#and Gary sounds like a silly little guy with a funny little voice

[coldcanadianwinters]

Can’t relate because Simon’s voice actually sounds like one of the *most* normal compared to the majority of the cast to me, but also I understand where your coming from and find it very funny

The one thing that kind of throws me about Fionna and Cake is that Simon is the only central character who's obviously doing Cartoon Voice. It's not just because of who his voice actor is, either – like, we know Tom Kenny can do serious, we've seen him do it, but Simon already has an established vocal characterisation from his history as a comedy relief villain, and that's what the show has to work with. Every other character with top billing sounds kind of like a regular person, and then there's Simon going around sounding like a depressed, middle-aged SpongeBob coming to grips with the fact that he's never going to get back together with Patrick – and I'm 100% aware that this isn't a complaint that's going to be relatable to anyone following this blog, because people on this site would love to watch a show about a depressed, middle-aged SpongeBob.

[r1ng-w0rm]

Some old WBB! Oc idea that I really wanted to show u guys (+extra info on it)

Okay soo, I had this idea a while ago when I was making WBB! Tobias- it was just a skim through concept designs and I managed to find this beauty in thy picture folders. I couldn't just delete them cause I really liked their hair. :'[

(p.s Gary the tapeworm is not my oc, it's @ewwwabug 's lil homie)

Also I forgot to put Tobias' scars, but to be fair- it looks better scarless.

🪱Bonus Stuff about them! (I don't want to take up space)🪱

[GOB] and [GAT]

🪱This was supposed to be an idea of if the lbb/wbb simulation thing absolutely screwed up and morphed Tobias and Gary(what a silly fellow) into some corrupted goopy two being thing. How did it happen? I don't know. Probably post!rbb But mid relapse of Tobias' bad acid trip. Funny hardy har har. I'm not creative enough for this-

🪱These two are not brothers, they are purely clones/an error multiplied in coding. Plus, if you try to kill them, they multiply.. So don't do it. Or do. Idc

🪱They are not good! They are parasites, therefore bad- evil- and weirdly clammy.

🪱Their hair has nerves and cartilage in it- it can move on its own like tentacles and it squirms if pulled too hard.

🪱Can and will turn you into a rug.

🪱Also, they can be found hiding out in many biker group spots. Either in two headed worm form or in the flesh. Though, as always, they like staying beside the rivals because yknow... That's kinda Tobias' main terf, but that's not to say the thingies stay with Tobias! Eyeball lickers delux 2000.

🪱If the two had some form of ending:

➬Good Ending: They give you a sliver of their weirdly fleshy hair and make you eat it. Congrats! You're the host to a new lovely baby tapeworm who's probably going to be birthed as a screwed up mix of either Varai and Gary, Varai and Tobias, orrrrrrr... Dun dun dun!!! Gary and Tobias again?!?? Now you've got an Antichrist worm baby on your hands!!!! Yippeeeeee!!!!!

➮Neutral Ending: You're kinda stuck watching sitcoms with them until either Varai gets back or until they're hungry for that sweet za (pizza).

➫Bad Ending:... The worst of it all... The absolute horrors... Something so profound and disgusting........... They spit on your shoes and call you stupid names before walking off like they're better than you. They don't want you to become the new host to a tapeworm because you obviously aren't cool enough for that. I hope you're happy. They'll make sure you're band from every good spot in town.. Except the gas station, they'll just give you the permanent bad luck of picking out expired food.

𖤐[ABOUT GOB]𖤐

🪱Lowkey might be a 'THE BLOODY CULTIST' oc. He's purely obsessed with the occult due to him 'hearing a calling' somewhere within his divided dreams where he's a seperate being with long pretty pink hair.

🪱Gobs voice is a mix of two masculine and one corrupted 'demonic sounding' one.

🪱He's allergic to fish whilst Gat isn't, so the two have little fights about that.

🪱Gob can eat rust and live off of spinal fluid

✶[ABOUT GAT]✶

🪱The one who is like the holy divinity of the two. He's not religious, but he has an insane amount of luck on his side... Legend has it that when he cries, a radiation storm happens... Hope you have your rad resistant umbrellas!!!

🪱Gat loves sticking his triple jointed fingers in people's eyes and noses :).

🪱His voice is a mix of static, a feminine voice, and something of an echoed whisper.

🪱Enjoys the sweet supple taste of stomach acid and bugs (specifically centipedes and wasps!!)

[https-maxine-stuff]

“The brightest star on the darkest night.”

Five.

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

July 18th, 1978

Dear diary, I know I haven't written a entry in awhile, I'm sorry didn't mean to leave you hanging, but I have some news! I met this boy named Nick a few weeks ago, actually on the day of my last entry.

It makes me laugh because he's a Goode, I met a Goode on the day I written about not letting them walk all over me; still true by the way, he hasn't had that chance. He's really sweet, and funny! I really like him. He's taken me out on these little dates while we've been at this camp..

I've never felt this way about a guy, ya know? He's just so..different,, he's my kinda guy.. he's weird and into horror,, he's easy to talk to.

- yours truly, Maxine.

P.s maybe I should actually kiss him, I don't know though, Casanova is gonna have to work a little harder for it ;)

ੈ✩‧₊˚

She closed the leather bound diary with a soft smile, the sounds of screams and laughter filled the air outside her cabin. The brunettes eyes stared at the kids, so full of life and joy.

“Time to actually do my job, hm. Funny.” She got off the bed and headed towards the door, Tommy running past the cabin, he was playing around with campers, some kind of prank war or something.

“Heartford! Help me out here?” He smiled brightly.

“Yeah! Coming,” she laughed exiting the cabin, three campers held silly string in their hands their eyes now directed towards her. “I will choke you out if you even think about, Hopkins.” Her eyes narrowed on the blonde girl.

“Not taking that chance,” she turned and sprayed Tommy in the face.

“That’s it- you guys are dead!” He laughed chasing them. Cindy walked over with an amused expression.

“Is he losing?”

“Looks like it, that’s really sad.” She giggled.

“Oh very,”

“Go save your boyfriend, Cindy-Lou.”

“Cindy-Lou was a blonde.”

“Okay and?” She smirked, the short haired brunette rolled her eyes and ran over to her boyfriend. “Now where’s, Alice?” She whispered her eyes scanned the field. Not spotted. “Main office most likely,” she rolled her eyes and began to walk.

She bumped into Joan on the way, she smelt of weed. “Greetings and Salutations.” She smiled softly.

“Hey, Joan! You look like your in a different world right now.”

“My senses are open.” She blinked slowly with a smile.

“Don’t green out,” she smiled lightly.

“Don’t plan on it,” she winked and made her way to the mess hall.

“Pot-heads I swear.” She rolled her eyes. “Do I even want to see, Alice I might walk in on her and Arnie..again.” She scowled and decided against going. “I could just lead a painting class,” she mumbled to herself.

“Heartford? What are you doing?” Kurt’s voice made her jump.

“Jesus, maybe be a little louder next time.”

“What? I freaked you out?”

“A little bit! You have some quiet steps, man.” She rolled her eyes.

“Do me a solid and check on the Science and Nature cabin?”

“..why?” She raised a brow.

“Can you just do me a solid oh my god.” He rolled his eyes and walked away.

“Drama queen.” She hissed.

ੈ✩‧₊˚

Science & Nature cabin

She unlocked the cabin taking a peek around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary at all. All the animals in their enclosure it was fine.

“What was the point of this?” She rolled her eyes stepping inside, it was quiet which was a bonus her eyes drifted towards their enclosures again. “Oh that fucker, HE DIDN’T FEED THEM?” She grumbled.

“Who didn’t feed what?” Gary poked his head in.

“Hey, Gary,, sorry just a little mad because Kurt’s having me do his job. Fucker was supposed to feed the damn animals.” She walked over to where the food was and began filling up their plates obviously separating the ones for the different species.

“Oh, that’s a bummer.”

“Yeah,” she nodded in agreement.

Silence.

“Have fun.”

“Yeah, sure, thanks Gary.” She mumbled.

-

She exited the cabin with a big ole grimace she was angry, oh furious over this.

And no talking to Pretty boy Nick wasn’t gonna help, or maybe it would who knows.

She walked her way towards her cabin once more, when the perfect angelic voice of Nick seemed to offer itself.

“Hey- you look mad.”

“Oh I’m fucking pissed.” She hissed.

“Would I like to know why?”

“Fucking Kurt! Fuckers too damn lazy to do his own shit that I have to do it, isn’t that insane??” The girl pulled Nick into the cabin.

“Oh he needs to drop dead.”

“For real!! He’s just so! Ugh.” Max choked the air with her hands. “I just need to choke his ass out! Maybe then he’ll learn to not drop his job on me,”

“You also need to calm down,” he placed a warm hand on her shoulder. She slowly twisted her head to face him, so he removed his hand.

“Calm down?”

“I regret speaking.”

“CALM DOWN? I know I might be overreacting but I will END you, Nick.”

“I wouldn’t like that.”

“Good.” She sat down on the bed, he gave her a sympathetic look. “Don’t look at me with pity, please.” She sighed.

“Sorry, automatic response.” He smiled lightly taking a seat next to her. She rested her head on his shoulder.

“I really want to quit.”

“Then who would I have such amazing romantic connection with?”

“Ziggy Berman?” She joked.

“She’s a camper.”

“True.”

“I like our romantic connection,” he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Sap.”

“Very much.” His face softened as he stared at her, she leaned upwards a bit. “Can I kiss you..?” He whispered.

“Yeah.” She whispered back. He pressed his lips softly to hers, it was sweet and kind like him, his lips were soft like they had been moisturized.

When they pulled apart she smiled at him softly, his entire face was red with a bright smile. “You look cheerful.” She giggled.

“Oh I am very cheerful, I just got kissed by the most beautiful girl in the world.” He cupped her cheek.

“And your about to do it again.”

“Oh am I?” He leaned back in.

“Oh you are,” she pressed her lips to his, his hand moved towards her back pulling her closer to him as he rested his other hand on the side of her neck.

[somebodyhelpthenotdeadfreds]

Savage Siblings + Scandal meeting the Legends or Gary meeting the Six

When Gary wakes up and smells toast, he instantly thinks he's having a stroke. He knows this because of late night frantic google searches when he's feeling like a hypochondriac. Turns out his neighbor had fried their hair in a curler. Life can be funny like that.

What is not funny is coming to, smelling toast, and realizing his legs are cuffed to the chair he's sitting in.

Memories start to creep back of how he got in this predicament. The memories aren't complete, as he can't remember how he got in this big dining room. He woke up in a weird hospital room, and managed to escape it into the hallway, where an arm wrapped around his neck and yanked him into a room. It was then he saw Scandal for the first time in easily ten years. She didn't have any answers for him as to where they were. In fact, the last memory he has before waking up here is seeing a man with a missing hand in the hallway before a sharp pain suddenly struck him in the neck.

And now he was here, strapped to a chair, smelling toast and noticing his sister in a chair just opposite him. She wrapped her fingers around a fork and held it in her lap. Gary shook his head to clear any brain fog, and was interrupted by a cheery voice behind him. "Finally, I'm starving!"

A plate was sat in front of him, a pancake with a whipped cream smile beaming back up at him. The same dish was put in front of Scandal, and the chair between them was pulled back and Bishop sat down. He was all smiles with the pancake in front of him, and Scandal didn't break her glare.

"There's chocolate sauce, and blueberries, and strawberry preserves. Feel free to add what you want," Bishop told them, adding butter to his pancake.

Scandal didn't reach for her food or speak. Gary couldn't eat around the lump in his throat, but spoke up in a croak: "What - is this?"

Bishop popped a bite into his mouth, laughing. "Gare, it's a family breakfast. We haven't had one in what, twenty years? Hard to tell, time being what it is."

Ava (but not Ava, but also Ava, because clone, Gary's brain scrambled to focus on anything other than this moment) poured Scandal a cup of hot coffee. Scandal didn't touch it. Scandal still didn't move.

Gary tried again, his big mouth forever unable to stay shut. "Bishop, why - why are we - where are we?"

"Gary, you're home, that's all that matters."

"Answer the question," Scandal bit back, her glare hot enough to melt whipped cream.

Bishop sighed. "But why can't we just have a family breakfast, Scandy? You never were any fun."

"Take the anklets off and let's have some real fun."

Bishop chuckled, poked her nose. He left a dollop of whipped cream on the end of it. "Is that a smile I see?"

Scandal's face didn't move. It was frozen in the same smile a lion gives a gazelle.

"Aw, it is! See, Gare, I always could get her to smile. You would try too hard."

Gary was squeezing his hands together under the table, holding back vomit. The smell of maple syrup was overwhelming and he wanted to run away from them, from this, again. He's done it so many times before, one more time wouldn't hurt, right?

"You guys haven't eaten your pancakes! Chef Ava's worked so hard on them, it would be rude to leave them uneaten!"

Neither sibling moved.

"Guys, seriously, it's a normal family breakfast, we're just-"

"We aren't a family," Scandal cut in, voice like ice. "We share the same blood. But we aren't a family."

Bishop's carefree smile settled into a familiar smirk. He leaned back in his chair, back on two legs, before leaning forward again. He picked up his fork and knife. "Well, if you guys don't want pancakes, I won't waste them. You like strawberry, right Gare?"

Gare closed his eyes as strawberry preserves covered the smiley pancake. He flinched when Bishop elbowed him lightly in the side, a laugh on his lips. "Lighten up."

He cut a third of Gary's pancake and put it on his own plate. He did the same to Scandal, joking as he offered her a bite.

Gary was pretty sure she could bite through the fork if it reached her lips. The whipped cream on her nose dripped into her coffee.

Bishop shook his can of whipped cream, put some in his mouth. He enjoyed his bite, had a sip of coffee.

Gary felt the words come out of his mouth like the remnants of a bad night. "Who was that in the hallway?"

Scandal shushed him, but Bishop smiled, squeezing Gary's shoulder. "Glad you asked, but you don't recognize your brother?"

"What?"

"That was Louis, he was one of our brothers, guys. I think from the 12th century, not sure. It's been a while since I've gone through the records."

"Why isn't he - here? At the table?" Gary asked carefully.

"Well, because he's not special like you guys! Us three, we were important! We meant something to Dad."

Scandal let out a barely audible hiss. "Is he - here?"

Bishop shook his head with a frown, brushing one of her bangs back. The frown changed to a grin when she moved her head back. "Not yet."

Maybe if Gary focused enough, he could melt down into his chair like whipped cream, slip through his cuffs and into the floor so he could disappear forever.

"What are you talking about?"

Bishop put up a finger as a 'hold on', chewing his bite of pancake. He began moving the pancake pieces around, humming a theme song Gary was familiar with. "I don't want to sound like one of those cheap Marvel hacks, but you know the Ship of Theseus idea, right?"

The pancake pieces were put into one complete circle, and Bishop added another smile on top of the creation.

"No? I guess I really did get all the smarts in the family."

"It's a foolish concept," Scandal said through her teeth. "There's no spirit for a body left."

Bishop grinned, all attempts at niceness fading away as he pulled a coin from his pocked and flipped it onto the table.

Gary has seen this soul coin before, so he doesn't give out an audible gasp the way Scandal does. Instead, he goes back to daydreaming about melting away.

"Why are we - why are we HERE?"

"Because we're special, Scandy. You were Dad's favorite, we all knew it. I was thinking your heart, but that's gone all soft. I think he'd want the eyes, what do you think? Gary's good for a spleen or a kidney."

Gary felt like he was going to pass out.

"Oh, don't worry! I'll grow you all new ones. Dad needs the old parts, you know, like when you need to fix an old watch. Gotta use the same parts, have the know-how. But Gary, I have a job for you especially. You always liked the little jobs more, yeah?"

"What do you want?" Gary croaked again. He didn't know what else to do except listen. Once again.

"Well, Gare. You're going to call your little friends. Gotta make homecoming a real party right?"

"I don't know what you're - talking about."

Bishop suddenly reached out and turned his head to face him. His smile held nothing but malice. "I'd say you never did learn how to lie, but they still don't know, do they? I can't believe you'd lie about that, Gare. That doesn't make you a good friend, does it? I mean, even Scandal told her lunch table about Dad."

"I'm not calling the Legends," Gary told him, raising his voice and instantly regretting it.

"Gary, Gary," Bishop tsked, squeezing his chin harder. "Don't you want to do the right thing?"

"Stop."

"The Legends aren't your friends, not if you can't tell them the truth. But we're your family. We don't lie to you, we aren't turning you out into the cold for a silly mistake or two."

Gary didn't look away but he couldn't stop shaking. Bishop poked his nose, making him flinch and then he laughed. "See, Gare? We're all going to be one big happy family again. All you have to do is your part."

He leaned away from Gary, turned to Scandal, and got a face full of hot coffee. He howled, clawing at his face as Scandal shoved his face into his pancake creation.

"Don't forget," she told him as she shoved him one more time for good measure before letting him up. Her smile was pure hatred. "At the end of the day, you're still a box of spare parts for Dad, same as us."

Bishop glared at her through strawberry preserves, wiping his face. "Then let's play double or nothing, Scandy. Gary brings Dad's friends, you get to walk home.

"He doesn't?" He slid a photo across the table and Gary watched Scandal's face dissolve into anguish.

"The first person Dad visits is his grandson."

[kinetic-elaboration]

July 17: 2x26 Assignment: Earth

Finally finished up S2 of TOS yesterday. That was... a rough episode tbh. I’m just gonna say it: back door pilots are bad! They’re bad. If I wanted to watch that other show, I’d watch it.

Wow, they’re just really jumping right in, huh? “Here we are, on a routine mission into the past, using a time travel method that we invented nbd.”

Investigating desperate problems in the year 2020...2016.... no wait 1968.

Ooh, Spock in the transport room today. Does he have a whole extra random station there? That’s so weird; I’ve never seen that before. It’s like hidden in the corner.

Cat!! Cat!!

What a good actor. I’m still bitter that wikipedia has a whole section about the casting for “Isis the cat” that talks entirely about the human who played Isis for 2 minutes and nothing about the talented feline actor. Where did they find her? How did they teach her to act?

She has a lot of thoughts about Kirk.

I wrote down “Scully, you’ve got to see this” in my notes and I’ve already forgotten what it refers to lol. Some moment that I thought would fit well with my favorite x-files meme.

Change history, you say? Spock is intrigued. ...Admittedly, Spock is often intrigued.

“What if it turns out you’re an invading alien from the future?” Honestly...let him invade. You’re not supposed to be here anyway.

I’m pretty insulted by this. The aliens went through all this trouble to help in 1968...where are our alien helpers NOW?

The cat straight up attacked his face.

Kirk is so fond of Spock being fond of the cat.

“It’s a lovely animal. I feel myself strangely drawn to it.”

Kirk is way too confused by Seven--an allegedly human person with super-human abilities that he says come from aliens--and yet, he’s met Charlie X so??? Is this not the same?

Kirk’s got the whole crew checking in on zoom.

(I actually do like this sequence of him getting video calls from different parts of the ship.)

“Weren’t orbiting H-bombs a huge problem in 1968?” Looks at the camera like he’s on The Office. Not the subtlest bit of writing in the “social commentary” genre. I do say this with love, though. I always enjoy when they comment on contemporary problems.

“He has a totally perfect body.” Lol don’t distract these two bisexuals.

[soft meowing]

“The prisoner has escaped.” The way this is shot, it looks like he’s talking about the cat.

Hmm, I do love the decor. Very 60s. This honestly immediately feels like a different show, and a much more dated show; even when the Enterprise time travels, it tends not to time travel to... office space.

Love the little sounds the computer makes.

So is Isis supposed to be one of the fancy aliens? It’s never explained but one must assume she is.

Aw, he’s petting her paw.

So I assumed the cats sounds are real, but just dubbed. They’re not lol. Which I guess isn’t surprising: this cat makes a lot of noises! They were provided by a human voice actress.

Damn.... I want a secret bookshelf that turns around to reveal a super computer with a big screen. “Computer... play Netflix.”

That’s what Seven does in his spare time.

The computer is an AI. “Beta 5 snobbery” lol.

Where are OUR alien overlords to stop US from destroying ourselves before WE can mature into a peaceful society?

This is really masterful exposition lol. Not forced or awkward at all.

ST sure does love the snooty female computer trope.

“Get us the proper costumes.” Yes, get Spock his Requisite Hat.

Omicron IV....that’s one of the names they use in Futurama lol. Such nerds.

Another excellent Spock Hat.

I love Seven’s various IDs. Great style. I wish my driver’s license looked like those.

“Who do you think you are?” He hasn’t decided yet. That’s why he was shifting through his IDs.

Seven is not smart lol. Like, he should have figured out way faster that this lady isn’t one of the Alien Overlords. He asks her the code question, she doesn’t understand it, and he... assumes she’s just really in character? Dude, that’s what the code questions are for!!! To help you identify people! Otherwise you could just straight up ask: are you an alien?

Instead he’s like “oh, you silly alien, you’re playing with me,” and then is forced to trap her, reveal his whole mission, and ultimately ensnare her in his plan.

I want that typewriter. Voice recognition typewriter.

"My incompetence has made you aware of very secret devices." Well at least he knows.

Trained cat!

The alien overlords were killed in a random car accident. That’s ironic.

Oh look, a real rocket!

Brown pants + short sleeved shirt + tie is such a Classic 60s look.

This security guard doesn’t think it’s weird that this random dude has a cat with him? Is this part of Isis’s alien power?

Except for the part where it’s a weapon, it’s pretty cool to see all this build up to, like... launching stuff into space. Exciting.

Isis likes to be on shoulders. Just like Little Guy.

New hat for Spock. His outer wear hat, and now his fancy hat. There is something to be said for this ep, and that is Kirk and Spock in suits.

Amazing how they literally launched rockets with computers that old. Like seeing the big bank of primitive computers is totally wild. We put people on the moon that way! Amazing.

“Meow.” Lol, Isis is stressed so she’s speaking like a cat. That’s a pretty funny joke actually.

Seven is so incompetent. If he’d just let the Enterprise help, Scotty could have fixed that rocket issue in like 3 seconds.

Lol everyone’s just pulling Gary through space. Now on the Enterprise. Now in the office.

Why does this computer have a hug black screen if it only displays images on the small white circle?

"Spock and  I in custody. Main characters, doing nothing, knowing nothing, totally useless and irrelevant. I have never felt more helpless." Literally what is even the point of them today? Does Spock even have lines outside of “I like the cat”?

Isis is jealous of Roberta. Is she.. in a relationship with Seven lol?

Uhura is listening to everyone in the world. She probably has a universal translator on, but I do feel like this scene implies she just...understands all the languages.

So now the warhead is armed and heading to somewhere vague... in other words, everyone has collectively made the situation worse.

....Or this was Seven’s plan all along? To scare people into ceasing to be so careful with nuclear weaponry? As someone who knows humans better than this guy, I think this is a dumbass plan.

“That’s why so many people in my generation are kind of crazy and rebels.” Same, sweetheart.

Really this is just a story about bad communication. If Seven had told Kirk his plan upfront, Kirk would have helped him. And if Kirk weren’t so insistent on involving himself in something just because he happens to be somewhere he probably shouldn’t be, we wouldn’t have this issue either. The hubris of everyone.

Overall, just a really forced narrative imo.

Or that’s how it was supposed to be lol. The Irony of time travel. By it’s nature, everything has already worked out.

Kirk and Spock are like “You’re welcome. Peace out.”

Honestly... Isis was the only good part. Such a talented cat actor!! Or trio of cat actors, I guess. Had to do all those stunts and stuff.. .amazing. I also liked the concept of Isis. How she turned into a human later just to troll Roberta. How she’s never really explained--one must assume, an alien? Plus I pretty much never get tired of human + animal teams where the animal makes animal noises and the human just understands and answers in English.

As a stand alone sci fi concept...it was okay. Kinda dated by now. The alien tech was nifty and Roberta could have grown on me. Maybe even Seven, though he left a lot to be desire. That said, the narrative relied a lot on people getting in each other’s way for no reason, which I find very frustrating.

But as a Star Trek episode....no. The main characters were just nuisances on the side lines!! I’m not even sure what Kirk’s mission here was--to try to figure out what Seven was doing? And stop him if necessary? But he never really decided if it was or not, until the point where not trusting him would basically cause a nuclear war? I don’t know, I found it all very frustrating. The melding of the original show and the spinoff was not smooth.

If I were watching this in 1968, I’d feel very cheated. THIS was the season finale? That’s it? I don’t even get a real Star Trek episode and now I have to wait months for anything new?

And what I get after all that waiting is Spock’s Brain?? I’d be tempted to quit. If I had a tumblr in 1969 I’d be writing multi-paragraph rants about how the best show on television has completely nose-dived lol.

But then there’s The Enterprise Incident, which is one of the best episodes... I don’t know, man. It’s a conundrum. I’ve only seen maybe half of season 3 but from what I remember it’s very uneven: some of the best eps (The Enterprise Incident, For the World Is Hollow, Day of the Dove) mixed in with some of the worst (Spock’s Brain, The Paradise Syndrome), plus some that are good concepts but shoddily executed (The Way to Eden). So we’ll see what I think about it when I see it all in one piece, in air date order.

[geekygoddesss]

“You’re so silly, I love you”

Requested by @teenageguitarist  

Based on one of my favorite scenes from my favorite show, Friends.

Everyone knew that Mondays were boring as fuck, it was no secret, they came after everyone’s praised weekend and somehow this day always seemed like the longest day ever. But not today. It was indeed Monday, but not only that, it was the day my boyfriend and his band were releasing their last album and that deserved a celebration.

It obviously had to happen at Ashton’s place, with happened to be right beside ours and it was a little bigger than our place, plus, out of everyone in the band, he was the one that was more excited for this new record, he poured his heart out on this, throwing out a party almost felt like a necessity.

It was fun. We drank, we danced, we laughed. Just like a good party should be, so naturally, after a good few hours of a full house of people drinking and messing around, people started leaving, it was the start of the week and a lot of them have things to do the next day, it’s totally fine, we only got left with the same old group of friends, the ones that would be around no matter what and the ones we could always count on for a good laugh. It felt like home to have them here.

We were currently sitting on Ashton’s living room, I was comfortably leaning on Calum’s embrace, while everyone else was sitting around in a circle, the lights were low around us and there was music in the background playing so softly. I was holding back a laugh from seeing our friend Mitchy prank calling some guy who worked with him, telling him something about winning a new X box or something like that. Lame joke, but I found it really funny.

He ended up hanging up the call after five minutes of keeping it up, we moved on our little truth or dare game, something kind of childish to do, but always really fun.

“Okay, so (Y/n), truth or dare?” Mitchy points at me since it was his turn to pick someone.

“Truth” I answer lazily, I was starting to grow a little tired, since it was already almost 3 in the morning and I barely slept before. I was not totally in the mood for dares.

“Boring” someone calls out to me, I don’t even see who it was.

“Hey” Calum says frowning a little and rubbing on my arm.

Mitchy seems to really think about it, there are not many things that you can ask in truth or dare, let’s be real, in this dumb games if you weren’t creative enough you would end up asking the same old questions everyone always asked. That is exactly what he didn’t do “Tell us about something you did years ago and you haven’t told anyone about” he says in a daring tone. I was really not expecting that.

“Woah, that’s very specific” I hear Michael say from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, where’s that coming from?” I ask him with a frown, it was such a weird question.

“She chose truth, I literally can’t think of anything else to ask” he excused himself.

“You don’t have to answer”  Calum whispers in my ear before kissing my head.

I think about it for a second, yes I technically don’t have to answer such a thing if I don’t want to and take a dare instead, but there’s something I need to say, maybe this is the time now that he brought this up. Nothing too harmful I guess, it’s just something that happened, I’ve been keeping this for myself for a while, we were all friends here, there’s no harm in saying it now.

“No, it’s fine” I smile up to Calum and move a little, sitting straight by his side “Well, Okay” I sigh, really thinking on what I was about to say, but there was no turning back now “Do you remember that time when we were in Australia and I was just starting to work with you?” I ask him.

“Yeah?” He nods with a confused look “Before we were dating?” He asks me.

“Yes”  I nod. My hands were shaking a little.

I give a deep sigh and close my eyes. I start talking.

I remember that day clearly because it was fucking scary. I was 18, maybe 19 at that time, the truth is I don’t remember but I was young.

I was just starting my job as a general assistant for the band’s team, I would help anyone with what they needed, no matter what it was. It was my second, maybe third week working on this and to be honest, I was having such a blast, I loved my job.

I remember to be helping the merch guy to load up the little stores around the venues. There tons of boxes around and we needed to put every single one of them in place before show time, I was not the only helping on this. My boss, Mark came up to me that day, catching me just walking through the doors that lead backstage and just getting to the store closer to the stage.

“(Y/n), are you busy right now?” He asked me with a friendly smile when he saw me.

“Em, no, not really” I lie, putting the box down on the store counter, If I could do something better than carrying boxes I would take that chance, I wasn’t in total shape and I hated carrying heavy things “I was just helping Gary with all these” I say pointing at the heavy box beside me.

“Okay cool” he nods and gives a step closer “I need you to do something for me” he says and pulls a phone from his pocket  “See this?”   “Yep” I nod.

“It’s Ella’s phone” he explained, I knew Ella, she was the one that always helped with all the photography stuff, she’s nice “She has some footage in there, recordings, everything, even those edited tour diary videos” he explains “Just put it all of it on your laptop, save it, and send it to me” he Instructs me, handing me the phone quickly and stepping back to do whatever he had to do “Uh, also make sure to find the clue images to post on twitter and program it to be posted in an hour or so” he adds up, walking away.

“You got it” I say loud enough so he could hear me.

“Thanks, Kiddo” “Anytime!” I call back, walking to a whole different way than I was before.

I remember how quickly I got to the green room, which was the room right beside the catering. I grabbed my laptop and turn it on, taking my USB cable to plug the phone into the computer. It was such a weird moment, there was exactly what Mark said there was, footage, videos of the guys, pictures, but right beside one of the clues pictures I had to post on twitter, there’s was a really low-quality video showing on screen, it looked like a screen recording from the camera of another phone or this phone.

Out of pure curiosity, I click on the video, it’s my computer, after all, no one would find out. It started as a weird video (indeed a screen recording) of a boy that not only didn’t showed his face but showing off his body from the neck down. It was such a short video, around 10 seconds, but it was clear, the boy in the video took the hem of his pants and pulled it down, showing off his boner in a very clear picture before the image went back to an app main menu.

“Oh, what the hell?” I sighed with a big frown. what the actual hell?. I play the video one more time, trying to take a guess on who was the person in it, but it doesn’t take me long to find out, because I recognized that big tattoo on his arm, that big bird in black ink was really ringing a bell, that boy was Calum “Oh my god” I almost wanted to exclaim my cheeks getting redder and redder “Bitch” I groan, playing the video one more time, there was a laugh at the end. Ella’s laugh, what a fucking bitch. She recorded Calum’s dick. Bitch.

I try to take my mind off what I just saw as I do the exact thing that my boss told me to do, I sent him the videos, post things he told me to, but somehow I found myself looking at that video again, who the hell would do something like this and save it up along with videos of the band that was to be public, Obviously someone who’s brain was as big as a peanut or smaller than ant. I don’t know what I should but I was definitely going to delete that video.

I click on the video image on the screen and click again, showing all of the options that I could do to this footage, I was just about to delete it, but I hear my name being called once and then again, I look up and click the option without looking to then immediately shut my computer down.

“(Y/n)?” I hear a voice call me again and enter the room. Speaking of the devil. “Yeah?” I say with a very fake smile “Oh hi, Calum” I say putting my computer aside. He smiles back to me “Hey, I thought I heard you here” he says walking into the room towards the mini bar “What are you up to?” I hesitate a little to answer “I’m just here” I shrug “hanging out” “Oh” he nods talking out a water bottle and opening it up  “Listen, I still have like an hour or two before I have to go on stage, I was wondering if you wanted to, you know, join me and go for coffee or something?” he says smiling and taking a sip of his water, he already looked ready to go for stage and he was now asking me out.

Isn’t he dating, Ella? “What?” I say for myself, but I snap out of my temporary trance before he thought I was crazy or something  “I mean, Yeah, I would love to” I smile at him, my blushed, that’s embarrassing. “Nice” he says with a very wide smile “should we go then?” he says pointing to the door. “Yeah, yeah, I Just- I need a second, I’m finishing something, I’ll be done in a minute” I say, almost sounding rushed and I was not lying, I still had to send Mark a couple of videos. “Okay”  he nods “I’ll wait for you outside then” “Okay” I nod back, to then wait for him to leave the room.

I wait to open my laptop until I hear the door shutting, I am very quick, I open my computer and go to my previous job, sending in what needed to be sent in, but I notice something weird, the moment I go to my twitter profile sitting right beside my mail is literally blowing up, not in a bad way, I guess, I have like a thousand followers, I was not popular. I scroll down and see what’s happening.

I hit send, not delete. Fuck.  I’m stupid. “Shit, shit, shit” I curse under my breath, my hands are shaking so bad that I barely knew what I was doing  “No, don’t do this to me” I say going to my profile and immediately deleting that video. about 20 people have already liked this. then realisation came “I’m gonna lose my job” “(Y/n)?” I hear calum call me out and I just close my laptop.

“Coming”  I call out and get up my sit, taking the phone with me and leaving my computer away “I’m ready, let’s go”

So, that was the day he first asked me out, along with the day I almost ruin his career. This is fucked up.

“You posted my nudes?” He said in a not very happy tone. I don’t blame him if it was me I would be mad too. “It was you?” I hear Luke ask in surprise. “I’m so sorry, okay?” I panic, getting up my seat “I didn’t mean to do that before I could delete it some people already had the video” I explain, but I could tell this was not getting any better “it was an accident” “People kept making fun of me for months” Calum says getting up his seat too and almost trying to control himself from yelling “The management team went hammed on me because of it, you know that, I was so dead nervous thinking you would think badly of me for that shit” He groaning “And I didn’t” I exclaim, almost like if that was the good side of the story “listen, Calum I’m so sorry” “Why didn’t you tell me this?” He shakes his head, he’s disappointed at me. I shrugged and look down “Because of I kind of ignored it” I mumble “I didn’t want you to freak out” “Well, I am freaking out now!” he exclaims at me and I flinch, I wasn’t scared, just surprised that he suddenly raised his voice, I didn’t like when he did that “I am so sorry baby” I say looking up at him and trying to hug him but he walks back, getting away from my hold. “Well a ‘sorry’ doesn’t cut it, I can’t believe you did that” he says shaking his head even more “Fuck this, I’m sorry, I’m gonna go” He says and with that, he just turns around to leave. “Calum” I walk towards me but he almost marches straight to the door. “Don’t follow me”  he groans, to then walk out of his best friend’s house. I stand on my feet, not giving a single step towards him, he’s really mad at me and that was never good. So I decide to not push it for a little while and wait for him to cool down a least a little. I just hope he doesn’t break up with me over this. I really hope he didn’t. “Shit, (Y/n) I feel so bad, I’m sorry” Mitch’s says, clearly apologizing for doing that question in first place. “It’s okay” I say giving him a sad smile “I guess this had to be told someday, anyways” I shrug “I think I should go now” I say walking starting to walk out but before I could give a full step, Crystal, Michael’s girlfriend, grab my arm. “Do you want me to keep you company for a while?” She kindly offers. “No, thanks, Crys” I say with a shrug “I guess I’ll try to talk to him” I say and she nods at my answer “thanks for having us, Ashton” I wave my hand at me. “Anytime, good luck” he says with a kind smile. Good luck. That’s the best thing someone could tell me right now, cause I was fucking nervous.   Walking home isn’t really a long way and I can tell Calum literally ran home because I don’t run into him on my way back. I left just a minute before he did, I should have at least see him enter the house, which I didn’t, however, the lights were on, he was clearly in there. I unlock the door with my keys and close the door behind me, I don’t even have to take a guess of where he Is because he always goes to the same place when he’s upset. The music studio. I walk to the door of his studio upstairs. It’s quiet inside, so I guess he’s just digesting what just happened, makes sense. I know twice and I hear his groan at the other side of the door. “Open up” I say softly. “Go away” “Calum, really, open up” I say grabbing the door knocker but the door is completely locked “I’m sorry okay?  That happened years ago, let it go” I say as if that was going to make him be less mad at me. “How can I just let it go?” He exclaims and I flinch, he’s raising his voice again “You could have ruined my reputation” “I know,I’m sorry” I mumble and knock again “Just open up, talk to me” I beg but he ignores me. I ran out of words to say and I feel like I have no other way to Ale him happy again. But oh wait, there is one way, one really stupid and strange way of making him happy again. I can’t believe I’m doing this. I clear my voice for a second and prepare my voice for what I’m going to do. “(Y/n) says she’s sorry and she shouldn’t have done that”  I say I’m a very high and awkward voice I only did when I was joking around with him “it was a big mistake and she won’t ever ever do that again” I hear him groan and little and walk to the door, opening it up and looking awkwardly at me “What are you doing?”  He asks “She feels really bad for not telling you” I keep talking in that voice, I could see somehow it was making all of this a bit better. “Are you really imitating Tommy pickles to make me feel better?” He asks crossing his arms over his chest. “Well” I shrug, keeping my voice high pitched “a baby’s gotta do what a baby’s gotta do” He tries to keep his face still but I can see his smile starting to crack and breaking up into a full-on laugh, it felt like music to my ears, just beautiful. “Did I do it?” I say in my normal voice with a big smile on my face. “Oh my god” he says in between laughs, looking at me like I was the greatest thing that ever made him laugh “you’re so silly, I love you” he says and I (literally) freeze. “What?” I ask, my face can’t help but smile. That was the best thing he has ever said. In all of these years we’ve been dating he’s never told me such a thing, it had nothing to do with me, it was just him, he wanted to be sure that he would say those three words to the right person and believed that saying it marked a very important phase in the relationship. I respected that, and hearing him say it to me felt special. “Nothing” he says, starting to freak out “I said you’re silly and then I just stopped talking” My hands are covering my face and then my mouth, I point at his chest and make him give a step back, his eyes were wide in surprise, he was totally weird out by this “You said you love me, I can’t believe this” “No, I didn’t” he denies “Yes, you did” “No, I didn’t” “You love me!” I exclaim in emotion, while he keeps freaking out. “No, I don’t” he freaks out  “Stop it, Stop it, Stop it” he says running his hand through his hair and giving a step back. “You Stop it!” I laugh, my eyes were filling up with tears. “Oh my god, you love me” “Okay well, yeah! I do” he says in realizations to then look at me “Are you crying?” He says softly, walking to me. “I’m so happy” I cry, feeling him pull me into a hug “you finally said it” “I did” he said running my back softly “I’m sorry I freaked out” he apologizes “I’m sorry about the video” I said back, looking up at him. “It’s fine I guess” he shrugs  “it happened a long time ago” “But I’m truly sorry about it” I apologize once again, crying into his chest. “I know” he says softly to then caress my hair “stop crying” he chuckles, caressing my head really softly. “I can’t” I laugh a little, I really couldn’t stop crying  “Calum?” “Yeah” he mumbles in response. “I love you, too” I say and look up at him with my already red eyes. “I know” he says, kissing my forehead “I know” We stay quiet for a good while, embracing each other and feeling the warmth of the moment, it was definitely a weird night, but thankfully, it turned out better than what it could have been. All I needed to know here was that we now know how much we love each other, and that was more than enough. Well, that’s really all I need.

[goarticletec-blog]

We remember the Sega Dreamcast, 20 years on

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We remember the Sega Dreamcast, 20 years on

The Dreamcast itself was pretty compact, but that controller! What a chunker.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The Sega Dreamcast launched in Japan 20 years ago on Nov. 27, 1998. The system enjoyed a brief but memorable time in the limelight with some truly fantastic games and a few features that would inspire future consoles — it was the first console with built-in internet. 

But ultimately a lack of third-party support, a somewhat underpowered architecture and the fact that the rival PlayStation 2 could play DVDs as well as games would mean a premature demise. None of that will stop us from remembering it fondly — or wishing for a Dreamcast Classic.

Morgan Little

I was in fifth grade, visiting a DisneyQuest while doing the whole Disney World thing, seeing the last gasps of 1990s interactive arcades, and there it was. That Sonic Adventure demo with the whale chase — amazing to watch and awful to play.

I wouldn’t spend any quality time with the Dreamcast until at least a year later, but seeing that showcase was astounding for the time. At that point I still just had a Genesis, so even a brief glimpse of Sonic looking halfway-decent in 3D was a revelation. And no, Sonic 3D Blast doesn’t count.

Though I never bought one myself, a good friend did, and it became the go-to console for sleepovers and wasted Saturdays. The mix of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Power Stone, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 and that terrible Chao Garden feature from Sonic Adventure 2 was more than enough to keep us playing that Dreamcast until long after it had died and everyone else moved on. Plus, its giant controllers were still better than the awful DualShock 2 on the PlayStation 2. That’s just a fact.

Now playing: Watch this: Remembering the Sega Dreamcast at 20

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Scott Stein

I had every Sega system that was ever made. Yes, even the 32X. I was a Sega kid — the Master System with Superscope 3D glasses was my gift after getting appendicitis. While the Genesis was my favorite, the Dreamcast is a place of special memories. I was living in LA, working as a script reader and story editor, and playing amazing NFL 2K games to connect with my dormant feelings about the New York Jets. That NFL 2K game stunned me… it was the first TV-real sports game I’d ever seen. Crazy Taxi was my LA commuting therapy. I loved the weirdness of Chu Chu Rocket. And even more, I was obsessed with Seaman.

My first E3 I ever attended had the Dreamcast, and I saw the Leonard Nimoy-voiced fish-man in all its Lynchian horror. Seaman was so ahead of its time: It had a microphone I could speak to Seaman with. It was like if Alexa were a depressed cannibal fish. In my dusty little Sherman Oaks apartment, Seaman was my mystic surrealist aquarium. Along with the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, it was part of my cabinet of curiosities that made me dream of how strange art could be. Space Channel 5, the insanely real-feeling Shenmue, and yes, I owned Typing of the Dead. It was a great system of gaming oddities.

The Dreamcast was small and beautifully designed, had arcade-perfect games, and was my first real online gaming system. May it rest in peace in my mom’s basement.

Rez Infinite is a modernized version of the Dreamcast classic. Other than the graphics, not much else was changed. 

GameSpot

Dan Ackerman

The Dreamcast was the first console launch I ever covered as a novice “games journalist” at the long-forgotten (but pioneering!) games-and-culture website UGO.com. My colleagues and I all shelled out for launch day bundles, and Soul Calibur was everyone’s instant favorite.

We all ended up playing a lot of conference room Soul Calibur with UGO’s most famous employee, former child star Gary Coleman. Gary was a total fiend for Soul Calibur, and regularly held court in our Park Avenue office, taking on all challengers and dispensing endless foul-mouthed trash talk. He was actually pretty good, and probably had an 8 out of 10 win ratio.

Other early Dreamcast highlights for me included Power Stone, Shenmue, a Resident Evil knockoff called Blue Stinger (I bet I’m the only one giving that a shoutout), and bizarre fish simulator Seaman. When my now-wife used the Dreamcast microphone attachment to tell Seaman she was going to eat him, he replied, “Or maybe I’m going to eat you.” If that’s not next-gen, I don’t know what is.

I’ve come back to the Dreamcast a few times since its 2001 discontinuation, talking about it on my old talking head video game web series Play Value (circa 2006), and taking a deeper dive for the Dreamcast’s 10th anniversary, which I wrote about here.

Would I buy a new “Dreamcast Classic” micro console? Definitely. Would I plug it in more than once or twice? Probably not.

Tim Stevens

My Dreamcast memories are a little different than most. Like Scott I was a Sega kid and, like Scott, I too owned (and still own) every Sega system. But my memories of the Dreamcast weren’t so much about gaming as they were about coding. Lots and lots and lots of coding.

I was in college studying computer science and writing when the Dreamcast dropped, and my dream was to combine those passions and get a gig in the videogame industry after graduation. It was time to pick a senior thesis, and so I blindly emailed some folks at Sega to see if there was any way I could get permission to write a simple game for their hot new console.

Amazingly, I got a response. As it turns out I would not be allowed to develop anything for the Dreamcast — the development hardware alone cost thousands of dollars and I was lucky if I could afford pizza on Friday night — but I was given access to the Visual Memory Unit developer kit. The VMU, you may remember, was the tiny, Game Boy-looking thing that slotted into the controller. It had a tiny, gray and black LCD, a four-way D-pad and a couple of buttons.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Games for the VMU were written in assembler, an arcane language I’d never been exposed to in my studies. If that weren’t daunting enough, the only documentation for the VMU kit was in Japanese, another language I didn’t speak. Despite all that I figured it out over the following few months, then toiled and toiled and toiled to write what would be the first — and to my knowledge only — multiplayer VMU game. You could, you see, connect two of the mini handhelds together at the top thanks to a cunning, reversible connector. So, I wrote a Pong-like game played vertically, with the ball traveling from one screen to the next, back and forth.

Developing that game, plus another simple, Simon-like game, consumed my senior year at school. The resulting code, when printed out for my final thesis presentation, filled a binder as big as a phone book. Along the way I learned enough about the game development industry to realize it wasn’t for me, but that project, just me and my text editor toiling for months, is still the programming project I look back upon most fondly.

The recently remastered version of Shenmue. 

GameSpot

Jeff Bakalar

I was 17 when the Dreamcast launched and was working for a dotcom start-up run by three 21-year-olds. I remember the day it went on sale, one of the partners ordered it for same-day delivery from a service called UrbanFetch.

It arrived and we didn’t do any work for the rest of the day. It was just nonstop Ready 2 Rumble. I recall being instantly impressed with how crisp the visuals were. It was a level of fidelity I hadn’t ever seen before.

Everything seemed so fast, so advanced, so futuristic. The Dreamcast arrived in between the other console cycles, so it felt like we were getting a very early glimpse into what the rest of the competition would soon be offering.

I didn’t wind up owning my own Dreamcast until college, but I eventually fell in love with Sonic Adventure, problems and all. I played most of the Tomb Raider and Resident Evil games on the Dreamcast too.

The Dreamcast will always have a place in my heart for its ridiculous memory card adapters, its mostly awful controller and the insane speed at which its disc reader would spin and adjust, like some kind of dot-matrix printer that went off the rails.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Jason Parker

I never actually owned a Dreamcast, but for a period in my life, I could not get enough of one game: Fighting Vipers 2. It was while I was in college and one of my friends had a Dreamcast, so when we were not out at night or studying, we’d spend hours fighting match after match.

The funny thing is, it wasn’t called Fighting Vipers 2 as far as I knew back then. My friend had a bootlegged copy on a disc and everything written on the sleeve was in Japanese, as was all the on-screen text in the game. I even had to rely on him to start up games because I couldn’t navigate the menus. At the time, he explained the game wasn’t available in the States, but it didn’t officially come to Dreamcast until 2001 and never in the US.

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But once he started a match, it was button-mashing heaven. I remember being blown away at the crisp 3D graphics and cool-looking fighters at that time. But the best mechanic of all, and probably the biggest reason I loved the game, was that you could kick your opponent through the wall of the arena at the end of the match.

Maybe that sounds silly, but fighting games between friends can get tense. When you can send your buddy through the wall at the end of a long fight it’s an exclamation point like no other. We’d get dramatic about it too, yelling “Boooooooom!” as we’d blast the other guy about 50 yards outside of the cage.

So, no, I didn’t own a Dreamcast, because I was a poor college student, but I still have fond memories of stomping out my good friend in Fighting Vipers 2. “You’re going through the wall!”

Jet Set Radio on the PC, running at 2,560×1,440 pixels with largely the same assets as the original, still looks great. 

Screenshot by Eric Franklin/CNET

Sean Keane

The Dreamcast was the most incredible console I never owned. Games like Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Sonic Adventure and the mighty Shenmue, and features like online gaming and the VMU made me want one badly, but I just couldn’t afford it as a 12-year-old.

Code Veronica looked incredible at the time of its release — replacing static prerendered environments with fully 3D ones and bringing in some sweet sweeping shots to showcase them. The blur effect as resurrected (and newly superpowered) villain Albert Wesker darted around made my jaw drop (this was shortly after The Matrix had blown my mind at the cinema).

It got an expanded rerelease — Code Veronica X — on the PS2 in 2001, but the original version hasn’t come out on any other systems. So my Resident Evil completionist urges aren’t quite satisfied… but it’s fine. I’m fine.

Sonic Adventure seemed like an incredible expansion of Sega’s mascot into 3D, even if it’s agony to play today. That whale chase looked amazing at the time and it seemed the obvious step forward for Sonic after Mario’s glorious transition into 3D.

Shenmue was the big one though — a glorious life simulator with a rich open world that was unprecedented. Seeing Ryo Hazuki wandering around Yokosuka, Japan, as he tries to unravel the mystery of his father’s murder was fascinating, and something I only got to experience fully through the recent remaster.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Eric Franklin

I bought the original Japanese Dreamcast from NCSX back in November 1998 and got two games: Pen Pen Trilcelon and Virtua Fighter 3tb. While Pen Pen was and still is terrible, VF3 was anything but!

Why did I pay a premium to have this system imported? I was a Sega fanboy and the Dreamcast was where I could continue playing Sega games beyond the defunct Sega Saturn.

But as much as I loved playing the Dreamcast, looking back now, it’s clear to me what it really represented for me: A last chance at console success for Sega. I got a Sega Master System in 1987 and from then through the end of the Dreamcast’s life I was not only invested in playing Sega games, but also hugely invested — emotionally, to be sure — in Sega’s success as a console developer.

It’s probably strange for people to understand that, but here’s the way I saw it: The more successful Sega’s consoles were, the more great Sega games the company would make. I not only wanted to play those games, but to also have other people discover how great they were. To see in them what I saw in them: Games with great graphics and simple gameplay that belied a depth you had to uncover.

You could play Crazy Taxi like a normal person, sure. But if you didn’t use the Crazy Dash and the Crazy Stop, which allowed you to go from 0 to 60 in less than a second and instantly stop, then you weren’t playing it right.

That want and need for the Dreamcast to be successful was real. Even at the time I knew that if the Dreamcast didn’t sell a certain number of systems, Sega would likely leave the hardware business, which the company eventually did.

And the anticipation of each new big release was addicting for me. It was less about how much I would like Shenmue and more about whether it would push enough mainstream audience buttons to make people buy a Dreamcast over a PS2. It’s silly to think about now, but that was me.

I guess I just needed something to distract me from my real life at the time. For a few solid years, it was the Dreamcast.

Gifts for the gamer who has everything: Please that hard-to-shop-for PC gamer in your life.

CNET’s Holiday Gift Guide: The best tech gifts for 2018.

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