Board 8 > TOMPIC 4: A weapon to surpass Asha'man (General spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Oh... I keep forgetting to talk about this. So... in your top 10 series restaurants showed up, and I ranked them and said I pretty much refused to eat at Cracker Barrel. A few days after that I ended up eating there. It's definitely great, I love the portions that they serve, the idea of how many sides you can choose from, and get. You get a true meal, unlike most diners.

It's just the kind of place you go to when you know you'll be HUNGRY. Not an every week, or even every month thing.
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 71

Happy New Year Tom!
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Happy new year!

WickIebee posted...

Oh... I keep forgetting to talk about this. So... in your top 10 series restaurants showed up, and I ranked them and said I pretty much refused to eat at Cracker Barrel. A few days after that I ended up eating there. It's definitely great, I love the portions that they serve, the idea of how many sides you can choose from, and get. You get a true meal, unlike most diners.

It's just the kind of place you go to when you know you'll be HUNGRY. Not an every week, or even every month thing.

Absolutely. It's a magical place.
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Leah best grill
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 72

The Holidays go by too fast!
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They do! Although this was a great break and I feel pretty good going back into regular life.

DR3 Future 11- All Good Things: That is not something I was expecting! Makes good sense though. ....And suddenly Sakakura becomes one of my faves out of this batch! If this is another daggum Junko game though. But there's still the Tengan thing...and we are getting a lot of Ryota reaction shots! ....So why didn't we go to the breaker room at the very beginning, anyway?

Pokemon: Olivia BEATED. Not that hard a fight! Also managed to evolve Incineroar and Primarina! Get hype. I don't know what's next, so right now my team is Incineroar/Primarina/Jigglypuff/Pikachu/Crabrawler/Fomantis I think. Also Plumeria was fairly entertaining.

Girl Genius: Man I'm getting quite into this. Mechanicsburg is fun, and I'm meeting some more folks that made it into the TEW mod. Agatha plus coffee is amazing. I have also decided that my father-in-law is a Spark, because that explains a lot.

(Steam Battle #15) Deponia: I think Strong Bad scratched my adventure game itch for the forseeable future, but this still looks fun. I don't see it doing well here, but you never know when I'll be wrong about games I've not tried! ...But not this time. Display got messed up somehow (It's hanging off the corner of my screen, and I can't move it) and the tutorial was a waste of time. I've yet to figure out how to pack everything, but I don't feel compelled to.

THE VERDICT: Stardew Valley takes this easily, although we'll see how it does against actual competition.
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Scrubs 2-17- Man didn't we learn to trust Cox with Kelso? But hey, backstory! And Kelso is a pacman master!

(Steam Battle #3) G-Senjou no Maou- The Devil on G-String: I have wanted to play this game for a dang long time, even though about all I know about it is that classical music features heavily. I'm loving the music arrangements but hating the font. Not a fan of the protagonist or Eiichi off the bat, and have a feeling that at least one of these first two girls is gonna go yandere on me. Usami Haru is my early favorite, but jury's still out on everybody but Eiichi. I am missing Clannad's little box for who's talking- I've never been good with even English names. I like how sometimes the music gets really dissonant and disjointed- neat effect that I assume is intentional. I do like Tsubaki but my yandere senses are tingling. Or maybe she's some sorta spy since apparently I'm a yakuza boss. A lot of this is not quite adding up and I like it.

(Steam Battle #14) Youtuber's Life: I got this one pretty recently off a humble bundle, and played a chunk. Liked it okay, but so far it's losing to the other games in said bundle. My gaming channel is doing pretty well I guess, but I'm not getting enough sleep or money and I'm failing my class (With a C? After all the studying I did?) My friend wants me to move in even though I don't really see a benefit that outweighs free room and board, and people keep inviting me to social gatherings I don't wanna go to but feel obligated to attend. Bit too real there, game.

THE VERDICT: Youtubers Life is kinda addicting, but it's hard to beat a good VN for me, and G-Senjou looks like it might be just that. I don't know if I wanna doubledip that with Clannad, but it's enough to get out of round 1 at least.
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 73

Dark Souls II: I haven't played this in about 3~ish days. Maybe I'll put in some time on this later today?
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(Steam Battle #11) Punch Club: I remember it going better than this when I tried it out- don't feel like I'm really making headway on anything, but at least I picked up a skill that lets my stamina stay at four. ...And then it softlocked on me.

(Steam Battle #6) Endless Legend: Really like this game (gotta remember to get more of the DLC at some point) but not necessarily in the mood for another 4X right after Civ. ....And it doesn't look like the trackpad on this computer can right click and drag, which means I can't move units. Well. Um. So much for that! I have a mouse but I have nowhere to put a mouse so I guess I can't play that until I get a new laptop or a proper workstation.

THE VERDICT: I guess Punch Club by default, although I'm half inclined to just give G-Senjou a bye and skip the formality. Round 2 bracket is therefore:
1 Trails in the Sky v. 9 Out of the Park 2017
4 Transistor v. 12 Darkest Dungeon
2 Stardew Valley v. 10 Artifact Adventure
3 G-Senjou v. 11 Punch Club


Jeremiah 44-52: On to Lamentations! We're edging closer to the fun part. ....I always forget that there's more than one Memphis, so the prophecy against them confused me for a sec.
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LP MGS1 14-2: ....Is it just me or did Gray Fox not accomplish much of anything with his big heroic moment? :\

#FE: Intermission's done, on to act 3! Knocked out some side missions, but sadly I didn't have all the stage ranks needed for all of them. Bought some costumes at Anzu like the weeb I am. I am so hyped for Barry and Mamorin to get more screen time.

Clannad: Frick man, if I had known I was gonna get choked up, I wouldn't have finished the route over my lunch break. I don't know what I expected, really. Mei's next.
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(Steam Battle #1) Trails: A lot of this tournament will come down to how I like the actual gameplay....and investigating and customizing and map-based combat are all way up my alley. I'm still in the sewers, but I think I have the basic feel of things, and I think I'm gonna love it. Orbments seem fun to mess with, and the characters just click with me. This is more than ever the game to beat.

(Steam Battle #9) OotP 17: Now that Trails is confirmed to have a not-awful battle system, it's gonna take a lot for this to advance....but it's still fun! We rejoin our fantasy-draft Cubs as they prepare for the 1995 season. Giambi and Jeter are the #2 and #3 prospects in baseball, so that's nice for me. We finished 2nd behind the Astros in Spring Training, which isn't what I'd hoped for but we played well over .500 at least. My goals are to "get close to .500," whatever that means, and reach the WS in the next five years. The former seems a lot easier! We rocketed off to a 9-4 start, but so did the Cardinals, so we remain tied for the division lead. (and only half a game back of the Brewers as the best record in baseball) We lead the NL in HR, ERA, and SB. Bob Tewksbury has been surprisingly effectual as my #1 starter!

THE VERDICT: I am getting into OotP...but I feel like Trails is gonna be something special. There are games that still stand a chance of winning, but OotP isn't one of them. Maybe next time!

DR3 Despair 11- Goodbye, Hope's Peak High School: Not a whole lot to say here really. ...we're almost done- let's do it.

DR3 Future 12- It is always darkest: All this makes sense, but something seems off about that video. That and Mitarai's video plan. Brainwash people for hope while giving a despairful speech? Rant about anime? He was up to no good even before he sicced Asahina on Naegi. ...isn't this something Munakata should be supporting? This seems a bit of a sudden development for Mr. Eliminate Despair. I don't see Asahina surviving this, partially due to my experience with random mook-inflicted leg wounds. It's Togami time though so that's good!

DR3 Hope: yeah woo dr2 crew! okay but when do we get more than two seconds of these assault team folks? I'm starting to appreciate details in dangan ronpa because if it isn't fleshed out somewhere in a side story, it probably will be eventually. I await my student council and assault team light novels. ....HECKIN' LOL that ending.

Very good show- does the series proud. I...don't actually know what's up next! It kinda sneaked up on me.
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 74

Dark Souls II: I gained a few more Great Fireball scrolls, sweet!
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I stared at my huge anime backlog long enough to get some pretty bad decision paralysis, so I called in Wifebolo for backup. She suggested K-on or Your Lie in April since they're music-related and I'd already seen a few eps each. Then I thought- there's something else I've started that's music-related, and it has an active fanbase and less PTSD!

Love Live Sunshine 1- I Want to Shine: ...they might be even bigger derps this time holy crap. They like wind in this show! Nobody particularly rubs me the wrong way off the bat, so I might wind up liking this show better!

Kneejerk rankings: Riko > Ruby > Yohane > Chika > Zura = You = Kanon > Eli with black hair > I think there was a snobby looking blonde we saw for two seconds?

Girl Genius: The quest for the castle begins! Gil gets a badass moment, lots of good banter, and a random side story about a weasel queen or something. I don't usually go this hard for super western comics like this but I'm having a dang good time.

Scrubs 2-18: An episode about gossip! And Elliot being melodramatic. And will-they-won't-they with a married woman!! Woulda dropped it right there if they had continued. Still might.
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 75

Dark Souls II: Gained a few more levels, and moved past another boss in the Iron King DLC.
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WoT PoD: ...well lol, the Ghealdan thing went well. Does that make Perrin a king now?

Pokemon: It's on to Aether Paradise! ...and then back at the first opportunity because I wasn't done exploring Akala.

WCW WrestleWar '92

Man, WCW is starting to look like I remember!

US Tag Titles- Freebirds v. Taylor/Valentine (c): Still not used to official facebirds. Crowd is certainly behind them, though! They win off a kinda fast count.

Smothers v. Badd: Decent, but Ventura keeps pointing out Badd's cheating and he ain't wrong.

Bagwell v. Flamingo: ....oh god. Raven wins with some tights after an unremarkable but respectable match.
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LP MGS1 15-1: I REALLY don't think any of this is how genetics work, Liquid. :| Also did we need a dying girlfriend AND a bomb tied to her AND an incoming nuke? I remember seeing this boss fight somewhere...I feel like it was at Santa's. I miss having that dude around :\

#FE: Sidequests keep popping up- gotta save another artist, figure out where "Green Park 2nd floor" is, and get some dang new performa because almost all my weapons are mastered. I made almost no progress on any of those because hey there's an arena! Please tell me that hasn't been there the whole time. Ran through the whole shebang on beginner, although I suspect the higher difficulties are likely beyond me currently.

(Steam Battle #4) Transistor: This is still quite fun, although I'm already starting to get beat up a bit in these early fights. I've got Breach/Switch, Bounce, Spark/widerange, and Jaunt going for now. Red apparently was/is a musician! Always good for a cheap pop from me.

(Steam Battle #12) Darkest Dungeon: Spent pretty much the entire time making minimal progress against The Collector. Wasn't fun.

THE VERDICT: Not only did Darkest Dungeon fail to get the big upset, it left kinda a bad taste in my mouth that might keep it out of the steam battles altogether for a while.
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Always good when my gifts make it through two rounds of your Steam Battles. Makes me, as the gifter feel really good inside.
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trails and I are gonna be bffsies

unless it pulls a valkyria chronicles on me

is there a megatank
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Nope, you're safe from all megatanks.

... That was one of the levels that got me to turn off VC for a while... next was the one I'm still stuck on.
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I keep thinking "I should give that level a shot" and then ".....ehhhhhh"
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If we are talking about the first time it showed up, I ended up beating that level. Lost a character to do so, and thus annoyed at it, but still beat it.

If we're talking about a later time, or another one... I'm not even there yet :(
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First time. I spent so long on that level and just couldn't take it down :\
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You really just need to arm yourself with many heavy units and quick scouts. Blow up the mini-turrets, take cover, grenades. It's just tough from later parts.
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I beat the megatank on my first try with no casualties , git gud scrubs.

I really did, no joke
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Tom Bombadil posted...

trails and I are gonna be bffsies

unless it pulls a valkyria chronicles on me

is there a megatank

you should stop doing these steam battles and just play trails
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Stardew or G-Senjou could still bump it off! (Or Transistor or one of the other games) I wouldn't bet on it but the last two rounds aren't gonna be as much of a formality as this one <_<
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I really want Transistor to win because I'm sure you'll play Trails anyway.
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We shall see!

WoT PoD: Quality Perrin/Faile time, and Sevanna starting to lose control!

Lamentations 1-Ezekiel 7: Yep those are some lamentations alright. And a very strange vision.

(Steam Battle #2) Stardew Valley: I don't know why I thought it would autosave, but it sure doesn't. This time around, I explored the northern outskirts of town and did a smidge of work in the field. I like parts of the interface but there's gotta be a better way to interact with objects. If I'm facing something and hit X, that should be enough imo. That and the save thing left a bit of a bad taste...but it can probably still advance. Right?

(Steam Battle #10) Artifact Adventure: This is the best chance an underdog is gonna have this round! (unless I had disliked Trails' battle mechanics) Continued through the northern cave, finding stairs down and some nice loot. Monsters are a good bit tougher on the second level, but thanks to the magic of games that restore HP/MP on level up, it's nothing we can't han- oh there's a party wipe.

THE VERDICT: I had some frustrations with both games. (some of which was my fault!) I feel like re-exploring the town more than re-exploring that cave, though. Stardew Valley advances, but I don't like its odds against G-Senjou next round.

WCW WrestleWar '92

Simmons v. Hughes: I just really love that Hughes wrestles in semi-formal wear and shades. Was supposed to be a tag, but Jack took out JYD. Good for a hoss match, and Simmons wins.

Champion v. Super Invader w/Race: Somebody's horrible CAW squashes the less interesting Patriot. My favorite part was when Champion got slammed on the outside and some of Badd's glittery confetti stuck to him.

Morton v. Big Josh: Pretty good match! Wasn't entirely expecting that. Josh wins.
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we saw la la land. Dang! I recommend if you at all like musicals or jazz.
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 78

I have been absent from here for 3 days, how horrible of me!
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 79
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Girl Genius: Still a really good time, and now Gil has a HAT. Lotta fanservice today!

Clannad: Mei route next. ...This is not at all the direction I was expecting it to go, but I am waiting with bated breath for Akio to show up. It will be glorious.
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 80

To think it's already 10 days into the new year, hm.
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Time flies!

Love Live Sunshine 2- Catch the Transfer Student!: Poor piano girl :( ...The underwater scene was pretty neat! Riko could wind up rivaling Maki and Hanayo pretty easily! Just gotta keep her away from bratty lolis. I never quite had an experience of complete and utter crashing on stage, but I've come close enough to imagine what that's like. Freaks me out but I suspect Riko's gonna get past it easier than the kid from Your Lie in April. ....wait is Yohane like two feet taller than everybody o_o

Pokemon: I wasn't prepared for Wicke being cute. Why are environmentalists always bad guys in these games, anyway? I've decided I don't really like Poke Pelago and Festival Plaza that much. It feels more like an obligation than a side game- I'm missing out if I'm not checking in every however often. Anyway, I bailed back to Hano Grand Resort after exploring a bit- wanna do all I can on Akala before advancing the plot.

Ezekiel 8-19: A lot of this is way over my head but you also have the usual repentance/punishment thing as well.

(Steam Battle #11) Punch Club: I don't really feel like playing this but I'm a stickler for following rules. Who knows- maybe this'll be a breakthrough moment! Made friends with Roy, and went 2-1 in league fights. Managed to get the "stamina doesn't drop past 4" skill! Didn't change my life but I feel like I'm progressing again so it's back in the mix of games I kinda wanna play. Won't be enough to get it past G-Senjou unless something goes horribly wrong, but is probably enough to get it another shot somewhere down the road.
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Scrubs 2-19- My Kingdom: You're on thin ice, show. Elliot drama is not going to help! Neither is ragging on Ted's band! Neither is suddenly giving Flowers a character flaw because it's time to go back to JD!

#FE: More sidequests! Still don't know where Green Park is, but helped one dude find a job, helped another dude get shot down by a mirage, and got roflstomped by the next stolen performa mission

LP MGS1 15-2: GENES GENES GENES GENES PEOPLE GENES LIFE GENES CARIBOU oh hey his name is David. The President is involved somehow? Interesting. Looks like there's an "Otacon ending" so let's see what the heck that is. ....Huh. I enjoyed Otacon falling down the mountain.
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(Steam Battle #2) G-Senjou: Dude's pretty into Bach. He gets a pass from me. ...I hope this isn't gonna get as dark as it seems like it might, after the instructions re:Kanon.

THE VERDICT: I've got a bad feeling about G-Senjou, but the shoe hasn't dropped yet, so to the semifinals it goes.
BRACKET:
1 Trails in the Sky v. 4 Transistor
2 Stardew Valley v. 3 G-Senjou
Probably a trails/senjou final but we'll see! Never know when a game is gonna turn heel on me.
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 82

Time definitely goes by much faster than it should Tom!
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WoT PoD: Plot is thickening on the dark side! That's what this story needs, another mysterious person showing up and messing with the Chosen. Also, more Cadsuane!

Girl Genius: oh hey tavrek is back. And Agatha is slowly getting the castle under control! Most importantly, though, Gil wore the hat again.

Clannad: This really should've been called the Sanae route, geeze. ...This might NOT be one long setup for an epic Akio beatdown, which would make me sad. At least Mei's pretty cool! And Sanae, geeze.

Love Live Sunshine 3- First Step: it's joke~ I am Riko, basically, particularly with regards to dogs. ...Did we just get a Nico cameo? Did we just hand out a bunch of flyers before coming up with a name? Can I get a You hat?

LP MGS2 1: Yep, we're continuing! Otacon's back! But Mei Ling's not, I guess. :\ B8 keeps going back and forth on whether I should watch the original games.

WCW WrestleWar 92

LW Title- Z-Man v. Pillman (c): Did Z-Man turn heel? Whoa. Solid match. Not used to lightweights going that long!

IWGP Tag Titles: Iizuka/Fujinami (c) v. Steiners: Good match! Feel like it took a bit to get going, but I was into it by the end. Iizuka is fairly impressive considering I'd never heard of him. It seemed like we were gonna get a non-finish, so I'm pleased we went clean.
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Tom Bombadil posted...

B8 keeps going back and forth on whether I should watch the original games.

well, it's not like you're completely lost when watching these LPs, right? you COULD watch the originals but i doubt they're essential...
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I think it's maybe time to bail on Scrubs. It's great when it's good, but terrible when it's bad, and it's been more of the latter recently. A break, at least. But a lot of the stuff I wanted to watch on netflix is gone now...what to watch...what to watch....

They're more than just members of a popular all-girl band. They're also a magical kingdom's last hope

dammit netflix

loliRock 1: It is pushing the boundaries of how girly I'm willing to go, and I am a man who enjoys the ponies. And the precures. And Jem. And this reminds me of all of them! Mainly Precure though. ...This is going in the "okay I do like this but I am never going to admit it except on b8" pile >_>

#FE: Knocked out Ellie's first side story, along with some other side stuff. I'm warming up to her a bit now that we know a bit more about her, but her first impression is still probably gonna keep her towards the bottom of the rankings.

Ezekiel 19-25: Israel dun goofed, punishment incoming, film at 11

(Steam Battle #1) Trails in the Sky: Junior Bracers! Time to talk to everybody before going and saving those kids!

(Steam Battle #4) Transistor: Took down Sybil, but not before overloading Breach()! Interesting death system they have there. Things are getting trippier and more confusing.

THE VERDICT: This is where it gets tough. I was pretty sure Trails was gonna win this, but I really wanna keep both going. I like both battle systems, both atmospheres....it somehow comes down to Estelle vs. Red, and Estelle edges that out at this point. Also helps that Trails isn't as hard. (yet, anyway)

Girl Genius: THEY SLIPPED A PDQ BACH REFERENCE into the Cinderella thing new favorite webcomic! Anyway onwards to volume nine.
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OH BTW I am traveling over the weekend and I don't know what the internet situation is gonna be like, so please help keep an eye on this topic and I'll probably have a massive update Sunday night
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 83

Will do Tom!

Also, a bit more pony news coming down the pipeline...

For the show, Background Music Production for Season 7 is underway:
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2017/01/will-anderson-starting-work-on-season-7.html

For the October 6th Big Screen Movie, get yourself a quick look at it's official movie logo:
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2017/01/zoe-saldana-joins-mlp-movie-all-new.html
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I like!

(Steam Battle #3) G-Senjou: ....The game is afoot. I am getting strong Umineko vibes now, and that's a good thing. BOLD PREDIX: Kyosuke is Maou. He might not realize it, but we're already getting unreliable narrator hints, and that would make a good bit of sense with some of his interactions. I feel like that's a bit too obvious to be the truth though, especially after Usami directly brings that up, so I'll also predict that Kyosuke is one of Maou's children. Wouldn't put it past Gonzou to be Maou, but I think he was implied to be young. Anyway, this game has also hooked me. I'll be very surprised if it can't dust Stardew Valley, and it has a very fair shot at Trails even.
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Transistor out too soon...
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 84

Sweet!
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Hey Tom, when will Tom's Tens finish?
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Season 7
Hiatus Day 85

Dark Souls II: I'm one level away from 500!
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Pokemon: Mostly just dinking around- finally found the place to do my fossils, but still can't get onto the golf course. Back to Aether Paradise!

Clannad: Mei route beated! She's such a good kid ;_; And we still got the Akio beatdown at the end! Felt a little scuzzy for parts of that but overall a well-done route. ....Would like to have seen the soccer club get more comeuppance, though.

LP MGS2 1-2: Hey, it's Olga!

(Steam Battle #2) Stardew Valley: Got me a rod. I don't appear to have a chest or anywhere to store stuff like wood and stone, so my limited inventory is really starting to be a hassle.

THE VERDICT: Stardew Valley is fun, but it hasn't stimulated the harvest moon parts of my brain the way that Trails has hit my JRPG button and G-Senjou has hit my Umineko one. This final is gonna be a doozy.

WoT PoD: Not a whole lot going on.
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trdl23 posted...

Hey Tom, when will Tom's Tens finish?

I don't even know if it will, much less when. I'd guess over the summer
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Love Live Sunshine 1-4- Two Girls' Feelings: Hanamura and Ruby are dang cute. New OTP probably, especially since I never got that shippy with u's.(partially since I couldn't decide on which combination of first years I liked best >_>) Yohane ep next oh geeze.

Wrestlewar '92- War Games- Dangerous Alliance (Austin/Rude/Arn/Zbyszko/Eaton) v. Sting's Squadron (Windham/Steamboat/Dustin/Sting/Koloff): Very good match! Not much story to it (the big question was Koloff's loyalty, which is quickly resolved) but just good wrestling. Faces win after Zbyszko accidentally nails Eaton with the turnbuckle.

(Steam Battle #1) Trails in the Sky: Well, here's the tough one. I (think I) talked to everybody, then set off to save the kids after confirming I couldn't give dad his dang magazine. ...The little flower dudes pack quite a punch, and I actually managed to lose a fight. I'd expect to be getting more exp and gp for random encounters that can kill me, but maybe I just suck? At any rate, I'm fighting everything I see until I can get where I'm going doing that. A few bugs, which were not huge deals but could be a difference maker since I am super hyped for both finalists?

(Steam Battle #3) G-Senjou no Maou: Chapter 2 I guess! Every time Eiichi is around I wish he was Sunohara instead, and I don't even like Sunohara that much. I wonder how much my choices matter? Decision points are pretty sparse, and all seem like "illusion of control" kinds of questions.

THE VERDICT: .....I gotta go with the one I'm more interested in playing right this red hot. Today, that's Trails, by a smidge. I fully expect G-Senjou to win the next Steam Battle (unless I am super pumped for Clannad After or I get something amazing in the steam summer sale or Transistor kicks it up another notch) and I'll still probably dabble in it on the side, but the next game I will officially play is Trails in the Sky!

#FE: Finally reunited dudebro with airhead girlfriend, found "green park" thanks to an FAQ, and found some new Performa!

lolRock 1-2- Flower Power: Boy, two of these sound like Rarity. *imdb's* Maybe because both her singing and regular voices are voicing them! ...And Ashleigh Ball rounds out the trio. But Rarity is the tomboy and Dash is the refined one, so that's confusing. Anyway, still pretty cute and fun.
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