Happy Holidays! We wrap up the final podcast of the year affirming it's OK for Anna Marie to play casual games, even if Chris disagrees. While Josh and Kelley are making New Year's resolutions, Chris also disagrees about what should be a brief story. We'll see everyone in 2019!

Welcome to the new year! We played a lot of games over the holiday break – some new, some old. We also talk about your gaming goals and two upcoming RPGamer features. Please be excited.

A surprise disappointment in our Now Playing, a surprise announcement in the News, and Chris shouting ELDER SCROLLS really loudly in the briefs (and beyond)...

Before the rush of releases at the end of January, we talk about your feedback, our briefs turn into longer discussions, and we get really confused about a new...farming...eSport?!

It's time for way too many people to get on a Skype call and debate the following. How much is Wheels is wrong? What decade will the Final Fantasy VII remake will come out? And most importantly, what did we do to deserve Metal Max Xeno and The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2?

This week’s cast discusses what foibles can hold back a game, including not being able to connect and bad translations. We also dive into DLC...

A party of four puts on our thinking hats, contemplating games we haven’t played – and which we should tackle in a packed April. Surprise...

After the giant Show 500 last week, we’re back to a more normal format. A robust Minecraft discussion during Now Playing precedes news including first hints of things being shown at E3. We also discuss your feedback and this week’s releases include a game both Kelley and Anna Marie are very excited for!

A post-E3 slump won’t get this podcast down! The RPG Cast chats about Judgment, discusses what little news did trickle in during the week, and looks ahead to an exciting #JRPGJuly.

Anna Marie loses her mind as well as control of her mouth. Chris investigates the impacts of bringing Diet Coke into Mementos. Peter buys more games. Nathan finishes Final Fanatasy VIII just in time to start playing Final Fantasy VIII. And Kelley just tries to survive Bloodstained's framerate on the Switch.

Chris got kicked off his own show this week to make room for a panel full to bursting with #JRPGJuly updates! Some are playing new games, some are playing old games, but let’s face it - everyone will be playing Fire Emblem next week.

We hope you’re not sick of Fire Emblem: Three Houses from last week, because we’ve got even more this episode. We discuss strategies for raising professor rank and recruiting, in case you need some tips. We also cover a variety of games and their official release dates. Finally, our briefs are more like long underwear this week.

While Fire Emblem: Three Houses seems to finally be put aside by most folks, a few are still learning the dangerous pitfalls of gift giving. As usual, cats and Robin Williams are discussed. Then someone pre-orders Pantsu Hunter and someone else tries to shove CDs into an iPhone to get monsters.

What’s old is new again as we deep dive into WoW Classic and how the heck did we even get onto this topic again? News from TGS, what games you’re playing in September, and even more releases coming in the second half of the month, please pity our reviewers.

HONK! This week’s RPGCast has almost everyone playing a different game. HONK! We also discuss plenty of news and your feedback. HONK!

We figured it would be a short show because there's not a lot of news this time of year. Turns out Alex, Kelley, Peter, Chris, and Anna Marie still had plenty to discuss with their now playing, your feedback, and the upcoming releases including Pokémon.

Alright folks, it's out so it's time to feel out if the Dexit folks were right or wrong. We also hear about Path of Exile 2 and more RPG news than you'd expect at this time of year. But let's be honest, we just want to go back to leveling up our starters.

Alex, Johnathan, and Chris run through the past two weeks of news, bemoan the lack of time to play games, and then commit to not trying to play anything new. Ring Fit Adventure wins RPG of the year. But seriously, why isn't Shining Force II on that thing?

We're back and better* than ever! On this special episode of the RPGCast we do a deeper dive into what we've been playing and discuss our holiday hauls. *Note: RPG Cast 526 may not actually be better than any other previous RPG Cast.

It's Alice's first appearance of the decade! Ther crew is rounded out by Alex, Anna Marie, Chris, Kelley and Peter who are back to discuss your treasured memories of the last decade, as well as the news, reviews, and releases from the last few weeks. Wasn't there supposed to be a break from releases...?

Woop woop! Explicit alert! This get a bit unclean as we try to figure out our Game of the Year picks for 2019. We find out just what you can get done with slave labor. We learn the true martial power of haircuts. And we finally realize Anna Marie shouldn't be allowed to keep animals.

Today we learned that Pokémon Home may rival Kingdom Hearts for difficult to understand stories. The Switch is finally getting some Outer Worlds love. And Anna Marie passes a kidney stone. Well not live on the show or anything. I'm just really tired of waiting for this stupid stoooooh...we're still recording? Um...enjoy the show everyone!

Peter, Kelley, Chris, and Anna Marie are joined by Alice this week; while she didn’t deliver any missiles, large robots may be a part of the podcast in unexpected ways! We discuss cheating on the stalk market, the news of the week, and your feedback. Now to wait for our copies of Persona 5 Royal to arrive...hurry up already!

ARMED forces veterans are facing a threat from an enemy they cannot see.

AT 3PM today, May 8th 2020, hundreds of lone pipers across the UK, including one at the top of Ben Nevis, will play a tune specially composed to remember May 8th 1945.

THE SCOTTISH Government is reviewing its Covid-19 testing strategy after the Deputy First Minster has been left “frustrated” by reports home care workers have been told to travel to the other side of Scotland for tests.

A family of ducklings were spotted jumping off a flat in Glasgow as they left their nest for the first time.

Keep up to date with all the latest coronavirus news from Glasgow, Scotland and beyond - LIVE

PEOPLE who are not positive for Covid-19 could be told to isolate from their families before test results are issued as a precaution, Scotland’s national clinical director has warned.

Bailey Williams reflects on the final Beatles album.

Paris show features wildlife costumes to emphasise the label’s planet-friendly ethos

The singer Janelle Monáe and actor Shailene Woodley were in the front row, but two rabbits, a fox, a horse, two cows and a crocodile stole the show. People in lifesize animal costumes, of the kind more usually seen at theme park parades than at Paris fashion week, joined models for the finale of Stella McCartney’s show, swinging their new-season handbags and posing for the cameras.

The optics were fun, but the message was serious – that there are animals on almost every catwalk, it’s just that they are usually dead. The half-moon shoulder bag carried jauntily by a brown cow here was made from a vegan alternative to leather, while other bags were created from second-life plastic.

From tiny sunglasses to leather coats, the film’s costume designer Kym Barrett writes about why the film’s look feels so relevant in our uncertain world

• Read more from the spring/summer 2020 edition of The Fashion, our biannual style supplement

I never thought The Matrix would have the impact it has had on fashion. But from long leather coats to so-called “Matrix-style” sunglasses, the costumes I designed in the 90s continue to have influence to this day.

Part of the reason they are still in the ether is because they were so iconic. The silhouettes, for instance, had to be instantly recognisable so that viewers could tell who each character was, even in the dark. All of the costumes are fairly immune to period, which is what makes them relatable, even now.

The Guardian’s fashion editor heads to the stables to find out whether the tranquility of horses can help slow her busy life

One cold, bright morning in January, I stood in a field in Gloucestershire with my eyes closed and imagined I had four legs. Just metres away was a herd of eight horses. Before meeting them, advised therapist Lisanne Peters, it was wise to meditate. First, she told me to focus on sensations – the smell of hay; the birdsong. Then she instructed me to imagine myself, centaur-like, “with another back and another set of legs behind you. Feel how sturdy, how grounded, you are.”

Goodbye mainstream fashion and hello menswear made of table linen, the founder of new publication TRASHmag thinks the future of style lies in the bin

• Read more from the spring/summer 2020 edition of The Fashion, our biannual style supplement

What will the fashion industry look like in a decade? If I had my way, it would have reinvented its approach to ‘waste’, mass-produced fashion would no longer exist and we would value clothes for how they are made, not by whom. I believe this is possible: last year, I launched TRASHMag - a magazine focusing on designers and artists producing ethical work. The nine young innovators here are part of that cohort. From the milliner growing plant-based biomaterials to the designer collaging old trainers, their ideas are blueprints for a fashion future that doesn’t cost the earth.

From haute gardening hats, to nettles dresses and sexy necklines, here are the trends that are coming for you for this spring/summer

• Read more from the spring/summer 2020 edition of The Fashion, our biannual style supplement

Afraid of looking like a dunce when it comes to your fashion knowledge? We’ve created a cheat sheet for the new season.

The ‘haunted doll’ look of Donald Trump’s son-in-law has attracted a lot of attention. When people comment on famous women and surgery there is often a backlash, but should the same apply here?

What has happened to Jared Kushner’s face?
Richard, by email

People get a little antsy about the subject of cosmetic surgery: they don’t like to be asked if they have had it, and public speculation over whether someone else has had it is generally considered to be de trop. I don’t really get this. Maybe it’s because I am 100% the world’s worst liar, but pretending to not see that someone’s face has completely changed is a form of magical thinking that is just beyond my capabilities.

Zayn Malik and Virgil Abloh are among male celebrities decking out their ears, necks and wrists

There was a time when wearing a boyband-style dogtag was seen as the peak of male adornment, but now men are increasingly embracing jewellery, stacking rings and bracelets and adorning ears with multiple gems.

This week, the former One Direction singer Zayn Malik was announced as the face of the unisex jewellery label Martyre. Virgil Abloh, a weather vane for fashion’s direction of travel, this week launched more office supplies-inspired jewellery – paperclip bracelets, earrings and necklaces decorated with colourful diamonds – and was pictured wearing one of the collection’s bejewelled necklaces.

Could frilly satin and lace underwear, along with form-fitting ‘shapewear’, really replace the traditional vest and Y-fronts?

Decades ago, Prince sported high-cut, leather-look women’s briefs on stage, and Rod Stewart borrowed satin knickers from his then girlfriend, Britt Ekland, to wear under tight trousers while performing. Now, ranges of male lingerie are being launched for the man on the street to buy – raising the question: will it catch on?

One man thinks so. Jules Parker, 54, is a full-time metalworker who has set up Moot Lingerie, which combines traditional male underwear shapes with non-traditional lingerie flourishes and fabrics.

Never has one man in inexpensive rumpled suits been so loved by the style set - but Sanders’ clothes signal an authenticity other politicians can only dream of

Of all the things we’ll miss about Bernie Sanders, now that he has dropped out of the Democratic race, his style should be the least of it. Not only because his politics are so right on – this is the man who believes in free education and Medicare for all and who has had many Americans, who until recently felt disenfranchised by mainstream politics, feeling activated by it. But also because his clothes are so seemingly unremarkable.

He wears crumpled suits that look borrowed from a slightly larger man and creased shirts with straight-lace striped ties. The inconspicuousness of his geography teacher shoes are matched only by his inoffensive navy round-neck jumpers.

Thanks to Marlon Brando, this practical garment turned into the epitome of rebel streetwear before becoming a style staple

Physically, I’m about as robust as Stick Man. I’m weak enough to have seriously considered that my five-year-old is now physically stronger than me. When I hear “core”, all I think of is Andrea and her Irish singing siblings. So the idea of wearing a very heavy jacket like this sturdy biker one, gives me pause for thought. It will, I realise, force a rethink of how I move, and how I walk.

But I’m being open-minded about the style, because the biker jacket has come a long way. It was created by Irving Schott in 1928, in conjunction with Harley-Davidson, with a specific function in mind (belt buckles placed in certain places to protect you from the wind while riding; zippers for easy access). Marlon Brando’s jacket in The Wild One was from this range. Brando helped move it to the mainstream, and since then it’s been loved by wrong ’uns, rebels, greasers and Ramones.

From a patchwork quilt to a crisp-packet necklace, learn new skills with the help of some top British designers

Creative director and star of Netflix’s Next in Fashion, Daniel W Fletcher has plenty to get on with while in social isolation, designing a collection for Fiorucci as well as one for his own brand. In his down time, he is taking up a DIY challenge to make a patchwork quilt based on a dress he made during the filming of Next in Fashion, using other designers’ leftover scraps. The design – inspired by concerns over the melting polar ice caps – is an arctic landscape.

Sustainable fashion collaboration featuring only biodegradable fabrics will be sold online

John Lewis and the fashion brand Mother of Pearl have chosen Earth Day for the launch of their sustainable fashion collaboration, specifically for its geopolitical symbolism.

Earth Day, which celebrates its 50th anniversary on 22 April, seemed an appropriate day to launch a collection bringing rigorous standards of ethical design to mass market fashion. A launch date that pays homage to the planet rather than the artificial seasons of fashion, and dovetails with the concept of timeless, seasonless clothes designed for wardrobe longevity.

C&A, Adidas/Reebok, Esprit and M&S round out top five as average scores increase year on year, but Max Mara, Pepe Jeans and Tom Ford fall flat

The H&M Group, C&A, Adidas/Reebok, Esprit, Marks & Spencer and Patagonia are the world’s most transparent major fashion brands, according to the 2020 fashion transparency index from the campaign group Fashion Revolution.

The annual report, now in its fifth year, ranks the amount of information companies disclose about social and environmental policies, processes and effects within their operations and supply chains.

Coronavirus has brought fashion to a halt. To mark Earth Day, we asked sustainable fashion designers, writers and advocates what changes they would like to see

Over the past few years, sustainable fashion has been inching towards the mainstream. Now, given the pandemic crisis, discussion of how to create a more ethical and less environmentally damaging model for an industry that is responsible for 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions every year is more relevant than ever.

With much of the usual churn on pause because of coronavirus and many of the cracks of the industry coming to the fore – not least in Bangladesh, where garment workers are facing destitution as big-name brands cancel their orders – some people in the industry are taking this hiatus as an opportunity to reassess fashion’s direction of travel.

Choose soft and cosy or short and sassy. Staying in gives you a great excuse to wear PJs all day

Whether it’s printed and high-necked or floral and ruffled, brighten your lockdown by dressing up to stay in

This is a shade to see you through summer

A new research study, investigating how service robots in hotels could help redefine leadership and boost the hospitality industry, has taken on new significance in the light of the seismic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on tourism and hospitality.

Parents should not feel pressured to make their young children undertake structured learning or achieve specific tasks, particularly during lockdown. A new study of children under the age of two has found that parents who take a more flexible approach to their child's learning can - for children who were easy babies - minimize behavioral problems during toddlerhood.