LOOOONG first time trip report! 5/13-5/18, stayed at Beach Club, visited all four parks, bought Genie+ every day, had the standard DDP. Family of 4, two girls 5 and 9. I learned so much from this group over the past year and especially loved trip reports, so hopefully this post will be helpful to someone!
💲BUDGET💲
-- I booked the trip a year out so I could break it up into 12 manageable payments. I opened the no fee Disney VISA, which gives you several months of no interest on charges made towards Disney travel packages, rewards dollars to use at Disney, and a couple other perks like character meet and greets and discounts.
-- I signed up for Disney Movie Insiders. This is what you're supposed to do with all those little codes that come in Disney DVDs/Blurays. You enter the codes in exchange for points, and at 1000 points, you can redeem for a $10 Disney gift card. You also get points for being subscribed to Disney+, seeing Disney movies in the theater, their social media accounts, and a whole bunch of other things. I got $50 in gift cards from this alone.
-- If you want Disney-themed luggage, try thinking outside the box to save money! I got plain luggage in Mickey colors--red and black--and Mickey luggage tags to make them Disney themed.
-- I tried to budget for souvenirs via gift cards... but I failed, lol. Everything is so expensive, $100 is gone in a second. Plushes are like $40, coffee cups are $20, etc. Whatever you're planning to spend, double it! I get what people say about most shops having the same stuff, but it's definitely not all of them, most of the ones post-ride have unique stuff. And honestly it's kind of nice most of them have the same stuff, if you want to get whatever your kid was asking for earlier, you don't have to walk all the way back to the one shop you saw it at.
-- We paid for Memory Maker and I'm on the fence about it. On the one hand, it's really nice to get all the ride photos and meet and greet photos and magic shots. It's also really nice for the whole family to be in a lot of pictures and not have to swap with the other adult or find someone willing to take your picture. On the other, we definitely didn't utilize it as much as I wanted to because a lot of the photographers had pretty long lines and I just didn't want to spend time waiting for a picture I could take myself. If we came across someone with a shortish or no line, we made sure to get it, but for anyone with a long line, we just stood around the same spot and took our own.
🗓️PLANNING🗓️
-- If you have kids and live within easy driving distance of another amusement park, highly recommend making a visit BEFORE going to Disney to get an idea of how they handle that kind of day/environment, especially if they have never been. I quickly discovered we would absolutely need a stroller and I would need to be militant with the kids about staying hydrated. Also to avoid face paint, as heat + tears + paint + eyes = bad day! I felt so much better making these discoveries beforehand and being able to prepare accordingly, rather than making them at Disney.
-- USE AN AGENT! An agent is free to you, so why not have the help? Ours was amazing, she gave us quotes, booked the package, rebooked as needed later when a better deal came out, made all the payments, dining and extra reservations, and was just all-around awesome to work with. It was such a load off to know I wasn't on my own with all this stuff.
-- Watch everything Ear Scouts. No one explains Genie+ better, and Rob and Erick's videos are just so positive and beautiful and well done.
-- I also enjoyed reading Disney Tourist Blog--lovingly snarky but super informative!--and Disney Food Blog for fun tips and news.
-- I didn't find any park to be a half day park, we filled our whole day in every one and still didn't see everything!
-- My kids did really well, whenever they were on the verge of cranky, we had one ride in the stroller for a while, bought a snack (usually ice cream or popcorn), and used the bubble wand, and/or gave them some ibuprofen, and everyone felt better pretty quick. We never tried to do fireworks, we were all done by 8 so always left after dinner. The only park we closed down was EPCOT because we didn't get out of dinner until after close, and that was a really cool experience, the park was so quiet and empty and beautiful!
-- You don't NEED a Magic Band... but man, was it convenient. We just had 1.0 Magic Bands though, we didn't bother with the 2.0s.
-- I guess moving through security fast is important to people rope dropping... but as someone who didn't, it added like maybe 30 seconds to a minute to the experience the couple times my bag got flagged, it's really not a big deal.
-- I'm not saying anyone's lying about bad experiences or exaggerating or anything, but try to remember that far more people go on the Internet to complain than they do to praise. I got so stressed about all the things that could go wrong, and we had a pretty much perfect trip. The only attraction that broke down on us was Muppetvision, of all things. The only "bad behavior" we witnessed was the morning we were leaving, we could hear a dad across the hall yelling at his family, I think they overslept and were going to miss their flight or something? We just turned the TV on so we didn't have to hear him. A couple times we forgot to take our stuff with us when we parked our stroller or forgot some food in it, and neither people nor animals bothered it. The only dicey thing that happened to us was me dropping my phone into the Dumbo moat, the cast members fished it out and it still worked, I sent them a cast compliment for all their help! All the cast members were great, I'm not really sure what people expect but IMO they all do amazing for having to be peppy and helpful all day in absolutely blazing heat, walking a ride conveyer belt nonstop, repeating the same spiels over and over, meeting person after person, etc. I wouldn't last a 2 hour shift let alone 8. Cast members, you rock!!!
✈️TRAVEL✈️
-- We flew Delta, flight there was flawless, flight home was delayed by an hour waiting for crew and was a little bumpy (which is not great for a nervous flyer like me) but otherwise fine.
-- Get TSA PreCheck! Good for a few years, if the adults have it the kids have it too. It made the whole experience so much easier. That said, even PreCheck still moves kind of slow at MCO, so definitely get there at least 2 hours early for your flight. Use curbside check-in for bags, way faster than the long line inside!
-- On our agent's recommendation, we used Away We Go for ground transport in Orlando. They communicate really well, both ways were flawless, no complaints!
-- We used Minnie Vans to get to Animal Kingdom + Sanaa and Magic Kingdom, what a wonderful service! Definitely pricey, but they had cartoons on in the car, booster seats they set up for you, and the drivers were so nice and friendly and had fun trivia to share. I never had any problem requesting one when I needed it.
⛱️BEACH CLUB⛱️
-- We knew we wanted an onsite hotel where you could walk to at least one park. This pretty much limits you to a handful of Deluxe hotels or the Swan and Dolphin. Beach Club won for us because it's "in the Disney bubble" and you can walk to 2/4 parks. Note that while you can technically walk to Hollywood Studios, it is a LOOOONG walk. The boat is a nice not crowded alternative! We did not make use of Early Entry or Extended Hours, we're just not built for either. Beach Club was lovely, we booked a resort view but I think we ended up with a water view, we were right by the quiet pool and could see the water beyond from our room. Stormalong Bay was a little crazy for us but we loved the quiet pool. Best thing about Beach Club though is the location, EPCOT is literally steps away!
🌳ANIMAL KINGDOM🌳
-- We had read that there's really no bad day to do AK, so we started there. We rode: Navi River Journey, Flight of Passage, Kali River Rapids, Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Triceratops Spin, and Dinosaur--so pretty much everything! With Genie+ we walked onto all of them. We also met Moana, Pocahontas, and Russell! The only thing we didn't do here that we wanted to was the Gorilla Falls trail, but we just ran out of time before the park closed.
🌐EPCOT🌐
-- We had read to avoid EPCOT on Fridays and Saturdays, so we went on Wednesday. We rode: Grand Fiesta Tour, Living with the Land, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Imagination with Figment, Frozen, Remy, Journey of Water, and Guardians--everything we wanted! Again, with Genie+, we walked right onto everything! We also met Anna and Elsa! Tried a couple of Flower and Garden snacks: chicken and waffles, fruit and cheese strudel, and potato pancakes, all were delicious! Everyone had a different favorite day, but EPCOT was personally my favorite day, it felt like we were firing on all cylinders and the day just went really smoothly!
🏰MAGIC KINGDOM🏰
-- We had read that Wednesdays were the quietest days at MK, so we were originally going to try to do it that day, but we could only get a reservation for Cinderella's Royal Table on Thursday, so we switched it up. Definitely the most crowded of all the parks we visited, but I think that's just the norm for MK, everyone wants to go to the castle park with the most rides. We rode: Regal Carousel, Tomorrowland Speedway, Barnstormer, Magic Carpets, Mad Tea Party, People Mover, Dumbo, Small World, Little Mermaid, Pirates, Space Ranger Spin, Jungle Cruise, TRON, and Peter Pan. Again, with Genie+, we walked right onto everything! The only ride we missed at this park that we wanted to do was Pooh, I couldn't manage to get a return time that was earlier than we planned on leaving. Outside of our character meals (more on those in the dining section!) we also met Mirabel, Tiana, and Rapunzel! We had both the Rapunzel and Aurora ice creams, both so good and cute!
🎬HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS🎬
-- We had read that, like MK, it's better to do HS later in the week, so we went Friday. We rode: Slinky, Alien Saucers, Toy Story Mania, Rise, Smuggler's Run, Runaway Railway. Again, with Genie+, we walked right onto everything! The only ride we missed was Tower of Terror, again I couldn't manage to get a return time that was earlier than we planned on leaving. We also met Olaf, be aware Olaf doesn't sign stuff, they just give you a signature card. This park needs more shade IMO, especially Toy Story Land, I know it's supposed to be Andy's backyard, but I don't see why that means we can't have some shade from trees or something. 🤪 Blue milk from Galaxy's Edge was really good, the family was all fighting over it!
🍽️DINING🍽️
-- We almost certainly lost some money on the DDP, but I'm still glad we got it because it allowed us to do more table service meals and have less stress overall about expenses. We easily used up everything but child quick service credits, we had a few of those left over near the end.
Here's where we ate!
BOARDWALK DELI/PIZZA WINDOW: Pizza for the kids, sandwiches for the adults. Tasty and satisfying after our day of travel!
BEACHES AND CREAM: Got the kitchen sink for the experience, but honestly it's not great, all the ice cream and toppings melt together quick and you just end up with weird ice cream soup.
SAT'ULI CANTEEN: LOVED this place, everything was so yummy! Best quick service we had!
SANAA: Since Animal Kingdom closes so early, we thought we'd try to extend the experience by eating at Sanaa. What a great idea, we got seated right by a window and saw so many animals! The food was great too.
AKERSHUS: Our favorite princess meal! We met Aurora, Tiana, Snow White, Ariel, and Belle. They were all lovely, and the breakfast was really good too. Only 1 credit on the DDP!
GARDEN GRILL: Our kids really enjoyed getting to look down over Living with the Land and the fact that the restaurant spins. We met Farmer Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale. They were fun and even came to our table more than once. Food was good!
SPACE 220: Not on the DDP, but wow, what a cool restaurant! Almost like a ride with the theming and the elevator up. Food was really good.
CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE: You gotta eat in the castle! We paid for it OOP because we didn't want to use up 2 DDP credits here. You're really going for the location and the princesses, the food is kinda meh, not bad but not as good as other places. The restaurant is small and they have to turn tables quick, so it's very understandable to me that the princesses have to move fast. It's not that they rush you, they'll take all the pictures you ask for and sign whatever and answer your questions, but if you don't have much you need, they try to keep moving. Akershus is much bigger so they are able to be more relaxed there. The only small bummer is that we didn't see Merida (maybe she was on vacation too!) We did meet Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, and Aurora though!
CRYSTAL PALACE: We are not big on buffets but we enjoyed meeting Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger!
TOPOLINO'S: Maybe the best food of the trip, steak and eggs were so good! The character artist costumes are so cute too. It was fun to have an excuse to ride the Skyliner to get here from Beach Club too.
DOCKING BAY 7: The theming is great, but the food wasn't as good as Satuli Canteen IMO.
THE MARKET AT ALE & COMPASS: We had quick service credits we wanted to use up on the last day and we didn't want to leave the resort again, otherwise I would have gone somewhere else, food was meh.
✨EXTRAS✨
-- I originally wanted to book Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for my kids, but it's so expensive/competitive that I decided to didn't want the stress. Instead I booked Have Wand, Will Travel to come to our room and bought dresses from Presley Couture and Only Little Once. I chose Have Wand, Will Travel because they keep character throughout. Fairy Godmother Elyse was amazing and so much fun, my kids loved it and kept talking about it all day!
-- That same morning I ordered a Sammicakes breakfast box with beignets for us to eat. I also ordered a pretend letter from Tiana on Etsy to make it seem like the breakfast came from Tiana. My kids also loved this and had fun telling Tiana about it both times we met her. Sammicakes was good but a LOT of food, sadly we didn't end up eating half of it. It can last you at least 3 days!
-- Matching shirts and ear hats, all from Etsy! So many cool designs there, hardest part is choosing!
-- Got my kids a pin trading lanyard with some pins, they loooooved pin trading! It was like free souvenirs.
🧳PACKING🧳
-- Things the Internet Told Me to Pack That I Needed: Scissors, ziploc bags, ibuprofen (kids and adults), garbage bags.
-- Things the Internet Told Me to Pack that I Didn't Need: stainless steel straws (the paper straws are more like cardboard, they really don't break down unless your kid is gnawing on them or something), ponchos (it did rain some most days, but wearing a poncho was almost more miserable than not wearing one, it's so hot and humid to be walking around in a plastic bag! We did better taking shelter and using umbrellas.), wipes (obv you need them if your kid is younger, but mine were older and just never got messy enough to need them.), glow sticks (we never stayed anywhere long enough to use them.) Basically, the less you can get away carrying in the parks, the better. It's annoying to lug stuff around you don't end up needing or using!
🛞STROLLER🛞
-- I know it seems insane that your 5 year old and 9 year old will need a stroller, but mine definitely did. Once I accepted that I was going to have to get one, I tried to make the best of it, and actually got really into decorating it so we could always easily spot it in the sea (the decorations also later made nice wall decor for a gallery of our trip!) The Magic Spotter flag was the best investment, hardly anyone had them so it was easy to instantly spot our stroller anywhere we left it, even if it got moved. That said, I definitely didn't want to spend a lot on a stroller we were really only buying for this one trip, so I got a used Joovy Caboose on Facebook Marketplace for $50. It was very hard to handle with two older kids in it, and even with one it was hard to handle unless the kid was in the back seat. So we basically used it like a single stroller, glad I didn't spend a lot on it since it was so hard to drive!
☔WEATHER☔
-- We had mostly great weather, it rained some every day except Magic Kingdom day but it passed within an hour each time. We wore socks with Crocs so that if/when it rained, we could just take our wet socks off and walk in our Crocs, this worked great! Don't trust the weather reports though, two days it wasn't supposed to rain. One day it actually didn't, the other day it did and we had to walk in wet shoes because we didn't wear the Crocs that day. Just figure it might rain any day and be prepared! See above note RE: ponchos being not great and shelter + umbrellas being better. When it didn't rain, It. Was. Hot. 🥵 In the 90s but definitely felt hotter with the humidity making it so sticky. We felt there was plenty of shade at Animal Kingdom and EPCOT, but hardly any at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, which I would say slightly affected how much fun we had on those days comparatively.
Phew! That's about it, let me know if you have any questions!

Hi, firstly, I got a gift from a friend, the Ghost recon breakpoint standard edition. I did not activate it yet.
I'd love to know a few things firstly.
I was planning to buy the Ultimate Edition for all the extra content possible. especially because of the splinter cell content. I can get this in Year 1 Pass. So, if I activate the standard edition and then buy the Year 1 pass a bit later, I should get all the SAM FISHER missions, right?
(I figure that I won't get the sacred land mission that is in the ultimate edition)
How many extra Skell credits are received when someone buys the Survivor pack? And how crucial is skell credits at the start of the game? I might not buy the Ultimate Edition after all, so will I be making a mistake if I stick to Standard edition + Year 1 pass only?
Will buying the Year 1 Pass get me any Splinter Cell Sam Fisher items like costume and knife?
My last question is regarding CQC animation.
With the survivor pack, there is a Primal CQC knife weapon. With this, does the close takedown come with a different takedown animation? Also, do I get a different CQC animation like in Wildlands with sth like Echelon gloves? *I REALLY want to make sure I get all the Sam Fisher contents, items, animations\*

4K
Amsterdam 4K MA
Angels and Demons 4K MA
Dune 2 4K MA
Easy Rider 4K MA (save for Codi)
Gran Turismo 4K MA
Hook 4K MA
Maleficent Mistress Of Evil 4K iTunes
Miller’s Girl 4K Vudu (doesn’t port) (save for Codi)
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children 4K itunes
Philadelphia 4K MA
Rudy Director’s Cut 4K MA (save for Codi)
Run Lola Run 4K MA (save for Codi)
Sleepless In Seattle 4K MA
T2 Trainspotting 4K MA
The Good Liar 4K MA
The Tourist 4K MA
Thoroughbreds 4K MA
True Lies 4K MA
HD
Button A Christmas Tale Hd iTunes (doesn’t port)
Fox and the Hound 2 HD MA
I, Frankenstein HD iTunes (doesn’t port)
Now You See Me HD iTunes (doesn’t port)
Paranormal Activity 3 HD iTunes (doesn’t port)
Quiet Place HD Vudu (doesn’t port)
Spider-Man Homecoming HD MA
The Chronicles of Riddick Unrated Director’s Cut HD MA
Tinkerbell and the Legend Of The NeverBeast HD MA
Willow HD MA
World War Z HD Vudu (doesn’t port)
SD
Snitch SD Vudu (doesn’t port)
GP splits
Aladdin Live Action GP HD
Avengers Age Of Ultron GP HD
Avengers Infinity War GP HD
Beauty and the Beast Live Action GP HD
Black Panther GP HD
Captain America Winter Soldier GP HD
Cinderella Animated GP HD
Inside Out GP HD
Into The Woods GP HD
Jungle Book Live Action GP HD
Jungle Cruise GP HD
Lion King Live Action GP HD
Maleficent GP HD
Maleficent Mistress Of Evil GP HD
Moana GP HD
Monster’s University GP HD
Mulan Live Action GP HD
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story GP HD
Star Wars The Force Awakens GP HD
Thor Dark World GP HD
Thor Ragnarok GP HD
Toy Story 4 GP HD
Zootopia GP HD
April Universal Rewards - Everest 4K - Last Christmas 4K - A Dogs Journey HD - Brewsters Million HD - Bring It On Again HD - Bulletproof HD - Contraband HD - Crooklyn HD - Drop Dead Fred HD - Idlewild HD - The Visit HD - Wanted HD - Vampires Assistant HD
May Universal Rewards - A Dog's Purpose HD - Agnes Browne HD - Antz HD - Backdraft 24K - Being Frank HD - Black Christmas 4K - Don't Let Go HD - Final Account HD - Kicks HD - Loving HD - Raw (2016) HD - The Sparks Brothers 4K
Sony Buff Pass - Hancock 4K - My Girl 4K - Stripes 4K - Blue Thunder HD - Born Yesterday HD - Bye Bye Birdie HD - Guess Who HD - Stir Crazy HD - The Blob (1988) HD - Untraceable HD

• No Disney points
• All codes that are eligible for it are split. Don't use more than paid for.
• PPFF Preferred
• Offers Accepted

$5

• Spiderman 2 2004 4k MA (SOLD)
• Aladdin Animated Signature Collection 4k MA

$3

• A Good Day to Die Hard [HD] - Vudu/MA
• A Wrinkle in Time 4K - MA
• Aladdin (2019) [HD] - GP
• Anchorman 2 [HD] - Vudu
• Ant-Man and the Wasp [HD] - GP
• Avengers: Infinity War [HD] - GP
• Battle of the Year [HD] - MA
• Beauty and the Beast 2017 [HD] - GP
• Beauty and the Beast 2017 [HD] - MA
• Black Panther [HD] - GP
• Captain Marvel [HD] - GP
• Despicable Me 2 [HD] - Vudu
• Divergent Series: Insurgent [HD] - Vudu
• Epic [HD] - MA
• Expendables 2 [HD] - Vudu
• Expendables 3 (Unrated Version) [HD] - Vudu
• Fast & Furious 6 [HD] - Vudu
• Fast Five [HD] - Vudu
• Fifty Shades of Grey [HD] - Vudu
• Finding Dory [HD] - GP
• Frozen [HD] - GP
• Frozen [HD] - MA
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 [HD] - GP
• Home Alone [HD] - MA
• Hunger Games: Catching Fire [HD] - Vudu
• Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 [HD] - Vudu
• Into the Woods [HD] - GP
• Into the Woods [HD] - Vudu/MA/iTunes
• Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit [HD] - Vudu
• Jason Bourne [HD] - Vudu
• John Wick [HD] - Vudu
• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle [HD] - MA
• Jurassic World [HD] - Vudu
• Justified: The Completed Fourth Season [HD] - Vudu
• Kick Ass [HD] - Vudu
• Les Miserables [HD] - Vudu
• Lion King 2019 Remake [HD] - GP
• Lone Survivor [HD] - Vudu
• Maggie [HD] - Vudu
• Million Dollar Arm [HD] - GP
• Mulan [HD] - GP
• Mulan [HD] - MA/Vudu
• Noah [HD] - Vudu
• Oz: The Great and Powerful [HD] - GP
• Oz: The Great and Powerful [HD] - MA
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters [HD] - Vudu
• Perks of Being a Wallflower [HD] - Vudu
• Pete's Dragon [HD] - GP
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales [HD] - GP
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales [HD] - MA
• Pitch Perfect [HD] - Vudu
• Prometheus [HD] - Vudu
• Ralph Breaks the Internet [HD] - GP
• Ride Along [HD] - Vudu
• Robocop [HD] - Vudu/GP
• Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 2.1 [HD] - MA
• Star Trek Beyond [HD] - Vudu
• Star Trek Into Darkness [HD] - Vudu
• Star Wars: Force Awakens [HD] - GP
• Star Wars: Force Awakens [HD] - MA
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi [HD] - GP
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) [HD] - Vudu
• Terminator: Genesys [HD] - Vudu
• The Legend of Hercules [HD] - Vudu
• The Spirit [HD] - Vudu
• Thor: Ragnarok [HD] - GP
• Toy Story [HD] - GP
• Transformers: Age of Extinction [HD] - Vudu
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon [HD] - Vudu
• Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 [HD] - Vudu
• World War Z [HD] - Vudu
• Zootopia [HD] - GP

ITUNES VERSIONS--Unsure if working, Willing to send Code before Payment
Must Send Picture if not working

$3

• 007 - Skyfall [SD] - iTunes
• 47 Ronin [HD] - iTunes
• A Good Day to Die Hard [SD] - iTunes
• Anchorman 2 [HD] - iTunes
• Bad Grandpa [HD] - iTunes
• Barbie Spy Squad [HD] - iTunes
• Boss [HD] - iTunes
• Bring it On: Worldwide #Cheersmack [HD] - iTunes
• Despicable Me 2 [HD] - iTunes
• Divergent [HD] - iTunes
• Divergent Series: Insurgent [HD] - iTunes
• Draft Day [HD] - iTunes
• Epic [SD] - iTunes
• Expendables 3 (Unrated Version) [HD] - iTunes
• Fast & Furious 6 [HD] - iTunes
• Fast Five [HD] - iTunes
• Fifty Shades of Grey [HD] - iTunes
• Furious 7 Extended Edition [HD] - iTunes
• Hunger Games [HD] - iTunes
• Hunger Games: Catching Fire [HD] - iTunes
• Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 4K - iTunes
• Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 [HD] - iTunes
• Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit [HD] - iTunes
• Jarhead 3 [HD] - iTunes
• Jason Bourne [HD] - iTunes
• John Wick [HD] - iTunes
• Jurassic Park [HD] - iTunes
• Jurassic World [HD] - iTunes
• Katy Perry: Part of Me [SD] - iTunes
• Les Miserables [HD] - iTunes
• Lone Survivor [HD] - iTunes
• Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games [HD] - iTunes
• Madea's Big Happy Family [HD] - iTunes
• Mission Impossible: Fallout [HD] - iTunes
• Monster High: Great Scarrier Reef [HD] - iTunes
• Noah [HD] - iTunes
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters [SD] - iTunes
• Perks of Being a Wallflower [HD] - iTunes
• Pet Sematary [HD] - iTunes
• Pitch Perfect 2 [HD] - iTunes
• Pitch Perfect [HD] - iTunes
• Riddick [HD] - iTunes
• Snitch [HD] - iTunes
• Snow White & the Huntsman [HD] - iTunes
• Star Trek Beyond [HD] - iTunes
• Star Trek Beyond [HD] - iTunes
• Star Trek Into Darkness [HD] - iTunes
• Super 8 [SD] - iTunes
• Ted [HD] - iTunes
• Terminator: Genesys [HD] - iTunes
• The Internship [SD] - iTunes
• The Legend of Hercules [HD] - iTunes
• Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie [HD] - iTunes
• Transformers: Age of Extinction [HD] - iTunes
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon [HD] - iTunes
• Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 [HD] - iTunes (x3)
• World War Z [HD] - iTunes
• XXX: return of Xander Cage [HD] - iTunes

If anyone knows how to check iTunes without using code, let me know in the comments, it would be much appreciated :)

Me and my boyfriend were on a trip in some forest land and we hired a local car.
The day went out smoothly until the late afternoon when suddenly on our way back to town our car broke down in middle of nowhere- a forest green field.
It was a hot summer weather.
We soon figured out that the vehicle had some deep issue and obviously which cannot be fixed by us and nowhere nearby was any village to get a mechanic.
We were kind of worried as it was a forest region no wild animals though and we may have to spend out night inside the car if we don't find any help soon.
Also, there wasn't any traffic as it was a remote region and hardly any truck or a small vehicle passes after a while.
Luckily we had some food so we stayed in the car for an hour just thinking and then came up with an idea about exploring the green filed and dense trees. We set-off in the nearby field walking by curiously and adventurous around the nature.
It was damn hot but the birds chirping and nature sounds made it soothing. I saw my boyfriend removed his shirt as we were sweating and he was just on his shorts. I too felt the same and removed my top but realized I wasnt on my bra as anyways I dont wear bra and suddenly I was nude on the top. It was crazy for both of us.
We roamed half nude through the filed chatting and tickling and touching each other until we found a water stream and a huge pond of fresh water. A sigh of relief for two thirsty sweaty bodies.
Without thinking we jumped into the natural pond and it was surprisingly cold enough to quench our bodies. We were uncomfortable on our clothes so came out and undressed completely and again jumped into the pond.
I was simply standing under the stream which was a small waterfall. It was an amazing feeling. I felt the urge to answer natures call so came out and went into the bushes to pee.
My man followed me and he saw me peeing and quietly without my notice put his palm under my pee to feel the warmth of it and I was clueless about it until he touched me down and I screamed shockingly. I shouted at him what the fuck was he doing as I was afraid like anything.
He immediately kissed me and grabbed me in his arms. He then carried me in his arms to the pond and almost threw me in the water. He too followed me.
I was nervous as well as afraid as I never experienced such things outside. We soon started kissing and fondling each other.
The water was neck deep and only our faces were out to kiss. I can feel his dick hard touching me as he groped kissed and fondled my breasts.
Soon we started the next level while standing itself he fingered me and I was shaking his dick.
He dived inside the water and started licking my pussy while I moaned, he then started fingering again and I can feel my vagina already expanded and water entering and exiting my pussy. It was too horny to feel.
He started rubbing his dick on my pussy in the water itself but couldn't get the grip properly so we proceeded towards the edge of the pond where I took the position of doggy style and he came in from behind.
And there we started our wild sex!!
I soon had an orgasm due to the fact of the sexual excitement of getting fucked in the wild.
That day was so different form the rest and my man was in full strength and power. Never ever he must have fucked me so hard and rough.
I knew nobody will ever hear me and I started screaming and moaning in the nature very loudly as he kept pounding me from every angles.
We both were very loud in expressing our emotions while the birds watched us getting fucked.
I wanted to try different positions and we climbed tress and fucked there,
we fucked in the fields
our minds were not in control not in senses and we were sexually mad & lost as the only thing in our mind was FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!
We climbed the stones
and fucked there too and
he cummed inside me
OMG his cums warmth made me squirt instantly
thus we both cummed together. He was still hard and I dont wanted him to loosen up and immediately grabbed his penis in my mouth without resting a bit and kept sucking
every ounce of his semen and he was hard in no time.
I wanted to fuck inside water so we went in the pond and kept fucking. I can feel water entering my pussy
along with his penis and bubbles blasting in. It was such a divine feeling. He then shifted to my ass
and started fucking like crazy.
We then came out and I wanted him to suck my vagina like a wild tiger he grabbed my pussy lips in his mouth and kept sucking like a hungry wolf and he kept pulling them so hard I was literally crying and shouting in pain but wanted him to continue.
My vagina was already swollen red and injured too and so was his penis.
Soon it was getting dark and all we can hear was our sex sound shouting and the water from the stream.
We got the jungle on fire with our sex.
It was that final time when we both wanted this to end but in a memorable way. We took missionery position
and he kept fucking hard and hard until he exploded inside me and I kept fingering my cunt until I squirted the final time
We both screamed so loudly may be someone heard us may be not but we surely weren't in out senses either.
One accident led us to the most sexual pleasurable incidence I can ever forget.
I have put it practically graphically with images though not of us but similar to what and how we did that day.
Hope you all love it :P

I’m an Otherpaw since I like wearing little animal masks and do quads, but I see people saying that an Otherpaw is a furry that does quads. For a while I thought a furry was someone who just dressed up in animal costumes but once I looked deeper into it, I found that most furries don’t have fur suits and that’s not all that they do. They mainly just have an interest in antimorphic animals. But, I don’t have an interest in them genuinely. I just like the masks. Does that make me interested in them? I’m genuinely curious and I’m not at all trying to hate on anyone I’m just confused.

Hey all. We have a team of several artists, animators, a programmer, a composer, a SFX designer, and writers are we're looking for a UI artist and a environmental/tile set artist to help round us out to complete our game demo. Specifically we are looking for individuals, not to hire outsourcing companies, please only apply if you are an individual.
The game (a very short summary)
Aemon takes place in the near future in the Tanaman Archipelago which was almost depopulated during a war where humans used Aemon (AI enhanced monsters) as weapons, driving humans to retreat to a nearby continent. Those which remained have rebuilt settlements in the island in relative isolation for the past several hundred years. Now others are returning to the island to recover lost technology, forgetful of the devastation caused by AI and genetic engineering. You will explore a story rich environment seeking for historic relics, interacting with various political and religious factions, and discovering hundreds of Aemon.
The game is geared towards veterans of the genre and seeks to correct institutional problems and shortcomings of the genre while providing players new and meaningful choices in team and moveset composition. We are striving for a more serious story than other monster tamers while still maintaining a healthy humor making it accessible to everyone.
The art style for the game is a clean 2D art style with cell shading. I'll put a link here to a slide deck that speaks even more about the game and has some monster designs so you can see what the art is like.
Scope of services sought for
Environmental / Tileset Artist:

• For the demo, we will have one playable island that will consist of some ocean, beach, open areas, cave, and a jungle area. We don't need to create full tilesets for all of these, but portions for each to complete the demo. There will be one intact buildings, some ruins, a yacht, a small boat, some ingredient harvesting resources, and environmental items (trees, plants, flowers) that will need to be designed for the overworld. Lastly, we'd need a battle scene backdrop for each zone.
• If the demo goes well and we go beyond demo, we'll have a big world with a range of environments to create. From icy regions to volcanoes, jungles to plains, beaches to swamps, mountains to crystal caverns, and desert to name a some environs. Each environment will need battle background designs and overworld tile design. In addition, there be quite a few buildings with unique styles to match the three primary regions the archipelago is divided into which have distinct personalities due to the cultural influences of each. Other features include bridges, boats, vehicles, shrines, arenas, building appliances, etc. these features are intended to have a semi-futuristic feel and alternative technological advances from the real world.

UI Designer:

• Design will include menus for the game menu, pause, battle scenes, inventory, maps, monster party tab, dex, guides/quick references, game mechanic pages, upgrade screens, etc… The desired vibe includes a sharp, clean look speaking to futuristic technology such as AI and nanotechnology. We want the UI to feel fresh within the genre. Most importantly, info should be shown in such a way to feel natural and easily accessible, providing a seamless experience for players. A monster tamer battle relies on heavily on providing players information to make informed decisions. This also includes iconography design. For the demo we can work together to focus on critical menus and reuse menus as needed. If the game goes beyond demo we can then work on further individualizing menus if appropriate. It is nice to have some consistency between menus so may not be necessary.

State of the game
Briefly:

• The dev team is working away on fleshing out character and monster designs and starting some basic animation work. (We have a full list of monsters for the game, working on fleshing out some of the evolutionary lines so they can be incorporated in game)
• We have placeholder levels designed or nearly designed for the demo using temporary pixel art tile set assets. Would love to replace those with fresh 2D tilesets for the demo.
• We have a game design document available upon request that lists out major mechanics of the game in some serious detail. The game lore and storyline first draft is complete and being refined by the writers.
• We use discord to house our internal team coordination. Works great and meetings are via discord.

As noted by the header, the project is a revshare project with the team working at their own pace due to “real” jobs and life. I try to keep workload realistic and ensure family and health is not hindered by game development on the side.
Sounds interesting
If you are interested in working on the game please send me a dm and we can chat. I can provide more details to specific questions and send info from the game design doc upon request. Ideally I'd prefer to chat via Discord (user PheonixSlayer, see link below) as I'm quicker to respond there, but you can reply to the post or dm me and I'll try to check reddit for those messages.
If you are interested in the game but not working on it, you can follow our discord here: https://discord.gg/HhXfqSQtbW

He waited to call me, he literally thought about my sleep and that he’d called to wake me up a couple times already this past week so he thought no I’ll let her sleep and call at a more normal time. Is he not the most thoughtful thing? My baby. He woke me right out of a dream, it was an odd one which I cbf going into, but I was making a friend in it, I don’t know who but the dream was partly me trying to be friends with this other girl. Maybe it’s a sign I’ll find a new friend soon :) Anyway so he called and we chatted while he finished making up his keyboard. It sounds so good, like sooooo good. Like creamy marbley rain drop goodness. It’s funny because I thought his last keyboard sounded delicious, but in comparison to the new one the old one makes me envision large spiders tip tapping along a corrugated iron roof. Whereas the new one sounds like sitting by a fire with a hot chocolate with marshmallows and being read a story while the rain pitter patters outside. I wonder if this new one will sound like spiders whenever he makes a newer one? I’m truly such a fickle thing. They all sound good though, obviously. He said how when we live together he’ll make one for me! Or rather he’ll guide me through the process, because I need to pick the sounds and colours and feelings out. I’m not sure what I’d like it to be like, I’ll have to start thinking. I flip between wanting something cute, like a pink one with strawberries and hearts and glitter and then a sleek, profesh looking one. A light one? Or a dark one? And I have no idea about the sounds, but he’ll help me. And then we can make it up together! It sounds so fun, I really can’t wait. Anyway so he called and it’s still my favourite way to wake up.
Then we hung up and I was laying in bed debating whether I should get up or doze and I ended up having dirty lil thoughts about him… twice. I can be so boring with my lil fantasies now, I can’t entirely remember now what I thought about but it was just us two. I think he thinks I think about someone else involved more than I do, I definitely do but nowhere near as often as just him. I sound like a total creepy perve but I’ve even thought about just him… but I’ll be dead and buried before I ever tell him that. And that saying something because I think I’d like to be cremated… TBD on that. But so anyway, thinking about just me and him is always my favourite and works the fastest every single time. My honey baby handsome man.
I truly have a life full of first world problems, it makes me feel so guilty sometimes. I say sometimes because I only think about how lucky I am sometimes, which makes me feel even more guilty. There are SO many horrible awful things happening in the world to people who absolutely do not deserve a hair on their heads touched.. and here I am lambasting my cuticles for being in good condition after I bought some products to tidy them up. I just caught myself out before, I was looking at my cuticles and was negatively thinking about how clean they look lately - I’m not surprised I found a way to be negative about something good. They definitely need some nourishment and cuticle oil and things, but they’re so clean and neat? Why? I haven’t done anything? Anyway I caught myself looking at them thinking ffs why do they look nice I need to fix them - firstly that makes no sense and secondly it hit me a second later how terrible it was. And then the guilt washed over me and there are children dying across the world for no reason and here I am critiquing my cuticles. I truly don’t think I deserve the air I breathe sometimes. More than sometimes. I know I’m not a person that adds anything to this world, if anything I just take from it by worsening the health of the planet with the plastic, travel etc etc I do. I do my best to save bees who look sickly? That’s about it. I don’t bring joy to anyone else - I mean I make Andy miserable, I probably stress and worry my parents… I think the only one I bring any semblance of joy to is pups because I play with him and take him for walks and cuddle him and I won’t move an inch if he’s comfy and I’m not. Other than that… I offer nothing. So like I said, I am drenched in guilt. I wonder how I can change it? Or how I can offer more? I just feel like I have nothing to actually offer, even if I gave everything up. I guess physical labour…? But even then, I’m not strong and my hand skin is so sensitive so I can only really do so much before it hurts and gets bad. But I guess if I wasn’t being selfish I would ignore my skin, wouldn’t I? I would really like to volunteer. I used to a bit here and there, before I really got bad with my mental health. Not a lot but sometimes. I’d like to make it more of a regular thing - it’s something I’ve talked about in therapy about it being a part of the life I’m working towards. I’m thinking once every three weeks or so, so still nothing impactful but it’s something? I think I’d like to volunteer at an animal shelter, I wouldn’t mind even cleaning up their little areas and things, idk why but I don’t find animal stuff gross whereas I do people stuff. Then again I’ve only had to clean up after an animal I love with my whole heart so maybe it would be different for other ones, I could do it though. Or I’d like to volunteer at a retirement home, or visiting elderly people at their own homes. Just spend time with them, it makes my heart hurt to think of how lonely some of them can be and coming from someone who feels extremely lonely I would want to lessen that - especially in their final years. They’re the main places I’d like to volunteer. I’ve done time in “soup kitchens” here and in the UK, which I enjoyed, I only worked in the kitchen though helping prepare things and cleaning up - every time I wasn’t allowed out the front to serve, which is weird because I have LOTS of experience with that sort of thing? The way they implied it was that I was a young woman, but still? I guess 99% of those visiting there would be fine but maybe 1% wouldn’t be? Still though. Anyway I’d like to volunteer more. I need to learn to be comfy leaving the house first, maybe get my social anxiety under control a little more but I don’t need to be perfect because doing these things will help my issues. What else could I do? I donate to charities and have for years, sometimes I’ve had monthly deductions, sometimes I just donate on a whim. Like that fresh water one, I can’t remember the name off the top of my head but every few months I impulsively donate $100 or so. It’s not enough though, I should be better. I just get suss of the charities themselves and I don’t know how much actually goes to the cause, like I know they need to fund admin costs which makes sense but anyway. I just don’t have any skills, so other than vague stuff there’s not any real impact I can offer. Andy for example, he’s so talented and clever and creative, I bet he would have ways to make an impact. Like if he was to visit elderly people it would be SUCH a success as he’s so chatty and personable and kind and lovely and everything that’s good, so he would keep them entertained and ask the right questions. Whereas I’m not a talker so I would be awkward and quiet and they would have to lead the conversation and they likely don’t want that, unless I asked to be paired with chatty kathys of course. My nana was like that, you ask one question and she won’t stop talking for an hour. At least from memory, I don’t remember so well as I was littler. Hm. Anyway. I just feel like I’m a big time detractor of the world. That’s kind of a good villain name, The Detractor. Another way I can offer more is to be better, for example if I’m better then I don’t make Andy miserable which means he would feel more encouraged to live his life happily which would therefore positively affect everyone who comes into contact with him, which I know happens now anyway but maybe if he has a supportive loving girlfriend it will be even more so? Like I can be a lil battery for him, because I don’t really like interacting with others too much, or I do but I don’t like to be an active member, I like to listen and observe and chime in every now and then. None of this makes sense. But if I’m better then that has a positive effect on people around me. That’s what I’m trying to say. I’m always polite though, like if I take the bus I always say thank you when I hop off, I always say thank you when a waiter refills my drink or puts down my cutlery or whatever else. Even when I don’t want to talk at all and an Uber driver clearly does I will chat away even though my social battery is running on fumes because I don’t want them to feel rejected and maybe they need to chat, even if it’s about nothing. I always put supermarket trollies back into their homes. I never litter. I hold doors open for people, but only when it means they won’t have to do an awkward run for it because that’s not polite that’s annoying. So I think I’m polite, but a polite person does not make a good person - and I am not a good person. Or a worthwhile one.
So far this morning I have chatted to Andy, got up and made a strawbs smoothie, did a lil kitchen clean/tidy up, went back to lay on my bed but not IN bed and I read for a little bit, I journaled the bit up there and now I’m watching some YT. I’m really trying to stretch out my read time of this book, I’m excited to get into HP after this one but I also don’t want to let go of this world and these characters yet, even though it’s a reread. I’d like to have a productive day but I’m also going to let myself do whatever I fancy… I hope I fancy being productive.
I wound up reading/watching about those body and face types again, because a YT video came up as suggested. Anyway, so apparently you can be more yin or yang and I’m a definite yin. Yang is more angular, sharp and blunt whereas yin is soft, rounded and curved. I also feel like I’m a yin person, I was reading about that recently, I think I need to actively work to have more yang in my life in order to be more balanced? I mean these descriptors? Negative, passive, feminine, dark, cool, soft, reflective, still, calm, nurture, quiet, introspective, prefers solitude, cautious etc. Hellllllllllllo. Whereas yang is more embodied by words like active, light, warm, outgoing/sociable, masculine, direct, expressive, loud, restless, productive, growth, passion etc. Things that don’t really describe me. So I think maybe in that sense I’m imbalanced. It seems I’m imbalanced in everything, so that’s great. Excellent, even. I feel like Andy is 100% the yang to my yin. Maybe that’s a factor in why we work well? We balance each other? I think he has a mix of both though, he’s much more balanced. I was about to write “he’s perfect” but I am also a biased, love sick girl soooo… but I think we balance each other well, no? Anyway I’m reading more about yin vs yang and I definitely need more Yang in me because these are all yin:
Signs of “excess” in yin: * Oversleeping * Overthinking * Slow thinking * Sluggishness * Laziness * Compulsive behaviour * Lack of motivation * Apathy * Overeating :(
Versus yang that lists things like anger, restlessness, violence, frustration, inability to relax & let go, insomnia, addictions, need for constant stimulation, regular headaches etc.
And “personality traits” in yin: * imagination * peacefulness * wisdom (not for meee) * relaxation * satisfaction (?) * persistence (only with some things) * introversion
Versus yang that lists things like action, ambition, courage, adventurousness, extroversion, getting things done etc.
And “activities” for yin: * yoga * tai chi * slow walking * golf * qi gong * weight lifting * stretching
Versus yang that lists things like cardio, running, fast dancing, wrestling, hiking, swimming, biking etc.
Anyway I know this is all just one of those things, but also it makes total sense. But this reminds me of the therapy lesson where I learned I like these sorts of things, similar to the Myers Briggs thing etc, because I don’t really know who I am and so I find being grouped into a category really affirming and makes me feel less… outsidey. Which is a thing for me as I don’t easily click with people, I can get along fine with more or less anyone but I don’t genuinely enjoy the company of just anyone and I find it very difficult to be myself with just anyone, I have some form of a wall up with everyone bar a couple of people like my parents, Andy, M and K to an extent. But it also depends, if I don’t spend time with someone for awhile my walls go back up. It’s a huge reason why I don’t really enjoy social things, if it’s a one on one thing I can but in a group? Even with the girls from work who I know well, but I can’t relax and I don’t enjoy myself at all. I try to but I just feel like I’m outside of the bubble. But so anyway all that is why I gravitate towards these groupings of personality, even looks like the fact I was watching a video about face/body types which is why I started this paragraph. I like being able to see examples and do a quiz and find out I’m whatever and then seeing similarities in others who are in the group. It makes me feel included and less alone. It basically all comes down to the fact I always feel like I’m on the outside, of everything. I don’t feel included in anything really. Which comes back to my self esteem/self worth… or lack thereof. I’m wondering when I’m meant to be getting more of that btw, like WHEN? It’s the root of all my issues. Mostly.
I’ve been wondering if I should consider lightening my eyebrows… that sounds kinda crazy, well crazy in the land of eyebrow stuff, but idk. I have warm brown hair… but basically black eyebrows? It’s weird and I’ve always hated it. I know eyebrows always lean cooler than the hair on your head, so that’s natural, but idk, it’s just my hair is so warm and my brows so cool - it’s always irked me. I’ve never quite realised it was that though, I just always thought something was off, but I’m now starting to wonder if my brows should be ever so lightened. I never even thought of it as a potential solution til I saw some girl doing it and it gave her a much softer look. I know they also need to be darker by a shade or two, well they don’t NEED to be but that’s generally the natural look and I only want a natural result. So a deep brown? Because right now they’re damn near black. And I find the black jarring against my fair skin too, I like having dark brows - I would hate to have light/fair brows, and dark brows are supposedly wanted because they make the person with them appear younger, or rather fair brows can age a face. So I like that mine are dark… I just want them MAYBE a fraction lighter. But the idea scares me! Because if you bleach them then anything you add on top will likely lean super warm and idk. So idk how I’d even go about it. The woman I watched doing it on YT just used an at home bleach kit or something and she used it several times so I guess it won’t do much but still… I’m scared :(
I set up my new monitor!!!!!!!!!!! By myself!!!!!!! I know how tiny it is but I’m still so pleased with myself. I felt so embarrassed telling Andy, or less embarrassed and more silly/stupid I guess. Like it’s such a nothing thing but idk, I was nervous and I wrote out a step by step list to work through so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed and things while doing it. And when I say step by step I literally mean:

1. Unwrap the boxes and take each item out
2. Make sure to keep them in their own little areas and don’t mix them up
3. Clear my desk of everything
4. Clean my desk
5. Set up the new monitor with the stand
6. Place both monitors on the desk
7. Plug both monitors into power source
8. Put laptop on the desk
9. Put the HDMI connector usb into the laptop
10. Put one monitor HDMI cable into the laptop, as normal
11. Put the other monitor HDMI cable into the connecter
12. Connector should be connected to laptop with only one external HDMI a cable inside
13. Turn on my laptop and see if they all connect up - don’t stress if they don’t
14. Play around/google/ask Andy if any issues
15. Arrange my new desk! Try use the cable tidy things and make it nice.

So I mean, an absolute step by step. It didn’t cover all the steps as I forgot about the mouse parts and things. But anyway I did itttttt. I need to move the stuff around though because they’re too far apart but I’ll do that tomorrow. I also need to work out how to add an extra plug so I can charge my laptop too as there’s not enough plugs.
I asked him if he wanted to watch Bridg erton and I wish I hadn’t because he feels weird about it. I only asked because idk, wishful thinking? I want to watch it with him :( From season one, obviously. Idk I know he doesn’t want to so I won’t push it, but I want to show him shows I love too. I just like regency era stuff like this and idk. I shouldn’t have asked, now he thinks I want to watch with someone else? Like… who? I guess mum or M. But why get suss about that. Anyway. I guess I’ll watch it by myself, like I expected. I can’t wait for the music. And the costumes!!!!!!!! My favourite. Anyway idk. I just want to share things I love with him the way he does with me.. but maybe I just don’t like anything he’ll like?
I want the Laura Mercier strawberry blush a lot :( But I’m really trying to not buy makeup I don’t need and I already have 30-odd blushes which I don’t get enough use out of, including LM ones. But it’s such a pretty colour!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I had a trillion dollars so I could have all the colours and formulas my little heart desired. But also in saying that I love the idea of being one of those women who have one makeup bag and everything fits inside, and they have maybe one or two shades or blush/lip colour and the rest is just one. It seems so easy and simple and I would really like to be like that but I am definitely not like that at all. I’m slowly learning to be more like that with skincare because that’s how it should be, but makeup…? Even though I don’t wear a lot I just love having it and looking at it. Like I just swiped some highlighter on my hand the other day to look at how shimmery it was, I didn’t apply it to my face, I just had a tiny swipe on my hand and I’d just look at it now and then. I only do that with highlighter though obviously and I love shimmery glittery sparkly things. Mum has always called me a magpie for a reason.
He’s asleep. I miss him. I can’t wait til we live together and when he’s asleep and I’m not and I miss him I can just go snuggle in next to him for a while. But not too close, as he gets too hot. I also don’t want to wake him. The idea of him doing the same with me makes me feel like floating on a cloud. And the time he said he’d still cuddle me to sleep even when he was on a different sleep cycle to me??????? Still obsessed. I wonder if that was a turning point in when my feelings were developing? I know I already fancied the hell out of him, I did from the beginning and I fell so hard and so fast for him. But I wonder if when he said that it was one of those moments that cemented him as the kind of man he is? Or rather the kind of partner he’d be? Because I’ve always wanted someone that cares about what makes me happy and I mean let’s not beat around the bush, I’ve not had a relationship where that’s been a priority to them. So the fact he knows I love being held and cuddled and I would sometimes miss it when he slept differently but if I wanted it he’d come to bed and stay with me til I fell asleep or close enough. And the fact he didn’t see it as anything special, it was just a normal thought to him?! It’s such a minor thing in comparison to everything else he has done for me and everything he has been to me and everything he’s helped me through, but it’s just a little thing that means everything. Anyway.
I watched wish with M tonight, it wasn’t good. I just can’t get on board with the latest movies of theirs lately, they’re just so bleh. The music isn’t right - there’s nothing magical about it and I wonder if it’s because they seem to hire pop music people not composers and things now? And the animation is never 2D anymore, which tbh I understand and that’s purely nostalgia of mine than anything bad but the animation doesn’t feel magical either anymore. Apart from some of the scenes were beautiful. Anyway.
I think I’ll stop now. It’s 9:30 so it’s too late for to start BT so I think I’ll read for a lil bit then go to sleep soon. Night night

Hello,
I said in a previous post that Anna did not like her life as a princess, and I am going to explain my reasoning why. Also, warning, I ended up also talking about how Anna and Kristoff match.
First, is because of the established world that Frozen is set in. Arendelle is meant to be taken very realistically. It makes itself out more like a real life kingdom, rather then a fairytale one. And because of this, the rules of being royal and what is expected of a princess or queen is very well established.
Royalty is meant to act perfect, and to be the leaders, whose main job is to host balls, look good, and sign documents. They are not allowed to show their flaws and they are not meant to mingle with common folk. Anna is none of these. She is clumsy and ungraceful, and does not eat properly, and she just wants to have fun with people. She does not know how to act with other people, especially when it comes to customs. She almost missed Elsa's coronation and did not even know where to stand when she was introduced.
A lot of people love Anna as the clumsy princess, but you need to understand, that in the world of Frozen, Anna is a laughing stock.
Then there is the deleted plotline of the Heir and the Spare, with the song "More then Just the Spare". Now this song and plotline was dropped, but the song has been stated by the creators to be what helped establish Anna's character, and they even perform it on tour, while the plotline might have been canceled, it is still very much shown in the movie just not fully delved into.
When it comes to the plotline the Heir and the Spare, it was all about how Elsa was the perfect heir, and Anna was the useless spare. This was all about how Arendelle viewed the two sisters, and how that view changed as they grew to understand them. Elsa was not the perfect heir as they perceived. She was scared and flawed, who also liked to play and did not want to always be perfect. She was human just like everyone else, and Arendelle realized this and embraced her in the end, excepting her even if she was not their ideal perfect queen. And as for Anna, they viewed her as the screw up princess and just ignored her. But at the end, they realized she was not useless, and was the one who saved them in the end, giving them a new found respect for her.
At the end of Frozen, Arendelle had loosened itself up when it came to their strict view of royalty. Elsa was more allowed to be herself and interact with her people more. however, just because Arendelle is no longer strict, does not mean that royalty is not still held to a high standard, and other kingdoms also have not changed, and Arendelle has obviously been shown to have relationships with many other kingdoms.
The thing is, Anna does not even try to act like a princess.
The shorts and film have never shown her really in a position of authority. The closest is when she runs after Elsa and leaves Hans in charge.
Now, Anna might have the education of royalty, but that does not mean she likes it or is even that good at it.
Anna has never been shown to like the life of a princess. She might like a few of its privileges, but not the costumes and other things.
For instance, Anna likes picnics and not tea parties. And she would rather ride her horse all day instead of talking with nobles. I also don't think she likes balls either. The fancy ones with nobility.
In Frozen 1, when Elsa is coronated, I already pointed out how Anna did not know how to act or even where to stand. The moment she started to hang out with Hans, she pulled him into doing a bunch of activities that had nothing to do with the ball, or even would be acceptable of royalty.
The only thing I can see Anna liking about balls is all the dancing. But like Kristoff, Anna would not like all the customs and fancy talk. She herself does not do any fancy talk. The difference from Kristoff though, is that Anna at least has been trained in the customs.
What Anna likes is actually festivals, because festivals involves the commoners and not the nobility. She wants to go out on the streets and help bake pies, or help catch a pig, and to set up all the ribbons, and then to run around all night trying food and dancing on the streets and having fun with her people and loved ones. Kristoff also has been shown to like festivals as well. At the beginning of Frozen 1 we see him happily celebrating Elsa's coronation with the rest of the citizens, and he enjoyed himself in FF and OFA.
I also will mention that FF and OFA, are both festivals, and not balls. They are parties that involve the people of Arendelle and not anything about the politics.
Anna is just not cut out for the royal life style, and she is so bad at it that she does not even try to act royal most of the time, but at the end of the day, she is still a princess. In "More then Just the Spare", Anna comments that she is the screw up princess and also says this "I am not part of the town, not born to be queen, just somebody hopelessly in between". Anna might be a hopeless princess, but she is still a princess, so she was not able to connect with her citizens either, because she was still royalty to them.
Here is also another sad thing. No one wanted to marry Anna either. Hans says that no one got anywhere with Elsa and that is why he approached Anna instead. This means that despite the isolation Elsa was still receiving marriage proposals, but not Anna. Anna was convinced that her only chance for love was on coronation day.
Someone mentioned that if Anna hated being a princess so much, why did she not leave when her parents died? Because she was only 15 and had been locked up all her life. The castle is all Anna knows, and she has run around doing what ever she wants in it for 13 years. Anna honestly can't think of a life outside of the castle, she just wants company. That is why she asks Hans if they will live in Arendelle, because she is scared to go anywhere else. Anna is shown to have been severely neglected growing up. Not celebrating her birthday, and not even having Christmas at all. Not to mention, as a 15 year old, where would she even go? Frozen never established aunts or uncles for her to live with, and even if she went to live with family they also would expect her to act like a proper lady. And if she gave up her life as a royal and became a commoner, then what? She would be on the streets with no home or job at 15.
This is one of the reasons why she ends up with Kristoff. If she married someone royal or noble, she once more would be expected to act right. To change who she is to fit in with the customs. But because she was royal, no commoner would ever dare approach her. But when it came to Kristoff, he did not care that she was royal. From the first moment they met, Kristoff treated her like any other person. He did not call her 'your highness" or anything like that, and he even made his own stance on things instead of just following her. She was a person to him, and not an untouchably princess.
Another person said that Kristoff got lucky in having Anna fall in love with him. Like the weird child somehow ending up with the pretty girl at school, and how Kristoff would do anything to stay with Anna. But the truth is, Anna is not the pretty girl. Frozen had established that she was in fact, undesirable. No one wanted her. Both Anna and Kristoff had not chance in romance with other people. Kristoff because he was raised by trolls, and Anna because she was a screw up princess.
Here is an interesting fact. I was told that the ending of Frozen 1 has Anna in a commoner dress to signal that she has in fact giving up her position in line to the throne in order to be with Kristoff. This is also why her OFA dress is also a commoner dress. Although, this idea obviously has been dropped, and Disney would want to keep calling her princess either way.
Now, to give more perspective in what I am trying to say, I will give a comparison to another amazing Disney animated film.
Mulan
In Mulan, Mulan grows up in an era that is very strict, especially with woman. Mulan is expected to be graceful and a perfect wife, who does not over step her bounds. But Mulan is none of those things. She is clumsy when it came to making tea and acting proper, and takes puts out her own thoughts instead of just agreeing. And this at the beginning of the film, is considered disgraceful. Mulan is ashamed that she failed to prove herself as a good future wife, and she has in fact brought dishonor to her family. She joins the army to save her father, but also to prove herself in a way. There she realizes that she also does not fit in as a man, and instead has to learn her own strengths in order to be a solder.
At the end, Mulan has new confidence in herself and goes home, and people even respect her for what she has done.
But here is the thing. The world Mulan lives in has not changed. Girls are still going to be raised to be wives, with mean being the ones to risk their lives at war, and Mulan herself will probably still be expected to become a proper wife as well, and she definitely has not suddenly become graceful or learned to stay silent. Mulan's story ends well because she ends up with Shang, who fell in love with her as a fellow solder, and not as a perfect wife, and because of that he would not want her to change into the ideal wife in his country, and he would treat her as an equal, because that was what she was in war.
This is very similar to Anna. Both Anna and Mulan were not fit in their positions in life and did not meet the expectations and standards as well in their countries. In the end, what mattered most to Mulan was her father's safety and brining honor to her family, while all Anna wanted was to unite with Elsa and protect her as well. And then both Anna and Mulan ends up with a guy that better matches their life style, so they are not forced to change to met societies expectations.
Now, does this mean Mulan disliked her life before she went to war?
No, she was just not cut out for it and she knew it. She had to find her own way in life that did not force her to follow societies standards.
The same can be applied to Anna. The castle is her home. She grew up in it and it is where her beloved sister lives. But just because she loves it, does not mean she belongs in it, and Anna knows this. This is why she chose Kristoff, instead of possibly finding another prince. The castle gates are open now. Anna has every opportunity to find anyone to marry now.
Now, what does this mean for Anna's relationship with Elsa?
Anna and Elsa are almost complete opposites. Elsa likes tea parties, Anna likes picnics. Elsa is graceful, Anna is clumsy. Elsa is royal, Anna is common.
The two of them love each other and learned to compromise. Elsa learned to loosen up and to have fun with Anna. While Anna does her best to support Elsa as queen.
Now, I have not read the comics and books that came after Frozen 1, so I do not know the full details of how Anna helps Elsa. I have read two comics though, which is "Restless Week", and the one where Elsa learns to dance. In both, Anna helps Elsa more from the shadows. She researches about a kingdom to help Elsa write a speech that she will say in front of diplomates, and she helps teach Elsa how to dance, so she can dance with visiting princes. These kinds of act of helping does not require Anna to be a princess at all.
Anna only ever wants to help, but she cannot help as a princess because she is awful at it. But right now, all Anna is able to do is help Elsa from behind. I think Anna would want an official position that she takes care of to help Elsa, instead of just being on stand by for when ever Elsa calls her for help. But what that job is and how it can help Elsa as queen, while still staying true to Anna's character, I do not know what it could be.
Now, when it comes to what I said in the Frozen 2 rewrite. With the idea of Anna being tempted to leave palace life when she finds out that Kristoff hates it.
The key word is "Tempted". Anna might not be fit as a princess, but at the end of the day, she still is one, and she would never abandon her people, and especially Elsa. Anna just needs to figure out what she can do. But like I said, I don't know what that is. But all Anna wants to do in life is help.
The ending idea of Anna being queen while rebuilding Arendelle, was not to say Anna is fit for royal life or would make a great queen. The ending idea is actually the hardest part of Anna's life. She lost her home and her sister, and now she has to act like a queen. But she forces herself to do it, because it is the right thing to do. She is not happy, and the only reason she keeps going is with the hope that Elsa will return. The same can be applied to Kristoff. Helping and staying with Anna even if he hates royal life, so that he can help her through this difficult time.
I did see one panel of a comic where Anna had apparently acted as queen in Elsa's place as Elsa was somewhere else. She comments that she managed to do it, but it is not her and she would never want to be queen.
And the ending of my rewrite also would help Anna find her place. Because Arendelle is destroyed, the kingdom has to be completely rebuilt, both in housing and in customs. They don't have the money to act like royalty right now. And of course, the integration of Northuldra, who are a wild people who are definitely not interested in proper manners and balls. So Arendelle has changed in some ways.
Anna and Elsa would represent both cultures. Elsa's queenliness representing Arendelle, and her magic being from Northuldra. While Anna is more like a Northuldra, but because she was queen for a while, gained respect from Arendelle.
Anna would work with the Northuldra and helping them with their life in Arendelle, with Kristoff helping her. And Elsa handles Arendelle. The two sisters work together and create a happy kingdom with all kinds of people and customs.
Although, I don't actually like this ending. I know I wrote it, but the truth is Frozen 2 was so bad that I don't really like anything inspired or similar to it.
So that is why I don't think Anna likes her life as a princess. She is simply not cut out for it and she knows it. In fact, in the deleted scene of Frozen 2, where Kristoff admits he dislikes his life in Arendelle, and started listing off all his dislikes, more then half of them I could see Anna disliking as well. Fancy dinner parties for one thing. Anna would definitely not use the right fork, or eat ungracefully, and she would absolutely be to chatty and just trying to have fun. Once again, not acting like a princess. Actually lets go ahead and go through the list.

1. Fancy shoes and regel jackets. Anna does like pretty dresses as long as her movement is not restricted, and she prefers flat shoes instead of high heals. But at the end of the day, she prefers to wear commoner clothing.
   
2. Don't like ceremonies or polite conversations. I don't think Anna dislikes ceremonies, although I can see her getting bored if it goes on to long. As for polite conversations, that is when you take the time to both listen and talk in a conversation, so no one is dominating the conversation and being the only one talking. Frozen already showed Kristoff doing this, so I feel like this is a retcon of his character.
   
3. Formal dinners. I already answered this one. Anna is definitely going to make a mistake.
   
4. Ballroom dancing. She absolutely loves to dance! I do wonder if Kristoff likes other dances though? Like village dancing and he just hates the uptight ballroom dancing.
   
5. Manners for the sake of manners. I don't really understand this one. Anna obviously has manners, but when it comes to her manners as a princess, she is lacking.
   
6. Big crowds. I don't think Anna has a problem like this. Although I would argue she likes to just be with her loved ones much more.
   
7. Rules of Order. Once again I am conflicted as I don't really understand what this is. Kristoff is a business man so he should already be using this, sort of. I think it is just at a to high level in the castle, and I would see Anna also struggling. Maybe, like I said, I don't exactly know what this is, and a quick search did not really help. The biggest problem is that we have never seen Anna in a political debate, so it is all just guessing.
   

Well, that is it.

while Africa's west coast flourished with life, many areas on our green globe have gotten drier. An example of that is the Amazon forest. Once the biggest Jungle in the world, in the final ice age, it turned into a large savanna. It often experiences fires, which destroy the landscape, and shape a new one It's a great spot for life to change, and adapt to
Babuchin
Ancestor: Tufted Capuchin
Length: 1 meter, Height: 60 cm
Babuchins fight for survival in the savannas. they descend from Capuchin Monkeys, more specifically Tufted Capuchin Monkeys. They are Easy Prey to Carnivores such as Terror Raptor, and Sabertooth Jaguar. They are omnivores, feeding on grasses, and fish alike. Once they find a tree, they eat its leaves
Caravulture
Ancestor: Mountain Caracara
Wing Span: 2 meters
Caravultures are large flying scavengers. their ancestor is The Mountain Caracara. Their Feathering is Similar, however with 1 major difference: Their head is bald. This adapts them more to eating carcasses. they are large enough, so Terror Raptors live them alone. However, a large enough Sabertooth Jaguar can catch, and eat it
Terror Raptor
Ancestor: Red-Legged Seriena
Height: 1,8 Meters Lenght: 2 Meters
With the savanna, there comes a vast amount of predators. One of the Largest is the Terror Raptor. Its Ancestor, The Red-Legged Seriena is one of the last links to Terror Birds, being in the same order. Terror Raptors of the Plains don't focus on the beak that much. It's still large, but it mainly serves to swallow prey. Their main weapon is their legs. Powerful and Clawed, these are more often, than not, used to kick prey to death
Grassland Armorback
Ancestor: Armadillo
Length: 70 meters
These medium-sized armored animals aren't reptiles. these are Armadilloes. Their Scutes are usually enough to survive the kicking and biting of predators. however, it can't survive fires, that destroy the landscape, and shape a new one. It feeds on insects, grasses, and sometimes eggs
Sabertooth Jaguar
Ancestor: Jaguar
Length: 2,5 Meters, Height: 1 Meter
The largest Predator of these plains looks like a Machairodont of the past. However, it's not closely related, instead being descended from Jaguars. They have powerful Saber Teeth, that can reek terror on the fauna of the plains. It hunts a multitude of animals
Capypothamus
Ancestor: Capybara
The Rivers aren't only filled with small fish, that babuchins eat. they are also filled with giant hippo-like rodents. they still have very large teeth, but they are mostly used to defend themselves. they are herbivores, eating both water and land plants. They live in large groups. A lone Capyphothamus can get attacked by a Sabertooth Jaguar
Tapygiant
Ancestor: Tapir
Length: 4 meters, Height, 2 Meters
Large Savannas create large animals. Tapygiant is a descendant of Taprs, that live here. It has grown to Megafaunal Size. It feeds mainly on grass, but it also can feed on leaves. Sabertooth Jaguars mainly eat the young, while Adults have no natural predator

Once upon a time in the dense jungle, there was a sloth named Oliver. He was known for his slow movements and lazy demeanor, which often led others to underestimate him. However, what they didn't realize was that Oliver possessed unmatched wisdom and perseverance. While everyone thought he was just hanging around doing nothing, Oliver was actually observing, learning, and strategizing.
When a pack of cunning jaguars threatened to take over the jungle, Oliver sprang into action. Using his intelligence and patience, he outwitted the jaguars at every turn. With his calm and steady approach, he united the other animals in the jungle to stand against their common enemy.
In the end, it was Oliver's unexpected strength and determination that led to the defeat of the jaguars. From that day on, the animals in the jungle learned never to judge someone based on appearances alone, for even the slowest among them could possess the heart of a hero. And Oliver the sloth became a legend, forever known as the underdog who conquered all.

Disclaimer: This is list #2, I shared the original in the group with more detailed feedback. The most bias you will receive here is the ratings based off satire and personal taste.
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I am a multi-purpose raver, and can dance to everything, even to the picks I rated at #10. Typically I enjoy House for pregaming, Techno for rebooting, and Trance for afters or sleeping so some of my own ratings surprised me =))
My favorite genres for main stages have been melodic jungle bass, heavy space dubstep, high BPM indie, all alternative music, rock, poetic rap, outlaw reggae, spoken word, and dreamy ethereal or deadly riddim freestyling.
Some of my favorites are The Happy Fits, Parra For Cuva, Kid Francescoli, Ayla Nereo, Grandfather Gold, The Polish Ambassador, Marauda, Toadface, Elohim, LSDream, Griz, Jauz, White Sun, Dope Lemon, X Ambassadors, Highly Suspect, Black Eyed Peas, The Stoplight Observations, The Animals, Freddie Mercury, Linkin Park, Fort Minor, Wild Child~ to name a few.
{Note} Don’t take these ratings to heart. This is a guidebook scale made for me, myself, and I and I am sharing my taste (oR lAcK tHeReOf) with you.
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Scale:
1=Non-negotiable Need-to-See
2=A DJ I'll try to see, fingers crossed!
3=Would love to see, high vibrational, will travel to seek them out at the festival!
4=Safe space sets to decompress, reboot, recharge, and rejuvenate at if nearby. All vibey!! <3 Great for sunrise or pregaming too. I really want to see them all
5=Negotiable misses, Sunrise or Pregaming sets, more of a coochie couch reboot vibe, hang out and relax, vibe and socialize.
6=Mid
7= Probably won't take the time to see them, found myself losing attention while listening.
8=Executions fell flat/Remix junkies/Sounds we've heard/New sounds that are unrefined, choppy.
9=Why didn't Toadface get booked instead?
10= MISS-worthy, Save yourself an experience! Copycats, wedding djs. Degrading messages.
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Biased 1-10 ratings:
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1.1) Equanimous [Mystic Mediative/Melodic/Indie/Electronica/Beatbox/Feminine song/Masculine rap]
1.1) Dirtwire [Electro-twang/Jamtronica/Bluegrass Dubstep]
1.2) Knock 2 [Bass House]
1.2) Ben Bohmer [Ajunadeep]
1.3) Cannons [Indie]
1.3) The Disco Biscuits [Jam/Rock/Alternative/Timeless Future/Gamer]
1.3) Boogie T [Brostep Rap]
1.3) Maddy O’Neil [Glitch Hiphop/Future Funk Bass Wave/Dance/Nostalgia]
1.4) Marsh [Ajunabeats]
1.4) Juelz [Future Trap/Wave]
1.4) Shae District [Melodic Ajuna Tech]
1.5) Sultan & Shepard [Melodic Ajuna House]
1.5) LSZee [Space Travel Jungle Bass/Future Dubstep]
1.6) Dixon’s Violin [World]
1.6) Umphrey’s Mcgee [Progressive/Experimental Jam Rock]
1.7) DJ Susan [Tech House/Bass House/Dance]
1.7) Sevon Lions [Tech Dubstep/Electro Trance Tech/New-Age Nostalgia/Laser noises]
1.7) Major League DJZ [Hiphop House]
1.8) Rayben [Bass House/Trap/Tech]
1.9) Subtronics [Brostep/Laser Sounds]
1.9) Venbee [Liquid D&B/Alternative]
1.9) Only Fire [Explicit Club/Tech House]
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2.1) Inzo [Future Bass, Bass House, Magic, Multi-genre
2.1) Rawayana [Reggae/Funk/Soul/Rock/Trippy Caribbean]
2.1) Peach Tree Rascals [Alternative Indie Rap]
2.2) Coco and Breezy [Funk House/Dance Tech]
2.2) Paperwater [Twangy Electronic Hiphop R&B]
2.3) Pretty Lights [Jamtronica/Glitch-Hop/Future Funk]
2.3) Super Future [Experimental Bass]
2.3) Kenny Beats [Freestyle/Hiphop/Rap/R&B]
2.4) String Cheese Incident [Rock]
2.4) 1.2) Lettuce [R&B Soul/Jam/Jazz Funk]
2.9) 9) Level Up [Heavy Emo Future Bass/Dance]
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3.1) Polyrhythmics [Progressive Afrobeat/Deep Funk]
3.2) Little Stranger [Alternative Reggae Hip-hop]
3.3) Drama [Hip hop/Disco Indie]
3.4) Thought Process [Midtempo bass]
3.5) Libianca [R&B/Afrobeat]
3.6) Wooli [Brostep/Riddim]
3.7) Excision [Brostep/Laser Noises]
3.8) Green Violet [Tech House]
3.9) Ludacris [R&B Rap/Hiphop]
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4.1) DJ Tennis [Experimental Space Indie House/Dance]
4.1) Choas in the CBD [Jazz Techno/House]
4.2) Mau P [Tech House]
4.2) 2.3) Cassian [Progressive Melodic House]
4.3) Kiltro [Experimental/Chilean American Alternative/Indie/Ambient/Folk-Loop]
4.3) Redrum [Midtempo Future Bass]
4.4) Noema [Tribal Urban Electro Pop/Soul Rock]
4.4) 2.3) Swaylo [Ancient Tribal Future Techno]
4.5) Westend [Melodic Tech House]
4.5) Charlotte De Witte [Deep Progressive Melodic Techno]
4.5) Zen Selekta [Progressive Deep Experimental Bass]
4.6) 9) Layton Giordani [New School Creepy Techno]
4.7) 5.9) H&RRY [Experimental Deep House]
4.8) Slayyyter [Hyper Pop Vocalist]
4.9) Calussa [Afro House/Trance]
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5.1) Ayybo [Tech Bass House]
5.1) 3) Matroda [Bass/Techno/House]
5.2) Sammy Virgi [UK Garage]
5.3) John Summit [Versatile Experimental World Dance/House]
5.3) Oden + Fatzo [Tech Deep House]
5.3) Sara Landry [Techno]
5.3) Mojave Grey [Melodic House]
5.4) Unusual Demont [Alternative R&B/Experimental Pop]
5.4) Baggi [Disco Retro Funk Tech House]
5.5) Le Youth [Melodic Loop House]
5.5) VNSSA b2b Nala [Tech House]
5.6) Eggy [Funk/Jam]
5.7) Dupstaphunk [Jazz/Rock/Jam]
5.7) Will Clarke [Tech House]
5.8) 1.5) Odd Mob + Omnon [Bass House]
5.8) 7) Canabliss [Experimental Bass]
5.8) Jenna Shaw [Underground Laser sounds]
5.9) Neil Frances [Indie]
5.9) Ranger Trucco [Boots and Cats Tech House]
5.9) Proxima Parada [Blues/Rock]
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6.1) jjuujuu [Psychedelic Rock]
6.2) Nelly Furtado [Hip Hop Pop]
6.3) 2) Vini Vici [Psytrance]
6.4) Acraze [Tech Bass House]
6.5) BTSM [Hardcore/Marauda Metal]
6.6) Michael Brun [Haitian House Dance]
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7.1) LYNY [Glitch Bass]
7.2) Mascolo [Pop]
7.2) 1) Whyte Fang [Multigenre Bass]
7.3) Dimension [Drum & Bass]
7.4) Cuco [French Indie]
7.5) Allycvt [Melodic Dubstep]
7.6) 3) Atliens [Experimental Bass/Riddim]
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8.1) 3) Luci [Chaotic High BPM/Break/Dubstep/Riddim]
8.2) Hamdi [Dubstep/Breaks/Garage]
8.3) It’s Murph [House/Techno/Dance]
8.4) Everything Always Dom Dolla & John Summit [Tech House]
8.5) M4ESONIC [Melodic House]
8.6) 6) Caspa [Riddim]
8.7) LP Giobbi [Melodic House Dance]
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10.1) Brandi Cyrus [Top 40 remixe House]
10.2) Hiatus and Kaiyote [R&B Jazz]
10.3) Ivy Lab [Drum and Bass, UKG]
10.4) Emo Nite [Emo Alternative]
10.5) Chase and Status [Drum & Bass]
10.6) Barclay Crenshaw [Dubstep]
10.7) TSHA [Deep House]
10.8) Tripp St [Midtempo Experimental Bass]
10.9) Gigantic NGHTMRE [COPYwRiTeR]
10.9) 8) GJones [Experimental Acid House]
11) Levity [Remix Junkie/Bass Copycat]
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Happy Forest, be kind out there!
~Duck Queen

Greetings, my authors and world crafters! Today, I come seeking your critiques and criticisms concerning a people group I have crafted for my story. Specifically, I am looking to see whether or not the cultural practices I have drawn and implemented from real people groups and religions as inspiration for their society comes across as respectful, and not as tokenism or appropriation.
I would also like to hear your thoughts and opinions regarding what I have developed so far, have any problems pointed out, and hear any questions you might have in the event I have left something glaringly obvious out or poorly explained.
For some context and as a reference point, this group, the Itsula’ganali (Drivers of the Ashen Herd), borrows heavily from the histories and lifestyles of Southern American Plains tribes such as the Comanche, Sioux, and Tonkawa. Particularly, that they are a nomadic tribe who follow the massive herds of a particular staple animal that provides them meat and resources to build their homes and tools. In this case, rather than bison, the Itsula’ganali hunt and drive a massive herd of mystical deer from whom they not only gather the means to thrive and survive but also receive protection from the titanic arcanely radioactive monsters that march across my world. Because when these monsters are nearby, and their radioactive ash begins to fall, the horns of the deer begin to vibrate and generate a field around them that moves them and the area around them out of phase with reality. Multiply that by a million times, and hundreds of miles will be kept safe from these titans.
So, the Itsula’ganali hold these deer in the highest regard as both the main source of their food, as well as the means for their people’s literal survival. As such, they not only protect the herd from predators, but cull weak and sickened members to keep predators from being tempted and prevent disease from spreading. But they do not maintain the herd alone. Riding with them are trained dogs that drive and isolate groups of the herd, falcons who go after the eyes of marked targets, and hawks who watch and signal for predators and straggling members. As well, they watch murders of wild ravens, crows, and vultures to see where deer have fallen, giving them an idea of what deer may be sick or where the predators in the area may be.
For religion, the Itsula’ganali practice a form of animism where they believe in a singular creator of the universe that imbued them and all things with a spirit, though humans are said to have 3 spirits or souls. The first is in the head and represents one’s mind/psyche, the second is in the liver and represents the life of the body, and the third is in the bones and represents the world/earth from which the body was sustained by and will return to. When a member of the Itsula’ganali dies, it is believed that the first soul, that of the mind, moves one to the silver plains where they can hunt and play for eternity. They are also able to stay behind, able to watch over their kin as a guardian and guide as either an animal or by inhabiting a tool or weapon. The second soul, that of the physical body, is returned to earth to serve as sustenance and nutrients for new growth and life. Lastly, the third soul, that of the bones, is likewise returned to the ground, but is used to enrich the and renew the spirit of the land itself.
To celebrate and honor both the spirits of the dead and those they hunt and hunt with, nights are treated with a sort of celebratory and religious revelry. Large feasts are held, with everyone partaking of the day’s hunt. Elderly, pregnant women, sick, wounded, and children are fed first, followed by the shaman and warrior caste. As they are eating, great dances and performances are held that are equal parts theater and mass. Great hunts are recreated with costumes made and adorned with ornaments and effects of both beast and hunter alike. Thanks are given to the hunters, the beasts who aid them in taking down their quarry, and the deer from whom they are given a chance at another eve to celebrate.
Shaman’s serve as spiritual leaders, healers, and teachers. Espousing a philosophy of balance in both body, mind, and the world around them. Teaching of attaining a mental and physical equilibrium, as well as preaching a harmony between the spirits of the tribe and those of nature. As despite having three, that spirit or soul is derived from the same source.
As such they search for signs in the birth, life, and death of all things. Smoking and imbibing plants and liquids derived from the realm of the sign. For example, a shaman might see a hawk fall from the sky. Taking this as a sign, he or she might look for a hawk’s nest, pluck materials from the tree and nest, distill it into a liquid they imbibe or set it alight so they might inhale the vapors. From there, their minds enter into the collective spiritual consciousness/flow of the region, and are able to see any abnormalities.
Aside from spiritual leadership and healing, Shamans bless their people with magic in the forms of poultices, special medicines that cure sickness, injury, and grant blessings to those who partake of them. Each poultice is derived from the physical and spiritual essence of the beasts who live alongside the Itsula’ganali:
Raven Poultice: increases intelligence and one’s ability to think more abstractly; allows for thoughts and feelings to be expressed perfectly to others
Dog Poultice: strengthens the sense of those who partake; allows one’s thoughts to better compartmentalize in order to work through problems and strengthen bonds.
Deer Poultice imbues the body with the strength and swiftness of the deer and helps to harmonize a party's thoughts and actions so that they move and act more in sync.
Hawk Poultice: Increases one's perception, giving a sense of looking beyond one’s body; allows one to slow one's thoughts down to better see and pick out details around them
Falcon Poultice: Improves aim and makes one fleeter of foot; allows for greater focus and concentration when completing tasks.
Despite their reliance on the deer, and the majority of the Itsula’ganali migrating with the herd, there do exist a spattering of permanent settlements within the plains region they drive the herd through. River posts partake of fishing and carry messages up and down the tributaries and streams crisscrossing the region using kayaks and rafts built from the bones and leather of the deer. Hill and plateau settlements serve as lookout points to gauge the direction and flow of the herd, as well as scope out any threats to the herd or tribe. Northern settlements bordering the Mist Wood construct forts and longhouses to tend to the sick and injured. Giving them and their families time to rest and recover in the event of sickness or injury on the hunt. As well, these camps serve as protection during times of aggression from other people groups and the mutated fauna that stalk the lands. Southern Settlements are the only Itsula’ganali who engage in trade with non-tribesmen. Having good relations with the peoples of the Southwest, they inhabit stone crafted fortresses and hollowed-out mesas and buttes and primarily serve as middlemen between the various settlements of the Itsula’ganali. Exchanging the water, meat, hides, bone, fish, and produce they procure along their travels for produce, metals, and weapons to both hunt more efficiently, and defend their territories from invaders from the East.
However, despite each settlement catering to a specific need of the drivers, each one offers medical care for hunters injured in the field and spiritual care for all members of the tribe. In the event of an injury, the wounded hunter and their family will be escorted to the nearest outpost, where they will swap out with a family within the settlement. They will do a symbolic exchange of goods and a ritual before the injured family takes over the home of the family who will join in driving the herd.
Gender does not have any encoded roles in Itsula’ganli culture, though there is a more male lean towards hunters and soldiers as well as a female lean towards crafting. But, should an individual display any merit or skill in any field necessary and useful for the survival of the clan, they will be welcomed to any such position. Members of the tribe are expected to be proficient in at least three different skills, one for out in the field during drives, and two for settlement life in the event of injury or if their drive tour is up. Paired tribesmen, Male/Female, Male/Male, and Female/Female, are both expected to have domestic skills for maintaining the home in the event that one or the other is called to drive. While one is hunting, the other is helping to maintain their living space, repairing equipment/clothes, prepping rations and supplies for the hunt, cleaning and preparing for the nightly feast, or taking care of any children they may have or be responsible for.
Children of the Itsula’ganli are always with their families, whether on the hunt or in the settlements. During the day, the children are either helping with the domestic duties of their families or are training with various tribal leaders to both develop skills useful for the hunt or in the camp/settlements. Skills such as tracking, hunting, and crafting are often taught through games and competitions between students, all save for prospective shamans. Apprentice healers and spiritual heads are chosen after careful observations and considerations of the children at work and at play. Typically those children more in tune with nature and with particularly strong oratory skills are selected, though certain omens at birth or in life might draw the attention of a shaman.
Games and past-times children play include hide and seek, archery competitions using stationary and thrown targets, deer breaking and riding, tracking targets hidden by their teachers/other kids, stick in the brush (shooting an arrow into the fields/forests and racing to see who can find it first). Adults are known to partake in archery competitions, deer breaking and riding, and tracking as well, however, during the nightly revelries, there will be song, poetry and dance competitions.
Thanks again for taking the time to read, critique, and comment. I am looking forward to any thoughts, questions, and criticisms you would like to share, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend.

Greetings, my fellow fantasy fans and authors! Today, I come seeking your critiques and criticisms concerning a people group I have crafted for my story. Specifically, I am looking to see whether or not the cultural practices I have drawn and implemented from real people groups and religions as inspiration for their society comes across as respectful, and not as tokenism or appropriation.
I would also like to hear your thoughts and opinions regarding what I have developed so far, have any problems pointed out, and hear any questions you might have in the event I have left something glaringly obvious out or poorly explained.
For some context and as a reference point, this group, the Itsula’ganali (Drivers of the Ashen Herd), borrows heavily from the histories and lifestyles of Southern American Plains tribes such as the Comanche, Sioux, and Tonkawa. Particularly, that they are a nomadic tribe who follow the massive herds of a particular staple animal that provides them meat and resources to build their homes and tools. In this case, rather than bison, the Itsula’ganali hunt and drive a massive herd of mystical deer from whom they not only gather the means to thrive and survive but also receive protection from the titanic arcanely radioactive monsters that march across my world. Because when these monsters are nearby, and their radioactive ash begins to fall, the horns of the deer begin to vibrate and generate a field around them that moves them and the area around them out of phase with reality. Multiply that by a million times, and hundreds of miles will be kept safe from these titans.
So, the Itsula’ganali hold these deer in the highest regard as both the main source of their food, as well as the means for their people’s literal survival. As such, they not only protect the herd from predators, but cull weak and sickened members to keep predators from being tempted and prevent disease from spreading. But they do not maintain the herd alone. Riding with them are trained dogs that drive and isolate groups of the herd, falcons who go after the eyes of marked targets, and hawks who watch and signal for predators and straggling members. As well, they watch murders of wild ravens, crows, and vultures to see where deer have fallen, giving them an idea of what deer may be sick or where the predators in the area may be.
For religion, the Itsula’ganali practice a form of animism where they believe in a singular creator of the universe that imbued them and all things with a spirit, though humans are said to have 3 spirits or souls. The first is in the head and represents one’s mind/psyche, the second is in the liver and represents the life of the body, and the third is in the bones and represents the world/earth from which the body was sustained by and will return to. When a member of the Itsula’ganali dies, it is believed that the first soul, that of the mind, moves one to the silver plains where they can hunt and play for eternity. They are also able to stay behind, able to watch over their kin as a guardian and guide as either an animal or by inhabiting a tool or weapon. The second soul, that of the physical body, is returned to earth to serve as sustenance and nutrients for new growth and life. Lastly, the third soul, that of the bones, is likewise returned to the ground, but is used to enrich the and renew the spirit of the land itself.
To celebrate and honor both the spirits of the dead and those they hunt and hunt with, nights are treated with a sort of celebratory and religious revelry. Large feasts are held, with everyone partaking of the day’s hunt. Elderly, pregnant women, sick, wounded, and children are fed first, followed by the shaman and warrior caste. As they are eating, great dances and performances are held that are equal parts theater and mass. Great hunts are recreated with costumes made and adorned with ornaments and effects of both beast and hunter alike. Thanks are given to the hunters, the beasts who aid them in taking down their quarry, and the deer from whom they are given a chance at another eve to celebrate.
Shaman’s serve as spiritual leaders, healers, and teachers. Espousing a philosophy of balance in both body, mind, and the world around them. Teaching of attaining a mental and physical equilibrium, as well as preaching a harmony between the spirits of the tribe and those of nature. As despite having three, that spirit or soul is derived from the same source.
As such they search for signs in the birth, life, and death of all things. Smoking and imbibing plants and liquids derived from the realm of the sign. For example, a shaman might see a hawk fall from the sky. Taking this as a sign, he or she might look for a hawk’s nest, pluck materials from the tree and nest, distill it into a liquid they imbibe or set it alight so they might inhale the vapors. From there, their minds enter into the collective spiritual consciousness/flow of the region, and are able to see any abnormalities.
Aside from spiritual leadership and healing, Shamans bless their people with magic in the forms of poultices, special medicines that cure sickness, injury, and grant blessings to those who partake of them. Each poultice is derived from the physical and spiritual essence of the beasts who live alongside the Itsula’ganali:
Raven Poultice: increases intelligence and one’s ability to think more abstractly; allows for thoughts and feelings to be expressed perfectly to others
Dog Poultice: strengthens the sense of those who partake; allows one’s thoughts to better compartmentalize in order to work through problems and strengthen bonds.
Deer Poultice imbues the body with the strength and swiftness of the deer and helps to harmonize a party's thoughts and actions so that they move and act more in sync.
Hawk Poultice: Increases one's perception, giving a sense of looking beyond one’s body; allows one to slow one's thoughts down to better see and pick out details around them
Falcon Poultice: Improves aim and makes one fleeter of foot; allows for greater focus and concentration when completing tasks.
Despite their reliance on the deer, and the majority of the Itsula’ganali migrating with the herd, there do exist a spattering of permanent settlements within the plains region they drive the herd through. River posts partake of fishing and carry messages up and down the tributaries and streams crisscrossing the region using kayaks and rafts built from the bones and leather of the deer. Hill and plateau settlements serve as lookout points to gauge the direction and flow of the herd, as well as scope out any threats to the herd or tribe. Northern settlements bordering the Mist Wood construct forts and longhouses to tend to the sick and injured. Giving them and their families time to rest and recover in the event of sickness or injury on the hunt. As well, these camps serve as protection during times of aggression from other people groups and the mutated fauna that stalk the lands. Southern Settlements are the only Itsula’ganali who engage in trade with non-tribesmen. Having good relations with the peoples of the Southwest, they inhabit stone crafted fortresses and hollowed-out mesas and buttes and primarily serve as middlemen between the various settlements of the Itsula’ganali. Exchanging the water, meat, hides, bone, fish, and produce they procure along their travels for produce, metals, and weapons to both hunt more efficiently, and defend their territories from invaders from the East.
However, despite each settlement catering to a specific need of the drivers, each one offers medical care for hunters injured in the field and spiritual care for all members of the tribe. In the event of an injury, the wounded hunter and their family will be escorted to the nearest outpost, where they will swap out with a family within the settlement. They will do a symbolic exchange of goods and a ritual before the injured family takes over the home of the family who will join in driving the herd.
Gender does not have any encoded roles in Itsula’ganli culture, though there is a more male lean towards hunters and soldiers as well as a female lean towards crafting. But, should an individual display any merit or skill in any field necessary and useful for the survival of the clan, they will be welcomed to any such position. Members of the tribe are expected to be proficient in at least three different skills, one for out in the field during drives, and two for settlement life in the event of injury or if their drive tour is up. Paired tribesmen, Male/Female, Male/Male, and Female/Female, are both expected to have domestic skills for maintaining the home in the event that one or the other is called to drive. While one is hunting, the other is helping to maintain their living space, repairing equipment/clothes, prepping rations and supplies for the hunt, cleaning and preparing for the nightly feast, or taking care of any children they may have or be responsible for.
Children of the Itsula’ganli are always with their families, whether on the hunt or in the settlements. During the day, the children are either helping with the domestic duties of their families or are training with various tribal leaders to both develop skills useful for the hunt or in the camp/settlements. Skills such as tracking, hunting, and crafting are often taught through games and competitions between students, all save for prospective shamans. Apprentice healers and spiritual heads are chosen after careful observations and considerations of the children at work and at play. Typically those children more in tune with nature and with particularly strong oratory skills are selected, though certain omens at birth or in life might draw the attention of a shaman.
Games and past-times children play include hide and seek, archery competitions using stationary and thrown targets, deer breaking and riding, tracking targets hidden by their teachers/other kids, stick in the brush (shooting an arrow into the fields/forests and racing to see who can find it first). Adults are known to partake in archery competitions, deer breaking and riding, and tracking as well, however, during the nightly revelries, there will be song, poetry and dance competitions.
Thanks again for taking the time to read, critique, and comment. I am looking forward to any thoughts, questions, and criticisms you would like to share, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend.

So for a while or so I've been playing older Sonic games just to see if they still held up. So far a majority of the games I played were at the very least good with some of the best ones being Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic rush. But something that might be my biggest Sonic hot take ever is that Heroes is one of the worst games in the entire Sonic series(unpopular opinion I know but let me explain myself). And just a heads up this is gonna be a long one because I got a lot to say about this game.
Because this game has a lot of aspects that I don’t like, I'm going to first touch on some aspects I actually like about the game. Even though not every character was written the best I will say some stand out characters I enjoyed are Cream and Omega, especially Omega but I wanna touch on Cream first. Ever since reading the IDW comics I've always had a soft spot for Cream just from how innocent and adorable she was and that sentiment continued with how she was paired with Blaze in Sonic Rush. I was admittedly nervous about how she would be portrayed in Heroes for reasons I'll get into later but she was handled alright. Nothing too groundbreaking but she kept her cute nature and even had some small moments of sass which was nice. The real star of the show was E-123 Omega. He really only has one thing on his mind with destroying Eggman and doesn’t really go through any sort of character arc, but that’s fine with me because the dude’s funny as hell with how aggressive and angry he is. He doesn’t have much of a face or eyes that are able to emote but you can still tell exactly what he’s thinking. I can’t explain why but every piece of dialogue that comes out of his…mouth?....speakers?...is hysterical. From “ANNIHILATE” to “USELESS CONSUMER MODELS” even down to when he says “GOOD” every time you pop an item box or balloon every quote is comedy gold with how monotone his voice is. The chemistry each team has with each other is nice to watch since from their dialogue you can tell that these trios have known each other for a while, are good friends with one another, or in Team Dark’s case just work friends(but their banter is still entertaining with how Omega keeps telling them to stay focused). And the music is good but as a Sonic fan that’s par for the course at this point. What I’m Made Of is a stand out banger for me.
But unfortunately that’s where all the positives end as we move into the negatives with one of the biggest being the physics of the game being poorly optimized. Throughout my playthrough I have run into so many bugs or victims of poor game design that I’ve lost count. But over half of my deaths have been due to the fact that there are no invisible walls to act as safety nets for players incase they misclick or even do something as simple as do a homing attack or perform a 3 hit combo with a power character, the latter happening way too often because power characters are the most reliable way to deal with enemies. Enemies bumping you are also a common way to die but not because of running out or rings, but because of the lack of walls keeping you on the platforms. Speaking of the homing attack, with how the movement physics work with speed characters I never use them because they end up being too slippery to control with instances where it feels like I'm fighting for control just so I can move forward in a straight line or hit a boost pad on a loop. The Light Speed Dash works whenever it feels like it and there’s no way to aim the homing attack so you pretty much have to press A twice and pray that rn-Jesus does you nice, otherwise you’re falling down a pit like you’re Scrooge McDuck diving into a vault of gold coins. And remember how I said enemies bumping you off cliffs was a common way to die? Well they can also just combo you for free because this game has no invincibility frames meaning you can get hit once and then instantly die if you or one of your teammates doesn’t pick up a ring right after being hit. This is especially apparent in horde fights like Robot Storm where you can get easily swarmed. And a staple mechanic from Sonic Adventure 2 that was butchered in this followup was the rail grinding. It was super fun to build up speed by balancing and crouching but now you just mash B with any real sense of speed being from a speed character. And heaven forbid you decided to grind rail with a flight character unless you like sliding at the speed of a snail, but you might wanna do that anyway to be save because if you switch rails the game doesn’t magnetize your character to it risking you to just shoot yourself off the map just for swapping rails or getting off of a rail.
Another awful aspect with the game is the team mechanic itself. It’s an interesting idea on paper to be able to swap between 3 characters to perform different actions based on what the level throws at you. But the problem with that is not every formation is balanced. The flying formation is awful in every way. The totem formation itself looks weird and looks especially janky with how it looks when going off a set of springs or going through a dash panel loop. How it controls itself makes absolutely no sense either; you jump and jump again to fly which drains a meter, which makes sense since Tails worked in a similar way back in Sonic 2 and still works like that in every other 2D classic style game. But I didn’t learn until the last story that the gauge only drains if you move forwards and won’t drain if you don’t move forward which not only makes no sense but doesn’t work like that in Sonic 2 at all. And whenever the meter runs out you might think that you would just glide down to the floor right? No. Instead the game halts all of your momentum and has you fall straight down like a boulder making flying based platforming impossible which was not the case in Sonic 2. And for some reason there’s a limit for how high you can go even though there’s already a limit you can fly for. Wanna know what game allows you to fly as long as you want until you run out of stamina? SONIC FUCKING 2 ON THE SEGA GENESIS/MEGA DRIVE. Sonic Heroes not only came out 10 years after Sonic 2 but was released on more powerful consoles so I'm baffled that they didn’t even try to make any of this shit work in any similar fashion. And this gets even worse for Sonic Heroes because you know how I just described how they would have improved the flying mechanics in Sonic Heroes? Well it WORKS EXACTLY HOW I JUST EXPLAINED IN SONIC ADVENTURE FOR THE THE DREAMCAST 1999. What the hell were they thinking with this!? This makes absolutely no fucking sense. And the Thunder Shoot attack? It doesn’t do much except paralyze enemies and hit targets meant to help you move forward in levels. Except it only does one of these things correctly since the game doesn’t auto target the targets meaning 90% of the time you’ll be constantly throwing your teammates into the ether while missing entirely as you try again and again to change your angle to hit the target just so you can move on with the average 10 minute level. And the switches you’re meant to pull are janky in their own right but the switches you have to fly for are the worst since no matter how close you get to that switch the game won’t register what you’re trying to do which is annoying as balls. And as the finishing touch all flying character have no differences in gameplay despite slight animations and apparently they have this unique attack they can do if they don’t have party members to throw with Thunder Shoot by pressing B again...but the game doesn’t tell you that and even knew that you’ll never see it in practice because if you toss a teammate with Thunder Shoot they’ll come back almost instantly.
And the biggest failure is that you can no longer spin dash in this game. It’s no big deal, it’s not like they removed one of Sonic’s most essential moves in his arsenal that was present all the way from Sonic 2 and was even in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, useless crap like that. Instead you have to use the stupid Rocket Accel which can’t be activated instantly like the spin dash with instead having the player get a running start to have your teammate boost you forward that doesn’t go as far as the spin dash in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. It’s an alright concept that would be fine to keep if the spin dash remained in the game and not replaced with some trash faker that doesn’t hold up to the original. Which leaves us with the power formation which is the best formation by far but not by much. Power is the easiest one to control since it allows you to properly control your character at a moderate speed, a novel concept I know. But combo attacks that involve the character moving forward in a short burst are risky to use since you could wind up pushing yourself off the map which happens way more often than you’d think and more often than it should. And because they have to share data with all the playable teams they away Knuckles’ ability to climb walls in favor of a tacky looking team glide for platforming just like they took away the Spin Dash.
Another team related mechanic the game introduces is something called the “Team Blast” which has a gauge fill up every time you deal damage to enemies or collect rings no matter how you collect said rings(remember this for later). When a team gauge is filled you can perform a Team Blast by pressing Z that acts as a screen wipe that clears almost every enemy on screen. I say almost because it doesn’t really remove every enemy on screen because some doof over at Sonic Team thought it would be a good idea to give an ultimate attack that’s meant to wipe out all enemies on screen with a limited range, which is smaller than you’d think by the way. Each Team Blast has their own special effect that appears for around 10 seconds after the attack is used which i’ll be talking about when I talk about each team on their own but know that after Team Sonic’s Team Blast Sonic will be able to use the Light Speed Attack from Adventure 1 and 2…but that’s useless when you’re able to still fight as Knuckles and it fucks up your Thunder Shoot when attacking bosses.
And the next fancy mechanic they try adding in is the new level system. And I hate this system so much. The idea of the level system is that your character starts off dealing an ok amount of damage but can get stronger the more you level up by collecting orbs that can drop from enemies. Speed characters get a stronger spin dash, flight characters get a stronger Thunder Shoot, and power characters get stronger combo enders. The problem is that in terms of combat no Sonic game has ever worked like this. For the most part every enemy in a Sonic game that came out before and after Heroes is able to be one shot by a simple jump, roll, spin dash, homing attack, mech shot, boost or punch with the only exceptions I can name off the top of my head being Sonic Rush, Sonic Unleashed’s night stages, and Sonic Frontiers. But those 3 examples are excusable since with Rush it’s only one enemy that has more than 1 HP that doesn’t spawn often and with the other 2 being based more on combat than speeding through levels as fast as possible. Your team will only be satisfying to play after everyone as at the maximum level of level 3 which can be difficult to do since whichever orbs enemies drop when defeated are not only random for when exactly they’ll drop but it’s also completely random who the level up is meant for. Imagine needing to level up your power character to get through a large horde of enemies but instead all the levels go to the other 2 teammates that are virtually useless in a fight. “Ah dammit, I needed a power orb to get to level 2…ah well might as well give my other teammates their 50th orb of the fight.” The only ways to get guaranteed levels for a certain character is with certain item boxes and balloons scattered throughout the level and with checkpoints but the latter only works for the character leading the formation when touching the checkpoint, not to mention they’re single use only. And say you grinded all those levels so you can blitz through this level, guess what, if you die all of your levels get reset and it doesn’t matter if you only lose a life or game over. And i’ve made it very clear how easy it is to unintentionally kill yourself in this game.
Something else that isn’t properly explained is the hidden difficulty system. The problem is that each team campaign has a hidden difficulty system but the game doesn’t tell you that at all unless you want to willingly listen to Omochao(note that I played the tutorial and afterwards I actively avoided his tips on the main menu). The difficulty from easy to hard is Teams Rose, Sonic, Dark, and Chaotix being a gimmick team but the game orders them from Sonic, Dark, Rose, Chaotix which is bad game design because not only are people gonna wanna play as the main character Sonic the Hedgehog, but with how the stories are laid out players would instinctively play from left to right causing them to play the game on normal, hard, easy, and then gimmick which doesn’t make too much sense. I knew the difficulty levels before going in but I played in order of Sonic, Rose, Dark, Chaotix because I like Sonic as a character. But what I wasn’t prepared for is that this game is kinda hard even on the normal difficulty because the game is full of jank that can just kill you for playing the game as intended.
But now for Team Rose and Team Dark. Team Rose is so piss easy that it’s insulting for players who are well affirmed with the series. For one they force you to play the tutorial even after you’ve completed a story previously. Which btw this is the most bullshit tutorial in the history of gaming. Most games have pop ups with button commands and visuals to help the player out or they let the player figure things out themselves. Sonic Heroes does neither of these but instead have this little annoying ass robotic fuck hold your hand throughout the entire thing. What makes this worse is that every time he pops up to tell you what to do your character is stuck in place as you gotta wait for him to shut up so you can play the game only for you to be stopped by his rambling again and again and again until it’s finally over. And most of the skills players can learn on their own since it’s not that hard to just press a random button and get immediate feedback of “oh this button does this? cool beans''. Their moveset is also broken with Amy’s tornado attack being a moving projectile meaning you don’t have to willingly get in contact with the enemy in order to use it, Big having a combo that doesn’t have him move so he can’t fall off the map along with a broken belly flop that’s good for not only combat but weirdly enough platforming, and Cream…she’s just the flier. Their Team Blast is just a win button for no good reason. Not only does it give all of your teammates a free level, not only does it give your team a shield, but it makes your entire team INVINCIBLE. Ok game I get it, stop treating me like a baby. And the finishing touch is that all the levels are cut in half. Awesome. Setting up unrealistic expectations for newcomers and disrespecting older players in one foul swoop.
And then there’s Team Dark…oh Team Dark…when they said this was the “hard” mode they were lying. Because it should’ve been called “kaizo” mode. Enemies are everywhere including places they shouldn’t be, the amount of rings available is greatly reduced, And the bosses become borderline impossible to beat at times(except for the rival fights but we’ll get to that). And not only are there more enemies but the stronger variants of said enemies spawn more frequently. And you’d think their Team Blast would make things better, well yes and no but here’s why. Their Team Blast freezes time completely and I mean completely. Rings don’t spin, projectiles don’t move, even the timer doesn’t tick down. But the most annoying part is if you’re using your Team Blast to try and move forward the puzzles are stuck in time too until the gauge runs out so you gotta sit and wait to move on. And even after you move on the game will probably toss 3 giant armored robots at you at once that fight like mini-bosses(if you know you know) immediately after your Team Blast just ran out.
But before I talk about the final team with Team Chaotix I wanna talk about the level design! Yippee! Except not really because it’s all terrible. The locations and themes are unique in their own right but each level suffers from their own issues coupled with all the bugs that can kill you outright without the player having any time to think about what just happened. Ignoring the main bugs, Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace are fine first levels in all honesty. Power Plant’s elevator section is long and tedious and it’s worse if you have a character than use the Light Speed Dash along with a super stressful rising lava section that you gotta hurry up to climb or else you’re dead. But oooh nooo it’s not that easy because the lava moves faster along with the player which means if you’re too slow, you die and if you’re too fast…you die. Casino Park and Bingo Highway have pinball mechanics that will leave you stuck in one of the tables forever unless you’re a pinball god or just lucky. And we just love games marketed at children that encourage gambling addictions, especially if said gambling minigames are rng. Rail Canyon and Bullet Station rely entirely on rails which don’t work properly as I said before and Bullet Station in particular has a cannon that’s supposed to shoot you onto another rail track but in actuality it fires you straight into the death zone if you’re unaware about this and hold forward…and because it’s a Sonic the Hedgehog game you’re gonna do that. “Gotta go fast” and all that. Frog Forest and Lost Jungle have flying flowers that are so jittery they’re impossible to control, swinging vines with an awkward timing window, and it ends on a chase sequence against a giant crocodile that relies on the janky vines that last way too long. Hang Castle and Mystic Mansion are puzzle-filled mazes with ghost enemies that show up at the worst of times to jumpscare you…which is all the time, and everything else(we all know these levels sucks moving on). Egg Fleet and Final Fortress have tons of bullshit cannons that can home in on you, can snipe you out of the air which can hit you out of a platforming segment and send you falling to your death, crumbling floors, everything’s in the sky so there’s almost no floor to stand on, and rails. The worst part about it all is that all 4 campaign’s use the same exact 14 levels. You heard me right. ALL 4 CAMPAIGNS USE THE EXACT SAME LEVELS. Sonic Adventure 2 had 2 campaigns with levels that heavily differed from each other one way or another. Each campaign has either a speed level, a treasure level, or a mech level and even then it’s not equal to how many levels each type of level gets and each level has a different setting and music track. Rush is the one case I can think of where the campaigns had minor differences. Only thing is that those differences are huge. The levels are the same but they’re in a different order for Sonic and Blaze, Blaze plays completely differently from Sonic, Blaze gets her own music tracks, and Sonic has to use special stages to get the Chaos Emeralds while Blaze doesn’t need any to get the Sol Emeralds. And at the end of every other stage you gotta face off against-
Bosses! They all suck for different reasons. The mech fights boil down to mashing homing attacks like it’s a Mario Party minigame, the rival team fights are a joke, and the horde fights…oh my god the horde fights. I’m just gonna rip the band-aid off here. ROBOT. FUCKING. STORM. This is not only the worst “level” in Sonic Heroes but the worst boss fight out of any Sonic game I have ever played. Team Sonic’s is hard enough as is, Team Rose’s is a pushover(as is every boss in their campaign really), Team Chaotix…we’ll get to them later. But Team Dark’s has to be the boss fight that throws the bullshit at you. Don’t believe me well then let’s see here, we got; a long robot gauntlet that feels like it takes years to get over with, more enemies that spawn with a lot of them being the stronger variants of the enemies we’ve already be accustomed to, multiple giant hammer wielding robots paired with either robots that heal them or robots that sap all your rings which because it’s a Sonic game it’s basically life steal, and because this game was programmed with monkeys holding hammers the enemies will constantly knock your ass off the map and there is NOTHING you can do about it except pray. Pray to rn-Jesus that you can make it out alive with what little sanity is left in your body. And after all that Eggman has the balls to say what I'd call the worst line in any Sonic game, “Don’t get too excited boys! Those were the easy ones!”. It’s genuinely unbelievable that such a level exists. This was marketed towards kids. How is fucking little Casey who just got Sonic Heroes as their first video game gonna beat this shit? He’s not. Because the developers didn’t think about that just like they didn’t think about anything in this game except making a “fun” gimmick. But that’s not all. Because there’s one more boss...
Egg Emperor…and the bullshit continues. I definitely know what true evil is when facing this boss all right. The fight consists of running across a few platforms before making your way over to a bigger arena. The boss only has 3 attacks but 2 of them are what make this boss a slog to get through. He can fire energy waves by swinging his lance like he’s Cloud Strife and a charge attack that has no weaknesses that the game says activates whenever you’re too far from him. Because this is a Sonic game I figured that meant he can only charge if you’re too slow, but if you manage to run ahead of him he’ll charge anyway. But if you get too close to him you could risk either getting hit by a lance beam or by his massive hurtbox. And you might be thinking “why don’t you homing attack the body at that point?” and that’s because he has a shield that blocks all attacks and it’s only worth attacking his body after the second part of the fight where you go to that arena section. In the arena section you have to destroy some cannons and defeat some enemies before getting to the big man himself. You can make him drop his shield by using Thunder Shoot and follow up with your Power character but you probably wouldn’t do as much damage as you were hoping for since in order to do any real damage you’ll have to level your Power character up to level 3 which could take forever in this fight. After a certain amount of time the boss will flee causing you to chase after him again and repeat the boss cycle. But don’t go too fast because then you’ll wind up smacking right into his body or he’ll swat you out the air like a fly with a lance beam attack. And you can’t go too slow or else he’ll just charge at you which if he does it at the wrong time he can intercept your approach and boop you off the map meaning you’ll be dead. And if you thought that was enough, because the developers don’t know how to properly make things different between campaigns you have to fight this motherfucker 4 SEPARATE TIMES. And it doesn’t matter what campaign you go through because you’ll always have a tough time regardless of difficulty. I know it’s the final boss and that it’s meant to be a challenge but holy shit tone it down, there’s kids playing this shit.
And the last campaign involves Team Chaotix and they’re by far my favorite team to play as…and they still have problems. Instead of going through levels the same way you did 3 separate times already it instead focuses on missions. And I have mixed feelings about this. It’s great because it finally keeps things fresh and gives the player another way to experience the game that isn’t platforming focused. The problem is the fact that it’s still the same levels, levels that were meant for an action platformer instead of things finding an x amount of…I don’t know seashells. While the treasure hunting stages were my least favorite aspect of Sonic Adventure 2 they at least did a better job with the concept than some of the collecting missions in Heroes since the maps are built specifically for this kind of gameplay and there was at least a tracker telling you if you were going in the right direction. The Chaotix has you searching through levels you’re meant to speed through while not giving you any sort of tracker to tell you if you’re in the right direction. The Casino Park one in particular was the worst one because of the instructions: “Win 200 Rings!”. Anyone who sees this probably assumes they mean to use the slot machines since we’re a casino level with slot machines built into the pinball tables. But the thing is you can easily just collect 200 rings by playing the stage. But the game doesn’t say collect 200 rings, it says win 200 rings which is the dumbest piece of misinformation in this game and that’s saying something since this game loves to withhold information from the player for no reason. Like did you know you can fire your Thunder Shoot at nothing to charge your team gauge? Or that even though the game says to use a Speed character’s tornado to deal with shield enemies Power characters can punch right through them no problem? You probably didn’t because the game doesn’t tell you this. Anyway the stealth missions are the best ones because Espio’s invisibility is broken. And their Team Blast causes any enemy destroyed to turn into rings and for the duration of the meter any enemy destroyed turns into rings. This is the most broken move in the game. Why? Well remember when I said that the Team Gauge charges from attacking enemies and collecting rings? Well the game counts any rings collected towards the meter. Meaning if you destroy enough enemies at once with this attack you can immediately get your gauge back to repeatedly use again and again. It’s such an easy exploit to pull off that I'm not even surprised that this was left unchecked in all honesty. It even makes the dreaded Robot Storm look like a joke.
So that’s it. You beat all the 4 campaigns and you’d think that it’s time for the usual last story, right?...right? Well unfortunately special stages make a return and with that the 7 Chaos Emeralds. And this is by far the worst one. In the past special stages were unlocked by method of holding at least 50 rings until the end of the stage and jumping into a warp ring in Sonic 1 or holding at least 50 rings and jumping into a star post in Sonic 2 or by jumping into a giant warp ring hidden in the level in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Sonic Heroes decided they wanna be a bit quirky in a horrible way. In order to access the special stages in this game you have to collect a key hidden in the stage and bring that key with you until the end of the level or mission in order to unlock the special stages and collect the Emeralds…there’s so much wrong with this…Not only is it already easy for the game to send your ass to the shadow realm for existing but if you get hit and lose your key it doesn’t just fall out like rings do, it disappears completely meaning you’ll have to reload at a checkpoint or worse, restart the entire level every single time you get hit. And after you get through that bullshit we get to the special stage itself…if you’ve played this game you already know what’s up. The special stage acts similarly to the half pipe in Sonic 2 but except it’s a full enclosed pipe you run around in. The goal is to collect orbs to fill your boost meter and speed ahead to catch the emerald. It sounds very simple but remember, this game was coded by monkeys with hammers so the physics don’t function. Your character will constantly jitter around while moving making positioning yourself impossible when trying to collect the orbs. You have to pick between a Power or Speed character because Flight characters are too slow to do anything but even then you’re picking your poison. Do you wanna control your character better at the cost of speed or do you wanna go fast in order to get the emerald quickly at the cost of controlling your character? ‘Cause that’s exactly what it feels like. And I'm still not done because each Emerald is locked into every other stage. Sonic 1, 2, and 3 & Knuckles allows you to get the Emeralds as easy as the first 2 or 3 zones if you know what you’re doing. If you miss an emerald in one of the few stages they appear in you’ll have to repeat the level and do everything I just explained ALL OVER AGAIN. WHAT KIND OF COLLECTOR HATING SADISTIC BASTARD THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA WHEN THE EMERALDS ARE REQUIRED TO BEAT ALL OF THE STORY!? Before going in I knew how bad the special stages were while being blissfully unaware how bad the unlock requirements were so I used save states(yes I used an emulator) to collect the emeralds in a timely fashion. Not only did this end up taking longer than expected even with save states but I was forced to keep using them for every time I got hit, sent off the stage, or missed the Emerald causing my save file to corrupt and erase all my data. Which caused the auto save to fail and use exclusively save states to progress. And let me tell you, nothing’s scarier than booting up the game and discovering all of your save data has been completely erased even after you completed 2 campaigns previously.
Before I get into the last couple topics of discussion I'll touch on some minor things that don’t warrant their own paragraph individually. The voice acting is hit or miss with stand outs like Omega and Sonic and then there’s instances of some of the worst voice acting in the series with Tails where they deadass brought an 8 year old to voice the character. “Look at all those Eggman’s robots!”. But it gets weirder since Cream was voiced by an actual voice actress and Charmy was voiced by a teenager. Doesn’t help that the game has the characters not stop talking for every single damn action in the game. It’s the same cheesy lines for the entire playthrough. The game looks ugly with the admittedly improved models having textures that look like they’re plastic toys ready to be sold in some Walmart or Target. The pre rendered cutscenes might be revolutionary at the time but are horribly dated by today’s standards and the in game cutscenes that start at the beginning of boss fights and levels look extremely jittery and stiff with characters’ arms flailing to move into position, Omega’s eyes constantly bugging out, and the camera repeatedly having a stroke. Some assets feel like they are copy/pasted and slapped onto characters that don’t make sense. Omega and Big share the same aura color along with Espio and Sonic sharing the same aura color, purple and blue respectively. Omega’s triple glide animation looks exactly like Knuckles’ even though he could’ve been animated to use his thrusters. Rouge has a weird outfit change that is never used again. Some might think that it could be for censorship reasons but her chest is still exposed through a cleavage slit in the outfit which makes me wonder why they even bothered to change it. Plus her pink eyeshadow is less aesthetically pleasing than her iconic bright blue. It’s unclear if all the teams are doing everything at the same exact time or not making things really confusing.The way the characters are written are all over the place with a mixed bag across the board. Team Dark’s great as characters but then you have Tails who’s portrayed to act like some scaredy baby and Amy who’s been turned into a hyper thirsty yandere that’s willing to beat Sonic into marrying her. But all of that is nothing compared to how dirty they did Shadow.
Every team has their own mini story that drives their plot forwards; Team Sonic has to find and defeat Eggman, Team Rose is looking for their lost friends, Team Chaotix is tryna get the bread, and Omega, specifically Omega, is out to look for Eggman for revenge for locking him in a vault. Shadow though…ok first off, why is he here? He literally sacrificed himself to save the planet Earth from the space colony Ark with characters honoring said sacrifice and mourning his death, Sonic included…But then they decided to bring him back along with amnesia and a clone side story that makes him question who he is. The clone story is the dumbest shit in this entire damn game. As if it wasn’t enough to make him forget all the events of Sonic Adventure 2, which can kinda make sense if he was sent into a coma after crashing on Earth. But now he has to go through some midlife crisis level shit to try and figure out his past and if he’s even real, which spoiler alert: this game doesn’t resolve either plot point. These points were further developed and resolved by the next game; Shadow the Hedgehog which wasn’t the best game by all means but it gave more of a fuck to have a concrete story than Heroes ever did. And what’s worse is if the clones were gonna be brought up again in Shadow the Hedgehog and then be resolved in that same game then what the fuck was the point of doing any of this shit in Heroes!? All that did was leave Shadow’s story on a cliffhanger that accomplished nothing but made fans confused and left them with unanswered questions for 2 years until Shadow the Hedgehog came out.
But finally, after collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds and beating all 4 Team campaigns you’re rewarded with the Last Story which reveals that Metal Sonic was the real mastermind behind everything that happened in the game so he can copy everyone’s data and assume a powerful new form…that takes way too long to transform into…with Metal Overlord…just to beat Sonic. Not even world domination, just to beat Sonic. While his dedication is admirable it’s a really shallow goal. Plus the buildup towards him being the main big bad isn’t handled as well as it could’ve been. All we get are a background element that people would miss if they’re too focused on just beating the level, an extra animation at the end of a boss cutscene that only appears for Team Sonic and Shadow’s story, and a few lines of dialogue from Team Chaotix’s “client” that makes it clear that it’s Eggman. But it would’ve been better to actually know how all of this happened in the first place. Metal Sonic shows up as Neo Metal Sonic as the first time we see him in this game with no explanation as to how he got this form or how he found out he can copy others’ abilities. Not even a cutscene or backstory from Eggman in the final story, instead he just complains about how they can’t defeat him without the Chaos Emeralds. Without prior knowledge I wouldn’t blame anyone for thinking that Metal Sonic just got a redesign since he hadn't made an appearance in the Adventure era at that time. How cool would it have been to have been given cutscenes showing us Metal Sonic twisting and contorting his body to not only show how he managed to do this in the first place but how far he’s willing to go to beat Sonic without spoiling the final form to leave the audience in suspense before the final act? And him not revealing that he copied Team Rose and Team Chaotix data kinda comes off as him not recognizing their strengths and calling them too weak to copy from, even if he didn’t say so himself. The segment where the teams do their best to weaken Metal Madness for Team Sonic is fine enough except the coding monkeys did it again and made it so that Flying characters can’t do any damage. But then there’s the final battle with Super Team Sonic…Team Super Sonic…uh…a Chaos Emerald powered Team Sonic. Admittedly the fight is really cool with Metal Overlord chucking entire battleships at the player and talking about how he believes he’s the real Sonic as What I’m Made Of blasts in the background. But there’s 2 major things that bring this fight down for me. Sonic Adventure 2 did a similar sequence of the cast of characters help Sonic and Shadow go super and defeat the big bad. Only difference being the buildup was more elaborate and the stakes were higher as if they failed the entire planet was at stake along with the presentation of the final fight being better in every way. One fight takes place in outer space while the other takes place in the sky a vague height above the ground. And most insulting of all they robbed us of bringing back Super Knuckles and Super Tails. This might’ve been because of the retcon of super forms only being possible with male hedgehogs but that was a massive missed opportunity. And after the fight is done Sonic drops one of the corniest one liners in the franchise, the 5th set of unskippable credits scrolls on screen, and the game tells you to do everything again but get to A ranks this time as one final fuck you.
In conclusion the game had a lot of…interesting ideas to say the least in terms of mixing up the Sonic formula. Unfortunately they used too much gas when trying to cook and sent the entire dish ablaze. I think if they let this game simmer a bit more and took at least a year to iron out all the bugs and mishaps since this game was developed in 20 months. As a comparison Sonic Adventure 2 took 18 months to develop and was still better. And while I've made comparisons to past Sonic games I wanna make it clear that I am aware of the flaws those other games have. After all, nothing is perfect. But Sonic Team at least could’ve made sure that their game was worth it in spite of these flaws by tweaking some game mechanics to make them more fun. And feel free to say why you’d think this game is peak Sonic. Alright that’s all, thanks for reading this far and have a fantastic day.