Guest Post | History Lesson: Assassin’s Creed Unity’s Murder Mysteries.

Warning: this post includes spoilers for Assassin’s Creed Unity.

Paris, 1793. France is in turmoil as revolutionaries are in the process of overthrowing the monarchy and establishing a republic. For one drunken hospital doorkeeper, Philibert Aspairt, this period was also the time he lost his life. Driven by his thirst for booze, he went into the Paris catacombs to find a crate of Chartreuse, a liqueur made by Carthusian monks. During his search, his candlelight went out and he got lost in the darkness. He died metres from the exit and remained unfound for years, only to be identified by the hospital key ring on his body in 1804.

For years, famous historical periods such as the above have been explored by Ubisoft Montreal for its critically-acclaimed Assassin’s Creed series. One such aspect of Assassin’s Creed: Unity that I found engaging were its charming ‘Murder Mystery’ missions. During the game, Arno can strike upon a corpse killed under suspicious circumstances, prompting an investigation. Instead of acting out the typical Assassin’s Creed formula of stalking a target, moving through the crowd and eliminating them inside their fortified stronghold, the investigations have you scouting locations for clues, questioning witnesses and eventually making an arrest on the correct suspect. The system isn’t as complex as L.A. Noire or Phoenix Wright, but it was one of the more stimulating characteristics of Unity.

Arno Dorian Assassin's Creed Unity main character.

While exploring the catacombs, the player can indeed discover a corpse with a key ring on it, surrounded by crates of Chartreuse. While the real Philibert Aspairt may have been a victim of circumstance, his death being an accident, Ubisoft decided to adapt his misfortune into a murder. The ethics of this is up for another discussion, but the story in-game goes as follows: Aspairt racked up a large tab at a local tavern that he couldn’t repay. One night, while drunk, he wandered aimlessly into the catacombs and discovered the highly valuable crates of Chartreuse wine. He decided to steal as much of it as he could, much to the chagrin of the Carthusian monks. A nun named Sister Sorel ended up being the culprit, who murdered Aspairt to preserve the sanctity of the wine.

Giveaway | The Star Name Registry*

*Disclaimer: I was sent this product for free and to hold a giveaway through the said company, for more information on my disclaimer, please read the contact & disclaimer.

I love space, in school it would fascinate me at how big the universe truly was. One thing that always interested me was the fact that the sun was actually a star, stars a made up of big balls of as that take millions of years to shine down on earth and by the time we actually see them they could have burnt out and died, I love the whole idea of naming a star I know it gives a lot of people a piece of mind to see a star sparkling in the sky, when I was little my mum would tell me that it was a lost relative looking down on me (I know sounds like the Lion King) so I've always loved that notion. The idea to give someone a star named after them or something they loved has always been something I wanted to do either for myself or a loved one, I was actually given the chance to name my own star thanks to the Star name registry, at first I didn't know what to name it I thought long and hard about what my mum told me when I was younger and settled on the name Noah. This name means a lot to me, I was going to name my first child this but unfortunately, I was never able to, I always thought of the babies I don't have with me as my little stars and decided to name my star Noah, my little star in the sky. Some people may find that morbid but I find comfort it in, it makes me smile, especially when it's so close to Mother's Day, that's why I think naming a star would be a wonderful Mother's day gift. If you put an order in for one right now it will be with you or your loved one by Mother's Day, your star name will be registered within 24 hours of your order then take 1-3 working days to be delivered within the UK. My star is in the boundaries or the Ursa Minor constellation, it is also known as the Little Bear within the Northern Sky, Little Bear's tail can also be mistaken for a ladle and that's why it also has a North American name, The Little Dipper.

Guest post | My Picks for Nostalgia Instilling Gaming Music.

My earliest memory of games was at the very young age of 2 I would play Sonic on our Sega Saturn every day and without fail at the end of Green Hill Zone, I would always end up running down the stairs crying because Dr. Robotnik (or Eggman...whatever you wanna call him) scared the absolute crap out of me. Ever since then, games have always been a major part of my life with me even considering a career in gaming, utilizing my creative skills in character design or music. 

Over the years, I had periods of time where games have had to take a back seat due to various reasons but they were always something I came back to. I have surprisingly been able to find the most time now, despite being a mother, having a job and a blog to run, to play games. Whether I play them by myself or play online with my partner or friends, I just seem to manage the find the time a lot more recently despite being at my busiest! With the recent remakes and remasters being announced for release in the near future, it makes me look back at a lot of the games of my childhood (particularly preteen/early teen) that had such a big impact on me and I either would love to see re-released or simply just want to pick up and play again. I find myself sitting listening to the soundtracks of so many of these games, reliving walking through these worlds that I lost so much time to in my childhood. My daughter loves watching me play games and I can't wait for her to be old enough to enjoy some of these games, either in their original or remastered/made form. Some pieces of music bring me back to these worlds more than others and I am going to share some of these with you.

I'll warn you first I don't particularly have the most conventional taste in games (or music for that matter) so there may be some here you don't overly recognise but hey, music and games bring on different feelings for different people! 

So you want to be a blogger? | Here are some tips.

A lot of work goes into blogging and it can be exhausting, there is a lot to consider when it comes to committing to a blog and I use the word committing heavily when I say this. Some people use blogs for different reasons which are perfectly fine. I've seen blogging grow very fast over the years and seen bloggers come and go. Some love it and some of them decide it's not for them, others realise that they can't make it work because they thought it would be easier. I don't have the greatest blog and I don't rely on photos too much because of what I write about (unless I'm doing a sponsored post then I will try my best to take quality pictures). For me blogging is more about expressing myself without having to physically speak, it gives me something to focus on other than worrying about every other little thing in my life. I've taken more breaks from blogging than I can count but I've always come back because it's something I want to stick too. If you're serious about wanting to make a living out of blogging and you're new to it there is a lot to consider, I still have a lot to learn in terms of blogging but I would say blogging isn't the main priority in my life as I have more important things to worry about but I would eventually like to grow and make it a priority at some stage. So if you're new to blogging, here is some stuff to consider:

Kitchen Gadget wishlist.*

*This post is sponsored if you wish to know more please read my disclaimer in contact & disclaimer at the top of my blog.

Although the kitchen in mine and James's house doesn't need to be decorated we do still need a few kitchen gadgets and I love kitchen gadgets so I've put together a wish list of things I would love for my kitchen. First up is the *Panasonic automatic Bread Maker SD-ZB2512, where James lived before we moved into our house, there was a bread maker I always wanted to give it a go because who doesn't like making their own bread? I love watching cooking and baking TV shows that feature bread making, most of the time the bread is done in the oven but I personally would prefer to use a bread maker. The reason I would love the Panasonic bread maker is that it would do all the hard work for more when it comes to making bread, that sounds lazy but if there is an easier way to do these things why shouldn't I use them? This bread maker has 17 types of bread programmes one of which is a pizza dough mode, I love homemade pizza it's always a fun thing to bake with your kids or your partner and you can make it exactly how you want it, you can use it to make jam with, I actually never knew you could do this with a bread maker until I started reading up about this one, it cuts down the time of having to stand around stirring jam, there is also a yeast and fruit/nut dispenser which will be dispensed through the bread maker to ensure an even distribution of ingredients throughout the bread. We will be able to make scones with one of these which James loves, I'm not a big fan of them but if we can make them at home in a bread maker that's a big upside for me as James and I enjoy freshly baked food, If I was to get one of these bread makers I would really like to give this recipe from BBC recipes a go (which you can view HERE), It's a classic white loaf recipe which I think James and I will be able to do easily, I know it's naughty but white bread is my favourite kind of bread. If you want to buy this bread maker it's a bit pricey, with a price tag of £199.99, but considering it has a lot of different functions I personally think it will be worth the price, and has some great reviews which you can read directly from their website. There are lots of other bread makers available that are much more affordable out there such as the ones on Amazon but I personally like the look and the features of the Panasonic ones and the reviews are what win me over, you can purchase the Panasonic bread makers from Amazon rather than the Panasonic website as they're usually on offer, which is where I would most likely get mine from.

Guest Post | 6 Tips on How to Double Secure Your Things with New Technology.

The advent of smart technology has brought forth a multitude of security devices and features. Some of them present software platforms that are keeping cyber threats at bay, while others assume physical form and guard our homes vigilantly. This empowers us to take security to a whole new level, although it should be noted that threats are becoming more sophisticated as well.

Credit cards

Security breaches associated with credit cards raise many eyebrows. EMV cards are more secure, but this technology still needs to be more widely implemented. Until then, users can adhere to best practices.  First off, utilize a credit card instead of a debit one, whenever you can as they offer more protection from frauds. Furthermore, it is advisable to sign rather than key in your PIN, and keep a close eye on your statements. Finally, disable automatic transfers to linked accounts. This allows you to wipe out your accounts in case they get compromised.