#i had so much fun this era collecting his pcs

[pinktaeyeon]

MINHYUK ♡ LOVE 220507

#minhyuk #monsta x #monstaxedits #monstaxgifs #maleidolsedit #* #missing pink minhyuk #i wasn't on this blog during this era #but pink minhyuk is my fav #love love love this colour on him so much he looked so sweet #i had so much fun this era collecting his pcs #i still have some album pcs to get bc i focused mainly on the pobs with pink hair

[elderscrollsconceptart]

how many tes games have you played, what was your first build/character in each, and why did you pick those skills/traits/etc?

Hi and thank you!

I've played admittedly not a lot of Arena. Its hard to get into due to its age 🧙‍♂️ Love Jeff Perrymans work on the game though!

I've played a good amount of Daggerfall! I played a bit of it ~13(?) years ago but it was the original version so like Arena it was super hard to both play and get into it. I was actually doing a classic "sword and board" play through via Daggerfall Unity just last year and was having fun until my saves got corrupted somehow 🥲

I actually touched Redguard for the first time this year but I'm holding off until I finish my current Morrowind playthrough 🏴‍☠️

Battlespire I've actually never touched despite owning it. Its weird because I've POURED over that games wiki and its actually my favorite old school TES game based purely on aesthetics and its designs. A full play through is on my to do list for this year!

All the old TES mobile games, shadowkey, Oblivion Mobile, etc. I have limited experience with. I've seen them IRL on friends phones back in the day but never got hands on since I actually didn't have a phone until later in Highschool. I think the internet archive has at least a few of them playable? I'd have to check, maybe it's worth checking out!

Morrowind...ahh morrowind :) its my fav TES game in terms of quests. My first play through was not a full one, it was at a friends house on the XBOX version way way back in the day. For my first REAL play through it was on my first gaming PC and I played an athletics focused halberd wielding orc who bonked people on the head 😂

Oblivion..This one PAINS me..I've only actually played though it entirely a single time and it was ages ago on the Xbox 360 and I played a...stealth archer 😵‍💫..It wasn't a meme at the time I swear! I just liked sneaking and archery! When I got it on PC, every time I tried setting it up with or without mods I had technical issues. I've mentioned it before but I absolutely loathe the bad draw distance and pop in that plagues even "ultra" settings on PC. OpenMorrowind on PC is a technical marvel. I wish they'd do something similar for Oblivion or port a stable version of Oblivion to PC. I really want to do a full playthrough again!

Skyrim. Fun fact I calculated it one time and I'm certain I collectively have 3,000+ hours in Skyrim over the past 13 years. Possibly close to 4,000 but thats from my Xbox 360 playthoughs and I don't remember the exact times for that. The base game is long worn out for me but god damn is Skyrim's modding community incredible. Thanks to mods, the game has remained fresh in various ways for the past 13 years and at this rate I'll probably add another 1k hours before TES 6 comes out 😁

ESO. I'm gonna be 100% upfront here. I got the game when it came out and had lots of issues with it. The game had a rocky start and I wasn't ever a big fan of MMOs to begin with. That said! Zenimax has done amazing things over the past 10 years and really kept that game alive with continuous improvement. I haven't kept up with it the past few years ago outside of the lore (and art) stuff but I think after I give the older TES games another go, I'll probably hop back in to ESO.

Legends. I've never played it! TBH don't like card games, Hearthestone, Gwent, etc. Legends doesn't have much going for it besides the art BUT BUT BUT...Legends art is fucking incredible 😍😍😍 Seriously, after Perhaps Skyrim's concept art, the various artists of Legends are my 2nd fav to look at. I can ignore the actual gameplay but I really wish we knew more about who actually has created all the Legends art. We only have hints such as studio names for vast portions of the art, or straight up ZERO sources for who made a lot of the core decks and original release era art. I keep my head on a swivel for that stuff because its so amazing and beautiful!

Lastly, TES Blades. I'm not a huge fan of the game since I don't like touchscreen controls (eg. I play Morrowind on my phone but with a controller). I've played a fair amount but never beat it since the controls are bleh and gameplay doesn't appeal to me a ton. Most of the stuff that interests me about blades is the armor designs and the fact it gives us a super small glimpse into the period between The Great War and Skyrim.

Sorry this went a Lil long but thanks for your ask!

#the elder scrolls #tes #asks

[jcmarchi]

WWE 2K24 Cover Star Cody Rhodes Shares Zelda Opinions And His Most Anticipated Games Of 2024

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/wwe-2k24-cover-star-cody-rhodes-shares-zelda-opinions-and-his-most-anticipated-games-of-2024/

WWE 2K24 Cover Star Cody Rhodes Shares Zelda Opinions And His Most Anticipated Games Of 2024

This past weekend, I traveled to Tampa/St. Peterburg, FL, to attend WWE’s Royal Rumble and to play WWE 2K24 at a special preview event. You can look for my hands-on impressions and video footage of my gameplay on Thursday, February 1. But while I was there, I had the chance to chat with one of 2K24’s cover stars and the winner of the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble match, Cody Rhodes.

The “American Nightmare” is a lifelong gamer and professed Zelda fanatic (fun fact: during his early WWE run in ‘07-’08, his wrestling boots sported the Triforce logo). So I decided to forgo any wrestling questions and spent the few precious minutes I had with Cody getting his take on Tears of the Kingdom, how Majora’s Mask stacks up compared to his favorite Zelda game, Ocarina of Time and asked what game he’s most looking forward to playing in 2024. 

Game Informer: I know you’re a big Zelda fan, so I gotta ask: did you play Tears of the Kingdom, and if so, what do you think? 

Cody Rhodes: Yeah, I went right through it. So I feel like Breath of the Wild and Tears of Kingdom are one game because they’re so huge. Like, you don’t ever need to play another Zelda ever again if you’re playing Tears of the Kingdom. I mean, just with the Depths, hunting all the damn Lynels down, and the Lynels just get harder as I get older, which makes me feel like I’m out of touch with gaming itself. But I really liked the story. We wanted more story with Breath of the Wild, we got some of that story with Ganondorf. But they did the right thing in terms of [realizing] “they still want more. Still want more.” And I just think we’re in a kind of golden age of the games that I grew up loving. Metal Gear Solid and Zelda, you’re seeing remakes, you’re seeing remasters, potentially an animated or a live-action movie. To me, I can’t ask for a better thing because we gave all this energy as fans to it, and it can still continue on, you know?

GI: Yeah, for sure. I’m playing Majora’s Mask for the first time for a video feature for my website. Is that a favorite of yours? I know you’re a big Ocarina of Time fan, but where do you land a Majora’s Mask?

Rhodes: So Majora’s Mask is a masterpiece. I get mad at it because people try to say it’s better than Ocarina of Time. I feel like they’re also one game, but Majora’s Mask for what it did with the cycle, the three-day cycle, and things changing with the night and day, there’s still some games in this era who aren’t getting that right. Like, it had a Red Dead-level nuance to it for a Nintendo 64 game. Love Majora’s Mask.

Myself and Cody (rocking a trademark expensive suit) hang at the WWE 2K24 event. Side note: his loafers were incredible.

GI: I don’t know how much time you have to play games now, but do you have a game that you’re looking forward to coming out this year or anything that you haven’t gotten to in your backlog?

Rhodes: I’ll jump forward and say 2K24 for sure because I’ve only gotten a little bit of a taste of it and have been amazed. But the big one for me is [Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater]. And then, hopefully, I wonder if we’ll get a Metal Gear Collection Volume 2 because I know a lot of people want to see Metal Gear Solid 4 playable on modern consoles. So here’s hoping.

WWE 2K24 launches on March 8 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. 

#2024 #backlog #energy #game #games #gaming #Gear #hands-on #how #it #mask #metal #Nintendo 64 #One #opinions #PC #Play #PlayStation #PlayStation 4 #PlayStation 5 #red #royal #stars #time #Video #X #Xbox #Xbox One #Xbox Series X

[flowergirlmiwa]

literally just autistically infodumping stories from my childhood about my experiences with The Pokemon Trading Card Game under the keep reading (decently long)

It's wild to me almost my entire time caring about the TCG in that real passionate way... was Sun and Moon. The card layouts just feel nice, I like GXs they feel comfy, I just remember having so much fun especially before the introduction of tag team GX

of course as a kid in the year 2000 I had an interest in anything Pokemon, but the cards just weren't on my radar. they weren't sold at any of the supermarkets my parents normally went to besides Walmart but at the time I was historically glued to the video game section

this is a tangent, but as a kid I remember doing that a lot lol. I would sit in the cart until we got to the video games, then I'd sit there unattended and play the GameCube kiosk demos or later download demos to my DS lite. I'd sit around waiting for my dad to get back from food shopping. I feel like kids aren't randomly left unsupervised anymore not like the 00s. It's fucked. Cut this part

anyway outside of playing video games, first the pc Play It! games then the game boy color game, I had no real way to engage with the card game itself. That is, besides the 2 player set I had which is where I got the first Play It! from. Actually being able to hold Pokemon cards was pretty hype but I swear to god I bought more NEOPETS TCG than Pokemon TCG back then. I only remember opening a few packs total and usually losing the cards somehow. I have nothing from those days sadly

i remember going to visit my half brother around 2001-2002 and seeing a cyndaquil card in his card album and coveting it. and then i STOLE it. YOU STOLE COMMON RARITY CYNDAQUIL

ON LEFT: i think this is the common rarity cyndaquil card i stole. worth wholes of cents. this weighed on me greatly

ON RIGHT: Vanessa from The King of Fighters

anyway i honestly pretty much ignored gen 3 cards entirely. just no interest whatsoever past the neo series, which was the only one i was able to pull on in my youth

but diamond and pearl base set. (2007) i was INTERESTED in this. that's right, now a preteen i gained the strength to walk from the back of the walmart to the front so i could locate the cards section. i was pretty into pokemon when i got my hands on pearl so i would get a pack of base set once a week when id go with my dad shopping. i didn't pull jack shit actually i remember pulling ass. i began a card album for my collection and sorted my cards by pokedex number because i was a fool

anyway, moving countries twice or more a year isn't great for keeping interest in childrens card games, so i dont remember keeping up with the rest of gen 4 (or 5) ptcg after early diamond and pearl era until 2015. i only got some exposure to gen 3 era cards seeing a friend's collection in mexico. i think we tried to duel too but we had no energy cards so it was tough. actually now that i remember it he gave me his cards and i later brought them to my high school in america. wonder where those cards went. actually i think they merged into my general library with the other acquisition later on. uh stay tuned?

honestly why don't i just leave it at that with my childhood, i think there's definitely a delineation between these brief flirtations with the pokemon tcg and my real engagement that began in 2015. i'll save that for another time.......... clifhanger

#my post

[twinhood-2dot0]

The Love Of My Life, Video Games

Good morning Alex, I’ve talked about 2 of the things I’m most passionate about already, so today I’m gonna delve into the biggest one of them all, video games. Video games are my favourite form of art. It’s the perfect culmination of art, story, music and interactivity. You know what they say, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but is oftentimes better than a master of one.” I live by this quote tbh. 

My earliest memory of video games is when I was 7 or so, playing Plants Vs Zombies with my best friend. It sparked a lifelong obsession with video games. Now, the name is kinda silly, but this game revolutionised the Tower Defense genre. It’s extremely fun and addicting and has spawned several other sequels. Then I went on to discover Flash games. What are Flash games? Well, there used to be a thing made by Adobe, the Flash Player, which helped in displaying multimedia on a web browser. It was the standard for video games back then. It has been deprecated in favour of modern web technologies, but it has a special place in the hearts of internet kids.

Android Games

Back in the early 2010s, when mobile game developers had passion, business was booming. Classics like Angry Birds, Cut The Rope, Clash of Clans, Temple Run were all made in this era.

I’m sure everyone and their grandparents and their great-grandparents know these games. All of them have sadly fallen into the microtransaction trap or died out (microtransactions, if you don’t know, is the practice of letting players buy in-game currencies or cosmetics, modern games have become more cash grabs than actual games with passion behind them). Nevertheless, they defined my childhood and were the gateway for me to actual games.

Pokemon

The premise of Pokemon is simple. Catch Pokemon (short for Pocket Monsters), make them fight other Pokemon (swear this is not slavery or dogfighting), make relationships, maybe save the world (as a 10 yo might I add, while surrounded by capable adults.) Funny story, I remember crying when I accidentally released my Grovyle thinking release meant releasing it as in having it walk alongside you like Pikachu, not as in bye bye release.

This is Grovyle. You can see why I cried.

Pokemon Red, Gold, and Emerald (yes, I know, ancient games, I’m not a grandma, I just didn’t have a console or know how to emulate consoles back then) were some of the first games I played on PC, because they were available online. Since then, I’ve played pretty much every Pokemon game released with a few exceptions because Pokemon releases two versions of the same game with minor differences (yes, emulated, I’m not buying a 10 year old end of life console that is resold with a huge markup and the original creators are making no money out of it, sue me (Okay, if you’re a Nintendo employee, I know you love suing people, so please don’t take me seriously. Please)). I think Pokemon was the beginning of my obsession with knowing literally everything about a franchise.

Minecraft

The first game I ever bought is Minecraft. I’ve loved watching Minecraft videos on YouTube and playing minecraft knockoffs for a long time before I bought it. My dad bought it for me as a reward for winning 4/8 chess games in the State Championship lol. It’s a sandbox game created by Hatsune Miku (actually, by Markus Persson, or Notch, but he turned out to be a transphobe so we just collectively retconned his existence). It’s a pretty simple game, it’s all about creativity. You can build pretty much everything, people have made actual computers in Minecraft, or, if you like Survival, there’s also a survival mode where the technical endpoint being killing the dragon in the aptly named The End dimension. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the endpoint as you can do whatever you want.

Undertale

Ah, my favourite game ever. This is the game that inspired me to become a game developer. Undertale is an RPG game created in its entirety by Toby Fox, you can see why that inspired 10 yo me. Also, I hate my 10 yo self, she watched HECKING YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF GAMEPLAY. I’ll never forgive her for not letting me experience the game by myself, I swore after this (and one other game I’ll talk about) to never even touch anything pertaining to any media I might potentially interact with ever in my life with a 10 foot pole. I don’t even watch trailers for DC movies, like what, what could the trailer possibly spoil that I haven’t read before in a comic??? I won’t talk much about Undertale as I want you to experience what I couldn’t, but it has a very emotional story that’s made grown adults cry, fun gameplay mechanics, easter eggs literally everywhere, leitmotifs in the music, awesome lore, a lesbian couple who are goals and 6 dogs.

Subnautica

Subnautica is the first PC game I bought. This is the other game I spoke about that made me avoid spoilers like the plague. I regret not being able to experience the terror that this game inflicts, although, it was still plenty scary, would have been scarier had I not known everything about every creature. Subnautica is an underwater exploration game set on a crater on planet 4546B. As someone who loves speculative biology, I was impressed by the thought put into every creature's biology.

The rest of my favourite games

I went on to buy, uh, um, exactly 3 other games, being um, the three Batman: Arkham games. These are very well made games with an awesome story and, pardon the cliche, make you feel like the Batman, addicting gameplay, (believe me, I have a collective 200 hours, and I’ve owned them for a year. Most of the other games I’ve played I’ve gotten on Epic Games for free, yes I’m such a cheapskate I get every game that goes free on Epic Games.

The Tomb Raider series is one famous for creating Lara Croft, probably the most influential female character in video games. I’ve only played the first two games of the Survivor Rebooted trilogy sadly, I wish sometime in the future I’ll get to play the Windows 95 era games.

Alien: Isolation is a game set between the first two movies in the Alien franchise. I watched the movies just so I could play the game, then because I’m a scaredy cat I only played until the alien appeared 💀. The game seems fun tho.

Surviving Mars is a “city” building simulation game. It’s set on Mars, obviously. It’s a very fun game, managing resources, keeping colonizers colonists alive. I suck tho so my colonists keep dying :P

Okay, Alex, that’s it from me this week, sorry it was a little rushed, I forgor 💀, I’ll see you on Thursday

#video games #games #gaming #dftba #nerdy #gamerlife #gamercommunity

[eropandasennin]

I posted 4,261 times in 2022

75 posts created (2%)

4,186 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@true-king-of-monsters

@glamurina-vibes

@tokufan400

@retrogamingblog2

I tagged 116 of my posts in 2022

#panda's thoughts - 42 posts

#youtube - 31 posts

#bayonetta 3 - 5 posts

#panda's posts - 4 posts

#bleach tybw spoilers - 4 posts

#bleach spoilers - 4 posts

#naruto spoilers - 3 posts

#bayonetta 3 voice change - 3 posts

#bayonetta voice change - 3 posts

#mature - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 109 characters

#that's technically baragon from godzilla: final wars (millenium era) and not og baragon (showa era) but still

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Almost Every Gaming Youtuber in the late 2000's: "Hey did you know Sephiroth and his theme song, One Winged Angel, are overrated? Kefka from Final Fantasy VI is a MUCH better villain and his theme, Dancing Mad, is WAY better and has more depth?"

Me, after rewatching the Cloud VS Sephiroth fight in Advent Children for the tenth time: "What's that? I can't hear you over this awesome guitar riff dude. Guy just sliced a building in half!"

31 notes - Posted November 30, 2022

#4

I really miss having good talks about nerd stuff without it devolving into mudslinging. Doesn't matter if their take on a subject is widly different from mine (not politically though, I know where I stand on that), I would still like to have a fun discussion about it.

Like, a discussion talking about fanservice in anime, how both men and women are portrayed in that regard, is it damaging the image of anime and so forth. That would be cool but no, it always comes back to the dreaded "culture war" eventually. Pathetic.

47 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

#3

More of "I have a type yes":

See the full post

54 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

#2

So Konami just had it's first Silent Hill related...anything that wasn't a pachinko machine in...hold up

*checks notes*

10 years! Holy shit it's been that long...and no, P.T. doesn't count...kinda. Anyway, to make up for it (and probably for Contra: Rogue Corps) they decided to go ALL OUT with this franchise with 3 games, a movie (oh goody), a interactive series (could be fun?) and lots of merch.

First up is a remake of the classic Silent Hill 2. While I rather had seen a remake of the first game (that technically got a re-imaging on the Wii but still) as I think SH2 still holds up really well it is cool to see the game with next-gen graphics.

If they keep the rest of the game intact and add more stuff and locations (and fix the combat) this might be, not a replacement but a good version of the game to enjoy. Especially because the only proper way to play the original SH2 is either the PS2 version, the PC port or the Xbox version with extra content added. Don't go for the HD Collection on this one guys.

Next up are 2 brand new SH games: Silent Hill Townfall and Silent Hill F. Nothing is really know about these yet (except that F takes place in 1960's Japan) so we only got 2 teaser trailers but they look pretty dope either way.

See the full post

63 notes - Posted October 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

124 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Youtube

[noramoons]

Hey for the ask game

Got7 all of them?

omg absolutely! 💚💚 putting this under the cut hehe

kpop ask game!

1. who’s your bias?

the one and only jackson wang…

2. how did you decide on your bias?

i actually heard jackson’s solo music before i got into got7! (which was literally two months before they left jype 🥲) i rlly enjoyed what i heard from the actual group so I started looking into more of their content, but i was still very enamored by jackson lmaoo he’s just such a funny dude in their group interactions

3. who’s your bias wrecker?

it’s a VERY close tie between jaebeom and bambam…jaebeom is such a great leader and bambam is so funny gdndndj

4. hyung line or maknae line?

ooo this is tough…i think i’ll go with hyung line BUT i love maknae line so much too 😔 decisions decisions

5. what is your favorite era?

probably not by the moon/dye era! everyone looked SO good and that album has some of my favorite music from them

6. your favorite song and why?

omg i’ve been playing pray on repeat this week so it’s definitely my favorite rn but i do feel like my answer for this changes constantly jfnfndj. i just love that instrumental part at the beginning a lot!

7. what’s the first song you heard?

안보여 (Come On) ! heard it in the car with my roommate and i was like 👀 u got any more of these hehe

8. your favorite album?

breath of love: last piece!

9. have they ever made you cry?

i cry pretty easily LOL but got7 actually hasn’t made me cry yet—however i got REAL close with that goodbye stage right before they left jype…bambam getting so emotional rlly got to me, especially with him talking about how devoted the fans are :(

10. favorite music video?

another question that changes all the time but rn i’d have to say look! that footwork in the chorus is some of my favorite choreo from them

11. what do you love about this group?

oh gosh, ik it’s cliché to say they’re just so talented but they rlly are!! and it truly shows with how much their music has changed and evolved throughout their careers, they have such a diverse discography which is what i love abt them. they’re also such a genuine and funny group—my dad has even watched got7 compilations with me before and enjoyed them 😭 i think they’re a great group for whenever you’re feeling down to help you get to feeling better again.

12. who would you marry and why?

jaebeom! him being a cat person is probably at least 80% of that LOL but he’s so genuine and caring w the members too 🥺

13. who would be your best friend and why?

bambam! his humor actually reminds me a lot of the guys i was friends with in high school fndndjd and i just think you’d always have a smile on your face around him

14. do you own any merch?

not yet :// i’ve contemplated collecting jackson’s pcs but there are…so many LOL. i rlly like the got7 lightstick tho!! if they ever tour again i might have to grab one

15. what’s a concept you would like to see them try?

i feel like everyone and their mother is doing a rock/emo concept rn but it would be kinda fun to see got7 go back to their roots w this next comeback a little bit hehehe…they probably won’t LOL but that would be interesting 🤔

16. a subunit you would like?

since got7 already has a few subunits i would love to see more jus2 in the future…please 😩😩

17. favorite look from your bias?

had to dig thru his instagram for this LOL but this was his pfp for a while and it’s just such an immaculate look ☕️

18. your favorite title track?

last piece! played that on repeat almost every time i walked to class last semester loll

19. favorite choreo?

i said look earlier but i do also really enjoy the choreo for poison! especially the studio choom vid with the jackets hehe

20. favorite live performance?

i rlly need to watch more live stages of got7’s tbh! 😩 but that 2018 mama stage with jackson, bambam, and mark performing individually before everyone came out to do lullaby was one of the first things i saw from them and i was hooked immediately!

#took me way too long to do this LOL but i love got7 and i wanted to put some effort into these 😌 #beck answers 💌 #anon #ask game

[isfjmel-phleg]

Macbeth Witches’ Speech Tag Game

Tagged by @teabooksandsweets. Thank you!

1. “Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.” Recommend a book with a cat in it.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum features an unconventional cat--Bungle, who is made of glass and ridiculously proud of her brains (”You can see ‘em work”). Alternatively, there’s The Magic World by E. Nesbit, a collection of stories that includes “The Cathood of Maurice” in which a boy mistreats a cat and get turned into one. (Nesbit was one of Lewis’s influences for the Narnia books, and that’s very clear in this collection.) I also just reread Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which also has a cat.

2. “Harpier cries ‘Tis time, ‘tis time.” What is the next book you plan to read?

As soon as I finish this reread of The Two Princesses of Bamarre, I’m going to reread The Chronicles of Narnia. It’s been a while, and I’m in a mood for it this time of year because it was fall/winter when I first met the books. I also have a weird hankering to reread them in the nonsensical order I first read them (MN, VDT, SC, LWW, LB, PC, HHB--I read whatever I could get whenever it became available), but I may or may not.

3. “Round about the cauldron go” Recommend a book it took you a long time to read.

I like Dickens over all, but it takes forever to get through any of his stuff. David Copperfield is my favorite, and with the recent adaptation out (still haven’t seen it), it’s worth a look since there’s so much excellent material and characters that will never make it on screen.

4. “Eye of newt and toe of frog” Recommend a book from your childhood OR recommend a gross book.

why would I recommend a gross book

A lot of my childhood reading was middle-grade historical fiction series that I doubt have held up over the years, or classics that most of you will already be familiar with. Um, let’s see...

When I was about twelve, we borrowed a movie called Summer Magic from the library at the suggestion of an aunt. It’s a 1960s Disney movie with Hayley Mills, and actually pretty cute (with the exception of a song that hasn’t aged well). Turns out it was (loosely-ish) based on a book called Mother Carey’s Chickens, by Kate Douglas Wiggin, better know for Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Our limited Alaskan library actually had it, and it’s pretty good in that turn-of-the-century-family-life way.

5. “Make the gruel thick and slab” Recommend a book over 400 pages

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy is something I read to my sisters ages ago, and we thought it was hilarious. It’s a light-hearted fairy tale retelling that concentrates on the various Princes Charming. The characters are fun and it’s beautifully illustrated. Despite its length, it reads pretty quickly.

6. “Double, double toil and trouble / Fire burn and cauldron bubble” Recommend any book you like.

Here are a few that you might not be familiar with.

The Hotel under the Sand by Kage Baker. A fairly recent children’s fantasy of the little-girl-finds-herself-in-a-fantastic-world-and-handles-it-with-fortitude-and-practicality variety.

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer. Beautifully written time-slip story in which the heroine wakes up one morning to find herself reversed with a girl from the 1910s.

Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce. Also a time-slip story with gorgeous prose, concentrating on a cross-era friendship.

Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery. During WWII, an English family is reunited by a brother who was kidnapped as an infant and raised as a German--and he emphatically wants nothing to do with a family whom he considers the enemy. The premise is a bit melodramatic, but the themes and character development are amazing.

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart. Nothing of course can top Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society, but his deft characterization, polished prose, and suspenseful plotting are all present in this one.

#tagged #teabooksandsweets #random personal stuff #I feel like I yell about the same books constantly so am trying to branch out a little

[thisyearingaming]

1997 - This Year in Gaming

Muggins here was born in ‘97, and can’t really remember much of it, natch. But there were some good things released this year - I’ve played every one of these, and have missed so many more.

Diablo - Windows, January 3rd

We start with dungeon-crawl-em-up and well-loved out of season April Fool’s Joke, Diablo. I’ll be totally honest - I don’t like Diablo that much. It’s absolutely fine, I just can’t get into it. The writing, setting and characters are all very good especially since this year only marks the beginning of games being seen as a bit more adult and intelligent. Check out this gameplay from Hour of Oblivion on YouTube, and marvel at the faux-Scottish accent on Griswold the blacksmith.

Mario Kart 64 - Nintendo 64, February 10th

Compared to its more recent versions, Mario Kart 64 is a veritable bloody relic of the past - solid controls and a quirky style mean it’s still a crowd pleaser to this day, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone right now that would die on the hill of it being their favourite single-player racing experience. It’s also got some of the deepest, impenetrable lore in any medium known to the human race - why exactly is Marty the Thwomp locked up here?

Blast Corps - Nintendo 64, February 28th

February’s position as most boring month of the year is shaken up a bit by having a uniquely designed Rare game slammed into its 28-day long face. Blast Corps is the puzzle-action game where you take control of several vehicles to destroy homes and buildings in order to prevent a nuclear warhead exploding in the coolest incarnation of Cold War politicking ever seen in a video game. Calling Blast Corps a “hidden gem” these days is like calling Celeste a hidden gem - it impresses nobody and makes you look like a dick. 

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - Nintendo 64, March 4th 

The N64 was home to a surprisingly large number of above-average shooters despite its muddy graphics and small cartridge space - Turok is one of these, a great FPS game where you shoot the SHIT out of dinosaurs. Brett Atwood of Billboard said it was like Doom and Tomb Raider mixed - Doom Raider, if you will. I say it isn’t - there’s no demons, and there’s no polygonal breasts to poke dinosaurs’ eyes out with! 

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Sony PlayStation, March 20th

What is a retrospective? A miserable little pile of opinions. I’ve only recently played through SotN for the very first time on a TOTALLY LEGITIMATE copy with a CRT filter. Bloody good (geddit?) game, that takes the repetition of its predecessors, improves on it in basically every conceivable way, and combines it with special effects and graphics that even 23 years later had me going “ooh, that looks quite good!” Symphony’s music and audio design are wonderfully paired with a deeply enjoyable experience that’ll have you saying “mm, maybe just one more room?”

Tekken 3 - Sony PlayStation, March 20th

Also releasing from the Land of the Rising Sun that day was Tekken 3, which many believe is still one of the best fighters ever made. Tekken 3′s combat is so fast and responsive that it’s better than some games made today. T3 is also the best and easiest way to knock seven shades of absolute shite out of your friends without risking a massive head injury or a trip to the headmaster’s office... where you could also challenge him, but only if he plays as my favourite Not-Guile-or-Ken character in gaming, Paul. 

Sonic Jam - Sega Saturn, June 20th

The moment Sega realised that re-packaging old Mega Drive games would net them serious cash - although unlike later collections, this is a strictly Sonic affair, and has a neat little 3D world to run around in as a sort of hub world. Sonic X-Treme proved that Sonic Team would have to work hard at getting the fastest thing alive into 3D space properly: Jam is the sort of test ground for it too. It features some genuinely good emulation work for 1997, although it’s basically the gaming equivalent of going round to your grandparents at Christmas only for them to give you the exact same gifts you got in 1991, 1992 and 1994 but wrapped in a bow to make you think it’s different. What are you lookin’ at, you little blue devil?

Star Fox 64 - Nintendo 64, June 30th

So there’s this German company, right, called StarVox. Nintendo look at Europe and say “shit, we don’t want another lawsuit... after all, we’ve done three this year!”. So they give us in the PAL region the exciting title of Lylat Wars which as far as I know means absolutely fucking nothing in the context of the game. They’re still called Star Fox in-game too so what was the point? Anyway, fun 3D shooter with graphics that’ll make you do a barrel roll off the sofa and onto the power button to make the brown and green blurs a little easier on the eyes. Hello 2007, I’ve come back to make old references with you!

Carmageddon - Windows, July 30th

The game so scary it was BANNED in the UK! More like the game so fucking shit it was banned. Carmageddon is so deeply boring to play on PC that I can only imagine that Stainless Games made it tasteless by 90s standards simply to ramp up demand - much like another game we’ll be covering soon. 

Herc’s Adventures - Sony PlayStation, July 31st

“And they said Kratos was the best hero? Shish... they got it wrong, sister! Hercules is clearly better... he even has a coconut weapon.” A surprisingly fun overhead action game that most people only know for... well, I’ll just embed it.

Mega Man X4 - Sony Playstation, August 1st

A few years ago I tried playing every Mega Man game there is - I gave up at X3 because I was getting bored. Even still, Mega Man bores me - but at least the level design is good. Stay away from the Windows port. Pictured: me in the background yawning.

GoldenEye 007 - Nintendo 64, August 25th 

The name’s Intro. Overused intro which I also managed to fuck up twice through the deeply editable medium of text. GoldenEye is like the Seinfeld of console shooters - playing it nowadays you’re unlikely to be amazed but holy shit there’s some absolute greatness in this game. Every sound and every piece of music in GoldenEye is permanently seared into my brain - sometimes I’ll just hear Facility or Frigate in my head alongside the door opening sound and the gentle PEW of the PP7. I mean come on, fucking listen to this and tell me Grant Kirkhope isn’t cool as all hell.

LEGO Island - Windows, September 26th

The first open world experience I ever had was LEGO Island. It’s still quite good today, utterly deranged animation from the likes of the Infomaniac and Brickster - a cautionary tale for children that giving pizza to high-profile criminals is disastrous for the human LEGO race. 

Fallout - Windows, October 10th

War never changes, but franchises do. Fallout’s legendary status in the industry is exemplified in how different it feels. Yes, we had the game Wasteland nine years prior, but until September 97 there was nothing quite like Fallout. From the chilling introduction sequence showing the ruins of the United States to the tragic ending, Fallout is an exercise in pure human misery with the brightest spots of hope it can possibly muster thrown in for good measure. What begins as a tedious isometric point-and-click RPG ends as a minigun-wielding power fantasy, before your entire worth is stripped from you at the finish line. You have 500 days to find a water chip before it’s too late, but you’re constantly being fought by terrifying Super Mutants, irradiated animals, and the biggest monster of all - humanity. See what I did there? If anything, humanity in Fallout’s setting would be the greatest unifying force possible against the horror of the outside world. But how is it? It’s dull, it’s sluggish, and it’s really hard to get into even if you’re already a fan - but push through that and it’s worthwhile to see exactly how far the series got before Todd Howard said “eh fuck it” and had the whole thing dipped into an FEV vat.

Grand Theft Auto - Sony PlayStation, October 21st

To put it simply, the first in the GTA series is now nothing but a novelty. It has an irritating camera, wonky controls, poor graphics and deeply repetitive gameplay. But thank fuck it exists, because without it the Rockstar story may have been very different indeed. It’s quintessential cops and robbers gameplay, spanning across Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas in one game, but with maps so far removed from their modern incarnations they may as well be named “Not New York, Possibly Bristol and Orange Town”. People really fucking hated Hare Krishnas in the 20th Century, didn’t they?

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - Sony PlayStation, October 31

A hard one to talk about, honestly - it’s more Crash and better than the first one. It looks great, and Crash controls so well compared to his first outing. It’ll also keep you playing for 100%, fiendishly addictive and unashamedly difficult. Had a weird cover that moved with your head. 

PaRappa the Rapper - Sony PlayStation, November 17th

Type type type the words into the box! (Type, type, type - uh oh - the box?)

PaRappa is a gorgeously stylised rhythm game about rapping to steal the heart of the girl of your dreams - which involves learning karate, getting your driver’s license, selling bottle caps and frogs, making a cake, desperately trying not to shit yourself, and finally performing live on stage. Every one of its segments is so well-produced that they’d genuinely sell like ghost cookies in this era of shite rap. Notable for producing the greatest Jay-Z backing track ever made.

Sonic R - Sega Saturn, November 18th

Sonic R is absolutely FINE with vibrant textures, interesting levels, neat gimmicks and decent controls. But I’m gonna talk about its fucking AWESOME soundtrack by Richard Jacques and T.J. Davis, an eclectic mix of Europop and New Jack Swing - even thinking about it is bringing tears of absolute joy to my eyes hearing Super Sonic Racing in my head. You’ve got the main theme, Living in the City, Can You Feel the Sunshine, Back in Time, Diamond in the Sky, Work It Out and Number One - all of these are absolute club bangers and genuinely wouldn’t be out of place in a 90s disco. 

Tomb Raider II - Sony PlayStation, November 18th

Lara Croft returns to single-handedly endanger every species on Earth. TR2 is really good, the exploration and puzzle-solving aspects of the first game expanded upon here and the gunplay remaining just as punchy. Lara’s got a fully-functioning ponytail which absolutely boggles the fucking mind - a lot of work went into Lara’s hair for the 2013 reboot, so I can’t imagine the amount of man hours it took to get fluid(ish, come on, it’s the PS1 we’re talking about) hair movements in 1997. 

And really, that’s all I played from 1997. I’ve left out big hitters like Quake II, Gran Turismo and Diddy Kong Racing, but I simply haven’t formed an opinion on them yet. Maybe in a future post. 

Thanks for reading.

#playstation #ps1 #n64 #nintendo #jontron #castlevania #carmageddon #mega man #hercules #star fox #mario kart #every copy of mario kart 64 is personalised #sonic #saturn #goldeneye #oddworld #retrospective #1997 #gaming #retrogaming #fallout #grand theft auto #gta #parappa #jay-z #lara croft #tomb raider #sonic r

[cchanhees]

ateez! - leesangyeon

ateez: yessss also hi @leesangyeon :D

my bias + bias wrecker; not gonna lie, i actually do not have an ateez bias! i’m pretty much an ot8 stan! i do collect wooyoung’s pcs but thats only cuz i had the most pulls for him whenever i buy albums but lmao i really don’t have a bias.

first time i heard of them; trainee era!

when i became a fan; end of wave era + start of wonderland era!

favorite (and least favorite) title track; inception has just skyrocketed to the top, lmao. but least favorite? hmm, pirate king? idk i really don’t strongly dislike any of their titles.

favorite (and least favorite) b-side; dazzling light! :D least favorite is horizon i think

favorite (and least favorite) mv; illusion is really fun! ngl, thanxx was like a glorified dance performance video with a few extra scenes so imma just say that it’s my least favorite (tho, i still love the song dont get me wrong lmao its been on loop since the album dropped)

favorite (and least favorite) album; wonderland’s album! least favorite is probably answer’s D”: i like it, but it’s close to the bottom.

a concept i wished they’d try; oh, i suck at concepts but idk i’d like more fun upbeat + colorful mvs like illusion!

what i like most about them; i think it’s probably a common reason, but i enjoy their stage presence and the way they can make every stage so enjoyable! also, most of them are my age which makes it so much easier to connect with them personally. like, tbh, only hongjoong and seonghwa and yunho are older than me. but, even yunho is only older by like 2 months haha. so idk, i just feel more connected to them?

send me a kpop group!

#i havent been a fan for too long but i enjoy their content #so much haha #ALSO #i dont despise thanxx as a song #just the music video xdcfvgb #i love the colors and vibrancy #but it really is just a performance video haha #Anonymous

[yeoldontknow]

Henlo, I make my return once again with soft boi hours query. Well this is also assuming you buy albums so feel free to ignore. Do you have any photo cards? If so, which one is your favourite one? And last but not least is there a photo card you wish you had? I recently got Suho’s album and it made me kind of sad bc it was so beautiful and he’s so underrated. But I got a nice photo card and that made me happy bc it’s from Monster era and it reminded me of happy OT9 times. Hugs -inarticulate anon

hello angel!! happy sunday <3 i hope youre doing well and enjoying your weekend!

i DO buy albums. i love and support all 700 of my groups lmao so i buy albums when i i can. i have a lot of photocards but idk if i have a favourite. i have a lot that i just adore to the moon and back. examples being the minseok hugging the teddy bear one from the universe album; chanyeol in his honey facemask; chanyeols love shot pc in the tan suit with the heart cheeks; i have hoseoks wings pc where hes making the kissy face (i think this was the first pc i ever got); kyungsoos forehead from universe lmao. nearly all of my pcs are chanyeol, OH !! i have a yixing one from love me right and i cherish it :( i love him. 

collecting photocards is so much fun. im so glad you have a special monster era one! exo will always find ways to say they are 9 and haters can go suck a pineapple <3 

#inarticulate anon!!! #Anonymous

[ammi-ka-shehzada]

“1995. I was 16. He was 17. We saw each other for the first time in front of Copper Kettle in Liberty Market Lahore. He was a friend of my cousin’s and they met briefly while I waited next to the car. He thought I looked like a snob and I thought he seemed too chummy. So “hmph” teenage moment!

We met off and on with the cousin but never got along. Snob vs too chummy didn’t stand a chance!

1997. I was 18. He was 19.

I was in my BA 3rd year. He still hadn’t completed his A levels...moment of silence there.

I took his number from the same cousin and called him one night in June to talk about something pestering me. Something I knew only he could help with. Incidentally he was alone at home and free.

So, as fate would have it, the snob girl and the chummy boy ended up chatting the entire night. Something which is quite a heroic achievement in the times of one landline a house. That too in the TV lounge and Amma Abba’s surveillance at its peak.

Bharpoor taaliaan!

The next few days we ( separately in our own lives) couldn’t help but think of how well we got along in that one chat. It was actually as comfortable as chuddy buddies.

So. A few days later I, the cheeti ( as my sister called me later) called him again! From the same landline ( it was an orange phone I still remember that. I still remember his phone number also) and from the same TV lounge. Guess what? Yes! Another all night chat. But drop scene yeh huwa ke meri walida mohtarima aa gayeen subha 5 bajay. She didn’t exactly figure out what was happening but of course antennas were up. And Mr Rana ki to sitti gum ho gayee (which he told me later). He said he walked outside on the road at 5 am for hours panicking that I may be in trouble.

Later in the day he walked to a PCO to call and check if all is well. The phone kept ringing and shutting until I picked it up. And a voice said “Sarah?” I said “ uhh no” He said “just wanted to check are you ok?” I said “Yes”.

Relief for him.

Giddy smile for me,

And that was it.

Two telephone conversations later we were both 100% certain that we wanted to get married.

Why?

Because it was just so easy to talk to each other. We are the absolute opposites when it comes to personalities, like & dislikes, habits and general approach to things. But, we were both so sure. The kind of bond we had was special, and we couldn’t let go of it. 23 years later, this one fact still holds true.

Acha jee. Ayen na zara practical zindagi main. Jag jayen thora. 19 sala Hero A levels kar raha hai. Theek hai na? Interest kis cheez main hai? Theatre main. Operation theatre nahin. Drama wala theatre. Theek ho Gaya? Heroine BA kar rahee hai. 3 sisters and an EXTREMELY strict and conservative household. Fauji abba. Elder sister engaged. Matlab ke next in line to get married and Amma Abba completely clear on the fact that 1 acha rishta and baat done and beti ko tata bye bye. Parhayee etc sab 2nd priority.

Kher. Nazreen waqt ka pahiyya chalta raha. BA ho gaya. Lekin hero A levels main fail ho gaya. Bijlian gir gayeen armaanon par. His result came out the day my best friend was getting married. Crying my eyes out was easy because it got camouflaged behind my missing her. Everyone thought she was so lucky to have me as her best friend My Masters degree began and he enrolled in a local foundation course for an external degree.

My elder sister got married matlab tamaam topon ka rukh kahani ki heroine ki taraf. Rishtay atay rahay lekin waapis bhee bhee rahay, Shukar Alhamdullillah! Never did rejection feel so good!

1999.

He told his mother kyunke bairooni maddad ki zaroorat par chukki thee. Aik rishta serious ho gaya tha. Army Captain. I wonder where he is now...ok. Focus. His mother was super supportive. I collected the himmat to confide in my mother. Jhaar pari lekin qayamat nahin ayee. Baree hee maharat se donon walidas to milwaya. Makhan lagaya. Kiya nahin Kiya. They both said ok we will help you. Plan yeh tha ke my Ami will defer potential rishtas and his mother will bring the rishta as soon as he nears graduation and can talk to Abu with some grace.

Took a promise from us that we strictly follow boundaries.

No exclusive meetings.

No one should be able to see us together.

No compromise on this.

And we remained true to our word.

Now when I think of it I feel SO good about us. I kept studying. He tried studying and kept doing theatre. Started debate coaching with the initial pay of Rs. 5000.

2000.

My Masters done. Itni parhi likhi qabil heroine. Hero ka final year. Finally!!! Rishta aa gaya and came the million dollar question “yeh larka Akhir karta kiya hai?!” Start of a new era of daily discussions and many at times fights of Abu saying this is insane and Ami supporting me ( how sweet).

2001.

Finally a graduate. Hero found a job of 13000 Rs. Wasn’t great but I was ready to marry an unemployed man to Yeh to lottery thee. I started working. With almost the same pay...and Somehow, after two years of convincing and case pleading we got engaged on the 1st of January 2002. By far that day is, even now, the happiest day of my life. If anyone asks me that question, the first image that pops in my head is that night. It was surreal...honestly it was just meant to be. There was nothing going in our favour but somehow it happened.

Understanding yeh huwee the shadi araaam Se ho gee. Obviously hero was 23 years old!!! But dekhain, dulhan 22 kee thee na...and that’s OLD in a conservative, Punjabi family. To naya katta khul gaya na. My parents wanted it over and done with ASAP and his parents were reluctant. I can understand both sides but qeema kis ka bun raha tha? Aik saal main tension peak par pohanch gayee aur wohee huwa jo filmi stories main hota hai. Hero ko laga unn ke Amma Abba ki “insult” ho rahee hai and unhon ne mangni tor dee... jee haan!!! 🥁🥁🥁

Lekin heroine ki dhittayee par to medal banta hai. ( My sister suggested that I should talk to Abu. Matlab ke khud kush Hamla). Aadhi raat ko ja kar Abba ko jagaya aur bhaaan bhaaan kar ke dukhi kahani sunayee. Felix felicious feeling thee seriously. He heard me. And somehow promised to take care of everything. And he did. Date set ho gayee. Aglay saal ki! 365 days later. That one year was torturous. Because both set of parents were extremely upset with each other and both of us were constantly playing peace makers with one goal. Countdown to 365 days...it was exhausting!

But main ne bhoolne nahin diya hero ko ke mangni main ne jori. Jee Haan. Pehli call bhee main ne hee kee thee. I’m sure he mutters under his breath “why did you?”. Acha jee six months before the big day, Mr Rana decided to quit his job and pursue acting. Chalo jee. Naya sayapa. To huwa Kiya? Everyone discouraged him. Except me. But he wanted to satisfy his parents and went to UAE for a job hunt. Nope. No luck. Came back and announced that whatever it takes I am going to pursue my first love. Theatre and acting. And there was no turning back. Nautankee it was!Amma Abba told me clearly ke soch lo. There is no certainty or future for theatre or acting in Pakistan. All my life I’ve been answering the wretched question “So what does he ACTUALLY do?” Lekin kahan jee. Nothing hits home when you’re in “lurvvve”. He assured me that he will make me the happiest girl on earth. I believed him.

2003.

To kar li shaadi.

We were the happiest people alive. I honestly have seen VERY few couples as happy on their wedding day as we were. We were actually on cloud 9. Ready to take on anything that life brings. Anything.

Early marriage days were an absolute dream come true. We felt that all hardships are behind us and we have conquered everything in life. If we can do this, whatever life brings will be easy! Life with him for me actually meant a fairy tale. I was the stupid, naive, day dreaming princess and he was my Prince Charming, equally young and naive. He was supposed to whisk me away from a life of curfews, restrictions and boundaries to a house where I could paint the town red! From the house that didn’t allow me to laugh loudly and clap without a reason to a house where dancing to random songs was daily routine. Without any occasion or reason.

The fact that we paid for a 2 day stay at PC Bhurban with our salamis was a matter of pride for us. We still talk about how we sat down on day 3 and counted if we can stay another night, which we couldn’t and came back.

Happily.

The first few months were like a daze. With no luxuries but plain joy. We had so much fun. Just being together. Nothing mattered. Driving to work in the morning chatting chirpily, watching TV with dinner, going for groceries. Finding joy in the smallest of moments. Will our car ( a 3rd hand Alto) start or not in the morning was a daily bet of ours. The fact that our entire pay ( both) was spent completely on basic necessities was a matter of pride for us. Watching late night movies with a pizza was an absolute luxury!

I was willing to face anything with him. For him. When our car’s windshield smashed during a toofan we didn’t have extra cash. Omair won 10000 Rs at a theatre festival the very next week and we got it repaired. Drove around for days with no windshield and we still laugh about it 🙂

But things started going downhill a few months later. My super comfortable relationship with my mother in law turned bitterly toxic, for reasons incomprehensible to me ( at least then).

My 29 year old elder sister suffered a brain hemorrhage in UK and was in the hospital for months. In and out of surgeries before coming around but her movement was affected for life.

My parents and younger sister went on rotation to be with her while I stayed back because I was “someone else’s wife” now so he was supposed to take decisions for me. Finances became a big issue so I took tuitions to save money and go visit her.

Omair found a better job and kept doing some TV work on the side but it was a struggle with nothing to fall back on. My heart would be with my sister but I would act jolly because “ghar ka mahaul kharab hota hai”. He decided to study and applied to LUMS for an MBA and started preparing for GMAT, which meant greater financial stress one me. But I stood by him. He didn’t get in ( a behteri in hind sight). The constant stress affected my gynea system... I actually didn’t feel like having a child because I was just so unhappy...and the uncertainty of life, my sister’s health, my parent’s stress and his career had started getting to me. But it had been three “LONG” years, and that gullible version of me caved in to pressure and we started treatment. What followed was two years of scans and injections and tablets and all the side effects that come with it.

2007. Eventually, an IUI worked and Rayaan came along. In bitter reality Rayaan was my clean chit in the eyes of the society that I am “complete”. I did not feel any gushing love for him. Omair on the other hand was over the moon! He has not loved anyone like he’s loved Rayaan. He is born to be a father. And that was a blessing, because Rayaan got the love he deserved from Baba while Amma was busy fighting her battles. The toxic relationship with my mother in law turned unbearable, I almost had a nervous breakdown and we moved out. It was ugly.

Omair didn’t have a job at this time. We had an infant and no worldly possessions at all except my jewellery and bedroom furniture. Fun fact: I had no jahez. Omair’s family made is 100% clear that there will be no jahez. Full marks to them there.

In these 4 years the ONLY thing that kept me sane was Omair, his humour, and our friendship. In these years we became even closer friends than before. He would listen to me silently if ever I felt like venting my heart out. Mostly I tried to keep it in because I didn’t want to upset him. Just silent hand holding was so comforting when he didn’t have any words of tassalli for me. He didn’t share his stress because HE didn’t want to stress me out.(This is when I realized strongly how the man is the worst hit in a conflict between his wife and mother. Made a mental note of never ever letting my son go through this. I hope I remember this by the time that time comes)). We cared for each other as friends before anything else and kept going...We have always been more of friends than anything else.

Something that caused huge problems later because married people need to be husband and wife, behave like a couple, argue like a couple and demand stuff like a couple. But we thought as long as we can communicate openly, make each other laugh, never dream of hurting the other and never go to bed angry, all is well.

This man has made me laugh at the toughest of times and has always ALWAYS been kind. That alone is something I cannot thank Allah enough for.

2008.

This marked the year for us actually starting from scratch. I sold some of my jewellery to buy furniture (Something I confided in Omair much later and he still hates this fact) crockery and appliances. We used up all of our savings. We set up a two room portion far away from the city which we called home for two years. I remember someone bringing flowers which I put in a balti because there was no vase. Meals were on the floor. We used to leave home at 645 daily to drop Rayaan to day care ( eternally grateful to The Early Years ) and get to our jobs. I was teaching at several places and so was he. We were shuttling between jobs all day. Only to return in the evening exhausted, showered ( if we had the energy), have omelette toast and crash. All this was just making ends meet, pay rent, bills, Rayaan’s fee, basic grocery and NO savings. Eating out was out of the question. But we were SO very happy.

It was unbelievable.

Even now when we look back the two years at “26 M” were the warmest, coziest, happiest ever. I actually found out what people mean when they say money isn’t everything. I learnt to love my baby boy who was an absolute Godsend. He took his first steps on that terrace. We got heat strokes from the hot weather but still managed to smile. The first sofa set we bought was second hand, for Rs 4000, which Omair refused to give away till 3 years ago.

The beds in the 2nd room were given by a dear friend for free. We shared the bills. Since we couldn’t eat out much I experimented with a lot of cooking (Dalda ka dastarkhwan was my saheli in those days).

Sharing financial and household responsibilities was never ever a problem between us. It was always “our” money, our responsibilities. We were both fighting our separate battles of the move ( we really never wanted to move away from his parents and this was very painful for both of us differently) but we never fought over it. Everything was always so civil and so comfortable.

2010.

We moved to a better place. Things settled a bit vis a vis work. Him and mine both. Slowly the ice started melting with my in laws ( things now are 100% ok. Yeah. That also happens. A lot of the credit goes to my parents in law here. But that’s a separate post) Slowly and steadily we made a home.

Right now, I’m sitting in our TV lounge of the home we’ve been in since 2010. And when I look around, every single thing that I can see has been bought by us personally.

Alhamdullillah.

Allah has been so unbelievably kind. If I say that we have actually built a home from scratch together, it’ll be 100% true. From a teaspoon to the TV to the car. Everything. But we still remember the first 5000 he earned and the third hand Red Alto whose floor collapsed while we were driving it. Flintstones!!!!

2011. I had my miscarriage.

2012.

This was the year we lost our twins in the 33rd week.

What followed was a complete fallout between us.

Oddly enough...We were heartbroken, more for each other than our own selves. I struggled desperately to deal with everything that follows after losing a child. But I failed miserably because of my combination of “I have to be strong”, “ I should always be grateful”, and “ everything happens for a reason” and “I need to be there for him”, and “Look how much pain my sister has gone through, this is nothing”.. But my body wasn’t agreeing with my mind and I fell critically ill.

Hospitalized for weeks while doctors struggled to figure out the problem. Eventually managed to come out of it Alhamdullillah but it took its toll on our relationship.

We drifted apart although he looked after me with such care that it makes my heart melt every time I think about it. But we both knew that it wasn’t the same.

For reasons we both knew and understood but didn’t have the courage to talk about. Since we were such close friends, we both understood the other’s thinking process and we let each other be. It was like parallel lives. We came home to each other, never stopped loving each other but we started living our own lives. Professionally we both grew but as “us” we stopped moving.

Now, when I see couples making this mistake I make it a point to tell them. Ask them to talk it out. Understanding each other’s struggles and giving each other too much space at the cost of your own happiness can cause irreversible damage.

This lack of communication is something I regret in hindsight. Something that went on for years and something that caused our marriage to almost end at one point...We didn’t even talk about what we were going through with anyone either.

No One.

Because our go to person was us...to kiya kartay?

But, yet again, guess what came to our rescue? Dosti. We just couldn’t give up on the dosti. No matter how much time we spent with other people, we just couldn’t help but miss what we have.

And what we have is extraordinary.

We feel at home with each other.

And that is irreplaceable.

You know the person who can look at you and understand what you are about to say? That’s us.

Home is where your heart is, and our hearts belong to each other. Three C sections and he stayed with me at the hospital. You want your mother around at that time and I wanted him. He’s changed countless pampers, done night duties with the kids, cooked breakfast for me, cleaned, dusted, changed linen, gotten furniture poshish done, taken me shopping infinite times, waited patiently while I got my threading done only so we can take a drive together, bought sanitary napkins, taken me for Falooda at midnight, you name it. He made me open my first personal bank account and asked me to put all my salary in it instead of the joint account, he’s never asked me how much I earn, never told me I’m fat ( and I’ve been fat!!!). Always disregarded comments about how “young” he looks compared to me. Something I have let bother me for years before growing up and not giving a rat’s ass eventually.

We’ve never ever argued in front of the kids. He’s always given me the lead in parenting, trusting every single decision I take as a mother, and never made me feel bad for the bad ones (there are quite a few).

He’s never stopped talking to me although I tend to give him the “silent treatment” quite a few times. He’s supported me most in my work. Helped me through the tightest spots professionally. I have grown as a person with him. I have learnt from him what it means to truly forgive someone, to be non judgmental, to drop one’s agenda and focus on the bigger picture. People say it about their fathers, and as much as I love my Abu with all my heart, my husband gave me wings to fly and the courage to follow my dreams.

He’s actually one of a kind.

Completely secure.

Non judgmental.

Hospitable and generous to the core.

Genuinely happy for everyone’s success and happiness.

Humble.

A truly happy person who wakes up every morning to live life to its fullest!

A truly loving father.

A genuinely caring son.

An absolutely accommodating husband.

A wholeheartedly loving brother.

A friend in need.

I’ve spent years being scared of Nazar and bad luck by telling people how blessed I feel, every moment of my life, but not right now. I feel if many people will jinx this, enough people will be happy for us and make the bad nazar nuetral 🙂 I think the world deserves to know this side of the coin as well.

There ARE men who are plain GOOD men. And I have been infinitely lucky to have one of them. I may become overwhelmed with fear in a few days though. I’m unpredictable in this department 🧿

My love story is rather simple.

I simply decided to marry my best friend. My best friend decided to marry his. And we really wouldn’t have it any other way. He calls me his “best mistake”. I still can’t decide if that’s a compliment or not I consider him “my lucky break” in life.

We haven’t had a marriage which revolves around expensive presents, holiday destinations or lavish surprise birthday parties but we have a marriage which has survived the test of time. It is based on years of honesty, trust, hard work and respect. We have both invested in it. Yes I have invested a lifetime in this relationship as well. I have compromised and given in countless times. Cried myself to sleep and wept in the shower. There have been numerous ugly downs in these 23 years...but the beautiful ups have been more than numerous. The laughters are actually infinite.

Alhamdullillah.

The most important thing is that we haven’t kept any scores. Who needs to keep a score when we both get to win in the end?”

-shared by Ms. Maira Omair Rana

Copied from facebook page: Humans of Kinnaird.

[eldritchsurveys]

294.

What is your favorite thing about Mac computers? >> I don’t have a favourite thing about this era’s Mac computers, but my first computer was a Macintosh and I liked how easy it was to master the ins and outs of the OS. They used to be very simple and straightforward operating systems; don’t know if that still holds true, since I haven’t used a Mac since the great Apple overhaul.

What is your favorite thing about PCs? >> It used to be the level of customisation you could do -- Rainmeter was a lot of fun to play with when I had WinXP and Win7. They cut that potential with this Xbox-y interface, though, so I don’t really have a favourite thing about Windows anymore. I use it because it’s what’s most accessible, and because I like to play PC games.

What are some errands you need to run soon? >> ---

Have your parents ever tried to convince people there was something wrong with you, when they're "diagnosis" wasn't accurate? >> Not that I know of. My father just believed the shit that the crack psychologists in the city hospital told him, because he didn’t know any better. Which wasn’t necessarily his fault, but god, did it suck for me.

What was the last really good book you read, and what was it about? >> I liked Everything is Fucked by Mark Manson. I think he has interestingly pragmatic things to say.

What year do you want to go back to? >> No.

List 3 of your best memories, times you wish you could go back and repeat. >> No.

What color was your high school graduation gown? >> I don’t remember. I barely remember graduating.

How many graduation gowns have you worn? >> One.

Are your parents' dreams for you life different than your own? >> Obviously my parent had a completely different child in mind whenever he thought about me. He had no concept of who I actually was or who I might become.

Do your parents' dreams for you life change? >> ---

Have your dreams for your life changed? >> I don’t know if I ever had any actual, concrete dreams for my life. Fantasies, sure, but not like... aspirations. And I still don’t.

What are your dreams now? >> I dream of having good, mildly eventful days, and of being strong enough to weather the bad days with grace and self-compassion.

What was your dream as a child? >> Like I said in the question before last...

Are you offended at anyone right now? >> No.

Do you feel safe in your country? >> More or less. I mean, no one’s actively coming to kill me or make it impossible for me to live, and I’ve never really had that experience, so I guess I feel safe.

If applicable, do you feel safe at your school? >> ---

Would you ever want to learn sign language? >> I am learning sign language, incidentally.

What color is the sweatshirt you wear the most? >> I wear hoodies the most.

What's the last thing you had for dinner? >> A veggie burger and chips, because variety is apparently not the spice of my everyday life these days. (Not because I don’t enjoy variety -- I very much do -- but because variety is a bit beyond my capabilities at this time.)

How many meals do you eat a day? >> Two, on average.

What is your favorite Irish song? >> I don’t particularly have one, but there’s this one song I heard on youtube a while ago that I really, really enjoyed. It’s called Óró Sé do Bheatha Bhaile and you can listen to the version I heard here.

Do you own any succulents? >> Not personally, but I think Sparrow has one somewhere in the living room.

Who do you miss? >> Neh.

What color are your walls? >> Some sort of off-white.

What color were the walls in the bedroom you grew up in? >> I don’t remember.

What was the last song you listened to on repeat? >> Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come. I was drunk and having a moment.

What is your favorite style (or styles) of dance? >> All of them, really. I’m easily entranced by dance.

Have you ever performed a solo dance in front of a crowd? >> No.

Have you ever sung a solo? >> No. I am a passable singer, good in a choir and great at karaoke, but not the kind of singer that you’d go to if you want a solo.

Which insects are you afraid of? >> Wasps and suchnot.

Do you think it's silly to be afraid of an insect, when it's so tiny? >> No, I don’t think it’s silly at all. Tiny insects kill big humans all the time. Infinitesimally small microbes do too. Size is no direct indicator of threat.

Do you sleep with a teddy bear? >> I sleep with two teddy bears, a dog, a space turtle, and an otter.

Who would you like to talk to right now? >> Neh.

When was the last time you had a deep conversation with someone? >> I don’t remember. What even is a deep conversation anymore? I’m losing my ability to hold one from sheer lack of practice. But outworld aside, I do have them with Can Calah all the time.

Do you feel like anyone really knows you? >> Aside from inworlders, no.

What are you waiting for? >> Hm?

Where do you feel the most at home? >> In my room. Because it’s the only environment I can control.

What do you feel the most at home doing? >> *shrug*

Are you a free spirit? >> Sure.

Do you wish you were in a different social class? >> Actually, I really don’t. Living amongst the middle class and middle class-adjacent has definitely proven to me that despite the socioeconomic struggles, there is nothing about me as a person that would be improved by being middle or upper class. Maybe if I’d grown up that way I’d feel different, but that’s the thing -- I didn’t. 

What was the last job you had? >> ---

What was your first job? >> ---

What was your favorite job that you've had? >> ---

Who was/were your favorite coworker(s)? >> ---

What grade were you in when you had your first crush? >> ---

At what age did you start experiencing sexual attraction, if any? >> Oh, I don’t remember, man.

Have you ever split open a rock with a hammer, to see the glitter inside? >> No.

What type of tree do you see the most of where you live? >> I’m not sure. I’m not good at tree identification. I know there’s a fair mix of evergreens and... the other kind... and that’s it.

Where is your favorite place you've lived? >> Hm.

What states have you lived in? >> New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Colorado, Michigan.

What countries have you lived in? >> Just this one.

Do you wish you were someone else? >> Nope. I only know how to be myself, and there’s nothing gained from not wanting to be myself.

Do you wish you had been born the opposite gender? >> Do I wish I’d been born the opposite sex? Occasionally, but like I said, I only know how to be myself, in this body. I don’t always enjoy it, but it’s silly to imagine I’d somehow be happier in a different one. Dissatisfaction is somehow human. What I want is to have no reproductive organs at all (and no secondary sex characteristics), but I can’t afford either of those procedures.

Which holiday is coming up next? >> Independence Day.

What is your favorite holiday? >> Christmas.

What is your birth month? >> May.

What month is it now? >> June.

What is your favorite thing about the month in which it is now? >> It’s the first summer month.

Who were your best friends in high school? >> ---

^Are they still your best friends now? >> ---

Do you live near the mountains? >> No.

Do you live near a beach? >> A freshwater beach, yeah. We’re about an hour’s drive from Lake Michigan.

What is your favorite beach that you've been to? >> I don’t have a favourite. They were all kind of the same to me. But I do have a lot of memories at Brighton Beach and thereabouts, so when I think about beaches, that’s where my mind goes first.

Do you collect seashells? >> No.

If you were to start a new collection, what would it be? >> I wouldn’t.

If you had to pick one year and describe it as the best year of your life that you want to relive again, which year would it be? and what made it so great? >> No. 

Is your worldview the same as your parents'? >> Not even a little bit.

Is your worldview the same as most of the people around you? >> From what I can gather, it doesn’t seem so.

If you were to get a tattoo, what would it be of? >> I have several ideas that I’d like to get done.

What color are your glasses, if applicable? >> ---

What color do you like to paint your nails for Easter? >> I don’t paint my nails for Easter.

#surveys #survey #random survey

[classictombraider]

This is an off-topic question considering this is a Tomb Raider blog, but how did you get into the duke nukem games and what are your thoughts on the series?

Don’t worry I don’t think it’s too off topic considering howsimilar Time to Kill and Land of The Babes are to Tomb Raider!

I was 8 (1998) and my dad’s friend was providing us with a steadystream of copied PS1 games (cost: £5 or a stack of blank CD’s). One of the oneswe got was Duke Nukem Time to Kill and that was the first Duke game I played. Ihadn’t heard of Duke before then so I have no idea if my dad picked it or wasrecommended it, his friend knew we liked Tomb Raider and probably suggested it becausethey are so similar.

My dad was really cool with letting me play/watch stuff that atthat age I shouldn’t be (another one being South Park).We would play it together and his favourite part was “I love the smell of baconin the morning”, he STILL says this but can’t remember where he got it from. We had a walkthough printed out for it (so we wouldn’t have to keep goingonline – this was dial up days) and if he was the one playing he would ask meto read ahead and find out where he was meant to go.

Much like “the cartoon” in TR4, I also loved “the cartoon” inTTK and watched it over and over. I hadn’t heard anything like it before and Iam sure that hearing Stabbing Westward at that age subliminally influenced myentire taste in music.

I love Time to Kill so much and this would be the one Irecommend everybody checks out. It plays exactly the same as Tomb Raider (tank controls,block grid environment, collecting keys) but the levels are on smaller scale,you have more weapons, and it’s Duke not Lara (but she is referenced lol).

When I was 14 or 15 (2004-2005), one of my friends was over andwe were playing Time to Kill and he said “have you played Land of the Babes?”and I didn’t even know it existed!! So he gave me his game (still have it) andas soon as I saw the intro we were on Limewire searching for Static-X (RIP Wayne ;_;).

LOTB plays like Tomb Raider too, but it isn’t as good as TTK. It does have a lock on button which makes makes aiming automatic like TR, but every aspect of the game is just done better in TTK.

After that I found out about Manhattan Project and downloadedthat, I loved it and it fit onto a memory stick so I played it at school. Manhattan Project is a 2.5D sidescrollingplatformer more akin to Duke 1+2. I love this era of PC graphics and it has areally nice Grabbag rendition too. It’s just a fun game all around!

I pre-ordered Duke Nukem Forever (in 2011, not 1996 or anythingcrazy lol) and while it wasn’t amazing, it wasn’t as awful as everybody makesit out to be. So many people criticise his character for being “stuck in the90s”, but he was still Duke! They didn’t try to change him like they did withLara and I respect them a lot for that.

He, like Lara, has always been over the top and anunrealistic character. If they did the same to him as they did to Lara, itwould be like “nursing teenage Duke Nukem through his crippling insecurities.Why can’t we celebrate her [Lara] as a competent professional tested by unexpectedsituations? You know, like every male character ever?” (quote from here)

I think he is a funny character, his voice and one-liners arejust iconic.

As for his attitude towards women, he is generally quiterespectful, there just happens to be a highly disproportionate number ofscantily clad big bosomed ladies in his world lmao. But he isn’t disrespectfultowards them. In LOTB all the men have been killed by aliens, and the women have beenenslaved, but there is a small resistance group of women. When they go back in time toget Duke, and he hears what happened he’s like “this ain’t cool with me, let’sgo save them”. He’s happy to listen to the help the women provide him and help them. He wasn’t like “you useless women needed a man to save youhuhuhuh now let’s go have sex” or anything like that, which people make him outto be. I always thought that was cool. He doesn’t really treat them anydifferently - until the ending that is, but he has a ticketing system, he’s treatingthe situation very clinically and professionally(!!!!!). (Plus the women seem happy about it so he is clearly paying attention to them, not just uh… focusing solely on his new job…). I read this post recently about Duke and I was like “yeah that’stotally true”. He does seem to actually care about the women even if he is obsessed with them and sex.

Also I am so hype for this Duke film with John Cena. I don’t know a lot about him but all the videos I have seen with him (ones like this) he comes across as genuinely funny with his deadpan delivery, smart, and… charming? Suave? Just effortlessly cool? Idk how to explain it. I feel like a lot of men who would act like that would come across as arrogant but he definitely doesn’t, seems like a top guy. It’s not just his demeanour, he does look like Duke too. I think he is a really good choice!

Unfortunately I still haven’t played morethan the first level of Duke Nukem 3D. I think I’ve played so much of theother games that Duke “isn’t” a FPS to me? Definitely need to play that thoroughly, andalso want to play Zero Hour on the N64, which is another 3rd person game. Neverplayed an N64 game before so no idea which way I’m going to map the buttons ona PS2 controller. I have played a bit of the DS game Critical Mass and that was quite good forwhat it was, kind of similar to Manhattan Project.

While I am here I would recommend everybody checks out LGR’s Duke videobut keep in mind he grew up with 1+2+3D, so we associate very different styles to what a Duke Nukem game is. (9:08, 12:45 and 14:14 for the games I have mainly talkedabout, but I do recommend watching the full video (and all of his videos ingeneral))

And not relevant but I havementioned all my other bands above so I have to mention Duke’s Music to ScoreBy introduced me to Type O Negative (and it wasn’t even their own song lmfaobut still)

Good question, thank you! I enjoyed answering it!

#duke nukem #anon #ask

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #506

Top Ten Best-Looking Games Consoles

One of the fun things about gaming is how devices that were once considered extremely niche have become mainstream. Computers went from irregularly-shaped keyboards in the eighties through to the huge beige tower cases of nineties PCs, through the dark millennial era of subdued PCs and ubiquitous laptops, to the modern era of sleek Macbook-inspired designs and subtle reflective rectangles of power. And in the same period, bespoke games consoles have transitioned from bizarre collections of geometric shapes that would be stuck in the corner of a bedroom to huge focus-grouped pieces of consumer electronics that are designed to fit into a modern family’s lounge, either by being an ostentatious bit of attention-seeking or a machine that fits in with other anonymous boxes below the TV.

As such, I think it’s only relatively recently that anybody cared if a console was actually “attractive” or not. When I was a kid, consoles were seen as things for kids, more or less (to the point where sensible computer-using folk such as myself would dismiss them as “toys” – before, er, going back to our computers to play ports and adaptations and knock-offs of games initially published on console). Making it ungainly or irregular or wacky wasn’t a big deal, because it’d be in the kids’ room, or stored in a cupboard till needed, or just one of a number of crude lumps of plastic decorating the houses of parents across the land. That’s not to say these consoles weren’t good-looking, or had their own kind of charm, but I’d see genuine legitimate aesthetics weren’t really considered until gaming became “cool” in the late nineties. I have absolutely no evidence to back this up, but for me it feels like the first console that tried to be genuinely sexy – in a kind of “posh hi-fi” sexy, the sort of sexy you’d see in glossy photospreads in Q magazine, detailing the latest in state-of-the-art Sony Trinitron CRT displays, colossal subwoofers, and dual-speed VCRs – was the PlayStation 2. After that, all bets were off, and consoles had to look like an otherwise-sensible adult would be happy to be seen alongside one. Unless they were made by Nintendo, they get away with murder.

Anyway, that’s enough preamble. All we have here are the ten best-looking games consoles, as judged solely by me according to my own wonky criteria. I have some rules, of course: they have to be actual proper consoles, so one-off special editions don’t count – and I’m including that fantastic transparent Xbox in this, as well as the weird silver DVD-playing GameCube that only came out in Japan or something. Iterations of a console are fine; slimline redesigns or enhancements that replace the main version. But no limited or special editions. And, yes, as you will see, handhelds as well as home consoles both fit the bill.

I’ve not really spared much thought for the goodness within, or even usability; controller sexiness was a consideration, but not how comfy the thing was to hold. This is an absolutely primitive, book-cover-judging, who-cares-about-personality visual appraisal. Let’s hit the catwalk!

GameCube (Nintendo, 2002): adorably friendly design, visually distinct, eschews cynical darkness or any perception of coolness to produce something entirely individual and iconoclastic. It has a chunky, almost preschool aesthetic, a delightfully Ronseal name, and a carry handle. It’s user-friendly, with its four front-facing ports and big clicky buttons. The controller, comfy and cheerful, feels halfway between the weirdness of the N64 and the commonality of subsequent basically-an-Xbox style of controllers. I’ve gone on far too much, but in short, it’s lovely, pretty, and weird.

3DS (Nintendo, 2011): it took Nintendo a couple of tries, but they really settled on a great design for the DS range in the end. Sleek and elegant, but also comfy and user-friendly, everything was in the right place and looked so much cooler than previous generations of handhelds, with its clamshell design feeling both innovative but also echoing past generations. The 3DS perfected the template with its metallic finish, range of cool colours, and an analogue stick thing. Still the prettiest handheld.

PlayStation 2 (Sony, 2000): the first PlayStation transitioned console gaming from the kids’ bedroom to, well, the club floor, and the PS2 solidified that, eschewing child-friendly curves or colours for a bold black design that echoes high-end hifis. The ridged sides were elegant and cool and its ability to be stood vertically, like it was a fancy subwoofer or something, really made a statement. The blue accenting helped sell a futuristic aesthetic, really making this feel like a grown-up console for the next generation.

Xbox 360 (Microsoft, 2005): whilst the design of the first Xbox has its fans, its bulkiness and X-shaped cartooniness made it feel of an earlier generation than the sleek and sexy PS2. The 360 was Microsoft’s answer in more ways than one: ditching edgy blackness for a more cheerful shade of white (or, I dunno, kinda light beige?), this hip and groovy, front-room-friendlier design was further reinforced in its soft curves and removeable bits and bobs. The controller was a refinement, almost perfect, and the way the circular power switch lit up to match with the controller you were holding was inspired. And – get this – no wires! It may have sounded like a washing machine exploding in a jet engine, but it looked great.

Xbox Series X (Microsoft, 2020): from soft and subtle lightness, to bold, brutalist blackness. The Series X is a statement; the desire to provide maximum grunt requiring maximum cooling leading to the revolutionary decision to make a console that wasn’t, essentially, an oblong. This is a daring design that is sure to attract detractors; a chunky slab of a thing, a sexy PC tower or very tiny fridge. Even the venting is bold, with its huge circular holes in the top, with their funky green highlights offering a sense of depth and splash of colour. The controller did nothing new, but by this point MS had perfected controllers anyway.

Dreamcast (Sega, 1999): after a bunch of pretty similar black boxes, Sega went the other way with this, an absolutely delightful little beast. Small, sleek, and bathed in light, everything about it screamed colour, with its games full of fast movement and trademark Sega blue skies. The logo was cool, the controller even cooler, a weird thing almost the size of the console itself, its friendly hues echoing (for me at least) the highs of Nintendo controller design. And it had these weird little funky memory cards that were also, like, Tamagotchis? Or something? What a wild design. I do wonder where Sega might have gone next.

PS one (Sony, 2000): line-wide reversions of consoles count, as I’ve said, and this is just an incredible bit of electronic architecture, shrinking the original PlayStation console down to something more or less the size of a double-disc CD jewel case. A gorgeous, round-edged, friendly little thing, the size of a PlayStation controller. Its brightness and cheerfulness and all-round preschool vibe served as a great counterpoint to the ascendent PS2; a kind of “my first console” for the youngsters when the older kids take their PS2s off to uni with them.

Game Boy Advance (Nintendo, 2001): I think a lot of people prefer the clamshell “SP” revision, but I love the original. Flipping the original Game Boy design from portrait to landscape, it echoed the size and feel of a standard game controller, but with the screen in the middle. The colourful graphics were echoed in its colourful, well, colour. True, the screen wasn’t backlit, making playing in anything other than perfect sunlight something of an ordeal, but the console itself was a beaut.

Wii (Nintendo, 2006): after the chunky wonder of the GameCube, where could Nintendo go? A sphere? A pyramid? A giant silver X? no, they went the other way, focusing on accessibility and affordability rather than sexy crash-bang-wallop visuals, with a positively tiny machine that was quite a bit weaker than the competition, but a whole lot cuter. True, the box itself is fairly nondescript, but subtle design touches give it character: one corner cut off at a diagonal, a choice echoed throughout the machine’s elements (it’s there on the power brick); the soft slope of its cradle if you want to sit it vertically; the lights around its disc slot. But then there’s the controller! Not just revolutionary in terms of its use, but also a beautiful bit of minimalist design, offering what we need with little fuss or fanfare, and the nunchuck component fitting just delightfully in the hand. It was a dream to use a Wii, and the whole aesthetic was open, non-threatening, welcoming.  

Atari 2600 (Atari, 1978): most of these consoles have been from roughly the same age, as I think it took a while for the hardware to evolve past the eighties/nineties aesthetic of “part of a spaceship’s dashboard in a really cheap sci-fi b-movie”. But going back farther, the earliest consoles had a lot of cool design elements, and I just love the 2600. Fun fact: being too young to ever have one, I didn’t realise quite how many versions of the 2600 there were. My favourite – the one I associate most with the console – is the first or second iteration; I can take or leave the number of switches, but I like the mock-wooden trim. The black ridges of its design, the slope of its hood leading to the cart slot, all feel so tactile, so sturdy. It feels delightfully analogue, just to look at, and part of that comes from the big flippin’ switches on its top. This is really like some old piece of hardware, not just a stereo component, but part of a ham radio or even a bit of military hardware from the Korean war or something. And I’ve not even mentioned the supremely iconic joystick! Funkily, chunkily, gorgeously retro.

#top ten #games #gaming #consoles #videogames #game consoles #nintendo #sega #microsoft #atari

[professoricepick]

Next year, the Darkstalkers franchise is going to turn 25 years old. Despite the fact that it’s been essentially inactive for more than half that time — with a handful of characters managing to make their way into various crossover titles, some developed by Capcom themselves (but most developed by other companies) — it’s still a significant milestone. After all, while being the third-most recognizable fighting game franchise in Capcom’s stead isn’t exactly an impressive accomplishment on its own, considering it has to compete with both the Street Fighter and “Vs. Capcom” franchise — the latter of which actually managed to rip off core mechanics and utilize the intellectual properties of Darkstalkers itself — the fact that it managed to rate that high is an accomplishment of its own. The last proper Darkstalkers release we saw was “Darkstalkers Resurrection”, a re-release of the second and third games in the franchise with full online play (using the industry standard GGPO netcode) on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360’s digital storefronts (but sadly not PC).

That was over five years ago and while Resurrection was Capcom’s way of trying to gauge interest in a more significant revival of the cult classic IP, it failed to meet their lofty expectations. Without a money-baked success, Capcom will likely never revitalize the series in any meaningful form. This brings to mind the old adage: “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” And wouldn’t you know it? We have a perfect blueprint for a modern-era Darkstalkers re-release right in front of us: the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection came out earlier this year and managed to release on all 4 major gaming platforms — the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

So with that in mind, I’ll be attempting to build a similar collection using the same exact limitations put in place by 30th Anniversary Collection, as well as the recent batches of MegaMan compilations. That means that at the most, there will be 12 games in this collection — consisting of titles that originated on the CPS series of arcade hardware (as well as various older home console platforms, including but not limited to the NES and SNES, as well as the first two PlayStations) — with a scant four receiving online play via Capcom’s proprietary “Kagemusha” netcode. The most obvious bonus features would be image galleries consisting of concept art, official artwork and even fan art and a music player that would allow players to listen to the game’s soundtracks in isolation. But that’s obvious. Meanwhile, the meat of this collection are the games themselves and these are my choices.

1. Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (1994)

If Capcom saw it fit to include the original Street Fighter from 1987, it’s difficult to argue that they wouldn’t include the original Darkstalkers. Definitely stiffer than its successors, Darkstalkers still manages to include its own unique quirks compared to future titles. Considering it was one of the earliest non-Street Fighter fighting games produced by Capcom, the game clearly still leans a little on SF influences in terms of its gameplay mechanics, but was clearly more experimental.

2. Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge (1995)

Easily my personal favorite of the Darkstalkers games, Night Warriors was one of those weird “retcon sequel revisions” Capcom occasionally did with their fighting games during the mid-to-late 1990s, like Street Fighter Alpha 2. A lot of the mechanics that would become hallmarks of the series made their debut here and the gameplay itself began to deviate significantly from Capcom’s other fighting games. Likewise, the ability to play as the boss characters from the original Darkstalkers , as well as two entirely brand-new characters added to the fun.

3. Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire (1997)

The clear favorite game of the franchise, no Darkstalkers collection would be complete without it. Hell, Jedah — the game’s main antagonist — not only managed to appear in Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, but was also one of the most impressive aspects of it. Vampire Savior (or Darkstalkers 3, if you’re nasty) still manages to be played in fighting game tournaments all over the world to this day, so there’s no doubt that people would be clamoring for another modern re-release.

4. Vampire Hunter 2 (1997) 5. Vampire Savior 2 (1997)

It’s funny: I remember when people speculated that Capcom might add these two games as DLC to Resurrection. I have no idea where that whole mindset came from. Either way, while these games aren’t particularly popular, they are unique in the sense that they brought Pyron, Huitzil and Donovan (from Night Warriors, but conspicuously absent in DS3) into the fold, allowing various dream match-ups. Vampire Hunter 2 was a recreation of Night Warriors using VSav’s engine, while Vampire Savior 2 allowed for various dream match-ups — Lilith vs. Donovan! Huitzil vs. Q-Bee! Jedah vs. Pyron! — while removing Sasquatch, Rikuo and Jon Talbain as playable characters. Various balance changes made to both games have made them unpopular among hardcore fans, but if Street Fighter’s 30th Anniversary Collection included games like 2nd Impact, Super Street Fighter II (sans Turbo) and the original Street Fighter Alpha, it only seems fair that these games would be added to a Darkstalkers collection.

6. Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (2004)

In what may very well be a bizarre compromise, I’d love to see Darkstalkers Chronicle return in this collection. It’s essentially the “Hyper Street Fighter” of the Darkstalkers series, allowing players to pit various versions of the game’s cast against one another — imagine a fight between Night Warriors-era Felicia and Vampire Savior’s incarnation of Morrigan. On top of that, I’d be happy if Capcom were to use the PSP version in their collection: it had all of the content from the more-obscure, Japan-only Dreamcast release, with the addition of a brand-new single-player mode, The Chaos Tower.

7. Vampire Savior Arrange (2005) 8. Vampire Hunter 2 Arrange (2005) 9. Vampire Savior 2 Arrange (2005)

Okay, I know these may appear to be weird choices, but let me explain. Back in 2005, Capcom actually released Vampire Darkstalkers Collection on the PS2 exclusively in Japan. In addition to the first five games I’ve listed, Capcom also released three additional “arranged” alternate versions of Vampire Savior, Vampire Hunter 2 and Vampire Savior 2. All three of these versions include all 18 characters found across all versions of the game, though there are some additional differences as well. For starters, all three of these games offer a brand-new character: Dee, a “what if” evil version of Donovan (loosely based on his Night Warriors ending) which was cobbled together by putting the Dark Hunter’s head and sword on Demitri’s body.

Otherwise, both Vampire Savior games are pretty much identical to their original versions. Vampire Hunter 2, on the other hand, decides to eschew various features from the Savior engine, effectively recreating Night Warriors much more accurately in the VSav engine, all while bringing along the new entrants from Savior along for the ride. I guess that would make Vampire Hunter 2 Arrange the most unique (and therefore, the most worthy of inclusion) of the trio, but if Capcom can get one, they might as well re-release them all.

10. Red Earth (1996)

I’ll be honest, I was hesitant on adding this game to a Darkstalkers collection. I hate the conflation that so many people have made between Red Earth and Darkstalkers. Honestly, I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve seen people demand that Red Earth just be folded into the Darkstalkers universe, despite both games having entirely different settings. (And don’t get me started on the people demanding that Ruby Heart and Amingo be added in!)

But with that in mind, Red Earth is thematically similar to the Darkstalkers games, though Red Earth focuses more on high fantasy, while Darkstalkers was based on monster movies. Much more importantly, this may be the only chance we could have to get Red Earth on home consoles  — of the six games released on Capcom’s CPS-3 hardware, Red Earth is the only one that wasn’t released on home console in any form to this day. So as much as I hate the implication of the two games being folded into the same universe, getting Red Earth an actual home release is more important to me than maintaining the “purity” of a Darkstalkers collection.

So those are my choices for games to be included in a Darkstalkers collection, but which games should get the nod when it comes to online play? If we follow Street Fighter’s format, I’ll have a maximum of 4 games to work with. The most obvious picks were Night Warriors and Vampire Savior: these games are clearly the most popular on the tournament scene and it would effectively mean that support for Resurrection could be easily dropped if necessary. Red Earth was another obvious choice. While most fighting games rely on a competitive two-player mode, Red Earth has a cooperative mode, allowing two players to take on its menagerie of monsters together — that just seems like an awesome selling point for the collection in general. Which brings us to the last game. After mulling it over, I was left with two possible choices, but in the end, I decided to go with Darkstalkers Chronicle over Vampire Savior Arrange. Aside from the constant complaints that it wasn’t Darkstalkers 4, the main criticism I saw levied at Darkstalkers Resurrection was that it comprised of two arcade ports, as opposed to a re-release of Darkstalkers Chronicle. And personally,  I think it’s more interesting watching different variations of the cast (even ones that didn’t actually exist, like Darkstalkers 1 Donovan and Night Warriors Jedah) duke it out is way more interesting than a recycled headswap. If you disagree, feel free to argue your point in the comments — I’d love to be convinced otherwise.

I’ll be honest: I also considered adding Pocket Fighter to this collection, but considering that it would likely lack online play — based on the limitations set in place by Capcom’s Street Fighter compilation — it just doesn’t seem practical. But hey, if Capcom decides to patch in online play for more games in Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (SFA2 and 2nd Impact appear to be the favorites), then you could consider Pocket Fighter as Game #11 and the fifth to include online play.

It seems kind of pointless to discuss the bonus features, but honestly, if they included the Japanese opening for the PS1 port of the original Darkstalkers, the remixed music commissioned for Darkstalkers Resurrection and various pieces of artwork, I’d be happy. As I said before, the games themselves are far more important than any extras.

But what do you think? I’ve considered doing more of these speculative proposals for video game compilations I’d like to see down the line. Would you like to see more of them? Even if you don’t, I had some fun coming up with this one, so I’ll probably continue regardless. You’ll just have to deal with it.

Proposal: Darkstalkers 25th Anniversary Collection Next year, the Darkstalkers franchise is going to turn 25 years old. Despite the fact that it's been essentially inactive for more than half that time -- with a handful of characters managing to make their way into various crossover titles, some developed by Capcom themselves (but most developed by other companies) -- it's still a significant milestone.

#capcom #darkstalkers #red earth #street fighter #warzard