Vegeta187x

20g - Save Yourself the Trouble 
"Narrowly avoid becoming Ai's boyfriend" 
 
 
20g - Good Riddance 
"Do not save Nanako before the deadline" 
 
 
20g - Tapped out 
"Consume 100 Tap energy drinks within 1 hour of in-game playtime" 
 
 
20g - Strong and Silent Type 
"Successfully complete every conversation without one second of spoken dialogue." 
 
 
100g - Not your Father's Backseat 
"Become intimate with someone in the Velvet Room"

I'm only on ER: 94. I watched them religiously for awhile, but then I beat the game after investing over 200 hours into one single run-through. All of a sudden, watching someone else play the game after it had dominated my gaming life didn't do it for me. I'm slowly but surely making my way through, though. The quick looks detract from my ER viewing, though.

They took the video down... :(

I never saw Kanji's social link to the end, but I never once thought he was supposed to be a homosexual teenager who hadn't come to grips with his orientation. I always viewed him as, like you said, someone who felt like he had to live up to what society felt he should be. That's why he overcompensated with his tough guy exterior. Instead of saying "nuts to it" and allowing himself to be the person he truly was inside, he tried to conform to what everybody else thought he should be. He took what he perceived to be society's vision of what it is to be "man" and went off the deep end. 
 
 I think it's very interesting that at some time or another, the investigation squad fell victim to the very stereotypical beliefs that they were fighting against. Yousuke didn't want to sleep in the tent with Kanji because of what he feared he might be. Various members of the group idolized Yukiko for her looks and (hidden) sexuality. Multiple members of the group treated Teddy as an accessory that was little more than a glorified tour guide. They all ended up fighting shadows that they, themselves, had helped to create.
 
 
Great read, by the way.

I sell older games that I've beaten or lost interest in and get the next game half off.

Wow, I'm drawing a huge blank. My mind keeps on drifting back to the original Metal Gear Solid, although I'm not sure why. I didn't have to buy my own games for awhile. Sometimes being a single child in the midst of a separation and a divorce can be a good thing. At least for gaming.

I remember playing the original Mario with my dad intermittently, as well as a whole lot of Castlevania and Splatterhouse. He bought me the very first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game when I had been sick in the hospital for a week. I also vaguely remember trying to play Mario while having an IV strapped onto my right hand via some weird plank. Made playing REALLY difficult.