#i restarted like 10 times before landing on this dude so i am not SUPER far in but i am enjoying it SO much

[camorrsthorn]

i'm having a lot of fun with veilguard and also i am extremely obsessed with my little crow so you all must see. him. his name is vittore!

[gyeomsweetgyeom]

Donghyuck x Reader

summary: dating Hyuck apparently also kinda means dating Mark

word count: ~2.4k

A/N: Hyuck is a total drama queen here and Mark is oblivious, happy reading! (also do we like the header?? I think it’s kinda cute)

-

Dating Hyuck was everything you dreamed of and then some, he was the perfect boyfriend and best friend all in one. He knew when to have fun and when he could mess around with you, but he also knew when you needed him to be serious and help you. Of course, he was super affectionate and loving, to you and his members, meeting you did not change his habits toward his members in the slightest. He still bothered Doyoung every chance he got, he still loved on Jisung with every fiber of his being, he still fought Renjun any chance he got, and he was still babied by Johnny- that wasn’t surprising to you. But what did surprise you was just how close Hyuck and Mark really were. From the very beginning, you had been under the impression that Hyuck was the one that smothered Mark with affection to the point of being annoying, but now months, nearly a year, into your relationship with Hyuck it was very apparent to you that Mark was almost like a third piece of your two-person puzzle. Mark was just as clingy, if not more clingy than Donghyuck on any given day. These two were practically glued at the hip when they were together, they were inseparable.

Mark would very often join in on your movie nights, squeeze himself to Hyuck’s unoccupied side while you cuddled, joined in on your facetime dates when you were apart, he had even crashed a few dates and Hyuck loved it. He loved spending time with his best friend and his love, his two favorite people at the same time. Now, don’t be confused- you loved Mark but as a friend and when he wasn’t being a major pain on your dates. You loved that Hyuck had a best friend and someone to comfort him when you couldn’t, but sometimes you just wanted some alone time with your boyfriend and lately, Mark had become increasingly needy with Hyuck. It was like every time he saw the both you together he saw it as an open invitation for him to join. He never picked up on the romantic vibes when it was just you and Donghyuck together.

-

You had just woken up, looking at the clock that read something close to 10 am, a bright, early morning for you and Hyuck, you turned, cuddling further into his chest in an attempt to absorb his warmth. 

“You’re up early.” He grumbled, hand gently rubbing your back. 

You pouted, “I think Johnny left the blinds open on purpose.” 

Hyuck let out a sleepy laugh, pressing a peck to your forehead, still in the limbo of being awake but also asleep. “I thought I heard voices, good morning!” Mark exclaimed as his head popped into the room. He made his way to the twin-sized bed and made room for himself on a remaining tiny sliver of the bed. Hyuck smiled widely, ever the cuddly baby when he woke up, he threw an arm around Mark to cuddle the both of you. 

“Did you change your shampoo or something? You smell good.” Mark asked Hyuck, wiggling over a bit to make room for himself. 

“Mark,” you groaned. This bed was not made for three people, heck, it barely fit you and Hyuck comfortably so while Mark was making room for himself you were losing room. 

He simply replied with an oops before he and Hyuck carried on with their soap conversation, “Hold up,” Mark paused, sitting up and making even more room for himself. With a sudden bump of his hip against your boyfriend’s led to Hyuck bumping into you, you fell out of bed, landing on the floor with a soft but sudden thud. 

“Oh my god! I am so sorry!” Mark apologized, trying and failing to hold in his laughter.

“Baby, are you okay?” Hyuck laughed.

You huffed and sent a glare at the two laughing idiots on the bed, standing from the floor to make your way to the kitchen. “I think Mark is trying to steal my boyfriend.” You stated as your eyes landed on an innocent bystander Johnny. 

“Coffee?” He offered simply. 

-

After a busy day of schedules, you took it upon yourself to treat the guys to a nice dinner as a nice relaxing treat for working so hard. The table was filled with conversations and laughs while the food was eaten and the stress was eased away. Hyuck sat beside you, hand on your knee while he spoke to Jaehyun. 

“Thank you for the dinner y/n!” Taeyong smiled, leading to the rest of the guys at the filled table to follow up with their own thank you’s and compliments on your choice of food. Even a few compliments about how sweet and amazing you are, which is always nice to hear.

“Thank you, baby, I love you. My favorite person on the whole planet.” Hyuck smiled, nuzzling his head into the space between your neck and your shoulder. 

“Whoa! Favorite person?” Mark questioned.

“After you of course,” Hyuck corrected himself as he got up to suffocate Mark in a gigantic hug. The two of them carried on laughing and play fighting as if you weren’t sitting a few feet away with your mouth hanging open. The table burst out laughing upon seeing the interaction between the youngest of the group and your reaction. 

“It’s okay y/n, you’re my favorite person tonight.” Taeil laughed, pulling you into a side hug. At least Taeil would give you affection.

“Hyung! Hands off.” Donghyuck glared. There was just no winning with him.

-

A regular movie night ended up in Hyuck laying on your chest and your hand running through his hair. The couple on screen was being cute and lovey-dovey in a cafe, making the man on your chest let out a longing sigh. “I wanna kiss you in a cafe.” He whined. 

“What if I don’t want to kiss you in a cafe?” You replied playfully.

He sat up quickly, caging you underneath him as he leaned in and began to attack you with a million kisses. 

“Okay!” you laughed, “Okay! I’ll kiss you wherever you want, now let me breathe.”

He smirked, “I want to cash in on one of those kisses now.”

Before you could fully catch your breath, his lips were pressed to your lips. Your lips moved in sync, just as they had hundreds of times before. Your hand was running through his hair, pulling and tugging in such a way that drove him crazy. One hand was slipping under your shirt, resting on your waist while the other made its way up to cup your cheek. You were pressed further into the couch as the heated kiss got somehow even steamier, with that you tugged a little more roughly on his hair. He pulled away with a groan, chest heaving while he caught his breath. “That was nice.” He smiled bashfully. 

You smiled, sitting up while continuing to play with his hair more gently now. “I would hope so, you sounded like you really liked it.” 

His forehead met yours, lips brushing gently, just a few more millimeters and you would be kissing again, but of course, “Yo! Dude, you said we were going to watch this together!” You heard Mark exclaim as he plopped himself on the couch. 

“Mark! It’s so good, we can restart it right? We weren’t really paying attention anyway.” Hyuck replied cheerfully as he just about jumped away from you and onto Mark. 

“Hey y/n, you look a little flushed, I’ll take this so you can cool off,” Mark mumbled while he shoveled popcorn into his mouth, pulling the blanket off you to wrap himself and Donghyuck in it. 

You grabbed a pillow from the couch and pressed your face into it to muffle your frustrated groan. “y/n, I know, she seems awful already.” You heard Mark say. This guy…

-

“Baby, are you almost ready?” You asked Donghyuck. The two of you had plans to go shopping at one, but it was already 2:30 and you were getting bored of sitting around just playing on your phone. There was Hyuck sitting on the couch bumping elbows with his best friend while they played a stupid video game. A video game that they seemed to play every waking second when you weren’t around and now apparently when you were around.

“Just a second baby.” He grumbled, now he had taken the lead, just a few points ahead of Mark. 

“You’ve been saying that for like two hours.” You pouted.

“Hey y/n, what are you doing here?” Johnny greeted. 

You explained with a sigh and a glare sent your boyfriend’s way that you had planned on going shopping but someone was preoccupied with their other significant other. Johnny laughed, “I’m going to the mall right now with Yuta if you want to come, we have to go by Ikea.” You jumped up, beating Johnny to the door, ready to be on your way out the door without so much as a glance in your busy boyfriend’s direction to bid him goodbye. 

Shopping with Hyuck was always an adventure, you had fun every time you went out. He would make you try on the ugliest clothes he could find and then pouted when you did the same for him. However, shopping with Johnny and Yuta was a different type of fun. These two were crazy. It was the most fun you had ever had while shopping. After hours of shopping, it was finally time to go home, but Yuta and Johnny had convinced you to go back to the dorms and join them for dinner. Something about it being their turn to treat you to dinner.

The three of you entered the fifth-floor dorm, laughing while Yuta jokingly had a conversation with the stuffed animal Johnny bought you, he and Yuta had bought matching ones to be a little “family.” 

“Food should be here soon, you can set your stuff in our room.” Johnny offered. 

You let yourself into his and Hyuck’s shared room, seeing Mark with his guitar on the gaming chair while Hyuck was on the bed snuggling a pillow. He lit up upon seeing you, “Baby!”

“Hey… you guys finally stopped playing your game.” You noted while you set your shopping bags in the corner.

“Where did you go?” Hyuck asked, to which you replied by pointing at the bags. “Well, why didn’t you wait for me? We were gonna go together.”

“I went with Johnny and Yuta because you were so busy playing with Mark, I was ready and so were they, why not?” You shrugged.

“You went on a date with Johnny hyung and Yuta hyung?! You guys took my lover on a date?” Hyuck yelled angrily.

“You were having your own little day with Mark, so what? Nobody wants to wait around an hour and a half for you.” Johnny replied as he set the food down on the table. 

You managed to squeeze past Donghyuck, taking your seat at the table beside Yuta who was already mocking Hyuck under his breath, resulting in the both of you covering up your laughs as quickly as you could. 

“Baby, don’t laugh at me- hey! What is this? Why do I see three of these things?” Hyuck questioned, waving your brand new stuffed animal around.

“They’re a family!” Yuta smiled before shoveling some food into his mouth.

You thanked them for the dinner before digging into your own food while Hyuck continued to throw a fit in his doorway, “Now, you don’t even love me! You have a family with my hyungs, they stole you from me and you don’t even care. You’re just laughing in my face, I hope you’re happy with them. I hope they make you happier than I made you.” 

“Oh my god baby, it was one afternoon for 3 hours. You were busy with Mark and I had to go shopping. I can hang out with my friends like you do.” 

“Mark, you distracted me! You drove my baby away from me, shouldn’t you have been with Yuta hyung?” He went off again. Mark replied with his own argument, filling the room with loud yelling and complaints from the two of them. One of them yelled something about being clingy and the other one said something along the lines of ‘look who's talking.’ Meanwhile you were purely focused on eating your food. 

You nearly choked on your drink when Donghyuck squeezed himself onto the bench next to you and pressed his cheek against your own, “Take me back! I promise I’ll never choose Mark over you again. I won’t ever even talk to him again if that’s what you want.”

You shook your head quickly, clearing your throat, “Hyuckie, no, calm down. Mark is your best friend, you don’t have to do that.”

“I just realized that Mark has been crashing in on us time, I’m sorry. Forgive me?” He mumbled, still pressing himself to your side. 

“Yo! Have I really? Oh my god… you’re right! Ew! You weren’t warm that time we watched a movie right? He was on top of you and I-I saw your lips touch- gross!” Mark gagged. 

“That was your fault idiot, that was our alone time.” Your boyfriend glared, wrapping a hand around your waist to pull you impossibly closer. It really was more funny now to you that the both of them came to their senses days later and not on the actual night that everything had happened.

“I don’t think I can look at you guys right now, I feel sick.” Mark held an arm over his stomach as he made his way to the door. Hyuck let out a content noise, his face now pressed fully into your neck while his arms were wrapped around you like a snake suffocating their prey all the while mumbling that Mark would never bother the both of you again, he would make sure of it. And that he would never let you out of his sight or his grasp, at least not while you were near him.

Johnny leaned over the table, whispering “I think you got your boyfriend back.” Yeah, looks like you did.

[spellyjane]

Big Island Splash, Mash, Dash!

Belated Aloha, forgive me for taking two weeks to write this!

I thought we had landed on the moon as I descended the plane stairs onto the island of black volcanic rubble. After nine plus hours of flying I had arrived at Triathlon Mecca, Kona, a little town on a wisp of land in the middle of a massive ocean, noisy with wind and hot as hades.

Hawaii is halfway between Sydney and Chicago so provided the perfect location for a rendezvous with my Dad whom I had not seen for over a year. (Aww, thanks for coming and sharing this with me Dad. ×××)

“Downtown” Kona is small and super cute but that week was COMPLETELY overrun with compression-wear trussed, trucker hat clad, slightly weather beaten, uber athletic types. I almost fit right in.

I was pleased to get up and out of the hype on my first night, having a home cooked meal with my dear friends Ben and Lillian at their B&B located on a flower farm way above Kona. Ben and Lillian are a fab couple I met running in Jersey City. I laughed off their prediction back in 2013 after my first 70.3 that I would one day race at Kona, thinking of course that will never happen because I will NEVER do an Ironman. I was beyond flattered to receive a message from these guys on my return home from IM Texas with my IMWC slot secured, telling me that they had booked their flights to Kona! Just wow.

At the suggestion of a friend I had signed up for the big charity Underpants run. Yes! Why not? It is for charity, I figured that if I had to endure running along behind ironmen in their tighty whities, well it would be worth it, for the charity of course. I wore a pair of huge granny dacks sporting a kangaroo waving an Aussie flag on the butt and dragged my poor Dad to the start line. He did not run, just observed… (that sounds way more creepy that it really was.) I met up with some friends Mike, a seasoned Kona participant and Jeff a green Kona rookie just like me.

We had a hoot, Mike and Jeff were happy to be stuck behind the Coeur Team girls, how shallow, I mean really? Post run “analysis” and breakfast at Evolution hit the spot. Oh a tip for Underpants Run rookies I gleaned from post race observation: sweaty tighty whities may leave you exposing a whole lot more than you anticipated.

Simon arrived on the Thursday. We had decided to leave the kids solo in Chicago… just kidding, our friends Alex and Theresa stepped in there. Theresa was so super cute, she called the schools to make sure the boys got there ok, drove the boys to their after school triathlon sessions and gave up their whole weekend too! What a load off our minds, we were so grateful.

I was able to squeeze in some down time. Dad, Simon and I spent Thursday afternoon sitting on the lanai of our apartment sipping a beer, watching the sun go down, taking a million photos and solving the world’s problems. I don't get to chill with my Dad too often, spending time with my Dad like that has left a warm little glow in my heart. It was one of my favorite moments of the trip. (My Dad hates being in photos, but I do manage to snag him in a few pics on this trip.)

As amiable and easy going as you all know me to be, I knew I would be prone to a little pre Ironman World Championships fretting. I did not want to expose my loved ones to my potential dragon lady side so I sent Simon and Dad off to explore Volcano National Park on the other side of the Island on Friday. A rather unwelcome visitor arrived on Friday, perhaps the best euphemism I can use is “Aunt Flo”, what a cow, she was not invited and I was not expecting to see her. She threw me in a bit of a spin, but I pulled it together and added dealing with that to my race plan.

I got my race gear together, checked my bike and checked in. What an awesome hype! I had forgotten that I had listed my occupation on the Ironman registration form as “Secret Agent.” As I walked down the red carpet to check in they called me out, “Here is Kelly Phuah, she is competing in the women’s 45-49 age group…” [pause] “she is a secret agent!” Haha, cover blown!

I was welcomed into Transition by my very own volunteer escort, Craig. Craig and his wife,  from Seattle, have been coming to the big Island for the last 10 years to volunteer for IMWC!

Whaaat!? I know right? Gulp, I felt a little overwhelmed at that moment. I racked my bike, hung my transition bags.  Then I stood for a few moments on the red carpet, I let myself feel special for being there before heading off to eat and find an air conditioner!

I found my friend Mike and we talked race stuff and spectator logistics tips while sipping protein shakes with our feet up. It was the perfect pre race afternoon.

Dinner that night was right down in the middle of all the action at Honu’s, overlooking the athlete area and swim start with Ben, Lillian, Dad and Simon. There was much discussion over the spectator plans and I shared my hopeful race splits to help them know where I would be at certain times. I was worried about how the day was going to be for everyone who had come all that way to watch. I knew it would be a long hot day for them too.

I had to have the Hawaiian Pizza, oh wow, caramelized pineapple and kalua shredded pork, It was awesome!

I got antsy all of a sudden in the middle of dinner when I realised that I was doing a freaking Ironman the next day. I rushed our farewells with Ben and Lillian and dragged Dad and Simon home. I have no clear memory of going to bed or how I slept, my mind just leaps to Simon and I driving down Alii Drive at 4am!

Race Day

Goal: under 11hrs.

Gosh, how much detail can you handle? Do I make it sound epic and glamorous? I guess if you are reading this then you are either a really good friend or a weird triathlon junkie so I will just give you the ugly truth.

Treading water with 600 other women waiting for the start canon was crazy. Everyone was apologetically kicking each other. I looked back at the crowd on the shore and the pier and let the swell of excitement pick me up. I sighted the 1st boat and wiggled a little closer to the front. The cannon boomed and we turned from polite and apologetic to tiger sharks. I was kicked, swam over and grabbed, I had to restart my watch 3 times because the stop button was kicked. I am quite sure I did my fair share of kicking others too, it was impossible not to. And at one stage I found myself laying completely on top of another athlete, I have no idea where she,came from!

I found my rhythm eventually and was able to start really swimming. By about half way I could feel my speedsuit cutting into my neck and throat as I was sighting and turning to breathe. It left quite a good chafe and I looked like I had been strangled. I snuck a peak at my watch as we made the turn at the boats, I was happy to see I was on schedule for my goal of a sub 70min swim. I was enjoying the water, it was clear and fairly calm. I could see the bottom. I picked out a blue swim cap on the bottom and wondered if it’s owner was down there too. I made the last push to the pier and grabbed the stairs, I ripped off my speed suit with glee and made my way around to T1 on wobbly legs.

1:09:42

I rinsed off my face with some fresh water, grabbed my bag and dove into the tent, and with the help of another volunteer it was suit off, socks on, shoes on, glasses on, food in pocket, loo stop #1 and out to my bike. Helmet on and go go go.

4:44

Yay!! Spotted my posse as I took off on the bike.

Lol, my Dad showing me the way to go…

I settled in and got out onto the Queen K thinking ok Kona, show me what you’ve got, bring it, do your worst.

I had a plan, hold watts for an IF around .68-.69. Yeah, naa, that just did not feel right. I was hot and pushing those watts just felt a little more taxing than it should so I backed off a little and kept a closer eye on my effort than my watts. I guess the wind was kind because even at the lower watts I was still on schedule for a 5:40 bike.

The best tip from Mike, stay wet all day. So at every aid station I was grabbing a cold bottle of water and pouring it all over my body, it was keeping me relatively cool.

I was keeping an eye out for girls in my age group, I passed a few and but noticed as we got closer to the finish that we were all getting a little feisty and not letting each other get too far away.

The climb up to Hawi was the first time that I really felt good, not being familiar with the course had made me a little reserved but when I hit that climb I felt like I just had this one hard bit and I was more than half way. I made the turn for home at the top and launched myself down that descent with a mission. So much fun! I was ticking down the miles and aiming to be out on the run course in under 7hrs and that kept me on the gas all the way back into Kona.

Ugh, triathletes are disgusting, the visor on my helmet was totally aero but also saved me from taking a snot rocket the face. “Dude!!” I shouted as I passed, he looked really sorry, but still, look over your shoulder before you launch. Same goes for the girl taking a wee. Being splashed by someone else's piss is not cool either.

My guts were feeling a little sketchy nearing the end of the bike, I took a couple of Imodium hoping to hold off the horrible tummy cramps etc I seem to be prone to on the run.

I came hurtling down the bike finish chute, eyeballing my volunteer bike catcher, I dismounted like a swan gliding in for a landing on a lake while seamlessly passing my bike to the catcher. They will probably be playing that footage in the Kona highlights, because it was so  freaking pro.

5:38:48

Into T2 in my socks, grabbed by bag, ripping off clothes as I ran, sort of like Superman - until my arms got hopelessly snagged in my super tight bike jersey and I resembled something more like a mad person trying to escape a straightjacket.  Yay for those volunteers. So, shoes on, race belt in hand, loo stop #2 and off on the run.  

4:33

Bahaaa, happens every time, my body rejoices for the 1st 2 km and I am lulled into a false sense of, “Oh hell yeah, I am going to be so amazing.” A quick glance at my overall time on my watch had me out on the run course in under 7 hours, yessss. I felt so confident that I was going to make that 11hr goal.  All I had to do was manage a 4 hr marathon. Then at about kilometer 3 it began to suck.  I saw my posse again at around this point, Simon and Ben ran alongside, giving me my position in the field and who was where, at that moment, they could have told me that there was a lion chasing me and it would not have made the bit of difference to my pace.  

I ran on in misery, downing a couple more Imodium for my increasingly cranky gut.  I had been taking salt tabs every hour, I had had mucho electrolytes and fluids on the bike and about 200 cals/hr all tried and tested and to plan.

Anyway, my mood began to shift, the discomfort in my gut was relieved for a little while.  I was given a huge piece of ice at an aid station. I sucked it, rubbed it on my body, down my legs and sides, down my arms and over my face, I bit little pieces off and when it was small enough it put it down my top. (My gosh, that almost sound erotic - it quite possibly was!) By the time I was heading back along Alii Drive and saw my posse again, I was a different girl.

I got down to business, thinking, tidy posture, keep hydrated and wet.  I was sad to see a few girls in my AG glide by but just kept to my own race and reminded myself that a sub 11 hr race was my goal and that racing someone else's game was not smart. There were 2 more loo stops on the run course, the last being out on Energy Lab road with about 16k / 10miles to go.  After that I was feeling much better. I made it up out of the Energy Lab climb and headed for home gritting my teeth to hold on to that 4 hr marathon but intermittently smiling because I totally knew I was going to do it.

I was surprised to see another friend Liz cheering me on as I turned off the Queen K down Palani rd. Eek, that downhill was ugly, ouch, I felt like a robot, horrible form that I just could not fix at that point. I nearly cried when Simon told me I had a mile to go. A mile! Oh just make this OVER! Finally I entered the finish chute with an idiotic grin, feeling emotional, tired and proud. I punched the air 2 times as I crossed the finish line.

3:58:44

Total time: 10:56:31, 16/88 F45-49 

So much room for improvement!

A friend asked me that night if I was keen to do it again, it only took one sleep for that answer to go from no way to yeah, I need another crack at that.

I got to spend another couple of days with Dad before we took off to opposite sides of the earth again. I was glad we got to see the town transform back into the cute little town it is 51 weeks of the year.

Mahalo!

I am surrounded by really hard working and intelligent people, people who inspire me to push myself and to be humble. (Well, I try with the humble bit.) I don't know many people more hard working and intelligent than Simon, he blows me away with his own dedication and humility and I live my life struggling to keep up with him. He is my biggest fan and I would not be doing any of this without his support.

My race experience was made really special with the support and fun with Ben, Lillian, Dad, Mike, Jeff, Liz and and Simon. Oh guys, thanks a million.

The online messages and texts from my family, my INTENT team mates, and friends were wonderful!! Pre race pep talks from my very good friend Jeff kept me in check. Much love to everyone who was following my race online and cheering along at home

My coach Rick Schopp at INTENT is also one of those inspiring people, I have put myself into painville at his instruction so many times but I am still here, I am still keen and I am getting faster. He has shown me that the pain pays off. Sending me the Urban dictionary definition of whinge when I slightly lost my shit during my second last intense training week leading into Kona was just the kick in the pants I needed.  

(That sounds rough, he may have added a few additional kind words in there too.)

Much love to Alex and Theresa for taking great care of our boys while we were away.

Many thanks to the volunteers who gave their time and to the super cute little town of Kona for letting us take over!

Mahalo xo

Now I count down just a few weeks to Ironman Cozumel before we pack up and make the very exciting move to Denver, Colorado!  Two more years in the USA before we head back to Australia.

Pic credits: Thanks Ben, Lillian and Simon

[annakie]

Thoughts from the first few hours of Andromeda, Part Two

Picking up where I left off in Part One.

BTW, this is by far the best article I’ve read on all the ME:A hype, or anti-hype.  Even if you don’t read this, you should read that.

So, I was about at the point of basically, leaving the first room you get put in when I ran out of time this morning.  So let’s continue on The Game Opening.

You’re introduced pretty well into what’s happening and how to use one of the most vital (I think) and a brand new thing to ME:A, using your Omni-tool for scanning.  I’ve used that feature some so far, but not as extensively as I think I’m going to.  I like that they do give you a little visual and audio cue when you really should be scanning something, but I’m still constantly afraid I’m going to miss something.  It’s going to be like scanning for rescources in DA:I.  Even weeks after I finished my 2nd playthrough, I was still obsessively hitting the G key (I’d remapped scanning to G) to look for resources in other games.  It’s a cool tool that adds depth to the environment, and also a bit of obsessiveness for people like me who hate to miss anything.

One thing that hit me not far into the game is the amount of women on the Pathfinder mission.  Even if you don’t count the Asari you’ve met, and Ryder, since they can be either gender, you still run into a lot of ladies in the early part of Andromeda.  Two of the most important people you interact with are male, but there are at least as many women to talk to.

The cinematic experience not too far into the game gets great.  It’s hard to describe a bit of what I want to talk about without getting spoilery, but windows are used to great effect, making a part of the game in ME3 which sometimes got a little... wordy and long into a beautiful, breathtaking and ultimately OH HOLY CRAP moment that left me gasping and a little worried about one character’s fate.

One legit criticism I think is that you’re just kind of thrown into your character pretty quickly in the beginning and don’t have a lot of time to really start figuring out who they are.  I’m playing a character who I often play iterations of in games, so I already have a decent idea of her personality.  The problem is, you’re supposed to instantly care about members of your family, and you’ve literally gotten no connection to them, aside from making your sibling in the character generator.  It would have been nice to have at least a little interaction with them, and your character’s father, in some way before Things Start Happening.  

Dialogue

The dialog options are, I think, an improvement over ME1/2/3, and about on parr so far with DA:I. Rather than “Nice” “Neutral” and “Ruthless or Mean” most dialog options come with at least 2 of 4 choices to make that are more about personality than alignment.  My biggest complaint is that you are briefly shown a little box that tells you which option means what, and I don’t recall seeing that box again.  It’d be nice to have it show up a few times along the tutorial or to be able to call it up easily (maybe it’s in the codex?) to refresh your memory on which option leans which way.  Someone on Reddit was kind enough to throw this together, which is helpful.

Dialogue from NPCs is... I mean it’s Mass Effect.  Sometimes it’s moving, sometimes it’s natural or at least a non-issue, and sometimes it’s a little cringe-y and try-hard-y.  I mean, I don’t think I’ve heard anything so far that’s any worse than literally every word Kai-Leng ever spoke, so, as long as it stays above that metric, I’m ok with it.  But, I’ve only had meaningful interactions with about as many NPCs as I could count on one hand.  

Planetside

The first planet you land on is spectacular, visually.  I spent a lot of time just looking around, scanning things, poking into every nook and cranny.  There isn’t one linear path to go to, so I found myself backtracking sometimes because I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything.  (Even so, I feel like.... maybe I did?)   I’m not even off this planet yet, that’s as far as I’ve gotten, and I feel like I still have at least an hour to go on it.

I love the jetpack jumping, though sometimes you just wanna maybe skip over a rock and instead even with a quick bump you’re about 5 feet up in the air.  But I haven’t found moving around difficult yet, and though I did miss my first long jump, I haven’t missed another one.  So far, the movement system seems pretty forgiving, especially with the ability to climb ledges if you just barely short your jump.

There’s also a nice amount of audio cues, sometimes from your omni-tool and sometimes from your companion or your Ryder talking to your companion when there’s something worth checking out.  Still, I found myself scanning nothing, a lot.

What I didn’t notice an audio cue for was when you step on an ammo box, hearing your ammo refill.  That’d be nice.

There are several sidequests already, and all of them seem logical for their location and at least somewhat important.  The map is more of a general location than a specific path taking you right where you need to get to.  As far as I can tell, there’s no golden trail to follow if you set a quest objective, so you’d better be ready to explore. 

There are goodies hidden in nooks and crannies if you keep your eyes open.  There is a slight immersion problem with picking stuff out of alien’s boxes and being able to just pop it right on your gun or whatever, but... you gotta get that equipment somehow.

Combat

I’ve only done a handful of combats, maybe 3 or 4.  So far, my first impression is I wished I’d picked another class.  I went with Infiltrator because it fit the character, but I think the only thing I can do right now is stealth.  I think I accidentally hit escape or went through the tutorial tips too fast in combat because it’s not feeling very organic to me yet.  Again, with needed to really dig deeper into those menus.  If I restart when the full game comes out, and I probably will, I think I’m going to go with the Leader “main class” instead of Infiltrator.  

So so far I’ve mostly done the “pop out of cover, shoot a few rounds, pop back into cover” type combat, since I don’t have any particularly good weapons, armor or abilities yet.  

I need to dig through the codex to re-read up on combat.  Hopefully there will be a training simulator back on the ship like in ME2 and 3 so I can get better.  So I don’t have a great review for the combat yet, because I’m just not doing it right yet. :)

Voice Acting

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the VA.  I’ve enjoyed hearing a few familiar Bioware voices (Koth from SWTOR’s VA is an early, minor NPC for instance, and I’m preeeetty sure I’ve heard Brandon Keener at least once).  Natalie Dormer is great.  I’m happy with F!Ryder’s voice so far, Liam’s VA is great, love that voice, looking forward to hearing it regularly for awhile.  There have been a few places here and there that the minor character’s VA wasn’t as great as normal Bioware standards, but those have been few.  I hope it continues to be so.

Speaking of Liam, I’m planning on romancing him first, though I’m also hoping to try a few other romances in future runs.  From the first moment I saw Liam it was like “OH, I’ve made a good choice.”  I haven’t even gotten near to a flirt option yet, but I’m ok.  He’s a good dude to just hang out with for now.

Back to the Music

I’ve been listening to the soundtrack while writing this and am on the 12th track.  It’s been very enjoyable so far.  There hasn’t been anything that has reached out and just grabbed ahold of me like “Leaving Earth” or “Suicide Mission” or “Vigil”, but it’s all been very listenable.  “A Better Beginning” (the home screen track) is the closest to being a standout so far which... makes sense, I suppose.   I kind of miss squadmates having their own themes, but ah well.  Some tracks harken back to the 80′s nostalgia of ME1, some are far more orchestral arrangements like ME2 or 3.

Overall.....

I mean, look, I love this game.  Already.  There are some very valid criticisms, but I mean, come on, there are some very valid criticisms of literally every Mass Effect game, none of them are perfect.  They all have kind of awkward first and second missions, they all take awhile to settle into themselves, they all take awhile for combat to start to come naturally (especially getting into ME1... I tell newcomers to just put it on easymode and don’t feel bad about it.)

The character generation is by far the worst part of the game so far, and it’s workable, and Bioware has said that they’re “working on it” so... let’s cross our fingers they help us out soon, or that the modders (all hail the modders, we love you now and forever) will, at least.

If you’ve read some of the shitty reviews online, God forbid you read the RPS one or the slightly better IGN roundtable, please go read this great article from Forbes. (The one Iinked at the top of this post).  It’s a fantastic breakdown of the hype, the anti-hype and what Bioware/EA’s done wrong with this launch.

The game feels like Mass Effect. I’d like maybe a little more solid callback but again, it’s super early in the game for me and I also don’t want people hainging posters of Shepard and talking about how great they were every minute.  

I am so excited to keep playing this game.  I can’t want to get into it more.  I am weeping at the thought of my 10 hour trial being over in like... 7 more hours of gameplay.  And remember that you can love something for what it is, and criticize the hell out of it for what it isn’t.  You can celebrate what it gets right and still point out what it gets wrong.  Just because something has flaws and isn’t perfect, that doesn’t mean it’s bad, terrible, useless, unplayable, ruined, etc.  

Screw the hype.  Play the game, judge for yourself.

[briantalksmovies-blog]

Infinity War Opinion

I am not going to give this thing a rating of one or two thumbs up, or a scale of 1-5 stars. cause those are stupid and pointless. Its whether or not the movie was enjoyable or not and then talking about the things that bothered or excited me about the project. I am not an expert and these are my opinions, treat them as such. I will gladly have a discussion about these opinions, but I won't take part in silly yelling matches behind a keyboard. That is boring and a waste of time. So on to Infinity War!

First things first, Thanos is the real MVP of Infinity War. That is the only way to score this movie. Yes, Thor was the best Avenger, and I will argue for days about that fact.

For starters Thor loses his brother, sure they weren't always on good terms but its family, then he loses his entire people(?), I'm really not sure if Thanos let half of them live somewhere or not, but he did blow up their ship. Thor survives the ship blowing up, floating in space for an unidentified amount of time then rescued by the guardians of the galaxy. Calls Rocket a "rabbit" and convinces this ship of people he doesn't know to give him a ship and a crew and just leaves. He then gets a new eye (not sure the importance their, but I kinda liked one eyed Thor.) Then he goes to a star forge. He restarts the forge by again, going into space with no need of breathing apparatus, and just pulls the forge until it restarts the star. A fucking star! Then he helps really tall dwarf Peter Dinklage forge a new hammer. FYI this requires Thor to hold open the forge which exposes him to the heat and power of a star. Again, a fucking star! He gets his hammer, and he can now ride the bifrost and he returns to Earth to kick some ass and take some names. Almost killing Thanos. Show me any other character that went through more in this movie that was part of the good guys. Cause I'll give you a hint no one even comes close. My major bore of this movie was the lack of character development. Yes we had 10 years and 18 movies to get to know everyone, but I could still use a little character struggle from the good guys. The only struggle these people had to go through was to kill one of their own to save half the universe. While that is kind of a heavy thing for Vision and Gamora, That only puts development on Star Lord and Scarlet Witch. They are the ones asked to do the deed, and its funny cause both end up deciding to save the universe, and both fail because of the infinity stones. It reveals that those heros are willing to kill a good person to save a shit ton of other people, and it breaks them. I really wish Thanos' "children" were a little more developed, they were just ugly people doing mean (sometimes awesome) things to try and get the stones. The main "child" was awesome and I thought he really got shafted with a stupid Aliens reference. Side note, I know Peter Parker is a super genius teenager, but why is his main joke making movie references that don't apply to his generation. (We had Star Wars in Civil war, and if he was trying to be a movie nerd, he would have known that they are called At-At's. So lets stop with those jokes. Which they sort of did, but I'll get to that later. The bad guys were really not that great. Thanos was amazing, but every other villainous role, was so fucking dull and boring that I wanted more. It was just a bunch of stir crazed alien dogs on a hunt. We don't know where they were from, if they were there by choice, if they cared that they were slaves of Thanos, anything. They were worse then soldiers, they were just weird looking dogs. So point against Marvel for lack of originality when it came to Thanos' minion's. That being said Thanos still won and it was awesome. 

Now I don't want to do much speculation on the next movie, because speculation ruins movies, but that is for another rant (see my friends podcast Problematic Pod at problematicpod.com where I really go to town on the subject but I digress). But we must address the large emotional elephant in the room. The 50% of people that died at the end. Including our main man Peter Parker, Black Panther, Star Lord, and even Dr. Strange. I'm pretty sure they are going to be making more movies with these people as the main protagonist, and while I would love to brag to my grandchildren about the amount of actors I witnessed wear the spidey suit before I was 30 I'd be happy if it stays with its current host, and there are a large contingency of fans that I think agree. So this puts Marvel in a very tricky situation. My biggest worry is if they bring most or all of these characters back to life in the next movie will they have cheapened the first movies biggest gut punch? Now I could speculate on how they bring them back, the time stone, or soul stone or what have you, but I think the biggest thing for the next movie is if they do plan on bringing these characters back (very very likely) then how do they do it while making this first movie still land that punch upon re-watching. I think its important that in order to bring them back it better cost a lot cause if it is just someone turning back time like superman flying in reverse around the earth ruined this movie. It makes the emotion of the moment mean nothing if it could so easily be reversed. Which worked really well when Scarlet Witch killed Vision and the stone only to have him brought back and then killed again. That was a good use the whole turn back time thing. So I think as it stands now all those deaths were amazing because it was showing how bad ass Thanos and the gauntlet were. Now don't ruin it by fixing it too easily. Now lets talk about the most interesting story line of the next film, and no its not going to be the quest to bring back half the universe. This line in question is the fight between the hulk and Bruce Banner. Before Thanos beat the shit out of Hulk that dude hadn't lost a single fight and one single loss has got him scared to come out again. Its a new emotional level from a giant, supposedly fueled by rage, monster.  I find it a bit silly Bruce is so eager for the big guy to come back, because now he has a lot of personality, and because he was the hulk for so many years Bruce was afraid that he might never be Bruce again if he went back to the big guy. But now he is ordering the big guy out. So I'm getting mixed signals here. 

*Also side rant, I am pissed with the beginning of this film. Lets clarify a few things at the end of Thor Ragnarok they are on the ship and Thanos is picking them up. On this ship we have some key players that show up in Infinity war: Thor, Loki, Hulk, and Heimdall. At the end of the movie (Ragnarok) there were a few other characters that stole most scenes they were in, Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie and director Taika Waititi's Korg. I mean am I supposed to believe the best bit character of the MCU gets an unceremonious death off screen without a single line of dialogue! I was pissed the moment that ship blew up and I had no idea where those people went. (It was close to the moment in The Last Jedi where Admiral Akbar gets the short end of the stick). If they are smart they will bring Korg on in the knew one, cause all the comic relief died with Star Lord, Spider-Man, Drax, and even Groot. He would be a good addition to this new adventure, and Thor can just fly anywhere now with that awesome war hammer. But back to the Banner question. I am wondering what will make him come out and play. I hope its cool and worth while, not some stupid scene where everyone gets in line and shakes him and slaps him in the face a-la Airplane. 

But overall I think it was a very entertaining movie. The best part was at moments I was actually really excited for Thanos. There was a part of me that wanted him to get all the stones, because I knew it would be the best possible version of a near indestructible bad guy, and he did not disappoint. That dude pulled down an entire moon from orbit to come crashing down on Iron Man and company. My favorite part may have been the end where he meet Gamora in the amazingly orange temple arch and she asks him what did it take, and his response of "everything" was awesome. It was a story in which the man wanting it more succeeded. If Star Lord wanted it more he wouldn't have slapped Thanos in the face, and lost control of his emotions. Thanos was stronger then all of them mentally and physically.

Now I have one more tiny problem with this film, and its more of a stupid movie thing that made me groan out loud (gol?). It was when Dr. Strange was all like, "I was just looking at millions upon trillions of potential futures to this outcome. And there is only 1 where we succeed." And this one in which they succeed requires Star Lord getting all love sick knowing Thanos killed his girl, and he ruins it for everyone and then that results in Tony getting stabbed, Dr. Strange giving up the time stone and then half the universe needing to die? Was that part of the 1 in which Thanos loses...bullshit. I could see a percentage. like 1% cause that at least gives a few possibilities of success. where as this one single time line that leads to success means I am going to judge really hard any movie magic that happens in the next Avengers next summer cause I know its was the only course of action that would lead to victory. The ONLY one! Come one! I give it... 3 swims.