Final tally:

20 Minutes Until Dawn - 4.50
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate - 8.09
Chrono Trigger - 8.97
Final Fantasy IX - 14.47
Road 96 - 14.98
I Am Setsuna - 18.78
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy - 19.97
Final Fantasy VI - 20.76
Final Fantasy IV - 20.76
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster - 22.47
Flowers - le volume sur hiver - 26.05
Ruined King - A League of Legends Story - 26.97

Final total - $206.77 - $45.27 wallet credit = $161.50

Finished going through the Lovers Route of the 2nd Flowers VN. I 'finally' realised those VNs have an auto function...which I desperately need now that it's winter here. It has been a bad week for my back and digestion. I'm pretty much resigned to having to lie down after work until winter is over. It's why I pressed to get Heat 32s cleared in Hades and Persona 4 Golden before winter truly kicked in. I know that winters here are nowhere near the worst, but they're bad enough for me. Just hoping I can make it to October without anything major going wrong. Either way, at least I can use my evenings to get through Flowers with the auto function.

Maybe it's because Velvet Crowe is my favourite female character in all of gaming and the overall tone. But Arise just feels like sugar-coated concrete. I feel no reason to be invested in it at all. Reminded me big time of the more recent iterations of Valkyria Chronicles and how absurdly optimistic/comfy that was. Octopath felt so disjointed in story, I felt nothing compelling. Not devoid, just lacking.

Feels like a series that can go to 7. Hopefully the games get closer than the last two, though.

That list was my retains. Only Trails I liked were the first two, Cold Steel was just zzz. Octopath Traveller story and gameplay seemed rather bland. Tales of games that weren't Berseria were dull. Atelier has become very zzz. Blue Reflection is just weird.

Beauty and the Feast is the only cooking manga that interests me because of the onee-san aspect. Widow getting back on her feet was heartening.

Steam sale is up in 2 days. I'm considering FF6, 4, 9 and 10, Ruined King, I am Setsuna, Legend of Mana, Chrono Trigger and Horizon Zero Dawn if they go low enough during the Steam sale that starts in 2 days, along with some indies you likely haven't heard of. P3P will be an early 2023 release and likely about the price P4G was so I imagine I'd get it right away. But if Square Enix pull any nonsense with the P5R price (and the FF7 remake price makes me think they will) I won't bite. I have plenty of things to play until it reaches below the 30 AUSD line.

Finished reading Beauty and the Feast tonight. Adorable, silly but heartening cooking-oriented version of Garden of Words.

Given the Summertime Rendering anime was about to pass where I had read to, I read it the manga to the end the last two nights. And just wow...10/10. Yasuki Tanaka really managed to make the whole thing work. The utter intricacy of how events from early loops tied to the latter loops, the shifts in momentum for either side, the reason why everything was happening. If Watanabe is able to remain as faithful to the original as he has so far, he can also reach the same heights the manga did.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final was an epic. If every game this series could be like that, it will be legendary.

Catiously optimistic. If they put Royal on at its original PS launch price, I won't bite. If P3P is the 'best' version of P3, hopefully turns out to be so.

Warriors won Game 5 and Curry finally didn't have to carry. If they do prevail, Curry should finally be MVP and secure the #2 point guard spot ever because Magic will be #1 but he should exceed Thomas and Stockton.

I'm with the Avs. Tampa won plenty. Avs might have only this chance.

To be honest, I'm not keen on travelling. I've been along the east coast states here. There are bits in Western Australia and the Northern Territory I'd like to see. But that would be it.

The reason Australia has relatively decent healthcare is that Whitlam and Hawke made sure Medicare was a must for every individual. I've heard about the utterly horrific state of it in the US for around 2 decades and it's just chilling. I saw Canada is going for a rifle ban. But I can see the NRA, single issue voters and the like never letting it happen in the US. Feel for you, man. I feel tension every time I go out wondering whether my luck with avoiding the rona will run out. But if I had to worry about guns too...A friend of mine went to the US a few years ago. He said when he heard a gunfight in a safer part of LA, he couldn't believe other people were just acting normal around it and he ran straight for his hotel.

I think Germany and the Nordic countries were perceived to be the better off parts of Europe. That said, Ireland is in a better state than it once was. A few decades ago, Sinn Fein being the ruling party would have been utter fantasy. Place like that would be too cold for me. Winter is the worst time of year for me. Which just started here. I'm coping - with my thermals and thick socks and triple/quad layering.

For its time, Catherine was a rare example of adult relationships. And yes...Catherine as a character is definitely a real young adult but selfish mentality while Katherine is definitely the most relatable and empathetic. Orlando, I appreciated why he was jaded and loved any rant he went on. Vincent is a weird one - to begin with, I certainly felt little more than wondering why the hell he enabled the situation, but I guess there's schadenfreude to be had with him until he finally grows up.

Can't say those titles did much for me. But if that's what got your spark back, good to hear.

I think that title revelled in being a train wreck combined with a dumpster fire on purpose. It was indicative of people either wanted to see meme-laden torment or utterly sugar coated fluff in their romance in current times.

My one crazy indulgence of recent years is Harley Quinn animated aka the 18+ one from the last few years. It has no sense of restraint and revels in utterly bloody, profane chaos. Also Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy as a thing just rocks.

I really have no idea what will happen in that series. And I didn't expect the NHL conference finals to be as one-sides as they have been so far. Momentum can be very weird even in a Finals series. One key injury or suspension could suddenly flip the series on its head. Honestly thought Edmonton would have a better showing against Colorado, but the Avs being 3-0 up already just seems inevitable now. The Rangers having the better of Tampa so far has been a true surprise, though.

A lot of people did like going to the US previously, but I think the state of things is rattling people. I think for a long time in the last 6 years, Australia was headed in a similar political direction. But from 2020, things gradually grated on the public and led to the election results.

As for the gun laws here - they came into place after the Port Arthur massacre in 1995. ~25 people died and that was enough for even the conservative party to say they had to enact those laws immediately. The other big deal was the 2020 bushfires and the 2022 floods. A lot of native plants and animals were lost - to the point koalas are now an endangered species. You'd probably think koalas as one of the most iconic things in Australia, but we're on the verge of losing them. Floods are getting too regular in Queensland and hitting their capital city on a regular basis as well as country areas in eastern states. The third thing was creating an anti-corruption committee - which sounds obvious but the Liberals were doing everything possible to stop.

Well, if you do end up leaving the US, Australia could be a place for you long term. It's hard to go wrong with the main cities for the greater part, although real estate on the east coast is...insanely overpriced. Seems to be one of the things South Australia has somehow resisted - along with have the most stable climate. Some parts of Europe are still in a good state, but some really aren't. My mother went to a lot of Europe ~10 years ago, her first time back there since 1980. She had some good times but felt sad about the state of France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Ukraine then. Can only imagine what it's like now. Kanon's comments about France leave me fairly chilled - puts Australia's political turmoil in perspective. Can only imagine what Nachtwalder has to go through with what's happened to Ukraine. Certainly hope things get better in the US, somehow.

Your cinnamon bun analogy is very apt. They are the type that revel in manipulation and I will never abide by. For the record, I do have some female friends now. A bisexual colleague is probably my best one - some females have said they envy my friendship with her, which I find a bit surprising but I'll take it. She is married so I don't even entertain taking it beyond friends. So I do know there are good women out there - but my experiences from just normal situations (aka the aforementioned ones) that I mentioned before have made me very wary. So I guess I do tend to drift to material where either a person comes through on the other side better and with hope (even if damaged), or a soul who just wants to grow as a person and betters those around them.

I will give Villainess a look in the near future. Saw some places positively comment about it, so I am intrigued. If it has a vibe that's somewhat similar to Bad End Theater, I could definitely get into it. I'm going to get a playthrough of Catherine done first, about halfway through. Somehow fluked a gold trophy on the fourth stage on Normal (geez, only 18% of people have ever managed that). And I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised that I infinitely prefer Katherine to Catherine. And I really need to get back on the Summertime Rendering manga, since the anime will probably reach close to where I'm at by Episode 10. Also I really need to get through the Flowers VNs in full before Hiver releases, which I have wishlisted and thank you big time for letting me know about.

Mature women - younger men. There are some around. Beauty and the Feast (late 20s widow cooks for a high school baseball player), We Swore To Meet In The Next Life And That's When Things Got Weird (39 year old woman and 17 year old guy find each other again). Garden of Words had that dynamic in a more healing manner. Tsukihime had that as its core dynamic. Spice and Wolf as well as Code Geass also had it, albeit the female having a youthful body despite their age. My Boy has it in a non-romantic sense with a 30 year old woman helping a 12 year old boy find his way in life as well as finding meaning in hers.

Nozoki Ana - now that was an experience. That actually had decent sales in Japan for being an 18+ manga. As for titles I should know better aka guilty pleasures, I took a look through my list of titles I rated 8/10 or higher and I think the only one that qualifies is Grenadier. It is silly but it's earnest and that 'reloading mechanism' just never gets old.

NBA - Warriors v Celtics. I think Golden State should have it, would take an utter defensive effort from Boston to pull it off. Colorado v Edmonton is the western final in the NHL. East will be Tampa vs whoever wins Game 7 of Carolina v New York.

One other thing - apparently the Philadelphia Eagles are marketing to Australia since Jordan Mailata has become a regular part of the side. Sounds like the NFL are trying to get a game played in Australia via them or the LA Rams, who are also marketing here.