#absolute banger of a word

[flannelepicurean]

You know what? I love some internet slang I've picked up. LOVE IT. I love how language has evolved because of stupid video apps and hellsites and all sorts.

That fucks severely. Absolute banger. String of emojis (and yes, I know "emoji" is technically plural, too, but see above re: evolving language).

I will be having literal discourse (literally) with folks about beautiful words we love, because we WRITE, and be like, "'Mellifluous!' MMM! Yes! Absolute banger of a word! Don't sleep on 'lilt,' though. Love onomatopoeia, too. Sound-words fuck so hard."

We need all of this. We need quill pens and bling and graffiti. We need basketball hoops and breakdancing circles and brocade curtains. We need velvet and vinyl and catboys and babygirls and dad jokes and nonbinary queer platonic furry discourse and ace writers telling us why their favorite words fuck severely OR however else ANYONE wants to communicate (verbal, written, sign, whatever) about the fact that communication is amazing.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[flannelepicurean]

Okay, so... I ran the dollar amounts through an inflation calculator, and...Now I am picturing an American farmer, played by Ricky from Trailer Park Boys, just...appearing in some eatery in the fanciest track suit he could buy and being like, "Gimme seven hundred bucks' worth of ham and eggs, and make it snappy."

And them being like, "...wut."

And he's like, "I HAVEN'T GOT ALL DAY, OKAY? I GOT SHIT TO DO. My old man gave me thirty-five grand and I'm the master of my own fuckin' dentistry, so get me seven hundred bucks' worth of ham and eggs and then fuck off."

And the manager is like, "Sir, this is a Denny's," and then catches a ketchup bottle upside the dome while our farmer hollers, "WELL, GO GET FUCKIN' DENNY, THEN, AND TELL HIM TO GET ME MY GODDAMN HAM AND EGGS!"

Later, at the station, it's all, "Yeah, David Terry, 50 years old, Woodbury. Yeah. Bury a lotta wood up there, I can tell ya that...The fuck's an occupation? Oh, a JOB? Uh, trailer park supervisor...Just send the bill to my cousin Randy, he's good for it. He'll be mad as fuck when he gets here, though, that fat fuck's gonna be hungry when he gets off the wagon in this one-horse town, and Denny can't run a restaurant for shit. You guys gotta get your act together."

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1904

[oraclenthusiast]

FUCK Red Hood: Lost Days you know what I want?? Cassandra Cain's lost days. hg ran away from David Cain at nine and popped up during No Man's Land at 19. genuinely what was she doing for the TEN years before we got to meet her??

[azol-otl]

♡⁠(⁠>⁠ ⁠ਊ⁠ ⁠<⁠)⁠♡ trick or treat!!!

I was gonna do something else, but this idea took me by surprise and whoops here it is

"You're the main singer for the game's soundtrack aren't you?" Jason nods dumbly at the hot dilf. After his...departure from voice acting under his own name, Jason had spent years singing in various soundtracks when they didn't want to hire a professional. It helped with the bills and meant that he wouldn't have to deal with...fans ever again if he didn't want to. The roaring boo's when he was introduced to replace veteran Dick Grayson who had asked to leave when his voice couldn't reach those high registers as an adult. The hateful comments that mimicked all the death threats and emails he would receive for the next three years. The snide remarks from the people behind the scenes about how he had received the job, sleeping his way to the top at such a young age. Getting cut out of episodes because he would call out the writers about what they were endorsing. He wasn't being paid enough to afford anything but rent. The schedule was fucking with school. And he was just so mad all the time, he had to leave he had to leave. Getting to be the main voice of a beloved series? It was too good of a chance to pass up even if it was tied to...them. Enough to reprise a role he hadn't touched in nearly a decade. One that he wasn't sure would be loved when people hate their beloved long time favorites losing or having their ideals be challenged even if that's the direction the series wanted to go. The hot dilf's smile grew wider and Jason felt his legs go weak at his dimples. He couldn't even pay attention to what the man was saying while his brain was just screaming "BICEPS, FRECKLES, TITS, BIG, LARGE, PLEASE FUCK ME DADDY" like every 20 something gay actor in existence.

[imjustli]

Why is noone obsessing over If I Beg You by Flower Face with me? I can't be alone in this.. PLEASE

You said "don't cry you're making this harder" / Well goddamn, your just like your father

Call all my friends, call off the wedding / Leave me at the altar, give me a good ending / 'Cause you're a good man, you do everything right / And when I get psychotic you don't put up a fight

But you need a vacation, a break from my love / 'Cause I'm always wasted and I need to much

I'm not a runaway bride, wasn't born for deceiving

Did you think that I would beg you? / Did you want to make me cry? / Oh, what a tragedy / 'Cause life's so sweet and my friends adore me / Honestly you bore me now

Is this a worthy goodbye? / You drained the sun from my sky / To light up the halo above you / Well, God help the next girl that loves you

[adamnablelittledevil]

BTW, my new user is a reference to the "it was not differentiated or defined this love, but only love" quote from The Vampire Chronicles books because I love it so much.

[nicandros]

very fond of this genre of alcaeus' fragments that feel vaguely ominous

[pintsizeninja]

Well, the Talented Voice rewrite has taken on a life of its own; not only have I expanded the original two chapters by about 2500 words (likely close to 3000 words once all is said and done), but I also decided to add a prologue chapter that is close to 4,000 words and I am very excited to share that with y'all.

... in other words, the original fic was 5300 words and this draft is sitting at 11600 words. 🤣 I hope to finish up the writing/editing process tomorrow, with the goal of sharing the revised version on Thursday or Friday.

While this is absolutely distracting me from writing the sequel, I'm so glad I decided to revisit this fic (and thank you @rangerzath for encouraging me to do so!) There is a bit of a philosophical argument to be had about whether or not you should go back and significantly edit an old fic, but seeing how heavily invested I am in this series, and in telling their stories, I want the first fic in the series to be especially strong and serve as a proper introduction.

[fluffypichu876]

In retribution to my dear mutual @prototypelq's post, I will also be writing about my 3 favorites games of all time! Making this list was a bit easier than I expected, but because I have too many beloved games to choose from expect a lot of honorable mentions hehehe

And the first game on the list is, of course:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

It's no surprise that this game would be here. I mean, it's not like I replay it every year!

SOTN is a game of the genre "Metroidvania". You probably know this term if you have heard of games like Hollow Knight or Ori, but if you don't, basically, a Metroidvania game takes place on a huge map consisting of interconnected smaller rooms. When playing, you'll travel and explore around these rooms, defeating enemies and unlocking new abilities that allow you to acess new areas that were unaccessible before.

The OG Metroid on the NES can be considered the very first game of this genre, but Super Metroid and SOTN together were responsible for defining its standards and popularity today. Hence the term, "Metroidvania".

This game is a heck lot of fun to play. Dracula's Castle is huge and full of interesting areas to explore, filled with enemies and secrets of all kinds. SOTN is based on an RPG-like stat and level system, and you gradually grow stronger as you defeat foes, gain EXP, and level up. Weapons, armor, and other equipment are found all through the castle, further increasing your stats and other attributes.

The soundtrack is an absolute masterpiece. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Castlevania as a franchise has some of the best OST's out there. Michiru Yamane is a great composer, and her instrumental works fit CV's themes and tone really well.

SOTN does not use MIDI samples processed by the PSX's sound chip (except for the Librarian's theme). Instead, all of the game's songs are played through audio streams, granting them CD-like quality, which is a little rare in other games on the system. Here's an example of what Yamane could do with this audio quality:

Sounds great, doesn't it?

Another aspect of SOTN that I love is of course, the visuals. To this day, I consider this game to have some of the best 2D graphics ever. The levels and backgrounds are beautiful, and every tile is filled with plenty of detail. All of Alucard's animations are fluid, graceful, and an absolute delight to watch and control. Often, the game will mix in 3D elements to enhance the beauty of an area, and it looks great.

There are so many little hidden details in the game that make you appreciate the developers's love and care even more. For example, in the Outer Wall area, a small suspended room can be found at the area map's bottom. In this room alone:

A falcon/hawk/eagle/bird of prey can be observed in her nest. As you progress through the game and return to this room, you can see the falcon coming back everytime to lay, incubate, and take care of her offspring. It's really damn cute.

A telescope can be found in the left wall. Using it allows you to see the Ferryman from the Underground Caverns.

Alucard can sit in one of the chairs. Leaving him there for a few minutes will cause him to fall asleep. Aditionally, in the Japanese version, the fairy familiar will sing him a lullaby (she can sing in any chair, in fact.)

Now, what is the purpose of this area, you ask? None. There are no items, weapons, enemies, or anything of use to the player (except for map completion). The devs just created this room to add more life and personality to the game. And this is just one example!

As much as I love this game, though, I do admit that it isn't as perfect as most people make it. It does have its flaws: the game has very bad balancing issues, and the difficulty curve is essentially non-existent.

I never liked the Inverted Castle. Not because it's just the normal castle turned 180º, but because it doesn't feel like it was coherently designed, instead just quickly put together so they could ship the game claiming it to have double the original content (Galamoth was a great addition, though. I might make a post someday on why I love this boss so damn much).

Overall, this game means a lot to me. It pretty much set up my standards and taste with video games, and it made me understand why I enjoy playing them so much. It's a great game that I recommend to pretty much everyone! It's fun and really easy to pick up, taking only about 12-18 hours to beat for the first time, at max.

Also, can we just appreciate Ayami Kojima's wonderful cover art for the game?

And now, for my second most favorite game:

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

My first (and only so far) FromSoft game, and boy did I fall in love with this game.

Well, to begin it, Sekiro has one of the best combat systems I have ever had the honor to experience. It's based primarely on player reaction, testing their ability to counter, parry, and dodge the various attacks thrown at them. Equipped with only one sword (and a few very useful prosthetic appendages), our protagonist Wolf must defeat all sorts of opponents, from respected warriors, shinobis with no honor, animals (yes I did die to a rooster. Twice), the undead, demons, and much more, all so can rescue and avenge his master.

Using your trusted katana, you have the ability to deflect enemy strikes based on your input timing, dropping their guard and allowing for attacks of your own. When fighting enemies in this game, you are not aiming for their health. Instead, you aim for their posture. As you deflect attacks with perfect timing, your enemy will slowy begin to lose posture, and once said posture breaks, you can go for a finisher attack that instantly depletes their whole health bar. It's hella satisfying to pull off. Deflecting attacks poorly can lead to your own posture breaking, though, so paying attention is essential.

There are other aspects to the game's combat, such as Perilous Attacks, which cannot be deflected. To deal with them, you must either dodge, jump, or counter, adding even more danger to a fight and demanding focus from the player. Your prosthetic can also hold a few unique abilities, such as the Firecracker, which helps stunning certain opponents. Wise usage of these Prosthetic Tools will greatly help you on the harder fights.

Oh, and there's a catch: Wolf is no mere shinobi. He was blessed (or rather cursed?) with the power of the Divine Heritage, granting him immortality and the ability to revive from the dead for all of eternity. Gameplay-wise, this means that whenever you die, you'll receive one (or two, sometimes three) chance to revive on the spot at half health, allowing you to properly finish off your opponent. But don't think this makes the game easy! Reviving in the face of a tough boss never means an immediate victory, trust me.

Unlike Dark Souls, which rewards a more defensive playstyle, in Sekiro, the player must be aggressive and constantly take risks to overtake their opponents. Dodging everything and staying away will only drag on the fight and allow the enemy to regain their posture. As a certain character would say, "Hesitation is defeat".

But the amazing combat isn't this game's only strength. Another aspect that I love is how beautiful the game looks. Everything from the lighting, the colors, the gorgeous views, and the very well designed areas come together really nicely, and exploring this rather linear game is an absolute delight.

The battles look graceful, and not just because of the combat system. The special effects look amazing, and add great beauty and danger to every strike. The Divine Dragon's bossfight is the most gorgeous part of the game. It's so cinematic and breath-taking that despite being one of From's easiest bosses, it's easily one of the most memorable ones.

The instrumental soundtrack is really nice, complementing each moment of the game pretty well. The Divine Dragon battle above has one of my tracks in the game.

And as expected, the game is tough as nails (I died like, 50 times at the first mini-boss. The Ogre has no fucking chill). One of the hardest FromSoft games, according to fans. This game demands a lot of the player's attention, skill, and mostly importantly: their knowledge of the game and how everything works. Your first few hours will be very difficult, as you slowly get an grasp on the game. But once you beat Lady Butterfly or Genichiro (two of the game's most important skill checks), everything just clicks and the rest of the game becomes a lot more doable.

Overall, this game was an blast to play, but it may not be for everyone. I recommend it for anyone who likes FromSoft's other titles, as well as for those who enjoy a good challenge. If you want to get into more difficult games, this game is not too bad of a choice, since it's extremely balanced and very skill-based, completely free of bullshit.

Oh well, time for my last but not least favorite!:

Devil May Cry 5

This shouldn't come off as a huge surprise xD

I might have only gotten into this game earlier this year, but the 160 hours I currently have on it speaks more than enough. I LOVE this game and don't plan on dropping it anytime soon!

It's rare for me to hyperfixate on one specific game and play it for hours and hours without tiring like this, and DMC5 is currently my second worst case of this xD (the first one being Castlevania of course, in which I have 100%'d like 4 games :P).

DMC's combat system is simply too much fun. You have lots of moves at your disposal, and using them creatively and with as much style as possible adds so much depth to the game that beating the heck out of demons never stops being fun and rewarding.

It's also very skill-based, adding another layer of satisfaction to everything. Building up the skill to perform a new combo, finally managing to use Royal Guard with consistency, defeating that one difficult enemy/boss with an SSS rank, or just beating the higher difficulties is absolutely worth it. And even if you don't have much skill with the game, nothing is ever stopping you from bullying enemies in your favorite ways.

The dynamic soundtrack fits the combat really well and gives you the right ammount of adrenaline and motivation to slash through hordes and hordes of enemies. Also thank you Capcom for adding the Jukebox. I can finally listen to Devils Never Cry during an actual battle (and not just the DMC3 credits one!)

The characters are another great strength for me. The DMC Crew is so unique and fun to watch, and the Spardas in particular have a lot of depth to them, keeping the mind of fans very busy thinking about them xD.

So yeah, this game is way too fun for my own good, aparently. Never saw such a powerful brainrot coming. Absolutely recommend it to anyone and everyone who likes some good video-gamey time!

And now, time to cast the spotlight to a few games that I love, but not enough to consider them my top 3 favorites:

Honorable Mentions

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow & Dawn of Sorrow

My second favorite CV games. Aria of Sorrow picked everything that was good about SOTN and polished it to perfection, creating one of the best metroidvanias out there. Dawn of Sorrow may not be as good, but it has a very special place in my heart.

Final Fantasy IX

One of my favorite JRPGs ever. This game is so charming, but under it's seemingly light appearance is a great story about the meaning of life, and about coming in terms with your own mortality. The battle system is fun and the music is as good as ever. The characters are wonderful and I cherish them to this day.

Final Fantasy X

One of the best games I have ever played. Of all the (4) Final Fantasy games that I've played so far, this one has the best battle system and some of the best enemy/boss design in the series. Alongside the gameplay, the story is the game's second biggest strength, and it has a very high chance to make you cry. The soundtrack is one of Nobue Uematsu's best works for this franchise, making you feel all sorts of emotions. Can't recommend this game enough.

The Legend of the Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This is the only Zelda game that I've ever played (please don't kill me), but boy is it a good one. The land of Hyrule is vast and very fun to explore. The game has such a relaxing vibe: sometimes I would just ride my horse, let it follow a road automatically, and just chill to the music watching the beautiful landscape. I put 170 hours in this game and didn't even realize it until I beat Ganon xD

Devil May Cry 3

Second favorite DMC game! This game is surprisingly polished for its time, and it barely feels dated at all! I personally prefer DMC3's DMD mode over 5's, as I find it more fleshed out, but it sure is a LOT harder.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

My first Metal Gear game. It may be short and relatively simple in terms of combat depth, but it's a lot of fun, the soundtrack is a BANGER, and the cutscenes are a joy to watch. The memes just never end, do they?

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Quite possibly Kojima's craziest game to date, but also one of the most fun ones! Not as good as MGS3, but there's something about the old-school MGS gameplay that I absolutely adore. Also the dialogue and plot are so batshit insane that you end up enjoying it despite not understanding a single thing xD

Castlevania: Bloodlines

Most underrated CV game ever, and my favorite old-fashioned Castlevania game. It stands up to SCIV, its SNES counterpart, really well. In fact, I personally enjoyed this game's gameplay and level design more than the latter.

(just three more games I promise)

Pokémon: Black and White (and their sequels)

These games are the most fun i've ever had with Pokémon. They're really good. They've got the best plot of any Pokémon game, and the first BW games actually made me question the morality of keeping these creatures and leading them into battles.

The Great Ace Attorney

My favorite Ace Attorney game. Great story with lovely characters. The cases were a lot of fun, and I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes nerd, so it's only natural that this game appealed to me, I guess xD. I still have to play the sequel, tho.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

This game might be technically unfinished, but it has some of the best gameplay in the series. The filler side-missions get repetitive but they're oddly fun to finish. It's my second most played MG game, right behind MGRR.

[opqrstuv04]

Still thinking about Hozier and am currently feeling incredulous about the “fairy goblin gentle bog man” perception so many people have of him. WHERE did that all come from??? Solely from Wasteland, Baby???? Listening back to self titled is insane because nearly all of the songs are overtly or subtextually sexual or political, or both! Take Me to Church goes straight into Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene, there’s a brief upbeat interlude with Someone New but goes right back into it with To Be Alone. It Will Come Back. Foreigner’s God!! The “goblin”est songs off this album as far as I can pick are In a Week and Like Real People Do, and even those are so much richer than -core ing them enables them to be. For 2014 I’d say this is music that borders on gritty and morbid, it’s not designed to be palatable. AND YET!! The complexity of Hozier’s music being boiled down to an easily accessible aesthetic makes me want to 💥💥💥‼️

[eroticcannibal]

People who are cowards about taboo topics are honestly missing out on some peak comedy

[coldhands-sunkeneyes]

Category 5 fall out boy moment

[jumping-jackalope]

HATERS WILL DO ANYTHING TO KEEP ME DOWN.

[greenishness]

Olds has never been comfortable saying definitively, as metaphors do, that something is something else. She ascribes this to her terrifying childhood experience of religion, the idea that blood was wine, that body was bread. To this day, she clings to the comforting distance of that “like.” Blood is like wine, yes; body is like bread, sure — in the same way that a poem is like a real experience but not the thing itself. In the same way that death is like birth, sorrow is like joy, a poet is like a host, an ending is like a beginning. To have a simile brain, as Olds does, is to live in a world of radical interconnection, a world in which nothing stands alone, nothing is ever only itself. And yet everything, in that vast network of mutual meanings, is allowed to remain exactly itself.

Sex, Death, Family: Sharon Olds Is Still Shockingly Intimate by Sam Anderson

[daydreaming-in-daisies]

want by 3oh!3 is a classic album. debate the wall if you disagree.

[unknownarmageddon]

tomorrow is your last one cackles

AND, funnily, tomorrrow is also the last day before i go see hozier

YEAHH let’s fucking go dude