#but to me a 'fair' game is one that sort of caters to the player

[foxstens]

here’s a hot take: a game doesn’t need to be fair to be good

[fromthedragonsdesk]

On Visual Novels and Catharsis

I never had a high opinion of Visual Novels. In my mind, they always seemed to boil down to the most basic wish fulfillment tripe that we'd collectively assign to the isekai genre these days, I'd wager. To me it was a waste of time or energy trying to interact with them (as an aside, I'm well aware that the Phoenix Wright series is arguably a visual novel, but I missed that boat by not having DS-era device). Even today, with a glance over most of games tagged 'visual novel' on Steam, you'll see what could be generously described as fetish pornography. So, seeing all this, I reinforced my belief that visual novels were for people who wanted some plot with their porn, and never thought much of it.

To my surprise, Steam insisted on recommending visual novels to me. I usually just tossed them aside from the recommendation queue, until I got two recommended almost back-to-back: Mice Tea and Changeling Tale.

Mice Tea had generally positive reviews, and many of them cited that the game's writing and characterization were generally humorous and appealing. So, given that it was on sale during the Steam Winter Sale, I figured it was worth a shot. Then, after basically binging on the game for 20 hours, I walked away thinking that I might have misjudged the genre on some levels.

I wouldn't say I was entirely surprised by Mice Tea - the reviews did it justice in terms of you, as the reader, wanting to root for the main cast to succeed. Most of the conflict didn't necessarily arise from an outside force, but rather internalized conflicts and the struggle to essentially be honest with yourself and those around you, risking vulnerability, essentially. At its core, I still felt like it was wish fulfillment to a significant degree, but the implausibilities were generally smoothed over enough to allow for suspension of disbelief to ride along with the story. And yeah, there... was a fair amount of catering to various fetishes and such worked in, but all in a fairly world-consistent sort-of perspective? At its core, the story was light, cheerful with moments of self-reflection and introspection, and wrapped up in a generally nice bow all in the end.

But what Mice Tea ended up doing for me, personally, was allowing me to lower my defenses during a particularly stressful point in my life, staying present in my mind when I then read over the reviews and such for Changeling Tale. I brushed off the emotion reviews, thinking that they were likely being dramatic.

I could not have been more wrong.

While set in a backdrop of old Scottish fantasy, I continually found myself impressed at how grounded Changeling Tale managed to make itself felt. I believe this is because the main character / player character of Changeling Tale (hereafter referred to as "Malcolm") is primarily reacting to the supernatural events occurring around him, rather than necessarily driving them by his own volition. Malcolm is thrust into a world that he already feels disconnected from due to his service in the military, and it cracks further open as fae magic begins seeping into the world around him.

That said, no one in the backwater town in which Malcolm has returned to handles the public appearance of fae magic particularly well, much less the three parallel storylines available to the reader between Jessie, Marion, and Grace. If anything, the most unreasonable reactions come from the player themselves, in how flippant or otherwise easygoing they handle changes happening to the people around them. That said, many decisions have a snowballing / weighted effect that can change plot directions far later on than one might expect, leading to fallings-out with friends and family, or worse.

But then something strange happened to me, as a reader, while working my way through these split storylines. Core messages seemed to stick out to me, interwoven among the stories. But they cut me straight to the core as a person; after finishing all 3 major storylines I was left shaking and bleary-eyed, wishing events could have turned out differently, desperately trying to reject the messages that had been suggested despite knowing deep-down that they were right.

"Be the best you that you can be."

"Encourage people to chase their dreams, but make sure you're pursuing your dream too."

"Sometimes peoples' dreams are irreconcilable with one another. That doesn't mean the love is gone, it just means that it isn't fair to either person."

"The size of the dream does not diminish its value; the holder of the dream determines its value."

(I intentionally omitted the storyline associations I would make)

When I held all of these thoughts together, an emotional dam burst in my heart. For years I never considered myself as having dreams or goals. For years I felt kind of confused and wondering if what I was doing mattered, or had worth. But somehow, a visual novel about fae shenanigans that dances alongside a transformation kink broadsides me with the realization that I AM where I want to be, doing what I am doing. I have a family who l love and loves me back. I am not pursuing a dream; rather, I am cultivating and maintaining a dream I have already attained. I am doing what is important to me and my family, and even if I'm not changing the world around me and leaving a name in the history books, I know that I am here and directly affecting the lives of those around me, and I'm not sure what more I could want for at this very moment.

And for the first time in quite a while, I feel content and satisfied.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

I’m sorry to bother but, with questionable you mean problematic or just not good story wise ?

And if you can answer this, What is your opinion of Tails characterization from what you have seen ?

Thank you !

Hello-Hello, darlin’!

You’re not bothering me at all, I promise. I appreciate the questions and curiosity! Please know that I was not ignoring you. I wanted to make sure that my critiques were both diplomatic and fair. I’ve spent most of the day reviewing what I wrote and eliminating most of my biases to provide a fair answer. That, and I wanted to remove major spoilers. I am trying to accommodate to those who do follow me, but don’t have a Tumblr account with the ability to mute hashtags. I do hope that my feedback is suitable.

To be honest, the game wasn’t what I was expecting. The game drifted into a direction that I thought would happen and it... was executed in a manner that I wasn’t expecting. My main concern was storytelling. There absolutely was a few concepts that would’ve been jaw-dropping and awesome, but the chance to dive into the opportunity was missed. Does this make sense? The game itself is fantastic!

Down below are my points that I’d like to address about the game:

Concerns:

There is both over explanation and a lack of explanation for the game’s story. Sometimes the characters over explain topics that did not need to be discussed upon. (i.e., it could appear in a cutscene and then again through side quests and NPC interactions). The topics that did need further elaboration on were not discussed heavily upon.

The original concept that sold me on the game only appears for four, maybe six minutes tops. Fanart was right to a certain extent, but it only makes a small appearance. It’s never mentioned after the fourth island, nor caters to the story after that. It was briefly mentioned by the third island, but this was a topic that should have been addressed more in order to understand the reality of the situation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an upsetting scene. I just wish that there was more to it. I think this moment would have had a much deeper meaning if Tails, AmyRose, and Knuckles were playable.

The three main islands were definitely the apple of Sonic Team’s eye. These were the most enjoyable. The last two island are one to be questioned, but do serve some purpose.

**Sonic Analysts and Sonic Historians are going to have a field day with piece together the lore and roles that the emeralds were used for.**

Some phrases and words choices that characters exchanged between one another were some things that I felt weren’t native to the character. It’s not necessarily out-of-character, it was more of me being in awe of it being a possibility. (I do apologize for being sour on this part. This is just my nitpicking. I really think that most people would like this new direction though).

The rising action of the story was interesting and did a great job with conveying a mysterious tone, but the climax and falling action left me feeling discouraged. The climax, falling action, and ending appeared to have an idea of what it could potentially do, but loose ends didn’t tie up all the way.

We do not learn what the true meaning of the symbol is in the game, it only implies what it could be with heavy speculation.

In order to understand most of the story, the player must play on “HARD” mode to unlock the most content. The “Normal/Easy” modes do not supply all of the details needed. I found this out through watch several Let’s Plays.

Cut-scenes are in place that I wish were playable parts instead.

The ending of this game felt like it was a concept that couldn’t tie every single string together. To me, the ending felt a bit underwhelming.

The game was purposely set up for a part two or a sort of continuation to the story. With the feedback that I’m seeing on many social media sites, I do not believe that this will happen.

I feel that this game, in a sense, is a soft-reboot. Much like what’s happened with the franchise’s existence in ten year increments, Sonic has had a small “reboot” to introduce a new generation of audience members to the material. My concern here is that rather than try and provide an introduction, the game uses its many years of lore to appeal to the older audience more with the assumption that newer audience members will understand Sonic history in their free time before playing Sonic Frontiers.

Alright, I’m done sharing my concerns (let’s be realistic, it’s ranting. I do apologize for being sour about this). and being a Negative-Nancy. I’m ready to pour my positive vibes into the mix and advertise the game!

Praise:

The music was FANTASTIC! Like many Sonic games in the past, the OST for the game has so much love and emotion if it! I do hope that the game wins an award for the music.

There is always something to do in the game. I know that many were not in favor of the open-field concept and that the world looked empty. I promise you that it’s full of things to do! The player has to engage with most--if not all--of the material in order to progress further into the game. As long as you do cyloops around signs and attack enemies, you’ll always have activities and side missions to do.

“The realistic environment does not work for Sonic.” I disagree! This works 100%! It’s part of the aesthetic of the game and a bit of storytelling. The realistic environments reminded me very much of Sonic Unleased.

The open world concept works. Please trust me on this. I would love to see more of this in future Sonic games!

“ThE gAmE wAs/LoOks RuShEd, ThE dEvS aRe LAZY!” Nerp! Not at all! You can definitely see the heart and soul in how the game was designed. It’s a beautiful game with many, many features. Developing a game and making it run is an art form. It’s shameful that one would be so bold to admit that gaming developers are lazy when it’s coming from someone that doesn’t have experience in the field. The game definitely wasn’t rushed, the problem was it’s storytelling.

“PoP-iNs! PoP-iNs, EvErYwHeRe!” Darlin’, this game is massive. Of course it will have pop-ins. From what I’ve seen so far, pop-ins do not affect game play.

“SaNiK sOuNdS OlD!” Yes, this is quite a change. However, Sonic is meant to sound older. I’ve shared in the past that it was a shock to me to hear him with a deeper voice. After watching the Let’s Plays, I promise that it works with the tone and direction of the game. It works.

It’s got an AWESOME balance of Sonic-esque styled art and anime styled art. It’s very evident in fighting styles and techniques.

Interactions with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles is very meaningful. Interaction with Sonic and Tails was very brotherly and very sweet! Sonic and Tails’ interaction focused on courage, bravery, and the meaning of being a hero. Sonic and Amy’s interaction was charming, but there is talk about life, love, and ending. I feel that this one was the most realistic and genuine conversation that I’ve seen these two have in a long time. Sonic and Knuckles’ interactions discussed the topics of adventure, overcoming boundaries, and life’s purpose. (I think my favorite interaction was between Sonic and Knuckles the most)!

The lesson and messages that Sonic learns from his engagement with his friends are very heartwarming and quite inspiring. It’s a great reminder in the sense of how and why they are both family and friends. Sonic is inspiring.

Kocos. Love them. Would absolutely do anything for them. I’m claiming them all as my children. 😈

**Sonic Analysts and Sonic Historians are going to have a field day with piece together the lore and roles that the emeralds were used for.**

Big. Love that guy! Big’s in it, 100/10.

I think that a great many of you will enjoy the nods to older games, specifically Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic Adventure 1.

Dr. Eggman and SAGE’s interaction with each other is charming. It took me back a bit, but reviewing the material again makes me happy. These two interacting actually helps deepen Eggman’s history/lore of the game’s canon. (Meaning that it’s might introduce and make connections to past Sonic games. Sonic Rush/Rivals fans, can I get a “Hell Yeah?”)

The mystery-like tone does a great job with conveying that it’s a mystery upon a mystery. Does that make sense?

The sense of adventure and excitement of exploration are absolutely there! The game does a great job at that.

The marketing for this game knew how to market this game. I’m so glad to see how many fans (old and new) are excited to buy this game!

Sticks the Badger and Tangle the Lemur are now canon in the main!verse (name mention only).

Sonic is, most definitely, a hero. No, I will not elaborate further. You need to play the game in order to understand what I mean.

I am very open for a part two/continuation of the game. In fact, I hope that this happens so I can engage more with the material.

Conclusion:

Before I end my rant, I’d like to leave off on one important note. This is all my opinion. It’s all just an opinion, not fact. I do not care what you do with my opinion. My opinion could be referenced, it could be tossed out of the window, it could even be set on fire. My opinion is just an opinion, I’m thankful that it’s not fact.

As you’ve noticed, I’ve spent a good chunk of this post apologizing for being an older fan. And I am. I’m sorry for being an older fan. I am an older fan that’s used to traditional characteristics in a Sonic game. I don’t believe that there’s anything wrong with a preference in mind, but it does cap a bit on open-mindedness. I’m used to playing Sonic games where the build up in story kept me on the edge and eager to see how everything ended. I mention this extra tidbit because of the need to go back to “roots.” In all of my years of being a part of this fandom, I’ve noticed that there is a call to go back to what worked originally. Meaning that we want the older gaming style seen in its Golden Years. (I leave the interpretation of what defines the Golden Years up to you, dear reader. Not everyone has the same time stamp). The point of Sonic is that we move forward. We never look back, we have no regrets. Sonic is meant to live an adventure and move onto the next. As much as I love the thrills and excitement in what I felt when I was younger and playing Sonic games, it’s time to move onward to newer adventures. The change is scary. It’s absolutely scary, but I promise you that the exploration into newer styles and game play with Sonic will only make me and you love the character even more in the future!

I will never say something horrible about writing or an individual’s ability to write. I come from a profession in the STEM field where I’m required to write creatively, analytically, and technically. I have to be able to write in may styles in order to convey my point. This does not make me an expert in writing creatively for entertainment purposes, this just means that I can recognize when someone needs a few pointers. I genuinely believe that this story could have been fantastic if worked a bit more.

Should you still buy the game?

✨❤️Abso—fucking—lutely!❤️✨

Experience it through your eyes and gameplay. Have fun with it! Go nuts! The whole point of a Sonic game is that you go on an adventure and bond with a spiky blue pineapple. If this is your very first Sonic game, then I encourage you to go in with an open mind. I want you to grow and love Sonic the same way as I did when I first played years ago. I really hope that you have fun. It’ll be worth the wait.

[call-me-aesthetic]

If Twisted Wonderland was an American Public School

WARNING: There are some slight sensitive topics that are featured in here! Reader discretion is advised!

Part 2 can be found here

Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts:

- That one preppy girl who takes all honors and AP classes 😑

- Wants everyone to know that he’s becoming a doctor one day for his strict parents or he’ll dishonor the family

- Reminds the teacher about homework, knowing well that he’ll get slander for it

- Complains about how he got a 90 on his test or a B on his report card, a try hard much?

- Wears a cardigan with thicc but cute glasses since he’s one of those people with can’t see shit on the board so he has to move to the front of the class

Ace Trappola:

- The SoundCloud rapper, that’s it

- “Wanna listen to my mixtape? It’s pretty fire, my guy.” 😩🔥

- You will not miss him BLASTING out some song on his Bluetooth speaker, that shit be echoing through the hallways

- Tells you to stop what you’re doing only for him to either sing horribly or do a backflip, thinking that he’s so cool

- Wears a Supreme jacket with AirPods and waves on his head

Deuce Spade:

- Assuming that he’s still a delinquent, he’s that kid with the most fucked up school record

- Not much of a bully but will still talk shit to your face without caring, might even throw stuff at you during a lesson and you would be the one getting in trouble instead of him 🗿

- If he ever gets mad, it would be overdramatic like kicking the desks, punching the lockers, or walking out of the classroom unannounced and everyone would look at each other wondering wtf happened

- Covers the entire desks with drawings of skulls and those “s” if you know what I mean

- Wears Champion hoodies, wants you to know that he’s broke and rich at the same time

Trey Clover:

- The guy that’s not really popular but everyone knows him since he’s in all their classes

- Most people might have a crush on him because he’s REALLY nice 😳👉👈

- Gives off “older brother” vibes based on the way he looks and acts, like offering you a ride home if you beg ask nicely

- Secretly bakes creme brulee but doesn’t want to mess with the flow so he sticks to the status quo

- Wears the school’s hoodie just because he thinks it looks good on him, and the fact that he doesn’t know what else to wear

Cater Diamond:

- Hot Cheetos girl 🥵

- Has a whole buffet of food in his backpack and will not hesitate to eat them during a lesson, no sharing either sorry

- Excuses himself to the bathroom or full on skips class just to film a Tiktok

- Has about 100 followers on Instagram Magicam and brags about how he’s famous

- Wears a Thrasher hoodie with large hoop earrings and his hair in a bun

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar:

- The kid who flunked their freshman year that also sort of vibes with new classmates

- Always gets mistaken as a teacher by people since he looks and sounds old

- Knows the lessons but still fails them anyways, didn’t really give a damn either 🙄

- Captain of every sports club you can think of, never actually plays but has a lot of knowledge on them

- Wears the school’s letterman from years ago since it used to be his brother’s and that he’s too lazy to buy a new one

Ruggie Bucchi:

- That one kid who NEVER has money for the book fair or any other school event

- Always has to ask his classmates for some cash

- If he somehow does, then he’s one of those kids who buys Diary of the Wimpy Kid or the World Record books

- If he’s feeling cheap, he’ll buy the “cool stuff” like the chocolate scented calculator or fruit snacks 😭

- Wears oversized hoodies and basketball shorts that are clearly hand-me-downs

Jack Howl:

- That one athletic kid who’s both scary good and competitive when it comes to school games like football or soccer

- Literally the best player on his team and without him, they’re trash as hell 💀

- Tries his absolute best to support his teammates without yelling at them for how dumb they are

- “KICK THE FUCKING BALL! DO YOUR LEGS EVEN WORK?!”

- Wears the school’s jersey just to show off his “school spirit”

Octavinelle

Azul Ashengrotto:

- The kid who sell snacks for “charity” but everyone knows he’s keeping the money to himself

- If you don’t have cash or try to negotiate with him, the only thing he’ll do is raise the price up

- “What do you mean you don’t have ten bucks? I can see it in your pocket.”

- Just bring nothing with you, he’ll doing anything to steal your stuff 🤭

- Wears a collar shirt with a tie and khakis that have pockets to keep his glasses and money in

Jade Leech:

- The kid who puts on a goody two shoes facade but is actually a stoner

- Only does “safe” drugs like vape but occasionally smokes weed, mostly in the bathroom or behind the school 🌬

- Can play it off and hide the scent when he’s high, teachers never suspect anything from him

- No one really cares to stop him unless he gets caught or something idk

- Wears clothing that either makes him look like a businessman or a junky, there’s nothing in between

Floyd Leech:

- The kid that’s plays basketball or volleyball just because he’s hella tall, and is actually good at the sports but doesn’t put much effort into them

- Always stays behind after gym, even though the teacher tries to make him leave for his next class 😬

- “I swear after this one shot, I’ll go to class.” *He never made that shot*

- Will jump you no matter who or where you are, and will get angry if you step on his new shoes

- Wears the jersey of any famous team with the latest pair of Jordan sneakers

Scarabia

Kalim Al Asim:

- VSCO girl at best, don’t lie to me now 🤡

- The only words he knows are “And I oop– sksksk.” and “Save the turtles.”

- Walks during a track meet while everyone else is running and sweating hard, the teacher doesn’t care either

- Doesn’t really do anything in gym but talks to his classmates and stands near the water fountain to refill his Hydro flask

- Wears tie dye shirts with cute scrunchies

Jamil Viper:

- That one quiet kid who everybody thinks is a serial killer but he’s actually not, I swear

- He just wants school to be over and spend the rest of his summer relaxing 😔

- Although he shouldn’t abuse his “power,” he‘ll move his hands in his pockets or backpack to make it look like he’s about to pull a weapon out.

- “Chill, I’m just grabbing a pencil.” *Everyone in the class started crying*

- Wears dark colored hoodies that intimidates people but are actually comfy

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit:

- The baddie popular girl 😌💅✨

- Arrives to school late with a Starbucks in hand from his local Target

- Fixes himself every 5 seconds like reapplying his lipgloss or spraying Bath and Body Works cherry blossom perfume

- Uses acrylic nails and long hair extensions as weapons during a cat fight

- Wears a crop top with ripped jeans and those clout sunglasses

Rook Hunt:

- That creepy guy in the hallways who tries to get your attention, even if you don’t know him

- Scares people when he says, “Ayo, where my hug at?” 🥶💯

- Uses at least 10 cans of Axe body spray a week after gym class, which stinks up the locker rooms

- Waves at you if he passes your class, even walking into the room just to say hi

- Wears literally anything but always include a hat

Epel Felmier:

- The artist girl who just wants to be alone 🧑‍🎨

- Purposely draws in front of you but pretends like you’re not looking

- If you complement him, he’ll just brush it off and proceeds to diss himself

- “Thanks but I’m not THAT good at drawing, teehee.” *Insert Radio Rebel face*

- Wears a hoodie or a cardigan with big pockets to put his art supplies in

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud:

- I don’t even need to tell you who he is, y’all already know ahaha 🥴

- Sneaks a whole PlayStation in his backpack so he can play with it during lunch

- Is on his phone 24/7 even in class to the point where teachers don’t care anymore

- Tries to get people into anime but only to little success

- Wears a shirt of any anime character or that damn ahegao hoodie, girl bye

Ortho Shroud:

- The nerdy kid who’s known for destroying others at many games

- Plays classics like D&D, Yugioh, Pokémon, the whole shabang

- Daily Beyblade battles during recess with everyone surrounding him, the menacing aura radiates off of him

- Will steal your things if you lose to him but gives it back a week later cuz he’s sweet 🥰

- Wears light up Sketchers shoes and those Minecraft shirts you find at Old Navy

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia:

- The theatre kid who also goes to band practice, change my mind 👁����👁

- Takes his role seriously when it comes to school plays and concerts, even if he gets casted as a damn tree or doesn’t go solo

- Remembers the songs and their lyrics to any musical you name, a really good singer at that too

- Plays almost every instrument, you definitely know this since you can hear him down the hallways during a test

- Wears a white button up shirt, black pants with fancy dress shoes, and top it all off with a fricking Rolex watch

Lilia Vanrouge:

- The weird guy who pranks people and vandalizes school property in every way possible

- If you ever get a textbook with a message that tells you to go to a certain page only for you to found a picture of a dick, yeah that was him 😒

- When using a Chromebook, he’ll leave a tab open on YouTube so when the next person uses it, pray that your ears will still work by tomorrow

- During lunch, he is a literal DEMON that mixes milk with chicken nuggets together and having the audacity to eat it too

- Wears an oversized raincoat or a windbreaker but idk wtf kind of things he has hiding underneath

Silver:

- That guy in class who consumes Monster energy drinks and falls asleep 99% of the time but somehow manages to pass the class 🤷

- Whenever he’s awake, he’ll talk to the teachers since he’s basically friends with them for some reason

- Writes his name out of boredom on any desk you sit on but in different places, sometimes around the corners or the sides

- Has a sixth sense because he’ll wake up if you try to draw on his face and if you did get something on him, it’s on sight

- Wears those colorful hoodies that zips all the way up to cover his face with a matching backpack, it’s pretty cool ngl

Sebek Zigvolt:

- That kid who literally knows everything about historical wars and will show it off during class

- Also has knowledge on weaponry, which has people questioning him but he’s just very dedicated on serving his country and people

- Knows how to fight and defend himself from a bitch since he spent his summer at a military boot camp, put respect on my man’s name 😤

- Honestly a great partner for a group project, actually does the given work but not the whole thing for you

- Wears anything that has camo pattern and chunky combat boots

I only made this because me and my friends were talking about our school memories so yeah. This is based from my experience so they might not be exactly accurate. Might even be a part two if you want.

[belliesandburps]

Here's a weird ask: how does the cast off MHA and TW react to being in first place in Mario Kart only to get blasted with a blue shell?

I see @twistedtummies2 and I share some anons. :P

Twisted Wonderland

Ace: That dumbass would have the worst luck imaginable. He'd get nailed by the blue shell right when he's doing one of those loops, so he'd go crashing down and have to get scooped up by that passive aggressive cloud-flying dickhead whose name I never knew or cared to know. He'd lose a few places in the race, and before he can eve get started, someone would use the lightning to shrink everybody...aaaaand someone else would blast him off the cliff again because they had the Bullet Bill. By the time he can race again, he's in dead last and also a full lap behind. "...Wha...how...WHEN...?!?! O___o; " would be the only his only befuddled response.

Deuce: He'd snap and get mad at what a cheap shot that was, and how he was so close to victory. Then, he'd apologize, go back to playing and acting like he's not super annoyed that he got screwed so badly.

Cater: He's far too busy taking selfies of him and his pals playing video games to actually...PLAY video games.

Trey: He will be in shock for a moment, but when the person who blasted him smugs at him, he'll retaliate by refusing to bake them any pastries for a week. They won the battle. But Trey just won the war...aaaaand broke their spirit.

Che'Nya: Heeee's too busy driving backwards and smiling to himself to ever get blasted by the blue shell. He tilts his head with confusion at the cloud turtle for constantly telling him to go the other way and mutters, "But I like this way! :3 " and keep on playing incorrectly.

Riddle: That controller is going through the TV.

Leona: He'd say his famous catchphrase. "Tch, pain in my ass..." then he'd lazily toss the controller, get up and leave. I imagine Leona isn't actually THAT fond of video games despite being young. I think he only really likes strategic video games that make him feel smart. And anything that has complete random chance to negate skill like that goddamn blue shell just turns him off.

Ruggie: He'd whine and pout. "Awww, whaaaaaaat?! D8> No fair!!" Then he'd sulk for a while, grumble in annoyance, and keep playing, trying veeeeery hard to inch his way back to the top.

Jack: He'd show a flicker of anger, would pretend that it's just some stupid game, then turn away, grumbling about what a crappy, cheap trick that was and that no real wolf would ever need to use...in fact, I'm pretty sure Jack's the type who never uses items because he doesn't think he needs them.

Azul: He will forget all about winning and focus the entire duration of the game to ensuring whoever got him with the blue shell is dead last. He will not rest until he crushes their dreams...

Jade: He'd just nod passively, resume playing like it's no big deal, then he'd wait to hear the smug "Haaaaa!" from the culprit he's playing with, and make a note to exact revenge slowly and embarrassingly once the game is finished.

Floyd: He will immediately turn to whoever blasted him, have pinprick-sized pupils, aaaaaand the other player will immediately restart the race, and Floyd will beam happily at being able to play more and giggle about how his opponent is really bad this time.

Kalim: He's never been hit by the blue shell. He's too busy getting hit by green shells. And red shells. His OWN red shells...which...isn't supposed to be possible...but he found a way...

Jamil: He'd use his magic to immediately force whoever blasted him to keep driving off a cliff again and again and occasionally act as a roadblock for other racers. Why get mad when you can get "cheat-y?" :P

Vil: He'd just huff dismissively and say that this is why he doesn't stream video games like other online personalities. Too uncouth and mindless like that blue shell and whoever lobbed it.

Rook: He'd be too busy focusing on wiping out other players to actually race. He's the sort who would literally drive backwards just so he can kamikaze with all his green shells at any incoming player he decided is his prey.

Epel: He'll sneer angrily, catch himself, and say it's just a stupid game, and keep playing like it's no big deal...then occasionally glare daggers at whoever blasted him when they weren't looking, and contemplate stealing some of Vil's poisons for later use.

Idia: Idia's such a ""pro gamer"" that he knows the shortcuts in every single track. You can hit him with TWO blue shells, he'll still be ahead by half a lap and have time to spare. He'll just grin that rare cocky fang-filled grin and say, "Ohhhhh nooooo, blue shells, I hope I don't lose my entire lap lead... >:D " Then he'll giggle maniacally...aaaaaand immediately whimper at realizing he just giggled in public, then largely keep to himself for the rest of the race.

Ortho: He'll pout and angrily whine that blue shells are cheap...until he realizes how much better the items are when you're in last place...then stay in last place when he realizes how fun the golden mushrooms and lightning bolts are.

Malleus: ...He's never been first place in any video game he's ever played. He's not very good at any video games, but the fact that he's been invited to play at all already has him in a good mood. Also, whenever he plays in a castle level, he's too busy trying to admire the decor to actually race.

Lilia: He's never been hit by the blue shell because he's never allowed himself to be that far ahead. He intentionally eases up whenever he has a major lead so it's neck-n-neck between himself and second place. And once a blue shell has been launched, he'll slam the brakes so second place takes the lead...aaaaaand promptly takes the shell, so he can carry on freely to victory. :P

Sebek: He'll never play unless Malleus is playing, at which point, his only priority is supporting his young master, who is...not gonna be in first place. Instead, he'll stay by Malleus' side the whole time, and be horrified when he accidentally blasts Malleus off the road when he gets green shells and stays too close to his master.

Silver: He fell asleep two laps ago.

My Hero Academia

Midoriya: He'll grit his teeth and just try harder to claw his way back to victory. Can't keep a cinnamon bun down after all.

Bakugou: One angry shout later, and the entire room will explode...

Todoroki: He'll blink with surprise, look around in deadpanned confusion and simply ask, "...Did I win? : | "/

Kirishima: He'll whine and frown, muttering, "Awwwww, blue shell?! That's not manly at all... >:( " Then huff but nonetheless keep on playing through. Also, he'll be screwed if he ever gets the blue shell because he actively refuses to ever use it because he doesn't think it's fair.

Iida: Blue shell him once and he's effectively lost the game. He will immediately jump to his feet, stomp over to whoever blasted him, chops his hands in the air like a robot and proceed to go on a massive tirade about how true heroes should never rely on such unfair trickery...until someone points out that anything goes in Mario Kart, and if it you were a skilled enough player, you could overcome such an unfair disadvantage. At which point, Iida will freeze, hunch over and mull over to himself for a solid ten minutes about what an excellent tool the blue shell is to actively push players to be better, to overcome the odds. Then he'll immediately bow repeatedly and apologize for blowing up, praising the blue shell as the ultimate teaching moment in a video game...not realizing no one is even playing anymore...

Uraraka: She'd go wide-eyed, turn to whoever blasted her, pout and shout, "You did that on purpose, you traitor...! >:{ " Then, she'd try and latch a ride onto the cloud turtle to see if her character has zero gravity powers as well. :P

Momo: She'd never get hit with the blue shell because she's learning how to drive, and is trying to be responsible behind the wheel...meaning she's driving veeeeery slow and avoiding all the collisions everyone else is facing. So even if she's dead last, she'll say, "Well, I may be last, but I'm also unscathed. So I do believe that makes me the REAL winner in this silly game."

Kaminari: "Awwwwww, wwwwwhaaaaaaaaaat....?! <8'{ " He'd just turn to whoever blasted him with this adorably pathetic look of absolute betrayal on his face.

Mina: She'll complain about what a cheap shot that was, then get over it in a second, grinning as she tries to get payback with red shells and banana peels.

Tsu: She'd stare blankly, ribbit, and resume playing, expression unchanged while she deadpan says, "...You suck. : | " while continuing onward.

Tokoyami: He'd mumble that this never would've happened if any of the players knew how to fly, then remark that whoever blasted him must have been pretty desperate if they couldn't best him otherwise.

Ayoma: Heeeee's far too busy admiring himself in the slightest reflection he can see on the screen to actually play the game...

Mirio: "Awwwwwww, looks like I lost, guys! :D " Would literally be his response and his expression...without realizing the game isn't even over yet.

Tamaki: He'd sigh a breath of relief, saying it's so much better not having to be first because now, that's a load of pressure off of his mind...then complain that he's hungry and ask if he can go home yet. :P

Mineta: ...He was too busy perving out over Daisy to actually play, and then Tsu wrapped him up in her tongue and flung him out a window.

[slade-neko]

A Mini-Review: Mario Golf Super Rush!

Got Mario Golf Super Rush a while back being my first Mario Sports game since the Gamecube era...I remember having a lot of fun with mario sports games in the past, most prominently Mario Power Tennis on Gamecube. Gotta say if this game represents how the newer Mario sports games are, well I'm not a fan to say the least.

Here's the part where I gripe about it. Look the gameplay itself is great, very solid and smooth experience playing it, but its the game itself that is incredibly lacking. I'm coming from the Gamecube era with Mario Power Tennis being my absolute favorite sports game that I sunk many hours into as a kid. There were several goals, secret unlockable characters, and all sorts of cool stuff to do in that game. Mario Golf Super Rush however feels incredibly bare in comparison with hardly any content, at least there is nothing I personally care to do in this game.

Story Mode

The story mode is a joke, it's honestly one big "How-to-play" mode that feels like its setting you up for the rest of the game... which is online ranked battles (more on that later.) Not to mention you are forced to play as your Mii. I don't mind Miis normally, but I want to play as MARIO characters in this MARIO sports game, dang, it ain't Wii Sports Golf here. My brother and I are both really proud of our Miis, but in this game they make the goofiest, dumbest, noises and are a complete joke... Y'know could be the fact the game is designed for children and I'm a grown-butt adult trying to enjoy a Mario game centered for babies. Look I love the characters in the game, they're great and I would've liked it if I could've played the Story Mode as Rosalina or anyone really. In the end though I guess it doesn't matter because the story mode doesn't get you anything.

Unlockables

The game has no real unlockables. There's no tournament mode to play or really any real goals to aim for. All this could be circumstantial to me personally, but I like to play a Mario sports game, enter tournaments, cups, whatever and win 1st place to unlock harder courses, and unlock new characters, etc. All the old Mario sports games I played during Gamecube/ N64 times followed that formula while this game has none of that. To be fair the game does give you goals, but they're literally just random little medals that have absolutely no value. You can however unlock new golf clubs for each character, but you literally get them from just playing the game. You don't have to win anything or do anything specifically, its just rewarded for playing the character. I dunno, maybe if I had to BEAT a tournament or something to get new clubs could be more fun and rewarding.

Online/ Ranked

The only real unlockables in this game are admittedly interesting character costumes (like Mario in his standard overalls) however they are rewarded for playing RANKED online matches and they change out each month. Meaning you HAVE to pay for Switch Online, HAVE to play with random people, and you HAVE to play within the limited time frame... Honestly that's not my cup of tea. My brother and I personally have ZERO interest in playing any games online with random people. I know, right? Hard to believe there are some people out there that just want to play the game against the computer bots in SINGLE-PLAYER offline modes. To me it feels like Nintendo's being cheap-butts pawning off the goals of the game to just "beat your fellow humans online!" Yeah, that's a great goal. Just take away the single-player unlockables and let people do matches online with each other for all eternity. Look, I know some people enjoy that and if you do, hey that's fine, you do you. But Nintendo shouldn't abandon everything the game could offer in favor of multiplayer matches.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Look, the game's not a bad game. I'm not bashing it because it doesn't cater to me. Like I said in the beginning, its very polished and the gameplay is incredibly fun. I'm only bothered by the lack of unlocks that I've come to expect from playing the old Gamecube games, which to me that removes a lot of the fun of playing the game and unlocking new content. I think that's just more of an issue with modern games of the new online era in general. Offline single-player modes feel barebones with heavy focus on online multiplayer. Everything's handed to you, which if you want to jump in and play, then that's great. With no goals, I can only play so many random matches before things get stale. I will say Speed Golf mode was incredibly fun and chaotic, probably my favorite thing in this game.

TL;DR Fun party golf game to play with friends, locally or online. Not much to do in terms of single-player aside from a few challenge modes, with no real rewards aside from bragging rights.

[lys-lilac]

Romance MD: Always on Call - Detailed Summary - Toshiki Kasumi

This section contains heavy spoilers! If you want to read and relish the story, go ahead! But if you haven’t and don’t want to, it’s okay. You can go to this link for the character analysis for now-  here

Go through the plot, laugh, cry in every episode and then come back to this section for reading my thoughts and inspiration it gave me! But, I am telling you, this is a wonderful story and you will not regret it... Alright, let’s get started.

Each chapter is carved out with such precision that it directly hits the heart. In one, I was laughing, in the next, crying, and yet in the other, appreciating the progress. It actually felt as if the player is MC itself and everything is happening in real. Honestly, this is amazing. 

There are many key-factors of the story which is different from the genre of otome games, and which fulfills many lost points in the general trend. This is what interested me the most. As I stated in the analysis post (linked in the upper description), the prologue itself satisfied the fact that there is something hidden which needs to be sorted out. 

Let’s discuss about our lives. Anyone’s behavior is based on the environment in which he/she is grown. If someone is bubbly, then that could be due to his/her cheerful environment or maybe, some situation which has nurtured him/her like this. The same goes for strict/cold ones. This piqued my interest. (Leave aside my craze for Medical science, haha...)

Now, which are the things which inspired me the most? Here are those points-

1. The knowledge the story gives- I have never gone through a story which goes through such detail in the field of surgery and medical science. I truly appreciate the amount of knowledge and the terms they provided in each chapter. Along with that, the value of relationships, family, friends is greatly shown in the work, which is so important for character development.

2. Hardwork and diligence- Can I just take one second to praise the amount of hours the surgeons are working? I am impressed to such an extent that it is beyond words to express. And this cardiovascular genius. He doesn’t even sleep...?! There are several instances for this in the story. 

  First, they hold study sessions all night and go back to work without even resting for an hour. Second, when MC brings Kasumi back from England, he straight gets to work. Third, when Kasumi had fever, he just rested for a few hours and again back to his work. He even tells MC to go back to rest, but he doesn’t (or sometimes.)...

This is just fantastic. Whenever you are just about to give up, just come to this section and read this part, I am sure you will be motivated enough to resume back. Can you believe he wrote his first medical paper on how to save a plant when he was in middle school? If he can do, then why not you? 

The same thing goes for MC. If Kasumi decided to be her mentor, that’s because she is excellent in her studies, has an good past record and praises from her previous teachers. She has this zeal to pursue surgery and ace in it. Perfectly. No compromises.

3. She loves herself- I had read a post where one player mentioned that MC was arrogant. I can understand. But, what’s the point of acting sweet and not doing anything? Instead, if you have achieved what you want to be, then you should be confident, and believe in yourself. 

I wanted to make another sub-point, but I think this point will also fit in this section. MC here is unique from other MCs in appearance. In general, the MCs that I have seen so far are extremely beautiful, with long hair, fair skin, bla bla bla. I have also read some views from other players about this. Some games should be designed in the way that they cater to the needs that the players want. Everyone is pretty, as we are the beautiful creation of God. Outer appearance doesn’t matter. What matters the most is your inner quality. Kasumi didn’t love MC because of how she looks, but because she reached out to him when he was about to get crumpled by his emotions. 

What’s more, MC doesn’t take this as consideration. Instead of overthinking about this, she appreciates the beauty of her friends, Asuka and Shirayuki. Thus, their friendship is also strongly bonded.

Okay, no more blabbering. Let’s get straight into the summary-

The story starts with MC being selected as a protege by Kasumi.

Viewpoint of MC- he doesn’t listen to her at all.

The reason why he took her as a student in cardiovascular surgery? That’s because with the developing period, technology is advancing and Kasumi wanted someone to take the department after him. Also, there was shortage of students. More, he was impressed by her high reviews in internship.

Of course, after some reluctance by her, he transfers her to the Orthopedic unit. But, after getting to know that her favorite doctor is moving on to research, she had no choice but to return back to EICU.

The guys celebrate her joining in the Pen. 

 Kasumi and MC were just about to return to the hospital, when they see a building engulfed in flames on the road.

MC is haunted by her previous memories, where a patient commits suicide by burning himself after being saved by the doctors. Meanwhile, both of them rush to the spot for treatment. 

They come back after saving a life, and MC makes Kasumi to talk to him.

Kasumi gives her support by asking her to move forward and leave her painful memories behind. All these facts, and a embrace from him make her decide to study heart.

The following morning, the dark prince assigns her more work (following the CG). Thankfully, Asuka and Shirayuki are there for support.

To gain more experience, Kasumi sends her off to Thailand.

There, she meets Theo, Kasumi’s acquaintance, and starts learning about several cases. Meanwhile, our prince also accompanies her afterwards. (I knew it...)

MC discovers a book of him which is a book of flowers. (This has major importance afterwards, so remember this.) 

Kasumi comes back and MC stays further for two weeks for gaining knowledge.

After coming back, they successfully, perform a CABG (Coronary artery Bypass Surgery). In the night, she gets a text from Kaisei, her friend during the internship. Following Sat., she meets him and his family. (and also Kasumi and Matsunaga... talk of a pure coincidence).

The next day, they have an emergency, and surprisingly, it’s Kaisei and Sora, his son. In spite of desperate efforts, Sora couldn’t be saved. This breaks MC. She couldn’t gather courage to tell that to her friend. Kasumi goes in her stead. The next day, the same scene replays in her mind and she couldn’t perform surgery. 

At last, not able to get control of her emotions, she decides to quit cardiovascular surgery.

She again goes for Ortho. But, things don’t go smooth. A patient, whom MC treated recently, collapses due to heart attack. After being turned down by the cardiovascular department, she had no choice left but to contact Kasumi.

Even if it was his day off, he agrees to come... (And the bgm when he says her not to worry... T_T)

They perform the operation successfully.

Later that night, Kaisei tells her about the frequent visits by Kasumi and how he was shaking when he declared Sora’s death to him.

Along with some push by her favorite doctor the next day, she gets determined again to return to the EICU.

Later, Kasumi invites her to watch the Belt of Venus.

Things get sorted out gradually. With more energy to do work, they decide to have a study session at Kasumi’s house. (Believe me, the before banter was hilarious! @miss-alien-pixel​ has posted it, so feel free to drop by for reference).

The next day, Dr. Neil comes back from England. With many more operations coming up, they all become busy. A case from Mrs. Kitahama also comes, where her family was reluctant for the operation, but both MC and Kasumi agree to the old lady’s wish, and perform the surgery.

 Some days later, while MC was talking to Neil, he suddenly collapses. It was only an attack, but it confirmed aortic stenosis, for which, a surgery was required.

With pressure intensifying, MC does her best to support him. She goes home with Kyogoku that day, and finds out about his late brother, the person whom Kasumi held dear to. (Please go through that part, it has so much things about him there...) 

Things get hectic later on, and there’s the part where MC has a talk with Matsunaga. (the part which was in the intro). There’s so much why Kasumi became like this. If he loved someone, he would do whatever it means to cover for them. And he let all the blame on himself, alone. 

Get ready now, a bombshell is about to drop. Dr. Kurimata returns to the hospital (who had a grudge against Kasumi for who knows how long, just because he took the surgery of Prime Minister’s wife off him. But he did that for building up Ped dept. in the hospital.)

Meanwhile, Mrs. Kitahama catches pneumonia, and after long efforts by both MC and Kasumi, she gets to have a talk with her son before passing away). Kasumi offers MC to go home to mentally recover, but she stays with him. Bad talks about him increase day by day. MC is not able to withstand that, and covers his ears, leaving him surprised. She tells her not to listen to that anymore. Hearing that, Kasumi comes closer, closer aand.... he falls asleep over her as he had fever. (cue the CG)

Bad timing, Kyogoku comes over at the same time. (and we know the volcano is about to burst now...) 

But, as if it was an illusion, Kasumi comes back to ICU after some rest. And Dr. Tsuchiya invites her out. But our dark prince saves her, saying he has plans with her later. (Pbbfft..)

Okay, so it was viewing Belt of Venus... yay!

But, an accident occurs. A speeding truck was just about to hit MC, but she gets shielded by Kasumi. Although on asking, he confirmed no injuries, but something major had occurred, to his hand. 

 As a result, he is not able to even hold a scalpel, let alone surgery. It occurs for almost 15 days. For that, he even hands over the surgery he had been working so long to Dr. Kurimata.

He doesn’t disclose this to anyone, and the other surgeries go on smoothly. He returns to the OR some days after.

MC talks with Neil about Kasumi’s study under him. 

In the meantime, Dr. Kurimata comes by and says that he is overtaking Neil’s surgery. (Speak of the devil now... Grrr)

She and Kyogoku find time to talk to Kurimata and find out the reason why all that was happening. 

And I just can’t process, it’s not Kasumi’s fault at all. Why was that doctor pestering like he was the reason!

He even says that he is using MC to get him kicked out of the case. (Enough!!) And yet, this guy was there, protecting her like anything...

This turns into an argument between Kyogoku and Kasumi. And later, MC also agrees with the former to prioritize himself first, and not love her anymore. (It was a punch to the heart, but that’s what needed to be done at that point).

she runs to the rooftop, and her tears couldn’t stop. After some time, (a huge misunderstanding is going to be here now...) Dr. Tsuchiya comes. They talk for a while about how she was about to be transferred to the cardiovascular department if something occurs.

For Kasumi’s sake, she leaves the EICU and gets under the supervision of Dr. Kurimata.

Again the rooftop. Morning. Dr. Tsuchiya and MC. (Misunderstanding is just about to occur!!)

MC probably is dizzy and was about to fall when Tsuchiya catches him. And he doesn’t let go. He confesses there. Aaand...... Kasumi arrives at that time. (GOSH! NO!)

Seeing the position, he turns on his heel and goes. 

MC at this point has confirmed already that she loves Kasumi, and she couldn’t do anything that could hurt him.

Even after so many awkward moments, I absolutely love how Kasumi is normal with her every time in the talk... 

He tells that he is going to attend a symposium in England. (Doesn’t it sound fishy...?)

Before leaving, he visits Neil during night, praying to stay with him. MC doesn’t interrupt and leaves quietly.

With Kasumi now not there, MC takes the responsibility of Neil’s surgery. It is a success. They further talk about Kasumi after some days. Neil unveils that the flower book was an artwork by Kasumi’s mother. 

The flower snowdrop has a great importance here. This flower is the symbol of hope, but whoever have it, like his mother and Mitsuharu, instead of getting better, left him. And he had come to believe that this flower had an omen of death. That his love caused them to suffer more and die. (That flashback... I am unable to stop my tears even now as I am typing...)

As this dawns on MC, she waits for him eagerly to come back, so that she could sort out everything that happened. But he never returns.

MC sets out to bring him back. After a long search, she finds him in the same park that he had mentioned earlier, talking to a flower... (ugh...)

He is normal, but a little cold this time. MC hugs him from behind and says how worried everyone was. But he just asks to let go of him. (I really thought that he was hurt to such an extent that he decided to leave...)

MC confesses there, and let go of him, when he turns around, and with a pathetic look on his face says,

(That face. Oh my God.)

Cue the third CG. MC hugs him back and comforts him.

After they come back to Japan, things go on as normal. Until one day, Neil requires an immediate surgery due to getting hit on the chest.

All the doctors, join in for the operation. Kurimata lashes out at Kasumi for the death of Mitsuharu. 

MC steps in forward, and says that Kasumi will not let Neil die. They all conduct a successful operation.

The EICU guys gather during the night at Pen to celebrate the returning of Kasumi and MC. 

Kasumi suddenly pulls MC somewhere. And it’s for watching the Belt of Venus. They share a sweet moment there, where Kasumi confesses, asks her to stay with him as she was his only hope, and the story ends, WITH ME CRYING LIKE CRAZY.

(Sweeter than honey, sugar...)

Final Thoughts:

This character!!! God! I am in cloud nine now!!! He went to that extent to protect MC. He was unable to share his hidden feelings with anyone, and now, he could do that. I became very happy when he hugged MC, crying. It symbolized that he was already relying on her, trusting her. Both are genius doctors, both save lives, and both helped each other at times. Along with that, the other doctors’ support was so precious. Their little banters, feeding time, sweet lines Kasumi says and so on, every moment was perfect. The writers did a fantastic job over this one. Overall, a 1000% recommendation! 

If you have reached upto here, first of all, thank you so much for going through my blabbering, and I couldn’t help that. As my hands were unable to stop thinking about this beautiful masterpiece. This will remain my no.1 romance story, no. 1 otome game with my most favorite male and female protagonist!

Thanks for reading! Have a productive week ahead!

Bonus: I just had this in my mind... 

Yui: Uh... What is it, Dr. Kasumi?

Yui: You could expect that after my constant gluing to this article for a while now... Well, did I do a good job? 

Yui: (...how come his smiles are so pure?)

Yui: ...Guardian angel, I did mistakes right? That’s why you are laughing till now... :(

Yui: ! ( I am so happy!)

Yui: Let’s hope people also like it, okay? after all, I poured my heart into it!

Kasumi: mm-hmm.

~Lys

[firebirdsdaughter]

Well…

… My take on the Pokemon GO battle thing… Is that it’s too hard.

And this is only partially bc I am unhealthily competitive due to an inferiority complex and general anxiety and so losing makes me irrationally angry to the point I cuss at people who will never meet me and flip off my phone.

It’s that it’s not casual-player friendly. Like I’m fond of Pokemon, but I also work full time and bc of mental/physiological/psychology stuff, am often too exhausted to go out. An ankle that refuses to improve doesn’t help. At the moment, at least, I’m not going out on long walks in heavily ‘poke’d areas, catching Pokemon and fighting gyms and what not. Additionally, even I, at twenty six, lack the patience and focus to go through and meticulously learn all aspects of the game and data. While I was ‘battling,’ despite the CP limit on the match, I ran into Pokemon that did much more damage than my own did, multiple times, bc I don’t know/understand how to tell what makes a ‘good battle Pokemon’ in this version of the game. I’ve been going off the basis of high CP, but that seemed moot, and I definitely don’t get the finer details, and as a result, am regularly destroyed in matches bc I can’t predict what Pokemon are best to take (also is there a way to see your opponent’s Pokemon pre fight??? Bc I swear some people were doing that to me). Also there’s some weird stuff going on w/ timing—even though there’s supposed to be a cool down, I had one other trainer switch out their Pokemon immediately one after another. I don’t know if these are ‘live’ fights, or if it’s an ai using their avatar, but no way in hell is that fair. I shouldn’t be feeling like it’s a lucky fluke that I happened to win a couple times, there should be a sort of ‘level’ that’s comfortable and accessible for players who aren’t able to meticulously build and manage a battle team. Also the tapping is a shitty method bc I was going so hard on my poor phone screen there.

And in light of that… The reward threshholds are too high. I only got through fifteen fights bc I’m stubborn af, but those had me pissed off and wanting to rip my hair out, I feel like some people might get disheartened after the first five… And we’re meant to make it to fifty for anything to count??? Or train one hundred times? Given how long and how much attention battling takes (also the fact that training contributes nothing but new fingerprints to my screen which are a major peeve for me, so that one is definitely way too high), that’ll take ages, lots of slogging, tapping, and frustration, w/ very little reward. It’s one thing to say that it’s intended to prompt you to use all aspects of the game, but to me it feels like it’s locking a number of things behind walls that some people may never ever breach. I’ve run into so many roadblocks w/ events bc I can’t go out to raids, and I sure as hell can never win any bc I have no friends to team up w/, and I’m never on or in the right place to collaborate w/ strangers.

I just feel like there could/should be alternative methods/paths for getting through events/getting rewards that you can follow if you choose. Raising stakes and doing things for people who do want to meticulously make the perfect battle team and can take walks and fight in gyms and all that… Yeah, that’s great. But if you want people to keep w/ the app and use it and explore all the options, you need a level playing field that’s not full of enormous mountains that you just say ‘just climb this.’ I think there need to be more/better in between rewards, and a more gentle slope, on a more level field. Bc nothing destroys the spirit of community like a system that caters only to one type of people, which is what I feel like the battle system does.

[boethiah]

Deshaan anon, and you've COMPLETELY misread my point, which can probably be attributed to the character limit in askboxes being a hell to navigate. Almalexia does not come across as a nagging bitch to me and I do not mind women telling me what to do. I'm saying that many men do, that ESO is written on tropes that appeal to those mindsets, and that the author's intention probably WAS for "you" to feel that way, the same way it was for you to like vivec and sotha sil -- even if we don't. -

….. I know that was long, sorry, but basically my point is that almalexia the character is not bad, she is not a bitch or whatever, and how i interpret her she’s justified and human and good – my issue with her writing in deshaan and eso in general is that i cant shake the feeling that the AUTHOR wants me to hate her, and it feels jarring. (10/10, rest of anons under cut)

OH. oh. i think i see where you’re coming from.

tl;dr: core eso had a different direction and different writers than the later dlcs. the later dlcs did in fact do almalexia so dirty but i played core eso before those dlcs came out and in that context deshaan isn’t so bad, and at least they didn’t butcher her like they did vivec and sotha sil.

first of all, i totally agree with you, that she’s written like the writers don’t like her! especially if you take ESO as a whole. morrowind and CWC dlc in particular are egregious offenders, and i will get to how those dlcs did almalexia dirty, because holy shit. BUT

i don’t think you can take ESO’s writing as a monolith. the writers and the direction have changed significantly since the games first came out. because of this, i honestly consider ‘core’ ESO (alliance questlines + coldharbour) to be an entirely different game from the later chapters/dlc. between the core game and the morrowind chapter there was a steep change in direction and a steep decline in writing quality, and it really shows in how the tribunal was approached. i played deshaan long before morrowind and cwc came out, so i didn’t have those dlcs to sour me or make me doubt the intentions of the writers, especially since the rest of the game was so well-done– that probably lead to me giving deshaan a much more generous interpretation than i might have if i played when the dlcs existed.

so on my particular, core-ESO-only interpretation: i still think the deshaan writing was fair, and in line with what the core game wanted to do with almalexia. they approach her very critically, yes, but it didn’t feel at all harsh to me, especially in a game that thrives off its morally-grey protagonists (look at ayrenn, varen, lalorian dynar, even abnur– core eso does a morally-grey character so well). again, taking deshaan as its own segment of the core games only, they handled almalexia fantastically– she can appear harsh, and in deshaan she is harsh! the game challenges her and challenges the player to question her, they want you to doubt her and criticize her. but that’s neither unfair nor hateful, imo, and ultimately she’s still a major force behind the pact and responsible for a lot of good. the rest of the core games reinforce this, with gil-var-delle and the pact and references to her. 

but morrowind and clockwork city have entirely different writers, and a different direction, to the core games. mainly those dlcs were basically written to pander to morrowind fanboys– the r/teslore users, the MK devotees, the tr*inwiz fans, the ones who really do think almalexia is a nagging bitch– and pander they did. they didn’t want you to criticize or question or challenge the tribunal the way core eso did. and those two dlcs absolutely did undermine almalexia, they did want you to hate her, they either tried to completely erase her (morrowind) or literally disparaged her while handing off her most notable accomplishments to sotha sil (clockwork city). it was atrocious, and the hatred the writers of those dlcs have for her is blatant.

and don’t get me wrong, i absolutely despise how morrowind and cwc treat her!! i hate that the marketing team got so much say and that the game bowed so steeply to that sort of fan, whereas core eso had received harsh criticism from the r/teslore crowd and didn’t cater to them so much (when ESO first came out it actually received so much flack from r/teslore, and even came into conflict with MK himself a few times, lol). the writers of those dlcs really do want you to hate her and if you played them before deshaan i can totally get why you’d think “the writers” hate her. but this is ESO. “the writers” change.

but i never got the feeling that deshaan was pandering to anyone. deshaan treats her as harshly and as fairly as it treats any other main ESO character (like, find me a king or leader in core eso who isn’t challenged by the questlines, really). she isn’t someone’s flagrant self-insert like eso’s sotha sil is, nor a caricature like eso’s vivec. she’s just a good flawed character.

which leads us to the other reason i’m willing to defend deshaan– it’s not morrowind or clockwork city. holy shit, look what they did to vivec and sotha sil in the dlcs. they BUTCHERED those characters. deshaan has its flaws but can you imagine if the current writing team tried to tackle almalexia? holy fuck. no thank you. i’m counting my blessings and thanking the gods of video game dudebros that my fave was in the core games instead, lol. leamon tuttle do NOT interact.

(rest of original anon under cut:)

I’m saying that the whole quest feels like the writer dislikes almalexia and wants you to dislike her. I’m not talking about stonefalls (which is good, but brief) or other quests that could’ve well been handled by other writers, I’m talking specifically about her appearance in deshaan. You can personally interpret events as you like and fill out holes with lore and hcs but I do think it’s on purpose that the other npcs in the quest don’t seem to like her, that you get -

- way more options to question her decisions than you do with the male tribunals, and that while her execution of an evil daedric cultist is justified, having her kill a son in front of a grieving, begging mother who had a somewhat personal relationship with her was not there to make ALMALEXIA seem sympathetic. There absolutely is an authorial intent behind making you ask why she doesn’t deal with the issue herself and why she isn’t responding in some witty cute oneliner like king whatever did -

- in his quest. And when you look at what new (and old) lore says about the other two tribunal members it IS frustrating to see that she basically says she doesn’t want to risk dealing with the cultists because she worries what they can do and how it makes her look. Yes, PR is important but PR is not deception. You SAY she could take care of the cultists but she’s basically admitting that she fears losing or being humiliated and so she sends in you instead. - I do think that’s absolutely in line with the push to take away almalexia’s strength and accomplishments. When you have Sotha Sil bargain with daedra, recreate the heart of lorkhan, predict his own death, vivec playfully rewriting reality, whatever, almalexia - in comparison - being nervous about common cultists is not good writing for her IMO. She’s not bigleaging you telling you to deal with it, she admits worry. -

And when you get a quest that has NPCs that preface her appearance by talking about how she’s a bummer, spends more time making the main villain sympathetic, makes almalexia appear cold and curt, and concludes that she is not sure if she can take the threat on (while simultaneously talking about how she’s a god) is writing that is MEANT to make her unsympathetic, especially to dumbass men who DO hate it when women tell them what to do and probably feel like theyre the competent ones there -

- while almalexia is the asshole manager or bureaucrat or whatever trope you want to go with that just barks orders at the real hero without being able to solve the issue themselves. And I think this is a symptom of a greater issue with eso’s almalexia, which is that they try to entirely define her character by the last act of her life in morrowind. She goes angry, she kills people, she turns harsh and tyrannical – this is supposed to be development following the loss of her divinity -

- but ESO (and cwc especially) really hammers home the point that almalexia is harsh and tyrannical and a liar, and WILL totally go violent and no one who knows her really likes her in the dunmer quests. She has PR, sure, but here it feels more like deception, and undeserved praise. Sotha Sil, the asshole, already knows her for the violent murderer and treats her as such. Vivec keeps his distance. Her appearance is relatively cold and harsh, formal. You don’t feel like she’s the mother of mercy- - save for that stonefall mention and like, maybe her tear grenades. It feels like they want to paint her as rigid and unpleasant, a ticking timebomb everyone is just waiting to explode. And I think that’s a huge disservice to her. She’s the most competent warrior in the tribunal so it’s fine to be harsh at times but I never felt like she was portrayed as a compassionate or beloved ruler as much as just the writers hating her and wanting her to be seen as a soon-to-be villain.

[inarazo7411996-blog]

Betting Blog, Guide, Guidelines And Prediction By SoccerTipsters

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[ambitchiovs]

lenny back at it again… i warned y’all about the intros dump. anyway, off to this bitch:

&&. isn’t that [ DEBORAH ANN WOLL ] walking around the hamptons? oh no, nevermind it’s just [ ADELAIDE MONTSERRAT ]. y'know, the [ 19 ] year old [ CIS FEMALE ] known to be quite [ CHARISMATIC and DETERMINED ] but also [ CUNNING and RUTHLESS ]. currently, the police has them as [ A PERSON OF INTEREST ] in the case of samantha wheeler, because they [ WERE PART OF SAMANTHA’S FRIEND GROUND ]. but they go on about their life as [ A STUDENT ]. i wonder what secrets they’re keeping?  [ lenny/23/gmt+3/she/her ]

TW: eating disorders, addiction, mental disorders, possible suicidal thoughts/mentions

DON’T YOU EVER TAME YOUR DEMONS, ALWAYS KEEP THEM ON A LEASH.

In the eyes of Adelaide Montserrat, there was never a girl to be found. If you dare to pry, you will not find what strangers see when they pass her by the crowd. You will look into a bottomless void that threatens to swallow you whole and it will look back at you with smiling teeth. Little Addie, once a girl with pink tutu’s and ballerina shoes, was never one to be meddled with - she would captivate all her teachers and classmates with rosy cheeks and a clever tongue beyond her years, but there was nothing warm or kind about the little girl whose parents held so close she nearly choked to death.

History goes, her father — her biological father, anyhow, was a very powerful politician before he dropped dead. Nobody really knows what happened that night - all everybody seems to know is that all her loved ones seem to fall like dominoes. Her father died when she was 16, during a robbery. The men were never caught, but little Adelaide was left bawling into her mother’s lap. Surprising as it may be, she was actually the product of a one night stand and poor lack of judgement, or so her mother likes to tell her - but Catherine Montserrat was no fool, and she took him for all he had - and as it turns out… That was a lot.

That doesn’t come cheap, for Adelaide, anyways. Being a part of a new family meant she now had a new player to share her inheritance with - and damned if she didn’t do everything she could to throw them off the board. In the eyes of her parents, she could do no wrong - she was pure and pristine and everything they hoped their little girl would be. You’d assume being the younger sibling meant competing for attention - but she never competed. She never even considered it a competition. She won, plain and simple. Her half brother, that man who called himself her “father” now were but pebbles in her shoes, nuisances she had to navigate through to continue on with her luxurious lifestyle. They didn’t understood her, didn’t particularly wanted to, and it was easier to smear on some foundation and bake it with powder than let explain why her skin was cracking. It was easier to strap on those old ballerina shoes and put on a show until her toes were bleeding, than to try and show them what was behind the curtains. And all jewelry in the world, all praise, all money and countless designer bags she accumulated every year could never fill up that gaping hole, that detachment she felt towards the outside world and inability to connect with things and people - even those supposedly closest to her.

You see, Adelaide didn’t lose, because she tailored the game to her whims and batted her heavy set of lashes to make it seem fair. And if she did lose - the game be damned; she’d destroy it and any evidence of her failure with the wrath of a woman scorned. She didn’t want to be a little sister, or a daughter, or something for men to gawk at. She wanted to be something else. Anything other than this vile thing dripping with self-loathing , cloaked in a veil of perfectionism. Something that wasn’t rammed into this golden mold before she even took her very first breath.

Addie’s behavior as well as their parents favoritism only blurred the lines between love and hate between the half-siblings, complicating her understanding of relationships even further. And it certainly didn’t help that her new brother was just as stubborn and competitive as she was. The children were picture perfect, carrying on the legacy of their parents on their backs as if it weighed no more than a feather - while whatever had been good or soft in them began to rot.

But just who is Adelaide Montserrat? The reincarnation of the Virgin Mary to most. The girl with perfect hair, perfect hair and a perfect family. In truth, Adelaide could be seen only as a terror taken human form to those who opposed her, and a perfect, exemplary girl for those who keep a safe distance. What she is, what she truly is, is a game of smoking mirrors - a fragmented girl, scattered into so many pieces to cater to the whims of crowds, that now, when she looks into a mirror, the image that looks back is something recognizable; distorted.

Fueled by her own securities and desire to obtain perfection, paired with the crowd of rich kids that were offered to her as friends growing up, it didn’t take for things to escalate; by the age of only fourteen, poisoning their blood with alcohol, snorting up enough cocaine so she had to carry around wipes and kicking each other in the stomach while crouching over the toilet became somehow ordinary. Encouraged, even. All that deep-rooted self-hatred had to spill someway, somehow. She grew to resent how boys were granted more freedom, more room to misbehave and make mistake. She resented girls for being themselves, for not wanting to scream every second of every day. And she resented Samantha for how genuinely she could smile - for how easily everything came to her, and for how she was everything she could never be; while she was lying in a grave she dug herself - shackled to the image of perfection she’d crafted, held to the highest of regards, expected to never falter nor stutter. It was hard to define the relationship between her - one moment Addie was sweet, the next she was cruel. And as to that unfortunate Halloween night, she claims they parted ways before she could see anything.

All the harder she tries to cling to this illusion of control, the deeper she dives into that well. Parents often say kids will “grow out of it”; their fits of rage, their apathy towards other children, their unwillingness to share, their manipulative, spoiled ways of obtaining what they want- but Addie never did. Somewhere inside there’s still that little girl who’d rather break her toys in half than to share it with other kids. Who’d bump into other little girls at school, and tell the nurse they tripped. Who’d rather set her arm back in place herself than say “you were right”. The little girl who’ll sit in an empty throne all alone, built with the bones of the people she once claimed to love.

PERSONALITY-WISE:

Adelaide is emotionally unstable and has a very competitive, volatile, manipulative personality; she doesn’t forgive, and she sure as hell doesn’t forget, and she can lash out in incredibly ruthless ways due to her extreme lack of empathy for hers. Her addictions and unwillingness to ever speak to anyone in depth about herself only worsen the state of her BPD. Despite all this, on the surface, she can seem like just like any other pristine, privileged girl. It’s not usual for people to find her charming - she does exude that sort of magnetic aura that’s very easy to fall for, because people tend to see what they want to see - and therefore, it’s easy for her to adjust her personality to the expectations of whomever she’s trying to captivate. In a way, her entire personality has merged with her addiction: being friends with her feels a lot like moment of high in exchange for an eternity of sorrow.

She can be a loyal friend, to some extent, although she’ll never put anyone above herself. She’s also very insecure and prone to fits of rage (in private) whenever she doesn’t get what she wants (think broken mirrors and glasses), as her self-image is heavily dependent on what she can achieve and how others perceive her. Deep down, this all stems from jealousy - she so desperately wishes she could connect with other people and things the way everyone around her does, but in the end she can’t, and she’s left feeling like an outside looking in. If she’s miserable, why shouldn’t everyone around her be too?

HIT ME UP TO PLOT U COWARDS !!

for reals, though - i know this was unnecessarily long, but oh well. you can be ex friends with her? don’t know why they’re not friends anymore - but i’m willing to bet it’s addie’s fault.

maybe some sort of competitor?  academic or otherwise.

maybe there’s some poor ex out there who knows what a headcase she actually is? but probably can’t say much bc they fear for her life lmao.

she wouldn’t openly date anybody who could reflect poorly on her reputation, so secret hookups??? give me someone who’s getting sick of being used pls. ( she’s a closeted bisexual. society isn’t very welcome to the idea rn ) so girl crushes yes pls let girls have crushes on her. let her manipulate them bc she knows. i need.

also gimme someone who deals drugs to her tbh, bc this needs to be kept SUPER lowkey, but it’d also be hilarious bc she wouldn’t have to fake her personality around them & it’s like bitch what the fuck this girl is dr jekyll and mr hyde.

i’d love love to see a fake relationship - but i don’t mean the ‘secretly have feelings for each other’ - i mean the… secretly despise each other but they’re image-obsessed people and like being seen as the golden couple.

oH and pls someone give me a… dare i say sisterly connection? mostly, a girl who idolizes her or puts her on a pedestal, that she might or might not have a soft spot for ( which in addie’s handbook just means she’ll be that much crueler whenever she feels like it tbh ) & see it as some sort of protegee.

idk i’m open to anything, these are just suggestions thrown at the wall here. the point is… plot w me u cowards. and yes, my muse does bite.

[aventurine-games-blog]

Machi Koro

So, I wanna have a place where I can casually scream into the void and rant about games and game design, particularly board and tabletop games because they’re my prefered media, and to start off, I wanna talk about a game that I feel is under-appreciated, at least by the people in my social group.

I should start off with a brief synopsis. In Machi Koro, you play as the mayor of a town, building up your town’s economy to make money, which you then use to build the economy more. There are five kinds of cards: mandatory landmarks (grey/yellow cards given to you at the start of the game), which win you the game when you build all of them; additional landmarks (purple cards which you can only have one of), which activate on certain numbers and have some sort of complex function; any-time establishments (blue cards), that activate when anyone rolls their number; your-turn establishments (green cards), that activate when you roll their number; and other-turn establishments (red cards), that activate when another player rolls their number.

Among these, are cards that synergize really well together, like the Ranch, which provides 1 money when anyone rolls a 2, and the Cheese Factory, which provides 2 money for every ranch you have whenever you roll a 7. Or, you can buy up the Cafes and Family Restaurants that take money from other players when they roll 3s or 9s and 10s (respectively), and are made more powerful by buying the Shopping Mall, which is needed to win the game anyways. There are similar synergies with the forests, mines, and furniture factories, and the wheat fields, apple orchards, and fruit and vegetable stands. Certain expansions and versions of the game add more cards, but the fundamental shtick of the game in each version is to try to build an engine, and use the money earned from that engine to build it bigger and better.

This is actually a really fun dynamic, especially if you manage to take the lead early on, but for anyone else, in particular the players who roll poorly early on, it’s a trudging game of loss after loss and seething agony watching the other players soar ahead of you. Additionally, the element of randomness walks the line of “player decisions are the driving force of gameplay” and “player decisions mean literally nothing”. This is because if you roll poorly, you can end up screwing yourself into a position where you can’t afford to do anything (removing your decision-making), while helping your opponents because they have red and blue cards that activated on your roll (increasing their agency by giving them more money).

If this happens early on, it can mean one player has the finances to build a really well-synergized city, that rakes in enough money to win the game in four turns, on a single turn. Enough money that they don’t have to worry about all the family restaurants and cafes that the other players own. Which, admittedly, feels great when you’re that player who gets to do that, but it feels terrible to be the player who never got anywhere in the game because they kept rolling 6s for the first four turns. This makes the players who lucked out feel like the game is driven entirely by their wise financial decisions, and makes the players who were unlucky feel like the game is either a garbage-fest of deep, alien meta, or too rooted in luck to be fair. And, as interesting of a statement of privilidge and success in the real-world as it may be, it doesn’t exactly make for “fun” gameplay.

Personally, I enjoy this system, but it makes it hard to convince people who lost their first game or two to keep playing. Though I wouldn’t necessarily call this a problem, because it helps prevent spending hours of the game watching the winner systematically go through the motions of winning, I am curious what could be done to mitigate its sudden loss. The Harbor expansion and Bright Lights; Big City version bring an interesting approach by adding the City Hall, which basically says “hey, if after rolling you have no money, go ahead and take something that costs 1 for free anyways”. This helps players who are losing recuperate some of their loss and not feel like they’re wasting turns, but it’s not really powerful enough to give them the much-needed push against players who are winning by a mile. They also add red cards that only take from players who have several of the mandatory landmarks, which means they don’t hurt players who are losing. Though this is clever, the bar for “losing” in French Restaurants is a little too low, and often turns the player buying these cards into the winner who bullies everyone who makes any progress. Bright Lights; Big City also has cards that are helpful to players who are explicitly not winning; that stop working after you make progress, but they tend to encourage you to remain without progress.

And, while this problem is a very interesting statement about the complexities of instituting systems that reduce income inequality in a fair manner, the beaucratic complexity of the cards involved isn’t exactly “fun” in a traditional sense, and they feel like they take away from the cutesy nature of the game that I love. Maybe on some level, it’s an insurmountable problem, and you either enjoy this simulation of class-warfare or you don’t, but I’d like to believe there are ways around it. Honestly, I’d like to believe there’s a myriad of things you can do to make the game more complicated and more interesting; maybe adding a third tier that requires you to roll 3 dice to reach would give the players trapped in the early game time to expand and overcome their problems, or maybe certain cards just need to have their numbers tweaked (French Restaurants could put winning at more than 2+ mandatory landmarks, or not take 5 coins), or maybe there’s a simple house-rule like “you don’t have to buy all of the constructed landmarks” would solve this problem.

Honestly, a big part of why I’m trying to solve this problem, is because I like this game. I like rolling dice and making money, and then using that money to buy landmarks, which make me more money when I roll the dice. I like engine-building games, where you’re building a system that gains the potential to fuel itself. Deck-building games cater to this to me, and though they’re fun, having 2500 Marvel Legendary Cards that I have to carry with me to play it, isn’t, nor is spending thirty minutes determining which cards to use in the game and which to leave out.

I like the simplicity of Machi Koro, I just wish it were a little more welcoming to new players.

[coolgreatwebsite]

Cool Games I Finished In 2018 (In No Real Order)

Man! Wow! 2018! 2018 was a wild year for me. I managed to deliver those elbow drops I talked about last year and ended up doing a lot of of things. I left my job and moved cross-country in the span of like 2 and a half weeks! I took a new job in the video game industry (play Ninjin and Override)! I took a trip to Vegas a week after that! I got in a relationship! I got out of a relationship! It’s been a ride. A ride that hasn’t left me a ton of time to play video games or write about video games, but I’m like 1000 times happier now so it’s probably a fair trade. No matter what though, I will always be here at the end of the year to make a bunch of terrible MSPaint banners and provide you with another one of these. Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2018.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PlayStation 2, 2004)

Nocturne is a game that I haven’t been able to get out of my head since I beat it. It’s so damn cool. It starts with you witnessing a demonic apocalypse where only you, your two friends, your teacher, a reporter, and the man with the world’s wildest widow’s peak survive. These people are, with a couple of notable exceptions, the only real characters in the entire game. You barely see them, and when you do your meetings are usually pretty brief. Sure, you talk to and recruit a horde of demons to your side as party members, and you interact with a handful of demonic antagonists and various demonic NPCs, but for the most part the game is just you. You, alone, wandering the weird hellscape remnants of Tokyo. It’s one of the most solitary-feeling video games I’ve ever played, and it nails this atmosphere flawlessly. The music, the visuals, the writing, every element gels with every other element so smoothly to create a prevailing, almost overbearing feeling of loneliness. The combat and gameplay mechanics are what I understand this series to mostly be like (this being the only mainline SMT I’ve played), and are fun and engaging in a way that’s not too dissimilar from the Persona series. The only knock I have against Nocturne is that the dungeon design super sucks. I’m fine with endless corridors, my love of the PS2 Persona games can attest to that, but almost every dungeon in Nocturne has an annoying gimmick to it, and they all essentially boil down to different takes on a teleporter maze. I was kind of almost dreading navigating dungeons by the time I got to the last fourth of the game, but my intense love for literally everything else saw me through. For those of you who like JRPGs and haven’t played Nocturne, I’m sure you’ve heard this plenty of times, and I was like you once. I didn’t listen. But now I’m on the other side of the tunnel, so I get to say it. You should really, really play Nocturne. It’s good.

Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

Octo Expansion is what Splatoon 2′s single player mode should have been from the start. Don’t get me wrong, the packed in single player campaign is fine, but it’s basically a level pack for Splatoon 1′s. Octo Expansion, on the other hand, is 100% fresh. Structurally it’s much more diverse, with the campaign taking place over 80 mostly-bite-sized missions with varying objectives. There’s a couple of stinkers in there, but overall the quality of the missions is much higher than what was in the original single player campaign. They can actually be pretty tough sometimes too! It was fun to see some actual challenge in a Splatoon campaign. Everything wrapped around the core gameplay of Octo Expansion is kind of phenomenal. The setting and visual design is super weird, the music is way more mellow than anything else that’s come out of the series and creates a great sense of atmosphere, and the writing is actually genuinely pretty great. There’s a lot of funny dialogue and good character moments. They made me like Pearl! The weird gremlin that eats mayo! She’s my friend now! The last half an hour or so of Octo Expansion is also straight up my favorite sequence from a game I played this year too. Don’t sleep on this thing just because it’s DLC. It’s legitimately great.

Monster Hunter: World (PlayStation 4, 2018)

At the outset I was incredibly skeptical of Monster Hunter: World. This wasn’t entirely fair to the game, as a lot of this feeling was based on its initial E3 reveal trailer kinda sorta matching up to some mostly not true pre-E3 leaks, namely that it would be much more action heavy to cater to Western audiences and tie into the then unannounced Monster Hunter movie (which, as an aside, looks like a trainwreck that I desperately want to see). You can probably pretty easily find some tweets and posts from me around that time saying that the game looks like trash because of some misinterpreted new game mechanic. I am here to say that I am a big wrong dumbass and Monster Hunter: World is very good. You might be surprised to hear this, but it’s Monster Hunter! With a bunch of good and well-executed gameplay refinements! And graphics that aren’t repurposed from a PS2 game! It’s a ton of fun and I put a lot of time into it, but it’s not without its flaws. The number of monsters and weapons is comparatively way lower than in previous games, mostly due to that whole not repurposing PS2 models thing. It’s still kind of clunky in a lot of the places Monster Hunter has been historically clunky in, but also in some pretty big new ways, mainly around playing multiplayer. Also the story, while it’s as bland as it’s ever been, is exponentially more intrusive thanks to the addition of voiced cutscenes (which need to be triggered before the game lets you bring other players into story missions, causing a lot of that clunk I mentioned earlier). It’s all nothing game-ruining, of course. The game wouldn’t be on the list if it was! Monster Hunter: World exceeded my expectations, and I’m super looking forward to playing the recently announced G Rank expansion when it comes out next year.

Contra: Hard Corps (Sega Genesis, 1994)

I wish I could go back in time and kick my own stupid ass for not playing this sooner. I’d written off Contra: Hard Corps for the longest time based solely on some bullshit I read on the internet at an age where I just took other peoples’ opinions and made them my own. This and Castlevania Bloodlines were the bad ones, the ones some weird b-team crapped out for the Genesis while the SNES got the good stuff like Contra 3: Alien Wars. Well, it turns out... they were right about Bloodlines. But MAN were they wrong about Hard Corps. Hard Corps is the best Contra game. It fucking rules. I would have gone on with my life never giving the game a glance if not for this excellent Giant Bomb feature happening, and a couple of episodes in I knew I had to play it for myself. Contra: Hard Corps is fucking nuts. It’s balls to the wall 100% of the time. There’s so many unique enemies and wild bosses and they’re all never not exploding. The game has four characters with unique weapons and multiple different level paths that have totally different levels, bosses, and story beats. Oh, and the soundtrack fucking rips. Sometimes it’s a little too much, and there are definitely some sequences and boss attacks that are total gotchas that you can’t survive without prior knowledge of how they work. I’d also be remiss not to give a special shoutout to level 4′s awful, tedious, unskippable-on-any-route boss. But god damn if the rest of Hard Corps doesn’t outshine these flaws. It’s the high water mark for insane non-stop 16-bit action.

Deltarune (PC, 2018)

Does this count? It’s a demo for a full game that won’t be out for a real long time... I suppose it does, it’s self-contained enough. Deltarune, the free demo for the sort of but also sort of not sequel to Undertale, is unsurprisingly good as hell. Less surprising for sure, as Undertale is a known quantity these days, but I’m still way into it. The story is interesting and full of charming characters, and the battle system has been overhauled to include things like multiple party members with different abilities while still keeping all the things that made Undertale’s battles novel. The music is, of course, fantastic, and the visuals look much nicer while adhering to the same general style as the previous game. It’s fairly short, and some character development feels a little rushed because of it, but again, it’s a small chunk of the beginning of a much larger game. I can’t imagine any of this stuff wouldn’t be expanded upon. It’s hard to judge this thing story-wise due to the nature of it being a demo. I thoroughly enjoyed what is there, though, and look forward to playing the rest of the game in 50 years or whatever.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

This game is so much. Even though the first thing I learned about this game was “everyone is here”, I still wasn’t ready for how much it is. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is maybe too much. Of course, as previously stated, everyone (meaning every single previous playable Smash Bros. character) is here. Most of the previous stages are also present. This was all known. Where the game really, truly goes overboard though is in the single-player content. There’s the usual classic mode for every character, this time specifically structured around a theme for each character, but the vast majority of it is actually comprised of the all-new spirits system. Spirits are non-playable video game characters that you can collect and equip to your fighters for special abilities, sort of like a less terrible version of Smash Bros. Brawl’s stickers. You collect these spirits through spirit battles, which are fights themed around the character the spirit represents via extremely clever usage of already existing fighters and mechanics. These battles range from the obvious (Big the Cat’s battle tasks you with fighting a giant purple Incineroar), to the obscure (fight the main characters from Zangeki no Reginleiv as represented by Link and female Robin while you’re giant-sized), to the creative (Porygon’s spirit puts you in a fight against wireframe Little Mac and Akira from Virtua Fighter, normally an assist trophy), to the downright in-jokey (the spirit of Ness’s Father, displayed as the telephone spirte from Earthbound, makes you fight an invisible Solid Snake). There are like 1200 spirits. The vast majority of them have an associated battle. And you don’t just experience these battles through a menu, at least half of them are implemented into the 30 hour long adventure mode, World of Light, which has you fighting spirits, navigating dungeons, and facing bosses. It’s insane. They focused on spirits in lieu of collectible trophies this time around and they absolutely made the correct choice. The trophies in the last two Super Smash Bros. games were fine, but easier access to existing 3D models of most represented characters made them inherently less exciting than Melee’s tailor-made collection of high quality (considering the time period) renders, many of which would never receive a 3D model again. The spirits system manages to be exciting in the same way Melee's trophies were, fostering a genuine sense of anticipation to see what they cooked up next, but in the context of gameplay. They completely knocked it out of the park. Smash 4 made it on one of these lists long ago, and I essentially just said “it’s more Smash Bros. and that’s good”. Smash Ultimate is also more Smash Bros., but it’s SO much more Smash Bros. It’s so much more extremely good Smash Bros. The only things I can ding it for are some totally subjective stage preferences (where the hell is Poké Floats) and some slightly less than optimal music sorting decisions. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is, ultimately, the ultimate Super Smash Bros.

These games were also cool, I just had less to say about them:

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Nintendo Switch, 2018): Remember Castlevania 3? Inti Creates sure did! This prequel to the still unreleased Koji Igarashi Kickstarter project Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an unabashed love letter to Castlevania 3, and it’s pretty good. Mom Hid My Game! (Nintendo Switch, 2017): A charming little game in the style of those old escape the room Flash games. It even looks like one (in the literal sense, not the pejorative). It’s not tough or replayable really, but it is $5 and consistently absurd and surprising. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PlayStation 4, 2018): Yakuza 6 is kind of a weird juxtaposition. It’s the final chapter of Kazuma Kiryu’s story, but also the first game to use the Yakuza team’s new Dragon Engine. The story end of things is a good, solid sendoff for a bunch of characters I’m going to miss very dearly, but the gameplay feels very formative and limited in a way that sort of reminds me of Yakuza 1. I had a good time with it overall, but I hope they manage to dial it in like they did with the previous decade of Yakuza games and make something truly excellent again. Looking at you, Judge Eyes. Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth (Nintendo 3DS, 2017): Etrian Odyssey V is a return to basics for the series, ditching things like overworlds and sub-dungeons and just pitting your party against one big labyrinth. Honestly, gotta say, I miss the stuff they left behind! The core of Etrian Odyssey is still super strong so I had fun regardless, but the overall simplicity of the game and the changes to how classes work had me missing EOIV more often than not. Soundtrack’s great though, as expected. Sonic Mania Plus (Nintendo Switch, 2018): To be completely honest, most of the stuff they added to Sonic Mania in Plus really isn’t that fantastic. Mighty’s spike and projectile immunity is fun, but Ray’s flying is more interesting than effective. Encore mode is largely disappointing, with most of it feeling identical to the base game outside of its all-new (and too hard for their own good) special stages. HOWEVER, Sonic Mania Plus was an exceptional excuse to play through Sonic Mania another six or so times. Congratulations to Sonic Mania for being game of the year for two years in a row. WarioWare Gold (Nintendo 3DS, 2018): A good compilation game, executed much better than in the team’s previous Rhythm Heaven Megamix, but lacking in reasons to come back after you’ve played all the games. There’s the usual toy room stuff WarioWare has had since Touched!, but it’s bogged down by reliance on a currency system and the fact that sooooo many things you unlock are just parts that feed into a larger, not that interesting thing. The part where you play WarioWare is great though, and the new visuals make it all feel fresh even though it’s mostly older games. Mario Tennis Aces (Nintendo Switch, 2018): I had a brief, passionate love affair with Mario Tennis Aces. The core gameplay is rad as hell and more like a fighting game than a tennis game, with multiple different special shots and a focus on meter management. I played like 40+ hours of it between the full game and the demo and never even touched the single player (which makes it technically not count for this list, but, shut up). I got 2nd place at its very first tournament at CEO 2018. Then I... stopped playing. It had some weird balance issues, sure, but I think it was more a victim of circumstance rather than anything else. I moved basically right after CEO and just never went back to it. It’s still incredible though. I hope this game’s systems are the standard for Mario Tennis games going forward.

We made it! Bottom of the list! It was a shorter trip this time, but I’m still proud of you for making it here all the same. Thank you for reading the words I typed about video games. I’m looking to get this web page back into gear in 2019, so you can probably expect part 2 of The Best Babies sometime in January. Hopefully I’ll actually play some video games too so I can bring back Breviews on the first of February. Until then!

[playeroneplayertwo]

The Ten: 5.19

It seems a good icebreaker, or as good an icebreaker as any, to lay bare my top 10 of all time. Clear the air, so to speak. Get to know each other. It’s fair to say that this may be a make or break moment for us. Hopefully, I won’t lose you. Let’s see.

This is a list I imagine I’ll update periodically (which is why it’s dated), as my wife Kathleen (Player Two) and I play a lot of games, and a lot of new games. I’m a notoriously curious and searching type, and I love trying new games, sometimes to my wife’s chagrin. More often than not, my spare change goes to new games for the house. New games that make a splash tend to spike pretty high and then slowly fade. It’s not a great trait to have, especially in someone who tries to speak or write critically about quality (ie write reviews). But being that I’m aware of this, I hope that tempers it at least somewhat.

Anyway, where’s the list, you say? Here we go:

1. Brass: Birmingham (2018)

Oh boy, it’s a new one. Cult of the new? To be fair, Kathleen and I have played this game fairly regularly for the last eight months. By our third play or so, I knew it had locked itself into my top spot. I’d done a fair bit of research on the OG Brass (now Brass: Lancashire) prior to purchasing Brass: Birmingham, and by the time I eventually took the dive and purchased Birmingham, I was as excited to try it as I was unsure we’d actually enjoy it. At the time, it was the heaviest game we’d played, and it also relies heavily on route building–it’s in fact one of the most important parts of the game. I mention this because tactical spacial elements are not Kathleen’s forte. In fact, it’s one of her least favorite mechanics.

This is a good time to tell you that Kathleen and I think (and play games) very differently. Kathleen is a strategic player, relying on long term planning and execution to maximize scoring/performance. I, on the other hand, do not make long term plans. I find it not only remarkably difficult, but also unenjoyable. I’m a short term/tactical player. On my turn, I’m more likely to look over the board, get a lay of the land, and make the best, most advantageous play available to me at that moment.

Brass: Birmingham remarkably manages to cater to both of our play styles, which is one reason it ranks so high. Birmingham presents a myriad options for players to pursue. You’ve got a whole pile of different factory tiles you can build, a whole mess of locations or regions to move into, and about as many different strategies to pursue on your way to the end game. I don’t think I’ve ever played the same game of Brass: Birmingham twice, nor have I ever pursued the same options. The card play means, for me, that I will go where the cards lead, and I find using these cards as a guide to build my engine incredibly satisfying.

2. Covert (2016)

Dice placement. For some reason, this mechanic sounds incredibly unappealing to me, and I think it’s because it’s literally a portmanteau mechanic consisting of the worker placement mechanic using dice, two individual mechanisms that I seem to enjoy less and less. Dice I tend to avoid for their randomness (yes, I know that’s the point), and Worker Placement, in it’s most stereotypical application, I find frustrating. Why can’t I just put my worker wherever I want and just run my engine? Being stymied in a worker placement game just annoys the hell out of me.

So why do I love Covert?

It’s a pretty straightforward points race built around mission cards that have specific requirements. And using the dice as workers seems a fairly typical euro mechanism, but what I like about Covert is how puzzly it is. When you place your dice workers, they’ll be placed on round tracks with spaces numbered 1-6, and you won’t be able to place a die unless it’s adjacent to another die. In this case, you can do anything you want, but only if you plan correctly and work well with the other players. It becomes an order of operations puzzle, which may frustrate some, but I love it.

Also, I can’t get enough of that spy theme. And the production is fantastic.

3. Eldritch Horror (2013)

Ah, Cthulhu. For being the spawn of such a troubled person (HP Lovecraft), I find Cthulhu’s mythos and surrounding universe positively enthralling. 

But dice! Ugh yes, this is a huge, sprawling, long, and [sorta] bloated game that is built all around a very simple dice rolling resolution system. I have no way of justifying why this doesn’t bug me, but it just doesn’t.

Maybe I’m just a sap for the theme (Indiana Jones + Cthulhu = Win). Or maybe it’s nostalgia, considering this is the game on my top ten that I’ve played the most and had the longest. But, if I try to dig into the real reasoning here, it’s probably because this game manages to give you a big, rich, story-based experience that feels like an event when it’s over. Yes, it’s the biggest, longest play session on this list. But I love every minute of it. Even those maddening bad dice rolls.

4. Lord of the Rings: The Card Game (2011)

A long time ago, Kathleen and I came to this hobby via Magic: The Gathering, the deep, long standing king of the collectible card game. Magic is a great game, but it brings out the worst in me as a gamer. Playing Magic makes me both a bad winner and bad loser. Frankly, that’s a terrible combination. Why would you want to play with me at all?

This obvious problem led us to cooperative board games. If I’m gonna lose, why don’t I just lose with you. That’s a refreshing change of pace!

And speaking of losing, hey let’s talk about Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. The word used most frequently when talking about this game–by me and pretty much anybody who’s ever played it–is PUNISHING. And yes, it’s punishing. Kathleen and I have played a few punishing euros at this point (feed those people), but this is something else. Get a few bad card flips from the encounter deck and you’re suddenly up to your eyeballs in LOTR baddies. Orcs and goblins? Oh hai. But your dwarves or hobbits or whatever are never really out of it. Smart deck building (and luck) definitely has carried us out of the tall grass on more than one occasion. And there’s something to be said for a game as well balanced as Lord of the Rings. More than once, a game has concluded on a turn where we either win or lose based on that single turn’s outcome.

The theme doesn’t really do much for me, but I took the dive on this game because it looked like a well-designed and well-supported cooperative card game (of which there really aren’t too many). It’s stood tall over the years, and I hope it continues for a while. When I first played Arkham Horror: The Card Game, I figured it would knock this down a peg or two. But the designers’ ingenuity in the LOTR quests and encounter deck designs has been (for me, at least) a much more rewarding experience.

And I appreciate a cooperative game where you actually lose more often than you win. It seems a rarity in the co-ops we have.

5. Great Western Trail (2016)

I’d heard and read so much about this game prior to purchasing it that I almost didn’t even want to get it (which is exactly how I feel about Concordia and Trajan, subsequently). I dig the cowboy theme, but beyond that, I’d pretty much phased out all the actual details on this game’s gameplay.

But yeah, it really is good. Ya’ll were right. I love games that are heavy but are built around simple gameplay, and Great Western Trail epitomizes that. One your turn you move your cowboy on the (effectively) huge rondel board and then take an action on the space where you stop. That’s it. 

The beauty of the game comes from the remarkable breadth of options you can pursue. Using cowboys to buy cows, hiring engineers to move your train and build stations, hiring carpenters to build buildings and busy up the board, and completing objectives are some of the main tasks you’ll be focusing on, and what really clicks for me with Great Western Trail is that it’s a tactical player’s dream. The board is constantly changing, and as it changes, so must your plans. The objective cards steer you somewhat, but you’ve really gotta cut your own path across the wilderness here.

Oh, and I love deckbuilding as a sort of side dish mechanic. It isn’t always enough to sustain a whole game, but it’s great as a single piece of a pie.

6. Gloomhaven (2017)

All right, so this big beast has moved all over my ranking in the year+ since my first game. I won’t lie, it sat at #1 for a while. Then it slid a little, then a little more. I mean, it’s still at #6, so it’s not exactly plummeting. It’s the Board Game Geek #1 game of all time (as of this writing), and it’s hard to say if it’s deserving of this (and if not, what deserves the spot instead). Again, this is so subjective, and games like this or Scythe tend to be lightning rods for people who want to take a shot at the new hotness.

But yes, it’s good. It’s very good. I’m not as enamored by the sprawling nature of it as I was, nor the campaign, but being a person who loves variety, it’s scope is certainly a nice bonus. But after you haven’t played it in a while, it becomes a HUGE box that takes up a whole shelf and is a bear to set back up. And even though the box is 20lbs and takes up a whole shelf and the game takes 20+ minutes just to set up, the card play in Gloomhaven is just stellar. I love that this is essentially a tactical minis game with a euro engine. Tactical minis games rank incredibly low on my chart o’ interest, but this game takes that standard tactical minis expectation and smashes the shit out of it. 

Despite its niggling flaws, it’s an excellent game.

7. The Exit Series (2017-?)

This is the last co-op game on my list, and I just looked back and saw that there are four on here. I was just talking to Kathleen about how much I’d rather play competitive games instead of co-ops, and apparently I said that in a moment completely lacking self-awareness. Also, this is a cheaty kind of entry considering we’ve played at least eight Exit games.

Remember when I said that I liked Eldritch Horror because it was an event game that provided a big, rich experience? Well, the Exit games give you a meaty, brainier experience in a slightly shorter time period. There’s not much story–despite the designers really trying to cram one in there–but I’ll always love Exit because it’s become our Date Night game. Kathleen and I will get some nice booze, take out food, and sit down with a new Exit after we put our son to bed. The experience can be frustrating–remember we think very differently, but each experience has always been something to remember (except the Secret Lab; what happened in that one?). Special props to Exit: Dead Man on the Orient Express, in particular.

The puzzles are really satisfying when you crack them, especially after working on them for a while. We take longer than average to do these because we resist those hint cards as much as possible, so our games can stretch. But Exit should be an event, and when savored like one, it doesn’t let you down.

Also, if you have concerns about the value of an Exit game, if you look at it as an event (like going to the movies or *cough cough* playing T.I.M.E. Stories), it’s actually a very good value. Recycle it!

And finally, yes, Exit trumps Unlock any day of the week.

8. Glory to Rome (2005)

That Glory to Rome is out of print is a cryin’ shame. Our copy isn’t even a real copy, I printed a crappy DIY version at Staples and then cut and sleeved them with old Magic commons. Our copy looks bad, is cut unevenly, and has eery MTG watermarks shining through the thin weight paper, and I couldn’t care less. This game is awesome. It’s got about a million different combos that are all seemingly game-breaking, but the fact that everything is so powerful is really what makes this game so exciting.

Multi-use cards are one of my favorite mechanic, and this game is completely built around them. And like any well-designed game that is build all around cards, the design of this never leaves you feeling hamstrung by bad card draw. If you’re doing badly at Glory to Rome, it’s your fault. Sorry. You haven’t found the combo that will win the game for you. I can say this because I’m terrible at Glory to Rome, and I know it. That’s not saying I’ve not won before. I have, but more likely than not it was because I accidentally stumbled onto something good. 

Like Brass: Birmingham, no two games of Glory to Rome are the same. There are so many cards in the box, and the subtle sense of humor that permeates some of the cards just tickles me (please see: latrine).

It’s fast and exciting, and giving you options on other players’ turns is also one of my favorite mechanics.  I’ll happily play and lose Glory to Rome anytime.

9. Nippon (2015)

Full disclosure, this is the newest edition to this list, and Kathleen and I have only played this a few times, but there’s something about this game that really fascinates me. 

At first blush, it feels like Brass, but it’s not. Like Brass, this is an economic engine, but it doesn’t allow the multi-turn build up to The Big Turn like Brass. Then I thought it was a little like Great Western Trail, but it’s not really like that either. Great Western Trail presents a ton of options, but by the end of the game, you really need to work on all of them, at least a little bit, or else your score will suffer. Nippon, however, doesn’t make you do a little bit of everything. There are a number of elements in Nippon (like trains), that can be all but ignored except for certain circumstances. It’s a game built around area control via slow burn engine building. A number of other elements to the game are very specific tools you can use to hone that engine, but could just as easily prove useless under the wrong conditions.

This may be misdirected musings by someone who hasn’t played the game enough, but it feels right to me. The last time we played, I came to the realization that the game felt so fraught because I was trying to do too much. The game presents you with a large amount of avenues to pursue because you don’t actually have to pursue them all; you can’t, there’s not enough time in the game (or money!). You need to choose your actions and build the best engine as quickly as possible.

Nippon is a cutthroat fight that feels both wickedly fast and frustratingly slow at the same time. Special bonuses for completely subverting the worker placement mechanic with its own implementation that runs the whole game. It’s a puzzle that I have relished greatly.

10. Star Wars: The Card Game (2012)

Two Fantasy Flight LCGs on the list? Sweet Christmas!

But yes, this is a great game. I’m not sure it ever got much love, and it saddens me that it’s now dead, but it’s such an interesting design. That it does a fine job of simplifying deck construction is just a bonus.

I appreciate that Star Wars feels like a game of high stakes gambling. The first few turns are slow and quiet as you work through your deck and build your forces, but once conflict erupts, everything tends to break wide open. Each decision you make has massive repercussions, as single large mistakes will lose you the game. Add in some actual bluffing and a ticking clock, and this is the simplified and streamlined (if safer and less wild) version of Doomtown: Reloaded, another card game that I absolutely love. 

But where I think Doomtown ultimately fails, Star Wars succeeds. The game doesn’t get bogged down in complexity, and instead feels relatively streamlined considering its medium weight. Every time I play this game, I’m impressed by how smart Eric Lang’s design is. I feel like he played a ton of Magic: The Gathering, and then he removed all the things that bothered him (and bothered me, too).

I think this game is overlooked and underplayed, and dare I say forgotten, but for my money, it’s absolutely worth revisiting. And played over and over again.

Please remember, this list will change. Check back occasionally to see how. If you have any questions or opinions of your own, let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Eric (Player One)

[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on DD Book 1 Chapter 4

• Jesus, this book is expensive.

• Like I assumed Chapter 3's one accomplishment-one-or-two-LIs-or-a-family-member thing would be a one-off, just to introduce us into the system/ease us into the story, but no...they've (sort of) repeated it this chapter. I was hoping they would spread out the accomplishments at least, but perhaps they want us to have at least most of the accomplishments worked out before we leave for London.

• I really hope this doesn't become a regular thing because it will only cause players to lose interest in the books for lack of affordability, in the long run. As it is the book largely caters to a niche audience...alienating that audience by having them lose of on half the story won't bode well for the book.

• Title: Best Foot Forward. Man, this one is easy. Of course it refers to dancing. And quite a lot of dancing is done this chapter, that's for sure!

• Sooo...the Earl has decided to introduce us into society in Edgewater with a garden party. Lots of hobnobbing, some dancing, a few games and you meet at least one 'suitor'.

• Did You Know: According to writer and garderner Kim Wilson, who wrote a book titled In the Garden with Jane Austen, gardens were viewed as markers of social status. In an interview with The Scotsman, she says, "each family's garden reflected not only their needs but, if they had enough money, their social aspirations". The poor cottagers of the time were mostly concerned with growing food and having a place to keep their chickens whereas wealthier families would have had kitchen gardens, but also often extensive pleasure grounds, which were places to display their wealth and taste. (from an article about Jane Austen's love for gardens in The Scotsman).

• Last chapter had us learning (optionally) the art of the fan from our Lady Grandmother, so it makes sense that what happens in this chapter is this:

Lololol just kidding.

• So the chapter begins with the MC and Briar talking. Briar is excited about the fact that a Duke (who, she reminds us, is "one step below a Prince Regent"), and the MC can either choose to be excited or very confident. Interestingly, if you're excited, she reminds you to "not forget your roots", which I think is a recurring theme in this book. After all, that was the last thing the MC's mother told her on her deathbed.

• Dominique enters the room and both she and Briar present us with a pretty pink lace dress that is sure to improve both our social standing and catch everyone's eye at this introductory garden party.

• It looks quite pretty, actually. But that's because I love lace.

• We head downwards, finding Annabelle performing for herself in the foyer and having a thoroughly good time.

• I'm wondering if I should have a tally for the number of times she says "a thousand pardons" (and for the record, I think her way of saying "fiddlesticks" is adorable xD).

• Our third "accomplishment" (and our second paid one) is presented to us here: dancing. It's not like the MC doesn't know dancing - she does - it's that the country dances (this might be a reference to the English Country Dances that were popular among all classes) are different from the ones Annabelle has learned, and indeed the popular ones for the aristocracy that are coming in from other places, like France.

• Annabelle mentions a couple of dances that were popular for its time: the cotillion (originated from France), the Quadrille (also from France), and La Boulanger (also French). If we choose the shoes the Lady Grandmother got made for us, Annabelle wastes no time in teaching us the last one.

• Annabelle speaks to us about the Quadrille being new. She isn't lying. The Quadrille became fashionable in England around 1815.

• Again, the good thing about the accomplishment scenes is that they're meant only for learning the skill, and Annabelle can develop in her individual scenes independent of this. Though I'm not sure if cramming both her individual scenes and her accomplishment scenes in the same chapter, two chapters in a row is a very good idea.

• Another marker of how new the MC is, lies in her interaction with Mr Woods (who is perhaps the only member of the housing staff we see at the party. Briar disappears completely after she's done her work of getting the MC ready, and Luke doesn't appear either). Mr Woods is surprised the MC deigns to speak to him in public, and Henrietta uses her interaction with him to point out how little she fits in, what with talk of the MC's "roots".

• Lol the exchange with the Earl if you bought the scene with the Lady Grandmother is quite funny haha. He speaks about Dominique drilling him into learning the names of all the families and the MC - saucy little shit that she is 😄 - looks at her fan and says "oddly enough, I know exactly what you mean".

• Ernest Sincliare makes his appearance after two chapters, and there's some banter about compliments if you're wearing the pretty lace dress I think. She teases him about it and he retorts that since he passes compliments so rarely, you can be sure that when he does he means every word. I can see that logic in that, Sinclair, but must you look like a child who has accidentally sucked on a particularly sour lemon when you do? 😂

• Throughout the chapter, you get references to the Season in London, and each time the MC by default takes it for granted that she will not be going there. Sinclaire hosts parties in London, Annabelle Parsons will be going there for the Season. Up until the end of the chapter, the vibe given overall is that she won't be seeing the two for a while now that they will be leaving Edgewater, and she won't.

• Did You Know: The London Season was developed to coincide with the sitting of parliament. During the months when parliament was in session, members of both Houses needed to be in attendance in London and came to the capital bringing their families with them. The London season grew up in response to this influx of upper class people who needed to be entertained.

Amanda Foreman, in her biography on Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, stated: "the aristocratic "season" came into existence not only to further the marriage market but to entertain the upper classes while they carried out their political duties. The season followed the rhythm of Parliament: it began in late October with the opening of the new session, and ended in June with the summer recess.” of course, later on this period of time gradually began to shift.

There also seems to be something called the "little season", but that seems more a fixture of the Victorian age than the Regency one (as mentioned in the article on the London Season from the Regency History website).

• The Earl and Mr Sinclaire share a more than cordial relationship: the Earl treats him with considerable warmth and Sinclaire shows a genuine respect and regard for him. You have a choice of asking him whether it is the Earl - or you - he has respect for (and the second option leads to a romantic moment), but it is what he says about the Earl, and his later interaction with Duke Richards that intrigues me:

What happened to Ledford Park that the Sinclaires almost lost it? Why does his statement towards the Duke about Ledford sound so accusatory? Why is there such a strong undercurrent within the latter interaction? I want to know what the story behind Ledford Park is, and how the Earl helped save it.

• One of my favourite Sinclaire-related sequences is an additional scene featuring the fan, as taught to us by the Dowager Countess the previous chapter. I tried the last two with Florence, the MC who has no interest in Sinclaire:

(the first four screenshots are from the "friends" option, and the next four from the "go away u suck" option)

Meanwhile, Marianne just goes in for the kill, fam. Homegirl didn't learn all those thot moves from Grandma for nothing 😄

I do like that extra bit of sexual tension in this scene. I'm not very into Sinclaire yet, but I can see the appeal he'd have for someone who would want the Mr Darcy type of Regency male LI character. You also see a fair bit of it in the scene where the MC asks him if it is her he respects:

• Sinclaire, dude, what is it with you and Italics??

• We now interrupt our regular programme with a game of Skittles. I'm not sure how many of you assumed Regency-era aristocrats were going to start passing around fruit-flavoured candy but I sure did 😂

• So this is skittles, played with nine pins. Very much one of the precursors to present day bowling from what I've read. Playing this game, and beating a champion like Mr Sinclaire at it will not only allow you to spend time alone with him, but also increase your social standing.

• It's simple enough: hit the red pin in the centre, and if you want you can distract the hell out of Sinclaire after he's fired his first shot.

• Twice this chapter, you see our resident comic relief for the day: Miss Theresa Oh-My-Smelling-Salts Sutton, and Mr Edmund Do-I-Look-Like-I-Care Malcaster, and I've decided I like them both (I wanted to add screenshots, but tumblr mobile sucks and won't let me put up more than ten images 😒)

• So we meet the "handsome", "titled" eligible bachelor our Lady Grandmother wanted us so badly to marry and...

...um. lol. ok.

Handsome? Charming? When was the last time you looked in the mirror dude, 20 years ago?

• You have a choice of how to respond after Duke Richards insults Mr. Sinclaire. You can either choose the Manners option, or you can choose to outright sass the man. If you don't sass him? The Lady Grandmother will do it for you.

• With the Manners option we find out that the Duke is 51 years old.

• With the non-manners option we find out that the dude likes saucy little minxes.

• @ the last panel in Florence's playthrough, Grandma even you can't deal with this dude for two minutes without nodding off. Why are you dumping him on my head then? (don't tell me. I know the answer 😐). See, this is why Florence will eventually kiss her inheritance goodbye lol.

• Jesus can this man just...speak two words without touching me??

• FINALLY. Miss Parsons. We choose a hiding place to get away from the Duke and then she offers to show us a new part of the estate: the lakefront. The great thing about gardens, esp in the writing of the time, was that it provided privacy for people at the time and allowed them to interact in ways they couldn't in public.

• Did you know: Austen herself used gardens pretty extensively in her writing. Mr Knightley confesses his love to Emma close to a shrubbery. Elizabeth jokes to her aunt about deciding to marry Mr Darcy after seeing the grounds in Pemberley. Fanny Price of Mansfield Park remarks, “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey falls in love with hyacinths, Marianne Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility has a passion for fallen leaves in an autumnal garden, while Anne Elliot of Persuasion is always inspired to think of poetry when enjoying the beauties of nature.

Susannah Fullerton in her essay "Jane Austen and her gardens" (for the website Garden Drum) says: "Many proposals [in Austen's novels] take place out of doors where lovers can find some privacy amongst the gravel walks and flower beds; garden improvements are planned by some of the characters; and her heroines all enjoy going into a garden to think". 

• Makes sense then that one of the special scenes of this largely "forbidden" relationship (if you choose for that to happen) would take place in greenery, close to a lake. If you notice, it's quite in keeping with the times that most of the romantic moments this chapter happen either in an isolated section of the gardens or while dancing, both of which allow for some measure of interaction between people interested in each other.

• Miss Parsons, the legendary hero of a Duck Prophecy xD

• I love her in this scene. Sure she gets shy when she receives attention she's not used to from us, and she's kind and educative and sweet, but she's also boisterous and passionate and not afraid to pull punches when she needs to (case in point: the shade she immediately throws Henrietta's way regarding her "tutelage"). This scene has her stealing cake from the party to feed the ducks, getting exhilarated from the race and her new friendship with the MC, and feeling extremely confused by her feelings if you speak to her romantically.

• The first half of this scene is pure fun, but the second inevitably shows the two women experiencing a sense of loss that their connection will be cut short - whether they are friends or whether this is a budding romance.

• What I do love about both the romance scenes are the extra touches added to both in the coding. In the skittles scene with Ernest, Marianne is spoken of by default as brushing her hand against his before giving him the ball, whereas Florence simply passes it to him.

• Even with Annabelle, if you acquire romance points with her, the ending of that scene is written quite differently:

I absolutely love this part of the scene. And given that very often the female LI is treated like just the default best friend with some stray romance options attached, it really does feel good to have that sexual tension acknowledged.

• Florence, babe, what is it with you and Italics??

• TIME TO PUT ON OUR DANCING SHOES GUYS (if we bought them).

• So we're doing a dance called La Boulanger...which kinda looks like this:

You dance in a circle, then keep switching partners.

• Did You Know: that the Boulanger was one of the very few dances mentioned by name in Jane Austen's novels? (Pride and Prejudice Chapter 3. I think the reel is mentioned in another).

• I have two left feet unless someone is heavily choreographing a flash mob and spends ages teaching me the steps lol so this looks pretty complicated to me 😂

• You have an option of choosing between Mr Sinclaire, Miss Parsons and Duke Richards. The first two are the usual you'd expect from romantic dance scenes if you choose either of the first two, impressing them with your dance moves and then catching their eye when you're dancing with Edmund, your stepbrother. With Miss Parsons there is an additional show of boldness in that there is a danger of making their affections public.

• The Duke Richards option, which I managed to see thanks to @i-dream-so-i-write ...seems pretty okay actually. He doesn't seem as handsy and creepy as he does in our first meeting (there is a moment where his "hands skim your waist" though, and he tells us we've been apart too long [a couple seconds, tops]), but he's also still talking our ears off. If anyone is interested in seeing it, I can attach the screenshots!

• This man is so freaking extra I can't even.

• The chapter ends with the Earl announcing that he is changing his will, and that the MC is heiress to Edgewater Estate now, which makes it essential for her, then, to make her debut at the London Season, and begin searching for prospective bridegrooms.

• There is a catch though. You get the inheritance if you marry someone of suitable rank. In short...at this point in the story, Marianne is doing alright, but Florence is well and truly screwed until there is a twist somewhere (and surely there will be at some point). Sorry Florence.

• Henrietta has something up her sleeve, and Edmund, who was expecting to inherit, is sad and tells the MC so. You get a relationship point with him if you tell him you understand how it must feel, but he reiterates that you probably won't. We have time, we can still get this dude (and his palpitating fiancée) on our side. Maybe.

• Looks like we'll be starting our journey to London straightaway, and making our debut in London at Mr Sinclaire's party by Chapter 6. Alsooo from the spoilery chapter descriptions it looks like Mr. Marlcaster will try tripping us up at least once, or more than once. Also looks like we have two more skills on our accomplishment board to learn. So far we've gotten needlework, music and dancing - we now need to see what the other two are. I THINK one of them is painting.

General Thoughts:

• Good chapter. It's a little slow which is fine, because I think all the action will actually happen during the London Season instead. We meet only two suitors, one of whom we have already met in the first chapter.

• I feel like the extra scenes that we'll get with the unlocked accomplishments will include other styles of the same art. We initially learn the piano, but I feel like unlocking it will lead to extra scenes with other instruments, and unlocking the dancing shoes will show us extra scenes of Annabelle teaching us other dances (the waltzes, the reel, etc). I'm not entirely sure about this, it's just a theory I have. I mean, once we're in London we'll need to learn waltzes and the minuet and stuff.

• Luke doesn't make an appearance this chapter, but then again nor does Briar as soon as the MC gets ready. I think we'll see more of him now that we will be traveling to London.

• Donna Hatch's (who writes a ton of historical romances, esp Regency) essay on the London Season lists the months active in each year for it, and in 1816 it was from February to July. In the story it's now the beginning of April. Usually it's best to go at the very start if you're looking for marriage prospects, but given the MC's particular circumstances this time of the season isn't too bad either I'd reckon.

• Remember how I told you guys last chapter about the inclusion of Mary Brunton's Self Control? And how she criticizes the popular "rake" figure in Regency fiction? I'm not sure Duke Richards adheres completely to how rakes were depicted at the time, but he definitely does seem to be channeling Colonel Hargrave a little here.

• I wonder what the Duke seems to be hiding. Besides of course the truth of his equation with Sinclaire. Why is he so focused on this new woman? I think there might be more to this. I also can't wait to see the other suitors, like the viscount and Mr Chambers.

• I do like how we learn more about Sinclaire and Annabelle here. Annabelle largely has the role that Hana had in TRR, and there are some similarities - but she also has a lot more wiggle-room and seems to be bolder and a little more outgoing. She has grown up with the limitations placed on women at the time, but unlike Hana, hasn't faced as many restrictions in her upbringing.

• As I've mentioned before, I love Annabelle and I love that they're trying to do a better job of her. But I'm not entirely sure if cramming two separate scenes of hers in single chapters of an already expensive book is a wise choice, or if it will harm her development in the long run because people find it too expensive to spend on her. IMO the accomplishment scenes should be a little further spread out in the books.

• Now that the MC is going to be a future Countess, what is in store for her? In her rightful home Edgewater, she has a limited audience and not as much expectation to live up to...what will become of her now that she will be participating in the Season in London? Guess we'll find out today, or in the coming weeks xD

• Tagging: @boneandfur @liamraines @thespiritpanda @alanakusumastan @ernestsinclairs @mrsthomashunt @private-investigator-nazario @bcdollplace @queenodysseia @mcbangle

If you'd like to be tagged in one of the QTs, please let me know!

[thats-pucking-amazing]

Glasses (Colton Parayko)

So I was just inspired with this one it wasn’t requested. I hope y’all like it anyway!

Up Next: Jimmy Vesey

Warnings: optometrists...baseball

Requests: Open!

“It’s not my fault, Colton! There is NO way that the average person could see that sign.”

“Y/N…” He smothered a laugh and then struggled to keep a straight face. “The average person can very easily see a giant sign that says ‘Enter Here’.”

You tried to remain indignant, though you were beginning to lighten up. It was extremely hard to have any sort of negative emotion directed at your lovable boyfriend, Colton Parayko. You kept up the act for your sake, though. “Do you have any proof that the average person can find it?”

“I found it. Vladdy found it. Hu-”

“You’re all NHL stars. It doesn’t count.” You interrupted.

He arched a brow. “The caterers all found it. So did the press.”

“Who even asked you?” But your smile negated the tone used.

He wrapped his arm around you and began leading you towards the building entrance. “Maybe you should consider getting your eyes checked?”

“Nope. My eyes are fine. This was just an off day for me.”

He caressed the hip where his hand was resting. “Whatever you say, Doll. Now let’s go eat some barbeque so we can get this charity ball game started.”

The late lunch consisted of things you’d expect at a traditional backyard barbeque, things like hamburgers, hot dogs, barbeque, potato salad, and various fruits and vegetables. The only difference was that this meal was catered and served on fancy plates, but hey, who were you to complain?

After everyone was finished and the plates had been collected, everyone was gathered together before being split into groups for the baseball game. Thankfully, Colton was on your team. After a quick exchange of trash talking, a bunch of pictures, and a coin toss, your team was up to bat.

Alex had been elected as pitcher for the opposing side and it was quickly evident as to why, when he struck out the first two batters with no issue. Then his wife came up to bat. As terrible as it was you were secretly wishing that Jayne would strike out so there would be no chance of you going this inning, but of course that didn’t happen. A gentle pitch was sent into the outfield by Jayne who made it all the way to second. Which meant you were up. Great.

“Good luck, Doll!” Colton called.

You swung the bat a few times as a warm-up and then got into position. You’d played softball for three years. This was nothing. Just keep your eye on the b-”

“Strike!” You whipped your head around to see the ball firmly in Jake’s catcher’s mitt (the baseball kind this time). You narrowed your eyes (ok squinted) and saw the blur of white coming at you this time. Swinging hard you shockingly caught a piece and sent it flying up in the infield. You ran for first just in case, but it was proved unnecessary when Carter caught it.

“Wow, Hutts!” You yelled. “I thought we were friends!”

“All’s fair in love and baseball, Y/N!”

Colton tossed you a glove, “That’s not how that quote goes.”

“Whatever college boy.”

Colton rolled his eyes and then pulled you into the outfield with him. “It was a good hit. I’m proud of you.”

“If it was a good hit, I wouldn’t have gotten out.” You pouted. It really wasn’t the end of the world, but you were extremely competitive...so it kinda was.

Colton gave you a quick kiss and then looked you in the eyes. “Stop being so hard on yourself. It’s just for fun.”

The next three innings went rather quickly and your team was up by three in the bottom of the fifth. There were supposed to be seven innings so not a shabby lead. You were in the outfield again when you heard the crack of a bat. You tried to focus on the ball but couldn’t see anything.

“Right, Doll. Right!” You heard Colton yell. You looked to the right just as the ball dropped about a foot from you. Refusing to be discouraged you quickly threw it to Yana who tagged out Carter as he tried to slide into second.

“Nice save Y/N!”

You were mad, though. “I should have caught that.”

“You can’t catch them all.”

You snorted. “Tell that to the Pokemon players. That’s the entire goal.”

Colton laughed loudly before leading you back to the dugout, holding your hand in his the whole time.

When the game was all said and done you had won by a solid one run. Not quite the victory you were looking for, but a victory nonetheless. After waving goodbye to everyone, Colton led you back towards his car.

“That was fun,” You admitted. “It was better because we won…”

He chuckled and then gave you a serious look, “Can we talk about something?”

“Yeah. What’s on your mind?” Your brain was racing with potential topics but coming up blank.

“When that ball fell-” You groaned. “Let me finish. When that ball fell, did you see it coming before I yelled?”

“Of course.” You gave an unconvincing laugh.

“Y/N...this is serious. If you can’t see things you need to go and see an eye doctor. First the sign and then the ball. If it continues you could end up hurting yourself.”

“I’m fine!” You shot him what you considered a convincing smile. “I’m just having an off-day. I don’t need glasses. My vision is perfect.”

“It would mean a lot to me if you would go and get it checked out, just in case. I’ll constantly worry otherwise.”

You groaned. “Colton! Why do you have to give a low blow like that?!”

“Please, Doll?”

“Fine. But I won’t like it.” He lifted your hands where they were clasped on the console and pressed a kiss to the back of yours.

“Thank you.”

Three days later you were unhappily seated next to Colton on the ugly floral sofa in the local optometrists office. You hated eye doctors. Their stupid eye doctor office smell. Their stupid need to shine bright lights and put drops in your eyes. Stu-

Your internal ranting was interrupted by the lady calling for you. You trudged over to her and looked back at Colton, who shot you a smile and a little finger wave before turning back to his book. What a supportive boyfriend.

The doctor had successfully trapped you in her chair of torture and after a few preliminary questions and tests brought out the big guns.

“One or two?” She flipped the slides back and forth a few times. “One or two?”

This continued on for far too long for your liking. But then she was shining what was basically the sun into your eye, so you would have gladly traded back to the slides. After what seemed like an eternity later, the bully had dropped a few drops of what you were sure was acid in your eyes, if the burning sensation told you anything.

“The sting should go away shortly.” She said briskly. She rolled her chair away from you before seriously looking at you. “What I’m about to tell you probably won’t come as a surprise, but you definitely need glasses. I’m actually really shocked that it hasn’t become a bigger issue than that by now. Let’s head out to the lobby and you can pick out some frames with the secretary.”

You followed her out of the room with your head hanging the whole way. The doctor handed the secretary a slip and after shaking your hand, headed back down the hall toward her office.

Colton came up to stand next to you. “How was it?”

You looked up at him with tear filled eyes. “I have to get glasses!” You whimpered.

“Doll…” He wrapped you in a hug. “I promise glasses aren’t that bad. Why don’t we pick out some frames and then we can go out to dinner at Bailey’s?”

“My pupils are dilated. I’m not supposed to expose them to bright light.” You muttered.

“We can ask them to dim the lights if they’re too powerful.”

“Fine.” You quickly chose a pair of frames and after giving the secretary your information, headed out.

It was very childish to pout about glasses, you knew that. You didn’t care though. Having perfect vision was the one thing you could hold over your siblings (and Colton). So you fully intended to be mad for at least another twenty minutes. Or until your food came out. Or Colton said something cute. Who knew what would come first, honestly.

A week later you received the dreaded phone call that your glasses had arrived and could be picked up anytime. You relayed the joyful news to Colton who offered to drive you over to the office.

“Your eyes may hurt a bit trying to adjust.” He explained on the drive over. He had also worn his glasses instead of the usual contacts in order to offer you support. “Also now you can just look out the window and enjoy seeing everything clearly.”

You wanted so badly to just be mad, but him saying sweet things like that made it so difficult! “I love you!” You blurted. He whipped his head around to look at you while you smacked a hand over your mouth.

“What?” This was the first time either of you had ever said the ‘L word’.

You took a deep breath and put it all out there. “I love you.” You nodded. “I seriously love you Colton. You’re such a genuinely good man. You put others before yourself, you deal with my petty attitude and mood swings, you are passionate about what you do…” You trailed off. “I don’t know how I didn’t realize it before now.”

He pulled into the parking lot and swung into a space. “You love me?” He had a shocked, almost blank expression...like his brain was trying to process everything.

“Yes. I love you.” You opened your door. “I’ll be back. I’m going to go get my stupid glasses.” You headed into the building with a bounce in your step. You were in love...what a wild concept.

After they made sure your frames fit and you were pleased with them, you headed back outside. Though you hated to admit it, you were shocked at how clear things really were. Busy admiring the signs for the restaurants across the street you were completely blindsided by Colton grabbing you.

Before you knew how to react you were pressed against the side of his car and his lips were prying yours open. You readily sank into the kiss, threading your fingers through his soft blond hair. You weren’t sure how long the two of you made out in the parking lot of your eye doctor, in plain sight of anyone who wanted to walk by or look out the window of their car...but it was irrelevant.

The kisses eventually tapered off and Colton pulled back to look at you. His cheeks were rosy and his lips swollen, which just made you want to kiss him again.

“Hi.” He said. “You look cute with your glasses.”

You giggled, “You look cute with yours on, too.”

He looked at you seriously and then took a deep breath. “I love you, too. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away. I just wasn’t really prepared for you to say it then and I-”

“It’s alright, Colton.” You interrupted. “I kinda noticed that you were surprised.”

“But I really do love you.” He said as the two of you got into the car. “I’m not just saying it because you did. I love you.”

You smiled at him and interlocked your hands. “Can we get milkshakes? You know as a, “We both declared our love for one another” and “Y/N just go glasses” kind of reward.”

“I don’t see why not. I love you.” He repeated.

You smirked. “I know.”

He groaned, “We are not starting that this early!”

Let me know if y’all see any blazin’ errors!!