is in that house so I'm not too worried. I hope they continue to lose or even hufflepuff since ravenclaw has 2 of my friends in it.

I have been TERRIBLE with confessionals but only because there's really not been much going on? I have an alliance with Dan and Owen, and even though I wrote off Joanna I was DEFINITELY wrong in doing that. Miguel is sort of the outlier. Our team is kinda iconic though? We've done so well on all the challenges. I might be the weakest link? More to come.

it's pretty sad but the whole tribe has agreed to vote max if we lose, basically he's just never around because of what's going on at home and like thats sad but... we gotta do what we gotta do *shrug*. I'm really feeling good about Hufflepuff moving forward, i've never bonded this much this easily with EVERYONE on a tribe and i just feel like if we keep winning or even if we lose and have to vote out max, we could be a great group for the future. especially i feel great about working with kevin, we dominated eve's game after eve came between us in 2020 that dastardly witch... :P (juuust kiddin. love ya!) but now we could totally do well in this game too i think.....

lily and ruthie are just so sweet and we really bond talking about pretty much anything,, especially lily is a great conversationalist and i just find it so natural to talk to them both. i'd love to work with any combination of people from hufflepuff in the future, hopefully i start sucking a little less at all these challenges. i think i did pretty great on memory :D

So here is the summary of what has happened since last time

We had a reward challenge that was drawing. Mine sucked. Apparently 3/4 so no reward.

We played Telephone. My team didnt realize that details are the most important parts of that and didnt share then with Autumn so Autumn didnt share them with me. Then I didnt know them when asked about them.

We scored 1 point and lost. Since I still have no alliance I'm scared that it could be me. So I kind of got an idea how everyone was feeling.

Juls let me know she wanted to vote Joshua and- it's not me so that's fine!

Then I was talking to Autumn about it and - OOP! Josh asked to be voted out. So unless he plays an idol I'm supposing he is leaving after asking to go.

woo my tribe won immunity!! we are safe! i’m glad bc i’m forming good relationships with ppl on my tribe. i think we all get along rly well so i hope we keep winning. the challenge was fun and i slayed bc i’m skinny mwah

Ya know what’s refreshing? Being on a tribe that actually wins!!! The last three games I’ve played I’ve been on flop ass starting tribes.

Now we’ll lose every challenge

10 minutes later

This sickening bitch just found a hidden immunity idol!!!! Good until f6 L A D I E S!!!!!!

HI BARBS SO I WAS GROUNDED SO I MISSED THE CHALLENGE BUT MY HUFFLEPUFF BABS SLAYED SM SO IM LIVING

CONFESSIONAL 2.1 —

Not much strategy has happened this episode, just simply tribal bonding! We are SlytherWINNING, getting reward and immunity this time! How wonderful.

Regarding my tribe mates, I love all three. I pray, pray, pray we make swap, i do Noh want to be a dirty bad guy and have to vote one out.. yet. Haha.

I was drunk during immunity, one full glass of rum & coke, so I am shocked that we won immunity. Honestly, I feel silly admitting I was drunk to my tribe because... if I can do that when drunk, imagine if I was sober. Competition Beast, duh.

I also gave up my run this round for the tribe to use. Was partially social, partially I just do not understand how to do the Hunt, so I might as well help the greater good. Either way, it comes off positively.

Hoping for a smooth journey for a little longer!

x nick

Joshue has basically quit at this point so I have no fear going into tribal

[travellers-survivor-old-west]

Episode 4: “Just gotta try to wiggle myself in some where”- Austin

I kinda wish our tribe would lose just so I could see where the lines are tbh. Also I have a bad feeling that at a swap/merge our tribe is gonna be picked off because we’re going in with the most numbers and on a base level that’s dangerous; however, I do think it could be deeper than that because of the preconceived relationships and I’m looking forward to seeing who goes home tonight and where we go from here.

This round was a little wild for me. Austin has been my fave since the beginning and we finally created an alliance. We both liked eve so that was easy but we wanted one more person. This is where things got a little complicated. Him and eve both liked isaac but honestly i wasnt feeling isaac and love pat. But i didnt want to push too hard so we just went ahead with isaac. 

BUT we also talked to pat and will have ANOTHER alliance with him (so austin, pat and me). SO basically im working with everyone right now except keaton. Im glad our tribe has been killing it because that means no TC wooo 

We tribe swapped so that is fun. It's always interesting to have a switch up. I have still yet to be screwed by a tribe swap in my entire history of playing ORGs which is something I am happy with. This is one of the best iterations of a tribe I can think of actually. I can forge a closer bond with Xander and Dylan, because now if we lose I won't need to vote one of them out, they become my core 3. So, right after the swap I made an OG Malakoff chat with myself, Xander, and Dylan. I just wanted the immediacy to show that I was serious in wanting to stick to that, which I am. I have communicated several times that I want to work with Isaac, so ideally Austin will go in the event that we lose. I feel bad because he is a sweetheart, but he doesn't fit into my strategy, and if anyone understands game being game, he does.

I love my new tribe??? Not only is nick still here so that gives me a safety net, the sammy I like is here. Pat is here. No idea who eve is but that’s okay too. I’m loving this. Inb4 I get voted out next Bc they actually really fucking hate me :^). Byebye payton it was nice kinda knowing you? Hello ~hopefully~ friends <3

I forgot Austin has a date with Mary Jane daily so Im gonna have to cut him some slack.

Tribe swap....just what I didn't want to happen . I dont ha e my #1 ashley with me but at least I got issac here. Jared is on my tribe now too so that could go either way for me because he knows how I play the game. Gonna have to pull something out if my ass here .

This is for Alyssa you dumb ugly fat white bitch why you keep asking me for a confessional with trifling dirty white racist ass big fat bitch x Anyways. Made an alliance with Pat and Sammy! V excited to work with them but we’re snapping in immunity so, I don’t see why we would need to vote off Vi.... I mean someone at tribal! Hehe

Well....we got our last handed to us. I'm not happy going to tribal bc I feel I'll be the one going. I talk with jared and issac the most but I feel jared will stick with xander and dylan. Just gotta try to wiggle myself in some where.

I have been busy the past couple of days so this challenge being a endurance/speed comp was a struggle. And it looks like my team didn't do much. To help... It's fine we can get out one of these other two dead weights. Speaking of them. Im glad the swap merged me with two allies but the other two just suck to talk to... And that's coming from me .. Jess knows what I'm talking about. Anyways I don't want them here and want them gone. As for my allies. I like Jared a lot we are getting along and enjoying ourselves. He's definitely the one I trust most in this game and hopefully it gets me to merge where I can start phase 2 and hopefully get far. Dylan is fine .. he's offline a lot but he's from old tribe so like it helps. 

Just finished the challenge, OH MY GOD i suck at trivia but thankfully sammy snapped and we won, thank u sammy love u so much!!! Still dont believe he is straight tho x IM JOKING PLS DONT KILL MEDFHNSJFDH

I hate confessions. That’s my confession for the round... jkjk. Eh there isn’t much to talk about now that it’s tribal time. I hope whoever from our og tribe stays safe but I forgot who is there so oops. Sammy killed it. I still call bs on the centipede question but oh well. It wouldn’t have changed the result. It would have just made the gap close by 1. 

LOVE MY NEW TRIBE. So happy we swapped. I’m with actual love of my life ASHLEY!!! And Chloe is amazing too. Aidan popped off in the challenge. Keaton is Keaton. This is a good group and I’m glad they did rlly well in the challenge. I love this kind of thing but I wasn’t able to constantly be on my phone all weekend bc that’s rude :( so I’m glad it worked out. Hoping the tribe swap works out in our favor and Xander jared and Dylan stay together for the vote. Idk if Isaac and jared are friends??? I hope Isaac leaves because he knows I’m a ‘threat’ in games and because I think Ashley yelled at him once. Idk who Austin is but Ashley likes him. But idk how likely that is if Isaac and jared have a connection. As long as jared stays safe ifgaf who leaves.

Yowza. We got absolutely wrecked in the challlenge. I don't WANT to lose any challenges, but I believe in the long run I should be happy to take this L. As another way to show my loyalty, I decided to give my idol progress in the chat with Xander and Dylan. I noticed Dylan never reciprocated so that gives me 1 reason to be wary. Then, Dylan posted a very inappropriate joke in the tribe chat in reference to Survivor Thailand, and the word "rape" was used, so that was the 2nd thing to make me uneasy. At first, Dylan and Xander had no opinion on who to vote, so I voiced that I would like to vote Austin- then Dylan remembered who Isaac is and said "he can go." I eventually got things back on track to target Austin, but Dylan better be careful- it's 3 strikes and you're out with me. I have a good relationship with Isaac so I wouldn't be surprised to see Dylan go if we lose again.

Day 9 on the survivor tribe. My thoughts are about toes and only toes. They are consuming my entire day. I exist merely to think of toes. 

Also Chloe...

Okay so I’m just gonna throw down some of my thoughts right now since I’ve been very quiet in confessionals. I fucking hate these small ass fucking tribes. It makes the thought of going to tribal terrifying because your odds of going home are increased. Since the swap ive actually really been enjoying my time, I really like my new tribe and I feel I can actually connect with these people better than on my first tribe. I am glad to actually have Aidan with me because he’s like THE person I want to work with from my og tribe, along with Vi. I still have my reservations on Nick even though I think he’s nice I can’t trust him as far as I could throw him. I really feel that the trivia challenge brought us closer together as a tribe since what’s a better bonding experience than yelling at Jess that she’s wrong 50 times in one day. I think we’re all collectively quite strong and I really hope that means we can slide past for a while without going to tribal. 

Honestly i always forget what i confess from last time but i still think I’m in a good position in the game. However I really do not want to go to tribal because I don’t want to show my cards. Eve and Pat both want me to work with them so we have an alliance and then Vi and Nick approached me and want to work with me as well. This was completely surprising to me bc I felt as if I would just be an easy vote out if we were to go to tribal since I’m a lone wolf. However I’m in the middle and I feel somewhat powerful knowing that people want to keep me and want to work with me. Me and nick have had a rocky relationship in past games but i think he’s a great person. He’s just a wildcard. I love vi and i think she’s the sweetest person to have ever existed but my gut is telling me to work with pat and Eve atleast for the first vote. Hopefully I don’t have to make the decision but who knows. That’s all I have for now other than I think the idol system isn’t anything I keep getting zapped. I feel like a fly in a southern home...ZAP.

I couldn’t remember the day so I put 69. I hate this tribe with my whole heart and my whole bussy. Jared is the only one giving me any sort of shot at making it passed this round. Austin is a slime ball who will do anything to save his own skin, Xander is dead apparently, and Dylan has been tracking down places where famous people died. I feel like this is my own personal hell and while I’ve been assured that Austin is going home (which I wouldn’t be surprised was a lie) I still have to make a swap or a merge and with the clowns on this tribe being inactive and never talking about anything but Star Wars or not talking at all I don’t know how possible it is to win a goddamn challenge. 

*insert Da'vonne pretends to be shoocked gif at a swap* Since it didn't happen at 16 I wasn't surprised too see it at 15 but I'm glad because three tribes provides for much more buffer. My initial reaction to my tribe was positive as I saw that I had Chloe and three new people in the mix. I'm not gonna lie that I was getting bored on my old tribe but I do hope that Nick is doing alright. He's one ally that I'd love to connect with again... Vi is alright too but I don't know how strong of a connection we fostered. First impressions of my new tribemates: Keaton - I heard he was fucking with my friend in another game so my guard was up but I tried and he seems aloof and random with his contributions but it makes sense since he's playing 4 games at once. Will probably work off of the others who contribute in challenges? We'll see. Ashley - Sweet and seems like a hard worker. Not too much of a read on her yet Owen - He seems nice and genuine but not much of a read from a game perspective yet. It seems the split is 2-2-1 on my tribe from previous tribes but I don't know how strict to tribal lines people are going to play but I can feel some aloofness with Keaton and Ashley is traveling so... that's that on that. If we were going to tribal I have no idea what the fuck would happen but I want to strengthen connections. Honestly I think we can make it to the merge without hitting an elimination but who knows. THANKFULLLLLLLY my ass had a lucky night on the railroads and jumped to spot number fifty and apparently found a STEAL A VOTE. This is what I DESERVE. Thank you Old West Gods for blessing me, the star, with this iconic power. I'm glad I have it in my back pocket and I'm not telling a fucking soul. If it needs to be used, it will be flaunted and I will pop shit. Hopefully I can save it for after merge but if I need to control a pre-merge vote just to get my way, I'm going to do it. 

https://soundcloud.com/user-327042896/dylan-ep-2

[punkscowardschampions]

Buster & Rio

Buster: Can't get over how you spoilt me Buster: Gutted it's only one a year like Rio: I did alright then? Good, you deserve as much Rio: You're not that posh, only the Queen gets two, like Buster: Gotta step up my game if you reckon that Buster: Poshest normally, ain't it? Loving and hating it from me Rio: I would've got you more but as per you're awkward 😉 Rio: At least your birthday isn't December so you still get a Christmas, people take the piss, it is NOT near enough that one gift covers it 😤😂 Buster: No arguments that you love that Buster: I promise I won't do you that way, babe Buster: So what are we doing to keep the party vibes going? Rio: 😘 Good to know you plan on sticking around that long Rio: Purely for the gift, of course Rio: I was thinking we could go to Amuse on Dawson Street Rio: You'll like it Rio: Grace wants to babysit but Jay could go to my fams so there's more people than just her to keep an eye Rio: if you're up for it? Buster: 'Course. Gotta top your Gucci and it's not like your birthday's that late into December, not as if you're tying me down until summer Buster: Yeah? Buster: Sounds as though it's a decent plan to me Rio: You so don't, the Gucci covers about 10 years of presents probably, I'm set 😍 Rio: Good, 'cos I've got reservations already so I was hoping you'd say that Rio: Not really Indie's speed or part of my plan to be the sad single diner Buster: Yeah I do, I was going subtle there, that's the opposite to how birthday's should be Buster: How long have I got to make myself look irresistible? Rio: Don't worry, you've got plenty more to come yet Rio: about an hour, time to get Jay snoozing too, so you won't miss any time with her Rio: all part of my master plan Buster: You've proper thought of everything Rio: Did you doubt me? Buster: Not for a second Buster: But bonus points for not getting distracted about how grateful I'm gonna be Rio: Its definitely a nice bonus Rio: but today and tonight is all about you Buster: Fuck Buster: As much as I wanna be all smooth about how nothing pleases me more than pleasing you, how can I refuse like Buster: Still gotta, 'cause where's the fun in giving in, yeah? Rio: I don't mind the challenge, nah Rio: I'll be easy enough for the two of us Buster: Don't get a day off when it's a chore Buster: not* Rio: Ugh, stop being so perfect Buster: Can't Buster: No sorry though Rio: Me either Rio: Can't lie Buster: Are you gonna surprise me with what you're wearing or do I get a sneak peak now? Rio: Definitely a surprise Rio: What birthdays are all about Buster: Fair, like also unfair but Rio: What you gonna do? Still gotta be a good boy and have your mains before your dessert, even on your Birthday Buster: I'm never that good, birthday or not Rio: True 😂 Rio: Who am I kidding? Rio: Good's no fun unless I'm being good for you Buster: 😈 Rio: Wish it could stay like this always Rio: just us and her Buster: Me too Buster: Don't think she'd be mad about it either Rio: Shame kidnapping is so frowned upon Buster: So are we though Buster: Maybe we should just say fuck it Rio: Oh, I forgot to mentioned illegal Rio: That too Buster: I'll run rings around the law with my knowledge, no worries Rio: Fair Rio: I believe it Buster: It's why I love you Buster: All the faith in me Rio: Oh Rio: No fair, you surprised me with that one Rio: Say it again though Buster: I love you Rio: How much Buster: So fucking much Buster: I'll show you Rio: Patience Rio: I'm trying to be nice and respectable Rio: Buy you dinner first Buster: Patience is for people that are waiting for something better Buster: I've got the best here Buster: Buy me dinner in the middle Rio: Get on your knees and start praying we have an unobservant driver, baby Buster: I'll get on my knees for you but there's no need to waste time praying unless you wanna treat me like a god, babe Buster: Throw enough money about and you can have all the privacy you want Rio: You know I will Rio: Having you throwing out all the blessing and curses, trust Buster: Yeah? Buster: We'll see Rio: You will Rio: I already know all the things I'm gonna do for you Buster: That a surprise too? Rio: Depends how well you know me Rio: and I know you, and what you want Rio: doesn't it Buster: Fucking hell, just 'cause I'm another year older doesn't mean you can kill me Rio: I'm just being nice daddy 😇 Buster: Says you Rio: So mean! 😾 What can I do to make you happy? Buster: Thought you didn't have to try, babe Rio: I don't have to Rio: I want to Buster: Fuck Buster: Well how can I say no to that Rio: Please don't Rio: I want you so bad Buster: How bad Rio: This much Rio: [Sends nude] Rio: Doesn't count as a spoiler because I'm not dressed yet Buster: I don't hate spoilers you know that Buster: I want you to want me more than ever Buster: And 'cause it's my birthday you have to grant my wish Rio: You typically get three Rio: but you know you can have it all when it comes to me Rio: Just let me know Buster: Good. I want everything Rio: You already got it daddy Buster: [Sends a pic that also isn't spoilers] Buster: So do you Rio: I can't Rio: how do you get me even hotter when I was already about to explode Buster: Must be how well I know you Buster: So that answers that Rio: Wanna come in here and get to know me better? Rio: Ugh, I'm dead Buster: 'Course Buster: But I'd hate to ruin the surprise of how good you're looking Rio: No you wouldn't Rio: but you love teasing me, that's for sure Buster: Maybe Rio: See? Can't help yourself Buster: Do you really want me to? Rio: Hmm Rio: Not yet Rio: You'll know when I'm ready for the real thing Buster: Good Rio: Speaking of, how you getting on? Buster: Jay's good to go and I'm working on it Rio: Awwh Rio: She's so adorable Buster: [Sends a selfie of him and Jay] Buster: Not a spoiler 'cause she's pulling focus off my look Rio: 😍 Rio: Such a heartbreaker Rio: You're so lucky Buster: I know Buster: I'm gonna take her over to Grace and co now, they've said it's alright Rio: Good stuff Rio: Want me to meet you there Rio: I won't come in, obviously Buster: I was gonna say Buster: Don't get spotted like Buster: Jay'll fall asleep in the car as standard so hopefully I won't be long dropping her off Rio: Been doing this long enough Rio: I think I know what I'm doing, boy Rio: Come here if you like then Buster: I trust you Buster: Come to me Rio: Yes sir Buster: I can't wait to see you Rio: Me either Rio: Even though it hasn't been that long since I was there Rio: I still missed you Buster: Yeah. It feels long to me Buster: Shame I can't just move you in Rio: Parents might have something to say about that when they show up Buster: Indie too, but for different reasons Rio: Room for a little one? Rio: Can basically hear her already Buster: Same Buster: She's worse at shutting up than even you are Rio: I'll tell her that Buster: Please do Buster: Her heart eyes kill me for a different reason that yours, trust me Rio: Look how well being a dick worked on me tho 😜 Buster: And Chlo Buster: Maybe not then Rio: Mhmm Rio: Oh the dangers of being too damn irresistible Rio: No one warned you, did they? 😂 Buster: You could've, but nah Rio: Selfish? Me? Buster: Never. You're such a giver Buster: And about to prove it like Rio: You know it Buster: I love it Rio: So, far as Birthdays go Rio: Not bad? Buster: I've had worse Rio: I'll take it Buster: Don't worry, I've still got more to give you Rio: I love you Buster: I love you too Rio: Oh, forgot to say Rio: We're on double celebrations tonight Buster: Yeah? Rio: I got a new job! Rio: Better one Buster: I didn't doubt it would be Buster: Well done, babe Rio: Yeah, club promotion stuff, basically Rio: It'll be more fun at any rate Buster: You won't be begging me to distract you on the night's when the pub is dead Rio: Gutted? Buster: It'll save your ego at least Rio: I ain't never too proud to beg babe Buster: Well I'm proud of you babe Buster: This job is gonna be good for you I reckon Rio: I know it ain't a career like but Rio: every little helps when you ain't a brainbox Buster: Shut up Buster: You're well smart Rio: Not like you lot, you and Nance and Junie Buster: You are Buster: Full package and don't forget it Rio: It's cool, I work what I got Rio: but you're cute Buster: You have brains too Buster: Being academic and smart ain't the same thing Buster: You wouldn't call Indie thick, would you? Rio: Of course not Buster: Well then Buster: I'm not hearing it about you Rio: 🙊 Rio: Not another word Buster: Good Buster: You keep up with me, that should tell you everything you need to know about how smart you are Buster: Not to mention everything you saw through about me Rio: That's just people Rio: and I've met all sorts Buster: What happened to not another word? Rio: I can't let you just say all this stuff and say nothing Rio: You could say anything next 😜 Buster: So what? Buster: You're not scared are you? Rio: Never Buster: You already know I love you what could be scarier than that like Rio: Going back to the bullshit Rio: Or you stopping Buster: Not gonna happen Buster: Don't worry Rio: Then I ain't Buster: Me either Rio: Ready Buster: I'll come and grab you Rio: Yeah, yeah Rio: Wish you would Buster: Don't waste the wish Buster: Already guaranteed Buster: Could literally carry you away before any of your fam sees you. You're so small Rio: I am not Rio: You're just big Buster: Yeah I am but you're also small Rio: 😡 Ain't you heard what they say about short girls? Rio: I'll fuck you up Buster: Yeah? Is that promise or a threat? Rio: A bonafide guarantee if you carry on Buster: Then you know I have to Buster: You're so fucking hot Rio: Take my rage seriously! 😏 Buster: Believe me I am Buster: It's just seriously sexy Rio: Perv Buster: I can be Buster: If that's how you want it Rio: Better be Rio: Keep up with me, boy Buster: Not about to stop now like Buster: Got a rep here Rio: and I weren't promised no gentleman Buster: Just as well 'cause I've arrived in his place

[athleisure-aesthetic]

Ugh I did the thing again where I was busy all week and forgot to post on here. So here’s a lightning fast recap of my workouts from the past week, if you care at all. I actually think I worked out (ish, except Friday kinda) every day which is a first in a while. Bless.

Tues Mar 21 Abs and shopping. I went home after work to get my car so that I could drive to trainings the next two days, but went out to Target as soon as I got home, cause duh. Stupid idea to try on like real clothes tho, my self-conscious ass was like ohhhhh no way you need to tighten up those saddle bags and that back fat before you get any of this. So. I got a crop sweatshirt and athletic leggings, felt bad about myself but hadn’t had dinner, so I went to Wawa. Woof.

3x each 15 reps straight leg raises 15 reps roll ups leaning camel x 45s bird dogs x 45s 60 reps heal touches plank 35s, 40s, 45s 10 reps assisted push up 40 reps russian twists 8# alternating superman 1 min 15 reps single leg pulses

Wed Mar 22 Run on the trail after this horrific training class in which I was literally the only student for an all day session. And I had to go back the next day 😩 went to Marshall’s before my run to see if I could find any cold weather gear bc I only had my sweatshirt, gloves, wool earwarmers, and thin leggings. Didn’t find any of that, but got those AMAZING NEON PINK LEGGINGS IN THAT ONE PICTURE and some other ones too. You know me, can’t stay away from that athleisure ish.

It was hella freezing and took me so long to warm up once I started on the trail. Fortunately it was so picturesque and my music was bangin so. I survived.

2.78 mi 9'55" min / mi

Thurs Mar 23 6 x 200m sprints on the trail. Bless up, convinced my instructor to finish early bc tbh he was not really all that helpful once I started following the book that was included, so I went to the mall and got some more athleisure (deh), cheap sunglasses, athletic ear warmers for $.50 each, a VERY cute lightweight rain jacket, and (!!!!!) these black leather slip-on sneakers I’ve been looking for for like 6 months. I just caved and got the name brand ones but stILl omg I’m so excited about them I finally found them.

Started the sprints in the cotton leggins I was wearing, then after like maybe 9 or 10 strides I was like oh FUCk no they suddenly lost all their elasticity and I was having to pull them up for my life. So after completely embarrassing myself hoisting those mothereffers up for my first sprint, I jumped in the car and changed into spandex pants, then zoomed back to the trail start and actually did my workout. Good thing my house is only 8 minutes away from that part of the trail.

I think I may have mis-read what my Nike app was telling me to do, but I’m pretty sure it said to do 6 x 200m sprints with 4:45 min in between. So that’s essentially what I did, I sprinted for the 200m and ran / jogged in between. Although the app only recorded the distance for the sprints, I wanna say I did a little more than the day before, since I went further on the trail. I hate that you can’t go back and check what it told you to do; you only see how you actually ran according to the app. Lame af. Though I was proud, I increased my sprint speed at almost every length except the 3rd.

0.77mi 6'59" min / mi (lol can’t believe I actually ran a mile faster than that at one point in my life holy shit)

Fri Mar 24 No real workout here, since I had to leave work early to take the train back to le Nova for Palooza. I scarfed down a Snap pizza (the classic spot) right before the show, and somehow stayed away from the dangers of late night college food. Though I did get all my steps in my showing one of our friends’ home friend around campus, and apparently that little tour counted for a nice brisk walk. Obvi the Snovas killed it, as a great opener for what my friends and I dubbed AcaWeekend. Saturday they’d be competing at ICCA regional semifinals #pitchperfect for the first time ever, which was so exciting. Palooza the day before was just their warmup, but fortunately we got to see two new songs from them. It kinda sucked for them though bc they went first out of the seven groups and the sound guys always need a few groups to warm up before they actually refine the balance, and they just sounded muddled. Womp. Oh well. Everyone knows they’re/we’re the best anyway. Proud alum.

Sat Mar 25 Run in the morning before the day’s festivities. This was a quick workout before most of the humans who stayed in my apartment became humans, a brief mile ish to the waterfront and back. I realized I’d been wearing a blueish shirt and black leggings in literally all of my pics lately so I spiced it up with these fun stripey ones. Lol.

We adventured to brunch, where I had a yummy spinach and goat cheese salad with fig dressing, and wandered around the city for the afternoon before we had to head to semis. I splurged on Hunger Burger at RTM because I told myself that this was my indulgence for the weekend, and I wasn’t going to be drinking anymore for the next few months (it’s not like I do it that often anyway, I just want to try it to see how it helps my training/weight loss, if at all), so I got a specialty thin mint shake. Woops. Honestly, it was so worth it though, and I didn’t even end up eating most of the fries anyway, so it wasn’t the worst I could’ve done.

At semis, there were literally so many good groups and we were all like oh shit how are they going to stack up?? But Snovas SLAYED even better than they did last time and ENDED UP IN THIRD PLACE WHICH IS THE CRAZIEST BEST HONOR WE’VE EVER GOTTEN AND IT’S JUST SO COOL!!!!! A cappella is the shit, guys, I swear. I’m so proud of those kiddos, and they get to submit a wildcard video for a chance at Finals in NYC which is like legitimately insane. They’re somewhere in the top 18-27 groups in the country right now, and coming from a school where we legit don’t have music majors and a joke of a music activities staff / support, this coulD NOT be cooler. They murdered it. And so did all the other groups at semis, like damn. We weren’t even sure anything was gonna happen for them, but they clearly did some things right. Ugh so obvi we celebrated when we got back to Philly, going to a few bars and ending up at Frankford, where we got some amazing soft pretzels and other snacks. Best day ever.

1.26 mi 9'21" min / mi

1.32 mi 10'03" min / mi

Sun Mar 26 Long ish run and relaxing. Got up and was worried about the weather forecast for Monday because I was supposed to be doing my long run for next week then, and it was going to be torrentially downpouring all day, so I was hoping to switch my days because the weather was decent enough that I could’ve done it on Sunday. But then I updated my app and A, it changed my schedule for this week anyway, and B, I remember I could’ve moved it anyway if I wanted to. So instead I went and did that 5K Sunday challenge thing that it introduced. And I ran back from there, so it actually was closer to the 5 miles I had wanted to do anyway. So ya.

I felt a little subconscious in these leggings because, though they are a spectacularly bright and amazing color, they also show my cellulite on the back of my legs… but I thought, fuck it, people will see me, and if they give me a look, I’ll just push harder and show them that cellulite means nothing if you’re fast and capable and strong. So. I used it to empower me, I guess.

Spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching ICCA videos, still hyped up on the Snovas victory. Legit it’s still coming to me in waves, it’s actually incredible.

3.11 mi 9'41" min / mi

1.53 mi 9'44" min /mi

Mon Mar 27 Full body circuit and a benchmark run. Work is starting to bore me so much lol on Monday I think I may have done approximately 2 work related things all day, otherwise I was just distracted. I decided to do a NTC workout and then my benchmark, so I chose Body Flexor 2.0, which worked a lot of different areas and was pretty fun. Then I ran on the treadmill for my benchmark for the first time, which was weird knowing my exact speed at certain times and being able to force myself to a certain pace. If I have to do it that way again, next time I’ll just cover the numbers and just focus on how it feels to push hard. The picture up there is me literally dying because of how sweaty I was. Plus fun leggings from Marshall’s.

1.54 mi 9'49" min / mi

Tues Mar 28 Abs / some arms, plus 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was an idiot today, and not only forgot a hair tie after my shower, but I left my phone at home, which I realized too late in the elevator on the way to work. Nice. So I had to go without both all day, though Kelly let me borrow a hair tie so I could work out thank GoD cause I was looking at using a legit rubber band, which would’ve been awful. The moves I chose for abs today ended up also working my arms a lot, which was nice to combo them. Because I didn’t have my phone, I just kind of had to make up my elliptical workout, which was meh but whatever. Next time I’ll be prepared. That’s definitely not my favorite type of cardio anyway.

Tonight I made these AMAZING baked zucchini fries, I probably could’ve eaten like 90 million in one sitting they were so crunchy and good. My sweet potato fries didn’t turn out so good (I actually burned the shit out of them, but I’m going to attempt to eat them tomorrow for lunch anyway 🙃) but I’m happy I’m trying new things in the kitchen, even if it’s taking me like 3 hours each time lolol.

I’m down a few pounds from last week, though, which is kind of nice! A little affirmation after working hard every day.

3x each 15 reps dumbbell side bends alt. sides 8# 15 reps twisting core stabilizers alt. sides 8# 15 reps bow extensions alt. sides 8# 15 reps woodchops 8# 10 reps windmills 5# 40 reps russian twists 8# 30 s plank 7 reps full extension inch worms 15 reps in-&-outs

Wooooof I’m going to try to post more often now that I’m all caught up. Lol it may last for a day but you know. #Goals.

[rymantex]

My Favourite Games of 2016

A bit late with this but I wanted to share my thoughts on my favourite games of 2016 once things had settled down a bit, so here we go!  Presented below in no particular order :

Let’s get the big obvious one out of the way, DOOM 2016’s single player campaign was surprisingly great.

I say surprisingly because based on pre-launch footage, the Multiplayer beta & iD software’s reputation at that point in time (largely thanks to the well-made but boring RAGE), no-one was expecting too much from this game.  So for it to come along and be basically the best single player FPS campaign in years is saying a lot.  We expected the Glory Kills to interrupt the flow of combat, they didn’t, we expected them to interrupt the flow with a heavy handed story that didn’t need to be there, instead we got this strangely funny, self aware tale where the Doomguy gives as much a shit about what’s happening as you do, couple that with incredible visuals running at a silky smooth 60 FPS even on consoles & gunplay that feels fantastic & you had one of the overall best games of 2016, at least in terms of single player, I didn’t really bother with multiplayer or Snapmap.

I didn’t expect to like Stardew Valley.  I didn’t expect it to steal a month of my free time away as I worked tirelessly to improve my farm, explore deeper in the mines, got to know the various townspeople with all their charming eccentricities.  If you’re in need of a cheap, cheerful, happy game with low stakes, perhaps consider the farming lifestyle of Stardew Valley.

If DOOM 2016 was my single player FPS of the year then Overwatch definitely takes multiplayer FPS of the year for me.

It’s surprising how little it took too.  The appeal can basically be boiled down to really tighly designed FPS gameplay where teamwork is necessary to succeed combined with very nicely varied characters with colourful, varied personalities & appearances.  I definitely see myself playing more of this with my friends in 2017.

For the record my favourite heroes so far are Genji, Pharah, Reaper, Zarya, Winston, Lucio & Zenyatta.

Another great FPS what’s going on?

Yes to my surprise Titanfall 2 lived up to the rather lofty expectations the internet at large had set for it.  The single player campaign is actually really good.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it is a linear, set-piece driven game from a lot of people who used to make Call of Duty, but it is a REALLY GOOD one of those.

It’s surprising how much a boost to your mobility & speed can liven up one of these kinds of games, there were speedy platforming challenges in Titanfall 2 that were ACTUALLY FUN, there were boss fights that were ACTUALLY FUN and (small spoiler here) there was a time travel gimmick in one level that was ACTUALLY FUN!

I really hope Respawn Entertainment sticks around to make more games coz Titanfall 2 was fantastic, I do think DOOM 2016 was just a bit better in terms of single player but Titanfall 2 was incredibly solid regardless & when I played the multiplayer during a free weekend that was pretty cool too!

TO SAVE OUR MOTHER EARTH FROM ANY ALIEN ATTACK!

FROM VICIOUS GIANT INSECTS WHO HAVE ONCE AGAIN COME BACK!

WE’LL UNLEASH ALL OUR FORCES WE WON’T CUT THEM ANY SLACK!

THE EDF DEEEEPLOYYYYYYYS!

Disclaimer - I backed this game on kickstarter.

I’m glad I backed it too, because it turned out better than I expected.

It’s hard not to go into a crowdfunded game without some trepidation these days thanks to some high profile failures, so thank god Shantae Half Genie Hero turned out pretty great, the worst thing I could say about it is that it doesn’t really fix many problems the Shantae series has always had but, it’s still a solid 2D platformer with incredible cuteness, funny writing & more energetic Jake Kaufman music.  As long as this series continues to offer these things I will continue buying it.

So in 2016 I finally found an MMORPG I liked enough to stick with for the long haul, I like the way the combat works, I like how pretty the world is (tho I hate how it makes me want to make expensive PC upgrades), I even unexpectedly grew to like some of the Life Skills.

However it has to be said, I don’t think I would’ve stuck with it were I not lucky enough to become part of the Cwown guild, whose members have been a MASSIVE help in getting acclimated to the inner workings of Black Desert Online, we’ve had some great experiences together (personally I’d say the mad rush to get Witch Awakening was a highlight) & I look forward to growing my characters more & further adventures (or maybe misadventures) with the guild as new content is added.

The summer of 2016 ended up being my time to conquer the Dark Souls trilogy.  I had a TON of help (especially from my co-op buddy Suuslas, thanks man ^_^) but that feeling once you finally crack Dark Souls is so goddamn satisfying.

Dark Souls 3 actually came out in 2016 so it gets on this list, I liked the speedier combat in this game compared to the others, I liked how much easier it was to co-op with friends in DS3, I enjoyed the callbacks to Dark Souls 1, all in all, Dark Souls 3 is just a pretty good game, the fact that it was only “pretty good” might explain why it was overshadowed in most Game of the Year lists………...BUT NOT MY LIST!

Let’s finish this list with Naughty Dog’s send off for Nathan Drake, this game would’ve earned a spot on this list if it only included the Madagascar chapter & nothing else, that’s how good that chapter is compared to the rest of the game.

Not that the rest of the game is bad by any stretch, infact I kinda liked that game let me stealth my way through more encounters than I expected, the banter between the characters is as enjoyable as ever & the hook mechanic added a lot to the game when it actually let you use it freeform in battles (which sadly was never often enough).

This might be a slightly controversial opinion, but I think Uncharted 4 might be my new favourite of the whole series.

Wow, so I really liked 9 games this year, my lists are usually shorter than that!

I may do a follow up post where I talk about games of 2017 I’m looking forward to, but until then folks, ta-ta for now!  ^_^

[soysaucevictim]

Sleep and medication schedules are still FUBAR... but I’m feeling a bit more stable now...

Also long post is long.

-

June 11

I got up on the wrong foot today. Waking up to the van honking outside instead of my ALARM CLOCK. Still don’t know if I just slept through it or the alarm clock wasn’t working?? ?

So I had to flag them down to let me get ready, because I did have therapy to get to today. It’s never fun rushing to get dressed and pack things up.

As I milled about at the facility one of my meds plus undersleeping got me hella drowsy. But Seeking Safety Group went alright, and so did therapy (even if I was completely unprepared for it - didn’t have the energy what with it being soaked up by that hearing biz.) Was given some interesting HW to reflect on, and I hope to be able to explore them more in time.

One of those pieces of HW was to use an “anxiety box“ and I was given one to try that with. After my appointment, I took off some labels from it and decided to paper over and decorate it in the crafts room.

I then spent some of the last few moments at the facility doing the DD. 3′ speed bag punching with EC. Counted 435 reps, switching direction for every 100. I really enjoyed this one, as expected!

Got home, did my usual BS and wound up doing the rest of my exercise later than I intended to.

First, Day 10 of the NC. “Focus“, meaning side kicks. I easily went for 2′, switching sides at 1′. I counted 102 total kicks in that time. As expected, I did enjoy myself.

Last, Day 10 of the PUP. Lower body work. This got pretty tough. I had to rock/lean back to assist in keeping my leg up during the sequence, especially the later half. But I managed to get though it in one piece. :P

After shutting off my computer, and before getting to bed (just about when dawn broke), I decided I would use that anxiety box... and it was actually pretty therapeutic.

I’m not proud of staying up all night. orz

-

June 12

Though I did wake up earlier to take my meds, I slept in until 6PM. Guess my sleep debt, especially after the past couple days (hearing + therapy). Oi.

Haven’t had too much time awake, but outside the ususal, I did get in my exercise for the day.

First, today’s DD. 50 squat hold side bends with EC. I enjoyed this one a bunch. Was a fun challenge to keep at it, too! 

Second, Day 11 of the NC. “Coordination“, meaning alt arm/leg raises. Though I did think about doing more - I decided 1′ was good enough. I counted 35 reps by the end.

Last, Day 11 of the PUP. Upperbody work. This meant keeping my arms up for 6 whole minutes (alternating motion and holds). But I managed to get through it. Even if it meant drifting down a little bit. That burn, man. :,D

It’s way too damn late, but I then made some dinner and BS’d awhile.

TRIED to sleep around midnight... but I was too itchy everywhere and I just couldn’t sleep until like 5 or something I don’t remember. =_=

-

June 13

After a light nap, I got up early only to call in that I was not going to the facility today. I was NOT up for it today.

I got up proper at about noon.

Been gaming and watching YouTube. But did get in my exercise for the day.

First, today’s DD. 40 side elbow plank rotations with EC. This was pretty intense and I almost lost my balance a few times. But I managed well enough. Oof. :U

(After distractions and recovery time...)

Second, Day 12 of the NC. “Grip“, meaning un/clenching the fists. I went for 2′, so Level 3. And I counted 226 reps by the end - though there’s probably a bit of error there. It’s hard to keep count with this one, given my tallying method. But I had a reasonable amount of fun, despite the burn. :,D

Last, Day 12 of the PUP. Lowerbody work with some core. Sometimes I look at this program and go “maybe I should’ve tacked on one more challenge, the total workload is a bit light.“ This was NOT one of those days. The first section got pretty aerobic. And the the floor work was frustrating and exhausting (pausing longer just to get my MP3 player going for timing). With the latter, I had to put top foot out a bit just to deal - so compromises were made.

3 more of those plank days left. orz

-

June 14

I woke up around 4PM and mostly BS’d my day away.

But  I did some dishes, made some dinner, and just a bit of exercise.

Active rest day. So all the exercise I did was the DD. 15 (20?) diamond push-ups with EC... twice? I thought it was 15 and didn't see the discrepancy in the description. So, I did 20 after a bit of recovery, just in case. :P

Went to bed way too damn late, though.

-

June 15

I did wake up initially around 10AM... but meds made it too hard to remain awake for more than an hour.

Then, I got up after 2PM. Same old, same old.

Did my exercise though.

First, today’s DD. 50 [knee] plank knee-to-elbows with EC. A personal favorite exercise, I must say. Got a bit challenging near the end, too.

Second, Day 13 of the NC. “Explosives“, meaning standard burpees. I went for 1′ today. Counted 13 reps by the time was up. Manageable.

Last, Day 13 of the PUP. Lower body work again. Some similarities in movement to the DD. I did enjoy myself here, too!

Still got to bed way too damn late, again.

-

June 16

I got up around 2PM. Nnng... it’s really hard to get my medication schedule consistent at this rate. Even WITH my alarm set. =_=

Not much done today, did do dishes, make dinner, and did my exercises. I wound up doing that last one after midnight*, though...

First, today’s DD. 1′ squat hold with EC. I got distracted... but this is doable work. :P

Second, Day 14 of the NC. “Concealment“, meaning elbow plank hold. Tho I thought about doing more, 1′ was all that I felt up for today. :P

Last, Day 14 of the PUP. Upperbody work. My knee push-ups were pretty sloppy. Including the hold - which took some willpower to hold for that long. Would be a bit more fun if I wasn’t a bit distracted by games. *Shrugs*.

Predictably, I stayed up till pretty much dawn gaming. =_=

-

June 17

Been up since about 3PM, proper. :/

Yeah... I’m just going to get into the productive shit. Mostly exercise.

First, today’s DD. 20 forward bends with EC. A fun and breezy one. It's also nice to give the back muscles some TLC, like this! :D

Second, Day 15 of the NC. “Strategy“, meaning lunges. This time I went for 2′, so Level 3. I counted 42 reps in total, alternating legs with each one. Got a bit winded and fatigued - but I needed

Last, Day 15 of the PUP. Lower body work. I’m thinking that the swings should not involve foot drops but I kind of need to do that if I want full ROM. But oh well, done. :P

I then took a showered and BS’d before getting to bed.

-

June 18

Didn’t have the most restful night’s sleep. Woke up an hour earlier than I wanted to. Achy too, so I had to pop an ibuprofen and attempted to get a bit more shut-eye in before 7:30 came.

I got to the facility and the first thing I did while there was the DD. 40 forward lunges with EC. Got me a bit winded, but still manageable. :P

Seeking Safety went okay. Then I did a bit of sketching, socializing, and gaming (Jewel Quest), before getting home-bound.

In the van, I was nodding off but was pleasantly surprised when one of the passengers offered everyone free ice cream. Got a chocolate soft serve ice cream cone out of it. That was nice! :D

Got home, went with bro to get some Subway, BS’d, and then did the rest of my exercise.

First, Day 16 of the NC. “Awareness“, meaning side leg raises. Easily was able to go for 2′, choosing to alternate sides with each rep. I counted 126 in total.

Last, Day 16 of the PUP.... after accidentally doing Day 1 because I didn’t check what page I was ON. So much for “awareness“. That did piss me off, but just getting through the right sequence took me out of that state (because burning tendons). I did have to bend and lower (but not totally drop to floor) in the second quarter’s hold. Did feel better afterwards, though. :P

Now... I’ll probably BS some more and try to get to bed at a reasonable hour. Maybe.

[builtinadaygames]

Games on itch: what I played this month

Hi, my name is Kevin Beissel.  I make game projects under the name ‘builtinaday’ and lurk on Twitter @builtinadayKB.

The purpose of this post is to cover some of the free games on itch.io, from a developer and fan perspective.  I'd like to make it a recurring series, maybe a monthly breakdown but who knows.  Like Douglas Adams said, the best part of deadlines is the great WHOOSHING sound they make while flying by.

Before we get to the games, I just want to clarify why I'm doing this and what I hope it accomplishes.  So here's the what, why and how:

The WHAT

Discuss free games available on itch.io

I've got a list of profiles to check out, but please send along any recommendations.

There are no restrictions on genres.  The whole point of this is to be curious and ask questions.  So no dumb rules like "No walking sims" or "No puzzle platformers", which would prolly eliminate half of the available games anyways.

The WHY

I want to become a better developer and playing experimental/small/art/trash games could help.

Getting an audience is hard and getting constructive feedback is even harder.  I can't help the devs covered in these posts with the former but maybe I can with the latter.

The HOW

There is no rating system.

There is no alter ego here, these are not 'angry' reviews.

These aren't even really reviews.

The goal is to focus on the design choices that were made and discuss the reasoning behind them.

I don't really care about being right, I don't really care about sounding smart ("Yeah, no shit" the reader grumbles), I don't really care about agreeing with you. I'm more interested in looking at the hierarchy of ideas (to borrow a phrase) that form game design.  By working at the ends and working in the middle we can find out more about it, right?

Enough with the formalities, let's get started.

Profile: Steven Miller (@stevenjmiller37, steven-miller.itch.io, 30 projects available)

Game: Calor

Genre/Style: Strategy, base building and combat modes

Strategy games are tall orders, especially as jam submissions, but Calor has plenty of good things going on.  The visuals are charming, the two game modes are fun, and it has some of that 'one more turn' gameplay you want in a good strategy game.

It sort of reminds me of FTL and X-Com, except it's also nothing like those games.  I still caught echoes of them, like an eerie trumpet call over a lost battlefield.  Except there's no sound in space, or so I've heard.

Hey, what spins faster: the planet in Calor or Hunter Thompson in his grave after I just mangled his 'eerie trumpet' line?

The base building mode revolves around placing resources (farms, solar panels, factories) on sections of a planet.  Every turn the planet rotates, and the direction can be changed with wind turbines.  Part of the planet has sunlight and resource tiles produce plus-1 per turn in sunlight.  Sun spots pop up every 7 or 8 turns and will destroy any resource on a tile or damage the player, but a warning message pops up when the sun spot is three turns away.

Enemies can't damage tiles but can attack the player.  It's better to move onto the enemy's tile and initiate combat, especially if the tile contains a resource.  Letting the enemy move onto your tile has a combat penalty.

The combat mode has two parts to consider: a top section with three bars that contain the enemy's attack and shield points and a bottom section laid out like a hex-style grid.  The grid has three starting nodes on the left and three ending nodes on the right with bonus nodes in the middle.  You can choose whether to use a shield node or an attack node during your turn, but not both.

If the top section has a shield in any bar, connecting to the corresponding ending node reduces your attack points.  So you have to plan paths that pick up as many bonus nodes as possible and avoid ending on a penalized node.

Both modes are good and it would be cool to see them expanded on.  There's a few things I'm curious about though, like the attack only/shield only choice you have to make in combat.

If you start a fight with low health, the enemy will prolly wipe you out with one attack.  So I suppose the design incentivizes you to keep moving away from the enemy until your health is refilled during the base building mode, then turn around and engage.  I just wish there was away to use both a shield node and an attack node on the same turn.  I know upgrade systems can be tricky and usually avoid them in my projects, but this ability would be a great addition.

Forgive me if there is this ability, but I'm pretty sure there isn't.

And I gotta ask: if you can't combine the abilities, then what's the point of including a shield option at all?  If you're low on health to start, using the shield just creates an endless loop of defensive turns.  Does health regenerate between turns in combat or only outside of combat?  Could I block the enemy's attack enough times until I'm healed and then switch to attack nodes?  What am I missing here?

I know that sounds negative, but I swear it's just curiosity.  Calor is fun to play and also gave me some challenging design questions to consider.  There are plenty of games that fail to do either of those things.

Game: Capture Horizon

Genre/Style: Puzzle platformer, side-scroller

This is a puzzle platformer that requires you to manipulate the level by taking photos of it and arranging them to form a path to the exit.  I played Camera Obscura on Steam, which uses a simiilar idea, and it's a cool concept.  I like that it relies on spatial design/reasoning skills, instead of using oblique hints to solve unfair challenges based on muddy logic/lazy rulesets.

The photo taking/placing mechanic is easy to understand.  You can't take a new photo while on an existing one and you can have up to three at a time.  It seems simple but I quickly became stumped, especially on levels five and six.

The platforming is OK, but it leads to many cheap deaths.  Most levels have two sections you need to reach; the first is relatively easy and the second is much harder.  The harder section requires a lot of trial and error, due to both photo placement and jumping issues, which means you have to redo the easy section a lot of times which is tedious.

Traditional difficulty progression states that a level should have an ascending scale of difficulty, not a descending scale.  But for short, self-contained levels like this, inverting that formula might have worked well.

And since we are here to inquire within about everything and not here to disparage, let's consider some alternative solutions to this problem:

New speed setting:  I hate when people suggest new settings for traversal speeds in my own work, because there is usually a bunch of connected factors to consider/change that they aren't aware of.  What sounds like a small tweak is actually a much larger change.

So, even tho I hate being THAT GUY, I too often found myself running right off of a platform or, even worse, jumping way too early to compensate for the fast movement.  A walk/run control setup might have fit nicely.

Change the jump mechanic:  Something like the style of jumping used in Gunpoint would have made the platforming simpler, but much more satisfying.  For those who don't know, the Gunpoint-style allows the player to activate a jumping stance, adjust the height/distance of the jump and then confirm or cancel the jump.

This style would eliminate most of the frustrating trial and error sections.  You could place a photo and test whether your jump could reach it, instead of placing a photo and jumping one pixel short and having to retry the whole level.

What helpful advice, huh?  "Ripoff a more popular game to make your own work seem better" is just about the most lazy advice you could give an artist.  And yet here I am, handing out shopworn cliches faster than Michiko Kakutani.  So where the hell is my goddamn Pulitzer?

Game: Entropy

Genre/Style: Roguelike, 8-bit isometric view

Lately I've been seeking out games that put a strong emphasis on combat, like "Superhot" or "Deadbolt".  Roguelikes usually have a heavy emphasis on combat and Entropy certainly does.

You have a fast-moving, low-damage ranged shot that repeats quickly but you can charge up a power shot.  The charged shot literally turns you into a bullet, and can be used offesnsively or defensively.  You could knock out a powerful enemy or escape from a crowd by firing to a safe spot.  You can also use the charge shot for traversal, usually shooting across gaps filled with spikes.

If I could transform into anything, I'd transform into a machine that could make ANYTHING.  I would make anything then transform back into myself and enjoy whatever (or whoever) I just made.  That might seem like an awfully large loophole, a loophole so large you could drive a Pagani Zonda thru it.  A carbon-fiber supercar loaded with guns, cash, and women (or MEN) you made in your ANYTHING machine.

But what are you?  A lawyer?  I don't remember making any of those in that ANYTHING machine.

Or you could turn into a bullet.  That is also a pretty cool thing to do.

The character movement speeds are nicely balanced.  Strafing a lone enemy is fun and juggling large crowds is intuitive.  Some enemies felt like bullet sponges, but I wasn't using the charge shot enough.  Moving around till I had space and time to get it off made those enemies easier to deal with.  The enemy design is good too, with variations in size/speed/strength that feel balanced.  They have a nice spectral, eerie look to them.

The game also opens with a short cutscene.  My favorite part was the "standing" animations.  All the characters constantly bounce up and down, which is fun to watch.  I love this choice.  Animations more sophisticated than this aren't really the point of LD jams and if they stood still that would be boring, so it's a nicely off beat decision.

The one minor problem I had was the reticle color.  It's green, which would be fine except some levels have patches of grass that make it hard to track the reticle.  Otherwise, the game has the color palette nicely split up between player, enemy and enviromental assets.

Remember:  Split up the colors, but don't split up your pants!  Why do people breath in when trying to squeeze into jeans?  If you breath out you get thinner, or at least that's what my bitchy mother-in-law keeps telling me.  I get it, Joan!  Also, get Entropy and shoot stuff.

Profile: Tooth and Claw (Dan McGrath, @daninfiction, toothandclaw.itch.io, 24 projects available)

Game: Valley of the Moon

Genre/Style: Walking sim, puzzle

You are supposed to collect four relics to reactivate your ship and leave the planet.  Despite the walking sim label, there's a couple of nice platforming sections too.  But the real point of this type of game is to create a distinct atmosphere, a space worth getting lost in.

Of all the games in this post, this is the one that gave me the purest moment, or at least the type of moment you can really only get with a videogame.  The game starts up and I see a nearby building with a large door.  Since its a puzzle game and I've just started, I assumed the door was locked.  But I went over anyways, intent on asking one of the fundamental questions videogames can offer: "Can I do that?"

Turns out, I could do that.  The door popped open, and I got a little thrill out of it.  Seems silly maybe, that something so simple could feel that rewarding, but it did.

Inside the building is one of the relics and another nicely put together moment.  You climb the final step and see a platform with a relic on it, and a giant orange moon lined up right above it.  The symmetry of the relic and moon is really nice and its a striking visual moment.

The only question I would ask is about the ending:  Why not try something wild or unexpected, something totally abstract or bizarre?

I don't mean this as a criticism, because it's quite good and I'm glad I played it, it's just a question.

If you've played other walking sims all the way through, like "Dear Esther" for example, then you know how a surprising and offbeat ending can really resonate with the right type of players.  I happen to really like the way that "Esther" ends, and can more strongly recall that odd, poetic moment better than I can recall some of the other supposedly famous moments in recent games.

A unique and challenging ending can make a lasting impression on the player and, whether they loved or hated it, that player will remember your work.

So, in the case of this game, why not do something more eccentric?  Like when you take off and leave this peaceful planet behind you end up crashing onto an uninhabitable, hostile planet?  Or you take off and safely land on a new planet, only to find out its exactly like the one you left?  Is that too 'Twilight Zone' for you?

Or maybe you take off and turn into a freaking Star Child?  Then the Star Child grows up and becomes Galactus?

Anyways, that's what happens when you leave the audience hanging.  They start out reasonable enough and end up arguing about Galactus and his big, dumb headgear.

The point being: not every game needs a meaningful or profound or abstract ending, but some do.

Game: Zealot

Genre/Style: FPS, looks like a 90s shareware game

Other Info: made in 3 days

This is a dope throwback to shareware-era FPS games.  Zealot is like a resurrected title from this era, with glorious visuals and punishing combat.

There was a wider range of titles than most people remember, mainly because the iconic titles of the time (DOOM, HEXEN) loom so large.  I was flipping thru an old PC game magazine (prolly circa 1995) and there was pages and pages of ads for obscure shareware titles, some looking totally generic and others beyond bizarre.  I prolly spent more time looking at those ads recently than I did when those games came out.  Sorry, marketing geniuses!

There was also an article about how advanced stats would become important in sports.  Something about how coaches, players, fans, journalists and gamblers would be interested in new ways to analyze performance and predict outcomes.  Who would have thought?  You know besides Paul Allen and his 300-foot yact and his investment stake in STATS LLC.  Also, fuck Paul Allen, fuck his yact, fuck his Dorsia reservations, and fuck me while we're at it.

But don't fuck Zealot!  Do play Zealot, it's quite fun.  You run and jump around on a floating platform blowing up various types of demons.  You play until you die.  My best time was 74.67176 seconds.  It was much more fun once I realized I could hold down the attack button to autofire, which seems obvious but hey, if you're so smart how about you come over and unclog this drain?  I've tried nothing man, and I'm all out of ideas.

Thankfully Dan McGrath isn't out of ideas, tho!  And Zealot is a pretty good idea.  I've never had a bad idea.  I've had great ideas that turned out horribly wrong, but never any BAD ideas.  I've also stolen ideas/entire jokes from 30 Rock, but Dan McGrath hasn't yet!

Profile: Trasevol Dog (@TRASEVOL_DOG, trasevol-dog.itch.io, 24 projects available)

Game: Blast Flock

Genre/Style: similar to Luftrausers, but more colorful

This is the profile to check out if you like games with bright color palettes and visuals that really pop off the screen.  It helps that the gameplay is excellent, too.

And hey, people who care soooo much about what engine a dev uses: this game wasn't made with Unity, so try to find something else to complain about.

Blast Flock is a variation on Luftrausers, which is an OK game.  I really wanted to like Luftrausers, but whenever I play it I'm always left with the same two questions:  Where is the rest of the game and how come it isn't more fun?

Luftrausers felt like it was all about keeping your multiplier at 20 which feels like a chore, like an uncreative grind.  I was more interested in finding fun and interesting ways to attack enemies, especially since it had such great body/weapon/engine variety.  It felt like they incentivized creative approaches, but instead only rewarded you for following a narrow path.

Well, Blast Flock doesn't have more content, but it certainly is more fun.  The controls are intuitive and allow for a lot of experimentation.  Your group of ships always flies towards the reticle, with fire and boost mapped to lmb/rmb.  You can shoot down enemies and save them as they fall, expanding your group.

Building your squadron up and tearing thru a huge group of enemies at top speed with guns blazing feels so great.  Whipping the mouse around the screen and creating total chaos also feels great, like orchestrating your own bullet hell symphony.

Or you could conduct a symphony of the night.  But how the hell am I supposed to read music in the dark?  My conductor baton glows in the dark, but I don't want people to know that.  It only does that in case I drop it during a performance and have to find it on the ground real quick.  Symphony of the night?  How about a 'symphony of the comfortable recliner' instead?  Or ‘symphony of the better jokes’?

Thanks for reading!  If you liked this then maybe check out my itch profile, too.