Fred Casden's World: May 2022

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Lego Batman: The Video Game is finished

Good morning everyone,

Last night we wrapped up Lego Batman: The Video Game, covering Episodes 3 for both the Hero and Villain side of the story. I can safely say a few puzzles certainly were clever, and forced me to think a bit, but a couple of things actually forced me to look up the solutions. I did find it increasingly eye rolling of how more blatantly obvious 'Free Play' mode was going to be necessary to find the mini-kits to even have an outside shot of 100% completion... so I'm going to settle for 86%... and I think I'll gradually work on the 'Free Play' version of the levels. There are a couple of smaller achievements I can possibly get as well... that aren't notoriously glitched. Of course with all the achievements we knocked out, my Xbox Gamer Score is 80,000.

LEGO Batman Achievements

Kill-a moth.: Defeat Killer Moth.
The Most Dangerous Man on Earth.: Defeat Joker, Two-Face, Riddler and Catwoman as Batman.
Crusader.: Complete the third episode - Hero.
Smash Gordon.: Defeat Commissioner Gordon with Harley Quinn's Hammer.
It's the car, right?: Unlock all Vehicles (Hero/Villain).
Scare Tactics.: Scare 5 enemies with Scarecrow.
Oh, I got a live one here!: Shock 30 people with Joker's hand buzzer.
Cobblepot School of Driving.: Smash all the cars in the robot level.
Crime Lord.: Complete the third episode - Villain.
Be a Hero.: Super Hero on every level.
Start of something wonderful.: Shock the Joker with the Joker.
The Destroyer of Worlds: Destroy 12 objects at once with Bat Bombs.

Twitch Clips

During the stream we had a raid from Jakey1908 who was also playing Lego Batman: The Video game over on twitch.tv/jakey1908!

For the raid last night we dropped in on YrGamerBunni who was playing Mass Effect: Legendary Edition over at twitch.tv/yrgamerbunni!

Happy Birthday to PandaSweet!

Played a fairly quick Assault match in Smite last night, playing Kukulkan, nothing memorable but we picked up the win.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Beginner Combo #1, Body Uppercut Combo, Body Hook Combo and Body Straight Combo. Set a new personal best on Body Uppercut Combo since that was set to No Mercy difficulty.

Fitness Boxing 2 Rhythm & Exercise Stats For May 2022

Punches Thrown: 49,041
Estimated Calories Burned: 19847.68 kcal
Sophie' Contender Progress: 17/30 (56% Completed)
King EX Fighter Progress: 93%

Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau introduced a bill to prevent the buying and selling of handguns in Canada, this two years after banning assault style weapons. Why can't American leadership be like that? Oh right, our political leaders, particularly Republicans are gutless wimps,

I can confirm the Game Lobby and match making for the Xbox 360 version of Ghostbusters does indeed work. Reason why I was checking is that we'll feature that version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game in next week's lineup of games.

Played some ranked Overwatch matches, and went 4-1 in the 5 placement matches for tank, giving me a rank of 2047. I am a bit frustrated because I could've gone undefeated if it wasn't for my team being too aggressive.

Got another fan fiction commission request this morning, this time based around the trio of AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Liv Morgan who have been apparently allied on WWE TV as of late.I think I can come up with something based on a couple of clips I saw.

For tonight's stream we're going to do some random stuff I think, but I'm not 100% sure. But you know I'll be up to something, so we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Monday, May 30, 2022

Another successful night of Overwatch

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Overwatch was a lot of fun, as we did a few things involving Junkenstein's Revenge plus the usual big focus on Quick Play matches. We were joined by PandaSweet and PadDes for a lot of team up action, which was awesome. PatDes is probably best known for being a big part of the Twitch Sings Community. The night ended on a stretch of 8 wins in the final 10 matches played, which is always nice. In terms of my individual performance, I have a few plays of the game, notably as D.va and Reinhardt in Quick Play matches and as Cassidy in Junkenstein's Revenge.

Twitch Clips

For last night's raid we dropped in on ErikaMonky over at twitch.tv/ErikaMonky as they were playing Phasmophobia!

It appears my Fantasy Baseball team had a solid week as we won 6 out of 10 categories, mostly thanks to pitching. This week my team batted .276 (69/250) with 32 runs scored, 6 Home Runs and 29 RBI with 4 Stolen Bases. In 47 innings pitch, my team won 5 games with 3 Saves, 53 Ks on a 2.30 ERA and a WHIP of 1.02.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Hook Combo #2, Uppercut Combo #2, Double Combo #1 and Front-Back Step Combo.Kind of funny how I woke up super early today for a longer workout as opposed to yesterday when I woke up so late I only felt like doing a light routine.

Played a little Smite off stream, picking up a couple of wins as Eset and Ra in a couple of quick Arena matches.

Also messed around with a bit of Nickelodeon All-Stars Brawl, going through the Arcade mode and doing a perfect run to earn its related achievement. For it I used Garfield, and I figured out a few things. Tried to do some online matches but there was no one appearing in the casual Quick Play.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Achievements

Avatar State: Complete an Arcade run without losing a single stock

Dabbled some more with Persona 4: Arena, and I think I figured out a few things playing as Elizabeth, who has a particularly difficult super to do since it's a counter, meaning for it to work she has to be attacked. Also I looked into it, and the story mode for P4A does look like it has many of the same gimmicks as the BlazBlue games where it has a visual novel approach with multiple endings.

Persona 4: Arena Achievements

Trained in Seclusion: You spent 30 minutes in Training in one sitting. Now take it to the streets!
Perfect!: You had a perfect victory in Arcade Mode or online.
Die for Me!: You performed 30 Fatal Counters in Arcade Mode or online.

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For tonight's stream, we're looking to finishing Lego Batman: The Video Game, we have Episode 3 of both side of the story to complete along with the two bonus stages. So this should be a lot of fun.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Nick's All-Star Brawl and Persona 4 Arena... Surprised Me

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream was a triple header which lead off with Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and I have to say it's not bad. There is a great variety of characters and representation of Nick Toon characters, although the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Characters and Garfield stick out because those are franchises that were not original to Nickelodeon. The stages are kind of a mix bag, I really dislike the ones where there is an extremely zoomed out camera. I did go through the entire roster to get an idea of how everyone plays, some characters have some very unique gimmicks, I probably enjoy Michelangelo the most just based on first impressions.

Second game was Persona 4 Arena, and of course I'm no stranger to the cast of Persona 4 in a fighting game as they made up a large part of the BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle roster. Since I'm not familiar with the events of Persona 4, any references to things from it are of course lost on me. Still P4A has perhaps the best Fighting Game Tutorial I've ever seen as it really lays down the basics with no bullshit . We went through the arcade mode on the game's default settings and I have to say the difficulty was pretty solid for a casual gamer like myself. I look forward to seeing if its story mode has the visual novel aspect.

We closed out the stream by playing some Smite, focusing on some of the weekly goals, which involved playing Egyptian gods, so we did a few matches as Eset and Neith, and picked up a few wins. It was a really good.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Achievements
- I Want an Award!: Compete in your first local battle
- I Only Know How to Give 110%: Compete in 10 local battles
- Getting to Know the Family: Play at least once with all standard brawlers in a local battle
- I'm Ready! I'm Ready!: Complete an online quickplay match
- Rise and Shine: Clear Arcade with 1 brawler

Persona 4: Arena Achievements
- You know the Midnight Channel?: Tuned In
- School's Out: You've aced all the tests.
- Per...so......na...!: Have you burned your dread? Or reached out to the truth?
- Calm Down.: You suffered a Persona Break in Arcade Mode or online. It happens to everybody...
- Champion!: You completed Arcade Mode with one character.
- They Call Me...: You've created a Title for your online matches.

Twitch Clips

For the raid we dropped in on Starvexia who was playing Minecraft over on twitch.tv/starvexia!

Off-stream I did log into Gears 5, to nab the two achievements that were decommissioned. Hey Easy achievements are easy.

Gears 5 Achievements
- Homegrown Hive: Completed a Featured community built Escape Hive
- I Made It All By Myself: Created and published an Escape Hive

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Defensive Combo #2 and Defensive Combo #1. I kept it light today because of when I woke up (which was at 2:50 PM lol)

A new week has started, but let's look back at all the games we featured last week, which were Overwatch, Lego Batman: The Video Game, Fallout 76, Final Fantasy XIV, Star Trek Online, Persona 5 Royal, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Persona 4: Arena and Smite!

For tonight's stream we're kicking off the new week with Overwatch! So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Another massive night of Persona 5 Royal

Good afternoon everyone,

Well last night was another massive stream based around Persona 5 Royal, caused mostly because when I know I don't have to get up the next day and I get raided, I will extended the stream, thus the stream got extended multiple times. Now we did have to go through all the time to git towards the battle with Sae which was on November 18th, and we spent a lot of time pushing to build up numerous confidants to get them maxed out. At this moment the only two that need work are The Hanged Man and Tower. This also means, I spent a lot of time on looking up all the fusion combinations to build up the Strength confidant... and needless to say, a lot of sites some wrong combinations listed.

I do love the fact that following the battle with Shadow Sae, the game catches up to the initial prologue and we got to experience it all again this time with context, With that said...let's talk about that near two hours of plot development between Sae's interrogation of Ren is completed and the big bad dude of the base game is Shido. I mean a lot of ground is certainly covered to explain everything as how the Phantom Thieves thwarted the Akechi's assassination attempt on Ren. Now I'm fully able to suspend my disbelief, but a lot of things certainly had to go right for the plan to go off without a hitch. Clearly numerous things could have and should have gone wrong, but all is well that ends well.

Next time we play Persona 5 Royal, which will be on Friday, we are picking up on November 24th, just after the initial visit to the Cruise Ship Palace. So we got that to look forward too. And in case anyone is wondering, we have put in 105 hours into Persona 5 Royal up to this point.

Twitch Clips

Persona 5 Royal Trophies

A Night in Kichijoji: Attended the jazz club.
Casino of Jealousy: Bankrupted: Completed the casino Palace.

As mentioned before we had a few raids last night, the first was from just_press_next who was playing Undertale over at twitch.tv/just_press_next.

The second raid was from Oldish22 who was playing Path of Exile over at twitch.tv/oldish22!

The third raid raid was from YrGamerBunni who was playing Crusader Kings III over at twitch.tv/YrGamerBunni! They also gifted a sub and dropped a few bits which is always appreciated!

For our raid at the end of my stream, we dropped in on DimakTV who was also playing Persona 5 Royal, they were also dealing with the Shadow Sae boss battle. They stream over at twitch.tv/dimakTV!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Intermediate Combo #1, Triple Combo #2, Biceps Shape Focus Combo and Difficult Challenge Combo #1

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise Stats For May 22 to 28, 2022

Punches Thrown: 10,809
Estimated Calories Burned: 4465.88 kcal
Sophie's Contender Progress: 16/30 hours (53%)

Got a lead to track down two PlayStation 2 era games, the original Legends of Wrestling and X-Men: Next Dimension. The first game I had years ago, and at some point I must have traded it in back in the early 2000s, while the second game is one of the earliest console fighting games to have an allegedly solid story mode.

SoulCalibur II HD Online has been delisted on the Xbox side of things... which makes me glad I snapped up the game when I did and featured it fairly recently on one of my streams.

For tonight's stream I really have no clue what I shall be doing, but I'll be up to something random. So we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Friday, May 27, 2022

The Usual Before I Address Something Serious

Good morning everyone,

Bit of a disclaimer, in this blog I will address the issue of Gun Control (or lack there of) in the United States, that will be discussed towards the end.

Last night's stream was mostly dedicated to Final Fantasy XIV, as we did a raid and trial as a Bard, some fishing, gaining a level on Botany and then dedicated quite a bit of time to leveling Lancer while going into the Palace of the Dead. Actually made three trips through it to get to level 31. I figure we'll do two more trips to try and break through level 50 so that we can use levels 51-60 for boosting up alternate job roles.

Of course not all of the stream was focused on Final Fantasy XIV, nope, we did load up Star Trek Online and ran through a few Task Force Operations over the span of 30-40 minutes, STO is really weird to stream because to have OBS broadcast it at a consistent frame rate I have to cap Star Trek Online's frames at 30, otherwise the stream frame rate bounces from 40-59 frames per second. Not sure if we'll regularly pair of STO with FF14, but the option is always there.

Twitch Clips.

For last night's raid, we dropped in on Hawleigh who was playing The Last of Us Part II over at twitch.tv/hawleigh!

LvStrkr had a great idea for a new feature for the stream, which is a live score update overly and chat bot, which can be found over at sportscoresbot.com. The on-stream version will have the constant scores updates, while the chatbot will focus on local Philadelphia area teams (Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, 76ers and Union).

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Difficult Challenge Combo #2, Difficulty Challenge Combo #3 and Hip Shape Focus Combo. We unlocked the Laura's Contender EX Achievement this morning, meaning our focus will now switch to Sophie's Contender

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise EX Achievements

Laura's Contender: Train with Laura for over 30 Hours
In Progress: Sophie's Contender:Trained with Sophie for over 30 Hours (50% Completed)
In Progress: King EX Fighter: Acquire All EX Achievements (93% Completed)

Work was alright, but something did occur to me with the assignment I was on... the fact that the County Executives, which are elected positions, are not exactly well know in their communities, and thus are typical voted by their party alignment.

Now... how about I go after Gun Rights Activists.. because I saw something really interesting in the differences between purchasing a firearm in Canada and the United States. In Canada one must do the following

Obtain a firearm license (Mandatory 28-Day Waiting Period)
Submit Photo and Signature of Photo Guarantor
Complete Multi-Day Gun Safety Course and Pass Written and Practical Tests
Complete Background Check Which Considers Criminal Record, Mental Health History, Domestic Violence History and Whether Applicant Poses Risk of Harm to Anyone
Provide Two References
Provide Signature of Conjugal Partners Within The Last Two Years

That's a pretty damn though and well regulated process, and one has to admire Canada for it. Meanwhile here in the United States... the process is not so well thought out.

Pass an Instant Background Check If Buying From An Authorized Seller
No Restrictions if Buying at a Gun Show Or in Some States, From a Private Seller

Yeah, you read that right folks, in Canada there are 6 steps one must go through to purchase a firearm... in the United States, there's only 1 and that's if the person is buying from an Authorized Seller! We got a fucking problem in this country with guns, and making it harder for people to obtain them. And guess what fuck nuts, let's take a look at the Second Amendment: Bearing and Keeping Arms which states the following

'A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'

Which means in plain simple American English,a well regulated militia means the military and police force, for they have rules and training necessary for the purpose of the security of the their respective jurisdictions and the nation... and with that purpose in mind, the right of the people to keep and bear arms (aka to own a gun) shall not infringed. So if you're not apart of your local, county or state Police force, or if you're not enlisted in the United States Army, Arm Reserves, Army National Guard, the United States Marine Corp, the United States Navy, The United States Naval Reserve, The United States Air Force or even the fucking Coast Guard... you are not entitled to have a gun, let alone something that is similar to what is used in a real battle field.

And let's get into these so called militia that are filled with mostly white, racists, beta, conservatives... they are not well regulated, they are not trained for active defense of their community let alone the states and nation that is the United States of America. They are a clear and present danger to the vast majority of people in this country, because they push to make it easier for guns to be acquired by those who should not have them. If we had tighter more restrictive gun laws, a vast majority of these mass murders would be prevented.

And if you disagree with me, if you're a gun rights activist, a card carrying member of the NRA and so forth, then fuck you, you are nothing but a piece of shit who would pray to an imagery being in the clouds while being completely fine with letting kids be slaughter. There have been over 1,700 mass shootings in the United States since January 1, 2019. For every one hundred people living in the United States there are 120 guns... how is that even fucking possible?! Oh right, you people have spent over $120 Million since 2012 to make sure your can compensate for your lack of balls. Fuck you.

For tonight's stream, well it's Friday which means we're returning to Persona 5 Royal, and the countdown to the showdown with Shadow Sae and the betrayal of the Phantom Thieves by Akechi. Should be a pretty fun night.

So we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Thursday, May 26, 2022

It's A Thursday

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream opened with me going off for 30 minutes on every single politician who has sided with the gun lobbyists that has lead to more and more massacres over the years. Something I noticed is that less than 24 hours after the incident on Monday there was one attempted yesterday in Dallas that thankfully was prevented.

After a break, things switched over to Fallout 76 for the remainder of the stream, as we were joined by Iceman as we continued our focus on Mistress of Mysteries story arc, while getting a few different things done along the way. I need to make sure I have a lot of Stimpacks because I'm basically constantly getting into trouble to the point I end up having no ways to heal myself.. And for the first time since I started gaming using Xbox consoles, I've had an incident with some asshole harassing me. Said person has been blocked and footage of it was forwarded to Bethesda. Good news is, since Iceman was part of the fun last night, he witnessed it as well.

Twitch Clips

For the raid last night we dropped in on YrGamerBunni who was playing Halo: Infinite over at twitch.tv/yrgamerbunni!

The 2006 game, Sonic the Hedgehog, has been relisted on the Xbox Game Store for digital purchase. It's not on the list of backwards compatible games, but the fact it's been made available must mean Sega might actually go about fixing it. I highly doubt it because Sega has never really been a company that attempt to fix prior releases... which is funny considering Sonic '06 sold really well and despite some of its premise and stylistic choices has some very unique things going for it. Hell one of the best stages in Sonic Generations is based on Sonic '06.

Had a full shift of work yesterday which was nice, all things considered as it was for the annual survey of hospitals in a mid-western state. This would be different from the one I mentioned for Monday, as this one I know exactly how temperamental (Key part of that being MENTAL) some of the respondents can be.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Sway Back Combo, Block Combo and Straight Combo #2. There is a good chance we'll complete the requirements for Laura's Contender with tomorrow's session.

There has been a sharp increase in the call for the Phillies to fire Joe Giradi as manager... but how can one justify that when he has had a shitty pitching staff handed to him every single year?

For tonight's stream we shall be playing Final Fantasy XIV, all the usual nonsense of raids, fishing, botany and leveling.

So on that note we'll see you over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

More Lego Batman Fun; Thoughts on Bill & Ted: Face The Music

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Lego Batman: The Video Game saw a big focus on the second episodes for Hero and Villain, obviously starting with Batman first then the villain side of things. There are a few notable things taken from Batman returns, in that Catwoman and Penguin are teamed up, you get a rooftop battle against Catwoman and you end up an a snow covered zoo. Granted Penguin looks more in line with how he looks in the Batman '66 television series, which is an interesting contrast when Catwoman has a moderately more modern look. Speaking of an odd look, but Batgirl's grey, blue and yellow attire certainly reminds me of the late silver and early bronze age of comics.

Of course, when will the next time we dedicate time to Lego Batman: The Video Game, that will be on Monday, Memorial Day, I'm planning to start that stream maybe and hour or two early because the goal will be to do Chapters 3 for both the Hero and Villain side of the story, as well as play the two bonus missions.

LEGO Batman Achievements

Nice Outfit!: Collect all suits.
Shot to the goon.: Defeat 8 goons in 8 seconds.
Super Hero.: Complete the second episode - Hero.
Dressed to Impress.: Get all suit upgrades.
The Richest Man in Gotham.:Max out the stud counter.
Make it snappy.: Build the Croc ride on.
Super-villain.: Complete the second episode - Villain.

Twitch Clips

For the raid last night we dropped in on Joliet4 as they were doing a music stream over at twitch.tv/joliet4! You can check out their music over at Spotify!

Now we did end the stream early last night, because I learned earlier in the day that Bill & Ted: Face the Music is available through my Amazon Prime membership, so I ended up watching it. It is a really quick paced film that serves as a great continuation of what was seen in the first two films (and Television series, both Live Action & Animated... not quite sure how the continuity works with the Bill & Ted Franchise). I felt Alex Winter certainly captured alot of his younger self in his performance, but Keanu Reeves kind of felt a bit off the mark. Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine certainly stole the show as Bill & Ted's daughters, as they really came across as if they studied the first two films to get the mannerisms and speak inflection Winters and Reeves used in the first two films.In fact, I would go as far to say I wouldn't mind seeing a continuation of the franchise with the focus being on Lundy-Paine and Weaving's characters going forward, as in many regards, the ending of Bill & Ted Face the Music could be seen as a passing of the torch.

And since yesterday was a work day where there was actual work, the assignment was a bit average, trying to get feed back regarding major medical facilities. It's amazing how people cannot understand a question of 'If you had to go to a hospital for a specific reason where would you go?'. Anyway I was told that today I would have an assignment as well, so hopefully that doesn't change at the last minutes.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Intermediate Combo #2, Hook Combo #1 and Beginner Combo #2. We also did a little extra to make sure the workout was over 30 minutes.

I was asked how does one go about writing a fan fic, and my process is simple, I have a basic outline of how I want something to go and I stick to it. If I'm being paid a commission I'll try and take into account the client's input.

The tragedy in Texas yesterday, where 18 children were killed, will serve as another reminder at just how callous and uncaring the Republican party is when it comes to gun control. Of course, we're not shocked by this, remember back in 2012 with the Sandy Hook incident that Republican law makers sided with the Gun Lobbyists in order to line their own pockets than do the right thing.

For tonight's stream, we're jumping back into Fallout 76, with more fun in the ruins of West Virginia. Maybe I'll figure out how to make a house... who knows.

So on that note we'll you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

We Were Batman... In Lego Form

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream featured Lego Batman, and since we're playing the Xbox 360 version, that means we're getting achievements which is rather nice. Now because of how much music is taken from Batman '89 and Batman Returns, I'm playing the game with the music turned off to avoid any DMCA claims... granted, the music does not get muted for cut scenes, which means all of Danny Elfman's score has to be muted via YouTube's tools. This does have an extra benefit in that I can hear when collectable items are near, which isn't too possible with the in-game music on.

Of course, all the charm of the Lego video games are in full effect with the cute comedy that one can't help but smile at. Since I've played the Steam version before and only did the Batman portion before, remember what to do was an experience. I don't believe I even touched the villain side on the Steam play through. Looking forward to more Batman shenanigans tonight. Now this being a Lego video game, that means going after collectables for completion would be and is a pain in the ass of epic proportions. Thankfully, many of this game's unlockable codes were discovered years ago, so simply imputing them meant I was able to jump to 40% completion right off the bat. Also I did jump into Free Play mode off-stream to unlock a few achievements.

LEGO Batman Achievements

Super Builder.: Build 50 LEGO build-its.
Hero.: Complete the first episode - Hero.
Justice League.: Unlock all the Hero characters.
Unbreakable.: Finish a level without dying (Character) with no extras.
0000001 00000011.: Build the giant LEGO Robot.
Villain.: Complete the first episode - Villain.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?: Glide for 9 seconds.
Eat floor... High fiber.: Slam 20 goons into the floor with Batman.
There and back.: Destroy 10 objects in one Batarang throw.
Boy Wonder.: Perform 20 backflips in a row with Robin.

Twitch Clips

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal who was playing Tunic over at twitch.tv/kalenal! Tunic looks like a very cute version of a Souls-Born game with an isometric view. Also, I rarely do clips of other people's streams, but this was a great moment for Kalenal.

Kalenal Twitch Clip

Hello Freeze On Demand!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Waist Shape Focus Combo, Uppercut Combo #1, Advanced Combo #1 and Straight Combo #1

Was told today I would have an assignment from my Day Job, so I got that to look forward to this afternoon. Wonder exactly what is being researched this time. If its interesting I'll try to remember some details for tomorrow's blog.

Here's what Republicans seem to fail to understand, social media sights are not 'the media', sites like Twitter, Facebook and so forth have terms and conditions that must be followed, and if you violate there TOS, then those sites have the right to throw you off them.

Apparently there's a 20+ year debate over a line said by Ralph Wiggum on an episode of The Simpsons, ("Oh Boy sleep! There's where I'm a Viking"). Some people take it literally, some take if figuratively, I take it as... it's Ralph, if he says he's a Viking where he sleeps, then he's a Viking.

For tonight's stream we're continuing Lego Batman: The Video Game, seeing if we can through episode 2 for both Hero and Villain. So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Monday, May 23, 2022

A Strong Start To The Week

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream of Overwatch was the usual mix of fun with friends in matches that end up either being really good or really wonky. Big shoutouts to PandaSweet, BangBangBang and BloodyClown for being apart of the team-ups. Now while we mostly stuck with Quick Play matches, we did get in a few trips to Junkenstein's Revenge, as it appears that will be on Sundays for Volume Two of the Remix event. Characters I used were Mercy, Moira, D.va, Reinhard, Tracer, Torbjourn, Ashe and Widowmaker. Plays of the Game were picked up when I was Tracer, Torb, Moira, D.va and Reinhardt. One of the more hilarious moments of the night was me sneaking behind the defending team to push the payload.

Twitch Clips

For the raid last night we dropped in on Dr_JB_Jovi who was playing Evil Dead: The Game over at twitch.tv/dr_jb_jovi!

Played some more Smite last night, and I've focused on playing as Isis, who I remember using a lot back when I was playing the Steam version of the game. Finally got her 2nd character achievement which was pretty cool.

SMITE Achievements

Stay In the Circle: "Unlock the Smite Award "Stay In the Circle"!

In a bit of cool news, Kalenal (twitch.tv/kalenal) was live over on twitch.tv/thecharitybraves channel, raising money for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital while playing Final Fantasy XIV, and they raised well over $5,500! Also of note, it was rather funny to watch Kal flail about when they had to play the Role of a Black Mage.

Finished the Commission Request for a Star Wars fic yesterday afternoon, and I think it turned out alright considering my lack of familiarity with the Clone Wars and Rebels TV series.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Weaving Combo #2, Weaving Combo #1 and Advanced Combo #2

For tonight's stream we're going to start up the Xbox 360 version of Lego Batman: The Video Game, mostly because I want to be have some chill streams, and things don't get more chill than the Lego video games. Plus we get achievements to unlock too. Also, the music will be off because of DMCA issues.

So on that note we'll see you later tonight over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Mavel vs Capcom, Black and the Rage of Paladins

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream lead off with Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes EX Edition on the original PlayStation. Part of the reason why because of Maxamillion_Dood (twitch.tv/maximilian_dood) posting a video claiming how it was a version of MvC that no one played... which is not true because I intetionally went out of my way to track it down to put together a collection of Japanese exclusive Capcom fighting games on the PlayStation. We went through the Arcade mode twice as Morrigan and Gambit, messed around with the Cross Over mode which actually saw Shadow Lady being used because the A.I. selected them. We also figure out a few things involving use of the 'Special Characters', who can act as counters and compensating for some of the main roster's limits. This game will be counted on this years tour as well.

We also played Black on the PlayStation 2, and it is still a good looking game from 2006, thankfully it has multiple difficulty settings... but I found it a bit odd with some of the control layouts, no sprinting (that I could figure out), and no reason sense of direction. Action sequences can be pretty epic from what I saw. Maybe we'll give it a dedicated attempt of finishing it at some point. Black does have one of the dumber starts up to a game I have ever seen with a start screen followed by a near 5 minute movie style intro of a black screen with text displaying who was involved with the music and live action sequences before the main menu is displayed.

Then we jumped to the Xbox One to play some Paladins, and we were joined by PandaSweet.... we did not exactly run into the smartest group of randoms, who were either disconnecting from matches, intentionally making selections of characters that did fit the need of the team. You don't see me get angry often, but Paladins was a bad way to end things last night.

Twitch Clips

For last night's raid we dropped in on TracyDoll who was playing Friday the 13th: The Game and Evil Dead: The Game over on twitch.tv/tracydoll!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Left-Right-Step Combo, Triple Combo #1, Double Combo #2 and Body Straight Combo.

With how badly Paladins went during the stream, I felt motivated to play some Smite. mostly Arena matches. More losses than wins, but at least it nothing was sabotaged by stupidity.

SMITE Achievements

Combo Breaker: Shut down 10 killing sprees in qualifying matches.

It's the start of a new week, which means we shall recap what we did last week which included Overwatch, Chrono Cross; The Radical Dreamers Edition, Fallout 76, Final Fantasy XIV, Persona 5 Royal, Black, Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes EX Edition and Paladins!

For some reason the Mariners are taking a chance on Justin Upton in a desperate attempt to add some life to their line up. What is it with teams trying to squeeze anything out of guys who are clearly at the end of their careers these days in Baseball?

Finished another commission story request yesterday afternoon and I get another one this morning, this time to be set in the Star Wars universe. This is going to involve some very loose interpretations of the lore.

Happy Birthday to the late Doreen Mulman, who ran the Ghostbusters Fan Forum 20 years ago. They were the first site to ever host artwork and fiction that I wrote, obviously related to Ghostbusters.

For tonight's stream we shall be playing Overwatch! So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Saturday, May 21, 2022

The Casino Palace Was Confusing

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream of Persona 5 Royal started off with Sae's Palace and boy was it pretty nutty with how it was spread over two in-game days, and I think it was to make sure for Sae in the normal world saw who the Phantom Thieves were. That said, I found the Casino Palace to be confusing in terms of some of the gimmicks involved, not to mention the enemy match up types really were not favorable at times. I'm also not to keen on having to wait to do the Calling Card, but knowing its to set up Akechi's betrayal that was seen at the start of the game it just means I can try and catch up on so many other things, like Confidant progress and covering Mementos. Also at this point, I've covered 71% of the trophies, so we have an outside chance of getting full completion... I need to get Kasumi's to rank 5... luckily we were able to get Rank 4 tonight. Also, I did get Akechi and Maruki to both Rank 8 and 9. So that pressure is off as well.. On a side note I did love Haru and Makoto's tag team wrestling Showtime, I thought that was a bit clever.

Persona 5 Royal Trophies

Intensive Training: Used Incense on a Persona in Lockdown.
The Search for Power: Completely changed the cognition of Mementos.

Twitch Clips

We had two raids during the stream, the first was from Oldish22 who was playing Path of Exile over at twitch.tv/oldish22!

The second raid was from YrGamerBunni who was playing Crusader Kings III over at twitch.tv/yrgamerbunni!

For our end of stream raid, we dropped in on Sheepfuzz who was doing some community gaming with the Jackbox Party Packs over at twitch.tv/sheepfuzz!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout involved Front-Back Step Combo, Beginner Combo #1, Body Uppercut Combo and Body Hook Combo.

Fitness Boxing 2 Stats For May 15 to 21, 2022

Punches Thrown:11, 233
Estimated Calorie Burn: 4,427.24 kcal
26 Hours Trained Out of 30 For Laura's Contender Achievement (86%)

I got a good start on the latest commission request, even if the plot is paper thin at best, so having to rely more on 'action' than anything else. Hopefully I can knock it out before tonight's stream, or maybe right after. Some asked me why I don't post the commissioned fics here on blogger, well it's mostly because these requests fall under the NSFW category.

I can say with confidents this has been a losing week for my Fantasy Baseball team, mostly due to Bryce Harper not being in the Phillies lineup at all. For the week, my team is .267 (44/165), with 20 runs scored, 4 home runs, 20 RBI and 2 stolen bases... and on the pitching side in 30 innings, 4 wins, 2 saves, 25 strike outs with an ERA of 3.60 and a WHIP of 1.13. Yes the Fantasy League I'm in doesn't tally up stats until after Sunday's games, but I know a losing week when I see it.

For tonight's stream, we may check out something random, maybe hook up the PlayStation to mess around with some of my Japanese imports of Capcom fighting games like Marvel vs Capcom, X-Men vs Street Fighter, etc. Or we'll just play Paladins and Riff Trax again... or maybe do all of that. We'll see what I figure out.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Friday, May 20, 2022

Trying to Remember what I wrote originally for today!

Good morning everyone,

Well I'm a bit annoyed, because as some may now, I write the majority of these blogs before I go to bed, and when I thought it saved as per normal. Turn out it didn't when I went to check the preview. So here I am trying to remember everything I wrote before 3 AM last night.

So anyway, last night's stream of Final Fantasy XIV saw the usual antics, a few raid, trial and PVP fun as my character in their Bard gear, plus some leveling up as a Lancer, Botanist and Fisherman, plus a little bit of Red Mage action. I also, finally learned how to get the higher tier script gear, turns out there was a series of Featured Quests I did not come across originally. I also picked up the third piece of the new Alliance Raid gear, and it really drives home the fact that the whole story for the latest Alliance Raid is based on the Greek Myths.

Twitch Clips

For last night's raid we dropped in on YRGamerBunni who just became a Twitch affiliate , and were playing a montage of the games that helped them get to that point including Halo: Infitine and Elden Ring. They stream over at twitch.tv/YRGamerBunni!

Plasyed some Smite last night after the stream, and I managed to extend my daily Xbox Achievement streak an extra day, by getting the second of Chang'e's achievements that involved sending her rabbit back to get items. Since I often just go with the 'Auto Buy' option for matches, I actually had to turn it off to get it to work.

SMITE Achievements

Jade, Go!: "Unlock the Smite Award "Jade, Go!"

Finished the latest commissioned story request based around old WWE plot lines yesterday afternoon, and I'm surprised some folks are enjoying them beyond the client. Which has lead to another commission request based around TNA/Impact.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Work out featured Double Combo #1, Hooke Combo #2 and Uppercut Combo #2.

Added a handful of cheap options to the Xbox digital library to consider for future streams, I Am Alive, Zombi, Mars: War Logs, and Record of Lodoss War - Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. That last one caught my attention just for the fact I have the anime series on DVD and it's been a long time since I sat down and watched it. Could be an idea for my YouTube channel.

For tonight's stream we are getting back to Persona 5 Royal, and it will be an action packed stream with the big focus being on Sae's Palace, which we reached last week. This is going to be interesting because we are now at the point of the story that catches up to the prologue.And from what I read, the best team to use would be Akechi (ugh...), Makoto and Ann.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Whole lot of roaming around in Fallout 76

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Fallout 76 saw a fair amount of things done, a lot of roaming around to get various stuff done, including killing the 6 different enemies with Grant's Sword. Iceman has that same quest, but he joined us late so he still has a few to get on that quest. Other things done was the Top of the World quest that sees the players meet Rose, plus various lore related stuff such as the Overseer notes. I do think the enemies get tougher when in a group. Another theory I have is that Fallout 76 is built around going every damn play, but the tying of Fast Travel to the Bottle Caps will make some quests a real slog to get through. Still we had fun!

You Can't Tell Nukes Landed Here

Fallout 76 Achievements

Personal Matters: Complete "Personal Matters"
Ain't He the Cutest?: Collect a Bobblehead
Pioneer Scout: Discover 100 Locations

Twitch Clips

For last night's raid we dropped in on FnDanteSavage who was playing Gears of War 3 over on twitch.tv/fndantesavage!

May 19, 2022

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout involved Difficulty Challenge Combo #1, Defensive Combo #2 and Defensive Combo #1.

Part way finished the latest fic commission request, getting a good chunk done. I feel like I'm getting back into a groove of writing again to some degree.

Messed around some more with Smite, only playing Assault matches to see if I can figure out anything with Gods that I never played before that were randomly selected. Of note Gilgamesh and Cthulhu were interesting. With Gilgamesh I figure being able to dive in and do a lot of damage is key, or to at least set things up, he did have one of the easiest achievements to get which just involved going to a specific point of the playing field. Cthulhu is pretty tanky, but really seems all about setting up things for the team, but his related achievements involving trying to stack passives which is not my strong suit.

SMITE Achievements

Quick Turn-In: Unlock the Smite Award "Quick Turn-In"

Looks like Bryce Harper is going to be sidelined for a few days, which just hurts my Fantasy Baseball team considering the hot stretch he was on.

Looking at the footage for the She-Hulk TV show I have to say... visually it looks awful, as the look for She-Hulk herself looks like it' straight out of the uncanny valley of PlayStation 3 video game cut scenes.

Headline I didn't think I see 'Kathy Griffin shows of her sexy body'... I get it, there's the trend of a lot of the older celebrities who had their prime in the 90s showing off how great they look, but c'mon, this is reaching a little bit.

For tonight's stream, we'll be doing a casual night of Final Fantasy XIV, you know the drill, a couple of raids, some leveling and fishing. So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Fred Casden's World

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Lego Batman: The Video Game is finished

Monday, May 30, 2022

Another successful night of Overwatch

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Nick's All-Star Brawl and Persona 4 Arena... Surprised Me

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Another massive night of Persona 5 Royal

Friday, May 27, 2022

The Usual Before I Address Something Serious

Thursday, May 26, 2022

It's A Thursday

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

More Lego Batman Fun; Thoughts on Bill & Ted: Face The Music

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

We Were Batman... In Lego Form

Monday, May 23, 2022

A Strong Start To The Week

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Mavel vs Capcom, Black and the Rage of Paladins

Saturday, May 21, 2022

The Casino Palace Was Confusing

Friday, May 20, 2022

Trying to Remember what I wrote originally for today!

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Whole lot of roaming around in Fallout 76

Overwatch 2 and other notes

Amazon One Link

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