Maryse

My "grandmother" turns 85 today. She is not my real grandmother but I have known her and her extensive immediate family since circa 1968. I had family that lived a few blocks up the hill from them at that time even though I moved to Atlanta in early 1964.

It was around July 1990 when one of her daughters was going to have a son. I lost my whole family to complications a few years before then, but they finally decided to take me in and I have been living with them since.

My "grandmother" had quite a number of children. She had several daughters--one born in 1957 but passed away in 2003, another born late 1959 but passed away in 2020, one born in late 1958 and still with us today, another born in 1961 but five months older than I am, another in spring of 1963, another in late 1964 (this particular one is my "mom"), and had a son in spring of 1971.

She married a war veteran and he quite a handyman. He was born 1939 and passed away in 2015. Since then she lived alone and even experienced a break-in. Praise God she made it out of that **** alive. One of her grandsons (1996-present) has been tending to her, especially as his father (circa 1953-2023) passed away about a month ago. Similar to me, he is without an immediate family.

In more recent years, her house has grown mold in the cellar and she is still living in it despite her daughters' pleas to get the house renovated. She visited me past summer and she has recently returned to Georgia, staying with her now-eldest daughter. Today, they are going to celebrate with dinner at Red Lobster. Me, I ain't going, not with my awful social anxiety. Besides, if you had it once, you had it your whole life.

Here is hoping she lives another 15-20 years. To put things in perspective, one woman near where I stay was born in 1909 and she celebrated her birthday about a month and a half ago!

ひとつ - "Ehh, everybody cheater! Next time I cheat! Heh heh heh!"
ふたつ - "Ah, Waluigi lose! Impossible!"
みっつ - "I get you next time, cheaters!"

ひとつ - It amuses me that in Giant Melee on the Temple a LV9 CPU get stuck in the bottom part. It happens with , too.
ふたつ - Yay! Unlocked in Super Mario Party yesterday night!
みっつ - Maryse Fact #97 - On the victory screen for the Final Countdown mini-game, I like to form prime numbers out of the numbers showing (across, vertically, diagonally).
そしてよっつ - Maryse Fact #98 - About the 150cc engine class...I never use it Mario Kart 64, rarely in Double Dash, but fairly often in Wii and 8 Deluxe.

Idle poses - 1) Similar to , I adjust my gloves (the ones that Asuka wears in Tekken 7, that is). 2) Just like , I brush something off of my kimono.

Up taunt - Says "A miscalculation, perhaps?" Based on Sophitia's taunt in Soulcalibur VI.
Side taunt - Tucks her dark blonde hair behind one ear and briefly giggles. Based on one of Alisa's taunts in Tekken 6.
Down taunt - Sighs and says, "You look weak." Based on Amy's taunt in Soulcalibur VI.

Left - "I too, can not afford to lose..." This is based on Sophitia's Critical Edge after it KOs the enemy.
Up - I straighten my kimono and says, "Hoo... what a cinch!" Derived from one of Seong Mi-na's win poses in Soulcalibur II. The exact quote comes from Soulcalibur VI.
Right - I flip my hair back like in Mario Party 8 when she gets a star or wins a minigame. I say "Why fight me, if losing is all that you can do?" Based on one of Siegfried's quotes in Soulcalibur V.

Victory theme - A Laurel Crown ~ Victory (Soulcalibur VI)

I never opened any of my amiibos...until this afternoon. After getting a good look at the racing suits you can unlock with amiibo, it was high time for me to put a couple of my amiibo to good use. I admit I look hot in my girls' racing suits.

I made this one of myself in more recent weeks. It was inspired by me messing around as Haohmaru every once in a while in Soulcalibur VI. Besides, I look hot in hakama. The only thing I would change about my outfit is the color of my hakama. Instead of white, it should be scarlet...or black works. And a nice pair of fingerless gloves like Asuka has in Tekken 7 to finish the ensemble.

Curtain Call, Three Door Monty, Butterfly Blitz, Darts of Doom, Lucky Lineup, Memory Lane, Strawberry Shortfuse, O-Zone, Goomba Village, Plunder Ground, Fungi Frenzy, Pizza Me Mario, Chain Chomp Romp, Shy Guy Shuffle, Cheep Cheep Leap, Bob-omb Combo, Lost in the Shuffle, Drop Quiz

Koopa Troopa - 1 ATK/2 HP/1 coin salary
-'s default partner.

Goomba - 2 ATK/1 HP/2 coin salary
-'s default partner.

Toadette - 1 ATK/1 HP/1 coin salary
-If a player lands on an opponent's Basic Space, no coins are lost. My girl 's new partner.

Bob-omb - 1 ATK/1 HP/3 coin salary
-Jumps over an opponent's partner and attacks them directly; disappears after only 1 attack, since it explodes. 's default partner.

Boo - 2/1 HP/3 coin salary
If attacked, will counter-attack for equal damage before disappearing. Will not attack back if hit by a Chain Chomp in its multi-attack if it is not directly in front of the attacking Chain Chomp

. 's default partner.

Whomp - 0 ATK/4 HP/3 coin salary
-Unable to attack since he has zero attack. 's default partner.

Snifit - 2 ATK/2 HP/5 coin salary
-Can sometimes give the player two to four coins at the start of a turn. Birdo's default partner.

Piranha Plant - 3 ATK/1 HP/5 coin salary
-Can sometimes offer extra dice. These dice allow the player to move up to 3 more spaces. My girl 's new default partner.

Chain Chomp - 1 ATK/2 HP/6 coin salary
-Attacks opponent and all partners simultaneously.

Spike Top - 1 ATK/3 HP/2 coin salary
-No unique abilities

Grrrol - 0 ATK/3 HP/4 coin salary
-Although it has zero attack, it can attack partners and defeats them instantly; but does nothing to the opposing player.

Walleye - 0 ATK/4 HP/3 coin salary
-Unable to attack since he has zero attack.

Broozer - 3 ATK/1 HP/5 coin salary
-Waluigi's default partner.

Huckit Crab - 1 ATK/3 HP/2 coin salary
-Attacks the opponent farthest away from him. My girl 's default partner.

Bowser Jr. - 2 ATK/2 HP/5 coin salary
Sometimes uses his Clown Cannon and does double damage. The probability of this event is 33⅓%.

I picked this up before Christmas, but waited to play it right as the new year started. Right now, I enjoy the selection of characters here. I finally played all the boards, and Kamek's Tantalizing Tower was quite a blast to play on. It could of used another board or two, though.

Though I have yet to play them all, the mini-games here have potential because most of them are awesome. However, the motion controls are a bit tricky and will take getting used to. For that reason, I am probably never going to touch Challenge Road. Guess I am going to miss out on and Pom Pom, and besides, my girls have Dice Blocks with minimal risk.

River Survival seems easy to manage, so I may try that later.

Partner Party I plan on playing later. Sound Stage I really do not give the-square-root-of-two ****s for as I ain't great at rhythm. Did I mention Challenge Road can go **** itself? I am just here for the multiplayer aspects.

Final Rating: 8.5 outta 10

I picked this up after Thanksgiving, but waited to play it when this new year started. I just love that, despite mostly average to a bit above-average reception, Mario Party has come so far.

I liked how new-school these boards looked, just like how they took the old-school Mario Kart tracks and modernized them in Mario Kart 8. The mini-game packs they have is a good touch. I will always pick the Gamecube mini-game pack since I've been playing the Gamecube Mario Party games for the longest time, especially Mario Party 6.

I also like how you can get stickers and make a collage with them. I am still collecting stickers in Brawl and making collages with them.

About the only gripe I have is that it could of used another board or two. Waluigi's Island and Bowser Land are my personal picks.

Final Rating: 8 outta 10

Maryse Fact #92 - I love to shop at my friendly neighborhood H-Mart. So many Asian delicacies to try; I particularly love the seasoned squid, seasoned octopus, seasoned pan-fried shrimp, seasoned file fish, just to name a few. Did I mention I gravitate towards groceries imported from Japan? Of course, I am willing to try Korean.
Maryse Fact #93 - This is my favorite commercial I have ever watched.


And yes, I even attempted to do this dance back then.

ひとつ - I learned about the history of the candy cane this past Christmas. The white represents Jesus Christ, and the red striations represents the blood he shed to wash away our sins. So now I will never look at the white-and-red color scheme the same way again. As I speak these words, I think about the flag of Japan like this even if Christianity is not a big thing in Japan.
ふたつ - I just love how in Mario Party 3's Mario's Puzzle Party, a player can win by doing absolutely nothing.
みっつ - I had a dream where Mario Kart 8 Deluxe added three characters as DLC: , , and the most WTF addition (to me anyways), my girl Asuka Kazama from Tekken series. She was also able to race in her school uniform. Oh, how I envisioned her racing on the City Tripper on Royal Raceway (N64).

ひとつ - I love how in M.P.I.Q. Toad asks questions about **** most players do not pay attention to during Party Mode (e.g. how many Red Spaces have been landed on or the current total number of coins between the four players). I think should take more notes when playing Party Mode and that Toad should be a college professor.
ふたつ - 's special item, Bowser Shell, as an item in Smash...it could be a heavy item. It kills as early as a Bullet Bill but just be careful that it does not come back to hit you after it ricochets off a wall.
みっつ - I had a dream where my girl and Jeanne woke up in the year 1974 and watched Shaft and Three Tough Guys. After watching them, they loved the theme song of both movies.