#ds is barely in the top 10

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

i think badge arcade cycled through all the rhythm heaven badges so that sucks. didn't see some sets at all-

[onebizarrekai]

Fic Author Interview

I've been tagged by @unmaskedcardinal! been a while since I talked about any of this stuff, particularly as a very inconsistent fic poster haha

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

the visible number linked to my account is currently 60, no idea if this is counting the bizarre saga from my archive account or not. technically I've posted more, but they aren't part of that number.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

567,314.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

ibvs season 1 & season 2 are (thankfully) the top two on my account, considering they're… well. ibvs.

number 3 is formal humiliation, a utmv fic back in 2019 where I wrote 3 oneshots all with different pairs surrounding the same idea. it's uh, it's something.

4 is behave, a saiouma despair disease fic I wrote sort of ironically in 2020. I did not realize this weird oneshot would be the thing that jumpstarted my kage obsession.

5, for some reason, is glow, a ds fic I wrote in 2019. I do not know why this is the ds fic with the most kudos. I am just really glad that it's not one of the ones I wrote in 2018.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

lately I have been trying to respond to more comments, if they're on a recent enough story and I can think of a way to answer.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

most of the fics I've written right now have been Random Spot In Time fics with no articulate ending, but game over is pretty edgy. I think. I've written a similarly edgy ending but it's in an anonymous fic. it occurs to me that edgy doesn't necessarily mean angst, but it can.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

somehow everyone lived happily ever after in the bizarre saga, no f'ing idea how they managed that

7. Do you write crossovers?

I have. I have as comedies. I tend to take a bunch of guys and put them in a new setting that they definitely shouldn't be in. poopenster high is an example of this, but none of that has ever touched the internet and I haven't touched it in like 2 years.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

oh my god like. maybe once? maybe? I don't even think it counted as hate. I think like several years ago some rando complained that season 2 of ibvs was trying too hard to be funny. I barely remember what it actually said, I just remember it being annoying.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

when I was in my v3 phase I wrote some, I think "feelings with smut" describes most of it decently. the nature of the kcu meant it was like, almost all trippy.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I dunno. I hope not. I think I've had people repost stuff without permission.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

probably?? when I was a teen I had people say they wanted to translate my utmv fics, I don't know which ones actually followed through anymore.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

(sigh) yes.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

oh god, I think I honestly just phase around stuff. I don't think I've ever permanently latched onto a pair, it's just that I've had fandoms and I have pairs that I've ended up liking in them and they just sort of stay that way even if stop paying attention to the fandom. I like most ships that happens to fit into my favorite criteria (that being protagonist/morally ambiguous deuteragonist or antagonist). if you asked me what my favorite series is, it would be an easier question. it's zelda. but I don't really have any permanent favorite ships in zelda.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

this is a scary question because I have a number of major wips that I want to get back into once I get back into writing and I refuse to accept that they may not get finished. I don't know. moose hill? for a little while I wanted to see if I could come up with a whole side story, but it is extremely unlikely that will happen. maybe a better example is a continuation of shuichi and kage's blackout adventure, which is pretty low on the priority list for if my brain every gets infected by danganronpa again.

15. What are your writing strengths?

the jokes are very important. I put my heart and soul into them. I hope that people can see my vision when I tell them.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

actually doing the writing getting from point A to point B. I come up with this whole outline and realize there's 2000 words of empty space that needs to happen. and it's like dull shit, too. just plain old events. like look at them, it's the lunching hours again. because lunch is a thing that happens every day. is it redundant to have lunch too many times? it can't possibly! it's the only time they can talk to each other! do I need to pan the camera again because this 3 sentence exchange has dragged on for too long? help

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

makes sense to me. or like, depends on the context. if the POV is a character who can speak the language, the reader should probably get to know what they're saying (think like, subtitled sections of a movie), unless it's really easy to decipher. but if the POV can't understand it, the reader shouldn't necessarily know. it gets more complicated if it takes place in a setting where they should logically be speaking a language that is not english for example. like, if they're in a country where they are not speaking english but the fic is in english. it wouldn't really make sense to insert interjections in their home language because they're not speaking english in the first place. I guess it all depends on what you're trying to convey.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

sonic. does it count. I started writing once I was old enough to type. but I think the first story I ever put online was zelda.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

on occasion I entertain the idea of writing for corpse party, but that's probably not going to happen.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I'm going to not include that one anonymous fic and my pile of unfinished longfic wips that I've been proud of in past years is way too big so… maybe game over?? it's complicated. I have a ton of comedy pieces that I love but they're just… not completed!!

[ feel free to fill this out yourself if you're a fic writer! ]

[mewtwowarrior]

In honor of Tron Day, here's my project for my Tron OC Ark that I've been working on or a while now!

I used this base with some modifications to it for everything:

Iyzel Reaar's F2U Female Ref Base

The main modifications I did were to mirror half of it so I didn't have to figure out how to draw the circuits twice, erase certain features I'm not sure Basic programs have, and make the lines solid.

I used Windows 11 Paint's line and shape tools to draw the circuits, with adding a few pixels here and there when needed.

I used the GNU Image Manipulation Program for a lot of the color editing I did and for layering the textures.

-

The first two are Ark's base circuits, along with the red rectified version of them for Mars.

I used my friend @quesadillawizard's art and design for Ark - Ark's circuits are based off ones from the DS version of Evolution and Wolfy added more features to them.

I used the reference he made for me to make the circuits and referenced this sketch as well.

-

The next two are the Tron/Renegade circuits from Uprising, in both gray and black, as seen in the show.

@tucatalog was super helpful for references!

I mainly used two posts of theirs:

I looked at a few others as well, but I have a list of 50+ of their posts and were flipping between them, so I'm not entirely sure which others I used.

-

The next two are Grid scar versions of the Tron/Renegade circuits.

In Ark's backstory, she was captured and tortured by the Occupation. I've played around with different scar configurations for her and I love the idea of them literally carving the Tron circuits out/off of her.

I decided to do a little something different for the scars, I've tried another technique that wasn't much fun, and I'm not sure how to mimic the scars from Uprising.

So, I took some textures I got from Etsy and layered them over each other to try to make something interesting.

Textures I used:

Gemstone Crush

Iridescent Textures

Glassy Textures

Iridescent Glass

Sparkly Glitter

Fake Glitter Particles

I'm not sure if most of these came through, I figured out the glitter ones did a lot of the heavy lifting I wanted, so they're the most visible ones and the ones on top.

Anyway, one is just the Renegade scars and the other is the scars overlaid on Ark's circuits.

-

The last two are the circuits and scars over a skintone for circumstances when Ark ends up in the User world.

I like the thought of program circuits being barely visible in the User world, with just a hint of faint iridescence when the light hits them just right.

One of the textures from this pack fit my idea fairly well, so that's what I used:

Iridescent Textures

The scars are the ones I made earlier with a skin tone color overlay to make them blend in.

This is what I started this project for, as I wanted a visual for an RP and a potential fic.

-

I've done a smaller scale version of this before, that time I made the scars by repeatedly scribbling over the circuits with multiple different colors, which hurt my hand, lol:

-

Anyway, that's my project! It's not perfect, but I'm pretty pleased with how it came out!

A big thanks to @quesadillawizard and @proto-actual for looking them over!

Happy Tron Day!

[wfagamerants]

With my Jamboree hype still in full force, I decided to revisit both previous Switch Mario Parties as a refresher, with some 3, 6, Star Rush and Top 100 on the side to help with some things I wanted to compare.

Mario Party is one of my favorite series in anything and I have been vocal about my relationship with the Switch games being rocky. I was curious to see if the benefit of hindsight changed my views on them.

The answer is one No and one Yes, with some no sprinkled in.

Super Mario Party

This is the big one for me.

From the Hudson games, to the first five NDCube titles, I unironically enjoyed every previous entry, as is well known with all the cheerleading I do for 10 and Star Rush in particular and even Island Tour has some good stuff well worth experiencing.

With all that in mind, it probably comes as a surprise THIS is the one Mario Party I genuinely can’t stand and a revisit did not change my mind one bit.

Not like I didn’t try either, even with my enjoyment of the other NDCube games, of course I was excited to see the old formula back, but that only means so much when it doesn’t do it well and that’s what I really do think is the case here.

Going point by point, as I like to do, I wanna start with one thing I do find praiseworthy…despite not liking it that much, the character roster.

Mario Party usually doesn’t have much going on in terms big roster numbers, so to see one push so far is genuinely refreshing and they did need to put work into it, given the amount of characters that needed to be updated (Hammer Bro and Dry Bones) or never had a playable MP outing period (Pom Pom, Goomba, Monty) not even mentioning all examples here, that stuff is commendable.

I’m just personally not that big on the selection. Losing the Toads really hurts and I am generally more in favor of less mook centric rosters, even if I like all the ones on offer. Pom Pom to me, even as someone who loves the boss characters like the Koopalings, King Boo, Petey, King Bob-omb, etc, is just a really lame and unappealing character, no better than Boom Boom who at least had Strikers to make me warm up to him.

Bowser being playable is also iffy for me. I love the big guy, but taking him out of his usual role has some very drastic consequences in function and flavor, which I am very happy Jamboree is addressing, to give us the best of both worlds, but more on that later.

Objectively, this is a good roster, it’s just very not for me.

Another thing I find praiseworthy and do enjoy is the hub. Dropping regular main menus in favor of an interactive hub where you can walk around and chat with characters is a cute concept I want to return.

Once we get to the actual board gameplay though, the cracks start to show right away.

Everyone already complained about it, even when the game was new and generally praised, but yeah. 4 boards is an absolutely abysmal number and that could at least be salvageable if they were all good and fun to play on but….you already know where this is going.

I will say, I do love the themes. As much as I think the previous games did more with the NSMB tropes than they are given credit for, it’s great to go back to something more original again. They are cool themes, they are visually great, that stuff all works out.

Too bad they’re really bad boards.

It’s been talked about to death, but yeah, the boards are incredibly tiny and small boards don’t even need to be bad. DS had smaller boards and did such a good job with them you barely felt it, on top of to me, being a Top 5 Mario Party.

Not only are Super’s boards even smaller than the ones for the game that HAD to scale them back, but they are also very linear, with little in the way of interesting gimmicks or alternate routes.

You can call most MP boards, aside from deliberately linear ones like Pagoda Peak, basically big circles or squares. That’s fine, they are BOARDS after all, it’s more what you can do on them that matters and makes you not even notice that.

King Bob-omb’s Powderkeg mine feels like the closest to  an aversion to this and even it just amounts to choosing either the smaller circle or the larger circle, to run in circles in. There is simply nothing interesting going on and the events are too basic and lame to distract from it.

What doesn’t help is that Super made some changes to fundamental aspects of MP we take for granted and it really says a lot about how well thought out those elements were.

For one thing, the Dice has been reduced from a 1-10 to a 1-6. This was already a thing in 9 and 10, but in those games you were all in the same vehicle and progressed together, it was way more about wanting the best result out of your current situation. In Super, being a classic style MP again, it just makes progression feel fundamentally more sluggish, since cutting down the dice numbers so hard means you will go by nature, much slower and the odds of barely going anywhere are way higher.

There is also just the general lack of truly threatening obstacles on the boards. This especially shows with Bowser being playable. Gimmicks like him being on the board like MP1 and MP4’s Bowser’s Gnarly Party are off the table, as is him having his own board or game specific ideas like Bowser Time in MP7. Instead of Bowser Spaces we now have Bad Luck spaces.

They Suck. Really hard.

The penalties are just not threatening and the game feels rigged to prioritize the tamest one. The coin penalties barely hurt, losing an item is really not that big a deal here, the star moving is rarely anything but a non-punishment, etc. They do get a bit more punishing during the last 3 turns, but not only does that window give them little time to come into play, but even losing a star is less of a big deal than it would usually be, for one particular reason.

The economy in SMP is totally out of whack. 

Now second and third place also get coin rewards in minigames, which WAS a thing in 9 and 10 as well, but in those games that had more of a purpose, given the much more limited control during board play for everyone. In a classic Mario Party though, this already has implications and it only gets worse with other elements thrown in.

It just doesn’t feel that rewarding to be good at minigames,  because even if you play well, you may not even build up much of a lead, with Hidden Blocks, Hidden Block items and Lucky Spaces that can give coin rewards in abundance and ALL that is combined with how little everything costs.

Stars cost only 10 coins and combined with how small the boards are, getting to one rarely feels like a hassle. Even stealing a star only costs 30 coins and items are remarkably cheap and that’s on top of there being so few events that really threaten your coin count. King Bob-omb is really the only one that makes a real attempt there.

All of that results in really dull board play. More than ever the game really is all about the dice roll, with nothing from the board layout, to events, to the items, doing anything interesting to let you strategize or anything like that.

There’s also the small annoyance of them finding it necessary to give you needless tutorials and tips, like when you open the map or getting an item for the first time, which you can’t disable. 

On a final note for the board play are the allies and ally spaces, as well as custom dice, all taken from Star Rush. A lot of people dislike them, but I do find their implementation to be the most interesting thing on SMP’s boards. Supremely unbalanced, it needs another pass there, but I can see interesting potential for it in a MP with boards of more substance.

There is also Partner Party, which is essentially the Star Rush mode of the game and as Star Rush fan, I should love it.

Eh.

I appreciate the thought, but you can’t do free for alls, There are way fewer opportunities to get and especially steal allies and the boards continue to be void of anything interesting. Even just playing the 4 boards it had once each, with the minimum Turn count of 10, felt like a slog.

Then there are the minigames, which I often see praise for and honestly, they’re okay enough, but I do find the overall selection pretty meh.

It has genuine highlights, Slaperazi, Croozin’ For A Broozin’, Don’t Wake Wiggler and Fuzzy Flight School all being ones I really like for instance and I don’t hate the motion controls, I think they work fine.

It’s really not so much that there are a lot of bad minigames and more that it misses types I really like. There are no platforming minigames, no brawling minigames where you just punch and kick other players off of a platform, only one mashing minigame, etc. That’s on top of the fact that I feel a lot of the rumble minigames are really samey. There are like three separate minigames where you use the rumble to select the biggest/most of the thing you are meant to get.

There is also a general major sense of reduced player interactivity that plays into this and the most blatant example of it for me is comparing Hammer Drop from Mario Party 1 (and Superstars) to Super’s very own Lightning Round.

They are very similar coin minigames, but there is a major difference that sets them apart. While the hammers and lightning strikes both aren’t much of a threat, Hammer Drop lets you jump to swipe the incoming coins and coin bags, even jumping on opponents and hindering them or even ground pound opponents to hold them back. In Lightning Round, that interactive element doesn’t exist and everyone is just slowly running to the coins, while dodging total non-obstacles.

That example sums up a lot of why I find SMP’s minigame selection to be just not as interesting as the rest of the series and it also contributes to a stylistic difference I am not fond of at all.

I always loved Mario Party for being a more zany kind of Mario game, putting the characters in all kinds of wacky scenarios and to be fair, Super isn’t FULLY devoid of it. It’s still a rare time you see, say, Peach, helplessly chased by a giant Wiggler or Broozer army entirely as a gag at her expense one moment and then the next she pilots a big Sidestepper mech to whack Bowser with hammers with. That stuff is just awesome.

Super just has very little of it, due to the lack of interesting board gimmicks and action-heavy minigames and even what is there is heavily scaled back. Like characters just go into their dizzy animations when a Bob-omb blows up on them, rather than flying off-screen and said Sidestepper mech minigame just flings the characters away with a generic flail the game uses for almost every single negative event, as opposed to the other MPs which will just totally crush the character.

Is it pure flavor? Yeah, but I like flavor, flavor is good. MP just has a particular personality to it that Super doesn’t capture. It has plenty of personality in other areas, but it is missing a particular aspect I thought helped make the games really energetic, competitive and cartoonishly charming. It’s as if Mario took a page out of Wario’s playbook to be more wacky and I miss that.

Having said all that, one area the game does quite well in are the side modes. Champions Road is a perfectly functional ‘’Play all the Minigames’’ mode and Toad’s Rec Room hosts some minigames I honestly wish had regular play counterparts.

River Survival is decent, not something you can go back to much, but it’s a neat concept that at its hardest, does offer a challenge and its own minigames are pretty enjoyable for the most part.

Sound Stage meanwhile is the big star of Super as a whole for me. I love the rhythm minigame approach, there is a great energy to it, it’s got some lovely charm with all the dance animations for the cast (Waluigi’s moonwalk being the best, just sayin’), it’s just a good time. At most I wish I found the music more catchy, but it does its job at being fun to play along with.

I didn’t mean to be as negative as this likely came across, but it is just how it is. While it has some content I really like and ideas I think have potential, SMP on the whole I just do not like at all. It brought back the classic formula, while totally butchering it and it’s just all around lacking in so many things I like about the series. I went back to it to see if time and benefit of hindsight changed my mind and sadly no, if anything I have only grown to dislike it more.

Mario Party Superstars

By contrast, Superstars won me over on several things I was iffy on. I still have my gripes, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

One not pleasant surprise since the game came out, to start similarly to the Super section, is the roster. It’s small, it’s lame, we all know that. Of course character choice rarely affects anything in MP, but as I said, flavor is good and besides: When a series makes this much money and makes so heavy use of reused models, animations and voice clips across games, I do expect it to at least be able to compete with games that came out in the 2000s in terms of content in all places.

Speaking of which, this game is a bit funny to evaluate because it is all remakes of older content, but there is still plenty to talk about.

First there are the boards, five in total. Only one more than Super in terms of quantity, but they are all so much better than all of Super’s boards combined that they may as well be four boards more than Super had. That said a 6th board would have been appreciated, ideally they wouldn’t have just a N64 focus, but if they really wanna then at least give 3 a second board.

The board selection itself is quite pleasing. It has Horror Land so that alone is already a slam dunk, but there is a good quality level all around. The lack of a proper finale board is felt and I would have rather had a second MP3 board than two from MP1, simply because the former has much more interesting board design, but as it is, it’s fine.

Peach’s Birthday Cake made me roll my eyes when I saw it, but it turned out to be the most pleasant surprise of the whole game. The addition of items, a shortcut ramp and Bowser also doubling as a short-cut, if with a penalty, along with the lottery being moved, makes getting around and actually getting stars is far smoother and quicker. This also makes star stealing Piranha Plants far more of a threat, since there actually is something to steal now and that’s on top of there also being coin stealing Piranha Plants now.

This game turned what I thought was easily the worst Hudson era board and turned it into my second favorite one in this game. I am still stunned to this day and the improvements made to it show some really smart thinking that makes me optimistic for Jamboree’s new original boards.

The other boards haven’t seen any major changes and that’s perfectly fine. Playing Yoshi’s Tropical Island with items is a fun new experience though.

The actual board play has improved a lot, on top of playing on actually good boards, the coin distribution after minigames has been reworked to give the winner 10 coins again instead of only 8, with second and third only getting 2 and 3 respectively, making minigame wins far more of a benefit to build up a lead again. Stars are also back to the usual 20 coins and Bowser is back and as punishing as his spaces always are, so seeing harsh loses through that and the returning Chance Time brings back a ton of value to coins and stars that they largely lost in Super.

One new addition that’s consistent across all boards is Lucky Spaces, functioning the  same as in Super. The coin and item rewards you get from those can be really extreme and coupled with how many of these spaces there are, it gives the game a pretty chaotic feeling at times. For this particular game, I’m cool with it for this game, but ideally future games cool it a bit with these things.

There are also some nice QoL additions that once again, give me a lot of confidence for Jamboree. The generally increased game speed is a plus. Getting to choose between random Bonus Stars and the classic three is a feature that always should have been there. Getting to save up to 8 sessions, even online ones, is incredible and having the option to speed up board event scenes is a godsend for ones you may see many times in a row.

So yeah, the board game portion to me is a total hit in this game. The minigames are where I get more mixed. Not counting item minigames there are 100 in total and over half of those were already in Top 100. Not a bad thing by itself, but it does make some choices made bother me even more. Also not a fan of the N64 focus on the minigames as well, since it not only throws out a lot of good minigames, but it also screws over the GameCube and Wii & Wii U minigame packs, which would have been really cool options with a bigger selection.

Despite the latter gripe, I think the selection is….okay. It has it’s winners, particularly Hot Rope Jump and Dungeon Duos, but also some really notable stinkers like Spin Doctor, which wasn’t even in Top 100, so they deliberately picked that over something like Camp Ukiki or Apes of Wrath from the same game, genuinely bewildering. Duel Minigames in general really got the short end of the stick with only 5 in total and of all things, they pick stuff like Spin Doctor (which is at least okay) or Mass Meteor (one of MP6’s few stinkers).

Top 100 wasn’t perfect in that regard either, but I found its overall selection way more consistently solid and satisfying.That and bringing back certain minigames a third time just baffles me. Piranha’s Pursuit is a really bad minigame in all its incarnations, that can way too easily turn into a free win for the one player. It was a weird choice in Top 100, but bringing it back again in Superstars, without any changes for the better, really pushes it.

It’s still largely a good selection, it’s just easy to see the cracks when you have older versions to compare these games to and some did get butchered a bit. Tidal Toss’ hitboxes for the biggest waves not matching the visuals in particular being a NASTY example.

The characters also make far more grunts in many of the minigames and...yeah they can get pretty insufferable, especially with how small the pool of voice clips in this game is, compared to say, MP10, which had two minutes worth of clips for everyone.

There is also a case where the game still feels like holds back on bit on Mario Party’s old personality, with alterations to some minigames, for some examples:

You don’t see losing players bounce away in the lava anymore in Bumper Balls, they just vanish.

Several minigames replace more distinct damage poses with the generic flail, even if the more appropriate animation is elsewhere in Superstars.

The characters just lamely fall off the record in Dizzy Dancing, instead of crashing into the walls.

Squared Away lost it’s ending animation, which was already a thing in Top 100, the only time it took something like that away, but that had an excuse due to it using a generic minigame results screen like the other NDCube games did before.

Even taking the slapstick aside, replaying 3 in particular really revealed how many small things got cut for more generic animations. Hide and Sneak in particular has the characters just all do a heads down ducking pose, as opposed to the original where everyone had a distinct one, like DK adjusting his tie or Mario lying down.

Again, all this is flavor, but it sticks out even more when you are remaking content and if the roster is gonna be that small, going the extra mile on a few things would be appreciated.

It feels weird too, because the game oozes personality in so many other areas.

The title screens are all lovely.

The board ending pics and loser elimination sequences at the end of a round are very classic Mario Party.

The way characters literally pull out maps when you study the board map is amazing.

The dismayed reactions everyone has when landing on a Bowser space are great.

The Stickers are a fun evolution of taunts that can express way more.

Really, the game is full of great personality, it’s just in the minigames where some of the old charm they had gets weirdly sanded off.

Lastly there is online which is as functional as one could hope for. Has its hick-ups, but for Nintendo standards it’s fine. It’s not a disaster ala’ Mario Maker 2.

All nitpicking aside, this is a good game and a good Mario Party. I don’t think it’s one of the best ones, but the QoL additions and generally really solid board gameplay show the potential for it is there.

More than anything it feels like a testing ground to study the old board designs and test out things like the online, rather than something meant to be big on its own. I didn’t even touch on side content because there really is nothing to discuss.

Good game, but I was waiting for the next big thing and now it’s finally happening.

Super Mario Jamboree

My thoughts back here still apply and are very up to date, since we haven’t seen anything new since:

Playing the other two games again just really put into perspective how many things already got improved from one game to the next and it makes me all the more hopeful for Jamboree.

I have no doubt it will be the MP I have been waiting for all gen and I couldn’t be more excited~

[benis-chillin]

Backlog Reviews 2024: Metroid Prime Hunters

Platform: DS

June 19th, 2024-August 10th, 2024(didn't finish)

(Note: The only Metroid Prime game I have previously played is Prime 1. Review can be found in THIS post)

(Also, here's the previous backlog entry. I'm adding hyperlinks to all of the posts like, the night before this goes out)

So…This is awkward.

As I've stated before, Metroid is the series that resonates with me just as much as Sonic does. I love the lore, the(2D)gameplay, Samus as a character, it all just clicks with me.

And the PREMISE of this game is absolutely baller! Samus vs a bunch of other, considerably less scrupulous bounty hunters in a cosmic battle royale for an ancient treasure? Sign me up!

But the actual execution? Eh…

Now, I am not entirely unfamiliar with DS FPS'. I still love the DS version of Bionicle Heroes(which the Prime series definitely had an influence on, especially in terms of its BALLER soundtrack which is good for listening to while you read this review)to this very day, and I thought this was gonna be more like that. Hell, I even got the mod that lets me utilize the C-nub and the gyro on my modded 2DS XL, which made aiming in this version a lot of fun…For a few sessions.

But then I ran into the major problem with this game: Nothing really HAPPENS.

(not my screenshot, obviously)

Like, in most Metroid games, stuff is constantly happening. New upgrades and paths are being thrown at you every which way, it's bananas. But here? You've GOT most of your arsenal from the start, and paths rarely lead to anything but yet another artifact, or an attack by a mob of flying enemies that are hard to engage due to the lack of a lock-on feature.

And if you could just hold down the fire button for these sections, it would be fine! But due to the charge beam, which REALLY could've stood to be cut for this entry, you need to constantly tap the fire button to keep on shooting, which was absolute HELL on my carpal tunnel!

Oh yeah, and the mod maps jumping to either the D-Pad or the touch screen, so you can either not move while jumping, or not do anything else while jumping.

So basically…

In addition, the levels are VERY aimless and meandering, not helped by your ship being your only way to save, teleport points to bring you back for a save being VERY scarce, and overall, what little puzzle solving exists in this game is WAY below par.

All of this is piled on top of the game using the same map system as Prime 1, when the touch screen is RIGHT THERE for a real-time map! Why would you make a Metroid game with two screens, and NOT use a real-time map!? And you can only manipulate it via the touch screen, even though the map is on the TOP screen, so my swipes just get massively misinterpreted!

The story…Somehow exists less than the ORIGINAL Prime's narrative did. Like, I barely even register it outside of the, again, baller premise. Prime at least tried to compensate its weak narrative with more scanning stuff, but what I could play of this game showed very little scanning potential. I keep on being told that Prime is peak Metroid, but two games in a row, I have not yet been impressed.

(I'm still gonna give them all a shake, though. Because Metroid)

So yeah, that's my short and sweet review of yet another game I did not finish this year. Well, Fallout New Vegas was more like I lost interest in the path I was currently taking after completing the personal goal I set out for my character, but you get what I mean.

(probably gonna do another New Vegas playthrough eventually. replaying older games between your new games is healthy for the soul, I think)

At least my non-enjoyment of this game got me trying out Super Metroid Redux. I'll give my thoughts on that in the year end post.

3/10

And next up? Well, I'm gonna complete Super Metroid Redux, and my current recording of a Sonic Frontiers let's play first to see if the weather will cool down first(house air conditioning is still out, and the window unit we bought for the kitchen doesn't extend to my gaming area), but by mid-September, I plan on playing Resident Evil 2(original via Gamecube), for at LEAST Leon's story. See ya then!

[keefwho]

May 12 - 2024 Sunday

11:01pm

6/10

I know I did a day wrong when I can barely remember what I did. It's because I'm so caught up in my thoughts that everything blurs together. I don't honor the things I do. I know when I woke up that I called mom to wish her a happy mother's day and if there was something I could clean for her. She declined but I said I wanted to work on the area of the walkway outside my door so I got the greenlight to do that. First I wanted to eat breakfast since I assumed the cleaning could take awhile. I had left over mexican style rice a roni that I put some cheese and hot sauce in. Then I tried to relax and drink my coffee while I played some KSP. But I was stressed thinking about the kind of schedule I wanted to have today and I felt like I was putting off the cleaning for too long. Sucks because I went into today trying to have the mindset that I didn't HAVE to do anything at all, I was gonna follow my heart. After coffee I got out and did my cleaning. I got up a bunch of trash and moved things out of the way to be a little bit tidier. I swept the area and got a mountain of debris up. I wiped down their chest freezer turning it from a dull brown back to white like it's supposed to be. Then I cleaned the main door windows. It was a big improvement even though its still a little dirty. I think I need to vacuum but I'm not going to use mine out there. It all only took maybe an hour. I also got my outside chair sprayed down well with the hose and put away properly so I can use it later. After all that I took a very long shower and got super clean. Out of the shower I thought about twitch streaming until lunch but I was trying to figure out how to make it fun. I didn't want it to turn into me feeling lonely. I figured I could hit up someone like BD and ask if they wanna call while I stream but I don't think I was quite in the mood for that. Instead I did a little journaling and got my grocery list ready for tomorrow. I was trying to put on a stream to fill the air and maybe feel a little bit less lonely without the effort of actually talking to anyone. I watched Henry's Kitchen while I made lunch which was some crackers I baked and a can of beans n weenies. I tried adding seasoning to the flour to give the crackers some taste but it didn't do much. I also melted parmesan cheese on top. After lunch I mainly chilled with Kerbal for awhile. I got some mods to help with the lame standard contracts and I made a couple more little crafts. BD told me she was gonna get in VR so I decided to join them for a bit. It was a good idea, I hung out with them and we ended up in the FWA world. DS joined about that time and I got to hear about her day and we continued hopping. We came back to the furry world to chill and watch the live portal where 57 and TG showed up on the other end. There was also a guy that looked just like PBG on youtube. After VR she got in bed and we did our puzzles before I beat KH2 finally.

[roomaterecipes]

Nut brittle that slaps

Another bougie sounding treat that takes a few snacks and elevates them to look fancy

4 tablespoons butter divided, plus more for greasing baking sheet if your not using spray, pro tip:use the spray also use aluminum foil with spray and it comes off like a dream

a solid pinch of saffron threads, not necassry but adds color, a little dimension and like I said sounds fancy (by far the most expensive ingredient but can also be used in rice and couscous)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract, I personally always use the Good stuff like a vanilla bean paste or powder but dealers choice

1/2 salt, dont over salt as you may want to add salt on top for an extra kick and looks

Pistachios, Honestly i get shelled one because Damn are the shells a pain but you do you im not a cop Almonds, i prefer whole ones that i personally chop into chunks/ powder but slivered works too

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon rose extract, this adds a bit of a floral note and I'm not familiar with this ingredient or its strength so I err'ed on caution. But if you are a more deft hand or prefer a stronger floral taste you can punch it up a bit.

1 teaspoon baking soda

When making candy id advised NOT to fuck around with the oils/sugars and baking soda unless 1: you know what your doing 2: you have the ability to fuck around and find out without it be a body blow (mentally, emotionally, fiscally or cleaning wise 3: Your G-ds specialest little beings and the ancestors are guiding your hands as you eyeball things. Step 1 : chop and toast your nuts, Chop to your desired finess and put in the pan you plan to do the sugars in later. Toast them dry for a bit and then add in the 2 tablespoons of butter and saffron if you have that. Keep an eye on those fuckers they turn nasty if burnt. Afterwards scrap them out into a bowl and put aside for later Step 2: This is the candy making, Toss in your sugars, syrup, 2 tablespoons of butter and rose water, stirring with a silicon tool frequently, don't forget to scrape the sides and bottom. You may have noticed at this point I haven't mentioned a candy thermometer that's because we don't need one. Get a clear glass, preferably one you don't super care about or can go in the dishwasher/soak. Fill it 2/3's of the way up with cool/cold water and keep a utensil nearby. When you feel the sugar/ butter mixture is getting to temp (usually from 10-20 minutes depending on your stove and heat, I aim for med-med high as it gives me time to set things up) your going to take some of the mixture on your spatula and let it drip into the water, once it forms a soft ball stage thats when we proceed. Step 3: toss in baking soda, it will foam, perhaps even drastically always use a pot or pan thats decently tall (if you think its too tall reconsider for a moment and reassess i usually go for 'twice as tall as the sugar syrup and mix but you do want a good amount of surface area for the bottom) as this can go sideways real fast when hot molten sugar spills all over the place Step 4: Toss in your nuts and vanilla, this is go time. Keep stirring and scraping the bottom. Were aiming for hard ball/crack stage which is when your syrup mixture when dripped into the water is hard and barely/if at all malleable. Step 5: pour into your tin and spread, the thinner brittle is . Tip to make this fancier give it the holiday crack treatment, line your tray with crackers (butter crackers are extra fancy but saltines are also perfect and put some dark chocolate on it. If your broiler works just pop that on and shake the chocolate on your spread out brittle and pop it under for a minutes or so to help it spread more easily. Sprinkle witth a little coarse salt, maybe some rose petals or extra chopped nuts if you want it to have that extra oomph. Let cool fully and break apart. Imagine your some artic explorer trying to chip through ice with a small pointy knife and a blunt object to chisel it apart. Step 6: Enjoy

[gaast]

How many right-handed people have ever even thought of the world in ways like this?

Look, I know handedness is such a small thing, but if you're right-handed you've never thought about how designed for right-handed people the world is. It's actually really insidious, because when you're left-handed, you just get used to it. You just become modestly ambidextrous. You just use right-handed computer mice, right-handed scissors (imagine having left-handed ones!). You don't even get how right-handed it is to write from left to right! If you live with right-handed people you just have to deal with the toothbrush holder being on the right side of the sink.

It's all such small potatoes too! It's so ridiculous to complain about it all! Because it barely matters, all these little things, they just barely matter at all, they don't really affect you all that much, hell, you barely notice it, you barely care what hand you use for your mouse or how awkward it is to grab your fucking toothbrush sometimes. You don't give a shit.

The bullshit brainless parallels between sexism and racism write themselves but I'm not stupid enough to think that THESE experiences even approximate those of afab people or people whose skin isn't white, god forbid. People don't shout down the inclusion of left-handed characters in movies and Blizzard doesn't track handedness in their fucking garbage diversity triangulation metrics for Overwatch. What I experience as a lefty is NOTHING compared to that. But if nothing else it gives me a GLIMPSE of what it's like to be in a world that is so clearly not-for-you, an almost meaningless window into at least understanding just HOW the world excludes them in more ways than maybe they even know. And hell, I'm queer, so it's not like I don't have other avenues for being shit upon daily.

No, the closer experience is the disabled experience, and even then it is so not the same. Again, I am in no way making meaningful COMPARISONS between the lived experiences of left-handed and disabled people. But you know the fuck what? Left-handed people barely get mentioned when it comes to accessible design considerations. Both groups are valid accessibility concerns, but laterality rarely seems to factor into discussions of accessibility (at least from what I've seen, and I admit to being fairly ignorant here). Considering how inaccessible the world is for lefties, though, I feel confident asserting that. If I were wrong, wouldn't the world be more accessible?

And why isn't it? Why isn't handedness a more salient accessibility concern? Do we live in a fantasy world where people only ever lose the use of their left hands? Can you say for certain that you will always, ALWAYS, be right-handed?

Am I saying lefties have it worse than disabled people? Fuck no. It's just baffling to me that handedness is such a NOTHING. It's so fucked up that 90% of the population doesn't realize that the world was designed FOR THEM. To them it's just normal. What's 10% of the global population? 900 million people?

So for the fucking Nintendo Wii to call itself a family machine when they knew full and goddam well that its flagship game was going to be inaccessible, even if JUST SLIGHTLY, to 10% of its audience, and to simply NOT CARE... And frankly, the DS and 3DS? Do you REALLY think most games on those systems gave lefties equivalent experiences? I actually bought a game on the DSi store that was played vertically and had no setting to flip to a left-handed orientation. Off the top of my head, TWEWY and Rhythm Heaven were accessible (imagine if you couldn't control your top-screen partner with the face buttons though!), but, much as I love it, WarioWare Touched couldn't have been. All it woulda had to do was mirror its games, fix any meaningful textures that would fuck, and ship it with an option. But they didn't.

So why would I fucking wanna engage with Nintendo products? Why would I wanna be gung-ho for VR headsets? Sure, I CAN adapt, but why MUST I? And if these systems are making ME feel left out then fucking imagine how people with motor control issues must fucking feel.

There isn't a point to this. Accessibility is a necessity. You can never understand how you interact with the world unless you break.

And if you try to say that I am claiming that what lefties experience equates to or is worse than what women, Black people, or disabled people go through, either go fuck yourself or read what I actually fucking wrote.

[kieuecaprie]

KieueCaprie's 2022 Completed Games List #7 (31-37)

#31: Super Mario Land 2 (Game Boy)

Started 🚩: 13/9/22 Finished 🏁: 13/9/22

This game is yet another game from my childhood that I kept playing and playing and playing and playing, so it was nice to find out that someone made a rom hack for this game that, well, adds color! Really breathed some new life into my umpteenth playthrough of Mario's Land.

Sure, it has some flaws to it, like the game being a bit on the very easy side, even without Easy Mode, but I really enjoyed the charm and, hey, we got Wario out of the deal, even if Nintendo barely acknowledges this series as of late.

#32: Metal: Hellsinger (PC, Game Pass)

Started 🚩: 16/9/22 Finished 🏁: 20/9/22

I gotta say, this game has quite the rocking soundtrack, which is great for a rhythm-based shooter. I don't really know what to say about this game besides the fact that I loved the story, loved the locales, loved what little voice acting there was. Everything is pretty good, albeit short. The game can be challenging at times, especially when it asks you to survive a bullet hell WHILE maintaining a perfect beat but I did manage to complete everything on normal difficulty in under three hours so, go me, I guess?

#33: Elite Beat Agents (DS, September%)

Started 🚩: 21/9/22 Finished 🏁: 22/9/22

Okay, okay, this shouldn't be a real entry but come on, I'm legally obligated to play this game every 21st night of September to play the level that has September on it. This time, I had to speed through it because I was starting fresh meaning that I couldn't summon the power of Earth, Wind & Fire fast enough. Forgive me... I'll try next year, I swear!

#34: BONELAB (PCVR, Steam)

Started 🚩: 29/9/22 Finished 🏁: 1/10/22

I played this game almost immediately on launch and boy, it was not a good time getting it to start up. Initially, I had it on an external SSD but the load times were borked to hell and back, so I moved it over to an internal NVME SSD and it started working.

Did I enjoy my time playing BONELAB? Well, it's definitely a step up from BONEWORKS in a few ways, the gunplay and some parkour aspects have been souped up a little and melee seems to hit a little harder than BONEWORKS's foam sword (and not the literal foam sword you could get). Buuuuuuut the pacing and the design of some levels just... weren't getting me. You get stopped almost immediately after finishing the tutorial and dropped into the hub world where you have to painstakingly load up one of each mode and then play a tedious crane game in order to progress, and it's not even spelled out for you right at the beginning! No hints, no nudges, no glowing neon signs.

Also, warning in advance: Unlocking avatar swap WILL require you to progress further into the game before you actually can use the feature that's been advertised. I get that it's to ease you in but the poor pacing between the start and actually getting it makes me feel like I'm just doing chores in the hopes that I can have a slice of chocolate cake.

BUT after getting past all of that? BONELABS is probably a fun sandbox experience, with actual mod support right out of the gate. I've explored Wuhu Island, I've driven around Mario Circuit as Waluigi, and even robbed a bank as Niko from OneShot, and I've even played through the game again as Shrek! It's another one of those "make your own fun" VR titles with a subpar story slapped on top and guns, however Stress Level Zero are VERY good at making physics-based sandboxes at this point, I just wish they could do better with the level design and pacing.

#35: Cosmonious High (PCVR, Steam)

Started 🚩: 4/10/22 Finished 🏁: 7/10/22

I am a simple person, I see Owlchemy Labs put out a new VR game, game goes into my shopping cart and winds up in my Steam Library. It's another VR toybox game with a little bit of free-roaming mixed in based in a high school set in SPACE.

And it has a story WITH progression, much like how Vacation Sim had a story, but the story kind of takes more of a front seat in this one where you have to go to classes and get new powers and solve puzzles to unlock more classes, standard fare. But it's not without its charm.

I absolutely loved the cast of characters I had to interact with and am in love with the little blob critters called Blebs, two of which are pictured above, they're the cutest things ever and you can give them a little smooch! That right there is why this game is a good addition to one's VR library.

What more can I really say about this one? It's cute, it's funny, it's charming, it's an Owlchemy Labs game that, for some reason, has crossover promo with Among Us (pictured above). Yes, I nearly screamed when I found it. No, I won't tell you where to find it, find it yourself, trust me.

#36: Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (Base Game Levels)

Started 🚩: 6/11/22 Finished 🏁: 6/11/22

So, it's no secret that I'm a fake gamer, which is why I keep extolling the virtues of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 and how good it is despite only having played the shareware demo and never actually completing it.

So I fixed that by playing it.

It's great to play, especially on the Steam Deck, although you kind of have to fiddle with the resolution in order to get the game to where you want without the sprites looking ultra small on our modern screens.

Difficulty was, well, it wasn't very hard outside of the boss fights and I didn't have too much trouble with the final boss thanks to a certain cheese tactic I found by mistake. But I still loved my time with the game, warts and all.

Also, I think about the wonderland levels a lot. Funny caterpiller smonk.

#37: Pokémon Emerald Rogue (Romhack, Expanded Version)

Started 🚩: 9/11/22 Finished 🏁: 10/11/22

A couple of friends were playing this a while back and I thought I'd give it a try for a bit, could be interesting. Didn't expect a roguelite Pokémon romhack to grab and pull me in. The difficulty is, well, it's about on par with the Battle Frontier in the older generation games and I absolutely appreciate the fact that they went through the trouble to include ALL the mons up to Gen 8 AND the mechanics from Gens 6-8 too. Talk about dedication.

I'd show my Hall of Fame record but for some reason, it corrupted itself... But I do remember having a Choice Scarf Strong Jaw Dracovish that I got halfway through the run that I stomped every non-Water Pokemon into the ground with.

[arielluva]

so far what ive noticed (having only played the first level) is that the level design is. really huge. and empty. its like they were trying to show off how much more the wii could handle by making these expansive levels, but then theres barely anything in them!

like, when you enter the pool area, you have to walk around this entire huge pool. nothing else is around besides the platform that howleens throne was on. the actual tutorial level itself is also big, but theres big gaps of nothing. you do more walking than playing which doesnt make things feel very fun

the sliding down sand mechanics were also kind of annoying since you cant choose when to slide, it just happens randomly if you walk off the edge of a hill or something. this made climbing on top of that skeleton thing really annoying bc i would miss the last jump, land on the ground, then slide all the way away from the skull and have to walk back again.

they also make it a goal to complete the level in 10 minutes, however, all the talking bits count in your timer. i was listening through frankie and gigi's conversation bc yknow. i hadnt played this game before. and after it was over the timer was at 2 and half minutes despite the level not starting yet! i mean. i guess this would be for replaying the level where you could skip dialogue, but the empty world also doesnt help with completing it quickly.

i will still keep playing the game of course, but so far i feel like the ds game has much tighter level design. obviously it couldn't afford to waste as much space and so i think the levels turned out much more engaging for it. the wii game looks nice, and has full voice acting, but it doesnt feel like much of an upgrade over the ds game

the wii game for 13 wishes came in today so i guess ill see how that goes! i only ever had the ds game and thought the wii game looked a lot cooler so we'll see if its any better

[ne0nlightzz]

Creepypasta halloween headcanons 🎃

THIS IS ALL FUNSIES!! ALSO ARE MORE MY HEADCANONS FOR MY OLDER STORY RATHER THEN LIKE MY ACTUAL HEADCANONS- I DUNNO BUT ENJOY

CW:Cursing

SALLY WILLIAMS

• she 100% makes at least the few creepypastas that suck up to her [toby,jeff,L.J and semi shockingly Nina] dress up in costumes with her

•She walks around the "mansion" knocking on everyone's doors saying "trick or treat" because just about everyone set up a mini trick or treating thing since she can't actually go out on Halloween but is a literal 7year old girl who deserves to have some semi normal experiences such as their own versions of Halloween, Christmas, etc.

•she probably dresses up as a princess but also puts Charlie/Mr.D[her teddy] in a tiny suite/formal etire

•Jeff probably bought her Charlie/Mr.D's suite from build-a-bear because she wouldn't stop pestering him about it.

---------------

-

---------------

JEFF [THE KILLER]

•He ends up being forced to dressing up as the joker[/hj] by Sally[obviously]and hates it but only does the minimal amount of complaining because it makes Sally happy

•It was partially his idea to set up the indoor trick-or-treating thing for Sally

•He walks around the hallways with Sally as a chaperone but is just downing beer or some sort of liquor/alcohol like one of those red-neck dads who are forced to go with their kids on Halloween and wish they would have left to get a 6pack and never turned the truck around.

•I'm out of things for this man- everything I've ever read with him in it only has minimal character development so it's hard because though he's what some consider a "classic" he's still not in my top 5[sorry Jeff fangirls/boys/ppl!]

•He also probably blasts "Thriller" while standing in a dark hallway being just really fucking weird and creepy

[it concerns Ben a bit on the days he gives a shit.]

[this also just goes all throughout September and October-]

---------------

-

---------------

L.J[LAUGHING JACK]

•He stands in the hallway with Jeff just being a creepy ass weirdo too while "Thriller" is blasting.

•He just walks around chucking handfuls of candy at people.

---------------

-

---------------

BEN[DROWNED]

•Probably forces Jeff and Toby to play horror games with him and uses the month as an excuse.

•100% is a part of forcing the others to watch horror movies all night long but also gets bored haft way through and ends up playing games on his DS

•Just stands there staring at Jeff and L.J having a full "bro wtf" moment before either walking away or picking up, turning off and throwing their speaker at them [depends on his mood-]

---------------

-

---------------

--

---------------

Moral of the story.

Sally=The baby

Jeff=Sally's big brother

Jeff n L.J=Fucking weirdos

BEN=Oh baby I'm barely even here

---------------

--

---------------

Authors note-

I don't know what the hell I've made--

I think I'll make supernatural ones next-

If anyone has any requests let me know!

Please go drink water!

-Luv Lee<3

THIS IS NOT RLY PROOF READ OR EDITED-

10/29/22

PART TWO HERE

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Saddleworth Moor Murder

On 10 December 2015, a man, now identified as David Lytton boarded a plane in Lahore and travelled almost 4,000 miles (6,440km) to London.

At about 2pm the following day, the “stranger” walked into the Clarence pub in Greenfield, Saddleworth. Tall, white, with receding grey hair, brown eyes and a prominent nose, he asked for directions to the “top of the mountain”, the summit of the 1,500ft Indian’s Head peak above Dovestone reservoir. He was wearing a light mac, normal trousers and a shirt, and slip-on shoes.

A day later, his body was found on a secluded moorland path. Toxicology tests last March confirmed that the pensioner died from a dose of strychnine, a highly toxic odourless alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly to kill rodents.

He had no wallet, mobile phone or other identification and remained unidentified, despite numerous public appeals and the release of CCTV footage of his last known movements. The story was picked up as far away as Japan and the US. An Australian news website speculated that the man was an international spy.

Little is known about Lytton, who laid down fully clothed and was overcome by the elements on the remote hillside above the river Tame. Only a few bare facts have come to light about the circumstances leading up to his death. Officers checked passenger records from dozens of flights from Lahore and found details that tallied with Lytton’s. They also checked airport and train station CCTV to confirm his movements.

But there was one theory that DS John Coleman kept returning to: that the mystery man had links to Pakistan. Police had discovered that Lytton had a 10cm metal plate inserted into his left leg between 2001 and 2015, which indicated that the operation had taken place in Pakistan. A container of medicine found on his body was also linked to the country.

On the first anniversary of his death, police had a major breakthrough.

Police said: “We started to concentrate on the Ealing area and looked at the train lines and where they travelled to. We already knew that this man had an operation in Pakistan in the last 10 years and we started looking into the theory that he could possibly have travelled alone from Pakistan to London Heathrow in the days leading up to his death.”

This began a process of trawling through hundreds of names of people who had boarded flights in the days leading up to 12 December 2015.

“The check of the flight names threw up a particular name. We then managed to get a passport for that gentlemen, and although the picture was old, it looked right,” 

Police then sourced CCTV footage from Lahore airport, which showed Lytton boarding a flight. Further CCTV footage showed him arriving at Heathrow airport. These were the crucial parts of the jigsaw.

“They were an extremely close resemblance to Neil Dovestones [a nickname for the man] and we actually got this imagery exactly a year later on the anniversary of his death. Then we were able to trace a relative who provided us with a DNA sample,” Police said.

This DNA sample from a white British relative led to a positive identification. Lytton from London had been living in Pakistan for 10 years before returning to the UK and heading to Saddleworth for reasons which still remain a mystery.

Officers identified the smartly dressed man in CCTV footage from Ealing, west London, where he is believed to have started his journey on the morning of 11 December. He arrived in Manchester shortly after midday, having taken a train from London Euston, then went to Greenfield.

Despite being warned about treacherous weather conditions by the Clarence landlord, Mel Robinson, the man left the pub and was spotted by witnesses walking up the hill at about 4.30pm. His body was found the next morning by a passing cyclist on a boggy section of track at about 10.30am.

He was lying on his back, 700 metres down from Chew reservoir. He had walked a little over 4km, much of it uphill. His arms were at his sides, his feet facing downhill. He had £130 in £10 notes in his right trouser pocket. In his left coat pocket were three train tickets from the previous morning: a single from Ealing Broadway to London Euston and a return from Euston to Manchester Piccadilly.

Also in his coat pocket was a medicine box made of card. Inside was an empty container labelled thyroxine sodium, a drug produced by GlaxoSmithKline for the treatment of hypothyroidism. The label was printed in English and Urdu.

[highly-radioactive-nerd]

I totally get recasting to an extent. Kenny James' Bowser voice is hard on his throat and doing days and days of 10 hour recording sessions would kill him. On top of that, the voice itself isn't really good for talking. It's good for growling and roaring, simple noises. James has only ever said two words as Bowser in his 15 years playing the characyer and between the voice itself and DS audio compression, tbehre barely legible.

Toads voice is similarly illegible, but Samantha Kelley assures us kts not painful to do.

Kameks voice is just a few snickers and snarls. Donkey Kong and Crankey just make monkey noises. Foreman Spike doesn't have a voice at all, no one's thought about Wrecking Crew in the last 40 years except Masahiro Sakurai.

So for the most part, it's totally reasonable to recast these characters- But Charles and Sam should still be playing Mario, Luigi and Peach.

[benis-chillin]

2023 Gaming Backlog Top Ten

So...Meant to make this post back in January, but as I mentioned in the Sonic Fanfiction posts, I got a bit sidetracked getting back into plasma donation.

But anyway, last year, I started seeing my backlog as getting a bit daunting, since I want to get into a lot of things I've missed over the years, but I have this problem with dedicating to a series once I start it. I got back into gaming in late 2018 with Sonic, and I'm only just now getting near the end of playing all of the mainline entries, along with most of the spin-off titles. Plus, I binged Metroids 1-4 through late September-early November last year, and that one was on a whim.

But I did have a bit of a revelation when watching My Life in Gaming's end of the year video where they cited Femtrooper's video as inspiration for tackling a backlog via a "top ten list." So, I took inspiration from THAT, and made my own list for this year. I'll consider it a win even if I only get half of them done, but I'll occasionally reblog this post when I finish and start a new one.

So, let's start with the first game on the backlog.

1)Sonic 06(PS3)-Silver and Final Stories

January 2nd-April 16th(off and on)

This is mainly a leftover, since I've been cracking away at it off and on since Christmas 2021. I actually took a break after finishing Shadow's story, and now I'm determined to finish it.

2) Metroid Dread(Nintendo Switch)

???-???

Haven't bought this yet for reasons, but it'll take priority when I do. Last 2D Metroid(beyond the original 1&2)I need to play, and the demo has me looking forward to it!

3) Hollow Knight(Switch)

???-???

More of a recommendation from a friend, I got a Steam copy from her over Christmas, but I prefer 2D games in a handheld format, so I bought a digital copy for my Switch while it was on sale. Looking forward to it.

4)Devil May Cry-Switch OR PC

???-??? Another friend recommendation, to the point where one of them shared their Steam Library with me for it(which is how I played Sonic Frontiers). So I'll either buy a Switch copy during the next sale, or just play his copy on PC.

5)Resident Evil 2(Leon's story)-Wii

???-???

(Yeah, I'm listing what I'll play it on, not the system it released on. This will be the GC version)

Watching videos on this series gave me some weird-ass nightmares one time while home alone, so I want to beat at least one. Couldn't get into the first one via the DS port, so I'll give this one another go, maybe around September/October.

6)Spider-man(2000)-PS3

???-???

I like Spider-man, but have barely played any Spider-man games. So hey, may as well dedicate a slot to it.

7-9)Metroid Prime Trilogy-Wii

3 games, so 3 entries. Not planning on marathoning like I did the 2D games.

Prime 1: ???-???

Prime 2: ???-???

Prime 3: ???-???

10)Batman: Arkham Asylum-PC

(damn, that cover is crispy)

???-???

Another one I have access to via my friend's Steam library. RIP Kevin Conroy.

Oh yeah, and almost forgot(since I'm watching a stream about a YouTuber I used to watch who just murdered someone)that I bought Mega Man Legacy collection to play during Plasma Clinic waits and stuff. Already finished 1&2.

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Sunday 15 September 1839 TRJ

4 3/4

10 1/4

Damp morn[in]g F[ahrenheit] 60 1/2° at 5 a.m. I am all ready now at 5 35/..

no c[oa]ch h[ou]se .:. p[ai]d for man watch[in]g the carr[ia]ge

last night ./50 and p[ai]d Gross this morn[in]g for p[ai]d yest[erday] for

d[itt]o d[itt]o ./50 – w[i]th all the [?] I ha[ve] made, it is

6 3/.. when we get off – 3 min[ute]s lat[e]r than the ti[me] –

damp hazy morn[in]g – forest immed[iatel]y on leav[in]g the Stat[io]n

neith[e]r of us slept well last night – A- [Ann] m[u]ch bit –

we had noth[in]g b[u]t plates and caps and sauciers and knives

and forks and tab[le] linen and our doub[le] bedd[e]d r[oo]m and serv[an]t r[oo]m and

p[ai]d 4/20 – Scotch firs this morn[in]g bark[e]d all r[ou]nd

for a yard or 2 fr[om] the gr[ou]nd at 6 20/.. lit[tle] dist[an]t left

fjord or lake – r[oa]d red coarse as yest[erday] sandy b[u]t good tho’ m[u]ch r[ai]n

in the night – forest and lit[tle] breaks all the way to

Säcjarvi [Sackjarvi] at 7 1/2 – one h[ou]se in the forest – sm[all] b[u]t goodish

  Sept[embe]r Sun[day] 15

Nisalax

Urpala [Uppsala]

as the Gent[leman] s[ai]d at Högfors one might sleep at

Helsingfors [Helsinki] 237 v[ersts]

Wiborg [Vyborg] 44 1/2 v[ersts]

St. P- [Petersburg] 181 v[ersts]

Säcjarvi [Sackjarvi]  b[u]t

Urpala [Uppsala] seems

a good deal the

bet[ter] of the two –

Same sort of forest r[oa]d as yest[erday]

b[u]t less populat[io]n and bould[e]rs n[o]t so strikingly large –

the soil here a fine red gravel as yest[erday] and many

[expanses] of gravel-conglorn bould[e]rs –

mo[re] cattle this morn[in]g than ev[e]r bef[ore] s[in]ce Abo [Äbo] – no

sheep today as yest[erday] so few in these north[e]rn count[rie]s

can on[l]y be just en[ou]gh to supply the inhab[itant]s w[i]th wool and

a lit[tle] cheese and mutt[o]n – they salt the legs (the hams)

for winter – the Russ[ia]n male costume this morn[in]g ver[y] pret[ty] and pict[uresque]

a whi[te] frock coat and red belt or blue or dark and

often bound w[i]th the sa[me] – the wom[e]n wear a [strong]

linen? dark w[i]th narrow red stripes for pettic[oa]ts, and a bodice

or jack[e]t .............. and a whi[te] hand[ker]ch[ie]f

on the head – they all wear the red strip[e]d stuff – or

I ha[ve] seen many men wear it for jackets and trousers

8 25/.. sev[era]l baggage lit[tle] waggons and 1 horse and so[me] sold[ie]rs on f[oo]t

now at 8 25/.. just cross[e]d lit[tle] bridge ov[e]r lit[tle] stream and

cross[e]d a broad[e]r str[ea]m so[me] ti[me] ago the on[l]y two str[ea]ms

this stage so far – the forest too less swampy than the forest yest[erday]

at 8 3/4 consid[era]ble br[ea]k in the forest – unpaint[e]d

hamlet (we pass thro’) – one of the long[e]st flocks of

sheep we ha[ve] seen (recent[l]y shorn) – log houses

the trees n[o]t even flatten[e]d big boulder all among

the cot[tage]s – peas[an]ts wear bl[a]ck leather gloves like our

 Russ[ia]n costume

man bl[a]ck beavers w[i]the buckles

 SH:7/ML/TR/14/0006

Sept[embe]r Sun[day] 15

hedg[in]g mittens – hardly out of the hamlet

bef[ore] the young forest beg[i]ns ag[ai]n (Scotch fir and birch, alder

bushes ev[er]ywhere in the swampy places) – but mo[re]

break, and anoth[e]r fields hamlet (scattered) bef[ore] at 8 55/.. and at 9

one neat lit[tle] ochre-yel[low] and whi[te] seam[e]d stat[io]n h[ou]se

at Nisalaks the old[e]r port[io]n of the h[ou]se und[e]r the sa[me] r[oo]m unpaint[e]d

flatten[e]d log-h[ou]se – br[eak]f[a]st boil[e]d milk and Wiborg [Vyborg] (criks?)

Wiburg  [Vyborg] 29 2/6

Säcjarvi [Sackjarvi]  15 1/6

Kiskila 14 1/6

Helsingfors [Helsinki] 252 1/2

St. P- [Petersburg] 105 5/6

br[ea]d tied up in a

sort of rose – and made

tea, and took my pint bot[tle] full

away w[i]th us – all

ready at 10 – off at 10 20/.. fr[om] Nisalax

we sh[oul]d ha[ve] liv[e]d bet[ter] here than we did at Urpala [Uppsala] I suspect –

nice lit[tle] stat[io]n – a lit[tle] meat on the fire boil[in]g when we ca[me]

in, and our milk ready in 10 min[ute]s or 1/4 h[ou]r – In 5 min[ute]s

pass thro’ the lit[tle] hamlet – and then forest rocky forest and big bould[e]r ag[ai]n

r[oa]d coarse red sandy as bef[ore] b[u]t good forest, till 11 1/4 good riv[e]r – 2 or 3

good wood, yellow paint[in]g h[ou]ses scatt[ere]d ab[ou]t and lit[tle] unpaint[e]d scatt[ere]d

hamlet – nice bit of open cultivat[e]d count[r]y – the

r[oa]d red sand (b[u]t good) and the soil red sand – still damp and

rath[e]r hazy – (Read[in]g Handb[oo]k artic[le] Moscow) soon

forest ag[ai]n – at 11 3/4 lookd[o]wn up[on] bey[on]d us (left) the

handsom[e]st gent[leman]s h[ou]se we ha[ve] seen in Finland, surround[e]d

w[i]th park-like gr[ou]nds – lit[tle] hamlet scatt[ere]d hereab[ou]ts –

h[ou]se and 2 wings – whi[te] w[i]th pea green roof – at 11 51/..

one neat good yellow, and whi[te] pilast[ere]d stat[io]n at

Kaskila and br[oa]d sheet of wat[e]r at a lit[tle] dist[an]ce in

front – anoth[e]r pavill[io]n-like gent[leman]’s h[ou]se alm[o]st in front

(to the right) fr[om] our stat[io]n yel[low] w[i]th pea green roof and whi[te] corners and

a whi[te] hexastyle portico (w[i]th pedim[en]t – the gable end) beautif[ull]y

   Sept[embe]r Sun[day] 15

paint[e]d c[oa]ch h[ou]ses and stabl[in]g and unpaint[e]d barns and cot[tage]s

scatt[ere]d ab[ou]t the fine sheet of wat[e]r com[in]g close to the h[ou]se – ver[y] pret[ty]

Wiborg [Vyborg] 15 1/6

St. P- [Petersburg] 153 2/3

Niserlax 14 1/6

Helsingfors [Helsinki] 266 ½

here – one stage

last night to U- [Urpala] [Uppsala]

ver[y] pict[uresque] – and

[?] this morn[in]g – big boulders ag[ai]n conglom[era]te red granite as yest[erday]

pict[uresque] foresty stage to here – corn (rye) out in cocks

here – soon Scotch fir forest ag[ai]n – the cranberry and moss and heather

dispute as us[ua]l possess[io]n of the rock and bould[e]r

a lit[tle] farm and at 12 17/.. 3 lit[tle] stacks of corn thatch[e]d w[i]th straw and then spruce branches laid

on the top – here and ev[er]ywhere ab[ou]t they lay spruce fir

branches at the doors to keep one clean [crossed word] inst[ea]d

of mats when it is dirty as it alw[a]ys m[u]st be in wet weath[e]r

w[a]s this cust[o]m of strew[in]g branches in the way (as palm br[anch]

as our sav[iou]r rode al[on]g etc.) orig[inall]y to keep one out of the

dirt? now at 12 50/.. sandy and heavy r[oa]d uphill in the

forest – at 1 fr[om] the top of hill Wiborg [Vyborg] in sight, and

its fine island fjord, immense expanse of

wat[e]r and 10 arch wood br[idge] ov[e]r arm of the fjord on

left to w[hi]ch we wind d[o]wn and cross (deals and big bould[e]rs)

now at 12 7/.. 1 7/.. – beaut[iful] wood[e]d islandy expanse of

wat[e]r on each side – ver[y] fine dri[ve] fr[om] here –

at 1 10/.. cross anoth[e]r 10 arch wood[e]n br[idge] – the large

sq[uare] tow[e]r and 3 sm[all] point[e]d tow[e]rs of Wiborg [Vyborg] full in

view left fr[om] the br[idge] – fine wood[e]d dri[ve] fr[om] here – the

wat[e]r right – damp ver[y] sm[all] drizzling r[ai]n – bouldery com[mo]n

just bef[ore] ent[erin]g Wiborg [Vyborg] – at 1 20/.. the 1st barrier and archway –

then at 2[n]d archway and wat[e]r and wood br[idge] 13 arches, to cross

a steamer lying at the quai – ver[y] fine view of fjord and town

the old brick cast[le] close (right) on a lit[tle] isl[an]d – this w[a]s the large sq[uare]

tower I saw at the top of the hill at 1 –

enter the town at 1 25/.. – at the Society’s house good Inn at 1 1/2 –

  Strew[in]g Spruce

branches inst[ea]d of mats

 SH:7/ML/TR/14/0007

Sept[embe]r Sun[day] 15

S[e]nt Gross w[i]th my passp[or]t to the police – asleep –

c[oul]d n[o]t be seen till 3 – had my h[ai]r done and A. [Ann] and I out at 2 40/..

took Gross to shew us the police – close to the gate by w[hi]ch we ent[ere]d

the town – recross[e]d the br[idge] on 20 wood piers pillar each form[e]d of 5 –

then up the fort-hill – near the br[idge] right on ent[erin]g the town beaut[iful] view of the fjord and suburb to the

westw[ar]d – ret[urne]d by the wat[e]r side – obs[erve]d the big pieces of red

felspar [feldspar] in the porphyritic (conglomerate?) of their

rocks – then on pass[in]g the bridge ag[ai]n and reent[erin]g the town

turn[e]d left along the rampart – A- [Ann] stood sketch[in]g the

old brick cast[le] on a lit[tle] isl[an]d fjord or [crossed word] moat

all r[ou]nd – A- [Ann] sketch[e]d the old cast[le] – its tower 8tagon [octagon] that

Look[e]d sq[uare] in the dist[an]ce – the 3 upper stories of the tower[e]d seem roofless –

the fjord on this side (tow[ar]ds the sea) ver[y] beaut[iful] islandy and

wood[e]d as far as one can see – the wat[e]r on the opposite side

the town ver[y] pict[uresque] but mo[re] like a pret[ty] islandy lake –

Deal sheds – a large raff y[ar]d near left (look[in]g n[or]thw[ar]ds) and lit[tle]

unpaint[e]d hamlet scatt[ere]d a long way along the waters

edge – hamlets (too, right, and nearer, sweep[in]g round to

the town) a large handso[me] suburb w[i]th good ch[ur]ch

yellow w[i]th red roof and tow[e]r cupola pea green – Viborg [Vyborg]

a large town tak[in]g in its suburbs – a large handso[me]

ch[ur]ch in the large sq[uare] oppos[i]te our Inn – 2/3 the men one

sees are sold[ie]rs in their long plait[e]d-in-behind fawn-grey

gr[ea]t coats – they look like monks or women?

then al[on]g the rampart to a lit[tle] pastern gate – w[e]nt out

by it ab[ou]t 1/2 way or mo[re] tow[ar]ds the good suburb –

then turn[e]d (right) tow[ar]ds the sea (along the outside

rampart breast-work) of the fortress –

w[e]nt to the waters’ edge – tast[e]d the wat[e]r – merely

a lit[tle] brackish – n[o]t at all salt – beaut[iful]

view fr[om] a round knoll of bare granite rock of

 ca[me] in at 5 1/4

din[ner] at 6 to 6 3/4

out at 7 for a

min[ute] or 2 to see

the ch[ur]ch en face

 Sept[embe]r Sun[day] 15

each pier form[e]d of five uprights w[i]th a spur

fr[om] each side of the foot of each upright

on the top of the rock (right, on ent[erin]g the town – and close to the

bridge – so[me] sort of fortificat[io]n there) – on the top of the rock

large when bare, obs[erve]d the sa[me] ochre-yellow moss I saw

on the large old oaks in the park at Stockholm – and in

ret[urnin]g by the water side a lit[tle] of the blood-red moss I first obs[erve]d n[or]th

of Upsala [Uppsala] – scarp[e]d a lit[tle] off w[i]th the point of my parasol

stick – it w[a]s pulpy and vegetable-like – tho’ the wat[e]r trickl[in]g

d[o]wn it, made it look shin[in]g and so like recent blood, I alm[o]st

th[ou]ght at 1st (there being b[u]t a lit[tle] patch of it) that it might

be blood –

 the wide expand[e]d, lovely, wood amphitheatric islandy

fjord – the light at 4 3/4 beaut[iful] – the dark

distant bound[ar]y of pine forest back[in]g

the smooth light wat[e]r ver[y] fine – A- [Ann]

th[ou]ght she h[a]d nev[e]r admir[e]d a scene mo[re] –

2 brigs on the stocks here (lit[tle] trading vess[e]ls)

ret[urne]d by the gate nearest the sea the road winding

within the outworks – then saunt[ere]d along

the rampart w[i]thin the walls – ver[y] fine

view (nearly the sa[me] as bef[ore]) of the fjord, b[u]t

saw rath[e]r mo[re] of it – good town – a

reg[ula]r fortress – remind[e]d me in this resp[c]t

of Rocroi where we slept last y[ea]r –

ca[me] in at 5 1/4 – wr[ote] a lit[tle] din[ner] at 6 –

ver[y] good fried Sprax a fish tast[in]g a lit[tle] like carp?

excell[en]t veal cutlet w[i]th curr[an]ts on the top and lemon

and I ate it w[i]th excell[en]t pres[erve]d raspberry, and on ver[y] good

pres[erve]d green gooseberries look[in]g like olives and pres[erve]d

candied lemon, and sago pudding, and good coff[ee] aft[er]w[ar]ds -

 SH:7/ML/TR/14/0008

Sept[embe]r Sun[day] 15

aft[e]r din[ner] the oppos[i]te ch[ur]ch door op[e]n, w[e]nt in for

a min[ute] or 2 – a sort of priest or man ab[ou]t the ch[ur]ch ca[me]

to see wh[a]t we sh[oul]d do – 2 candles burn[in]g at 2 silvery shrines –

b[u]t nobod[y] in the ch[ur]ch – too dark to see m[u]ch – b[a]ck at 7 1/4

and h[a]d Grotza b[u]t so long ab[ou]t gett[in]g and pay[in]g for [Podoroshma]

and chang[in]g mon[e]y and pay[in]g up bills that it w[a]s aft[e]r 9 bef[ore] all this w[a]s done –

the sm[all] damp r[ai]n and haze clear[e]d off bet[ween] 2 and 3 p.m. and

aft[er]w[ar]ds fine aft[ernoo]n and ev[enin]g F[ahrenheit] 58° now at 9 10/.. p.m.

our bill 16/20 – c[oul]d get no copp[e]r mon[e]y – pretend[e]d they

h[a]d diffic[ult]y in giv[in]g me 2 five kop[ek] pieces change ag[ain]st

the bill – and in chang[in]g my mon[e]y they ga[ve] me two

25 kop[ek] bills and one 5 kop[ek] – 55 Rub[les] for my Finnish rubel

notes some kopek notes 75s. and a few 50s.

[keanureevesisbae]

So Henry, you want to start a YouTube channel? - Chapter 3

Summary: Twenty five year old YouTuber Sandy Choi has no idea that one of her five million subscribers is the one and only Henry Cavill. When he asks her to help him out with starting his own YouTube channel, she falls more and more in love with her. But she should’ve known that dating one of the most desirable bachelors, does come with a prize.

Henry Cavill x Sandy Choi (ofc)

Warnings: None

Wordcount: 4k

A/N: If you want to be on the taglist, please let me know. Also, I really like reading that you like the story. Such a great way to make my day xx

Masterlist // Channel introduction // Previous chapter // Next chapter 

So, this is where Henry Cavill lives. It’s a cute home, but never figured he’d be the one that would live here. I take a few deep breaths, but it doesn’t calm down my nerves. I look down at my white dress and wonder if it’s too much.

I think it’s too much.

I don’t know what I could wear to meet him. I was thinking about a short and a top, but felt that was a little bit too revealing, but come to think of it, this dress is pretty short.

I still don’t know, it looks almost wedding dressy. I shouldn’t have worn this. I stare at my Dr. Martens sandals, thanking the fashion angels that I didn’t wear the cute white heels that I initially had in mind. The only thing I would be missing, was a bouquet.

I grab my phone from my purse, to check what time it is. I was supposed to be at his place at eleven and 10:59.

I walk up to the door and press the doorbell. I hear a loud bark, causing me to jump. From behind the door, there are some stumbling noises and I can even hear his long and deep voice. The door opens with a crack and Henry greets me with a bright smile. ‘Hi Sandy.’

Holy shit, is this even legal? Why on earth is he wearing a tank top? Why would he do that to me? What is the point of doing such thing? Is he actively trying to kill me, because if so, it’s working. I can barely function anymore, since his arms are really distracting. I mean, I noticed it yesterday, I noticed it on the best video online, the PC building one, but now…

Holy shit, I can’t even seem to find the right way to greet him.

‘Are you okay, Sandy?’ he asks, when I haven’t said anything at all.

‘Yes, yes, I’m fine,’ I say, way too quickly. I clear my throat, not knowing what to say to him.

‘Please,’ he says, ‘come in.’ Henry takes a step to the side and I walk past him. He has a nicely decorated house, something that I hadn’t expected. It’s really neat too, didn’t expect that from him. ‘You want something to drink?’

‘Water would be nice.’ Kal has noticed me too, because he slowly struts towards me, his butt wiggling from side to side, while he wags his tail. ‘Hi, you big ball of floof. You are nice and clean again.’

‘It was pretty hard washing him in the tiny bath tub,’ Henry recounts and hands me a glass of cold water, with some ice cubes in it.

I clear my throat. ‘Right,’ I say. Standing in front of him shouldn’t make me feel this awkward, especially not after yesterday. I slowly managed to loosen up, but from the looks of it, we are back from square one. I feel my hands shake a bit from the nerves and my shoulders feel painfully tense.

It doesn’t help that Henry is this tall, this bulky, the complete opposite of me. I can’t seem to make eye contact with him and I curse myself for that. Why do I even feel tears out of pure frustration burning in my eyes?

‘You play video games, Sandy?’ Henry asks me. His voice is sweet and thick at the same time.

I scratch Kal behind his ear. ‘Just some Animal Crossing.’

‘Is it worth the hype?’

‘Mhm.’

‘Why do you play it?’

Though it almost feels like a third degree, I’m happy that he is asking me questions about simple things like Animal Crossing and not those deep questions about the existence of life. ‘It’s relaxing,’ I confess. ‘I need that from time to time.’ I look up again, when I know for a fact that my eyes aren’t glossy anymore.

‘So, you don’t play other games?’

I shake my head, not ready to confess that I sometimes grab my old Nintendo DS to play Style Boutique on it. I mean, I like Henry a lot, but sharing this, is one—or five—bridges too far.

‘I think you played this one,’ he says with a confident smile, while he walks to the television.

Is he wearing some perfume? I inhale again, only to be met with a mix of salty and sweet, the perfect combination for a male perfume. He didn’t wear that yesterday and I know that, because I was pretty damn close to him and you bet your ass I took a sniff.

Henry holds up two Mario Kart wheels and I see the remotes are already attached to it. ‘Look at that precious smile,’ he says and only then I realize that I’m indeed smiling. Did he just call my smile precious? ‘You want to play?’

‘Mhm.’ I walk up to the couch and place my glass on a coaster. He hands me a wheel with a remote and plops on the couch, as he starts up the Wii. There is only one more spot left for me to sit and that is right next to him.

As if Kal senses I’m hesitating, he pushes his nose against my leg and I sit down next to Henry. I feel his warmth radiating against my skin, causing me to nearly hyperventilate. His bulky arm accidentally touches me and I clear my throat, not knowing what I should do with myself. Sitting next to him on this couch, is less intimidating than standing in front of him, but it’s still pretty scary.

And I know that I shouldn’t be scared of him, but I can’t help but feel nervous. ‘Are you any good?’ I ask quietly.

‘I always kick Jackson’s ass.’ He looks to the side and our eyes meet. ‘But he is so so. Usually ends at sixth place.’

We pick out our characters (he is Donkey Kong, while I opt for baby Daisy) and once we have chosen our vehicles, Henry leaves it up to me to choose an entire cup for us to race. ‘Special Cup.’

‘You know Rainbow Road is on that cup?’ he mentions.

‘I’m aware, yes.’ I get ready for the first course: Dry Dry Ruins. ‘Good luck,’ I say to him.

‘You think I need it?’ His eyebrow is cocked and he has a smug grin on his face. Besides him getting more and more confident, he is also getting more handsome every passing minute. ‘I’m really good, Sandy.’

‘I figured. Just, don’t hold back for me, okay?’

‘Sure?’ he asks. ‘Because… I don’t want you to feel bad or anything afterwards.’ That’s adorable, oh my God.

‘I’m not a sore loser, so just race like you would usually do.’

The first race is about to start and we both watch the countdown. I push in the right button at the exact moment I know it’s going to give me a better start. Baby Daisy shoots from the 11th place to the sixth, while Henry stutters Donkey Kong to tenth place (from twelfth, if I may add so). While I soar over the roads, pushing myself to a first place, I manage to stay there for the rest of the race, making the gap between me and second place (and everyone else) bigger and bigger as the race continues. I race over the finish line, making a wheelie as I do so and I watch Henry trying to get himself from seventh to sixth place. He is muttering to himself, growing more and more annoyed.

He finally crosses the finish line. ‘I do need luck,’ he mutters. ‘Can’t believe you kicked my ass like that.’

Our second course is Moonview Highway and I snort every time Henry gets run over by a car or a truck and even drives himself off the road multiple times. He ends up in twelfth place and he is visibly frustrated now.

I shouldn’t be thinking like that, but he looks hot as hell when he’s angry like that. He could easily break the Mario kart wheel and the remote in half and knowing that he can do that, it’s something I’ll probably dream about tonight.

‘We can stop, you know,’ I say to him.

‘No, no, no,’ he says, ‘there is still a chance I can not make a total fool out of myself.’

The third course is Bowser’s Castle and this time, Henry is not a total disaster. He managed to earn himself a third place, while I’m still at number one. ‘I have come to realize and accept that I won’t be beating you, but I have to make sure I’m not losing from the computers.’

I can’t help but chuckle.

The final race is my favorite. I love Rainbow Road and know exactly how to maneuver over the roads. While I’ve crossed the finish line, Henry is still falling behind. I press the + button to pause the game. ‘Let me,’ I say and gently pull the steering wheel from his hands. I race Donkey Kong from eighth place to fourth (I’m good, but I’m not a magician. I can’t poof myself over the finish line) and when I cross the finish line, I hand him back the steering wheel. ‘Congratulations,’ I say, ‘you managed to become fifth.’

‘How on earth are you this good? This was unbelievable!’ Henry starts to laugh. ‘You were crossing the finish line twenty seconds before number two would finish, or worse, a whole minute.’

‘Back in college, we did this a lot. We even had a championship.’

‘Tell me you became first.’

I smile. ‘I did, was the best of entire UCLA, three times in a row.’

‘You never shared that on your vlogs.’

That’s cute. He really watches my videos intently, something that is insanely endearing. ‘I didn’t, no. Seemed a bit: oh look at me, you know?’

‘There is nothing wrong with flaunting,’ Henry says. ‘I mean, you do it with your dance videos right?’

I know that he has seen a lot of my videos, but thinking about him sitting on this couch, Kal pressed against his side and him watching those particular videos, makes me uncomfortable. ‘It’s barely flaunting.’

He tilts his head, I notice from the corners of my eyes. ‘You shouldn’t be this hard on yourself, Sandy,’ he says in a soft tone. ‘You are amazing, five million people and probably more watch your videos. There are a lot of people who are reading your books and…’ He doesnt finish his sentence, while he is looking for the right words to say.

‘You’ve read my books?’ I ask him.

Now he’s blushing a bit and he isn’t looking at me anymore. ‘I’ve read them,’ he admits.

I chuckle. ‘That’s sweet.’

‘But I’m not the only one who adores your videos and finish your books from cover to cover in one sitting. There are tons more and you being modest is absolutely admirable and it only makes you more likable, but there is nothing wrong with admitting that you are talented in many other ways. There is nothing wrong with saying that you are indeed amazing, because it’s true and it shows confidence.’

I bite my lip. ‘Well, fake it till you make it, isn’t that what they say?’

‘Eventually it’ll not be fake anymore.’

A deep sigh leaves my lips and I look at my hands, my thumbs fumbling together. ‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper.

‘Why are you apologizing, Sandy?’

‘That I’m like this again,’ I say. ‘I have a lot of trouble meeting new people and after yesterday…’ Why am I sharing this with him? He’ll probably think I’m the biggest whiny baby on the planet. ‘Never mind.’

‘No, no,’ Henry says, ‘tell me, please. I want to know.’

Kal sits in front of me and I place my hands on the sides of his face, scratching him. ‘I felt really good yesterday after we met, but now I feel like none of that is left. I feel like we’re starting over again. It’s just that I’m not sure what I can say to you now. And you do make it easier and I’m already less nervous and you being a total loser at Mario Kart obviously helps too… I think I don’t want you to think that I’m not having fun.’

‘Sandy,’ Henry says, ‘we’re not starting over. I’m happy that you told me this, though.’

I look up from Kal, to only notice he is already looking at me again.

‘You’re not mad?’

‘This is the last thing I should be mad about. I’m just grateful that you trust me enough to tell me this.’ He bumps his knee against mine and says: ‘I don’t think I can handle it again if I lose.’

‘Figured.’ I look around me, to find something to talk about. As if he is waiting for me to take the first step, he doesn’t say anything. ‘Do you have filming equipment?’

‘I have my phone.’

I scrunch up my nose. ‘But a camera is better. You can separate your files more easily, believe me, you’d want that.’

‘I’ll have to believe the expert on that one,’ Henry laughs.

‘Editing software?’

‘Well, I have a few computers around here, but I also have a MacBook, with iMovie on it. Heard that was pretty good. I bet you use something else.’

‘I used to use iMovie,’ I tell him, ‘but now I use Final Cut Pro. It’s around three hundred bucks, maybe a bit more.’

Henry nods. ‘So, I should buy a camera?’

‘Mhm and more.’

‘What?’

‘A hard disk, a tiny tripod, a big tripod. I was thinking you should buy like a microphone and better lightening, but that’s not really necessary. Yet.’

‘Right.’ Henry rubs his hands together and asks: ‘Want to go shopping with me?’

⟢⟡⟣

Henry spend around five hundred pounds on a camera. In a different store we bought a hard disk and indeed two tripods, though they were heavily overpriced, but Henry said that it was fine.

For the occasion, Henry put on a shirt, but this one still accentuates his arms. For a second my mind wanders to my lovely daydreams: thinking about how it would be if he’d wrap those arms around me, pulling me against his insanely strong body and kissing me on top of my head. But to not go into cardiac arrest right here and now, I decide I’ll just have to wait and dream about that when I go to sleep.

Henry is unpacking his camera and turns it on. ‘God, this is beautiful,’ he says, holding the camera up, to take a picture, while he is watching the screen. He packed everything in a blue backpack, that rests between his legs as we sit on a park bench in the shadow. He looks around him and his eyes fall on a field filled with flowers. ‘Let’s have a little photoshoot,’ he says when he turns around, to meet my eyes.

I frown. ‘What?’

‘I have to test out this camera and when I have you with me, you should be my model.’

I’m visibly confused. ‘You want to take pictures of me?’

‘Yes,’ he simply states. ‘Come on.’ He grabs his backpack and walks to the field. I follow him, but now I’m growing more nervous.

Henry Cavill wants to make pictures of me?

‘Go stand over there,’ he tells me and points to the sunflowers. I walk up to it, my legs nearly turning into jello as I stand next to the sunflower that is around my height.

He crouches down and I cock an eyebrow. ‘I’ve seen your editorials, Sandy, you’ll do amazing here. Besides, it’s just me.’

It’s never going to be just you, Henry, don’t you get that? I take a deep breath and start to pose for the pictures. He clicks his tongue, as he continues to snap pictures, telling me I’m looking beautiful, but finally the sun is frying my head. ‘Can we stop?’ I ask him. ‘I’m a sweaty mess.’

Henry starts to chuckle and looks at the screen. ‘Sure thing.’

I walk up to him, so I can look at the pictures as well and oh my God, these all look really good.

‘Wow,’ I mention. ‘Those are pretty decent.’

‘It helps when the model is easy to photograph.’

I clear my throat. What does one say to that? ‘Judging from these pictures, you’ll probably do great with filming,’ I say and together we walk back to the road again. ‘Oh look,’ I say, when Henry has put the camera in his backpack. ‘Cotton candy.’

‘Candy floss. You’re in the UK now, Sandy.’

I roll my eyes. ‘Fine, candy floss then.’

Henry tells me to wait, before he takes a few strides and he’s at the stand, buying one. I decide to watch from a far, especially when the man behind the stand wants a picture with him. I don’t want to intrude, so I wander a bit down the road, making sure that Henry can still see me.

Henry walks up to me, with a giant ball of cotton— candy floss on a stick. He plucks off some of the sweet stuff. ‘Open your mouth,’ he tells me.

If that isn’t something right out of my fantasies, then I don’t know anymore. ‘You’re going to feed me?’

‘Yeah, so your hands don’t get sticky.’ Henry has a lovely smile on his face and I wonder what is he going to be like as a boyfriend? As my boyfriend to be exact.

Would he be rough, dominant and strong, like the fanfics suggest (yes, I read those) or is he soft and cuddly? Now I do suspect a bit of both.

He could be pretty dominant. I mean, he told me to open my mouth and my first reflex was wanting to ask how far open he would’ve liked it. But on the other hand, he is also pretty soft, especially towards me. He wants me to be at ease with him, keeps giving me thoughtful compliments and he even said I was beautiful and that I’m easy to photograph.

I mean, who says that kind of stuff?

Boyfriends do right?

Rolling my eyes, I open my mouth and he feeds me some of the candy floss. He retract his hand, before my lips can reach his fingers. I shouldn’t be thinking like this. I can barely look at the man from time to time, let alone if I have these kind of impure thoughts.

‘Last time I had candy floss,’ he says, ‘was when I was sixteen. My friends laughed at me, because I wanted a pink one. I know they all taste the same, no matter what color, but pink is the color it’s supposed to be, right?’

I nod. ‘Agree,’ I say as the sugar dissolves on my tongue.

‘When was the last time you had it?’

‘I think I was eight. My dad took me out to the park, because we knew there was a stand where they sold cotton candy. We always walked passed it a few times, because my mom told us that it was really unhealthy and that your teeth would rot off if you ate it. But my mom wasn’t with us then, so we ate like three of those sticks together and we had to lie down on a park bench for about an hour, because we felt so sick.’

‘Does your mom know now?’

‘No, we’re too scared to tell her.’

Henry chuckles. ‘Are you close with your parents?’

I nod. ‘Yeah, I am. My mother reminds me every single day I should take my vitamins, to stay hydrated and not to frown, but that’s her way of showing me how much she cares. My dad texts me everyday, just telling me how his day is going.’

‘Don’t you miss them?’

‘Sometimes.’

‘Why did you even move to London?’ He plucks off some more cotton candy and brings it to my lips. Butterflies flutter inside of my stomach. I feel myself getting more relaxed around him again and him doing this, it feels so normal to us. ‘You never mentioned it in your vlogs.’

I smile, licking the sweet stuff off my lips. ‘I wanted to see the world and I earned enough  money to afford it. My parents were really supportive and they wanted me to explore the world. They just hoped I was going to New York or Canada. But they are excited for me. They always watch my videos and even wake up in the middle of the night if I post in the mornings. They have been there for me since the beginning and though I’m in another continent, I feel like they are always right there.’

‘Isn’t it scary?’ he asks. ‘Being in another continent, without your parents at like twenty five?’

‘Every single day.’

We walk down the street and he continues to feed me the cotton candy. It feels weirdly intimate, but not awkwardly intimate. I open my mouth again, but he holds it a little above my reach. ‘Henry,’ I mumble, ‘not funny.’

He chuckles, lowering his hand, but I could’ve known that he was just messing with me. When I stand on my toes, he holds it further above my head and eventually eats the pink stuff himself.

I want to grab some off the stick, but even that he holds above my head. ‘Henry, come on. Don’t be mean.’

He doesn’t think this is mean, because he continues to do it, laughing the entire time. He does it again and I jump up, hoping I can reach it, but it’s hopeless.

I jump up again, but this time I fold my fingers around his forearm, pulling his strong arm with me so I can finally get a bite.

But holding his thick arm like this, it’s giving me all sorts of thoughts. He feels so strong and it’s quite intimidating of course, but something about his warm skin, is also intensely soft.

‘I knew that was there,’ he says with an almost proud smile.

‘That was there what?’ I ask, letting go of his arm.

‘That bit of assertiveness.’

My cheeks flare up. ‘Hardly.’

‘Hence the bit part.’

I glance at him, but it doesn’t last long. He can’t seem to stop smiling and to be fair, I don’t  want him to. He looks breathtakingly handsome and like a perfectly sculpted human. He licks his fingers and I bet he knows exactly what that is doing to me. He throws the stick away and wants to wipe his fingers to his shirt or pants, but I stop him.

‘Wait,’ I say, before digging through my small purse, finding a tissue. ‘Here.’

‘Well prepared,’ he comments, as he takes the tissue out of my hand.

‘Always.’

He cleans his hands and throws the tissue into the bin. ‘Thanks for coming with me today.’

‘Sure,’ I say. ‘What do you want to film first?’

‘No idea yet. I want a bit of everything, you know.’

I nod. ‘Get it. When I started my channel, I was thinking about doing a fashion channel. When I thought about it, I realized I didn’t want that and wanted more lifestyle related videos.’

‘What stopped you from doing fashion videos?’

‘Not being fashionable enough.’

‘Nonsense,’ he tells me in a stern voice. ‘You look fashionable.’

I hold in a giggle that bubbles up. Dominant boyfriend Henry is definitely a concept.

‘What even made you start your channel?’

‘I wanted to romanticize my life,’ I answer. ‘I felt like I was wasting my life and realizing that ever moment is worth noting, it’ll give you tons of footage. Just keep that in mind when you film. Nothing is too boring for a vlog, as long as you edit it nicely.’

Henry nods. ‘That’s beautifully said, Sandy.’

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