#aka the person who got me into this ship before i even installed the game

[hydrachea]

Give me the ship opinions on kaeluc ☆

ship ask game

Kaeluc: Ship It

What made you ship it? Kaeluc is actually one of the two Genshin ships that broke containment and reached me before I even started playing, so I already had a bias (that you, my dear friend, absolutely did not help). Then I started playing and the deal was easy to seal, wow, red/blue duo that had an intense falling out and have a tense relationship to this day, plenty of in-game pandering, and they're brothers? It was a losing battle from the start.

What are your favorite things about the ship? The angst they have is delicious, especially from Kaeya's side. Everything that went down the night Crepus died, the way he knew how Diluc would react but still went through with coming clean... And how he never blamed Diluc for it and cared for his Vision after he left Mondstadt, returning it safe to him when he came back... He cares! He cares!! I also love how well they know each other despite everything, and I love the thought of them possibly eventually making up. They have a whole arc and we're only in the middle of it, Hoyo keeps us so well-fed.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? The whole "brothers vs sworn brothers" debate is pointless, both are true in the first place considering they are sworn brothers but were also raised together with Kaeya being adopted by Crepus, so pick whichever you like best and leave it at that. It really doesn't matter, just enjoy yourselves.

[diloph]

As a known Metroid Fan, what do you think of Other M's Big Bad MB AKA Melissa Bergman? I don't see her much with guys like Dark Samus or Ridley.

Despite being a very divisive game, I don't really have much to say about Other M and MB that hasn't already been said, particularly in the case of the former; it's a mess, it's a like a bad MGS game, Adam is a bad man, Samus is nothing like she's been prior and so on.

With regards to MB, I'm gonna say that she's at least got an interesting concept behind her character. She's an antagonist that Samus interacts with that instead of outright attacking her, speaks and misleads her (before Raven Beak did it by pretending to be The Orb). You could argue that there's a lot of potential there that, like many things in Other M, was squandered.

For those not in the know, MB (Melissa Bergman) appears to be an ordinary young woman, but is in fact android created by the Galactic Federation to imitate and fill a similar role to the infamous Mother Brain. Coordinating the bioweapons projects aboard the Bottle Ship from a static installation, MB is granted a humanoid body so she can act as a leash/surrogate parent for the Metroids that the Federation seeks to breed and genetically alter.

One scientist, Madeline Bergman, takes a shine to MB and nicknames her Melissa Bergman, developing a close sort of mother-daughter bond with the android. She's the only person aboard the station that treats Melissa like a person and not a tool, which is certainly how I'd hope you'd treat any sentient person, let alone someone with massive telepathic powers and control over things with teeth larger than the average human body.

Unfortunately for MB, this streak of newfound humanity doesn't last. When she begins to challenge the scientists aboard the Bottle Ship about their decisions and methods in raising the Metroids, they rankle at being questioned by a machine, deem such questioning dangerous and harkening back to Mother Brain's methodology, then move to reprogram her to be more obedient.

When she is being taken away under guard, MB protests and tries reaching out to Madeline, who shamefacedly turns away. Understandably feeling betrayed, MB lashes out at the guards and breaks free, then uses her abilities to set the bioweapons loose and turn them on the staff of the facility.

At that point, she deems all of mankind must pay for their sins and intends to unleash her bioweapons upon the Federation and proceeds to operate this agenda when both Samus and Federation troops appear to investigate the Bottle Ship's distress signal.

From there on in, MB shares the role of antagonist with a shady Federation assassin and a clone of Ridley himself. Only MB makes it to the end, personally taking care of "the Deleter" (god that still sounds stupid) and misleading Samus, duping her into believing she's Madeline and not Melissa to obfuscate her goals.

While she has the same robotic delivery (HAH) as all the other characters, MB at least is a serviceable one. Nothing stellar, but she serves her purpose and it's more the circumstances around her that raises questions to me and offers avenues to have made her a more interesting, intimidating or sympathetic villain.

For starters, how the hell did the Galactic Federation even manage to create her in the first place?Mother Brain is an advanced Chozo computer system and the Chozo possess scientific and mystical knowledge and abilities beyond ordinary species. The Galactic Federation, while an intergalactic organisation, are decidedly less high-tech than the Chozo and in Other M, I'd even argue compared to prior games.

Logically, trying to create even a simulacrum of Mother Brain hits a few obstacles. First thing being is that the Chozo's tech is way more advanced than the Federation's; Mother Brain is a gigantic, sentient genius that is implied to have both mechanical and organic technologies blended into its systems... MB is Ash or Bishop, but psychic. How did they replicate the telepathic abilities? How did they downscale tech that advanced and on that scale into a human-sized and shaped body? Is she a clone like everything else on the Bottle Ship? How did they clone a machine?

Further questions, like how did they know that Mother Brain didn't alter the Metroids she'd bred in order to keep them under control, or why they allowed MB sentience or a stronger-than-human body, also come into play. Did they seriously think they could control a sentient being that was a copy of an evil computer that sought galactic domination? With what? Why was Madeline allowed to treat her like a person if they thought it was going to backfire and make her question? Or the opposite, why not treat her like a valued member of the team to ensure loyalty?

Just Other M things, I guess.

Anyway, with regards to Melissa, I feel like in order to make her a better villain and indeed uplift the game as a whole(ofc necessitating necessary reworking of plot, characters, acting as a given anyway), would be to give her either of two options: either make her more sympathetic or even more villainous.

The first is simple enough, given that she's got a bad lot in life from the get go. Yes, she's in control of the Metroids on most of the other creatures, yes, she's lashing out, but it's all in a very valid concern that she's an expendable tool that the Federation wants dead. If her death isn't changed, then there's more of an overt sense of tragedy at the end of the game than the monotonous navel-gazing that the characters engage at the end of the canon game.

The second is that MB would be the primary villain to an even greater extent. Having her true nature and plans being hidden, this version of Melissa appears to be one of several scientists, scattered throughout the station and not in communication with one another. Identifying herself as Madeline, she goes through the real game's spiel of unfreezable Metroids (another gaffe, because I think the Chozo's biological knowhow is unmatched, with cloning being the only real attempts by the Space Pirates and Feds that feel justified) and bioweapons being created by the Federation to sow distrust between Samus, the troops under Adam's command and the scientists.

Then, the ace in the hole comes into play. There is no Deleter, but MB dupes everybody into believing that there is. Early on, a coded transmission is caught by Samus and brought to the others, where we see the fragmentary message of an assassin being activated aboard the Bottle Ship, with orders to eliminate all remaining survivors and "not to allow personal feelings to get in the way".

Boom. Instantly, Samus, the Marines and the scientists all suspect one another of being/harbouring the assassin. Tempers fray between the GF troopers who thought they knew one another, when MB leaks some previously classified or private data pertaining to murky histories via collectable logs. Adam is implicated in the "clone Metroids" scheme, throwing his involvement and Samus is played up as an outsider, to say nothing of these scientists who are scared, frantic and already at their wits end.

As the game progresses, MB picks off scientists and members of Adam's teams one by one. Perhaps she even dons a stolen armorsuit to implicate one of them in a direct shootout with another, throwing all parties off her trail with a faked death.

From there on in, you're on the hunt for an assassin that never existed in the first place, dodging alien creatures, all the while ignorant to MB's plan of bringing back the Space Pirates, Metroids and Ridley, then dropping the motley crew of monsters in the midst of the GF capital, with ambitions for empire.

How it would end, what sort of form she would make her final boss fight isn't something I'm putting too much thought into, but having an ordinary response to a distress signal mutate into a plot to annihilate galactic security as a result of the Federation's own hubris, greed and power-hungry traitors, would've been at least better than what we got, if done well.

In short, MB was a villain mired in a nonsense plot of a not that good at all game, but she had potential.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

May 2021 Wk 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

It’s a cray cray Friday when Vietnam gets its eng subs up before GMMTV Thailand. What alter-reality are we in? Well, the Vietnamese offerings are better right now anyway. (Oooo, feel that burn.) 

Ongoing Series - Thai

Top Secret Together Ep 2 - pulping it up in the best possible way. Sure sound and production values are pants, and in classic Thai fashion the editing in post is exacerbating (rather than fixing) pacing issues, but it’s still CUTE AF. I don’t even mind the added university storyline, because they’ve got good chemistry (and a confident gay fresher after a panicked gay hazer is an old favorite... what can I say, SOTUS was my first love). We aren’t spending too much time with any one couple, so it’s weighted a lot better than Brothers was, but also character development is slow. 

Siew Sum Noi Ep 2 - Unfortunately, it’s just too hard to find, plus no subs. I’m dropping it in the hopes it comes back on my radar some day. 

Y-Destiny Ep 8 - (Thurs) It’s rough having a ghost boyfriend, half your friends are scared, the other half think you’re crazy, and kissing shortens your lifespan. This was a cute couple even if I wasn’t wild about the surrounding story. 

Close Friend Ep 5: (Dear My Star/JimmyTommy) - about high school penpals. It had to rely entirely on voice over work as the actors only meet face to face at the end. It’s a good thing they are appealing screen presences on their own, with good vocal control. It’s hard to imagine any other BL pair carrying this kinda plot. It’s by far my favorite of the series so far, and I’m not even a big JimmyTommy fan. 

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 7 - no subs. Do we care? Not really. Because we have... 

Nitiman Ep 3 - currently my favorite out of Thailand. It’s the university Thai BL i’ve been waiting for since... when was the last good one? My Engineer? Yowza. Anyway we got: head on my shoulder, baby is a floppy drunk (but still wants to be in control), proximity alert, boyfriend’s closet, seme gets seriously jelly, and a cute twist on feeding him. There’s something fun and complex about Jin’s character. He’s not a panicked bi. He knows exactly what’s going on, he just hasn’t decided if he wants Bb or not. He clearly enjoys being looked after, the compliments, and the attention, but he’s not sure if he’s going to like what happens if he gives in. I like that twist on the usual tsundere uke archetype a lot, cautious rather than willfully obtuse or freaked out. We can see Jin realizing in stages: I like this person, I like that they like me, I like the romantic attentiveness. But in the background is... do I actually want to f*k him? It’s a dynamic we don’t often see on BL. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 10 fin - the most ridiculous show using BLs worst tropes in a sort of weird smoothie of bitter greens and too ripe banana. The ending was the sappiest cheesiest thing ever, like cheese syrup tapped from the cheese tree. So of course I loved it, but I’m pretty sure I giggled through all the bits meant to be profound. Because, in the end, to tolerate this show at all, you just can’t take ANY of it seriously. RECOMMENDED (with some SERIOUS reservations and trigger warnings.) Full review here. 

Be Loved in House: I Do (Taiwan) Ep 1-2 - I don’t mind a damaged seme character but this one is a bit weird for me. Like creepy Cheese in the Trap level weird. On the bright side, the story has given our tsundere uke good motivation for his angst and great existing friendships, loyalty, and likability. Plus I’m invested in the cafe owner/innocent puppy side dishes. So if it’s only the seme character I’m not jiving with, and he’s the most established actor, it should all turn out fine. I believe in you, Taiwanese BL. 

Papa & Daddy (Taiwan) Ep 6 fin - speaking of belief. This such a good show but they gave us a cliffhanger ending. Now we must hope against hope for season two. That’s never guaranteed with Taiwan tho. So, I’m docking a few points and saying, RECOMMENDED so long as you realize it’s a cliffhanger. 

Love is Science? (Taiwan) Ep 1-9 (BL subplot) - this is a good het romance, but the fact that the BL subplot is a beautifully acted disaster bi + confident gay means you’re hearing about it whether you want to or not. Plus they just added in some GL! Come on! I gotta support Taiwan normalizing queer to this extent. They are fighting the good fight and if I also have to watch a career lady and her much younger softest straight boi get it on, too? Twist my arm with that service sub subtext. Go on Taiwan, TWIST IT. It’s on Viki. Join the revolution.   * Incidentally if you actually like the D/s het dynamic of this show, I highly recommend Japanese Kimi wa Petto - career woman keeps a hot young dancer boy as a pet. Oh yes, an actual pet, that IS the pitch. Never doubt Japan when kink is on the line. It’s also on Viki. Go get your kink on, thank me later. (If it helps: That was not a request.)  

Most Peaceful Place 2 (Vietnam) Ep 2 (AKA 5) - love triangles aren’t my thing, but if you’re gonna do it short form, by all means bring in the lead’s other BL pairing so the chemistry is on point. Now I've no idea who I want him to end up with. Can’t they just be in a poly triad? 

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 7 - I’m still enjoying it a lot. It’s still unabashedly queer and the tension is ramping up. We now have secret identity, blackmail, femme fatale, faen fatale, and incoming seme confrontation. Best of all, the series is still airing, which makes it longer than any other Vietnamese BL I’ve seen (aside from Tein Bromance - which is just too weird to count). 

Gossip - Thai BL 

SEVEN PROJECT TEASERS

No one is entirely sure what Studio Wabi Sabi’s Seven Project/7Project will entail. 

It might be like Close Friend (1 episode per couple, no linking), 

or Y-Destiny (2 episodes per couple, loosely linked), 

or The En of Love (4 episodes per couple, linked but independent consecutive stories). 

They’re giving the couple’s arcs separate titles. So each one would be what? Seven Project: Once Upon a Time or the like? We’re in Taiwanese title territory people and NO ONE WANTS TO GO THERE. Anygay... 

Once Upon a Time is the BounPrem (og UWMA) anchor story, and seems to be the most dramatic and likely saddest. These two can handle most of what’s thrown at them at this juncture, so it should be good. 

Vs Love is a BoomPeak (og Make it Right) university vehicle. Since I thought Boom was done with our nonsense, I couldn’t be more thrilled and surprised this pair is doing another show together. I don’t think either of them are the greatest actors but I find Peak very endearing and Boom charismatic on screen, so I’ll watch. 

Would You be My Love is the hotly anticipated SantaEarth launch. They’re a (cultivated) IRL ship and Earth is an established BL actor. They have great chemistry and high energy so this could be lots of fun. 

We are also getting a GL from this series from established BL actresses Samantha and Pineare. Nothing teased yet on that, but I’m looking forward to this installment the most. Also curious to see how the ladies handle the branding and promo side, not to mention the culture. (Thailand variety shows gonna force *girls* to play the Pepero game?) 

Secret Crush on You upcoming Thai BL with no release date, co-produced by and featuring (but NOT staring) Saint and directed by Cheewin (sigh) with all fresh faces. (Previously known as Stalker the series.) It looks like pure pulp and I’m not wild about the plot but could be better than expected as it’s adapted from a novel. Cheewin is an okay director when he has an actual story to follow. 

Don’t Say No the series. Coming from the producers of TharnType this is the JaFirst vehicle many have been waiting for. Friends to lovers + a good boy/bad boy pairing on a sports romance foundation. It’s basketball so they tapped Meen as well (he’s semi-pro). The bad news? You get one guess as to who is writing the darn thing? Yep it’s MAME. So, ya know, expect some slam dunk kidnapping, a light dribbling of rape, and me turning into a basketcase. AKA... 

Will I have to live blog this series in order to survive it? That seems to be the only way I can. So probably. Which means the bad sports puns will continue. Look, if I’m suffering, SO ARE YOU! 

Rumors of a new YinWar vehicle The Best Story (mini series) coming in July. Also rumors that their previously announced Love Mechanics (full length series) has either been delayed, is facing money issues, or is moving studios, or all three. 

Breaking News 

DELAYED (I’m talking these three off the watch list until we get new airing dates) 

Love Area’s release was pushed out but it got a trailer. 

Golden Blood was supposed to drop Weds but comments in MDL report that it is delayed due to C19.  

Love’s Outlet (Taiwan) is supposed to have started a 50 episode run (only 3-5 min each, what utter nonsense). Sadly, this delay is due to a surge in cases in Taiwan which was doing so well, but also doesn’t have many inoculations. 

Bad Buddy has started workshopping at GMMTV actual. 

Kang Insoo’s BTS for Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding is SO FLIPPING CUTE. You have to watch it. Trust me, I don’t rec behind the scenes stuff often. 

Next Week Looks Like This: 

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

[sheepfulsheepyardinspace]

Do you have any Star Wars fanfic recommendations, or have a link to someone else's list? I really wanna veg out.

oh my god, DO I. this may have been the best ask in the world. i’m not really sure what u want a feel for, so i threw together some of my favorite longfics for maximum veg time from the ot/pt and links for swr and swtcw recs. they’re pretty much all luke-anakin/vader centric, since that’s kinda my bread and butter.

let’s start with frodogenic, who wrote the first longfic i ever read in sw and might be one of the funniest authors ever. they once reviewed my fanfic & i nearly cried from joy. anyway. 

The Father, 284k+, complete. “Ten years after ROTS, tormenting nightmares of his unborn child drive Darth Vader to extraordinary measures with unexpectedly drastic consequences. Clearly, experience has taught Darth Vader nothing...” 

this is my og star wars fic and boy oh boy is it amazing. i will never get over this. i don’t want to spoil anything but when i say the final chapters are great? i mean they’re legendary. sometimes i still think about them & wish upon a star that i could be such a great writer. vader’s amazing, han is spectacular, and the ocs are fantastic.

Far More Than Rubies, 70k+, complete. “Nine years after AOTC, tragedy revisits the Lars Homestead. Little Luke Skywalker is suddenly plunged into chaos as the rebel movements discover a secret military project that may make a crucial difference in the war with the Empire.”

the spiritual twin of The Father, FMTR takes a look at padmé’s character and relationship with both luke and anakin/vader that’s hard to beat. it’s darker and heavier than The Father, but it hits those same sweet, sweet emotional beats while raising the age-old question: if padmé had lived, what would she have done?

The Family Tree, 12k, complete. “In which Luke Skywalker is stranded in a tree waiting for a flash flood to recede. Too bad he's got company...”

okay, i admit, this isn’t a longfic, but it is a longshot, and it’s amazing. the imagery and description always blow me away, and the interaction (canon-compliant) between luke and vader just [chef’s kiss] get me. vader’s in full, glorious form, and it makes it all the harder when luke wrestles with the knowledge that vader is his father.

Sibling Revelry, 25k, complete. “After Bespin and before Endor, Darth Vader is shocked to discover that Luke and Leia are twins. He's even more shocked when Imperial Intelligence reports that Organa and Skywalker are, erm, a tad closer than previously suspected.”

this is complete crack and humor in the best way possible. it’s crack treated entirely seriously, and you will be in stitches, i promise. no matter how many times i’ve read this i break down.

KittandChips (@kittandchips) writes what i can only describe as food for the soul. the luke-vader interaction is insanely amazing, the world building of daily imperial life and imperial governance is amazing, and vader just has a special je ne sais quoi that u must read to understand––tragic, funny, and so, so fatherly. they’re currently rewriting the Force Bond Series to fit in with newer canon, so i will joyously binge reread the entire again (including the new Force Bond: Mustafar Weekend).

Force Bond 1: Orphan, 47k, complete. “After Owen and Beru are killed by a mysterious stranger, young Luke ends up as an orphan on Coruscant. It's a race against time as Obi-Wan struggles to find Luke before Vader realizes the boy is his son.”

Orphan kicks off the series, which tracks vader and luke’s relationship through the perils of luke’s teenagerhood while growing up under the eye of the emperor and imperial court. it’s filled with slow growth, struggle and misunderstandings as darth vader tries to single parent, and pay off in every installment. the entire series clocks in around 777k+ and is the most joyful, fulfilling reading you’ll ever have. promise.

darth-nickels (@darth--nickels) writes darker, twistier, and terribly, terribly heartwrenching aus. they’ve got a whole host, but let me introduce to my two favorites. also, check out their faux-academia on vader. it’s amazing and i love it, but i admit i am an academia hoe.

Dooku Captured, Pt 2, 16k, complete. “Dooku is taken alive onboard the Invisible Hand, and Sidious' web is torn. The Sith Lord wonders if death might have been preferable to clumsy interrogation by Anakin Skywalker.”

Dooku Captured is a longshot au told from Dooku’s pov which takes the beginning of ROTS and throws it on its head. it’s a fascinating outside perspective of anakin and obi-wan’s relationship and such and interesting examination of dooku’s psyche and especially his complex relationship with the jedi order, qui-gon, yoda, and palpatine. i cannot rec this one enough.

Black Mirror, 90k, incomplete. “The Ghost crew returns to the Lothal when they hear the Empire is investigating the Jedi Temple there. They learn Vader is alone and decide to take him out-- but what they find could change the course of Galactic history.”

Black Mirror diverges into swr territory, but make no mistake: this is entirely an examination of vader and, later, obi-wan as well as ahsoka. luke makes his appearance later in the game, and boy oh boy will you love luke’s portrayal is a microcosm of luke and vader’s relationship within canon. heed the tags, though.

jerseydevious ( @jerseydevious ) is, first and foremost, one of my favorite people on earth. secondly, though, she’s an amazing writer with a deep understanding of vader’s character and psyche, a flair for beautiful depictions, and the true ability to wring every emotion out of your body.

Two and a Half Men (with a baby), 13k, incomplete. “After a long day of bargaining with Hutts and attempting to ignore his past, Darth Vader is nearing the end of his rope. When he discovers his two-year-old son, it's the straw that breaks the semi-rational Sith Lord's back; in a rash act worthy of the Skywalker name, he scoops his son into his arms, steals a shuttle from his own fleet, and punches in random hyperspace coordinates to a destination on the other side of the galaxy. Unfortunately, father and son are not the only ones on the ship.”

Two and a Half Men will stick with you, dude. like no other. i promise. it’s a whirlwind ride with obi-wan, vader, and piett and as funny as it is heartbreaking. it touches on some heavy issues and doesn’t shy away from looking at the damage done to vader––again, heed the tags.

Helioseismology, 4k, complete. “Luke gets shot down on a supply run and caught in an ice storm. It's extremely lucky that his father followed him there.“

i’ll admit. im completely biased about this one because it was a birthday gift to me and i am sucker for litcherally anything when jd puts pen to paper, but believe me when i say you will be awed by the depth and tangled relationships between these luke and vader that jersey can illustrate in a stroke of the paintbrush. im love. always.

izzythehutt ( @izzythehutt ) i am blown away by the intricate dialogue and characterization, always. and the latin puns? im sold. im also a sucker for latin puns, but that’s a story for a different time.

In Loco Pirates, 34k, complete. “A down-on-his-luck Hondo Ohnaka manages to capture the unicorn of all bounties--Luke Skywalker, which sends Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, on a painfully familiar trip to the planet Florrum to collect his prize. The failed negotiations leave Vader in the awkward position of being stuck in a besieged pirate bunker, trying to balance keeping his wayward child safe (and in his custody) with controlling the tongue of a loose-lipped pirate who--to the surprise of no one--has a bad habit of telling 'amusing' anecdotes from the Clone Wars.”

hondo, aka the best character of swtcw, is brought to life just as vividly on paper as on screen. his entire personality brings luke and vader’s difficulties in a sort of incredulous light, which makes it as funny as it is vulnerable and tragic. the sequel, Palpatine Ad Portas, brings piett into the spotlight, and oh man do his interactions with palpatine and vader bring u all the uncomfortable vibes. relish in it.

sparklight ( @littlesparklight ) man. lemme introduce u to an amazing prolific and detailed writer. i will never get over the series they’ve written & neither will u.

Where Our Intrepid Hero Doesn’t Get Away, 122k, incomplete. “One-shots surrounding either AU situations of canon/legends works where Luke would normally have gotten away (or Vader is simply inserted into the action to come pick his child up) but in these instances doesn't, or completely new scenarios of the same. There are no deep ruminations on consequences of the situations here, just our awful Sith dad picking his son up when he'd rather not be.”

exactly what it says on the tin. u know those glorious moments of fanfic where luke’s gotten captured and ur on pins and needles, waiting for vader to show up in a moment of dark glory? here’s the moment. here’s all the moments.

Space Race, 122k, incomplete. “Owen gives in to Luke's wish to attend the Imperial Academy and Obi-Wan is too late to avert it, though he's not too late to make sure Luke leaves Arkanis before Vader can gets his hands on him. Luke spends over a month running around the galaxy before his father gets him, and from there...”

this story relishes in chase and boy is it fun. it will keep you on the edge of your seat and it’s an amazing ride.

The Suns of Tatooine, 85k, complete. “Luke ends up on a moon swamped in dark side energy after a mission goes wrong, then his father appears... and then they go on a bit of a learning experience. This could've been the only thing that would come of getting through a Sith complex with his father, but thanks to going to free Han earlier than the gang did otherwise, more revelations are had. Will that change anything?”

this series is a thoughtful, contemplative piece examining the nature of the force and the relationship the skywalkers have with tatooine. the descriptions are beautiful, the inventiveness is amazing, and you’ll be thinking about it for long afterwards.

an additional few…

Between Flight and Longing; 34k, complete. “Luke Skywalker and Han Solo journey to the planet Balen'ar on a desperate mission and find more than they'd bargained for.”

a classic and it is for a reason. the interaction between han, luke, and vader is so spectacular and the slow trudge of going through the forest with your greatest enemy and best friend is something hilarious. the end is bittersweet and fantastic.

The Sith Who Brought Life Day, 13k, complete. “An Imperial officer loses a bet and has to get Darth Vader a present for Life Day.”

somewhere between terrifying and dull, this fic presents a canon-compliant look at the hunt for luke and the grinding wheels of the empire. the oc is amazing and it echoes in true star wars spirit: sometimes it’s just some dude who can change the galaxy.

Quintessence, 5k, complete. ‘“Well, Master, I think I’ve found the one positive aspect of this situation.” “Which is?” “The Temple won’t have to pay the costs for our funeral pyres.”’

pure hilarity and shenanigans abound in pre-aotc obi-wan and anakin hijink goodness. lemme tell u––u will deeply sympathize with mace windu afterwards. additionally, check out the rest of the author’s oneshots! they’re deeply thoughtful and the interactions the author writes between obi-wan and anakin are always gold.

some extras & shameless self-promotion

here’s a full list of recommendations for star wars rebels fanfic in case this is what you’re looking for (remember when this used to be a swr blog, lmao)

i’ve also written sw fanfic, both swr and luke-vader centric. drop by and tell me if it’s any good!

[miaouerie]

[coda] a pyrrhic victory/an elpidian daydream

this coda marks my first multichapter fic wrapped up and completed!!! so here’s some more related ramblings as a way for me to commemorate this milestone n___n

with the nonlinear narrative I thought I’d include a linked timeline for the chapters in case anyone (like me lol) wants to read the story in chronological order. then there’s some further explanation of what I’ve dubbed ~the jeron’s death conspiracy~ and notes from characterization I wasn’t able to include directly in the story, but were still important regardless...

furthermore, I want to thank @ninelanterns, @atthelamppost, and @sadieandor for following along with this story, as well as anyone else who came along for the adventure. this is definitely a darkfic as far as rebelcaptain goes but I hope that both endings were satisfying in their own ways !!

1. an actual chronological table of contents

Before Cassian is reaped:

day 15

Cassian’s time in the Games:

days 2, 9, 5, 18

What came after that:

days 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 22, 26◆

Jeron dies:

days 20, 8, 25

Jyn is reaped and Cassian mentors her:

days 1, 3, 4, 12, 10, 16, 17◆, 19◆, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30

After Jyn wins her Games:

bonus chapter, day 31

◆ = chapters that are about trauma concurrent to most of the story, and loosely placed chronologically

2. the Jeron conspiracy

I decided to do a summary for this because I changed my plan slightly after posting day 8: “don’t say goodbye”/abandoned due to some inspiration from @ninelanterns; originally I was going to have snow have cassian brainwashed into genuinely believing that irga and his father were killed by someone with a grudge against them and the capitol (aka someone closely related to a tribute who died under their mentorship) in order to use him as a mouthpiece against those plotting against the capitol; the angst would’ve been from him finding out the truth and hating that his dad’s suicide was used for the capitol’s means. but then I got the idea to have snow brainwash cassian into believing that the “accident” his father and irga died in was actually his fault, because he told jeron the truth of what snow was doing to him in the capitol:

Snow sells Cassian “under the table” until he turns 19, which is when he has Cassian adopt a new persona that can be better capitalized on. Jeron realizes that Cassian’s faking it, suspects that Cassian has been hiding his victimhood this entire time, and when he confirms it realizes there’s no other way to get Cassian out of it; Snow certainly won’t let him sub in to mentor. Suicide is his solution to both Cassian’s problem and his guilt over not being able to protect his son.

Snow has Irga killed in the same way that Jeron kills himself to let Cassian and Lila know that Snow knows it was a suicide. Suicide is the ultimate refutation of Snow’s power—as well as the complete antithesis to any victor’s innate clinging to survival—so Snow has it covered up: Cassian, as one of two people to know the truth about Jeron’s suicide and Irga’s death, is tortured and brainwashed into believing that Jeron and Irga were killed in a power plant explosion as retribution for him disobeying Snow. Doing so serves two purposes: installing the cover-up and guarantees Cassian’s submission.

Before his death Jeron wrote a suicide note, knowing that he couldn’t kill himself and leave Cassian without an explanation. He knows that Snow will have their house stripped and searched, so he hides the note in what was designated to be Cassian’s house. He couldn’t have known it would be the one thing that would break through the brainwashing; if Cassian hadn’t found it, he would have continued to believe that it was all his fault.

Draven does his own investigation into Jeron and Irga’s deaths after witnessing the whiplash that was Cassian’s first three years as an unwilling victor whore, his outrageous personality flip after turning ninteen, and how his demeanor changed after undergoing “therapy” to cope with Jeron’s death. He finds out that Jeron’s death was a suicide, Irga’s death was retribution, and that Snow has an entire program to monetize and exploit victors after their Games.

3. getting from day 1 to 31?!

when I originally thought of this AU it was more about the angst that growing up in the limelight of the capitol as the son of a victor would be like, with constant camera crews as cassian was growing up, betting pools on when he was going to be reaped, etc. and more of an emphasis on the issues that cassian (as part of the pseudo-celebrity class that victors occupy in the capitol) would have trying to promote this fake relationship with jyn during the games to save her. there was also going to be a straight downer ending, with the closing scene being cassian telling jyn that they have to fake a relationship now in front of the cameras and jyn having a “what have you done?” moment

I deliberately did not go in depth with what jeron’s life as a victor was like, partly because plotting both jyn and cassian’s hunger games was already a Lot (I found out pretty quickly that you have to start with planning the arena first, in order to plan tribute deaths and sponsor gifts...) but jeron was an underdog winner, as are most of the victors from non-career districts. lila was pregnant around the time that jeron was reaped and esperanza, their first child, was born some time before jeron’s victory tour. snow had their daughter killed because of something jeron did/didn’t do on the tour; even though jeron and lila are shaken from the loss they agree to be open to having another child, provided that jeron doesn’t do anything to put the child at risk ever again.... but cassian would’ve gotten reaped regardless because there is no way snow wouldn’t have exploited the family drama!!! but cassian’s reaping creates a rift that is referenced in day 15: accidents. and even though jeron is successful in saving cassian that isn’t the end of it; while lila isn’t privy to what cassian is going through she can feel a marked difference each year he comes back in the way that mothers do, as well as the tension between father and son (cassian’s fear of jeron finding out as he’s dragged deeper and deeper vs. jeron’s suspicion that something wrong is happening that has to do with cassian), which all culminates in the year that cassian turns nineteen with jeron’s death. when her husband arrived in district 5 before cassian did he didn’t tell lila about their son being a horndog in the capitol, but lila seeing cassian after he finally gets back five weeks later confirms her worst fears. then she’s the one that discovers jeron’s body and is present when the peacekeepers come to take cassian back to the capitol. her son is gone for a month....... then when he comes back he’s spouting lies about jeron’s death even though both of them saw the body??? yeah, that’s why she nopes on out of victors’ village. after jeron’s death her and cassian don’t see each other for four years until cassian brings jyn home from the games

jyn’s backstory came together quickly but I had considered having bodhi be one of the tributes who died under cassian’s mentorship. bodhi and jyn would’ve been close friends so jyn would have already had that vendetta against cassian; it would’ve made hitting that original ending easier but having jyn be against cassian from the very start would’ve made it less plausible that they could earn each other’s trust before the start of jyn’s games............. while I wanted this story to be dark and depressing I still wanted it to have a reciprocated rebelcaptain end game, so :’)

it wasn’t until day 28 (the cassian/finnick noncon) that I got an idea for a not-so-horrible ending, and I blame the completely depressingly hopeless whump in that chapter for making me think “hmm maybe this shouldn’t end terribly” :’D btw, if anyone noticed I forgot annie cresta is in canon the 70th hunger games victor. for someone who’s neurotic about looking up details I have no idea how this fact escaped me because I didn’t notice until at least halfway through whumptober, so we’ll just say in this AU she’s the 71st victor. this weaves in nicely with my headcanon that after snow saw how easily cassian was manipulated when someone he loved was on the line, he had annie reaped to exert more control over finnick (which happens to be my favorite kind of odesta fic tbh). anyway after writing 3k of depressing andair (andor/odair ship name? ok i’m shutting up) cassian/finnick I had a lovely mental image of cassian and jyn cuddling on the train back home to district 5, relieved and alive, and thought that would be a more uplifting note to end on. then I remembered that I was writing this for whumptober, and decided to write the terrible ending too :’)

4. some chapter commentary because why not

[ETA later!]

5. is there no escape?

yes!!! yes they do escape:

in a pyrrhic victory, post-day 31, draven succeeds in absconding with cassian and meeting up with jyn, saw, lyra, and the rest of their resistance cell (an underground, pan-panem organization fittingly called.... the alliance). draven has to cut out cassian’s implant before they rendezvous with the group, which he ropes a medical professional into doing (he may or may not kill them afterwards); it’s the only mark cassian bears on his body until he starts getting freckles from being in the sun again. similar to mockingjay in how peeta’s hijacking was treated with therapy in district 13, cassian undergoes actual, legitimate therapy after he and draven settle in with the alliance HQ. draven hovers anxiously for the first several sessions because “therapy” in the capitol has a stigma, even before he read the term “extensive in-patient therapy” in cassian’s intendance records, and it does take a good while before they make any remarkable progress. but unlike katniss and peeta cassian is alright in jyn’s presence, and in fact prefers it. they’re almost always seen together, and while jyn has a good amount of guilt for leaving him behind the first time her motivation for staying with him is out of a genuine desire to help him get better so they can be with each other the same way they were in an elpidian daydream again.

in happily ever after!an elpidian daydream, cassian and jyn are able to escape together in between arriving home in district 5 and what was supposed to be jyn’s victory tour. jyn was never aware of what snow did with desirable victors because it’s really only the top 1% of panem and the victors who know about it; she and cassian escape after he tells her that he wants to leave with her, but he doesn’t tell her the real reason why he wants to escape until much later and jyn never sees the recording of cassian and finnick (but he does tell her it exists when he’s explaining the details of how snow exerts his control over the victors). their relationship progresses steadily, but the secret doesn’t come out until jyn points out that cassian is extremely passive in bed and only mirrors her desires. there’s varying attitudes towards sex in the districts vs. the libertine views in the capitol but cassian’s shame stems from his powerlessness in what he had to do Before. he receives therapy for it but jyn is patient and firm with reminding him that he had absolutely zero choice in the matter, and that she could never hate or be disgusted with him for it. there’s a lot to work through there as a result of cassian having to lie to himself about it for the first couple of years of it happening and then willingly choosing to engage with it when he was trying to save jyn, but their relationship comes out all the more stronger for it. as for what happens to draven?.... because this is the happily ever after ending I like to think he’s able to stay in the capitol and work as an agent codenamed fulcrum 🤪🤙 and that after his extraction when things get too dangerous for him in the capitol he and cassian are able to reunite again as part of the alliance/rebellion !!

[wallstagram]

june - july fic rec: month(s) in review

hello & welcome back to the june - july edition of fic rec: month(s) in review! we have a L O T to unpack this time, so let’s dive right in! throughout june & july, we have been blessed with the majority of @larryabroad, as well as the bulk of @hlsummerexchange2019, all of @wordplayfics, wanker’s day fic fest, and many more that i’m probably forgetting. summer was a great time to be a fic reader for sure, thank you to every author who contributed!! 

**disclaimer: not all of these fics were written in june/july, it is simply when i read them. however, a lot of them were. ***note: as always, if you do take my recommendation and read any of these works, please bookmark, comment, and leave kudos for these authors!! it is so important that we support the creators in our community. as an author, i know a sweet comment will often spur me to keep writing when i’m stuck. but, without further ado, here’s my recs below the cut!

J U N E : :

You Were Made To Be Mine by lovelarry10 (@chloehl10)

Louis Tomlinson takes his 6 year old son Jacob to see Harry Styles in concert. Jacob has been a huge fan of Harry's for as long as he can remember, so it's a dream come true when Harry notices him in the pit. But Jacob isn't all that Harry has his eye on...

Louis is a bit embarrassed when Harry picks on him from the stage, but when he's invited backstage after the show, he wonders what Harry Styles could possibly want with a single dad and his kid from Manchester...

This was such a cute read! At a whopping 580k, there is a LOT to sink your teeth into. Though I started it at the beginning of June, I haven’t even nearly finished yet, but it’s so good that it’s made it onto my rec list!

Get Off and Vote by haztobegood (@haztobegood)

Niall lets out a loud laugh, “Hey, listen to this. You know how elections are Tuesday? It says the Babeland on the edge of campus is giving out free toys to the first 100 people that show their ‘I Voted’ sticker.”

“How patriotic.” Louis laughs. “Maybe I should go.”

Haha! This one was great. At 3k, it’s a perfect quick read for some sexy, patriotic fun. 

Surprise Me, Space Boy by jacaranda_bloom (@jacaranda-bloom)

Louis is a solo officer on Space Station Zeta and the isolation can present many challenges, not least of which is that it’s really bloody hard to date. He’s pinning his hopes on that changing with a fellow solo officer, Harry, from a neigbouring station who gives great banter and has a gorgeous smile. Maybe online dating has its benefits after all?

OR The Space Wank Fic.

Oh, this one was so good!!! The thing I love about literally anything Dee writes is that she just thinks completely outside the box. I feel like I never quite know what’s going to happen (in the best way!) and her originality totally made this fic amazing. (7k)

rivers ‘til i reach you by embodied (@crossnecklace)

Louis can’t begin to understand how he’s always this close and still can’t manage to make Harry his. He stands up and gets another beer. AU. Louis studies astronomy; Harry studies Louis. They spend their summers on the water and it shouldn't be complicated (spoiler: it is).

This was such a good read! It’s written in such a way that you’re utterly sucked into the verse so much that you’re a bit sappy when the fic is over. Kinda makes you feel a bit lovedrunk just from reading it. (29k)

Found My Hallelujah by crimsontheory (@ireallysawanangel)

As an engagement gift from his parents, Harry and his fiance receive an all expenses paid cruise trip for two. But one week before they're set to sail, Harry walks in on his fiance cheating on him. Newly single, with the cruise tickets in hand, and his bags already packed, Harry brings along his sister instead. And maybe the cute bartender on the ship might just be the person Harry needs to help him put back together all of his broken pieces.

I have so much to say about this one! I had the absolute honor of beta’ing this 35k work (which im pretty sure i just cheerlead you bc nicole you know grammar isn’t my strong suit...lmfao) and honestly it has become a fic that i love so much! nicole is such a talented writer; everything she writes just brings out so much emotion from her audience, and she has such a great sense of characterization! if you liked this one, check out its sequel, Now I’m Moving Up because it’s great too!!!!

J U L Y : :

Whisk me off my feet by allwaswell16 (@allwaswell16)

When Louis locks himself out of his apartment in just a pair of novelty underwear, he hopes his new neighbor can come to his rescue.

Haha! This one was so cute! What a darling fic! (5k)

The Charles Compass Trilogy by SadaVeniren (@sadaveniren)

Louis Tomlinson is a successful writer who rents a beach house on the Cape to try and finish the final book in his successful Charles Compass trilogy.

So I’m convinced that any rec list I make will not be complete if Sada isn’t on it. Here’s the thing - I fell in love with this story before she was revealed as the author, and honestly I had no clue. She’s got this amazing way of being able to change her style to fit the kind of story she’s trying to tell. This is such a good look at the writing process, highly recommend! (9k)

From The Heart series by jacaranda_bloom (@jacaranda-bloom)

Every Tuesday, Louis spends his day off holed up in his favorite coffee-come-bookshop, writing his little stories as part of the WordPlay challenge while daydreaming about the resident barista, Harry. Each week a new word prompt is revealed and Louis adds to his series of short stories about Henry, the owner of a B&B in the Cotswolds who has curly hair and dimples, Lewis, his long term guest who just happens to be a writer, and Tigger, Henry’s cat.

As Louis and Harry’s friendship develops, could his fantasy world spill out into real life? And how does that reader who leaves the lovely comments with the teacup emoji seem to be able to read Louis’ mind?

Okay, Dee really killed the game this time. Because I was OBSESSED. I mean honestly checking my phone at work to see what the newest installment was. This series is so fulfilling and so so hot to think about as an author! (25k)

blue eyes, black jeans, lighters, candy by delsicle (@emperorstyles)

Harry is in Madrid and Louis had a hard week.

So, the whole dom on tour series is really good, but this is my favorite work of the two. I love basically anything Delaney writes but this was extremely hot! (4k)

Could you love me anyway by SadaVeniren (@sadaveniren)

Dear Mistress Lorin: I’ve been reading your blog for a couple weeks now and was hoping you’d give me some advice for something that happened with me and my boyfriend. I’m really worried that I hurt him.

aka Harry and Louis begin playing ping pong during the X-Factor Tour. It quickly gets out of hand.

Okay. If you know me at all, you know that the way to my heart is either spanking, kink negotiation, or both. This just delivers on it all, and it catches on some main parts of BDSM-for-newbies and kink-gone-wrong that people often pretend never happens. I could gush so much about this, but go ahead and just read it yourself because it’s too good to miss!! (13k)

you are half of me (and I am all for you) by angelichl (@angelichl)

One Direction, an obscure indie rock band, is about to embark on their first cross-country tour, living out of Louis' beloved van named Patricia.

Harry is in love, and Louis is oblivious. Or is he?

Featuring skinny-dipping in Texas waterfalls, getting lost in the desert, stargazing under the New Mexico sky, performing in front of crowds that grow in size each night, and falling in love on the road during the greatest summer of their lives.

Okay WOW. I have so much to say about this one!!! So first off, the biggest thank you to adri for writing this fic for me for HL Summer Exchange!!! Honestly I feel like you spied through all my hopes and dreams and loves (including parenthesis in fic titles??? love it) and squished it all into this fic. it’s just the best fic, and it feels like warm summer air and tracing constellations in the stars and falling in love. if you haven’t read this already, please do!!!! It was so good I teared up when I first read it! (25k)

Heading for Limbo by kingsofeverything (fullonlarrie) (@kingsofeverything)

Childhood best friends who’ve fallen in and out of touch with each other since Louis’ family moved away when they were thirteen, Harry and Louis find their paths crossing again and again. Each time, no matter how many miles apart or how many years it’s been, it’s as if no time has passed. They fall back into their easy friendship, until life intervenes and sends them on their separate ways once more.

When Harry discovers some life-changing things about himself, Louis is there for him, however he needs. But it’s all temporary because Louis has plans that will move his life from New York all the way to L.A. and the distance isn’t the only thing between them.

The pieces of their twice broken hearts are scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Okay. Okay. This fic literally is one I will remember for the rest of my life, and i’m not even being dramatic about it! So, I really do enjoy leaving authors detailed comments about their fics, but that just wasn’t enough... I really had to message Lauren this whole essay about how Heading for Limbo helped me deal with a lot of emotions I was feeling in my own personal life, and it helped me fully realize that i’m bisexual. (did i just come out?? yikes) it was nice to see a fic where things weren’t perfect over a long stretch of time. It was amazing to see Harry realize his sexuality later in life, because that was one of my main struggles. this fic is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. Literally, Lauren, thanks for changing my whole life!!! (101k)

Tell Me This Is Paradise by QuickedWeen (@becomeawendybird)

Harry Styles has been lucky in love but unlucky in the bedroom with all of her previous boyfriends. When her best friend Niall finds out that she's never had an orgasm, she knows just what Harry needs: Louis Tomlinson. Niall sets Harry up to get sorted out.

Okay, if you’re new around here, this fic was also on one of my previous rec lists, but then Molly had to ruin my life and write another chapter of it. Jesus Christ!!!! I literally could read this fic every single day and die happily. It’s so hot, and the characterization is so good. So, I guess this rec is specifically for chaper 2, but you’ve gotta read chapter 1 also! For the betterment of your life, of course. (9k)

Abstract by Star55 (@star55)

After Zayn draws a naked Harry for her art class, she finds that she can't stop drawing Harry and Louis' naked bodies, usually engaged in some form of sexual activity.

Literally - this was hot as balls. Loved it! (8k)

alright guys, that’s it! if you read all the way to the bottom, you deserve a sticker. i hope you guys enjoy some of my favorite fics i’ve read! don’t forget to go bookmark, comment, and give kudos! and just remember: we are all human. if you read a work, and loved it, and didn’t comment, it’s never too late! give your author some loooooooove. my life has been super busy and i really haven’t been in the place to leave the thought-out comments i like to, so most of these authors can expect comments from me soon. thank you to all the authors listed above, have a nice day everyone! also, feel free to send your favorite fics into my ask - maybe they’ll end up on my next list!!!

[oldnintendonerd]

Pickup Post #11 - Slim Pickins

It is officially that time of year. Off season.

Ugh.

Locked in to nothing but thrifting to find anything. Not necessarily a bad thing, the browsing can be done in a nice heated store, you’re out of the weather. But it does come with it’s limitations, you are sure to never come away with any real amazing deals. The chances of finding that giant box of goodies that says “$10 - Whole box” on it is zero, because it’s a retail location. You find a stack of 10 games you want, you are paying $2.99 times 10 plus tax. Granted the odds of finding a stack that big at one time that you like is also pretty close to nil. But, you can still find some stuff at thrift stores if you happen in at the right time.

Let’s get to it.

The first thing I ran across since the end of the last pickup post was, incredibly, a Dreamcast game. Unfortunately it was not complete, I’ll get that out of the way right now. The manual was not inside. Also missing was the second disc, which, fortunately is only a bonus soundtrack disc, it is not part of the game. At least that means the only game disc is there and it can be played in its entirety.

Grandia II - Found 2017.12.28 at Goodwill

It wasn’t even with the video games, or even with the CDs, it was tossed on the shelf over with the misc electronics. Typically where you’d see a console, or controllers or something. Unfortunately no console or controllers, but this is not a bad find. After grabbing this, I went back to the CD section and combed through it more carefully, just in case there were more that actually did make it into the CD section, and I did find two more games. But they were crappy sports titles that weren’t even worth a few bucks. I can’t stand most sports titles, so I left them. I was buying some CDs that day and had this in a stack of music. She counted down the stack, saw this as a double disc CD and charged me $0.99. Not a bad deal since it wasn’t complete. A buck though? I’ll take it. Great start.

Moving on.

Sealed Wii Fit Plus - Found 2017.12.29 at Goodwill

Sealed games are ALMOST always a good bet, especially if you find them at a Goodwill. This one seemed to be no different. Paid $3.21, and Pricecharting has new priced in at $19.97. More than six times the value. I honestly almost didn’t even check it figuring it would have to be nearly worthless. I mean, it’s WII FIT. Wii Fit. I recently sold a complete in box Wii Fit, with the board (very clean) and a mint copy of the game for $2. The person even had to think about it for a second too. So it is insanely hard to get rid of these in this area. I mean look at the shelf of another Goodwill.

Just thrown around like they are old bathroom scales (hah!). Those have been there for weeks. At $3.99 they don’t move. Apparently the Plus version is a little more valuable though. I’ll take it, it’s hunting money fodder there. Nothing special.

I did run across this guy the same day.

You can even see the Wii Fit Plus box where I set it down to snap a pic of the doll. Did a quick search on my phone, didn’t turn up anything spectacular, there was one on eBay that wasn’t selling, priced at $35 that had the sword and shield. This one, no sword, no shield, and had some significant wear on it. I passed. I’m not one to have a lot of figurines in my collection either. I’m about the games.

Moving on once again.

The holidays came and went. On January 9th I went into the Goodwill that is usually the most lucrative.

From afar I saw a nice stack of Wii games that were not there the last time I was in. Like 18 games. I got excited and hurried over to the shelf.

I was immediately let down.

I posted this on Instagram that day too. Terrible titles. All schlock. I couldn’t believe it. Either they had come in early that day or the day before and had been plucked clean of all the AAA titles (AKA anything First party, Mario, Donkey Kong, etc), or AA titles (AKA third party quality from Sega or Square, that kind of thing), so all that was left was what is in that picture, or the parents just had little kids AND a budget. I mean come on, iCarly? Rudolph? Smurfs? On and on.  Cmon, buy ONE good title.

Tucked behind them all though...

Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec - Found 2018.01.09 at Goodwill

In very good shape, the reason I bought it was not just that, but it was also complete. I have a copy of this already but it is just the disc and the case, I did not have the manual. The most ideal situation here would have been if this case happened to be empty, they would have given me the case and manual for free. Honestly, I could have taken the disc out, left it in the store, and gotten a free case, but I’m not like that. If I were I could have a crap load of free games. Take the discs out and either pocket them, or put them into other cases and double up the discs. Pay for half the games you buy, walk out of the store with the other half “free cases” and then pop the games back in once outside. They don’t ever check the cases I am buying. But again, I’m not like that. It’s charity, and $3 for a game, especially when you can get them in very good shape like this, is really a good price. Had I bought this game on eBay, a quick search turns up a recently sold copy for $5.97, complete, tested, and shipped. They don’t show the disc so you don’t even know if it would be as nice as the one I got, you just know it should work. I’d rather the hunt, and ultimately, the better price.

Anyway, back to my copy of the game. My current, incomplete copy disc is maybe a B, and this disc is an A-, much better condition. The other copy can be bundled or traded at a later time. Some people don’t care about the manuals. Me, for some reason, I just love handling a copy of a game, and it having that weight of being complete.

Call me weird. Moving on.  

Went back a couple days later on the 11th. Found the stack of schlock Wii games drastically reduced in size. Someone else must have had some little kids that could be into those types of games. Who knows. Maybe three remained from the 18. There were a couple added Wii games, including this next one.

I’d actually already found this one at another Goodwill in very mint condition, so I didn’t need a copy, but figured since this one was sealed, I might as well snag it. Sealed usually fetches anywhere from double, on up to quintuple or more of the normal CIB price. 

Sealed Wii Play - Found 2018.01.11 at Goodwill

I was right, couldn’t pass up a sealed copy. Pricecharting has it at $5.25 CIB, and $15.99 sealed at time of writing. So about triple price of CIB, and almost exactly quintuple what I paid, of $3.21. Not as good as the payback on Wii Fit Plus, but I’ll take it.

On top of Wii Play, there were several PS2 games that were not there before. Which was exciting at first. But that was quickly dashed when I realized what I was looking at. Probably the tail end of a lot that was brought in the day before, and been picked over already. A lot of the games were even OK (i.e. not Madden games, or other sports schlock), but were left because they were scratched. I mean looks like someone used them for a hockey puck on a sand paper rink scratched. Horrible. There were two Dragonball Z games, and couple others I don’t remember (I will try to start snapping more pics while I’m hunting), but do recall thinking “damn, why do they have to be so scratched!?” Because I probably would have picked them up otherwise.

You really do have to hit these stores daily so as not to miss anything. I just don’t have the time to do that.

I managed to find a copy of Star Wars Battlefront among what was left that was not too scratched, and was fairly confident that my PS2 would be able to play it.

Star Wars Battlefront - Found 2018.01.11 at Goodwill

I’m not a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise in general, but these are pretty well known, and well liked games, for $3, and black label, I figured why not add it to the collection. Case and manual were at least in good shape, and the disc... I’d give it a C+. It does play in my fat SCPH 39001. Also installed to the HDD just fine. So... Winning.

I do have SWBF II in the collection as well, but it isn’t complete, so it is hovering in the void between “in the collection” and “available for bundles or trade”. As I mentioned before, I really only like to have complete games in my disc based games collection, hence why I decided to buy a whole other copy for GT3, just to complete it. Cart based is a little bit too tall of an order to want complete games. The budget just doesn’t allow for it. If I happen to stumble across a decent priced copy of Super Metroid, or Link to the Past complete, and its in nice shape, I’d get it to display. But I’m not seeking them out, its just too much.

Anyway, that’s it for this round. Nothing stellar, but not complete crap either. Which is honestly what I thought these months would bring.

Hopefully get some hunting money back in the bank once I list a couple of these items along with a couple others I have that need to be sold.

Official business. We had $96.09 after I sold the PS2 at the end of the last post. The first find was Grandia II, that was $1.06 after tax taking the total to $95.03. Then Wii Fit Plus takes us down another $3.21 totaling $91.82. After that I picked up GT3 for another $3.21, takes us to $88.61. The sealed Wii Play and Star Wars Battlefront purchase came to another $6.42, which puts the total at still a respectable $82.19.

$82.19 game hunting money remaining.

2018.02.06

[listoriented]

Bob Came in Pieces

and not an ejaculation joke in sight 

When/Where/Why: Working out the origin of this one gave me a bit of a headache. Turns out I got it in something called “Northern Lights Indies Summer 2010”, a five game bundle that also came with Crayon Physics Deluxe, Saira, Plain Sight and Blueberry Garden (of last week’s fame but already owned). I paid US$20 for this bundle in July 2010 and let this be yet another reminder that ideas of what was considered a “deal” have changed significantly since. It’s frankly astonishing that anyone still makes money from games.

At the same time I also apparently bought Beat Hazard, which we’ve been over, and two packs of DLC for Borderlands, which we’ll get to, like, soon enough, because oh it’s the next game, how’s about that.

What/Who: Bob Came in Pieces is a 2D physicsy puzzle-platformer. You play as Bob, an alien call-centre worker who accidentally crash-landed on earth. Bob needs to find a particular piece of hardware in order to get home, a hyperdrive somethingarather, so you fly Bob from place to place in their little spaceship, looking for it. The game is divided into chapters, each of which (after the first couple) requires you to do some amount of envionmental puzzle solving in order to get to the exit. Each chapter also contains five other spaceship parts which you can collect (sometimes themselves hidden or requiring extra puzzle-solving to get to). The kicker is that these spaceship parts can be tacked on and off Bob’s spaceship at numerous spots throughout each level - pretty much at any time you have to solve a different puzzle, actually - so you have to kind of build and dismantle the spaceship as the situation changes.

It’s by Ludosity [official site], who are frommmm Sweden! (Fun Fact: this is the third game in a row by a Swedish developer, and the game before that sort-of pretended to be made by a Swedish developer. What does this tell us about Sweden, games and this part of the alphabet? Almost certainly nothing.) Ludosity have made quite a few games by now. I haven’t played any of the others, but I have heard of Card City Nights and Ittle Dew (heard of them, in fact, because I apparently own them). Bob Came In Pieces was Ludosity’s third game, and it came out in 2009.

Prior exposure to pieces: Never installed.

Duration: 4ish hours.

Finishment: I finished the 14 chapters that constitute the games normal adventure mode, hooray for me! I didn’t bother trying to speedrun any of the levels or to collect all the extra optional space-ship parts though. This game has a heap of achievements, probably for these very things. I only have 17 out of 81 of them.

Whole-some fun: Here we are, game number fifty, List Oriented’s half-century, and I feel blessed and lucky because this old indie was, despite my expectations, both enjoyable and doable.

Out of the blocks it looks a bit rubbish, dominated by large angular polygons and not a lot else, that awkward style that is neither old nor new, here nor there, suffering with time rather than retro chic. But by the end I came to be quite fond of the game’s environments and the shitty graphics that house them, having gone from wooded to slightly industrial to subterranean to snowy, all occasionally dotted with endearing background doodads, stick-figure cave drawing, homely nooks and crannies amid the large puzzle contraptions, other little splatters of personality. Maybe it’s the colours or lighting, I don’t know, but it often seems suggestive of warmth in what might otherwise be quite cold, lifeless, mechanised settings, and this warmth reaches deeper than you’d expect.

This is helped exponentially by the music, which is understated and simple but honestly pretty great. It’s all floating ambient synthwave, high notes climbing for the sky, yearning and optimistic. I mean, I -probably- wouldn’t play the game just to listen to the soundtrack, but it works well because it’s not easy to get sick of and the loops aren’t super obvious (at least, not in passive listening terms).

And then there’s the platforming AKA flying a tiny spaceship around, which is surprisingly stupid-good fun. Gravity and (ahem) thrust have been worked out so everything has a real weight to it, but given enough space and power the ship can build up some real reckless and joyful speeds. Needing to augment your ship with parts for different puzzles is less tedious than it sounds, too, with a lot of the extra parts being superfluous flotsam that really just seems to be there for the extra collectables rather than the practical utility, so you’re only really changing out a couple of main attachments and occasionally building like, e.g. an extra-long arm to solve a puzzle where you have to reach for a thing through a small gap.

Because of the physics, the ship becomes a lot harder to control when you start adding extra random parts on, which is discouragement enough from overcomplicating things. Some of the puzzles from the mid-game onwards require the use of a gravity ray, which is perennially awkward to use, with heavier items physically very difficult to pick up and manoeuvre into the small spaces the game sometimes demands. I found this annoying at first, but it’s one of those “the more you learn” situations, and it was eventually pretty satisfying when things did go according to plan.

I also enjoyed that the puzzles were on the easier side, at least so far as progression went (obviously I didn’t get all the collectables so there’s a lot that I didn’t solve and therefore can’t say much about). I won’t deny it. Sometimes it’s just nice to get things done. The levels themselves are pleasingly bite-sized. The game has a nice casual rhythm where you can jump in for half an hour, get a couple of levels done and then go do something else for a bit, until there’s no more game left and it’s time to write your blog post about it (or whatever).

Anyway: Fifty games! A little milestone for you and I. There’s still a long way to go, but we may as well pause a little here and observe this moment (much like how in cricket a batsman raises their bat when they reach fifty runs), because due to the longish nature of the next game and some other plans I have in the interim it might be a few weeks before I get to post again.

Two more things unrelated to this game or even games in general: One is that recently I put together and edited a bunch of music I recorded back in 2010 into an album, which I released last week. It’s insular, lo-fi bedroom pop and I understand that’s probably not your thing, but feel free to check it out if that is your thing. Sales so far suggest my music career poses no threat to my writing career, so don’t be too concerned.

The other thing is that Octopus Pie came to it’s conclusion today. Octopus Pie has been my favourite webcomic pretty much since I started reading it in 2007, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone and everyone. It portrays a lot of very relatable experiences of life as a twenty-something in subtly poignant and funny ways. I’m very sad that there won’t be any more of it, and excited to see what the author does next. Borderlands is next on the list.