#and if its the last game in the series then im kind of glad for it

[brekkie-e]

Something I have been thinking about is the fact that so much of my issue with elements of Veilgaurd is it's just. Not the sequel I wanted, and in my opinion not the better sequel of many potential options.

The thing about that, though, is that is a bit of a universal truth through the Dragon Age franchise. Dragon Age 2 may be a love-able chaotic and messy game. But it's a very poor sequel to Origins. It was a soft reboot. It removed the best parts of Origins. It took the story in a very specific direction. It was always building to the next point. The beginning and end of Dragon Age 2 is always setting up it's sequel.

Which brings us to Inquisition. I would say it's not as bad of a reset as DA2 was because the previous game atleast clued you in something big was on the horizon. Cassandra needed Hawke to fix something. But Inquisition still pivoted hard. If you were able to accept the narrative reboot and get invested in Hawke, you don't want the Inquisitor. You want to know what the hell is happening with the Kirkwall crew. Hawke seems the person naturally in position to be the hero again, given they were the one Cassandra was seeking. Where the hell is Anders? He began the whole thing, and we're NEVER going to talk about him again? We are deciding the fate of the mage and templar war, but he never makes an appearance? He's not the leader of the rebel mages or an advisor to Fiona or a side quest in the Witchwood where you find him hiding. It all feels off when you take a step back and ask yourself was there a better story in there somewhere? Was there a way to tie the narratives together more tightly? Because there was! Sit with it for five minutes, and you can think of a dozen ways to make the first three games flow together in more satisfying ways.

So Veilgaurd feeling like it lost out on being all that it could be because they aren't pulling in the vast network of qualified people from the Inquisition and Solas's own army is kind of a familiar ache. The game is good. I am enjoying it a lot. I don't love all of it. But I also didn't love the fact that the root of every problem in DA2 was blood magic to a comedic comic book villian degree, or that the pacing of Zevran's romance is all off in DAO. I'm never happy with a Dragon Age game. But letting go of the idea of what the story could have been and accepting what it is- that's just part of the experience I think? The question always remains whether you can accept the changes.

For me, personally, the jury is still out. But Im beginning to lean towards yes. I can get behind it. Enough of it has the bones of what draws me into this series. Am I going to ignore certain lore tweaks and possibly entire plot points in my headcanons and fic with aggression and hostility? Yes. Yes, I will. But I ALREADY do that with Dragon Age. So all this nonsense just feels familiar in the end.

[dr-spectre]

Yo dude. I just wanna say, your love for Callie and Frye is infectious. I haven't been in this fandom for long (haven't played the game bc I'm too cheap for a Nintendo membership lol but GOD do I want to) and your posts gushing over and/or analyzing the idols are a major part of what pulled me in. Common Autism W 🤘 also HELL YEAH TEAM RICE

FOR REAL?!?!?!

I had no idea my ramblings were infectious! I THOUGHT I WAS SOME CRAZY GUY SPURRING OUT NON SENSE WITH MY HYPNO CALLIE AND FRYE STUFF LMAO!!!

Im glad I was able to pull you back into this amazing game franchise and community!!! Splatoon is such an awesome series with a lot to chew on!!! Addictive and fast-paced gameplay, an expansive and ever growing world, phenomenonal music that I will defend with my fucking life!!!, etc.

I hope you stick around for my future ramblings which will inevitably happen down the line nehehehehe. Also I find it interesting how I'm expanding to becoming the Callie AND Frye guy, and you know what? I'll take that! Once Splatoon 4 rolls around, I'm gonna be on HIGH ALERT to see if our baby girl goes down an all too familiar path that Callie and Marina went down on.... And if that happens.... You can expect me to rant about it LOL!

And on one last note, I've been feeling very bad about my autism and thinking it's some kind of curse on me, impacing my social skills and ability to speak... But words like that help realise that's it not a curse. It has its strengths too. So thank you. Seriously, thanks dude.

[fishfroggshasathermos]

(Inanimate Insanity ep 17 rant)(spoilers)what the hell was that episode what the hell was that episode oh my god oh my god ohm ygod SCREAMING

i clicked on it when it was 1 minute out and i SFDLGJBMNVKJFLDR'EJLDFKJG i had to pause like 10 times to just compose myself after everything this series is INSANE its making me INSANE NOW I KNOW WHY ITS CALLED INANIMATE INSANITY OH MYG OD OH MHY GOD WHAT THE HELL

like legit i was watching the new BURNER episode that came out just before i saw this one, and when i saw the crumbling of the show i was thinking to myself that 'geez i cant trust anything after ii' AND LOOK WHAT VID COMES OUT

im so grateful to the ii team for working on such an astounding show such as this, i truly cant believe its gotten this good and this deep. i became a fan when s2 was just starting out, and i have a lot of fond memories binging the series with my friend all throughout gradeschool. now im in highschool and i still love the show. i hope theres going to be more though !!! im really hoping to get a happy ending for all the characters, or at least some more closure if a happy ending is too much to ask for.

haaaaaaa... now that i got my primary freakout out of the way, maybe ill go ahead and talk about what i liked about this episode

such high quality production as always man like II has been really good when it comes to voice acting, animation, sound design, and im glad theyve been keeping it up

THE WRITING IS ACTUALLY SO GOOD NOW TOO LIKE WHEN FAN STARTED PIECING EVERYTHING TOGETHER I WAS LIKE THIS IS REALLY COMING FULL CIRCLE ??? THEY PLANNED THESE TWISTS IT OUT PRETTY WELL i really like that in a story, shows theyve got intention with their themes

and the themes of inanimate insanity oh man!! i really like the direction the object show community has been going on this sort of meta commentary on the show itself, like i saw when i watched ONE, so seeing inanimate insanity go so much deeper now is a treat

in a way animationepic is mephone?? we are mephone?? everyone watching and making this show is getting a kick out of these characters' drama for entertainment and thats what we found out mephone has done to make them in the first place.. of course we as real people dont hold that responsibiity over fake characters. (which is what cobs and mephone think and must have thought too).

its a show about what is real vs what is fake and ultimately seems to be showing us that the relationships you form with others, those friends that you care about, can never really be programmed or faked out. the contestants rebel against the game and cobs because they want to live freely and because they want to protect their friends. its this love for life and others that makes us all human (well might not be the right word in this case hehe).

I FEEL LIKE ALL THE CONTESTANTS' PERSONALITIES WERE SO WELLSHOWCASED IN THIS EPISODE like their reactions felt real and believable for this kind of news, and everyone got a moment even if small (box was in too!!) (i really wonder if that theory i saw about box being a 'killed' contestant is right-- it seems like there wont be enough time to fit that backstory in but if they make that confirmed that would be so hype)

finding out everyone's personalities were pre-written by mephone4 in the last episode was one thing, but actually seeing them scribbled down in writing was so SJDKLA shocking??? it really slapped me with the reminder that mephone was pretty much just a child who was lonely and made his own friends.. his backstory is something i think about a lot i feel pretty bad for him :((( also imagine being the contestants and finding out god is basically a traumatized four year old boy

for some of the contestants, their programmed personalities i expected: cheesy is unserious, goo is inconsistent, salt is a trend setter and pepper is a trend follower. but a bunch of them came as a really big shock to me!!!

i think candle's said 'must be needed'? actually that works for her arc in iii but its still dangg that was embedded into her..

baseball having 'always strikes out' made me sob cuz THATS why he always seemed to come up short, i always had a soft spot for baseball he seemed to try his best but never really got it right.. and now its cuz he was made that way?

AND SILVERSPOON'S????? 'thinks hes worthless' OH MY GOD this guy this one had a lil kick to it

and does anyone feel like suitcase isnt rlly a backstabber cuz i saw mephone4 put that on her paper, and knife calls her that too but when i was watching those episodes her actions felt less like back stabbing and more like standing up for herself, at least in my view. i could actually rant about suitcase for a lot longer because GOSH my girl does not deserve any of this! im a suitcase supporter for life shes genuinely so nice to people even if they arent well-liked if suitcase has 0 fans i am dead! and she did so well this episode, the dynamic and conflict between her and knife is always *chefs kiss*

the plot was plotting this episode, really felt well-paced and tense, it was really fun to watch the scenes keep bouncing between all these groups of characters and i think they balanced the moving parts really well!

the ending. that goddamn ending. mephone taking cobs' hand again. when cobs extended it i just knew in me phone's face that he was going to accept it. hes still pretty much a young child. only a few months (years now ?) old. hes going to follow his creator because thats the one thing hes been taught and commanded to do. he just watched his whole world crumble around him, everything and everyone he made to escape this man and his cruelty, and he's just going to come back. of course he is. what else could he do now? hes got nothing just like cobs said he would. hes just a child and cant do anything right, cant have any friends that stay and are real and are his own. (the themes of abuse are strong in this one OH MAN)

graaaaaahhh

im really only saying good things yall might think im js a glazer but honestly this show deserves to be glazed ON GOD i would rant more but im getting a bit tired maybe ill edit this when my thoughts plague me with more ii visions at night WATCH THE EPISODE (wait actually u probably did if ur at the end of this post) WATCH IT AGAIN

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression-Ep 22, Guest: Morikawa Toshiyuki

(starts with casual baseball talk between J, K, and T while watching the game)

J: Ah! Leader! We already started! The director is waving!

K: Haha, oh yeah.

J: The broadcast already started! There are aready comments coming in! We were too engrossed in the game!

K: We actually have yesterday's game on our screen here. This is the moment where Hiroshima are about to score.

J: Aghh, no! What a terrible time to start the show!

K: Yeah, haha

J: What an awful show, so insensitive! Anyway, Kaoru, please introduce yourself.

K: Yep, This is The Freedom of Expression Live, Im Kaoru from Dir en grey.

J: And I'm Joe Yokomizo.

T: And I'm Tasai from Tokyo Sports

*applause*

J: Yes, so the viewers can't see, but we are watching the game from yesterday on the channel DAZONE, between Hanshin and Hiroshima in the Climax Series. And this is just where Hiroshima score??

K: Yeah

J: But you dont care, right??!

K: Hahaha. What do you mean by that?!

J: *looks at the game* Aghhaghhh! Thats where they scored?!

K: Yeah, see. Its terrible, we might lose!! (*sarcasm - He already knows Hanshin won the game*)

J: Oh, you are awful!

K: Hahaha

J: You know, Kaoru was so happy in the dressing room, I've never seen him so smug!

K: No no...

J: Those were the kind of smiles you would never expect from the Leader of DIR EN GREY!

K: Hahaha

J: You didn't have a care in the world! Anyway, Leader, today is gonna be a kind of celebration special edition for 'THAT', right?

K: Yeah

J: And 'THAT' is...

T: Joe, don't forget about Youtube!

J: Ah, Youtube! We are broadcasting on youtube too! But hey, Youtube viewers! Only half way for you! Do not imagine that you can watch the whole thing on Youtube!

T: Joe, don't make them sad.

J: No, I mean they can see the juicy parts on youtube, and then be lured over to Niconama. Its a sophisticated trap, you see.

K: Well, yeah, right?

J: Yes, but hey, there are a lot of comments coming through on youtube too. You can see their names.

T: Yeah, like "Its the Tigers collab Happi coat!"...Yeah, it is.

J: Ok, Leader, remind everyone again what we are celebrating!

K: Well, the Hanshin Tigers have made it to the Nihon Series.

*loud applause*

J: Congratulations! They made it at last!

K: Ah, I thought this moment would never come....Eh?!

*Morikawa san enters singing the Hanshin Tigers song 'Rokkou Oroshi'*

M: 🎶Rokkou oroshi ni sassou to

souten kakeru nichirin no

seishun no haki uruwashiku

kagayaku waga na zo Hanshin Tigers

Oh oh oh oh Hanshin Tigers

Fure Fure Fure Fure🎶

(※Official Eng lyrics found here.

'Dashing swiftly through the wind blowin’ from Rokko

Like the big sun soaring in the clear blue sky

Mighty spirit of the youth shows the victor’s grace

The name that shines in glory “Hanshin Tigers”

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers

Go, Go, Go, Go!')

Congratulations!

*applause*

J: Incredible! It's today's guest, voice actor Morikawa Toshiyuki!

M: Thank you

J: Your spirits are not dampened!

M: No, really, congratulations.

J: But what are you doing here?!

M: Well, I was hoping that it would be me and Kaoru watching a Hanshin vs DeNA game today. ※T.N-Morikawa is a DeNa(Yokohama) fan.

J: Ahh, now you are in a difficult position!

M: Ah, but really, Hanshin have been so strong this year! We were well and truly beaten.

J: Kaoru, don't you have anything to say to Morikawa san?

K: About Yokohama? Well, last year WE were well and truly beaten by them! We didn't get a single win at their stadium. We couldn't win!

J: Haha, look at Morikawa san's smug face.

M: This was my face last year!

J: Haha, right?!

K: Honestly though, I'm glad we ended up with Hiroshima instead of Yokohama this time. Yokohama would have been scary!

M: Yeah, I can understand what you mean. Actually, I told Coach Miura(Coach/manager of DeNA) that I was coming on this show..

J, T, K: Ehhh?!

M: I said, 'I'm going on Kaoru from Dir en grey's show to undergo public execution...

J, K, T: Hahaha

M: Anyway, he told me to make sure to talk a lot about the greatness of Yokohama.

J: I see, I see...Uhh, we're gonna be kinda celebrating later though...

T: Joe, don't say that to our guest!

M: Hahaha

J: But hey, you've written a lot down for us to use later on, right??!

M: Yes, but why don't you explain the connecton between myself and Kaoru.

J: Oh, of course, the connection is that Morikawa san provided the narration for the Dir en grey interview special that was broadcast on WOWOW last month!

*applause*

K: Thank you!

M: Oh, no, it was my pleasure.

J: By the way, the WOWOW interview special will actually be broadcast again tonight at 2:45am...

K: Oh, great timing!

J: Right?! So everyone, please check it out. Anyway, because of this connection, here we are with Yokohama fan Morikawa for this Hanshin crelebratory special!!

T: Look at that comment! "All my fave people in a row, I'm about to have a heart attack!"

J: Ahh, wow. Hey, by the way, how did you two come around to this idea of baseball talk?

M: Well, this is actually the first time we've met.

J: Really?!

K: Yeah

J: Well, Yokohama were doing better last year, now its maybe a bit of a tougher position for you, but you are just here for your team, right?

M: Yes

J: So, just say whatever you like.

M: Haha, I'll try my best.

J: Ok, the notifications. We are always asking for comments and messages from viewers. Anything is ok, thoughts, suggestions, requests, anything. People using X, formerly Twitter, can use the hastag TFOE to contact us. Anyone can watch the first half of the show for free, but you need to be a member to watch to the end. If you become a member, you can watch these broadcasts in the archives for one year, and also enjoy members only videos. So please use the link at the top if your screen to join, Leader, point to it please, and enjoy the show to the end. Ok, lets just take this moment to properly introduce Morikawa san. Tasai san, could you?

T: Well, he needs no introduction, I'm sure you all know him, but he has had a career in voice acting spanning 40 years! He has worked in anime, narration, dubbing for foreign movies...He is even known as the king of BL anime. In anime he had voiced Ubuyashiki Kagaya in Demon Slayer, Takumi in NANA, Nick in Zootopia, the second voice for Nohara Hiroshi in Crayon Shin-chan, and so many more that its impossible to count them! For foreign movies, he has voiced the dubs for Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, for Keanu Reeves...I mean, even just those two are exciting enough! And if you go to Disney Sea, you will also hear Morikawa san's voice in certain areas of the park too.

J: Ah, incredible! Well, it would be great to hear some stories from the world of voice acting from you, but for the main part I wanna try and stick to baseball talk.

M: Hanshin talk, right? Hanshin winning, right?

J: Yeah, hey by the way, speakIng of your work, are you actually in a band too?

M: Oh yeah, kinda. Its like a vocal unit with fellow voice actor Tachiki Fumihiko san. He has quite a husky voice. So its him and me, and we are called '2Hearts'. But both of us tend to have a really busy VA schedules, so its actually a miracle if ever our schedules coincide...in one sense we are a miracle pairing, haha.

J, K, T: Hahaha

M: I'm hoping we can actually do more with that.

J: You did the narration for Dir en grey's interview special, so that must mean you were aware of Dir en grey?

M: Of course, I knew of them. But I'm quite seperated from the music world in general, so since I was asked to do the narration, I've done a bit of checking online, sorry!

K: No, no

M: But I thought you guys were really cool! As for rock, I like hard rock most. I LOVE Guns and Roses, I used to listen to nothing else! Years ago when I went to LA, I went to see them in West Hollywood in this venue called Troubadour. Its a really old place, The Doors, and Jim Morrison etc have played there before. Anyway, I was able to join them on stage! I'm just a VA, but I told them I was an artist, and they let me sing! I love them so much. There's also the venue called Whisky a go go, right? Thet let me on stage there too!

T: Did you sing there??

M: No, I didn't sing there, just went onstage.

J: On this topic, do you have any questions for Kaoru about the music world?

M: Well, you've come so far with one band, but don't the members ever feel like going in different directions? Haven't they changed their outlook since starting the band?

K: Hmm, yeah. Well, things do come up sometimes which we have to discuss and work out, but generally yeah, we haven't changed all that much. No one has ever really directly said, 'We need to do this!' or ' We need to go like this!' or that kind of thing. Someone might say something like, 'I'd like to do something like this for the next album', but no one has ever actually tried to force the band a certain way.

M: Ahh, but still, to continue on like this...the members must all be of the same feeling.

J: Isnt it kinda like family, being in a band?

K: If it were like family, wouldn't you eventually wanna leave though?

J: Ah, ok, yes. If you are with them constantly, you wanna leave home..

M: Like, 'I'm leaving home!' haha

K: Yeah, hahaha.

J: Hey, a comment just came in saying Morikawa san's songs are also really cool! Is it that you were having musical differences with the partner in your vocal unit?

M: No, no, its simply that both our schedules are too busy.

J: I see, ok, haha. Lets just leave it at that. Uh, so I'd like us to focus on baseball if we can. Yokohama didn't do so well this year, but Morikawa san, how long have you actually been a fan of Yokohama.

M: Oh, I've been going to watch them for as long as I can remember, my parents would take me...as Yokohama fans. Well, the team are the Yokohama DeNA Baystarts now, but back then they were called the Yokohama Taiyou Whales.

J: Ahhh yes! The first baseball hat I ever bought was a Yokohama Taiyou Whales hat! I liked that player, John Sipin!

M: Then why did you become a Hanshin fan??

J: No, no, this is just for this show!

M, K, T: Hahaha

J: I honestly know nothing about baseball though.

K: Surely you never wore that?!

J: No, I did in elementary school. There wasn't anything else going on in those days, there wasn't pro-soccer, or anything like that.

M: But to wear a Taiyou baseball hat then, that was ahead if its time!

J: Yes! The orange and green, right?! It was a forerunner, right? You would get bullied just for wearing it!

K, M, T: Hahah

M: Anyway, since that time I've been going to the Kawasaki stadium, and also the Meiji Jingu stadium. Actually, back then the stands in the Jingu stadium were all just earth/soil. I used to be always sat with my back to the game digging holes in the mud, and the Taiyou players would get mad at me.

K, J, T: Hahaha

M: Like, 'Oi, start supporting us!!'. There were that few people there, that the players would shout over to me for more support!

J: Haha, so empty! You couldn't even get away with taking your eyes off the game?

M: Right!

J: Conversely, the players should have been focussing on what they were doing! Nevermind looking at you!

M: Haha, yeah. So since then we have gone a looong time without any major wins.

J: From my point of view, its seems like Hanshin and Yokohama are both the same kinda 'often losing' team.

K: Thats right.

M: Hanshin have been Japan champions once before, right?

K: Yes

J: What about Yokohama?

M: Twice! Twice! hahaha.

J: Omg, no fair! The Giants and such are always winning!

M: The fist time Yokohama won was in the 1960s.

J: What?! The same era as the Vietnam war?! What are you saying? Don't you have anything more recent to celebrate??

K: Haha

M: Well, they won again more recently in 1998.

T: The Machine Gun lineup?

M: Yes, thats right. So I took a day off work then, and celebrated with them from the stands.

J: Ah, you were there? So you understand how Kaoru feela now?

M: Yes, I do. But for Kaoru, the real fight starts from here, right? You are aiming for No.1 in Japan, right?

K: Yeah

M: So if it all goes smoothly, Hanshin will be number 1, they will enjoy celebrating, and then by next season they can return back to the lower levels to cool off....

K: Hahaha

J: Ah, harsh! Next year will be the Baystars' year?

M: I hope so!

J: Thats harsh, pulling Hanshin down off their pedestal like that!

K: Haha

J: Morikawa san, I like your character!

M: No, but you know, once the players reach their goal of becoming No.1 in Japan, they have a lot going on. They will have their celebratory trip, they will be pampered in all their interviews...

J: They will appear on tv shows too.

M: Yes, so following all this, its back to the grind.

J: By the way, Kaoru, we will talk more about this in the second part, but did you think the Baystars were strong this year?

K:. Yeah, but Hanshin were stronger. haha. Last year we were totally beaten by them though.

M: Yeah, but since Okada became the manager of Hanshin, they've really transformed.

K: Our opening match this season was with Yokohama, and we had a good start straight away, so I was excited about that.

J: You thought it might happen?

K: Yeah, oh, also, last year and the year before, Yakult came out top in the Central league, but this year they were in 5th place. So its like Morikawa san said, about slumping after you win.

M: Yeah, Yalkult's slogan this year is 'Ok, lets go'...

J,K,T: Hahaha

M: Go where???

J: It sounds like to just go shopping or something, haha.

M: So you can really tell where they're at now by looking at their slogan.

T: What was Yokohama's slogan this year?

M: It was, 'Yokohama Challenge'.

J: Oh, Challenge is a good word. What was Hanshin's slogan again?

K: THAT (アレ/A.R.E)

J: Oh, thats what THAT was?? I didn't realise that was the slogan!!

K: Hahaha

J: They won with that slogan?? Maybe I should make THAT my life motto!...Ok, I think we still have a bit more time on the free section....Yes, I finally understand what THAT means. But Hanshin have had a lot of different managers before, right? This year's manager, Okada, if you even just look at his face, he is shocking.

T: Joe, don't say that.

K: He has a serious look.

J: He does! What do you think is good about him?

K: Well, he believes in the team. He was saying, Why couldn't the team win last year, even with this great lineup?? So he is just making most of the team.

J: Morikawa san, what do you think it is that has made Okada lead the team to victory?

M: He is unwavering. Since he started the role...There was one time this season where, what was it again? That thing with one of the other directors about changing the pitcher. I really thought he was determined when I saw that. He envisions the future victory over the of situation right in front of him. Some fans and other people were questioning his decisions previously, but now they don't really. I think maybe he is also a bit difficult to approach. For those young player, he is too much of a legend, there is quite a distance between them. I think thats a good thing. Like, even if he gets too serious...

J: He has a kind of dignity about him, or a kind of simultaneous dignity and foolishness.

K: Yeah, so he doesn't even have to say things directly.

J: Really? I see. Is it also that he prioritizes the team as a whole over individual players skills, and that mindset has then permeated the team?

M: Yes, there is an element of that.

T: Tasai, whats your opinion?

T: Well, just as the others have said, but also, if you look at the Pacific league, teams like Orix and Lotte are always changing up their batting order, they don't really play baseball with a fixed shape, wheres Hanshin are really playing and winning 'proper' baseball, by keeping a solid team each time.

K: They havnt really changed up their order at all since starting the season.

J: Oh, is that unusual?

K: Well, it used to be the norm, but teams change up their order more often these days.

J: Oh, look at the screen! Its showing footage from 1985.

K: This was the year Hanshin got to No.1 in Japan.

M: Okada was a player then, right?

K: Yes, he was.

J: I'm not entirely sure if my memory serves me right, but was that also when Kakefu san and Bass san were in the team.

K: Yes, yes. Thats when Colonel Sanders was thrown into the river.

J: Oh, that was then?! Osaka people are crazy!

K, T, M: Hahaha

J: Why on earth did they throw Colonel Sanders into the river??

K: Cause it looks like Bass!

J: Really?? They need their brains checking! I don't understand that at all, haha. I didn't know it was thrown in because it looked like Bass. Ahhh. If you compare 1985 to this year, how are they different?

K: Oh, they are totally different.

M: The style of baseball is different too.

J: Ok, please explain, I'm sure there are many viewers like me who know nothing. How is the style different?

K: There used to be...what was it called, the lucky zone. It made it easier to get home runs, if your hit landed in there. It was like a fence, slightly inward from the wall.

M: In high school baseball too, the lucky zone became kinda like a bullpen.

J: Oh I see. But now it doesn't exist?

K: No, it used to be easier to get a home run.

J: Ahh, I see. Well, I suppose the game changes as technology advances. And the pitchers must be throwing different balls too.

K: Yeah, their throwing speed is much faster.

J: How fast can they throw?

T: They can easily throw at 150km these day.

J: Wow, thats amazing, I didn't know that. I gave up watching baseball a long time ago, but I'm giving my all with it just for today.

T: Actually, I have a question for Morikawa san...What would you say was the one thing the Baystars were missing this year, which would have helped them win? From the fans' perspective.

J: Ahh, thats a tough question! Don't we need alcohol yet?

M: No, its ok. Well, before the season started, all the fans agreed that the lineup we had ready was going to give us the best chance to win. But the reality was that after the season started, the conditions of each individual player didn't combine to make the team we had hoped for. It wasnt the right balance, and of course Yamazaki etc were unwell. And then there was Soto, he joined the team midway during corona, and he was here from the start of the season this year. But he somehow didn't excel. A lot of the players who we had placed high expectations on didn't quite fullfill their potential. They couldn't keep the batting line connected. The pitchers did a god job, but their fatigue started to show in the later stages. While we were busy trying to figure out how to retain a good balance, Hanshin just shot off into the lead.

K: But at one point Yokohama did catch up so there was one one game between us.

M: Yeah, that was our peak, haha. We thought we were on a roll then, we we actually just sunk straight down after that.

K: I had thought that might be the end for Hanshin.

J: Weren't you pretty happy in the early stages??

K: No, no. As I said before, I couldn't trust the team. I thought our only future was to start losing.

M: As for the balance between the six teams, Chunichi just couldn't win. All the other five teams were determined not to lose against them.

J: If you lost against them you were hopeless?

M: Yes, and then Yakult found themselves falling.

T: And then The Giants suffered bit.

M: Oh, 10 in a row, right?

J: Morikawa san, no wonder you have no time for your band activity, you are too busy watching baseball!

M: Haha, no I watch it at night, I record the games and watch them later.

J: Ahh, you really love it though. Ok, so we are at about 30 mins now, so we have come to the end of the first part of the show. When we start the second part we will do Kanpai, and get straight into the party to celebrate..is it the Central league win?

M: No, the CS (Climax Series) win.

J: Ah, ok. So ever, please have a drink ready to join us for that. That will make it a bit more exciting for those of you like me who know nothing about baseball. So, everyone please become a member. Let me explain how it works. The second part of this show is for members only, so you have to be a channel member if you want to watch to the end. If you join, you can watch this broadcast in the archives for a year, and you will also get an extra members only video in the coming days. We challenge ourselves to all sorts in these extra videos so please 'Check It Out!'. Ok, How to join! There should be a blue link at the top of your screens now. Leader is pointing to it. Please use this link to joIn. Also, thank you to everyone who has been watching on youtube. We will continuing on Niconama, so please use the link in the discription to jump over to niconama. Ok, here's how to pay for membership. If you click the blue link, you will get a page asking you to choose your method of payment. Choose your preferred method, click proceed, enter your details, and thats it. If you have yet to join, please do so to enjoy the rest of the show. So, Morikawa san, do you have ny announcements?

M: Announcements? Not Yokohama related? Haha. Well, I'm currently featuring in a movie showing nationwide, called The Creator. I'm doing the voiceover for Ken Watanabe for some reason.

K: Wow!

M: So please check it out in theaters. I'm Ken Watanabe!

T: Thats interesting, haha.

J: How many actors have you provided voice-overs for so far?

M: I've never counted, you count them.

J: Not like 100?

M: Oh no..

T: Its more like 10,000.

K: You know, Ken Watanabe is also a Hanshin fan.

J: Morikawa san, how far are you gonna stray into away territory?!

M: Very, haha.

J: I feel for you wearing that shirt.

M: Actually, yesterday, I mean this morning, I was speaking to Mizuki Nana, who sung the naitonal anthem and Rokko Oroshi at the first game of the Climax series. She was telling me she was trembling, singing the national anthem at such an important game before the whole stadium. Anyway, thats a bit of trivia for you.

J: Really?

K: It was our first time hosting a CS final at Koshien too.

J: Oh, I see. Hey, how about Dir en grey doing that?

K: Doing what??

J: Singing the national anthem.

K: Who would sing it??

J: I don't know...You could, Kaoru!

K: Haha, no way.

J: You can do it Kaoru! We'll be supporting you!! Anyway, Kaoru, any announcements?

K: Uh, the tour starts from next month, so please check it out.

J: How are preparations going?

K: Getting there.

J: Oh good. Haha, yeh, someone commented 'Metal growl opening ceremony'. Anyway, please check out the tour if you can. We will have a quick break here while we change over to the members only content with more from Morikawa san, so wait right there. Back soon! 'I became a member!' Thank youuu!

[oshidorifuufu]

psst you are given permission to rant about your oshis in the answer to this ask!!!! (*´∀｀*) i wanna hear all about them!!!!!

THANK YOU SM I LOVE YOUU💖💖💖💖

I LOVE IZURU SO MUCH. IF YOU LOOK AT MY HAPPY TAG I THINK MOST IF NOT ALL THE POSTS R ABOUT IZURU 😭

hes cute, hes entertaining, he’s adorable, HIS ENGLISH is adorable, HES SO GOOD AT GUITAR!!!! AND SINGING!!! HIS AISHITE COVER OMG!!! AND I WANT HIS GOODS SO BAD!!!! HES INSPIRED ME TO PICK UP THE GUITAR AGAIN!!! and im so HAPPY because my guitar looks similar to the guitar in his model 🥺🥺

THIS HAD GOT TO BE ONE OF MY FAV IZURU CLIPS!!! HES SO CUTE!!!! https://youtu.be/wpK7_mhSMBo?si=lCmerRYcasUMeF7T (hakka english one)

OTHER FUN ONES: https://youtu.be/xN7qz89gSgw?si=Q67ns5T3kFj0modd , https://youtu.be/nUZZ5ylrU44?si=Tf-chkNQnNdQMkjk

AS I WRITE THIS i am listening to this song on loop https://youtu.be/PQyXsCV5ZWQ?si=RxLzwNRSDVf6vnFS LEARNING ABOUT THIS SONG WAS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME ALL YEAR AND YOU NEED TO HEAR IT TOO

in general its not JUST izuru that i love. I LOVE ALL THE HOLOSTARS!!!!! HANASAKI MIYABI IS MY OSHI TOO AND ASTEL LEDA AND KISHIDO TENMA MIGHT BECOME OSHI’S TOO!! AFGH BUT I ALSO LOVE ROBERU!! THIS SONG CHEERS ME UP SO MUCH ITS GOTTEN ME OUT OF DEPRESSIVE RUTS I!!! LOVE!!! IT!!!!!!!

(this roberu clip is so cute hehe) https://youtu.be/C5mH835w0LY?si=9niBq8V1enujoer7

WAHHHHHH IZURUS PART CAME ON IN THE SONG I LOVE HIM I LOVECHIM ITS SO GOOD WAHHH

RN IZURU IS MY KAMI OSHI AS YOU CAN PROBABLY TELL. BUT THE OTHERS R HOLOSTARS IN GENERAL, HANASAKI MIYABI, KANAE AND MEME MASHIRO!!!!!!!

HANASAKI MIYABI IS SO ADORABLE AND THIS MAY SOUND MEAN BUT I FIND THE FACT HES NOT THE BEST AS SINGING SO ADORABLE 😭 HES SUCH AN ADORABLE LITTLE FLOWER BOY!!!!!!!!! I WANNA BE AS CUTE AS HIMMM 😭 AND HIS 出かけよう SERIES IS SO FUN TO WATCH!! ITS GOT PRETTY SIMPLE JAPANESE AND THE EDITING IS SO CUTEE EHAHAHHEHAHAH

NEXT IS KANAE!!! KANAE ISNT FROM HOLOLIVE BUT NIJISANJI. (why am i talking in all caps oopsies???) HES SUPER MISCHEVIOUS BUT ALSO SUPER KIND!!!! AND FUNNY!!!!! ESPECIALLY IN CHRONIOR ALONGSIDE KUZUHA!!!!

MY FAV KNAE CLIPS/VIDEOS:

https://youtu.be/l7lfYjVRz6A?si=sP7qDRgI5pG2tqLv , https://youtu.be/N5TkXb9F4dQ?si=fg3ciRwAEm1hRjTc , https://youtu.be/kXyzE01wtIE?si=W1NZ5gF7eKj8ic61

I WATCHED A STREAM HIM LIKE LAST MONTH THAT WAS FUCKING 18 HOURS LONG!!!!! FROM SM LIKE 6PM TO 12PM JPN TIME!!!! KANAE IS CRAZY COMMITED LIKE 😭 THERE WERE PPL HAVING DINNER, GOING TO BED, WAKING UP, EATING BREAKFAST, GOING TO WORK, TAKING THEIR LUNCH BREAK AND BRO WAS STILL STREAMINGFG?????

i was so glad to be there live…

IN THE SECOND CLIP SPECIFICALLY, I WAS SO SURPRISED THAT HE COULD JUST DRIVE OFF LIKE THAT 😭 it probably sounds weird but i always find myself clinging to people on online games like that!?!??!? i get so upset if they leave me -w- is that a bpd thing or me just being weird

HES SO CHILL AND NORMAL AND FUNNY AND WHAAA??? I WANNA BE LIKE HIM!!!! (except im too mentally ill for that)

I HAVE SO MUCH FANART OF HIM SAVED ON PINTEREST,,,,,,,,,

OK NEXT IS MEME MASHIRO!!!! HES ALSO FROM NIJISANJI!!!!

THIS GUY HAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE COVERS OF ALL TIME THAT EVERYONE WHO CARES ABOUT LISTENING TO GOOD MUSIC NEEDS TO LISTEN TO: https://youtu.be/m79OrSy03rs?si=LCjVTRqUymGs50R0

HIS LORE IS BASED OFF THIS SONG!! and even outside of his lore, he actually has a pretty depressing background, he’s talked somewhat abt his toxic family, being bullied by teachers, etcetc, which makes him feel really real and relatable. im so happy that he gets to be happy doing this now!!! >_<

he mostly does horror streams!! even tho i cant handle horror they’re pretty fun hehe

TUMBLR WONT LET ME POST ANY MORE VIDEO LINKS BUT I WILL REBLOG THIS AND FOLLOW UP

ONE OF MY FAV MASHIRO CLIPS ^

im kind of hyperfixated on these guys rn especially holostars >_< they make me so happy and i will absolutely fucking BAWL my eyes out whenever any of them inevitably graduate (quit streaming)

[wild-until-we-are-free]

listen narratively it makes sense for limited life to be the last season of the life series. hear me out!

for one thing, it provided a satisfying end to several character arcs. martyn finally won due to betraying his ally, sure, but he also won wearing the dogwarts flag. he’s never fully let go of his alliance with ren throughout the series, so for him to finally win (while wearing the flag from the very first season that represented his and ren’s alliance (AND in the season where ren wasn’t there)) could put that arc to rest

also, whatever was going on with martyn and his watcher lore (i wish i knew more but i actually have watched very little of martyn’s pov) could have been resolved nicely with martyn finally winning the series.

the parallels between third and limited life were also very satisfying. grian falling to his final death, the callback to flower husbands, etc. and obviously the finale was very reminiscent of the third life finale right up until it wasn’t, making it a satisfying finale in my opinion

for another thing, the way that limited life had a set ending could provide a nice ending to the series. in previous seasons, we’ve had no idea how long the season would last. in limited life, there was a countdown and once it hit 0, it was over. that kind of final ending could work well for a series finale

there are other reasons too. i don’t remember where i first read it but i love the idea of the four seasons of the show actually being the four season. third life as fall (“red winter is coming” and all that), last life as winter (all the death i guess?), double life as spring (something something new life and love), and limited life as summer (with the beach vibes ofc). obviously there are other interpretations for the seasons too, or you don’t have to like that at all, but you have to admit that four seasons is a nice round number.

plus you’ve got the cool rhyme! the sun, the stars, the moon, and mars! (i mean, i love that we never really settled on a symbol for martyn and i think that in and of itself represents his character really well, but the rhyme is admittedly very nice)

also (spoilers for session 6 of secret life is you’re behind!), secret life has sort of broken a lot of precedents, what with the inclusion of the secret keeper and the canary curse being broken and such. i personally adore this but it does break the cycle of the games to some extent. the canary curse, for example, is broken but isn’t given a satisfying ending. jimmy doesn’t die first, sure, but he dies within like 10 minutes of lizzie’s death. if it were a scripted series, i’d say this season was setting up a new arc. on its own, it can’t be a satisfying ending (i mean, as far as i know. session 8 isn’t out yet, maybe it will surprise me)

at the end of the day tho, who cares! third life on its own has a fairly satisfying ending! double life could’ve also resolved several important arcs in a meaningful way! i wrote this analysis on three hours of sleep!

for as much as i’ve talked about how limited life should’ve been the ending, I actually love secret life. it’s my favorite season and im so glad they didn’t end it with limited life. i just have too many thoughts about the narrative in an unscripted series haha

anyway who’s excited for session 8 tomorrow!

[crushingcasanova]

that sounds so lovely!! i adore ice cream, it's my favorite dessert. and the park, too!!!! ive been craving a park day, maybe a little picnic too

im currently reading a danmei.. erha. i probably shouldnt be subjecting myself to such an angsty series, but! its okay, im enjoying it so far! i read the full first novel in two days last week, actually.. im an avid reader

and gaming will be so fun! um. maybe one day we could play together? i miss people wanting to play with me

also, youre so so sweet to me, lovey. i appreciate it so much, please know that the sentiment is returned and im always here if you want or need

-🫧

Ice cream is so good... what flavors do you like? I've been wanting ice cream for so long,,, I can't wait to get some today! And a picnic would be so cute, I've always wanted to go on a picnic date. I've never really done one, though, but I think it would be nice!

As long as you're enjoying it, that's fun! I'm kinda bad with angst stuff sometimes though, I admit,,, I was a very avid reader when I was young and I still love to read, but I don't really have many books that interest me anymore. It's impressive that you read so quickly, I guess we have that in common! I looked up what a danmei is, it seems pretty cool, so I'm glad you enjoy it!

It would be super nice to play together, if you'd like! I've got a pretty good reputation on being the minecraft housewife, and I've got some new house designs I'd love to try. I agree, playing with people is so nice, it's kind of hard to game alone sometimes. That was me the other day playing silly roblox games.... I ended up designing a cake in a bake off game and winning 1st place, but it was lonely!

I'll keep that in mind, dearie! You flatter me, I'm merely treating you with the kindness you deserve!

[gen4grl]

Wheeze, here we are at long last before I have to go into College/Life lockdown again. You won't believe how much can happen in a month and the huge projects that lie ahead, but anyways! - It's cool how you have a PHD in Silver Handling. The closest acronym I could get for that was calling it a Psy.D (precarious Silver yeeting doctorate LOL) anyways you're so right, good analytic potential AND its interesting that it's him being Giovanni's son that you point out. I like that bit too, and I'd love to hear what about it makes it so dope to you :D - Twitter is the trenches </3 glad you like it here more :3 tumblr is THE place for neurodivergent folks like us and HARD AGREE on reading game dialogue. its my favorite lore hunting technique. I cannot fight Gyms until every inch of that city has been explored. - Literally bouncing up at down at the mental imagery of Leaf sitting at a blocky computer with Bill. I can just vaguellyyyy reach out to that era through memory, of idk, images, did I ever see them in person? in dreams? all I know is that even in the early 20s the age of dial-up phones wasn't instantly forgotten. maybe at someone's house. but there is SO much 90s to project there and it can be so enjoyable. nostalgia + growing up + that one era that is more romanticized in retro aesthetic and the social culture bc that's how the neighbors eldest daughters grew up and how do we, in modern times, achieve that? - if it's controversial, nobody's yapping about it when it comes to other characters lol. Leaf is pretty consistent if you keep an open mind so taking from other media 100% makes sense. I do it too :P oooh Silver and Leaf meeting on 5 island I love that!! aw man, with the Rocket base and that Scientist I'm just full of giggling here. Pff, Archer is going to get his butt kicked by the boss's son's friend HA tfw the same kids you see running around take down TR - oh I like how you bring the environment and economy into it, solid reasoning for moving + Pallet connects to the ocean that leads to Cinnabar, no? but yeah :D great customer base, little homey place but close to Viridian and the Indigo Plateau as well, plenty of people stopping by! omg Leaf coming from the hair sprouts 😭 oh that's clever I like it! - really enamored with the Bill + Leaf aspects of your story, it's just really speaking to some deep corner of my soul's memory. im so stoked somebody else likes this haha my Leaf is a bit more politically motivated (at least in one universe lol, bc it's the anime which is an utter disaster and she wants to be Champion to clean house and heal the economy) but also someone oughta do something bc Lance is working like 5 different jobs 😭 also, I can imagine with most of your HCs centered around character relationships they might feel like a hard sell compared to cold facts and I 100% feel you. so much of my fic is just character dynamics nobody else would get it LOL. but I'm honored you have so much you'd want to yap about it. fully encourage and love yapisodes - I looked at your Silver post and you said it's only if you're playing as Red but good news, Scientist Gideon STILL asks that if you play as Leaf. He says "Giovanni's kid" not his son :D - at the time you asked that, I was writing 6.1k of a chapter for another fandom, but lately I've had Leaf on the brain again and rlly want to get a solid outline for that series going. <-- the kind of yapping better suited for DMs lol. yess, love seeing how the Pokemon world is connected in media. utterly obsessed with Gen/Evo Specials, you can imagine the cheering when Silver's episode dropped 7 years ago he's so <3 <3 <3 if you like Silver + Leaf sibs then you feel like someone I can smuggle into Dad Lance city that doesn't leave her out, but hey. oldest daughter problems maybe if we incorporate the tendency to focus on Kris/Lyra/Ethan and thanks to Masters, LILLIE?!?!? <-- understand Johto kids but LILLIE???? and every time I see Lance with Red/Blue I'm like "aight, so I gotta fill this vacancy myself"

helllloooo first of all i want to say sorry for taking so long to get to this😭 my last couple months have been a mess and i’ve been dealing with annoying health issues (in every way). i apologise if this reply isn’t as long or thorough as usual🤧

i think what i like about the silver giovanni connection so much is how well it connects johto + kanto story wise. johto to me is still a very undeveloped and lowkey forgotten region unfortunately but silvers character is easily the shining part of the region. i also think it’s cool how he’s also connected to red (or leaf) due to the whole reason giovanni abandoning him being because of red/leaf’s defeat of team rocket, ultimately crushing his ego lol - just one big butterfly effect that i thoroughly enjoy :p and as stated in my post, i like despite how hard he tried not to be, silver was quite similar to his dad until the events of the the johto story. seeing his growth makes me so happy 🤧🤧🤧✨

lmao talking of reading game dialogue … the offical pokemon twitter account made this post for fathers day (i think…? my fathers day isn’t till september 🤷🏻‍♀️)

and the amount of people in the comments literally suprised gave me a stroke like??? lacey being clays daughter is explicitly stated LOL pokemon fans never cease to amaze me 😭😭😭

you’ve really got me thinking about kantrio in the 90s now LOL. i can see them all tryna message eachother on some aol type site and someone’s dial up cutting totally ruining their convos - most likely blue cause daisy wants to talk on the phone to bill or something … hmmm… ideas are brewing!!!! actually to sound old my family had dial up till 2009… insane😭😭 i used to get so mad at my mumma using the phone cause i just wanted to play club penguin LOL - oh and thx u for the compliment on the leaf + bill dynamic <3 bill is one of those random ass side characters that still is so iconic … i have so many hc’s for him too LOL no character can escape my headcanons

oh and i am the minister at the dad lance church!!! i’ve always seen him as not just a mentor to silver but the other johto kids and definitely the kanto trio before they grew up - that saying i still think as adults they turn to him alot since … half of them don’t have dads (both in canon and my hc LOL). i think as adults, the kantrio definitely have a more friend based relationship with him but as kids he definitely helped them through the spotlight that was put on them at such a young age.

ehghhh i very much apologise for this reply, my brain feels very disconnected from my body today and i feel like this hot mess of a reply shows LOL. again, i really apologise for the late reply. i wish you the best of luck with ur studies and writing ✨✨✨🩷🩷🩷

[morphogenetic]

Mediaposting 2024, #11: Professor Layton and the Last Specter

Completed: June 16th, 2024

Time to Complete: 19 hours, 55 minutes (~20 hours, basically)

alright, I have to be honest here. i've never really been a huge layton fan. i actually did like curious village quite a bit - and it held up when i replayed it, so i know it wasn't just from nostalgia - but diabolical box was a bit of a mess. i did actually like plvsaa but it was more for the AA part and less for the PL part (though it was funny how most of the story is just them doing curious village again). and then. uh. unwound future definitely does some cool things but unwriting and then rewriting its own plot twist to be non-canon/canon again kind of turned me off. it's not even just the plots being buckwild as hell.

however. oh my god. last specter is just. bad. rest of this is under the cut because i dont want to make people mad who actually like this game but the TL;DR is that emmy is good but this game is bad in a boring, lazy writing way and not even in a FUN way which has made it the most painful of the layton games for me to get through up to this point.

the puzzle difficulty balance is off, for one thing - i would say 10% of the puzzles at MOST feel adequately difficulty balanced, and the rest are either way too easy, have instructions so poorly written that I needed to check a guide to make sure i even understood what they were asking me, or they were hard as fuck for no reason. it feels like they get worse and worse with this with every layton game and im PRAYING that miracle mask does not get worse about this because i need to finish this series and i don't think i could handle another group of puzzles like this.

also......i know layton plots are buckwild but this one both a) drags too long and b) is SO LAZILY WRITTEN. every single twist is either fucking blatantly obvious or they made 0 effort to even foreshadow it at all (LOCH NESS MONSTER RIPOFF IM LOOKING AT YOU). it feels like they genuinely did not even write a story for this until AFTER they made everything else, which i know can't actually be true because story-focused games like this aren't written like that, but........man. dude. this is not a good video game. there was absolutely no reason it needed to be 20 fucking hours long. i think they could have cut the story of this one down SIGNIFICANTLY, and/or spent more time on actua

really, the only good thing i can say about this game is that emmy is great and i like her a lot. i'm glad she doesn't get relegated to useless girl who gets kidnapped like flora (unforunately.....) does so, so much. it does annoy me that her entire backstory is in those little bonus story things - side note, why did they not INTEGRATE THOSE WITH THE FUCKING GAME - but it could be worse. would like to know more about her but at least she has a fun dynamic with layton and luke.

praying that miracle mask is better because guys i NEED a more interesting plot than this. even if it's layton insanity. because this one didnt even COMMIT to being insane enough it just felt very dull and gray and like a waste of my fucking time

[the-kipsabian]

just throwing together some misc alan wake 2 thoughts now that ive slept and had coffee after finishing the game. mostly talking end game, obviously spoilers

alice. alice intrigues me so much. that final stinger is incredible, for multiple reasons. that reveal following the series of photos of her seemingly killing herself is just.. yeah. i think that was not only her way of trying to getting back to alan, who she knew was trapped in the dark place at the bottom of the lake, but it was also to throw scratch off, to think that he won by tormenting her to her death. theres no light flickers in the background of that final video. she is free of scratch, but still clearly safe. maybe back in the dark place, but tbh im not sure if she ever actually escaped it in the first place. shes going to leave the place with alan. she has to, because they are each others rocks. they sink or swim together (it would also explain why she was able to contact saga while she was in the dark place)

speaking of saga, her mind place version of the dark place was just *chefs kiss*. it was an incredible, worked really well to demonstrate not only the power the dark place has on people, but also what kind of a character she really is. strong and independent, but so good to those around her. i really wish we got deeper into her friend and partnership with casey tbh, after hearing about his divorce (which, btw, loved the extremely casual drop about him and estevez just "bonding over their ex wives". amazing job remedy) and especially seeing the birthday photo in the mind place just. my heart. i really wish we got more casey in general, but i guess him being included in the story beats and echo visions as a hardboiled detective just needs to be enough. for now i say knowing full well im gonna dive super deep into fanfics when my brain fog lifts a little ough

my one big question was door. and maybe tim to that extent, considering the last page we read and we never fully got an explanation about doors involvement (im hoping ng+ explains this further?) but it refers to tim as his "unwilling disciple" - obviously tim was moved to the dark place against his will, but at the same time, why exactly and what is he doing? hes been trying to get out, to figure it out, he has a whole whiteboard of theories and yet. it all leads to door. and idk maybe i missed it somehow, but i never fully made that connection as to why and what doors game here is. which leaves me with questions for the next game/sequel/dlc. intriguing, but throwing that in last minute just felt kinda. idk remedy dont do this to me lmao

one thing im admittedly a bit disappointed about was them choosing to sacrifice alan for the ending. i mean i get it, at the point where we think alice is dead and saga makes it very clear that neither casey nor logan can be hurt and that they are both the heroes of the story, theres not much options left. like alan said, the horror story needs a victim. but also idk, i wish we could. have had a choice? multiple endings?? which i guess ng+ teased but we'll see. also it being left unanswered whether we were free from the darkness now or not, which i understand was intentional but idk im still a bit miffed about that one lol. logan not answering the phone. however saga did have a wedding ring on her finger (i did not observe this detail before so idk if it was just always there but it felt very significant in this scene as they didnt show her being lefthanded before so) which makes me think everything did get fixed, considering how badly david hated her during points in the story, so why would she still wear her wedding ring after all those years after what happened if this wasnt the good reality again. just saying

ALSO IM JUST SO GLAD CASEY IS ALIVE. STUPID BASTARD MAN I LOVE HIM SO

"its not a loop, its a spiral" has interesting implications, but i miss "its not a lake, its an ocean" tbh. i feel like that ending revelation held more power to it than this one, it just feels like a rehash for the sake of copying the original. like i get what they mean about this one (its not a constant changing loop, its a developing story moving forward that keeps expanding as it goes even tho it feels like its going in circles), but just as a saying it doesnt stand up to the original. thats all

the way, even if they are sharing a skin, alan and scratch are two different characters (im excluding zane from this equation for reasons as i dont think he was real [im fairly convinced it was scratch playing games with alan just pretending to be zane], but i wanna give special props to ilkka villi for his portrayal. immaculate job) and are written that way. the way they talk, the lines they have, there is a significant difference when you pay attention to it - i think its partially alans way of trying to dodge the blame and put it all on scratch, whereas scratch doesnt do that for himself, hes just trying to play into the emotional manipulation angle with the constant rush instead to get what he wants and to get people on his side and to trust him. which is a really good take, considering that hes using all common scammer tactics to try to fool people into giving him what he wants (also just god the transformation scene when this is revealed? permanently tattooed in my brain that was so goddamn good)

its also a very interesting take that the cult is actually the good guys. i also just love ilmos explanation for it; "what kind of a cult calls themselves a cult" like. yeah. yeah man you got a point there. but that being just a cover and a scare tactic to keep people safe? love that shit that was good (kinda high key mad we didnt get more of them after that. only that one last sad tv commercial, would have loved to give them a good ending too)

also the parallel of alan waking up from getting shot to the head vs earlier zane doing to same thing at the second meeting in the hotel. i havent stopped thinking about it tbh

just. a few thoughts. all in all idk i felt like the ending was missing something tbh. maybe i just missed something, but it feels like it was more of a setup for something in the future with everything than an ending to a full game and a sequel 13 years after the original. i have too many questions left, more than i entered into this mess with. that being said, absolutely loved the game itself, the story is insane and incredible, this has once again rewired the way my brain thinks about stories (plot board my beloved......), theres so much underneath the surface of a survival horror game that cant be explained, it needs to be experienced. there are sequences here that im unable to convey in words and feelings, you need to see them for yourself ("we sing" and the movie theater. iykyk)

just in general that cliffhanger like. why you do me like this remedy. why. i cant wait for 13 years for another sequel. goddamn

the ending tho, im. i dont know. in the first game we knew things were still kinda wrong, but it showed that everyone outside of alan seemingly got out of the things unscathed for the most part (i mean we lost nightingale, rose went kinda loopy, there were signs that not everything and everyone was right but for the most part the town and people in it were safe), but here we dont see any of it. the happy deerfest is nothing but scratch's illusion. so idk if im meant to believe that shooting alan was the fix and everything went back to normal, like normal normal before this man was pulled into the lake, or since he was still seemingly alive after that, are we still living in the happy deerfest illusion forever while the darkness spreads to the land outside of it? i have so many questions and this ending didnt answer a lot of them tbh lmao

theres so much here i cant fit here my brains still very rattled from all of this and i keep getting more questions the longer i think about it so im gonna leave it here. i'll probably see you later with more when ng+ and/or dlc releases, as hopefully those will explain more

10/10, absolutely my game of the year ngl

..one thing to leave you with. fuck the boss fights in this game lmao

[rontra]

this ask/reply is long so im just putting it together as a textpost help me shark if you're out there

Anonymous asked: hi ok im super super sorry if this is bothering you but ive been meaning to ask it for like 6 months or something . i was introduced to your work via skin game and my brain latched to it ever since i read it. me and some other friends really enjoyed the fic even if it was a short read and i was wondering if youre comfortable sharing chapter 2 either publicly or privately? again im ultra mega sorry if this comes off as creepy or weird or something ive been stressing over it for liek 3 days since i didnt want to bother you :(

either way, love your work so much. your fanart introduced me to both arknights and rwby (though a friend kind of pushed me to actually start watching it lol) and theyre both really great series :) your work is a huge inspiration for me and my friend group and your writing is just insane /pos

(3rd paragraph omitted bc i cant priv reply and im excluding your offsite info even if its under a readme HFDBHJF)

hi shark!! ofc i remember you we are like soldiers side by side in the trenches of takano posting 🫡

so first of all thank you so much for following and enjoying my work 🥰 i'm always happy to help drag people into the arknights/rwby zone HEHEHE i'm glad you enjoy what i make!!! it means a lot to me 😊 thank you!!!

now. THE THING ABOUT skin game ch2. is that it's pretty rough. i had a look at it the last time something prompted me to think about the fic and it's not really presentable (i don't know if i even finished editing it back in ….. 6 years ago… oh god). it also doesn't have all of its art (which might be a blessing in disguise given the art it does have is …. 6 years old… oh god)

getting it to a state i consider readable would take a good chunk of work, which is why i put it off again after looking at it. it's almost 12 thousand words of … uhhh… shall we say… unnnnpolished material. i think i couldn't even share it privately because i would be embarrassed to show someone something so unfinished and janky. not to mention not having all of its art finished. so i got kind of stuck last time and just put it off again bc the amount of work it very obviously needed was like. "Christ OK Not Now" yknow…

it does bolster the spirit when i remember you and your friends. it means a lot to me that you care about it even after so long!!! i just have NO idea when i'm going to get around to editing something of that magnitude @_@ i was really a dummy about chapter lengths back then… HFDBHJGJMK

it's really kind of a shame too becahse chapter 1 and 2 together are sort of the introductory portion for our 2 primary characters. so it feels like only half of the intro is done right now. since ch1 detailed how kyrie ended up at that plaza meeting takano, ch2 would detail how takano ended up there, meeting kyrie. and then we would proceed into the future from there. as a renowned Takano Guy, obviously i was very interested in this, but for various reasons i never finished polishing it and drawing the art…

ch2 also features ikuko so you KNOW its dear to me

overall being like 5-6 yrs old theres a disconnect where i don't feel like ch2 right now is achieving what it should, and i see a lot of concrete problems with concrete solutions, but it's an editing of such Magnitude that it keeps being pushed back in favor of other stuff. oh, ephemeral soul…

some of the art i did get done for it is pretty cute though, like these baby miyos;

so that's pretty good, but i didnt FINISH drawing the art, ARGHH

it is really hard to say. bc when i KNOW there's people out there who remember it and care about it, that does motivate me to return to it. but it has a lot of stuff that needs doing, and is a very old project, so it's unclear to me right now when it would receive the attention it desperately needs before it can be shown to other people... i super can't in clear conscience accept anything like payment/etc for that kind of vague half-promise either, although i appreciate the thought xD

i'm sorry it's such an inconclusive answer, but i am sort of an inconclusive guy when it comes to projects... i jump around a lot as i'm sure you've observed in your time following me 😭 it's important to me to have that freedom, but i do care about SG too, so we just sort of have to see if i can surmount the magnitude of the work i accidentally set up for myself half a decade ago (*turning into stone*)

but it makes me smile when i remember you're out there thinking about this weird little AU. so, thanks. 😌 a soul still burns...

.

and then after all that CH3 was going to have more of best girl 🥺.....

WARGH <- BEARER OF THE CURSE

[ellieloves2read]

3, 5, 6?

3. Which SMP do you find is the most fun to work with?

i have a really fun time with the life series, because there are so many crossing storylines and perspectives and interpretations that you can do literally anything with it. the best way to describe what its like for me is that between five seasons, generally three lives, and generally fourteen players, a sufficiently dedicated artist could create a minimum of 210 distinct character designs. add in the extra lives of last life and the extra/guest players, and there are even more possibilities. the life series can be taken as seriously or as unseriously as you want, and that freedom is fantastic :]

5. How do you translate the world of Minecraft to fit into your fanfics when you keep the original setting?

i usually keep things on the naturalistic side. i have a hard time visualizing really video-game stuff in a way that doesnt break my immersion, so i tend to skip that. plus, its kind of a fun challenge to make distinctly video game elements (like hearts or crafting) and find a way to translate those into a non-video game setting in a way that makes sense.

6. Do you like using the mcyt multiverse as a concept? (all SMPS and MC content exists in the same universe)

oftentimes, yes! specifically, i like making hermitcraft and the life series have a lot of crossover, because it’s fun to think about how the characters and their dynamics change when theyre in a different world from the one with The Horrors tm, but still have memories of that world. however, sometimes i prefer when things stay in their own universe, especially in more roleplay-heavy smps (like empires or the dsmp). i actually dropped out of the mcyt sphere for a while when the hermempires crossover happed for that reason. dont get me wrong, there’s a lot about the crossover i really love, and im glad they did it! at the same time, though, it made it difficult for me to maintain my immersion, especially on the empires side of things. so, i guess it really depends on the series and how dedicated i am to “simplifying” the story

[idiotsonlyevent]

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ i hope 2024 is kind to you and that if any difficulties do arise, they can be resolved quickly and easily!!!!!

some thoughts about my 2023 + 2024 are under the cut for personal reference but feel free to read if youd like

OUGH so many things happened this year. it was. a lot. some bad. but also lots of good!!

things i've done in 2023:

- played p3+p4: some of my favorite games of all time!!! i love you persona!!!!!

- started writing fics: ive published more than 30k words since i started, and have AT LEAST 5k scattered across various wips/ufos. which is!! thats a lot of writing for someone who only did academic stuff for the last couple of years!!!! and it feels especially good since i haven't been able to draw or make music so im glad i was able to find another creative outlet and build new(/different?) writing skills :)

- lost my job :(( but found a better COOLER job!!!

- played ghost trick: GO PLAY GHOST TRICK RIGHT NOW!!! please 🥺 best game of all time i will shill it forever

- one piece: i would kill for monkey d. luffy. that is all. haha just kidding i love you one piece thank you for the joy and whimsy youve brought into my life lets keep it up 💪💪💪 lets stay silly and work to overthrow corrupt systems and stop injustices in our world 🔥🔥

- got a surgery ive been planning on for a long time and it!! went well?? which!! yay!!! ill be officially out of recovery in a few days and its :^) nice

- also i graduated therapy for the first time ever!!! it was nice actually having closure and 'ending' the relationship on a positive note, not just being thrown to the dogs in the middle of treatment

things it would be cool to do in 2024:

- travel, even if its just a day trip. literally i've only traveled to visit my family since covid started in 2020. i need to see the ocean soon or ill die

- try revisiting the p2 duology !!! i miss my kids 😔😔 and the music 😔😔 and persona in general and since im abstaining from p3re id like to do something to 'make up for it'

- start playing bass again!!!!

- maybe start up art again?? idk :// as much as i want to get back into it, i have so much difficulty transferring what i see in my mind to the page that a lot of times it more frustrating than anything but it might be worth a shot

- read dungeon meshi

- read dandandan (+ watch the anime if i like it!!)

- write more fics!!!! hopefully i will finish my vinsmoke-centric series!!! id say finish my law series too but that might never happen since i cant shut up abt this guy lmao. and i still want to write more persona!!! so many ideas AND so much time!!!!! no need to rush!! just gotta keep chipping away!!! and trying new things!!!!!

- WATCH STOCEAN. BC I STILL HAVENT < fake jojos fan 🤡

- play the zero escape series

- play twewy/neotwewy > if theres time !!!

- probably more!!! idk!!!

[asexual-levia-tan]

ok i finished x and like.

its all fun and games calling kingdom hearts "goofy" and "ridiculous" until youre sitting there sobbing at your computer while you watch a group of friends all try (and fail)(ish) to save each other from the end of the world😔 (although skuld being like "im glad youre here with me🥺" and ephemera like "mhm. *thinking about the mc* was SO funny)

but of course, the ending was just as confusing as anything else in this series. luxu bodyhopped into brain's body but brain still got teleported elsewhere? or is it time shenanigans where luxu and the MoM were brain and ephemera the whole time? or is it that the ending we see where ephemera ends up floating over the remains of daybreak town -- does him being the creator of scala ad caelum mean that he built that town on the corpse of daybreak town?? and the only shenanigan here is brain being sent into a future where ephemera is long dead but way before the current timeline?

ALSO. i tried rewatching the scenes where ephemera and the union x players lend their power to sora AND the secret epilogue to see if either of those meant anything more to me now that i'd seen the ending of x, and the epilogue kind of did i guess, now that i know the real role of the master and his apprentices, but the thing with ephemera and the keyblade wielders just feels like fanservice pfft. it still hit me almost as hard as it did the very first time i encountered it though so its Good fanservice, but still

OH AND one last thing. is skuld. still under there Q - Q. is skuld buried deep beneath scala ad caelum...? Q o Q. is skuld sleeping under there like ventus was sleeping in the land of departure and we'll go wake her up one day..................!? Q A Q

^ that all being said i think maybe it was mentioned that she was the mystery girl that isa and lea were friends with but that also mightve been strelitzia ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ genuinely have no clue. i think she was mentioned in secret notes so i'll have to see if i can find those compiled online somewhere.

[rrxnjun]

if i could i would fight the school system just so u would have the time and mood to write >:T but i'm glad u could write a bit and waiting for ur next fic!!!🥳🥳 (your post about a fic u are writing seems pretty fun :o and love jihoon as a side character!!!) AAA IM HAPPY TO HEAR THAT I WOULD LOVE TO READ TREASURE FICS FROM U ESPECIALLY THE JIHOON ONES HIHI!!! I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR UR FRIEND WHO CONVINCED U!!!!

hmmmm idk if its reveal vibe or not but my fav ep from them is the thrill ride ep (probably has a special place in my heart cuz that was my first cb with them lmao but that era was so well done and i really love the songs!!) i think their new ep is really great my favs are especially awake and savior aaanndd their breaking dawn album slaps as a whole i love it so muchhh and for my last recommendation from them would be survive the night which is a song that was fully written by sunwoo and it's definitely one of my favs (there is also a song from giuk featuring sunwoo that just dropped and u might like it if u are interested) and i really hope u will like some cuz idk if any of these would be the type of songs u would listen to;-; the last longer content i watched from them was come on the boyz but eric isn't in it cuz he was on a hiatus at the time:( but it's really fun! i also started to watch back the boyz timeout (and had to stop cuz school >:T) and that is also really good and everyone is there:D so i would recommend those if u want like a series (?) type of thing with them but for "shorter" contents their mafia games are very fun to watch!!! their idol human theater videos are great as well!!! and the last one i would say is they just made a video with the fo squad and that seemed very funny although i didn't have the time to watch it yet;-; (IM VERY SORRY ABOUT JUST RECOMMENDING SO MANY THINGS AND FOR THIS LONG ASS LIST I WENT A BIT OVERBOARD D: )

KEVIN IS SUCH A LOVELY GUY his bubble messages are usually either very funny or just very meaningful and his posts are always top tier🤌 i think he would just solidify his place in ur heart lmao and eric is just such a bestie material!!! well u know i just came in here in the middle of ur treasure era being like 🧍the boyz🧍and i don't want to interrupt u with just randomly talking about them 🧍(which i deff did so im sorry and sorry again for the long ass list of recs)

ooo god gifted kid burnouts suck so much;-; but tbh yeah the grade doesn't really matter just pass and get the paper in the end cuz that's the most important ig and u would get it with even just passing (although im just🤡 cuz i will never think like this sadly so) i don't think my experience will be different ngl;-; so im trying to get myself ready to just not be sad about it cuz it's bound to happen lmao

AHH UR REPLIES JUST MAKE ME SO HAPPY LIKE U READ MY LONG ASS RAMBLINGS AND U ARE ALWAYS SO LOVELY SO I JUST🥹🥹 I APPRECIATE U VERY MUCH!!!!!! (liebestraum anon💗💕💕 sorry for disappearing again☹️)

SJSJSJ its okay because the motivation is that once its over i have the whole summer to write is making me go through this more easily 😙😌 also im handling things a lot better than last semester LMAO so im good over here 🤞 DJSJ glad u liked the posts abt the fic so far, jihoon is kind of the main character unfortunatelt (he is in the fic more than mark i-) but the brainrot cant be helped. IM GRATEFUL FOR MY FRIEND TOO she's a real one 😙 i'll let u know abt the blog if i manage to set one up after all hihi

first comebacks with a group are always the most special istg i thought about this the other day. like for me rock with you, hot sauce and can't you see me? are really special too😭 i havent had time to listen to these but i promise that by the time we talk again i will and i'll have my reviews ready!! 😌😌 also i love how u can kinda get my music taste w western artists (like when u recommended me hungarian songs and were spot on) but w kpop u rlly cant tell😭😭😭 i love me some kpop group variety shows tbh so i will definitely watch all of these later !! DONT BE SORRY ABT RECOMMENDING SO MUCH I GET U IF I WAS ASKED FOR RECS FOR ANY OF MY FAV GROUPS I WOULDVE DONE THE SAME THING. i saw kevin's weverse (?) replies on tiktok today and i- 😭 my man is a comedian i love him. the same w eric. icons. SJSJS dont worry about interrupting my treasure era i can handle it (im also suddenly into cix as well so i can handle everyone atp)

and u get it u get it !!! like it does feel good to get academic validation from time to time (i got a 45/50 on my essay today❤❤❤) but as long as its not an F i do not feel disappointed. esp when i get reminded of the fact that im studying on one of the best unis in my country and that my major is actually kind of hard 💀💀 get ready for the terrors of university i mean u can expect it but actually experiencing it will be just as shitty so i just pray u dont take it as badly as i did for a lil while🤞 im here for u if that happens tho!!

always appreciating u and smiling at your asks, mwah mwah ‼

[acidic--citrus]

EEEYEEEEHE EEHEHEE EHEEE THANKS SO MUCH FOR TAGGING ME AAAAGGGGGG hehe okay here we go. (seriously thanks for tagging me what a good thing to come back to tumblr to <333333) ill throw mine under a readmore so this long post doesnt get even longer :P lmao

1 - lessee....3 ships, huh? these days im very obviously into wxwood 🥺 beloved... as for the other two, these days, im very into sunny/basil from omori o(-( the game has an iron grip on my brain rn. its being squeezed like a stress ball. the two have made me cry so many many times!!!!!!! WTF./...and as for the third, probably some homestuck ship idk its constantly revolving

2 - first ship.   god.      hmm.      oh dear god i think it might have been hinata and naruto, not from shippuden? but from like. Actual, Naruto like Just Naruto 8′) LMAOOO its okay though. i fortunately realize now that the superior ship is sasunaru ✌ i was so young back then wow crazie. i didnt even know gay people were real back then...‼

3 - LMAO MY LAST SONG GOD FUCK these questions r really #exposing the kind of person i am huh. not counting the song im listening to right now, it was luka luka ☆ night fever.   yeah it was 4 am when i was listening to it.   yeah i was going on a vocaloid nostalgia trip because of kasane teto’s synthv announcement (im still not OVER THAT)

4 - LAST MOVIE LMMMAOOOO ...........         IT WAS THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 yes i came for batjokes. yes i stayed for its stunning stunning animation like hello wtf.......????????? i wish i could go thru it frame by frame 4k HD so i could fully appreciate everything :[[[[[[ alas...... (and before That movie, it was both space odyssey movies!!!! it was a while ago though...i dont watch movies or any media tbh often nowadays)

5 - currently reading.....barring fanfic of course, i guess im currently on the books of the space odyssey series :] ive paused it for now but Oug i srsly gotta get back to it its just sitting on my desk wasting away. waiting for me to pick it back up again AUG

6 - currently watching, i guess TOH!!! my other friends’ve backed me up against a corner, bullying me and saying we’re gonna watch the finale altogether soon so theres that laksdjaklja (lowkey not prepared for the heartrending emotions that are surely to come)...as well as rottmnt!!! i finished the first episode courtesy of my other friend, he egged me into watching it and im so glad i did its so great. gotta get back into that soon too. ※EDIT I FINISHED WATCHING IT AND THAT WAS SO GREAT DANA AND CREW THANK YOU FOR DELIVERING SUCH AN AMAZING SHOW....SNEEFING AND SNORFING AOUUGUG

7 - currently eating.............           ice 8′) PLEAAAASEEE

8 - craving.   YOU GUESSED IT !!!!!!     MORE ICE    though i think ill get sour lemon jelly from downstairs soon after :]

9 - people to tag, eh          ......     after thinking about it a lot, the people i wanna tag have already done this/been tagged by people up above SO  !!! i guess whoever sees this and wants to do this can just do it :33c

9 people you would like to get to know better

tysm for the tag @alexmey-does-an-arts!

1. 3 ships; bowuigi, metadede, heavy/medic(I forget the name lol)

2. first ever ship; alphyne

3. last song; Ghost Cowboys by Louie Zong

4. last movie; Midsommar. That was…something

5. currently reading; Dante and Aristotle discover the secrets of the universe. Pretty fire

6. currently watching; JCS criminal psychology

7. currently consuming; nothing

8. currently craving; Iced Cream. About to go get it. I know there’s mind chip in my freezer (:

9 people to tag; @littlegreenwyvy, @garf-official, @d1nosaurpower, @tractor-inside-joke-fucker, @junkydoodlez, @seacrown, @neldu-nak, @darkcanid19, @stormyykat