#MAJOR switchup

[clamorybus]

if i had any creative control over the next mainline pokemon game, i really want our Rival™ to be the player characters' sibling

[pleasantspark]

Jeffy's 20th Birthday vs Masquerade: How one message failed and another one fixed it.

Cw // CSA, SA, ABUSE, Child Abuse

Note: I am aware that SML has in the past did tasteless shit, but in this entire video, it has handled it properly. SML is capable of handling serious topics in which Hazbin failed to do.

SuperMarioLogan is a puppet indie tv webseries where Logan Thirtyacre and a bunch of his friends record videos that were originally for adults but has somehow catered to kids.

These videos are true edgy, and inapproperiate and somewhat even NSFW. Today we'll be talking about Jeffy's Birthday. Which was uploaded 10 days after my 20th birthday.

Jeffy's 20th Birthday comprised heavily of flashbacks abour Jeffy's childhood, and compared to Masquerade was handled better than what the message was about, it didn't have the main villain act all goofy and menacing and it showed that the person being abused did not like it.

In J2B, Feebee was sexually assaulted by CJ, and we see the mental toll it took on both her and Jeffy. Jeffy was obviously traumatized due to his guilt of not protecting his sister. Even mentions of the guy flies Feebee into fear.

Fear.

In which Val lacks to put into Angel Dust, to me, Angel Dust seems like he wants the poison. I know some victims go back to their abusers, but Angel Dust only did because it was for plot reasons and a major disagreement with Husk. It seems forced and almost for the sake of people wanting HuskerDust.

Angel compared to Feebee feels no genuine fear, other than having a panic attack at the end of Poison, he for the most part spends his time listening to Val's abuse. If anything, it seems like Angel tolerates being yelled. Which is a form of abuse.

Feebee reacting negatively to being SA by CJ coupled with the fact of Jeffy bearing witness to his sister's abuse caused him to hurt CJ, what has Husk done in order to stop Val?

Nothing.

He has done nothing to stop Val, other than to babysit Angel Dust at the "consent" club, Husk is NOT suitable to be Angel Dust's partner, he's just babysitting a grown man who Made his choices and every now and then he's living like there's no tommorrow.

Angel Dust's poor characterization and sudden switchup seems forced, and unlike Feebee was "able" to stick up to his abuser, Feebee never had the chance to do so.

She died after getting hit by a truck (more precisely Woody's truck.), by the end of the video, Jeffy advenges his sister and kills CJ.

So in conclusion, Jeffy's 20th Birthday showcases actual trauma and reactions by a victim of abuse. Rather than Angel Dust, who we see is being babysat by Husk in Episode 6. It's ridiculous to think he's supposed to represent a victim of abuse when its giving me mixed signals.

[mantarobin]

Mm, that it's all for the best (of course it is)

(lots of yapping below)

So, Petro and childhood trauma. Woohoo! (episode 16 & petro character analysis)

I find his relationship with the Wisp very interesting, with how she treats him and his responses to it. There’s a lot of little details with childhood trauma and motherhood that I find very interesting. I’m mainly gonna be discussing their dynamic, then symptoms of childhood trauma and emotional abuse.

In EP16, Wisp has a lot of traits similar to a controlling or abusive parent. She blames Mark’s death on Petro, despite none of it being his fault. She states things along the lines of, “look what you made me do.” and, “I’m sorry for breaking your toy.”

The toy line really sticks out to me. It’s both dehumanizing Mark, and dismissing Petro’s grief. It’s equating Mark to a toy, and makes his sadness sound silly and overdramatic. Of course, there’s obviously the parallels of a mother breaking a toy, then brushing it off.

Generally, the Wisp has a lot of moments that feel like a mother belittling their child. One example is how she mentions disappointments- a lot. She explains how she doesn’t approve of them, doesn’t tolerate them, and projects these expectations onto Petro. She expects him to do perfect work, and when he does, all is well.

However, if he messes up, if he disobeys in the slightest, she switches up instantly. She becomes cold, begins to demean him and remind him of his place. It’s abusive, and keeps Petro constantly worried about her. He can’t afford to mess up because he can’t deal with her punishments, her threats, her switchups and anger.

It’s also worth noting she looks similar to Allay’s, which we saw in EP15, and they look fairly cute and, well, child-friendly. Even now, the Wisp doesn’t necessarily look scary at first glance. Ironically, when she was first spotted, a lot of the fandom thought she was just a little buddy or creature. Take that how you will.

Now, moving onto Petro’s responses to this. Not just in the situations where she’s mad, but how he reacts in general.

In general, he has a very brash, blunt attitude. Something interesting is that he seems to always want the upper hand on people. Now, this could just be explained as “well he’s evil of course” but I’m delving deeper. His urges to constantly want control could be explained by how helpless he feels when around the Wisp. It’s the only way he can have the illusion that he has a choice; he can manipulate people, he can make his own relationships and distractions from the cruel situation he’s stuck in.

While it’s not really the most serious scene, I do keep it in mind. Alux is joking about holding Petro’s hand while they escape, and Petro’s first response is “I’m not a child.”. Interesting to keep in mind.

Now!!! Delving into symptoms. Obligatory reminder I am not a therapist or psychiatrist so I apologize if the info is off.

For starters, childhood trauma. Common symptoms of lingering childhood trauma are: difficulty controlling emotions, impulsiveness, an increased response to stress, relationship instability, dissociation, avoidance, and heightened anger.

I’ll go over these. Not all of them apply to Petro, or have no proof that it applies, so I’ll go over the clear ones I can prove and discuss.

Impulsiveness: While Petro comes off as calculated at first, he does have quite a few moments where he does things without thinking. This is shown more when his emotions are heightened, either for good or bad. The first scenario I can think of is when he finds the scroll, and his first instinct is to just immediately climb the bookshelf instead of just… looking for a ladder.

He also demonstrates this a few more times when he’s hanging out with Mark. He does the majority of the ritual without really thinking about his own well-being, brings the stone guards to life before Mark can even process anything, and his behavior in the first few minutes of the recent episode comes off as him not thinking much. He’s put off about being ordered to kill Mark, and isn’t thinking clearly.

Oh yeah also in the very first episode when he defends Alux from the guard!

Relationship Instability: Pretty much all his relationships have some form of risk, at least in Petro’s perspective. Becoming friends with anyone is already a risk of his identity. Pretty much all the relationships he has or had are risky for his safety or hostile. I don't have as much to say about this segment, the unstable connections he makes are made very clear by the series.

Dissociation and Avoidance: I’m putting these two together because I don’t have too much to say for either, and I can link them both together. The main example is at the end of EP16, where Petro’s eyes go blank. Other than that, there’s not many examples of him dissociating. The same can apply to avoidance, the best example is the most recent episode when it comes to Mark.

Heightened anger: Petro gets annoyed quickly. It’s a pretty notable part of his character. He faces almost everyone with annoyance, anger and irritation. Almost everytime something goes wrong in the slightest, he ends up irritated and frustrated (unless it’s the wisp). I don’t really need to explain this one a lot, he… he’s a pretty angry guy yeah.

NOW!! Before getting into all this, I also want to go over signs of psychological abuse.

- Helplessness.

- Hesitation to talk openly.

- Implausible stories.

- Anger without apparent cause.

- Sudden change in behavior.

- Emotionally upset or agitated.

- Unusual behavior

- Unexplained fear.

- Denial of a situation.

- Extremely withdrawn and non-communicative or non-responsive.

​Now. Like. Most of this applies to him. Mainly in the recent episode when we see him at his most vulnerable.

Hesitation to talk openly, unexplained fear, unusual behavior, denial of a situation and helplessness are all traits that are very explicitly shown in EP16. He tries to dance around his mood change, and refuses to tell Mark anything. When Mark keeps pushing, he is incredibly hesitant and scared to talk about his life and what’s going on.

The helplessness kicks in the moment the Wisp begins messing with Petro’s head. Once that happens, he’s completely vulnerable to anything that happens. Everything that happens from that point forward is entirely out of his control. Near the end of it, he becomes unresponsive and withdrawn, as stated in the list.

The anger is like what I stated before. He’s just generally someone filled with anger, not gonna repeat myself.

Implausible stories could be seen as him just. Well. Generally being a liar. 😭

With all this said, there’s a lot of signs and symbolism of Petro and childhood trauma. I didn’t even mention that he explicitly mentions his mother dying in a fire. Considering she died when he was young, leaving him alone in an anti-magic kingdom… yeah.

I'm super curious to see how his relationship with the Wisp develops, and where his character will go. Anyways uhm yapyap yap Petro is for the trans fans with parental issues fr

I'm so sleepy thanks for reading gang

[memento-mori-twilight]

Some neat comic-based details from episode 7 of MAWS

(slight spoilers below for the episode, the 00's Justice League animated series, and for certain DC comics)

So,

When the Lois League make their episode debut, they say our Lois and our Jimmy (and by extension, our Clark) are from Earth-12.

That means it canonically firmly falls under the same DCAU universe that Batman: the Animated Series, STAS, and Batman Beyond.

And that also places it firmly into what's called "the Cartoon Rim" of the DC multiverse

Now, when Mxy's cycling Clark through the different design iterations, he calls out more Earths:

Earth-Twelve, Earth-50, Earth-508, and Weird Earth.

Now, I think the animation team switched up the showcase order a bit, and I'll show you why when I describe each Earth as we know them to be in DC Universe.

First:

• Earth-Twelve (or Earth-B): home to Adam West Batman and apparently now the 1940s Superman (who was originally from Earth-2 where, fun fact, Mxyztplk made his first comic appearance/his origin). So making that universe the home of the first mainstream appearances of DC's Golden Staples tracks.

But then,

• He calls out Earth-50 and the image of The Super Friends Superman from the old 70s-80s show appears.

I think this is actually supposed to be representative of Earth-508 Superman, since there is a comic version of the Super Friends that exists and they just used Earth-1956's Superman as an indicator for that. Which is fair, since the actual ones are copyright owned by Fisher-Price lol.

Now,

The real interesting part is that would make the Earth that the S:TAS/JLU Superman belongs to Earth-50 if the 508 switchup is true. Which seems like another mistake right?

Except

Earth-50 as it is known originated from the Justice League animated series and was established as a parallel sister world to Earth-12, going through the same events until a major event cascades to turn the Justice League into the Justice Lords, a darker and more authoritarian version of themselves.

But that event doesn't happen until years later.

(Keen eyes will notice we see this Superman reference later in the episode as well)

So, if the timelines are staying equal with Clark/Superman staying around the same age of 22-23 that he has been around the start of his appearance in Metropolis/working at the Daily Planet, then the Earth-50 Superman would still look like the normal S:TAS Superman!

So now, I bet you're asking why would they do the Earth switchup in the first place?

Well, mainly the whole scene exists for a nice timeline callback/easter egg for the animation history of Superman as a whole, and the script writers and animators probably didn't think we would catch on.

BUT

I also think, in-universe, that it is just Mxyztplk playing a little trick on curious viewers who would go lore diving and comic folks who would be paying attention.

That is, if it's all intentional.

Sorry for a super prolonged nerd rant on a pretty harmless scene.

I just happened to see it and my brain latched onto the familiar numbers and made a murder board lol.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

[emblazons]

What do you think about the way Byler has been marketed recently? Between volume 1 and 2 there was a lot of promo and Noah seemed crazy excited about it, saying things like “you should definitely ship that” which made a lot of people think something was going to happen in Volume 2 only for it to be the most (temporarily) soul crushing outcome. But now both Noah (and Finn) are playing up the whole “I don’t know maybe, maybe not” thing, with a lot of emphasis on Will’s happiness being more important than anything and I’m wondering why that’s the case. It just strikes me as weird since the era of extreme Byler hype was for the sad season and now they’ve dialed it back for s5. This isn’t byler doubt or anything since the most important thing is the story and how it’s being written and that clearly points to Byler endgame, but since these guys are trained in what to say in order to not spoil, why do you think Noah promoted Byler so hard between volumes 1 and 2 while knowing what the end of s4 was like, and what do you think is the reason for the switchup now?

Honestly? I think it’s just a result of them not having a single bit of confirmed press points for talking about S5, and wanting to hedge their bets for how they speak about it moving into the longer part of silence between seasons—especially knowing that the primary “we want to flesh this out” focus for The Duffers (and the story) right now is this play in London.

I think a lot of the promo that Noah did between volumes and immediately afterward was geared at making it clear there was something going on between Mike and Will, combined with a bit of fun. The fact that the only “proper” interview he did (aka one that was designed to be picked up by major outlets / give as many people involved in reading articles about the show as possible some common-core feedback to go off of) was that Variety interview where he clearly said “will is gay and in love with Mike” makes that clear, because even if they are “for byler,” most people will never hear what Noah, Finn or any of the cast had to say at fan-con panels, or will ever care to know they happened.

Even for dedicated fans of ST who aren’t diehard bylers though, it’s clear that (for all it matters to us here), the primary story is on pause as it’s written + being made—a fact of life that most longtime fans of any media know means there will be relative quiet, because actors don’t have any hard new information to work with. You see that clearly in the fact that right now, Noah and Finn have been promoting other things (other projects like Pinocchio + WYFSTW or personal endeavors like Tender Fix)—which most likely means any ST related comments they make will be intentionally vague / their own “headcanons” because there isn’t any new narrative to promote, or press guideline telling them what is/isn’t off limits for S5.

As much as it might seem like “a change in their enthusiasm,” it’s not anything worth writing home about—just a sign that we’re in the silent era between seasons + that the duffers (despite writing S5 & gearing up to film it) have their eyes set on fleshing out a different part of the story. It’s a pretty clear place in any fandom, if you’re used to being in them, imo—which is why I encourage people not to hold too tightly to what actors say about these things anyway, considering they (like us) are waiting for story + press guidance as the Netflix machine slowly moves back into creating/finishing ST.

Thanks for the ask! And I encourage anyone looking at Noah’s comments at today’s event for any deep and meaningful insight into S5 byler to breathe and remember he’s literally just an 18 year old kid giving you his own spoiler-free between-season headcanons, not a duffer brother or the writers room. I’ve seen people lose it over cons and honestly—especially this far out—you really have to keep perspective lmfao.

[lyrepyre]

""liveblogging"" the first 10mins of the newest tom scott :D

THIS IS A LONG POST (press J to skip post)

(liveblogging in the sense that its live but itll only be one post, i guess this is spoilers but its a tom scott video so not sure what i would spoil, i also know VERY LITTLE about the subject of the video so dont expect me to start making peer-reviewed opinions on the content, this is about the video not the telescope. GO WATCH THE VIDEO!!)

(when i mention tom scott or 'him' im probably talking about tom scott as a channel and not as a guy, a lot of work goes into these videos by multiple people)

starting off with the title. pretty normal for a modern tom scott although the asterisk is interesting, i cant remember the last time he's clarified in the title, normally when he makes a 'hyperbolic' claim he explains it within the first few seconds of the video (this is why people like to talk about how he always 'gets to the point'). i suppose you could say that him putting '(yet)' at the end of the explosion measure-rer video is similar but here it feels more like a "tom knows that this is pretty much wrong" instead of a "this is technically true and here's why". the thumbnail is also standard for modern tom scott, he's become more familiar with the modern youtube 'guy pointing at/admiring thing' format and here he does it again, with the subject of the video in the background as usual.

the first surprising part of the video for me is the length, HALF AN HOUR!!! every time tom makes a long video its normally one of his best (itll be alright on the night is my favourite and in my opinion the best tom scott video (yes i like it more than the video about the youtube sponsor video (the origin of the vape meme (its not actually a vape!)))). from the length alone i know that this is a video i'll enjoy and so i metaphorically grab popcorn etc

now the video actually starts! he starts with himself in protective gear which is standard for his videos (except from when he does the 'this isnt what i expected' preamble which:) he does! he clarifies the title (as usual with the pseudo-clickbait titles) and talks about how he prepared a script etc etc, for a long scott video this is surprising, these long videos take ages to make so if he throws out the script something is different. and then:

TITLECARD!!

a titlecard essentially screams that this video will be high-production and GOOD. seeing writing credits is especially nice, with recent videos we can see tom acknowledge that it isn't just him making these, with 'alright on the night' there was a long end credit and for years he's put credits at the end of his videos, but here it is at the start, with himself in the same typesize and on the same level as his editor and script assistant, with an awesome rotating drone shot around the telescope (i think i would prefer if it was a drone shot at sunset for continuity with the previous section, but obviously getting shots at any time of day he chooses would be infeasible)

sidenote to talk about the captions. tom gets a company to caption his videos for him (caption+ by js* the majority of the time but i wouldnt be surprised if for some videos he gets someone else to do it). the reason i brought up the captions is that for voice-over the captions are in italic, which gets annoying to read long sentences of (yes i know academic papers and whatnot but idrc!!), in other videos captions for sentences spoken directly from tom 'in scene' are normally prepended by a dash, and voiceover is given no formatting, or alternatively no formatting for voiceover and tom gets his own colour. this switchup isnt major but i think i would prefer if it wasnt in italic, as first reading the captions it made me wonder if there was some sort of special reason it was in italic except from simply being in voiceover, but it seems there isnt.

re: 'scientists love giving names to telescopes like that', seeing tom scott make jokes in his videos or at least add a bit of humour to them is always nice, sometimes i feel his videos have become a bit too corporate and i loved the old stuff where it felt more personal (please PLEASE a return of matt and tom's park bench), so hoping that more jokes/casual moments are in the video, maybe even a post-credits quip. however for subjects like this where these videos are likely to come up in professional/educational settings, i can see that it makes sense to actually keep things professional (think tom on computerphile/language files)

tom clarifying that the agencies had no editorial control is sort of a given with tom scott videos, but its nice for him to clarify. sometimes in the comments therell be some random who gets mad at tom getting paid to cover it and paint it in a good light or whatever so its good that he almost immediately clears it up.

the way tom scott shows road footage and explains how he found his way around the site/area (the latter pretty usual for an 'unscripted' video) reminds me heavily of cgp grey's video on the tekoi test range, although that video is more of a vlog, so i guess tom's video reminds me of a vlog? not sure if thats a good thing or not

the footage of him walking through the residence with pristine blue pools and deck chairs while the voiceover explicitly states that its not a hotel is very funny, although necessary because i can imagine someone with more money than sense seeing this footage and buying a plane ticket to this middle-of-nowhere site in the desert because they want to be 'with the stars'

speaking of!!: tom scott's pinned comment (as of day of release) is weirdly poetic, 'and the stars were beautiful' originally made me think that it was a quote from hitchhiker's or a poem, but a search showed that no, tom just knows how to paint stories in peoples minds (and thats amazing)

another sidenote to mention the camerawork! a lot of the subjects tom covers are set in places like urban europe or some business park in california or whatever (the switzerland ones seem to be an exception with tom going all out with the camerawork, see the shooting range, the village with no cars etc, why does tom like switzerland so much??) so when its set in a place that looks cool it really makes the video a lot more engaging and tbh more awesomer, i love the shot of the petrol station and the wide shots of the 'village'

the drone shot of the very large telescope is also great, with simple 1080p im surprised by the quality of the rocky surface, and with 4k it feels like a movie. tom then completely negates this with the most whiplash-inducing offcentre blurry zoom on the extremely large telescope, i understand he wanted to show the distance between the site and the telescope but i feel he couldve done better. he then (i think) reuses the rotating drone shot from the titlecard but i think its cool so i dont mind

also: tom is quite clearly filming the voiceover from either the uk or somewhere in europe or america, and it is painfully obvious that he was at home/in a hotel and went 'i need a nondescript place to shoot, this forest near me will do'. if i was good at geoguessing/osint/geocaching(?) i would find where this forest is but im not so the 'telescope voiceover forest' will forever be unknown :(

this video has chapters but im not going to pick up on them too much because its a long tom scott video, so of course therell be chapters. does make the video cooler though. what i will pick up on is the uv index sign, which i cant describe any more than it just 'fitting', theres this vibe around it that makes the quick succession of shots much better and i cant figure out why, maybe because its a clearly man-made thing among nature or because you have to pause and focus on what it is saying to read it, either way i like it.

..and theres the twist that explains the title. most tom scott videos with these sorts of titles will have a twist of some sort that isnt a complete lie but helps to "clarify" the truth, here it being that its actually multiple telescopes! (:O) these sorts of twists have become mainstays of toms content now so there really isnt much to say, other than that it was there i guess

moving on though we have the first interview (an actual mainstay of a tom scott video). again i cant say much about the content of the interview other than the fact that the interviewee is wearing an awesome hoodie, especially fitting for an astronomer. i can imagine him coming into work beaming that he gets to wear his space hoodie for his space job where he researches space. this man is GOALS. what i will say though is that the 8.2 metres wasn't converted to imperial, which is what tom normally does for measurements, so i'll be the saving grace and say that 8.2 metres = 968.50393701 barleycorn. thank me later. the interviewee's captions were in a different colour (yellow) which is standard, and makes it even funnier when the yellow switches to tom's white when he explains the mirror mistake.

tom making callbacks to previous videos is always nice, its something he's started quite recently, presumably with the channel slowing down, sort of a 'protagonist reflects on the adventures theyve had', it also appeals to people who have watched lots of tom scott (like myself >:])

something that happens when tom interviews a super-expert on a topic is when he rephrases something or observes something (here being the precision of the telescope) and the interviewee just sort of brushes it aside, with the interviewee affirming with what seems almost passive-agressive responses (here being the shortest 'yeah' ever). i get that tom phrases it like this for the viewers, or so that he can understand himself, but it must irk the expert when the guy interviewing you is surprised that optical telescopes have to be precise

tom's gopro skills have definitely improved over the years, but i think they may be too good now, as i can see toms finger trace the path between all of the points on the telescope. this is really cool but seeing toms finger in the corner of the screen with the narration makes it feel like an interactive cutscene in the last of us, i feel like i should have an option to pick whether to be nice or mean to tom.

i feel like ive mocked tom a bit too much so im going to instead compliment him on how good of an interviewer he is. the classic rephrase/observation that i mentioned earlier is a great way to ask questions that although he might know the answer to, the viewers might not and the content of the questions and the attention to detail is just great. whenever i have a question its less than 20 seconds later that tom makes an observation and the question is answered.

the pov at 8:36!!! again with the your choices matter rpg cutscene tom!! theres also another unconverted metric with 30cm and 60m but im not going to make the joke again (i think tom said in a q&a on the park bench that he may only convert imperial to metric and not vice versa? i looked for the clip and couldnt find it and also i wouldnt be able to include the barleycorn joke so whatever)

thats 10 minutes!! i was originally going to do the whole video but that might crash my browser and the video has less non-topic related things to pick up on. it also means that if you havent watched the video and for some weird reason you read this post you can watch the other 2/3 of it. if for some weirder reason you actually read me ramble about a tom scott video then good for you i guess?

[babainheryaga]

I don't think Chromakopia is T's new best album or anything but it kinda sucks to see people act like Tyler was just rehashing with this album. There are songs that feel like they could've been slapped onto other albums but this album is full of so much more soul then any other album. It's not some major sound switchup like cherry bomb to flower boy but it's standout, different. Like every T album

[sagescented]

From danisha.carter on TikTok

Stitched Video: What's weird to me is that when the internet gets on and gets mad at someone for saying something they don't like, and then they come back with a video being like "oh yeah, that was wrong, I'm sorry about that. Like, I get it" and the comments are always like "ohh, the switchup! the switchup!" … What did you want them to do?

Stitch: That's because the majority of people who engage in cancel culture, mob mentality, whatever we'd like to call it behavior, don't actually care about making progress, educating, or changing behavior. They care about screaming into echo chambers of people who already agree with them whilst framing their opinions and ideas as "revolutionary" and "going against the grain", despite saying most often promoted and softest opinions imaginable- and getting to enact their fantasies of being powerful by coming together to bring somebody else down.

If you create a society that does not allow or foster redemption … If you will be shunned for mistakes and cruelty that, while obviously aren't favorable, haven't caused irreversible and insurmountable damage … Then there is much less of an incentive to grow and change; if you create a society that does not allow or foster redemption … If you will be shunned for mistakes and cruelty that, while obviously aren't favorable, haven't caused irreversible and insurmountable damage … Then even the best, best, best , purest, purest, purest of you will eventually end up on the chopping block.

Remember that a lot of perspectives that are second nature to us today, weren't second nature even five years ago. And five years before that would take you to a world you wouldn't even recognize. And that world shaped and molded a lot of people's perspectives- often into flawed perspectives. Perspectives that they can be educated out of, likely, if someone tried.

While, of course, nothing I just said matters if you don't care about progress or education, etc, I'm just saying: Every few weeks there is a tremendous opportunity for a Call-In moment, where the people who tout how loving and caring and inclusive and educated and educating they are could show us that. But somehow, instead, they always end up choosing …

[bmpmp3]

NND will apparently be down for the foreseeable future so my weekly coverposting will have to focus on newer songs for a bit, but that's not bad LOL forces me to stop being such a like, vsynth oldhead with these HJKSDFJKKDfsdfds I LIKE NEW SONGS!!! I just end up finding so many covers I like with new songs that I get overwhelmed orz

SO this week I'll highlight a few covers of the 7th track off Nilfruit's NOMAN album, Wozwald (ヲズワルド)!

I haven't been up on the content warning game for these in the past but this song makes me realize i need to step it up better so CONTENT WARNING: for suicide, both ideation in the lyrics and depiction in the video.

oh and just as important, MAJOR FLASHING WARNING for the video, right at the beginning, and also around the bridge at the 3:30-ish mark to the 4:30-ish mark is pretty intense.

Wozwald!!! By Nilfruits/Niru Kajitsu (煮ル果実). One of the like, weirdest songs I've ever heard instrumentally to be this popular now that I think about it... I really adore that fucking... slow, emerging, swingset-creaking-like sound that plays throughout under all the groovy bass, it rules.

Flower's voice is also a fun choice, Nilfruits seems to use her a lot but she was also king of vocal synth originals from like, 2015-2020ish, and to be honest her popularity hasn't even waned that much. But she has this voice that's simultaneously boyish while still working well up high, and the husky engine noise is a feature not a bug in this case, so it's understandable her lasting reign. Although, while this song mostly uses her very high, that little bit at the end of the first chorus "nukedashitai" where her voice drops down is an absolutely fantastic switchup! And in a way her friction-y gravely high voice mirrors that creaking sound in the background as well.

The video's also really great, although I will warn you, I unfortunately can't keep track of music video story lore super well because I get too distracted by the music LOL so I don't totally remember the plot, something loosely inspired by like, Disney and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and like I dunno. The horrors of copyright? It's not about that, sorry, that's just my own disdain about IP laws... But it Could be About That... If You Believe............. ANYWAY I can at least get the gist from the video without getting too deep, and the animation by wooma is fantastic and so so so so SO stylish.

A SECOND CONTENT WARNING is needed for the album art for this version if ur looking to buy or stream: suicide again, specifically the last shot from the video.

If you know this song already, then you know this cover LOL at nearly 7 times the amount of views on Youtube as that original (5m to 34m... holy shit) I wouldn't be surprised if some people only know the song for this version! SO I guess I don't really Need to talk about it... but I will anyway <3

A take on Wozwald by Miyashita Yuu (宮下遊) which is another case of a cover getting big enough it gets distributed for streaming and buying, we all know it, we all love it, it's like ABSURDLY good. Miyashita Yuu gets wild on this one, altering vocalizations, adding all kinds of harmonies and other layers, switching up his tone and the mix itself, it's crazy.

There's like something to talk about every few seconds: the upward squeaks on "junkie" and "monkey", matching sound effects to the video like exhales and laughs, the high high HIGH note on "bouzuniku...", the soft nasal tone in the "pioneer" line, and we haven't even gotten to the chorus yet. The breathy rolling in the prechorus "light off..." bit with more breathing and vocalizations matching the creaking sound layered over.

AND the "nukedashitai" oooh baby, lemme tell you I ADORE the original's effect of lowering Flower's voice, but I also understand why after this cover came out a lot of coverists also changed that bit to a whisper instead. Miyashita Yuu here whispers in such a hushed, tense way that it's nearly just hints of plosives, such a wild effect.

And of course the second verse has a great part around "megasamenai..." where he uses a deeper tone with a bit more power before slipping into his higher tone again, then layering both styles together in the chorus. AND I can't forget the echoing yell of "kanshisarerya" in the background, awesome.

He matches the instrumental a lot in this cover along with playing off the video's animation, deepening his tone on the end of "...kirenaino" with the winding down of the background music, that's another fun bit.

And I PROMISE I'm almost done BUT I NEEEEEED to talk about that bridge. I said earlier people were inspired by his whisper at the end of the first chorus to use in their own covers: that wasn't the only thing he inspired. He's almost like, a tastemaker in cover-vocalization-adlibs LOL this has happened when he's covered other songs too, dude is very good at finding fun and interesting adlibs! And the way he sings the bridge is a big one: changing that vocalization after the "oide"'s and "oideyo"'s into just a straight up scream... hell yes brother. Inspired many a coverist to just start yelling, I love it. I love a good yell. You might have noticed this about me already. I am unsure how obvious it is.

Sorry for writing like a million paragraphs about this one cover. I've been sitting on this shit for five years you see. I had to finally get it OUT.

Anyway, let's talk about some other covers I really love!

Ken Kamikita, who goes by KK in his cover work, his cover is a favourite:

Honestly possibly the cover I listen to the most now that I think about it, it's addicting to me. His smooth, very "singerly" (making up that word now if it doesn't already exist LOL) and kind of, soulful? voice and singing style might seem a bit unusual for such a depressing song but that's one of the things that makes it so good for me, I love a little tasteful hint of dissonance. Some people's emotional breakdowns sound like whispering, snarling, seething, choking, etc... my emotional breakdowns have BEAUTIFUL VIBRATOS!!!! Do you understand what I mean... do you understand...

I also love the falsetto backing vocals to add more texture, so so so good, and his "nukedashitai", instead of dropping deeper like Flower or whispering like Yuu, he goes into a very soft, slightly vocal fried little tone of his normal singing, and that hits me in the same way I was talking about before: my emotional breakdowns have beautiful vibratos.

But that's not even getting to the best part of this cover. The adlibs. Holy shit.

FIRSTLY that instrumental part after the first chorus, where you hear a really emphasized bit of that creaking, groaning sound I'm so obsessed with: KK like, groans into it and loosens out into a smooth little vocalization... what the hell. It's the greatest thing I've ever heard in my life. When you first hear it, he matched the groan so well that it almost catches you off guard when he switches into the soulful little tune I love it so much.

AND THE BRIDGE, the loud, distorted high tone layer drowning out his deeper singing in the "oide" portion and then instead of Flower's vocalization or Yuu's scream, all kinds of groans and these odd, chaotic vocalizations layer up into this beautiful Mariah Carey-ass belt BY GOD HE DID IT AGAIN!!! HE DID IT AGAIN!!!! It's so good you guys, it's so good. Really adore this cover.

NOW let's talk about a couple human covers I only heard recently, but liked quite a bit!

Ue (うえ)'s cover:

I've been really enjoying this singer a lot, a lot of passion, if that makes sense? He always sounds like he's enjoying singing. This cover plays with a lot of emotive bits, vocal fries, tensing and softening his voice, lots of power here and there too. Very nice cover!

A singer named Otatsu (おたつ。) has another one I like a lot:

This is a more obscure cover in the sense that it's under 1k, but I think it's a really nice one!! Otatsu has this soft, clear tone with just the tiniest hint of nasal which I think sounds quite beautiful! He leans into a breathier, sort of husky sound in the last verse before the end too which I think adds a lot.

AND I gotta talk about a vocal synth cover made by 犬神様 featuring the UTAUloid Mine Laru:

I was not familiar with Laru until I heard this cover, it appears he is a. shark. I love furry utaus. You know, for someone who likes to play with vocal synthesizer software as a hobby, good covers are great advertisement for specific voicebanks for me LOL because of the way the producer jumped up and down the octaves like this, into those deeper tones and the higher pitches, you KNOW I immediately went to check out the voicebanks. I wanna see how many pitches are in that bad boy djkfdsjhlkfdsdgkfds

But I really love this cover, I think the switches between the different tones and appends and pitches sound so cool and interesting, and I love how they went for a really quite whisper at the end of the first chorus!! Awesome cover.

AND ONE MORE one final one. This one's a bit of a wildcard, but I love a good instrumental arrangement: this chiptune cover by mita!

I really love this person's chiptune covers of Nilfruits songs, they always sound so good. This one has a really nice, deep, full tone, and the bridge sounds great with the like, chiptune drum-y snare-y sound, awesome.

AND that is all for the night my friends, I've been ignoring my homework and writing this instead. so. well. (morphs into a marketable plushie of oswald the lucky rabbit before your very eyes and never turns back)

[sureliipan]

Incorrect Tag Quote Game :D

much love to @the-deciphered-narrator , ty for the tag!

Rules: use this quote generator & list as many quotes as you like using characters from your WIPs, then tag as many people as quotes you listed.

passing the stick to: @maudlin--queer @koldbrew and @juls-writes

continue for completely fucking accurate quality timez tm

'

yiu'n: BEHOLD, the field in which I grow my fucks! Lay thine eyes upon it, and thou shalt see that it is barren!

'

juniper: Dumbest scar stories, go! carna: I burned my tongue once drinking tea. yiu'n: I dropped a hairdryer on my leg once and burned it. ciordan: I have a piece of graphite in my leg for accidentally stabbing myself with a pencil in the first grade. sile: I was taking a cup of noodles out of the microwave and spilled it on my hand and I got a really bad burn. ingrid: ingrid: I have emotional scars.

[(fear the ai, must've obtained my characterization doc)]

'

juniper: Who the fuck added me to a fucking group chat? carna: language yiu'n: Yeah watch your fucking language ciordan: OKAY WHO TAUGHT YIU'N THE FUCK WORD? sile: 'The fuck word'. ingrid: Are you stupid? You guys use the f word all the time yiu'n: Oh my god they censored it sile: Say fuck, ingrid. yiu'n: Do it, ingrid. Say fuck.

'

ciordan: Is letting someone win at chess sapiosexual bottoming carna: Does anyone in this godforsaken group ever think before they speak

'

juniper: Lol heads up if you try to make a candle with food coloring, the food coloring will just sink to the bottom of the glass, and when the flame eventually reaches the bottom all the food coloring will catch fire and become one giant tall flame that you cannot possibly blow out and the glass will start to crack and then you'll throw your tea on it in a panic and then the extremely hot food coloring will boil and sizzle horribly and then the glass will shatter. Please take my word on this lmfao carna: What did you do op? juniper: A MISTAKE

[bugslaststraw]

Summary on how Vento Aureo could play out in a nobody dies AU, ft Bruabba, Avpol, vague La Squadra/Elite Guard as well as my horrible tired morning writing

- for starters, Bruno gives the order to try not to kill any other Passione members. This means that the gang is merciful on purpose towards La Squadra, and the other group get away with major to minor injuries. It's also worth mentioning that Gelato manages to activate his stand in time to save Sorbet, who loses his legs but also survives.

- Bruno obviously can't die halfway through VA for this to work, so Giorno gets to him just in time and heals him, keeping him alive but very tired after the fight.

- Tiziano and Squalo are spared and also probably kiss on-screen, Cioccolata and Secco miraculously and accidentally survive somehow, whatever, on with the story

- now onto the meat, staring off with where Abbacchio would have died if I wasn't such a little bitch about it. Giorno loses hope as he is trying to heal their teammate, Bruno turns away, believing it's already over, Narancia is doing about exactly what he does in canon, when Giorno gasps as he realized it worked. The sound shuts everyone else up and stops their trains of thought. Leone shifts, and starts breathing again. Narancia makes some happy exclamation, Mista praises Giorno and expresses his relief that it worked. Bruno doesn't move. Giorno notices and asks what's wrong. He's just standing there for a moment. Jaw clenched, nails digging into his palms. Giorno notices that too, that's why we see it. Then he snaps, almost shoving Giorno out of the way, he kneels down by that rock Leone dropped on, and fumbles to look for a heartbeat somewhere. It isn't particularly important. Abbacchio is breathing visibly, and no doubt is he alive. But Bruno more does it for reassurance, for comfort, as a moment ago he thought he lost him. The others just watch. Giorno may show some sign of surprise but the others saw to coming. Leone opens his eyes just a little, catches sight of Bruno, sighs, and smiles. He asks if he and the others are okay, to which Bruno smiles (rather tearfully, Giorno is shook) and tells him that everyone is fine. With Bruno's hand still resting against his cheek, Leone passes out. He's brought into the turtle to rest up.

- Leone's survival means that Bruno does not entire what I like to call the "scary stage" aka where he acts all cold and bossy towards the others about up until his death. When Narancia is injured and throws the turtle, Bruno openly shows worry for him and make sure he's okay, prompting Trish to ask why Bruno cares so much for his team instead of the opposite, as in canon.

- onto the Seccolata fight. Since Bruno is very much alive at this point the fight between him and Secco plays out very different as he also has to watch out for Green Day's mold effect while trying not to die from a serious case of human pet attack. At the end of that battle he ends up bruised, bloody and tired in the same spot as in canon. He taxes himself to his limit during the fight and has little to not energy left. Doppio has been following them and is instructed to strike Bruno down before he notices anything's wrong, as per canon.

- he doesn't gwt the change though, because a certain someone has woken up and gone to find his friends. Leone turns up, snaps ar Doppio, who is told to back off and go around the back way by Diavalo. Bruno lights up when he sees Leone, and lets himself be carefully lifted onto his feet. He asks if Leone is okay to which he replies that it's Bruno they should be worrying about. The two of them proceed to the Colosseum to meet with the others.

- meanwhile, other things have been happening there. Avdol, Polnareff and Iggy have been waiting for the others, but Doppio gets ti the Colosseum first. They ask who he is, to which he tries to lie and say he's part of the team. Things go canonically (- Bruno), Diavalo reveals himself to the three of them. Iggy is too old a dog to actually fight so he stays back. Nevertheless, there are now two stand users on Diavalo's ass. Polnareff stabs Chariot. The fight continues. And just as Diavalo think that he can at least knock off that wretched Polnareff, Avdol, well, does an Avdol, and saves his stupid ass, blasting Diavalo out into the Colosseum. Polnareff chides Avdol for risking his life for him again, but he really isn't angry and it shows. The two share a Moment™ before the effects of Requiem put everyone to sleep just as the others reach the Colosseum from at least two different directions.

- Narancia's death is completely eliminated. He's fine and does not get spiked.

- now for Requiem's switchups. Trish and Mista switch, as do Giorno and Narancia. Diavalo hides in whoever the hell he hides in canonically, Bruno ends up in Diavalo's body and Doppio takes Bruno's. Avdol and Polnareff also switch, and poor Abbacchio is unfortunate enough to switch with Iggy. Requiem also works a little differently now, a little more logically let's say. The light soul shadow thing is entirely eliminated, partly because I didn't even understand it while watching but also because it forces Bruno to sacrifice himself. Now it works like how Polnareff describes it in that flashback. Take the arrow away from Chariot Requiem and it will turn back into it's original form, removing the effects. On with the story.

- Polnareff and Avdol explain the arrow briefly. Bruno turns up, orders Mista to shoot his body, there's a brief gag with Abbacchio in Iggy's body, Iggy (in Leone's bod) as well as Avdol (who doesn't know how to handle himself in a body without legs) stay at the Colosseum to make sure Doppio doesn't cause trouble, even as he is currently passed out. The rest of them set off for Chariot.

- the end fight goes like this: Diavalo attacks as his stand, Giorno takes the arrow, everyone is put back in their own bodies, Giorno and Mista have that one Moment™, Trish and Diavalo have an intense punching match because god does the girl deserve it, Giorno stabs his stand with the arrow, Gold Experience Requiem springs forth, rips Diavalo out of his shared body and tosses him into the infinite death loop, where je unexplainably has a body, meaning that the death loop may not be taking place across dimensions but in GER's own hellish little torture loop dimension. And so the battle is won. But I'm not done yet.

- Mista picks up Doppio, now in his own body and alone in controlling it, and he, Giorno, Trish, Avdol and Iggy (both back in their own bodies!) as well as Narancia all head back for the Colosseum.

- Meanwhile, Abbacchio wakes up in his own body. He takes a moment to orientate himself. Polnareff is still out. In the middle of the Colosseum lies Bruno's body. He gets up, a little unsteadily, and runs to make sure he's okay. Bruno is conscious again, but he's now got three bullets in his body and he's in quite a bit of pain. Abbacchio does the Caesar thing where he picks Bruno up and cradles him in his lap because that's one of the best tropes in the world of tropes. They talk a little, and I'm sure I could craft some decent dialogue if I wasn't so god damn tired right now, all I know is that it's tender and basically a confirmation that they're in love. The others arrive, Leone snaps at Giorno to heal Bruno, which he does. Polnareff and Avdol have a shorter, slightly louder reunion that nevertheless gets the message across.

- Then Doppio wakes up. Then he realizes that he's alone in his body. Then he panics. Bruno's parent instincts kick in as hard as ever, and Fugo can't help but feel just a little bit exasperated as his capo starts talking tk their former enemy in a soft voice, slowly calming him down and explaining the situation to him as easily as he can. Diavalo wasn't on your side, he says, as kindly as possible, and although he doesn't know if he's telling the truth or not he thinks it's better that Doppio thinks so. Doppio calms down a little and agrees to come with them. Trish kind of takes over at that point, and she and Narancia decide to keep an extra eye on Doppio to both make sure he's okay and so he doesn't kill anyone. All of them head out of the Colosseum...

- except Leone. This is the final scene. Leone kind of stays behind, staring at the ground. Bruno stops as he notices he hasn't moved. "Abbacchio?" Leone looks at him and goes "what happens now?" Bruno smiles. "I think we all deserve some rest, don't you?" Hw reaches out a hand. Leone also smiles, and takes it, interlocking their fingers. They head after the others. The screen does the arrow freeze thing. The episode ends. The outro plays. The credits roll. It's over.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #86: Mysterious Heroine X

Before we get into America proper, Fate and Phantasms is taking a quick sightseeing tour of the Servant Universe, courtesy of Mysterious Heroine X! With this build, you’ll be able to sneak up on sabers and give them a taste of your Secret Calibur. You’ll also have plenty of technobabble gadgets that do whatever the plot demands, and your very own spaceship! Kinda. You’ll have most of your spaceship. You’ll have spaceship parts.

Check out X’s build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: A gold lancer?! Ooh, I bet it’s Qin Liangyu!

Race and Background

D&D doesn’t really have a Servant race (we’re waiting on that collab, WoTC!), but we’ve made a large majority of servants Humans, and we won’t stop now. Variant Humans get +1 Dexterity and Wisdom, Arcana proficiency to represent your technological prowess, and the Lucky feat. This feature lets you use your very literal plot armor to succeed when you really need to, or counter deadly attacks, three times per long rest by rolling another d20 and optionally using that roll when making a save, attack, or check or when another creature attacks you. 

You’re a Far Traveler, because it doesn’t get much further away than another dimension. This gives you Insight and Perception proficiencies. You can always tell when someone’s lying about being a saber. It’s mostly because they all have the same face, but still.

Ability Scores

 Put your highest score into Dexterity. You’re totally a saber, but some swords use dex! It’s fine! You also want your dex as high as possible, because a track suit isn’t armor. Second is Charisma: you can lie to paladins for extended periods without getting caught (I know she was a child, shush). Your Wisdom’s also pretty good; your gadgets have to work off something, after all. Your Constitution isn’t amazing, and neither is your Strength, but you’re not here for fair fights. Finally, dump Intelligence. Your gadgets are cool and you know how to use them, but you didn’t make them and you probably don’t really know how they work.

Class Levels

1. Ranger 1: When you become a ranger, you get proficiency in Strength and Dexterity saves, as well as Athletics, Stealth, and Investigation to help you hunt down sabers without being seen.

As a first level ranger, you would normally get Favored Enemy, but Sabers aren’t a type of humanoid, so instead you get Favored Foe. When you hit a creature with an attack, you can mark the creature for up to a minute, concentration permitting. Once per turn (including the turn you mark it), you can deal an extra 1d4 damage to that creature. You can make a number of marks per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus. That’s not a lot of damage right now, but it gets better as we go.

You’d also normally get Natural Explorer, but Space isn’t an option for that either. Instead, you are a Deft Explorer, which at level 1 makes you Canny. This gives you extra languages, plus expertise in Stealth. You’re a master assas-Saber, after all.

Lastly in our list of switchups, most Excaliburs are great-swords, but your lightsaber is a pretty light saber, so we’re instead calling it a Scimitar. Don’t worry, we’ll make it a little stronger later.

2. Ranger 2: At second level, you gain a Fighting Style. The Dueling style adds 2 to single-handed melee damage, to help make up for your smaller sword. You also learn to cast Spells this level, using your Wisdom as the spellcasting modifier. Since we have Hunter’s Mark covered with Favored Foe, we’re instead going to learn Alarm and Snare to better protect the area around our ship. They create an alarm and snare respectively- sometimes it’s nice to have a spell that just does what it says it will.

3. Ranger 3: Normally at level three you’d get Primeval Awareness, and since you don’t talk to animals that’s exactly what you’re getting here. You can spend a spell slot to sense aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead within 1 mile of you, though their number and location aren’t given. The effect lasts for one minute per spell level used. Those lancer sabers aren’t particularly hard to find, but a little extra help never hurt.

Third level rangers also pick a conclave. You’re dedicated to protecting the multiverse from the massive influx of Saberfaces, making you a pretty clear-cut Horizon Walker. You can use your Portal Detector to Detect Portals within a mile of you as an action once per short rest. You’re also a Planar Warrior, letting you spend your bonus action to make your Secret Calibur a higher caliber, turning all its damage into Force Damage for one attack, and dealing an extra 1d8 damage as well. If you wanted to justify what you spent on a new set of dice, this is the build for you: literally the only die you’re not using each turn now is your d12.

You also get another spell this level, and the extended spell list for Horizon Walkers gives you access to Protection from Evil and Good. For up to 10 minutes with concentration, one creature you touch is protected from aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. This imposes disadvantage against those creatures if they try to attack them, they can’t be charmed, frightened, or possessed by them, and they have advantage on saves if they’re already under one of those effects. Most sabers either are or get their power from one of those types of creature, so this should be pretty helpful.

4. Ranger 4: Your track suit is leather armor at best, so use this Ability Score Improvement to strengthen your Dexterity. This improves you AC, sword accuracy and damage, and makes you sneakier too.

5. Ranger 5: Fifth level Horizon Walkers get an Extra Attack, letting you make two attacks per action. It should be noted that Planar Warrior and Favored Foe only work once per turn, but more damage is still more damage.

You also get another care package from the Servant Universe; this one contains your Object Locater, which lets you Locate Objects. As long as the object is within 1,000′ of you and isn’t blocked by lead, you’ll know exactly where it is and where it’s going for up to 10 minutes. If you’ve been close to it before, you can locate specific objects like, say, Excalibur, or you can locate an kind of object, like clothing, a kind of weapon (saber) or tool.

6. Rogue 1: This isn’t really an “above board” move to make, but you’re not one for traditional tactics. That probably why you’re an Assas- Totally a saber. Yup. Anyway, with this level you get one rogue skill -Acrobatics- proficiency, as well as Expertise in two skills. This doubles you proficiency in Acrobatics and Perception. You can make a Sneak Attack, dealing extra damage against creatures when you’re using a finesse weapon (you should be) and you either have advantage against your target or there’s another enemy of the target within 5′ of them. You can also use Thieves’ Cant to communicate with other rogues without being found out.

7. Ranger 6: We’ll get more rogue in a bit, but back in Ranger, your Favored Foe increases to 1d6, and you’re now a Roving Explorer. This gives you an extra 5′ of movement, and you gain a climbing and swimming speed equal to your walking speed.

8. Ranger 7: Since you’re not really from this plane, it can be a bit tricky to stay on it for long. You can weaponize this with your Ethereal Step, letting you cast Etherealness for free and as a bonus action once per short rest. The drawback is it only lasts until the end of your turn, but until then you can move in any direction (at half speed), you’re invisible to creatures who can’t sense the ethereal plane, and can move through objects that aren’t on the ethereal plane. Think of it as a short-range teleporter.

If you want to be even sneakier, turn on your cloaking device to Pass Without Trace, giving you and creatures near you +10 to stealth checks and the inability to be tracked through normal means for up to an hour.

9. Ranger 8: Moving at half speed in the ethereal plane is a bummer. If only there was some way to be even faster. Wait, there is! use this ASI to become Mobile, adding 10′ to your movement and allowing you to slip away from enemies you’ve attacked this turn. 

You also get Land’s Stride, so you can ignore most difficult terrain, as well as damage caused by nonmagical plants. You also have advantage on saves caused by magical plants.

10. Ranger 9: I don’t think we’re fast enough yet. Let’s get even faster. As a ninth level ranger you get third level spells, like Haste, which doubles your movement speed, gives you an extra action each turn, adds 2 to your AC, and gives you advantage on dexterity saves. This lasts up to a minute, at which point you’ll have to take a break for a turn. Fun fact: Etherealness is not a concentration spell, so you can speed up and blast through the ethereal plane no problem.

11. Rogue 2: Back in rogue, you learn to make Cunning Actions, letting you Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a bonus action. We didn’t make you Canny in stealth for nothing, use it from time to time.

12. Rogue 3: As much as you like to deny it, you are an Assassin class servant, meaning you Assassinate people. You have advantage on attacks against creatures who haven’t taken a turn yet, and all your attacks that hit automatically deal critical damage on surprised creatures. You also get proficiency in the Disguise and Poisoner’s Kits. That track suit is barely a disguise, and it’s definitely not magical.

Also, your sneak attack increases to 2d6.

13. Ranger 10: Tenth level rangers are Tireless, letting you spend an action to gain 1d8+ your wisdom modifier temporary HP, a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency modifier. Also, your exhaustion now decreases on short rests as well as long rests. I’m sure this makes anyone who wants to multiclass Berserker/Ranger very happy.

Again, you would normally get Hide in Plain Sight, but instead you get Nature’s Veil. Proficiency bonus times per long rest, you can use a bonus action to turn invisible until the start of your next turn. Unlike normal invisibility, this persists even if you attack someone, so have fun with that.

14. Ranger 11: Eleventh level Horizon Walkers see their Planar Warrior feature grow even stronger, adding 2d8 force damage to an attack. You can also make Distant Strikes now, teleporting 10 feet before each attack you make. If you make your two attacks against different targets, you can even make a third attack against a third target!

With this level’s spell, you can call down some fire support from your ship with Conjure Barrage. You’ll have to keep something to throw on hand, but it will deal 3d8 damage in a 60′ cone, or half on a successful dexterity save (DC 8+proficiency+wisdom modifier).

15. Ranger 12: Use this ASI to improve your Wisdom for stronger air support and better tracking.

16. Ranger 13: Thirteenth level rangers get fourth level spells. Freedom of Movement will help you break out of any restraints you may find yourself in. Sabers aren’t typically one to take prisoners, but perhaps some misguided locals get between you and your mark.

17. Ranger 14: At fourteenth level, your Favored Foe is now as strong as it’s ever going to be, dealing 1d8 damage per turn. You can also Vanish as a bonus action on your turn. This also prevents you from being tracked by nonmagical means unless you want to be followed.

18. Ranger 15: Your plot armor has upgraded from dumb luck to a Spectral Defense, spending your reaction to gain resistance to an attack. You also learn Banishment, letting you kick any errant Sabers back to the servant dimension. Killing them would be preferable, but there are days where you just don’t have the time.

19. Ranger 16: Use your final ASI to max out your Dexterity for more AC, more stabbing, and better stealth.

20. Ranger 17: Your capstone level of ranger nets you the ability to cast 5th level spells like Teleportation Circle. This allows you to instantly travel to any existing spaceport (circle) on the same plane as you that you know the combination to, and even make your own after a year of casting. You also start with the runes needed to travel to two circles chosen by your DM. It’s a shame this doesn’t work between planes, but if your DM wants you planehopping by level 20 it’s going to happen anyway.

Pros: 

You’re so fast you clip through walls. With 45′ base speed, the ability to double dash on command, and access to haste, you’re able to get where you need to go when you need to be there. Toss in your etherealness and distant strikes, and you’ll find yourself saving a lot of time. Or you’ll find out all the buildings you enter were mysteriously built on the ethereal plane too. It’s depends on how hard your DM railroads.

You’re also very stealthy, with the ability to turn invisible before you strike and your absurd stealth bonuses you’re going to be hard to find, at least until your sword is already in their neck.

Your sword may not be magical, but you can turn it into Force Damage for an attack each turn. Combine that with your sneak attack and favored foe, and you can still deal plenty of damage, even to tough creatures. Like sabers! 

Cons:

Despite being from another plane of existence, this build doesn’t have any planar travel, bar Banishment-ing yourself back home. This isn’t really a weakness, per se: if your DM needs you to be in a different plane they’ll typically help you out. It’s just really frustrating for me specifically.

Your weapon buffs all only last for one attack, making your multi-attack somewhat awkward. On top of that, your Planar Warrior requires you to call your attack ahead of time, so you can’t just wait for a critical hit and dump all your features into it like paladins can.

A lot of your spells require Concentration, and that means not only do you have to pick and choose your spells carefully, but you can easily waste a slot because your constitution isn’t that great.

[theseerasures]

Conspicuous Media Consumption, 2020

it’s that time of year again! *saddest toot from the party horn*

for those of you just joining us: it’s a “consume a different content every week for 48 weeks of the year” challenge. for a longer explanation, check out last year’s write-up here, and as always, feel free to pop in and ask questions about any and all of this content.

(same disclaimer as last year too: content for this project ONLY here, and not certain...*looks at my billion Sad Cop Lady posts*...hyperfixations.)

(man remember when i was big into X-Men comics earlier this year? better times than these, if only because no one's discoursing about Emma Frost’s woobie/war criminal ratio anymore--her w/w, if you will)

(...i swear at one point i didn’t exclusively like platinum blondes but alas)

Bitter Root (comic, 1 issue finished 1/1/2020): still very cool on a basic concept level, but runs into the Image Comics problem of just not having enough content to keep my interest beyond that. part of that is on me, for picking it up again BEFORE the second arc rolled out, but the first five issues didn’t really follow (or resolve) any cohesive story either, so...meh.

Immortal Hulk (comic, 3 trades finished 1/17/2020): still not gonna be something i care deeply about (maybe one of Bruce’s Hulksonas dyed his hair???), but i do want to give kudos to Al Ewing for sheer consistency in terms of sustaining this level of quality storytelling month by month for more than two years now. working with the dense archive of the Hulk mythos and managing to make it interesting and thoughtful is impressive even if i personally would not expend the same effort.

Disco Elysium (game, finished 1/18/2020): honestly i should have twigged onto what this year was gonna be like when the third thing i drew from the barrel was pure uncut Eastern European flavored depression. i faintly recall people ragging on it for being pretentiously cynical, but i actually thought its core slid more towards idealism than people give it credit for. also gratified that i haven’t heard anything about Robert Kurvitz using slave labor to finish it, which is a thing we have to say about our video games now!!! fun.

Watchmen (TV, 7 episodes finished 1/27/2020): i am a fool who wants to believe in Damon Lindelof and I WAS RIGHT!!! honestly still cannot believe that he pulled off this highwire act with such deft aplomb. might be my favorite TV this year, which is a pretty high bar given how much TV i ended up watching.

On a Sunbeam (comic, finished 2/1/2020): Tillie Walden rightly deserves all the praise for inventive queer storytelling, but i will say that on reread--since i first read this as a webcomic--there ARE some issues with pacing here that clearly come from the foibles of its original intended medium. still just excellent, even if after some plot significant haircuts i was having trouble telling a few folks apart.

Lazarus (comic, 1 trade finished 2/8/2020): it’s so good and i want moooooorrrreee--though obviously Rucka and Lark have the right to take all the time they need. the newer longer issues work really well with the epic prestige drama vibes of the story! i’m into it.

The Good Place (TV, 4 seasons finished 2/18/2020): i’m gonna be super honest: i actually wasn’t a big fan of the finale, nor the last season as a whole. it felt like all of Eleanor’s flaws vanished for a majority of the season, and the Chidi-centric episode where they tried to give a legible justification for why he’s Like This was...i didn’t care for it. still, it’s so good and unique on the WHOLE that we’ll literally never get anything like this ever again, and that counts for a lot.

The Old Republic (game, finished 2/21/2020): it’s an MMO so it will never actually Be Finished so long as the servers aren’t shut down, but i caught up on the content i’d missed in the intervening months. Onslaught thus far has mostly been...kinda bland tbh; going back to Imps vs. Rebs after all the shakeups in the previous expansions feels like a waste.

High Road (album, finished 2/22/2020): someone should tell Kesha not to say that word!! otherwise i was very happy with this album, and happy FOR her even though we don’t know each other. being able to find joy again in the same genre of music you made while you were being horrifically exploited is very cool.

Young Justice (TV, 13 episodes finished 2/28/2020): given how much the middle stuff dragged--STOP KILLING YOUR HIJABI CHARACTER IN HORRIFIC WAYS--i was...actually kinda mad by how the end managed to stick the landing anyway. the day being saved by Vic’s self-acceptance and Violet’s sublime compassion was A+, and even the Brion/Tara switchup was a pleasant surprise, though it relied on me caring about Brion MUCH MORE than i actually did.

Manic (album, finished 2/29/2020): do people still care for/about Halsey? i feel like even That One Song that was on every tumblr gifset ever has kinda faded into obscurity at this point. this album was...okay. i feel like people give Halsey a pass for extremely obvious lyrical turns that they wouldn’t for other folks because of her subject material--which is fine. not really my cup of tea, but i also listened to lots of Relient K this year, so that’s probably a good thing.

Jade Empire (game, 3/10/2020): the only 3D-era Bioware game that didn’t franchise out, and for good fucking reason!!! the Orientalism and appropriation really haven’t aged well, and even beyond that the story was...standard Bioware faire. even my usual “my wife’s a bitch i love her” Bioware type didn’t do it for me, and i just ended up romancing no one. it did make me think a lot about what level of cultural borrowing is accepted nowadays, and why: people still look fondly at Avatar and talk about how ~accurate and respectful it was, for example, despite it being staffed almost entirely by white folks, and the Orientalism ALL OVER the monk class in DND is still fine for some reason.

Alif the Unseen (book, finished 3/31/2020): interesting to have read this AFTER reading The Bird King last year, because it highlights how the intervening years have shifted G. Willow Wilson’s thematic interest and improved her craft. i’m actually quite fond of how her characterization work is rougher here--Alif is extremely flawed to the point of being insufferable, but it makes his development by the end more satisfying. Dina is also just good and i love her

Baldur’s Gate (2 games, finished 5/31/2020): well, having finally finished the series i’m happy to say that it...still doesn’t really do it for me, sorry. any awesome story moments were overshadowed by the EXCRUCIATING inventory management system and the combat (i still don’t know what a THAC0 is and at this point i’m afraid to find out). these games crucially lack the Home Base that later Bioware games were so good about, and that (coupled with the huge cast of characters you can drop off and never see again) really hurts the intimacy for me. by the time we finally did get one it was the Hell Dimension in Throne of Bhaal, and i was just...trying to get through it. (yes, i did just say that about one of the most beloved expansions ever to one of the most beloved games ever.) THIS particular iteration of “my wife’s a bitch i love her” was very good, but the game wouldn’t let me romance her :(

The Underground Railroad (book, finished 6/19/2020): honestly what is there even left to say at this point! it was exactly as good as every critic on the planet said it was, even with my usual aversion to hype. draining and horrifying in turns but still insistent upon a future for Black folks.

Steven Universe (6 seasons and a mooooooviiieeee, finished 7/11/2020): yes, i DID finish the show and almost immediately begin a rewatch. this series is now one of my top five most formative things, and the amount of love and respect i have for it is incalculable. that said: i once again did not love how the central conflict of Future was resolved (just the resolution--i loved the finale just fine). for all of Steven’s breakdown was built up, resolving it with “EVERYONE HUG HIM UNTIL HE CRIES” felt...cheap, especially since up until this point the show had been so good about treating trauma and mental illness with the respect and nuance it deserves. it made me wish some of the earlier, less substantial episodes had been cut so we could spend more time at the end.

What It Is (comic, finished 8/19/2020): y’all i love Lynda Barry SO MUCH. for the longest time i was worried that One Hundred Demons was more a lightning in a bottle situation but every book of hers i pick up makes me feel obscure emotions i didn’t even realize existed. the compassionate way she’s able to describe her child self and how weird and fucked up she was (and still is) is honestly aspirational.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (TV, 5 seasons finished 9/26/2020): so here’s a reversal of what i’ve been complaining about with other shows: i was mostly lukewarm-to-warm about She-Ra, but the later seasons and the finale made me much more into it as a whole. more shows should improve in stakes and overall quality as they age tbh!! i still don’t actively love Catradora (my sole quibble with season 5 actually has to do with the way Adora kept backsliding as a character to make certain Plot/Relationship things happen), but i’m very happy for them nonetheless. i can certainly appreciate a show that will go for High Feeling over tight plot. dark horse standout moments: trees growing everywhere proving that Perfuma Was Right, and Hordak and Adora seeing each other--that weirdly intimate moment of recognition.

Fetch the Bolt Cutters (album, finished 10/7/2020): again i find myself not having much to say that no one else has said. it’s good! once again love it when an artist reclaims something they’d attached with negative affect (anxiety, depression, disordered eating) for better and brighter things.

Solutions and Other Problems (comic, finished 10/25/2020): i was very into Allie Brosh’s ambition with this book, which feels weird to say but i stand by it. it’s cool to see an artist try to make a new medium work for them instead of just sticking to what already works. not all the experimentation was 100% effective, but it was still delightful and occasionally devastating to read, so.

Legend of Zelda (3 games: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Link Between Worlds, finished 11/1/2020): this was the third time i’d played Ocarina of Time, which made it the nice, comforting groove i settled into before Majora’s Mask blatted me in the face. i’m not usually a completionist Zelda person because...the gameplay in Zelda is bad, do not at me it just is, but i really felt like i HAD to be one for Majora’s Mask since the whole point is to get attached to the banalities of the town. i’m sure nobody’s surprised that i loved it, even if it gave me an existential crisis about how life goes on in the game for NPCs when you’re not there to save them from it, and there’s not enough time to save them all all the time (also not a surprise to anyone: Romani and Cremia gave Personal Feelings). Link Between Worlds...bad. not like in a “this is a bad story by every measurable gauge” way, but i was already struggling with the 2D playstyle shift enough that for the whole story to end with some “yes it’s v sad that Lorule is Like This but trying to steal Hyrule’s privilege is Even Worse Actually” noblesse oblige bullshit left a VERY poor taste in my mouth, this year of all years. i did audibly gasp when Ravio took off his mask, though. i’m currently playing Breath of the Wild in cautious increments; it’s the first time i’ve enjoyed early Zelda gameplay, but if they wanted fully voiced cutscenes i wish they got voice actors who...knew what words sound like.

folklore (album, finished 11/6/2020): my belief that Taylor Swift is Just Fine continues, i’m afraid. i LIKED this album, don’t get me wrong, and respect her constant drive to innovate, but i didn’t love it substantially more or less than any other Taylor Swift album. mostly i’m just tickled by how she thinks leaning into the indie aesthetic means borrowing Vita Sackville-West’s entire wardrobe, though i will admit to feeling Something when she swore in a song. i think it was like. savage vindication?? you go ahead and swear, Taylor Swift. you deserve it.

Shore (album, finished 11/19/2020): do people still care about the Fleet Foxes? i think there was some Drama with Josh Tillman a while back but i don’t remember where the discourse landed with who was being more problematic. it was nostalgic for me to listen to their new album--made me remember being an undergrad who exclusively listened to men who mumbled and played acoustic guitar all over again.

Star Wars (3 movies: original trilogy, finished 11/27/2020): there is So Much bad Star Wars these days that every time i rewatch the original trilogy i’m afraid that they will suddenly be bad, but guess what! they’re not. i love these children and their hot mess stories, i love that Lando doesn’t know how to say his best friend’s name. what stood out to me this time was the way Obi-Wan described the Force in A New Hope, which strongly implied that ANYONE can be Force Sensitive; that obviously faded with each subsequent movie, but part of me does wish they’d kept it.

X of Swords (comics, 22 issues finished 12/5/2020): i am enjoying Hickman’s X-lines!!! not so much here for the Grand Conspiracy or whatever, but the character work and highkey weirdness is fabulous--they FEEL like X-Men, despite all the shakeups in-universe. this crossover is a nice microcosm of all that: grandiloquently all over the place, but still full of cool standout moments and genuine hilarity. ILLYANA DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SPELL MAGIC.

Fire Emblem (4 games: Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, finished 12/14/2020): this was the thing that i was closest to giving up early on, but i ended up hyperfixating on it instead. that’s a credit to what the gameplay does to my lizard brain more than anything else, because the story and character writing is...insipid. it was very bizarre to witness this franchise blunder around with its animal-people racism allegory around the same time i was getting back into RWBY, and ITS animal-people racism allegory blunders. Awakening was the first time i felt anything for the franchise beyond “teehee red units disappear make exp bar go up and brain go ding,” so i’m excited for more mature storytelling in subsequent games (they MUST get better. they MUST). the child husbandry thing is...very bad tho, and Apotheosis being “challenging” entirely through the game changing all the rules is also bad.

once again no vidya games that came out this year--i’ll probably pick up Spiritfarer or Hades after the New Year, though (or maybe TLOU II! but probably not. sry Laura and Ashley). more TV and franchises this year, which made me feel In Touch with the Children but was also kinda exhausting. nothing was so egregiously terrible i dropped it without finishing! in a year like this that feels almost like an accomplishment

[listless-brainrot]

You've already stated that you're one of the only fans who like Jet, so what's you're opinion on Jetara? It seems like most of the hate directed towards is because people act like Jet was just using her even though the evidence seems to point otherwise (The way he looked at her when she asked to see the tree house, He never attacked her in Jet, When he was snapping out of his hypnosis in Lake Logai, it was memories of her -which was probably bc they didn't want to animate new scenes but shh)

so to be entirely honest, i have a strained relationship with the idea of jetara, and here's why

i feel like a large majority of bad characterization and backlash comes from the idea that, as you said, jet was just using katara and manipulated her romantic feelings, when he absolutely was not in the slightest. he lied to her, yes, but he didn’t use the obvious crush she had on him to his advantage or anything, so technically, he didn’t actively manipulate her outside of lying to her. there’s a large majority of the fandom that’s very protective of katara in this regard, and an even bigger majority, at least from what i’ve seen, that actively attacks and demonizes jet because his presence threatens other ships, which isn’t cool.

however, i understand where it comes from- it’s extremely implied that katara at least had a crush on the guy, with multiple characters alluding to said crush. on the flip side, though, we don’t really see anyone teasing jet or jet himself showing any active interest in her. it’s one of my small problems with s1 katara- any implied tension was always between her and another male character, and was appearing to set up “interests” for “competition” later down the line.  the issue with this, though, is that any of these interests show little or no feelings for her likewise. haru, as i’ve stated before, has had zero romantic implications with katara, and we don’t see him enough in any other canon material to confirm otherwise. we also don’t really see many romantic implications with jet, though i do think he at least cared about her.

the issue is also that, for both of these characters, the main thing they bonded with and had in common was shared trauma- katara never really got to know them past that. jet opens up to katara about his parents dying, as well as the trauma he and his other freedom fighters experienced that drove them to this point, and katara opens up about her mom. now, this makes it seem like i’m implying katara’s presence didn’t affect jet in the slightest- because it definitely had some impact. but i do think that, due to the nature of the episode, the message it was unintentionally pushing was “don’t let the stars in your eyes distract you from the reality that he’s a horrible person”. again, he’s not, but... you know.

what i’m basically saying though is i’m not entirely against the idea of it, the concept of it in canon really puts a stranglehold on jet’s character. some people just can’t look past the “bad boy crush” aspect of his episode, which is so unfortunate, because he’s a hell of a lot more than that. in my personal opinion, i would’ve not had the implied tension, but still have them blinded by the “cool” aspects of his personality. it makes sense, seeing as they’ve trusted others in the past without a hitch, so a switchup, of course, would be only natural. would i agree with the message that armed resistance and extremism is bad? nope. not at all. but at least without this one particular aspect we’d see him more for who he actually is.

another issue i have is that katara has left him frozen to a tree and also immediately tried to kill him in ba sing se which is extremely uncool and also when he did die she said “this isn’t good” not “i cant do anything” which. the implications of that aren’t cool at all!

[alex-guerin]

Beta NEEDED

*cries pathetically* Would anyone be able and willing to beta my Good Omens Big Bang fic?? I had two people say they’d do it for me, and then, they got like two paragraphs in and stopped and have gone MIA and the fic is nearly finished now and I have no one to beta read it! 

I am looking for a beta willing to go over a fic that will ultimately be between 45 and 50K. The vast majority of it is SFW, up until the end where smut has inexplicably appeared out of nowhere. It doesn't have chapters at the moment, more like scenes broken off into sections, but I will be lumping them together to create chapters. It is a slow burn fic, spanning 6000+ years, starting in Heaven Pre-Fall and ending a day or so after the Armageddnope. Fic consists of missing scenes and expanding on scenes in the show. I need someone who will catch any switchups in tenses (I have been known to flip flop past and present tenses without realizing it), check the flow of things and make sure it doesn't feel too choppy, along with the general grammar and such. Not sure why I'm having such a hard time getting a beta who is able to stick with it, but I'll keep on searching...

[mobgoblin]

ended up sitting next to this group of guys that smoked the whole way through ghost in the shell tonight