#but at first the recording program didn't capture the whole process

[atlassium]

video editing is a fucking nightmare

I just wanted to play a bunch of vids one by one and speed the whole thing up

Why is it so difficult

I'm definitely not gifted in this lmao

[michelemoutons]

and at last, the post that maybe three people maximum have been waiting for...

em's comfort retro rally videos: a masterlist!

in a much-needed return to this blog's roots, and as an antidote to all motorsport- and life-related chaos, i now present to you: the first edition of em's favorite retro rally videos!

general disclaimer/info: these videos mainly come from the group B era of the world rally championship (wrc), which generally speaking was in the '80s. i am only human, so expect a lot of bias toward my personal favorites...which will become very apparent as you read this list hehe. also i'm not even gonna pretend to be an expert on this or anything. a lot of these are literally just based on Vibes

table of contents

i. my top 5 rally coverage videos

mainly coverage for television, recorded on VHS and uploaded to YouTube by some truly incredible people

ii. honorable mentions

not rally coverage, but retro rally videos nevertheless

often documentaries, mini-doc features, interviews

for all videos, i have indicated the language (most are in english fyi); if any links fail or videos disappear, send me an ask or DM and i'll remove the culprit/find an alternative link.

and now, onward!

(TW for occasional flash photography in many of the night sequences of the videos, as well as a gif included in this post)

i. my top 5 rally coverage videos

in which my bias toward audi sport, mouton/pons, mikkola, toivonen, and vatanen are put on blast for all to see 🥴 i am not an expert in anything i am just very good at research and a whore for aud—[SNIPED]. for the sake of brevity, i narrowed my favorites down to 5. maybe another time i will share all the rest!

also, a general note about the commentary: sometimes, the commentary around michèle and fabrizia can get... weird. keep in mind, they were the most prominent female team partnership around that time, and the first to nearly clinch a wrc wdc, and to modern ears, the commentators really didn't know how to act around them. personally, it wasn't horrible for me, i just ignored the weirder bits, but i understand if others might find it off-putting. also for the sake of your sanity don't read the comments.

5. Rally of the 1000 Lakes, 1984 | finland

link: overall coverage (eng)

podium: vatanen/alén/toivonen (full final results)

comments: this was definitely a rally for most of audi sport's drivers to forget: bar stig blomqvist, who came quite close to the podium finishers with a 4:14:01 to henri toivonen's 4:12:57! both hannu mikkola and michèle mouton had to retire from the race, which may lead you to wonder: why does this rank among my favorites? well, it's always fun to watch group b rally cars sailing through the air against picturesque scenery, and this video also contains an intriguing (at least for me!) look at the scrutineering process, with drivers at their most casual.

owie :( they were fine though!

4. Lombard RAC Rally, 1981 | britain

link: overall coverage (eng)

podium: mikkola/vatanen/blomqvist (full final results)

comments: hannu winning by 11 whole minutes even after rolling his car in the middle of the forest is actual legend behavior! anyway this was michèle's first wrc outing in britain, and even though she and fabrizia had to retire, they still did quite well, consistently running high in the leaderboards after the first few stages. and that's considering the fact that michèle had a bad cold for much of the rally and had to ask fabrizia to drive the car to service park for her at one point bc she was so tired. which fabrizia did... with a pencil in her mouth. lot of big names in one video—also, jean todt makes an appearance as a co-driver!

shamelessly poached off of one of my text post edits

3. Marlboro Safari Rally, 1983 | kenya

link: overall coverage (eng)

podium: vatanen/mikkola/mouton (full final results)

comments: ok can i just say how stunning the video presentation is?? the opening sequence is just!!! the shots of the wildlife! the sprinting giraffes! wow! anyway the visual of drivers in deck chairs just tickles me for no reason, and michèle please tell me what you ask for at the hairdresser's and also where you got that orange blouse (this is obviously not just specific to this rally, she always eats and leaves no crumbs). this was michèle's first entry and only finish in kenya (and of course it was a podium mwah). it was also her last wrc entry in the A1 quattro, as she switched to the A2 for the rest of her program in the '83 season. also this is one of my favorite podium pictures ever.

lksdjffnnkd there's almost too much to unpack... fabrizia somehow surviving in high waist jeans in a hot car... michèle's do-it-yourself shorts... this podium picture was the subject of a very frantic video chat conversation between myself and a friend at 2am a few months ago

2. Rallye de Portugal, 1982 | portugal

links: short recap (eng) | overall coverage 1, stuck in the middle of two other rallies. timestamps in descrip. (eng) | overall coverage 2, very vibey with cool music (ita... also peep walter röhrl speaking italian)

podium: mouton/eklund/wittmann (full final results)

comments: GOD I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH AAAA! michèle's first podium of '82 being a win? this rally being the one where there's footage of her going shopping with fabrizia afterward? (more on that later) them winning by 13 whole minutes? and that's not even considering THEE most poetic victory ceremony of all time! in fact let me talk about that bc the racing and the win aside, that's why it's so high up on my list! literally poetic cinema! it's night, they're standing on top of the car and floodlit and surrounded by cheering crowds but they may as well be the only ones there in their own little world, laughing at each other and barely even having to look to each other when they're raising their hands—like god! shut up! we get it you're besties 😭

i_just_think_theyre_neat.png

and now... last but certainly never least...

1. Lombard RAC Rally, 1982 | britain

link: overall coverage (eng)

podium: mikkola/mouton/toivonen (full final results)

comments: firstly, if you were to ask me about my dream podium, this would be it. hands down, across all series of motorsport, my comfort podium would be hannu, michèle, and henri in any order. (there's such a cute picture of them from this rally on pinterest, standing in order on a staircase. henri is not looking at the camera because he is laughing at something michèle is saying and it's such a Vibe but i cannot find it wah). the battle for second between michèle and henri ran down to literally the last stage, and their times are separated by seconds, which is just wild to me. the context of this rally deserves another post, which i honestly don’t have the energy to make rn, but just take my word for it that it threatens to destroy me if i think about it too hard! anyway this is just such an awesome rally and i’ve watched this video so many times haha

i love this rally so much that i actually had a character in a story i was writing attend the ceremony captured in this picture as a small child and made it a formative moment in her life. no, there is nothing wrong with me.

ii. honorable mentions

(is it obvious who my faves are? yikes)

'Group B - Avec Michele Mouton' (eng) - taken from a longer feature presentation about group b, a segment specifically about michèle. a friend once described its vibes as ‘a synth wave edit of an 80s anime set in a cyberpunk world about racing’

'1983 Audi Sport National Rally with Michele Mouton' (eng) - in which michèle takes journalist sue baker as a co-driver for a spin in an A1 and a rally win. fun behind-the-scenes video

'Intervista a Fabrizia Pons, la Regina delle Note' 1, 2, 3 (ita) - very thorough interview which is mostly fabrizia telling all sorts of stories, including the very entertaining story of how she found out she was going to be michèle’s co-driver. also what a badass title

'2008 Otago International Classic Rally' (eng) - THE BESTIES REUNITE THE BESTIES REUNITE!!! michèle and fabrizia reunite for a rally that fabrizia convinced michèle to join, they suffer some problems but there are plenty of wholesome bestie moments to be had

'Michele Mouton hurls Group B Audi Quattro up Goodwood hill' (eng) - i mean, self explanatory. the sound of the chirping tires? asmr could never. very short watch if you want a quick pick-me-up

'1990 Louise Aitken-Walker feature' (eng) - a video featuring a female rally driver from scotland and her point-scoring run at the rallye monte -carlo. i am convinced that louise was john finnemore’s inspiration or at least an influence for the character of linda fairbairn. no my hat is not made of tin foil what are you talking about

hannu rocketing around michigan back in 2017 (eng)

hannu flying around goodwood in 2015 (eng)

sometimes i listen to fabrizia's recent onboards (yes, she's still at it!) and this one is one of my favorites, from 2016 (ita)

[mylifeisactuallyamess]

General Hux x Female Reader

A/N: Oh yeah this is still going 😄 (The poem is not mine! Credit to the person who did write it!) Follows TFA as a bit of a filler. Like I said I am working my way to Hux’s speech 😅

Warnings: Erm, fluff? Hux and Ren with their usual hatred. Not much in all honesty, at least I don’t think so. (Let me know if that needs changing!)

Word Count: 3973

Read Part 5 on AO3 here.

He was reading a report from one of the other ships when the door opened and he looked up in surprise. Phasma entered but she didn’t sit down like normal and Hux placed the pad down.

“We have a situation.” She stated.

“What situation?” He asked wearily, pulling his gloves back on before standing and leading the Captain to the bridge which was abuzz with activity.

“Sir! An unsanctioned departure has been reported from the main hangar, a Special Forces TIE is attempting the leave, communications have not been established with the pilot…” Hux felt anger flood his system. What was happening? Why all of a sudden was everything going wrong? He turned to Phasma, his posture stiff, his hands tightly gripping each other as he fought his rising temper and waited for her explanation.

“It was one of our own. Reports of a stormtrooper leading the prisoner to the hangar and entering a ship.” Hux felt a curse filling his mouth but stopped himself from spitting it out. A trooper? One of his own men was defecting. He felt momentarily rigid, the audacity of this trooper rendered him speechless.

“Who?” He spat, his eyes glaring into her helmet but he could tell by the line of her shoulders she was just as angry as he was.

“I shall run the register and find out,” she snarled. He looked out of the viewport to see the lone TIE fly out into space.

“Well don’t just stand there! Shoot them!” He commanded loudly.

“Sir, they’ve taken out our turbo lasers.” Hux did a quick mental check of his ship's weapons, deciding what would be the best to use.

“Use the ventral cannons.”

“Bringing them online,” reported Mitaka.

“General Hux.” Of course. “Is it the Resistance pilot?” Hux bit back the first thing that came to mind when he saw Ren, if the stupid oaf hadn’t brought him onboard none of this would be happening right now.

“Yes and he had help.” The words made his mouth dry out. He was still not accepting that one of his own men could betray him like this and he was determined to make an example of them. “From one of our own. We are checking the registers now to identify which Stormtrooper it was.”

“The one from the village, FN-2187.” Hux schooled his features to one of indifference, of course Ren should already know that information. It made him question though, if the Commander knew of the troopers mind why he didn’t mention this earlier? Was it to see how Hux would deal with this? Was it to try and undermine him? To shatter Leader Snoke's faith in his abilities? Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to let this slide.

“Sir, ventral cannons hot,” reported Mitaka.

“Fire!” Hux enunciated firmly, his wrath barely contained as more information came to light about what was transpiring.

“General,” he went to stand over with Phasma by the holoprojection where she had pulled up FN-2187’s records. His eyes travelled over the information not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

“FN-2187 reported to my division, was evaluated and sent to reconditioning.”

“No prior signs of non-conformity?” He asked curtly, wanting her personal opinion.

“This was his first offense,” she stated bitterly and Hux could tell she was smarting heavily under that armour.

“General, they’ve been hit.” He moved round to the screen.

“Destroyed?” He asked hopefully.

“Disabled. They were headed back to Jakku, the fighter’s projected to crash in the Goazon Badlands.” Hope flared in his gut.

“They were going back for the droid,” he thought out loud. “Send a squad to the wreckage and double the troops on the ground. Do not come back empty handed but destroy the droid if it cannot be captured.” His gaze slid to Phasma and she nodded in understanding before marching off the bridge to carry out his orders. Ren stepped before him and Hux had to stop himself from rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“Destroy the droid?” The dark presence questioned loudly.

“Leader Snoke was explicit.” Bristled Hux. “Capture the droid if we can but destroy it if we must.” He hated repeating the instructions that were said to both of them like he was talking to a child.

“How capable are your soldiers, General?” Hux didn’t miss the sneer emitting from the black mask.

“I won’t have you questioning my methods,” spat Hux, the venom in his voice evident. Kylo started to move and Hux stepped up beside him, not ready to let this conversation go.

“They’re obviously skilled at committing high treason. Perhaps Leader Snoke should consider using a clone army.” You absolutely pathetic individual! Hux could feel his lip curling as his mind fired off all the insults he could spew at the Commander. He stepped before Ren bringing the larger man to a sudden halt, his gaze staring fiercely into the ridiculous mask.

“My men are exceptionally trained, programmed from birth…”

“Then they should have no problem retrieving the droid. Unharmed.” Ah. So that’s what he was fishing for this whole time. Hux smirked coolly.

“Careful Ren, that your personal interests not interfere with orders from Leader Snoke.” Ren pointed a finger in Hux’s face emphasising his words.

“I want that map. For your sake, I suggest you get it.” He stalked off and Hux was left looking at the bridge of his ship almost vibrating with unmatched hatred. He didn’t miss the threat in Kylo’s words but he was the one who had screwed up here, not Hux. His feet were moving before he could process where he was going, taking him through the corridors of his ship right to your door. He didn’t knock this time, letting himself in and hoping you could forgive the intrusion.

You looked up from what you were reading on your datapad, at the sound of your door opening. It had been hours since you’d seen him but you didn’t think he’d be back any time soon. He strode in, his face impassive and ruddy as he paced the length of your quarters and back to the door. He was agitated, you could see his gloved hands behind his back clenching and releasing with every step he took. His hair was falling slightly loose and his green eyes blazed with annoyance. You weren’t sure what to do, he clearly thought of your quarters as a place he could come when he was this wound up and it made that ball of warmth expand in your chest.

You wanted to speak but you weren’t sure how well it would be received so you settled down and just took the time to admire this fine man strutting up and down your living area. He paused and looked like he was going to say something but thought better of it.

“Can I help in any way?” The sound of your voice made him inhale and his gaze finally alighted on you, his pacing slowing but not stopping.

“No, but being here is helping.” You were burning to ask what had happened, what had got him so worked up and you wondered if Kylo had done something to annoy your General.

“Would you like me to read to you?” You asked calmly, picking the datapad back up. “It’s just some poetry from the core worlds.” You looked up at him noticing the frown that marred his sharp features, but he nodded slightly and you took a breath in.

“Is all we do for nothing?

In the end, I mean.

Is any of it worth it?

Truly?

Don’t you know that only

A few of us reach the stars?” Your gaze drifted to him to see his pacing had stopped but the frown was still in place as he regarded his boots. You continued.

“The rest of us claw at the ground

Below our feet

Wondering why we

Could never quite grasp the moon

Or even touch the clouds.

Why do we continue?

If we cannot gain glory

Why bother attempting?

Why bother a chance with a

Flickering light when

You could gain certainty?

Because only legends get to carve their names in the sky….” You looked up to see he was looking at you now. An intense glower lit his gaze, his hands were fidgeting at chest level and you felt your heart flutter against your ribs. “That’s what you’re going to do,” you said softly. “When Starkiller is ready, your name is going to be carved into the history of the Galaxy.” He stepped forward, his fingers flexing as a heavy breath left his chest. The moment suspended around you both as you stared deeply into each other, the intensity of his expression made your insides quiver. His name fell unbidden from your lips hoping you could convey enough feeling into that single word. Your heart was pounding now, a dull ache inside you at the memory of his kiss from the other day. Your lips tingled and subconsciously you ran your tongue over them which drew his gaze to your mouth but to your disappointment he backed away and you couldn’t stop your heart falling into your stomach. The sound of your door closing after him splintered your heart and you curled your fist in defeat. You didn’t know how to get him to open up, to get him to see he was worthy of your attention.

Hux strode down the corridors, his body flooding with adrenaline, his heart galloping against his ribs accentuating the tight feeling in his chest. Every breath felt like a chore as he struggled to get air into his lungs. His mind could barely gather a worthy thought and the image of your open expression and gaze of pure admiration shook him to his core. He didn’t know what to do with it, this feeling that snaked around his insides whenever he thought of you, and now he had the image of you looking at him like that imprinted in his mind. He wrung his hands together, suddenly finding himself back on the bridge.

“Report!” He barked.

“S-sir….” He looked up at Mitaka noticing the nervous look all over his face and he just knew something had gone wrong.

“Well?” The poor man was shaking in his boots but Hux didn't have time to pussy foot around his Lieutenant today.

“The droid got away.”

“The pilot?”

“Not found.”

“FN-2187?” He asked abruptly, already fearing the answer.

“W-with the droid.” Mitaka licked his lips before continuing, his back almost bowing under the pressure of Hux’s intense glare. “They escaped on a YT model freighter.” Fury swept through Hux like nothing he’d ever felt before, his hands gripping each other tightly as he tried to rein himself in from doing something he’d regret. Is this how his father felt? Whenever Hux did something wrong? The difference was Brendol set his son up for failure, Hux had everything in place so these miscreants could not possibly fail.

“Report to Ren at once.” He ignored the way Dopheld blanched at the order and Hux tried not to think it could be the last time he’d see him. Giving news like this to Kylo Ren was usually a death sentence. But someone had to take the fall for this failure, this failure that had nothing to do with Hux at all. In fact if Kylo had exercised his special abilities on the surface of Jakku none of this would have happened. Hux stood stock still in his office, the urge to sweep everything off his desk was monumental but also a waste of effort, so he fought the urge. Automatically his strung out mind thought of you, the scent of your hair as it brushed past his cheek, the warmth of your body as you leaned into him, the taste of your lips on his mouth, and he realised he owed you a decent dinner. He opened the door to his office only to find the Captain on the other side.

“Yes Phasma?”

“Commander Ren has…destroyed a control panel.” This wasn’t news to Hux, he knew the man would exercise his temper and destroy something on his ship.

“Mitaka?”

“Alive, he’s in the medbay as they had to sedate him.”

“The man is….” He couldn't say what he wanted to say about the huge blundering fool that seemed to just destroy everything he looked at. He bit back the rest of the sentence slipping behind the mask that helped him cope. “Send out to our informants we are looking for this BB unit. Source a description from the troopers that saw it. Now I am off to have dinner. I don’t want to hear from you or Ren or anyone unless Mitaka dies. Also give the heading to go back to Starkiller. Understand?”

“Perfectly.” She smirked, standing aside to let him pass. He strode down the corridor feeling an odd sort of confidence knowing he was coming to spend time with you.

“Back so soon?” You asked when the door to your quarters slid open but when you looked up your blood ran cold. Commander Ren stood just inside your doorway, his entire body seemed to vibrate with a dark energy you could feel and it frightened you. Hux coming in here steaming was one thing, Kylo Ren was an entirely different animal. “Can I help you Commander?” You asked softly not wanting to startle him or show any signs of aggression in case it triggered him. His breath was heavy and ragged as it filtered through his mask. You found yourself wondering what was under the helmet, was he human? Did he wear the mask because races other than humans weren’t generally accepted in the First Order? You tried to keep your expression blank as his hands rose slowly, the hiss and click of his mask sounded loud in the quiet and he pulled it off his head revealing a human face. The first thing you noticed was his shock of dark hair, you weren’t sure why but you weren’t expecting it to be hidden under that helmet, and the length...it showed he had no regard for the First Order regulations. His eyes were bright, a rich honey colour and they were fixated on you, his lips were full and plush, freckles dotted his pale skin and you couldn’t help but trace them to his ears. The tips protruded from his hair giving him a boyish look, he looked so young. So this was Leader Snoke’s apprentice, the wielder of the darkside and wrecker of your husband's ship.

“I had nowhere else to go.” His voice was deep and rich, it’s tones pleasing on your ears but you didn’t believe him for a second. Goosebumps rose over your skin as he reached for you, the tendrils of his power licking up the side of your neck and you shook your head.

“I can feel you.” You almost snapped and he withdrew. Surprise marking his handsome features and you realised he must wear the mask all the time so he wouldn’t be any good at hiding his expressions. “Why do you do it?”

“I want to know more about you.”

“Then just ask?” You didn’t have time for this, you knew Hux could appear at any moment and you didn’t want anything upsetting the General anymore. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“You have a sense of calm about you. It’s appealing.”

“That may be, Commander. But you need to find somewhere else to go.” You saw his gaze turn to the door moments before it opened, a look flickered across his face and his hands tightened on his helmet. Your breath stuttered as Hux walked in, if he was an animal his hackles would have been raised. His shoulders were back pushing his chest out, his green eyes spitting fire at the Commander, their gazes locked in a silent battle. “The Commander was just leaving.” You said loudly leaving no doubt from your tone that he was an unwelcome guest. Hux moved behind Ren breaking the eye contact between them, the taller man looked at you and momentarily he looked lost. It was fleeting, a haunted shadow flying across his expression and it sowed that single seed of doubt in your mind. The mask was slipped back over his head and once again he was the faceless monster that terrorized the contents of the ship. He left without a word and you looked at Hux, one hand was behind his back, the other was clenched before his chest as he surveyed the rushing light of hyperspace out of your viewport. You got up and went to stand next to him, you wanted to reassure him but something told you not to speak at all. You noted the way his jaw clenched over and over again, his thumb flexing over his closed fingers, the way his nostrils flared slightly as he took a breath making his chest heave. The tension in the room was becoming unbearable and you desperately wanted to say something to break it, you wanted him to yell or tell you off, even just look at you. Anything was better than this gut wrenching silence. You toyed with the hem of your outfit trying to distract yourself from what was possibly going through your husband's mind. It was late and you were tired, so he must be utterly exhausted. You turned to him, your sudden movement making him flinch slightly.

“Are you hungry?” He barely shifted to acknowledge your question but you were already moving. “I have some Jogan fruit I can prepare.” You didn���t wait for a reply. Dragging a knife from the stand in your little kitchen area, grabbing a plate and you began to slice the fruit into slices. You pulled a bottle of wine from the cooler and laid it all on the table, but he didn’t move, his back still rigid with whatever feeling he was trying to contain within himself. You broke to seal and poured two glasses, slowly moving back to his side and offering him the glass. To your relief he took it, a soft nod dislodged some of his flaming red hair and it fell across his brow. You eyed it for a moment before commenting. “It looks long,” you said softly.

“Yes, I noticed that this morning.” His voice cracked slightly and you wanted nothing more than to take him into your arms and stroke his hair until he fell asleep but you knew he’d recoil if you did, so you settled for comforting him in the only way you knew he’d accept. Just standing in his presence and silently letting him know he wasn’t alone.

“Who normally cuts your hair?” His feet shifted and for the first time you watched as he ran a hand through it, ruffling more strands and a look of disgust crossed his features for a moment.

“I don’t know, I try not to look at them because…” he trailed off looking down at his glass and it dawned on you, they would have to touch him. You felt your heart expand, what had happened to make him so fearful of something as simple as touching?

“You know, I used to cut my fathers hair. I could give it a go.” He looked at you, both brows raised in surprise as he rolled his lips after a sip of wine, you couldn’t help but smile slightly now he looked like he was relaxing a little. “Only if you want me to….”

“Yes.” His answer seemed to shock him slightly and he took another gulp of wine, his gaze turning back out to the lights and you marvelled at how they reflected in his eyes and darted across his handsome face giving him an otherworldly appearance.

“Now?” You asked hopefully. His fingers fiddled on the glass, his gaze darting to the side and you saw his throat bob as he swallowed hard. “We don’t have to,” you suggested trying to backtrack.

“It needs doing.” He necked the rest of the wine and turned to pour some more.

“Ok well I’ll need it wet, luckily for you I have a comb and some decent scissors from Arkanis.” His face paled and he rocked on his heels slightly, his knuckles whiting out with his tight grip on the glass. You stepped into the refresher and laid a towel for him. “I’ll wait outside, I just need you to wet your hair,” you reassured him. Your entire body ached seeing him react this way and you made a note to question Phasma in more depth about his past. He strode past you without a glance and locked himself in the ‘fresher, you had no idea how long he’d be so you decided to sit and wait at the table. Picking up your datapad you’d barely read a page when the door reopened.

Your breath puffed out of you at the sight of him with wet hair, his tunic was undone at the top and you tried to keep your expression neutral as a rich flush threatened to engulf your body. He was the most handsome you’d seen him and he was letting you touch him. You couldn’t ruin this now. You gently tapped on the chair and he made his way over to you, sitting carefully down, his bare hands tugged on his top like he was uncomfortable, his back was dead straight and the first thing you did was put his glass back in his hand. You stepped behind him seeing the subtle shift in his shoulders as the tension gathered in his neck, the muscles corded and you could see his jaw clenching tightly.

“I’m going to brush your hair,” you stated softly. The comb was dark as it ran smoothly through his stunning hair, you’d never seen a colour like it, so bright and vibrant. The appropriate crowning glory for such a man. “Now I’m going to start cutting, please don’t move.” You bent down using the comb to create a straight line and you just trimmed and blended his hair in as much as possible. For the top you ran your hand through the silky firery strands, trying not to get carried away with the feel of them between your fingers. The dampness was cool on your skin and you bit your lip as you tried to concentrate. You wanted nothing more than to touch his hair all the time, this was the longest you’d been in close proximity to him, physically touching him and it made your heart thud loudly. When you came to the front you saw his eyes were closed, a little wrinkle appearing as he screwed up his nose at the sensation of stray strands landing on his face. You softly blew on his pale skin, close enough to see the gentle smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. He flinched but didn’t pull away even if his hands balled into fists. You murmured an apology, running the comb through once more before declaring he was done. You went to brush off his shoulders but he rose suddenly and you caught the way his hands shook as he dusted himself down. He swept them over his shoulders and down his arms before straightening his uniform, his hair freshly washed and cut meant it fell freely across his brow and he ran a hand through it, clearly irritated that it was in his face. His eyes met yours for a moment before he cleared his throat.

“I should be going.” He said firmly, picking up his gloves from the table and heading to the door.

“Goodnight, Armitage.” You turned to gaze at him over your shoulder and he dipped his gaze slightly.

“Goodnight.” He replied through stiff lips before leaving you alone, once again.

[mummified-game-review]

2064 Read Only Memories: A Review

If you haven't played this game, then are there other point and click, cyberpunk kidnapping, mystery games that came in the Racial justice bundle that you think I should check out? Let me know all about them in the comments.the garden center of my closest hardware store and I’m trying to decide if the start up cost of 15 bucks in in my budget.

Welcome back to another video game review here on Mummified Games. Today were going to be taking a look at the modern Point and Click Mystery game 2064: Read Only Memories. By Midboss.

This game has a lot of charm to it. I Love how this game presents itself. The Music, art, story, and voice work, is all great and do a really great job of pulling me in. I did not want to stop playing. This was the first time where I was like okay maybe i play for 2 hours. And then write the review. But sadly there was no way I could do that if I wanted to make my deadline.

So the game is a future cyberpunk scene where Humans have found a way to cybernetically and biologically augment their bodies. Sort of just like every other Cyberpunk cenario. Just par for the course at this point.

Wouldn't have it any other way.

But what's great about this game is that it's not overly burdened with the constant narrative of life sucks and there's inequality and class disparity.

It's not dystopian cyberpunk, it's more optimistic. People seem to really be jammin with the future that they find themselves in. For the most part.

So it's your standard affair people are making so many augmentations to themselves in so many different ways. That there is a rebel group that is coming up that wants to see humanity return to who they were.

Not like a full blown god's perfect image, it's not a religious thing. But still embracing tradition and what makes humans human.

I don't know if we have the science to make Snake people then I'm all for it.

Ooo la la.

There are Robots that this big company is making that are designed to Walk like the humans, talk like the humans. But it's all just fancy code. And then the game tells you about one scientist that is working on transcending that limitation of just fancy code. And make something new.

Story intro out of the way, The scene opens with your less than standout apartment and you learn that you are a journalist, sort of.

And after you go through a nothing of a tutorial. As in like it's almost not even there cause it's so basic. You write a report and then go to bed.

INCITING ACTION

In the middle of the night a little blue robot hacks your door. And breaks into your apartment. Interfaces with your computer, cleans your apartment and also tries to clean the old computer, bricking it in the process.

You wake up and they tell you that they have selected you out of all known contacts of their master to help them track their master down. He was Captured last night and you need to join the robot to track down their master.

The robot's name is Turing, probably named after the real person Alan Turing the Computer Scientist.

A note about the dialogue and interactions with Turing. ALL THEIR LINES ARE VOICED! This game gives you so much during the process. There is a lot of reading to be doing in this game and luckily it's not all put on you.

I don't want you to think that I don't like Reading. Or that I think reading is hard. But if I'm meant to put multiple hours into a game. Doing nothing but reading for the entirety of it can get tiring

So I'm glad that so much is fully voiced. Gives you the chance to look down and tweet your love of this game for a second.

And that if there is a name or something that comes up you instantly know how it's meant to be pronounced. Instead of having to wait till you say it outloud in a video game review and suddenly everyone thinks “wait Tony, you say its like that? Wow okay”

Look, I have yet to hear anyone talk about Itch in casual conversation so I have no idea if you need to add the Dot I O to the end of it or if I sound like a Boomer who says out loud Dot Com at the end of every website name. “Yeah i just look it up on Google Dot Com”

I'm trying here folks I really am.

So after Turing tells you about what they need you join them on their mission to track down their creator and figure out what's at the bottom of this whole thing.

A note about the profile creation scene, it's quite funny and I thought it was super cool how they include multiple ways of character settings.

There's nothing visual that you can do to change your character so there's that. But Turing asks you for your name, you just type it out and I was excited for maybe a robot voice that was going to try to pronounce Mummified but it didn't go well.

Asks you for your pronouns, Yes! I love it. I would expect nothing less from a developer like Midboss. The people who host the Steam Summer of Pride Sale for the last couple of years Highlighing Queer games.

But the fact that they don't just limit to just He/Her/They but also Zir, and another one that slips my mind. And also an option to input your own preferred pronouns. SO COOL!

And I was ready to maybe answer one more silly question. That's where I was thinking the game would take things, assuming based on its sense of humor and the jokes that would come up in this game.

But no it was a real question about dietary needs and restrictions, to be kept in mind when out and about and talking about food. Holy crap that's so cool.

So the game gives you options like Omnivore, Vegetarian, Vegan, Halal, Gluten Free Dairy fr

What a super cool thing to include in your game. This just adds to the inclusion that is offered to players of all different ways of life.

So I just hunted down the list of food options in the video recording I took of this game and I'm reminded of just how funny this game is.

There are great jokes in this. There are subtle allegories to our own real world things in this game.

Turing says they found a better door that you could use to replace the current door you have due to its sub standard encryption features to prevent people from hacking though. And they recommend a particular model of door and mention it has over 300 reviews on Congo.

Wait... Congo. HA! Okay that got me. Cause you know Congo the river. And the Amazon river. I thought it was funny.

Also there is a joke about the Creator having a list of different things on the TV that they were watching like Ted’s Tech Tips. That one got me, because it might not be a thing but I'd like to think it's a nod to Linus Tech Tips.

This game is filled with great cute jokes. There are a couple of options that the game gives you when you wake up to see a strange robot in your room, some of the reactions are more fearful. And while reading them as an option I thought to myself WHY?

This little friend is Cute as hell. There's no way I would be scared of them. Their cute faces and little arms. I love them so much.

So the story is sound and the writing in it is so well done. The voice acting is great as well. Turing sounds innocent and has a cute childish nature to them, but they’re not dumb to say the least, they’re still the most advanced AI program in the world.

The gameplay is also stellar. Most of the interactions with things in this world are done with 4 different options.

Look: The game will give you a description of what the item, thing, person, whatever is.

Talk: If it's a person you can talk to them. Or sometimes things have voice commands.

Take/Touch, you might be able to pick something up or turn it on. Computers would take you to another window and you could do other things inside it.

Use time on: At the start of the game you're given an ID card and you pick up a pair of headphones in your apartment. The id could be used to get you places or scan for whatever might come up. Or you can connect your headphones to random things to hear stuff. What's funny is that you can use your headphones on almost anything and you can get some description of what you hear.

Real basic stuff. Like it's described. It's a Point And CLick Mystery Game. A lot of the game is being given a scene and you can talk to people in it, or interact with the things on the static screen.

Everything in this game flows so well together. Nothing takes you out of the experience. Its a story that takes you in and doesn't let go.

I think this is a game that I can fully recommend to people no matter what. If you have it. If you were curious about it. If you’ve never heard of it. Any range of feeling and knowledge of this game I highly recommend you go check it out.

If you have this game tell me your thoughts on it. Do you think Jessi was a jerk or if she is justified in her standoff-ness in her attitude?

If you haven't played this game, then are there other point and click, cyberpunk kidnaping, mystery games that came in the Racial justice bundle that you think I should check out? Let me know all about them in the comments.

In the meantime. Ah gee folks i really am thinking hard about that jade Plant. I'd love to get one. But my cable bill is coming and I know I need to take care of that first. Oh well. Maybe next month.

You all do the Youtube Dance, Like, Sub, Bell, Comment, and share this video with someone you know.

And as always hackers, Keep Digging, and we’ll make it out sometime.

See you in the next one.