#Pizza Tower Heritage Post

[pizza-tower-heritage-posts]

Welcome to Pizza Tower Heritage Posts!

Rules for submission:

All posts must be related to pizza tower (duh)

No explicit/NSFW (Suggestive content is allowed to an extent)

Must have a minimum of 1k notes (subject to change)

Please be respectful and kind :]

Mod uses they/she pronouns

Important tags below ⬇️⬇️⬇️

[pizza-tower-heritage-posts]

Pizza Tower Heritage Post

has this been done yet

[moxpunk]

Moxie's Big-Ass Retrospective on Games She Played This Year

There's going to be a lot of games under the break, and I'm going full-hog on spoilers. Honestly, I'm going stream-of-consciousness with these, so there's not going to be a clear point made for some of them. Just how I remember them and how I feel now looking back.

Final Fantasy XIV This is my current MMO of choice, and it's been this massive part of how I spent my time this year. The patches and content continue to be great, even if I breeze through it all in a few days after the patch when plugins/mods are back up. I've definitely noticed a dip in my interest lately. I think it's because we've hit a good stopping-point for the plot and junk, so most of us are just waiting until the pre-patch of the new expansion next year. RP continues to get fucking worse and worse for someone that plays a lalafell, since the community at-large (especially the modding community) is actively hostile towards lalafells and their players. Having to check every single venue to see if my middle-aged potato is going to be treated like a child by the hosts gets exhausting after the umpteenth time. Still love the game and I poke at it on a regular basis.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom One of my favorite games I've played this year, but also one of the most frustrating in hindsight. There was a ton of lost opportunity in multiple aspects in this game, and it's sorta the thing I keep coming back to in my head. I loved the exploration and fucking around with physics and just getting to play around in Hyrule. It's a magical experience that I think transcends the fact that 2/3rds of the map is essentially re-used. The Underground was a missed opportunity to shove lore of ancient civilizations in there, Ganondorf was a missed opportunity to finally depict him as a tragic hero with Hyrule being the villains for once, and no plans for DLC or even a Hero Mode is a massive miss for me wanting to return to the world.

Baldur's Gate 3 Hands-down my favorite game of the year by a massive margin, but like TOTK, an immensely frustrating experience. The game is half-cooked in so many areas, and the bugs are plentiful to the extent that they can't really be ignored. The pathing system continues to be the Larian Special of being jank as all hell, with my characters running in the opposite direction of the path it lays out for them. I played this one on stream, and I cannot remember a single stream where I didn't have at least a handful of frustrations with the combat system. Hell, I had to completely restart my file in the middle of Act 2 because Karlach's romance bugged out. I continue to be very upset and frustrated at how goblins are treated, doubly so since in order to pursue the Good Route with Halsin, you have to attack fucking children. I don't care if they're goblins, they're kids. Also very disappointing we don't get a single short-race origin character, meanwhile half of the cast is some form of elf. At least it's nice letting me be full-on cock-out trans. Despite that, the writing and characterizations in this game are unparalleled. It's immensely refreshing to finally have a RPG where you fucking roleplay, after years of it being dialogue that doesn't matter in the slightest other than "points towards the good/evil ending". I love the Brain Slug Squad immensely. This game is probably going to become part of my "play this every year" list because there's just so many different ways to play through this game.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Been waiting for this game (or a game like it) for fuckin' years, and it's everything I wanted and expected. I know a lot of people went into the game expecting some massive thing that lasted hours and hours, but my memories of JSR/JSRF was a game that I could reasonably beat in an afternoon or two because I just get into the flow and know what I'm doing. Cyberfunk is the purest successor to JSF that I can thing of where it just adds to the fun formula of the past. Incredible game, love seeing the mods coming out for it, hope we get another game in the universe since Team Reptile said they aren't doing DLC.

Pizza Tower Love this game, adore the movement and the music, absolutely fell off at about the halfway mark. I think it's because a lot of stuff was coming out at the time, and I just kinda played those instead. One of these days, I'll beat it and be very satisfied, but for now my gremlin-brain that demands collecting every single collectable and getting at least an A-rank on every stage gets exhausted just thinking about it.

Elden Ring Opened the game up after upgrading to a new PC, marveled that I could run it on Ultra with the game keeping a smooth framerate, killed a few enemies, remembered about the fucking giant ants in this game and how there are zero mods to remove/change them, and then turned the game off and uninstalled. Begging someone to make a mod that gets rid of the fucking ants. Please. I've already gotten every trophy in the game last year, so any incentive I have to return is predicated on that.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty So, I'm going to give my thoughts about the base game and the DLC, since I played both. The base game continues to be this utter fascination to me where my brain adores just existing in the cyberhell future of nonstop advertising (if I have to hear YO YO YO MY CHEWERS SHROOMERS AND FUMERS! one more time I'm going to fucking strangle someone to death) and ultraviolence. The game continues to ride that weird line of "might as well do every side-quest because they're quick enough to get to and there's hardly any compared to Witcher 3" and "oh my god I do not care about these fucking sidequests other than I have gremlin-brain". Doing anything with sniper rifles or heavy machine guns is an exercise in frustration thanks to there being zero silenced sniper rifle until late-game and there being no unique HMGs.The DLC is... fine. It's fun antagonizing Idris Alba, it's not fun that the DLC is based around a stealth build, it's extremely not fun that the changed ending is deeply unsatisfying from a narrative standpoint.

Pseudoregalia An adorable little game that I enjoyed quite a bit for the very short time I got to fool around with it. Love the movement, love the style of the graphics, love the little pieces of story. Game doesn't get enough love, so here's me giving it some more.

Potionomics I fucking adore this game. I think what helped endear me was getting to do all the voices on-stream, but who cares this is my retrospective and I get to be biased. Loved the romances and characters in there. I absolutely headcanon Xid as being trans, Roxanne turns me into a babbling idiot, and I relate to Luna so hard it almost hurts. I enjoy that characters remain your friend if you already picked a partner, and you have to have a conversation about "hey, you were kinda flirty for a while and I feel a little weird about that now" for each of them. Breaking the economy by the third competition was immensely satisfying.

Paradise Killer I slammed through this game over the course of a single sleepless night thanks to Super Depression. Love the character designs and how bold they are, love the lore behind the world, got kinda sick of it taking so long to travel from place to place, gremlin-brain refused to let me part with the game until I collected everything. Hope to see a prequel/sequel of some sort, because Lady Love Dies is such an interesting character and I liked the bugfuck-weird world.

Peglin It's Peggle, you're a goblin, you get funky ball powerups, adore playing this game on my phone in short bursts. Not much more to say, it's my potato-chip game.

Rimworld Friend gifted this to me and I got horribly obsessed for like a week. It's a lot easier to grok than Dwarf Fortress thanks to the UI and information being easier to comprehend. I never know how to do the crazy shit in these games, I usually peak at having a little self-sustaining settlement with like 4 characters that live their little lives until a plague or bandit raid sweep through and kill everyone.

Halo: Master Chief Collection Another series of games I got obsessed with and pounded out before dropping it. Halo 1 is like twice as long as I remember, Halo 2's remastered cutscenes are fucking gorgeous and it continues to be my favorite out of the series, Halo 3 I'm lukewarm on it's whatever, Halo Reach is... eh I don't care, ODST I petered out of thanks to playing it with an ex that does not understand videogames, Halo 4 is a slog. Didn't do any multiplayer.

Helltaker Finally played it, beat it in like 2 hours, thought the puzzles were fun and the art continues to rattle around in my noggin.

A Hat In Time Another game that I finally beat after owning it for like the better part of a decade. Cute little game, I don't have a clue what any of the updates and junk do these days. The big mountain level is a fucking nightmare to navigate and explore and that's why I fell off last time.

Puzzle Agent Played this one on-stream because I'm Minnesotan as all fuck and I enjoy Professor Layton puzzles. It's just as good as I remember, even if it's incredibly short.

Kingsway Love the premise, adore that it takes me back to the Windows XP era of using my parents' computer. I had like one good run that died in the middle of things, and I never really went back. I should do this game again at some point.

Loop Hero Another procedural game where progress is usually bottlenecked by gathering base resources in each run so you have a fighting chance. All my runs sorta ended up the same by a certain point and I wasn't really having much fun anymore.

Lethal Company Game scares the absolute shit out of me, I cannot play this game for extended periods because I get heartburn from fear. Excellent experience with friends.

Super Mario RPG I didn't have a SNES growing up, so I never got a chance to play the original. So far, I've been greatly enjoying the remake! I don't have much to say because I've only played like four hours of it on stream.

Katamari Reroll Just beat this game again on stream last week. Extremely fun, extremely short, Lonely Rolling Star continues to make me get emotional and cry, my memories get mixed-up with We ♥️ Katamari when it comes to the final sequence of levels.

World of Warcraft I made the return, and holy shit have things changed in-game. The UI actually looks like it's part of a cohesive artstyle, catching up with the story and questlines after bouncing in the middle of Shadowlands is honestly kind of exhausting, and the RP community is still splintered and fractured between Retail and Epsilon. Controller-support has been my biggest gripe since XIV's is fucking stellar and I do not have the wrists/hands for putting my abilities on the keyboard anymore, I either have to use my janked-out mouse buttons or a controller using ConsolePort which is... serviceable but nowhere near good. Uh, I don't particularly care for the dragon-stuff in WoW's lore, and I still haven't done a single dungeon since I play Brewmaster and I'm so out of whack with WoW tanking that I just don't bother. I'm usually doing RP on my endless ranks of characters if I'm not playing with my girlfriend. Season of Discovery has been a fun thing to do with my friend and our guild, it's sorta what I wanted out of Classic when they announced it. The "No Changes" thing was stupid because we'll never get back the lack of information and endless time we had back then, so I'm very happy to have World Of Warcraft Chopped And Screwed Edition. As much as I still have massive, major gripes with Blizzard and ABK in general... Azeroth is still home for me. It's been important to me as a person. Wouldn't have realized I was trans or poly without it.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT My thinks and feelings on all the games I played this year in 2023. I guess to sum up the year in general? It's been a real shit year for me. Went through like three big breakups, my art output's been dogshit in quantity thanks to mental-health issues, and for the first half of the year people just sorta generally treated me poorly which exaserbated a lot of problems. I'm recovering, but I've noticed it's been a lot slower than it has been in the past. Games are a huge hobby of mine, so I'm glad I've gotten to play some bangers this year. Being more active on Tumblr's been good for my mental health, since I finally feel like I've got a community again after not really feeling like I've had one in forever. Love you guys, stay weird. 💖💖💖

Sorry not sorry for this being so long.

[pizza-tower-heritage-posts]

Hey this is the mod speaking I'm making this post to call for heritage post submissions as the queue is almost empty

DM me or tag me in posts you think are heritage worthy. Rules are in the pined post

[talesofsonicasura]

Weretoons

I couldn't help but think of this concept after seeing this post. *Check out @horologiiiumart to see their Pizza Tower AU* Cartoons! We know them from age to style, whether it be classics or modern day. The most unique of them being particular movies like Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, Space Jam and Looney Tunes Back In Action.

What makes these quite special, especially the forner, are the interactions between our world with the cartoon side. Toons live on completely different rules unlike normal people. Any natural laws of the world being replaced with their cartoon version.

Jumping ridiculous heights outta sheer fright, bodies mold and stretch when interacting with certain things or storing objects much stronger than the average pocket easily. It is an easy thing for a toon to understand and do. But what if there's an exception to this rule.

Weretoons are a very unique entity amongst were-beings. A non-toon being who becomes a fully functional Toon under various conditions. The basic being a full or crescent moon on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights. (Days where new episodes for cartoons usually air on said night or incoming morning.)

*Caution must be heeded around Weretoons during the Blood Moon! Their antics have a high probability of not only becoming malicious but can potentially maim normal people! Lunar Eclipses will increase their aggression too.

Solar Eclipses and Blue Moons are the only safest shift alternatives for normal folk. Although it is best to keep an eye on inexperienced Weretoons with the latter. Blue Moons can cause uncontrollable sadness or unhealthy actions related to it.*

Transformations can also be triggered by excessive laughter, vengeful rage, or exposure to certain quantity of ink. Essentially the building blocks for cartoons in simpler terms. (Their purpose, the rules and creation of the popular Rubberhose.)

There is no clue if they occur naturally but these can be created through artificial means. Like any epidemic, it involved a Patient 0 and enough people to get infected for it to be impossible to eradicate. A Weretoon can spread their influence through biting, organ/blood transfusion, or their descendants.

*The percentage of those who become Weretoons through heritage start at 80% before dwindling down to the average 20% further down the bloodline.*

Weretoons don't always share the same species between non-toon and toon forms. A large chunk of individuals gain unrelated features or can become a completely different species upon a shift. EX: One human can become a Cartoon Dragon while another turns into a cartoon version of themselves.

In toon form, the Weretoon doesn't follow all natural laws. A good chunk are instead replaced with the Cartoon Laws of Physics. These new rules mainly focus on motion, objects, matter and gravity. Non-toons can be subjected to them by a Toon in the right moment.

Weretoons are born with a unique type called Tropes. These often determine their abilities and what kind of cartoon shenanigans they can do. Here's a simple list involving the more known ones. Link to a character archetypes for those who want to delve further.

Strongman- A trope that embodies incredible physical prowess such as strength or speed unmatched by many.

Eldritch Horror- A trope which manifests in transformations which range from varying degrees of body horror for intimidation and frights.

Jester- A trope that focuses on crafting mischief onto others on usually dangerous or potentially lethal levels.

Chaos Agent- A trope which embodies sheer mayhem with no care for the immense destruction wrought and anything caught up in the antics. *Most dangerous*

Loser- A trope that manifests as various degrees of misfortune or lackluster skill which can affect more than just the possessor.

Mad Scientist- A trope where anything can be made possible through science but will go wrong at some point and be possibly inhumane.

Magician- A trope which can turn the simplest sleight of hand into actual magic as long as the trick isn't fully interrupted.

Defense against Weretoons often varies upon the respective form. They can be killed like any non-toon equivalent if unable to or haven't shifted. It is highly important to not cause an blood drawing injury when a Weretoon is in mid-shift.

*This video is pretty good at explaining further depths on the concept of dealing with a toon.*

This often leads to a creation of a Clone. Clones are Toons born from this process and can create Weretoons just like their predecessors. The only differences between them being their tropes, appearance but also nature. Most clones tend to be very off-point or malformed versions of their Weretoon creators.

Their intelligence and copied memories usually varies between how close they are in resemblance to the original. All Clones are very clingy which often leads to stalking until taught not to. They tend to be very hostile with those deemed a threat to their Weretoon or said creator if mistreated enough.

It is near impossible to kill/injure a Clone and Weretoon in toon form except for one thing: The Dip. A lethal concoction of turpentine, acetone and benzene that became a real threat upon the popular staple status attained by Who Framed Rodger Rabbit. Weretoons can get hurt by it even if they aren't in toon form. Ink is the only thing that can treat Dip injuries. A fully submerged Weretoon will be severely burned in non-toon form and death can follow if they shift before removing the solution.

The Dip is a popular tool almost a particular group of people known as Cartoon Hunters. A common fear amongst Weretoons and Clones since these individuals will go to any length to kill a confirmed person. Most Cartoon Hunters won't let any moral boundaries like innocence or victims get in their way. Only the death of the Weretoons matter to them.

Dangers such as these led to most living in hiding or secret communities. Weretoons can be considered tall tales and crazy stories due to how elusive their nature has become. That doesn't mean there isn't a chance someone in your neighborhood can be one.

[pizza-tower-heritage-posts]

Pizza Tower Heritage Post

[sonicasura]

Persona 5: Tower Scramble

Yup. I'm expanding more on the crack idea of Peppino being Ren's biological dad. This is basically a deeper dive into the concept like worldbuilding, further shenanigans and a slice of some plot. Hope you enjoy! Link to alternate version here! Make sure to check the reblogs for extra stuff.

First thing to start with is actually the Pizza Tower universe. I decided that there needs to be more stuff involving the Who Framed Rodger Rabbit dynamic aka toons interacting alongside normal people. Everyone in PT are cartoons in nature which includes Ren/Joker. Arséne nor his adjacent forms doesn't escape this either since he was born from Ren's heart.

Due to the Velvet Room contract, our hero is forced to take on the appearance of those in Personaverse to not draw attention. Although it doesn't fully suppress his toon capabilities. If I can summarize Ren and Arséne's appearance as Toons then it's the Persona 5 Tactica iteration but mixed alongside some Pizza Tower aesthetics.

Like any other cartoon, Joker and his Persona have cartoon abilities. There's the basics like the hammer space but unique ones that suit a toon's particular trope. Ren alongside Arséne have the escape artist/thief type which means they can break in or retreat in various cartoony ways. EX: Instantly teleport via smoke bombs to slipping under doors.

Like I said in the previous post, Ren did inherit some of Peppino's abilities such as incredible speed and strength that can be boosted through rage. Although being in the Personaverse suppresses a good chunk specifically his unique trope. Ren sulked a bit when he couldn't stretch his arm under a door to unlock it or pull a keyring from outta his hair.

Only his dad's abilities remains untouched by the change. Being in the Metaverse actually loosens the restraints on Ren's toon abilities. How a Toon interacts with the normal is much different than vice versa. Toons can subject others to cartoon shenanigans on varying degrees that usually depends on their trope.

For example a Toon with Magician trope can successfully do extreme tricks like sawing someone in half on a normal person without killing them and undo the damage easily. The non-toon will feel degrees of pain though. How bad it is depends on whether the act is malicious or not. Death is too cheap for a toon.

The new contract Ren receives after Royal's events freely allows him to shift into his toon form without being in the PTverse. Arséne was unaware about Ren's cartoony heritage would affect him too. The Persona found out very quickly when he manifested at Peppino's Diner and notice the place was a bit too roomy. Cartoon heights vary erratically from normal people.

Peppino is barely 4'8 ft, Ren is around 4'4 as he still has a growth spurt awaiting him, and Toon!Arséne's height about 10'2. The toon Persona got noogied by Captain Kidd who thought the new difference was funny. Jokes about Toon!Arséne being fun size will never die amongst the Persona.

(Unrelated note, Ren as an adult will be much taller than Peppino. His forms heavily contrast at that point. Under a human guise, Ren is about 5'8 and looks barely different despite being more physically fit alongside having a mustache. His real toon self is the epitome of a fucking bear. Adult Toon!Ren is 7'2 feet tall, beefy and quite hairy. He does take more after Peppino than his 'mom'.)

Toons are prone to comical gags with Ren being no different. He's quite happy to show it to his friends as well. Casually stretching his arm from the kitchen to snag some chips outta Ryuji's snack bag whilst his friends sits at the farthest booth by the door... Sojiro did his absolute best not to drop a fresh pot of coffee on his feet via sheer shock.

Arséne couldn't resist the pull of mischief either. You know the Genie In The Lamp? Let me present Arséne in a Teapot! Milady and Haru were the only ones who knew something was up when Ren brought over a closed up teapot. (He barely hid a smile too big for a normal person before reaching the table.) An awareness that kept their dango from going airborne once Arséne shot out of the teapot the gremlin he is.

Unintentional gags are also prone to happen around a toon which includes the infamous banana peel. Yusuke was planning to paint around the subject of litter and gotten a fresh one from Ryuji. What do you get when you add: 1 Clueless Ren, 1 Banana Peel and 1 Ghost Mushroom(an invasive partially sentient powerup which turns a toon into a ghost)?

You get Yusuke panicking as he believes he just killed their leader while Gustavo calls a priest over to unghost a Teru Teru Bōzu!Ren. (His Japanese heritage changed the form to that instead of being the normal bedsheet ghost.) Peppino feels like he went from a father of one to ten(pending) at this point.

It isn't uncommon for his son's friends to the visit his pizzeria. Sometimes it is a study group where Peppino prepares some snacks for them and help with some of the questions. He makes sure Ren's Stupid Rats get a cheese log to keep them occupied as Crouton likes eating schoolwork. (Makoto got to use the rats ate her homework excuse at least.)

They often show up to help around the restaurant and hang out on slow days. Having extra hands to help around made things easier especially when it came to deliveries. Peppino wholeheartedly agrees on why Ren thought Morgana was a Toon as a cat becoming a van is very toonlike.

Peppino can't help eavesdropping on Phantom Thieves discussion though. Some of the requests these kids get can be really concerning even for an adult like him. Morgana had been kind enough to explain the 'Changing Hearts' and 'Metaverse' spiel.

If this is what they want to do then Peppino wouldn't stop them. The Persona already promised to keep the group safe. (Not like there was any chance to turn back.) He doesn't know who made those Golden Pizza Cutters but they definitely are there for the purpose of helping his son if needed. (Or help with his stress as beating up Shadows is therapeutic.)

On some occasions one kid from the Phantom Thieves would show up at odd hours. Whether it be looking for advice or have someone listen to their problems. Peppino does his best to help as he understands how hard and suffocating life can get at times. (If he's ordering a few adoption papers then no one will know or stop him.)

They definitely left their mark on his diner though. Paintings, group photos, books, little knickknacks from Japan and ironically Phantom Thief merch. Peppino picked up some Japanese vocabulary too as much the teens learn a bit of Italian outta him. The Persona just add more languages to the table.

Now I mentioned how Ren practically gets shoved into a non-toon form when entering the Personaverse. Well the same DOESN'T apply to other Toons. If one ends up there then they won't be restricted to a human form and everyone sees their true appearance.

The new Velvet Room contract does provide a neat effect though where Toons companions(keyword there) only look like normal people/allies to those who aren't Ren's confidants, other Toons or Persona Users. It makes things easier for Peppino alongside his toon companions. Whether it be attending the kids' special events or take a simple break around Japan.

Peppino isn't the only getting dragged into Metaverse. The Golden Pizza Cutter isn't restricted just to him as Gustavo, Brick and Pep(Fake Peppino) also join in on the mayhem. Sometimes on accident when you consider Persona's habit of snatching someone into the Metaverse unexpectedly.

Gustavo and Brick are the only ones who aren't as off put about the Phantom Thief business. The pizza chef had help raise Ren whenever Peppino couldn't so he's used to the chaos this kid gets into. Brick is from the Pizza Tower thus any oddities are ignored since that place is just as weird.

While they can't break through Physical resistances like Peppino, the duo's teamwork makes recon, item searches or corralling various enemies much easier. Gustavo tends to snag little knickknacks from any Metaverse excursion. Brick just munches on whatever he can find since various snacks can be found there.

Pep is someone Ren hadn't expected to meet upon going home. Although finding a malformed froggish clone shapeshifter of your father made by an insane pizza toon that definitely squat in the pizzeria and eat what is most likely roadkill for dinner is a given at this point. Ren pulls the Clone = Your Kid card, like the little shit he is, on Peppino.

Man had no room for rebuttal either since Pep took a liking to the younger Spaghetti. When you consider Ren's more eerie Personas such Legion, Abbadon or Mara, none of the Phantom Thieves were bothered by the clone's Eldritch Horror trope. Although Joker is the only unfazed when it comes to surprise goopy hugs.

Like Peppino, Pep tends to be very protective of the Phantom Thieves. Sometimes hitching a ride in Ren's bag much to Morgana's annoyance upon discovery. (Can I say Strikers with a shit ton of Pep antics?)

Some Shadows learned the hard way on why not to piss off a clone who can shapeshift into man eating giant monster. Nevermind that Pep has amped up versions of Peppino's abilities alongside his own. The Phantom Thieves have various allies to call when needed.

Although trouble won't just be from the Personaverse. Peppino has his own rogue gallery specifically one who ain't too happy about this new predicament. Nor the existence of Ren Amamiya Spaghetti.

Hope the Phantoms been taking on the Tower Scramble mode in the Thieves' Den. Toons fight way different from Shadows. Nor do they have limits to the chaos one can cause.

[black-arcana]

Every Lacuna Coil album ranked from worst to best

(Image credit: Cunene)

9. Shallow Life (2009)

Lacuna Coil’s fifth album was meant to be a critique on superficiality, but it fell flat musically. Missing the nu metal crunch of predecessor Karmacode and stripped of the opulence that characterised the band’s earlier material, Shallow Life meanders. Though it’s not a complete car crash (Spellbound is an obvious standout), it’s slim pickings.

8. Dark Adrenaline (2012)

Dark Adrenaline isn’t a terrible album; it’s just an unremarkable one. Meaty opener Trip The Darkness and a cinematic Intoxicated provide the highpoints amongst more generic, forgettable fare. There’s still little here we haven’t heard from the band before, however – plus that truly horrible cover of R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion misses the mark in every way. 

7. Broken Crown Halo (2014)

By the time Lacuna Coil released their seventh album, it felt like they had made the same statement at least three times in a row. The last release to feature the long-term members Cristiano “Pizza” Migliore  (guitars) and Cristiano “Criz” Mozzati (drums), Broken Crown Halo packs more grit and punch than predecessor Dark Adrenaline (Cybersleep and frequent set-closer Nothing Stands In Our Way are the highlights). Yet, there’s still no doubt by this point: the band were treading water. 

6. In A Reverie (1999)

Dreamy, doomy and gothic, Lacuna Coil’s debut has aged very well. Circle, To Myself I Turned and Glass Veins have lost none of their majesty and, while the Italians’ approach at this point is clearly indebted to Paradise Lost and The Gathering’s 1995 album Mandylion, Cristina and Andrea’s serene/raw vocal attack set this bunch apart right from the start. A promising beginning.

5. Karmacode (2006)

By the mid-2000s, Lacuna Coil had nailed their ethereal goth ways. So, it was a surprise when they changed gears with fourth album Karmacode, introducing a more mainstream, chunky, nu metal-flavoured sound with focus on melody. The move sacrificed much of their splendour and atmospherics, and tracks like The Game and Closer feel a tad too simplistic, but elsewhere, the band proved they had mastered a hook. Their excellent cover of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence broke them to an even bigger audience, too.

4. Unleashed Memories (2001)

Lacuna Coil’s second album is an elegant, slow-burning gem. You need to work a little harder to get under the surface of these songs, but once you do, there’s an abundance of gorgeous charms to discover. From the sumptuous and dignified Heir Of A Dying Day to a towering To Live Is To Hide, the still very Paradise Lost-influenced When A Dead Man Walks to the ornate Cold Heritage, the band were evolving at pace.

3. Delirium (2016)

In their post-Karmacode period, Lacuna Coil had settled into a safe, predictable groove. Then, with eighth album Delirium, they changed their methodology once again. On its release, tracks like Broken Things and Blood, Tears, Dust were dark and dripping with claustrophobic tension. They were startlingly heavy as well, helped in no small part by vocalist Andrea Ferro putting in some of his best guttural vocals to date. Foreboding, haunted and cold, it was the sound of a band renewed.  

2. Black Anima (2019)

Lacuna Coil’s most recent album finds them in fantastic form. Picking up where Delirium left off, the band have only continued to get heavier, leaving the generic, featherlight melodies of their mid-career slump far behind. Packed with atmosphere and highlights in Sword Of Anger and Layers Of Time, it’s not as stark as its predecessor, while the Exorcist vibes of Veneficium are definitely something they should lean into in the future. Whereas Cristina’s piercing vocals are dependably great, pushing her voice to new height on Reckless, the biggest surprise is Andrea,: unrecognisable from the band’s early days, his bowel-rattling vocals takes the band’s stylings to an ever more twisted realm.

1. Comalies (2002)

Comalies is the moment everything came together for Lacuna Coil in terms of aesthetics and sound, but also songwriting, which took everything up a notch. It was led by two excellent singles: the celestial Swamped and Heaven’s A Lie – which marries an earworm chorus with glossy, apocalyptic grandeur – and broke the band on MTV.

The opus is also a trove of emotionally-charged gems, with Daylight Dancer, Humane, Tight Rope and Entwined all deserving a place on a countdown of the band’s best songs. In 2022, Lacuna Coil celebrated the album’s 20th anniversary by rearranging and re-recording it for a retrospective, Comalies XX, adding a heavier, more ferocious slant to the tracklist. It couldn’t hold a candle to the original, though, which remains a goth metal classic – not to mention the band’s undisputed masterpiece. 

[chainsawbunnie]

ok ok regarding the whole pizza tower dev controversy, im still gonna be posting abt it (and might draw fanart for it) but i dont mind much if you block me for it

hopefulyyyy the guy apologizes for it in public and doesnt half ass it?? idk people can change and no ones perfect so yeah (also yknow maybe fixing the 2 stereotypical characters would be good, i will say though that i do have jewish and indigenous heritage and to be honest?? they are kinda off to me but not enough to think the entire game is completely unredeemable and racist which for some reason some people think it is) as for the creator himself im gonna be going for the whole seperate art from the artist thing . i still adore the game a whole lot, but if you haate the game cause of this thats your opinion and i respect it i suppose

EDIT: id also like to mention the amount of people turned off from the game just cause of this and i just wanna sayy nooo NOOO its a rlly cool game and dont let this whole controversy stop you cause it is rlly a GREATT game . unless like. you just never liked it cause it was ugly or smth which is fine ig

[pizza-tower-heritage-posts]

Pizza Tower Heritage Post

Kobeni: Origins

[webdono]

Morocco Itinerary Tour: 10 Days from Fes

Fes Itinerary Tour: 10 Days in Morocco

Day 1: Fes Sightseeing

After breakfast in my riad, I began my Morocco itinerary tour 10 days by exploring Fes, known as the "Spiritual City of Morocco." The morning was spent wandering through the Medina, visiting sites of cultural and historical interest such as the Al Karaouine Mosque and University, the Tanneries, and the Najjarine fountain. Post-lunch, we ventured outside the Medina to see the Royal Palace gate, walked through the Jewish quarter “the Mellah,” and visited a pottery cooperative. The day concluded with a panoramic view of Fes from a fortress. I stayed overnight in an authentic riad in the heart of the old Medina.

Day 2: Fes – Cedar Forest – Midelt

After breakfast, we departed Fes and drove towards the enchanting Middle Atlas Mountains. Our first stop was the charming town of Ifrane, often referred to as the Switzerland of Morocco due to its weather and architecture. After a short break, we continued to the largest cedar forest in Morocco near Azrou, where I had the chance to see Barbary Monkeys. We then passed through several Berber villages, including Timhdit and Zaida, before reaching Midelt, where we spent the night in a hotel with dinner and breakfast.

Day 3: Midelt – Ziz Valley – Merzouga

Continuing our Morocco itinerary tour from Fes, we drove south, crossing the High Atlas mountains to Errachidia. Here, the Valley of palm trees appeared, creating an oasis ideal for growing fruit trees and vegetables. We reached Erfoud, the capital of fossils, before heading to the village of Merzouga in the Sahara Desert. I stayed overnight at a hotel near the dunes, with dinner and breakfast included.

Day 4: Discover Merzouga

On this day, I explored the Erg Chebbi dunes more deeply. We visited the town of Khamlia, interacted with nomads, and discovered old mines near the Moroccan-Algerian border. After a typical "Berber Pizza" lunch, I experienced a camel trek through the dunes, culminating in a night at a desert camp with dinner and traditional Berber music under the starry sky.

Day 5: Merzouga – Todra Gorges – Dades Valley – Ouarzazate

I woke early to witness a stunning desert sunrise. After breakfast, we departed to Rissani, exploring its market and historical sites. We continued to the oasis of Tinghir and the towering Todra Gorges. After lunch, we traveled to Dades Valley, known for its rock formations called "monkey toes," and then drove through the "road of thousand Kasbahs" to Ouarzazate, a hub of cinematic activity. Here, I stayed overnight in a hotel with dinner and breakfast.

Day 6: Ouarzazate – Ait Ben Haddou – Marrakech

After breakfast, we headed towards Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and explored the ancient Kasbah. We visited the Kasbah of Telouet before crossing the Tizi n’Tichka pass in the High Atlas mountains, arriving in Marrakech by evening. I stayed overnight at a riad.

Day 7: Marrakech City Tour

The entire day was dedicated to discovering Marrakech. With a local guide, I visited Menara gardens, the Saadian Tombs, Bahia Palace, Koutoubia Mosque, Majorelle Gardens, and the bustling souks. The highlight was the vibrant Djemaa El Fna square, filled with entertainers and merchants. I spent another night in the same riad.

Day 8: Marrakech – Day Trip to Essaouira

We set off early for a day trip to Essaouira, exploring the old medina, beach, and harbor. After enjoying a seafood lunch, we visited Essaouira Castle and took a camel ride along the beach. The day ended with a return to Marrakech, where I stayed overnight at my riad.

Day 9: Marrakech – Day Trip to Ourika Valley

Leaving Marrakech at 9 am, we drove towards the Atlas Mountains. We visited a traditional Moroccan house, learned about Berber cuisine, and experienced a tea ceremony. After a camel ride and a short hike to waterfalls, we enjoyed lunch with stunning valley views. By evening, we returned to Marrakech, where I spent my final night at the riad.

Day 10: Marrakech Airport

On my last day in Morocco, I had breakfast and some free time to visit the souk for souvenirs. Finally, I was dropped off at the airport, concluding my 10-day Morocco itinerary tour from Fes to Marrakech.

[ledenews]

An OPEN LETTER to … Fans of the Former Downtown Wheeling …

To Daydreamers of the Darling Days of Downtown: It was as fun as your memories recall and, even though we were kids at the time, we’ll never forget THAT version of downtown Wheeling either. The stores, the billiard bars, the pawn shop’s guns and diamond rings, the theatres, the bikes in Becker’s, the restaurants, the train tracks, the ball gloves at Banov’s, the Big Boy statues, the Talking Christmas Tree, the unlocked alley doors, the music shops, the hot dogs and cheeseburgers and those quarter milkshakes at the lunch counter at G.C. Murphy’s. Of course, we ran between our hot spots like the Hamburger Inn, the Victoria Theatre, the back door of the Capitol Music Hall, and the showroom at Boury Inc. to play pinball, and there was the Teacher’s Store and Juniper and the Wharf and the Club Tower because it had those girlie portraits out front, too. We were the kids of Wheeling, and we cherish our memories, too, but now, as adults, it’s where we live and work and eat and see shows and bank and go to church. So, these days, it’s our downtown, and yes, it is very, very different along Main and Market streets back in those hey-day decades, but it’s not deserted as many suggest in their social media postings. Tumbleweeds don’t mosey down cob-webbed streets, day-time traffic is constantly brisk, and that white-flag mindset seems reserved for those no longer living here. So, we believe it might be useful to offer you this list compiled for your convenience. We may have missed a few, and for that we apologize, but it is our hope you realize today’s downtown mix of new and old represents a fight for a new future. Sincerely, People of the Present Downtown Wheeling A The Artisan Center, Adventures in Elegance B Bridge Tavern & Grill, Beyond Marketing, Board of Trade Building, Boury Lofts, Boswell Monument C Capital Theater, Community Foundation, Cardinal Printing, Clientele Art Gallery, Central Catholic High School, Catholic Charities, Comas Barber Shop D DiCarlo’s Pizza, Dyagon Alley, The Day Reporting Center, Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston E Elle and Jack's, Enterprise Car Rentals F Fort Henry Building, Felton CPA G Good Mansion Wines, Gompers and Associates, Grow Ohio Valley H The Health Plan, Hazlett, Burton and Watson, Helping Heroes, Harris Law Office I IC Care, Information Help Line K Kalkrueth Roofing, Kepner Funeral Home, L Lucky Candies M Mmm Popcorn, Mugshots, Main Street Bank, The Mother of Jones Center, Mills Group, Mull Center, Midge’s Kitchen, McLure Hotel, Medical Supply, N Neely’s Grocery, National Equipment, nail City Records, National Alliance on Mental Illness, O The Orrick Center, Ohio County Commission, Omni Strategic, Ohio Valley MMA, Omega Bar P Panda Chinese Kitchen, Public Market, Perry & Associates R River City, Rivers Edge, Regional Economic Development Partnership, Rachel’s on 16th, Route 40 Realty, Rich & Shirley’s Printing, S Stages, State Farm, Sarah's On Main, Steptoe and Johnson, 7-Eleven, Salvation Army, Stone Center, Smith Law, The Snake Club, Sexual Assault Help Center T Titos, Tacoholix, Table 304, Thrive, TaylorMade Printing, Truist Bank, Teamsters Local #697 U United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley, United States Government, Uniglobe, Undo’s Catering, United Bank V Vagabond Kitchen, Vineyard Church, Visiting Angels, Viper’s Billiards, Victoria Theatre, W Wheeling Chamber, WVU-Wheeling Clinic, Wheeling Coffee and Spice, Wesbanco Arena, W.Va. Northern Community College, Wesbanco Bank and Headquarters, WKKX, City of Wheeling, Williams Lea Tag, Wheeling National Heritage Area Corp., WVLY, Wheeling Office Supply, Wheeling Nailers, Wheeling Symphony, Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau, W.Va. DHHR, The Wig Store, W.Va. Independence Hall, WTRF TV7, Wheeling Food Mart, WTOV TV9, Y YWCA-Wheeling, Youth Services System Z Ziegenfelder’s (Art by Bob Dombrowski) https://ledenews.com/a-fat-cat-a-kid-named-paisley-and-a-hotel-across-the-street/ https://ledenews.com/wheeling-ohio-county-cvb-buys-former-wheeling-inn-property-for-1-7-million/ Read the full article

[rolandopujol]

Yo quiero an old-school Taco Bell renaissance, but it seems the beloved chain is going in another direction. The first few images in this post come from one of the finest surviving classic-style Taco Bells in the country. It’s in Goleta, California, and it’s one of two that I shot in the area back in May. (Scroll back for a look!) Like the other one, in Santa Barbara, it features its mission-style building, and even the bell tower! The other location features an actual bell in that notch. This one has a metal silhouette of a bell. The contrast between the 1960s design scheme and the 2021 purple elements is caliente, if you ask me. I’m glad these two locations are fairly intact. What inspired me to post this classic location was a new design concept that Taco Bell announced. Called Taco Bell Defy, the new structure features a sleek, rectangular building with an elevated, 3,000-square-foot kitchen, and four drive-thru lanes below. I’ve included an image. Three of the lanes are reserved for mobile or delivery order pickups. You scan a QR code and pick up your food. No fuss. No muss. No people. A fourth lane is reserved for regular drive-thru customers. The food is delivered by a “gravity-defying” “proprietary lift system.” The first of these Defy stores will be built in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and is to open next year. Reactions among those less impressed by architectural innovation focused on asking Taco Bell to bring back Mexican Pizza. That thing was popular! Anyway, I think Defy is interesting, and in tune with the somewhat Dystopian world we increasingly inhabit, in which being contactless is next to godliness. My only request for Taco Bell would be to embrace the chain’s heritage, and take some design and marketing cues from the past, from which much of that goodwill springs. Burger King and Pizza Hut are doing it. Why not Taco Bell? McDonald’s appears to be a lost cause, at least for now. (But if you want to see some great old McDonald’s, Santa Barbara is also a good stop for you. More about that later this week.) Anyway, I’m curious for your thoughts on Taco Bell Defy, and on the idea of Taco Bell embracing, say, a retro concept store? #retrologist
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSng5i0LYMD/?utm_medium=tumblr

[pizza-tower-heritage-posts]

Pizza Tower Heritage Post

[jrocket17-blog]

Florence, Italy

Italy was everything that I hoped it would be. After not being back there since I was in fourth grade, I had always had a desire to go back again. The only thing that I wanted to be different about the next time I visited was that I went north to Tuscany. Boy was that the best idea I ever had. Let’s start off by talking about the scenery flying into Pisa airport. Huge mountains that surrounded the city and large groups of houses with red clay roofs. Once we landed and I went through the airport, I had to find the shuttle to the train station to take me to Florence. I tried using my Italian and I thought I did well until the woman I asked directions to the shuttle for just flat out responded to me in English. That was a soul crusher. Anyway, once I got on the train to Florence, the amazing scenery continued with a landscape that you only see in movies. The hour train ride was a perfect set up to what was going to be one of the prettiest cities I’ve ever seen. Once I got to Florence I met up with my roommate and we began walking to his apartment. As we were walking, I was admiring the cobblestone streets that were filled with vespas. As we continued to walk to his apartment we passed the famous duomo and I was completely blown away. It really is true when they say seeing it on PowerPoints or pictures online really don’t compare. I remember my whole semester of taking art history at Fairfield coming to life as I saw all of the architecture around me. Once I got settled in to his apartment, we met up with our other friend and went out for dinner. A nice bruschetta, prosciutto and cheese, pasta carbonara and some red wine dinner was a great tone setter for the rest of the trip. After we ate we went out to explore the night life in Florence. It’s crazy to say the least. We went to bars and a nightclub and it was off the walls. The next morning we explored more with seeing the Santa Croce and walking more along the streets. I was in heaven. We again went out and had what was probably the best pizza I ever had after seeing the Ponte Vecchio which again had me in awe. This was followed by another club night. The next day was my favorite as I saw the Jersey shore house from when they filmed in Florence, followed by the Piazzale Michaelangelo which overlooked the entire city, and closed the day with a trip to see the one and only original David. I was mesmerized by the site of The David. It was huge and the attention to detail was perfect. I am kind of obsessed with old marble statues and my friends took full advantage of that while we were there as I was ignoring them and being a nerd when we passed more marble statues. We once again had an amazing Italian dinner and went clubbing to close the night. The day I left I had until 10:10pm before I left so my friend and I took advantage of the time and went to Pisa for the day to see the tower and the duomo they have there. Once again, seeing pictures of this tower online does not even come close to what it’s like in person. My friend of course followed with a touristy picture of him leaning on the tower. After we saw the tower we had a nice lunch and then parted ways. I remember looking through my phone at the pictures I took and still couldn’t believe that I was just in Florence. Going back to Italy was amazing and just made me even more proud to be of Italian heritage. I will definitely be back to the homeland as I call it because it is a place that is truly magical. My next trip will be this coming Friday when I go to see Brussels and Amsterdam with my roommates. I’ll be posting pictures of my trip to Italy and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to get a small taste of what I experienced. Anyway, until next weekend, Arrivederci!

[primortravel]

New Post has been published on https://primortravel.com/road-trip-to-ilocos-norte-and-ilocos-sur-escapade-in-the-philippines/

Road Trip to Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur Escapade in the Philippines

A road trip to Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur: Rich in Culture, Traditions and Lifestyle.

Our trip began at Quezon City, one of the cities that make up the Metro Manila.

We decided to travel on our own with our private vehicle and to use information about the places we were planning to visit through the web. We even used Google maps on how to reach our destination and it was actually accurate.

It’s not that hard getting to those provinces since we traveled on main highways, except for some dangerous curves on the mountain road.

Drive Safely!

Next Stop: The City of Vigan

Vigan is the capital of the Province of Ilocos Sur, a World Heritage Site since it is one of the few Hispanic towns left in the Philippines. There are hotels and other accommodations in and around the area; contemporary and traditional restaurants. Of course, go for the traditional! 

So our plan was to look for a good accommodation since we were planning to stay the night in Vigan. The travel time took 8 hours including stops to have a rest and to eat our packed lunch. We left Quezon City at around 6:00 am and arrived to Vigan at around 2:00 pm.

We searched in advanced for good places to stay the night in Vigan and decided to stay in Villa Angela, since it had positive reviews and reasonable rates. Unfortunately it has very few rooms and there were no vacant rooms when we got there. Don’t worry you can make reservations! We just overlooked. 🙁

So we decided to look for other hotels and found Casa Rica Hotel, a boutique hotel not far from Villa Angela. A really good place! You could feel the traditional life style! Surprisingly we were the only guests to check in the hotel, no worries! Was actually fun because we felt like it was our rest house! 🙂 They were very accommodating, informative and included breakfast. Good service and located less than five minutes drive from the Heritage Village.

It is not hard to find the tourist spots in Vigan. Just around the Heritage Village (which is the main attraction) are plazas, old cathedrals, churches, and museums (donation fee: any amount, others costing only from 20 to 50 pesos).

You can walk or ride the kalesa, it will take you to 7 to 8 different places, but you can request not to go to some of them if you have visited already. Of course it will take you more than one hour to make the complete tour since during that time you’ll take pictures inside museums, climb up a bell tower and other stuff. So be ready! 🙂 

We ate at Cafe Leona for dinner, there’s a wide variety of local to modern dishes. Again, LOCAL! 🙂 In the menu are their must try local dishes. We ordered llocos longganisa, Pinakbet Pizza, Chopseuy, and Plain Rice. Good good good! Good service too! Then back to our hotel for a good night sleep. 🙂 

Then we took off to Laoag, Ilocos Norte at around 11:00 am

Vigan to Laoag will take 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The City of Vigan is a Unesco World Heritage Site in that it is one of the few Hispanic towns left in the Philippines where its structures remained intact, and is well known for its cobblestone streets, and a unique architecture that fuses Philippine and Oriental building designs and construction, with colonial European architecture. Because of this, Vigan City was officially recognised as one of the New7 Wonders Cities of The World.

Laoag, Ilocos Norte

We arrived to Laoag at around 12:30 pm and headed to the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum (Open daily, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm) We waited for 30 mins for the registration. It’s a place to learn a lot about Ferdinand E. Marcos, president of the Philippines for 20 long years, his power, success, riches and…more riches…..and more riches….and more and more and more…. riches. His embalmed body in the mausoleum looked like a wax replica to us. 

From there we headed to Malacañang of the North and Paoay Lake which took us 30 minutes to arrive (Tuesday – Sunday 9:00 am to 11:30 am and 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm). Also called the Malacanang ti Amianan, was the place where the former President Marcos resided with his whole family, had a golf course and the Paoay Lake at the back of the house where they played water sports. 

Wow! Lifestyle of rich and famous!

Since we were out of time, we decided not to go to La Paz Sand Dunes but we really recommend going check it out! We couldn’t make it to our planned lunch out since we were going to the Bangui Windmills and to the beaches in Pagudpud, where we didn’t know where we would stay the night. The original plan was to eat lunch at Saramsam YlocanoRestaurant or La Preciosa Restaurant. Try them out! They are located in the city and are near each other. Very Convenient!

We headed off to Pagudpud, which took us another hour and 30 minutes.

Laoag, Ilocos Norte Jeepney is a most popular public transport on Philippines. – Depositphotos.com

Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte  

Before reaching Pagudpud, we went to the Bangui Windmills. You can go down those sharp curves of the mountain roads for a closer look. They are actually gigantic windmills that generate electricity.  It is not hard looking for a Beach Resort or any accommodation in Pagudpud, there are plenty of choices from hotels to lodges.

We decided to stay in Terra Rika Beach Hotel, which is an “okay” hotel. I suggest you try out Hannah’s Beach Resort, which has lot of activities. You will have to drive another 20 kilometers, which is why we decided not to go to since we were tired. 🙂  

ENJOY THE BEACH! Good food everywhere! Very nice people!

Aerial view of Windmills for electric power production on the coast. Bangui Windmills in Ilocos Norte, Philippines. Ecological landscape: Windmills, sea, mountains. Pagudpud

Travel Dudes

I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences I had whilst traveling. You’re in a certain place and a fellow traveler, or a local, tip you off on a little-known beach, bar or accommodation. Great travel tips from other travelers or locals always add something special to our travels. That was the inspiration for Travel Dudes.

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