#i do love the size and economy of the things

[spockandawe]

And finally, more crochet! After I finished the rocky horror lips, I felt this vague urge to clear out patterns I'd acquired and never made, and when I looked at my ravelry stash, obviously shuttle the shongololo was the first thing to catch my eye. Yes, it was a free pattern, not money I'd spent going to waste, but come on. IRRESISTIBLE.

I did do some modifications on the fly, because it's written for dk yarn (and a lot of it), and i have very little dk, but SO much worsted, including the variegated stripe yarn I was absolutely determined to use for the body. I think I multiplied recommended hook size by 1.5 all over and just went for it! Checking the gauge? In THIS economy?? But it was a huge success, even though I VASTLY underestimated how much material it would take and despite intending to use up my stash, I had to re-up on supplies multiple times (between yarn, stuffing, and breaking my hook, it was like. seven trips). I must inform you that there's so much material in this thing that when I tossed it onto this bed, it rolled off the other side and sounded like a body hitting the floor. It's huge, and it's HEAVY.

But the results are undeniable! Holding two stands of multicolor yarn with the same gradient pattern and just making sure they never sync was SO cool. And the underbelly is a velvet yarn that's sooooo so soft, I love it so much. However, 132 legs. That was... unfortunate. But I'm a creature of fleeting memory! And when I recovered a little, I started thinking about the short pillbug version of the millipede, and I started thinking about my yarn leftovers, and, well, here we are. I used one strand of a different gradient yarn to mix it up a little, and also, to avoid even more shopping trips, but oh man. OH MAN. This pattern is something I probably won't do again, but it is very, VERY fantastic

[cleolinda]

I’ve read a few of the umpteen thousand upset comments about the paid Watcher service, and I’ve read comments angry about the upset comments. There’s one thing I want to point out, and it’s that this isn’t, or shouldn’t be, “You’re saying people don’t deserve to earn money for their work.”

The Watcher guys do deserve to earn money. I already give them money. I give them $5 a month on Patreon, not because I think they do or don’t give me $5 worth of media, but because I want to support them. I canceled Netflix for pissing me off with its price hike/ad tier, but I give Watcher Entertainment money.

They’re saying now that the Patreon will be solely about the podcasts, and they understand if people leave. I’m perfectly happy to switch the support I can afford to the streaming service. With the early adopter 30% discount, I’d actually save money. In fact, I tried to subscribe, but the site didn’t work.

Watcher wanting to profit from their shows isn’t the problem. It’s that they’re now discovering that their fanbase is young and broke in a terrible economy, judging by tens of thousands of comments on multiple platforms. I can throw them $5/month, so I do. But the Patreon only has (checks notes) 5874 paying followers, and there’s a reason for that. $60/year upfront would not be “accessible.” Patreon is literally patronage from the people who can afford it.

If the guys had said up front, “ONLY new shows and episodes will be exclusive to the service,” I think we’d be having a different conversation right now. But at first they did say, “We’re pulling all our content from YouTube,” to the point where Variety had to issue an update. Like, that’s in print and I’m pretty sure it was on video. Now they’ve backtracked to ONLY new etc.—but most people haven’t heard, and they feel crushed. And the trust is probably gone regardless.

So now four years of back catalogue will stay public. And now, you’re paying $6.99 a month for one episode, maybe two, of something a week, and now, not an exclusive back catalogue. I would pay for Watcher shows before I’d pay for anyone else, but I just don’t think the company is big enough yet for a SVOD at that price. They’re not Dropout size. They needed to build more programming and get a higher follower count first, or at the very least, charge less.

The international price/exchange rate situation is a nightmare and I don’t know what it is they’re not doing to make it… not… be like that.

I don’t know what they should have done instead of a full streaming service, but surely there were alternatives? I’ve seen comments from people suggesting they GET a Patreon. Lean on that more! Do the shows exclusive for a month and then let them roll onto YouTube! I don’t know! Anything but One More Fucking Streaming Service, which enraged me, and I was willing to move my support to it!

And I shouldn’t say this, but I will. In the “Goodbye YouTube” video the guys posted, they say that setting up the streaming service has allowed Steven to do a remake of Worth It where he and his cohosts travel the world and eat expensive food. This is the first new show they announce. Not “We have always been committed to diversity and we’re now able to bring on new creator(s) to expand our programming.” No, a redo of an old show that by definition has got to be expensive. Commenters are saying they can’t pay for the streaming service because they can’t make ends meet in this economy. The optics are terrible. I genuinely question what the thought process even was here.

I love the guys and I still watch their shows. I want to see Watcher succeed. I started watching Buzzfeed Unsolved in 2018 while recovering from surgery—as with a lot of people, their shows got me through a tough time. I’m as attached as anyone. If I can continue to afford monthly support—this is not a certainty—I’ll give it to them. I’m not a ~hater who doesn’t want Watcher to make money. But I am absolutely BAFFLED by every single decision here. I want them to figure out how to turn this around and go in a better direction, because right now, this ain’t it.

[bambikisss]

Dream Ride :  C. Seung Cheol

🎶:: HOT - Seventeen, Bark like you want it- SirMixAlot

🖤 :: Strangers to lovers, blonde SeungCheol, motorcycle! SeungCheol, nonidol! SeungCheol

📙:: You haven't been able to sleep much lately, so you've been driving around at night to help ease your mind. However, you keep passing by the same jet black colored motorcycle every night, which then keeps showing up in your dreams. So when you stop one night to get gas and see the same motorcycle stopped nearby, you decide to meet the man under the helmet.

❤️ :: Unprotected Sex (always wrap it up), slight biting, oral (f receiving), fingering (f receiving),slight size kink (I mean SeungCheol is big soo-) nicknames used (baby, babygirl, princess, angel), slight mix of soft dom/ hard dom, fucking till "dumb", SeungCheol's big di-

Bambi's note: Hello everyone! I recently took a bit of a break as I had some things that I just had to take care of. But, while I was gone, I kept thinking about SeungCheol so here is what was in my mind all this time while I was gone. It is a bit longer than usual, but trust me, it's worth it.

REBLOGS / COMMENTS ARE ENCOURAGED | NOT PROOFREAD

You used to love the night. Now, you hated it more than anything.

You worked hard all day at an office job that had you thinking often if it was worth quitting it or not before always deciding that in today's economy, you needed this job.

So getting home after work should be what you look forward to, right?

You wished.

You would often return home from work in a daze, kicking off your shoes before you fell face first into your sofa, screaming your heart out into the cushions before you would finally go about your night routine: take a shower, cook dinner, clean up, mentally prepare yourself for work tomorrow, and finally sleep. But, as of recently, that last part didn't seem to come to you so easily. You would seemingly toss and turn for hours on end, your body not wanting to give in and let you rest like you ever so desperately wanted.

You would eventually sit up, put on a hoodie and shorts, grab your car keys, and go for a drive. You don't know why you often went for a drive to clear your head before you slept, the idea coming to your head after watching a random late night show and a celebrity talked about doing it. You then became instantly influenced and now it became a habit.

You felt at ease as you passed the street lights at a leisurely pace, some random R&B playing through your car's speakers as you admired the night scenery. You had to hand it to that celebrity; you did feel much calmer than before. You felt like you were in a movie. You often wondered why life couldn't be like this often, why your mind couldn't just let you rest without having to drive around the empty streets. It was as if your mind was searching for something that the empty night roads could only answer.

As you pulled up to a red light, preparing to go home before your thoughts became even deeper, you heard the sound of a familiar rumble of a motorcycle. You turned your head to the side to see a beautiful black motorcycle pull up beside you, the city lights reflecting off of it's surface as a man sat perched on it. You always saw that same motorcycle out during your nightly drives, offering the man a friendly wave before going your separate ways when the light turns green. It somehow comforted you knowing that someone else was up so late, needing a night drive too.

Once you arrived home, you tossed away your keys before dragging your finally tired body back to your bed, getting comfortable back in your sheets before closing your eyes with a small smile on your face as you finally fall asleep.

~.~

"Fuck"

Your voice was just above a whisper as you felt his hands move up your legs, pressing your hips back down against the mattress as his long tongue moves along your wet slit before dipping into you, curling the tip of his tongue as you arch your back. It felt so good, your eyes closing as you feel the man moaning against you, his deep voice praising you as he confidently eats you out. You can't help but grab his hair, your eyes still closed as your legs tighten around his head, your hips rutting against his face as you felt your orgsam approaching quickly.

"Yes, Yes"

Right before your orgsam can fully wash over you, though, your eyes snap open to the sound of your alarm clock letting you know that it's time to get ready for work. You sigh before tossing your head back in frustration against your pillow, your body slowly calming down from the heat of your dream before you sit up again. As you ran your hands through your hair, your mind flashes back to the dream you were ripped from. It all felt so real, yet not.

"I can't keep having this dream"

You've been having the same dream with the same mystery man for a while now. All you could remember seeing was his muscular arms and his muscular chest and legs, but never his face. You could even remember his blonde hair, but that's it. You often wondered why you never saw his face, but knew that whoever your mind had conjured up was good with his tongue and hands, always driving you so close to an orgsam right before you woke up.

You sighed as you finished getting ready for work, your mind (and body) thinking about that man and the night dream you were going to have again.

~.~

"Maybe he was someone I had seen in a movie before?"

You sat in your car once more as you tried to figure out who that man was. You didn't even try to sleep tonight, deciding to go straight for the night drive so that you could get more sleep. You bit your lip as the sunset slowly turned into night as you drove, your mind busy as you tried to piece together the man in your mind from the parts of him you did see; his muscular arm and biceps, his veiny hands, his blonde hair, his strong body...

"Shit, really?" You cursed softly as you noticed your fuel light come on, letting you know that you need to stop and get fuel soon. You sigh, turning into a nearby gas station. Maybe you were just over thinking it, maybe he was just some wet fantasy your mind thought of out of thin air. You move out of your car, going inside to pay before returning outside.

As you walk outside, you suddenly notice the same jet black motorcycle you always see out on the road at night parked in front of your own car at a different pump. This was your first time seeing it so up close and in an actual light other than the faint street lights and moonlight. You couldn't help but admire it as you walked closer, noticing how clean yet sleek it looked. You didn't understand why you were so suddenly interested in the motorcycle, but you couldn't look away. You slowly reached out to touch it, the tip of your finger moving along the seat as you felt a shiver move through you.

"Do you like it?" You jump at the sound of a deep male voice, turning to face the man, an apology already half way out of your lips when your eyes meet the face of the nightrider.

You couldn't help but pause when you met his face, softly cursing under your breath as your mind pieced together where you mind was getting the random man in your dreams from. You admired his tight white tshirt, his muscular arms and biceps on display along with his tight jeans. Your eyes moved around him, noticing his gloved hands, one hand holding his black leather wallet while the other held his matching black helmet. When your eyes soon moved back up to meet his eyes again, you noticed his blonde hair blowing in the wind, one of his eyebrows raised at your silence and lack of response.

He was the man your mind had kept putting into your dreams.

You jumped again when he cleared his throat, another apology leaving your lips as you closed your eyes, trying to ignore the memories of your wet night dreams, your mind now placing his face on the figure that was often in between your legs.

You needed help.

While you apologized, the man chuckled, shaking his head before he walked closer to you, placing his helmet down onto his bike handle before placing both of his hands onto your shoulder, waiting till you opened your eyes before he spoke, his voice deep as he says "It's alright. You can admire it all you'd like, princess."

You felt your knees almost buckle at not only his voice, but the way he called you princess. Your mind then flashed back to a dream where you faintly heard his voice as he kissed up your thighs, whispering "you look so pretty for me, Princess. It's time to feel good." You originally thought your mind was just choosing a voice it knew you found sexy, but after hearing it from his mouth, it made you wonder not only when you heard his voice, but how your mind knew to add it to the dream.

"So, you're the woman I keep passing by late at night when I go on my nightly rides, huh?" You snapped out of your thoughts as you nodded, noticing how he was now admiring you car. It wasn't anything too special, but was a pretty white, shinning compared to his dark motorcycle. "Yeah, you must be the guy who always stops at the same stoplight as me right before I go home." You chose to hold back mentioning how he was also the man in your dreams getting your near your orgsam right before you woke up. You didn't want to deal with that embarrassment.

He nodded, his mind flashing back to the many nights he's pulled up by your car, looking over to see you give him a tired yet friendly wave before the light turned green. He always appreciated your kindness, even though you were always so tired. He often felt worried about you, though, sometimes thinking about getting off his bike to check on you, but never doing so. But, now that you were right in front of him, he couldn't help but admire you. You looked so different in the brighter lights than in your dim car and street lights, no, you looked much happier.

You suddenly held out your hand, not wanting this moment to be wasted as you introduced yourself to him. He smiled at you before his larger hand gently cupped yours, shaking it as he said "Nice to finally meet you, Y/N. I'm SeungCheol." You smiled at his own smile, both of your hands still holding each others for a bit longer before you slowly removed it from his, laughing softly as SeungCheol let out a small "ah" in embarrassment before chuckling. He seemed so sweet despite what you may have thought due to his choice of vehicle. You needed to learn to not judge a book by it's cover, you guessed.

As you both began to pump gas, you both made small talk, getting to know one another and enjoying each other's company. It felt nice, almost natural as you both spoke. Soon SeungCheol finished pumping gas into his motorcycle, moving to lean against the pump as you both continued talking. He felt no need to speed off as no one else was there and he wanted to get to know you more. He smiled as you laughed at something he said before he decided it was time to ask the question that was on his mind since he first saw you out driving at night.

"So, Y/N, if you don't mind me asking, why do you drive around so late at night?" You hummed at his question before you shrugged, turning to face him as you put your gas pump back. "As of lately, I haven't really been able to sleep well, so I just started driving. It helped me clear my head, so I guess I just kept doing it I guess."

"Is it because of your dreams?" At SeungCheol's question, you instantly shake your head, making him laugh. If only he knew, you thought.

"So you're just trying to get tired? Ah, well you must have some great dreams then" SeungCheol watched your face at his words, noticing how your cheeks seem to heat up at his comment. He couldn't help but feel more interested, a playful smile moving onto his lips as he asks "what are you dreaming about anyways, Y/N?" You at first don't respond, not wanting to give away that you had been dreaming about him for the past couple of weeks.

"What about you? Why do you ride so late at night?" You shake off his question with one of your own, making him chuckle. He obliges, though, saying "Well, I like how empty the roads are at that time. I sometimes get a bit anxious about riding around so many people or high traffic areas, so I just ride then." You nod, meeting his eyes again with a smile before he walks closer to you, a small smirk on his face as he notices your eyes moving to once again look over his body. There was something about you that he couldn't shake, it made him feel excited, hot, wanted.

"So, are you going to tell me what you've been dreaming about or do I have to guess, Y/N?" You couldn't help but bite you lip as SeungCheol continued to walk closer to you, making you back up against your car. You suddenly felt your back become pressed against your car as his strong chest pressed against yours, his gloved hands moving to press against your hips, pressing you fully against the car as his eyes met yours, slowly darkening as he repeated his question, this time slower. You felt your body heat up due to the contact and the way his eyes met yours, your mind constantly thinking back to your dreams. With how forward he was being and with how good his hands felt on your hips, your mind felt all too cloudy to even think about what you said next.

"How about I show you?"

~.~

The front door swung open as your lips once again locked with SeungCheol's, his helmet and riding jacket becoming discarded somewhere on the floor as your hands grip his face, pulling him into you as he kicks the door to your house closed. You felt like you were in one of your nightly wet dreams, your mind feeling light headed as his hands roughly gripped your thighs before picking you up, wrapping your legs around his waist as his tongue meets yours, the kiss becoming loud and wet as he gruffly asks against your lips "bedroom. Where, angel?"

You pointed in the direction of your bedroom, not even bothering to remove your lips from his as he chuckles, carrying you in the direction of the bedroom, kicking the door open before placing you against the wall. SeungCheol felt like he had to feel more of you, not even bothering to carry you to the bed, beginning to strip you against the wall as his lips moved down your neck. You gasp as his teeth meets your neck before his dreamy tongue moved to soothe the bite, his hands moving to toss away your top and sweats, leaving your pressed against him wearing nothing but your underwear.

"Damn, baby, you should've just told me you were just dreaming about me like this. I would've pleased you right there in your car" You moaned at his words, his kisses moving across your neck before he pulled back, pulling you up higher against the wall with a deep grunt before diving back in to press kisses against the tops of your breasts. "I wouldn't have made you wait till you fell asleep to feel so good, baby"

"Fuck, SeungCheol" you gasp as he carried you finally over to your bed, placing your back in the middle of the bed before his lips met yours again, his hands busy with removing your underwear. He took his time kissing down your body, moving to lay his stomach against the bed as his hands moved up your bare legs, spreading out your legs for him before he pressed a small kiss against your clit, making you hum. "Tell me, princess, did I make you feel good in your dream?" His voice sounded so deep as he hooked his arms underneath your legs, keeping you open for him as he blew onto your wet pussy. You squirmed at the feeling making him chuckle deeply before he began to press kisses and bites to the inside of your thighs, slowly moving up your thigh before switching to the other. He wanted to make you wait and enjoy every moment of this. He wanted to make all your dreams come true and make new ones too.

"Did I lick and bite your thighs just like this baby?" he asked against your legs, waiting for you to give him a nod before he whispers "good girl" against your thighs before he moved closer to your pussy once more, taking in a moment to admire how you look before he says "I'm about to make you feel so much better than in that dream, baby"

You have no chance at reacting as his tongue moves up your pussy slowly before he moans at your taste, his tongue soon moving in-between your lips as he takes his time tasting you, getting to know your wet pussy to make sure he made you feel so good. He moaned as he felt your hands moving into his hair, gripping his blonde locks as your hips try to move, trying to feel more of his tongue in you as you moaned loudly. He was right, this did feel so much better than in your dreams. You gasped as his tongue slowly pushed into you, curling the tip of his tongue as his thumb moved to play with your clit, your louder moan of his name echoing in the bedroom loudly as he fucked you with tongue.

"That's it, princess, feel good on my tongue. Use my fucking tongue and face" Your back arched a bit as his tongue moved faster before allowing you to ride his tongue until he felt your moans become slightly higher pitched, showing him that you were close. He chose to speed up, his thumb that was on his clit moving faster as you came. SeungCheol watched as your back arched, his tongue leaving you for a moment before his tongue moved to clean you up, not wanting to leave anything behind. Your hand grip his hair tighter as your eyes closed, your legs still shaking due to the force of the orgsam before your felt one of his hands moving slowly up your stomach, pressing down against your body. Your eyes opened as you felt his hand keeping your body firmly against the bed while his now messy hair and face resting against your shaking thighs, a small smirk on his wet lips.

"I need you to stay still for me, babygirl. I gotta prep you for me, okay?" He smirked, pressing another kiss to your clit, chuckling as he heard you whimper his name. "Angel, if you can't handle that, what makes you think that you can handle more than that, even my cock?" He smirked more, his free hand moving slowly along the outside of your thighs, enjoying how your legs seem to shake more at his touch. "So shaky, baby"

He chuckled before pushing his middle finger slowly into you, watching as your back arched at the feeling. He gently cooed you before he leaned down to press another kiss to your lips, giving you the opportunity to taste yourself on your lips. "I gotta stretch you out for me. If you can't handle my fingers, what makes you think you can handle my cock?"

"I can handle it, SeungCheol. I know I can" Your voice came out so desperate, so whinny, so hot

How could SeungCheol not think you could take it after you did all of that.

"Oh my fucking god, SeungCheol" You gasped, your hips raising slightly under his arm as he adds another finger into you, both of his fingers curling immediately in you as he begins to fuck you with his fingers, his mouth wrapping around your clit. "You're doing so good, angel, just take some more, ok?" He doesn't wait for you to respond, though, adding one more finger before he picks up his pace, his mouth busy with licking and sucking on your clit. He knew you could take it all. You had been dreaming about him all this time, so surely your body was willing to adjust to him, especially when he's hitting your spot so good.

As your hands gripped the sheets, his eyes moved up to watch your chest rise and fall at a fast pace, your next orgsam about to wash over you as he continues to hit your spot, giving your clit a harsher suck before he sits up, diving his fingers into you repeatedly as you cum. As you grip his broad shoulders, he watches you face as you slowly come down from your high, his fingers slowly leaving your wet pussy as some of your juices leak from inside you, pooling underneath you on the sheets.

You felt like you were on a cloud that was past cloud 9, your mind completely fuzzy as SeungCheol placed a kiss onto your cheek before standing up from the bed. Before you could whine at his body leaving yours, you notice him slowly removing his top, showing off his large peck and toned body before he removes his bottoms, tossing them away somewhere in the room before he removed his boxers, finally letting you see the object of all of your dreams.

"Is it just as good as you dreamed about, baby?" He asks with a charming smile, climbing on the bed in between your legs before he flips you over. You nod, feeling drunk as your cheek rests against a nearby pillow. You couldn't even form words at this point, feeling as if you could drift away, which SeungCheol chuckles at. His hand moves up your back slowly, feeling every curve of your back before he reaches your head, cupping your jaw from behind as you feel him press his hard cock against your ass. "No falling asleep baby. I still need to make your dreams come true." You nodded, SeungCheol chuckling at your distant look in your eyes.

"Did I already fuck you dumb, angel? Maybe I need to fuck you to you have no choice but to sleep, huh?" He presses as few kisses to your back before he grabs your hips, helping you move onto your knees before his hand move back to your back, pushing your upper body back against the bed as he says "Gotta fuck this pussy just right baby. Gotta show you that this is all not a dream, baby no" You can tell he's no longer even talking to you, slowly pushing into you. As he does, you moan loudly into the pillow, SeungCheol's next words coming out in a mixture of a moan and growl.

"Gotta fuck you better than dream me did. Dream me doesn't got shit on me, baby"

Your mind barely had time to put together SeungCheol's words as he began to move his hips, starting off slow so that you could feel every single inch of him before he sped up, his hand moving to press against your back. Your moans were muffled into the pillow as you tried to for words and thoughts, but with how he was fucking you, there was no way you could. Heck, you didn't even want to know what you would even say to him.

SeungCheol was more concerned with fucking you just right, his grunts and moans mixing with yours as he wrapped his hand around your hair, tugging your head to the side so more of your moans could be heard and not hidden in the pillow. At the sight of your dreamy look in your eyes and your mouth open as your pleasured moans slip from your mouth, he chuckles before cooing "That's it, baby. Am I fucking you dumb? You seem to like how I got you right now. Am I better in real life than in your dream?"

At your louder moans and how your cunt fluttered around his cock, he can't help but let out a strained chuckle before a louder moan, smashing his lips into yours as he begins to speed up. He could tell you were getting close, but he wanted to make you feel so good.

He pulled out for a moment, flipping you over to your stomach so he could see your face before pushing back into you before he kept moving faster, his hand moving to grip your jaw before he met your eyes with a dark eye before he says "that's it, Y/N, come on. Cum for me, cum all over this cock" As you came, your back arched as his lips moved to kiss your cheek and stomach before his own pleasure washes over him, stuffing his face into your neck as he cums. As SeungCheol presses himself against you, he kisses your neck before he whispers "that felt so good."

He soon pulls back to see your face, chuckling when he sees your dazed look and how satisfied you look. He smiles before kissing you again, rubbing your arms before he slowly pulled out, going to grab a rag before cleaning you up. You felt your body react to every movement or touch, your body super sensitive yet buzzing with the afterglow. You never felt so good.

SeungCheol soon returned to your side, laying down next to you as you immediately move to cuddle against him. After a few moments of silence, he soon clears his throat before saying "I, uh, don't know if you're asleep or not, but I'd love to take you out sometime."

"I'd love to" you hummed, pressing a kiss to his chest peck before falling back against his body, feeling sleep slowly move over you as you feel SeungCheol's lips press against your forehead before whispering "Goodnight, Y/N. Dream about me."

[werecreature-addicted]

Saying hi since your ask-box is open =D I adore your werewolf stuff. I would love nothing more to have big furry cuddles from a creature so strong his hugs might snap me in half. But he is soft and kind. And takes up all the space on the couch. Also, fun idea: I just moved into a tint apartment. How would a werewolf do in here?? Not much space in here. Hope he doesn't trip on things xD

listen in this economy he better fit. Unless he has werewolf generational wealth he better get comfy in an apartment. Honestly, as long as the building is close to a wooded area he'll be okay, he doesn't need a backyard as much as he might like one, he still might prefer a ground-level apartment so he can run straight out into the treeline at a moment's notice.

I hear what you're saying about the couch but please consider, who cares how much space he takes up you're going to be sitting on his lap anyway. the bigger problem is when he's in the kitchen. He takes up the entire small kitchen and makes it impossible to sneak by and grab a snack if he's in there cooking.

Trying to find a bed that fits in your tiny cramped bedroom and is also big enough for both of you is impossible. Again, you're better off just learning to fall asleep on top of him, you're not fitting a fucking king-sized bed in there just give up now.

Technically, the apartment doesn't allow pets, and of course, he isn't a pet but you have to be so careful to clean up any loose fur before your landlord comes by so you can keep your security deposit.... yeah fucking right you're living with a werewolf just go ahead and kiss that thing goodbye.

[literary-motif]

Mind Over Matter

Zaros Atha’lin x Reader

You and Zaros have different ways of tackling the issues of Serulla.

You had been pouring over papers for hours without pause —days. The stacks of paper on your desk only increased in size, the additional information you had requested to get a better understanding of the problems that needed fixing — the two-class system in society, the strained trade relation with some of the neighboring kingdoms, the threatening military conflict over a stretch of land rich in resources — adding to the weight pushing down on your desk and your shoulders. 

Zaros seemed strangely unbothered by it all. Not once had he sat down with you to pour over these documents, only reading the letters addressed to the palace and following his own communique. 

The proposition of ruling together had seemed like a match made in heaven. Many of Zaros’ strengths were your weaknesses and vice versa, but this fundamentally different approach to problem-solving was grinding on your nerves. 

“My Earis,” he said, standing behind your chair as his hands rubbed soothing circles against your aching shoulders, “take a break. Nothing good will come out of you working yourself into the ground.”

“I need to fix the economy,” you muttered, eyes boring into the deep red numbers of the kingdom’s treasury. “Something’s not adding up.”

He offered his hand, and you passed him the paper with a sigh, leaning your head against your hands and releasing a deep groan. There was so much to do, so much to understand. There were so many problems to analyze, and so many issues to fix!

Zaros hummed, his eyebrows furrowing as his eyes glided across the paper. “I will talk with the treasurer,” he said. “We should sit down with the council of commerce anyway over the issue of the declining exports. I’m sure they can enlighten us.”

“But we need to know these things. We need to understand the theory behind it all to be able to fix it practically. How do you expect us to solve an issue we don’t fully understand?”

“Theory and practice differ,” Zaros said, setting down the paper and wrapping his arms around your neck to bury his face in your hair comfortably. 

Despite yourself, you could not suppress the soft chuckle tearing out of your chest at his affection. You raised a hand, brushing back strands of his blond hair and tilting your head back to kiss him. You knew he meant well, you knew he cared as much about Serulla as you did; his method of problem-solving was simply different than yours. With time, you were sure you could find a middle ground, a balance between theory and practice that would reflect this unlikely alliance between you and him, perhaps the polar opposite in many ways. 

“Your books don’t have all the answers, love of my life. We will sit down with the council, and they will explain the issue and advise us on the best course of action. You have poured over this enough, and I’m sure there are many excellent ideas in that brilliant head of yours on which politics to employ. Come now, it is beautiful outside and I long to take a stroll in the gardens with you.”

You gave a hesitant hum, reluctantly leaving your desk as Zaros pressed another kiss against your cheek and tugged on your arm to accompany him. “What has gotten into you?” you said, walking beside him across the field of green before reaching the little path leading through the garden and all its many mesmerizing flowers. 

“What do you mean?” he asked, linking your arms together as he leaned against your side, a smile on his face as you strolled in the gentle sunlight. 

“This,” you said. “I’m not used to— You’ve become very affectionate recently. I’m not complaining, but I would like to know what brought it on.”

Zaros was silent for a long moment, the smile slowly slipping off his face as he gazed at the flowers. “Truthfully,” he said, opening his mouth to continue, but the words seemed stuck in his throat. He swallowed, his eyes not daring to meet yours as he finally bit out, “I— I have felt lonely recently.

“It’s been less than half a year since the trials ended and— and it has been such a change for me. I love it, believe me. Ruling with you has been my dream for as long as I could think, resolving the glaring issues in society and shaping Serulla with the welfare of the people in mind more than anything else feels like fulfilling my life’s purpose. 

“But sometimes it leaves me feeling hollow. I’m not doing as much as I want to do. I’m not as good as I want to be, not as wise, not as decisive. And you— sometimes you get so stuck in your papers and theory, that I feel like I can’t reach you. 

“You get so invested in an issue and work out such brilliant plans. Nothing breaks your concentration, and you forget reality around you and me and— and I hate how easy it is for you to slip away while I run around the kingdom alone, talking with the people, seeing the issues you pick apart at your desk.”

You took in his words, expression now solemn as you turned them around in your head. “I’m sorry,” you said, continuing despite him gently shaking his head interrupting the words that were surely forming on his tongue: It’s not your fault. “I didn’t know you felt that way. I never meant to neglect you, or push you aside or make you feel unwanted — I know that I can get… lost when there are a lot of things on my mind, and with the Kingdom the way it is—”

“I don’t fault you for doing what’s best for Serulla,” he interrupted.

“Yes. Yes, I know. We have different ways of working, but we both do our part. I— I guess I never thought you would like me to join you. I thought you were happy to keep things separate. You’ve never joined me either.”

Zaros chuckled sadly despite the small smile playing on his lips. “I never thought you wanted me there.”

You huffed, catching his gaze as you shook your head at this miscommunication. “Well, I do,” you said, placing your free hand over his arm that was still intertwined with yours and squeezing it. “And you can come to me any time. I couldn’t stand the thought that you feel alone when I’m right here.”

“Thank you,” he said warmly, the smile he shot you outshining the sun in its radiance, “and I do, too. Maybe we can merge our schedules from now on.”

[loquarocoeur]

hi, do you think sometimes yours verse max just get vividly reminded that his cringefail loser boyfriend who cant park and falls off beds doesn't have a face card, he actually has a face ECONOMY

because in my head he loves charles because charles is one heck of a racer and an adorable loser that you cant help but be besotted with. not that he doesn't appreciate charles' looks, he LOVES how pretty charles is and the effort that he puts in to be pretty (he honestly doesn't even need to), but usually hes too caught up with being in love with charles' antics and embarrassing-ness that he momentarily forgets how dashingly handsome and offensively pretty charles can be when he wants to

kinda like in vincere, when max went into charles' driver room and was in awe of the contrast between charles - il predestinato and charles - his boyfriend but this time its charles - monegasque p*rn star, part-time model full-time c*nt server???

sorry for the rambling this literally took over my life the last few days and i just got a feeling that you would understand, (fyi, im the first? hand!anon, the one that had intense feelings about their hand size difference and i never really said thank you for literally writing an essay going in details about the very things that got me feeling so intensely, so thank you!!! for your detailed answers on here and your amazing amazing fics!!!)

Omg I so understand

Like yeah, Max totally loves Charles for his Charlesness first and his looks second, but I think sometimes he totally just looks at Charles and just like... damn

I think what does it for Max is usually more the way Charles acts and speaks than just the way he looks, but I think sometimes Max is just like struck stupid by it, just by Charles doing nothing but standing there (like Charles is at Max all the time let's be honest)

And I think Charles notices immediately and Max goes so red, but Charles just won't leave him alone about it, he'd tease him mercilessly until he admits what he's blushing about

But like of course he thinks Charles is pretty, of course he thinks he's hot, he's Charles, he's just such a ridiculously gorgeous human being that Max has no idea how the hell he managed to bag that and how the hell that happened with Max practically kicking and screaming, resisting him every step of the way, like honestly how the fuck

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: MMO’s

Alien: What do these letters mean? Human: “Massively Multiplayer Online Game” Alien: Shouldn’t there be a “G” in there as well then? Human: Then it would be “MMOG”, and that sounds silly when said out loud. Alien: *Looks sad* Human: Oh Christ your name is Mmog, isn’t it? ---------------------------

Alien: So this game is about the star wars religious fanatics fighting each other? Human: Pretty much. Alien: You would think the rest of the galaxy would have united and wiped them all out by now since it looks like the majority of conflicts are started by one side or the other. Human: Pretty hard to stamp them out when they can crush your windpipe from half a star system away. ----------------------------

Alien: So evil triangles fighting good spheres? Human: Pretty much. Alien: That doesn’t sound exciting. Human: It was before they put up a paywall around everything believe it or not. Alien: How so? Human: Well for one thing you got to punch an ancient worm god the size of a skyscraper in the face on Mars. Alien: Wow, that does sound like fun. -------------------------------

Alien: Friend human, I wish to start a fight but I don’t know hard. Human: Oh that’s easy. Human: Walk into any of those blue cities and shout in chat “Sylvanas did nothing wrong!”. Alien: Thanks. *An hour passes* Human: How’s it going? Alien: I’m not sure how but I may have started an in-game race war. Human: Ah; classic indeed. ---------------------------------

Alien: So this one is about flying around the universe and raiding people? Human: Yup. Alien: Isn’t that what we do now though? Human: Well when it came out it was depicting the future so it was more exciting. Alien: I’ll say. Alien: For being supposedly dangerous I’ve seen waiting lines at amusement parks on Florp III that were more harrowing. Human: They never did find that little girl waiting for the teacup ride. -------------------

Alien: Why are there fire pits everywhere?!?! Alien: There are not enough players to need so many. Human: you just don’t understand. Alien: Understand what? Human: You always need to leave a trail of fire pits behind you as you go in this game. Alien: Why? Human: *Points behind alien character to see angry band of players dodging way through fire pits trying to attack them* ---------------------

Alien: I don’t like this one. Human: Really? Human: You loved the two previous entries. Alien: Those were both offline games and this one isn’t. Alien: Plus it has a really annoying feature I hate. Human: Which is? Alien: Having to interact with other players to complete missions. -------------------

Human: They called this one a wow killer. Alien: How’d this get a name like that? Human: Well for starters they invested in decent writers. ------------------

Human: I heard that one is rather good. Alien: I guess. Human: You sound disappointed. Alien: Well I’ve yet to come across this black desert the title speaks of and I’m starting to get upset. -------------------

Alien: All I wanted to do was mine asteroids!!! Human: Yeah, but you did it in their territory. Alien: This is government controlled systems! Alien: Nothing is player controlled!!! Human: Probably explains why they are swarming you with cheap ships. Alien: Why!?!? Human: They’re probably hoping they can take you out before concord floods the system and wipes them all out. Alien: That’s crazy! Alien: They’d waste dozens of ships just to take out my lone miner? Human: Let me tell you about a little group called “Goonswarm”. ----------------------------

Alien: So everything is player created in this world? Human: For the economy at least.  Alien: That would explain a few things. Human: Like why there is super inflation for a bundle of wood? Alien: More so why every sword for sale is called a variation of “Buttsmasher”

[hydrobunny]

weekly special

tags: reader works as a cashier, flirting?, kaiser is a bitch but i love him anyway

if you could make one thing clear to the world, it would be this.

you are not a fan of michael kaiser. the furthest thing from it, in fact. you think he’s nothing better than an arrogant manchild, someone who desperately needed to be told to shut up as a child but just wasn’t.

so you just can’t understand why kaiser himself can’t understand it.

the clock hits 3pm, and the doorbell jingles. you already know who it is.

he’s been coming here every day, after all.

“y/n!” kaiser’s much-too-smug voice dares to say your name, and you fight the urge to slam your head into the closest wall.

but you’re a professional. you’re on the clock right now, and you actually wouldn’t be able to take the sudden loss of income in this current economy.

“what can i get for you?” you smile at him over the counter.

he smiles back at you, and you just know he’s enjoying this way too much. “i’m not too sure. what would you recommend?”

your coworkers think its adorable; that this hotshot football player’s become ‘enamored’ with a run-of-the-mill cashier working minimum wage.

on the other hand, you think he's nothing better than a nuisance.

your nails dig into the palm of your hand as you take three deep breaths. “well, i would have to go with our monthly special. it’s a mango smoothie with another scoop of our passionfruit mix right inside, topped with as much mint leaves as you would like!”

kaiser’s smile just grows. “but thats just the weekly special, no? what would the cashier actually order?”

you could kill him; you know you could.

you also know damn well his stupid strict football diet wouldn’t ever tolerate this amount of sugar, so why does he still choose to come to a fucking smoothie store every day?

you glance towards the glass door. no one in sight. your coworker’s on their lunch break.

“look, kaiser, can’t you leave me alone for one goddamn day? don’t pull that shitty ‘ooh, i don’t know the menu’ card on me.” you lean in over the counter until the two of you are almost touching noses.

when you speak again, your voice is a harsh whisper. “i got sick of your bullshit three months ago, for god’s sake.”

he blinks. you stand back up straight with a wide smile. “oh, personally, i would go with the strawberry shake with chocolate drizzle. it pairs amazing with a cheesecake slice from next door!”

kaiser stares at you in a moment of rare silence. and then he shrugs, shooting you another one of those famous smirks of his. “okay, i’ll go with that then. a strawberry smoothie with chocolate drizzle, please. size large.”

you hate how his smirks still have an effect on you.

“that’ll be six dollars and 23 cents,” you mutter.

he hands his black card to you with a flourish, and you almost jump over the counter to throttle him. the payment processes, of course, and you turn over your shoulder into the kitchen.

you make the smoothie as violently ( and slowly ) as possible, squeezing that drizzle bottle like it’s personally attacked your family. it’s almost therapeutic, actually, how you get to slam that lid onto that cup pretending it’s his head.

“large strawberry smoothie for kaiser!” you yell out as you head back into the main storefront.

you blink. the store is dead empty, sans a small plastic box right by the register.

you slowly walk to the box. it’s a goddamn slice of cheesecake from next door, black plastic fork enclosed and everything. words are scrawled on top of it in a dark blue marker.

enjoy ;)

and of course, right beneath that sits a sequence of numbers with a simple call me.

here’s another thing you need to admit. despite all your words, all your snark- you can't ever deny that kaiser always knows just the things to do to get you blushing.

[olderthannetfic]

Apropos of world building.

No one is this whole wide world is allowed to say Harry Potter has good world building.

Always hated how people are super fascinated by this parallel society, but the only reason it works is because "Magic fuck you" until it apparently doesn't. It's so cheap and wishy washy. If literally every issue is just waved away with "magic" that's just cheap, because even problems that can't or shouldn't be fixed with magic, get fixed with magic. But then we still constantly hear about rules and that magic isn't a fix all, but only when it's convenient. It works for children's books maybe, but the moment it went beyond that, and then the entire "Extra lore" that happened later, it just started getting real stupid.

How do they keep their secret? -Magic.

Ok but obviously they are living somewhere so... -Magic expanding alleyways and areas.

But how does that work that literally no one notices, even from aerial shots? -Magic.

What about all the creatures that aren't normal? -Magic.

What if someone finds one of them or the plants? -Magic.

Ok, what about cross-cultural exchange? Even if you live in your gated community you gotta know some stuff about tech. Nope, magic.

Huh... -Also everyone is chronically stupid when it comes to tech, and even just normal "muggle" things, it's an entire field of education to figure out what human stuff does, that's why everything has this weird medieval vibe. And no, they couldn't "literally just go out and check it out." For some reasons the Wizards like dying out and being stupid, and pooping on the floor and magicking it away. Magic.

What about the schools? -Oh you mean the like 5 schools for millions of students? Eh forget about them. Hogwarts is the only one that makes any lick of sense in terms of size. You'll love to hear that the entirety of Asia has like 1-2 schools, and it's called something like "Magic castle" in real bad google-Japanese. Btw, don't expect any effort having been put in the names or places of other Wizard places, the author didn't give a shit to hire some editors to make sure she didn't just write some pointlessly dumb shit in that regard. And btw, please ignore other tensions because clearly Wizards would not have any kind of social tension across borders.

What about big events in the human world? -They don't care, they dealt with Wizard Hitler conveniently at the same time as WW2.

What about deadly sicknesses and their cures? -... yeah nah fuck the muggles. Magic. Also always hated how absolute braindead every thing is. Spells exist to find out what someone's last spell was. Is that used when some dude gets accused of murder? Of course not! How absurd.

--

HP has magnificent sense of place.

Personally, I care far more about that than about internally consistent world building of the type SF fanboys jerk off to, at least in most genres.

(EXCEPT FOR AGE OF SAIL! TACTICS, BABY! HOW DARE PEOPLE ADD ANACHRONISTIC OR FANTASY TECH!!!)

But yes, when people try to say HP has good "world building", they mean that it has good vibes and that it feels good if you don't look deeply. They do not mean the economy makes sense.

[translucio]

more veilguard thoughts! minor spoilers below cut

stuff im liking:

still having fun with combat

level design has been good, tons to explore, solid puzzles. beautiful environments. im liking how distinct and lived in the big cities are feeling.

i am liking lucanis more than i expected.....i know Everyone is simping over him but.. i might have to as well and romance him instead of bellara 🙈

im liking how bite sized the codex entries are. makes it easy to read them all on pickup whereas in inquisition sometimes it was like godddd i want the lore but i dont wanna read five pages right now

petting cats and dogs! i love the haptic purring, that's a really good way to do it (i would honestly love to see that polished even further with variations + meowing/whining/sniffing/licking sounds thru the controller but hey, it's a tiny part of the game and what they have is fine)

the resource economy is feeling pretty decent to me, im motivated to seek out collectables, i buy stuff from vendors often, i understand the upgrade system enough to inform my decisions. it feels very god of war or ghost of tsushima. so my only worry is that i might just get bored of it after many hours as i did in those games (which, i think the solution to that is for the level design to keep things interesting and satisfying enough that theyre rewarding even without the collectibles. so we'll see)

stuff im not really liking

overall plot so far feels Just Okay. but i felt that way about 2 and inquisition too lol

it is actually starting to really bum me out that you can't talk to people at will. like, the lack of dialogue choices in it, for a bioware game, is troubling to me. these settings and characters are interesting and filling me with many questions! i want to be able to dive deeper into them, but i just cant. you just get barks for all the world npcs. and the lack of choices really makes rook feel more like a prewritten/predestined character rather than one that's really yours to characterize. i realize it's a lot of writing and voice acting $$ to have that many dialogues, but that's one of the main selling points for bioware games for me... and it feels weird that other games are now doing it better than dragon age.

similarly the lack of continuity of choices from previous games makes me sad.

i still haven't gotten all that far, but i am several hours in at this point, and i gotta say i am kinda missing side quests a bit... related to the point about lacking world dialogue, but the world is feeling a little bit underwhelming in terms of the character and lore context/depth that i find myself wanting. which was a big problem for me in inquisition as well. like sure, there are collectables and hidden paths and puzzles to navigate through, and those are absolutely a huge improvement over inquisition's. but those don't give life and flavor and narrative depth to the environment the way that having meaningful interactions with npcs does. the barks are nice, but they leave me wanting significantly more in terms of interaction and depth.

im gonna keep comparing it to god of war (2018 - haven't played ragnarok yet) since that's really the closest thing its reminding me of. and while i loved god of war, i did feel like its world was very lonely. it made up for it with its extremely honed in narrative focus on the journey of the two established characters, and the quality of its writing and voice acting both for their dialogues and the few quests with other characters. it's not a game about the setting or how it shapes the characters that live there, it's about a grieving father and son who happen to be gods.

whereas dragon age IS about its world almost as much as it is about its characters. and with such a rich setting with three prior entries to build on, it seems kind of a shame to let players explore all these places we've heard about but not meaningfully interact with the characters there outside of Big Epic Story Moments or companion-focused quests, especially when you could in the previous games.

anyway.... much to think about... still enjoying it, still have more thoughts as i keep playing

[niiwa-angel]

Hal and Barry have been dating for a while and both of them have been hunting about getting married. They've been talking about where they'd theoretically have the ceremony, where they'd take a honeymoon, who would be their best men, etc. the only thing they haven't done is actually asked the question.

And that's what Hal is pondering as he's doing a really BORING mission for the Lanterns. But if he wants to propose, he needs a ring and there in lies the problem. Rings are expensive and he is broke as fuck because being an intergalactic space cop somehow doesn't have a salary. And while he's thinking this, he stumbles onto some pretty red and green rocks and has a light bulb moment. He doesn't need to buy a ring, he can make a ring! Here are all these pretty rocks just laying around on this dead planet!

So he takes some rocks, a big ish chunk of iron from a nearby comet, brings them back to earth and gets to work. His lantern ring can do anything needed to make Barry the perfect ring and that's what he's going to do. He puts a ton of thought into it, because Barry works with his hands a lot at work and often has to wear gloves that prevent him from wearing jewelry, he makes it specifically so that the ring will still be pretty if he pins it to his shirt or wears in on a chain. The centerpiece is a big, pretty green rock with lots of red in it that he manages to polish into looking shiny, and it's surrounded by little pieces of sea glass that's red and green too. He gets the iron purified and into a perfectly sized ring for Barry's finger and polished that to a shine too. The most expensive thing about the ring is the dollar store box it came in because he didn't technically have to pay for materials or labour.

So he proposed, Barry said yes, they have their wedding, they both say "I do", Hal steps on the glass, and they honeymoon in Italy. It's beautiful, they're madly in love, everything is going perfectly.

Until Kilowag shows up and is like "Hal, the Guardians want you. You've broken intergalactic law."

And it turns out that the law Hal broke was bringing the rocks back to earth. The Guardians have a rule against that so that rocks that a valuable on one planet can't be brought from another planet and tank the economy. And Barry is wearing the evidence.

So now Hal and Barry, because if his idiot husband is appearing before space court, he's coming along. Their vows said through thick and thin, he just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. And if course, John Stewart, Guy Gardener, and Alan Scot tag along. One for support and two because this is the funniest fucking thing to happen all decade. And then the Justice League finds out about it and they have to go too. One for support and two because this is the funniest fucking thing ever.

The entirety of the case, Bruce is sitting beside Barry whispering to him "it's not to late to leave. We can get out of here right now. I have amazing lawyers, we can get you an annulment and it'll be like this never happened" because he's a supportive friend and also (perhaps even more importantly) he does not like Hal.

But Barry's like "we definitely don't qualify for annulment and I don't think any lawyer is going to believe us if we tell them this"

Hal and Guy are arguing that Hal didn't take the rocks to profit off of them, he took them to make them into a gift. John is talking about earth traditions of giving pretty things to your partner to try and make it seem like this was a weird instinctual thing Hal did by accident to get an insanity plea.

Alan is arguing to give Hal the death penalty.

And then one of the Guardians says that Hal intended to profit off the Bloodstones he took by selling the ring when Bruce freezes and then slaps himself. Hard.

"Bloodstones are pretty much worthless on earth" he says.

And then the Guardians freeze because they've been basing their whole argument on Hal somehow profiting of the pretty rocks he found on a dead planet, only to find out that he basically took beer caps.

So now they have to find out how much the ring is worth, to see if they even have a case. And it turns out they do not.

And it turns out that the entirety of the ring is worth MAYBE, generously, $30. Maybe, if the appraiser is blind. Or new. Because Bloodstone is cheap. Iron is in no demand on Earth. And there are no valuable gems in the ring. Hal didn't even use his ring to know for certain what rocks he picked up off the ground, he literally just thought they were pretty and that Barry would like them because Barry is a nerd who likes space rocks. The only value the ring has is its appearance.

And now basically the entirety of their honeymoon has been spent keeping Hal's dumb ass out of space jail over a pretty ring that, while resilient and made with love, isn't worth anything. So now the Guardians feels dumb and everyone else is asking "how the hell did you even know Hal took the rocks?"

And it turns out the Eobard found out and told Sinestro, who got it back to the Guardians. It's the dumbest thing ever.

They get back and the other lanterns basically look at Hal and ask "so despite all the research you did on how to make the ring, you never stopped to consider the laws of the universe?"

Hal never gets to live it down and it's why Barry gets to put a finger down for "Never Have I Ever Seriously Considered Killing my Beloved Husband After Less Than A Week Of Being Married"

[janeway-or-the-highway]

My entry for the @25daysofvoyager ! A little part 1 of a J/C fanfic. Fluff. Action/Adventure. Angst. Aliens mistaking JC as married again. Enjoy!

“Chakotay, please!”

Kathryn dodged another blow and stumbled backward.

“Chakotay! This isn’t you!” She shouted at him, still struggling to put any distance between them on her sprained ankle, before it finally gave out.

He strode toward her, but paused when he saw a large branch on the ground. He reached down and grabbed it, then seemed to test it in his hands.

“And how do you know this ‘isn’t me’?” Chakotay said, his voice deep, and dangerous.

“I know you!”

“No. You don’t,” he said, closing the distance between them and swinging the branch down on her.

THREE DAYS EARLIER

Captain’s Log:

“It is our second day in orbit around the planet Caldar. The Caldari are a very pleasant people and trade negotiations have gone well so far. The Caldari have graciously opened their planet to the crew for shore leave. Tuvok didn’t find anything to suggest bad intent and didn’t have any objections, which I guess is as close to a compliment as you can get from a Vulcan. It is nice to be reminded that the Delta Quadrant has just as many friendly species as dangerous ones. Everyone is in desperate need of some R&R. Myself included, as Chakotay is always reminding me. Being stuck in negotiations, Chakotay and I have only seen the government centers of Caldar, but I look forward to getting to explore this rich planet more. Chakotay mentioned hearing that the twin sunset over the cliffs of Rohem was worth exploring, and I am hoping to take him up on that. Tom and Harry keep coming back with stories to keep us entertained in the meantime. A personal highlight was Tom’s retelling of Harry’s failed attempt to ride, what Tom described as a horse-sized mix between a pig and a hippo. The Doctor says that Harry needs to be off-duty for 24 hours. I had to elbow Chakotay to keep him from bursting out laughing at the Doctor’s report; Harry’s already embarrassed enough as it is. However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be enjoying those holo-photos later.

On the business side of things, Caldar continues to impress. The planet might as well be one giant ball of dilithium. You should have seen how fast B’Elanna made it to the bridge when the planet showed up on sensors. Their entire economy is built on the sale and trade of this material that we so often find ourselves scrounging for. At first, I worried about what they were going to ask for in exchange, but what the Caldari are most interested in are the various cultures of the Alpha Quadrant. Their people collect different cultures and integrate them into their own society. I recognize some bits and pieces of cultures from throughout the Delta Quadrant, while some things are completely new. However, the custom that is of the utmost importance is their one unique tradition. The Caldari take partnership very seriously. Their society includes partnerships of all kinds; males with males, females with females, and male with female, etc. Regardless of the type of partnership, once a pair has chosen each other, they become part of one another. This “sacred partnership” is at the heart of their civilization and they champion it above all else. However, from what I understand, they do not believe in the concept of soulmates, rather that they are all on a path that will one day lead them to their missing piece. It is a society built on the idea of the peaceful pursuit of love. It is quite beautiful.

Anyway, I am hoping to exchange our cultural database we will get enough dilithium to keep B’Elanna happy for quite some time.

Despite everything that this planet has given us, I find myself still apprehensive. The Delta Quadrant is rarely this kind and I…”

The chime to the ready room interrupted Kathryn’s log.

“Computer, end log” she said while pushing the console to the side,

“Come in.”

Chakotay walked in.

“Good morning, Commander,” a soft smile spread across her face.

“Good morning, Captain. I have the crew rotations for the next month.”

“Thank you. Have I missed any more of Tom’s stories since I’ve been off the bridge?”

“No, but you did miss Neelix’s rousing report promising ‘new and improved’ recipes for leola root” Chakotay chuckled as Kathryn’s face turned into a grimace.

“Hopefully they are better than his last ‘masterpieces.’ I’m still low on replicator rations from last time.”

“Me too. Mostly from you convincing me to get you more coffee,” Chakotay said with a knowing look.

Kathryn smirked, “Captain’s prerogative. Plus, you have to admit that his latest attempt at ‘better than coffee’ coffee was unbearable.”

Chakotay chuckled. “Well, if Caldari food is anything like their hospitality, I think that we will be alright.”

“Yes,” Kathryn stood and made her way over to the viewport. She clasped her hands behind her back, “The Caldari have been extremely welcoming to us.”

“But you’re worried,” Chakotay joined her at the viewport, “worried that they are too good to be true”

Kathryn gave him a sideways smile,

“Have you been reading my log?”

“No, I just know how you think”

“I feel like we are waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’ve been in trade negotiations for over a day and all they’ve asked for is Picasso and Kadis-Kot! My gut is telling me there is something more,” she sighed.

Chakotay put his hand on her shoulder, “We have one of our last trade meetings today. Whatever comes our way we have always been able to make it through. Today will be no different.”

Their eyes met and Chakotay couldn’t help but get caught in those pools of blue. Their relationship, after so much hardship, was finally starting to settle down again. Their weekly dinners were the highlight of his week and recently Kathryn was starting to let him in a little more. Not beyond anything that couldn’t be brushed off as close friendship, but still.

Chakotay knew that he had fallen for Kathryn a long time ago, from the moment they locked eyes on the bridge, but it was the shared moments like these where he recognized the depth of his feelings for her. He would wait for her. The angry warrior would stay by her side, for as long as it took.

Spirits, I’m lost.

“Thank you, Chakotay,” she said softly.

“Of course, Kathryn.”

“Tuvok to Captain Janeway.”

He dropped his hand from her shoulder.

Tuvok and his timing.

“Go ahead.”

“Captain, the Caldari ambassadors have arrived to begin negotiations. They are waiting for you and the Commander in the briefing room.”

“Thank you, Tuvok. We are on our way”

Chakotay moved towards the door, but Kathryn continued to stand looking out the viewport. Chakotay’s voice interrupted her worried thoughts,

“Are you coming, Captain?”

“Yes, I am right behind you”

Chakotay flashed her a smile and exited. Kathryn shook her head and followed after him.

Oh, I am so lost.

“Captain, I am glad that Voyager found its way to our corner of the galaxy. I think both of our people will benefit from these negotiations.” The Caldari ambassador, Turin, sat at the end of the briefing room table. The color of his skin reminded Kathryn of lilacs. The soft texture of his light purple skin was accompanied by small streaks of green that accentuated his humanoid cheekbones and jaw. His cheekbones stuck out on his face but seemed like they wrapped around his head towards the back of his skull, giving his face a sleek appearance.

“Thank you, Ambassador. I agree. I hope you find Alpha Quadrant culture as interesting as we do”

“Yes, there is much to explore. You have an extensive database on so many species! It will keep our scholars busy until the next Dual Eclipse!” The green streaks of his skin gave a soft glow with his excitement.

“I hope so, and if I may, I would recommend Dante. He is a philosopher from Earth’s history, and a personal favorite of mine.”

“Thank you for the recommendation. Now, Captain, I have a few formalities before we begin. Requirements from the High Council. You understand?” Turin said.

“Of course”

Turin reached into the satchel that sat on the floor next to him and brought out a beautifully bound book filled with greenish pages. When Turin opened the book, Kathryn realized that the pages’ green hue was similar in color to the streaks on the Caldari’s faces. She wondered if this was due to choice, or something in the planet’s biology that affected both of them. She suppressed the urge to ask as he began to speak.

“Captain, as you are aware, our society values partnership over everything else. You assured us that your culture assumes a similar view to the importance of partnership, which is what allowed us to begin this fruitful relationship between our two peoples in the first place. However, we are concerned, and frankly somewhat… off put, that you have yet to introduce us to your partner.”

Kathryn paused and tried to absorb what Turin was saying, “I’m sorry, Ambassador. I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Turin’s mouth twitched, “We do not interact, or much less conduct trade, with peoples whose leader is unpartnered. It is an unspeakable offense. Furthermore, if we were to be led into an arrangement under false circumstances regarding one’s partnership status, we would consider that an act of aggression against our planet.”

Kathryn’s typically quick-witted diplomatic mind felt like it stalled out. A partner? She was the Captain! A relationship out here could never be a partnership. Not when every available person was someone under her command. “Ambassador, you have to understand, as Captain, I don’t -“

“You don’t what?” The threat was clear. Turin’s jovial attitude was long gone and his streaks shifted to a deeper green as his mood shifted.

“I-“ Kathryn started, but Chakotay’s hand coming to rest on hers stopped her. She resisted the urge to yank her hand out from under his as she locked eyes with him. As it often was with him, she needed no words to understand what he was saying:

Trust me.

And she did.

“Ambassador Turin,” Chakotay started, “I am the Captain’s life partner.” He moved his hand on hers to interlock their fingers. Kathryn let him, since all of her energy was being spent actively trying not to have the panic she was feeling on the inside show on her face. “You have to understand,” Chakotay continued, “the Captain is not used to sharing the status of our relationship since our job’s put us in a tricky position, considering that it could be taken advantage of by our enemies. If our feelings and commitment to one another were to become common knowledge, any number of species could use that to their advantage. And, sir, as you said, our culture values our partnerships, and you’re right. If anything were to happen to Kathryn, I would stop at nothing to get her back, including putting others at risk.”

Turin visibly calmed down, but seemed wary. “But why keep this information from us. We have shown nothing but hospitality to you!”

“We apologize and don’t mean to offend, but it is just something that we’ve gotten used to protecting.”

Turin seemed to accept this and clapped his hands together. “Oh, great happiness! We are glad to keep you as friends. Now, we must discuss the Three Trials.”

“The Three Trials?” Kathryn found her voice again, but still struggled to stay focused with her hand intertwined with Chakotay’s.

“The Three Trials are three tasks meant to prove your love and commitment to one another.”

Kathryn shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“This serves a dual purpose: one, to confirm your partnership, and, two, to determine if you are tjaasaktic. Will you comply?”

The universal translator faked to pick up the last word, but all Kathryn could think of was their desperate need for the Caldari’s friendship and trade. “When do we start?”

Should I do a part 2?

[braemjeorn]

spoiler alert first, but is nobody going to talk about shin cha-il's career track?

right then, i will. because what are his lucks that he can move companies consistently, with only like a month's gap in between? in this economy?

if you look closely, his position on the 2011 section is daeri, assistant manager, like moon who shares seojin and hansoo's desk. if you're a fresh graduate employee, you need 4 years to get that position. so if cha-il started working in 2006, it's pretty on track. how though!??

what are the odds that a certain company has an empty assistant manager or deputy manager spot for him to fill? what are his strategies? does he bounce around korea from gyeonggi to busan and daegu then seoul like that? or is seoul packed enough for such high chances of re-employment? did he just creep higher through the company sizes? till he reached something as conglomerate as JU? is man just so driven for that one purpose, God just lets things work out for him?

i heard that it's so hard to quit in japan but not sure what's the culture in korea - a resignation letter to the highest power and that's it? i heard an american youtuber said that when she quit she still has to stay 3 months before physically leaving the position... so honestly sir, how? wouldn't you need at least a 30-day notice before you leave?

and does he just take sabbaticals for a month after he thinks he's swept the place clean? and people just come and ask him to join their company? shin's magnet istg

i mean at some point i'm sure he might have been mentioned in the news for toppling someone powerful - even if just once in the whole news, it would have been enough marketing for his "freelancer" career - and the headcannon is sewoong heard about him and just goes here's my card, i need you for my company, do what you must?

was sewoong smugly thinking he would not get caught and all that day… huh.

also was thinking about his oersonality a lot, and that this man's perseverance is because he never got over his father's loss. i would say trauma but I don't want to use that word lightly and i'm not sure, but here's my argument:

like i don't think mental health might be attended much back in the early 2000s as it is today so him loosing his dad might have killed so much of himself - man's not just broken. add the humongous the self-blame to that and you get an intentional 180 degree change in a man.

so he grows more insistent and more ruthless about finding out the truth and in the process just just grows colder, and colder and colder in his insistence to capture the one embezzling money.

i do wonder if he was as warm as hansoo, with his father at least (did he saw himself in the boy?) because that little scene with yoon mikyung when they're younger showed that he's not a man of many emotions. very pragmatic and practical, but perhaps - no, surely - he had dreams and hopes as well? a littlr more optimistic about the world? based on this little statement of romanticism here, and that all just died with his dad.

back on his practical pragmatisim - he doesn't smile much with mikyung (well there could be other factors like him just tolerating her crush but still) makes me think he doesn't (like never) get social cues that well, overcome by his brilliance. the bombastic side eyes we get was hilarious though. shin ha kyun you genius.

or maybe his humour is just crippled after some 30 years of chosen distrust that he just...

he tried tho. don't we love him.

(also seojin and hansoo both have eye smiles i noticed cuTIESS)

[purplecritter]

Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance (Ep. 1)

Official episode transcript here

My notes while I was listening under the cut... Spoilers ahead!

“People have been saying the ground be feeling like it’s gonna give”... cool cool so now it’s just a question of if it’s Ghil and Dark Spawn or if it’s Titans underground 👀

What’s this about looking a Qunari in the eyes being disrespectful?? Olen what are you saying

🎶OH GREY WARDEN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THE OATH YOU HAVE TAKEN IS ALL BUT BROKEN🎶

^ Makes me hopeful to hear snippets of previous parts of the soundtrack in The Veilguard! Lost Elf Theme / Dark Solas Theme my beloveds...

“Every Templar, guard, warden, bounty hunter this side of Thedas is looking for the now notorious Nadia Carcosa” they got the Wardens too????

Ohh Andraste’s Grace flowers are poetic… In general or for Nadia and Elio specifically? Nevermind--what is poetic to me is that there was a ring in DAII named Andraste' Grace which boosted defense and health regen... And Elio says the ring he proposed with had been "embued with a protective spell" :3

Nadia doesn’t know her birthday… Abandoned or a former slave? <- Yep liberati

Wow what a conversation… Ogh if he died after they had an argument about marriage without closure I can excuse the poisoning of Olen lmao

Nadia referring to her and Elio as a “break from reality” :(  

Arcanis Hall, the Archives = part of the Magisterium

IT’S SO GOOD TO HEAR NEVE AGAIN :D

“Many lives depend on [stopping Nadia]”. How close is Vows&Vengeance to the start of The Veilguard and compared to The Missing? Because Neve seems to already be at least a little acquainted with Solas' plans here. She seemed to know the consequences of having/using the Eye, saying it will “destroy” Neve&Elio, and she was also sure that it was Solas who tipped the Templars on Nadia (and Elio by proxy).

Silver coins mentioned yippee (I love when the economy is not just gold. I miss my shitty 7 copper items okay)

“holds every object, scrap of writing, relic, antiquity that’s even remotely interesting to the Empire” this description of the Archives makes me understand why Dorian was bitching about the size and contents of our Skyhold library. Sorry king Ferelden really was a nerf for you

So Templars in Tevinter are glorified guards for the Mages rather than over them. But they at least have authority to arrest people part of the Magisterium

Neve warning Elio not to draw magic from the Fade means she casts spells avoiding it? Ma'am👀 <- nevermind she probably knew about the Andante thing

Silent Plains huh? THE TOWN CALLED ‘SOLAS’ IS RIGHT ABOVE THERE!! Mr Dreadwolf is sooo cheeky I know he was giggling when he passed by that location

The Eye of Kethisca. Ancient artifact. (according to Solas so take with a grain of salt) Drawing (magic) power from the Fade triggers an explosion of energy, specifically Elio using magic near it created a bond that amplified its powers. Crafted centuries ago by a powerful dreamer An’dante using a rare gem mined from caves in the Silent Plains, where the Veil is thin because of the unspeakable sacrifice of many.

Solas says there’s “nothing to fear about this relic” I'M NOT TRUSTING THOSE WORDS OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IN PARTICULAR

“Ar dirthan’as ir elgara / Ma’sula e’var vhenan” ⇒ saying this somehow deactivated the Eye ^ It’s also what Solas says to Sera in an attempt to make her feel the rhythm of the language 🧐

“Heruamin litirien. / Alai uethri maeria. / Halurocon yalei nam bahna. / Dolin nareba maome… / Ame amin. / Halai lothi amin. / Aloamin Heruamin. / Heruamin oh lonai. / Imwe anine beriole…” ⇒ chanted by Solas and Elio in the caves while holding the Eye. When Elio lets go the caves & Veil collapse

Solas: “I do not play games.” The Iron Bull, who played mind-chess with him 10 years ago: “So that's a fucking lie.”

Elio: “I was told the Eye would end the world, not mend it.” Solas: “Some people confuse a reckoning as an ending.” Elio: “So you seek reform?” Solas: “I seek regeneration.” ^ noting this down since it smells like foreshadowing

I wonder who The Dreadwolf's intermediary with Olen is!

We're going back to the Hinterlands everyone 💀

Interesting that "Carcosa" is Nadia's surname, from a meta perspective at least since it's been used a lot for ominous place-names

Speaking of names, "Andante" is a real surname but it's also a tempo in music which is cool to me since it subtly references the lyrium described to be singing + him being stuck in the Fade where lyrium flows more liberally

[wfagamerants]

As is well documented by now, I really love Mario Party, even beyond the realm of Mario it’s one of my favorite series ever. It’s also been said plenty by now that my relationship with the Switch games has been rocky.

I know, me being so nice to ND Cube’s output, only to have problems with the Switch games is for many an off-beat opinion, it’s just how I feel.

When Jamboree was announced it seemed to be the MP I had been waiting for right out of the gate and I can happily say it delivered. While we are still in the honeymoon phase with the game, I feel confident even calling it one of the best Mario Party games, a sentiment I never agreed on when brought up with Superstars, which I only find solid.

I’ll go by the same structure I went with for my essay on the Switch games, since that is what I am most comfortable with, so we’ll start with the roster.

While the selection was very not for me, I do give a lot of credit to Super for really beefing up the character numbers and after a really sad showing in Superstars, Jamboree returns to that, with a 22 characters large selection, one I am a much bigger fan of.

The character/mook ratio is closer to what I prefer, the Toads are back, Pauline and Ninji are wonderful newcomers and my issues with playable Bowser have been addressed with the introduction of Imposter Bowser. At least in terms of what can be expected, the roster is just one Diddy short of being perfect for me.

The game in general prides itself on the sheer amount of content it packs and that shows with the boards too.

7 boards, 5 new and 2 returning. I got some nitpicks, particularly how we are still sticking to only N64 boards coming back, but on the whole I do like the idea of Mario Party going Mario Kart by bringing back old boards. They genuinely are really well remade.

Mario’s Rainbow Castle was always going to be more strategic and involved thanks to the inclusion of items, but Western Land was the big surprise. I always loved the board, but the greater control you have over Steamer, the train here, being able to drive two stations ahead or even get him to come to whatever station you’re at, thanks to the new Steamer Ticket item, really alters the game. It’s a far bigger part of the game plan to knock opponents back to start, but the wealth of movement based items also means you have the means to rush where you need to, it’s well balanced that way.

The 5 new boards are an extremely good selection. Superstars is the basis for the board play, so in many regards it’s a bit hard to go into heavy detail without stating the obvious. It’s classic Mario Party and still clearly based on 1-4, with things like Boo being on every board, but it’s in the details and a couple key aspects where the game leaves its own mark of quality.

Despite the Super moniker, the boards are thankfully nothing like in that game. They are all a good size and full of mechanics of their own and obstacles. In fact, what impresses me most is how distinct they all feel.

Whether you rack up an insane amount of coins and visit specific shops for items or collect stamps in Rainbow Galleria, brave the delightfully evil Bowser Byway in King Bowser’s Keep or make a mad dash across the track in Roll ‘em Raceway, every board feels distinct and has a very strong identity. I do miss the more varied star collecting methods from 6-8 and DS, with only Roll ‘em Raceway feeling similar to that, but they are still the most distinct bunch of boards to not go for that formula and that is a genuinely huge compliment.

Of course, good boards are one thing, but the finer mechanics need to check out too and luckily Jamboree doesn’t disappoint and that’s where three major points about the board play I love come into play.

First are the Lucky Spaces. I am on and off with how I feel about them, but thanks to the much greater amount of hazards threatening your coin count and ways to spend them, their bonuses end up feeling like a more natural part of the game’s economy. 

They can still feel a little overtuned at times, but unlike Superstars the game is designed in ways to make their instant perks a bit more justified. There even is an Unlucky Space counterpart, even if the penalties there are milder than the benefits of its good counterpart, but it does contribute to keeping things in check.

Secondly there are the items. While there is still a heavy emphasis on movement based items, I think the variety has seen a good upgrade. I’m particularly fond of the returning Bowser Phone, as well as the traps, which are just hexes from MPDS and can turn portions of a board into a hilarious coin and star steal minefield.

What really pushes it to another level though is an idea 6 toyed with in Snowflake Lake and what 7 made a much bigger deal of: board specific items. Superstars did have that in the sense it makes no sense to have a Skeleton Key available on the MP1 boards, but Jamboree is different.

These board specific items are all made to interact with the gimmick of the board. Use the Tide Shell on Goomba Lagoon to control the tide, put a hole into everyone’s deep pockets with the Markup Sticker in Rainbow Galleria and I already mentioned the Steamer Ticket on Western Land and how that alters how you play the game.

Items have always been meant to be the more strategic part of MP, something to give the player agency in a kind of game ruled by the dice and items like this really allow you to make power plays and plan ahead in a way the orbs in 6 and 7, still the best item system to me, excelled at.

The way they are distributed is also good. Multiple shop types like in 3, item minigames are still here as a potential outcome on an Item Space and while Lucky Spaces can still give out items, it feels a bit more restrained or at least the game is better designed around it. Horror Land in Superstars when I play it often devolves into a long series of Chomp Calls, since it’s so easy for everyone to get an arsenal of those. Nothing like that ever really happened for me here.

The third big aspect for me is the Jamboree Buddies.

For all its flaws, being basically just lifted from Star Rush, I did find the allies to be one of the genuinely interesting parts of Super, but it needed a lot of retooling and Jamboree did just that in a variety of ways.

Jamboree Buddies will eventually appear on the board, but only one is around at a time and you need to reach them first. If you aren’t fast enough they just leave and you need to wait a couple turns for the next one to show up.

Even if you do reach them, you need to win a Showdown Minigame first, each centered around that character and only through winning it, will you get them.

While their perks such as their own abilities or doubling the effects of positive spaces OR being able to use Boo twice in one turn or buy two stars at once, are very powerful, they also double negative effects. If you land on say, a Bowser Space, you take double the punishment and on King Bowser’s Keep, that even makes for situations where there are so many Bowser Spaces that passing up on a Buddy may even be the smarter move,

While their perks are potentially game changing, you only get them for a few turns and someone passing by you can steal your Buddy from you, so making the most of their perks in the limited time you have can be a genuine challenge.

All that combined makes the Jamboree Buddies a significantly more balanced take on allies. Very exciting when around, but the game doesn’t centralize around them and it is possible to even suffer more bad effects than good ones, if you get one in a bad spot.

Those are some of the big factors that help Jamboree really push the board play up further in quality for me beyond ‘’boards good’’. In the end it’s Mario Party as you know it, but it has some really good refinements and new ideas.

Another such good idea is a voting system for minigames now being an option, along with the Bonus Star options returning from Superstars. It’s just neat to see Mario Party inch towards a more customizable experience.

In fact to add to this, Jamboree introduces an entirely new ruleset called Pro Mode. This mode offers a bunch of changes, including, but not limited to:

The turn count is a set 12 turns.

Chance Time and Hidden Blocks are not a thing.

Everyone can choose one item to start the game with.

Items in item shops are limited in supply.

The voting system for minigames is the default and only option, no roulette.

There is only one bonus star and you know which one it is from the start, so you can play specifically for it.

Lucky Spaces let you choose between 10 Coins or a Double Dice item.

Bowser on a Bowser Space will automatically steal a star if you have one.

Boo always steals 15 coins, no mashing mechanic to be found.

Among other things.

Overall it’s a really fun alternative way to play the game that changes your approach to many situations. I wouldn’t call it a definitive competitive minded experience, since it is at the end of the day, still a board game, but as a different way to play the boards, it’s a lot of fun.

Of course the board is just half of the MP experience, so how are the minigames?

In my opinion, really good!

I touched on this in my write-up on revisiting the previous Switch entries, but something about how many minigames in Superstars controlled always felt off to me. It’s hard to explain and really weird since I didn’t feel that way about Top 100 or any other MP, but it is a contributor to why I was never fully on Team Superstars.

Luckily Jamboree feels just fine to me and the overall selection of minigames is solid, packing a lot of action based games, mixed with more puzzly or reaction and mashing based ones. The variety is here and there isn’t much in the way of stinkers.

I was a bit iffy seeing returning minigames initially, since two of the three last games were all returning minigames, but Jamboree handles it gracefully and in a way that, like returning boards, would even be totally cool as a new norm for me. There are only a couple, the selection is good and several are even heavily recontextualized, like Leaf Leap, Bumper Balls and Shy Guy Says now being a three-part marathon challenge in Mario’s Showdown game or Platform Peril now being a coin minigame.

I am happy to say the game cools it with Coin minigames. They are still there and that’s fine, but the game isn’t blatantly rigged for them to pop up often like Superstars was and I appreciate that.

Duel minigames are once again oddly snubbed, only five once more, but at least the selection is really good. Slappy-Go-Round in particular is easily one of the most brilliant concepts for a duel minigame in the whole series.

Showdown Minigames for Jamboree Buddies are totally new. They revolve around the character you play for and are far longer than the average mini-game. This is gonna be more subjective but I think they mostly pull it off, with Waluigi, Wario, Mario, Daisy, Jr, Rosalina and Yoshi all having really good ones. Luigi’s is pretty good, but can be an autowin for players who reach him and get an advantage. Peach and DK are the only duds for me. Peach’s has an awkward first part and a luck based second part, while DK’s doesn’t do a great job filling its length and ends up being the one game of the bunch to really feel long for me.

Jamboree also brings back boss minigames from 9, 10 and Star Rush. Once unlocked in Party Planner Trek they can appear as options on the VS Space, making them effectively a return of dedicated Battle Minigames, if mixed with regular minigames in the rotation.

The minigames themselves are decent, Imposter Bowser’s is a bit lame to me and none are quite as good as the ones in previous games, but they aren’t bad by any means and I am happy to see them experiment with bringing that idea over into the classic formula.

Lastly for Party Mode minigames there are the motion control ones and that is a bit of an awkward one. Like in Super, I actually think the controls for them work really well and I like the minigames themselves, but being required to play with the one Joycon method to play them isn’t my favorite thing in the world and it’s a shame that they didn’t find a more graceful solution than to just lock those minigames away when playing with a more comfortable controller.

Also a bit of a shame there are no Bowser Minigames this time, though at least they have a good substitute in another mode.

Despite a slightly more mixed tone by the end, I consider Party Mode a big success, so let’s discuss the other modes.

First there is Party Planner Trek, our first dedicated singleplayer, somewhat story mode, in a long time.

In a lot of ways it’s basically a mix of Advance and the Minigame Island-type modes. You can walk freely across the board and do tasks for NPCs, along with playing all the minigames to collect Mini-Stars. Collect enough and you face the boss of the board, defeat them and you can move on to the next one.

It’s a simple concept, but nicely executed. The best way to describe it is cozy. It’s a nice laidback excuse to run around the boards and play through all the minigames that I can see myself revisiting when in the mood for it. The framing of this being how all the boards are made ready for the big event is also just really charming.

The only bad thing about the mode was getting first place in Gate Key-pers due to its luck based nature. I’d even call it the worst part of the game, but it is just one tedious minigame, hardly something that ruins anything and it can be skipped if you don’t care for 100%.

Then we got the Minigame Bay, with its modes and it’s….okay. The Boss Rush and Showdown Minigames based modes are welcome inclusions and the presentation is great across the board. Still, I miss the minigame modes of days past, especially Decathlon and would love to see some of them again.

We got two more flavors of extra modes and to me the stronger one is easily the two Bowser modes.

First up is Koopathlon, which is very much just Coinathlon from Star Rush, but now with 20 players and online functionality. You still collect coins in minigames specific to this mode, to move across a linear board and race to clear a certain amount of laps first. Even the items are taken straight from Star Rush, apart from Lava Bubble being replaced by Imposter Bowser and even that amounts to the same effect, all that changes is what burns your butt.

None of this is a negative though, since Coinathlon was easily one of the best side modes in the series and Jamboree is a very positive case of more of the same. I’d even say I like it a bit more thanks to the Survivathon Bowser minigames.

These were already a thing in Coinathlon, you try to survive a Bowser minigame and if you don’t you get moved back a certain amount of spaces as punishment. Jamboree edges out as better for me for not only having more and really good Bowser minigames, but also being far more challenging to survive, making them much more intense.

Koopathlon’s just great, taking an already amazing side-mode and making it just a tad better, easily my most played mode aside from Party Mode.

The other Bowser Mode is Bowser Kaboom Squad, one that caused a lot of intrigue pre-release for how little was known about it.

An 8 player team goes up against Imposter Bowser in a city and attempts to dodge him and other obstacles to collect bombs to attack him, as well as balance that with collecting coins for a Bonus Round where all bombs do more damage. 

The team needs to defeat Imposter Bowser in 5 rounds and at the end of every round is a team minigame, where you will net items to help you in various ways, with what items you get being determined by what Rank you archived in the minigame.

In some ways this mode feels like an extension of your typical Bowser final boss minigame from the Hudson days and I really like it for that. It’s frantic, offers fun opportunities for teamwork and Imposter Bowser, especially on Hard, is genuinely imposing to go up against. 

It’s a simple mode, but I really enjoy it. Not quite on the same level as Coinathlon, but a really welcome addition. I have played quite a bit already.

Lastly is the Motion based modes. Those were always going to be more novelty driven, but I do think the end result is a positive one.

The best is easily Rhythm Kitchen, a sequel to its equivalent in Super, my favorite part of that game. Unlike in that game the minigames are cooperative, making it more of a ‘’go with the vibe’’ experience and luckily it succeeds there.

The games are simple, but easy to understand, the music catchy and you even get to play a Rhythm Heaven-style Remix mode, set to the SMB1 overworld theme.

It’s a fun, cozy mode. Doesn’t take long until you have seen everything it has, but as basically a glorified minigame mode, it does it’s job well and is a nice every once in a while option.

I feel similarly about Toad’s Item Factory. The goal is to get orbs to a goal, using motion gimmicks to guide them. The controls are intuitive, the gimmicks varied, that’s really all there can be said. Fun mode, but very simple and not something to go back to regularly, but a good time when you play it.

The last mode is Paratroopa’s Flight School and yeah, that is the lowlight of the game, not bad though.

I do love the idea and the free flight mode in particular is actually pretty cool for what it is, with two extra modes as an extra on top. It works well, never had a problem with the controls and it is a cute idea, it’s just also very much a gimmick and not one that lends itself to going back to it a lot. The idea of it just wears thin and also requires more set-up to properly play.

It’s also weird how the mode locks you into playing as Mario or Luigi as the second player. Not a huge deal, modes where not everyone is playable isn’t new to the series, but being stuck with just one set character feels alien for Mario Party.

That’s all the modes and there is one constant across most of them: online. Jamboree emphasizes that aspect more than any other part of the series and I am happy to say that at least from my experience, it’s very good. It plays as well as the game does offline and I didn’t experience more than one small lag spike and no connection errors, which sometimes plagued Superstars for me.

Another big area where the game shines is presentation. The NDCube games have always been very good at this, but Jamboree takes this to another level. There are so many things to say that I may as well do it in a list format, because there is a lot there, in many different places too.

First off, a lot of old animations got small touch-ups, tiny details in how say, Mario, Luigi and Wario’s hats now obey gravity when they go back down after hitting a dice. Similarly, the characters during high rolls will not only speed up, but even transition into a new sprinting animation once fast enough.

There are several new situation specific animations, such as the panic run animations in the Granite Getaway remake, which you don’t see anywhere else.

The camera on the boards is way more dynamic and loves showing very appealing shots, such as Imposter Bowser looming over the characters in King Bowser’s Keep.

Mario’s Rainbow Castle turns dark and threatening if Imposter Bowser is in front of the castle, you can even see Bullet Bills pass by in the background.

They went through the work to tweak some animations for certain boards. Chance Time always catapults the characters in the air for instance, but in Rainbow Galleria this comes with a crashing sound and a visual effect showing the characters crashed through the ceiling.

Roll ‘em Raceway in general bothered with a unique, if simple, animation set of everyone in cars, to make the board concept possible.

Really, long story short, the game looks great and is full of life and personality. It also retains the zany, cartoony vibe that I love the series for, Super mostly lacked and Superstars didn’t always retain either.

Goomba Lagoon is in part my favorite board for representing this so well. It’s the perfect showcase for the dynamic camera and things like Lava Bubble spaces making everyone bounce across spaces with their butts on fire or the characters being forced on zipline rides they visibly don’t want to get on and even lose their grip by the end, are that toony fun energy that always gave the series a distinct personality for me.

The game also strikes a good balance of modern Mario visuals and original stuff. There is plenty of NSMBU and 3D World inspired content in there, but then you get say, the cities from the Bowser’s Kaboom Squad mode, which feel like cities you could see in Hudson era minigames. It’s nicely diverse.

While Mario Party has always been good with cool references to other Mario things, I’d argue Jamboree may be the best one yet.

The Showdown minigames are an obvious example, with say, Wario’s taking from both Ware and Land, Waluigi’s being a Waluigi Pinball reference or Donkey Kong basically making you play Donkey Konga being some big examples.

Even beyond that though you got things like Imposter Bowser being a shout-out to the SMB1 Fake Bowsers or Plessie making his first appearance in a spin-off. There is a lot to discover and it always made me smile. Mario spin-offs aren’t really like say, Dissidia or Theatrhythm are for Final Fantasy, where they feel like a true crossover and celebration of the whole series history, so any time one does include a lot of nods and elements from other games, it’s a treat.

The music ended up being a surprising highlight too, being full of catchy and varied tunes, not to mention just a lot of music in general. This is a hopelessly subjective topic, but there are several tracks I have already listened to a bunch outside the game. Imposter Bowser’s rocking themes and the bouncy, motivating Level 2 theme for Koopathlon being my highlights.

There is a lot of good detail work in here too, such as Imposter Bowser getting his own version of the Mario’s Rainbow Castle theme when he is out or all 22 characters getting their own little turn start jingles, because this game loves effort and I in turn love it for it.

We also got a fresher set of voice clips for a bunch of the cast, some new and some from Wonder and I won’t lie, Superstars with how much it makes the characters shout their canned old clips really tested my patience with the same clips they have used game after game, not just in this one sub-series, for over a decade and being rid of them feels like sweet release.

It helps that I genuinely think Kevin does a good job with his roles and while Deanna Mustard was really good, I utterly adore Giselle Fernandez as Daisy.

Been doing a ton of gushing and well, that’s because this game’s damn good and a showcase they learned all the right lessons. It’s not perfect, I have laid out things I thought could be better or are missing, but none of it comes even close to souring the experience for me.

I’d still put 6 and 7 at the very top for me, but Jamboree is really competitive with 3 as a solid third place for me and I don’t think that’s just the honeymoon phase speaking. Jamboree is a true return to form that makes me extremely optimistic for the future of the series.

That and I am curious if we will see DLC this time. The game is already more than packed enough to not need it, but if a MP ever were to see that kind post-launch support, I’d want it to be one as robust as Jamboree.

Because Jamboree really is just that good and I am so happy I can say that.

[st-just]

hi I like your blog. I have a question that may be too personal so no hard feelings if you don't answer but could you talk a little bit about more about what you like/don't like about Halifax? im considering Dalhousie for grad school but have never been! and would like to have as much information about where I might spend the next 2 years of my life. thank you!

Oh sure! Though like, it depends on where you're coming from? Everything here is very relative. And also I'm absolutely certain I will forget numemrous vital things, do ask followup questions.

Most important thing is that the housing market is horrifying - the city's population started booming during COVID and the zoning and construction is only really starting to catch up now. Especially within walking distance of Dal getting a place to live at anything approaching affordable is going to be vicious. (This has unsurprisingly coincided with a large uptick in homelessness. Unremarkable to walk by a tent in a corner of some public park now).

Relatedly, the bus system is like - okay I'm not sure it's notably bad for a mid-sized-ish north american city, but it's damn sure not any better. You can get by bussing around on the peninsula, anywhere beyond 20 minute drives turn into 40-60 minute rides.

You will not have a family doctor, figure out the nearest walk-in clinic you can use for anything non-emergency.

The city's economy runs on some combination of students, tourists, sailors and soldiers. There are as many bars as you might expect (had the most per capita in the country for a while, don't know if we still do). Some of them are actually very good!

Relatedly, weed and liquor are both only legally sold by the crown corporation monopoly and a few weird specialty places.

None of them are massive, but there is a very nice amount of parkland and green space scattered throughout the city. The public (botanical) gardens are really beautiful in the spring-summer, and most are well-maintained (they just renovated and expanded the outdoor pool on the city Commons last year, even).

The waterfront has been thoroughly gentrified for the cruise ships over the course of my lifetime, but it's all still open to the public and grabbing one of the armchairs or hammocks to read in during the summer is lovely.

Provincially the government is the most thoroughly domesticated/red tory party in the country (they fairly literally ran to the left of the liberals). Full of corrupt backslapping, constantly getting into pissing matches with the municipal government, will probably govern for the next decade.

For reasons that I assume are downstream of all the students and having the closest thing to a regional theater scene east of Quebec, the whole city is IME very queer-friendly. For reasons I absolutely not understand, pride is in August here.

The public library system is basically the only part of the municipal government I think anyone involved should be unequivocally proud of, but it is great.

I don't really know the crime stats offhand but like, I left my apartment door unlocked probably 7 times in 10 through all of undergrad and it never bit me in the ass?