#& i was editing his icons & i have a few battle icons & just

[riacte]

🥁 Welcome to the first ever "Choose an unhinged Renchanting moment" ✨ALL STARS EDITION✨!!! 🥁

In which winners of the previous nine (!!) polls and the Last Life burning tower scene will battle it out for ULTIMATE UNHINGED RENCHANTING MOMENT!! Deliberately made to cross over from 2023 to 2024 to wish for a new year full of Renchanting <3

If you don't want to read my lengthy and dramatic sports guy commentary you can skip to the poll right at the end.

Now, let's introduce our beloved competitors! With some clips sponsored by @ani-craft, thank you as always <3

Starting from Round 1, the OG, the beginning of this series in Feb 2023— congrats to "Ren calling Maidtyn "very very sexy" completely unprovoked"!. Now, fellow Tumblr users, this is a historical moment because the Maidtyn trend was the Tumblr response to Martyn being active on Tumblr, and it snowballed into the Mint Mistletoes of MCC19 wearing skins of maid dresses (and a butler suit). This is the tangible impact of the Tumblr fan community on MCC. And of course it's about maid dresses.

Round 1 was quickly followed up by Round 2, and narrowly winning by FOUR votes is... [drumroll] "r/place (2022) when Martyn helped place a pixel of blush on RK Ren"!. Truly a chaotic moment that somehow became a highlight even in the overall chaos of those few days.

But the numbers really peaked in Round 3, aka. the Limited Life edition when Martyn's lore stream repeatedly dropped bombs on us. 100% of these moments are from Martyn, by the way. But which unhinged moment was the most unhinged? Which moment will win like Martyn? Unsurprisingly, the most popular option are those two words that basically sum it up— "UNGUIDED HAND". An unhinged moment that won with a whopping 404 out of 1913 votes.

Things did not calm down after Limited Life. Some might say the moments only became more unhinged. 2.5 months after LimLife ended, Round 4 began. Most of these moments are also from Martyn. Most unhinged of all: "Martyn declaring in a low voice: 'Third Life never ended for me'." Yeah it sure didn't, buddy.

Fast forward to September 2023. Treebark Week 2023! Surely the perfect moment for a poll! Also, I need to add that I was so excited about Round 5 that I posted it before TBW ended and... let's say it immediately got worse the day after I posted the poll. My hubris for assuming it was the end... Anyways, Martyn's Tumblr shenanigans kick in once again. Congrats to "Martyn saying nothing about an ask that claims his character is in love with Ren", which also ended up being a significant post to Scurvyblr. For reasons.

Two months after TBW, the pining gets exponentially worse. And I do mean exponentially. Enter Round 6, which has a lot of insane moments, but there was one clear winner, a moment that swept with 32% of the votes— everybody clap and cheer for "Martyn's 50 word 3L AU drabble - "Luck be with ye.... Hand"!! At the time of writing, that post has 4.1k notes. Martyn's just like us. He's writing fanfiction and that's so real of him.

Merely ten days later, fires are crackling, demons are giggling— it's the Decked Out open day! And we got a Renchanting feast! Round 7 emerged from That Iconic Burning Stone Box and was dedicated to moments the stream day. With 39% of the votes, the unhinged moment that swept was "Ren to Martyn: You have very fine lips there and a wonderful neck for kissing". Honorable mentions go to Martyn's Twitch chat (for surviving), Martyn's viewers (for clipping it with varying degrees of "what did he just say??"), and of course, False (for locking them in and kickstarting whatever the improv demon roleplay was).

A few weeks later, the flames have died down— or have they? Round 8 enters with a steel chair and Ren has more unhinged moments now. Martyn's Tumblr takes home another win with "Martyn reblogging a post that calls Ren his “Minecraft boyfriend”!! This is the third win that's from Martyn's Tumblr blog. You love to see it.

Last but not the least, Round 9 from last week! It's finally Ren's turn to dominate. Our winner is.... "Ren mentions going to sleep and dreaming of Martyn’s 'beautiful, beautiful eyes'"!! Appropriately clipped with the caption "Insane".

But that's not all! In Round 1 + 2, I purposefully excluded the altar scene and the burning tower scene because I felt those two would sweep. Now, I think the altar scene is still untouchable but the burning tower seems almost normal now. (As normal as an unhinged moment could be.)

A new unhinged moment has appeared! Challenger approaching! Last Life Ren purposefully sets his tower on fire after knowing Martyn is watching him and Martyn runs to save him while screaming "Ren, what are you doing to yourself! Stop burning yourself!".

Okay, okay, my dramatic commentary is done. Hey, I'm not a Renchanting fan for nothing. Here's the poll. Have fun :D

Much love to all of you <3 here's to another year of unhinged Renchanting moments!

(Also sorry the r/place should be in 2022 not 2021)

[0sbrain]

that zesty jesus stuff left me wanting to highlight some actually good tf2 creators:

soundsmith: they have a really good combination of scripted videos and just chilling playing tf2! him and his partner are quite open about being queer and together they made a fundraiser to support trans people when howards legacy came out (playing the superior wizard game)

lazypurple: he doesn't post thay much anymore, and im still waiting for "how it feels to play medic" but he has a big active community and they are really accepting and wholesome. if you like fooling around in tf2 you should check out his silly servers!

skyminslash: while she's an avid gamer, her videos tend to focus on stuff i think the tf2 Tumblr community would appreciate a like community aspects and cosplay (her cosplays are incredible

shork: probably everyone knows about him, he's been doing a lot of stuff with the voice actors and his editing is fire. but also!!! he's quite a nice lad

cyberwizard: I've had a few direct experiences with this guy and he's really nice. he likes fnaf and competitive smash and he has some cute pets. give him a follow!

rawccoon: i have a lot of personal experience with him and he's the nicest lad. he even saved my ass on a class project. but on a more general aspect, him and cyberwizard have complained about the bigotry in the community arguing that save tf2 should also be about ending the casual bigotry on the community

uncle dane: his engineer videos are iconic, to the point where one could see a tf2 reference and think "omg it's ankle pain". i have to acknowledge he has an edgy past and he is friends with idubbz, but i think it's quite obvious they have both grown and changed as people

misan (misantropico): he makes really nice SFMs, often about the mercs when they're not in battle

[just-jae]

Eyo- So this is why I love OG Naruto

CW: Cursing.

Random projectile vomiting what I love about the first part of Naruto. Mostly from memory (so like, a decade+ ago) I decided to play the the Chunin Exams Arc while writing this to refresh my memory bc honestly, even though I dipped after tasting Shippuden and don't even care to aknowledge Boruto (even if it's good, i don't care) the fact that Part 1 is still so enjoyable shows how it's virtues were in that it actually executed, not just in what it promised. I'll probably be editing this as I rewatch-- like, apparently Choji and Neji also have arm wraps :,V

The theme around hard work. It wasn't a "Work hard to earn a comfy life/ those at the top deserve it" theme it was a "Go after what you love, be passionate, be persistent, build upon yourself to overcome obstacles," kind of hard-work theme. It encouraged chasing your passions and applying yourself to challenges. There was value in just doing that, even if you failed. The meaning and value in your life was tied to your own efforts and decisions, not your status or position in a heirarchy or social conscience.

Positive Father Figures: Forget that Naruto punches his dad in Shippuden. In the first episode, Iruka emotionally adopts Naruto after opening up to him and allowing himself to relate to Naruto as a fellow human being who was suffering and responding to that suffering in similar ways to himself. Before, he pretended not to understand Naruto for the sake of "evil demon kid" narratives and ignoring his own grief. Iruka scraggling Naruto's hair like a big bro/dad wasn't just a bonding moment; it was a found family moment. When Naruto hugs Iruka in the Forest of death, you can tell he adores that kid and is ready to sign the adoption papers.

One of Naruto's icon characters is Ichiraku, the ramen guy who basically serves as Naruto's Grandad. He fills this kid with soup ramen near-every damn day. He's probably why Naruto loves ramen so much.

The spooky, nature-y understones and setting: Giant dark forests, thematic, nature-inspired ninja techniques, the spooky music, the semi-traditional japanese instruments in the sound track (flutes, drums, lutes, etc.) It's got electric guitar too but the traditional texture of the music made it earthy and cultrally touching in the same way that Avatar: The last Air Bender's natural and spiritual eastern inspiration colored it's visual and audial aesthetic. The "HUH"s and "HUAH"' in the background music added so much bomastic, earthy energy, I LOVED hearing them. I'm telling you there's a healthy reason why I like screaming/yelling/hollering. I haven't articulated it yet, but Naruto's soundtrack scratch that itch well.

Horror: Naruto is one of the few anime I've seen with undertones of horror, without being a horror genre show especially for an action-oriented shonen inspired by feudal-age folklore hybrid with modern aesthetics like military vests and tvs. The realistic visual tone that Naruto leans toward compared to modern anime only helps this and makes how dark it gets believable when you consider how culturally and morally grey the base populations are. Sometimes the cultural vices are the main drive in a character's backstory, like Gaara, who's village was crumbling after betrayal and unreliable leadership reinforced the trust and connection issues that left him alone on a raft in hostile waters with the boogie man as his raftmate to where he couldn't even fathom caring for someone else. Bc of this, him being fucking insane, while Naruto wasn't made sense. It felt like the worlds they were in naturally led to the horrors.

Smarts and thoughtfulness being used to win battles. Earlier in the show, things weren't so flashy, not even elite ninjas were shown doing anything nearly as wild as what happens in the second and following parts. The limits of these abilities left room for the characters to use their heads to not only work around their limits but use them to their advantage to bamboozle and have some kind of chance even against physically stronger opponents.

The significance of jutsu also felt more thematic and narrative in nature. The First Hokage's super power was growing giant trees with his chakra.

Which not only suggests he created the very forest Konoha resides in, but also pointed to his approach to leadership, which was giving himself and his clan to stegnthen and lift everyone else up, not just through mixing blood with other clans but through building stregnth and resikience through connections and mutual care.

Much better than the brightest, fastest, most destructive energy bomb or powerup.

Look at the reaper death seal justsu and tell me that wasn't more terrifying than the tentails. Imagine how scared someone is using that jutsu. A demon ghost lady is gonna use your soul as a glove to grab someone else's soul, eat it, and then take you with her... him? It/they-- qhost.

Which leads me to another thing- vulnerability coupled with power. The imagery of the reaper death seal, reainforced a sense of vulnerability that is necessary for the power the user gains.

Gaara's insomnia and dangerously narrow buffer between him and Shukaku lead to him spazzing out in pain whenever something triggers an episode of whatever-the-fuck. Leaving him in a a state of disarray and uselessness.

He was supposed to be the nuke that destroyed Konoha but was too busy chasing after anyone who had a chance of beating him up. And then freaking out over hugs. His invulnerable body came with a trade off of a vulnerable and volitile psyche.

Even Zabuza only survived Kakashi because Haku incapacitated him with needles to his neck and then took care of him afterward.

The conversation between the 1st 2nd and 4th Hokage's was like. "Yo it's my bros!" "Hey bro. Sorry bro." "Bro i don't wanna fight you. But this is so cool. I miss you bro." "me too bro."

Now more character-specific stuff:

Rock Lee is my all-time favorite character. Not only is he the embodiment of part 1's major theme, but I just loved his design and voice acting (the green bodysuit could be awkward at times, but everything else is just pure "That's my son look at him go" vibes).

It's a simplistic, agile, adorable character. Pure serotonin. The way his hair flipped around when he fought was great, the (OMO) face, the scrawly, lanky body that moved a little too sharp bc he was legit always ready to explode-- just great. Rock Lee is so pasionate and just loves living. I got the sense that he isn't training just to prove ppl wrong. He loves the ninja arts, and learns to love taijutsu for its own sake not just for the sake of other's approval or besting someone in combat.

Kakashi Hatake was like the reassuring character. His calm and focused approach to conflicts and danger were a nice balance to everyone else's bamboozlement and dramatic/passionate personalities. Kakashi also comes off as a reality check sort of character. He's the one who makes team seven realize the mortality of ninjas via a monument echoing real-life monuments dedicated to fallen soldiers and victims of war/terrorism. You can tell that he cares about ninja as people despite his laid-back demeanor, and expects his team to understand the importance of respect for fellow ninja. His experiance with the inner workings of Konoha also make him more realistic and aware of the world's greyness. He knows how politically corrupt things are and wants his students to hold on to their morality instead of tossing it away to follow orders.

Zabuza- was not just eye candy-- okay Zabuza was 99% eye candy for me (looked a bit starved but-- damn Kishimoto knew what he was doing with that one)

Zabuza's situation of being emotionally dishonest with himself ties back to the whole vulberability associated with power thing. His cold world veiw ablut using and being used made it more obvious that he and Haku genuinely cared for eachother bc they acted in ways that didn't fit that narrative. This big, sharktoothed "Demon of the mist" having a soft spot that also had a soft spot for him was like 🥺

Tenten's affinity for weapon-weilding was legitimately cool and gave me mechanic vibes. They could have been so creative with that. But for now it's just sitting on its hands. I also just love her character design. She got those BUNS.

The Sand Siblings were my favorite team. They were scary as hell. Gaara was just danger personified. He was bloodthisty with a power that enabled it. Carrying around a gourd that reeked of blood-- like-- Garra was one of the horrors of the forest of death and the way he act and the way his siblings talk about him suggested he was chaotic and couldn't nessecarily be trust to keep to the plan. And I loved that he was this tiny scrawny thing with no eyebrows and eyeliner panda/racoon eyes. Some of his expressions were like- EXPRESSIONS dude.

He used have more expressions than 😐 and 😑. He was unintentionally adorable-- you can tell he was meant to look creepy and otherly but came out a little critter. His hair wasn't even meant to be red, that was an animation error. Like, a character even calls him a runt, Kiba's like "Oh no he's too small to be picking fights, run little dude" so he's canonically a little guy. Littler than normal.

Let me tell you, when I was scrubbing through the episodes (bc they spend so much time wasting time on nothing) my eyes would hook on a thumbnail of Gaara, and it'd be 2 seconds of him not reacting to something, and it'd be worth it everytime. Instant serotonin.

Seeing the smallest, most baby-faced member of the group, who looks even tinier with a giant gourd go:

Is just wild. At least for Naruto. And the fear in the other characters is just- a lot. He's not animated in a cuetsey way either. Like, he's not a loli character. He's a little eldritch horror. And I love that he's not infantilized or cutyfied by the creator for being tiny.

Kankuro was also pretty spooky. Not only did his technique look painful as a papercut, but his main puppet (Crow?) somehow managed to give off body-horror vibes.

They really milked it's spookyness by emphasizing the mechanical side of it (the clicking and the way it jerked) and its use of poisoned everything to make even the tiniest nicks a big deal.

Temari was the power house, aesthetically. Like, it's not even a girl-power thing. She just has shoulder-snapper posture. Her eyes , are this dark blue that I've rarely seen in a character design. She's got big sis vibes (bc she IS the big sis). Like, she's gorgeous.

And her explosive hair went well with her chaotic wind specialty. She just fucks the entire landscape up with the goddamned air dude.

The GODDAMNED AIR.

AND THEN LATER WITH THE FERRET-- LIKE DUDE.

Anyways...

Orochimaru as himself is a creep, at least later on-- mostly bc so much of his character is spent obsessing over a little boy's body- obv. this was meant to be creepy, but it's like, pedo creepy, not spider on the wall/ posessed doll creepy. His introduction as the Grass lady, and this slippery immoral scientist who wanted to catalyze a war was a great time He felt like a force of nature.

I dont have Grass Lady photos yet but this is the next best thing lmao. As the mysterious grass village lady, he was HORRIFIC. I really wish she and her team had been real characters instead of just a skin for Orochimaru to hide in. The way she's introduced is exactly the reason why ninja are traditionally thought of as practicing dark, evil arts. Bc they did dark, evil, spooky shit like pulling at their eyelids and being gross with their tongues. The organs and spooky singing in the background, the predator/prey theme, knowing about Naruto's seal when (at this point) so few others did. On top of that, ya'll gotta know that I'm a sucker for those conical sedge/ coolie hats. The fact that Grass LAdy had a long face and droopy eyes made it all the better. Like, how many other feminine characters have those features? All the character designs of the Grass Village team and the relation of grass to snakes and big hats was pretty neat imo.

Kiba Inuzuka honestly seems like he was inspired by Princess Monoke, which is pretty neat on its own, but i honestly don't feel like Kiba really fits into a ninja village. He's loud and bombastic and rarely uses clever or sneaky tricks. It's just brute strength and prey drive. Which isn't to say he shouldn't be in Naruto, but that maybe he could have been from a different village? Or just not necesarily a ninja. Idk. I love that he's this wild-child who's entire theme is dog.

If a dog were a dude.

If only they were good at drawing dogs though.

Hinata was one of those characters I didn't realize I identified with. A LOT. If Rock Lee is who I aspired to be, Hinata was who I actually was. Not just in demeanor (I too skalked around in a jacket no matter the weather) but also in circumstance. Struggling with comparing yourself to others, or others resenting you for the way you're treated (I was the baby of the family) or constantly dealing with people who think they're better or scold you for poor performance, being pushed into something you didn't even really care for. It was all very relatable, and I didn't even realize it at the time.

The fact that they were willing to give her those "ugly" veins left an impression on me too. Bc, that was her kickass look. It wasn't cute, and she didn't have a delicate, pretty style of fighting. Even though she got beat up she really threw hands in a way that felt realistic. Homegirl was just tryna get by despite being surrounded by assholes, and the moment she stood up to Neji, who was in the middle of phsychologically manipulating her into an anxiety attack (not a literal attack but same energy) was like 🥳. I can respect that. Even though she lost, it really felt like Neji learned there'll at least be trouble if he tries that shit again.

Shino was another favorite (I'm gonna end up going through every character at this rate). Especially with his english dub actor. For much the same reasons as Kakashi. Shino was reliable and cool headed. He didn't strut power or look to intimidate anyone, he just paid attention and tended to his bugs-- which, the fact that he cares for and works with a bunch of bugs is oddly endearing. It's like meeting a cat person who's just really good with cats but doesn't gush over them. He comes off as sensitive, but not obsessive.

His angry-neutral design is pretty neat too. Big Soundwave vibes.

Sakura's wake-up call is honestly pretty iconic. She was a bratty character who realized her flaws on her own instead of being told "Hey, be better you goof", She reflected on how she's been up until the moment when it was all on her and she was eating dirt. Sakura getting serious and learning to be proactive, now that she didn't have anyone as a crutch or a scapegoat, was a pretty awesome moment. And even though The show could have done more with her in that regard, I still appreciate that they went there. Watching Sakura with empathy (especially now that we as a society aren't starving for strong female characters like we used to be) makes me notice how realistic her nievety and dependance is. And also how funny she is at times. Even Ino realizing having that wakeup call like "Bro I'm being stupid, I can't let this girl die over a crush". It even feels like their feud isn't just about a crush but just social insecurity. Sakura used to be shy until she met Ino. Ino enouraged her to be proud up until attention started to be drawn away from her toward Sakura. This also suggested that Ino actually did look down on Sakura and was using her to feel better about herself. Sakura outgrowing Ino put her in a position of facing her own flaws or reframing Sakura as an enemy who didn't deserve to be loved.

And when the reason they were enemies (Sasuke) no longer justified being a dickhead (letting Sakura fucking die) Ino not only had to face her own inadequacy but allow herself to care for Sakura again, from a more genuine place.

I wish they had done more with that, but the fact that they did that in the first place was iconic. There's nothing like having to learn that the world you were raised in is not reality. Breaking out of a sheltered and shallow worlveiw is its own struggle. Its a learning curve, and it leaves you emotionally and socially unprepared when you thought you finally had everything figured out. Sometimes people hold on to bratty behavior bc they think their only other option is getting bullied and hating themselves. Sakura's snootiness comes off just makeshift confidence she learned from assholes. She didn't look down on Naruto bc she interacted with Naruto, she looked down on him bc that's what she's been taught to do about people like Naruto. The whole village was like that. Which is realistic. We just aren't told nearly as much of her perspective as other characters, but her learning how her words impact people, and how dishonest she is about her own competence is worth exploring.

The themes in Naruto were pretty nuanced-- even if the character's dialogue was exposition hell (they spend so much time verbally explaining things that dont need to be explained in such a longwinded manner), they were human condition themes, not just a power fantasy or a romance, or a black and white, good and evil conflict. Ninjas are already pretty shady, with Naruto being the most overtly good character in the show. Everyone else's morality (beside's Lee) is questionable at one point or another-- in fact I think even Lee was introduced as an intimidating upperclassmen. It feels true to life that regular people are actually pretty mean and flawed, which makes Naruto's themes hit harder bc you know it's not just one special character going through a special time, making friends with other 100% good people. Its life. Its people dealing with life. Like, these assholes love and hate eachother at the same time all the time. Some of Naruto's friends did some morally questionable shit. Like Shikamaru pretending to be asleep during the attack on Konoha. We still love the guy, but, get the fuck up dude.

Looking back, this just makes me realize that I've always had an interest in thematic/psychological horror and character realism. I can't stand gore/torture, but spooky grass women that infect you with curses, cursed puppets that spazz and split their faces open, and tiny murderous gremlins who nearly give people heart attacks just bc they thought he was gonna do something, being my favorite characters of Naruto is pretty telling.

Add the inky, Hidden Rain water Clones to the list too.

Iruka needs to get a pen. Reaper needs more soul spagetti and Naruto needs to give back SOME of Garra's personality. Just a little. Let him be a little bit of a little bitch.

[thejuvenilem]

Oasis on Melody Maker, 2/3/1996.

This edition covers the iconic BRIT Awards of that year.

Below is the transcription of the parts where Oasis are mentioned. (PS.: if you catch any typo, please let me know so I can fix it)

THE BATTLE OF THE BRITS

"THE tabloids are out to get me", JARVIS COCKER complained in last week's Maker. It may have sounded a tad exaggerated at the time. But not now. After the moment of inspired lunacy when he disrupted Michael Jackson's stomach-churning performance at last week's Brits, the self-righteous popular press made him Public Enemy No 1, condemning both Cocker and Oasis, who were also on supremely snotty form, for their loutish behaviour. While the tabloids have been raging and fuming in blustering indignation, however, most sensible people could only cheer Jarvis' outrageous pluck. Brian Eno described his actions as "heroic", and one observer wrote to a national newspaper demanding an immediate knighthood for the great man.

In this five-page Maker News Special, CAROL CLERK and MAT SMITH report on an unusually eventful night at the Brits Awards...

Caption of the Liam's image:

Liam, Patsy and the bum's rush

Caption of the Noel's image:

Noel meets Tony Blair: "Course I'll vote for yer, Tone. Just don't put up me fooking tax"

Caption of the Oasis' image:

"Altogether now - 'Shitelife!'"

"SEX 'N' THUGS 'N' ROCK 'N' ROLL"

WHILE Jarvis may have been grabbing most of the headlines for the Brits, the nation's favourite loudmouths, Oasis, kept their own flag flying for bad behaviour.

While scooping a hat trickof awards for Best Video, Best Album and Best Group, the Gallaghers and their entourage managed to scandalise the media and, apparently, the Brits Committee, since their acceptance speeches were greatly edited in the version which was finally shown on television the next day.

Oasis' first award, announced and presented by Michael Hutchence, was for "Wonderwall" in the Best Video category - voted for by viewers of "The Chart Show".

The occasion carried a special significance in that Liam Gallagher's current girlfriend, Patsy Kensit, was quite recently pictured in the papers with her hand down Hutchence's trousers. This had led to various bits of banter in the press, with Liam apparently sniping at Hutchence's girlfriend, Paula Yates...

"I heard Michael's going to give me a slap round the face", said Liam onstage. "So come on..."

Michael, instead, kissed him.

"And for another thing", carried on Liam, "I'd just like to say..."

"Sausages", interrupted Noel Gallagher, referring to Liam's starring appearance in The Sun's "Celebrity Sausage Game", which connected stars who are known to have shagged each other.

In a reported highlight cut from the TV version, Noel is said to have blasted Hutchence, saying: "Has-beens shouldn't be presenting f***ing awards to gonna-bes."

An Oasis spokesman commented: "That whole thing with Hutchence is really light-hearted. He would not have presented the award if he thought there was going to be a problem."

However, rumours later circulated that Oasis' Guigsy almost came to blows with Hutchence backstage at the official party.

According to one observer, "Michael Hutchence kept poking him in the shoulder, just trying to be a wise guy. Guigsy threatened to take him outside and sort him out, but then he said he didn't want to waste a fight on him."

The fact that the Best Video award was voted for by the public obviously meant a great deal to Noel Gallagher.

Onstage, he said: "Anything that's voted for by the fans is special. Anything that's voted for by idiots, corporate pigs, means nothing to us."

He later told a TV news crew who approached his table: "I don't need any fat pig record executives to tell me how good my group is."

It's tempting to imagine Noel returning his Brits in a few years' time, like John Lennon with his MBE, although Oasis spokesman chuckled, "I don't think so. I think he was just winding people up, but obviously there's a logic behind what he's saying. It's more important to be appreciated by the fans than by the industry. It's the kids who listen to the records who are important. We're not a corporate record label although we're distributed by Sony, and... (continues after the next image)

... they haven't taken offence.

Noel was actually raving about Creation and Alan McGee [its MD]. He brought Alan onstage with them later on.

The Maker's Paul Mathur, who was with Oasis on and off all night, agreed: "Most of it was winding people up", he said. "But it was supposed to be a rock'n'roll event, and there were all these stuffed-shirt, dicky-bow people giving awards to Annie Lennox and people like that, and theirs seemed to be the only creativity award.

"I think they were behaving the way they did just make it a bit more interesting. That's why Jarvis went onstage, cos he was bored. Oasis thought that was brilliant. It was gloriously silly behaviour."

At some point, Noel also declared: "I have nothing to say except for I'm extremely rich and you're not."

When Oasis - a real motley crew - marched up to the stage to collect their second award of the night, for "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" in the Best Album category, things became more heated.

The award was announced and presented by Lenny Kravitz, and television viewers saw only one comment from Liam: "Thank you very much. I'd like to thank all the fans, all the people who have made us what we are... I'd like to thank... all the people." This was followed by a live film clip of Oasis playing "Don't Look Back In Anger", presumaly at one of their Earl's Court November shows.

What the TV programmers didn't want us to see was a hilarious sequence of events.

"Anyone tough enough to take us off the stage can come up now", huffed Liam. "It will take more than Ginger Bollocks [host Chris Evans] to throw us off."

There followed an impromptu version of Blur's "Parklife", renamed "Shitelife", and an episode in which Liam pretended to ram the award up his bottom and then sniffed the end of the statuette.

The Blur theme continued at a press conference after the awards ceremony. Noel, asked if he had a message for Blur, reportedly told the gathering: "Yes - goodbye. Pack your bags now because you're finished. You've had a 'Parklife' and now it's a 'Shitelife' for you."

Noel is also quoted as telling the conference: "They [the Brits Committee] are a bunch of tossers who think people like Sting and Bowie are the cutting edge of music."

Oasis' third and final award, presented by Pete Townshend, was for Best British Group.

The band used their acceptance speech this time to lavish praise on Alan McGee and Tony Blair, who was in attendance to present David Bowie's award.

Most of this joined the other Oasis footage on the TV cutting room floor. Oasis' spokesman recalled: "Noel said there were seven people in the room who bring hope to young people - the five members of Oasis, Alan McGee and Tony Blair. He had a rant about Tony Blair and the Labour Party, saying 'All you people out there go and vote for him.'"

With a brief "Power to the people!" from Noel, Oasis left the stage and returned to their table in boisterous spirits.

"They totally enjoyed their evening", said the spokesman, with amusing understatement.

"I think everyone was really pissed up", elaborated Paul Mathur. "Their attitude was basically just 'We rule the world so f*** you, you c***s.' The atmosphere around them was definitely one of triumphant heroes. There was lots of swaggering rather than anything else. They won the Best Band award which I think they felt they deserved last year.

"They were high-spirited rather than deliberately badly behaved. They were trying to shake things up a bit, as they've always done."

Joining Oasis at their table were their girlfriends - including Patsy Kensit - Alan McGee and a few hundred empty bottles.

"All the other tables were a bit boring by comparison", commented Mathur.

The only members of Oasis who stayed at the official Brits party for any length of time were Guigsy and Alan White. The rest headed back to their hotel, the Landmark in London's Marylebone.

There, accompanied by cronies like Robbie Williams, Vic Reeves and Lisa Moorish, they passed the night alternating between their rooms and the bar. The party was just about coming to an end at daybreak when Jarvis Cocker walked into the hotel.

Jarvis, who had apparently travelled straight there in a cab from the police station, seemed "a bit shaken", according to Mathur.

"I think we met him in a corridor as we were coming out of a room down to the bar", added Mathur. "He was saying, 'Why do people always pick on me?'"

"It was only then that we realised he'd been arrested. He's got a digital camera - you press it and see the picture you've just taken. And he had all these pictures of his cell and his toilet at the nick. I think everyone felt sorry for him."

Oasis' capers at the Brits sparked the usual rash of tabloid reaction stories - "Oasis Are The Beast Of Brits" (Daily Star) - but these are sometimes less critical now because of the papers' acknowledgement of the bands' achievements.

"Wonderhaul" glowed The Sun. "Oasis Are Different Class", cried the Mirror, informing its readers that "Noel's lads beat Jarvis and Co".

Oasis very appearance at the Brits was followed by a string of special features in the tabloids.

On February 20, the Star gave a centre spread to "Rock's King Of Crumpet" (Liam). The next day, the Mirror gave two pages over to "Mummy's Little Darlings" - "To Mrs Gallagher, they'll always be her angels" - and, on February 22, the Star was on the case again, playing jiggery-pokery with Liam's photograph to give him a make-over.

The Brits organisers have made no official comment about Oasis' loud behaviour, but a close source told The Maker: "They're rock'n'roll stars and, if they want to be loud, that's fine by us. I think everybody feels that way. Michael Hutchence said, 'Well, I loved their attitude. I didn't mind at all. I think they're great and I love the way they behave and I didn't care. That's just the way they are.'"

Jonathan King said: "I think it's quite nice that there is an element of rebellion reflected. When I was a little boy that was the kind of thing one used to want. I suspect the image and the reality are quite far apart, because what I particulaly like about the band is that they have a very good work ethic. I think they have the brains to do it right and the balls to do it rebelliously.

THE WINNERS IN FULL

BEST BRITISH VIDEO: Oasis for "Wonderwall". Presented by Michael Hutchence.

BEST BRITISH ALBUM: Oasis for "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?". Presented by Lenny Kravitz.

BEST BRITISH GROUP: Oasis. Presented by Pete Townshend.

source:

[peemanne]

rgg game osts ranked Yeah.................

LONG ASS POST AHEAD!!!!!! BAH!!!!!!!!!!!

for context awhile back a yakuza discord server i'm in had a music discussion thread open up and we were invited to make simple little tier lists for the game osts to start it off. it was supposed to be just the tier list but i eventually spiraled into a whole ramble. whoops. so i might as well just paste it here with a few additions so the rest of you can see it yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!

will be providing my reasonings and then my highlight tracks. i'm gonna provide convenient youtube links to all the songs mentioned so if you wanna check one of them out feel free to just click the hyperlink

and yes this is ordered in tiers. the personal highlights aren't though

>Yakuza 5 is my personal top 1 OST overall, but it's seriously close. I can't tell you enough how much of a nut I am for this series and its music. Yakuza 5's ost is, in my eyes, the most consistently hard-hitting amongst all of RGG's catalogue. The street fight themes are all amazing, the boss fight themes hit hard and pump you the hell up, and this also has the one of the best B-sides out of all of them, with stuff like Baka Mitai (fun fact, Saejima's is actually considered the original version, Kiryu's "Taxi Driver Edition" actually uses a different key to fit Kuroda's voice), the songs from Haruka's section, and even the jazzy bar themes. 5 hits that perfect balance of quantity and quality, and also happens to fill like half of my workout playlist.

Personal Highlights:

The place where I used to be

Daigo's western theme

Victory Road

and of course The Battle for the Dream

>I am such a sucker for Yakuza 4's music direction. As Tehsnakerer said in his Yakuza 4 video, this is the first truly GREAT soundtrack, and I'd have to agree. The jazzier style of music on showcase here fits this series- and this entry ESPECIALLY- like a glove. This is such a quality collection of sounds. Featuring the best panic themes, the best chase themes, and some iconic street battle themes. 4's direction makes it stand out even more amongst RGG's catalogue, and I couldn't be happier about it. Also, this game gave us Machine Gun Kiss and Pure Love in Kamurocho, which are two of my favorite karaoke tracks in the whole series.

Please bring back Pure Love in Kamurocho for a modern title, RGG. I'm begging you.

Personal Highlights:

Solitude

Receive and Bite You

Infinite Handcuffs

yeah yeah fine For Faith

Why couldn't they use this for the actual cover instead of the weird one we have now like come on this looks so much better

>Is anyone gonna disagree with me when I say Lost Judgment is easily the best out of the more techno-focused soundtracks? They handle it perfectly here, with tracks that grab you by the throat like K.O.G. and Dig In Your Heels, utilizing the electric sound with effortless grace, while still having enough variety throughout to keep it from getting stale. I also found the B-sides here surprisingly strong alongside the main game, with the school stories giving us a nice variety of music to work with. The boxing ones and Toward To The Skyline are what I'd highlight in that selection.

Personal Highlights:

In the Groove

Unwavering Belief / Dig in Your Heels

Final Destination

1811

>Gaiden oh my gah......... Despite the shorter game, I seriously dig the tracks on display here. It's so consistently amazing, and does a great job of servicing both the legacy of Kiryu, and giving us some Good Shit™️ for the newer faces. This is also when I really came to appreciate the cutscene tracks: Wounded Beast is such a kickass track that you'd be forgiven for thinking it plays in an actual fight, and Psycho's Prelude is an amazing hype-up track for an even more amazing boss theme. Also worth mentioning there's like a gajillion coliseum tracks in this one. Have no idea why but y'know I appreciate it. It's cool.

Personal Highlights:

Psycho's Anthem

Deadly Struggle / Fleeting Dream (HAKANAKI YUME)

Bring It On (best street fight track to date i'm not taking notes at this time)

Un altro appassionato

>0 has One-Eyed Assassin so it automatically goes here. The rest of the tracks are decent too ig 🙄 There are a few sort of those "eh whatever cool skip it" tracks in here which hold it back a teeny bit in my eyes, but this is still a really solid collection overall, and also gets props for being Kiwami's soundtrack if it was good. I'm kidding of course but 0 handles it pretty well for the most part. I find 0 is at its best music-wise when they either go all-in with the techno, or shy away from it almost entirely.

Personal Highlights:

Make You Free

Both Receive You remixes (The Subtype and ~Tech Trance Arrange~)

Interplanetary Spark

Reign

>Yakuza 6 has Lots of Lights so it automati I think 6 does a really good job at telling a story through its music. You have tragedy being painted in Fist Law and DESTINY, you have sheer anger and brutality being portrayed in Body and Soul, and you can even find it in the street themes with the feeling of "I am completely done with all of this bullshit" in KAMURO again. I also wanna say this has some of ZENTA's best work, which I really really REALLY appreciate.

Personal Highlights:

Lots of Lights

DESTINY

Bloodstained Philosophy (coolest name for a track i can't lie)

Theory of Beauty

>Judgment immediately does a great job of differentiating itself from the Yakuzas, and it's apparent as soon as you get into the street fight tutorial. The OST does a great job of painting Yagami and the overall bleaker picture of the game. Where some battle themes in the main series feel like a victory lap, JE instead sometimes has you feel like you're on the backfoot. Lambda, Hyenas Wheezing, and Rake Your Inside are all tracks that make you feel like an underdog, and give you that strength to power through what seems like impossible odds. It also has Flower of Chivalry so it aut

Personal Highlights:

Encounter ~ Keihin Alliance

Hyena's Wheezing

Penumbra

Destination

>Like a Dragon (/7) is another heavily techno leaning OST. If you asked me about it a few months ago, I probably would have put this higher. But now with IW out, I've started to see more of 7's OST's flaws. There are few tracks that are either weirdly low-energy, or feel a little generic and mesh together with the rest of the soundtrack, or at worst, both. But 7 still has quite the number of solid tracks, and those that stand out REALLY stand out. Shoutout to one of the most unique long battle tracks in Enter the Tiger.

Personal Highlights:

Brutality

Receive You The Hyperactive

REIWA LABYRINTH

ism

>Yakuza 3 acts as a sort of bridge between the rough, almost grunge-like sound of the PS2 era and the cleaner compositions of later entries. And I think it does both of those styles pretty well! It also starts to experiment with electric sound a little more, while still keeping the heavy guitars 1+2 are known for. The best are obviously composed of the tracks that do both. They even keep the unintelligible English lyrics in some tracks, what's not to love?

Personal Highlights:

Lyricism Without Tears

Clay Doll On The Cradle

Fly

D2A BABY YEAH BEST THEME EVER MADE D2A D2A D2A D2A

(2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

>Atmosphere is a large part of the PS2 era of Yakuza games' identity, and the music is a pretty large part of that. Yakuza 2 has an aggressive, grungy sound that pairs perfectly with the brutality of the game. You'll find some of the most of the most rough sounding songs in RGG's catalogue in here, and it's just so good in a way that isn't really replicated in the more modern entries. Also one of the tracks (Block Head Boy) samples Wu-Tang for some reason and I find that very funny.

Personal Highlights:

Evil Itself

North Menace

Hit & Kill

Outlaw's Lullaby (I still think the Kiwami 2 remix is the better of the two but this one's still SO good please listen to it if you haven't already)

whatcho beautiful ass staring at kaito my king >Kaito Files has like 6 tracks. They're all pretty good tracks, but that's like 6 tracks. Come on. Anyways, it's basically just more LJ music, so uhhhh yeah peak

Personal Highlights (plural would be like all of them)

Blood-Drunk Master Theme

>Kiwami 2. Yeah this one falls into the same trap as 7 does, but with less of those "This is the greatest thing to grace my ears" tracks. It still has some of them, though. The best remixes here are the ones that touch up and make completely sure that what the original has is intact: Lullaby of Outlaws and A Scattered, Eternal Moment are both fantastic in that regard. This also has a decent chunk of completely new tracks, presumably because they couldn't get certain composers back. You have stuff like the amazing triple-part track that plays in the Kamurocho Hills segment, Rebellious Phase which is decent, and the randomly amazing Break Off. Still a crime Evil Itself was snubbed like that smh.

Personal Highlights:

Lullaby of Outlaws

A Scattered, Eternal Moment

Kamuro Hills

Update with Gunfire

(1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

>Unfortunately, like with most aspects, Yakuza 2 does everything the first game did better. Still though, some quality tracks here. Yakuza 1 doesn't have too much to work with, but it still does utilize its few track slots well. From long-standing iconic tracks like Receive You, to Funk Goes On, and even the off B-side tracks like Singin' Bass, there really isn't a miss in here, just moreso a lack of super standout tracks. There's still quite a few to love despite that, of course.

Personal Highlights

son of a gun

Turning Point

Receive You The Prototype

Funk Goes On

>kiwami 1 ost snorkkkkkk mimimimimimimim snorkkkkkk mimim Alright I'm exaggerating, but I still think it's pretty weak in comparison to the rest. There's a lot of tracks that just feel kinda butchered to me? And it's not like the new tracks are particularly standout or anything. The tracks that do work are genuinely really good: Ideal For Violence is uhhhh perfect, Get Over It is a really strong long battle theme, Pray Me ~Revive~ is on par, if not arguably better than the original, and For Whose Sake Kiwami matches the sorrow of the original pretty well. But then you have stuff like Funk Goes On 極 which feels weirdly weak, Receive You the madtype which feels sorely outclassed by like, every single other Majima Receive You, and what would be arguably the strongest track, Receive You Reborn, doesn't even show up outside of Japanese versions. Kiwami isn't all bad, hell, there are some really good standouts here, but it just can't really compare to the rest in my eyes.

Personal Highlights:

Ideal For Violence

Get Over It

Amusing Octagon

Everlasting Spirit

>Infinite Wealth sits in haven't listened enough of solely because I haven't finished the game and thus haven't touched any track past Kooky (UPDATE: now any track past Impregnable Triangle. I'm planning to do the finale by this weekend). By any other metric this would have shot UP. I ADORE this OST. The cutscene tracks, the generic battle themes, the boss themes, the B-sides, they're all so excellent. This inadvertently made 7's OST worse for me because of how much better it handles the techno.

Personal Highlights:

Brutality ~Rebuild~

Impregnable Triangle (Fun fact: this track uses the time signature of 3/4, which is a waltz. I'll let you fill in the blanks for what that means for the theming.)

Kooky

Slugfest (Yamaniacs stay winning what can i say)

ok so uhhh apparently i hit the character limit lmao. didn't even know this site had one. uhhhhhh will continute in a reblog it's just kurohyou and ishin anyways

[istherewifiinhell]

while im here, lets get this out the door. this one... is weird

[ID: An artificial life form that its in the shape of a large golden women's head declares herself. "...I am Auntie!" END]

tfuk arc Raiders of the Last Arc! getit? huh?? issues 18-21 early summer 1985.

Script: Simon Furman Art: Mike Collins and Jeff Anderson Colours: Gina Hart Letters: Richard Starkings (18,20,21) John Aldrich (19) Editor: Sheila Cranna Original Series Edits by Shelia Cranna and Ian Rimmer, Editorial notes and assistance by James Roberts, Collection Edits by Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon, Collection Design by Shawn Lee

my eyes may be skimming the preambles at this point but i caught glimpse of something like "weird they never reprinted this one" bud. ill tell u why. its not very good. its not, horrid. its pretty much just. oh yeah. this is a marvel tf comic...

which, if you trying to make the argument that all tfuk are unique and sophisticated and BETTER than the US ones, or just tryna make a dollar on the iconic stories.... you skip this one!!!

but in this house, we support preservation and revisiting of ANY art. including if it flops. and today that means you'll get a few black and white panels. huh? isnt that neat. you excited???

we'll get to it all. But first. Lets check out the funny pages.

[ID: The back part of a panel with crudely drawn Autobots and Decepticons floating about, being restrained. Its charmingly goofy. END]

[ID: Jazz firing off his flamethrower and saying "Let's see if Jazz can make things hot for you Soundwave!" Soundwave, a little singed but unbothered replying "Very impressive,but my armour's more than a match for your weapon…a pity the same cannot be said of yours..!" END]

are you two... flirting?

anyway, ill bite. who's autie...

As her troops fell, the computerised brain of the Ark swung into operation… Auntie, as she had been nicknamed, evaluated internal defences, calculated probabilities and finally arrived at the only logical course of action…

oh...

[ID: Optimus looking towards an Ark security camera thinking "It would be another matter if the ark's defences were active, but Auntie controlled those directly…" He opens the door to a dark room, declaring to himself "Auntie! Of course! Until now, we've merely used the basic computer functions of the ark, but Auntie was far more than that… She was the Ark! If I can get her to even a fraction of her operational capacity… END]

oh. the space ship is a woman. right

[ID: Caption box: And if Windcharger could have seen the tableau unfolding in the nerve centre of the Ark, he might have felt his fears justified. Auntie, who in scale is at least twice the height of Optimus or Megatron, using an unseen force to hold them captive. Optimus pleads reason: You must believe me Auntie, you brought us here from Cybertron and you were damaged in the battle with those murderous Decepticons... Megatron lying: No! That isn't what happened. As I've already told you, we were on a mercy mission. The traitorous Autobots sabotaged it - Forced you to crash. END]

correction. the spaceship is now a crazy women who might kill them all. awesome. lol. THANKS TF <3 what i always wanted >_>... (even if i do like the chance to see my guy's rhetoric strategies)

anyway pause all that we have a buddy cop adventure (no 20)

[ID: Splash page that includes the arc title and creative credits. Windcharger and Ravage walking the halls of the arc, arguing. Caption boxes: Alone, Ravage And Windcharger Are unaffected by Auntie's magnetic force… They eye each other suspiciously, each suspecting treachery, each distrusting the other they are sworn enemies these two… But today they are Allies! Ravage: This goes against my every instinct! I dislike working with others at the best of times... But to have to fight alongside a puny Autobot..! Windcharger: Silence, you aggravating creature! I'm as unhappy with the situation as you… but for now it's unavoidable. Just keep those sensors of yours alert for… END]

they really like ravage in these comics lmao.

[ID: Ravage gloating, with destroyed machinery flaming and smoking in his mouth, one paw raised to hold it. He looks over his shoulder to Windcharger saying "There, impressed?" Windcharger looks aggravated. END]

SMUG BEAST. are YOU flirting.

[ID: B&W panel. Both reacting to something unseen, Ravage in a ready stance, possible aggressive or alarmed. Windcharger, slightly behind him looking scared/startled. END]

he said NO PICKLES!

okay back to the hostage situation

ID: B&W panels. Optimus and Megatron still surround by a field of energy restraining them. Optimus his eyes glowing, says "You fool, Megatron! Do you think for a moment that she'll let one of us just walk away? She's playing with us. Unless we break free she'll slaughter us all!" Megatron has a brow raised: Oh… I see. Yes, you could be right. Well, in that case… I may be able to set us free! END]

ACTUALLY. hysterical. sorry i see any extremely funny megs moments and im like. how beast wars of him. i like other meg's too but. fgsdj. well...

btw he has a connection to a black hole? always has?? its from the toy box or smth idk

[ID: In colour again. Caption boxes: Optimus Prime and Megatron await the judgement of Auntie. But, while she considers her verdict, Megatron concentrates... A strange, unearthly energy flows around him, threatening to engulf him... But he is Megatron, and he will make the power serve him! In full body, Megatron is tensed in effort, teeth grit. A dark and sparkling energy wreaths around him.

ENTER: his dark magical girl era....

[ID: Caption box: Megatron lands well, Optimus Prime does not! Smaller drawings, Megatron lands daintily on the point of one foot, his arms raised above his head, somewhat like a dancer. Optimus plummets like a heap, landing on his side, thigh and forearm slamming into the ground. END]

LOOK AT THIS SHIT. lol

[ID: Tiny drawing. Megatron hands still raised, gracefully. One hand wreathed in glowing energy, being directed near Prime, still on the ground. END]

hes a beauty, hes a grace, he wants... to melt your face.

oh yeah anyway ravage gets auntie

[ID: Caption box: But Ravage is faster... Ravage leaping passed or perhaps INTO Auntie's open mouth as she screams "Nooooo" Ravage tearing into whatever golden mechanical workings make up her physical being. Caption box: And Auntie 'dies' for a second time. END]

cool. i love what we did here today. really valuable addition to the lore. and a win for feminism

and then windcharger launched megatron out of the arc thru the volcano and into space. no yeah. he can do that i guess.

its dumb, tho also funny. it hates women. its comics. GOODBYE.

[ID: Tiny drawing of Ravage pouncing. END]

[unsettlingcreature]

RIGHT OK SO thoughts. i have them.

MINRATHOUS. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. MINRATHOUS!!!!

It's beautiful. I want to see more of Minrathous and Tevinter in general, I am SO excited for the environments and buildings and- (muffled screaming).

Also Minrathous? Do you know who else might be in Minrathous? 🥺🥺🥺 i'm sorry i just want to see dorian again. But also, I hope we'll see Maevaris too! So badly!

edit: actually, I realised what the started segment where you run through the city with demons Fucking Shit up reminds me of! The scene in Origins where you are running across the bridge to get to the beacon at the battle of Ostagar! Having to ignore the carnage around you as you push forwards because the end goal is ultimately more important...

I love that we get a background for our Rook that seems to actually come up outside of the rare dialogue option. And speaking of dialogue, I like that we're keeping the dialogue wheel with contextual icons! I'm not a massive fan of the UI but it's by no means bad.

As they walked through the streets of Minrathous, I was for some reason reminded of Assassin's Creed. But once combat began, I was reminded of Shadow of Mordor...? I think it was the switching between blade and bow.

I can already tell that the combat is not really my thing. I'll cope. I'll suffer through it. I will say that it looks very fluid and makes me hope that we'll get a similar flow of combat (for rogues at least) similar to DA2 (which I think has the best dual-wielding combat of the three games imo). I'll probably still pick a mage for my first playthrough but rogues are tempting me.

The warning lines for ranged attacks is... interesting! I've seen something similar in a few games and it'll definitely make dodging a lot easier to figure out timings, even if I personally hate dodge-heavy combat. Again, I'll cope.

The music... oh my god, it's beautiful. As they approached the ritual site, you could hear the same motifs that were present in the Tresspasser's soundtrack (specifically Dark Solas Theme) (I go feral whenever I hear those strings btw). Very excited by the music, even the song that was present for the countdown before it started was beautiful!

Some of the dialogue was a bit... quippy. It was way better than the character reveal though. For the most part, it felt fine but then now and then I'd pull a face at a cheesy line or the odd sentence that felt stilted to me.

I didn't realise Neve was an amputee! I love the stylised prosthetic. I definitely need to get around to reading the comics.

The new direction with demons is interesting. They seem to be going more wraith-like, with even the pride demon no longer have legs and just kind of floating. The fiery dog-like are what I assume are meant to be rage demons? I actually love them, far more than the weird blobby things we've seen in past games.

The facial expressions are very good. Definitely not having the same issue as ME:A. Honestly, the animation in general is brilliant. I enjoyed watching Rook dart about during combat and his movement was very fun.

Whenever the pride demon teleported away just as Rook went to strike, I kept thinking "nah that would piss me off so much".

Seeing Varric approach Solas, I was like haha wow, imagine if they killed off Varric really early on in the game. I don't think Bioware would but it did genuinely put me on edge for a moment. Destroying Bianca though... Nah, somehow that's worse. Where's he going to get another one? :(

Also, hi Venatori! You're still around after ten years? Fucking hell, you'd think they'd have given up considering Corypheus was dunked on over a decade ago. Learn to take the L.

Finally, that shout from Solas as the ritual was disrupted... I think it's the angriest I've heard him, at least put against how he was in Inquisition. Also are we going to talk about the purple eyes? I think I'd like to talk about the purple eyes. Solas could get it. WHAAAAAT WHO SAID THATTTTT, THAT'S WILDDDDDDD...

[dwarvenbash]

Dwarf Longbeards!

Definitely one of my top 3 favorite Dwarf units in Warhammer. I tried my hardest to match the feel of the excellent 6th edition designs by the legendary sculptor Colin Dixon as pictured in the bottom-most picture (the standard bearer in the center-left has been promoted to a Runelord), but I have quite a few quibbles with the newer plastic kit.

Even so, while my take on these old fogeys could maybe do with a couple additions to fill some gaps, I'd like to think I preserved some of that grumpy character to help them fit in with the rest of the unit!

As promised though, more complaining under the cut...

Now before I dive too deep into a screed of negativity, I'll gush a bit about the aforementioned 6th edition sculpts.

Colin Dixon is responsible for some of the best Warhammer Dwarf designs in my opinion, and absolutely nails all the elements that make them stand out from their other more generic fantasy equivalents. They are loaded to the whiskers with small details, from the iconic angular "ancestor" detailing of simplified dwarven faces on their weapons and armor, to accessories from beer steins to smoking pipes to rings on their fingers. Each miniature tells a story, and for these Longbeards especially it's like they're carrying a long lineage of heirlooms and history with them into battle!

One of the greatest parts of Colin's sculpts however in my opinion are how he poses his dwarfs. An essential element that seperated old Warhammer Dwarf designs from others were how short their legs were. Most of the time, a Dwarf's boots were all you could see on a miniature, the rest obscured by long-hanging chainmail or beard hair. While this did a great job of helping them have a distinct look, it also meant it could be hard getting more dynamic and characterful poses out of them; not so for these Longbeards, however! Unlike their more follicle-challenged kin, these old Dwarfs are not shown charging into the fray, hopped up on adrenaline. This is not their first battle, and you're sure to hear them mutter something about how that "back in their day" the orcs were nastier, and the ale tasted better, to boot! So to reflect this, they are posed at ease, resting on their great weapons like walking sticks, unimpressed, just waiting for the enemy to come to them.

Now, much like in the Dwarfen kingdoms of Warhammer, the new-fangled miniature designing ways somewhat pale in comparison to the old masterworks, which brings us to the new Longbeard model...

I'm not going to sugarcoat it; in my opinion, this is a terribly designed kit. The eclectic choice of colors here isn't doing this promotional image any favors, but the problems run a lot deeper than that. Designed to pull double duty as both Hammerers and Longbeards, this 8th edition kit saps all the uniqueness and character from both unit types in order to kill two proverbial Dwarfs with one stone. The kit is basically mono-pose: the head slots into the body in a very specific way, and the ball joint sockets for the arms might as well be for show. Jamming two different unit types into one kit also means there is no room for any interesting accessories or fun bits like (nearly) every other Dwarf kit has; there are only extra heads or weapons from the unit you weren't building in the first place, which in my opinion, have different enough aesthetics to warrant two separate designs.

Beyond the kit itself, though, the design you are left with after you put it together (if you follow the instructions) is egregious. Most glaring is the model's scale: these Dwarfs are for some reason far more bulky than any of their brethren, so much so that it's a challenge trying to rank these guys up on 20mm bases! (These 8th edition models I suspect are one of the reasons TOW moved their bases up 5mm) Their stupidly bulky armor, too, is bedazzled with this bizarre flowing curly-cue ornamentation that looks more like elven handiwork than anything Dwarf-crafted. Their helmets don't even have horns of any kind like the old designs, opting instead for an odd football helmet-esque look with these orbs on each side that I absolutely despise.

The worst offender might be the model's pose. While it might not be as bad when they are built with hand weapons, the great weapon pose has absolutely no character or energy behind it. I assume the idea is that they are supposed to be mid-march, but they look like they have about as much agency and personality as a chess piece. Embarrassingly, most of the Longbeard head option's beards barely even touch the ground! The one requirement to make this unit recognizable as what it is supposed to be, and they could barely manage that.

I will say the Longbeard unit champion in this kit (pictured front and center in the above picture) does maintain some of that original repose and character by virtue of leaning on his shield and great weapon, and in order to salvage this kit I relied heavily on these bits for my own Longbeards, which you may be able to spot in the initial photos.

That and some old reliable bits from the 4th edition Dwarf Warrior kit saved this build for me, but what stings the most about this new kit is that it is what two of the most iconic Dwarf units are stuck with looking like for most people for the foreseeable future. It has been kept in production solidly since 8th edition as an Age of Sigmar unit, and now with The Old World, it'll probably hold that course.

That being said, there's still a chance for some new developments with The Old World, as some units like the Dwarf Lord with Shieldbearers will almost certainly be getting new models. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but like any good Longbeard, I'll probably just keep sticking with the old stuff. :)

Thanks for reading this somewhat rambling editorial, I'll try to keep these constructive rather than full on devolve into GW-bashing all of the time (while that is quite fun...), but I had to devote some time to articulate why exactly I feel so strongly about this particular variety of Dwarf, as one does.

Not to end on a sad note, but Colin Dixon passed away quite recently, so if you have a moment, here is a very nice article memorializing his career as a painter and sculptor of miniatures:

[leonsliga]

Could you pls post your favourite tiktoks from leon? 💖 I cant find too much content from him 🥺

I thought you’d never ask, anon 💖 it’s truly a tragedy he doesn’t have a tiktok of his own; it definitely makes finding content a little bit harder. Nevertheless, I definitely have quite a few favorites, and I’ll link them by category below the cut:

*this is gonna be an insanely long post…you’ve been warned*

Leon Whoretzka worship

That iconic Hulkretzka moment (brought to you by Bayern herself)

I’m gonna be honest; I’m only looking at your titties right now… (warning: there’s probs gonna be a lot of leongoretzkamalewife on here 😂)

Sexiest transformation in the world? Definitely.

Leon flexing (in more ways than one)

Me? Obsessed with you? Yes.

Still the greatest fit of all time. Completely unrivaled.

Don’t get in strangers’ cars, but when it’s Leon, exceptions must be made…

His titties + this past season’s home kits = heaven 🤤

Because even Leon has to give his biceps the smooches they deserve

He might need his shirt back, but I ain’t giving it to him 🤭

Who doesn’t love a lil striptease?

Leon sweetheart-retzka

What we all mean when we say “Leon Goretzka is our comfort person”

I’m not kidding, if Leon ever looked at me like this it’d be over for me

Remember to dream big kids

“Ohne euch würde die ganze geschichte nicht funktionieren.” 🥹

Bochumer Junge 🥰

Leon takes on the Bundesliga tiktok challenge (in English)

My comfort tiktok

“Die goldene henne.” (Proud papa Leon)

The handoff of the number 8

Leon with a child

Leon Jaha-retzka 😑

Bombastic side eye

“Ich bin halt clever.”

Quarantine brought out the worst in all of us… (someone please give the man his zaubertrank)

Leon’s verdict: biceps not up to par

Everyone’s favorite Scrooge 🥰

It’s hard being an introvert in a world full of extroverts

The enthusiasm radiates off the page truly

Getting up close and personal

He may be riding alone but his heart will go on

“DAS IST DER SIEBEN!!!!”

I want him to scream in my face

Jaha

Cutie pie Leon Adorabl-etzka

Die maus for a reason

Is your smile unparalleled Leon? Ja 📈📉

Soft boi baby

Those eyes…

Dressed to impress, and to make us obsess

On again, off again, love you like oxygen

So you trust him?

God knows he’s the only way to heal now

“Geil alter!”

So much more than a footballer 🥰

Easily in my top 3 Leon soft boi edits

The reason I hold on…

When he renewed with us 🥹

It’s never a cruel summer when he’s around

Just a reminder :)

Can you feeeeeellllll feeeeeeellll my love?

Süße maus

The only time I feel safe…

What do you think got me this far?

Can a person feel like home?

Ja 🕺

Where’d all the time go?

Photocrop challenge 🤪

Leon Lol-retzka

Part-time drill sergeant, part-time proud papa

We love a multitasking king

Money shot babyyyy 🤑

Leon kickstarting his reporting career

“MEISTER SAMMA!!!!”

What did I just watch 😂

He promised us a smile…false advertising

He was sucking on candy the whole time 🤦‍♀️

“Nein” 😵

The crickets are never louder than when someone dares to breathe the word “Holland” in his presence

Best Benji impersonator

He’s an old soul, really…

He’s fucking crazy, but he’s free

You know you’re touch-starved when you start spooning the training materials

Prepare to have your brain chemistry altered…

His road rage is stewing just below the surface

He’s so normal I swear

Rhythm is a dancer 🕺

He was there in spirit

“Brotha from anotha motha” (American accent on point)

Leon just never misses…they don’t call him Leon Scoretzka for nothin’

Goddamn, now I want a Leon Goretzka movie 😩

Prepping for future rap battles by spitting unnecessary bars

Have you learned your alphabet?

Ho ho ho? More like hoe hoe hoe 🎄

The problem child

A wise man once said…

This was groundbreaking 🤯

🎶We’re going to Ibizaaa🎶 🔙 to the island 🏝️

To cuddle or to soullessly pummel: that is the question

I trust you’ll pick the right one 😎

Preparing for his UFC debut

*maniacal laughter intensifies*

Whoever decided to stick Thomas and Leon in the same room is my favorite person…please give them an immediate pay raise thx xoxo

“Bin auch Händler.”

“Auf gar keinen fall.”

🐮

“Das ist doch sicher ein Dorf.”

“Komm let’s go.”

Danke 😑

“Das ist auf gar keinen Fall richtig!!” 😡

I’m ashamed to say I’ve replayed this video an unhealthy amount of times but what am I supposed to do when it legit sounds like he’s moaning

Lockdown brought out a different side of all of us

This was a life or death situation

[silverjetsystm]

What's up, gamers. Every so often, I get asked for MK comic recommendations. I'll include links to a couple of really good reading guides from the subreddit (that I had Zero hand in making) and toss my two cents below. Not that it'll buy you anything.

TL;DR: See reddit below, be sure to check out the Excel master list of appearances. Most of the quality runs has been printed in omnibus, Epic Collection, trade paperback, Marvel app. You know.

If those links don't work, go to the r/MoonKnight subreddit and check out the Reading Suggestions and Collected Editions in the menu.

Below the cut, I give a sort of non-spoiler walkthrough and talk about what's in print .

Cory's Reading List [Edited 15 October 2024]

I read everything on the below list. I have my opinions. If I tell you not to read something, it's because I don't like it. But I'm also some Jewish singlet/non DID/OSDD guy on the internet.

Here are some articles written by a system who is a fan of the Moon Knight System.

Okay, finally, the list

Werewolf by Night (1975) #32-33. First appearance of Moon Knight and Frenchie.

Marvel Spotlight (1971) #28-29. First appearance of Steven, Jake, Marlene, Gena, Gena's sons, and Crawley.

Hulk Magazine #13-15, #17-18, #20-21 (they're the backup stories, so if you're 'online' search and read by Hulk, scroll halfway through the issue)

Marvel Preview (1975) #21. Marc solves the murder of a former colleague.

Moon Knight (1980) #1-38. First solo written mostly by Moench and drawn by Sienkiewicz. "But Cory, why are we reading all these old comics?" Because while different words are used now, the writers of the first run do really well at making Marc, Steven, and Jake a system. Iconic rogues are introduced. Marc's first backstory in #37 and #38 is the perfect backstory, imo.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu (1985) is not the best but #6 is great. So, read #1 so you know what the plot is and #6. This is when Priests of Khonshu and other things are introduced.

West Coast Avengers (1985-1994) goes here. The first time Khonshu is more than just some weird statue. Also includes Tigra and Marc kissing. MK is in issues #21-41, which is collected in 3 different Epic Collections and at least one is out of print because someone in Marvel hates me specifically /jk. The Epic Collections are titled: Lost in Space-Time, Tales To Astonish (out of print), and Vision Quest.

Marvel Fanfare (1987) #30. "Real to Reel" is one of my favorite issues of all time. Gorgeous art. Marlene and Steven/Marc have clumsy but meaningful discussions around mental health and identities. Man versus nature. Yes, one of the bigger "the editor forgot Steven doesn't go by 'Steve'" moments.

Marc Spector: Moon Knight (1989-1994) is 60 issues and it gets borderline unreadable about halfway through. Steven and Jake are occasionally referred to but not present. :< That being said, the first half has some great stuff. The Trial of Marc Spector (#15-18) and Scarlet Redemption (#26-31) arcs are the standouts. So honestly, read a few stories from it, get tired, and know he dies for the third time at the end. Then read

Resurrection War (1998) and High Strangers (1999) - two separate mini-series by Moench because they killed his boy. Treats the back half of MS:MK as potentially a dream. The brief return of Steven and Jake.

MK (2006) is 30 grimdark issues. The first 13 issues are usually all I 'enjoy.' Marc gets injured, kills Bushman in an extremely violent way, and has substance use issues. He also lashes out/pushes away his original cast. The run is ableist.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight (2009-2010): The most Marc acting Jake Lockley in existence, coming back from a stint in Mexico at the end of MK 2006. Some retcons. It's. Fine.

Secret Avengers (2010) #19 is one of the only issues with decent MK. First sighting of Mr. Knight. Too bad it's by Ellis. The rest of Secret Avengers is ableist or he's not really there.

Shadowland: MK is a 3 issue event tie-in. Does some retcons I like but also our favorite can't stay dead brother is back. Content warning for miscarriage.

MK (2011) by Bendis. Don't read it. Steven and Jake are replaced by Cap, Wolverine, and Spider-Man. Marc's in LA. Why isn't addressed.

MK (2014): Marc's back from LA. Introducing Mr. Knight. The best issues are the one shot type stories. #5 "Scarlet" is also one of my favorite issues of the character featuring Mr. Knight versus an abandoned building full of goons to rescue one kidnapped girl. The connected plot isn't the best. Content warning for ableism and medical abuse. But. Do you like black and white suit? Marc punching ghosts? Bird skull Khonshu? Tell Shalvey thanks. This run is mostly out of print on account that the first writer, Ellis, sexually coerced people.

MK (2016): Lemire and Smallwood. The dream team. If you can only get one run in print, this is the one I recommend. It works best as a standalone story; the plot does some glossing and retcons around the System's backstory and there's plenty of room for different interpretations of what 'really' is happening. This is also the run Leyna from the article series above reviews.

MK (2017): The Bemis run. Websites attach it to the Lemire run. It's not. Stop reading 2016 when issue #188 appears. It's incredibly antisemitic and ableist.

Avengers (2018) #31-38. Written by Aaron. Age of Khonshu only is relevant for what Marc does now and his mental state. It's. Fine?

MK (2021) wrapped at 30 issues in December 2023.❤️ MacKay gets it right the vast majority of the time. The art (inks by Cappuccio and colors by Rosenberg) are some of my favorite work alongside Sienkiewicz, Smallwood, and Shalvey. Like Lemire, MacKay ties in classic points with new directions. The new dream team.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight (2024) continued MK 2021 with the same creative team from January-September 2024. 9 issues.

Blood Hunt (2024) was the summer event written by MacKay. 5 main issues with tie-ins to Vengeance 2024. It's sort of important to read the main event issues but Vengeance does expand the Mission parts. I'm biased but this is also one of my favorite comic events (and I hate comic events).

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu (2024) The current main book continuing MK 2021/Vengeance 2024 with the same creative team. #0 was released July 2024 as a strikefile narrated by Khonshu on each of the key players and onboarding new readers into what's coming next. October 2024-???

Print Options:

Omnibus is a heavy, oversized, hardback and contains a lot more issues. They also can have some weird 'new car' printing smell and paper texture. Epic Collections are standard sized, softback that has more issues than a Trade Paper Back (TPB). Make sure you read the back of the volumes so you don't buy repeats. Unless you're into that. Weigh pros and cons. What do you value/can afford? And the physical weight of the omnibus.

As of Autumn 2024, there are currently 6 omnibuses.

MK OMNIBUS: Volume 1 (1975-1980) - MK's first appearance, the backups from Hulk magazine, half of the 1980 run.

MK OMNIBUS: Volume 2 (1980-1985) - other half of 1980 run plus MK: Fist of Khonshu (1985).

MS: MK OMNIBUS Volume 1 (1989-1994) - #1-34 (out of the 60 issues), some Spidey, some Castle.

MS: MK OMNIBUS Volume 2 (1989-1994) - #35-60 and both of Moench's mini-series (Resurrection Wars and High Strangers) and 3 issues of Black Panther. Do I recommend this omnibus? Not really. After the first story in this omni (and even it is stretching it), it really does fall off that cliff. I got it because I wanted it on my shelf. Moench and Black Panther stuff helps soften the sting.

MK by Huston, Benson, & Hurwitz OMNIBUS (2006-2010) - all 30 issues of 2006's run and Vengeance of MK 2009, and Shadowland.

MacKay's 2021-2023 run was published as an omnibus in October 2024 without Vengeance 2024.

There are currently 7 Epic Collections for the pre-2006 stuff. Everything after 2006 and Vengeance 2009 is far more accessible in trades or single volume collections for certain runs.

MK Epic Collection Volume 1: Bad Moon Rising - early adventures pre-1980 and the first 4 issues of 1980.

MK: Countdown to Dark: the Hulk backups and Marvel Preview #21.

MK Epic Collection Volume 2: Shadows of the Moon - MK (1980) #5-23

MK Epic Collection Volume 3: Final Rest - MK (1980) #24-38

MK Epic Collection Volume 4: Butcher's Moon - tie-ins, solo issues, and MS: MK (1989) #1-7.

MK Epic Collection Volume 5: The Trial of Marc Spector - MS: MK #8-25 and that Punisher annual.

MK Epic Collection Volume 6: Not published yet. Probably #26-38.

MK Epic Collection Volume 7: Death Watch. Collects MS: MK #39-51, Divided we fall, and some other tie-ins. Yes, we do jump ahead from #25 to #39.

MK Epic Collection Volume 8: Not published yet. Probably will finish out MS: MK, have both of Moench's 90s minis, and maybe Black Panther.

If Marvel continues doing what they're doing with Moon Knight like other properties, after Epic Collection Volume 8 is published, Marvel will print equivalent "Modern Era" volumes for 21st century stuff.

Bemis and Bendis have softcover collections. 2014 has a softcover collection in the UK but not in the US for reasons.

For Lemire's run, there is a one volume softcover collection called Moon Knight by Lemire & Smallwood: The Complete Collection. This is the one you want.

MacKay's MK has 5 TPBs and so far one TPB for issues #1-5 of Vengeance 2024. Honestly, get the omni if you can.

Happy reading!!

[chromotps]

Hmm, I wonder if Cora would wear something to indicate that he's Law's lover.

Law is... Law. This man looks/act like a devoted fan to Cora than a normal lover but that's one of the reason I like him and this ship, I need them to be devoted and weird about it!!!

The Jolly Roger, his tattoos, his style of clothing (this might be projecting but his clothes on Onigashima Raid reminded me of Cora's outfit), his coat that said "Corazon" at the back (someone asked about this and Oda (??) said it was custom made. Maybe he did it himself or made someone else do it. The point is it was intentional!! Man wanted Cora's name on his clothes. Yes I know his name is Rosinante but Law met him as "Corazon" and knew him as "Cora-san"), and more.

I can't think of a tattoo design for Cora, but if there was I think it would look great behind his back or... hips/waist!! (Imagine being blond, tall and gorgeous. Cora's model career is starting. He's gonna recreate every iconic fall models made. And the camera will capture his tattoo and somehow it completes the outfit. Lmao I'm just kidding. This is a great idea tho I'm a genius)

But I think if Law gave him a completely different uniform (or just lets Cora wear whatever he wants) to wear when he's joined the crew it would automatically indicate that he's an important member, especially to the captain. While this does not immediately point out that he's Law's lover I think it speaks volumes. If that doesn't show it then the way Law talks to Cora will. He's more polite about giving orders to Cora, and said orders is usually done right beside the captain. They're joined in the hips, do not separate!

Also I HC that Cora's role in the crew is a spy or undercover agent (or something like that). He's the one who infiltrates every location they need information from or to sabotage the buildings/place/security/etc. He infiltrates marine bases the best, since he had marine training and knows what most marine bases on the inside has (Sengoku is NOT happy with this. Garp complains to him about it. Ofc he ignores it unless Cora and the Heart Pirates infiltrates the building where he's currently at. He lets them get away after a few hours or two-three days when he manages to capture them because he wants to spend time with Cora. And also to give Law shovel talks and begrudgingly grow fond of him).

...I got sidetracked there- but anyways, back to the main topic! I have ideas for accessories Cora and also Law could wear to show people that they're lovers.

Option one are earrings (Zosan core /j). A teardrop earring on Cora's left ear and Law's right ear. I have no ideas for the design :')) and also, heart studs! They're also matching but they both have two pieces. I suck at explaining— anyways I forgot I had pinterest so I spent like 20 secs staring at bland and plain earrings like 😭?? This is the main preference since it doesn't get in Law's way when doing surgeries and stuff.

Option two is a promise ring, given by Law (Cora gives one to Law too ofc, I want it to be fair lol). A small and simple one I guess, since his main weapon will be something like a gun he should wear something comfortable. Well, until he wears it as a pendant in a necklace.

(Bonus, in the future he'll wear their wedding ring!!! He'll also wear it as a pendant in a necklace when they're in battle/preparing for battle alongside his promise ring. That's such a sweet sight to see)

Aaaaand I think that's all lol, for now— have a great day!!

-S

OooOooo I swear I've seen a comic where Cora gets tattoos on his back... The design was still sort of abstract, but matched Law's, and it looked so good. 😭 I can't find it now!!! 😭😭😭 But I like that idea, it being on his hips or back... Law casually resting his hand on Cora's waist and knowing the tattoo is there would make him so smug ahaha (EDIT: I found the comic!! it was on twitter here)

Those ideas about how Cora would fit in/stand out among the crew... big agree. Like when Law is in Captain Mode, Cora will listen to his orders without question but it helps that Law is like...

(Law, giving orders to Penguin): get your ass over there! Now! (turning to Cora): please join him, if it's convenient for you, Cora-san.

Heart Pirate Spy Cora!! That makes sense, using his experience and devil fruit power but maybe with a few more tricks up his sleeve this time around... Like, he takes on more of a thief persona. Something about "stealing hearts" being his and Law's whole thing?? 😂 Also lmao get wrecked Sengokuuuu your son is causing problems and living his best life!!

I love subtle couple accessories!! Promise rings/necklaces are so cute.... It's hard to think of anything else, but after 20 minutes I did remember the way both Law and Cora have that black feather look to their jackets. Maybe they put one of those feathers on a necklace or hair accessory, and wear that all the time?

(I've also seen this idea around where Law uses his powers to literally switch his heart with Cora's heart, keeping them safe for each other in their chests 👀 It's a little intense, buuuut these two would do anything for each other.)

[jojo-chan]

Hello!

I know I've always been an anime-oriented blog, but I wanna change that and make this a personal blog! So, my name is Mery and I love history!

I wanna talk about Andrea Frediani, an Italian author whom I read two books from.

The First book I read is "Dinasty: the romance of the five emperors" (I read it in Italian so I just translated the Italian title, I don't know if the English one is different since his writings have been translated into five languages) it's about the Julio-Claudian dynasty which is my fav dinasty of the Roman empire btw and I really enjoyed it, but there are a few things I disliked:

Livia Drusilla was only pictured as a ruthless murderer and a manipulator, one who just craved power for her family and didn't have any genuine affection for the emperor. I personally stand by the thesis that she really loved Augustus (or at least cared for him) and the two got very well along (it is said Augustus would ask her for political opinions and take notes of what she said) and besides she was much more than that: she was an icon for women's rights and was able to influence her husband's decisions (which no one was ever able to do) so I would've liked for her intellect to be showed more.

The way Julia the eldest is painted: another woman who was only showed for her mistakes. Yes, Julia was one who went to bed with many and broke Augustus's infedelity laws for women, and that she was exiled for. But was she really just that? I love how Frediani showed what she went through and really emphasized the fact that all those marriages (with Marcellus, Agrippa and Tiberius) were forced, but she wasn't just that, she was actually a very kind and smart woman (after her dad).

From the same author I am finishing a book called "The battle of the winner" and it's about Octavian who wants to avenge Julius Caesar.

Anyway, let me know if you want to hear my thoughts on Octavian and his childhood, I've been studying psychology for more than a year so if you want a post about that you'll definetly recognize some pieces of Freud and Jung, also McLallad with his need for power (was it McLallad? I've studied that a few months ago so I'll edit this post if it isn't him.)

[fishylife]

Alright last two episodes of the Creation of the Gods Training Camp Cvariety show (Episode 6) (Episode 7)

Episode 6

Hou Wenyuan supervising Chen Muchi's singing

This is an ongoing thing, but the narrator in the edited clips has been purposely speaking in a Western accent to mimic Kris Phillips' accent. But it's obvious that they are fluent and just putting on an accent.

Hou Wnyuan wearing the sheer because there apparently wasn't anything else

Historical etiquette class

According to the teacher, if you're kneeling properly, your knees don't even touch the floor and you're leaning entirely on your calves.

First lesson, kneel for 5 minutes

Hell yeah Ci Sha and Li Yunrui also rocking the sheer

Planning mannerisms for the patricide scene and Su Quanxiao's death scene to reflect the characters' states of mind

Practising walking and holding posture in court too. This is pretty interesting.

Now the war dance!!!!

While the hostage sons were practising the war dance, Yu Shi was in Xinjiang filming his scene so he only had a few days to practise the war dance and had to ask for extra help.

The war dance was the hostage sons' first scene filmed. And they got it done in one go.

Now preparation for the first battle scenes.

Yu Shi's horse kept avoiding the hurdles. The first step was to lead the horse to the hurdle and have the horse kick it to go past. And then afterwards they would get the horse to jump over the hurdle.

Hello Mr. Krabbs

The original dance choreographed for the feast was a more typical celebratory dance by female dancers. But Wuershan liked the war dance so much that he wanted to add it in. I agree that it was a great idea. The war dance with the topless hostage sons has kind of become iconic. As Wuershan said, most other movies and TV shows will have a rather generic dance. Giving the hostage sons a chance to dance gives the hostage son characters an added dimension too.

Yu Shi had to go to Xinjiang to film at the time of the war dance practice because it was August and it would soon be harvest time for the wheat fields.

LOL Wuershan laughing at the reaction meme game

Naran can even understand ancient texts in Chinese now :o She's come so far. I wish I could read ancient Chinese texts!!!

熊孩子 >3

Yu Shi tearing up as he talks about this being his first film and how he'll continue to work hard but that his first film will be special

All the actors on set talking about how much they appreciated this filming experience ;_;

Nana had wanted to be an actress from a young age. When she was a model, she felt a little aimless, but now that she's back on the acting route her goal is clearer to her <3

Naxi teared up too. I would imagine that as an "older" person at the camp, it must be such a positive and moving experience to find a new path for yourself.

In addition to the super cute scroll, Wuershan also got some new swag

Height comparison

Episode 7

Lore quiz!!!! This is kinda fun lol

Ji Fa and Deng Chanyu have a battle in water in the second movie :o I wonder if it's combat or like, an actual war with soldiers and horses.

Oh no they have to practise holding their breath ToT That's so anxiety inducing to me

Looks like they're learning breaststroke

Scuba time

Wu Hankun talking big about how handsome he is and then Hou Wenyuan one-upping him with the narcissism which amuses the teachers so much XD

Now they need Hou Wenyuan to make an ugly face and act silly (presumably because to be a good actor you have to pull faces and not always be thinking about your appearance).

The hostage sons discussing why their characters would not kill Daji in the scene where they discover her in the snow

When Hou Wenyuan was practising a part where Chong Yingbiao was boasting, the Jing Niansong was like "guys nobody is hyping up your beifang da-ge and he's feeling very awkward rn" lol

Ji Fa and Chong Yingbiao play fighting XD And then "fighting for real" during rehearsal

Naran dance performance!

Hell yeah girls' fight

Now horseback riding skills demonstration

The group horseback riding skills are pretty cool. I remember when they were practising their formations before, the instructor was telling them that their circle wasn't round enough, etc. which isn't something I'd normally think about but we see now how good their formations are.

Hell yeah group demonstration WITH WEAPONS now. The spear wielders always look so cool to me

Several drum performances (y)

I noticed that Zhang Xuehan (on the far left) has a smaller drum

Doggo on set

WHAT Hou Wenyuan just found the dog and brought it to camp ^^;; They went around town looking for the dog's owner and also all chipped in some money to get the dog to the vet

Hou Wenyuan and Huang Xiyan were kind of in charge of the dog. And they were both considered for Yang Jian so they were like "is this Xiaotianquan" (Yang Jian's dog in mythological canon)

LMAO Kun-babi 坤爸比 (Like Kun-papa)

Apparently the dog is quite a young one

I guess they found an owner to adopt the dog in the end

Tug of war again, but indoors. They're all super competitive about it.

Basketball time. Huang Xiyan was like "we have to take Lin Yunrui out to play basketball or else he'll grow mould" lol

I forgot to mention this before but one of the guys said that they were all growing their hair out for the movie (i.e. so that they could tie up their own hair as opposed to using a wig like in dramas). So that's why all the guys are wearing headbands and sporting buns/ponytails.

Yu Shi is wearing a basketball jersey with "YU" on the back so presumably it was an old jersey that he actually wore when he was still a basketball player

Yu Shi dunk

Yu Shi was helping Ci Shi to get high up enough

And I'm done! Overall it was really fun watching the behind the scenes of the training camp and to finally get to meet some of the cast members. Some of the games were better than others, and the audio quality was bad. But this was still fun.

[snarky-gourmet]

Hi! Are you playing Engage? What are your thoughts?

I am 🤧

I hope u don't mind this being semi-long but I wanted to mention some things I haven't personally seen Professional Reviewers™️ mention and other details that I've taken note of as well as my opinions thus far!

(No spoilers included, basic summary at bottom of post.)

Disclaimer that my perspective comes from the bias of only having played 3 Houses and 3 Hopes to completion; I do however have varying levels of approximate knowledge in regards to previous games and protagonists. As a general rule of thumb though, my main point of comparison is 3h.

Visuals:

-I'm not particularly fond of the specific art style in Engage, but there art times where it's not that distracting. I think that overall some of the 3D models look better than others. There are no still-photo icons to go along with dialogue, so focus is fairly hard to direct away from the 3D models.

-Battle animations are quite smooth, but I find some of them to be quite dramatic, especially the hit/damage animations! It's not really a positive or negative for me, just something that stands out. On the plus side it seems there are no more arrows clipping right through walls or units running through fences, etc, during battle animations.

-I actually do like all of the well-polished major cutscenes a lot. There are quite a few throughout the chapters I've played thus far and they are visually pleasing.

-Everything looks very shiny. Very shiny. There is quite a bit of crisp contrast in menu screens and the like. Text is a bit bigger than in 3h, so reading things is easier on the eyes.

Music:

-Overall I quite like the music during battles. I haven't had of the music any stuck in my head yet, so I think they're a bit less memorable than the scores in 3h, and those from Awakening that I've heard. but the music is honestly decent, I don't have any complaints about the quality.

-The music alternates between 1 song and another during the player turn and the enemy turn. I could personally do without this, but on the bright side you will always know whose turn it is.

Gameplay:

-Strictly comparing it to the gameplay in 3h maps, I've found it to be a bit more labourous in Engage. A lot of this can probably be attributed to differing controls, but I also feel like I'm pressing way more buttons to get the same things done.

-Weapons don't lose durability. I didn't know this in the first few chapters and was freaking out trying to figure out if my only weapons were going to break suddenly sjfbd

-Maps seem to be smaller in Engage than in 3h? I'm not sure if this will be consistent or not. Along with the possible smaller map size, I personally have found it to be very easy to work through maps even on hard. (Edit: smaller maps are not a constant thing; it was more common at the beginning.)

-There's a phase after battles where you can wander around a 3D rendering of the map and collect items, talk with allies, and a few chapters in, you can also adopt animals you find on the map. I like the cats :]

-Wandering around the Somniel is comparable in spirit to the explore phase in 3h. I personally don't think that the actual spaces, the Somniel and Garreg Mach, are comparable enough to pit them against each other. Somniel feels sort of like a very expensive dollhouse, I think. I am very fond of the garden. There is a wisteria tree. :]

-There are activities/minigames you can do in Somniel that will have benefits for the next battle in the story. They unlock gradually as the story progresses. I kind of like things like that because it can help break up the story a bit.

Characters:

-I like Alear tbh. I picked m!Alear to play as and I think he's neat :]

-I don't have much to say about the supporting characters as a whole. There are a few that I do like! But if someone is particularly fond of the sort of social bonding that exists in 3h, they may be disappointed, as in my opinion, there's just simply not a lot of depth going on, but nonetheless there are some fun characters.

-Similar to some games pre-3h, you are thrown new units at a pretty constant pace, so if someone isn't performing well or you don't like them much it doesn't have to hold up the game as they can be replaced.

-I am...not a fan of a lot of the voice acting. There are definitely some that this doesn't apply to! But yeah. I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to continue with the eng voice-over or the jp one going forth honestly.

Misc:

-If you have the dlc you can dress up the characters a bit. I'm not personally fond of the outfits offered, BUT. BUT! You can give Alear an earring and tbh that's all that matters. To me.

-My general impression is that the game is pretty straight-forward. I don't think there's room for many different interpretations of events that go on.

-S Supports happen at the end of the game. There are platonic ones and romantic ones, but both Alears can choose to s support anyone.

-It's a bit cheesy in a fun way.

Overall:

I think that if you go into the game generally knowing what to expect, it's decent. So far, I haven't encountered any glitches, so it does get a fair amount of points in this day and age for not being a broken game on release 🤪 If you really enjoy turn-based strategy games in general, it will likely hold at least some appeal. If you are looking for something that is very similar to 3h in every way, you may find yourself disappointed. People who have played older entries in the franchise may get more out of this game, but not having played pre-3h games won't hinder anything. There are some elements of Engage that just don't do it for me personally, but I am still having fun despite that, and I wouldn't consider it bad. My absolute biggest gripe is how the general style looks.

[tigirl-and-co]

20. A boss you think is really cool

Hmmm... that's an interesting one! I'm gonna answer with a few different bosses, bc 'cool' could mean a lot of different things

Cool design + concept: Blizzeta from Twilight Princess (her 2nd form also has what's probably my 2nd fave boss theme of all time)! I also like the in-story context for her boss battle so much! (spoilers for Twilight Princess) We know already that the mirror shards are a corrupting force, and earlier we see that the Goron Chief was corrupted by the Fused Shadows. But here we see, via freaky ass cutscene, a character we liked get corrupted in front of us- it's no longer a generic 'beat the bad guy' boss fight, it's a 'saving the innocent' battle with personal stakes! and the cutscene that initiates her battle? Iconic. Everyone in the fandom knew NOT. TAKE. MIRROR. I also have an attachment to her for very personal reasons haha. But yeah her design fucks hard, I wish the combat was as interesting as the rest of her schtick.

Cool (I admire them): Cynthia from pokemon gen 4 are u kidding me I wanted to be her SO BAD as a kid. She wiped the floor with me so many times. I made a sprite edit using her as a base when I was like 12 and used it for an avatar. If I can remember the name of my old forums I'll post it.

Cool as in 'has stuck with me': Honestly a lot of the OG Luigi's Mansion ghosts are cool bc they're like... just people, and it's real wild that the first boss of this nintendo game is somebody's dead mom. But Bogmire stands out for being kind of surprise creepy. I think about it a lot. What's its deal. Yeah it's the personification of the house's misery or whatever, but what does that MEAN. I was like 5 or 6, playing this game, and I go to a hidden graveyard and knock on a big cool gravestone and initiate this battle. For little me, it was the right mix of creepy but engaging. I was nervous but not terrified. I would buy a Bogmire plushie.

Cool as in 'I look forward to it when I play the game': The darknut minibosses from both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Yeah the Wind Waker one isn't that tough now that I have a big grown up brain, but it's still neat, and WW Darknuts are my literal all time favourite enemies to fight in any game ever. I never pass up the chance.

The Twilight Princess one, though? Holy shit. I replayed the game like 2 years ago, and that bitch STILL kinda freaked me out! YEAH you can cheese him with the bomb arrows if ur a little bitch, but if you do a genuine bona fide sword fight? That shit's fun as hell. There's this unnameable dread when you first enter that room. You can feel in your BONES that that suit of armor is going to come to life and whoop your ass.

Cool as in most badass/dramatic: oh yeah it's gotta be the Wind Waker final battle. Everything about it RULES. (SPOILERS) You're having a desperate sword fight for your life, a 10 year old kid who left home a month ago vs an ancient warlock who was so powerful the gods themselves had to seal him away.

He won, btw. Like Ganondorf literally wins in WW. It takes KoRL stepping in to DROWN BOTH HIMSELF AND GANONDORF to prevent Ganondorf from getting his wish. So you're trapped in a room, water pouring in on all sides, against a man who... doesn't even hate you. He's just doing what must be done. He could have killed Zelda, but he doesn't. He puts his sword away and backhands her instead of running her through. He's 100% just playing out his destiny. You aren't the one who defeated him the first time, you're just some kid who was dragged into this by a ghost.

And when you kill him BY STABBING YOUR GODDAMN SWORD INTO HIS HEAD, he laughs quietly before delivering one of the most iconic lines in Zelda history. Like that whole battle, from opening cutscene to the final, is so intense. So fucking intense. I'm convinced they couldn't have gotten away with half the shit they do if the game wasn't so cutesy. Easy Teen rating.

Cool as in Best: WW Molgera is 10/10. The fight itself is fun and satisfying! Molgera has a KICK ASS design! It's a fantastic and mood-setting opening cutscene! The sound design on the boss is freaky in all the right ways! It's a UNIQUE boss battle! She's got the greatest boss battle theme in the whole goddamn series and I'll DIE on this hill! She was so scary I cried while watching my dad play when I was little, and once I got to her battle on my own I not only remembered her, it took me two days to work up the courage to face her, and I felt like an absolute fucking badass once I did! In that moment, I fell well and truly in love with video games. I was Link, a child facing down an ancient wyrm, terrified but pressing on.

Also, in the original GCN version of the game, the hitbox on her tongue doesn't go away when she starts flying, so you can hookshot it and force her back into the sand.

Thank you for the ask, doubly so if you actually read all of this haha <333

[incorrectdnb]

Dandi is, in fact, trolling Exosphere

No quote today, just some information about something I’ve done purposefully with post scheduling.

Two characters who have appeared prominently in a lot of my quotes include Popcorn Edition’s Dandi and Exospheric Corruption’s Exosphere. And I’ve been making the former troll the latter on this blog.

If Exosphere appears in a quote, either Dandi must appear in that quote or in the one directly after it. Story-wise, he’s doing it purposefully to troll her.

This even goes back further to an AI-generated tournament I did once involving Dave and Bambi characters.

Dandi and Exosphere were assigned to go up against each other in Round 1d. To the surprise of everyone, not only did Dandi beat her quickly, he even said what would later become his most iconic, albeit not yet canon, line.

Dandi would later go on to win the whole tournament. Unfortunately, said victory was controversial, especially with the new character added by the AI. His name is Meliodas and he hates Dandi for reasons unknown.

(Also, due to the fact that I was using AIDungeon, I had to make myself a character, so I decided to make myself the referee.)

He would later challenge Dandi to a battle.

And lose. But there’s more to this character than originally meets the eye.

Turns out, Exosphere was still salty about her loss, so she challenged Dandi to a rematch. That she still lost.

But her actions were still justified.

Imagine you are the Goddess of Darkness. You are feared across the universe for your scythe and your power to “corrupt” anyone you choose at any given moment. You’re quite the formidable threat. Maybe too formidable, as your creator, ReeVrze, hasn’t given you any weaknesses whatsoever. All you have are strengths.

You are invited to a tournament in which people from around the universe fight each other for title of The Strongest Dave and Bambi Character. You go because you know you’ll win. ReeVrze made you that powerful.

You look at the brackets and see your first round is Round 1d. Your opponent: some random kid from Popcorn Edition with a pink shirt, black pants and a blue hat that he gave noclip. He thinks of himself as a Big Shot that has a very high chance of making it to the finals. You can’t wait to teach him his place in the universe.

Looking at the screen you see Gorbini from Kirby Dave and Funeralbi from Hortas Edition duking it out.

The battle doesn’t last long and ends in Gorbini’s humiliation.

It’s decided: you want to be a Funeralbi, not a Gorbini.

And then you and the kid, whose name you now know is Dandi, are called out to fight.

Good news: The battle ends with humiliation, just like Gorbini vs Funeralbi.

Bad news: It ends with your humiliation. Dandi just beat you.

No! you think to yourself. This can’t be possible. I’m the Goddess of Darkness, he’s just a mortal.

You are escorted out and can leave the stadium, but you decide to stay. You want to see Dandi lose.

Round 2b: Funeralbi vs Dandi.

Round 3a: Conbi vs. Dandi, the tournament’s only cage match.

Round 4a: The Semifinals, Dandi vs. Gimbi

You boo Dandi as he makes it to the finals. You just hope he’ll finally be knocked down there.

Dandi is scheduled to go up against Dave last. Dave made himself famous in his battle against Punkay from Stadium Edition in Round 3c by giving himself a nickname.

Dave might not be happy about the fact that he’s been avenging you, due to that one time you corrupted him a few months ago, but as long as you don’t say anything yet, he’ll be motivated to win and Dandi will finally have his ego crushed.

That’s it. That’s the straw that breaks your mind. Not only did Dandi beat you Round 1, but he won the whole tournament. What’s his secret?

You decide to take matters into your own hands.

You disguise yourself as a man named Meliodas and confront the referee who declared Dandi the winner of the whole tournament. You launch into a speech about how you’re the world’s conscience and how Dandi is a villain that must be defeated immediately.

The referee won’t listen to reason. So you decide to confront Dandi himself.

It goes poorly for you. Not only did you lose again, but your identity and true intentions have been revealed. And now the entire universe knows you’re a sore loser and an actual weakling. Not even ReeVrze can save your reputation.

It’s just as Dandi said. “You’re not even a real god, you’re just a girl in a dress.”

That line echoes through your head, driving you insane. His insults drive you insane. His voice drives you insane. His very existence drives you insane.

Your life has been ruined, all thanks to Dandi from Popcorn Edition.

It is then when she came to a realization that she knows ReeVrze would not like.

Exosphere is just a regular villain. Dandi, on the other hand, is a supervillain. The difference is all in the presentation.