This has been a year in 3 very distinct parts. The pre move, post move & after shedding a lot of emotional deadweight. Pre move everything felt a bit crap. The house was cold, damp & full of black mould. It was expensive to live there despite the cheap rent and it wasn’t big enough … Continue reading Goodbye 2022
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Wake me up when September ends
I have hated (most of) this month. Between my health issues escalating and then being so negatively impacted by the thoughtless behaviour of others - I have reached a limit I thought impossible to reach. A limit I wasn't pushed to over a failed pregnancy, followed by homelessness and divorce. A limit I could glimpse … Continue reading Wake me up when September ends
Back in the writing seat
As you know, if you are part of the community or follow me on any socials, I have recently and suddenly moved house. We have had a serious life upgrade, and as I sit here in Palace Shiney I finally feel settled enough to start cracking through all the reviews I have been meaning to … Continue reading Back in the writing seat
In the mood to review
Some of you may have noticed that whilst I have played at least 7 new games as part of first play Thursday recently - I am yet to follow these up with reviews. Sadly, the bottom line is I haven’t enjoyed a huge amount of the new games recently. Rather than just force myself to … Continue reading In the mood to review
The Kindness of Strangers
The internet is a fucking weird place, isnt it? Because of google and social media you can become both an armchair socialist and an armchair expert in almost anything. With its (almost total) protection and anonymity you can be anyone, say anything (and I've had a couple of trolls which have needed police intervention in … Continue reading The Kindness of Strangers
The backlog
As I write this I know I am doing so with over 20 games yet to be played and two I still haven't reviewed. The backlog is fucking real. The backlog demands sacrifice. For me, the sacrifice is going to be a Jackbox night, having now streamed over 460 hours (yes really) of the community … Continue reading The backlog
No second chances at a first impression
As you can tell from how I talk about games I have been looking too, I do expect alot from certain games, especially AAA. Why is this though? I think it might have something to do with the last few years of crappy day one AAA titles. We get let down so much by so … Continue reading No second chances at a first impression
The other games we play
As a gamer, gaming is a huge part of my life, as I expect it is for any gamer to be honest, so how else does it get into our daily lives? And I don’t just mean constantly chatting about and playing games, I mean how gaming changes the way you go about your day… … Continue reading The other games we play
Gamers Thumb
Anyone who has ever played on a console should instantly have an idea as to what I’m aiming at here, for those that don’t I shall elaborate. Gamer’s thumb is typically a condition associated with certain types of console gaming, for me it started off with fight sims (Tekken, DoA, Street Fighter etc) and then … Continue reading Gamers Thumb
Browser Based Games
With a whole world of shiny high spec PC’s and consoles practically being able to do everything except the washing up, it’s easy to forget the simple gaming pleasures the internet can bring; and I don’t just mean flash games that amuse you for a day when your avoiding work, I mean the ones you … Continue reading Browser Based Games
Backseat Gamers
I’ve been aware of this annoyance for years, but I thought it was just concentrated to my household when I was young, where mum would walk by me sat on the floor playing Tomb Raider and ask why I was taking the long way round when there obviously an easier way out (she wasn’t aware … Continue reading Backseat Gamers
Sony’s slide into sub-par service
For once I was a Sony girl, a trophy whore, and Crash Bandicoot was my boo;Now when you ask Sony for help with a game;They be like, ha ha ha, no, fuck you. I think given the overall tone of the last few months posts about the free PlayStation games you can tell I am … Continue reading Sony’s slide into sub-par service
Girl Power* – Melly’s Third Book Post
In honour of International Women's Day *Yes I said it. I grew up in the 90s and I'm not ashamed of my love of the Spice Girls I don't really need an excuse to champion the authors mentioned below but since it is International Women's Day I have one anyway. I'm highlighting 5 of my … Continue reading Girl Power* – Melly’s Third Book Post
Women’s Day
I am excited about this years Women's day for a number of reasons. Firstly it marks a streaming milestone wherein I was asked to participate in the days events on twitch but its also the first Women's day where I am running my own business that I started from scratch thanks to streaming. I have … Continue reading Women’s Day
London Calling – Melly’s Second Book Post
All based in London with more than a little magic I recently visited London for the first time since pandemic-life took over so was reminded of some of my favourite books set in its terrifying web of streets and too many people - can you tell I'm not a city girl? Neverwhere I had to … Continue reading London Calling – Melly’s Second Book Post
Gamesblast 22
Today is the day we kick off 3 days of streaming from myself and the Shiney family raising money for a charity that is very dear to my heart. I first got involved in Gameblast21 and it was my first charity fundraising experience as a streamer. A few months later in the Netflix documentary 'Not … Continue reading Gamesblast 22
The Babysitters Club
I am sorry, this another rant about age. The internet should not be your child’s fucking babysitter. If you don’t know what your kids do online - do not have the fucking internet, if you haven't learned about parental controls STOP LETTING THEM ON THE INTERNET UNSUPERVISED. And yes, a lot of you who are … Continue reading The Babysitters Club
Melly’s First Book Post
First steps into Crime Contrary to what these two would have you believe, it's not all about Marple & Poirot! (Of course I had to start with the cats - otherwise how would you know it was really me?) If you're thinking of venturing into the wonderful world of crime fiction (which you definitely should) … Continue reading Melly’s First Book Post
12 months of being a Twitch affiliate
Today is a big day. I should have made a highlight last year when I was live streaming and got the email to say I had finally made affiliate. It had been a long month of slogging and streaming too hard and not necessarily smart - but I made it. To celebrate, well a stream … Continue reading 12 months of being a Twitch affiliate
Dry January – Week 5 & beyond
I've done it. I have fucking done it.This is the longest break from alcohol I have had since I was pregnant, 4 years ago.The benefits are astounding, I feel like a new person. Day 29Saturday nights are always the trickiest for the sobriety, but with the sleep schedule so weird at the moment I don't … Continue reading Dry January – Week 5 & beyond
Dry January – Week 4
Here we are, week 4 and nearly at the end.You can see how week 1, 2 & 3 went in their respective blog posts and I thank you all so much for the support and encouragement over the last few weeks, we have nearly made it but I am not there yet.That said, the benefits … Continue reading Dry January – Week 4
Dry January – Week 3
After two weeks alcohol free I can certainly agree with most of the benefits I am seeing.Getting through week 1 and week 2 have been good actually, but this is the week I have been most excited about - BECAUSE I GET TO GO BACK TO THE GYM!Okay, it could be argued from those of … Continue reading Dry January – Week 3
Dry January – Week 2
I was surprised at how quick the first week went and how easy it ended up being. On doing some research on how the first week is supposed to feel, I can happily say that I was without the vast majority of these side effects and having had my Covid Booster Jan on Day 5, … Continue reading Dry January – Week 2
Dry January – Week 1
Like many of us who have failed to really adequately cope with the pandemic life of last 2 years, Duck and I have leant too much on alcohol and we are not alone. It its a terrifying fact that alcoholic liver deaths have increased 21% since the pandemic started and with pubs shutting, drinking at … Continue reading Dry January – Week 1
Goodbye 2021
2021 has been a big year for house Shiney and a much better year than 2020.It was when I was writing the about me page and I thought the addition of a timeline would be a nice way to track all the achievements since I started streaming, that I first realised just how far we … Continue reading Goodbye 2021
Planet Shiney 