He showed up 30 days ago. There are so many posts. This is a TINY subset of his responses, I'm not going to comment on them all. This person literally posts all day every day and night. I am so sorry you guys have been subjected to somebody so completely removed from how to properly socially interact with people. The level of narcissism is something I have never seen on reddit before. I will never cheat on you guys with /wallstreetbets again! I'm so sorry you had to deal with this.
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"I'm just unusually good at Internet-based digging (I've been doing it for 25 years). I'm the one friends come to when they're dating someone new, etc." - yeah, we nipped that in the bud earlier. have several seats.
"I figured people here would value the amount of unique info I dig up, but I guess if I accidentally discover any info that would force them to adjust the model of Hilaria that's already solidified inside their brains, they'd prefer to not hear anything new at all." - value you lmao
"Here's one where I dug up some first-person comments from people who knew her as Hillary, that had never been reported before." - nope, we had all that on DCUM.
"Yes, Alec donating $1M does reduce his wealth by less than $1M. But it reduces his wealth by more than not donating anything would. If wealth-maximization was his only goal, he'd donate $0." -- thank god we have you to explain the complicated math that is tax brackets and writeoffs.
"Alec donates millions to non-profits (via the foundation) every year, since long before Hilaria (it was just "the ABF" until recently). I've looked at their IRS filings, and it seems to be a legitimate, well-operated foundation, not doing anything shady for tax purposes." - We know how much he donates. It's online. We didn't need the IRS filings, clearly.
"I gave *you* the link to the clearinghouse, I have the link to the clearinghouse, and neither of us (nor anyone else on this site) checked it! So we both have first-hand experience showing that "giving someone the link to something" doesn't mean a damn thing. Anyone can send an email about anything to the NYT requesting a correction, the fact that they did so is not indicative of anything."
"I somewhat believe Flat_Slide_5680 did actually speak to someone at the registrar's office, but given the sloppiness with details and repeated mistakes in their posts, I agree with you that the likely scenario is that they just never gave the correct name to the registrar to look up, and so "we couldn't find a person who doesn't exist" isn't positive proof of anything." - WHAT THE FUCK?! You do NOT get to come in my subreddit and act like you are the editor of the damn Wall Street Journal berating an intern.
"In your original post, you say she was under "Hilaria Lynn Thomas". Here you say it was "Hilaria Haywood-Thomas". And the latter is definitely not, nor has it ever been, her last name! Not improving my confidence in your credibility here." - See above.
"Forgive me if I still have more trust in the New York Times over an anonymous Reddit user, but we're going to need better receipts from you than that." -We? Who is we?? Are we turning something in? When is it due?
"Since you don't believe me, let's see what the Linguistic Society has to say on the matter:" -my god you are insufferable
"You should have been following all my comments more closely. ;-)". - No shit, you would have been banned a month ago.
"Making a charitable donation reduces the amount of your income subject to tax, it doesn't stand in as an alternative to paying tax. And it doesn't carry over. In order to "not owe taxes", you would need to donate 100% of your income, and keep $0 for yourself. Even then, there's nothing that would carry over to the next year." - here we go again.
"See my comment here for more details on how a tax-deduction actually works." - bye felicia
"No, nothing is weird about that at all. Your lack-of-understanding is making you see conspiracy where it doesn't exist." - No wonder you aren't a member of any other subbreddit.
"But I do appreciate that you recognize (unlike so many others here) that her social-media influencer antics are not at all unusual for that field, and not the reason why Hilaria is a story." -I appreciate that you recognize you will never see the inside of this subreddit ever again.
"The Tax Map Parcel ID is 0300150000100001014 and the unofficial address is 361 Town Ln, Amagansett, NY, in case anyone can search a more-private MLS database or something like that. Where are my real-estate wonks?" - My god, what do you need the real estate listing for. Do you want me to do a title search too? How about a notarized copy of the deed?
"Before the sub devolved into a den filled with simple-minded dehumanizing Hilaria-haters, we used to get great info like this from people who knew the human Hilaria. Unfortunately that's mostly dried up, probably at least in part because people find this place too gross to associate themselves with it." - BITCH YOU GOT HERE 4 WEEKS AGO
When asked about how recording a podcast works we are treated to this:
"My experience was ~20 years ago, so hopefully enough knowledge would have trickled out by now, especially as recording techniques have continued to evolve and become democratized, that nothing that was surprising then would be particularly surprising anymore. But back then (especially in the rock/metal world I was in), everyone liked to envision the whole band rocking out together, and the engineer would just hit "record". No, in most cases, each guy sits alone and records his instrument all by himself (or maybe even one guy records both guitar and bass, but two guys get credited; especially the the "bass player" has great hair for the band photo, but kinda sucks at playing bass). Similarly, if the guitar part for a verse gets recorded, no need to play the whole song through, just copy and paste that part for the next verse. And then of course run auto-tune to correct the pitches of everything. So all stuff that was hardly "secret", even back then, but things people generally avoided learning about.
Once upon a time I was peripherally involved in the music industry, so that's what really opened my eyes to "things are not as they seem". Sitting in a recording studio while an album is being recorded makes you realize "the fans have NO idea what really goes on in here". And more than that, I learned that most fans don't want to know the truth about their favorite band, because if they did, it really doesn't take much effort to see the various subterfuges going on behind the curtain.
Unfortunately I was out of that biz before the explosion of the Influencer Economy, so like you, I wish I had more direct insight into that particular domain. I've always tried to pick up whatever factual information people would publicly reveal, but while I've read endorsement deals and recording contracts in the music biz, I've never seen one in this domain." - Sorry your shitty 80's hair band didn't get signed. Sounds like that autotune was working pretty hard. And once again, check yourself. Butch walker is a good friend of mine, he bought my friend's recording studio in atlanta. He has a book called Drinking With Strangers. You can learn from that. In the meantime, the question was about a podcast.
"Beware, checaco3 claims all sorts of things that we have no evidence for. They claimed 5 days ago to have a screenshot of a website where Hilaria's parents said they "were able to move to Spain AND start their business with a Generous Donation From HABF Foundation", but thus far have failed to produce said screenshot. I don't think it's malicious, it seems to just be a mis-remembering/mis-interpretation of different things that they saw." -FAILED TO PRODUCE A SCREENSHOT? is there some reason they are required to give you one?? malicious? dude, you have serious issues. and a lot of nerve
"We are on the same team! That's why I'm giving you the links to archive.org, to help you figure out how to find the evidence that Hilaria's parents were able to move to Spain AND start their business with a Generous Donation From HABF Foundation. And I really want to see the screenshot you have, because that would be some really good evidence of shadiness that hasn't been exposed yet! Is there anything I can do to help you find it? Do you need help searching your computer's drive?"-Nobody is required to give you dick so stop asking.
"But you had a screenshot, so them changing their website wouldn't matter. Did your computer die or something?" -what is your problem?
"Their website has changed formats over the years, but the content appears to have largely remained the same. You can use archive.org to find the evidence you're looking for in the old versions." -When did we hire a project manager in this sub??
"Here's an August 2020 version that looks just like the current website, but you can go back all the way to 2014 if you need to. https://web.archive.org/web/20200803124231/https://internationalintegrators.org/". -is there some reason you are assigning work to my redditors?
"Since you research charities to gauge their quality, you surely must be familiar with IRS 990 forms?" -Is this how you talk to people in real life? No wonder you work in computer hardware. Nobody wants to deal with listening to you.
"BTW, have you found that screenshot yet showing Hilaria's parents were able to move to Spain AND start their business with a Generous Donation From HABF Foundation? I'll help you shout that news from the rooftops if you can find it again." -Bring this up one more time. I dare you.
"For this theory to have any legs, I think you need to show evidence of a school transfer at some point. I don't believe we have that?" -I am so sorry you guys, I will never leave this sub alone again.
"It's all explained here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2350777/Twitter-time-bug-Alec-Baldwins-wifes-funeral-tweets-led-actor-unleashing-homophobic-rant.html"
"I'm not blaming you for getting it wrong or anything; being aware of the original (wrong) story and but not the later correction is a totally normal thing, I was just taking your post as an opportunity to make people more aware of the correction." - I'm going to make you aware of what a dick you are by getting you banned from DCUM too.
"Where in the article does it say that the horse rescue charges $1500 a month. It explicitly says the opposite, that the $1500/month is for horses that are NOT part of the horse rescue"
"Horse owners who pay to keep their animals at the barn make their checks out to “Alexander Baldwin III,” not to the incorporated, non-profit Amagansett Horse Rescue."
"There may very well be something untoward happening here! But misunderstanding the facts uncovered so far will only make that more difficult to uncover, not easier!" - STOP SPEAKING TO MY REDDITORS LIKE THEY ARE FIVE.
"Your understanding is incorrect. Non-profit schools charge tuition to students. Non-profit hospitals charge bills to patients. A non-profit stable charging rent for horse stalls would be completely legal and within the scope of a non-profit." - here we go again.
"But on top of that, it's not even clear that the non-profit is charging rent for horse stalls! The article makes it clear that there is both a non-profit, AHR, and a for-profit business, both being run at the same facility. The only evidence they offered of money being paid was to the for-profit side of the operation (the $1500 checks to Alexander Baldwin). The didn't have any record of money being paid to the non-profit (which, again, even if it was, that would be ok!)". - Dear God, where did I go wrong? What sin did I commit in my past life that of all the redditors in the world, I'm stuck with THIS one.
"But simply assuming "any foundation is suspect" is far more lazy and incorrect than assuming "anyone with a Spanish accent is Spanish". It's really not hard to look at individual cases and determine what the truth is, there's no value added by being broadly cynical." - Well, you are the expert when it comes to not adding any value to something.
"The implication the Post is trying to make is that the year's-rent was not a good-faith request from the landlord, but rather, a request that he knew would be impossible for Jan to meet; a way to terminate her lease while giving the landlord plausible deniability: "no, I didn't terminate the lease, she could have renewed for as long as she liked!" - We don't need you explaining a Post article to us. And besides that was reported everywhere.
"But yes, that in itself is a story that doesn't really make sense, because generally, it would be the landlord's job to do the property maintenance, not the tenant (Jan), so simply swapping tenants wouldn't necessarily improve anything at the property." - WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?
"If someone half-interested comes to this subreddit to learn about Hilaria, they'll see it dominated by these meme-posts, and rightly say "huh, yeah, those ladies on The View and Hilaria and Alec were right, this *is* just a big pile-on; I doubt she actually did anything bad..." -She became a meme. That was the point. That went right over your 50 year old bald head.
"Diluting the sub dilutes the message of the unique bad thing Hilaria actually did." -Go start your own damn sub then.
"Without more detail, I don't yet see anything absolutely damning in regard to the non-profit relationships, though certainly the lack of transparency is concerning. It's interesting that the Post apparently saw an IRS 990 form for AHR, but don't provide it for the reader, and I can't find a public version." -Why on EARTH would the Post publish an IRS form.
"That's where critical-thinking skills come in, which should be active for all media consumption. Caveat emptor and all that. "This thing that's being presented to me, how could its presentation diverge from reality, and what could be the motivations behind that divergence?" -After I deleted your post for containing politics, you actually said because what you said about Trump was true that didn't count as political. Then insulted me by saying "now I know why the post was removed. You didn't understand that
"And for social media influencers in particular, it barely takes any critical-thinking at all! All you have to ask is "how do I, as a random nobody, use social media? Do I post an accidental, uncurated view of my life?" I think the answer is "hell no" for almost everybody, so it's insane to even use that as a starting assumption for people with huge followings."
"I think the thing is that people don't want to know that it's not real. Every single time I point out that Hilaria's photos are intentionally ridiculous because she wants to make money, I get downvoted to hell. I don't remember if I saw this reference here somewhere, but it's like professional wrestling: it's more entertaining to people (both in a want-to-be-the-face, and a hate-the-heel way) if they can maintain the illusion that it's all real."
"There is no evidence that Sarma was friends with Hilaria." - Except for the PICTURES I HAVE OF THEM TOGETHER.
"It looks like II was started ~2013, after the move to Spain. It's a super-small "business", I would guess that the parents are the only employees, and that it's just a structured way for them to "keep busy" in their retirement. It probably makes very little money (their "retreats" are very infrequent, and small), but it lets them putter around as much or little as they like, and feel like they're making a difference in the world."
"Where have you seen her say December 2010? Everything I recall seeing, they've both been consistent and specific, it was February 18, 2011 (they say it was an unusually warm day, and I've fact-checked that, and it's true!)". - How long have you been unemployed for?
"Ah, a link to a set of links...how it makes my heart sing".
"I should have searched to find that thread myself, but Reddit's search is such shit it discourages me from even trying"-
"I'm pretty sure from all my research that she was never technically an "owner" of Yoga Vida, that was one of her lies, but for the purposes of self-certifying, I think that's irrelevant. She was enough of a player in YV despite not being an "owner"- Sign that information up for kindergarten, because it's 5 years old. Lmao how much time did you waste on that?
"You're sure going to have to show where you came up with that "she was his yoga teacher first" thing, because that just ain't true as far as what anyone has uncovered until now. It was also more like sometime in 2009 (maybe as late as the beginning of 2010, when Yoga Vida launched) that "Hilaria" was born." -Nobody has to show you anything, GTFO.
"I'd say just edit your original post to add the El Mundo article (or replace the OE). Then newcomers will see the original source without having to dig into the comments, and there won't be two separate discussion threads." - Well, you wont have to worry about that anymore now, will you?
"In a better-run sub, we'd have a stickied post with a constantly updated list of references, but..." I DO. OKAY BYE.
"First day on the Internet? Here's how you make a link: https://www.yourtango.com/2020339461/who-sarma-melngailis"
"The entirety of evidence that Sarma and Hilaria knew each other comes from a single, anonymous post on DCUM, and it's just repeated on yourtango.com. That DCUM post also says "the article mentions the people who ponied up money to get Sarma out of trouble. Alec kicked in $100k on Hilaria's request", but the referenced NYPost article mentions no such thing."
"In other words, that's really not a credible source."
"I mostly agree the vision of The Birth Of Hilaria that you lay out here, I just think that using the word "con" to describe all that renders the word meaningless. I mean, women discover they get extra attention and affirmation when wearing low-cut tops and a push-up bra. Is that a "con" too? And I strongly disagree that a "long con" doesn't require a specific end goal. Look at the Wikipedia entry for "con" (which includes a section on "long con"). None of the language in that whole entry is remotely close to describing Hilaria's life or actions."
:And the "restauranteur fraudster-friend offered to set her up with Alec Baldwin" is one of the most non-sensical unsupported bits of wisdom that gets thrown around here. The only way involving Melngailis in Hilaria's story makes any sense is if Hilaria diverts a bunch of Alec's money to Melngailis, which if that happened, then I would definitely agree at least that part of it (but still not the Spanish part) was a long con!"
"Believe what you like, but just keep in mind that all successful detectives, from Sherlock Holmes on down, keep their emotions out of the way, because they make it harder to determine what is truth. No human in history was ever 100% anything (good, evil, liar, truthful), so reducing Alec (or anyone) to such a simple, one-dimensional caricature takes us further from truth rather than closer to it." -Sir, this is a Wendy's.
"No idea, she hasn't responded to my query yet. Official reason was "No Politics", but there weren't any politics in the post or happening in the comments. She was of the "Alec gave money to Hilaria's parents" camp, so I don't know if she just didn't like having that view challenged? Aw, shucks, you're making me blush. But I really appreciate it, especially since McNasty420 took down my deeply-researched RANA post today for no discernible reason, so that was making me feel like my work was a big waste of time. But maybe it's better that way, because yes, I'm sure my employer would appreciate me spending more of my skills on them rather than on this!" -Employer lol. So check this out. I removed it because it said Trump steals money from his foundation and this guy didn't consider that political because: "My statement about Trump's foundation wasn't a "theory", and more importantly, not any sort of value-judgement. I now understand that you weren't aware of how non-controversial my mention of Trump was". You are such a DICK. Where do you get the nerve to talk to people like that?
"Oh, yeah, I wasn't arguing your point or anything! I'd just had more time to look into his ancestry and wanted to write down some actual numbers."
That theory isn't possible, because she invented the Spanish persona long before she met Alec. That's a key fact to know for anyone trying to figure out the 'why' of it. It had zero to do with Alec, and was almost surely her own creation with no particular goal in mind (which the OP seems to understand)."
Oh, ok, awesome! Where's your screenshot? -What are you doing? Why do you need this?
How? You can't just say stuff like that without backing it up! "Hilaria is definitely connected to Spain" is a lie that you created this whole subreddit to expose, so let's not just take her place as people who claim untrue things!
And I'm saying none of what you're saying is true. You might have read something like that here, but that was from people who didn't know what they were talking about. There was no "generous donation to the parents in 2012" from ABF.
No, I'm saying that people here misinterpreted the RANA donation to be a donation to International Integrators (and then repeated it 'til it became conventional wisdom), but it's really not at all. Unless there was some *other* donation to II that has been found somewhere? -RANA is a side project under the umbrella of International Integrators now please STFU about it
OMG, and then did you hear where she said she lies to her kids that the wheels on the bus are broken, because she's sick of singing "The Wheels on the Bus"? Or that she hides the fact that she's going to be gone for a day or two from them? Oh wait, those were lies other moms reported telling their kids. It's all part of a regular segment called "Momfessions"! The whole point is to show that it's a fairly normal thing for parents to do. Pretending Hilaria is the only one who lies to her kids is weird, and completely ignores all the other parents who nod along and laugh in the audience. -Thank you, 50 year old guy with no kids.
Erm, his donations were definitely NOT funneled to family members; where did you get that from? Perhaps actually read my post!
Also, yes, he gets a tax deduction for charitable donations, but so does every US taxpayer. -WE KNOW. JESUS.
I'd like to say it's something about living the last four years in the US, when "the truth" seemed to matter less than it ever has before. Creating even awareness of the oft-repeated lies, much less consequences for them, felt like trying to push a pile of air up a hill. So when this opportunity came along at the end of 2020 to expose lies and establish truths, at a sweet-spot big enough where a significant number of people were paying attention, but small enough that I could play a personal role, where that pile of air transformed into something solid that I could definitively poke holes through, it felt like something I had to participate in. -FULL STOP. WHEN THIS OPPORTUNITY CAME ALONG? ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MY SUBREDDIT?? PLAYING A PERSONAL ROLE? YOU ACT LIKE I HIRED YOU TO BLESS US WITH YOUR PRECIOUS GOOGLE SEARCHING ABILITIES. THE OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO EXPOSE LIES? AT THE END OF 2020? DUDE, THE LIES WERE ALREADY UNCOVERED. HENCE THE MEDIA FIRESTORM.
But that can only be at most a part of the answer, since I felt exactly the same obsession in 2016, when doing crowd-sourced investigation of the real-time cheating of Rob Young / MarathonManUK), a man who had claimed to run 365 marathons in a year, with 0 training, and then was caught (accidentally, by a fan) in the middle of the night riding on/in his support RV while he was claiming a world-record pace for a run across the US.
So for me, there's definitely a Sherlock Holmes factor. Just something about the investigatory process of discovering facts and organizing them to reveal lies, particularly when the lie is so bold, unusual, and created for mystifying reasons. -WE HAD ALREADY BROKEN THE STORY DIPSHIT.
n contrast to many here, the small lies that are pedestrian, banal, and created for obvious reasons (the presentation of herself as someone more-accomplished / put-together / knowledgeable than she actually is, in order to make money) hold no interest for me, since there is nothing unique to her there. Everyone who has ever attempted to make money from their personal brand has presented an embellished version of themselves, but almost no one has trapped themselves 24/7 for a decade walking through their life on such a high-wire of a lie as Hilaria has, while leaving the truth so discoverable far below the entire time.
Thank you! Finally an NYU post, that, while still lacking-in-receipts, at least comes from someone with a posting history that provides significant credibility, and written with a level of detail that provides trustworthiness on its own, but also matches all known facts from independent sources. -STOP. JUST STOP.
Didn't we go through this already? Yes, charitable donations lessen your tax burden. But they also lessen your wealth! Here is the itemized list of $1.4M in donations the ABF made in 2014. If he had *not* made those donations, yes, his tax bill would have been higher, but he would have had more money left in his bank account to spend on a yacht or whatever for himself. So lessening his tax burden cannot be his "entire goal". -for the 50th time, we know how taxes work.
It *has* made donations to the RANA foundation (approx. $70k total, I believe), which Hilaria's parents advertised on their website, but that's not "money to Hilaria's parents" (as people here often say), and I don't even see an obvious connection between the RANA foundation and the Hayward/Thomases. -IT'S LISTED AS A PROJECT ON THEIR WEBSITE DIPSHIT
It looks like it's this, a $369 dedicated paella grill. -this adds that "value" you provide to this sub you were talking about.
Ha. Yep, I'm of a similar age/era, and while I still have a FB account, I've never followed a single celebrity, brand, or even a business, and am rather baffled by people who do. -YET I'M 100% STALKING ALEC BALDWIN'S LIFE
Did you click my links on the bottom? By what rationale do you make the claim that she "brought things to an entirely different level"?
I linked to a picture of a naked mom taking a piss with her baby on her lap, showing off her toenails, and taking a selfie all at the same time! And it took me 2 minutes to find that.
In your original post, you say she was under "Hilaria Lynn Thomas". Here you say it was "Hilaria Haywood-Thomas". And the latter is definitely not, nor has it ever been, her last name! Not improving my confidence in your credibility here. -REMINDER. YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO SKIN IN THIS GAME. YOU SHOWED UP HERE ONE DAY AFTER THE STORY FINALLY STOPPED TRENDING AND TRIED TO REGULATE SHIT. NOBODY NEEDS TO HAVE "CREDIBILITY" WITH YOU. YOU ARE A BYSTANDER.
"As much as I'd like solid confirmation either way, this is most definitely not it. It's the first post from a brand-new account, and the details given make no sense."
"There is absolutely nothing unique about Alec and Hilaria here. Here's a random list I found in 2 seconds"
If I had kids
If you know nothing about language immersion, see what the Linguistic Society has to say on the matter.
The hard part is making sure they have enough natural exposure to both languages. Most of the time, one of the two languages you want them to learn will be "more important" somehow, and the trick is to provide enough opportunities for them to use the "less important" one in a way that isn't forced or artificial. The best way, if you can manage it, is to put children in situations where only the "less important" language is used so that there is no temptation to mix languages or revert to the "more important" language.
It doesn't say that he was also working in that period. Do you have that from another source?
"I graduated from a prestigious university (in my field), but don't have any cap-and-gown photos because I had no interest in attending the graduation ceremony." -PLEASE, I'M DYING. I CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHAT SCHOOL THIS WAS THAT PREPARED YOU FOR YOUR ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER IN COMPUTER HARDWARE.
" Have you attempted to try the online version I suggested to perhaps get something in writing? https://secure.studentclearinghouse.org/vslandingui/mosiac-landing-page"
"But if you spoke with NYU, and they told you straight up they have no record of her being a student, why are you even considering far-more-tenuous absence-of-evidence evidence like this?"
Your lack-of-understanding is making you see conspiracy where it doesn't exist. "Notability" is a requirement for a Wikipedia page to continue existing, and it's decided by other Wikipedia editors.
But I do appreciate that you recognize (unlike so many others here) that her social-media influencer antics are not at all unusual for that field, and not the reason why Hilaria is a story.
Um, those requirements are from St. Patrick Cathedral in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ugh, not very pleasant to see all those grouped together in an easily digestible list, but thank you!
First, this definitely isn't evidence that she's a hypocrite. That would require her to be a major player in the operation at Yoga Vida, which, just like extensive time in Spain, seems to be something she wanted people to believe, rather than something that's actually true.
Then, the plaintiffs allege that the instructors conspired to export YV's client database, which they were not authorized to do, and sent a mass email to that list of clients. I have no idea how meritorious such a lawsuit is
There have been a lot of people in this sub over the last couple weeks questioning "how did she get away with this for so long?? People on the Internet have been talking about it for at least 5 years! Why wasn't it a story until now?!" The non-answer answer is "because the right series of events hadn't happened until now". Essentially, the story hadn't bubbled up to enough influential and listened-to people until now, so it had very little spread. Part of the process for a story to bubble up to the next level of influence is for that level to have trust in the lower-level source. - YES, PLEASE EXPLAIN MY OWN STORY BACK TO ME THAT IS AT THE TOP OF THIS SUBREDDIT.
"Yeah, obviously even if I *had* the power to make this Reddit sub a repository of impeccably-sourced content, I know it wouldn't actually make a damn difference. But, I had to give it a shot anyway." -COME AGAIN?? YOU MEAN PEOPLE DIDN'T APPRECIATE YOU SHOWING UP OUT OF THE BLUE WAY AFTER THE STORY HAD RAN, ACTING LIKE AN OVERBEARING MANAGER WHO BERATES THEM FOR NOT DOCUMENTING THEIR "WORK" THE WAY YOU WANT IT DONE? THEY DIDN'T LIKE BEING GIVEN ASSIGNMENTS WITH DEADLINES? I'M SHOCKED THAT DIDN'T WORK OUT FOR YOU. This is Reddit, douchebag, not Time Magazine. And the story had already run. Everywhere. You showed up afterward, barked a bunch of demands at people, and are now complaining that my subreddit is unorganized and you "tried" to fix it but couldn't?
"Really it's just a nostalgic rant missing the "good old days" of this sub (like 5 days ago) when it was genuinely producing a high density of quality, original information that uncovered a lot of truth." --THEN LEAVE FINALLY
"Yeah, now this is the kind of quality-content I came here for!" -Reddit?
"I actually have Google Doc filled with links, mostly organized as a timeline of Hilaria's whole life. I've been trying to decide whether I should open it to crowd-sourced contributions, but it still feels a bit messy/incomplete for me to do that just yet." - AND IT'S SAFE TO SAY AFTER TONIGHT, YOU NEVER WILL.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, HE APPARENTLY INVENTED NAPSTER!!
"I was one of the first people in the world to host downloadable audio files on a website (from a dorm-room server), so I was long familiar with the music side of it. Once Spotify et al finally came along and revealed that "hey, if you make it easy, most people don't actually want to steal stuff" that really changed a lot in that world, a bit similar to what the changing business models have done for the software world."
​
Here is his "Manifesto":
https://www.reddit.com/HilariaBaldwin/comments/kp71jo/this_sub_has_begun_playing_right_into_hilarias/

Thank you to everyone for your very kind words and support. It has really given me a sense of hope and pride in our community. Thank you for the awards, I certainly wasn't expecting any of that when I started writing this! Thank you to the mods for allowing this post to stay and especially to all of you thus far for their contributions. We will get through this lockdown together (whilst remaining very separated) and be stronger for it.
Firstly, thank you for being so proactive in your child's education. I understand that things are very difficult for everyone right now.
I've been teaching Primary for 10 years or so and currently doing supply work. Well, I was. The school dropped me due to the schools closing. Feel free to reply / message me if you need a hand with anything.
Some resources in no particular order (many of them are free, I have only accessed them as a teacher, they should be fine for parents. Some resources might be worth contacting your school to implement on a larger scale):
Ones that I have used personally:

• Twinkl - many resources, some of them free. Very pretty, many of them are differentiated.
• TES - resources made by teachers. Many of them include lesson plans. Vast majority are free.
• EpicReading - Reading books for kids, library has their own books as well as some more well known ones. I used it myself for remote reading with my classes.
• TeachersPet - similar to Twinkl
• TeachersPayTeachers - similar to TES
• PrimaryResources - similar to TES
• WhiteRoseMaths - Maths resources. Lesson plans, videos, worksheets. The home learning section is really good.
• NumeracyNinjas - Quick maths skills - it is aimed at KS3, but I use it in UKS2 no problem.
• OakNationalAcademy - Entire lessons, resources, teacher made instructional videos. All done, day by day for you. If you are struggling to think of what to teach and when, this is a really good place to start!
• BBCBitesize- similar to the above.
• TeachHandwriting- Great resources to help with handwriting. Worksheets, online videos. Covers most schools type of handwriting - you will need to check which kind of handwriting your school does (should be on the policies section of your schools website).
• Your local library might have online resources available.
• Mindfullness colourings for children are great.
• JoeWicks - did an entire PE series last summer. If you haven't already, it's worth a look. They are about 30 minutes long. I think he might be doing it again this time around...
• MathsFactor - Carol Vorderman's maths. Not used it myself.
• NRICH - Loads of maths games focusing on skills (more than just games)
• TopMarks - similar to the above.
• TheRoyalInstitution - science experiments that you can do at home.
• Scratch- Great, free coding website. Loads of examples. Can be used to simply make a sprite move, all the way to creating entire games.
• Kodu - Fun way to learn coding
• TimesTableRockStars - Lots of schools using this for children to practise their times tables.
• GoNoodle - mindfulness, yoga, PE, educational songs.
• HamiltonTrust - lots of resources for English, Maths, Science. They also have some home learning packs.
• Read Write Inc. Phonics - really effective phonics for children. It is the best scheme for phonics that I have personally used. They are doing daily phonics lessons on their YouTube channel although apparently they are only staying up for 24 hours! There is also some information for parents here - you were most likely taught to read differently, you will need to understand how the children are taught in order to support them.
• JollyPhonics - another scheme which is often used by a lot of schools.
• Kahoot - lots of pre-made free quizzes, you can also create your own. They can be completed by yourself, with people in your household or with the children's friends remotely. Only people with the code can join your quiz, so should be safe.
• Child lead - don't forget - children learn through play. They need time away from their work to play. Playing is still learning. Don't be afraid to not to 'formal' learning and play with them. If they have something they really want to learn about that day, then go for it - it will be so much more powerful and effective when it stems from their own interests - you can easily hit curriculum targets too!

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Links as suggested by others:

• Seneca - KS2, KS3, GCSE & A Levels (not sure I agree with the use of the word "funnest"!)
• FreeCodeCamp - "FreeCodeCamp is used by kids and adults alike to learn web design - HTML, CSS and Javascript. Lessons are broken down into bitesize steps and later challenges, but it's all optional and nothing is locked behind anything else"
• CodeAcademy - Coding for older children.
• PBSKids - Apps for learning about nature, science, engineering, etc...
• CosmicKidsYoga - Yoga which is accessible for younger children. Often based around a theme (Minecraft, Star Wars etc). I've used this before in PE - kids have always enjoyed it.
• CMIT - Huge amount of maths resources from Reception to A-Level.
• MaddieMoate - family science show.
• ReadingEggs - Reading, Maths, games and songs.
• ClassroomSecrets - Range of resources, including home learning and a timetable to stick to.
• PopUK - Not personally used it, but a lot of schools are using it for singing (might not seem important, but singing is often a part of children's daily worship (daily worship is not necessarily religious))
• Letters&Sounds - phonics learning which you can do at home.
• PhonicsBloom - online games to help with phonics.
• PhonicsPlay - Phonics home learning, they have very kindly enabled free access for all of their content.
• ICTGames - Maths and English games - including spelling, writing, phonics
• ProofIndex- maths resources provided by mike_the_tutor
• ​

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Important updates / other info:

• BBC from 11th Jan: CBBC are planning a three hour block of Primary programming from 9am - live lessons etc... BBC Two will have learning for Secondary pupils. All will be available on BBC Red Button / iPlayer as well. Hoping that this will be really good, I understand that a lot of people are finding the structure and timetable of a day challenging, this should help!
• For schools: You can request more devices for children who are unable to access learning here.
• There is help available for those with limited internet access.

I've put it as a quick Google Sheets, just in case that makes it easier to find again for you all!
​
I'll add to this list as I cast my mind back to anything else that I think is useful, but hopefully these will get you started.

Hi, I’m Ziggs, one of the admins of XTRO. I’m UK based myself but we have guardians worldwide. We've recently filled our main clan XTRO so are looking to fill up X2RO with guardians on Playstation. We use discord to team up so whether you're in XTRO or X2RO doesn't make a difference as we also have non-clan members about. We have about 200 members on our discord so there's always someone online!A bit about us below: We are XTRO. Xtremely Ordinary Gamers, coming together, to deliver greatness throughout the galaxy. We are a mature clan who are looking for chill active adult guardians to enjoy the game of destiny with and help build our community. We have a dedicated core group of players that are always willing to help a guardian in need. Whether you are looking to go flawless in raids, chase for seals, or participate in our seasonal, clan-wide PVP tournament, we welcome all guardians of all skill levels in both PVE and PVP.
We only have a few requirements to join us:- 1 – Over 18’s only. Toxicity will not be tolerated. 2 – Use Discord. Discord activity is a requirement and is something that is continuously monitored. This is for the sole reason of building a close knit and co-operative clan. Teaming up and forming fireteams is at the heart of what we do. Solo play is fine, but the nature of Destiny is to form teams and game together. 3 - We are a strict against using the term KWTD (Know What To Do). We are all learning, open to teaching and helping each other get the best experience out of Destiny.
So whether you are an Xtremely ordinary or Xtremely outstanding guardian, whichever category you fit in to, you will be welcomed into a close knit, friendly community of gamers with a common goal and love of gaming. We all have jobs, families etc and understand real life comes first. If this sounds good to you, drop a reply or PM me and I’ll respond asap.
u/czarnicoloff and u/knedthered will also be floating about as some of the american X2RO admins to help with replies and recruitments :)
Cheers!

Hello r audiodrama! We survived 2020!
According to u/thecambridgegeek 's AudioDramaDebut Twitter, he tracked 1363 audio drama/fiction/RPG debuts in 2020. That's a lot of shows to be competing for attention and some may have fallen through the cracks. I've a curated list of debuts from July 2020 to now, that still have 20 or fewer ratings on the iTunes store. Links are either to landing pages with multiple subscription options or directly to RSS feeds. If you have suggestions for shows that I may have missed, please feel free to add in the comments. If you're interested in exploring past posts I have made to highlight underrated podcasts, check these links out: 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6. Some of those podcasts went on to acquire a large following but others could use your help.
There's also been interest in supporting podcasts by Black creators so I've highlighted the relevant podcasts.
​

1. Little Montgomery (Comedy, Complete): Megan and Kimmy are fourteen-years-old, best friends, and currently planning to commit grand larceny against country music star Rick Montgomery at his concert tonight. As they put their plan into play, songs will sung, secrets will be revealed, and teenage girls will find out how difficult it is to exact revenge.
2. October Jones & Fish With Legs (Fantasy, Family Friendly): Fish with Legs, a fish with legs, is the Elemental Creature of water. She and her human best friend October Jones are trying to stop an evil two-headed snake from releasing a terrible monster that will destroy the world! October's brooding teenage angst and Fish's bubbly optimism make for an interesting pair as they set out together to warn the other Elemental Creatures about the snakes’ devious plan...
3. Seeds (Historical Fiction, Complete): A new podcast series based on the incredible true story of the world’s first seed bank. Established in St Petersburg in 1921 by Nikolai Vavilov, it contained vital samples of crops and plants from all over the world to guard against famine and preserve the future of biodiversity.
4. If Anyone Should Find This (Apocalyptic, Weird Horror, Complete): The world is changing. Will you change with it? “If Anyone Should Find This” is a 9 episode audio drama that follows two security guards as their lives are forever transformed.
5. Nicked (Friendship, Family Friendly, Complete): Since childhood, Nicoletta Nowell and Sarah Locke were inseparable. But the start of eighth grade marked Nicoletta’s sudden transformation from best friend to relentless bully with seemingly no cause. Come December, Sarah is resigned to the new state of affairs until she is swept up in a plot to straighten her bully out by Colzsákos—a Christmas faerie of the Holly Court, specializing in reforming naughty children. It seems like a dream come true, but is Col as ‘good’ as he seems, and can his reformation methods be trusted? A little Mean Girls, a little A Christmas Carol, and a little Labyrinth, Nicked is a holiday faerie tale about good kids, bad kids, and best friendship gone cold.
6. Crypt I.D. (Cryptid): The world is stranger than it seems. Incomprehensible creatures, inexplicable events, the weird and unusual are lurking around every corner. Most people will never see it once. This audio drama follows the experiences of a woman who can't seem to escape it. Note: Ignore the D&D episodes and description. The Crypt I.D. episodes are scripted.
7. Eternal Strife (Comedy): "Life's a bitch - and then you can't die" Life. Death. God. Immortality. Aliens ... a flatulent self-righteous seagull. This high concept comedy series has it all!
8. Today's Lucky Winner (Comedy, Supernatural): “Life may not be fair, but the afterlife tries to be.” That’s the motto of the DMV. (The Department of Mishaps and Violence).When Dawn Menendez finds out that she’s met her untimely demise in a freak curling iron/fire sprinkler accident, she’s met with a posthumous opportunity. She was the 777th soul reaped by the department that day. She now has the opportunity to go back to earth for an entire year, chaperoned by the Reaper who took her soul. The only hitch? Before she’s sent back to earth, she learns that her cosmic scale has been found wanting. Her soul weighs just enough to get sent to a hell dimension. What could she have possibly done? All she did was play MMO’s and go to work. Her first night on earth, her reaper suggests that her accidental demise may have been murder. If she can prove she was murdered, she gets to be reincarnated, and avoid going to hell. Now, Dawn has a year to prove she was murdered and balance the cosmic scales in her favor. Things would be a lot easier if her Reaper would stop getting high and help her.
9. The Embers of Eden (Science Fiction, Thriller): Rival officers Sumner and Hewitt have found themselves trapped inside the mysterious ship which destroyed their own. Finding the truth about its origin may be just as important as staying alive. They'll have to set aside their personal conflict to withstand alien attacks, killer drones, the vacuum of space, and creatures which defy nature. Is the priority to escape or thwart a new danger to all human worlds? What secrets still burn like embers? Each episode of this science fiction adventure switches between the perspectives of Hewitt and Sumner as they fight for survival and answers.
10. The Legion Tapes (Post-apocalyptic, Science Fiction): The Legion Tapes are selections from an archive chronicling the world after the end. The alien Legion takes over worlds and absorbs the sentients of those worlds. They've assimilated eleven species so far, and humanity is next on their list. But even after the nations of the world fall, and even after being reduced to communicating solely by radio, humanity's fighting back. Season 1 (subtitled The Archivist) begins four years and fifteen days after the Legion's arrival on Earth. Normally content to listen, record, and edit tapes for the Archive, Owl finds herself drawn into more and more danger after a mysterious car brings the Legion to her door.
11. Dinosaur Hunter (Time Travel, Adventure): Donovan King is a Paleontologist and Dinosaur Denier (what?!) who has developed a way to travel back in time to disprove the existence of dinosaurs. The plan goes awry, Donovan and his videographer Karl get stuck in the Cretaceous Period unprepared…while his lab assistant Holly tries to fix the machine to get them back. Their survival is in serious jeopardy, and not just because they’re being hunted by hungry beasts or dying from exposure.There is much more at stake...
12. My Parallel Life (Young Adult, Parallel Universes): Daniel Jones' perfect life just took a sharp turn for the worse. His parents separated, he has to move to an apartment in the city and go to a PUBLIC school (ugh!) where everyone is a TOTAL SLACKER and no one cares about his high GPA and PRESTIGIOUS WRITING AWARDS, and worst of all, his mom just up and left the country. Daniel is working up a plan to make his life more acceptable, when he discovers a strange door... A door that takes him to a parallel life where his parents hadn't separated.
13. The Devil Hates Mondays (Workplace Comedy): A supernatural audiocomedy about a Regular Guy that gets caught up in a Not-So-Regular situation.
14. Clarion Dawn (Cyberpunk, Complete): In a disquieting future, all of humanity is united by the System, the ultimate in communications technology that connects all minds simultaneously. But in the distant fringes of outer worlds, agitators plot to separate human consciousness and society from the System's power; it falls on Captain Kennick Anderson to stop them, but in the twilight solitude of space he's left to wonder where his loyalties really lie. "Clarion Dawn" is a tense thriller that explores strange new ideas about human nature, in the style of classic 20th century science fiction.
15. Russell Gets Revenge (Dark Comedy, Complete): Russell Gets Revenge is a pitch black comedy about a man on a quest for vengeance for the murder of his wife. We follow him and his friends and family as he struggles through all the indignities of being a hapless accountant trying to hunt down a murderer.
16. Through The Attic Door (Comedy, Surreal): Step through the attic door, and into the wacky and whimsical world of Hotel Elsewhere! Join The Scientist, The Gremlin, Brian The Robot and the colourful residents of the Hotel in this narrative broadcast about secret mice revolutions, unexpected friendships, and all the radio hijacking you can handle!
17. The Strange Tales of Virgil Kaylock (Horror): Set in the 1920’s. “The Tales” tell the story of Virgil Kaylock. A modest and insecure young man whose life takes the strangest of turns as he battles with dark, supernatural forces and confronts his own feelings of inadequacy and fear. His adventure takes him to a haunted Moor, a cursed Sailing Ship, the Hellfire caves and the Arctic wastes as he battles with an incomprehensible evil. But why? Why do the forces of darkness pursue him? He will ultimately discover the shocking truth.
18. Blast into Adventure! (Drama, Complete): A COVID-quarantined suburban dad starts listening to a 1940s radio show that shouldn’t exist. Then the show starts listening back.
19. Moving On by Cinema Viscera (Drama, Comedy): Molly has always had trouble facing the harsh realities of life, so when her partner of seven years, Jake, suddenly walks out on her, Molly’s subconscious gives her a unique coping tool in the guise of a larger than life imaginary version of Jake who won't leave her alone. With the help of her best friends Delilah and Zack - both with problems of their own - Molly has to face the hard fact that she has been dumped and find a way to regain her sense of self if she has any hope of getting rid of her imaginary boyfriend...
20. TIGHTS (Superhero, Comedy, Complete): Geoff wants to be a superhero. But he's not very super.
21. Vamps (Comedy, Urban Fantasy): Glizelda, Mariana, Ophelia, and Jean have been stuck in a castle together for a long time. A very, VERY long time...
22. Shark-Man (Comedy, Family Friendly, Complete): Shark-Man is a 9 part series. It tells the story of Dewey Dorsalfine and his journey into shark magic and discovering his true shark nature on the Oregon Coast. This is a fantasy story meant for the whole family. It involves silly language and magical thinking.
23. Pershing Radio (Post-Apocalyptic): A young woman crawls out of the bank vault she was working in when the bombs fell and finds the world destroyed around her. She steps over her dead coworkers and crosses the highway to break into an old radio building. Unsure if the broadcast equipment still works, she uses it to try and contact survivors, wherever they may be, and until she finds them, she reports on her surroundings, both the terrifying and the benign.
24. Papal Aspirations (Comedy, Mystery): Pope Pius XIII is dead. Accident? Plucky reporter Meredith Blanc-Schwartz isn't so sure, so she makes her way to Rome to ask the Vatican’s very holy men some very uncomfortable questions. (Voiced entirely by two young ingenues / novice voice actresses.)
25. The Stranger (Horror): When comedy podcast bro Julian Black discovers his great-grandfather's tapes, he assumes it's an immersive radio drama. That was his first mistake. Posting the tapes online? Well, now he's asking for it. He'll come face-to-face with supernatural creatures as he's plunged into a centuries-old mystery. And at its heart is a mysterious Stranger in a dark suit.
26. The Petrol Station (Horror): Nina Sudbrooke is a young girl who works the nights at her local remote petrol station. One evening she encounters something...stranger and now is desperate to tell somebody, anybody. The Petrol station is a semi horror podcast about the lonely world of working the graveyard shift in the middle of nowhere.
27. The TARN Conspiracy (Thriller): When a teen boy goes missing from the remote logging town of Archangel, Brandon Jones, a tabletop game store owner and conspiracy theorist, can’t help but see the similarities to his own sister’s unsolved disappearance from twenty years earlier. He decides to publish an investigative podcast drawing attention to Thomas’s case before it goes as cold as his sister’s, but soon discovers that the reason his sister's case remained unsolved may be more sinister than he imagined. The TARN Conspiracy is a fictional story told as a series of investigative reports that's perfect for fans Twin Peaks, and The X-Files.
28. This is Where We Go (Science Fiction, Black Creator, Complete): This series is inspired by the OCTAVIA BUTLER quote from PARABLE OF THE SOWER: “All that you touch/You Change. All that you Change/Changes you. The only lasting truth/Is Change./God is Change.” A future built on commodity and access is altered forever with the disappearance of it’s main life force. With the fate of the universe rocked by change, four strangers find the answer to survival in each other. Four strangers, four paths, one destination.
29. This Mortal Coil (Comedy, Mystery, Complete): When a Hamlet-inspired murder ruins her dress rehearsal, Elissa’s delighted. The detective’s an old actor pal and she’d forgotten her lines anyway. Lured in by the promise of Jammie Dodgers, Elissa pursues a dastardly killer with a penchant for Shakespeare.
30. The Rift (Steampunk): A steampunk, monster-hunting adventure through Victorian England and the surrounding Universes. It's steampunk Victorian England and monsters are invading the otherwise peaceful balls and tea parties. The Baroness, gutsy and eccentric, funds a team of monster hunters that include her brother, a scholar who recently found out he was the father of a teenager, her protegee, a young scientist whose mother wants her to spend more time flirting than tinkering with machines, and her man-servant Gunner. At its heart, it's a character piece about finding yourself in a world that won't accept you, but building the community that will lift you up.
31. Grounds (Drama, Black Creator): GROUNDS is the story of 5 Black Professors at a 4 year PWI. A fictitious college and town in the rural south, which is the home of a predominately white 4 year college with students totaling 1700 with 15% of those self-identifying as students of color. 7% of those are Black. The story follows the lives of five Black professors. The only full time, tenure track Black lecturers who work at Morris & Wilkins University. It highlights the trials, obstacles, and joys of maintaining a Black existence within a white academic structure.
32. The Rest is Electric (Science Fiction): In the year 2109 humans and robots work alongside each other as coworkers. Jordan Mede, a human employee of Somnotech, is transferred to the entirely robot run manufacturing department. While initially the transfer seems to be the result of a clerical error, Jordan soon begins to suspect that there’s something more sinister going on…
33. Swiss and Lali hijack Hollywood(Comedy): Swiss and Lali Hijack Hollywood follows two young L.A. slackers who take over Hollywood by becoming accidental con artists, all so they can give up “the hustle” and retire at their dream beach house in Malibu. Utilizing multi-media platforms that span across audio, animation, and live-action video, Swiss and Lali creates a colorful world of dysfunction, shenanigans, bamboozling, and most importantly, friendship.
34. The Way We Haunt Now (Supernatural): Eulalie Elizabeth Reed is haunted by lots of things. Paths not taken. Failed relationships. Mistakes. Fears. Hopes. But she’s never been properly haunted before. That’s about to change. The Way We Haunt Now is a lighthearted horror audio drama about female friendships, found family, and fighting the narratives that try to define us––even in the afterlife. Oh, and ghosts. Did we mention ghosts?
35. Absolutely No Adventures (Fantasy, Comedy): Absolutely No Adventures is a fantasy (un)adventure podcast that follows Sig, the owner of Signature Eats bakery, as he aggressively avoids becoming embroiled in any daring quests or chosen one shenanigans even though the universe really seems to want him to do just that. Follow Sig as he chills with his friends and stays far, far away from the slightest whiff of adventure. And bakes. He also bakes.
36. Haunted House Flippers (Comedy, Horror): Hilarity and spooky shenanigans occur when Tom and Janet set out to renovate and resell an inherited home that turns out to be intensely haunted.
37. Fast Radio Burst! (Science Fiction): Contemporary suspense radio from quarantined New York.
38. Daedalus Compound (Surreal): Jesper Ikaros has found himself in a peculiar situation, he's trapped in a maze-like library with a book that contains his whole life story. Welcome to the Daedalus Compound. Where the past haunts you, the present hunts you, and the only way to escape is by getting to the center of the maze.
39. The Gaia Miracles (Science Fiction, Environment): Join me, Barry Orsen, a journalist with Nice Guise Media, as I investigate the Gaia Miracles more than a year after the catastrophic ending in Chicago and the disappearance of Elisa Garvey, my friend and the first reporter to witness one of the Miracles. With each interview, the established story unravels. Who is to blame? The industrial giant at the center of the Miracles, The Hydell Corporation, or the mysterious group who made them a target, Gaia Prime.
40. Forgive Me! (Comedy, Religion): Father Ben left his congregation in Binghamton, New York, in the cover of night for the smaller, quieter pastures of St. Patrick’s. As our new, young, and at times progressive priest begins to acquiesce to his new surroundings, he finds himself butting heads with the eccentric parishioners who come to him seeking solace and advice. Whether he’s trying to understand Old Margaret’s “usual” confession; parsing out how Tom can better help care for his wife’s pet pig, David; or getting to the bottom of the Christmas Eve Mass Incident, Forgive Me! explores the intertwined lives in Ben’s new community and the funny, sad, and sometimes painful experiences that come out of confession and the Catholic experience.
41. The Boston Project Podcast (Drama): The Boston Project is a new works program that supports the creation of new plays set in Boston, each of which explores what it means to live in this community, and taps into the many experiences and identities that make up life in the Hub.
42. Cinematic Sound Saturdays (Multiple Series, Genre Fiction): This series is a collection of audio dramas written, performed, produced, and recorded by students at Columbia College Chicago.

Artist: Meghan Trainor
Album: Treat Myself (Deluxe)
Label: Epic Records
Released: Standard edition January 31st, Deluxe edition July 17th
Listen: Apple Music / Spotify

Intro:

Meghan Trainor fans are called Megatronz (with a "z") and I'm proud to call myself one. I've developed a reputation around this sub for being the #1 Meghan Trainor stan and while I may amp it up a bit at times for comedic effect, my love for her is completely genuine. I love her voice and her music, she was one of the artists who helped me really get into pop music and I'll always have a special place in my heart for her because of that.
Unfortunately, not everybody else is as warm and fuzzy towards her. I've spoken at length before about just why exactly I think that people dislike Meghan with such a passion so I won't repeat myself but suffice to say, watching following the release of this album was certainly interesting because people were constantly jumping out of the woodworks to say she was a flop and her music was bad.
Those bitches were wrong. Okay maybe not about the flop thing because this album did (unfortunately) have very poor numbers, but they were wrong about it being bad because Treat Myself is actually a fantastic pop album with a lot of great songs that I think was unfairly ignored by the pop community. I was hoping that in the age of poptimism Meghan and her music would be embraced but that didn't seem to happen, so I guess that means I'm going to have to be the one to offer her the critical reevaluation...
Buckle in kids, I'm going to take you on a guided tour through the past three years of being a Megatron and the genesis/revelations of Treat Myself (Deluxe), one of the most under appreciated pop albums of 2020.

No Excuses:

In March of 2018, after two years without an album, the Megatronz were finally blessed with the lead single of Meghan’s third studio album: “No Excuses”
A bright burst of pop energy with a colorful music video showing off Meghan’s newly slimmed down figure, “No Excuses” (on paper at least) seemed like a smart idea for a lead single because it’s everything people liked about her biggest hits cranked up to 11: the entire song is just a sassy hook and chorus, nonstop catchiness and quotable lines.
It’s actually the shortest original song Meghan has ever released (barring the intro track to Title), there are barely even verses or a bridge because the song has absolutely no time of anything that isn’t an annoyingly catchy melody line. While it’s easy to write this off as her showing a lack of evolution there’s actually something kind of bold about watching an artist release a song that’s just their sound boiled down to its absolute essence; she knew what people were expecting from her and she threw her whole body into it.
On a musical level, the gambit paid off: “No Excuses” is ear candy that’s super fun to listen to and it was decently well received. From a business perspective though it was a bit of a letdown, despite a lot of promotion the song peaked outside of the Top 40 on the BB100 and only hovered around for 12 weeks; the song did decent on streaming and would end up being certified Platinum, but it wasn’t the grand comeback many were hoping for.

Let You Be Right/Can't Dance:

A few months later Meghan follow up with a double single release (remember this being a huge thing four years ago?), the more promoted of the two being a smooth disco song called “Let You Be Right.” Meghan was always known for using throwback sounds but she’d never actually touched disco before, and it was a great fit for her! The bassline groove on this song is really good but I think what really sells it is the vocal arrangement, these harmonies are so pretty and do a lot to elevate the song. The lyrics for the song are nice as well, they show unexpected maturity in how she depicts a couple communicating to peacefully work out conflict in their relationship.

Despite being all around well received the song underperformed even worse than “No Excuses,” failing to chart on the BB100 at all, though it did find some success on the radio.

The other half of this double single release was the intriguing ‘80s number “Can’t Dance,” which in my opinion was done very dirty. First of all, I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this but the cover art is literally just her in one of the outfits from the “No Excuses” video, and second of all they shot a music video for this that Meghan apparently loved that wasn’t released for some reason.
But the song itself is an absolute banger! Meghan has never sounded this coy or sexy before, and the arrangement of the song is really cool. The trade off between the bassline and the drums is so satisfying and the music responds to her vocals perfectly, it’s almost as if you can hear her showing the music how to dance.
These are two of my favorite Meghan Trainor songs and probably some of her best but they were, to quote Xtina, perhaps a bit too ahead of their time for some people. For perspective this was the Billboard Hot 100 the week these songs were released… you’ll notice that basically none of them sound anything like either of these.
“Let You Be Right” was a nu-disco hit that came out just a bit too early for the “disco revival” and “Can’t Dance,” with its ear-catching unusual vocal delivery and constant references to dancing, feels like it was trying to be a Tik Tok hit before Tik Tok hits had become a “thing;” perhaps if these songs had come out a year later they would have had legs, but back in 2018 they both tragically flopped and neither are present on the album’s final tracklist.

All The Ways/Treat Myself:

“All The Ways” was the next Meghan song we’d get and it’s a frothy pop song with a huge chorus. The unapologetically lovestruck energy of the song is just infectious and I love the lyrics of it, which are apparently based off of a real conversation Meghan had with her husband. Although just a promotional single it got some attention because it was used in a Target commercial, so it probably made Meghan some decent money! Fittingly enough the song would end up being one of the final album’s Target Exclusive tracks, though it would also get some time to shine on The Love Train EP (which we’ll discuss more in just a minute).
The final song we’d hear from this “phase” of Treat Myself was, ironically enough, the title track. A self-care anthem, the song seems to combine everything we’d heard from the album so far: another song with a huge chorus and bright themes, with another funky nu-disco bassline. This one also ended up in a Target commercial and would then also be relegated to Target Exclusive track status, meaning that standard and deluxe editions of the album are hilariously enough missing the title song.
After the release of “Treat Myself” the song, it was announced that Treat Myself the album would be delayed indefinitely, and the version of the album that we’d been building up to was effectively dead.

Features:

Though the official reasoning given for the push back was because Meghan was in such a good, happy place in her life that she couldn’t stop writing songs (and I’m sure this was true to some extent), all of the writing on the wall pointed to her label being unsatisfied with the reception to the project. Both of Meghan’s previous albums had been propped up by a big hit that generated interest in their releases but that didn’t seem to be happening for Treat Myself, leaving the project in a bit of a limbo. The album was quietly pulled from online retailers without any explanation, the January release date approached with no more news, and eventually even Meghan herself expressed frustration with the album’s confusing rollout.
Outside of her solo music though Meghan’s life was going fine. She was preparing for her wedding with her fiancé (more on that in a minute), she had a gig hosting Fox’s singing reality competition The Four (a somewhat messy show that gave us this bizarre moment), and her songs were still getting placements for commercial use. She was also making rounds in the industry doing a number of collaborations, presumably to get her name back out there and build buzz for more solo music, and just as a quick recap of this era I’ll list them out now:

• “More Than Friends” with Jason Mraz (a cute little acoustic duet)
  
• “Hey DJ” with CNCO and Sean Paul (a foray into the Latin market that works surprisingly well, her vocals on this song are great)
  
• “Just Got Paid” with Sigala, Ella Eyre, and French Montana (this one was a genuine hit in the UK)
  
• “Sugar Baby” with Macy Gray (this one is just a songwriting credit but you pretty clearly hear her backing vocals)
  

And while this was fun and all, the Megatronz were still waiting for the album. We wouldn't get it for a while, but we would get a nice little treat to tide us over: The Love Train

The Love Train:

To understand the next step that Meghan would take we need to look to the past: Back in December of 2017 it was announced that after a year of dating Meghan Trainor had become engaged to her then-boyfriend Daryl Sabara, an actor mainly known for playing Juni Cortez in the popular Spy Kids films. Their fairytale romance became the inspiration for The Love Train, an EP released on Valentine's Day of 2019.

If you somehow haven't seen it, check out the now infamous "bizarre, super horny" press release that accompanied it.

While I won’t discuss The Love Train in depth here it’s important to the narrative because Meghan herself described the EP as a “teaser” for what Treat Myself would become. It’s the transitional project that forms the bridge between the “spunky, independent young woman” persona that she had on her first two albums and the more wholesome, family focused branding that she would project going forwards. Her husband and family were heavily involved in the creation of the album, doing some co-writing and backup vocals on all the tracks (which would become standard for Meghan's projects in the future) and even editing some of the music videos together.
The Love Train is a very strong EP, I actually consider it as Meghan's strongest body of work (albeit her shortest). A low-key visual album (every single song got a music video) it has one of Meghan's best songs and perfectly captures the lovestruck euphoria Meghan was swept up in while she was writing it.
However speaking of being swept up...

Wave:

Releasing a few months after The Love Train in the autumn of 2019, “Wave” felt like the true lead single of Treat Myself. After over a year of postponements and loose singles, “Wave” was the song that I heard that made me go “oh so the album is coming out now” because there was no going back after Meghan dropped one of the best songs of her entire career.
Moody and ethereal, built around sparse chords and glitchy strings, “Wave” almost feels like it comes from another planet from the rest of Meghan’s discography. True to its name there’s a rhythm to “Wave,” a push back and forth between Meghan and the choral background singers that creates an almost madrigal feeling to the song (which is intentional, as the song was inspired by visits to Kanye West’s Sunday Service Choir) that’s at once epic and strangely gentle.
Mike Sabath, the co-writeproducer, surfaces in the second verse and his frenetic performance would feel out of place on a lot of tracks but fits perfectly into the dreamy atmosphere of “Wave.” The music video, which features Meghan as flesh toned goddess emerging from a roiling sea of bodies, is one of the most unusual and visually striking things that she’s released as well.

It’s tempting to think of “Wave” as something put out by a bold new Meghan but the opposite is actually true: the song was written back in 2016 during the Thank You era (note the red hair) and she’s had it sitting in her back pocket since then, waiting for the perfect moment.

So why did she choose to finally drop it in 2019? Well, while “Wave” is clearly a triumph it’s also (in some ways) a white flag. In interviews Meghan described radio stations as being baffled by the song because it was (once again) so different from everything that was successful at the moment, and the failure of this song was another painful reminder that the whims of the industry are often more important in finding success than having good music. After over a year of rewrites and promotion, her and her team decided that it was time to just get the album out.
This would become the ethos of Treat Myself going forwards: Meghan was going to literally treat herself and just release the songs that she wanted to. A release date was set, a new album cover was unveiled (which I like better than the old one but still don’t love), and a slew of promo singles followed. Each of these songs seemed to show a different side of Meghan, showcased a different aspect of her personality and musical identity, and were absolute bops on top of that!
Then finally, in January of 2020, over a year after the album was initially supposed to be released. Treat Myself finally dropped. Yes I walked seven miles to Target to buy it the day it came out and I listened to the album on Spotify the whole way there.

Nice To Meet Ya/Babygirl/Workin' On It:

Shortly before the release of the album Meghan teased the tracklist on her Instagram with emojis that represented each song and so while we knew the album began with “Wave,” the title of the second track (“🤝”) was kept a secret until the release of the album: “Nice To Meet Ya (feat. Nicki Minaj)”

Dedicated Meghan fans weren’t particularly surprised by his revelation as Meghan had mentioned the song and the Nicki feature in several interviews, but expected or not the song was still a bop and a great way to get eyes on the album on its release. While it’s a running gag that Nicki Minaj features are a dime a dozen in the industry, the collaboration actually came about because Meghan and Nicki became signed to the same management team. For all of her questionable character Nicki is still a delight to listen to on a track and of course her verse steals the show, plus she actually deigned to show up in person for the colorful “executive realness” flavored music video for once.

Nicki has actually been a subtle influence on Meghan’s music career (those of you who haven’t listened to Meghan’s albums might be surprised to learn that she does a decent amount of rapping) so it’s cool to see them on a track together; Meghan literally treated herself with this one. It’s still Meghan’s song though and she doesn’t slack off, the rest of the track is pretty good too. The production is very sparse and electronic but that works for the vibe she’s going for, which is quiet confidence. The whispered post-chorus hook is a bit played out in 2020 but I’ll be damned if I don’t get my life when she sings that pre-chorus!
“Nice To Meet Ya” introduces us to the theme of self-empowerment, something forever associated with Meghan that we’ll be revisiting several times throughout this album. “Babygirl,” which follows shortly after, is one such track. Shifting focus from empowering herself to empowering others, “Babygirl” is her advising someone to push through their doubts and learn to love themselves. The song is… honestly not one of my favorites but it has its fans and I understand why because it definitely sounds interesting. The production has this cavernous feel to it, it’s very like “Wave” in how it leans into glitchy production and choral background vocals, and it’s certainly a track with an air of gravity.
It makes a good companion piece with the following track, “Workin’ On It,” which tackles the same thematic ground from a slightly different angle. Featuring/co-written by fellow singer-songwriters Sasha Sloan and Lennon Stella, the gentle guitar driven song sees the three of them opening up about their insecurities and how hard it actually is to be empowered.
Meghan is a successful, happily married woman working in her dream job, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have internal doubts that she needs to overcome. Self-love is hard for a lot of people, and this moment of honesty is important to the conceptual continuity of the album because it provides some necessary context for her other songs, and to Meghan’s approach to music as a whole.

Evil Twin/Genetics/Another Opinion:

Let’s talk for a moment about camp. I’m not even gonna BEGIN to try to explain what it is because (as we learned during that infamous Met Gala) when you see it, you just know, and I know that Meghan is one of the best pop stars in the game at embodying camp in her music. She’s the perfect storm of camp: she has slightly ostentatious taste, a good sense of humor, and she’s a big sweetheart who’s 100% sincere in everything she does. This is important because camp needs sincerity to thrive. There has to be something real underneath all the cheesiness or else it’s just empty fluff, and Meghan always provides a ton of heart that works well to this end.

The most obvious example of camp on the album is “Evil Twin,” which sees Meghan blaming bad behavior during a night of partying on a Jekyll and Hyde-esque evil twin situation. The idea is wonderfully stupid but it’s not dumb just for dumb’s sake, the concept actually does make sense and she does use it to touch on some genuine insecurities (note that she describes being a little bit jealous of the evil twin for being evil, but freer); how she says it might be a little over the top, but what she’s trying to say is very clear and kind of makes sense. Because her intent shines through it’s fun rather than embarrassing.
Keeping this in mind, let’s examine “Genetics (feat. The Pussycat Dolls),” which I think is camp incarnate. Like, it says “(feat. The Pussycat Dolls)” but it’s literally just Nicole… that’s camp baby. (PS: The reason the song only has Nicole’s vocals is because it was recorded before the group’s reunion was finalized, not because they were trying to be shady) It’s an over-the-top song all about beautiful Meghan and Nicole are and how their bodies are snatched and it’s all 100% natural from their genetics, and they’ll literally spell it out for you.
It’s incredibly vapid and shallow but we also know it’s completely tongue in cheek because Meghan herself told us a few songs back that she’s not really like this. Even the production of the song underscores this: the hyper-polished club sound hearkens back to the trashy pop bops of the ‘10s, which were anything but serious. They take the “empowerment” message to the absolute extreme and in the process makes it nonthreatening, because when you can’t take something seriously then you’re not scared of indulging in it.

I’m not trying to posit that the song is actually Meghan’s way of coping with her deep seated insecurities or anything like that, more just that the song is meant to be, well… fun? Like many of Meghan’s more aggressively boastful tracks you’re meant to be singing along with her, bragging about your superior genetics like you’re one of the fictional members of The Pussycat Dolls singing Nicole’s backup, treating yourself to a moment where you’re the biggest badass in the world.

This is made more clear with “Another Opinion,” one of my favorite songs on the album. To bring up Nicki Minaj again this is her “Stupid Hoe” moment, an intentionally silly song where she fires back at the haters, and it has extra bite coming from an artist who people have had a LOT of opinions on throughout her career. With the singalong moments and built in hand-claps it’s clear that she intended for this to be a song the audience can participate in, inviting her fans to join in and cast off some haters of their own.

Blink/Funk/After You/Ashes/Lie To Me:

“Blink” touches on a similar topic from a more charitable perspective, offering an olive branch to her detractors rather than just the hand; it’s not just her bragging, it’s her extending an invitation to join in with her and who she is. Musically the song is one of my favorites on the album, it’s a tight bubblegum track that’s just galloping energy from start to finish. I’ve heard people describe the lyrics of this song as generic but I think there’s something nice about their simplicity and her confidence is infectious, I love that she owns what a cool experience she is. There’s so much power in just saying “don’t blink, you don’t want to miss even a SECOND of the person that I am!”

This sentiment is interesting when paired with the rest of the album because upon closer inspection there’s actually an undercurrent of this fear of being “missed” running throughout the album. Part of the reason that Meghan released The Love Train is because in her post-marital bliss she was pumping out love songs and didn’t want them to dominate the album, but in the end product the opposite is actually true and we end up with an album preoccupied with broken/dying relationships.

It’s interesting that the one song carried over from the EP (other than “All The Ways,” which got Target Exclusive status) was “After You,” a beautiful, dramatic piano ballad about anticipating the death of a lover. The song is updated to include a feature from up and comer AJ Mitchell (who sounds lovely) and it fits perfectly into the tracklist, more so than any of the cheerier tracks would have.
We should have anticipated this because the moody “Wave” was very clearly concerned with losing a relationship but surprisingly enough the next song on the album to touch on the topic is “Funk.” A super bright, upbeat party song that’s ostensibly a tribute to the bygone era of funk music, funk is more or less a not-so-subtle placeholder for a certain other four letter f-word that she uses while attempting to rekindle a dead flame.
It’s very much the kind of fun throwback song we expect from Meghan with some really great bass work (she is, after all, all about that bass) and a catchy melody. She sounds bold and like she’s having a ton of fun with this guy, even throwing in a campy spoken word section for good measure, and the result is one of the immediate “bops” on the album.
“Ashes” is more straightforwardly a breakup song. You can hear the sorrow and disappointment in her voice as she describes how this guy burned down their relationship, to the point where she has to be the one who ends it for both of them. It’s something of a fan favorite from the album, such a smooth pop song that’s very easy to listen to.
“Lie To Me” is sort of the lynchpin that brings together the album’s themes of relationships and empowerment by describing a situation where Meghan’s insecurities are directly related to the problems in her relationship. In the song she begs her partner to lie and pretend that they love her because even though she feels unworthy of them she can’t imagine life without them… this is like textbook fanfiction shit and I’m completely here for it. The production of the song is very colorful as well, there’s a lot of energy that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a song of this nature but it works well.

Here To Stay/Have You Now:

Nestled snugly in the middle of the album though we have “Here To Stay,” a tender acoustic moment which functions as a necessary counterpoint to the rest of the album. Unlike most of the other songs on the album which are all more or less targeted at abstract individuals, “Here To Stay” is very transparently written about her husband and how happy she is in their relationship.

Although she’s never commented on it the song seems to be the conclusion of a sort of “trilogy” of acoustic songs on her past three releases that have documented their relationship. On Thank You she had a song called “Hopeless Romantic” where she sung about holding out hope for love, and by pure serendipity the lyrics ended up describing how her and her husband would meet. “Marry Me” from The Love Train was a sweet little ukulele song about wanting to get married, which was written in a hotel room with Daryl after one of their first dates and would end up sung at their wedding.

“Here To Stay” is a portrait of her being happy in the relationship that she wanted, with a man who accepts her flaws and all. The insecurities about her relationship and herself are discussed, but she’s not afraid of them anymore because even if she doesn’t always have confidence in herself she knows that she can always have confidence in her husband. The song is very simple musically but that just puts focus on the message and the lyrics, and to that end “we can call a long time forever” is one of my favorite lyrics on the whole project. What a nice idea!
However if “Here To Stay” is cute, then “Have You Now” is gorgeous. The closer to the standard edition of the album, this was my favorite song of 2020 and it has become my favorite Meghan Trainor song in general. I think this song is absolutely perfect. A titanic pop song, it acts as the perfect finale for the album because it sees her both finally finding the love she longs for, and finally overcoming the turmoil of her past. The lyrics of the song are absolutely shameless in a strange sort of way, it takes guts to say that every love other than this one was worthless, that to be without this other person is to be weak, and then to just melt fully into pleas for forever… these are huge emotions, and fortunately the music is able to channel them as well.
Meghan Trainor is a master of making a song build. “Have You Now” starts off gentle and almost pastoral (there’s literally birds chirping in the background), but then that prechorus hits and the clapping starts and the drums begin drumming in a slow build of anticipation that crests in a brief moment of complete a cappella, after which she slams into a stuttering trap drop that lasts just as long as it needs to before giving way to the next verse so we can do it all again.
There’s a darker note of yearning in her voice at times that gives the song some stakes which comes to a head during the bridge, which features an eerie breakdown that adds a note of tension to the song at a critical point, but she persevere through and explodes into the final chorus with a full free voice that’s a joy to listen to. As the background singers begin chanting triumphantly she lets her phrasing become looser as she untethers from the melody slightly and just sings her heart out.

Deluxe Tracks:

The plaintive little “glad I have you now” that the song ends on is a fitting button to close the album on, but the deluxe edition contains a few extra tracks that function well as “end credits.” The three new tracks that the rerelease has are more overtly dance focused than the songs on the standard edition and feel much more in line with what people probably expected from the project after “Wave” dropped. I’ll rapid fire them because I don’t have much to say about them beyond that they sound good:

• “Make You Dance” was an obvious ploy for attention from Tik Tok but with its heavy bassline and Meghan’s simmering vocals it’s a fine song in its own right.
  
• “Underwater,” a collaboration with the producer Dillon Francis, is a thumping electropop song with slight tropical influences and a super fun drop.
  
• “You Don’t Know Me” is another empowerment anthem. Cute but a little forgettable.
  
• Not a song but I wanted to point out that the deluxe edition has my favorite of the three covers for the album
  

And then after acoustic flips on "Ashes" and "Workin' On It," the album is done!

Outro

The original lead single of the project “No Excuses” appears towards the end of the album and despite the album containing a solid diversity of sounds it still feels somewhat out of place in the track list. Treat Myself was reportedly rewritten four times before its release and the disconnect between the short, punchy ambitions of “No Excuses” and the comparatively more mature/ambitious vibe of the rest of the album is very noticeable.
In the years that this album was in development Meghan went from a girl to a woman, and you can hear the growth and maturity in the final project to the final project. For all of the problems that plagued the development of this album, Meghan did end up with a strong collection of songs that she should feel proud of and that her fans loved. Treat Myself is the perfect encapsulation of Meghan’s brand: an explosion of wholesome pop energy that’s a little bit messy, but with charm and catchiness in spades.
The fantastic Christmas album she dropped in the latter half of the year felt like a victory lap, another chance for her to flex the unique artistic voice that she's developed over the years; for all that she's so often decried as "generic" when you listen to her 2020 output, no other artist in the game right now would release some of the things that she did. She might not go down in history as one of the greats of pop music, but she's a treasure nonetheless and I hope we can all treat ourselves to more of her music for years to come. I'll definitely be revisiting this album at least!

Questions:

• What are your favorite songs that Meghan has dropped since Thank You (on this album or otherwise)?
  
• Treat Myself was apparently rewritten four times... do you think that the rewrites paid off, or that she should have stuck with the original version that she was building towards?
  
• What do you think Meghan and her team could have done to make the album more successful?
  
• Did this album change your opinions on Meghan at all?
  

Here are my recommendations of games that I played for the first time in 2020. S-tier games that have become my all-time favourites made this list. 2020 was the year where I finally realised which games I actively want to play and it’s made my gaming experiences so much more entertaining.
Here are also some games to completely avoid with exaggerated opinions. These are some of the worst games I’ve ever played, ranging anywhere from confusingly irredeemable to malignant, insulting games that are only holding back video games as an entertainment and art form, and hate you for playing them.
I’ve listed some better games at the end of each review as much better alternatives with similar gameplay or style. Please vehemently disagree with me in the comments
Best: Resident Evil 2 Resident Evil 2 has everything I want from an action game. The core gameplay of running around a police department, escaping fights with monsters and zombies while working out puzzles is Resident Evil’s thing, and Resident Evil 2 adds solid gunplay, meaningful weapon upgrades and rewarding items for putting in extra effort. I only missed one which required some backtracking near the end of the game, and realised that about 5 minutes after a point of no return. The Tyrant chasing you around adds a lot of flavour to the game, forcing you to adapt strategies and plans. Resident Evil 2 also has my personal distinction of being the only game I’ve ever finished twice back to back, finishing Leon and then Claire’s story in a week.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Take everything I said about Resident Evil 2, plus frightening horror that actually got to me at points, a better story, and a first person perspective that works incredibly well, and that’s what I have to say about Resident Evil 7. Absolutely the best in the series as it amplifies what makes the Resident Evil games so great while adding equally interesting new ideas. The Baker family’s grotesque transformations and gory boss fights are highlights, chainsawing an old man’s face and shotgunning a crazy old woman is the most fun I’ve had this year.
Bloodborne It’s between Bloodborne or Bioshock as my favourite game of all time. I fear that I could spend hours typing what fascinated me about this game, so I’ll save my collected thoughts for another post. Bloodborne’s world is captivating from beginning to end. It unravels as you gather insight on the desecrated city of Yharnam, learning about the Healing Church forsaking the city with its endless hunts. My character, a woman who has left her land after her family were slaughtered by the same beasthood that ravaged Yharnam, fit perfectly with the story, and even thematically mirrored a DLC character’s past. By the way, The Old Hunters DLC is the best DLC ever, no doubt. If you’re going to buy Bloodborne go with Game of the Year edition, it’s spectacular. Of course you don’t need the DLC to fully enjoy the game, but it adds an impressive amount of gameplay hours, new story that adds to the main story, the excellent Research Hall level, the most dramatic boss fight and a pizza cutter weapon. Bloodborne’s gameplay is equally as fascinating as the story, with a fast-paced almost fighting game style combat system, a nearly completely connected immersive world, expert level design, some of the best bosses in any video game, and terrifying difficulty. For many players, these may seem too much or ‘not for me’, (always disappointing to see people give up on the Souls games, but understandable given the lack of beginner friendliness), and I certainly felt the same way at first. When I learnt to persevere and actively focus on the game, quitting out whenever a mild inconvenience in real life happened, it became a joy to play. I had mastered and overcome a godly challenge. I’m pretty terrible at games generally, so I honestly feel proud that I managed to beat this game and the DLC. Bloodborne’s cathartic moments, its incredible story and the pure art of the game which can be captured in a screenshot, or the masterful soundtrack, are all why it’s likely my favourite game ever.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Overlooked is an understatement. Made by the director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, this game is metroidvania almost perfected. Almost, as there’s some inconsistent game design towards the end with a specific puzzle, but that’s my only real criticism. It’s also a well deserved ‘fuck you’ to Konami, with a pachinko boss fight and David Hayter practically voicing Snake. Gameplay is excellent with intuitive dungeons, bonus areas, RPG-style weapon, skills and armour customisation, and some crushingly difficult bosses. If you want a rest from the main game, you can always return to the beginning town and complete quests - my favourite is making meals for a constantly hungry old woman, as you can later buy and use them for permanent stat boosts. Shamefully, I really liked dressing up Miriam, the main character anime girl. Messing around with her skin colour and unlocking hairstyles is worth the £20 alone. With free upcoming DLC, it’s a perfect patient gamer game.
Spec Ops: The Line Spec Ops: The Line is a perfect game. Many criticise the cover shooting, but it twists the generic mechanics into something amazing. In games such as Gears of War or Uncharted, taking cover is used to stop enemies shooting at you, reload, regen health, have a cup of tea or anything you can do while crouching. Spec Ops, however, puts you against relentless enemies who will suppress your fire when in cover and move to flank you, meaning you are forced to move and take damage, or work out a strategy with your teammates on the fly. It’s not deep strategy, but it really adds a new dimension to the game which sets it apart. The level design is excellent too, with plenty of memorable combat arenas like a decaying stadium, a destroyed luxury hotel, and an abandoned mall, which all go hand in hand with the story, which needs no introduction. Dubai has been wiped out by a sandstorm, and a rogue US army battalion led by your former leader and some civilians remain. Each level adds another piece to the PTSD puzzle, as you mow down hundreds of American soldiers who scream out in fear and panic as the game slow-motions their heads being destroyed by one of your bullets, while death rattles of wounded soldiers permeate the arena. Walker, voiced expertly by Nolan North, slowly changes over the course of the game as his honest, heroic decisions turn out to be, well, not very heroic. One of my favourite details in a video game is how his reload and command voice lines change the further you go into the game, as the weight of his task to rescue civilians and extract his mentor becomes unbearable. Even the main menu changes throughout the game, representing the entropy of the city. I haven’t tried the multiplayer as there’s no one online, but the fact it’s there makes me appreciate this game even more. Spec Ops: The Line is video games as a narrative experience exemplified perfectly.
Rayman Legends Incredible 2D platformer that removes many conventions (lives, starting a level over, time) and is better for it. Each level has depth with collectables that unlock new characters and levels, and side challenges. The highlight is the music stages, which remix songs to fit the world’s theme, and the platforming is based on rhythm. Disappointing to hear of Michel Ancel’s departure from Ubisoft, as that means we’ll likely never get a sequel. I sympathise with you, Beyond Good and Evil fans. Now if only Ubisoft executives could stop trying to mount every female in the workplace and work on another of these games (Seriously though, fuck Ubisoft for the sexual assaults and their PR coverups).
Mario Kart Wii I never owned a Wii as a child. It pained me to see all my friends play Wii Sports Resort and Super Mario, but one game in particular eluded me: Mario Kart Wii. The speed, the soundtrack, the plastic wheel you put over the Wiimote - I remember being captivated by it and wishing I could have a gaming experience like that in my own home. 12 years later, the Wii and Wii U have as much grasp on popular culture relevancy as Game of Thrones, which is the perfect time to buy an old console and a copy of this game. Mario Kart Wii is exactly as I remember. Coconut Mall, DK’s Snowboard Cross, battle mode, plus all the tracks my friends never unlocked make this one of my personal favourites. I debated putting it on this list as I’d find it hard to compare to a game like Bloodborne or Bioshock, but any game that creates the same childhood wonder in me is instantly going in my favourites list. Mario Kart Wii is fun racing with enough depth to get good at, and even more exciting playing it with friends. Especially when you’ve got a spiny shell.
Worst: Rise of the Tomb Raider Basically ‘ok’ can only last so long before becoming tedious. Rise of the Tomb Raider does nothing notable with its gameplay. Most egregious is the plot that’s basically stolen beat for beat from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Mountains, evil super-Russians, and annoying bullet sponge mythical enemies at the end (although they’re better than the bootleg Thanos’ you fight in U2, but basically anything is). Lara Croft is insufferable, she has no personality and grunts and shoots her way through every situation. Definitely the best of the worst list as I finished only this and Detroit but I really shouldn’t have wasted my time. Instead play Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Saints Row Mid-2000s 50 Cent and Soulja Boy era hip hop aesthetics were always cringe. Saints Row goes for that materialistic objectify all women attitude without much irony and actually takes itself seriously. The beginning is every angry teenage white boy’s dream of various women trying to sleep with you, surviving a gang attack and then being recruited to this gang because they noticed you’re such a chad. I’m surprised he didn’t also win a rap battle against Eminem. It’s trying to be Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with its satire and comedy, but it ends up being cringy rather than funny when you’re listening to the stereotypical camp gay guy shouting down the radio without any smart jokes or wordplay. The game also runs terribly, even on my original Xbox One. I’m really hoping the other games in this series are as good as everyone says, and this is only a false start. Instead play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare I imagine the pitch for this game was ‘Consumers didn’t like consuming the new Halo’s that they’ve consumed. Anyway, fellow executive, how will we make consumers consume another Call of Duty?’ ‘Let’s make the consumers consume Call of Duty while ripping off Halo down to the weapon and ship designs and promise a sci-fi experience with 2016 relevant celebrities and the usual passionless gameplay, and completely break the multiplayer with pay-to-win weapons. That way we can consume all of the disappointed Halo consumers’ money plus the yearly sycophants’ who’ll buy our games every year anyway. Wanna test our brand loyalty by releasing the worst trailer ever?’ Instead play Halo 4
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 malignant and represents the worst of ‘live service’ microtransaction lootbox fuelled games. Literally a pay to win £50 (70 USD) game with overpowered weapons only in lootboxes that Activision promised not to include, no campaign and another cringy comedy zombies mode. Fuck this game and fuck Activision. I hope the executives’ spoilt and probably racist children are happy with the money they’ve got from gambling addicts. Instead play Doom Eternal
Detroit: Become Human malignant and represents the worst of emotional story-driven artistic pretentious wank games. Horrible storytelling about racism and abuse, no interesting or likeable characters, nonsensical plot twists and unbelievably miserable forced drama. Obvious and rudimentary observations about complex and incredibly serious social issues are constant. It feels exploitative and contrived to see humans try to rape and murder the harmless androids when in the game’s own context it makes no sense. I’m really sick of seeing this stuff in games and films, the obvious contrivances like stabbing a pregnant woman in the Last of Us by accident, ‘Now you must hate her, audience!’ Terrible writing. If you don’t make the choices the game wants you to make you’re railroaded until you play the game ‘properly’, so your choices mean nothing. I chose not to rescue a character who explicitly hated me because I was an android, which locked me out of a good (relative) ending, because your choices affect a good ending/bad ending binary system. Not playing the game the way David Cage wants you to? Bad ending, though the ‘good’ endings are equally poorly written. While I did actually finish the game, it is absolutely NOT representative of how much I enjoyed it compared to the others on this list. I only stuck around to the ending because my friends constantly recommended it, and because of the praise from reviewers desperate to give any high profile game a positive review if it increases their chances of working for a game company. See this year’s Game Awards as perfect example. David Cage has no ideas that aren’t already from much better movies, the talentless misogynist. I’m pretty sure he ripped the narrative straight out of Humans, a 2015-2018 UK TV show from the few scenes I’ve seen from it. At least Kojima makes good games when he steals from movies, and dubiously sexualises women. Instead play Batman and Batman: The Enemy Within (and watch Seven, Memento, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049)
Aliens: Colonial Marines it’s awful, but I’ll still take this over Black Ops 4 or The Division. Every level has basic and boring corridors with broken AI targets to shoot. I gave up after a broken stealth section. Pretty funny to watch, though. Instead play Doom
Knack memes aside, Knack sucks. Broken combat where every enemy is so vastly more powerful than you, no real combos in a beat ‘em up, strange Lego knockoff character designs. I can’t wait to play Knack 2 after I’ve finished literally every other game in existence Instead play Lego Marvel Super Heroes and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Dragon Ball Final Bout No idea why I played this, I don’t even like Dragon Ball. Anyway, it’s unplayable due to the abysmal controls Instead play Tekken 3
Wii Music Nintendo are pretty cool, but not free from making terrible games. Wii Music has no real gameplay. As soon as you put in the disc, you’ve won the game. Waving the Wiimote around without any rhythm or skill gets you through every song in the limited track list, which lacks any Killing in the Names or Through the Fire and the Flames(s). No fun at all, and especially disappointing from Nintendo. Instead play Tetris Effect: Connected
Tunnel B1 obscure mid-90s game. The colour brown. Best left forgotten. Instead play Star Wars Battlefront II
Tom Clancy’s The Division The Division proves that the gaming industry is often going backwards. It has less gameplay than Gears of War, another third-person cover shooter from 2006, released ten years before the Division. Even basic enemies are bullet sponges, meaning every encounter is hiding behind a chest high wall and waiting to unload 30 more rounds into them. The story is completely tone deaf and idiotic with a huge disconnect from the gameplay. If you’re a highly skilled operative why is one random thug so much more powerful than you? One of the most infuriating, lazy ways of designing combat, the anti-power trip. Life-wasting Ubisoft hollowness. At least I didn’t waste a weekend, as you can see all the game has to offer in about 4 hours. Instead play Spec Ops: The Line

Game Information

Game Title: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Platforms:

• PlayStation 5 (Nov 12, 2020)
• PlayStation 4 (Nov 12, 2020)

Trailers:

• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Be Yourself TV Commercial | PS5, PS4
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales - Gameplay Demo | PS5
• Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - Announcement Trailer | PS5

Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Sony
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 85 average - 94% recommended - 83 reviews

Critic Reviews

Digitally Downloaded - Matt C. - 5 / 5 stars

But it's certainly no less impressive. That intimacy lends itself perfectly to a story about a vibrant, tight-knit community with a rich and storied history; a story about gentrification and misguided attempts to "fix" things that aren't broken; a story about a mixed-race kid looking for his place in a world that always seems to see him as "other", and finding that place in the welcoming, open arms of Harlem.

EGM - Josh Harmon - 10 / 10

Don't be fooled into thinking Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is some minor spin-off of Insomniac Games' PS4 exclusive. Sure, it's not as long, but the experience is packed with enough new gameplay ideas and design refinements that it feels every bit like a true, substantial successor. Throw in a story that does justice to Miles as a character and tech that wonderfully showcases the power of the PlayStation 5, and you just might have one of the best console launch titles of the modern era.

GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 10 / 10

Perhaps I’ve been dismissive of Spider-Man: Miles Morales in calling it a standalone expansion, because while it may indeed be shorter than Insomniac’s first Spider-Man outing, it’s not just a simple continuation of the story designed to wring out a bit more moolah from your wallet. Think of it as a more focused sequel instead, as that’s what it actually feels like. It’s free of story bloat, and the gameplay has most definitely been expanded upon and improved. Plus, since when has an expansion looked so much nicer than the game it’s building upon? This is a timely release that demonstrates the power of the PS5 with style, and if you aren’t picking it up alongside your console, you’re simply doing things wrong.

GamingTrend - Ron Burke - 100 / 100

With flawless lighting, excellent gameplay, innovative immersion, and a fresh new story, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the sort of game that we'll be talking about for the rest of the console generation. This is how you start a new generation of gaming.

Impulsegamer - Andrew Bistak - 5 / 5

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is indeed the must have title for the PlayStation 5 that successfully brings this character to life on this next-gen console with some stunning graphics and flawless gameplay. Just like a comic but better as you're the star!

PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - 9.7 / 10

It might not be the brand-new, system selling experience we're used to getting at the launch of a new console, but Spider-man Miles Morales is an incredibly good game and a must-play.

Digital Chumps - Nathaniel Stevens - 9.5 / 10

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a wonderful launch title for the PlayStation 5. It has everything you want from a Spider-Man game and a unique story that could be considered Hollywood-caliber.

Geek Culture - Jake Su - 9.5 / 10

When it comes to Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, it is all about love, a labour of dedication and design that will no doubt garner fans aplenty in the days ahead.

God is a Geek - Adam Cook - 9.5 / 10

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales manages to improve on the fantastic game that came before it. Insomniac Games continue to be on fire with perhaps their best game ever.

Stevivor - Steve Wright - 9.5 / 10

Spider-Man Miles Morales is a tight little package that provides a thrilling Spider-Man experience, trimmed of nonessential fat and full of emotion and excitement.

COGconnected - Paul Sullivan - 92 / 100

Though it’s not as polished as the 2018 original, Spider-Man Miles Morales is a smashing success. It looks sensational and is an absolute riot to play. Miles’ story brings all the drama and feels it needs to, and highlights a community outside what’d normally be on the drawing board for a game like this. Despite some bugginess, this is the game you want to show off your impressive new hardware. I can guarantee I’ll be slinging from Harlem to Hell’s Kitchen daily for the foreseeable future.

Attack of the Fanboy - Josh Garibay - 4.5 / 5 stars

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a thrilling, albeit brief, ride with the most compelling Spider-Man yet.

Destructoid - Chris Carter - 9 / 10

Just like Into the Spider-Verse, I was pleasantly surprised by Miles Morales. I came in fully expecting it to be a side story, but it was much more than that. If this is setting us up for Spider-Man 2 where both Miles and Peter are playable: I'm in.

Digital Chumps - Alex Tudor - 9 / 10

Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PS4 is fun, frantic, and full of heart. While not as large in scope as 2018's Spider-Man, Miles Morales continues to build upon the world Insomniac has crafted to deliver a heartfelt story about a kid in Harlem just trying to deal with the responsibility of balancing being a hero with protecting his family. Miles Morales doesn't add a ton to the formula, nor does it need to. Swinging through New York is just as fun as it was in 2018, and some of Miles' new Venom powers allow him to feel different than Peter Parker. You're not going to get all the bells and whistles the PS5 version offers, but the story itself is a must-play.

Easy Allies - Brandon Jones - 9 / 10

Review Copy Provided by PlayStation Miles Morales and the PlayStation 5 are both ready for their big debut, eager to show people what they're made of. The campaign is shorter than the first game, but the map is still full of stories and skirmishes worthy of an amazing hero.

Game Informer - Andrew Reiner - 9 / 10

Not as long as the previous entry, but better streamlined. The Spider-Man action is superb, but the threat Miles faces isn't as interesting or potent

Game Rant - Anthony Taormina - 4.5 / 5 stars

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an exceptional follow-up to Marvel's Spider-Man, even if a lot of the formula feels familiar. On PS5, though, it is a must-play just to see the potential of the new hardware and what it will offer from both a visual and a performance standpoint. For many console gamers, this will be their first taste of steady 4K 60FPS or Ray-Tracing that adds meaningful improvements to the presentation. Insomniac's work on the game is stunning.

Gaming Nexus - John Yan - 9 / 10/)

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales shines on the PlayStation 5 with great graphics, solid gameplay, and excellent use of the new DualSense controller for a seriously fun game to play on the brand new console.

IGN - Jonathon Dornbush - 9 / 10

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a fantastic follow-up, telling a wonderful story while improving upon the fundamentals of the first game.

Inverse - Corey Plante - 9 / 10

For anyone who loved Spider-Man on PS4 and Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales will exceed even your wildest expectations.

Siliconera - Jenni Lada - 9 / 10

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the hero we’re looking for. The game takes everything people loved about Marvel’s Spider-Man, the story, the collecting, and the smooth fighting, and presents us with a story that somehow feels more balanced and dedicated to its star.

Spiel Times - Caleb Wysor - 9 / 10

“Miles Morales” is one of the year’s best escapist entertainments, replete with stand-out combat, an engaging story and a well-designed open world.

USgamer - Mike Williams - 4.5 / 5 stars

The early heroic career of Miles Morales gets some shine in this standalone soft sequel to Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4. Web swinging is still fantastic and the combat system expands with Miles' more varied powerset. And while you might have played most of this game before, Insomniac does an amazing job telling the story of its version of Miles. Rooted in his new home of Spanish Harlem, he's probably the most "friendly neighborhood" of any version of Spider-Man.

Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 8.9 / 10

Without a doubt, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a much more enjoyable game than the original and it shows off PS5's performance brilliantly. It's too bad that it isn't longer because I loved every minute of it.

Cerealkillerz - Gabriel Bogdan - German - 8.6 / 10

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is not quite a Spider-Man 2 but it comes pretty close. If you can live with a lot of similar tasks, enemies and easy to see through story twists you'll get here a well made Adventure in the Spider-Man Universe that gives a great inside on the man behind the mask and his struggles.

GamePro - Hannes Rossow - German - 86 / 100

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a nice spin-off, that expands the template meaningfully and puts more heart and soul into the story.

GRYOnline.pl - Michał Mańka - Polish - 8.5 / 10

Miles Morales is an interesting enough character to carry an entire game by himself. Not because it’s shorter than the original, but because the story is good and the voice actor did a fantastic job. Despite finishing MM on a review copy of both the game and the new PlayStation, I’m sure I’ll play the new Spider-Man again in my private time.

GameBlast - Alexandre Galvão - Portuguese - 8.5 / 10

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales stands out for further highlighting one of the best PS4 games in an excellent expansion of the universe created by Insomniac in 2018. What was already good has been maintained and certain features have been improved. With impeccable presentation and an excellent adventure, its only problem is still being at the mercy of its predecessor when it comes to innovation.

GameZone - Cade Onder - 8.5 / 10

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the end of one generation and the start of another. It serves as yet another defining title for PlayStation but also an essential story for Marvel's greatest hero. With new innovations in Spidey gameplay as well as loads of refinement and a wildly impactful story, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the game we need right now.

PSX Brasil - Ivan Nikolai Barkow Castilho - Portuguese - 85 / 100

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is relatively short, but it is still exceptional. Miles' gameplay manages to be different enough from Peter, even though the base of both is similar. The story is interesting, but a little predictable and much less "epic". Despite these points, it is an excellent addition to the PS4 (and now PS5) library.

Press Start - Adam Mathew - 8.5 / 10

For a launch title, the worth of Spider-Man: Miles Morales is undeniable. It offers an expensive-TV-justifying visual feast – not to mention a tantalising "What Dreams May Come" glimpse at the sugar encrusted future of eye-candy. (Console hasn't even launched yet and I can feel my eyes getting the diabeetus.) Likewise, it delivers super-fast load times and an immersive, tactile DualSense experience you simply can't 'feel' anywhere else.

The Games Machine - Stefano Calzati - Italian - 8.5 / 10

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales certainly does not reinvent the original work, but manages to tell a particularly intense story by introducing and deepening an extremely positive character with an overwhelming personality. More compact than Peter Parker's adventure, with an elegantly told political subtext and a warm family dimension that comes to protect at all costs, the Insomniac work then explodes in exploiting what PS5 has to offer from a technical point of view, between impressive lighting that benefits from ray tracing and a world instantly loaded thanks to the potential of the SSD, which practically eliminates pop-up , giving a fluidity to the action, a breath at the stairs and an absolutely breathtaking overall visual impact.

Wccftech - Kai Powell - 8.5 / 10

Miles Morales is a far more charismatic hero than Peter in Parker in Marvel's Spider-Man and there's no better way to tell his story than with his own game as a PlayStation 5 launch title. While shorter and more compact than Peter Parker's adventures, this quick trip to Harlem should be on any superhero fan's wishlist.

Worth Playing - Redmond Carolipio - 8.5 / 10

My only real gripe about Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is that I wish there were more of it. Miles and the rest of his circle are absolutely capable of being compelling enough to carry a game for twice the length. I just like this kid, and I think a lot of other people will, too.

IGN Spain - David Soriano - Spanish - 8.2 / 10

Despite its length, Marvel's Spider-man: Miles Morales is a great launch game for PS5 and a perfect example of the potential of the machine in the hands of the members of PlayStation Studios.

Daily Mirror - JC Suttun - 4 / 5 stars

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a more focused and concise outing than its predecessor. It lands somewhat in the Uncharted: Lost Legacy mould of a shorter experience that does away with filler, and meaningful moments interspersed with less gumpf. While there's not a huge amount of reinvention, Miles Morales is a fantastic superhero experience that does enough to feel like a worthy follow-up.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales is available now on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 (version tested) for £49.99

Enternity.gr - Panagiotis Petropoulos - Greek - 8 / 10

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a worthy successor to the 2018 game, due to Insomniac’s enriched Marvel’s Spider-Man formula with some interesting systems and delivered an equally interesting (although much shorter) campaign.

Everyeye.it - Francesco Fossetti - Italian - 8 / 10

Nothing new for those who have already worn the Spider-Man costume on PS4, but Insomniac always remains a guarantee of great quality.

Game Revolution - Mack Ashworth - 4 / 5 stars

For $50, players are getting 7-9 hours of story missions, combined with the optional 10+ hours of side content, much of which is collectible hunting. That doesn’t strike me as a great deal at launch, but the free upgrade from PS4 to PS5 does help soften the blow. When the price is right for you, this PlayStation exclusive comes with my recommendation, as it further bolsters Sony’s arsenal as we enter the next generation and beyond.

GamesRadar+ - Leon Hurley - 4 / 5 stars

A brilliant but all too brief sample of Miles Morales' superhero life.

Guardian - Keith Stuart - 4 / 5 stars

This Spiderverse-inspired take on Spider-Man has a new hero and an appealing message reflecting America's vibrant diversity

Hardcore Gamer - Kevin Dunsmore - 4 / 5

Marvel's Spider-Man perfectly revitalized the Spider-Man gaming franchise back in 2018 and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an excellent follow-up.

Kakuchopurei - Kenn Leandre - 80 / 100

Just like Miles in the comics, Spider-Man: Miles Morales does not try to out-do an already established name. Rather, it carves a new story for themselves in a familiar-but-comforting setting.

Metro GameCentral - 8 / 10

A far better advert for the PS5 than its short length and last gen assets might have suggested, with superior storytelling and more compelling characters than the original.

Nerdburglars - Dan Hastings - 8 / 10

If you enjoyed the last game, you will definitely enjoy this one. Being in control of Spiderman is a delight in every single way. Fast travel is a forgotten mechanic as you won't want to waste an opportunity to travel via web-slinging. With such a strong foundation and a rock-solid game that came before it, Miles Morales had some high expectations. In many ways, it delivered what you would want from a Spiderman adventure. It falls short with a weaker lineup of villains and a less interesting story. Marvel's Spiderman was just too good.

PCMag - Will Greenwald - 4 / 5 stars

Spider-Man: Miles Morales kicks off the PlayStation 5's launch by putting you in the web shooters of the titular new Spider-Man in a satisfying side story that covers much of the same terrain as its predecessor.

PPE.pl - Wojciech Gruszczyk - Polish - 8 / 10

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an interesting spin-off that shows a young superhero and is an excellent forecaster of the possibilities of the new generation. A new Spider-Man is born before our eyes.

Push Square - Sammy Barker - 8 / 10

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is effortlessly cool. The overall gameplay structure may prove samey for those who failed to fall in love with Insomniac Games' previous effort, but everyone else will have a blast with this generous spin-off story. Great characters, tons of activities, and some epic set-piece moments round out a must play superhero romp – and with the developer on this kind of form, we can't wait to see more of the full-scale sequel that it's inevitably cooking up.

SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 8 / 10

Miles Morales presents his more personal story as a young Spider-Man trying prove himself as New York's hero. But the game recycles too much of the original's content and consept.

Screen Rant - Nicholas Straub - 4 / 5 stars

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales fumbles its well-intentioned story by failing to challenge Miles and adequately address its complex context, but it is still an enthralling experience. The campaign is filled with memorable gameplay and the open-world exploration successfully expands upon the successes of the original game. It also sets the stage for Miles to become the face of the franchise, and perhaps his story will be better told in a full-fledged game rather than a shorter jaunt through his origins.

Shacknews - Chris Jarrard - 8 / 10

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales will appeal to loads of gamers and I suspect it will be a hit for PlayStation owners this holiday season. While there isn’t as much to do this time around and what is included is mostly recycled, the asking price is lower than normal. Being Spider-Man is still as fun as it was in 2018 (and potentially more fun now at 60Hz) and Miles Morales is a character that is more compelling than Peter Parker. Should the few technical hiccups get sorted out, this will be a solid inclusion for any game library. Anyone grabbing a PS5 at launch would do well to grab a copy.

Spaziogames - Stefania Sperandio - Italian - 8 / 10

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales doesn't even try to reinvent the wheel, but it's enjoyable and well packed.

TheSixthAxis - Jim Hargreaves - 8 / 10

Spider-Man: Miles Morales feels like more of a sequel than it is a stopgap, entangling players within its web of cleverly refined mechanics while delivering some familiar web-slinging thrills. A heroic technical showcase for PS5 owners picking up their consoles on day one, this meaty side story in the Spider-Man saga has us even more excited than before to see what Insomniac Games have planned next.

TrustedReviews - Jade King - 4 / 5 stars

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a brilliant expansion of Insomniac's beloved superhero adventure from 2018. It shows why Miles Morales is, arguably, the franchise's greatest strength, while also proving how much of an impact the next generation will have on visuals and performance. If you're picking up a PS5, this is essential.

VG247 - Alex Donaldson - 4 / 5 stars

Launch games are rarely remembered as earth-shattering experiences years later, but at the time, elements of them always feel magical. On PS5, Miles Morales has both of these feelings down – it’s familiar and unsurprising, but some of its technical presentation will wow you nevertheless. If you’re picking up a PS5 on launch day, for that reason this will surely do.

VideoGamer - Josh Wise - 8 / 10

The developer, Insomniac Games, has a similar storytelling confidence to that of Naughty Dog-a natural cinematic ease, bolstered by money and technology, which gives equal weight to ground-level struggles as to those beyond the rooftops.

WellPlayed - Kieron Verbrugge - 8 / 10

Miles Morales is a worthy standalone addition to Insomniac's excellent Spider-Man game and a compelling part of the PlayStation 5 launch lineup, even if it does seem a little pricey

New Game Network - Alex Varankou - 76 / 100

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales offers a fun story in a streamlined adventure that builds on the great foundation of its predecessor, despite a few performance issues on the PS4.

Gadgets 360 - Akhil Arora - 7 / 10

If the sticker price isn't a concern, in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, you'll find a game that is lacking in originality but thankfully built on a solid core that needs a few tweaks. It's a successful expansion of Insomniac's Spider-Man universe, but it's a new paragraph, rather than a new chapter. Hopefully it will give us the latter next time around. And though it's also good for representation, it still has a ways to go. (Though the game wasn't anything special, Marvel's Avengers gave us a Muslim-American lead in Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel.) Hopefully we can get Spider-Gwen from Insomniac next, or a Spider-Verse game, though given the lack of setup, either seems unlikely. For now, Miles continues his upward trajectory. He walked in 2018, so he could fly in 2020.

GameSpot - Jordan Ramée - 7 / 10

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales sticks a bit too close to its predecessor in terms of mechanics, but manages to stand on its own through its story and characters.

Washington Post - Christopher Byrd - 70 / 100

I’d wager that Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales will be remembered as the year’s most ingratiating family-friendly video game. It is a feel-good, unabashed spectacle that controls well, looks great and has a hyper-efficient story line that never tries to overdeliver.

We Got This Covered - Shaan Joshi - 3.5 / 5 stars

While it does little to move the needle for the series as a whole, Spider-Man: Miles Morales both plays the part of a much-needed stopgap and serves as a technical showcase of what the PlayStation 5 can bring to the table.

Telegraph - Dan Silver - 3 / 5 stars

With greater console power comes greater responsibility (and much faster loading times)

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

"Miles is fantastic as an expansion to the Spiderman Universe on Playstation"

Ars Technica - Kyle Orland - Unscored

Buy it if you want an "expansion pack" sequel with an interesting story and solid, familiar gameplay.

Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - Recommended

Everything about this game oozes style, Nadji Jeter is the definitive version of Miles Morales thanks to his goofy and geeky take on the web-slinger. Soaring through the Highrise buildings of New York City has never looked better and the extra power of the PlayStation 5 makes things feel more alive than ever before

Eurogamer - Martin Robinson - Recommended

A standalone expansion for 2018's excellent original, with enhanced action and an irresistible new lead.

GameOnAUS - Royce Wilson - Recommended

More of the same is not necessarily a bad thing, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a perfect example.

GameXplain - GameXplain - Liked-a-lot

Video Review - Quote not available

Kotaku - Mike Sholars - Unscored

Miles Morales excels in its smallest moments, and I wish it had the confidence to stand by them to the end.

Polygon - Tauriq Moosa - Unscored

What makes Miles an important hero for the world of 2020 is not his successes, his abilities, his fighting moves, or even his moral compass to do good: It’s his belief in himself and others that we can rise above this. That’s also his mother’s central focus for her political campaign. Miles has a relentless, if sometimes naïve, belief in others’ goodness. He wants to help the city and neighborhood he loves. And watching him try, watching his small victories, and playing through it with such beautiful animations — with nods to Into the Spider-Verse — became one of my few joys in this dark-as-shit year.

Skill Up - Ralph Panebianco - Unscored

Video Review - Quote not available

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUSLY:

• Observer Rewind - 1987 by SaintRidley
  
• The Complete Wrestling Observer Rewind 1991-2001
  

1-7-2002	1-14-2002	1-21-2002	1-28-2002
2-4-2002	2-11-2002	2-18-2002	2-25-2002
3-4-2002	3-11-2002	3-18-2002	3-25-2002
4-1-2002	4-8-2002	4-15-2002	4-22-2002
4-29-2002	5-6-2002	5-13-2002	5-20-2002
5-27-2002	6-3-2002	6-10-2002	6-17-2002
6-24-2002	7-1-2002	7-8-2002	7-15-2002
7-22-2002	7-29-2002	8-5-2002	8-12-2002
8-26-2002	9-2-2002	9-9-2002	9-16-2002
9-23-2002	9-30-2002	10-07-2002	10-14-2002
10-21-2002	10-28-2002	11-4-2002	11-11-2002
11-18-2002	11-25-2002

PROGRAMMING NOTE: I tried to post this earlier this morning but I guess it didn't work. I just noticed. Said it had to be approved by the mods first. So I deleted that one and re-posting now. We'll see how this goes.

EDIT: Looks like it was the Road Dogg story that got this post flagged and kept it from posting earlier. Dammit Road Dogg, do you ever stop sucking?

• I usually try to avoid too much MMA, but the top story this week is a looooooong recap of the Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz UFC PPV so we gotta run with it, if for no other reason than the fact it's one of the most significant fights in UFC history. Besides, half of this is just Dave talking about how UFC did such a better job with this show than WWE has done with anything in ages. The build-up, promotion, and video packages for this fight blew away anything WWE has done in years and exposed all their problems when it comes to an inability to make people care about matches. WWE has a crew of writers whose job is to book enticing storylines and they can't come close to how UFC promoted this real-life story. Fear Factor host Joe Rogan, as UFC's resident color commentator, did a better job of building excitement than Tazz or Jerry Lawler have ever done. Big name celebrities were in attendance. The gate was the largest MMA gate in the U.S. and bigger than all but a handful of Wrestlemania gates. All without TV and without much mainstream media coverage. In WWE, Shamrock was considered a "bad promo" because he didn't cut promos like they wanted. But his interviews going into this fight were the best in UFC history and went a long way towards this show's huge success.
  
• That being said, Shamrock was totally blown out in what Dave feels was a one-sided fight. Shamrock looked good but he's 38 and simply was outclassed by the younger, faster Ortiz. It went 3 rounds of mostly ground and pound, with Ortiz making hamburger out of Shamrock's face. Even when Shamrock was able to escape, he was too gassed to do much else. After 3 rounds, Shamrock's corner stopped the fight. Ortiz put on a shirt that said "I killed Kenny...you bastard!" but the crowd immediately turned on him when he did and his own trainer demanded he take it off. Afterward, Shamrock was respectful and hugged Ortiz and did an interview making no excuses. When they asked Ortiz about a fight with Chuck Liddell, he responded that UFC better pay them more money for it, or they'll take that fight to Japan (presumably PRIDE, though he didn't explicitly say so). Needless to say, UFC officials weren't thrilled about that. Otherwise, it was a great show. They announced the return of Tank Abbott, which was a surprise since rumors had him going to PRIDE. Bradshaw was there in the front row going nuts the whole show but was never identified on camera. And that's as much as we're dwelling on this show.
  
• Linda McMahon had to face the investors this week and try to put a positive spin on the fact that WWE just suffered its first true money-losing quarter since 1997. WWE lost over $1.6 million this past quarter, due mostly to the money they were forced to pay the William Morris Agency for a lawsuit they lost as well as losses from The World complex in Time Square. Linda said that WWE still considers TV ratings to be the key driver of business and blamed falling ratings on males 17-34 allegedly watching less television these days. Sure, why not? She said they expected business to go down with the brand split and predicted it would take 12-18 months for things to get back to where they should be. Well, we're 8 months in and numbers continue to fall and other than Brock Lesnar, not any other new star has been made by it. In regards to The World complex, Linda admitted there've been mistakes and said they plan to rebrand it again soon as "The World of WWE" after previously deciding to remove the WWE name. They're going to rename the restaurant part JR's Bar & Grill. One investor in particular called Linda out on the declining ratings, blaming it on Triple H being the primary focus (who he noted was Linda's daughter's boyfriend) and mentioning the necrophilia storyline and argued that WWE's problems stem from terrible creative. It was the most critical question Linda has ever faced in one of these calls. Linda defended Triple H, first claiming that Triple H and Stephanie's relationship is new and thus can't be credited for his main event push (no one knows the exact timeline, but given that he was cheating on Chyna with her, this relationship goes back at least 2 years, so you can't exactly call it new). Linda listed Triple H, along with Lesnar, Shawn Michaels, and Scott Steiner as their big four stars. The investor responded saying Michaels "is done" (lol) and that Steiner is just another washed up WCW guy (ok, fair) and that WWE still isn't creating new stars. He said that while WWE was better off financially than WCW was at the end, creatively, they're just as bad. Linda responded, "We are not WCW" and talked about efforts to create new stars out of Edge and Test. This was clearly not the conversation Linda wanted to have with all these other big money investors listening.
  
• Linda was also asked about Steve Austin and said they've talked several times and they're "good friends" but that she didn't know if he was ever coming back. Austin made a public appearance later the same day and was asked the same thing by everyone. He said WWE has been trying to get him to come back in January to build for a Wrestlemania match, but he hasn't decided whether to do it or not yet. He talked about wanting to get his home life in order first before he focuses on a wrestling comeback. Jim Ross also did an interview saying he talks to Austin all the time and expects him back eventually. So it sounds like things are maybe warming up between the two sides finally.
  
• And finally, Linda spent a good chunk of the conference call talking about their issues with the World Wildlife Fund. She said that when she and Vince purchased the company from Vince Sr. in 1982, they trademarked the WWF name and logo. At the time, Wake Forest University had an issue with it because the logo was similar, and in exchange for getting the college to drop their claim, Vince made an agreement to never sell WWF merch on the Wake Forest campus. Easy enough. In 1994, the Wildlife people said, "Hey, that's our letters" and a bunch of legal shit happened and they reached an agreement where WWF wouldn't market itself as "WWF" outside of North America. They would have to use the full name "World Wrestling Federation." Of course, they immediately and constantly began violating that agreement, but the Wildlife people ignored it until Vince snatched up the wwf.com domain name, which is in use worldwide, and obviously could create confusion among any web users trying to find one or the other. Thus the lawsuit, which Vince lost handily and they were forced to rename themselves WWE. Then they had until Nov. 10th of this year to stop selling "WWF" branded merchandise, which resulted in them having to stop and reprint a bunch of stuff as well as take all old WWF footage off some WWF Classics TV show that I guess airs in Europe (they're currently airing WCW footage instead).
  
• Well now, the Wildlife Fund is seeking damages, to the tune of $360 million. Linda claimed the Wildlife people offered to drop all further legal action in exchange for a $90 million settlement and they would extend the deadline until next year. WWE refused. As a result, the Fund is now going to court to try to stop sales of a WWF-branded video game that is due out this month, which is expected to be a big Christmas seller. WWE put out a statement calling it a "Grinch-like move to deny wrestling fans around the world the opportunity to receive these products as Christmas gifts." And in typical WWE fashion, they put out another statement attacking the Fund personally, specifically their lawyer who they claim lives in Switzerland but has no Swiss law license. They conveniently leave out the part that he does have a license to practice law in the UK, and that's where this case was decided, which renders WWE's entire "point" meaningless. They also accused him of having involvement with some financial scandals in the UK and even tried to tie his Islamic charity to the 9/11 tragedies, accusing his charity of funneling money to Al-Qaeda. Just the usual Jerry McDevitt bullshit. Anyway, video game maker THQ said all games with the WWF logo were shipped prior to the original Nov. 10 deadline and therefore, they won't recall them. But a British court has said THQ will be ruled in contempt if any WWF-branded games are sold and recommended THQ should—for their sake—recall the games and bill WWE for the damages because, as the judge said, "THQ must look at WWE for the losses which have been caused because it was the WWE that got them into this mess." One final note to all this: Linda McMahon admitted that they did consider doing an angle at the recent UK Rebellion PPV where Vince McMahon would have faced a wrestler in a panda suit on the show and beat him up and pinned him. Dave says, considering the damages part of the lawsuit is still ongoing, that would have been monumentally stupid and luckily, it seems WWE agreed because they didn't do it. Not even sure why they'd admit thinking about it.
  
• PRIDE had a sold out show at the Tokyo Dome that aired on PPV in Japan and the U.S. but were edited to be completely different shows. The Japan version was based around the retirement of Nobuhiko Takada, facing his former understudy Kiyoshi Tamura and was heavily built around their old 90s UWFI rivalry. It was the rivalry that everything was building to back in the 90s, but it never happened because the company closed. Symbolically, this was seen as the true death of UWFI, 6 years after it actually shut down and closed that incomplete chapter. It was an emotional angle that packed the 3rd largest MMA crowd in history into the Tokyo Dome. But in the U.S., that meant nothing to American fans and the Takada match and retirement ceremony didn't even air as part of the show. Instead the American version of the PPV was edited to showcase Fedor Emeliankenko beating the brakes off Heath Herring and setting himself up to challenge for the heavyweight title in the match that made him a star. Takada got knocked out in his retirement match and they had a big emotional ceremony after. And some other MMA stuff.
  
• Long obituary for Japanese wrestler Thunder Sugiyama, who died at age 62 this week. Big star in the 60s and early-70s, was one of the first recruits by Giant Baba when he started AJPW and later had a brief run in NJPW. After retirement, he became a millionaire in other businesses. But in 1999, due to diabetes complications, he ended up having both of his arms and both of his legs amputated, which led to a lot of media coverage since he was quasi-famous and lost all 4 limbs. Well then.
  
• Another obituary for Billy Joe Travis, who died of a heart attack at 41. He went tanning, drove back to his mother's house, walked through the front door, and dropped dead of a heart attack. He was best known for his years in Memphis, and was regarded as one of the most promising stars in the business in the late-80s. But he had a nasty drug problem and, well, it never really happened. Most people remember him best for being the guy who legitimately got arrested on live TV during one of the Saturday morning Memphis shows, due to failure to pay child support. Cops showed up to the show to get him, they asked if they could film the arrest, cops said sure, and they did, but pretended it was for something else and made an angle out of it.
  

WATCH: Billy Joe Travis gets legitimately arrested during live USWA broadcast

• Fuji Network in Japan had Bob Sapp Day on their channel. From 5:30am until 7pm that night, Sapp repeatedly cut into shows, appeared in live interview segments, did talk shows, game shows, etc. All damn day. It's been said that American fans can't comprehend just how big a star Sapp is in Japan right now. Even people who don't follow wrestling or MMA know who he is because he's become something of a sensation throughout the country.
  
• As further proof that anything can happen, this week's issue of Tokyo Sports featured a front page photo of Antonio Inoki shaking hands with Hisashi Shinma. For the unfamiliar, this is the equivalent of Bret Hart and Vince McMahon shaking hands on the front page of the USA Today. Inoki and Shinma were the minds behind NJPW's success in the 70s and 80s, with Shinma being the primary booker when Inoki was the top star. But an embezzlement scandal in NJPW in the mid-80s led to Shinma being fired. He and Inoki remained friends and they even worked together in 1989 when Shinma acted as Inoki's campaign manager for his successful Senate campaign. However, the 2 later had a major falling out, resulting in Shinma publicly revealing Inoki's participation in the embezzlement scandal as well as even reporting Inoki for cheating on his taxes, which led to a lot of legal headaches for Inoki. So it was a pretty serious beef. However, they have squashed it and, with NJPW struggling right now, word is Shinma will be returning to the company to help dig them out of their hole. It's also worth noting that during the 80s, Shinma was close friends with Vince McMahon and acted as the NJPW liaison to WWF during that time. In fact, he was the on-screen figurehead "President" of WWE prior to Jack Tunney, though he rarely did much of note. The relationship is still good and Shinma noted that one of the first things he wants to do when he starts working for NJPW again is send rookie Shinsuke Nakamura to WWE for him to gain more experience (took, like, 15 years but it happened).
  
• Former UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett, currently serving a worldwide 6-month MMA suspension for failing steroid tests, is making his pro wrestling debut for NJPW at the Jan. 4th Tokyo Dome show. Barnett has been a wrestling fan for years, particularly NJPW and the old UWFI in the 90s, and has been trying to get involved in wrestling for awhile. He's friends with Bob Sapp and that opened the door for him, though in Japan, most people know him as Sapp's coach/cornerman rather than being a former UFC champ in his own right, because "UFC" doesn't mean much in Japan (not only does Barnett work this show, he ends up main eventing it, losing to IWGP champ Yuji Nagata).
  
• Chyna is scheduled to return to NJPW next week, this time teaming with Masahiro Chono to face Tadao Yasuda and Kazunari Murakami. I only mention this because it ends up being Chyna's last match for almost a decade. She quietly retired afterward, only returning for one final match in 2011 in TNA. But for all intents and purposes, this is the end of the road for Chyna's pro wrestling career.
  
• Hulk Hogan is doing his book tour and it kinda shows the differences between Vince and Hogan. Privately, Vince has been telling anyone who will listen that he's done with Hogan, doesn't want him back in WWE, and is running him down to anyone who will listen. Hogan, knowing it's inevitable that he'll be back some day, has been much more diplomatic in interviews, praising Vince and calling WWE his home. Hogan admitted in one interview that he was supposed to return at Survivor Series, but the deal fell apart due to creative differences, but that's all he would say (creative differences = he didn't want to put over Brock Lesnar again). Hogan talked about how wrestling is predetermined, but argued against it being choreographed. He says guys like himself and Rock can go out there and call a match on the fly. Dave thinks that's a pretty poor example to use, since Hogan, Rock, and Pat Patterson all flew to Florida prior to Wrestlemania last year and spent 2 days rehearsing every step of that match beforehand. Anyway, Dave promises to have reviews of Hogan's and Piper's books in the next week or two. He's read Piper's already and enjoyed it but hints that there's some inaccuracies. He's heard Hogan's is pretty full of bullshit too, but also says we all expected that going in.
  
• Bret Hart's condition post-stroke has improved significantly, and this week, he even got his driver's license back and is allowed to drive again, which is seen as a major step in his improvement.
  
• Vince Russo returned to TNA this week as an on-screen character, appearing under a mask as Mr. Wrestling III and hitting Ron Killings with a guitar and allowing Jeff Jarrett to win the NWA title. The backstage fallout from this resulted in Sean Waltman quitting the company. Waltman doesn't like Russo and even though he was promised Russo doesn't have any hand in creative, Waltman didn't believe it and quit in protest of Russo's return. Waltman had no-showed TNA's previous PPV at the last moment due to injury and TNA was upset, but decided to bring him back anyway because he was extremely apologetic and because, well, they need stars. Also, Waltman being there is pretty much the only reason Scott Hall decided to come back as well. So with Waltman quitting, this leads to questions about whether Hall will be back either. TNA was also hoping having Waltman on the roster would lead to Chyna coming in, but that's probably not happening now either. Waltman has a deep hatred for Russo's booking and also felt having a company work its wrestlers the way WCW used to do isn't healthy for the company, and he felt he was being misled by TNA about Russo's involvement.
  
• In fact, despite management denials, almost nobody in the company believes that Russo is only a talent. Pretty much everyone figures that if he's not involved in creative yet, he will be soon. During the negotiations with Panda Energy, Waltman himself went to bat for Jerry Jarrett, saying he wanted Jarrett in charge and that he wouldn't stay with the company if Russo was in charge. True to his word, Russo showed up and Waltman quit. TNA tried to pacify him, even discussing doing a match that night where Waltman and Curt Hennig would win the TNA tag team titles. Waltman refused, saying he was only staying and working that night's show because he felt he owed it to the company after no-showing the previous week, but he didn't want to win any titles because he insisted he was quitting after the show. And, sure enough, he did (he stuck to his word too. Waltman didn't return to TNA until after Russo left in 2005. At some point though, they squashed their beef and they appear to be on good terms now. But this is the end of the road for Waltman in TNA for awhile. It was also the end of Scott Hall. He also didn't return again until after Russo left. Also worth noting: Waltman was right. Despite TNA's denials, Russo was indeed involved in creative again during this time).
  
• Other notes from Russo's return: aside from the backstage drama, the Jarrett/Killings NWA title match was actually a strong bout, with the crowd more into it, and Jarrett, than anything in the company's short history so far. Most in the locker room were against the Russo angle to end the match, but otherwise, it went over great. Almost nobody in the locker room knew Russo was returning, which led to the familiar WCW-style "working the boys" complaints but Russo and Jarrett were celebrating it backstage like they pulled off the angle of the year. There was thought that Mike Tenay might quit over it as well, because those 2 have heat going back to WCW (Russo once tried to book Tenay to wrestle a match in WCW with Scott Steiner's valet Midajah, but Tenay refused, saying his contract was to be an announcer, not a wrestler, and Russo was furious about it and the 2 haven't gotten along since).
  
• In case you're wondering whether or not Russo has any involvement in creative, Brian Christopher's valet April dumped him for Goldylocks, with the two of them leaving together in what was played up as an "OMG, they're lesbians!" type of angle. This ain't Jerry Jarrett booking, let's just say that. Dave can't confirm it was Russo, but in all the various WWF lawsuits over the years (Sable, Nicole Bass, etc.) it appears Russo asked just about every woman in WWF to participate in a lesbian angle. So having a lesbian angle in TNA the week he returns obviously leads one to assume.
  
• There's also controversy over BG James (Road Dogg) calling Lenny Lane a "faggot" during a promo and also some other homophobic comments towards the Bruce character (who's entire gimmick is predicated on getting heel heat for being gay). TNA is claiming the line wasn't scripted and is saying James used it on his own. Jerry Jarrett apologized online for it the next day on the wrestlingclassics.com message board he posts on. (In case Road Dogg's 2020 social media posts haven't shown exactly what kind of person he still is, here's the full quote he said about Lenny Lane: "This goes for all of you who are politically correct. This won't be a gay bashing, I'm just about to beat the hell out a faggot." Even though I'm quoting someone else, I still feel gross just typing that) There was similar heat a few weeks ago when Brian Christopher called April a "cunt" during the show.
  
• Steve Austin pled no contest to domestic assault charges in San Antonio court this week. Under the plea bargain, he was given 1 year of probation, a $1000 fine, 80 hours of community service, and must undergo counseling and complete a 24-week domestic violence class. Austin also agreed that any further physical or verbal abuse towards Debra would be considered a probation violation. Under the terms of the probation, he's also not allowed to drink alcohol for 1 year. Dave says that one might be tricky, especially if he returns to wrestling. This was brought up in court and the attorney noted that Austin's usual post-match celebrations would technically be considered a violation. But they also said that it likely wouldn't be enforced since it would be considered acting (yeah, when he returned to WWE in 2003, I think he spent most of that year using non-alcoholic beers for his gimmick. Better safe than sorry). Once Austin completes his probation, the charges will be expunged from his record.
  
• After weeks of Hot Lesbian Action, gay weddings, and corpse fucking, Vince McMahon stood up at a booking meeting this week and loudly declared "shock TV is dead!" and insisted it doesn't work anymore and they will no longer be doing it. So maybe that's the end of Russo-style desperate ratings grabs for now. Keep in mind, literally 4 weeks ago, he sent out a memo to the creative team mocking their critics and insisting that more shock TV was the answer. This man is insane.
  
• WWE had a recent tour in India and nobody had fun. It was considered the trip from hell, and had nothing to do with the plane ride this time. The trip was long and uncomfortable and when they got there, the wrestlers were shocked at the living conditions in the country. WWE's stars were staying at a nice hotel, but just outside the front door, they saw multiple people literally drop their pants to shit in the streets and people living in gutters and filth. Several wrestlers also got sick from drinking the water and eating the food, with Lance Storm and William Regal so sick they couldn't work some of the shows. Booker T got so sick as they were leaving that he had to be hooked up to an IV and rushed to the hospital for dehydration as soon as they got back to the U.S., which caused them to have to rewrite some of that week's TV. The shows were a big success, drawing large crowds, but most of the wrestlers said afterwards that they never want to go back.
  
• Notes from Raw: the newly reunited Dudleys challenged for the tag titles. This wasn't planned, since most people feel it's too soon for them to be going for the titles already, but it was a last-minute re-write due to Booker T not being available. The first hour of the show was written around that match and a bunch of backstage skits featuring Booker T & Goldust which had to be scrapped. Match was an overbooked mess, with multiple re-starts due to Eric Bischoff's new rule enforcer, Val Venis (now using his real name Sean Morley). Dudleys stole Christian and Chris Jericho's clothes backstage and threw them out to the crowd and also revealed a jar of "ass cream" in one of their bags. Dave says he flipped over to Monday Night Football during this to see how that game was going because otherwise, he would have split his gut laughing at this masterful attempt at humor (sarcastic, Raw-reviewing Dave is the best. This used to be how he reviewed Nitro near the end and I've missed it). There were also a bunch of jokes about Jericho and Christian experiencing "shrinkage." Christ, Vince McMahon has the sense of humor of a 12-year-old. Elsewhere in the show, Hurricane hit a shining wizard on somebody and Jim Ross actually called the move by name. This has been a running joke throughout the 2002 Observers about how WWE wrestlers have started using that move (stolen from Great Muta) and none of the announcers ever called it by name or even seemed to know what it was. So with JR finally calling it by name, Dave says, "so that storyline has concluded." Batista (no longer Dave) is being managed by Ric Flair now. Rico is no longer an effeminate hair dresser and is now being booked as a tough guy, which the crowd is not buying. And first thing they did after giving him this gimmick change was have him lose clean as a sheet to Goldust in 3 minutes. And main event was Shawn Michaels vs. RVD in what was regarded as something of a dream match by a lot of fans. When ECW was around, "Shawn Michaels vs. RVD" was always the WWF/ECW interpromotional match fans wanted. Well, we got it and....it was a disappointment. It was Michaels' first match on Raw in almost 5 years. It was good, but nowhere near what people were hoping for.
  
• Notes from Smackdown tapings for next week: Bull Buchanan is now known as B-Squared and is teaming with John Cena. Tazz had a family emergency and had to pull out of the show at the last minute, leading WWE to put Ernest "The Cat" Miller in his place doing commentary. This show hasn't aired yet as of press time, but those who heard the live feed say Miller was horrendous, didn't know any of the characters or storylines, and Michael Cole had to prep him on everything during each commercial break. Stephanie McMahon suspended Brock Lesnar for his actions last week, even using the "I didn't screw Lesnar. Lesnar screwed Lesnar" line. Keep that in mind next time WWE claims Bret Hart is the one who won't move on from the Screwjob. Stephanie also made a bunch of period references at some point in the show, claiming it was that time of the month and she was being visited by her Aunt Flo, who visits her monthly. Kurt Angle, playing his goofy dork role, acted like he didn't know what she was talking about. Dave is already dreading watching this show. This, yet again, reeks of Vince McMahon 12-year-old "humor." Scott Steiner pinched Nidia's ass, because sexual assault is hilarious, and this led to Jamie Noble getting obliterated by Steiner. Guerreros vs. Angle/Benoit was good but otherwise, this sounds like a dreadful show.
  
• Notes from this week's Smackdown: this one was a good show. Mysterio/Noble was short but awesome finish. Guerreros complained about an unsafe working environment, leading Dave to talk about the Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart backstage fight in 1997 that led to Shawn briefly claiming he was quitting because WWF was an unsafe work environment. Paul Heyman cut a great promo about Lesnar. They had a backstage segment where you could see Raw announcer JR in the background and Dave says this never would have happened a year ago, but quality control and attention to detail went out the window when WCW died. Edge vs. Big Show in the main event for the title felt like Edge being a sacrificial lamb in the Lesnar feud and exposed Edge as not quite being ready for main events.
  
• Various WWE notes: American Dragon, Paul London, and Michael Shane are all working dark matches at TV tapings next week. In regards to DDP's recent release, he was planning on returning to the ring against doctor's orders, but Vince McMahon made the call to listen to the doctors, who said DDP could be risking paralysis if he wrestles again. So Vince won't let him wrestle anymore and they mutually agreed on his contract release afterward. Undertaker's wife gave birth to a baby girl this week.
  
• Dave reviews the recent episode of Tough Enough and there's something pretty interesting here in retrospect. One of the contestants, Nick, had a bicep injury and went to the doctor for it. The doctor told him he had a partially torn bicep and to take a couple of weeks off to rest the injury and Nick followed the doctor's advice and did just that. As a result, the WWE trainers felt he could never make it in pro wrestling because he refused to work through the injury. They all pretty much treated him like a pussy and he ended up getting cut from the show because of it. Gee, maybe he should just take a handful of pain pills like everyone else and end up dead at 40. This fucking company, I swear.... anyway, Bill DeMott, who is on record saying he's had so many concussions that doctors have told him he's risking permanent brain damage, was one of the most appalled at Nick refusing to wrestle with the injury because Bill DeMott is an asshole.
  
• Jim Ross in his Ross Report on WWE.com talked openly about wanting Steve Austin to return but said he needs to get his marriage issues straightened out first. In regards to Chyna returning, JR said it would be challenging because of Triple H's relationship with Stephanie, which makes him the first person in WWE management to openly admit that Chyna is basically blackballed from the company so long as those 2 are together. He also said he wants Goldberg to come in, but said he's making too much money in Japan and they won't match those offers. He also point blank said Hogan was supposed to return at Survivor Series but it fell apart because he refused to job to Lesnar. He also said WWE doesn't need a 49-year-old guy who's about to qualify for AARP membership to be their top guy and Hogan basically needs to get over his ego and know his place in the business at this point in his career. He also said they would love to have Ken Shamrock back, but only if he's committed to WWE full time, which has always been the hold-up.
  

NEXT WEDNESDAY: Mr. Wrestling" Tim Woods passes away, Roddy Piper autobiography review, Hiroshi Tanahashi gets stabbed, and more. Only 4 Rewinds left...