#until the power swaps again in 15 seconds (then it will be hilarious)

[newty]

me: omg but am i writing dion or terence w too much nol influence or

halone ig: They Are All Literally Dumb Dragoons Comprised Of The Same Set Of Tropes, Thats Why Ur Here In The First Place

[playingbaseballwithyourson]

A Comprehensive List of Why REFLEKDOLL is One of the BEST EPISODES

1. I mainly come to this show to watch Ladybug and Chat Noir bitch at each other for a solid 15-20 minutes and, my god, does this episode deliver.

2. “You’d better get going before you lose your clown costume.” I C O N I C.

3. For real, confirmation that Ladybug sees Chat as as much of a goddamn clown as the entire fanbase, it’s great. 

4. I know people get on this episode because the ladynoir banter is apparently “”mean-spirited””? But honestly like, banter between friends CAN sound this mean-spirited from an outward perspective while all the friends involved in it are totally fine and in complete understanding that it’s all just joking and in good fun. Ladybug really starts tearing into him (jokingly) and Chat still finishes the sequence by bouncing away yelling “SEE I WAS RIIIIIGHT!” in an upbeat, teasing tone. Like, they’re fine. This is just how they talk to each other as friends and it’s clear neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir take their banter very seriously. (Honestly my banter with my friends can be far more scathing than anything in this episode. XD)

5. Watching Juleka and Luka interact... It’s pure. It’s good. :’3 Just an all around good scene. It’s also nice to follow up on how Juleka’s been dealing with her issues since Reflekta, even though it does turn out she’s made very miniscule progress.

6. Alya’s galaxy brain moment of inviting Adrien to help Marinette with a fashion shoot: Makes a lot of sense and is a great way to capitalize on both the love square’s hobbies to get them to hang out more! It’s the single part of this episode that isn’t a contrivance! 

7. Adrienette look cute in the matching outfits. Sorry but they do.

8. Okay, the thing that is truly great about this episode is that everything about it is a massive contrivance to make the kwami swap happens. ML wants it’s fucking kwami swap and it’s going to bend over backwards to make it happen, and it is NOT shy about it and it is NOT sorry. And honestly?? I FUCKING LOVE THAT. Does a kwami swap make logical sense for it to occur without the heroes having planned for it? No. Are we going to do it anyway? YES!!!! BECAUSE A KWAMI SWAP WOULD BE FUCKING FUN!!! That’s what’s great about ML, and this episode is a great showcase of ML’s priorities as a cartoon (which is probably why this episode rubs some of the fandom the wrong way). A kwami swap is illogical, but it’s fun as fuck, so the show is going to do it. That’s the priority above all else. FUN. AND IT PAYS OFF!

Seriously, everything is a contrivance. Why akumatize Juleka again? Reflekta’s power can handicap the kwamis’ abilities to find their humans in the commotion. Why have Marinette and Adrien change for the photo shoot? Get them to take their miraculous off. Why have them keep the kwamis in the car instead of in their pockets? So they can’t find their own kwamis right away. This episode is jumping through flaming hoops to make this happen and it’s fucking gold. Might there have been a much more natural way to have a kwami swap? Yeah, sure, most likely. But literally WHO EVEN CARES cause this episode starts out fun and ends fun, and it works well enough that I don’t give a flumpty. Hell, I appreciate it even MORE for not being shy about its priorities in this episode. Kwami swap fun? Then kwami swap will happen. Fuck everything else.

9. “Are you okay, Marinette?” “YEAH. HE’S TOO HOT. I MEAN--” This is a top tier Marinette flub.

10. I recognize I’m a minority on this, but I fucking love Mayura. She is a goddamn queen. So gosh darn fabulous with the long coat and the fan. I just love it whenever she shows up so I’m glad she’s here. Makes the villains a touch more intimidating in this episode since there’s two, which pairs well with Marinette and Adrien being somewhat off their game due to the kwami swap.

11. Literally any time Tikki and Plagg interact together is great. 

12. Adrien telling Marinette to hide in the car... TTToTTT <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

13. No one ever believes me when I say Marinette is pure chaotic energy but she HECKING IS! When she finds Plagg with the cat ring, this girl does not waste a goddamn second. Will swapping powers probably mess them up? Yes, but FUCK IT PARIS IS IN DANGER AND WE NEED HEROES NOW SO GIMME THAT RING. SHE JUST DOES NOT WASTE A GODDAMN SECOND TRANSFORMING. SHE CAN TAKE ANYTHING AND ROLL WITH IT. I LOVE MARINETTE.

14. Also Ladynoire’s design is fucking choice.

15. Okay, go onto youtube right now, look up Mister Bug’s transformation sequence, and look at the way he puts on his mask.... I know right??? :D

16. This is a very personal thing, but I love seeing Adrien powered-up without the cat eyes. This is the only time you ever see it, and trust me while I fucking love the cat eyes, it’s a really eye-catching change to see him with his normal eyes here! Think about it, Ladybug has never seen her partner’s real eyes until this episode. It’s cool! (Marinette with the cat eyes, on the other hand, is neat as well, but I don’t think she wears them as well as Chat Noir.)

17. Adrien smacking himself with the yo yo.

18. I’ve said this before but I find it absolutely adorable how, when swapped, Marinette and Adrien base their new names off of each other, rather than making up new ones from scratch. Mister Bug? It’s Ladybug, but boy. Ladynoire? It’s Chat Noir, but girl. Seriously that’s adorable.

19. ADRIEN USING LUCKY CHARM AND GETTING EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED IS ONE OF THE SINGLE FUNNIEST MOMENTS IN THE ENTIRE GODDAMN SHOW. I’M SORRY BUT IT IS. IT’S FUCKING HILARIOUS. JUST ADRIEN BY SHEER LUCK SCHOOLING MARINETTE WITH HER OWN POWER, AND THE COMPLETELY OFFENDED LOOK ON HER FACE AFTERWARDS-- IT’S PEAK ML COMEDY.

20. I’m not the first one to make this comparison, credit goes to @buggachat on that, but Marinette in this episode is like the parent trying to teach their kid how to drive but ends up flipping their shit the second their kid touches the gas pedal. And it’s fucking funny. X”D Marinette has a strong sense of responsibility along with an incredibly specific way of how she likes to do things as Ladybug. Her process is you battle the akuma, gather info about your opponent, use lucky charm at the exact right time that only she knows in order to take them down, and then capture the akuma and/or amok. Her routine is pretty broken in this episode, since it’s now Adrien who needs to do all those things, so that combined with Marinette’s acute awareness of Adrien being a Child Who Causes Problems On Purpose has her veerrryyy on edge this whole episode and it’s just fun to watch. Her asking Adrien if they should switch back, correcting him every time he mis-speaks about how to do Ladybug correctly. It’s not a side of Marinette we get to see every day!

21. Additionally, getting to watch her relax for once in a fight since she’s now in the canonical clown costume is wonderful. I love Marinette. I want good things for Marinette. Relaxation and fun are good. She’s got a lot on her shoulders so this episode is nice, especially with the s3 finale in context.

22. Yknow, I can very happily buy that chataclysm doesn’t work on sentimonsters, since it’s already been established that Miraculous magic can protect from chataclysm. (See: Miraculer)

23. I’ve written already about why Mister Bug wasn’t actually bad with the ladybug miraculous, so I’ll only touch on a couple of those points again. But it is weird to me how people cry about Mister Bug being shit at the ladybug miraculous when he’s so clearly not? He just has a lot of stuff to think about that he usually doesn’t have to worry about cause it’s not his job. When to use lucky charm, HOW to use lucky charm, when to use miraculous ladybug, capturing the akuma once it’s released, capturing the amok. He just quite literally never has to put thought into any of that so it’s pretty understandable that he doesn’t have a handle on it just, automatically. Meanwhile, Marinette doesn’t have a ton of extra things to think about with the cat miraculous, AND she’s canonically naturally talented with handling different miraculous, so it’s very believable that she’d be fine? I get people don’t like that cause they have a problem with Marinette (and any WOC) being competent in general, but she’s just a talented girl. We see her take and roll with anything to stop the villain in every episode of the show, so there’s not actually a reason for her to notably struggle with the cat miraculous. But hell, she actually DOES make things worse by chataclysming Reflekdoll, which might have not happened if she paused before just rushing in and using her power (after proudly declaring she is now the Team Clown). But it’s understandable that she didn’t predict the sentimonster to react how it did, and I can see Adrien making the same mistake, so eh. 

24. But my point is that in terms of this discourse, I think this episode is fine. It’s about Ladybug and Chat Noir learning that they’re both quite good and very comfortable in their default roles. She’s great at handling her job and he’s great at handling his. That’s a perfectly fine lesson for this episode, and it’s not super necessary for them BOTH to learn that their partner’s job is actually super hard! The episode starts with them teasing each other about their roles, and it ends with that little bit of conflict between them being eased away due to their experiences from the kwami swap. Chat Noir is still a clown, Ladybug still is too concerned with her usual responsibilities to spend a lot of time clowning with him in fights, and that’s okay. They both learn to relax about it. It’s a good lesson for them to learn about each other, and it feels natural for the show to spend some time exploring their dynamic as partner heroes! 

25. I actually fucking love how it’s established that the lucky charm works differently for different people. This episode BASICALLY CANONIZES that Marinette’s lucky charm is so insane because SHE HERSELF, IS SO INSANE. Adrien thinks much simpler (which I’ve written about how that’s not a bad thing in previous posts), so his lucky charm is just: You need a mirror? Okay, here’s a mirror. And it’s actually very fun and interesting to me that his ability to use his lucky charm was handicapped specifically becuase he’s only ever watched Marinette use it. Marinette’s lucky charms always yield wildly complicated plans, and that’s the exact thing she’s shouting at him the whole episode, so he expects it to be complicated and thus can’t figure out how to use the mirror. It’s only when they sit down and realize that they’ll have to think on Adrien’s level instead of Marinette’s that they figure out what to do with it! Marinette’s spent the whole episode basically backseat driving for him (understandably), so the fact that the resolution is her meeting Adrien at his own spot and working on his level instead of hers- It’s a good way to wrap the episode up! 

26. Duuzu.

27. dID HE JUST DAB?!?!

28. Oh my god he did. And people actually hate this episode, smh.

29. Marinette flirting with Chat Noir will always give me life, and we get so much of it in this episode! Her calling him Bugaboy is this perfect combo of flirtatious and teasing that’s just very on-brand ladynoir. It’s perfect in this episode for literally so many reasons that I don’t even have time to list them cause this essay is already really long.

30. Adrien and Marinette interacting with the others’ kwami? Wholesome. Marinette and Adrien reuniting with their kwamis? Very wholesome. They’re both so attached to their kwamis in different ways, and they’re also together with their kwamis practically every waking moment of their lives. I can imagine being apart from them even for a little must’ve been a touch anxiety inducing, so it’s nice to see how sweet everyone is when they’re reuniting!

31. Adrien says at the end that he’s not cut out to be Ladybug and honestly y’all... That’s okay. Adrien has his role and he’s incredibly good at his role, and Ladybug is incredibly good at hers. They’re both SATISFIED with their roles. He’s not upset when he says he’s not cut out to be Ladybug, not even a little. He very happily takes Plagg back and steps back into his usual territory. Again, he wasn’t bad at the ladybug miraculous. It just came with more to think about than he really wants to, things that Ladybug is very HAPPY to think about, and if their dynamic already works, then he’s perfectly happy to focus on his part and leave her job to her. That’s great!!!

32. Juleka getting to do the fashion shoot... Yay. :’D I just want good things for Juleka.

In conclusion, this episode is pure unbridled fun from start to finish. It’s chaotic, it’s got top tier banter, it’s a phenomenal change of pace from the rest of the series. I actually love watching this episode with folks for the first time because seeing the look of complete shock and glee on their face as Marinette grabs that cat ring from Plagg is just FUN! And at the end of the day, this episode is a statement on three things:

- Marinette is a talented girl. -Adrien is great at his job. - And ML as a show’s priority will always, first and foremost, be fun.

And none of those are a bad thing. 

Hope you enjoyed the essay! :D

[dansnaturepictures]

Seventh instalment to my ten wildlife and photography highlights of 2019 blogs: Rutland for the Bird Fair

On Wednesday 14th August it was great to drive through Rockingham and Caldecott the villages I adore as a gateway to getting to Rutland where we stayed in Uppingham. It was so we could go to Rutland Water and attend the British Birdwatching Fair which it was fantastic to get to do again. As always we went into Lyndon reserve on the first day seeing the Ospreys. It was amazing to see these one of my favourite birds and get such precious times viewing them, seeing them flying and still and five in total more than I can recall seeing often from here. I got a great view of two in a tree too which was a different place for me to see one in as I often see them on posts and nests and it made me think it must be common to see them on a tree in Scotland or Africa. I took the first two pictures in this photoset of the view from the hide and one of the Ospreys. It was also brilliant to see two Great Crested Grebes on a nest, re-enforcing it on quite full water on a wet day and swapping the incubating between the pair. Following on within the year for favourite birds of mine nicely from the nest of these another of Great Crested Grebes I got close to at Lakeside in May. At Lyndon it was also great to see so many Sand Martins very well flying about in front of the hide.

I took the third picture in this photoset of the view from my room on the start our Thursday here. We then went to Lyndon again, seeing Ospreys once more, a hornet mimic hoverfly and after a shower the weather was much brighter and drier than the day before, and it became a golden afternoon of dragonflies at Lyndon an area so good for them dragonflies often playing a big role in my Bird Fair trips due to the reserve strength for them and time of year. This was the year of my life for dragonflies and damselflies with me more engaged in them than other years and taking so many photos of them and getting to see so many special ones and that afternoon contributed to this well. I was so happy to see my first Migrant Hawker of the year as shown by the fourth picture I took that day in this photoset, which was actually my second ever and I saw one later on too so this was smashing. I was so happy to see it and also perhaps more Southern Hawkers than I had seen in one day before. Ruddy and Common Darter as well as Common Blue Damselfly were other ones I saw. After we’d gone all the way to the woodland hide and back to the centre we went the other way for a bit and also saw a Brown Hawker my first this year. This took my highest ever dragonfly and damselfly year list of this year to 19, I have seen 21 in my life so like where I reached with my butterfly year list last and this year having seen all but two and one respectively of the species seen in my life in one year I feel very happy which what I have seen. On the way back to the visitor centre at Lyndon I rolled back magical Bird Fair years when I got a very similar very exciting view of a mammal I did at Egleton the Bird Fair site at our first ever Bird Fair in 2008, the Muntjac Deer. I got two sensational views of this amazing mammal on 15th August, only the second I have ever seen which was a fantastic moment to add to this trip away.

Afterwards we went to Whitwell as shown by the fifth of my pictures in this photoset, where I took in stunning view of Rutland Water and it was so relaxing to have tea and ice cream looking over this place which I really enjoyed. Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell and Rutland speciality Egyptian Geese were highlights of my wildlife sightings. On the evening of day 2 away we saw a nice moon and had the honour of another amazing favourite bird encounter for me when we heard Tawny Owl calls at dusk from the cottage we think possibly two calling. This was amazing and something I weirdly foreshadowed by jokingly saying “you might see a Tawny Owl” when my Mum talked about going out late at night here. It followed on nicely from my nocturnal wildlife experience at the holiday cottage in June in Northumberland with the bats flying over.

I came into the Bird Fair on day one of the event and had a really enjoyable day despite wet weather towards the end which is somewhat unfamiliar for me when attending this event every year. The extraordinarily muddy conditions became a memorable theme of this Bird Fair it was entertaining to see everyone so muddy! It could only happen at Bird Fair! I spent the morning walking around meeting different people as well as watching the amazing BTO ringing demonstration which I always enjoy. It was very insightful again and interesting to see so many Blue Tits and Dunnocks caught and ringed. I also went to my first events marquee talk of the year, Mike Dilger hosting ‘How Birders Can Help Birds’ which included a varied panel of inspirational individuals from the chief executive of Bird Life International and the Big Year record holder, as well as esteemed young campaigner Georgia Locock. This got very passionate and engaging a great job from Mike too.

At around midday I headed into my first hide looking over lagoon four. Avocet and Egyptian Goose were highlights to see as well as the Ruddy Shelduck which was a nice brightly coloured bird to see  and one that I would remember this Bird Fair for too. It was nice to see a meadow area in full bloom nearby which I have appreciated a lot this year. I then walked down to the bittern hide, where the best birdwatching of the day occurred. I was on my own in the hide a bit until Joe Harkness creator of Bird Therapy came into the hide with a friend. He was a breath of fresh air to meet and so down to earth, I had been taken with his piece in Chris Packham’s talk here last year and his section with him on BBC Winterwatch, his positive attitude towards every bird out there including the many Swifts flying about was lovely to hear. There were lots of hunundines again today too. We all marvelled at the Marsh Harrier in the sixth picture in this photoset darting past us which was spectacular and a memorable moment. I had seen six bird of prey species in the space of a week with this sighting. They also spotted a young Black Tern far out on the lagoon and after they’d left I was thrilled I managed to see it too. This was a great moment for me as one of my birds of the year as my 176th species of 2019. It felt like the unique bird moment of this Bird Fair for me which I get every year of a top species to see that I hadn’t here before. It was actually only my third ever sighting of them it took me until 2017 to see this bird for the first time, and I was definitely going to target it a lot this year as the sighting meant I’ve seen all six tern species I have seen in my life this year along with my often usual common, little and sandwich and the arctic and roseate of my Northumberland holiday.

As the heavy rain set in as shown in the seventh picture in this photoset I eventually wound my way back to the events marque for the climate change debate. This was a really engaging and encouraging one to discuss the crisis and I was impressed with Rob Lambert and the whole panel. The star of it though was Holly Gillibrand who I know from Twitter who answered the questions fantastically and stirred the audience in a brilliant way. She is a credit to her generation, shown nicely by a young girl asking a question of “Why haven’t adults listened?” to the Friday climate strikes and it was very inspiring to see the young generation so passionate and empowered. A really nice day in the fair where I got to enjoy the time in many ways.

We came into the fair on the Saturday and the morning-early afternoon was a mixture of wandering around meeting people and lectures and events. This included our yearly chat and photo with Simon King which was an amazing experience as always he is so down to earth. The first talk was a lecture from Dr Amy Beer about Wild Women which was, and sorry for using this word too much at Bird Fairs, inspirational and really powerful about gender equality within wildlife and nature. Then there was a stretch in the events marque firstly seeing another hilarious Iolo Williams talk he really is like a standup comedian up there as I said last year. Then an epic from Chris Packham and friends, a fired up debate with Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay hosted by a presenter from the shooting fraternity in which great points were raised. The audience really responded in a spited way about terrible raptor persecution in general in this talk, and the amazing young people who came on stage to talk about the environment and school strikes. A short break from the events marque followed in which we met Iolo Williams again who was also delightful once more.

Afterwards we watched Simon King in another thought provoking and spectacular talk him shown in the eighth picture in this photoset . We watched the prestigious ‘Bird Brain of Britain’ as our last event of our 2019 Bird Fair next which is always impressive. On the way to some hides we caught up with David Lindo which was great and in between hides my Mum did her yearly deed of volunteering to release a bird from the BTO ringing demonstration and this year it was a Blue Tit. From one hide overlooking lagoon four we enjoyed seeing the Ruddy Shelduck from the day before with its Egyptian Geese it hangs out with and glorious views in the sun of two Ospreys one shown in the ninth picture in this photoset. We usually see them at Lyndon here however did see one flying over Egleton last year. But we hadn’t seen one at this side of the Egleton reserve for years. At the 360 degrees and snipe hides more great wildlife awaited such as Great White Egret a newer star of this place and two that I have seen at Bird Fairs before Green Sandpiper and Marsh Harrier. I took the tenth picture in this photoset a view on what was a brilliant day at the reserve. We did very well for weather in my whole week off getting some great warm and sunny conditions in amongst a lot of forecast rain which only really dominated two days.

It was another really great Bird Fair for me. I had such a fun time meeting and seeing many like-minded people many of whom I know from Twitter, attending inspirational talks be that on the pulse current political matters or light hearted and watching the BTO bird ringing demonstration. I wanted to say here too the birds I managed to see on the reserves contained some of the usual stars and a nicely unique brilliant other cast of star birds. But to do this alone would do the other wildlife I saw a discredit as I had a brilliant day for dragonflies on our second Lyndon visit, a magical mammal moment too then, some great butterflies seen on the days away just after I saw my 44th and 45th species of the year in home areas and more. This was reflective of the variety of amazing wildlife I saw on one fantastic week off work generally.

[entergamingxp]

DOOM Eternal Review — Heaven and Hell (PS4/Xbox One/Stadia/PC)

March 17, 2020 10:00 AM EST

DOOM Eternal is a drastic improvement over its predecessor in every way and sees the Doom Slayer reclaiming his throne in the shooter genre.

When id Software revived the DOOM franchise four years ago, many didn’t know what to expect upon its arrival. In a previous decade that had seen the series drifting away from its action-heavy roots with DOOM 3, to the much-troubled and eventually canceled development of DOOM 4, the classic shooter franchise seemed to be in a strange place, void of any identity. Fortunately, upon its release in 2016, DOOM‘s latest iteration proved to be a critical and commercial success and ushered in a new era of arena-based combat.

After proving to be such a rousing achievement, id Software’s inevitable sequel, DOOM Eternal, ended up carrying with it something that the previous game didn’t: incredibly high expectations. In the face of those grand expectations, though, the team at id Software have somehow found a way to completely improve on the previous installment in just about every single way. DOOM Eternal isn’t just highly-polished, replayable, and continuously engrossing, but it also easily stands as one of the best first-person shooters we have received in a long, long time.

“DOOM Eternal isn’t just highly-polished, replayable, and continuously engrossing, but it also easily stands as one of the best first-person shooters we have received in a long, long time.”

DOOM Eternal once again has you mowing down demons in the combat boots of the Doom Slayer. The game’s 15-20+ hour runtime will have you aggressively sprinting across Earth, Hell, and a variety of other realms in order to halt the demonic hordes that have infested the human homeworld. The Doom Slayer’s goal remains the same as it has always been, but there are more factions at play this time. The DOOM franchise’s throughline story pitch of one man (or demigod) facing off against an army of demons has always been low-key hilarious to me, and seeing those stakes upped even further in Eternal with new foes arising for the Doom Slayer to eliminate made the game even more entertaining.

While story has never been front and center in any DOOM game, Eternal actually adds a fair amount of lore and narrative-focus that one wouldn’t normally expect. Not only does the game explain more of the background of the Doom Slayer himself, but it also explains why there are so many demons being let loose upon Earth in the first place. And without spoiling too much, Eternal actually finds a way to connect this new era of DOOM titles to those from the past in some rather interesting ways. Likely the highest praise I can give DOOM Eternal on a story front is that I actually had a desire to read every single codex entry that I came across while playing. The storyline isn’t anything that I’ll end up pondering for years to come, but what is included here definitely made me feel like even more of an unstoppable killing machine.

If you played 2016’s DOOM, then you’ll be familiar at a baseline level with many of the core gameplay mechanics found here in Eternal. Glory kills have once again returned and are the main means by which you can get more health. If you’re running out of HP, you best start charging directly at demons with the intent to rip and tear them apart. id Software has also introduced a variety of other mechanics very similar to this system in DOOM Eternal that work to great effect, too. A shoulder-mounter flamethrower that the Doom Slayer possesses allows him to set enemies ablaze. If you then kill these foes while they’re on fire, you’ll gain more health. The chainsaw also makes a return and when you use it on demons, ammo comes bursting forth from their insides like a fountain.

If the previous DOOM was all about making sure you stay on the offensive at all times, Eternal ups that notion tenfold. All of the mechanics I mentioned aren’t just included for fun, but are instead vital to your survival. DOOM Eternal wants to be played in a very specific fashion, but the reason for forcing you to play in this manner is to maximize your potential as a killing machine. A routine combat scenario in DOOM Eternal will have you switching between guns dozens of times, bouncing off of monkey bars and grav lifts, and will have you scouring the environment for every power-up. It’s hectic, but it leads to every single situation that you find yourself in being a thrill.

It’s also worth noting that if you don’t use all of the tools at your disposal in DOOM Eternal, you will die a whole bunch. Eternal is an inherently tough game, even on lower difficulties. This isn’t the “Dark Souls of shooters” by any means, but even on Normal mode, I found myself stressed and sweating in nearly every engagement. That being said, I think DOOM Eternal could be one of the most well-balanced games I have ever played. Even though each combat situation I found myself in did come with a certain level of challenge, I always found myself more than capable of being able to overcome the hordes of enemies pursuing me as long as I kept moving and remembered to stay aggressive. DOOM Eternal knows how to push you to your limit without ever really breaking you, which is a fantastic line to balance.

“If the previous DOOM was all about making sure you stay on the offensive at all times, Eternal ups that notion tenfold.”

As for the main gear that you’ll be using to dispatch of these demons, the guns that the Doom Slayer comes equipped with largely all feel great. Each weapon in the game, other than the BFG, can be upgraded and come with modifications that you can utilize and swap between on a dime. The Heavy Cannon, for instance, comes with one modification that allows you to snipe foes from far away while the other turns the gun into a rapid-fire missile launcher. Upgrading each weapon over the course of the game remains incredibly compelling, especially if you’re trying to fully level up each of them. The Super Shotgun also remains as my favorite gun in the game by far and the meathook (grappling hook) attachment that it comes with is a real game-changer.

There are also a few new toys at the Doom Slayer’s disposal in DOOM Eternal as well, most notably that of a freakin’ sword. The Crucible, which is what the Doom Slayer’s variation of a lightsaber is formally called, is a lot of fun to use, although you don’t finally get your hands on it until later in the experience. Even when you do finally get it, you learn that it is incredibly limited in its uses and can only be recharged by finding certain items scattered in the environment. Still, being able to one-shot every single non-boss enemy in the game with this demonic saber is always a joy, even if you might not get a whole lot of mileage out of it.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of DOOM Eternal overall, and the one that really drastically improves the experience even if you’re not always aware of it, comes in the form of the game’s level design. Broadly, Eternal is a much more vast game compared to the previous DOOM. Levels are much larger and a bit more linear, whereas the last DOOM title had stages that were built out a bit more vertically and could be more easily traversed to and from. The latter is definitely more alluring when it comes to trying to find all of the collectibles in a given stage–of which there are a lot–but this grander presentation has allowed the team at id Software to do so much more artistically with DOOM Eternal. There are so many sweeping vistas in this game that feature incredibly detailed backdrops and are an absolute pleasure to take in.

The real achievement in terms of how levels are constructed though comes about whenever you find yourself in the tight-knit locations in which you’ll primarily be duking it out with demons. These areas are so well-designed with all items and locomotive devices being expertly and strategically placed to ensure that you are constantly moving about. Certain stages in DOOM Eternal also offer up challenge arenas of sorts that, upon completion, award you with a few bonus items. These challenge zones were far and away my favorite part of DOOM Eternal as a whole, and I cannot recommend enough that everyone tries these out for themselves.

From beginning to end, DOOM Eternal is rife with action, explosions, and frenetic fights, but it’s not without a few issues. The opening few levels of the game, in particular, are a bit slow. This is mainly due to the fact that you don’t have many weapons just yet and the game is busy inundating you with tutorials. This is to be expected on some level, and the game’s opening missions aren’t awful, per se, it just takes a bit to get going. Once you get about three or four missions in, Eternal really starts to click and doesn’t relent whatsoever.

“In spite of all its accomplishments on a gameplay front, perhaps id Software’s largest achievement with this game is just how well-polished it is out of the gate.”

The only truly “bad” aspect of DOOM Eternal based on my own time with the game would come in the way of some late boss fights. Personally speaking, bosses weren’t my favorite part of DOOM and I don’t think they’re any better here in Eternal, sadly. Of the five boss fights in the game, the first three are actually quite enjoyable, mainly because each of these foes is on a similar scale compared to the Doom Slayer. When you have to face some larger enemy types near the game’s conclusion, the way in which you have to go about beating them becomes a chore.

DOOM Eternal‘s second-to-last boss suffers on multiple levels, most notably in how it is designed. The penultimate boss just feels cheap on a variety of levels, primarily due to the fact that their health is constantly regenerating and they section off specific areas of the arena you’re battling on that you quite literally cannot traverse upon unless you want to get hurt. And perhaps I’m just terrible at playing this game (there’s always a high likelihood of this), but I also found ammo to be far too difficult to acquire in this battle and completely ran out on multiple attempts. The minor foes that are scattered about the environment in this fight could not be chainsawed which meant that, once I ran out of bullets, I was screwed. This was the only instance in the entire campaign that I felt the need to lower the difficulty to Easy mode just to power through, which bummed me out.

As for the actual final boss, the fight is such a chaotic mess that feels less like a boss battle and instead is an exercise in patience. In a game that is all about getting right up in the face of your foes and dealing maximum damage, Eternal‘s last boss forces you to pick and choose your shots carefully at all times while trying to avoid being swarmed by the demons around you. The whole battle makes for a less-than-enjoyable climax that feels like the complete antithesis of everything that came before it. The ending left a bad taste in my mouth in what was otherwise one of my favorite shooter experiences I have had in forever. Bad bosses have often undermined the conclusions of games in the past and DOOM Eternal isn’t invulnerable to such a sin, either.

Despite the rough landing, it’s hard not to be impressed by nearly everything else in DOOM Eternal. In spite of all its accomplishments on a gameplay front, perhaps id Software’s largest achievement with this game is just how well-polished it is out of the gate. In an age where games seem to launch in rough states all the time, I experienced no performance issues or bugs whatsoever in my time playing. More than anything else, I was shocked that the frame rate never once noticeably dipped below 60fps for me no matter how many enemies may have been on screen in a single instance. Perhaps it will struggle a bit more on older hardware (I played on Xbox One X) but it seems clear that DOOM Eternal‘s delay out of 2019 was more than beneficial.

There’s also just an insane amount of content that has been packed into DOOM Eternal as well. While you might think that beating the game one time through will prove to be where you leave it behind, you might be surprised to see how much more there is to do. There are a vast number of challenges, milestones, and other extras that you can constantly be looking to earn while you play. There’s even a battle pass-like system (don’t worry, it’s free) where the more XP you earn in each level, the more you’ll be able to unlock additional goodies. Weekly challenges can also be found here, again, continually encouraging you to approach missions from new angles. All of these features make DOOM Eternal feel much more arcade-y, which is what the franchise has somewhat always been built around to begin with.

Another incredibly cool aspect of DOOM Eternal comes in the way of Master Missions, which are essentially harder variants of levels that you’ve previously played. These remixed missions might not be the most approachable to casual fans, but for all of you masochists out there, they’ll surely give you more demons than you can handle. More Master Missions are said to be coming post-launch as well, which is rad.

I also haven’t even bothered to mention the Fortress of DOOM, which is the Doom Slayer’s hub world that he revisits between levels. This area contains a few unlockables in addition to a practice arena, in case you’d like to try out battling against certain enemy types that are giving you fits. There are also a lot of fun Easter eggs tucked away in this area, especially in the Doom Slayer’s bedroom. It’s a cool little hub that, more than anything, serves as a sort of love letter to DOOM.

“DOOM Eternal proves now more than ever that the grandaddy of the first-person shooter genre is once again the king of them all.”

And did you think I wouldn’t touch on the soundtrack? Come on, now. Mick Gordon’s heavy metal score for DOOM Eternal is the game’s lifeblood that naturally makes you play in an up-tempo manner throughout the entire campaign. While upon a first playthrough some of the tracks don’t stand out as much as others did in the previous game, that doesn’t mean it’s bad whatsoever. It’s not only a fantastic companion piece to DOOM Eternal itself, but it’s just awesome metal music. Seriously, listen to this.

It’s worth mentioning that DOOM Eternal‘s new multiplayer offering, Battlemode, was not available for me to play prior to publishing this review. Servers for Battlemode still haven’t gone live as of this writing and as a result, I can’t take it into account with my final verdict. Still, I can confidently say that no matter how good or bad Battlemode might be, it’s almost certainly not going to affect my overall impressions or final score of DOOM Eternal either way. If anything, it will just turn out to be the cherry on top. We’ll likely have some separate impressions of Battlemode up down the road, so stay tuned.

DOOM Eternal might very well be the most intense video game I have ever played. Every single shootout that I experienced in my time with it demanded my full attention, but that attention was well-earned. Even though it doesn’t quite stick the landing, what’s included here is more than worthy of admiration, praise, and perhaps most importantly, your time.

Only five years ago, the future of DOOM seemed to be in question, which was bizarre given the franchise’s importance and prominence in gaming history. But in the time since, id Software has not only once, but twice now, made clear that this series is here to stay. DOOM Eternal proves now more than ever that the grandaddy of the first-person shooter genre is once again the king of them all — and it doesn’t look to be ceding the throne any time soon.

March 17, 2020 10:00 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/03/doom-eternal-review-heaven-and-hell-ps4-xbox-one-stadia-pc/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=doom-eternal-review-heaven-and-hell-ps4-xbox-one-stadia-pc

[survivor-idol-island-blog]

BEE’S RITES OF PASSAGE

20th: Austin M. (4-2-2-1-1) (Tadjoura) (Day 3)

We were trying to work together - you, me and Bryan but when you started throwing out a plan to take out the super idol, Bryan had my back and we booted you. Lesson learned: Never go against a woman with a super idol.

I am sorry though dude, I think you would have played a good game.

19th: Madison (3-1-1-0(4)-0(1) (Dagouein) (Day 6)

Since all I know of you is Nick's sock puppet, it sucks we never got to talk!

18th: Autumn (Medically Evacuated) (Tadjoura) (Day 9)

AUTUMNNN! I tried to get something going with you, but you weren't around as much. Too bad. Stay strong chika. From what I've heard of your past ORG performances you're pretty dynamite.

17th: Jacob (4-1) (Dagouein/Yaguer) (Day 12) You were the first one I was so sad about! We could have torn it up in this game, but Jonathan wanted your idol out and so that is why we did you first. I trusted you 100 percent though, and I know if I hadn't been throwing challenges to save my earth sandwich (and Bryan) I could have kept you around. But unfortunately we only had two days to bond.

16th: Akito (4-1) (Dagouein/Dagouein) (Day 12) I agree with you about social media. It really is the worst! Keep doing you, bud!

15th: Glen (3-1-0(1) (Dagouein/Yaguer) (Day 15) Oh Glen. You got swap bleep-ed. You were without an idol and I know you'd given up from the moment you'd seen the tribe results. Still, we had good chats and I think we were on the same page at times. Our chats helped me be firmly anti-Zach and crew. So you definitely influenced my part in the game. For that I thank you.

14th: Jayden (2-1-0(1) (Tadjoura/Yaguer) (Day 18) I am soooo sorry yet again! I shouldn't have thrown SO many challenges. That was my move to make and you got caught in the crosshairs. I was closer to Jonathan and Isaiah. So while you thought I was the only one with you, I had to make a tough choice. The game sucks that way. You're a great guy though. <3

13th: Jonathan (4-3-0(2)-0(1)-0(1)-0(1)-0(1)) (Tadjoura/Yaguer/Glenkito) (Day 20) MY BOYYY! You know I will forever like your videos and send you memes. This was the first time that I was really blindsided by a vote because I'd been in control for so long. The merge took my whole game out of control when you went. You should have played that idol! Earth sandwich forever. <3

12th: Trevino (8-4) (Dagouein/Dagouein/Glenkito) (Day 22) I've told AJ and I'll say it again. I tried to make sure Zach was the target and not you, but you blew up your game by talking to SO many people! So many contradicting stories! You're freaking hilarious though. We only chatted on the phone thing once, but you had me laughing so much I was crying. I did really wish you didn't go creating so much doubt though. It could have been a game changer if we'd really worked together.

11th: Spencer (4-3-0(2) (Tadjoura/Tadjoura/Glenkito) (Day 24) My second painful blindside. It hurt when they took you out... I cried like a baby! I didn't see it coming. But then again, I did. Because I kept trying to get you to play nicer with og tadjoura but you aligned with Zach and his crew too quickly and that caused doubts. But you were my guy! Even though people said you were shifty, I knew that we were loyal to each other and that our plans were legit. You're funny, smart and a great Survivor player. I hope you get to play again sometime because next time you'll be unstoppable.

10th: Tracy (6-4) (Dagouein /Tadjoura/Glenkito) (Day 26) Okay. I KNOW you kind of despise me, but hear me out. It wasn't fake. I wanted to work with you, and then you took out Spencer. You, Zach and Nick G were at the top of a very powerful alliance. Everybody knew it. And after hearing stories from Glen and Jacob that you guys were a clique that didn't really include people, I got high school flashbacks and wanted to take you guys out. I get it, that's not an excuse. But I've always been for the underdog and you guys appeared like top dogs to me. I did talk to each of you and felt at the time that I connected well with you. The game could have been different if we were on the same tribe at some point, but that's the way it works. I like you though, and I wish we could be friends. :(

9th: Nick G. (5-4) (Dagouein/Tadjoura/Glenkito) (Day 28) We only really chatted personally once, but you actually seemed like a great guy. I, of course, had to get over my idea of you being a top dog in your alliance and see you as a person. Once I did though, I was sorry that I hadn't gotten to really get to know you. I hear good stories all the time. Anyway, I kind of booted you when I told Bryan about the plans on AJ. It went exactly how I wanted it because I knew we'd never really work together since we didn't really talk. Still though... I think I missed out on a lot by not getting to know you.

8th: Nic (2-0(2)-0(4) (Dagouein/Dagouein/Glenkito) (Day 30) Nic!!! I helped to organize the blindside on you! I'm so sorry! But once I realized that you, AJ and Isaiah were doing a lot of moves together I knew that I had to do something to break you three up. But your boys are still in the game, so that's something! You are such a nice guy. I'd love to hear more of your stories another time.

7th: Wallis (3-2-1-0(1) (Tadjoura/Tadjoura/Glenkito) (Day 32) My bae. My love. My Ryan. <3 Seriously, you were it for me for almost the whole game and I feel responsible for you being out. I should have given you the super idol (again)! I mean I would have done almost ANYTHING to keep you in the game, even if you would have kicked my ass royally in FTC. -- When the tribe swap happened we were connecting so well we were almost hiveminded! And then we were separated and not speaking to you sucked so much! It was agony! When merge happened and we got together again I was suddenly so happy that I decided to throw those challenges or it might have been you gone before making merge. It made it all worth it. -- I was playing both sides though and sometimes that made you look bad, and I think that's why the others targeted you. Instead of owning moves we made, I put all the blame on you like "Wallis wants to do this and I don't know what to do" even though you know we were a team. I know it's the game but I feel awful because hurting you is like hurting myself. <3 -- I've promised to fight AJ to the death for you by the way. So that should be exciting. Either way, I know we'll still have a connection after the game.

6th: Zach (2-2-2/3-1) (Dagouein/Tadjoura/Glenkito) (Day 34) Oh Zach. What can I say about Zach? So, so many things.

You know I love to hate you. I remember when I first saw your intro video and I was like "Okay. This guy is so weird. Like who makes a video for something like this?" And then when there was the scavenger hunt and I saw your video doing the ice bucket challenge and I was like "Yeahhhh.... this dude is SERIOUS. I wonder what's wrong with him? He'd better not make merge or I'm gunning for him." Haha!

And then when we swapped tribes and Jacob and Glen told me how you were running things back on og dag, I instantly disliked you. Just because it seemed like you were top of your little clique and you were victimising whoever you wanted from your old tribe. I even blamed you for the name Glenkito! I was like "Where does that guy get off?" (And then I was told it was Trevino and I had to sink back into my hole).

So yes. I was foreordained to dislike you from the get-go. And then we started talking. And I had yet ANOTHER reason to hate you because you were so charming and friendly and funny and I couldn't help but open up to you... in spite of myself since you were my nemesis and all.

But as I told you, we still couldn't work together. You had your crew and I had my crew and I wasn't going to be bottom of your alliance and you weren't going to be bottom of mine.

But then everything changed. My people got voted out. Your people got voted out (guilty as charged). And even though, I'd written your name at least a couple of times, we found ourselves working together. By the end of it, that last vote.... I just couldn't write your name down. I knew Alex had flipped but I was sticking by you as long as I could. --- We went to snake town together and survived.

I still hate you by the way, for being virtually impossible to dislike. <3 And I'm still invested in your life, so don't cut me out. (Although I bear no responsibility for getting any more attached to you than I am already).

5th: Bryan (3-2) (Tadjoura/Dagouein/Glenkito) (Day 36) Let's see if I can write this without crying. Nope! I'm crying! Boo! That sucks. You were my day one guy. My first alliance. My Toronto alliance. And you kept taking out the guys gunning for my super idol (until you joined with them to get it out at the end), so that made me feel incredibly safe with you. I told you like, everything, even though sometimes it blew up in my face and sometimes you mocked me for it. You're like the bro I never had! Because my brothers irl don't talk to me much and don't have anything in common with me. I mean that. Seriously. I feel like we made fun of each other in such a brotherly-sisterly way and that was so, so special to me. We had each other's backs as simple as that.

I was trying to get you to read between the lines that last vote when I kept telling you how awful I was feeling about the vote, but I knew if I told you outright that it could have been me going so easily. And although I told people I would vote you, I meant what I said and I kept to my promise that I'd never write your name down. I was just hoping someone else felt the same and you'd still be in the game. But they didn't and that sucks.

Anyway, you're amazing and I totally forgive you for being a Calvinist. Kidding! Chat soon and we'll have a real debate!

[worldofsurvivortibet-blog]

EPISODE 1 (Part 1) - “I'll be sharpening my knife just in case” - Eddie

JULIA RAE

im gay

TRYSTEN

The Cheshire Cat is back again

ELENA

Ok it is only like 15 minutes into the game so I don't have anything to say but I love you Jay! So I am making a confessional <3

EDDIE

Im y'all putting me on a tribe with Jaiden who I have not talked to for months and who is in general probably the messiest org player you will find on the planet. I'm in vermont right now in at an inn with shitty service so I'm definitely ready to be booted out of this thing pretty quickly. But I'll be sharpening my knife just in case I can somehow make it a swap.

DARIAN

This season I'm going to write actually decent confessionals. At least I hope! This tribe is pretty lit and the people are so nice!  I obviously haven't had a lot of time  to get to know everyone but I cant wait! I really think this is going to be a great season!

JAIDEN

I'm actually pretty content with the tribe I got placed on, because I only know Eddie. I could probably use that to my advantage but I don't know if he likes me so... good luck to me. I like playing in games where I know very few people but I am definitely a little worried about Keyonjay being on the other tribe because he will probably go out before I ever swap onto the same tribe as him, and that lowkey sucks. I'm also SUPER concerned about Ting Ting because I hear she's a huge threat and she and Seamus are like, dating IRL or something so hmm. Gonna keep that on my radar.

DANI

Five minutes in and I already hate my tribe, there isn't really anyone I can put my trust in, we better not lose the first immunity challenge, I'm not leaving first again...

CHRISSA

um I hope i am okay in this game idk these people too well and I just hope i can stay a while I fucking hate not knowing the cast before but whatever can i just say I love Jay and that is all.

CARSON

Our tribe is really talkative... which is horrible for me bc im not asdfghjkl. Oh well we have a lot of comp beasts on out tribe so we should be good.

ACE

I've never done this in a game before but let me do a little cast assessment. First let's start with my tribe, Namtso! Jared and I have a lil history in games where I always always always get him out somehow someway. Who knows if he'll trust me! I LOVE KENDALL, nuff said. I have no idea who all the others are but I hope I can make friends with them and have them not vote me off n stuff. In Kailash, I already have Carson added but idk them that well. I love Chrissa and I hope we both make merge or swap on a tribe together and be besties. Dani can go! I love Elena I hope we can acc work together earlier this time than I did in Pompeii. I'm not sure about Seb, he literally just evicted me as hoh in another game rofl. Everyone else idk but I hate that I know more ppl on this tribe than my own tribe. I guess I gotta get talking huh? The last tribe with the unreadable buff has Matt and Trysten. Matt's my fellow furry and Trysten is also semi-furry so I hope they can survive. As for Jaiden, FUCK him I hope he gets out before I even have to deal with his ass. And again idk everyone else.

JAIDEN

Two confessionals in one night? Not surprising. I was really excited to have a non-messy tribe but for some reason, I'm put with two fellow normal people and four confirmed freaks. I don't even know who Johnny is yet but he's literally looped in with those weirdos until further notice. Let's do a quick cast assessment of my tribe, which I forgot its name already because ? flops only. EDDIE - Y'all really did this to me, huh? Eddie hasn't spoken to me since BEFORE October because that's the furthest our chat history even goes. It's me sending messages and him not responding and it's literally the most disappointing thing ever because now I have to work with him in order to exterminate the furries and dildo freaks of this tribe. He's a nice guy and I will only allow him to stick around premerge because he is also a huge threat and a bigger backstabber than I am. JAIDEN - flop JOHNNY - He is not here yet but I think he'll be cool to talk to later on I guess, because we're the same age but he seems more "put together" and like he has legitimate goals in his life. But he's also a college student so I don't expect him to be around much, so I just want to work with him until there is no more need for him if he truly is an inactive person. JULIA - Honestly? She's fucking annoying already lmao SORRY IF UR READING THIS but she talks about dildos and getting fucked in the ass by furries and it's just like... calm down. It's day one and she's already said about 500 things and it's 500 things too much. Definitely bottom of the tribe so far lmao. MATT - He IS loud and cocky and I think he's going to try really really hard to be the Tyson-esque villain this season, so he's also my least favorite because he is not going to be genuine or good at this game. He could go. TING TING -  She's sweet so far but she's really hard to talk to because her answers are so short and they can end a conversation in a second. I feel like she's the only person I like at the moment and that sucks so much because damn, she's not easy to talk to. I'm hoping that we have to go to tribal council first though and pump some of those strategic juices into the tribe because I feel like she'll open right up if that's the case. TRYSTEN - Okay I immediately want him to be first boot because he's the most annoying but in subtle ways. He's like "SOMEONE ALREADY THINKS IM AN ALT" and like well, maybe because you're so adamant that you aren't??? Like shut up. And he's saying that Dani is his sister or something in his cast intro and literally no one cares, but you're just a freak thats putting a huge target on their back for no reason. Anyways...enjoy being the only person to get 21st place in this series :o FLOP! So yeah, there's my cast assessment for this tribe. Hopefully I can fall into an alliance and not get first boot from this horrific tribe, but it could probably be worse on the other side. Wish me luck, and tell the VL to suck my left nut! xoxo

KEYONJAY

I really like my tribe a lot. I have a really good feeling about Nicholas, that he could be a strong ally down the road. Kendall is hilarious, I'm vibing with her pretty well. I've had a short conversation with Amanda. Ace is a fucking amazing artist, and newlyf is cool even though I don't even know their real first name and they haven't messaged me back lol. I like everybody so far and I'm making a conscious effort to get to know everybody unlike in my other games where I would wait for people to come to me. Maybe it's the power of the meesh avatar, but I really hope my social game is better this time around. Y'all wrong for making this the first challenge tho @hosts.

MATT

So I just wanna make a SHORT rant on how I feel about my tribemates. Eddie: Eddie my fellow Gorlley. You're cool and I hope we do get to work together moving forward here. Jaiden: Bruh, you're funny and you also seem cool af. Let's pray my opinion on you doesn't change Johnny: Why u no active? Julia: I really feel like you might become one of my best friends here. You're really cool to talk to Matt: You sexy monster you. *winks* Ting Ting: Just like Julia, you really might become one of my best friends here. Trysten: Stop lying about being an angel, I can see right into your soul.

KEYONJAY

So I really wasn't gonna do the day one alliance thing, but Kendall proposed we go into an alliance and ofc I'm gonna say yes. haha. I do actually like her a lot so that's good. She pulled in Ace, and I wanted to pull in Nicholas because I feel like me and him gel pretty well. Hopefully people see Kendall as the figurehead because my whole strategy was to fly UTR but things change like that in this game. Basically, I just wanna make friends with everybody so I'm not the target regardless, do well in the challenges, and not overthink things like I usually do.

ACE

I'm talking to Ally in PC and I swear I'm getting Mega vibes from her. I swear if Ally is Mega....

KENDALL

Hello. It's me. I've been wondering after all these years, if you'd like to me. To go over everything.... Yeah that's all I know, I mean sure I could look up the lyrics on Google but I am far too lazy. No wait I also know HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE It has been ten billion years since my last confessional/game, which may seem mathematically impossible because I've only played survivor for one year but shut up because this is my confessional... bitch. Any who, I am back with two percent more evil and one percent more effectiveness. No longer will I be a drifter, just sort of hanging back and waiting for anyone to pick me up and drag me along, I will be the leader!!!!!!!! Despite having about zero charisma and even less interpersonal skills. But my mommy says I am special so there. Anyway I have made an alliance with people. Ew gross I know. But it has to be done. I've made a group of people who were speficially selected because of their incompetence in some areas. Ace the Squabit:  I've played with Ace in Pompeii, we aligned for a short period of time before Drew voted him out. He is incredibly intelligent but he isn't particularly social. Creating a bond with him shouldn't be too difficult because of this fact. Keyonjay Dixon: Aside from having a bitchin' name, Keyonjay has one of the rare characteristics of getting my sense of humor. He isn't very connected to the community so I don't have to worry about any pregame alliances he may have made. In a previous game, he stated to have "played for someone else," time will tell if he will repeat this mistake. And last but not least we have, Nicholas: I don't know him very well and I don't have as much control over him as I do the others. Which frightens me... but I think we get along just fine. I've recommended Survivor seasons to him because he hasn't seen the show so maybe that will bring a bond of some sort. As for the other tribe members, Amanda seems pretty chill and Newlyf is fucking hilarious. I'd like to avoid getting them out if I can. Jared on the other hand... I don't particularly care. He is so boring and has terrible spelling, two of the worst qualities. He called me a psycho in a PM to Ace, which is mildly amusing because I don't think he knows how far it really goes. He doesn't trust Ace, he doesn't like me, he was barely on for the first half of the game. Jared serves no use to me or anyone in my cult... sorry alliance lol auto correct. Anyway I will update when I get more information but until then... HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DANI

I really wanna trust these people, but I really cant. I literally have one ally and it's already almost day 2. Well, one ally is better than none I guess. I just really wanna win immunity. I'm not taking the risk of going to tribal council.

EDDIE

Basically Ting Ting is a queen and I'm  planning on making her my Sam of this game and I've pretty much let her know that. Although idk if she finds it sketchy that after once hour I said that but I honestly don't have as much time as a thought as I would so I need to leech myself to a strategically gifted iconic queen that will carry me through the beginning stages of the game into the merge. I honestly haven't decided if I'm going to stay loyal to Ting or not. But if I do vote her out it wouldn't be until the final 5 which is about the time that I probably should've cut Sam in bangladesh but I didn't cause I'm an emotionally human being. By that time though I'll probably have become way too close with Ting to cut her and I will probably make the same mistake I did in Bangladesh which is not taking out the clear jury threat and the person who will obviously win the game at the end. But that won't matter to me as long as I get to have fun bathing in the blood from all the other people who's demise I will cause. I'm going to busy these first rounds of the game but once things slow down and I settle into my city life I should be able to really get into it. I don't need other people knowing that though. Right now I'm just gonna play the sort of active, sort of inactive number for who ever is running the tribe (which will probably be ting which is why I decided to leech myself onto her). I believe Jaiden will try to run the tribe but he and I mean... he can think he is. But I will make sure Ting Ting knows all about his ruthless gameplay and the erratic and messy way he plays. She can do all the work rope in the numbers and I'll just be her little yes man. Whatever gets me to the swap tbh. Either way, I want to keep Jaiden on the outs while making him believe he's the leader. If I have it my he will be first boot, but if not I will coddle him and make him feel like I'm close with him right until I put the knife in his back which I'm hoping will he sooner rather than later, especially on a tribe with such small numbers. Idk how well that will work but it's worth a shot. I also have been talking to Roxy a bit and also matt. Im gonna go to them tomorrow on my drive home from vermont and be like "hey guys!!! Im a busy man!!!! Sorry couldn't talk to you last night!!!! And then talk to them all the way on the ride home and build up some type of bond or whatever.... Jaiden not being around tomorrow should make it even worse on him? Either way, I'm going to do a faceplant into Ting Tings ass. I have no shame in kissing someones ass just to get myself further in this game. That's what this is all about amiright? I'm honestly ready to be first boot, but if I'm not this should be fun.

ACE

I should be scared of the Pokemon Camp Community but I'm not really. Its true they are a force and nobody could stand against them if they are all together but I doubt half of them would make merge. Kendall and I are already planning on taking out Jared if we ever lose cuz he said he doesnt trust me and called Kendall a psycho (which is true in a good way~) Dani and Trysten might seem like a threat to others in tribe stage due to Trystan's bio I guess? I dunno. As for Seb idk why yall casted him cuz he's probably most likely 75% chance going to strike out and be removed anyway so nobody should worry about him.

DARIAN

So. It's been a day and someone has already asked to work with me. #Dani. I dont know where this is going to go i know I'm not committing myself to anything this drastic on day one. I guess it's nice to know I have one option! Dani seems really nice! So who knows

DANI

If we don't win this fucking reward challenge I will be PISSED, I busted my ass in that stupid ass unicorn game and pretended to enjoy that shit so other people would do it.

KENDALL

https://youtu.be/v5O6_rA0VFc

MATT

Honestly, I feel like I did good on this first challenge. I still trying to figure out who on my tribe would be the best for me to make an alliance with. In a sense, I am somewhat apprehensive because of Lazio and its endless tribe swaps....eh, time to snoop around.

KENDALL

OH MY FUCKING GOD I HAVE THAT STUPID SONG FROM ROBOT UNICORN ATTACK STUCK IN MY HEAD. ~ALWAYS I WANT TO BE WITH YOU MAKE BELIEVE WITH YOU AND LIVE IN HARMONY HARMONY, OH LOVE~ SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CURSE YOU JAY, SEAMUS, AND CARSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!