Board 8 > TOMPIC 6: Lucha of Heroes: Trails in the Underground

(+) Yeah! (+)

Trails: Hot springs! Wasn't as fanservicey as expected (wonder if it got cleaned up a bit for Steam) but we got some good character interactions out of it! The ship is that much closer to launch, and now Tita has reached full imouto status. Good deal.

CoK: The offer of taking three replacement lives of Arya's choice is an intriguing twist on the whole life debt trope! Meanwhile, GRRM realized he's behind his sex scene quota.
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MLP:FiM 8.05 - Grannies Gone Wild
1 Day.

Equestria Girls Series #22 of 45 - X Marks the Spot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipDUqvPX-o8" data-time="

Speaking of fan service Tom, yeah, beach short time with Equestria Girls? Yup.
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CoK: Renly's being set up to lose here, but I'm not sure how it's gonna happen. My money's on Bryeen betrayal or, more likely, Red Lady shenanigans. ...or both?

Pokemon: Snagged me a Drowzee! That might actually go on my Whitney and Morty teams. Also blew my entire stock of balls unsuccessfully on a Ditto :\ Spearow and Magikarp are going to the Day Care for later. Team going in to Goldenrod:
CARTER (Quilava 17)
BORDATIA (Krabby 16)
-
EPONINE (Mareep 12)
PALMON (Oddish 12)
AYUMU (Slowpoke 10)
LATTE (Drowzee 10)
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MLP:FiM 8.05 - Grannies Gone Wild
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/04/my-little-pony-season-8-episode-5.html

Equestria Girls Series #23 of 45
6 Days.
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Tom Bombadil posted...

CoK: Renly's being set up to lose here, but I'm not sure how it's gonna happen

Oh
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Pokemon: Nope just kidding first I'm gonna grind for a Dratini at the Game Corner to get a head start on that and because video games are fun woo! I don't think I've ever bothered with Game Corner in a serious capacity before because it's a big ol' pain, but I at least have a winning strat for Card Flipping. Progress: 400/2100 coins. I think I'll take that Drowzee>Machop trade, too.
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MLP:FiM 8.06 - Surf and/or Turf
6 Days.

Possible Hippogryph/Seapony episode perhaps? Sounds like it.

[Or is it Hippogriff, I really don't know?]

And Tom, I enjoyed the Maud episode a quite a lot too. Cool to see Marble and Limestone Pie once again too.

Equestria Girls Series #23 of 45
5 Days.
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MLP:FiM 8.06 - Surf and/or Turf
5 Days.

Equestria Girls Series #23 of 45
4 Days.
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STEAM BATTLE #15- Europa Universalis IV: My issue with these games is it all just feels overwhelmingly open-ended, so I start a game, fiddle with a few buttons, and then just kinda sit there minding my own business. (and therefore not really accomplishing anything) This game (Castille, at the Rise of the Ottomans) wasn't much different, but it didn't have a long enough slot for me to get bored with it.

THE VERDICT (DDLC v. EU): Interest is about equally high! But one of these games has horrible load times, a learning curve that intimidates me the fan of obnoxiously complex games, a lack of a windowed resolution that works well for me, and the capacity to completely drain my battery over the course of a lunch break apparently. For almost purely logistical reasons, DDLC is gonna get the nod. When a game that is probably gonna be NSFW in some sense or other is the "easier to play during work downtimes" choice, that's a bit of an issue >_> Regardless, this was probably closer than it would've been against Total War!

Ready Player One: We're back to nostalgiavomit I guess, but now we're through the first gate and have met Art3mis! This is still pretty cringey but at least we have something to do now.

CoK: you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
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ddlc is like 4 hours long why even bother
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oh is it? k
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CoK: We're teasing a Theon face turn down the line but I don't really want it. Does seem pretty likely somebody from that group is going to be the sea that drowns the people, though. We have wasted another Hagar kill but I assume that means the third is gonna be a big one.

Lucha 1-13b: Whatsherface kisses Fenix. Striker uncharacteristically misses a chance to make a Game of Thrones reference as Cage brings out the title for which he paid the IRON PRICE. He does manage to sneak in a Tony Atlas foot fetish joke though. Mundo/Cage is a fun match, albeit with more than a few contrived-looking spots and awkward sells. Cuerno runs in on Mundo for the DQ. Cuerno hits the post with a chair, shattering Mundo's knee I guess! Cueto restarts the match, Cage targets the hurt leg, and Mundo sells it by kicking with it and taking several finishers to go down. (***) With Cueto going on about "respect to the temple" why is he cool with Cage? oh hey it's Alberto!

Persona: I am now a key item. I am okay with this. And hey now I have Fool 8. Must be getting closeish! Finally got around to Fortune 1 as well. Just what I needed: another waifu in the race, and another interesting story hook I don't have time to explore. :P Also I think our last party member just made a cameo! And Makoto is in charge of the school trip because that's a responsible way to handle this situation. Snagged Devil 6 and wasted a decent chunk of money on gachapon. Feelin' kinda bad for Morgana. A suspiciously detailed kid is cheating at video games but I can't seem to get enough info to target him. Hmm. Also I'm getting stat locked on a lot of the links I wanna pursue :\
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Nadesico 4- Charmed by Aqua Space: Three new weirdos appear! Solid fight of the day, and then...Akito and Megumi are a thing? Well ok. Also I feel like we should be more concerned about who shot Gai?

CoK: oh boy it's a riot!
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CoK: This bit with Millisaunde kinda reminds me of Umineko, and now I'm trying to come up with the Mystery side of this Lord of Light stuff. She's interesting but might be getting too weird for me.
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CoK: Varyes backstory o_o

Stardom 15.9.4
Maya v. KAORU: *1/2
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MLP:FiM 8.06 - Surf and/or Turf
1 Day.

Equestria Girls Series #23 of 45 - Aww...Baby Turtles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn5WFbGkoG8" data-time="
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MLP:FiM 8.06 - Surf and/or Turf
http://sharing.rainbowdash.tv/ponys8e6.mp4

With the dailymotion link all messed up, the link above is the alternative for the latest episode.

Equestria Girls Series #24 of 45
6 Days.
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MLP:FiM 8.07 - Horse Play
6 Days.

Equestria Girls Series #24 of 45
5 Days.
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CoK: oh hey I called Winterfell sorta. Anyway, I am continuing to really enjoy the Arya/Jaken storyline- she has played him very well!

OotS: Well dang Durkon's undead now :( And Belkar and Roy continue developing! And V is at least semi-functional now! Good stuff all around
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CoK: Oh good, we'll probably get more "Jaken Hagar" in the future!
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CoK: The bit with the Warlocks' Tower was the Wheel of Timiest bit yet! Looks like Theon's story is going to be more complex than a simple face turn, so that's kinda nice. I'm starting to like the guy as we see him trying to be a good guy and just whiffing.

Trails: Business is picking up! Met a random guy I am guessing will join the party later, and then the Prof got kidnapped. Wonder if finding all the canisters did anything for me. I feel like there's a coverup going on with the military, but haven't figured out a culprit or motivation yet. Also Agate is here, but loses points for scaring Tita.

LP MGS 3 18-1: I assume that at some point the LPers will explain why Sorrow(?) keeps showing up in cutscenes with signs? Anyway, some big plot stuff! Volgin fight looks fun, albeit tricky if you don't know the tricks. More Revolver OceLOL occurs. MISSION J FROG NOOOOOOOO
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MLP:FiM 8.07 - Horse Play
3 Days.

Equestria Girls Series #24 of 45
2 Days.

Interesting, my oldest active comment on an open topic is over a decade old.
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Animatic for the upcoming episode Horse Play:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hllzCrMsB4M" data-time="
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CoK: oh hey it's Ygritte. I think she showed up in my waifu rankings forever ago! I remember liking her okay and spoilers that I may or may not have made up. Man, the times I get most into this series tend to be immediately followed by things like a detailed account of Sansa's "flowering." Even if it's plot relevant it's still not really something I really want to hear about in this level of detail. And that's probably why I'm not gonna watch the show?

Pokemon: 430/2100 coins. It's acting a bit weird, sometimes taking a while to flip a card or blacking out for a moment. It's like this game boy color game wasn't designed to go into sleep mode for days at a time on a minigame screen or something.

STEAM BATTLE #7- Steins;gate: This one was a bit of a disappointment last battle, with funky controls, save issues, and a story that didn't really hook me until late in the game. Nonetheless, it was still able to ride goodwill to the finals (where it lost to Trails, IIRC) earning it a second chance here. I know how to find the menu and the controls now, so that's a plus. I SHOULD start a new file but I've already started this game twice so nuts to that. Kurisu is alive apparently, and not looking particularly stabbed. That's a plus! Some control things started freakin' out on me- I suspect it's the same kind of issue as Trails where it becomes nearly unplayable if I use my touchpad's two-finger scroll. Hm. Anyway, time to talk about science concepts that are above my level!

STEAM BATTLE #10- Spelunky: Only wanted to play this for several years. I'm just as bad as I expected! Can't quite get the hang of wall jumps, which is a recurring theme in my gaming. Accidentally killed the first damsel I ever found, right at the exit, and I still don't know how. In about 40 mins, I made it to 1-2 a couple times and 1-3 once.

THE VERDICT: Spelunky is fun, but I am not sure I have the patience or skill to play it long-term. Steins will once again slip past mainly on potential, but I'm not betting on it against DDLC next round.
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MLP:FiM 8.07 - Horse Play
2 Days.

Equestria Girls Series #24 of 45
1 Day.
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I've often said I would love game of thrones more if it weren't written by GRRM

His plot with another writer would be great.
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MLP:FiM 8.07 - Horse Play
1 Day.

Equestria Girls Series #24 of 45 - The Salty Sails

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNbJmb9eH5E" data-time="
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how has "Horse Play" not already been used
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Don't know Tom, but FiM hasn't used that title yet for some reason.
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CoK: Did...did we really kill Bran and Riccan off-screen? I thought it was gonna be a fakeout, but their heads are mounted so uh so much for that Theon turning face thing. Interesting little chat with Jamie. I THINK I have been spoiled as to how this ends, but I can't think of any way or reason to get there from here. ASoIaF by like Jordan or Sanderson sounds amazing. Speaking of books that want different authors....

Ready Player One: The acting out a movie bit was kinda cool I guess, but it's one in a string of cool ideas that are just kinda hamfistedly shoehorned into this setting. A lot of this writing feels like a stream of "ooh wouldn't this be cool" consciousness that the guy never bothered to go back and edit later. A lot of the ideas are kinda neat. But the presentation is just s'dang cringey, and that's a word I try to avoid. Also it's awkward because most people that hear I'm reading it are big fans and they are super excited for me to read it and like it and I uh.

Lucha 1-14a: Alberto is gonna talk later I guess. Fenix and Argenis! Should be good. Was unaware that Argenis was related to Mistico. Several neat spots, but not all of them really land clean. Odd camera choices. Fenix wins while Catrina wanders around for no apparent reason, then she crawls sexily on Argenis. (***) Weird Mil/Catrina segment follows, after which Mil beats up Chavo. Ryck cuts a half-cool, half-weird Catholicism-themed promo, and has an eyepatch now. I appreciate that Mariachi El Bronx is here- I bought one of their albums a long time ago. I am hype for Havoc/Mundo...and the fans are too, judging from the dueling chants. They're both on their A-game, and I feel like even Striker and Vamp are clicking in! Not gonna lie, I was rooting for Havoc here, but he's still a jobber. (****) Cuerno runin follows.
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halfway through the musical run and then the concert is tuesday and then I return to the land of the living :D
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CoK: The fire attack of Tyrion Lannister has succeeded!

MLP 8-4- Fake It Till You Make It: I enjoyed Fluttershy's characters! Not much else to comment on here.
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MLP:FiM 8.07 - Horse Play
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/04/my-little-pony-season-8-episode-7-horse.html

MLP:FiM 8.08 - The Parent Map
6 Days.

Equestria Girls Series #25 of 45
5 Days.

Fluttershy playing different roles was the highlight there. And Fluttershy calling her animal friends "rodents", to think that would trigger Rarity like it did!
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Nadesico 5- Ruri's Navigation Logs: Dark humor and funerals and lots of quality Ruri and Yurika moments. I'm getting into the tempo and vibe of this show quite a bit.

CoK: Good development lately for Sansa and the Hound.
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MLP:FiM 8.08 - The Parent Map
5 Days.

Equestria Girls Series #25 of 45
4 Days.
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CoK: I'm not sure what the deal is with Renly killing Stannis, but it's probably not a good one.
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CoK: I have heard the name Ramsay Bolton before. That's probably not a good sign, in this series. Roderick :( ....and there goes Theon I guess, lol. The one time he wasn't paranoid!

Stardom 15.9.4
Yoneyama v. Shirai: ***1/2

STEAM BATTLE #3- Recettear: It's back, after a strong showing last battle and several aborted playthroughs back in the day. I decided to pick up my previous save file, and was worried about rust, but was able to get back in the swing of things just fine. Louie dashed through the first five levels of Jade Way without major incident (let's not talk about how long it took to get the hang of the Crowned Slime's attack pattern) and we made some pretty good bucks! First payment will be no problem. I always somehow manage to forget how cute this game is, and also how annoying little girls are.
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http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/181792-god-hand-edit
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The gauntlet of performances has come to a close! Everything should be back to roughly normal rates of progress.

LP Stardew 30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCiotwczIEg" data-time="

Persona: man what even is happening right now I don't remember. Managed to hit Charm 4 and Knowledge 4 at the same time, lol, so maybe that'll open up a social link or two. But first, Hiero 4! Nice. Morgana's depressed and Takemi's depressed but at least I have a Mementos target for the latter. Heh! There's a lei on the loading icon now. Had a nice little date with Makoto too, so I approve of the Hawaii trip all around. There goes the principal I guess.

Trails: Agate kicks Tita out of the party so she won't get in the way, y'know with her giant bazooka that makes her probably more useful than Estelle. Joshua misses a bunch of attacks as we climb the tower (again), and I decide it's a good idea to go up to the roof without healing. Black Fang won the day on the second attempt, and then Tita botches our rescue attempt. I get that they're going for the "tough love" angle with Agate and Tita, but I'm not buying it. Don't think there's any coming back from slapping a (particularly good) kid in the face.

Pokemon: 742/2100 coins. This ain't too bad if I do it with something to watch in the background. (like TARVOULD'S QUEST)
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STEAM BATTLE #14- ManaCollect: I've monkeyed around with this one a little before, but don't remember it very well. It's a fun little puzzle game where you run moe girls around a hex grid playing a competitive realtime minesweeper variant. I don't have a great grasp of the strategy of the multiplayer elements, and I'm pretty mediocre at the minesweeping, but it's a fun time even if I lost on 2-3 Easy Mode. >_>

THE VERDICT: Two games that are due more love than I've given them, but Recettear has its hook in me and ManaCollect is just a game I'd like to play more some time. That and I think ManaCollect has a limited shelf life if I ever wind up focusing on it- I'll either get frustrated at my lack of skill, bored of the gameplay, or finish it maybe even. Might be a better "kill a half hour when tired of other stuff" game than a "play until you beat it" game.
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LP MGS3 18-2: It's Metal Gear 2! This, too, looks like fun in parts and painful in others.

CoK: So you're telling me that Theon is too dumb to even recognize fake brothers?

Ready Player One: I'll admit, I enjoyed today's chunk, with the Sixers getting in on the action. It's a perfectly fine book when the author can keep his 80's boner to himself for two seconds!

STEAM BATTLE #6- Glittermitten Grove: I, uh, kinda lost track of time and played this almost an hour more than I meant to. I don't think I've gotten to the "real" game yet and I'm already addicted! I keep starving out all my fairies every winter and can't seem to get enough light on enough food-bearing trees :\ But...it's a fun and cute and different resource management thingy that I assume will go completely off the rails sometime soon.

STEAM BATTLE #11- Out of the Park '16: OotP is in kinda the same category as the ouevre of Paradox Interactive- the level of detail is proving a steep learning curve, but it has potential to be my new obsession if it ever "clicks." Today I quickstarted an "All Time Greats" save file as the Cubs, just to avoid blowing all my time on file creation. We fell behind the Pirates 3-0 on opening day, but then our offense got to work and we turned it into a 7-5 win woooo. Oddly exciting for sitting there clicking menus and usually choosing the default option.

THE VERDICT: I'm usually pretty disciplined about my timeslots for these. As much as I like a good baseball sim, that tells me I gotta go with the game that went almost triple the length I meant to play. Glittermitten appears to be living up to its full dark horse potential!

And that concludes round 1! For those of you playing the home game, our bracket is now:
1 Phantom Brave v. 9 Sanctuary
4 FFVII v. 5 Disgaea
2 DDLC v. 7 Steins
3 Recettear v. 6 Glittermitten
.....gonna be some tough ones. Sometimes by now I have a pretty good idea what I'm gonna pick, but I don't even feel comfortable predicting any matches this round! Except maybe DDLC > Steins, but even that could pretty easily flip.
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I still think there's a chance that you finish DDLC by the time Steam Battle is over. It's a very quick game.
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MLP:FiM 8.08 - The Parent Map
1 Day.

Equestria Girls Series #25 of 45 - Lost and Found

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIkMCTuDASQ" data-time="

Yeah, I have been away from here for a while, I'll try to be more consistent, hopefully.
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If I finish DDLC that'll just be an easy win for the upper finalist I guess! Or an excuse to immediately run ANOTHER Steam Battle right after :P

CoK BEATED, on to SoS!

SoS: here come zombies I guess

Lucha 1-14b: Vampiro entertains me for maybe the first time by mixing up Ricky Mandell with Rick Martel. Pentagon will now kill the dude. Good squash. (***) Alberto won the AAA title? Didn't know that one. Also didn't know he was related to Mil Mascaras. They don't subtitle much of his Spanish. Pretty good promo, although I'm not sure I buy that he was held back by racism with how successful he was. He is jumped by a dude with a rope, who wants his AAA Title back.
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MLP:FiM 8.08 - The Parent Map
https://www.equestriadaily.com/2018/05/my-little-pony-season-8-episode-8.html

Equestria Girls Series #26 of 45
6 Days.

Another day, another episode!
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Nothin' relevant to this topic yesterday, but I did get in some quality board games :D
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MLP:FiM 8.09 - Non-Compete Clause
6 Days.

Equestria Girls Series #26 of 45
5 Days.

Board Games, cool. I don't play board games all that much, but I do like a game of Scrabble every now and then.
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Scrabble was my family's jam growing up because it was about the only game we could all agree on
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What board game/s did you play?
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this is my hardcore board game group and last night we played Bruges and Castles of Burgundy for my first time :D

they have like an endless library of eurogames I've never played it's the best
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