#Hyper Formation Soccer

[discokicks]

THE KIDS AIN'T FINE, FINE - ROY KENT.

PART THREE of ACES AT THE WATER'S EDGE.

(series masterlist!) (AO3!) (series playlist!)

pairing: roy kent x fem!reader (no use of y/n!)

summary: in 2012, roy’s summer olympic training camp is going (surprisingly) well. the same can’t be said for your new and current arrangement at richmond. and while you two think you’re doing a good job at keeping your bickering discreet, certain people are starting to notice that something’s up. and some are handling it better than others.

word count & rating: 11.8k (holy shit), R (typical roy kent fruity language)

chapter warnings: swearing, minor allusions to sexual assault and harassment, a sprinkling of sexual tension (we'll get there y'all), talk of alcohol and alcohol use, ploooot, lots of football/soccer/coaching talk, major angst, typical bickering, slight fluff.

author's note: i’m baaaaaaack and we're in it now, folks! we're covering A LOT of ground in this part. whole lotta relationship building and exposition. we're getting to the fun stuff soon, promise. and for the sake of my plot/pacing, we're pretending there was a week of time between last chapter and this one, despite them both taking place within the 3x02 timeframe. thank you for the love on the last chapter, i'm truly having so much fun writing this, so it's so exciting to see that people are enjoying it. ok, shutting up now, love u all tons, let's goooo! - mags

PRESENT DAY. (MID-AUGUST, 2023)

There are two days until Richmond’s first game of the season and you think you’ve slept approximately four and a half hours this entire week.

Despite the fact that your days weren’t too intense (pre-season practices were typically a little more involved and could stretch longer, and your Coaches' meetings never kept you past an unreasonable hour), your nights were rather rough. They seemed to be endless while also never offering quite enough time.

This was all self-inflicted, though. From the second you returned home from Nelson Road, you dove back into work, studying game film and your new players, attempting to figure out exactly what made this team tick. You thought about potential plays and formations in the shower, nearly slipping and cracking your head open each time you raced out to draw something up. You rehearsed things you wanted to say during practices, making sure each line was insightful and understandable, without overstepping any sort of boundaries.

Boundaries were key, here. You were hyper-aware of those now.

However, it wasn’t like you were saying the majority of these things. For the first time in almost a decade, you’d found yourself biting your tongue more often than not. You were friendly and encouraging like any good coach was, but you were agreeable. Quiet. Hesitant.

Those were issues and you knew that. That’s not what a coach was supposed to be, especially the coach of an AFC team. But that stupid fucking anxiety that you couldn’t shake had muzzled you. The fear made you weak. And while you hated it, you couldn’t rid yourself of it. That only made you feel more pathetic. 

And it wasn’t like the Richmond team hadn’t done everything in their power to make you feel welcome. The ‘primary school-level art’ Roy had spoken of on your first day had been a large ‘Welcome to Richmond’ banner held by the team in the locker room, each of the players greeting you with a wide smile on their faces. While, yes, it did look like it’d been put together by a couple of third-graders (with the exception of a wildly intricate sunflower in the corner done by Dani Rojas), the thought behind it nearly made you cry. 

All of the players had personally introduced themselves to you throughout the week, some keeping it short and sweet like Jaan Maas, others, such as Sam, approaching with lists of questions; not just about your professional life, but personal life, too.

They each were respectful and kind, listening to the few things you did work up the courage to say and seemed to take them to heart. They listened to you. They wanted to hear from you. They wanted to get to know you.

And you couldn’t fucking allow yourself to do it.

Your distant and rather closed-off behavior hadn’t gone unnoticed. While you thought you were keeping it cool and polite, certain players and people (AKA your entire coaching staff and boss) couldn’t help but see through what you’re doing. 

This becomes evident early one morning, approximately five days after you begin. You’re the first one at the Richmond facilities, having stayed up for so long that night that you figured you might as well just stay awake for training. You’re only the slightest bit delirious and are trying not to vibrate due to the three cups of coffee that are currently coursing through your system.

You’re about to take a sip of your fourth when you hear a knock on your office door. The sound makes you pause— nobody’s supposed to be here until eight, at least. 

The voice behind the knock reveals the identity immediately. “You’re here early, Coach.”

Unconsciously, your body goes rigid. You thought you’d be alone. You’ve only been here for a couple days, but nobody seemed to come in this early. Especially not Jamie Tartt.

What was he doing here? Why was he here so early? Was it just him? Or were there others with him? Anxiety floods through your veins at the idea of being alone in your office with this team’s star player. It creeps along your spine and into your mind and taunts you with ‘what ifs’, It’s stupid and it makes no sense and you hate yourself for it, but you can’t find a way to stop it. 

And it’s not even his fault. It has nothing to do with him. But you can’t seem to convince yourself of that.

Without turning around, you greet him. “C-Could say the same for you, Jamie.”

Jamie Tartt chuckles from your doorframe. “Having trouble sleepin’ lately,” he tells you, sounding slightly confused by your refusal to face him. “Thought I’d show up early.”

You force yourself to turn, crossing your arms over your chest. You ignore how clammy your palms are as your hands ball to fists. “Is that… typical for you?” you ask. “To show up at this time?”

“Not at all,” he replies with a shake of his head. The smile on his face is easy. Polite. Comfortable. “Just got a lot on me mind lately. Makes me sleep shitty.”

“Sorry to hear that.” You attempt the same politeness but your words come out clipped. You can’t tell if he notices. 

Jamie nods. “Oh, it’s whatever. I’ll get over it.”

The dead air you’re met with is almost painful. You know you should be better at this. You know you should be engaging in this type of small talk, trying to get to know your team. You’re their coach, for fuck’s sake. You know what you need to do.

But as you stare at Jamie, you can’t get anything to come out. You don’t want to say the wrong thing. You don’t want to overstep your boundaries or his. You don’t want to screw this up too. One wrong move and it could be over for you.

The hesitation clearly reads on your face and this time, you can tell Jamie notices. However, what you notice is the way he lingers at your door.

Finally, you muster up the courage to ask, “Is there something I can help you with?”

That seems to be what he was looking for. His shoulders sag as he nods, glancing behind him to see if there’s anyone around. “I was just…” He enters your office, plopping himself down into Roy’s desk chair with a lazy spin, and the action makes your throat tighten. “Is, uh… Is Zava really coming to Richmond?”

You don’t know what you were expecting from him, but it certainly wasn’t that. The question catches you off guard. “Oh,” you say. You shrug, arms uncrossing. “Uh, I mean… it’s being talked about. I’m still kind of new, but it seems like every team’s kinda trying to get him. I know West Ham was trying hard for sure, so… not sure if we’ll win him over.”

Jamie nods. “But it’s on the table?”

His tone doesn’t match the question. Everyone else— each player, coach, fan, everyone has the same type of excitement when talking about the prospect of Zava. And you get it. 

But Jamie doesn’t seem to be in the same boat. And immediately, you get that too.

The realization makes you part your lips, something like sympathy rising up inside you. Jamie’s the star. The Ace. He’s Richmond’s playmaker and he thinks he’s going to be sidelined because of it. And honestly, he may just be right.

“Yeah,” you reply. “It’s still on the table.” He nods once more, like he’s confirming a reality he didn’t want to face. In an attempt to reassure him, you awkwardly try, “But there’s still a lot of ‘what-ifs’ that have to happen before that does. The probability of it happening is like, super low.” Jamie looks at you. “So, I wouldn’t worry about it until it does.”

That makes Jamie shake his head. “I’m not worried about it,” he nearly scoffs. You can’t help the way you look at him, eyebrows raised and calling him out on his bullshit. “I’m not!”

“Good,” you say, backing off from this type of conversation before it can start. The idea of getting into any type of argument makes you tense. “You don’t have to be.”

That seems to satisfy him. Momentarily. Because then he asks, “But if he does…” As he trails off, he meets your expectant eyes. “Could we… Could you help me out?”

The question gives you pause. “In what way? Giving you updates on where we are with Zava?”

“No,” he chuckles. “I mean, like… training me. One on one? Or even just giving me more notes in practice?”

The second he says training, your entire body freezes. He wanted to do one-on-one training sessions with you? Just the two of you? Alone? The last time someone you’d coached had asked you that…

Jamie’s expression contorts in confusion as he sees the look on your face. “I just thought that, like, we played the same position? And y’know, I’ve seen your film and I know what you do and… I think you’d be able to help me.”

You try to answer him but the words don’t come out. Your throat’s dry, jaw tight. However, luckily, before Jamie has time to fully panic about his questions, you crush them. “Uh, I’m—” Your voice cracks. “I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with that just yet.”

Your answer seems to surprise him, but you’re surprised by how quickly he backs off. He physically takes a step back, throwing his hands up. “Oh, yeah. Of course,” he says. “You just got here. Don’t really know us yet. Totally get it.”

You hadn’t expected that. The last time, you’d been fought. Begged. Coerced. You’re the only one who seems to get me, Coach. You just know how to teach me. C’mon.

But Jamie doesn’t do that. And you’re not sure what to do with that.

“I-I’m sorry,” you manage to get out. “Nothing against you, but I’m just—” You interrupt yourself with a new offer. “Maybe ask Roy?”

That Jamie actually scoffs at. “Right.”

“I’m serious,” you tell him. “He’s actually a pretty good trainer.”

“No, he’s uh…” Jamie swipes at his mouth as he laughs. “He’s not my biggest fan.”

His admission makes you laugh and relax for a moment. “Well, at least we’ve got that in common, Tartt.”

Jamie’s gaze snaps to yours at that, but his oncoming question is interrupted by a voice from the hallway. “The fuck are you two doing here so early?”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Roy’s voice is a welcome one for the first time in eight years. Your eyes flash to him as he stands outside your shared office, glancing between the two of you in confusion. 

“We both had trouble sleeping,” you respond. “Felt like being early for once.”

Jamie nods in agreement. “Was shootin’ a bit outside. Saw the light was on and wanted to say hi to Coach.”

Roy nods but says nothing to that. He just continues to stare at Jamie in that vaguely intimidating, wildly annoying way. Jamie’s brows raise before Roy says, “You’re in my fucking chair.”

Jamie rolls his eyes. “Yeah. Because you weren’t here. I was gonna get out when you got in.”

“Well, I’m in now,” Roy says. “So get out of my fucking chair.”

Jamie glances at you with a cheeky smile. “Grandad doesn’t like people in his chair.”

The corners of your lips twitch up. “Grandad doesn’t like a lot of things,” you reply, a strange sense of pride rising within you as Jamie’s grin widens.

“Grandad’s about to go out back out into the car park and drive through the facility if my chair’s not empty in three fucking seconds,” Roy grits.

You bite back a smile at the empty threat, watching as Jamie shakes his head and stands. “Easy there, geezer. I’m out. Going back to the pitch,” he tells you two, making his way out of the office. Before he leaves, he glances back at you. “And Coach? Don’t worry about what I said.”

You can feel Roy’s eyes on the side of your face as you give Jamie a small, grateful smile. But when he exits, it drops and you fail to hold back a heavy, shaky sigh. God, why the fuck can’t you do your fucking job? Why does this have to be so hard?

Less than a second of silence passes between you and Roy before he asks, “What did he say?”

You shake your head. “Nothing. Nothing important.”

Roy doesn’t take the hint. He’s never been good at that. “What did he say?” he repeats.

“He—” You slump into your desk chair, running a hand down your face. You know avoiding this is no use. He’ll ask until he gets it out of you, so you might as well get it over with. “He asked me for extra training.”

Roy’s brows shoot up. “You?”

You glare at him from behind your fingers. “I’m a fantastic coach.”

“I know you are. But there’s no way he could have known.”

Your glare only gets more intense as you drop your hands. The implication of his statement isn’t lost on you. No one knows anything about you because of how little you’ve spoken. You get that. But he doesn’t need to be a dick about it.

“It doesn’t matter,” you say with a roll of your eyes. “I said no, so.”

“You said no?” He sounds incredulous. “Since when do you say no?”

“Since—” The words get caught in your throat again, and it tightens horribly. Since West Ham. Since you said no more times than you could count and it went ignored.

You shake your head like it’ll clear your thoughts. “I’m just not comfortable with it.”

Roy’s suspicious. In your experience, a suspicious Roy Kent is just about as bad as a deceitful Roy Kent. Every fucking move you make for the next week will be under scrutiny until he can pinpoint whatever he thinks is happening. The idea makes you want to take him up on his offer to drive through the facility.

His eyes stay on you, calculating stare never breaking. “Why?” he asks, as if he’s expecting a simple answer.

But it’s not simple. It’s so unbelievably, wildly, completely the opposite of simple. 

But you give him a simple answer in return. It’s a bullshit answer, but it’s simple. “Boundaries,” you say. You’re out of your chair before he can respond to that. “I’m going to get more coffee.”

He says nothing as you exit, but you can feel his eyes on you. 

LONDON OLYMPICS. (LATE JULY, 2012)

As it turns out, Roy Kent’s Olympic Boot Camp is wildly more effective and insanely more fun than you thought it ever could be.

The two of you had met up twice since the night of the Opening Ceremony, at the same field, typically at the late-night same time. Roy had continued to send Roger the Driver for you, something you’d taken gladly advantage of, especially with your limited knowledge of the London area. You’d actually grown to love Roger despite his rather talkative nature, and he’d clearly taken a liking to you. 

(“Be kind to this one, Roy!” he’d yelled from the window as you’d exited his car. “The States need her much more than England needs you!”

“Fuck off, you old twat!”)

However, while these trainings had been way better than you’d expected, it’s also way fucking harder than you anticipated. 

You knew Roy was good. He was an AFC star. A Chelsea legend in the making. He was as well known as he was for a reason, and it wasn’t just because he frequented a tabloid cover. Roy was good.

But you think you may have underestimated just how good he was.

And it wasn’t like you weren’t keeping up with him. You could go shot for shot with him, run the same length and duration, and score on him with the same type of precision. Of course, he had his things that he was better at than you were (as a midfielder, he was a smart, fucking brick wall of a defender and wasn’t afraid to push you around) and you had your strengths over him (you were quicker than he was and your striker nature made you better at anticipating him). But there were certain things he’d do in the midst of a 1v1 drill that you would have never thought of, or he’d stop a play to give you a direction that had never occurred to you.

(Or, it would have occurred to you, but just not as quickly.)

That, coupled with the fact that he liked to run these practices until your lungs gave out, made for an intensely more challenging but rewarding experience.

But you didn’t think of them as rewarding until they were over. Case in point, your current and third meeting with him. It was 1:30 in the morning at Mabley Green on the 2nd of August and here you were, growing more and more frustrated with the fact that you couldn’t get around Roy despite the aggressive amount of fakes and footwork you were throwing around. He’d been in your ear the entire time, somehow encouraging you while still being a shit, and when you thought you had him, he stuck out a leg to stop the ball, effectively tripping you in the process.

You hit the ground with an ‘oof,’ taking advantage of your new horizontal position to lie for a minute and catch your breath. Your chest heaved up and down and you stared up at the huge lights illuminating the field. You could hear Roy walking toward you as you threw your arm over your eyes in exhaustion.

“You’re a dick,” you told him. “That fucking hurt.”

Roy’s scoff was loud. “That was a fucking dive.”

“You tripped me!”

“Bit dramatic.”

An affronted sound left your lips and you put your other hand up in a way that resembled a phone. “I’ve got the kettle on the line right now if you’d like to tell it it’s black.” 

You were surprised to hear him chuckle at this. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

Your eyes roll from behind your arm. “I’m serious,” you say. “All you boys act like you were shot the second someone marks you. It’s pathetic.”

“Refs miss shit. You gotta put on a show.”

“Is that show The O.C? Because I’m always expecting an auto-tuned ‘mmm, whatcha say’ to sound off each time one of you losers hits the ground.”

Roy’s standing above you now, looking down with a half-amused expression. “I don’t know what the fuck that means.” He’s talking again before you can explain. “Get up. We’re not finished yet.”

A loud, ugly groan escapes you. You still haven’t completely caught your breath. “I think I’m dying.”

“You’re fine. Get up.”

“I’m serious,” you say again. You finally remove your arm from over your eyes, squinting up at him. He’s as unamused as ever. “I think I’m dying and you killed me. I think if you tried to get me up right now, I’d collapse and stroke out or something.”

“And it would be a fucking loss for us all,” he replies dryly, earning a scowl from you. “I’ve got you for another thirty. We’re wasting time.”

You release another groan and squeeze your eyes shut once more. “Can I please just have, like, five minutes?” you plead. “Not all of us have this military-regimented training style that you seem to. I haven’t been this dialed in since college. Still trying to adjust here.”

(You’ve also never trained like this with someone as good as him before, but you keep that one to yourself. He doesn’t need the ego boost.)

You don’t hear anything in response for a moment. Confused, you open your eyes, expecting to find him still staring down at you with a frown, but he’s not there. Before you can rise to find him, a plastic water bottle lands right next to your head. You flinch in surprise, shooting up to glare at him.

Roy sits down across from you before you can complain. “Five minutes,” he agrees. 

“Oh, thank God,” you mutter, opening up your water to take a long gulp. You glance at him. “Are all of your Boot Camps as intense as this?”

Roy rolls his eyes at your question. “I’m sure you’ve been to worse.”

“I have. But in like, high school. This shit’s got nothing on my two-week sleep-away soccer camp in Western Massachusetts.” You pause for a moment. “Or the one in North Carolina. That one sucked.”

He looks over at you. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. Six A.M. early training sessions into all-day drills and tournament game play? Followed by a lovely nine P.M. late-night training?” You shake your head. “Insane. And that early and late-night stuff? Totally optional.”

“But you still chose to do it,” he states, brows raised.

“I still chose to do it,” you repeat. “That, and my psycho coach would keep tabs on me to make sure I was going.” You chuckle despite yourself and shrug. “But I did it. Without complaint.”

“I see you picked up the complaining later in life.”

You make a face at the way he smirks. “I’d be a masochist if I didn’t complain about this,” you tell him, biting back a smile. “I assume you were born with that trait?”

“Just fucking about,” he mutters. At your inquisitive look, he shrugs. “Sunderland scouted me when I was nine. Training was pretty fucking rough until I went into the AFC.”

“I forgot you guys could start that stuff that young over here,” you say, taking another sip of your water. “Was that tough?”

“I kept up,” he answers. “They were hard on us but—”

“No,” you interrupt. “I meant like, doing that shit at nine. Being away from your family. Being on your own that young. Was that hard?”

With every reason you listed, you could see him stiffening. His expression became harder and you figured if he could push a button to put a wall between you two, he would. Your stomach sank as you tried to figure out if you’d said the wrong thing or pushed too far. Maybe that was a boundary he wasn’t willing to cross. Despite the amount you’d spoken these past three sessions, maybe you weren’t yet friendly enough to ask about his upbringing. 

But then again, he barely talked about himself in any capacity, so maybe it wasn’t just that. Maybe it was everything.

He was quiet for a moment before he shook his head. “No,” he finally said, though the one word alone let you know the answer was the opposite. He glanced down at his watch. “Five minutes are up.”

And that conversation is over. Got it. No questions about his childhood. Understood.

Still, the dismissal catches you slightly off guard. “O-Oh,” you stammer. “Right. Okay.”

Roy said nothing else as he stood, making his way back to the end of the pitch. You suppose you should have expected that from someone like him. While he’d gotten better as a conversationalist as the days had passed, you still led the majority of the talking. And you were fine with that. You were a pretty open book yourself and often forgot that most people weren’t the same way. Maybe that was on you.

You sit for a moment, allowing him some distance before you stand. You throw your water bottle to the sideline and follow behind him, feeling a bit like a dog that just got scolded. But you quickly shake that feeling away as he stops where he left the ball and turns to you, kicking it in your direction.

You put your foot on it as you receive it and look at him expectantly. “I’m setting a timer for thirty seconds,” he tells you, starting to fiddle with his watch. “We’re staying in the box. If you don’t score on me within that time, you run a lap.”

Well, that just sounds like your own personal hell. You frown. “And if I do score?”

“You won’t,” Roy replies quickly, and you don’t know if you’ve ever heard him sound more sure.

“No, but when I do score?” you repeat, emphasizing the word to see him roll his eyes. “What happens? We subtract a lap?”

Roy shrugs. “Sure. But—”

“No,” you say, eyes lighting up. “You have to run.”

“I’m not the one being trained here.”

“Yeah, but I’ve got a match tomorrow. And if my legs like, give out on the field I’m totally blaming you.” You roll the ball against your cleat. “‘I’m sure that ‘Roy Kent being the reason America loses’ isn’t exactly the headline your PR team’s gonna want.”

“I don’t give a fuck about PR,” he replies.

Images of rather negative tabloid covers and online gossip articles starring the man before you start flashing through your head. “Clearly.”

“I just don’t want anyone knowing I’m fraternizing with a fucking Yank,” he finishes, a smirk tugging at his lips. 

An overly fake and affronted gasp leaves your lips. “Fraternizing?” you parrot. “Is that what we’re doing?”

“Guess not,” he says. The smug expression intensifies. “Suppose I could tell them we’re training. Because the girl who’s supposed to be America’s fucking Ace needs it.”

That sparks a fire in you that you haven’t felt in a while. You can’t remember the last time someone challenged you like this. Sure, the women you played against would talk a fair amount of shit to you on and off the field, especially during a tight game when tensions were running high. But this was different. It was different hearing it from someone like him.

You’d never liked having to prove yourself. You knew it came with the territory of your chosen career path. You’d been doing it all your life. For every team you joined, every game you played, and every interview you gave, you’d been given an opportunity to prove yourself. And each time, you did. You were good at showing people up. But that didn’t mean you liked it.

You figured at some point people would just get the message. But unfortunately, that had never been the case.

So, as you look at Roy (who, by this point, knew he’d hit a nerve and had gotten the exact response he’d wanted), you know exactly what you’re going to do. You’re going to prove yourself and show him up like the rest.

With that settled, you nod at him. “Start the clock,” you say.

And as soon as he does, you’re on.

You attack without caution this time around. You’d never held back when practicing with Roy (mainly because he’d reprimand you if he felt you weren’t trying hard enough), but you also rarely had an edge to you like this. It’s new and aggressive and just a bit exciting.

Roy’s fucking ecstatic to see it. His chest meets your back as you attempt to pass him and you can feel him chuckling against it. “That’s it,” he says lowly. “Get around me. I fucking dare you.”

“Shut up,” you mutter, attempting a fake before moving to go the other way.

Said attempt ends up being less than successful as Roy fails to fall for it and kicks the ball out from beneath your foot. You swear under your breath, watching as it sails out of the box.

You’re close enough to him to still feel his chest moving up and down against your back, and his breath tickles your neck when he asks, “Is that seriously the best you’ve got?”

Your jaw clenches, but you refuse to look at him. “I’m gonna fucking destroy you.”

The certainty in your voice makes Roy grin, something you don’t see as you jog to retrieve the ball. The remnants of the smile stick around as you whip around to face him, commanding that he start the clock once more. The moment he does as he’s told, you’re coming at him again, nothing but determination to be seen in your expression.

This time, you’re quick. You anticipate his classic defensive stance, knowing that he’ll block your first shot. As soon as the ball bounces off his foot, you’re there for the rebound. You stop short, pulling back the moment he makes yet another move to take it from you, and he slips. 

You easily score on him not a second later.

After watching the ball fly into the net, you glance over at Roy. While he doesn’t look thrilled to have been bested, he doesn’t look sad either. Again, it’s like there are remnants of a smile left to be seen. 

“So,” you say. “Are we at zeroes for laps? Or one for one?”

Roy shakes his head. “One for one. Let’s keep fucking going.”

PRESENT DAY. (MID AUGUST, 2023)

It isn’t until the end of practice that you can feel it. How much Roy wants to fight with you.

It sounds stupid to phrase it like that, but it’s the only way. He’s pent up, a week into your ‘no fighting’ deal, and ready to burst. And while it’s worked (only because you two strictly talk about work and nothing else), now that he’s got something more personal to say, it’s like you’re waiting for an active volcano.

To be fair, your deal has worked in terms of not making a scene and not raising most people’s suspicions. But every other level, it’s been torturous. And right now? Roy’s ready to kill you.

He can’t, for the life of him, understand why you’re acting like this. 

He knows you. You’re warm. You’re friendly. You have this innate ability to make everyone around you comfortable in your presence, an ability to talk to anyone and everyone and actually get through. All of these things, coupled with the fact that he could never shut you up, made you who you were; a great teammate and an even better coach. 

(They were also all qualities Roy wished he had himself, which is why he was so fucking drawn to you in the first place, but that’s neither here nor there.)

He doesn’t know who this is. But he knows for a fact that these changes aren’t just because of time.

Roy’s breaking point, however, occurs toward the end of your Thursday practice. It’d been a good day, the boys showing more promise than ever. End-of-pre-season jitters (as Ted called them) were in full force and it was clear that the team couldn’t be more excited to get started with the season.

In your return back into the facility, Sam Obisanya trails back to fall into step with you with a wide smile on his face. He doesn’t miss the look of surprise you give him as he says, “I really liked what you said about passing around the box. I’ve been thinking that for all of pre-season, but did not know how to get it through to everyone.”

The point he’s referring to was one of the only things you’d said all afternoon. It was a quiet direction on your part, told more as a recommendation than an instruction. But Sam, Jamie, Colin, and Dani had taken it in stride, and it worked. Cleanly, too. You straight-up almost cried out of relief.

“Oh,” you say to him lamely, offering a small smile. “Thank you. You guys did great with it.”

Sam’s grin gets wider. “We all are going to eat after we’re done here,” he tells you. “You should join us.”

You can feel your stomach drop at the offer. You don’t want to turn him down. Poor Sam was trying so hard to make an effort with you and you feel completely awful giving him nothing in return. 

But you just… can’t. Boundaries. Boundaries.

Sam gets his answer from the way your smile turns apologetic. “I wish I could,” you say, knowing that it’s the truth. “But, I, uh— I’ve actually got plans tonight.”

“You could just come for a drink?” he offers. “I’m only going for a little while myself. I have some things at the restaurant I need to do.”

Your heart clenches. “I really wish I could.”

Thankfully, Sam takes the hint. He nods at you, still smiling. You don’t think he’s ever stopped. “That’s alright,” he says. “Another time.”

You nod back. “Yeah. Another time.”

With that, Sam goes to catch up with his teammates and leaves you with an overwhelming amount of guilt on your shoulders. 

He’s trying, you tell yourself. They all are. It’s different than West Ham. They’re not the same. Nobody on this team is like him—

You can feel yourself getting nauseous at the mere thought of him. It completely takes you out of the moment and your hands begin to shake back and forth as you attempt to continue walking, clenching your teeth as if that’ll rid your mind of him.

How strange it is to be haunted by someone who’s still living.

You’re already disoriented enough when you feel a hand grab your arm and yank you to the side. Your world spins for a moment and when it stabilizes, you realize you’re in the Boot Room staring at Roy Kent.

He slams the door shut and whirls around on you. “What the fuck are you doing?”

You do a full, cartoon-like double-blink at him. “What am I doing?” you ask him incredulously. “What are you doing? Why the hell did you pull me in here like that?”

“You don’t have plans tonight,” is what he replies with, like that’s a reasonable answer to your question.

“And how would you know that?” you question. 

He gives you a look. “Because you fucking don’t.”

“I do,” you say, crossing your arms. Your mind scrambles to find some excuse that’s suitable. For whatever reason, you decide on, “I have a date.”

Roy’s brows rocket up. “Do you?”

You know he can see right through you, so you don’t even bother trying. “No,” you admit, watching him roll his eyes. “But I could have. You don’t know my schedule.”

Roy doesn’t seem to want to linger on this. “That’s the third fucking time one of them has invited you out since you got here,” he tells you, ignoring the way your eyes widen. “Why do you keep turning them down?”

“Why are you keeping track of that?” you shoot back.

“Because you’re being a fucking hermit.” As if he knows exactly what you’re going to say next, he holds out a hand. “And that’s my fucking job. That’s not who you are.”

His words make you deflate, and your arms get tighter over your chest. “I’m not being a hermit,” you mutter, looking away from him. “I’m just not trying to take work home with me. I don’t see anything wrong with keeping the two separate.”

Roy isn’t having it. “No, you’re not,” he says. “You’re not keeping the two separate. You’re shutting out every fucking person around you when you’re at work too.” 

“That’s not true—”

“Did you or did you not refuse to train Jamie yesterday morning?” he snaps. Your silence answers his question for him. “It is fucking true. And even if it weren’t, unfortunately, that whole keeping-work-separate fucking bullshit doesn’t work here. Trust me. I tried.”

You scoff. “Well, that sounds like an HR issue.”

“Well, when Ted stops leaving fucking flowers for the HR women every week, I’m sure they’ll start to take your complaints seriously,” he tells you, and you sigh. Heavy. “Now, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

This question earns him a glare. “There’s nothing wrong with me,” you bite. “And if there were, it surely wouldn’t concern you.”

“Yes, it fucking does. You know why?” he asks. You stare at him expectantly. “Because last week, I remember someone telling me that if this was going to work, we have to tell each other things.”

Your own words come back to bite you in the ass and it makes your chest tighten. You scoff in an attempt to play it off, but that panic starts rising inside of you and throws everything off course. You know that it’s stupid, and you know that it’s Roy, and that despite it all, deep down, nothing bad would come from telling him… it’s still scary.

You didn’t want to talk about it and he didn’t deserve to know. Not yet, at least.

“Not this,” you say after a beat. Your voice sounds meek and it makes Roy’s brow scrunch. “I’ll talk to you about anything else you want, but not…” You interrupt yourself with a breath. “Not this.” Then, you utter a word you haven't said in eight years. "Foxtrot."

It’s then that Roy’s expression turns from confused to shocked. His lips part in surprise, like he can’t believe that just left your mouth. And then he looks at you. Like, really looks at you. It almost intimidates you in a way, and it would intimidate you more if you didn’t know this look of his. Not only is he evaluating you, you can tell he’s holding something back.

You’d said the word. Pulled that thing out of the trenches and threw it in his face. But he's still staring at you, determined to figure out exactly how to approach this situation. Attempting to figure out if he should say something.

Because, unfortunately, as well as you know Roy, he knows you better. And he knows how to get through to you. 

(And it’s fucking irritating.)

He, in fact, does choose to say something. And it’s not what you’re expecting. Because before he says in, he reaches into his pocket for his wallet, filing through it. 

Your mouth parts in question. “Are you trying to bribe me into—”

“Shut up,” he mutters, and you do so until he seems to find what he’s looking for. He holds out a slip of paper-- something that appears to be a newspaper clipping from ages ago. “Here.”

You blink at it. “What is that?”

“Just fucking—” Roy sighs, adjusting his grip on the page. “Read it.”

Hesitantly, you reach out to grab it. Your fingers brush his when you take it, and the action alone makes the two of you glance at each other. You look away as you unfold the paper, quickly scanning it.

Newcomer Roy Kent is an over-hyped, so-called prodigy whose unbridled rage and mediocre talent rendered his Premier League debut a profound disappointment.

Your gaze shifts up at him knowingly. Roy can’t help but notice that most of the anger has slipped from your face. “Crimm?”

Roy nods once. “Crimm.”

“Was this your first game?” you ask, and when he nods again, things start to make a little more sense. You sigh, shoulders slumping. “You were seventeen.”

“I was seventeen,” he repeats, reaching out to take the clipping back from you. He only seems marginally surprised that you remembered that. “I was fucking seventeen years old and fucking debilitated by how nervous I was. I didn’t sleep for days before the game and then I went out there, I fucking survived it, and then read that shit. Didn’t sleep for days after it.” He shakes his head. “And then that prick fucking waltzes in here with his notepad and his stupid fucking hair like he didn’t fucking destroy me and wants to write a book about my team? Not a fucking chance.”

The outburst makes you stare at Roy in shock. He’d never mentioned anything like this to you. By the way he spoke of his earlier AFC days at Sunderland, you’d always assumed that it was smooth sailing. That while his career didn’t really take off until he joined Chelsea, he didn’t hold any resentment for anything that had happened. And while this may have seemed insignificant in the grand scheme of things, especially looking back at his career and other things people had said about him, this was Roy. Of course, he’d hold on to something like this.

“So, yeah,” he says, shifting uncomfortably under your gaze. “That’s why I won’t talk to Crimm. I don’t give a shit if you don’t get it, but that’s why.” He motions to you. “I showed you mine, so you show me yours, or whatever the fuck. That's how the counter-Foxtrot works, right?”

You do get it. You understand it better than anyone. But more importantly, you understand why he’d hold on to that. Roy, who could hold a grudge almost as well as you could. Roy, who hated the media and press and the world knowing shit about him more than anyone you knew. Roy, who felt and internalized things so deeply that he didn’t even realize he was doing it. 

It’s the first thing he’s clued you in on in years. Even if it was vague and minimal, he told you. And you know how much he didn’t want to. That’s good enough for you to allow yourself to clue him in too.

(God, he really does know how to get through, huh?)

You blink away from him, gaze focused on the door. “I just…” You clear your throat, throwing a hand up pathetically. “I don’t get why they want to get to know me so bad.”

“Because they’re good fucking lads,” he responds.

“I know. And it’s pissing me off,” you mutter. Your arms are still crossed and right now, that feels like the only thing that’s protecting you. The weight is comforting. “I know it sounds ungrateful and dumb and it doesn’t make sense, but I just wish they’d…”

“...Fuck off?”

“Yeah,” you huff. “That.”

Roy’s head tilts. “Why?”

You don’t want to tell him. You know how stupid he’ll think it is, you know you’ll get told you’re an idiot. But he’s already told you something. In your world of deals, that means something. And your words return again to taunt you.

If this is gonna work, you have to tell me things, okay?

Your eyes shut and a shaky breath escapes your lips. It all comes out at once, like you’re trying to exterminate them. “Because the last time I got to know the team, I got fired,” you tell him, and his entire demeanor shifts. “And I can’t do that again. That can’t happen again. So, if that means I have to be distant and a bit unfriendly, then so be it.”

The inquisitive look he wore vanished entirely, replaced with something harder and much more serious. “What do you mean?”

You can feel your skin start to crawl. Your shirt suddenly doesn’t feel right on your body. It’s too hot in this small Boot Room and it’s all suddenly too much. “N-Nothing,” you say, chest tightening. “It doesn’t matter. You asked for the reason, and I gave it to you. That’s why I’m being weird.”

Roy’s not buying it. He’s seen all your signs and he knows there’s more to this than you’re letting on. You can tell he’s battling whether or not to press forward, and if so, how to do so. Your eyes are pleading for him to drop it. 

“It wasn’t leadership differences,” he decides to land on. He says it like he’s always known. Like it may be confirming another suspicion. But it’s vague enough that you’re okay with it.

You chuckle, but there’s no humor in it. “No,” you say. “Not exactly.”

Roy nods, silence filling the room. He’s still staring at you and you’re starting to think he won’t ever stop. You notice the sliver of anger in his eyes but see it’s more subdued than usual. It’s not directed at you. It’s like he’s filing it away for later.

He speaks a moment later. “Whatever happened there,” he begins, voice low. “It won’t happen here. It would never happen here.”

You swallow the lump in your throat. “I’m starting to get that,” you answer honestly. “But it’s still hard.”

“I know.” Roy says, and the way he nods tells you that he does know. His mouth opens, wanting to say more, but it doesn’t come out immediately. “Just…” His eyes cast up to the ceiling. “If anything, just fucking… speak up in practice more. You’re their coach now. If you don’t want to get fucking personal with them, at least get to know them on the field.”

“I know them on the field,” you reply, because you do. You know your new players inside and out. You’ve studied them. You know their strengths, their weaknesses, what makes them tick. You know what works. “I do.”

“I know that,” is Roy’s immediate response, just like this morning. He points to the door. “But they fucking don’t. And they won’t know it until you fucking show them.”

This time, you look away from him because you know he’s right. A decade ago, Roy was just about fifty-fifty when it came to right and wrong, but now? He was consistently on target. You’re not sure which switch flipped in him or when, but goddamn, was it maddening.

You ask him such as you huff in annoyance. “Since when are you right all the fucking time?”

Roy’s clearly not expecting that, and it’s evident by the way he barks out a laugh. But, he figures, if you’re going to be nice, he supposes he will too. 

“You were gone,” he replies with a chuckle. “Figured I had to pick up the slack.”

Involuntarily, your eyes go soft at his words. They’re kind and truthful and genuinely civil. It’s only for a moment, but Roy picks up on it in an instant. It makes the tiny, less resentful piece of him want to make it happen again, but he tells that piece of him to shut the fuck up.

He watches you as you sigh, shutting your eyes as if you’re readjusting. “Okay,” you finally say. “I’ll be better. I’ll… actually do my job, I guess.”

“About fucking time,” Roy mutters, though it’s slightly encouraging.

“But,” you continue, “I can’t… I can’t train Jamie. I can’t do one-on-one. That’s my non-negotiable.”

Roy wants to ask why. He wants to understand. He knows he’d be shit at helping you through it, but he just wants to get it. However, the look on your face keeps him from saying what he wants to. So, instead, he simply nods. “Okay.”

The relief you feel is written across your face. “Okay,” you agree. Then, you add, “I, uh, did tell him to ask you, though.”

Roy’s expression goes blanker than usual. “You fucking what?”

“You’re a good one-on-one trainer,” you offer, voice going up an octave. “I’m, like, your top reference.”

“Yeah, but you’re you,” Roy responds. “I can work with you. Not Jamie Tartt.”

You shrug. “What’s the difference?”

“Jamie Tartt is a fucking prick,” he states, as if it’s obvious. “You’re infuriating. And annoying. And a fucking headache. But he’s all those things on top of being a fucking prick.”

Your lips part at this, squinting at Roy. “I’m sorry, and you wanted me to train him?”

Roy doesn’t acknowledge your comment. “I’m not fucking training him.”

“I’m not saying you have to,” you respond, raising your hands in surrender. “I’m just letting you know that I passed him off to you.”

“Appreciate it. I’ll tell him to fuck off.”

“Glad you have a game plan.” While those words were lilted with annoyance, your next are a bit softer. “He… seemed a bit worried about Zava.”

Roy’s brow draws slightly. “Zava?”

“He tried to play it off,” you explain, “but he wasn’t subtle. Jamie’s obviously used to being the best on the team. I’m not sure he’s loving the competition.”

“The twat will get over it,” Roy says. “Sometimes you’re the best on the field, sometimes you’re not. That’s fucking life.”

You shoot him a look. “I don’t think he shakes things off like that. He’s not like you and me where we either don’t care or immediately use that type of shit for motivation.” Your eyes cast up to the ceiling as you speak, spilling out every thought you’ve had since Jamie came to you. “Guys like him, they need that reassurance. That ego needs to be healed when it’s been shot down, and then they’re finally ready to get motivated…” You trail off as soon as you see the way Roy’s looking at you. Head-tilted and slightly satisfied. “What?”

“Nothing,” he replies with a shrug. There’s a ghost of a smile on his face. “It’s just nice to get to see you finally fucking coaching.”

Warmth rises up your neck. It’s a mixture of embarrassment, being called out, and something else. The feeling makes you itch and in an attempt to shake it off, you shrug. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” 

There’s a brief moment of silence and for a second, you think he’s going to make you sit in this air. However, he seems to take pity on you. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

It’s a soft agreement, one that you weren’t sure you were going to get. But it takes a bit of the weight off nonetheless. “Thank you.”

“He’s still a prick,” he adds, like he can’t help himself. 

You nod in faux assurance. “Sure, Grandad.”

Roy casts his eyes to the ceiling. “Fuck’s sake, not you too.”

You can’t help it. You laugh. For the first time in eight years, Roy sees you laugh. It’s quiet. Light, even. But it’s lovely. It’s sweet. Roy can’t believe he’d allowed himself to go so long without hearing it. 

Yet another silence passes between you two. Maybe it’s to savor the moment. Maybe it’s to remember. Perhaps it’s both. Perhaps it’s neither. 

Whatever it is, it suddenly feels way too comfortable. There’s a split second where you’re back in 2015, just before everything went to shit. And that can’t happen. You can’t allow that to happen.

However, before you can move past that, Roy just has to catch you off guard. “So, you’ll start fucking coaching and I’ll… consider training with him.” He says the words like they take effort. And then, he looks at you and completely throws you off. “Should we shake on it?”

The words are hesitant and you know why. You have to refrain from taking a step back from him simply because of the weight that they carry. All you can do is stare at his outstretched hand. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say his hands were shaking.

But, you snap yourself out of it, and when you meet him in the middle, you’re certain yours are.

He holds eye contact with you as you make the agreement, hands grasped around each others with the intention of a promise. It’s too real. Too familiar. Too… much.

So, before you can freak out in front of him, you cut it short with a nod and remove your hand from his. You glance out the window of the Boot Room door to see the team pass by, all packed up and ready for their outing. One you know you should be joining, but just aren’t there yet.

When you turn back to him, the small smile on your face is tight. But you’re truthful when you say, “Thank you.”

Roy doesn’t need to ask what for. He knows. Of course he does. 

But luckily for you, he seems to be on the same page, blinking at you like he’s pulling himself out of some self-induced trance. “Right.” He awkwardly returns your nod, avoiding eye contact as he heads for the door. “Don’t make me say any of that shit again.”

And, as soon as the door shuts behind him, you’re finally left with more answers than questions about your place at Richmond for the first time all week.

(The same can’t be said for your questions about Roy. But, you figure, what else is new?)

PRESENT DAY. (MID-BOOT ROOM FIGHT WITH ROY KENT, 2023)

If you hadn’t been so consumed by your conversation with one of your fellow coaches, you would have noticed the other two watching you from the window. And as for questions, they had many.

The first is asked by Ted, approximately one minute after he and Beard had stationed themselves outside of the door. “Should we break it up?”

Beard shook his head slowly. “They’ve been tiptoeing around this one since she started,” he replied. “We break this up now, you might lose an arm.”

Ted shifted back on his heels. “You don’t think we can get them to hug it out, do you?”

“That’d be the reason you lose the arm, pal.”

“Yeah, Roy’s not much of a hugger, is he?” The silence that passed between them spoke as an agreement. The two watched as you crossed your arms over your chest, rolling your eyes as Roy seemed to reprimand you. “Do you think this thing between them goes deeper than he let on?”

Beard’s response was immediate. “Oh, yeah. Way deeper.”

“Did we sign ourselves up for something crazy? Something we can’t handle?”

“Oh, yeah,” Beard repeated. Then, he shook his head. “But nothing we can’t handle.”

“Well, then, what do we do?” Ted asked. “Because we can’t have them ‘fine, fine’-ing each other like they’re Sam and Diane all season. The kids ain’t fine, fine, Coach.”

Ted turned to his friend, who’d gone quiet. He followed his sightline to the corner of the Boot Room where Will was hiding, looking as though he were praying to any God who would listen that the two of you wouldn’t notice him.

Pity overtook both of their expressions. “I…” Beard drew out, brow furrowing as he watches Roy pull out his wallet. “...may have an idea.”

When Beard did look over at Ted, there was an excited look in his eye and a wide smile threatening to break out. “I know that voice,” he said. “Am I thinkin’ what you’re thinking?”

“Parent Trap ‘em?” he asked.

Ted grinned. “We really should go on The Newlywed Game.”

“It wouldn’t be fair. We’d sweep.”

LONDON OLYMPICS. (LATE JULY, 2012)

It’s nearly three in the morning when Roy tells you that your next rally will be your last for the night.

To say you’re thankful would be an understatement. Your lungs are screaming at you and have been for the last fifteen minutes. You can feel the early signs of shin splints with every move you make, and you already know you’re going to wake up tomorrow morning with a ridiculous amount of pain in your hamstrings. 

But you didn’t care. That didn’t matter. What mattered was getting your newfound training companion to shut the fuck up. And the only way to do that was to beat him in this little game he created to a pulp.

It was tragically ironic to find that Roy Kent, a man who was typically of so few words, couldn’t seem to keep quiet when he was playing against you. He had a special sort of talent for getting under your skin, somehow saying the exact thing that would press a specific button that you didn’t even know you had. He was frustrating. Infuriating, even. And there was no shot in hell you were losing to this jackass, especially when you’d managed to tie the score.

(But you’d be lying if you said that you weren’t having at least a little bit of fun.)

However, the relief on your face at his declaration is palpable, and your expression makes Roy raise his brows. “Don’t tell me you’re fucking tired,” he says. “We’ve still got laps to run.”

You throw your head back with an exaggerated groan. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know,” you say. “Can we just go so I can beat you and leave?”

Roy’s head tilts. “You’re confident for someone who looks like she’s gonna drop fucking dead.”

“Like you look any better,” you shoot back, eying the grass and dirt that had stained his legs. 

To be fair, you hadn’t lied. Roy didn’t look any better than you did. He was just as roughed up, if not more. There was a sense of pride in that, knowing that he’d had to try as hard to beat you as you did for him. You felt equal. This game had never been equal before.

He seems to know this too. “Well, fucking get on with it then.”

The ball’s at your feet, and you stare down at it as you try to plan how you’re going to attack. What haven’t you done yet? What won’t he be expecting? How can you ensure that--

“Don’t fucking think about it,” you hear him say. When you look up at him in annoyance, he shakes his head. “Just fucking do it.”

But you can’t not think about it. Thinking is what you do. It’s how you stay ahead, it’s how you’ve beaten him in this little game before, it’s how you’re going to beat him now. 

But now you’re frustrated. You wanted to get this over with and prove him wrong and show him up. You’re so sick of hearing him say that and you kick the ball out in front of you to shut him up. And suddenly, you’re playing.

He’s guarding you before you know it. You cut the ball to your left, kicking it through his legs as he tries to meet you. You push your elbow against his chest as you chase down the ball, gritting your teeth when you feel him whip around to recover from his misstep. His chest presses against your shoulder, repeatedly bumping into you each time he works to get the ball from you.

“Come on, Fourteen,” he chides in your ear. “Finish me off like you said you would.”

You shove your shoulder into him again. It’s more forceful this time and the soft sound he makes in response feels like a victory. He drops back to follow you to the goal, which gives you the space you need to maneuver your body into a more comfortable position. 

You’re just outside the box, but you know that whatever move you make next, he’s going to be there to block it. You know his tricks. You’re on track to figuring out how his mind works on the field. Maybe you can outsmart him. Rely on your footwork to psych him out and—

Roy then seems to see you thinking. And he chooses that time to attack. So, footwork it is.

As he nears you, you roll the ball in the opposite direction, keeping an eye on him in your peripheral. Your foot pulls the ball back in a V, then you move it forward to creep into the box. 

He’s still in front of you. While you were quicker, Roy was never one to give up. It was what made him so great on the pitch and so annoying to play against. An idea then sparks: if you can get him to bite, get him close enough to you, you can chop the ball to get him off balance, then spin to get a better angle on the goal.

So, you do exactly that. Or, at least try to.

You swear he can see in your head. That he can read your mind and every thought that crosses it. Because while you do catch him slightly off guard, he recovers the second you try to spin. He’s behind you and before you know it, you’re the one caught off balance. He kicks the ball away from you and out of the box, leaving you to fall on your ass and stain the backs of your thighs.

Fuck. Fuck.

You’re on your back again for the second time today, eyes screwed shut in frustration and disappointment. How had he done it? You swore that was going to work. It’d worked millions of times before, how could it possibly have gone wrong now?

There’s a piece of you that wants to cry. That frustration, that exhaustion, that need to prove yourself had all come crashing down onto your chest, and here you were, in the same place you were before the drill had started.

You don’t even want to look at him. You’re almost too embarrassed to do so. You know that it’s all a part of your deal, that you’re supposed to fail and get better with him, but it’s still a kick in the teeth to end a session like this with a loss. 

You’re able to feel Roy’s presence before you hear him. “Get up,” he tells you.

A loud, shaky sigh escapes you. “I need a second before you run me into the ground, Coach.”

If he notices how your voice wavers, he doesn’t say anything. “Not your coach,” he replies, though he’s speaking softer. “But I’m not running you either.”

You crack an eye open. “Really?”

“C’mon,” he says, holding his hand out for you to take. “Up.”

You stare at his hand for a moment, then cast your eyes up to the starless sky with another heavy sigh. Then, you begrudgingly take his hand, allowing him to yank you up with a strength you’re not expecting.

His hand lingers in yours as you get your bearings. It’s rough and just a bit clammy, but you can’t imagine yours are any better. You’re not looking at him when you remove your hand from his, but find his eyes when he taps your shoulder.

“C’mon,” Roy repeats. He nods over to the track around the field. “Let’s go.”

“I thought we weren’t running,” you mutter.

He glances at you from over his shoulder. “We’re not fucking running,” he responds. “But you need a cool down. Stop your fucking whining and walk with me.”

A scowl appears on your lips at his words, but you relent and follow him. “Fine.”

It’s quiet between you two, giving you a moment to catch your breath and think about what just happened. While you’re thankful that you don’t have to do your laps, so still can’t believe you lost. Yes, it’s just practice, and yes, it doesn’t mean anything, but it’s still… it’s the principal of it. You’ve never been a good loser. You’ve never—

“We need to work on your footwork,” Roy says abruptly, interrupting your train of thought. You glance over at him. “It’s your biggest weakness besides your overthinking.”

A frown pulls at your lips. “My footwork is fine.”

“Yeah. Exactly. It’s fine,” he agrees. “And that’s the fucking problem. Nobody out there can fucking catch you, so you’ve never had to worry about it. But the second you get tighter and more concise…” He shakes his head. “Pair all that with your unpredictability and fucking annoying defense, you’ll blow them all out of the fucking water.”

Pride bubbles in your stomach and rises to your chest. You know that you’re good. And you know that he thinks you’re good. He wouldn’t have taken a chance on you if he hadn’t. But it’s still validating to hear. Especially from him.

But still, you can’t help yourself; “I’m not annoying.”

Roy scoffs, but you can tell he’s biting back a smile. “You are. You’re like a fucking gnat.”

“I am not a gnat,” you gasp. 

“You are. Fucking buzzing in my ear and shit.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being aggressive. You’d know something about that, hypocrite.” When Roy huffs a laugh and shakes his head, you bat him on the arm. “I’m serious. When I crossed you up and hit that corner goal toward the end?” You blow an exaggerated breath and raise your brows at him. “I haven’t seen you that mad since that Arsenal game in like, 2007.”

His response to your jab isn’t what you expected. While you’d anticipated a classic eye roll, a reaction of his that you’d become very familiar with, you get a look of intrigue. “You watched that game?”

“Of course I did,” you respond. Your lips tug into a smile. “I’m a huge Arsenal fan.”

Then you get the eye roll. “You must have been fucking distraught to see your team lose.”

“It was heartbreaking,” you say. “It was fun to see you get thrown out, though.”

“That was a fucking bullshit call,” he scoffs.

“You almost broke Lewis Fox’s leg. And then tried to fight him from the ground.”

“Exactly. Fucking bullshit,” he says. “It shouldn’t count when he’s a prick.”

You allow for a beat of reflection before you respond. “Yeah, he really is a prick, isn’t he?”

That gets you something you haven’t seen from him yet. A smile. A real one, where you can see teeth and all. It’s jarring. And suddenly the pride you felt from his compliments is nothing compared to the feeling you get from this.

It grows as Roy carries on. “The fucking King of them.”

“Prince,” you say in disagreement. “He’s too much of a jackass to honor with a King title. Prince Prick. Duke of Prickland. Court Jester. Whatever.”

“Court Jester?”

“Absolutely,” you reply. “He’d look good in the stupid little hat, too. Would hide the fact that he’s balding.”

Roy barks out a laugh. “He’s going fucking mental over that.”

“I can imagine.” Teasingly, you add, “I guess that’s the one thing you’ve got over him.”

“My hair?”

“Yeah. You’ve got enough to share with him.”

Roy shakes his head again, smile refusing to fade. “Well, thank fucking God it’s something important.”

“Hey, football skills are forever. Hair starts to fade when you hit twenty-five.” You shrug and return his grin. “I’d say you’re winning this one, Kent.”

A labored sigh leaves Roy, like he can’t believe he’s having this type of conversation with you. Frankly, you can’t believe you’re talking like this with him. You’re talking like… friends. It’s strange. Especially after he completely shut you down when talking before.

That thought sinks deep into your mind and you know it won’t go away until you address it. Huh. Maybe he’s right. Maybe you do overthink.

Before you can question that further, you’re speaking. “Hey. I—” You awkwardly cut yourself off as his gaze returns to you. “I just… I wanted to say that I’m sorry if I like, overstepped a boundary back there.” He continues to look at you in response, cueing you to elaborate. “Asking about Sunderland. Leaving your family. That.”

The second you say ‘Sunderland,’ he looks away from you. You grit your teeth as you refrain from cringing, hoping you didn’t ruin what was almost a normal, nice, and friendly moment. That anxiety makes you talk more. 

“You don’t owe me any answers, or anything. We can keep this professional and talk about soccer and how much we both hate Lewis Fox only.” Roy still hasn’t looked at you. “You don’t have to talk to me at all, if you don’t want to. I’m just… pretty open. And I forget that other people aren’t the same way. So…” You trail off, fiddling with your fingers. “I’m sorry.”

He’s quiet for approximately ten seconds. Each feels like agony as you rot in the awkwardness of the silence. Then, he says, “Don’t… fucking apologize for trying to get to know me.”

Well, that’s not what you were expecting at all. “O-Oh.”

“I’m fucking obviously going to talk to you,” he continues, in a way that makes it sound like he’s choosing his words carefully. “But there’s just certain things that I… really fucking hate talking about. And that was one of them.”

You’re nodding before he’ss finished speaking. “Completely understandable.”

Roy looks over at you cautiously. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you agree. “Like I said, I’m not entitled to anything. You just let me know when I’ve crossed a line or something.” Your eyes light up in a way that Roy refuses to find endearing. “We can have a codeword or something.”

“A codeword?” he asks wearily.

“Yes, Roy. A codeword.” You stop him in the middle of the track. “Okay, Kent Rule number one. If either of us—”

“What the fuck is a Kent Rule?”

“If either of us,” you repeat, “don’t want to talk about something, we say…” Your eyes scan the field. “Goalpost.”

Roy blinks at you. “That’s a stupid fucking codeword.”

“Okay, you don’t get to shit on my idea and then shit on my codeword, dick,” you say, ignoring the tiny smile that’s growing on his face. “Let me hear yours.”

His eyes scan you up and down. “Gnat.”

“Oh, look who’s fucking annoying now.”

“I think that’s a great one.”

“I think I’m back on Lewis Fox’s side now,” you mutter. Before Roy can roll his eyes, you point at him in excitement. “Fox! That’s our codeword.” Then, you interrupt yourself, by throwing both your hands out. “Wait. Foxtrot. That sounds so much more legit.”

Roy’s had only gotten blanker as you spoke. “I think you should be institutionalized.”

“Kent Rule number one,” you say, ignoring him. “If you don’t want to talk about something, say Foxtrot. We move on, no questions asked.”

“Great.”

“But,” you continue, “you only get one Foxtrot a day.”

“Only fucking one?” he asks.

“Why are you saying it like that?”

“Because you ask a lot of fucking questions.”

You huff. “Fine. No one-a-day rule. But use them sparingly.”

“Can I Foxtrot this conversation?” Roy questions.

You don’t give him the reaction he clearly desires. “Look at you, you’re getting the hang of it!” you cheer, clapping him on the shoulder. “So, does Kent agree to the Kent Rule?”

You receive yet another exasperated shake of the head. “Fucking fine. Yeah. I agree.”

“Wonderful,” you reply, sticking your hand out to him. When he looks down at it, you wiggle your fingers. “We have to shake on it.”

“What?”

“Because it’s not a real agreement if we don’t shake on it,” you answer, as if it’s obvious. “Duh.”

Roy stares at your hand, then at you, and then back at your hand. After a ridiculous amount of time, his shoulders slump in defeat. His hand meets yours and when it does, you beam.

“Institutionalized,” he tells you as you two shake. “I’m fucking serious.”

“And risk your life being way less exciting without me in it?” You put a hand over your heart. “You’d miss me too much.”

And when you grin at him, there’s a piece of Roy that already knows that there might just be a sliver of truth in that.

(mini!) TAGLIST: @tegan8314, @csigeoblue, @confessionsofatotaldramaslut, @thatonedogwithablog, @hawkeyeharrington

[aaronmaurer]

TV I Liked in 2022

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

2022 brought plenty of new continuing and limited series of note, while returning shows retained the qualities that set them apart to begin with. There were outstanding series finales and expectation-defying debuts. This year I’ve divided my list into new shows (which I’ve folded the Disney+ Marvel shows into because there were only three of them, and two of them were pretty great!) and returning highlights. I also threw in some honorable mentions for additional viewing, if you’re really looking for content this winter.

New and Notable:

9. (tie) Winning Time: Season 1 (HBO) and Welcome to Wrexham: Season 1 (FX)

I’ll kick off my list of new shows with a couple of very different series about sports that are united by being compulsively watchable and each balancing a comic touch with more dramatic moments.

Winning Time is a fictionalized (highly, according to some reactions) account of the beginning of Los Angeles Lakers’ 1980s “Showtime” era with the signing of Magic Johnson. Adapted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice), the series is hyper-kinetic, using a mix of film stock and camera formats (including grainy Super 8), plenty of fourth wall breaking by its characters and a heightened sense of reality. It’s A LOT – reveling in the excess of its era and subjects, maybe too much? – but I ultimately find it fun and compelling, especially the performances including John C Reilly as team owner Jerry Buss, Jason Segal as interim coach Paul Westhead, Adrien Brody as reporter-turned-assistant coach (and future head coach) Pat Riley, Quincy Isaiah as Magic himself, Wood Harris as struggling forward Spencer Haywood and Solomon Hughes as superstar center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, just to name a few of the absolutely STACKED cast. I didn’t even mention Sally Field! Or Tracy Letts! And the list goes on and on!

Welcome to Wrexham, on the other hand, is a documentary about actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ recent purchase of a bottom-tier Welsh soccer club. As a big fan of the sport I knew I’d get around to it eventually, but I put off watching for awhile because I’m not a big fan of Reynolds’ smarmy “lovable asshole” stage persona and I figured the show was kind of a Johnny-come-lately riding the coattails of the likes of Ted Lasso’s success. That said, I was unprepared for how balanced and well-made this series is. It certainly spends plenty of time with Rob and Ryan (who both come off amiable and endearing), but more on the actual inner workings of the club and their supporters and community. I appreciated the ongoing narrative arc of the season being supplemented with focuses on specific aspects of the game like hooliganism and tournament play as well as spotlights on individual players, staff and supporters. There have been plenty of soccer documentaries before, but this one is a top-notch love-letter to the glories and heartbreaks of the beautiful game.

8. Ms. Marvel (Disney+)

The introduction of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe could have fallen into the clichés of melodramatic teen drama, but it mostly avoids them through the centering of its charming Muslim cast of characters, bringing fresh perspective to the genre. It also features innovative effects work and vibrant art direction that bring Kamala’s inner world to life and provides fun glimpses at “ground-level” life in the MCU (i.e. an Avengers fan convention she attends early on).

7. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Season 1 (Disney+)

I didn’t know that I needed a straight-up half-hour superhero sitcom in my life (although my love of all iterations of the Tick may have been a sign), but She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is an utter delight that rewards fans of even the most obscure minutiae of the MCU while remaining funny and accessible to more casual viewers. Guest appearances from existing characters (Daredevil, Wong, the Abomination) work like gangbusters, and introductions to some of Marvel’s most D-List heroes and villains (Leap-Frog, Porcupine, Mr. Immortal, etc.) are wonderfully absurd. The show’s comic book-accurate fourth wall breaking is employed well, and the completely meta finale episode skewers the MCU and its tropes in winning fashion.

6. Abbott Elementary: Seasons 1 and 2 (ABC)

Just when it seemed the mockumentary genre was completely beaten into the ground, Quinta Brunson’s Abbott Elementary came along to prove that great humor can enliven any format. The ABC sitcom centers on a public elementary school in Philadelphia, focused primarily on the teachers and staff, though the students sometimes take the spotlight as well. While it doesn’t shy away from depicting the challenges of underfunded institutions, the series is chiefly a vehicle for big laughs and big heart and a salute to public servants.

5. The Sandman: Season 1 (Netflix)

As a comic book fan in the 90s, I heard a lot about Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics via the likes of Wizard magazine without ever actually having read any issues (mainly because I was a kid then and it was on a “mature” imprint). I was intrigued when I learned it was becoming a Netflix series but also didn’t really think it’d be for me – I tend more toward superhero fare than the dark fantasy/lite horror it traffics in. But upon watching the series, I found myself swept up in the tale and won over by both its world-building and excellent cast. While it occasionally veers into over-exposition and slight disjointedness (from mixing highly serialized storytelling with abrupt pivots to standalone episodes), its artful, impressionistic effects and thematic resonances (hope, change/growth, dreaming itself) more than make up for its shortcomings.

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1 (Amazon Prime Video)

This recommendation comes with the caveat that I am not by any means a J.R.R. Tolkien fanatic, having only read The Hobbit years ago and finding his ornate prose impenetrable for my personal taste, so I cannot speak to Rings of Power’s fidelity (or lack thereof) to the source material. And while I love the original Peter Jackson LOTR film trilogy in all its Extended Edition glory, I barely made it through the first Hobbit film and skipped the next two altogether, as I found them way too esoteric and tedious. I feared something similar with this Amazon Prime prequel series, assuming I’d be bored to tears by Middle Earth history I’d find dry and listless. This proved another pleasant surprise then, as once I gave it a shot, I found myself fully engaged in the story, characters and magnificent visuals – the production design is seriously gorgeous and I could watch cameras exploring these new corners of Middle Earth all day. I also appreciate the series’ themes of light and dark, while adding some shades of gray that lend a bit more complexity to Tolkien’s world, even among his most disposably “evil” adversaries, the Orcs. You! Shall! Not! Pass! (on this show, or you’ll seriously be missing out)

3. Andor: Season 1 (Disney+)

Turns out 2022 was really a year of genre shows that defied my skepticism. I saw 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story when it was released and liked it okay but with a number of caveats, and frankly, had zero interest when I heard a prequel series was coming based on Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor character (even though I like Luna!). Well, it turns out that Andor is not only the hands-down-best of the year’s three new live action Star Wars shows but possibly the best one to date (sorry Grogu, I still love you) — and maybe even the best SW content since the original trilogy?

The series’ focus is the inner-workings of the Rebel Alliance under the growing influence of the fascist Empire, and while I often found those elements of the movies a bit dry, creator Tony Gilroy brings them to life like a white-knuckle spy thriller (fitting, as he wrote the Bourne trilogy scripts). There are other genre influences that come into play as well, such as film noir, the futuristic neon dystopia of Blade Runner, heist films, prison escape movies, comedies of manners and more. This first season is comprised of satisfying three-to-four-episode arcs which keep things moving like a well-oiled Death Star assembly line. Bravo.

2. The Bear: Season 1 (hulu)

A riveting portrait of familial obligation and the food service industry, hulu’s The Bear chronicles a celebrity chef returning to his home of Chicago to take over an Italian beef stand left to him by his brother. The scripts are taut, the cast is uniformly excellent, the filmmaking is invigorating and the 90s alt-rock soundtrack is expertly deployed. If its Chicago references aren’t always 100% accurate, I’ll give it a pass for capturing the spirit of the city, its food culture and its people. Yes, Chef!

1. Severance: Season 1 (Apple TV+)

Severance first appears to be something of a hybrid of great influences: the mundane bureaucratic dystopias of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, Netflix’s Maniac, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Black Mirror all come to mind. But rather than feeling derivative, this darkly comedic sci-fi exploration of the divide between work life and home life has a unique and captivating vision of its own, with indelible characters, led by Adam Scott’s Mark S. Episode 9, “The We We Are,” is best season finale I’ve seen in years, an incredibly tense and satisfying blend of questions answered and stakes raised. Bring on Season 2!

BONUS: Animated Special

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (Apple TV+)

The short film adaptation of illustrator Charlie Mackesy’s deeply felt book is a gentle, meditative and gorgeously animated rumination on life, friendship and purpose. While there is a narrative arc to the special, it doesn’t feel forced but instead true to the spirit of the more unstructured source material. A touching note to end the year on.

A Few More Worthwhile Debuts:

A Friend of the Family (Peacock) and Under the Banner of Heaven (hulu) – have yourself a Mormon true crime double-feature! (Or maybe don’t – they’re both intense!)

Grand Crew (NBC) – a fun network hangout sitcom with a winning cast

We Own the Streets (HBO) – a limited series based on a true story of police corruption in Baltimore that’s basically a Wire reunion

The Afterparty (Apple TV+) – come for the great cast and creators, stay for the incredible Ben Schwartz-focused musical episode!

Great Seasons of Returning Favorites:

5. Barry: Season 3 (HBO)

In its latest season, Barry is hard to watch but even harder to look away from, a show that feels as compellingly fractured as its characters, as pitch-black darkly comedic as ever. Hader’s titular Barry is less a person than a zombie at this point, in fruitless, soulless pursuit of some sort of purpose or redemption, which, [spoiler alert!] will not find him. Everyone else is likewise just spiraling out for most of the season, though some catharsis is found for certain parties in the final episode.

4. Stranger Things 4 (Netflix)

The fourth season of Stranger Things is as compulsively watchable as ever; still a pastiche of 80s Stephen King, Amblin Entertainment and John Hughes influences to be sure, but memorable characters, performances and production design transcend the cliches to create something worthwhile in its own right. The episode lengths this outing do start to feel a bit padded (especially the final two episodes/basically movies) but the added time spent with this cast helps to overlook the protracted plotting.

3. Better Call Saul: Season 6 (AMC)

Better Call Saul’s final season wastes no time in upping the drama with resolutions to its drug war plots coming fast and furious and culminating in a truly shocking mid-season finale that expertly sets the stage for its homestretch. While I find the momentum to fall off slightly in the last couple episodes, I can’t say anything should be different – after all, slippin’ Jimmy McGill is nothing if not an architect of self-sabotage and any other “happier” end to the series would stretch the limits of credulity.

2. Atlanta: Seasons 3 and 4 (FX)

The return of Atlanta in 2022 was a reminder that it is a show unlike anything else on television, a wholly unique vision full of powerful parables, off-the-wall humor and on occasion, surprising heart. Spring’s third season mixes culture clash comedy of the cast touring through various cities in Europe with several Twilight Zone-esque stand-alone episodes about race relations; what it lacks in narrative cohesion it makes up for in sheer boldness. Fall’s fourth and final season returns the action to Atlanta with fewer detours from the main cast (but, you know, the occasional faux documentary about A Goofy Movie), but focusing primarily on just one or two characters at a time. The final episode is a fitting ending for a series that always had a rhythm of its own even while it acknowledged influences such as Twin Peaks.

1. What We Do In The Shadows: Season 4 (FX)

Still the most consistently hilarious show on television, WWITS shows no signs of losing either its wit or edge. With new and bizarre situations including an amazing home makeover show parody, a visit to “The Night Market” and the entire life cycle of the creature that crawled out of the chest cavity of Colin Robinson, there is plenty to sink your teeth into (sorry, not sorry), even four seasons in.

Also Still Good:

The White Lotus: Season 2 (HBO)

Queer Eye: Season 6 (Netflix)

All Creatures Great and Small: Season 2 (PBS)

Girls5eva: Season 2 (Peacock)

Rutherford Falls: Season 2 (Peacock)

LEGO Masters: Season 3 (FOX)

[demoban]

Release: DemoDemo PlayStation Volume 10, 1995 September (PCPX-96014)

Download Link

Buckle in, because this is the first of at least a dozen DemoDemo discs that I have to upload to this blog. As the naming convention might indicate, DemoDemo is something of a cousin to the PlayPlay series of demo discs I’ve released previously, which began life on the PS1. Like the PlayPlay discs, DemoDemo discs were demo compilation discs (albeit solely for the PS1), but given to retailers to use as kiosk content. New discs would arrive every month, bringing with it a new batch of demos to play and preview movies for customers to check out, among other things.

Volume 10 here is notable in that addition to containing the usual sort of content you’d expect from something like this, it also has a little in-progress game called Controller-kun no Tabi, a rudimentary polygonal forced scrolling shooter in the vein of something like Star Fox, but starring a PlayStation controller instead. While nothing to write home about gameplay-wise, it was actually meant to be developed further based on player feedback that was mailed in to the development team, something that I believe was also seen with PlayStation Underground in the West with a wholly separate game altogether. As far as I can tell, however, development never progressed past this disc, making it more a tangential historical curiosity than something you can actually track over time like the Western counterpart. Still, with very little information on it whatsoever even in Japanese, I’m glad I got to have it preserved so it didn’t disappear into complete obscurity. 

Beyond that, the most notable demo on here is arguably the one for Twilight Syndrome, which I believe might be a standalone story not present in the retail game, at least assuming it’s the same as the standalone demo disc for the game that also exists. The handful of commercials you can view are also worth checking out, especially this Darkstalkers one that’s musically going for something I can’t even begin to describe and needs to be seen to be believed.

Anyway, here’s the full breakdown of stuff you can expect to find on this disc:

DemoDemo PlayStation Volume 10, 1995 September PCPX-96014

Demo PlayStation:   Playable Demos (Silver disc icons, left to right, top to bottom):   -Hermie Hopperhead: Scrap Panic   -Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling: Toukon Retsuden   -Power Serve 3D Tennis   -King of Bowling   -Twilight Syndrome   -Puzzler Kanshuu: Oo-chan no Oekaki Logic   -Hyper Formation Soccer   -V-Tennis

  Movies (Green disc icons, left to right, top to bottom):   -Beyond the Beyond   -Street Fighter II Movie   -Gouketsuji Ichizoku 2: Chotto Dake Saikyou Densetsu/Power Instinct 2   -Dokiouki   -Moero! Pro Yakyuu '95: Double Header   -Team 47 Goman   -Universal Ki Kanzen Kaiseki: PachiSlo Simulator   -Tokimeki Memorial: Forever with You   -Detana Twinbee: Yahho! Deluxe Pack   -Suikoden   -Eisei Meijin   -Houma Hunter Lime Special Collection Vol. 2   -Hissatsu Pachinko Station

Request PlayStation:   -Playable in-progress version of Controller-kun no Tabi, a game that was intended to be developed based on player feedback but seemingly never progressed past this stage.

News PlayStation:   -Commercials for Arc the Lad, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Darkstalkers

Have fun!

-Pepsi

[nwbeerguide]

Reuben's Brews selected as a title sponsor of the newly formed Ballard FC (Football Club).

Press Release

image courtesy Reuben’s Brews

SEATTLE … Ballard FC today announced the formation of the Seattle  region’s first neighborhood-based semi-professional soccer team. Starting in Summer 2022, the  team will compete in the USL League Two and hold home games at Interbay Stadium. Ballard  FC was co-founded by Seattle Sounders FC legend and Federal Way, Wash. native, Lamar  Neagle, and Ballard High School graduates and seasoned soccer leaders, Sam Zisette and  Chris Kaimmer.  

The team will host eight home games throughout the summer-long league and provide fans with  a community-oriented gameday experience including kids’ activities, locally-owned food vendors  and craft beers, Ballard-centric theme nights, and fundraising opportunities for local  organizations. Of the 1,000 seat capacity Interbay Stadium, approximately 300 tickets will be  allocated for season tickets. Season ticket deposits are available online for $22. More  information on tickets can be found on Ballard FC’s website www.goballardfc.com.  

“Bringing a high-caliber soccer team to the greater Ballard area has been a dream for a long  time. What will distinguish Ballard FC is our integration and commitment to the community,” said  Ballard FC co-founder, Sam Zisette. “Everything we do will be intimate and hyper-local: from the  game-day activations to the players, sponsors and community partners. Ballard is truly a special  place with a proud history and culture all its own. There is no community more ready for this!"  

Ballard FC will draw from the region’s best mens soccer players including local collegiate stars,  ex-professionals and rising youth players. For many players, USL League Two is the last step  before playing professionally. Tryouts and player selection are anticipated to occur in March  2022. 

“Prior to going pro, I played with the Des Moines Menace, a USL League Two team out of  Iowa,” said former Seattle Sounders FC star, Lamar Neagle. “So I know first-hand the incredible 

impact community-centered teams can have on both up-and-coming players, and the  community at large. This is an exciting time for soccer fans and players alike.” 

As the league’s newest expansion team, Ballard FC will play in the Northwest Division of the  Western Conference in USL League Two. Divisional opponents are located in Washington and  Oregon. The summer-only season consists of 14 regular season division matches followed by  playoffs. Eighty percent of MLS Draft selections since 2010 have played in the USL League  Two.  

Ballard FC Launch Party 

Ballard FC will host a launch party at Reuben’s Brews Taproom located at 5010 14th Ave NW,  Seattle, WA 98107 on Thursday, December 9th at 6:00 pm. Attendees will have the opportunity  to learn more about the team, connect with team leadership, get information on season tickets,  purchase merchandise and hear from special guests.  

More information about Ballard FC or the launch party, visit https://bit.ly/3ow35KG or follow them on Instagram at @goballardfc, Twitter at @goballardfc, or on Facebook at Ballard FC.

from Northwest Beer Guide - News - The Northwest Beer Guide https://bit.ly/3000bnZ

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

New episode! I thought I’d be able to watch this one as soon as it came out, but life stuff got in the way, which I suppose is good. Life is happening again. But I’m happy to still have Taskmaster. It’s hard to believe we’re already more than halfway through season twelve. I don’t want this season to end.

Thoughts on Taskmaster s12e06, written as I watch it:

- Oh shit. I think this is literally a Taskmaster first. They’ve never had a prize task in which they have to bring in something that’s specific to the other contestants, or a prize task in which each person was given different instructions. I like this. It’s creative. And I always find it fun when they make the contestants guess things about each other.

- Alan, honey, do you make a habit of buying people books on how to behave properly? It’s a bit backhanded. But I do think getting something based on her American-ness was the best route for Alan to go.

- Oh God. Desiree picked a prize for Guz based on the fact that she actually knows him and happens to know he really wants a particular type of dog. That is so amazingly cute. Look at Guz’s face when she brought it up:

Desiree Burch for Taskmaster champion. Desiree Burch for prime minister.

- Oh God, and now they’re all telling Guz he’ll have the dog painting even if they win, and Guz says to just give Desiree the points. Normally I find Taskmaster to be at its most entertaining when they’re hyper-competitive and at each other’s throats, but I love this so much. I want all five of these people to travel the world together and film it for Channel 4.

- “We have defeated the format of your show.” - Guz Khan

- Did Guz Khan just refer to Morgana Robinson as “my G”?

- Holy shit. Guz switched his gift for Morgana because on some previous recording session she said he she liked his coat. So he brought it in as her prize. Look, let’s just forget about Taskmaster. And I no longer want to wait to do all the logistics of planning a travel show, either. Just bring out a bunch of beer and wine and let us watch these people make friends.

(I do know Guz is Muslim. Not sure what his stance on alcohol is; about 35% of the Muslims I know drink alcohol but about 65% abstain for religious reasons. If Guz is an abstainer, let him have weed or just some really good tea or whatever. Doesn’t matter. Just forget about the tasks and let me see these people hang out with each other.)

- There’s been a bit of sexual tension between VCM and Morgana before. Mostly in the form of the two of them looking and addressing each other with understandable respect and awe. That one time on the Taskmaster podcast, it occurred in the form of VCM explaining that she was very heterosexual but also she’d missed the point of Morgana’s cool toast spreading because Morgana looked too fucking hot for anyone to notice anything but that. Well, it has now taken the form of Morgana curating an outfit to, in her words, “Pimp up her late-night, smutty poker nights.”

Basically, Morgana’s gift for VCM is one I’d expect to come from someone who views VCM similarly to the way I do. As a God damned queen who deserves to look the part at all times.

“Can you imagine [Victoria wearing that jacket with] a big cigar and nothing underneath.” - Morgana Robinson

I... yes. Yes I can imagine that. I would like to see VCM wear that prize. I would also like to have a conversation with Morgana to further discuss her thinking behind that prize, and I think she and I may have some thoughts in common. Jesus Christ.

- I have seen all of QI (well, not season S yet since I’m waiting for the XL versions to be released). Fun fact about that show: Alan has only missed one episode in the show’s history. That was because one time, they filmed during some important Arsenal game. I don’t know what game it was. But I do know Alan must be a very serious, diehard fan for that soccer team to be the reason for the only one he’s missed out of the over 250 QI episodes. And VCM got him a ticket to see a different team. Not just a ticket for the wrong team, but an explanation that’s a direct insult to Alan’s team, saying she thought he’d like to go see a team that wins sometimes.

One time, in high school, I was playing Dungeons and Dragons. I played D&D lots of times in high school, but I’ll always remember this particular night because of something my friend did. We were given the instruction to go to a tavern and hurt a guy’s business in a way that would draw no attention whatsoever to us or to the tavern, we had to figure out the most stealthy way to do it so no one would no anyone had happened. Once we got there, we started looking around, and then my friend went behind the building and set its drapes on fire. I asked him what the fuck he was doing and told our DM to disregard that, but he just said setting shit on fire would hurt business, and the DM said he could do what he wanted with his turn, so the drapes got set on fire.

For years afterwards, my high school friends and I used that as an example if we wanted to describe something that not only failed to follow instructions, but failed epically by doing the exact opposite of the instructions. We’d say it was like setting the drapes on fire in the tavern. You didn’t just do it wrong. You did the exact opposite of what you were supposed to do.

Victoria, honey, you set the drapes on fire in the tavern.

- The dichotomy of prizes in this task is amazing. Alan gets Desiree a book on how to behave appropriately. VCM gets Alan part of a season ticket to see a team he hates. And the three youngest contestants get each other, and VCM, lovely thoughtful gifts. To be more specific, Guz and Desiree get thoughtful gifts for Guz and Morgana, while Morgana gets VCM a fancy jacket with the explanation that VCM would look really hot in that jacket. This is one of my favourite prize tasks in Taskmaster history. Absolutely amazing.

- Land the iron on the ironing board. I like it, classic task. This is basically the teabags in a mug task from season 1. I wonder if anyone will find and use a cardboard box.

- Love that this task harkens back to the days when tasks were simpler, this is one of the most straightforward tasks they’ve done all season, but VCM still can’t understand the instructions.

- Amazing image to start the task. Why did Guz think hiding behind the weird steampunk thing would help?

- I love Guz’s strategy of trying to convince Alex that the two of them are on a team together.

- Oh shit, Alan did kind of do that thing that I wondered if someone would do. He didn’t use a box, but he did the use the fence as a backboard the same way Frank Skinner used a box as a backboard in season 1. Using the basket is a good idea, too. Though I feel like putting something even bigger on there to catch the iron would be better.

- Alan just asked if that’s their fence, or if it belongs to the neighbours. I hope it’s their fence, since it got holes drilled into it in season 7. Though come to think of it, it’s come up in other contexts that the house is a rental.

- Alex was smart to use the basket, but Guz is thinking on my level.

- Damn. That was a genuinely good throw from Guz. I’m not any good at American football (or European football, for that matter), but I know enough about it to know Guz did a proper football throw there.

- Desiree finally figured out that she should put the basket on the ironing board, and then she knocked the basket off. Classic.

- VCM has turned it into a fishing rod. I can’t quite tell whether this is a good idea but I think it might be.

- Why didn’t Morgana just lower the iron onto the board rather than dropping it? Would have been a lot easier to get it to stay on.

- VCM and Morgana came fourth and third. So their systems weren’t necessarily better than just throwing the iron, because they got shorter distances than Alan and Guz. But to be fair, it’s quite possible that neither of those women is any good at throwing and therefore their pulley and leverage setups got them further than their own throws would have.

- Alex: And [the next task is] just so doggone cute. Me: Is there going to be a dog? Alex, is there going to be a dog? Please give me a task with a dog.

- This time Victoria’s thinking on my level.

VCM: Is there going to be a real dog? Alex Horne: Yes, but you will not meet the dog. Me: But I will! The viewers will get to see it!

- All right, they’re just ripping off old tasks all over the place now. This is the toddler task from season 8 but with a dog instead. And I am not complaining about that.

- Alan is complaining that twenty whole minutes is too long for this task. Come on, Taskmaster, give him shorter jobs. Let him get back to his book and cup of tea in the dressing room.

- Well, we’ve just learned that Morgana has a dog named Stinks. That’s a fact that I’m glad I know now.

- Alan just asked if he can soak any of it in food, but we didn’t hear that answer. That seems like an important question to have answered. Because if the answer is “yes”, that’s the obvious route to go. I guess this is an “all the information is on the task” situation. And the task didn’t say your toy can’t just be a sausage. I don’t think it said they have to use the items in the box, just that they can.

- Victoria has said she could pee on the toy, and Guz has looked inexplicably excited by the thought of a “boy dog in heat” meeting a “lady dog”. What is going on with this task?

- Victoria: You and I look at that and see a cat. Alex: Do we?

- I think the most engaged Alan has sounded in any task so far this season is when he said he was giving his dog toy a hat.

- Lovely bit of editing there, cutting right from Alex saying there’s no point in trying to make it look like a cat, to VCM holding up her “cat”. I don’t know which of those was filmed first, but when the second thing happened the producers must have been so pleased.

- Guz seems to think that dogs have been socially distancing due to COVID.

- Dog! There’s a fucking dog! Dog in the Taskmaster house!

- I enjoy that Alex is talking to the dog the same way he talked to the toddler in season 8. Which is also the same way he talks to all the adult humans.

- Aw! Aw! Dog on Victoria’s toy!

- Wow, this is not a great episode for Desiree. Not of the pre-recorded tasks, anyway. She nailed that prize for Guz.

- Morgana: Marco bit your balls, though. Me: Thank you. Honestly, I can’t believe they’ve gotten so far into this task with balls and toys (and... I did almost make a joke a few points up after I referenced VCM’s “cat”, but I decided not to desecrate the sacred name of Victoria Coren Mitchell that way) before anyone made a sexual innuendo that was good enough to make the edit 

- Alex just specified that Alan asked to have a bit of food put on his toy, and the request was granted. So that means they were allowed to put food on it, but no one besides Alan did so. Why the hell not?

- Was that dog trained to leave the room when told its time was up? Because it obeyed that instruction in all cases except Alan’s, when the food in the toy overrode anything else.

- I do agree with Greg that it’s more impressive to engage a dog without food than with food. It’s like in tasks when they have to make a video, I’ll always be more impressed if they achieve an effect without getting the editors to add effects to it later. But I don’t know if Alan should be marked down for that. The dog was engaged with the toy. Though I guess it was actually engaged with the food inside the toy. So I don’t know.

- All that work to make nice toys, and the dog’s favourite thing is just a toilet paper roll. I’ve never owned a dog, but my family always had cats when I was growing up, and I can confirm that this is how pets interact with toys.

- Oh, maybe the dog just leaves the room when that door opens. Unless there is something really engaging happening. Like a fucking toilet paper roll.

- Okay, Guz’s face after watching the dog with his toy is even cuter than the actual dog playing with the toy.

- And we go from two rip-offs of older, simple tasks to a task that’s much more in line with what we’ve seen in the last few seasons. Red chair. Secret room. Can only stand on circles. Can only stand on each circle once. Unless it’s black. I haven’t heard the rest of the instructions yet, I paused the video after that to write this point.

- Immediate question: are they allowed to draw a circle? Even if they don’t have writing implements, can they take off a sweater or something and make it into a circle. What is the definition of a circle? Do James Acaster’s eyes count?

- So you have to go shredder, chair, tower. Make a path that gets you to all those places within the rules. Alternating red, black, red, until you run out of reds, then go with three black ones that you pick up after stepping on them so you never have to go twice in a row. Right? I think that’s how to do it.

- Desiree just expressed anger by saying, “Mother father.” I have not heard that one before and I like it.

- Oh God. I was thinking this task would play to Victoria’s strengths, maybe get her a much needed win. But she didn’t notice the chair on the floor. They weren’t even trying to hide that from the contestants, finding it wasn’t part of the task. It was just sitting there.

- It looks like Desiree did a decent job. I don’t know how everyone else will do, but I feel like going through with only one mistake isn’t bad. And we know the mistake didn’t cost her too much time, since the mistake was taking just over a minute to get to the shredder. So she started over after that, and it seems to have gone smoothly since. She worked out her system pretty quickly. Victoria, meanwhile, is still looking for the chair.

- VCM has just wondered whether the chair might be concealed in a balloon or in a piece of candy.

- “Do... do I have to... make it be in here.” Victoria. You have an absolutely brilliant mind. Why can you not wrap it around concepts like throwing irons or bringing a chair into a room?

- “But there isn’t a red chair! There’s no red chair anywhere.”

Nice camera work, to get this shot that puts the red chair right in the foreground as VCM says that.

- Okay. Victoria did ask Alex early in the task if the sign on the wall said “secret tower”, suggesting she couldn’t read it clearly herself. She does sometimes wear glasses, but she isn’t wearing them now. It’s possible that part of the issue in this situation is her eyesight isn’t good enough without glasses to see things like that. But... it’s a big red chair in the middle of the floor in a mostly empty room. If going without glasses makes her unable to see that, she shouldn’t go anywhere without glasses.

- Well, I thought someone might end up taking liberties with the definition of “circles” during this task. I didn’t expect anyone to have to bend the definition of “chair”.

- I’m watching the studio part now, and Alex did just say that forgetting her glasses was a factor. But... still. Why did she turn up to the task without her glasses on? Why does she do anything without her glasses on if that leaves her unable to see entire pieces of furniture?

- Alan and Guz are up next, so we’re isolating Morgana. Nice. I bet she does something unhinged.

- “You know what I realized? Because this is the kind of person I am. I should have read it one more time before I shredded it, and now I don’t even know what the task is.” - Guz Khan

- Alan has walked away from the chair. But at least he saw the chair and realized his mistake before he got all the way to the secret tower, so he’s doing better than VCM.

- Oh, Alan has slid on the circles a bit. That’s a good idea. Presumably you could do the hole task that way, just put each foot on one circle and then shuffle. It would take a long time, but probably not longer than picking up the circles every time you take a step.

- Guz has gotten to the chair and doesn’t know what to do next. Amazing. What the hell is he going to do?

- “I’ve just eaten two Creme Eggs and I’m not really up for this.” - Alan Davies

- Guz has figured it out!

- Morgana did not do something unhinged! She did that thing Alan did a bit and I thought would be a good idea! A rational and intelligent approach! Good for her.

- Oh... and then she just jumped off the circles for no reason whatsoever. Mograna. Buddy. You were doing so well.

- Morgana just told Alex, “I don’t want to argue with you.” She’s probably the first Taskmaster contestant to ever say that to Alex Horne.

- Oh, when they make a mistake they’re given a new task. I see. So that’s how Guz figured out where he was supposed to go, he got a new copy of the instructions after intentionally making a mistake. That makes sense. Also, I find it absolutely hilarious and also on brand for Morgana to get so focus on one little thing that she forgot about most of the task.

- “This isn’t a secret tower.”

Again, good job with giving a shot that features a contestant complaining that they can’t find something, and also features the thing they’re looking for displayed clearly.

- She’s spotted the secret tower, and she’s off again!

- Well, I didn’t get as much unhinged Morgana as I expected, but her laughing maniacally while shuffling to the tower is pretty good.

- I was right about Desiree doing well, she won! In the words of Alex Horne, “She was quicker than the slide.”

- Oh shit. Oh shit. It’s one of those “select something for the second part of the task” things in which they aren’t told about the second part before they make their selection. I always think this would be so ridiculously stressful if I had to do it as a contestant. I’m not even going to make a guess as to the best way to approach it, because just thinking about that is stressing me out.

- Morgana Robinson is not pleased about this bullshit inscrutable studio task.

- I just heard Alex read part 2 of the task, and I still don’t know what a smart number of sheets would be. I guess it depends whether you’re any good at making and throwing paper airplanes. If you’re really bad at it, you’d be best off just sticking with one sheet and taking a score of negative five. Or even going with zero if that’s an option. But of course they had no way of knowing that before choosing, which was the point of the task. This is stressing me out again.

- I am incredibly unsurprised that VCM does not know how to make a decent paper airplane.

- She has her glasses on now. She probably should have put those on before the task started.

- Guz is trying to show VCM how to make paper airplanes. Adorable.

- Morgana does not know how to throw paper airplanes, but she does look very fucking attractive in this outfit and I’d like to take a moment to celebrate that:

- Morgana, Alan, and Guz have all failed to land a single airplane in a target. Alan was decent at throwing, though. I think he could have gotten one if he hadn’t been so rushed with trying to throw eight airplanes in thirty seconds.

- Desiree just flipped off a paper airplane. With the gesture that does not actually mean anything in North America, where she’s from. I’m glad she agrees with me, a fellow North American who think the Brits are right to have a second way to swear with one’s hands (in addition to the middle finger).

- Everyone is encouraging Victoria during her throws, and Alan even gave her some practical advice (to throw it upwards a bit). I love this. Back to the energy of this episode’s prize task. I mean, I love competitiveness on this show. But I feel like in this season, some of the people are competitive, but they’re mostly interested in defeating Greg and Alex and the game itself and are sort of banding with each other to do that. This is so much fun.

- Victoria has now completed her attempt, and none of the five contestants scored a single point.

- A second episode win in a row for Guz! And he’s leading in the season overall (according to my Taskmaster scores spreadsheet, at the moment it’s Guz with 102, then Morgana with 99, then Alan with 94, then Desiree with 93, then VCM with 73). And he gets his dog painting!

- The first fucking thing Guz did after getting up on stage is give Morgana his coat. God. Lovely, absolutely lovely people.

- Then he passed out the slippers to Victoria and the book to Desiree. Alan did not show interest in going up to collect his partial voucher for a season ticket to see a team he hates.

- This was a fucking awesome episode. This whole season is so very good.

[ssjrodimus]

56x Super Famicom game cartridges [JPN]

Pilotwings, Mario Paint, Mario & Wario, Bomberman B-Daman, Tactics Ogre, Space Invaders, Shanghai III, 2x Final Fantasy IV, 2x Final Fantasy V, 5x Final Fantasy VI, 3x Street Fighter II, 2x Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Street Fighter II, 2x Fatal Fury, 2x Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Dokidoki Seishun Hen, Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Ooedo Nikki, Daibakushou Jinsei Gekijou: Zukkoke Salary Man Hen, Hiryuu no Ken S: Hyper Version, Dragon Slayer, Kouryuu Densetsu Villgust: Kieta Shoujo, New 3D Golf Simulation: Harukanaru Augusta, 4x Primal Goal, Primal Goal 2, 4x J.League Super Soccer,  J.League Super Soccer '95: Jikkyou Stadium, Super Formation Soccer 95: della Serie A, Super Famista, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu '96: Kaimaku Ban, Super Tennis, Shodan Morita Shougi, Super Mahjong 2: Honkaku 4 Nin Uchi!, Super Double Yakuman, Super Jangou, Big Ichigeki! Pachi-Slot Daikouryaku.

Itoi Shigesato no Bass Tsuri No. 1, Same Game Tsume Game, Derby Stallion 96.

[ap-lit-fandom]

Studyblr intro post

So! I have no idea how people format these things. Let's just jump into it

Basics~

-I'm a high school senior in California, where it is so freaking hot right now

-I have ADHD and am still working on nailing how to cope and work with that in school setting, so I Will Blog

-I really!! Like STEM!! And space!! But also English and creative writing on the other end of things. You'd think I'd really like sci-fi since that's the place where those two things intersect, but nope, I like fantasy better

-really hyper person, loves exercise, working on actually Doing That though. Sports that I do on and off include: gymnastics, ice skating, soccer, running, biking, and a sport I made up called "jumping off the swings in increasingly weird and risky ways". Sports I want to try include: everything.

Classes I’m taking~~

This year I’m taking Calculus, Econ/Gov, Clean Engineering, AP Psychology, AP Literature, and Academic Decathlon!!

-Clean Engineering is a class we have at our school. We engineer stuff. It’s clean. So far all we’ve done this first week (just started) is make spaghetti towers

-I wanted to take AP Computer Science instead of AP Psych but a week before school they called to tell me that it was only offered in one period, the same period as another class I had that was also only offered in that period, so I had to switch. Psych is very interesting tho

-Academic Decathlon is a class at my school because we’re v competitive and serious about it. Because there are like, so little people in Acadec on tumblr, and I admit to going through people’s blogs trying to figure out how competitive their team is (me, whenever I see a person who does acadec: 👀👀) I’ll just say it straight here: I’m a varsity from Rancho Cucamonga High School, and I would like the say that we’re pretty good because we got 9th at the California state competition last year!! yee

Going to do even better this year though 😤🙌 *student athlete meme*

Honestly though, if you want to know anything about me, you’d just have to know about Academic Decathlon. I sold my soul to this thing. I’m pretty sure I spend the same amount of time studying for Acadec daily, as I do for all my other classes combined

Goals for this year~~~

-I’m just going for a 3.5 GPA unweighted. I feel like a lot of my classes are easier this year, but I’m trying to take it easy and not put too much pressure on myself 😴 (oh and also I need the room to focus on Acadec lol)

-I want an A in Calculus, because I’ve historically struggled with math and I would really like to bounce back and end high school on a good note on this. I’d also like a B in AP Lit at least, because I’ve heard the class is hard...? But I know the teacher really well and it’s important to me to be able to do well in this. I’m varsity for a reason and I kind of failed one of his classes before, so I want to do better this time!!

-I kind was hesitating on whether to put this in or not, but it’s the truth, so. I want to make the podium at State; the overall podium, for varsity. There, there it is.

AP Lit fandom thing~~~~

This might look like some clever organization thing, I skipped over talking about my url and the stuff in my description back in the section where I was talking about my classes, where it might have made sense to put, in order to talk about it more in depth here! Actually, I just forgot. Oops.

Well anyway- I’m not going to mention it here, but I’m actually very active in a lot of fandoms. I write fanfic, I run blogs, I reblog posts, and one important thing is- I discuss analysis with my sister of the source material all the time.

I will talk for HOURS about my favorite characters, their interesting parts, their flaws, what they’re thinking, how they are who they are. And I actually bring out legit stuff, like I will actually talk about archetypes and symbolism and allusions and different things, and I will happily do all of that stuff for hours.

In English class, all of that? Kaput. Idk what even happened in Great Expectations because I never finished it

So, the solution!: Treat literature like I’m in a fandom for it. No more “wah I don’t want to read this”!! We read, we get excited, and we write Mr. Darcy/whoever coffee shop AU and die like MEN

so anyway.

Are you taking AP Lit???? Do you want to see absolute trash spilled onto your clean studyblr dashes??? Then follow me and join me in my quest to stop treating literature so seriously and actually get excited about it like I would a normal book!!!

Results-are-not-guaranteed-call-your-doctor-if-you-experience-bleeding-rash-mesothelioma-or-blunt-force-trauma-from-getting-hit-in-the-head-by-a-Charles-Dickens-book®®©®™️

anyway. follow me if you like acadec, or ap lit, or adhd, or anothe thing that starts with a. bye, and hope you have a great year!!!

[gamecenter199x]

Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Famicom

(The original article can be read HERE.)

Special thanks to Terra S. for gifting me this baby. I love you.

As with the Super NES Classic Edition, Nintendo released the Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Famicom in Japan earlier this year. Designed to look like the Super Famicom, the shell of the Super Famicom Mini is different from the North American unit (Europe retains the same shell as Japan but under the Super Nintendo branding), using a warm grey color scheme and rounded edges. Instead of purple colors on the buttons of its American sibling, the Super Famicom Mini uses four colors on its controllers (red, blue, yellow and green), making the whole package look playful and cute. Unlike last year's Famicom Mini console, the Super Famicom Mini uses actual sized controllers and can be plugged in to the console instead of them being hard-wired to the unit. It also contains restore points, backgrounds, video modes, and the Rewind feature, just like the SNES Classic.

There are 21 games in the Super Famicom Mini, with Star Fox 2 also being released there. However, there are five different games the Super Famicom Mini has that the SNES Classic doesn't have. These titles are:

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja

Super Soccer

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers

Panel de Pon

These titles replace Super Castlevania IV, Super Punch-Out!!, EarthBound, Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, and Kirby's Dream Course. Are the Japanese exclusives worth playing? And if so, are they better than their Western counterparts? Let's find out.

Like before, I'll assign a small summary and a number grade to each game, with 5 being the best score and 1 being the worst score. I won't be grading the games I've already graded in the previous essay, since there's very little difference between the ROMs aside from localization.

___________________________________

Score Key

5 ------ Play it loud! 4 ------ Good 3 ------ Decent 2 ------ Bad

1 ------ Don't play it

___________________________________

LEGEND OF THE MYSTICAL NINJA (Konami, 1991)

Known as Ganbare Goemon: Yuki-hime Kyuushutsu Emaki in Japan. A fun action game that's best played with two players, unless the 2nd player is very uncoordinated. Sadly, some reading is needed to fully enjoy this game, so I'll have to split the score accordingly. 4 (2 if you can't read Japanese and dunno how to advance forward)

SUPER SOCCER (Human, 1991)

Known as Super Formation Soccer in Japan. Easily the weakest game in this bunch. It's Mode 7 soccer, no more, no less. 2

FIRE EMBLEM: MYSTERY OF THE EMBLEM (Nintendo, 1994)

Known as Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo in Japan. An epic story involving the bishounen hero lord Marth as he fights some enemy armies and some evil dragon sorcerer. It's a decent strategy game...if you can read Japanese. Otherwise, don't bother. 3 (1 if you can't read Japanese because you'll be stuck)

SUPER STREET FIGHTER II: THE NEW CHALLENGERS (Capcom, 1994)

Known as...Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers in Japan. I've wondered why Japan got Super SFII while the West got SFII Turbo and after playing both I can see why: Turbo is the faster game. And in the case of SFII, faster speeds make a better game, even if it has less characters. It's a shame that Super SFII Turbo wasn't in the SNES/SFC, because we would've gotten the best of both worlds and possibly have the same title in both variants of the Classic/Mini. 4

PANEL DE PON (Nintendo, 1995)

Known as Tetris Attack in the West. It's a shame that we didn't get this game for the SNES Classic. This is the main reason why I wanted the SFC Mini. A fun, cute and competitive puzzle game that can be enjoyed by anyone. And best of all, there's no Japanese required to play once you know the rules. 5

Now, let's stack up each game to their suitable equivalent and see which one is the better exclusive:

Super Castlevania IV vs Legend of the Mystical Ninja Both are Konami games. One is single-player and the other can be played with two players. While I personally liked Mystical Ninja better, for the sake of this collection, Castlevania is a lot easier to play for most people, so it wins that round.

WINNER: Super Castlevania IV

Super Punch-Out!! vs Super Soccer

Both are sports games. One is single-player and the other can be played with two players. However, there is no debate. Punch-Out is the better game.

WINNER: Super Punch-Out!!

EarthBound vs Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

Both are role-playing games. Both are one-player games although EarthBound is a traditional turn-based RPG while Fire Emblem is a strategic turn-based RPG. Both are good, but EarthBound is better if you have to compare the two. Also, if you can't understand Japanese, then it's hard to enjoy Fire Emblem.

WINNER: EarthBound

Street Fighter II Turbo vs Super Street Fighter II

Both are variants of Street Fighter II. Both can be played with two players. Turbo has a faster game speed, which can be adjustable, while Super has more characters and stages. I personally like Turbo better due to the speed, but they're both really fun to play so I'll award them both a tie.

WINNER: Super Street Fighter II Turbo (if only)

Kirby's Dream Course vs Panel de Pon

Both are puzzle games. Both can be played with two players. However, there is no debate. Panel de Pon is the better game. Again, I honestly wish we had this game in the Western game collection.

WINNER: Panel de Pon

Overall, the Western exclusives are slightly better than the Japanese exclusives but Japan has Panel de Pon......so the whole thing ends in a tie.

......okay. I know how to break that tie. Let's compare the weakest games from each collection together! Kirby's Dream Course vs Super Soccer

Both are the weakest games in their respective collections. Both can be played with two players. One is a strange, isometric mini-golf game with a gimmick based on Kirby's copy powers while the other game is an unremarkable soccer game released early in the console's life cycle with a Mode 7 playing field being the only gimmick it has to stand itself out on the market. I honestly wish these games would be replaced by better games, like Chrono Trigger or even ActRaiser. Whatever. The music in Kirby's Dream Course is cute, so Kirby wins.

WINNER? Kirby's Dream Course

Is the Super Famicom Mini worth ordering? Yes and no. Yes, because it has Panel de Pon and also the controllers have colorful buttons. No, because the game list is almost similar to its Western equivalent, and if you can't read Japanese, you won't enjoy this very much. Should you decide to order one, thankfully the prices are reasonable and as of this writing, you can score one for $100 or less (including shipping!). Be forewarned, though. Unlike the SNES Classic, the SFC Mini does not include an AC wall adapter inside the box.

Happy hunting and happy holidays!

-ray n. (@themistern) 2017-12-21

Sources:

1. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clvs/index.html 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Nintendo_Entertainment_System 3. http://www.perfectly-nintendo.com/snes-classic-edition-snes-mini-announced-september-includes-21-games/ 4. http://www.perfectly-nintendo.com/super-famicom-mini-announced-japan-october-5th-different-set-games/ 5. http://animatedscreenshots.tumblr.com/post/73755507006/panel-de-pon 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz6-Igq9_KY

All games and images © Nintendo Co. Ltd and their respective third-party partners.

[opiatemasses]

Is the idea of ‘professionalism’ in women’s football a myth?

Following the legacy of the Women’s World Cup, being the most anticipated and viewed sporting spectacle for women in history. The profile of female football athletes and their capabilities and status has never been higher. The late 2019 Women’s World Cup has been eventful; however, such high-profile tournament can have a rose-tinted effect on an underlying issue, such as how seriously do governing bodies such as the FA take the Female football and the professionalism of its female athletes. An example of this underlying issue can be taken from a post-match interview with Brazilian footballer Marta, highlighting the importance of valuing female football. 

In order to avoid the rose-tinted affects within contemporary sport, we must reflect on the history of female sport, using female football within England as a catalyst of understanding.

During World War One women’s football was a massive spectacle, with most of the male population at war. However, this spectacle became short lived following the end of World War, with a call for the ‘normalization’ of labour and ‘claims’ that suggested the game of football was damaging to women’s fertility and was perceived to be ‘unlady like’. This later led to the FA promoting this message and banning all FA affiliated clubs from using their pitches (Fielding-Lloyd, Woodhouse & Sequerra, 2018). This decision effectively stalled women’s football, until 1971 where the act was overturned. With the FA taking control of women’s football in 1993 and the later formation of the WSL, the first semi professional league in 2011, with professional status gained in 2018.

Football traditionally has a male orientated culture, which dates back to post World War One. However, this culture has proven to be potentially  discriminative on other groups, such as women. To the point where institutional sexism has occurred within the sport, with the FA’s banishment of women using FA football pitches. This stunted the growth of women’s football and unarguably creating a stigma surrounding the once professionals of women’s football by a male domineering culture that exists within football. Researcher and Sociologist Woodward (2007) expands on this idea, on both the effects of football both on and off the pitch in relation to gender powers in sport and how masculinity within sport has created a notion of ‘gender entitlement’. With men claiming sports with this masculine behaviour and in the process rejecting other groups from taking part. This further contradicts the idea of female professionalism within football, with a sport having a history of institutional discrimination. Within its governing bodies and beyond, with potential stigma and ridicule being attached to any female footballer as a result. Who may want to seek football as professional career, questioning the overall concept of professionalism in woman’s football. 

Female Ballon dor winner and 2019 Women’s World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe highlights the key issues regarding women’s football in the shadow of professionalism. She highlights the lack of investment given to women’s football compared to male football. History suggests that women’s football has experienced decades of institutional discrimination. One example of this in England was in 2011 with the sacking of several high-profile media figures at Sky Sports due to sexist abuse. Additionally, there is an overall lack of media exposure for successful female athletes at big sporting events. For example, the 2011 BBC Sport Personality of the Year. Which begs the question how women can consider a career in a sport like football and a professional status within a sport that is historically male dominated and discriminative. In which its traditional values, have hindered the women within football and the progression for female professionalism.

The reality is that women’s football has only been considered and backed to an extent within the last decade with the formation of the WSL in 2010, being the first semi professional league to grace the English game. From here the growth of woman’s football slowly increased from 10,400 registered players in 1993 to 147,000 in 2016. This coincides with the FA’s intentions for woman’s football going from rejection and stigma to a commercially viable and lucrative project. Coinciding with by-products from the FA onto the infrastructure of within woman’s football such as the creation of the WSL and introduction of female Ballon dor winners in 2018. This investment has led to the start of the ‘new age’ for women in sport, with less of stigma being attached to women in sport. In a study of various types of print media and the content analysis of hundreds of articles surrounding the 2015 Women’s World Cup. It was found that the media has taken a more of a positive shift towards the representation of women is sport. 

But what does this mean for women’s professionalism in football today? We have discovered a strong link between the FA’s profitability of woman’s football and their ability to gain a ‘professional’ status, without stigma. However, prior to the slow progression of the WSL, woman’s football was outlawed, but before that it was seen as a real effort to raise spirits during WW1. Although the reality of professionalism for women may not be as clear as you may have thought at the start of the blog. It doesn’t change the fight woman have faced to gain a ‘valid’ level of professionalism in a sport that has had a history of hyper masculinity and discrimination.

The marathon for equality in football may be far from over, however progression is taking shape and the status of women in sport is changing. Allowing the next generation of daughters to dream of careers in football and players like Megan Rapinoe & Marta. Like how the sons of today dream of the likes of Messi and Ronaldo!

N0750233

Reference list

Petty, K., & Pope, S. (2018). A New Age for Media Coverage of Women’s Sport? An Analysis of English Media Coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Sociology, 53(3), 486-502. doi: 10.1177/0038038518797505

Woodward, K. (2007). ON AND OFF THE PITCH. Cultural Studies, 21(4-5), 758-778. doi: 10.1080/09502380701279077

Fielding-Lloyd, B., Woodhouse, D., & Sequerra, R. (2018). ‘More than just a game’: family and spectacle in marketing the England Women’s Super League. Soccer & Society, 21(2), 166-179. doi: 10.1080/14660970.2018.1541799

[tinycartridge]

Which region will get the best SNES Classic? ⊟ 

With the SNES/Super Famicom Classic announced for North America, Japan, and Europe, most of the people who will be lucky enough to snag one will probably default with the hardware released to their area. But each release is unique, so let’s compare them all to determine the PREEMINENT Super NES Classic Edition based on arbitrary criteria and personal preferences.

Packaging: I told you these criteria would be arbitrary! I put this one first because the images are just in the gallery above. Each of the boxes mimic the original regions’s packaging for the console. Europe’s is the worst as usual, thanks to the drab ratings labels. Japan’s throwback Super Famicom box wins the category, because this line art continues to delight, no matter how many times Nintendo brings it back (last seen on the Super Famicom New 3DS XL).

Game selection: North America and Europe’s consoles will have the same selection of games, while Japan loses Earthbound, Super Castlevania IV, Super Punch-Out!!, Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, and Kirby's Dream Course. To keep its tally at 21, the Super Famicom Classic will include Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, Panel de Pon, Ganbare Goemon 3, Super Street Fighter II, and Super Formation Soccer instead. All of those games are great, but the SNES Classics’s selections win this one.

Hardware / controller design: The curvier console and colorful buttons that Japan and Europe enjoyed have kept us in the States envious for nearly 30 years now, and that hasn’t changed with these mini systems. :o(

Winner: Europe’s SNES Classic seems like the pick of the litter based on what we know so far (the European games will even be 60hz versions), as it’s got the best of everything that matters, even though its box is buns.

You should probably pick up whichever edition you can get your hands on, though! Nintendo says it’s looking to have a bigger supply compared to the NES Classic roll-out, but I expect these will be very popular! The SNES Classic edition releases to North America and Europe on September 29 (MSRP $79.99), and to Japan on October 5 (¥7,980).

SUPPORT TINY CARTRIDGE Join Club Tiny!

[siva3155]

300+ TOP HEMATOLOGY Objective Questions and Answers

HEMATOLOGY Multiple Choice Questions :-

1. Causes spurious decrease in MCV A. Cryofibrinogen B. hyperglycemia C. autoagglutination D. high WBC ct E. reduced red cell deformability Ans: A 2. When the entire CBC is suppressed due to either anemia, infection, or hemorrhage is called? A. Erythroplasia B. Thrombocytopenia C. Pancytopenia D. Leukopenia Ans: C 3. Total RBC count for Women is? A. 4.4 -6 B. 4.2-5 C. 4.0-5.0 D. 4.2-5.2 Ans: C 4. Total RBC for men? A. 4.0-5.0 B. 4.6-6.0 C. 4.2-6.5 D. 4.0-6.0 Ans: B 5. What is the major metabolically available storage form of iron in the body? A. Hemosiderin B. Ferritin C. Transferrin D. Hemoglobin Ans: B 6. The best source of active bone marrow from a 20-year old would be: A. Iliac Crest (hip) B. Femur (thigh) C. Distal radius (forearm) D. Tibia (shin) Ans: A 7. Laboratory Studies: Red Cell Indices: Determination of relative size of RBC. 82-98 fl A. MCH B. MCV C. MCHC Ans: B 8. Laboratory Studies: Red Cell Indices: Measurement of average weight of Hb/RBC. 27-33 pg A. MCH B. MCV C. MCHC Ans: B 9. Laboratory Studies: Red Cell Indices: Evaluation of RBC saturation with Hb. 32-36% A. MCV B. MCH C. MCHC Ans: C 10. There are 3 classifications of Anemia. What are they? A. In adequate production of Hb B. Decreased RBC production C. Increased Erythrocyte destruction D. Blood loss Ans: A

HEMATOLOGY MCQs 11. Vitamin B12 and folic have the similar adverse effects, but what separates one form the other? A. Glossitis B. No neurological symptoms in folic acid C. muscle wasting D. Dizziness Ans: B 12. Folic acid therapy can cause sickle cell anemia A. True B. False Ans: B 14. Hydroxyurea increases hemoglobin production and decreases reticulocyte cells. A. True B. False Ans: A 15. Hydroxyurea: A. decreases nitric oxide B. increases neutrophil and monocytes C. inhibits DNA synthesis by acting as a ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor Ans: C 16. Hydroxyurea increases the serum uric acid levels. A. True B. False Ans: A 17. Decitabine increases the fetal hemoglobin production by inducing methylation of DNA and thus prevents the switch from gamma to beta-globin production. A. True B. False Ans: B 18. Hypocupremia is seen in A. osetoporosis, nephrotic disease B. sprue, cliac disease C. cardiovascular disease, colon cancer D. A and B E. B and C F. All of the above Ans: F 19. Wilsons disease can cause liver problems A. True B. False Ans: A 20. What are the treatment options for wilson's disease? A. Pencillamine B. Riboflavin C. Trientine D. Potassium disulfide E. Zinc F. A, B and C G. A, C, and D H. A, C, D, and E Ans: H 21. Aplasia can occur because of riboflavin deficiency? A. True B. False Ans: A 22. Angular stomatitis.cheilosis is a symptom of vitamin B12 deficiency? A. True B. False Ans: B 24. Which test can be used to detect hemolytic anemia? A. Coombs test B. Genetic testing C. Peripheral blood smear (PBS) D. Schilling test Ans: A 25. Which anemia is classified as not being able to use iron properly to synthesize hemoglobin because of a inherited cause. A. Iron deficiency anemia B. hypochromic anemia C. aplastic anemia Ans: B 27. This fatal disorder results from clot/thrombus formation in the blood ciruclation A. thromboembolism B. DVT C. PAD D. Pulmonary embolism E. All of the above Ans: E 28. Homan's sign is classified as pain behind the knee A. True B. False Ans: A 29. Patients that are sensitive to aspirin can take: A. Sulfinpyrazone B. Clopidogrel C. Ticlopidine D. 1 and 2 E. 2 and 3 Ans: E 30. What is the life span of RBC A. 120 B. 100 C. 200 D. 80 Ans: A 34. Warfarin should be used with caution in the following: A. Alcoholic liver disease B. Gastrointestinal bleeding C. recent neurosugery D. Liver impairment Ans: D 35. Isozymes of 2C can greatly effect warfarin A. True B. False Ans: A 36. absolute lymphocytosis (>5000/mm^3) without adenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, anemia, thrombocytopenia is what stage in CLL prognosis Scoring-Rai Staging System? A. Stage 0 B. Stage I C. Stage II D. Stage III E. Stage IV Ans: A 37. Conventional treatment is ______ for Rai stage II A. Antibiotics B. chemotherapy C. Antivirals D. rest Ans: B 38. In patients with low numbers of neoplastic cells, sometimes due to treatment, PCR to amplify DNA can improve sensitivity, and detect signs of relapse. A. True B. False Ans: A 39. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is most common leukemia in what kind of people? Slide 4 A. young adults B. older adults Ans: B 40. absolute lymphocytosis and thrombocytopenia( A. Stage 0 B. Stage I C. Stage II D. Stage III E. Stage IV Ans: E HEMATOLOGY Objective type Questions with Answers 41. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia is characterized by peripheral blood and bone marrow _____. A. lymphocytopenia B. lymphocytosis Ans: B 42. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia is characterized by gradual accumulation of small mature ______ cells. A. T B. B C. NK Ans: B 43. Which of the following is the most mature normoblast? A. Orthochromic Normoblast B. Basophilic Normoblast C. Pronormoblast D. Polychromatic Normoblast Ans: A 44. absolute lymphocytosis with either hepatomegaly or splenomegaly with or without lymphadenopathy is what stage in CLL prognosis Scoring-Rai Staging System? A. Stage 0 B. Stage I C. Stage II D. Stage III E. Stage IV Ans: C 45. absolute lymphocytosis without lymphadenopathy without hepatosplenomegaly, anemia, or thrombocytopenia is what stage in CLL prognosis Scoring-Rai Staging System? A. Stage 0 B. Stage I C. Stage II D. Stage III E. Stage IV Ans: B 46. IN Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia the Lymphocyte appearance: small or slightly larger than normal, hyper-condensed(almost ________ appearing. nuclear chromatin patter, bare nuclei called "smudge cells" are common. A. soccer-ball B. basketball C. football D. tennis-ball Ans: A 47. Which of the following forms of Hb molecule has the lowest affinity for oxygen? A. Tense B. Relaxed C. Arterial D. Venous Ans: A 48. What is the recommended cleaner for removing all oil from objective lens? A. 70 % alcohol or lens cleaner B. Xylene C. Water D. Benzene Ans: A 49. Intravascular hemolysis is the result of trauma to RBCs while in the circulation A. True B. False Ans: A 50. A 1:20 dilution was made in a unopette, with glacial acetic acid as the diluent. The four corner squares on BOTH sides of the hemacytometer are counted for a total of 100 cells. What is the total WBC (x10^9/L.? A. 0.25 B. 2.5 C. 5 D. 10 Ans: B 51. The shape of a cell is maintained by which of the following? A. Microtubules B. Spindle Fibers C. Ribosomes D. Centrioles Ans: A 52. At which month of fetal development does the bone marrow become the primary site of hematopoiesis? A. 2nd B. 5th C. End of 6th month D. End of 7th month Ans: C 53. Which types of cells develop from yolk sacs (Mesoblastic phase)? A. Hb F, Hg A2, and Hg A B. Gower 1 and Gower 2 Hgb C. Portland Hgb D. Only Erythroblasts Ans: D 54. Normal Adult Hb A contains the following polypeptide chains: A. alpha and beta B. alpha and epsilon C. alpha and delta D. alpha and brotherton Ans: A 55. Allergic reactions are frequently associated with an increase in the prescence of : A. Lymphocytes B. Neutrophils C. Monocytes D. Eosinophils Ans: D 56. Lipid exchange between the RBC membrane and the plasma occurs: A. To replace lost lipids in the membrane B. To provide a mechanism for excretion of lipid-soluble RBC waste products C. To ensure symmetry between the composition of the interior and exterior lipid layers D. To provide lipid-soluble nutrients to the RBC Ans: A 57. After the microscope has been adjusted for Kohler illumination, light intensity should never be regulated by using the... A. Rheostat B. Neutral density filter C. Kohler magnifier D. Condenser Ans: D 58. Which of the followong types of microscopy is valuable in the identification of crystals that are able to rotate light? A. Compound brightfield B. Darkfield C. Polarizing D. Phase-contrast Ans: C 59. During the Medullary Phase of hematopoietic development, which bone is the first to show hematopoietic activity? A. Femur B. Iliac Crest C. Skull D. Clavicle Ans: D 60. Given the following values, calculate the RPI Observed reticulocyte count - 6% Hct- 30% A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 5 Ans: A 61. The lipids of the RBC membrane are arranged: A. In chains beneath a protein exoskeleton B. So that the hydrophobic portions are facing the plasma C. In a hexagonal lattice D. In two layers that are not symmetric in composition Ans: D 62. The hexose monophosphate pathway activity increases the RBC source of A. Glucose and lactic acid B. 2,3-BPG and methemoglobin C. NADPH and reduced glutathione D. ATP and other purine metabolites Ans: C 63. Which single feature of normal RBC's is most responsible for limiting their life span? A. Loss of mitochondria B. Increased flexibility of the cell membrane C. Reduction of Hb iron D. Loss of nucleus Ans: D 64. In the Iron cycle, the transferrin receptor carries: A. Iron out of duodenal cells from the intestinal lumen B. Iron out of duodenal cells into the plasma C. transferrin-bound iron in the plasma D. transferrin-bound iron into erythrocytes Ans: D 65. A multilineage cytokine among the ILs is: A. IL-1 B. IL-2 C. IL-3 D. IL-4 Ans: A 66. Which of the following cells may develop in sites other than the bone marrow? A. Monocyte B. Lymphocyte C. Megakaryocyte D. Neutrophil Ans: B 67. The acceptable range for hemoglobin values on a control sample is 13 + or - 0.4 g/dL. A hemoglobin determination is performed five times in succession on the same control sample. The results are (in g/dL. 12 12.3, 12, 12.2, and 12.1) These results are: A. Precise, but not accurate B. Both accurate and precise C. Accurate, but not precise D. Neither accurate nor precise Ans: A 68. The layer of the erythrocyte membrane that is largely responsible for the shape, structure, and deformability of the cell is the: A. Integral protein B. Exterior lipid C. Peripheral protein D. Interior lipid Ans: C 69. During midfetal life, the primary source of blood cells is the: A. Bone marrow B. Spleen C. Lymph Nodes D. Liver Ans: D 70. In the bone marrow, RBC precursors are located: A. In the center of the hematopoietic cords B. Adjacent to megakaryocytes along the adventitial cell lining C. Surrounding fat cells in apoptotic islands D. Surrounding macrophages near the sinus membrane Ans: D 71. Which of the following gathers, organizes, and directs light through the specimen? A. Ocular B. Objective lens C. Condenser D. Optical Tube Ans: C 72. How are the globin chains genes arranged? Note: a means alpha, B means beta A. With a genes and B genes on the same chromosome including two a genes and two B genes B. With a genes and B genes on seperate chromosomes, two a genes on one chromosome and one B gene on a different chromosome C. With a genes and B genes on the same chromosome - including four a genes and four B genes D. With a genes and B genes on separate chromosomes - four a genes on one chromosome and two B genes on a different chromosome Ans: B 73. The maximum number of erythrocytes generated by one Multipotential Stem Cell is: A. 8 B. 1 C. 12 D. 16 Ans: D 74. What is the distribution of normal Hb in adults? A. 80-90% Hb A, 5-10% Hb A2, 1-5% Hb F B. >95% Hb A, Read the full article

[rickhorrow]

10 To Watch : Mayor’s Edition 11419

RICK HORROW’S TOP 10 SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 4 : MAYOR’S EDITION

with Jacob Aere

Fully 14.8% of all World Series ads focused on giving back and corporate social responsibility. There were more advocacy and corporate social responsibility ads aired during the first four games of the World Series than any other type of ad outside of auto makers, according to data from Advertising Analytics, a strategy firm that specializes in political and issues advertising. The World Series attracted mostly defense, enterprise technology, and healthcare ads. While this was a departure from typical sports championships, in which consumer package goods and retail ads typically dominate, Axios noted World Series games in DC presented a juicy opportunity for brands to “reach Washington decision-makers in a casual environment. While many marquee advertisers sponsor events around Washington DC, there are few games that will have as high of an impact and as engaged of an audience as a World Series that includes a Washington team.” As the hyper-political environment in Washington becomes more contentious, companies are pressured to take a stand on more issues than they have in the past – and this is reflected in their marketing initiatives. Expect this trend to continue at least through the 2020 election cycle.

A college players' rights group has entered into a partnership with the NFL Players Association to explore how to maximize name, image, and likeness rights. A day before the NCAA announcement last week, the NFLPA and National College Players Association (NCPA) announced jointly that the partnership will "explore opportunities for" college athletes in merchandise, gaming, licensed products, and "how recent developments impact television broadcast revenues in pursuit of fairness." California's Fair Pay to Play Act granting college athletes in that state the ability to profit off their name, image, and likeness goes into effect in 2023. A similar bill has been proposed in Florida, but it would go into effect far sooner—July 1, 2020. A Pennsylvania bill is expected to be introduced soon. Were college players able to unionize in a similar fashion to the way NFL players are able to collectively bargain, it would put even more pressure on the NCAA to craft new rules that give student athletes the same rights that all their classmates on campus currently enjoy.

Premier League Primary Stars USA visits Austin elementary school for soccer-themed learning. On October 25, Austin, Texas elementary school students worked side-by-side with Premier League stars during a soccer-themed educational experience. Premier League, the top level of the English soccer league system and EVERFI, a leader in driving social change through technology and education, recently joined forces to bring an interactive soccer-themed education program to students at Perez Elementary School in Austin. The event was part of the Premier League Primary Stars USA program, an educational initiative focused on health and wellness and social and emotional learning skills. Representatives from the Premier League and associated pro soccer clubs led a digital learning session, a hands-on soccer skills clinic, and a school-wide assembly centered on areas of critical emotional development. Perez students also engaged with visiting soccer stars, met mascots from four Premier League clubs, and saw the iconic Premier League trophy. On hand for the event were Premier League star winger and ambassador Shaun Wright-Phillips, EVERFI Global CMO Brian Cooley, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, and youth coaches from clubs including Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Wolverhampton.

Kansas City, here we come. Our “Power of Sports” program heads to Kansas City this month, highlighting community outreach programs, culturally significant sites, and people who have made a difference through sports. This month, host Rick Horrow visits the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to speak with President Bob Kendrick about the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Negro Leagues coming up next year and the museum’s role in the celebration and in the community. He also checks in on two of the Kansas City Royals’ youth outreach programs: Royalty Fields grants and a recurring Special Olympics clinic, and hears from James McGinnis, a high school football player from the KC Metro, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and used the Chiefs’ success last season to motivate his recovery. Our Game Changer segment features an interview with former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue filmed in early October at a Sport Business Handbook contributor symposium hosted by EVERFI at their Washington, DC headquarters

The Orlando Magic have "filed an updated master plan" for their downtown Orlando Sports + Entertainment District that is "expected to more than double" the original $200 million project budget. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the mixed-use district will be built "starting next year on 8.4 acres across from Amway Center." Magic Chief Communications Officer Joel Glass said the project will now cost "well over" $500 million. The district will "contain nearly 110,000 square feet of retail space, a conference center hotel with 80,000 square feet of event space, offices, apartments and a 2,500-space parking garage." The updated plan maintains the original concept from 2018 but "increases the number of hotel rooms by 50 and more than doubles the amount of office space from the original 200,000 square feet to 420,000 square feet." District Director Pat Gallagher said that the office tower "would now rise to 18 stories, which includes the ground-floor retail, multilevel parking structure and commercial office space." The Sentinel notes the Magic's new headquarters "would occupy 40,000 square feet in the office tower,” or close to 10%.

Unsung World Series winner this year:  Palm Beach County, FL.  The most publicized “first” this year involves the visiting team winning every World Series game.  However, maybe one of the most important economic “firsts” is the first time the World Series finalists shared a Spring Training facility:  the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.  The 7,700-seat stadium also features six practice fields each for the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros.  The 160-acre site also includes a 1.8 mile public walk trail and other facilities.  The Palm Beach County Sports Commission touts the facility as a major economic generator for the county, as it also hosts over 1,400 youth and tournament baseball games each year.  Look for a series of major announcements by the county and sports commission over the next two months.

San Diego State is now offering the city of San Diego $87.7 million for Mission Valley stadium site. San Diego State University is "now offering to pay" the city $19.5 million more than before to purchase the Mission Valley stadium property formerly occupied by the Chargers. According to the letter delivered last Monday to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, SDSU's new offer is $87.7 million, which consists of a "revised purchase price" of $86.2 million for 135 acres of land, plus an estimated $1.5 million to "account for a portion of the site's appreciation" since 2017. In addition, SDSU is "proposing to take over the portion" of Murphy Canyon Creek immediately adjacent to the site "without requiring the city to pay for any past-due maintenance,” according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The news comes as SDSU cracked the Associated Press college football Top 25 for the first time in many years (they are now #24), an achievement that should aid local enthusiasm for the SDSU West project, as a new football/soccer stadium is part of the master plan.

Parisian soccer club PSG goes green with Gaussin transport deal. According to SportsPro, French soccer giant Paris Saint-Germain has signed a strategic partnership with the Gaussin Group for the supply of self-driving, 100% electric vehicles for public transport and goods transport. The long-term agreement includes equipment for all of the Ligue 1 champions’ infrastructure, including their new training complex which will open its doors in 2022. The deal also falls in line with PSG’s ambition to utilize innovations in sustainable development and autonomous mobility, especially with regard to the practice facility as it bids to become the first recognized Smart City in sports. The Gaussin Group will initially undertake research to understand where to best deploy its autonomous and electric mobility solutions before rolling out its products where it best suits the needs of the club. This deal marks a movement for sports franchises to be more environmentally conscious of their off-field impacts.

Philadelphia 76ers’ Tobias Harris donates $1 million to charities. According to 247 Sports, Harris announced a combined donation of $1 million to assist nine different charities in Philadelphia. He announced the charities and the dollar amount for each during a community draft at a local elementary school. The benefitting organizations include the Center for Black Educator Development which received $300,000; Read by 4th was given $200,000; The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, and Legends Academy were all given $100,000; World Literacy Foundation and True Love Missions each received $75,000; and both WUFSD Wynadanch Memorial High School and Team Up Philly were given $25,000. Although Harris was traded just eight months ago from the Los Angeles Clippers, the basketball star seems to be investing heavily in the youth of Philadelphia, a city facing a major teacher shortage and in which two-thirds of third graders can’t read at grade level.

Call of Duty League launches in January, 2020.  According to BusinessWire, Activision Blizzard Esports announced the inaugural season of the Call of Duty League will begin with the Call of Duty League Launch Weekend at the Minneapolis Armory January 24-26, 2020. The event will be hosted by Minnesota Røkkr, which is the Call of Duty League team operated by WISE Ventures Esports, under the ownership of the Minnesota Viking owner Wilf family and tech investor Gary Vaynerchuk. The league will feature all 12 of the professional Call of Duty League teams competing across three days, and the opening weekend will feature additional fan and player experiences to celebrate the launch of Activision Blizzard Esports’ highly anticipated new city-based league. In a concept that should appeal to traditional sports fans, the Call of Duty League follows a home-vs-away format with 5-versus-5 professional match play. Throughout the season, each team will host “Home Series” weekends in their market, with multiple pro teams competing at each which will draw in crowds to take part in the events and participate in one of the most far-reaching video game series ever created.

[junker-town]

Vlatko Andonovski is the most common sense hire possible for the USWNT

Vlatko Andonovski will keep everything you loved about Jill Ellis, and add a dash of tactical sophistication.

The United States women’s national team confirmed Jill Ellis’ successor Monday, announcing the hire of Reign FC head coach Vlatko Andonovski. He’ll take charge of the team for the first time on November 7, when the USWNT takes on Sweden in Columbus.

Andonovski has coached in every NWSL season, winning the NWSL Championship twice. In 2019, he guided Reign FC to the playoffs despite injuries and international call-ups forcing him to field a league record 33 different players.

Even before the search for Ellis’ successor got underway, Andonovski was clearly a leading candidate. He was named by USWNT general manager Kate Markgraf as one of the people she would interview for the job while she was still working for ESPN, after she’d agreed to become the USWNT’s general manager but before her hire was announced.

Like Ellis, Andonovski has a reputation for building positive cultures and keeping players happy. He also usually favors a 4-3-3 formation and attack-minded (though not hyper-aggressive) soccer, which should make the transition to a new coach comfortable for the players.

But unlike Ellis, Andonovski has extensive professional experience and has won championships at the highest level of club soccer. He won’t be reinventing the wheel, but he could implement a new level of tactical sophistication that pushes the USWNT forward in an era when its challengers are rapidly improving.

So, who is Vlatko Andonovski?

Andonovski was born in what was then Yugoslavia, and is now North Macedonia. He came to the United States in 2000 to play professional indoor soccer, never left, and settled into coaching after his playing career ended.

Before he was hired as FC Kansas City’s first head coach, Andonovski made a name for himself in that region’s girls’ youth soccer scene, as well as men’s indoor soccer. He guided FCKC to the playoffs in his first season in charge, then won the NWSL Championship in 2014 and 2015.

Unfortunately for Andonovski and his squad, problems with FCKC ownership made it difficult to attract a replacement for Lauren Holiday following her retirement. He moved on to Reign FC in late 2017, shortly before FCKC folded and the rights of its players were transferred to Utah. The Reign finished in the top four in both of his seasons in charge, after missing the playoffs in the two seasons prior.

He’s gotten the most out of USWNT stars

Some USWNT stars have enjoyed the best years of their careers under Andonovski.

Holiday’s position on the national team changed constantly throughout her career, but Andonovski was the only coach to play her in arguably her best position, as a central attacking midfielder just behind a striker. She won the 2013 NWSL MVP award, leading the league in both goals and assists, as well as the 2014 NWSL championship game MVP.

Becky Sauerbrunn was usually the third or fourth center back on the USWNT before NWSL started, fighting for minutes even as Pia Sundhage and Tom Sermanni struggled to find a consistent central defense pairing. But under Andonovski, Sauerbrunn won three consecutive NWSL defender of the year awards, and has since gone on to make the league’s best XI in every season she has played in the league. Under Ellis, Sauerbrunn became a locked-in starter and the leader of the USWNT defense in two World Cup-winning campaigns.

Andonovski was also instrumental in reviving the career of Amy Rodriguez, who had fallen out of favor with the USWNT by the time the NWSL started in 2012. While other coaches primarily valued Rodriguez for her speed, Andonovski identified her skill at dropping deep, holding up the ball, and combining with teammates. He played Rodriguez in a new role, and she enabled Holiday and other stars to succeed. Rodriguez continues to play the role Andonovski first put her in for other coaches.

Allie Long also had her career turned around under Andonovski. She was benched during the end of her stint with Portland, who couldn’t find the right role for her in their midfield. Andonovski slotted Long into defensive midfield, where she had struggled for the USWNT, and she improved rapidly at that position. Her performances under Andonovski got her back on the national team for the World Cup.

He’s popular among players

On Thursday, Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl reported that Andonovski was the hire that USWNT players wanted:

“Multiple sources said Andonovski was by far the preferred choice of the current USWNT players, some of whom have said they were consulted by WNT GM Kate Markgraf as she went through her search process.”

This is consistent with everything I’ve ever heard about Andonovski. When FCKC’s ownership troubles started in 2016, multiple players told me that the opportunity to play for Andonovski was the only reason that they had not requested a trade or retired from NWSL. He drew significant praise from his goalkeeper Casey Murphy after the Reign’s playoff semifinal loss. Andonovski isn’t going to have trouble getting players to like him.

Tactical adaptability is a big plus

While Andonovski has preferred a 4-3-3 system with relatively aggressive pressing and a pure holding midfielder for defensive solidity, he has shown that he can adapt to available personnel.

In early seasons with Kansas City, Andonovski favored a 4-2-3-1 formation to get the most out of his best player, Holiday. He recognized that he had a special talent, worthy of building an entire system around, and it brought him two championships.

In the latter part of his tenure with Kansas City, Andonovski attempted to build a 4-4-2 system around Rodriguez as his primary link between midfield and new goal-poaching striker Sydney Leroux, but Rodriguez tore her ACL in the first game of the 2017 season. His team struggled without Rodriguez, but improved late in the season when Christina Gibbons — who primarily played winger in college, and had been playing left back for FCKC — was moved into midfield. Without a linking player like Rodriguez or a midfielder who could consistently complete long passes, Andonovski put on his problem-solving hat and found a player who could dribble through midfield instead.

Expect Andonovski to start out with a system that looks familiar to both you and the players, but know that he has the capacity to adjust if he has a good reason to do so.

Can he turn youngsters into top pros?

While Andonovski has historically given plenty of minutes to young American players directly out of college, his track record with developing draftees into stars isn’t good. Kristie Mewis and Kassey Kallman, his first two first round selections, were shipped out of Kansas City after disappointing rookie campaigns. Gibbons looked like she was on a better track before Andonovski joined the Reign, but she is now out of pro soccer. He did not have any first round selections as Reign FC manager.

This is relevant given the age of many USWNT players. A whopping 12 members of the World Cup squad were 30 or older. One of them, Alex Morgan, will miss at least the next six months due to pregnancy.

There are a handful of USWNT hopefuls who have started their pro careers, but most of the players from the 2016 and 2017 NWSL drafts — who should be entering their primes — have disappointed. Rookies from this past season and college stars like Emily Fox, Jaelin Howell and Catarina Macario appear to have much more upside.

Andonovski is going to need to get some inexperienced talents up to USWNT speed very quickly, and there’s no body of evidence that points to his ability to do so. If you’re looking for a reason to be concerned about Andonovski’s hire, this is it, though it’s a very mild concern. He never got the opportunity to draft a player like No. 1 overall picks Tierna Davidson and Andi Sullivan, so we have no idea how obvious USWNT-caliber players would have performed under him.

Who’s in and out?

We’re not going to have a lot of information about who Andonovski rates and who he doesn’t until next spring. The two games he takes charge of in November will include mostly players who participated in the World Cup. Then in December, a camp will be held explicitly for players who are not current USWNT regulars. From a combination of those two pools, Andonovski will put together a first team squad that’s to his liking in early 2020.

But wild guesses are fun, so let’s take some wild guesses:

With Alex Morgan out, Christen Press will get the first chance to prove she should be the starting center forward.

Andonovski isn’t as dogmatic as Ellis about his fullbacks needing to be great attackers, so Casey Short will get the opportunity to compete for a starting fullback role. Same goes for Davidson, who looks just as capable at left back as she does at center back.

That will move Crystal Dunn back into the rotation in more attacking spots, where she plays for the North Carolina Courage.

Julie Ertz will become a full-time center back to save her legs and extend her career.

Lynn Williams, who didn’t mesh with Ellis, will become a squad regular again.

Alyssa Naeher will have a fair shot to keep the No. 1 shirt, but other goalkeepers will be given a chance to win the job.

We’ll learn a bit about what Andonovski is thinking in November games against Sweden and Costa Rica, and a bit more during the B-team games in December. But it won’t be until next year that we really start to get a grasp on the direction he wants to take the team.

Fans who mostly liked the direction of the USWNT should be very happy with Andonovski, though. He’s not going to blow up the program, but he is going to freshen up the squad and bring a higher level of pro experience than the team’s previous two managers. He’s as common sense a hire as U.S. Soccer could have made.

[i-buy]

任天堂 經典迷你超任主機 (SUPER FAMICOM)開箱：21款超懷舊遊戲一次擁有！！

▲ 迷你超任以及任天堂Switch，主機真的很迷你！

任天堂 經典迷你超任主機 (SUPER FAMICOM)購買資訊：http://lnk.pics/1CT07

是的，在我把玩過之後，我認為「迷你超任」除了懷舊，它更是一台市面上最便宜能玩到像是「超級瑪莉歐賽車」、「魂斗羅」等優秀對戰、合作遊戲的機器，你買到的不只是回憶，還是你讓2017年的大家，在過年時聚在一起互丟烏龜殼最實惠且有話題的遊戲機，扎扎實實用心的遊戲機。

▲ 由於沒上擷取卡，畫面是用相機翻拍電視，畫質會比真正看到的還差一些。

▲ 迷你超任有分「日版」與「美版」裡頭的遊戲有些許不同，購買前要特別注意。

迷你超任收錄遊戲列表：

一台共21款遊戲，美版與日版有數個遊戲不同。

《魂斗羅 Spirits》（Contra III: The Alien Wars） 《大金剛》（Donkey Kong Country） 《Final Fantasy III》 《F-ZERO》 《星之卡比 Super Star》（Kirby’s Super Star） 神作→《薩爾達傳說：眾神的三角神力》（The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past） 《洛克人 X》（Mega Man X） 《聖劍傳說 2 》（Secret of Mana 2） 《星戰火狐》（Star Fox） 《星戰火狐 2》（Star Fox 2） 《耀西之島》（Yoshi’s Island） 《超魔界村》（Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts） 《瑪利歐賽車》（Super Mario Kart） 《超級瑪利歐 RPG：七星傳說》（Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars） 《超級瑪利歐世界》（Super Mario World） 《超級銀河戰士》（Super Metroid） （日版）《大盜伍佑衛門 ???救出??》 （日版）《 ??????》 （日版）《快打旋風 2 Turbo 新挑戰者》（ Super Street Fighter II Turbo The New Challengers） （日版）《火炎之紋章 紋章之謎》 （日版）《Super Formation Soccer》 （美版）《地球冒險》（EarthBound） （美版）《惡魔城 IV》（Super Castlevania IV） （美版）《Super Punch-Out!!》 （美版）《快打旋風 2 Turbo》（Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting） （美版）《星之卡比 夢想都》（Kirby’s Dream Course）

▲ 包裝十分簡潔，主機、兩手把、電源線（吃Micro USB）以及HDMI線一條。

▲ 主機本身真的非常「迷你」，手掌大小，正面上方只有「POWER」以及「Reset」兩個按鈕（Reset同時也是回主選單的按鈕），背後則只有MicroUSB電源孔以及HDMI 輸出孔。

▲ 隨著主機迷你化，原本的手把接口也迷你下來，真正的接口藏於板子下面，看上去感覺這手把應該有機會改裝接到電腦上用？...。

▲ 熟悉的手感，習慣的大小，這就是以前超任的手把（至少跟我印象一樣），優良的按鍵回饋感，就連L、R兩側按鍵的感覺都很棒，十字鍵也是一如既往地會讓人在尻快打旋風的時候大拇指燒起來。

▲ 迷你超任的電力需求相當低，我直接用Switch底座的USB供電，甚至你用行動電源給它都可以，開機後紅燈會亮起來。

▲ 看到沒有？沒有買擷取卡的悲哀，只能翻拍電視螢幕。但我可以跟你說，迷你超任的畫質其實跟20多年前的已經大幅提昇，在1080P螢幕上看起來仍然非常舒服，不用擔心瞎眼。

▲ 總共21款遊戲，可按照類似「遊戲名稱」、「可雙人對打」等多種方式來排列。

▲ 左邊設定中第一個選項為「My Play Demo」，第二個為「Auto Play Demo」，若開啟的話，主機放置一陣子會自動開始進入示範模式，還會播放你的遊戲存檔讓全家大小看看你剛剛怎麼輸的。遊戲畫面可以選擇「類比電視」模式，4：3模式，以及畫質最好的右邊「PIXEL Perfect完美像素」模式，下方還可以選邊框，蠻趣味的。

▲ Demo模式就像這樣，可以看到Mario或是Luigi自己在你的電視裡頭玩了起來，非常可愛。 

▲ 我個人喜歡這個復古味的喇叭邊框。 

▲ 系統一樣支援「即時存檔」，有點像是模擬器，你的遊戲可在進行中隨時按下主機上的「Reset」鍵來回到主介面，並將你的遊戲進度存檔每個遊戲的記憶夾中，每個遊戲有獨立四個欄位可儲存遊戲記錄。

這次選進的21款遊戲，每一款都是經典，基本上你只會有遊戲不合口味的情況，也幾乎每個年齡層都有適合的遊戲可以單人玩、雙人玩。畫質來說，迷你超任留下了超任最美好的那一面，並將當年科技造成的缺點解決掉。在20多年前的超任，超級瑪莉歐賽車並沒有這麼順暢、畫面也沒有這麼穩定，偶爾賽車人物還會一閃一閃的，色澤當然也沒有現在飽滿漂亮。 

音效、畫面，均不會讓你有這是20年前的陽春感，甚至我是認真沉浸在《薩爾達傳說：眾神的三角神力》遊戲裡頭，而不只是體驗回味而已。這些遊戲，在2017年的現在來看仍然經典，仍然「好玩」，在我把玩的這幾天，我發現，這根本不是單純用來讓人「懷舊」、「收藏」的機器，它本身就是一台很棒的遊戲機，裡頭有許多非常棒的遊戲。

▲ 現在看雖然很陽春，但在當年，星戰火狐給我的視覺刺激非常震撼－－是立體的呢！

那年代的遊戲難度普遍比現在遊戲高，《超級瑪利歐世界》（Super Mario World）絕對也不是能輕鬆過關的，《聖劍傳說 2 》、《火炎之紋章 紋章之謎》、《Final Fantasy III》現在玩起來內容一樣扎實，更不用說像是《薩爾達傳說：眾神的三角神力》這種神級經典作品－－超任時代也是動作、平台遊戲的黃金時期，大家都玩過的《洛克人 X》，超經典的《魂斗羅 Spirits》，以及困難到沒天理的《超魔界村》…在開箱後的這幾天，我忘記了我 NBA 2K18的進度，就像是當年的小孩子一般，拿著個小板凳，坐在已經比小時候大不知道幾倍的液晶電視前面，沉迷在這些經典、用心的老遊戲當中。不是懷念過去的時光，而是這些遊戲，在2017年的現在也非常好玩。

▲ 《Final Fantasy III》

任天堂 經典迷你超任主機 (SUPER FAMICOM)購買資訊：http://lnk.pics/1CT07

[mikesunboxingreviews]

Old School Gaming In Your Pocket SUP 400 Retro Gaming Box

Old School Gaming That Fits In Your Pocket! The SUP 400 PLUS Retro Gaming Box! Affiliate link: https://thespinningdeal.com/?rfsn=2780614.cd871 Use discount code MIKE5 for 5% off

Specs: 3" quality screen 1 hr charging time via Micro USB 6 hr playing time adjustable volume control and built in speaker TV out option for large screen gaming. Lots of games! 1942 10 YARD FIGHT 90 TANK ABSCONDEE ADVEN ISLAND 2 ADVENTURE ISLAND AETHER CRUISER AIM CRUISE AIMLESS AIR ALERT ALADDIN 3 ALPHA ht1SSION ANGRY BIRD ANIMAL CONTEST ANTARCTIC ADVEN APPLE CHESS AQUARIUM ARABIAN ARENA ARGUS ARKANOID ARKISTAS RING ASO ASTRO ROBO SASA AWFUL RUSHING B WINGS BACK TO FUTURE BADMINGTON BALLOON FIGHT BALTRON BASE BALL BASEBALL NEW BINARY LAND BIRD WEEK BLOCKS WORLD BOKOSUKA WARS BOMB JACK BOMB KING BOMB SWEEPER BOMBER MAN BOWLING BRUSH ROLLER BUBBLE BUBBLE BOBBLE 2 BUG CATCHER BUGS WAR BUMP N UMP BURBLES BURGER TIME BURROW EXPLORER BUSY BAR CABBONADE CANDY WORKSHOP CASTLE EXCELLENT CHACK AND POP CHALLENG CHESS CHINESE CHESS CHIP DALE 1 CHIP DALE 3 CHUBBY CHERUB CIRCUS CHARLIE CLIMBING CLOSE UARTERS CLU CLU LAND COAST GUARD COMBAT CONTEST CONTRA 1 CONTRA 7 CONTRA FORC COOKIE LABYRINTH COOKIES CREEDS CRYSTAL BALL CRYSTAL BLAST CUB ADVENTURE DE IECTILE DEFENDER DEFORMABLE DEPTH BOMB DESTROY DEVIL WORLD DIAMOND DIG DUG 1 DIG DUG 2 DONKEY KONG DONKEY KONG 2 DOOR DOOR DOUBLE DRAGON 2 DOUBLE DRAGON 3 DOUGH BOY DR MARIO DRAGON DRUAGA DUCK DUNE WAR EGG CONTEST ELEVATOR ACTION ESCAPEWAY EXCITE BIKE EXED EXES EXERION FAIRS TREASURE FALLING BLOCKS FATED PIRATE FINAL BLOOD FIREBASE FIRST DEFENDER FISH STORY FISHWAR FIVE DAYS Fl RACE FLAPPY FLING BALL FLIPULL FOREST ADVENTURE FORMATION Z FRANTIC MOUSE FRIDAY THE 13 FRONT LINE FRUIT DISH FRUIT GIFT FRUIT PIG GALAGA GALAXIAN GALG GALLAGANT GARDEN WAR GATE GEIMOS GHOST CASTLE GOBLET TOWER GOLDEN BIRD GOLF GRADIUS GYRODINE HALLIHOO HAMMER N NAIL HAPPY MATCH HEXA HEXAPOD NEW HEXAPOD WAR HOKIJTO NO KEN HOT HIGH SCHOOL HOT WRESTLE HYPER OLYMPIC HYPER SPORTS ICE CLIMBER ICE HOCKEY ICE OCEAN IQ CHAMPION ISLAND JACKAL JUMP JUMP KAGE LEGEND KARATEKA KICKEY MOUSE KING KNIGHT LABYRINTH LIGHTNING LIMPING KID LITTLE WITCH LODE RUNNER LOT LOT LUNAR BALL LUNARIAN LUNATION MACH RIDER MACROSS MAD XMAS MAGIC EGG MAGIC EWELRY MAGMAX MAH ONG MAH ONG 4P MAN IN RED MAPPY MARIO 14 MARIO 3 MARIO BROS MECCANO MILK N NUTS MILLIPEDE MIRROE MITSUME MOAI-KUN MORTAL KOMBAT 4 MOTOBOAT MOUSE HERO MOUSE SNARE MOVE BOX MOWING MUSICE NAITOU NEW MAN NIBBLES NIN A 1 NIN A 2 NIN A 3 NINJA GAIDEN 2 NUT CRACKY ONYANKO TOWN ORCHARD OTHELLO OTHELLO OUST OUST PAC LAND PACHI COM PACMAN PANZER ATTACK PAPERBOY PENTA BASE PIKA CHU PIN BALL POBBLE POLAR BAT POLICE DOG LASY POLICE VS THIEF PONGPONG POOYAN POPEYE PORTER POWER ROBOT POWER SOCCER PRO WRESTLING PULVERATION PUZZLE PYRAMID QBAKE QUARTH RABBIT VILLAGE RAGE RIVER UMP ROAD FIGHTER ROBOCOP ROBOT ROUTE-16 RURALGOBLIN RUSH' N ATTACK SEAMAID SEAPORT GUARL SEASON GARDEN SEAWOLF SEICROSS SHOT PUT SHREW HOUSE SILENT HUNTER SKY DESTROYER SKY HUNTER SLALOM SMALL DINOSAUR SNOW BROS SNOWBALL SOLOMON SON SON SPACE BASE SPACE ET SPARTAN X SPELUNKER SPIDER MAN SPIDERMAN 1 SPIDERMAN 2 SPRING WORLD SPY VS SPY STAR STAR FIGHTER STAR FORCE STAR GATE STAR LUSTER STAR SOLDIER STRAFE STRONG PILL SUBMARINE SUPER CHINESE SUPER MARIO TENNIS TETRIS 2 THE ARCHER THEXDER THROUGHMAN TIGER HELI TOY FACTORY TRACK FIELD TRANSFORMERS TROOPER TURTLES TURTLES 1 TURTLES 1 TURTLES 4 TWIN BEE TWIN CARDS UNAR BALL UNDERSEA ARENA URBAN CHAMPION UTMOST WARFARE VIGILANT VOLGUARD 11 VOLLEY BALL WAR ZONE WAREHOUSE BOY WARPMAN WARRIOR WARS WATER PIPE WILD WORM WISDOM WONDER BALL XEVIOUS YIE AR KUNG FU ZIPPY RACE

These are the games listed I haven't tested them all!

Unboxing Playlist:     https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL39HCM-SRLM-MWjTy_ecFQRwfM_Ql_vyo

[tech4upt]

7Testamos uma consola que tem sido muito popular nos últimos meses, cujo design é muito parecido com um Game Boy da década de 90 da Nintendo.

Deste modo, estamos assim a falar da Retro FC 168 in 1. Esta consola de jogos ronda os 13 a 20 euros e tem 168 jogos clássicos da NES (Nintendo Entertainment System).

Felizmente, tivemos oportunidade de a testar e vale, sem dúvida alguma, o preço que pedem pela mesma.

Assim, tem boa qualidade tendo em conta o preço pedido. Os jogos incluídos nesta são os clássicos da NES e em termos de jogabilidade é tal e qual a do Game Boy, mas com uma melhor resolução e a cores.

Unboxing e Review ao Retro FC 168 em 1

Contudo, para melhor demonstrar esta consola fizemos o unboxing e review, jogando alguns dos jogos clássicos, tais como o Super Mário, Contra, Battle Tank, Popeye, Pac-Man e Dig-Dug.

Super Mário Bros

Super Mário Bros

Contra

Contra

PAC-MAN

Popeye

Dig-Dug

Battle Tank 1990

Assim, convidamos-te assim a veres o nosso vídeo de unboxing e análise (review) à mesma.

Se gostares do vídeo, agradecemos que faças um “Like”. Se gostas de tecnologia e queres ver mais vídeos como este, subscreve e carrega no “sininho” para seres notificado sempre que publicarmos um novo vídeo.

Resumidamente, ao fazeres isso, ajudas-nos a criar mais conteúdo idêntico a este.

Especificações Gerais

Ecrã: TFT 3″

Língua: Inglês

Som: Mono

Autonomia: 6 horas

Bateria: 600 mAh (Nokia BL-5C)

Saída: Audio e Video (permite ligação à TV)

Jogos: 168 jogos

Peso: 100g

Conteúdo: 1 x consola; 1 x manual em Inglês; 1 x Cabo AB, 1 x Cabo mini-USB

Lista de jogos incluídos

Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario World

Super Mario 14

Super Mario Bros 6

Dr. Mario

Mario Bros.

Mario Is Missing

Mario’s Time Machine

Super Mario Bros.2

Snow Bros

Tetris

Cross Fire

Aladdin 3

GI Joe

Mega Man 3

Bubble Bubble Part 2

Tmnt2

ADVENTURE ISLANDND 2

Angry Bird 2

CHIP DALE 2

Contra

Contra force

DOUBLE DRAGON 3

JackieChan

Little Nemo-Dream Master

Mighty Final Fight

Mitsume Ga Tooru

Moster in my pocket

Ninja Gaiden 3

Plants Vs Zombies

Pocket Monster

Power Blade 2

Spider Man

SUPER CONTRA

Tom & Jerry

World Cup

CRAZY CASTLE

Pac-Mania

World Cup Soccer

1942

ADVENTURE ISLANDND

Adventures of Dino Riki

Adv of Lolo

Adv of Lolo 2

Angry Bird

Angry bird 3

ARKANOID

ASTRO ROBO SASA

BABEL

E ainda… (jogos do Retro FC 168 in 1) 50-100

Badminton

BENTHAL

B-Wings

Dig Dug 2

ELEVATOR ACTION

Exed exes

F1-Race

FLIPULL

GOONIES

GRADIUS

GYRODINE

Gyruss

Hello Kitty

Ice Hockey

KUNG FU

Mickey Mouse

MS Pac-Man

MUSIC MOMENT

Onyanko Town

Penguin Kun Wars

POOYAN

Pro Wrestling

Route 16 Turbo

Seicross

SLALOM

Soccer

Solomon’s Key

Son Son

SPELUNKER

Super Chinese

Track Field

Transformers

TwinBee

VOLGUARD 2

Volleyball

Wrecking Crew

10 yard fight

4 mahjong

antarctic advent

ARABIAN

balloon fight

Baseball

Battle city

Battle city 2

Billiard

BINARY LAND

Bird Week

Black white chess

BOMBER MAN

Bomb Sweeper

E ainda… (jogos do Retro FC 168 in 1) 101-150

Box world

Brush roller

BURGER TIME

Chack’n pop

CIRCUS CHARLIE

City connection

Clu clu lan

CONTE ENEGY

DEFENER II

Deflower

Devil world

Dig Dug

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong 3

Donkey Kong Jr.

Donkey Kong Jr math

Door door

Excitebike

Exerion

Field combat

Formation 2

FRONT LINE

GALAGA

GALAXIAN

Glommy chress

Golf

Gomoku

Hyper olympic

Hyper sports

Ice climber

Ikki

Jewelry

Joust

Karateka

Levin action

Lode Runner

Lode Runner2

Lunar Ball

Macross

Mahjong

Mappy

MILLIPEDE

Muscle

Nibbles

Night arrow

Ninja kun

NUTS MILK

Othello

Pacman

Pinball

E ainda… (jogos do Retro FC 168 in 1) 151-168

Poker

Popeye

Pyramid

Raidon bungeling

ROAD FIGHTER

Sky destroyer

Small mario

Space et

STAR FORCE

Star gate

Tank a 1990

Tennis

UFO race

Urban Champion

Warpman

Wrestle

Yie ar kung fu

Zippy race

Conclusão

Em suma, é uma Excelente prenda para este Natal. Aliás, principalmente para adultos que nasceram entre os anos 70 e 80, pois fará recordar os tempos de infância / juventude.

Assim damos 5 estrelas pela qualidade preço, recomendando vivamente este produto…

Onde comprar?

Todavia, apesar de já a termos visto em território nacional, os melhores preços continuam a ser na GearBest e BangGood.

Deixo aqui o link para a GearBest.

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Análise à consola portátil – Retro FC 168 in 1 7Testamos uma consola que tem sido muito popular nos últimos meses, cujo design é muito parecido com um Game Boy da década de 90 da Nintendo.