#kind if like flash games but whatever we r using now for web games

[bf-rally]

i started thinking about the dress up function i wanted to add one day for boyfriend rally!

i did a very rough sketch of the idea

i want ppl to be able to change their bfs clothes hairstyle and expression and then save them to replace whatever default pic they have!

[the-wanted-man]

Comrades-in-Arms .II

Warnings: Potential 5.x spoilers regarding Garlemald. Part [1] Imperial Garlemald | Levi’s Theme

“The whole damn country’s gone to hell in a hand-basket, boys. Now, I don’t, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, say this to be an alarmist but...just look at the facts. Losing royalty left and right. People disappearing in the dead of night. I mean I love this country as much as any true son but we’re eating ourselves from the inside out, and it doesn’t seem to matter what side you’re on anymore.  I know you can feel it. The noose tightening in around the neck. The cross-hairs on the back. We’re coming up to the point of no return. Loyalist...or otherwise.”

The windstorm comes on much quicker than they’d anticipated and it makes those last few malms a miserable journey for the small unit. Even fully suited the harsh winds cut through the layers of their like phantom swords and moving became a matter of necessity to keep the chill at bay. Even silver-spoon Leviticus found it necessary to walk eventually.

Companionable moods from even minutes before seemed to lessen at the same rate their visibility did. The snowy haze of the blizzard made seeing more than five fulms ahead a near impossible feat after a time and were it not for the pulsing red light of the old guard tower beacon ahead they might’ve surely been lost to the white.

Eventually, they came upon an impenetrable wall of steel that seemed to simply rise up out of the snow. It wasn’t exactly the kind of sight that most would consider welcoming with its clinically grey exterior, and structured lighting that barely seemed to shine through the thick coat of hoarfrost that had built upon its metal surface. What bliss it would be to leave this place behind.

“Now, talk of insurrection is on the winds...and I’m not saying I support it but I DO understand it. You’re kidding yourself too, if you think I’m the only one who sees how this is going to get. Everyone’s thinking it, even if no one’s out right saying it. I mean...civil war...When its neighbor against neighbor....friend against friend...Brother against brother...It’s only a matter of time before you have to -really- start asking yourself -- Well, who can you really trust?”

A kind of tense silence seems to sweep over the convoy by the time the magitek vehicle rolls to a halt in front of the castellum gates. It starts as the usual routine first: the declaration of ranks, unit and business into a blue screen that takes their information. .

Albina quo Silvius. XIth Auxilliary. Supply drop.

The terminal flashes, and then beeps in acceptance of the credentials provided. With an almighty, groaning, screech of moving metal, the barricade begins to lower itself. Sinking into the earth like some kind of retreating monolith.The ice along its frame spider-webs and cracks, before falling away.

They are waved through, just past the barricades where two armed guards walk forward to greet them. Little more than a skeleton crew was necessary to keep the checkpoint appearing operational. Papers were exchanged and one guard points something out to verify it with the other. They nod, and then the first guard lifts his rifle up to Bastille’s chest, and fires twice.

“Times like this, might SEEM like you can’t trust anyone at all. Like you got to keep your guard up to keep the knife from sticking in your back. Like its all you can do to keep it from twisting... You might even feel like you’re alone. Like the whole world is pitted against you. Well, I’m here to tell you that you are NOT alone. There’s people you can trust. ”

It was absolute chaos.

Gunfire erupts from behind them and the team scatters. Albina shoves Quintus just as the second guard opens a volley of fire where he’d previously been sitting. Her weapon is drawn, and she cuts down one of the soldiers before he can fire again.

Tatius tackles one of the castellum guards as two more flank them from the gates. Cicero dives for cover, taking Levi with him as he goes. He screams for Crispus to radio for help while they’re pinned down by fire. Leviticus thanks the man by flossing the space between his ears with a bullet.

His unit starts to fall, one by one. Tatius manged to take on with him before he is pulled into a chokehold and he struggles until he doesn’t. Everything happens so fast, Albina barely has time to process as she pulls her blade from the body of an imperial soldier. It begins to dawn on her though, as she turns to her treacherous fiance.

“What did you do?”

“Matter fact, they’re right here in this very room. Take a look around boys, to the left, and to the right of you. Ahead and behind. Look around and witness them - your family! Us who’ve slept together. Who’ve bled together...Killed together.  -Trust- in them. Your fellow brothers-in-arms. Trust...in me.”

She knows before they’re even at each others throats. She knows the man she’d intended to marry so well she empowers him in moments and backs him blade tip first into the caravan. She knows that somehow this is his fault and doesn’t understand how she could have been so blind.

Leviticus only answers with a shameless smirk, but she catches the flick of his silver eyes and turns in time to be impaled by Crispus. He had always been quiet, and she had thought, dependable. She realized now, just not to her. Albina slumps to the ground. The battle is over and the damage done as quickly and as suddenly as a lightning strike.

The world starts to muffle and fade into black. Albina hears her fiance say “Took your sweet time.” As he brushes off his uniform and looks to the two remaining guards. He steps over her body, pausing long enough to tell her “Consider this an end to our engagement, darling. It’s not that its me, it’s just that it’s you. Quintus -- you can come out from hiding now.”

Harsher blows couldn’t be dealt as the young medic crawls out from the mud and snow, shivering as he stands and looks Albina in the eyes as they close. “R-really, Levi. Sh-she was your fiance.”

“I know! What was I thinking? Marriage never would have suited me.” 

“You see, commitment is important. How long have we been at this -game-, Family? Four years? Five? Because that’s what it comes down to. Our lives, are a -game- to...to these people! Heartless, and arrogant leaders who care more about their image than those who make them -look- good...Who are so quick to kill their own loyal brothers and sisters, if it makes them look good. Greedy, selfish leaders. That’s what they are.”

“Load those supply crates in that freighter there. We’ll need all the money we can get across the border and these weapons will flip for a pretty gil piece there. Especially now.” 

Equipment is quickly  transferred and stored within the cargo hold of a small airship, none of which Levi lifted so much as a finger for. The ship itself was weaponless luxury class and couldn’t pass for militaristic if it tried. Too spacious. Too comfortable. Being royalty had its perks, and no one said escaping couldn’t be done in style.

“Did we really have to...do all this?”  Leviticus looked over to Quintus, who stood anxiously over the body of Bastille. He seemed like he was having second thoughts, and Levi couldn’t have that.

“Having doubts, are we? You know they never would have hesitated for us. Even my loving fiance was too committed to the country for us to ever work. It still hurt me, having to do this to them. Him though...I never liked Bastille. It might be terrible but..It’s true. He always acted like he was...better than all of us. Better than you.”  Bastille croaks and Levi considers it the definition of a corpse turning in its grave.

“I...oh jeez, I think he’s still alive..?”

Leviticus passes the young man a knife. “You said you could kill for a bath, right? Well, how bad did you want it?”

"Was it those officers starving in the cold beside us while they shouted orders from the back lines? Hm? Was it them? Huddling in the trenches, never knowing if  they’d see the light of day? Do you think they care? What about the people. We serve citizens that don’t even care for the sacrifices we make. Who spit on us when we marched in the cities. They don’t know what we had to do, to survive. What we -will- do.”

They staged the scene, positioning the bodies of their fellows more deliberately. Stripped the castellum of its valuable supplies and spilled a trail of ceruleum around the encampment with whatever excess they could find.

A more immediate guess once discovered might lead the assumption of an encounter with savages and he relied on the fact that resources would be stretched too thin to make an in-depth investigation. It wasn’t perfect but it would do.

The four loaded themselves onto the new convoy, an airship no bigger than standard fare civilian transport and luggage but it was enough for them and  their haul. At the hatch, Leviticus turned to look behind him. Struck a match off his chest, and tossed it into the shimmering pool of oil. Blue fire spreads like spilled ink over thin cloth. Leviticus leaves brimstone in his wake, and it makes him feel divine.

If he can do this, he can do anything.

“The hand that claims to feed, has only ever taken away. Everything we did, we did for nothing. But I promise you...if you follow me...if you trust me...trust the man on your left, and on your right...Nothing, is what’s going to stand in our way.

The ship full of defectors takes off from a blazing outpost and veers off into the distant sky.

                                            To be continued...                                                    

[iphoenixrising]

You are an amazing writer and I love your stories. I was reading one of your crossover prompt responses and couldn't stop wondering about the part you left unanswered. Who do you ship Tim with in the Marvel verse?

Hi babe. Just, okay, soooo. Ah, @yozoraarashi talked to me about the possibility of Tim staying in the MCU at one time (it’s here) so O_O here’s a little something. Ah, it’s terrible and unedited, however, the saving grace is the suit. So, I regret nothing.

**

The golden R on his chest gleamswickedly, sharp, in the night, and hejust breathes.

He might be older now, wiser than thelast time he did this, but it’s acrazy thing how his heart is pounding so hard,like when he was new to everything and throwing himself off buildings wasn’t second nature.

And standing on the Iron Man platformof Avenger’s Tower, looking out over this world’s version of New York City, hegets that incredible feeling all over again—like he’s starting over. Like hecan do things right this time. He’sgot the knowledge, the fight, and the right reasonsto put on the domino, to let the black and yellow hang to his heels, to heftthe bo like it’s an extension of his limb. He still has the same drivecultivated during his tenure, the need to be part of the Mission—to doeverything he can to make sure the baddies in the world don’t get to hurt otherpeople, to make sure no other little eight-year-old boys have to watch theirmommies and daddies die.

Robin is goingout there tonight—and he’s bringing a whole lot of please, try me along for the ride.

Behind him, the others have come outinto the night to watch him make thislittle leap.

At dinner, before the suit went on, hegave them a brief outline of his intended route, gave appropriate yet vagueanswers.

Widow talked to him about his techwhile he taped his hands past the wrists and ankles (six around the wrists,eight around the ankles) before the boots and gloves go on. She hands him thebelt, then the gloves, watching theritual with interest and a little allhe’s missing are knives, maybe a nice .40.

And even though he takes to theshadows, makes his way up to the platform through vents in the Tower, they’restill already outside waiting.

It’s a nice team effort—one he doesn’treally expect, but it’s nicenonetheless.

Tony hitches, hesitates, because healready knows how much the kid needs this—a hell of a lot more than heinitially let on in the beginning, but Tony, who feels absolutely responsible for the brilliant vigilante(and sure he wants everyone tobelieve it’s because of his brain power or whatever, but really, a kid with absentee parents, a kid that wanted to be partof something, a kid that wanted to save his hero…that’s so much of his own past, his own pains, his own regrets that making the Robin suitwas really for both of them, wasn’tit?) had to make sure the suit had the best weaves of Kevlar and Nomac just because. And (even if the others just followed him to the Iron Man platform)he came out here to wait just because he needs to throw it out there before the vigilante dives off their building (again—we have a jet, you realize) that this world, the Avenger’s world,isn’t kind to people without super-something that try to play thegame.  He knows all about it.

He wants to take Tim Drake (Robin) by the arms and tell him to checkin at least once an hour, not to hesitate to call if things get out of control,not to push himself to some ridiculous idealized standard of what Robin should be—no one here is going to hold youto that.

But Tony knows better. Nineteen is really only a number in regards to Tim—the kid probably hasn’t been that young before he hit puberty.  

So instead, the engineer just puts out a hand ina hold up motion and steps in toRobin’s left side, leaning in. Robin meets him, waits for it.

“The R is a tracker. Just in case. Onetap will activate it.” The if you needanything is left unsaid, but understood.

The return smile is sharp in the night,whiteouts gleaming, “thanks. You never know when I might need take-out or someshit, right?”

And Tony laughs easy, moves a hand toRobin’s shoulder, squeezing lightly until Jim’s metal fingers around his wristpull him back, away so Robin canstride to the ledge of the roof, the cape a mesmerizing swish, flash of goldand black. Steve’s hand is on the small of his back, palm warm, Jim’s metalthumb rubbing against the soft skin of his wrist in a soothing motion.  He feels better while they watch Robin’s bodyarc sharply in mid-air as he leaps.

**

His sensible argument: in any world,this is New York. There will becrime.

And he totally swore he would not take on any supervillain megalomaniacs bent onworld domination by himself (mmhm, sure he won’t), so it’s just simple thingson the roster for tonight.

But fuckif it isn’t a whole different kind of headspace when he’s wearing the R again—theoriginal. Even though this world knewnothing about the basics of Robin and what he was supposed to stand for, eventhough the majority of the world thought he was just some make believe character out of DC’s fantasy land, he still leapsa little higher, kicks a little easier, and rides the line between shadows alittle stealthier.

It’s the most alive he’s felt in who knew howlong.

He’s two muggings and a foiled robberyin when the massive sounds of utterfucking destruction make him perk up noticeably from a tenement rooftop.

A few swings to take him further uptown, closer to Time’s Square and—

Holy Shit

“I think we did this dance last time,and you still have all the samemoves!”

Swinging around, the friendlyneighborhood Spider-Man has the art of wittybanter down to a science. It would be really nice if the governing Leagueof Bad Guys would give them some better material? Just a little script of afew doozies, some pointers on how tocarry a bad guy monologue. Something.

Guys like the Rhino? No rejoinders at all.

“STAND STILL SO I CAN CRUSH YOU!”

See? Where’s the fun in it?

“Who would ever agree to that? I mean, you’re not serious, are you?” Spidey landsit in time to dodge an oncoming trash can, keeping an eye on the gawkinginnocent bystanders that have nosense of self-preservation. Something that never ceases to amaze him, no matterwhat battle is going on, like hm, why notrun like hell right about now? Aw,and miss the free show?

That’s New Yorkers for you.

“Tell you what,” Spidey slings the web,swings to snatch flying debris, “I’ll thrown down for one month of free lessons? How about that?”

“WISE ASS!”

Rhino is starting to get angrier sincehe’s dodging, catching flying debris, trying to keep the damage and injuriesdown.  There hasn’t been enough fight yet for the former thug andcurrent test subject, and that’s justwhat Spidey is waiting for.  He’s learnedfrom previous experience, let Rhino tire himself out and then boom. Cut the bull, the banter, and bringthe real fight.

Spidey makes another dodge, anotherroll, fwips another web out, a pull of super strength and he’s over Rhino’shead, making sure to bop the bad guy on the back with his foot, something toget the villain just that muchangrier, push him to make a misstep.

“C’mon, Sytsevich, I’m already wearingred here! Toro, toro!” He half-laughs as he lands it again, waving a casualhand in a come and get me kind ofway. He’s already placed himself against a bus bench away from people, so whenRhino charges—

“That’s for bulls, you know,” a voicefrom right behind him deadpans. “Rhinoscharge anything because they’re assholes.”

And Spidey spins to catch sight of theyoung man with a line clenched in one fist while he swings like a boss. With hisown propensity to dodge between buildings on patrol or use his epic mid-air capabilities, Spider-Man knows when some noob is trying out his luck with the forces of gravity. The blur ofred, black, yellow, and green isn’t one of them—as a matter of fact, he lookspretty damn at home in the sky.

Spidey’s whole body tenses, watching,ready to jump, fire a web, swing, whatever he needs to do in case this kid getsright in Rhino’s way and maybe starts a charge—

“Hey Rhino!” The apparently brain-damaged costumed guy calls when helights down on the sidewalk, right by theangry villain! “Is that a horn onyour head or are you just happy to see me?”

Said supervillain honestly does see red and turns incredibly fast for someone his size, charging.

Spider-Man yells as one arm shoots outto throw a web, shove himself into the air becausethat guy is going to get himself killed, but he’s not going to make it intime to get that idiot out of the—

And it’s another death on his hand,isn’t it?

His pulse is meaty, coppery on the backof his tongue, nerves frayed, Spider-Sense tingling (at what, Rhino never sets it off that much, and this guy is?) because he can already visualize what the aftermath is going tolook like, how the ribs of that tunic are going to crushed into ripe redviscera and bone fragments and—

But while he’s in mid-air, headingtoward the charging bad guy, other arm out to throw another web, he onlystutters a second because the masked guy leaps.

The new player jumps like he’s anacrobat, arms extended in the backflip, the double-booted kick taking outRhino’s jaw (which is impossible fora regular person to just!); the villain has a second of some woozy look at the pretty birdies going onwhile Robin leaps around him for another shot, this time strafing around thebigger fighter to hit the Rhino suit with two very pointed nerve strikes. Withouteven getting winded, he takes the Rhino’s legs out from under him, making onearm go completely numb and his legs utter useless.

The masked man throws a batarangattached to a hard-tensile jump line. It circles the criminal several timesbefore coming back to him, the ropes tight enough to keep the good arm fromdoing much.

Robin makes sure the rope is good whilethe Rhino struggles and yells pointless curses—something about “I’ll get youand your little dog too!”

Whatevs. He’s heard worse from Bane,okay?

“Whoa,” Spidey lands right next to him,masked face turned toward Robin, and with years of wearing a mask under hisbelt, Robin can tell when the brows are notched up. “You…You’re the real deal, aren’t you? Another crimefighter?”

A slow smile spread, the old Robinsmirk, one that feels familiar on his face. And just, well, Spider-Man, is so absolutely kick-ass.“I guess you can say that. I’ve, ah, been at this for a while. Not here though.”

The two heroes back away as the NYPDand special crime unit in charge of detaining super-powered bad guys step up toget the Rhino on his feet and to the waiting transport.

Robin grins over at Spider-Man, capearound him to keep the whole aura ofmystery thing going on.

“I can tell. Not everyone can take downsomeone like the Rhino,” Spider-Man holds out a hand, “but it’s always good tomeet such nice boys in the neighborhood. Superheroes meet on Wednesday nightsin Midtown at Kiss My Slice andnewbies buy.” And yes, Spider-Man had been doing this for the last four yearshimself, starting in high school not long after the death of his Uncle Ben,realizing he had this…this opportunityto do the right things—

So he knows real training, a professional(and no noticeable powers at this point, but really, who knew what he was hiding under that killer cape?), and this guy? Is someone to watch out for(he might have taken a second toplace a tracker. You know, maybe).

Robin chuffs a laugh and shakes theoffered hand, “Superhero? Not really, but a vigilante? Absolutely.”

Spider-Man grips the gloved hand, “weall have the same goals, right? I hope. I’m Spider-Man, by the way, in caseyou’re not from around here.”

“I’m…not, actually, but still a big fanof your work, Spider-Man.”

The Web Head chuffs a laugh this time,“and so, what do I call you then?”

And even with reporters, police,people, and all the commotion of Time’s Square, Spider-Man’s heart gives a hardbeat when the masked man smirks at him, teeth white against the black domino.

“Robin…you can call me Robin.”

**

An hour later and they’re literallydiscussing the elements of space/time and dimensional travel. You know, for fun.

“I can’t—”and Spidey paces back and forth on the roof of his own apartment building (nota fact he’d let Robin in on just yet), waving his hands back and forth. Theremnants of pizza and drinks are still sitting on the spot while Robin watchesover the ledge, looking for any trouble on the ground. His radio has been tunedto the police scanner frequency, and really, it’s only a matter of time (New York, remember?).

“It’s a lot to take in, I definitelyget that,” Robin replies, the whiteouts up so he can see Spider-Man with hisown eyes. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve collected your comics for thebetter part of a decade. This? Thisis totally a fanboy’s dream.”

The laugh coming out of the WallCrawler is slightly strained as his scientific mind works at the data—and Robinknows exactly what he’s thinking.

“I’m totally real, promise. I startedwith the Robin mantle when I was twelve. At the time, I was trying to get thefirst Robin—”

“Dick Grayson.”

“…yes. Trying to get Dick to come back,to be Robin again. When he couldn’t…I stepped up.” He shrugs, “a lot of shitwent down between then and now, but suffice to say, we’ve been able to provethe multi-verse theory is apparently morethan just a theory.”

And Spidey finally stops pacing to sitnext to Robin (Tim) again to regardthe Caped Crusader, one currently propping an elbow on a raised knee to resthis face on a green fist.

“Honestly, none of this should beshocking,” the wall crawler admits after a moment of thought. “Really, it makesperfect sense considering the alignment of continuous alternate realities.”

Robin lifts his face with a there you go gesture.

See? Same page. Someone around his agethat actually speaks English.

“You already know who I am?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the originalSpider-Man, but Marvel went through some crazy continuities and ret-conned someof your backstory.”

Spider-Man’s held tilts curiously.

“Peter Parker is the original.Considering we’ve been having a conversation about the laws of physics andapplication of Star Trek tech to a particle accelerator—”

“—while taking out muggers andthieves,” Spidey interrupts and holds out a fist for bro knuckles.

Robin gives him one, grinning, “—I candeduce you are the Peter Parker version of Spider-Man, probably at the part ofyour backstory where you work for J. Jonah Jameson, taking pictures of—” hebrings up the quote fingers, “—“Spider-Man” for the Daily Bugle.” And Robinglances over his shoulder, eyes sweeping the immediate area while Spideywhistles even with the mask on.

“Yup,” Robin points a green finger upthe corner of a building not far from their rooftop pizza session, “there’s oneof your cameras. You had three positioned close to the fight with Rhino. Goodangle and still hard to see.”

And yes, the professional Nikon seriesis obviously webbed under the lip of the roof. Now, Spidey is impressed,staring at Robin with wide eyes behind his mask.

“I’m also a detective,” Robin fills inwith a quirk of the lips, “not just a fanboy.”

And Spidey leans back, head tiltedback, so he can laugh. The mask stretches, moves, and he finally reaches underhis chin to pull it up and off; notnecessary to keep it on if the crime fighter across from him (trans-dimensional traveler, one that workswith the Tony Stark!) already knows the big secret.

Robin’s eyes get wide behind thewhiteouts and Marvel… is really not doing Peter Parker any favors.

At all.

He’s handsome in that unknowing kind of way (just like Bart inso many respects), grinning back atRobin with genuine goodness in his dark eyes.

“They we’ll do it right this time,” andthe hand sticks out again, “it’s nice to meet you Tim, I’m Peter Parker, yourfriendly neighborhood wall crawler.”

And welp,when Robin grips that hand a second time in one night, his heart might give aharder beat against the R, and he might just have found something in the worldhe had least expected.

[vgjustice]

VG Talks Games: My thoughts on The Switch (Jan. 14th, ‘17)

Really just a basic rundown on what I’m seeing from the various bits that have been officially released and what should be known if you want one of these systems. Buckle in, this might be a long one.

So, just for simplicity’s sake, I’m going to be using North American pricing when I’m talking about the system, games, and accessories. I know these prices are different in different regions, but the basic idea will still be the same when divorced from hard numbers. Okay? Okay.

And on that note, let’s talk cost. At $300 this thing is going to be more expensive than either an Xbox One S or a PlayStation 4 slim. And if you’re only looking at the Switch as a home console, that’s bad. You’d better really want those Nintendo exclusives to justify spending that much more on a less powerful system, and it is a less powerful system. But, that’s kind of the thing, right? It’s not just a “home console”. It’s not really much of a portable either, what with the 2.5 to 6 hour battery life (my New 3DS XL gets considerably better than that), but it can be taken on the go and that’s really the point. Much like the controllers have some motion control to them, even though people were really very much done with “waggling” before the Wii bit the dust.

From what I saw in the Switch Event it looks to me like Nintendo is trying to capture two very distinct audiences with this console. The first group are the casual market they captured with the Wii. That’s why games like 1, 2, Switch! and Just Dance 2017 are launch titles, it’s why they talked so extensively about using the console and games more like a party game that doesn’t need the TV. And I have no idea if that’s going to work. The Wii casual market clearly didn’t want the more powerful Wii U, even when it was explained to them on a personal level. Maybe Nintendo can hit pay dirt again, and it’s pretty obvious that they’re trying. The second group is the long time Nintendo loyalists. Which is why Breath of the Wild is a launch title and why the Switch Event wrapped up with that game’s release date. It’s why they focused so much on Super Mario Odyssey, and also announced Splatoon 2. They’ve got a pretty good idea what that demographic wants and have been good about pleasing them (us) for the past few console generations. And to be perfectly honest, that’s not really enough. Every loyalist lost is a major blow since I don’t think Nintendo is replacing those customers very easily. Really, the Switch needs a unique lineup to attract new customers, but they need something that either younger customers can grow with much like the current loyalists did with the NES/SNES/N64, or they need to please the major console fanatics and convince them to pick up this new device. But with underpowered hardware that doesn’t feature a lot of the things their less expensive counterparts have (Blu-Ray players anyone?) it’s going to be a tough sell to say the least.

On the more techy side of things, I’m pleased to say that Nintendo might finally be on to something here. The replacement controllers might be expensive at $80 for a set (L and R Joycons), but it’s also pretty obvious that having more than one set synced at a time is not the way the system is meant to be played. The much less expensive Pro Controller is clearly the “couch co-op” controller of choice here. For the admittedly poor battery performance, the solution is actually a lot more simple than you might think. The system uses a standard USB cable to charge. Let me say that again because I’m just as incredulous as you are: The Nintendo Switch uses the standard USB type-C cable to charge. If you already have a phone that uses USB-C, you’ve already got a Switch charger. Worried about playing on the go? Bring a pocket charger and a USB-C cable. Take it to your favorite restaurant and plug in a USB wall adapter to the cell charger that nearly every place has now. That poor battery really isn’t that big of a deal and those chargers are going to be readily available from dozens of reputable manufacturers. That was great news to hear!

The system uses microSDXC memory cards, which is a standard memory card. Basically the same card that the New 3DS hardware uses. The only concern I have, and this is a small and nit-picky concern, is the question of memory limitation. A lot of devices have strange limits on the maximum size card it can recognize. SDXC tells us that it will work with cards AT LEAST up to 64 GB in capacity. But, might it also work with the 128 GB cards? What about the 200 GB cards? Larger? Who knows? This is one of the many tech missteps Nintendo took with that press release, and have still not corrected on their web page detailing what the system can work with. (Note: That web page is why I know it’s compatible with microSDXC specifically.) This will be needful information going forward and I hope we learn more before the system comes out in a little over a month and a half.

The launch lineup seems a little... sparse. My recommendation for any new game console is to have three to five games either readily available or shortly available to justify the cost of the system. Buying a game system for one or two games isn’t cost effective for anyone, really. (You’re free to reject that suggestion, of course. It’s your money.) But, the launch lineup I’m seeing doesn’t really offer a lot to work with. It feels like “The new Zelda game plus a bunch of tech demos”. That’s not a great feeling when looking at picking up a brand new, untested game system. Never the less, the upcoming titles do look promising. I’m excited to see a new Puyo Puyo game, even if it’s riding on the coat tails of Tetris to get there. (Some of my favorite puzzle games use Tetris to some extent, so this is not a bad thing to me at all. Tetris is awesome.) A new Bomberman game is exciting, but Konami has been so bad as of late that I’m worried about the game on principal. Arms is likely to be a huge internet joke for quite some time, but could also prove to be a good game. I expect it to be a flash in the pan party game that’s quickly forgotten. The controls just don’t look like they’re there, you know? Thankfully the system seems to be teeming with a variety of RPGs from several venerable studios. If you like those slow-burner games this could be a very good system. Plus, there are still rumors of a Mario and Rabbids crossover game in addition to a new Pokemon game, both of which are exciting for different reasons. People who remember the Sega Nomad and playing home console Sonic on the go might be more interested in the new offering, and it does look like it could be worth a chance. Which is more than I can say about far too many Sonic the Hedgehog games. (Come on, Sonic Team. You guys used to be better than this.) There are more than a few notable omissions from Nintendo’s list as well, and that has mixed feelings from me. Things like Mother 3/EarthBound 2 and anything related to Metroid not being there hurt a little, as well as Smash Bros., and makes me worry that either the titles are not going to be on the system or will take a long time to get there. Neither option is great for early adopters.

And finally, the big bugaboo from the event, Nintendo stepping into the realms of Payed Online Use. This is very much one of those things where it could either be the thing that saves Nintendo’s online presence or the thing that crushes the company. And I’m really more on the side of the former. When Microsoft introduced the concept it proved to be very viable, ensuring a much more stable network for it’s games and customers. When Sony finally bit the bullet and did the same, it didn’t feel great but they added the value of their PlayStation Plus to the mix, giving games every month to subscribers. That was effective enough to force Microsoft to follow suit. Nintendo has some big problems to overcome if they want to make this service charge successful. Offering free games every month is going to be a must, and as long as Nintendo gets their amazing catalogue of classic games onto the system fast enough they’ll have a great pool to pick from. I don’t expect them to do this, since they haven’t had a large number of games available at any time since they began offering the eShop with the Wii. This same issue could be even more troubling if they decide to offer rentals of whatever customers want. It would be great to offer that, but they need to have the library to support it first or it just will not be valuable. Next, Nintendo needs to offer reliable and effective online connectivity. Which is thankfully something I have not seen them have trouble with at any point in the Wii U’s life span, so this shouldn’t be an issue. I honestly don’t see a reason for Nintendo to change their policy in such a way since their online connectivity has always been exceptional, but perhaps they’re adding a service that would need some kind of payment option to make it viable. I’m just hoping it’s not a simple cash grab, since this would directly hurt the sales of the system if it’s not valuable enough. Or if it costs too much. More expensive system with the same cost for online play? Yeah, Nintendo won’t make any money on that if that’s the case.

Overall, I’m honestly still pretty positive about the system. I’ve just got a lot of concerns and the Switch Event didn’t do much to inform me, and in some cases actually gave me more concerns than I had before. But hey, who knows? Maybe it’ll capture the casual market again and bring in core console players and we’ll all enjoy Splatoon 2 together. To make early buying as effective as possible, pick up a USB-C cable plus appropriate USB adapters, a 64 GB microSDXC card (at least), and a USB rechargeable battery pack to go with the system. A carrying case for on the go use would also be recommended. Extra diligence in watching for thieves in the first few months is going to be a must I fear. And also the very real possibility of a highly limited launch window aiding scalpers will likely drive the price up, so be vigilant in not supporting these individuals.

Be safe, be smart, caveat emptor.

[johnsaye]

It’s alive!

Website

I’ve always thought of the word website as the singular word to describe a home for a person place or thing (noun) on the Internet. I don’t like web site or web-site, so website, it is. I’m kind of paving a new path here, creating a new version of my particular location in the World Wide Web. It’s nice. I like it. I’ve been toying with doing this for a while, and now it’s done. For a long time, I was simply forwarding to my Tumblr blog, but I’m afraid it just wasn’t malleable enough to keep up with changing times. So I’m planning to make the most of this. 

It’s alive!

Writing

For everyone wondering what John’s up to, what he does, as much as he can, is writing. I started up again not too long ago, picking up again with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Which happens every November. Every year there a group of thousands of fiddling novelists get together and collectively, across the country and around the world give it a go at writing a fifty-thousand-word novel inside of thirty-days. I know, it’s not a long novel. A couple of times it was a great way to start then finishing longer work outside the time frame,  but it’s still a great way to start. 

I practiced. I was getting stronger, using my arm as much as I could. I played games. I swiped. I got good browsing and reading in my kindle app.  I decided to train my right arm, I wanted to try Novel Writing month again despite my condition, with Plants vs. Zombies. At first, I could barely keep up. I waited. I trained more. I tapped and tapped, and started completing stages. Soon I completed the game. I figured if I could keep up with that, I could use similar motions to tap letters on my iPad onscreen keyboard. I completed the novel in thirty days. I didn’t say the first draft of it isn’t a nightmare, they all are, but this one is particularly bananas. I left crazy errors behind, trying to whip whatever story was there out, but I was pretty uncoordinated still at that point and I know there are pages and pages in there where I’m doing good to spell anything intelligible.

I’m still committed to editing it though. I’m going to run it through Grammarly and close my eyes. More on that soon. 

This week I’ve been World building on my next piece of work. I decided I wanted to map out a series of star systems for a space adventure, but I wanted to be able to keep track of which planets were parts of different governments, and be able to tell which side which planets are on like unwashed a big interstellar game of Risk. Will it help? I’ve no idea, but it’s generating lots of story ideas, which is great. 

As I was doing all this, I took a Masterclass with R. l. Stein on writing, and got to meet him on a live video chat. One of the most interesting things to me about his class to me, odd note, was the fact that he writes everything with one index finger. Here I was using a stick to punch out words again, one letter at a time. I was already writing with no fingers. 

Health

For anyone I haven’t told yet, In 2016 I came down with an abomination called Guillain-Barré syndrome. Leave it to me to succumb to something I’d never heard of. We call it GBS for short. It knocked me flat on my back, and I mean that literally. For some, it amounts to partial paralysis. You dip down, then come back. Not me. I got the next to the worse variant. The one that doesn’t quite kill you, though it nearly did on several occasions. It’s an auto-immune disease that attacks the nervous system. It strips what’s called the myelin sheath that protects your nerves, helps them conduct the electric impulses that allow you to say, sends signals from your brain to your legs when you want to walk or hand when you want to pick up a fork, or eventually your lungs. It starts at your feet and hands and works it’s way up. The variant I had was nasty and nearly killed me. At my worst, they had to tape my eyes shut at night because I could close them myself anymore. 

I was locked in…

I spent eight months in three different hospitals, had to undergo a tracheotomy and lived on a vent for five of them. 

When I returned home I still couldn’t lift my arms. I need pretty much round-the-clock care. These days I’ve got some strength in my legs, and my arms are pretty good. My fingers are still very weak, and I can barely feel my feet. I’ve still got a long way to go, but I still have faith that I’ll walk again. I have physical and occupational therapy each twice a week, as well as a nurse’s visit once a week, and a nurse in to help me bathe. I used to also have speech therapy, but no longer need it. 

I’ve successfully learned to speak again. That was some time ago. 

I’ve got a lot to say about my time in the hospital. Much of it I’m still processing, even now. I’ll have a lot more to say, and I plan to drip that out. I’ve got a lot of memories from that time that doesn’t make a lot of sense. I spent large amounts of time hallucinating, or stuck in dream-like states while my brain and nervous system was growing back together. My mind did the best it could during that time while everyone was just trying to keep me alive. 

As time goes on I’ll tell what I can. I get a lot of requests to write about it, but each time I open that part of my mind it’s too depressing to look at all at once. Maybe in blog form, I can talk about it in little chunks. Some might be longer than others. Some of it is pure dream-state madness, but I’ve got so many junk dreams mixed in with what was real that for me it’s very hard to distinguish. I’ll get there. 

GBS was the end of an era for me. I lost everything except my family. I am incredibly grateful to them. I need lots of large medical equipment just to get around. I need a Hoyer lift to get out of bed. I need a powered wheelchair. It’s necessary for me to use a hospital bed. I need to use a stylus attached to my palm with a brace to type this and use my iPad. I lost my house. It was impossible to get my power chair through the door. It would have been cost-prohibitive to get me in the kitchen door, and then I’d be restricted to the ground floor with all the bathrooms on the second. The car had to go too. Carmax was happy to see it. We combined that cash with funds from a gofundme campaign where a ton of very generous people aided us in getting our ramp van. That donation is so appreciated. Couldn’t think of returning to work, not that I could get there from two-hundred miles away now. (Hi guys!) I can’t get to the bathroom without help. Coding even a little is a laborious process with essentially one finger. I think my days of commuting twenty miles by car to ride the train the rest of the way into town to hike another block, uphill to the office and back are over for me. I do miss walking around Piedmont Park at lunch though. 

I’m coming along. Occupational therapy is still working with me on my fingers and physical therapy had me on the edge of the bed last time pushing like mad on this big platform walker we got recently. I’ve got more equipment coming to help me exercise and work what I do have. 

Halloween

October 31st is coming up, and we usually try and add something new to the decorations each year. I’m not sure about everything else we’re going to do, certainly see if Garry the Grim Reaper is still going to inflate again for the third year in a row, but I’ve got some of my new ideas heading here in the mail right now. Garry is already a fourteen-foot-tall purple skeleton guy with a top hat that has a lightning flash inside him. Our yard gets noticed. We get a lot of trick-or-treaters and enjoy the night the best we can.

This year I know for sure that I’m going for a ground fogger, so that’s on the way, along with a rolling cart. When it’s time to turn off the lights and stop handing out candy, I want to be able to easily roll it into the house instead of trying to pull it away from other decorations or leave it outside. It’s got an ice bin for either ice or dry ice to keep the fog down on the ground. I hope it does well. We had a good fogger last year, but I accidentally got one I had to activate manually every time, and my thumb was sore at the end of the evening. This new one, a Mister Kool, has a timer. Looking forward to it. 

source https://www.johnsaye.com/its-alive/

[survivedeathvalley]

EPISODE 2 - “CHICK FIL A FOR EVERYONE, IT’S RAINING FRIES, HALLELUJAH!” - GABBY

I wanna establish myself as a strong force in this game. When people open skype web and remember they have to be active here I want them to think, "Oh I gotta deal with that bitch Misty too" And I intend on getting to the bottom of who voted for me... Paul [Kage]

Guess who helped start a new alliance! :) Basically Kat, William and I are part of a 3 person alliance called "The Chaos Crew". I feel fairly comfortable working with these two because they both said they were supposedly new to ORGs (don't 10000% buy it), also it would be in all of our interests to stick to a 3 person alliance to make sure that if in the case we do attend tribal we can at least tie if not be in the majority. 

I don't really understand this cast. They're really bad aliases. Yikes... I was talking to that one guy on my tribe with the normal-sounding name and I told him I didn't like making small talk because everyone is "fake". Then he said "I'm not fake! I promise". So I responded that it's not like anyone is fake in *that* way, but it's because of the alias thing... then he thought I was asking him for an alliance. What the fuck. Then he exposed to me that he's NEVER played orgs before and he's SO out of the loop, which might be true, but I don't want to take any chances. I think he's just bad at playing dumb.

http://imgur.com/j0q7pWl

I'm glad that Marco is gone, but I can't help but wonder who voted for Misty.  I hope she doesn't think it was me.  

chick fil a for everyone, it's raining fries, hallelujah!   I have to remember Sunday that I can't be working if I'm not around because Chick fil a does not run on Sundays, I can feel myself forgetting already. 

Misty and I want to work together for the long run, and I'm already scared I'm going to tell her too much info and she'll figure out who I am.  On another note, I noticed the viewing lounge the other day and I wonder if Issy is playing in this, because she's in the VL.  I'm pretty sure she hates me?  We played Arabia together and I lied to her a lot and blindsided her a lot and I think it would be SO FUNNY if we were working together in this, I almost feel like maybe she's Mattie? Thinking back she reminded me of Issy a bit. 

Girl Idk but if we lose I'm voting off the biggest threat in our tribe now that's the tea!

I want Paul out tbh. Me/Bianca/Gabby/Mattie alliance would be the dream. I wanna take control of this tribe. Idk what has gotten into me but I wanna be like Sandra in Game Changers. If we lose, I do plan on making a fake account for Paul and making some fraudulent receipts of him saying he wants Gabby out................... Whatever it takes, you know?

i honestly keep forgetting im in this game! rip me! and also like i think im gonna start impersonating karen so people think I'm her

Nothing has happened yet

https://youtu.be/xB5CQqqra0o

Ummm, so ummm, unmmm, I have no idea what tribal will be like tomorrow

Note to self: NEVER PISS LOGAN OFF.  <3 Paul has got to go, I liked him better when his account wasn't working.  Also I think I figured out who he is because he kept putting a different name instead of Paul when we were doing the challenge.  I don't know that person outside of this game though and can't remember what he said his name was to save my life.   I hope that maybe Misty, Bianca, Mattie and I can vote together to get Paul out of this game, his smart mouth is going to ruin it for all of us.  He was also the more pissy person towards Mattie when she was messing up.  And true, I was lowkey annoyed with her too but then she told us she had dyscalculia and one of my friends has that, and I could see how this challenge could be difficult for her. We should have started it YESTERDAY, i felt like suggesting it but I just... never did.  UGH, I'm so ready for a switch or something, Panamint is dropping like flies and I just hope I'm in a good enough spot to stay another round. 

This tribe is?? Interesting I guess. We don't communicate like at all. Nobody answers pms (including me) and when we do it's like very vague and messy. Alex sends haha every other word and it makes it very hard to see if he's serious or not? I like Jenny she seems cool hopefully we can work together but the rest of this tribe idk 

We just lost.. and of course I was the only one to NOT participate. I'm sure I'm on the chopping block, because at this point I'm pretty sure there's no inactives to hide behind. I'm still gonna push for Paul to go home though. Maybe not be as aggressive as I planned to be.. but I will try to make it work. I trust in Bianca and Gabby so hopefully they keep me safe!

So we lost. Which I expected. And I originally thought I'd be the target, since I fucked up so much we kept having to go back. But Tanner never showed up to participate and everyone has to participate so we lost for that reason instead. Which means that I'm a little safer than I was before, and Tanner is most likely going home. I hope. I'm kind of glad he fucked up tbh, because I think we would've gone either way and now I get to be safe.

Now this is the truth tea and I can't wait to see all my devious villains with me at merge bc it's obvious the other two tribes are stupid enough to actually win a challenge *giggles* 

https://youtu.be/BS93E9_5f1o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpsXJTPAOYE

I think everything is peaceful right now but I just hope everything isn't under the table and no one is targeting me.

Nobody wants to be the first person to throw out a name! It's so annoying! Nothing is happening! Wait, maybe they have an alliance *facepalm*

I dunno what I said last, but I think it was to the effect of I really suck at that flash game and I hope that the people on my tribe are better at it than I am. And... they were! They were actually a lot better than I was at it and I think one person (Alex maybe??) made up the difference of my failings https://media.tenor.co/images/9d06a86bdcd648c964e322559fdd3b80/tenor.gif We won the immunity challenge and avoided the first vote off of the season because that's what you do when you're immune I guess. Anyway, it looked like the Panamint tribe that did the worst decided to vote off their inactive player to increase their chances of success. I'm assuming this will be the strategy for most tribes moving forward anyway. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/99/39/d8/9939d80aafd7f1217af815bd1f7ab42b.gif 

The reward challenge was the degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon thing that is always really fun - https://media.giphy.com/media/Ff2LmUUzZQAeY/giphy.gif I did the best I could at it so that I would look like an asset to my team... perhaps. Gotta plant those seeds that I'm of value so people will start inviting me to be part of their alliances and I'll become less likely to get the boot. We lost, but luckily it was just reward and then Kai went back to the Devil Hole to dig for an idol or something. So.. maybe Kai has an idol now? At the moment, I'm not too bothered because I don't think that I have given them any reason to play it.

Next challenge rolls its ugly head out of bed and I can see myself crying. I literally wanted to sit out of this one because I hate these types of challenges. They make my knees weak and my heart break. http://www.gifimagesdownload.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Disgusted-cute-gif.gif It's a counting endurance challenge... WITH A TWIST ™ because you can only respond with odds on odd minutes and evens on even minutes... and I wasn't online to ask to sit out so I get to help count!! Rather than um... being a flop I decided to OVER DO so that people will want to pull me into potential future alliances since these challenges are the opportunity to bond over the fact that you hate your life. https://media.tenor.co/images/12ef9945086f38f2b314cdd6206fa1dc/tenor.gif

This dude named Tanner who Kai and some other people keep calling Eddie (suspicious?? I dunno, nor do I care tbh.. just weird honestly) didn't participate in the challenge at all and has more or less disappeared. http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/shrg-1.gif While concerning because people disappearing is not necessarily a good thing, it has made the first vote an easy target. Our tribe needs strength and somebody that we can't rely on to play is definitely the opposite of desirable. Also! Fun facts! Alex and I worked really closely and very consistently on this challenge and we shared with each other afterward that we were each equally glad to have someone to rely on throughout the thing... and then Alex did some weird alliance pitching thing that made me slightly uncomfortable. They were like.. "We could be more ;)" and I was like... stop with the wink face and just ask if I want to ally with you. It's giving me creeper vibes. https://m.popkey.co/98eb3f/1xWo0.gif So we decided to form an alliance and to pull in Wash as a third so that we will be able to control votes moving forward. I guess that'll be something... assuming it sticks and is successful and all of the other permutations are fun... also, given Jenny's chaotic nature she's probably going to out this alliance the moment she gets to a swap so she can stab them in the back.

I feel bad for not doing reward fuck i might go home fuck this

https://youtu.be/H4LrsvmlSAA

Ok, so episode 2 in a nut shell... Kat, William and I started a 3 person alliance called the Chaos Crew which is kinda cute I guess, hopefully since there are 3 people in the alliance it will secure them as a number more. Then we had the reward competition which was the wikipedia thing and my type A personality legit did the entire comp for our tribe. I really wanted us to win and have a possibility of being sent to satan's asshole. So we won!!!! And we got an idol clue :) also I convinced them to let me go to the hole. I decided thatd itd be smart to send the same people as last week because itd put a larger target on their back and if they found an advantage it would at least be in a known area.  Basicalllllly, I found this cute Zirusikisisiaasdas Idol which works as a normal idol but also randomly gives another person protection, but my ass tried and tell most people that I found nothing (a rock). This is good for the most part unless it chooses the person I am trying to idol out. Then we had the reward comp which was the ugliest fucking counting endurance comp ive ever had to do. So basically, Giruga, Justin, and I did the majority of the competition even though I was on a fucking road trip on mobile so that was wild. Layla legit did little to nothing which made the entire tribe kind of mad, thus theyd be an easy vote in a future tribal probs. I think Giruga and I working on this competition and communicating during it made was a lot more beneficial for our relationship... basically I suggested that we made a good team in the comp and I was wondering if he'd want to work together and he said yes!!! So im basically working with everybody on the fucking tribe whew. We won immunity because we are the only tribe to finish it which has me shook, but that means we have a significant advantage going into a future tribe swap or merge :). I have feeling that next episode is going to be a tribe swap, but we will see!

I was told to make a confessional. Also I'm going to make an alliance so if I'm gone you'll know why.

So....we lost....again. But it's no sweat this round because I have my alliance with Gabby and Misty, which gives us majority. I love a good majority. The plan is to vote out Paul because he is literally a mess and a half. After that disaster is handled, we can hopefully move forward and not have to go to tribal again. I'm really praying that I can go to Devil's Hole again because now that I have my glow stone i have better chances of maybe finding something that could really turn my game around. But who knows? Only time will tell

I swear, i'm a good egg, i'm going to make a confessional whenever i'm asked to. :o) Okay so....  I just got asked to join an alliance with Paul and Mattie...  now I'm going to have two alliances, how exciting is this gonna be. Time to start making some choices and hope for a swap because someone is going to know i was playing both sides soon! 

Well fuck me with an Iron Dildo I think it worked!

If I go home this round... I just........... It doesn't feel natural. I GUESS it's my fault for not being on skype all day yesterday/today but? I was busy. Whatever. If I stay, Mattie better watch the fuck out. They think they can vote me out? Surprise bitch

EP 2 EDGIC: