#and the Vibes are that being somewhat weird is good and encouraged

[queermediamonday]

Happy Queer Media Monday!

Today: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

One of the best things ever, this movie is literal perfection.

(Dr. Frank-N-Furter in his iconic drag outfit from the song Sweet Transvestite in the front, with Brad and Janet in their traditional 50s clothes in the back.)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical comedy movie based on the theater production by the same name. A tribute to classic science fiction and horror movies, it tells the story of Brad and Janet, a stereotypical 1950s US-American couple, who get caught up in a Frankenstein-like science experiment, leading their traditional world to clash with a very sexually liberated one.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the longest-running theatrical release in film history. While the first reactions to the movie were negative, it gained cult status when people started to interact with it during screenings, first by yelling comments, that then evolved into a whole script of lines to say at certain points. People started to dress up like the characters, and a shadow cast acted out the movie alongside the real actors. This subculture of Rocky Horror late night screenings still exists today. 

Both the movie and its fanbase are very queer. The story is, above all, about sexual liberation, and it features same-sex sexual relations as well as characters in drag who loudly self-identify as “transsexuals”. Also worth noting is the age and body diversity of the background dancers. As to the fanbase, Rocky Horror screenings opened up a new space for people to be openly queer and experiment with gender expression.

All in all, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is an absolute classic both for fans of science fiction, musical theatre, and queer people in general, and everyone should have seen it at least once.

Queer Media Monday is an action I started to talk about some important and/or interesting parts of our queer heritage, that people, especially young people who are only just beginning to discover the wealth of stories out there, should be aware of. Please feel free to join in on the fun and make your own posts about things you personally find important!

[wolfiesmoon]

Chocolate-covered strawberries

riddle x gn!reader

have u ever wanted to have a (totally definitely platonic with no romantic feelings involved, wdym? *wink wink*) sleepover w riddle? bcs if so, you might wanna read this

thanks to @chillpanda36 's plant related encouragement i am once again riddleposting (hope u dont mind being tagged ＞︿＜)

I kinda got carried away and wrote waaaaay more than I thought i would

"Wow, your room is so... swanky." you commented upon entering his room for the first time. It was decorated in checkerboard patterns and heart motifs, which was very fitting for the dorm of Heartslabyul.

You never expected him to actually agree when you jokingly suggested a sleepover, but you're definitely not complaining.

"Thank you. It was modeled after the Queen of Hearts' castle and has mostly stayed the same throughout the dorm's history. I only made a few adjustments to have it be better suited to me." he explained. Clearly, he took good care of the place since it looked very clean and organised.

"By the way, you won't collar me if I happen to break any of your weird rules by accident, will you?" you were still somewhat worried you'd have to sleep with that uncomfy collar around your neck.

"I will excuse you from the rules, just this once. But do not call the rules 'weird', as it is quite disrespectful to do so." he crossed his arms.

Well, atleast you're glad about that.

You placed down the little bag of stuff you brought with you just for this occasion. You got so excited you ended up planning out several activities for you and Riddle to do.

But first, you have pyjamas to change into! Riddle graciously offered to let you change in his bathroom. Even in there, everything is super clean and organised, almost to a scary degree. Somehow, you get the feeling that Riddle doesn't really know how to "have fun". In a 'casually messing around with firends' kinda way.

After changing into your pyjamas, you call out to Riddle to make sure he's done changing as well. Once he confirms he has, you exit his bathroom to find Riddle in an oversized, frilly pair of white pjyamas, the kind you'd find people wearing in the medieval times. Oh. My. God.

"Pffft.... You-" you had to pause to hold back from laughing. "You look like a starving victorian child." you couldn't help but point out the silly resemblance. The pjyamas brought the whole look together.

"I haven't the slightest clue what a victorian child is, but I am certainly not starving. Why must you constantly insult me with such strange phrases?" Oh, it makes sense he wouldn't get the comparison. And even if he did, you feel like he wouldn't be very amused.

"They aren't insults. Just little comparisons." You smiled innocently at him. While they are just comparisons in a sense, they are usually meant to rile him up a little bit. You just can't help but banter with anyone and everyone sometimes.

Riddle felt a slight shiver run down his spine since you reminded him of a certain someone who likes comparing people to sea creatures at that moment. Though your lovely smile didn't resemble his creepy grin at all.

Lovely... smile? What is he even thinking about right now?

"Are you... good? You're making a weird face." your voice snapped him out of it and he assured you he was perfectly fine. No cause for concern.

"You might not be starving, but are you in the mood for a little snack?" you tried your best to sound enticing, like you're mass advertising the little surprise you brought along with you.

"The rules state that-"

"I double-checked the dorm rules, don't worry. And I also know you don't like junk food, so I made sure my snack is on the healthier side. Sorry for interrupting you, by the way." you laughed awkwardly at his offended pout. But you weren't going to lie, his angry face wasn't intimidating or scary at all (atleast not right now). It gives off more of an 'angry little kitten' vibe to you. But you already made one silly comparison tonight so you feel like Riddle might appreciate this one even less.

"Well then. I'd like to know what it is." he actually seemed pretty interested in what you came up with. You dug around your bag, pulling out a packet of chocolate-covered strawberries.

"Feast your eyes on these bad boys!" the specific choice of chocolate-covered strawberries was a calculated one on your end. You had asked Trey about Riddle's food preferences before, but it was unrelated to this sleepover. You can only thank your past self (and Trey) for arming you with the valuable knowledge that Riddle likes strawberry tarts (and consequently strawberries, you hope).

"Oh. I suppose these look quite tasty." he was actually really pleasantly surprised about your choice of snack. It's surprisingly fit to his tastes.

How thoughtful of you...

"Here, have one!" you actually made homemade chocolate just for these. Trey gave you a good baking lesson on how to do that. So of course, you want him to be the first one to try!

He hesitates for a moment. Although the food you're giving him doesn't break any of the Queen's rules, it still feels off to be eating so late at night. Scheduled meals are so ingrained into his mind that he feels the sudden urge to reject the offer and go brush his teeth immediately.

But something strange blooms in his heart when he sees the excitement in your gaze and he submits, telling himself he'll do it just this once. For you.

He grabs one of the strawberries from the packet, slowly and hesitantly raising it to his mouth as if it were forbidden to eat. It still felt forbidden, no matter how many times he told himself it was fine to let loose sometimes.

"It's... delicious." he comments upon eating the entire strawberry.

"Oh, goodie! I was worried I messed up the chocolate, somehow." his eyes went slightly wide upon hearing that you made part of them yourself. He felt his chest tighten up slighly. In a good way.

"In that case, I shall have some more. And you eat them too, since you prepared them for this occasion." the two of you sat down on the edge of his bed, placing the strawberries in between you so you could both easily reach for them while talking.

You still made sure you swallowed the food before you talked though. To avoid a scolding about proper manners from Riddle.

"So, for this sleepover I was thinking we could try summoning a demon, playing board games, doing karaoke, watching a movie, playing 'would you rather', making a pillow fort, and-"

"What was that first one?" Riddle had never experienced a sleepover before, so he had no clue what people actually did in them but he always just imagined sleepovers were purely sleeping at eachother's houses, not doing anything BUT that. He could barely keep up with all of the things you were listing off, but the first one ESPECIALLY stumped him.

"Summoning a demon? Everyone tries that in sleepovers. Usually doesn't work." you shrugged casually, reaching for another strawberry.

"How... horrific. And utterly nonsensical. What joy do you get from doing something so horrible? Especially if you know it won't work?" he seemed genuinely stumped by the concept, which made you want to laugh but you held back since you didn't want to choke on a chocolate-covered strawberry. It would certainly be a way to go.

"It's about the thrill, Riddle. What if it actually works this time? You never know...." you whisper teasingly, like a narrarator in a horror movie.

"In that case, we are absolutely not doing that." he hates to admit it, but he's actually kind of worried a silly ritual might workmand is taking precautions right now to not let it happen at all.

"Hahaha, that's fine! We can do all the other stuff, then." you decided to take mercy on him after seeing how hard he's trying not to let it show that he's scared of demon summoning games. He reminds you of your friends on your first sleepover when you tried summoning a demon. All of you were acting tough and unbothered back then, but were deathly afraid and unable to sleep after.

When you reached for another strawberry, you just happened to grab Riddle's hand instead. Seems you were both going for the same one. Actually, that one's the final one!

"Oops... you go ahead and take it. I feel like I've had enough." you smiled awkwardly at him. Gosh, is it suddenly slightly hotter in here or is it just you?

"Thank you." Riddle looked away, turning his head so you wouldn't see his reddening face as he ate the final strawberry. He's kinda mad at himself for getting so flustered over an accidental hand hold. Your hand felt so... nice to hold. It would be so nice if he could hold it more often. Gah, what on earth is he thinking?! None of this is rational...

An awkward silence fills the room.

And you get a cheeky little idea.

You picked up a pillow from his bed and threw it at the back of his head.

"Hey. What do you think you are doing-HHMMF!" you threw another pillow, this time directly at his face as he turned around to scold you.

"PILLOW FIGHT!" you yelled out excitedly, already grabbing another pillow to defend yourself with as you scurried on the other side of his bed. You giggled at the way his entire face flushed red with anger.

"That was no fair! I was not prepared at all!" you totally caught Riddle off guard, but now he was prepared to have his revenge. He never had a pillow fight before, but if little kids are capable of having one, so is he. And he is quite confident that his magical abilities will give him the upper hand against you.

"Even if you were, I'd still win! They called me the pillow fight champion back in my world!" you throw a pillow at him, which he stops with his magic.

"Oh, we'll see about that. You've had quite enough of landing hits on me, I believe." he smirked confidently at you, feeling a childlike excitement running through his veins.

Now that he thinks about it, it has been a long long time since he has felt this excited and relaxed. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to do this over and over and over again.

In moderation.

[brucewaynehater101]

I want Duke included in batfam family fics. being the older sibling Damian needs, relatable yet guiding. Tim being ‘Dukes robin’ and having lots of respect for Tim yet he’d also steal his slice of pie. Duke and Jason hanging out, and Jason appreciating how he never tries to lecture him. Duke and dick matching vibes (or as much as they can) when on patrol and somewhat in the family, and both trying to make their brothers calm tf down. Bruce trying desperately to not fuck up with Duke like he did his other sons, only serving to confuse and slightly alarm Duke. Alfred and duke being the only ones with more then *1* braincell.

he also has so much potential for angst of being a meta in a family everyone thinks hates metas, and people somehow forget him???

(I have more just don’t have the energy to write it all down)

Heck yes! I agree that Duke needs to be included in more batfam fics (and especially as a more pivotal role). I personally try to add him a bit, but I fear I do not include him enough as a key member of the batfam.

Duke is hella important and should be treated as such. I'd love to see more fics with him pissing off GCPD for fun. Just chaos and pranks against GCPD, rogues, Batman, and the Batkids. Also, he should he allowed to punch (or kick) as many JL members as he pleases (Hal was just the first).

Duke and Dick having similar fashion ideas is a cute idea I've seen in the fandom. I would also just love to see more fanart of Duke rocking some fun outfits for galas (especially if the galas follow the AU of Gotham being super weird with their social norms). Duke being featured on magazine covers, being asked to model, and being interviewed would be cool fanwork ideas to play around with. I've seen so many of the other batboys and none with Duke as a magazine cover.

Here's my ideas on how Duke could interact with different batfam members. Feel free to reblog if you have ideas yourself or think the dynamic should be different.

I feel like Duke and Cass would get along really well as chaos gremlins who get away with their shenanigans. Messing with Commissioner Gordon is a favorite pass time of theirs. For some reason, even when presented with evidence, Bruce doesn't believe that Duke and Cass would do the things they get away with. It's both impressive and annoying to the other batkids.

Duke could have a weird relationship with Tim. On one hand, Tim is Duke's Robin. The cases he's solved, feats he's accomplished, and respect Gotham has for Tim's Robin in general (for being Batman's therapy kid) are unfathomable. On the other hand, he's seen Tim walk into the same wall four times within three minutes. They both share a love for riddles, but Tim can be an idiot at interpersonal relationships.

For Damian, Duke has seen how the world picks up kids and spits them out. He's seen kids lashing out, how they merely want to defend themselves, and how fantastic they are once you get to know them. He's been angry and spiteful at the world too. For Damian, Duke's hella impressed at the kid's heart despite all the shit he's been dealt. Duke would encourage chaos, talk with the kid about how different emotions have impacted Duke's actions and life, and is an overall supportive figure. They can often be seen doing both wild stunts and "common for their age group" activities for fun (although the game Sorry is banned because of them).

Jason and Duke would probably have a complicated relationship due to Red Hood's actions. Their similar childhoods (as far as economically and location based) would lead to jokes and shared customs that they chat with Steph about (such as Creepy Toe Joe or that specific gas station or the phrase they say as they passed that one pothole). Despite that, they have different viewpoints on Bruce and murder.

Duke is probably one of the more emotionally intelligent and communicative batfam members. If Alfred is the sassy version, Duke would get a good laugh out of those remarks and the astute observations.

Bruce and Duke angst could go hard. Bruce is trying so hard not to make his past mistakes. Duke and his perception of Bruce (he holds Bruce in high regard) and how that affects their relationship.

As far as Duke being in a "perceived to hate metas" family, that could either be hilarious or angst. I imagine people trying to intervene or "save" Duke from the Bats would be infuriating and sad to see.

Duke could also laugh at the batkids' superhero friends and how they, even as adults, are banned from entering Gotham. Duke is free to live in the manor and come and go as he pleases. Any of the batkid's meta friends have to be snuck into Gotham.

[bleachbleachbleach]

[Bleach 093]

For the whole scene, Ikkaku has been refusing to divulge any information about Ichigo to Mayuri/denying (perhaps to an obtuse extent) that he has any.

Why is Ikkaku so adamant in his refusal? Some options:

strange chivalrous loyalty to Ichigo

While I don't think this is the primary driver, I think an element of this is there. Ikkaku's a man with a code (a code capacious enough to include both a Lucky Dance and somewhat elaborate protocols for what the defeated should be subject to/what they should offer).

division loyalties supercede deference to rank

Mayuri is a captain and Ikkaku is not; but Mayuri's not his captain and, moreover, Mayuri blew a hole in the wall to get in here, for some reason. In this chapter, we see Gotei Divisions interacting across each other for the first time across rank--the 11th vs. the 12th, 3rd seat vs. Captain. It makes me wonder in what contexts officers are required/expected to respect higher-ranking officers in any division, haha. Usually I write that deference as being the default (to their face, at least), but I'm also kind of amused by the idea that unless they've officially been assigned as your commanding officer for a joint mission, or you're in their house (Unohana at the 4th, for example), or if they're responding to an issue that is already inter-division (since Hitsugaya gets to arrest Hinamori and Kira)--outside of these delineated and specific contexts all bets are off, ahaha.

Not that I think Ikkaku and Mayuri would be good candidates for a normative/representative interaction of any kind, because, well, they're Ikkaku and Mayuri.

Mayuri is a weird freak

I say that with affection, though Ikkaku doesn't. I was really interested in these panels, because we see Mayuri treating Nemu like less than garbage, and Ikkaku reacting to this with pensive silence. We're learning about Mayuri and Nemu's relationship, but Ikkaku is part of the spread, too--his reaction is also important, and I think it layers onto general division rapport and makes Ikkaku's response to Mayuri personal as well as professional. Ikkaku ultimately feels some type of vaguely encouraging way about Ichigo and his harebrained infiltration scheme, and he later has an easy back and forth with Yachiru. The Mayuri and Nemu vibes are off, and Ikkaku ain't about it. (Though he doesn't go so far as to say anything about it--in contrast, for example, to Hinamori vs. Byakuya, re: Renji.)

Zaraki, actually

I think all of these strains are important and interesting, but when Zaraki shows up they all slot into their places and their places are subordinate to this one: All the info is for Zaraki, and Ichigo is for Zaraki, and Ikkaku is, before all else, for Zaraki.

[idcfriend]

I like to headcannon that Yuu is some sort eldritch being (but not really)

Ok so hear me out, i get that twisted wonderland is like disney but darker so in my head i like to think that while yes gods do exist and have their respective religions maybe in the long long looong past of twst while yes religion was a big thing but CULTS were bigger and still are because of it being a world that tilts more towards the darker aspects of things a bit

So enter Yuu and i like to think prior to them being sent to twisted they had DIED and thus being sent to twisted wonderland was the equivalent of being brought back from the dead and those never happen without SOME sort of consequence, so Yuu ends up having this sort of...darker feeling?

aura?

pressure?

...VIBE? Yes vibe. Anyways but also even though their physically their still the same(...mostly we'll get to that another time) our bodies are fundamentally different from those in twisted wonderland like for example:

Do to it being a magic rich world their bodies don't really have to go through as many changes as ours since they naturally adjust do to magic

Like they don't have to lose their baby teeth since they grow stronger and adjust accordingly as they age(i know it doesn't make sense but i dug this grave and I'm lying in it)

I like to think that since it was a fantasy world instead being descendents from apes like humans in our world they rather evolved from many different magical or mythical creatures so when the prefect shows up displaying several and i mean a lot of different animal behavior everyone is so confused because surely they've evolved past most of those, the only people to display such traits were people of old(i find it funny that most people don't realize that even though we've evolved we still display animal behavior sometimes so I'm taking that and cranking it up to a thousand)

So while we are very good at mimicking sounds and other voices(with practice not that NRC knows that...) they're so confused and slightly horrified at just how MUCH the prefect can mimic: one time you spent the entirety of the day communicating in animal and random noises and while some thought it was cool others were a little scared when they perfectly mimict a several animals distrest or dying sounds ( they didn't know that's what it meant they honestly just wanted to sound scary so they could be left alone)

So here comes Yuu with all their bad juju because you know...death and their somewhat strange anatomy and their knowledge of unknown or even forbidden information from who know when(except maybe Lillia who may or may not have been part of one of those cults) and after a while everyone won't believe Yuu saying their a normal human even if they somehow shared their memories with them because even if they were physically different from everyone they couldn't have a way to explain all the other weird things(that they have no idea even happen... And why hasn't anyone told them?)

The ghost around campus along with Sams "friends" seem oddly comfortable around them even going out of their way to make things easier for the prefect because they feel like they're one of them since technically Yuu is supposed to be you know dead

Or how Yuu's eyes seem to resemble a cats when a light is shined on them or how they slightly glow in the dark(yuu honestly thought them being able to see better in dimly lit places just meant that their eyesight adjusted faster in this world for some reason)

Or how when Yuu appeared they spoke a dead language fluently and how for some reason when their emotions ran high their voice seemed to...multiply or distort

That sometimes Yuu's movements seemed too...stiff to be normal(again technically their supposed dead so their body is not supposed to function)

And others

But everyone ignor-...well not ignore more like embraces? Encourages these differences because much like the ancestors of old, just how many people still practice certain religions some people still worship the beings from those old cults or to be precise the cults were more prominent than any religion, the thing is such cults are one the foundations of NRC(and RSA for that matter) so when Yuu popped up not seeming completely normal and butchering what they consider to be normal human behavior they can't help compare many things that Yuu does or knows to whatever cosmic horror they worshiped

[flowersandbirdsflyingfree]

Hey I saw your match up posts with the Dudes and thought they were cute, I was wondering if I could get one?

I'm a trans man and dogs are a large part of my identity, to the point that I am a dog - collars, tails, ears, the whole shabang. I'm also punk in my ideals, I live by "do what you want forever." I'm very overtly weird and cringe for the sake of being my most authentic self

Don't know if this is relevant to this at all, but I also have BPD/NPD, auDHD, and chronic pain

Sure thing, my friend!

I match you with:

Brain Damaged Dude

(Art belongs to capitanby)

I now pronounce you Cringe 1 and Cringe 2. I say this lightheartedly. You guys aren’t actually cringe at all! Well, you’re not cringe anyways. This fucking guy still makes old meme references when TikTok first started. BD Dude is a ginger, a weeb and a brainrot memelord. Three strikes.

That being said, he loves someone who is unapologetically themselves. And you should be! You’re fucking awesome! You even live his mantra of “I regret nothing!” Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. You’re the best fucking boyfriend he could ever have dreamed of.

Dude can respect the punk lifestyle. Except for the straight edge one. His place is trashed with empty Jack Daniel’s bottles and stimulants of all kinds. Otherwise, he loves the whole individuality thing and the rebellion against authority thing. He kinda goes the same way. Fun fact: his right arm has a tattoo of the anarchy symbol.

The Postal Dude has disability due to neurological brain trauma and his schizophrenia. He will reside a special place on the couch for you to lay down when chronic pain acts up. It’s got blankets, a side bag of any medicine stuff to help and he’ll fetch you whatever you need to ride it out. Rest your head on his lap too. He’ll leave comforting caresses while watching whatever is on the TV. Also, you’re not alone in having ADHD.

He’ll somewhat tease about the dog identity thing you have because he’s a bastard. But never maliciously because he loves you. Your ears and collar actually look cute on you. He is a dog person anyways.

Dude plays along. He really likes seeing you excited, so he encourages it. You get called a good boy and receive ear scratches. Sometimes, he doesn’t feel human himself (albeit in a more Jungian complex kinda way). “So babe, you think I give off orange cat vibes? Or there was that one time someone compared my beard to a billy goat’s…”

[voparwave69]

me when i headcanon stuff. do you think gamzee would listen to tyler the creator's older works? in my mind i think he'd like bastard and goblin [you should listen to them too they're really good [tho they are pretty damn dark ngl that's why people classify it as horrorcore [tho tyler himself said it isn't horrorcore]]]

but yeah i think he'd like the song 'she' from goblin. or fish that ones good too

I'm actually not a big listener to Tyler the Creator (i love all kinds of rap but am partial to various types of 80s-90s rap because no matter the genre I am skewed towards retro shit) so I went and listened to his whole Goblin album (I'd heard it in passing many times but hadn't paid close attention) and read up on his history before I tried to formulate a head canon on this. I know this is really long and rambling but it's all related to what you asked. I'm putting this under a cut to not clog up dashboard

I 1000% believe Gamzee in either state would love horror rap, I think high Gamzee would prefer horror rap with mainly occult themes, though I don't think he'd be squeamish about the ones that are more mainly violently themed because he's not even genuinely internalizing the lyrics anyways unless they really, really stick out to him in some kind of way, he'd just be vibing to the beat, because I imagine he'd love music with a good, strong beat (as well as weird sound effects because that's really amusing when you're high) and a good flow because that shit impresses and hypes him up.

I don't think lyrics would just be LOST on him when he's high, but he usually wouldn't be capable of truly paying attention to them in that state.

He might can rap and come up with his own lyrics still, but listening to lyrics AND sound in a song probably wouldn't be something he'd be great at. He would though notice if there was a good flow and would try to rap along (and probably alternate between being good at it and fucking terrible) while STILL mostly not paying close attention to whats actually being said.

He'd fucking love it if you joined in with him and he'd definitely be encouraging you the whole way through and acting like you just dropped some fire shit even if you fucking suck (and hes not just being nice, he genuinely thinks you're dropping bars because he's that spaced out and on cloud nine).

Sober Gamzee I think actually would be able to pay much closer attention to lyrics and would prefer horror rap that was both violently AND heavily occult themed. However, I think he's still primarily there for the music and the flow.

His style is still not extremely high energy but its not as loose and carefree as when he's high. His flow is a bit more defined and has somewhat of an aggression to it rather than just being loose and chill. However, Gamzee still isn't technically sober since he's still drinking faygo all the time and that has an effect like alcohol on trolls, he's just not cross faded anymore lol, so he can still be a little sloppy here and there.

In either state, I also think he loves lyrics that are really sexual as well lol.

Even if he's sober it doesn't mean he really wants to be and he always likes lyrics about getting really really high. Especially when he IS high.

He's kind of a selective listener while high and if he hears about sex or drugs he's really gonna hone in on that line.

As far as Tyler the Creators older music goes, I honestly think Gamzee while high could vibe along to literally anything that he's listening to a friend with and he's gonna find SOMETHING he likes about it, not because hes trying to, but just because he's genuinely vibing along with most everything and everyone.

I think Tyler the Creators more abstract style would be something a bit lost on him but he'd just be absent mindedly rapping along while kind of loosely focused being like "hell yeah brother thats the fucking shit" if a line about sex came up, missing the context of literally everything else.

While sober, I think he would enjoy it more, but again his abstract style may not be his thing, I don't think Gamzee is a particularly artistic type, but he's largely a "rap is rap" type through and through and I think he's always going to try to rap along to whatever he hears. However, I do think he's also far more picky in this state as well and will straight up tell you to turn your music off if he doesn't like it.

I think Tyler the Creator doesn't relate to the horror rap genre because while his lyrics can be dark his style is a bit different. I cant fully articulate what I mean by that, but I get why he doesn't click with that label. For one thing a lot of his fans are definitely not the usual horror rap kind of listeners.

Also it's funny you bring him up because this is a reference to a movie called Trolls lmao

[theragethatisdesire]

i’m sorry ur not feeling well 🥺💗 sending you positive vibes tonight!!

for the slumber party plz tell me allll about your favourite character that you don’t currently write about 🙊 i wanna hear all the secret deets

HEY TIFFFFF i appreciate it :( i hope i'm not like being annoying venting on here i'm just so miz and i know my irls are sick of hearing it lolol anyways!!!!

okay my current obsession is gojo. and bc i haven't actually started the fic yet, i don't technically write for him often, only per request. does that count? idk i wanna talk ab gojo lol

just gonna throw everything below a cut because idk where i'm headed with this. minors stay away!

this is like, canonical, but gojo's so fucking annoying LMAO like i just know he is the most obnoxious, can't-sit-still, sarcastic asshole on the planet. he really makes it hard to love him sometimes.

this....is not a spoiler for a fic i'm def not writing (wink wink) but i just don't think gojo could really properly fall for someone who was not powerful. like i think part of his distance from others is his (admitted) narcissism that is somewhat well-earned considering he is....gojo fucking satoru. he needs someone that is at least somewhat towards the top of their ranks in whatever they do.

i also feel like gojo would be encouraging to a fault? like always pushing you further towards your goals, stepping in obnoxiously if your boss doesn't notice you've been working your ass off for a promotion (again, annoying). like he won't rest until you've made progress.

gojo also gets baby girl-ified WAY too much

like hear me out

we see him through the eyes of the kids/around his students in most of s1, and that's not to say he doesn't have the potential to be a playful, lighthearted person *when he wants to be*

but remember that scene of him talking to the jujustu higher-up where the guy tells him to watch his mouth and gojo laughs in his fucking face??

he's an egotistical, all-powerful, ballsy maniac. like gojo is not braiding your hair and cooing in your ear 24/7.

he is slowly backing you into a wall and taking what he wants from you. like sorry he just is.

also gojo strikes me as someone who is ....nasty. like, blood and knife play, gun play, psychopathic kind of nasty in the bedroom. idk if i would personally ever write that, but he's been through so much and seen so much gore you know that that's fucked with his....tastes, so to speak

i do think however that gojo would be absolutely devoted to his partner

like it would take him forever to come around and accept that he now felt responsible for protecting yet another person and that he had accidentally formed a connection (i see gojo as also having a very weird relationship with his humanity vs. his divinity but more on that another time)

but once he's around? he's in it for life. i mean, even if you don't ship stsg, you must acknowledge that gojo has never been willing to truly let geto go. he couldn't kill him, refused to believe geto had done that even though geto was showing signs of deteriorating mentally.

he's the same way with his partner. good luck breaking up with gojo because it's going to be a years long process.

gojo loves someone who can push back at him. he doesn't want an entirely submissive partner (kinda like eren!)

he likes someone who will put him in his place, has a sharp tongue, isn't afraid to stand up for themselves or others.

love language is absolutely gift-giving like that man has to spoil his partner he can't help it

size kink. turns his infinity on mid-sex to punish you. wants to have sex where he stands overlooking tokyo in the s1 opening. always takes the blindfold off during sex. huge public sex guy. i said what i said. it's hard being correct.

i could literally go on for HOURS tiff you have no idea the grip this man has on me. i cannot wait to write this fic!!!!!!!! ah!!!!!

thanks for coming to my slumber party lovie kisses from me to u :)

[jade-of-mourning]

you know, it's absolutely wild to me that i first started publishing if she seems as lonely as me exactly three years ago. i was fourteen, the same age as the girl i was writing the perspective of, and nervous as all shit because i wanted it to be good so badly. i had literally never even been to high school at that point. i remember having exchanges with one of the few people i still talked to at the time, saying that i wasn't sure if i should even bother posting because i didn't think i had it in me to finish, because being alone all the time kind of wrought a weird tiredness upon me. and she encouraged me to just go ahead, because what the hell it's the internet, who cares — so i did! and i reread that four-month toil recently out of curiosity, and…

well, it held up better than i'd ever expected at the time haha. i genuinely thought that i would thoroughly hate it after less than a year, referring to it as teenage angst; but three years later, i find myself surprisingly fond. and yeah, in retrospect: there's a fair amount of cliche and coincidence and plot convenience in it that, if i were ever to rewrite it, i would probably shift to be more realistic. and after having actually been in high school for the past couple years, i know that high school life is not as empty and devoid of activity as i was portraying it to be. there's questionable word choices because i was absolutely the sort to write words based on their vibe alone, not on the actual definition, and sometimes the phrasing was clunky. but all in all, i'm actually kind of impressed with the emotional sincerity in my fourteen/fifteen year old self's complicated portrayal of bitterness and grief and healing, with not so many straightforward words.

and the most wild part to me is that there's a lot of people who enjoyed it and found meaning in it, back when i was still writing it and three years down the line. there are so many kind and heartfelt comments throughout its chapters that always make my heart flutter when i read them, and i still get them even now. it has 800 bookmarks in 2024 and that is genuinely insane to me every time i stop and try to visualize that as a room of people — 800 people who enjoyed it enough to mark it down and maybe return to one day.

despite its copious flaws, it's still probably the best thing i've created and completed as a whole in my relatively short time on this planet. and while i really do hope to surpass that soon as i slowly get back into writing and drawing, it'll always have a special place in my heart as the biggest 60k-accomplishment of my pandemic-ridden freshman self, who was trying very hard and didn't know shit. (i still don't know shit, which makes writing hard at times, but my current self puts somewhat more effort into learning during the process of writing.)

[pkmnrangerfiles]

Here is my team. I think a Bastiodon could vibe with them well.

Ooh thats quite the mix there! So I have a decent base level of knowledge for a good chunk of pokemon, but I'm not an expert, so be sure to consult with other specialists if you're in doubt

Bastiodon can be slow to adapt to change, a trait somewhat associated with being part steel type, but is moreso to do with their lifestyle and habitat. I mean, when you're built with a wall for a face, why should you move when the world can rotate? Either way, be patient, and don't rush anything, because a spooked block of a pokemon is real hard to calm down again. If you're wanting to really stay on the cautious side, feel free to come in for acclimation sessions within the dome while the bastiodon is still in a familiar environment (though we tend to help do the reverse frequently to our mons that we're fairly sure can be adopted out)

Your sawsbuck looks like the prime candidate for first introductions, especially in their winter coat temperament. I'd be tempted to encourage the two to graze and exist together for a while (supervised, of course) so when seasons change, the form change comes as less of a shock to bastiodon. Camerupt can also apply to this, to an extent, as a lazy grazer. If you have a fiesty specimen, I would leave introductions to much later however

For espeon and shuckle, I can't immediately foresee any issues providing their temperaments aren't too skittish or aggressive. However with shuckle, I'd go for an extended introduction through a door or gate (or equivalent at such size) because…Well, unfortunately, shuckles smell tasty. Get it used to the scent before the sight. A pokemon like bastiodon won't have seen anything like a shuckle before, and as tough as the little bug guys are, a bastiodon has more than enough bulk to crack one open if they wanted to. (I think this could apply to dachsbun too, but less so in that their scent isn't necessarily associated with food to a herbivore. But also because I've never worked with them before and don't know what they're like. Consult an expert!)

Chandelure however, I'd be wary of introducing for a while. I don't know what yours is like, if it's partial to mischief or feeding on things it's not supposed to, but the visible open flames are likely to spook your new buddy at first, plus the non-corporeal movements will keep your defensively-swayed tank on edge.

I know some of this might sound pedantic, but don't forget, even things like Weird-Shaped Tree are brand new and potentially spooky to a fossil pokemon! The air tastes different, the sun is a different colour, and all the food tastes Slightly To The Left. We hope to see you in centre soon!

[moonfurthetemmie]

Pumice - Paraiba

Design notes:

hood

scarf

gloves

honestly I don’t have all that much else to say? There wasn’t a whole of lot of conscious thought beyond that, and ‘hm I think that looks good’

I did however forget to put blood and dust on Pumice’s clothes

I don’t know if anyone can tell but Paraiba is supposed to be like. Twirling her finger around her temple. ‘This girl is insane’ sorta thing.

Other:

Somewhat erratic

Fucking hates kids, but any that resemble her version of Frisk/Chara/whatever in any way is attacked on sight.

Talks to her version of Ruby (presently unnamed) a lot. No one is sure if she’s hallucinating or not (she is.)

High LV and incredibly powerful, all things considered

Not super thrilled about having to work for Obsidian, but it’s at least an interesting change of pace…?

Still would rather return to her universe. She doesn’t know if the kid saw Obsidian, but… Well. Her not being there may cause the human to get bored. Maybe. Or it may have caused them to get even worse to see what’s going to change without her. She doesn’t know but she’d rather go back and make things go back to ‘normal’

Does think it’s funny that everyone on his team is so scared of her though. Cmon y’all aren’t that much better than her lol

Weirds everyone out, for slightly different reasons. Except Copper. Copper doesn’t care.

Silicon just hates everyone and thinks it’s weird that Pumice is hearing and seeing things, even though Silicon herself hears voices.

Scapilite is afraid of pretty much everyone except for Iolite, Cadmium, and everyone from normal JMV that isn't Obsidian. So is Jade. And Iolite and Zuli. the rest of them are insane. Except Obsidian, which is worse actually

Carnelian doesn’t like that she hears voices. The rest he can vibe with but not. That.

Cadmium is also sane, but he’d started seeing shit too so. It’s pretty much just the bloodstains that really bother him. Even if her hallucinations come from an entirely different source.

Zircon's pretty much the only one other than Obsidian who can scare Pumice, but only because she can't tell that she scares him. He's not trying that hard to hide it he just is very stone-faced. but he uses this to his advantage if he thinks Pumice is going to hurt one (or more) of the others.

Obsidian, Silver, Paraiba, and Koroit also think Copper, Silicon, Pumice, and Carnelian are insane. Obsidian’s much better at hiding it though.

Sort of vibes with Copper, but keeps her distance. At least until she finds out Copper can’t (presently) feel any emotions at all. Then she gets more lenient with it. She can control herself and remind herself not to make friends, but she can’t control anyone else. Does feel a little better hanging out with Copper, though.

doesn’t really encourage Copper to fuck with Silicon, but she plays dumb when Silicon tries to fuck with her about her ‘friend’ being a little asshole. Which is basically encouragement, whether she means it to be or not.

[liugeaux]

Greatest Songs Ever - Part 21 (Off the Rails)

Never has one of these been as off-the-rails as this one seems. I promise it’s not on purpose. With Part 20 being much more close to home, naturally, part 21 veers the opposite direction. 

Some of these you might not know, and I encourage you to check them out. here’s your link to the ongoing playlist. Let’s do this!

2011 “Lock Down (feat. Leo the Lion)” -  Adam Skinner & Dan Skinner

We kick it off with the bop of the century. Maybe that’s an overstatement, but “Lock Down” crept into my life through the Giant Bombcast. The duders over there stumbled on this track in AudioNetwork, a royalty-free subscription music service. They played it during live stream downtime and their community ate it up. It became somewhat of an inside joke, while simultaneously being a banger. It’s categorized as “new-soul,” but its got a funk and a groove to it that gets your feet moving. I know nothing about Adam or Dan Skinner, and even less about Leo the Lion, but accidentally stumbling on such a fun track is kind of what this list is all about.  

1983 “Sharp Dressed Man” - ZZ Top

ZZ Top is a mood. I always feel like ZZ Top songs only have words to make them more marketable. If they could get away with a career full of songs like “Tequila” by The Champs, then they would’ve probably done that. Alas Billy Gibbons had to use his singing voice to entice the masses. With a sound like sandpaper on bone, Gibbons gravelly delivery is the perfect compliment to the almost sludgy guitar riffs on “Sharp Dressed Man.” Given how grimey and raw everything about this song is, the title feels like tongue and cheek irony. It’s a song whose guitar lick is so good it doubles as a chorus. A chorus that slices you in half everytime it churns back to the speakers. I like a lot of tracks in the ZZ Top library, but “Sharp Dressed Man” has a swagger that’s universal.  

2009 “TiK ToK” - Kesha

When my grand kids ask me what the late aughts sounded like, my answer will be “Tik Tok” by Kesha. This song is 100% a product of the pop music culture surrounding it. While Kesha’s talents as a songwriter eclipse this track exponentially, “Tik Tok” captured an energy and moment in music that cannot be recreated. Sanitized club beats, auto-tune, party-girl vibes, a hint of female empowerment and an odd Mick Jagger reference “Tik Tok” is hella weird. Even at the time I got a collective feeling from music fans, like we were looking at each other and saying “are we really doing this?” “Take On Me” is to the 80s what “Ice Ice Baby” is to the 90s, and “Tik Tok” is to the 00s. I’ve flirted with putting later Kesha songs on this list, but to do so before this seminal classic is an insult to an entire generation of music.   

1969 “My Way” - Frank Sinatra

Southerners don’t listen to Sinatra. Growing up I understood Frank Sinatra was a big deal and even had movies referred to me, but I couldn’t name a single one of his songs. My childhood wasn’t filled with Sinatra tracks, crooner numbers or Rat Pack hits, it was Elvis, The Beatles, Classic Rock and country. I purposely reached for “My Way” to see what the big deal was. I’d heard an American Idol contestant or two sing snippets of it, but I wanted to know why the song is so revered. Upon first listen, I thought it sounded much older than it actually is. I would have pegged this song as a track from the 40s. The sound quality of the backing symphony is reminiscent of much older Hollywood scores like The Wizard of Oz, so to learn that its newer than most of The Beatles’ library was shocking. As a celebration of individuality, it’s message isn’t too dissimilar from that of the US as an idea, and the lyrics’ acknowledgement of his “way” being imperfect is subtly beautiful. “My Way” is an anthem for the proud, and sadly I feel the rigidity of its message has been used to justify rejecting compromise. As one man’s celebration of himself and as a booming showtune, the song is outstanding.  

2021 “Sunroof” - Nicky Youre

Whenever I pick super-recent songs I know I’m rolling the dice on how time will effect this list. I have no idea who Nicky Youre is, but he knows how to capture the energy of youth. From the initial drop of “I got my head out the sunroof...” this song drips of innocence fueled youth. The freedom of your first car, having no worries and being consumed by the energy of a potential partner, it’s the magical spark of youth. Even the “La da, la da da, la la la“ part is laced with an envious carefree attitude. We are all longing for the feeling “Sunroof” is advertising, and that’s why it works so well. It’s like freebasing the idea of potential, “Sunroof” is a drug we should all be addicted to.  

2001 "Rhythm” - Awol One & Daddy Kev

For an oh-so-brief moment in community college, I brushed against being cool enough to know someone who knew this song. My bud Austin, a worldly brain of a person who, to my knowledge has never been bad at anything, at least not anything he put legit effort into, turned me onto this track. He played a lot of music for me back then and not much of it stuck, but “Rhythm” burrowed in like a tick. The stand-out on the track is the flute in the loop. I’m gonna do my best to avoid making a flute-loops joke, but I promise nothing. I don’t know anything about the production of the track but it strikes me as a song birthed from the tightness of the loop. Once that was established, I’m sure everything else fell into place. The rapping isn’t stellar, but it knows what it is, and stays out of the way. Awol One’s drawn out delivery feeds the stoner vibe the track carries, while never feeling scummy. Laid-back, groovy, and raw enough to feel like the underground gem that it is. “Rhythm” was never at risk of being a radio hit, but that’s kind of a badge of honor here. If one more person hears this song because of this write up, I will have done my job.

1993 “Chattahoochee” (Extended Mix) -  Alan Jackson

Look at that, yet another 90s country song gets added to the list! “Chattahoochee” is a country fan’s country song. It’s as story-telly as the fans demand, and Jackson’s delivery is exactly what you would expect from a pillar of the genre. However when you dig deeper, the lyrics are much more universal fro the casual listener. Like “Sunroof” there’s something inherently youthful about “Chattahoochee.” Youth, as a concept, is ripe for creative mining and Jackson chose a hyper specific venue for his slice-of-life story. Because the innocence of youth is so universal, even if you didn’t grow up on a river, you just get it. Your Chattahoochee river might be a drive-in movie theater, or a Sonic parking lot, or the pool tables at the local bowling alley. Calling a song shallow is only an insult if it doesn’t have a wide appeal. “Chattahoochee” is as shallow as that river probably is, and that just means everyone can relate. As for the (Extended Mix), it doesn’t add too much, but it does make the song feel more like an event. It’s got an extra breakdown or two that probably work well in a live setting. It’s just a better paced version of the same song.   

1970 “War Pigs” - Black Sabbath

When you Google “Who invented heavy metal” you get a passage about historians believing it was Black Sabbath. I like to think all metal songs share DNA with tracks like “War Pigs.” Loud, brash and with something to say, the track alternates between an Ozzy show-piece and a Tony Iommi guitar rocker. Its quiet moments are as important as its loud guitar solos, a practice almost lost to time I modern metal. “War Pigs” may not be as relevant today as it was in 1970 (I’d like to think humans have learned a lot from past wars), but it serves as a creative benchmark for commentary on socio-political statements in art. Let’s not forget about the slimy and iconic guitar work here, traces of thrash can be heard in the solos and that wouldn’t rise to prominence until the 80s. Sabbath is WAAAAAAAY more important than most realize and “War Pigs” is their masterpiece.  

2018 “Responsible Ver. 2″ (feat. Stan Taylor) - DUX

I really don’t know what to say about this one. DUX is a DJ, Stan Taylor is a vocalist, and “Responsible” is one of their collaborations. Due to their relative obscurity, they are oddly hard to Google. DUX seems Brazilian, and Taylor looks to be from Cali, but I don’t know if any of that matters. “Responsible” hovers between soul, techno, funk, and jazz, pretty cleanly. What initially stood out was the absolutely chewy bassline. The bass however, only gets you through the door, Taylor’s big soulful delivery hooks you, and the horn-filled bridge finishes the job. A beautiful melding of several reliable pillars of American music makes this into an unexpected modern classic buried in obscurity. “Responsible Ver. 2″ (definitely better than Ver. 1) would play well anywhere from a local pub to the biggest sporting event. If you check out any of these songs individually, please let this one be one of them.   

1969 “Haute Couture” aka “Temptation Sensation” -  Das Orchester Heinz Kiessling

There is so much to unpack with this choice. Yes, it’s the Always Sunny in Philadelphia theme, yes, that seems cheap, and no, I don’t care. I’ve always loved the simplicity of the theme and found its whimsy quite-heartwarming. Prior to last year, I had not heard the original track, or knew anything about it. This song is by a German composer named Heinz Kiessling, and its taken two different names in its release history, “Haute Couture” and “Temptation Sensation.” For what its worth, I prefer the latter. The song itself is an orchestral mushroom trip. Somehow, like “My Way” it was released as recently as 1969. Nothing sounds more like a 1942 instrumental as much as this track does. To put this in perspective, it was released a year before the almost modern sounding “War Pigs”. Was Germany so far behind America in sound production that “Temptation Sensation” just felt super old, or was that on purpose? Who knows. The internet doesn’t say anything about him being a Nazi, so there’s more good news. The song itself is so full of whimsy, and fluff, that its hard to hear without feeling like a burden has been lifted from your shoulders. As the theme from It’s always Sunny, it works stupendously because of the thematic dichotomy.

That was an exceptionally weird list of songs, but I promise next time will be a bit more mainstream. That is, unless my plans change, then, anything is on the table. *Insert excited emoji*    

[albatris]

I'm asleep. I am. shh. but here's my thought for the day. the funniest possible future career path for kai would be security guard at the DII

[shallowseeker]

Hi. I'm Shal.

📝 Just another SPN blog, since circa Aug '22 📝

Physically late 30s, mentally 50s. recent discoverer of fandom. Minors DNI.

Here's a masterlink to some of my recent meta and ramblings.

📺"shallow" bc I aim my brain at a CW tv show

🌳hick in a trailer, way out in the KY boonies

👻 technically lives in a ghost town

🤓 somewhat contrary (in good fun) but friendly

🔢I'm a quantity over quality kinda place

✖️I don’t tag very well

💥I reblog chaotically rather than being normal and using my queue

🤔I've changed my mind a lot already, so uh, be careful about going back > 2 months

☠️ My SPN affliction is getting worse, and I'm currently ripping everything JUST to put images and screenshots with my script and scene ramblings

Stuff I like?

👬 pro-DeanCas (I have eyes)

🤩 Mary stan

⭐ Jack stan

🕮 Sam - Donatello - Metatron-coded (that's why I'm annoying)

🤓I genuinely like Sam (but I'm not weird about it), and I WILL give him shit about his myriad personality quirks

💪TFW 2.0 is my jam

🪖I grew up military

🕯️I like medical, mental health, philosophy, and Judaism

✌️I'm anti-war; anti-police state

I block tags I'm hesitant around or picky about, and I block stuff that simply bores me; therefore, I get along with most folks. I stick to what brings me joy.

I'm anti-incest, so I only block pro-shippers who don't tag that kinda stuff. I'm supportive of ship-and-let-ship, when you get down it.

I block for my own mental, because to me, incest champions and jokes are weaponized against the working poor and I consider it damaging classism that seeks to use alienation to sunder inter-family structural support, as a form of systemic violence. Yes, especially your precious faux-academia/elitist gothic shit. I've dealt with the jokes MY WHOLE LIFE and it's directly interfered with my medical care. I despise.

////////////////

📝 Ao3: shallowseeker - I'm writing again! Embracing cringe.

Update - I'm trying to collect a cozy spot to encourage and cheerlead SPN writers.

-> I don't have much to offer in terms of beta-ing cause I'm no good at grammar, but I'm always happy to vibe check.

///////////////

📝 writings @shallowstories / 📷images @shallowimages / ⚠️venting and not-as-nice things @shallowrambles /

//////////////

(Text Attributions// Supernatural scripts here via @spnscripthunt. Transcripts are located here via SPNWiki. Visit their Tumblr to donate.)

[greysfall]

My 4444-word review of NEO TWEWY (with personal illustration + heavy spoilers)

My overall critical score for the game is 7.5/10, while my personal enjoyment score is 8.5/10. This review is posted as I have 80% completed the game, got the secret ending and achieved the Angel psychic rank. I’ll first start with the main pros and cons as follows.

PROS:

-        Enjoyable as a whole, still upholding the first game’s spirit in world building and sharing the same backbone - which was mostly revealed in the Secret Reports, it’s impossible to grasp the story without reading them.

-        The new cast and new game is charming in their own way

-        The old cast’s return is one of the biggest highlights for sure, it was fun and impactful. Everyone stays true to themselves and also had their own stories wrapped up nicely.

-        Boss designs are cool, new pins are fun to use and collect

-        The connection between the old and new cast is well written and executed, including but are not limited to the tension between the old and new protagonist, the weird but fun interaction between the 2 Composers, the new friendships revealed and formed

-        Sho being in the main cast is something so uniquely TWEWY and uniquely Sho

-        Still good music

-        Still many fun side quests, some of them really uphold the same quirky spirit of the old game and some are surprisingly touching

-        Many new nice stores and yummy looking foods to explore

-        The map is really easy to memorize for me, it’s fun to travel around the “current” Shibuya to see all the differences compared to the past

-        The social network is crazy and interesting to read through

-        Has an anti-frustration system to help 100% complete the game more easily and earn money faster, so post-game is relatively managable.

-        Overall, I really feel the efforts the team poured into making this as their passion project, not just during the development process but for all the last 14 years. They showed the vision of what they wanted to make, at the same time giving something to both the old as well as new fans.

CONS:

-        The biggest problem with the game is scenario writing. The story is so heavily back-loaded. The director himself thought it would be better to balance out the tension flow by adding more at the beginning but gave in to the scenario writer in the end, probably due to time pressure. This results in an underwhelming execution of characterization and lots of wasted potentials for the first half of the game.  

-        I struggle to view it as a stand-alone game, since the backstory and the old cast both play such an important role in the core of the game. If someone plays this game without having played the OG, they can only enjoy it on surface value at best.

-        The new cast is nice but most of them aren’t quite as intriguing as the old cast, maybe it’s cuz they’re all too nice deep down that they lack a little bit of an edge, of that batshit craziness that everyone in the OG used to have? I think some characters (Fret, Nagi) ended up weaker in terms of characterization because the writer is too afraid of making them unlikeable – which kind of backlashed cuz they only became likable in the most expectable way to cater for a specific group of fans. I would have wished for the other team leaders to be more crazy too, had they not suffered 30+ loops of the Game…

-        The CAMERAWORK IS HELL.

-        Gameplay does get tedious at certain points with all the time travels.

-        Shiba is so badly written as a villain, some Shinjuku characters should be given more screentime cutting into Shiba’s– like Hishima or Kaie or even, Hazuki (though his limited presence also solidified his importance).

-        Some of the main character designs, for example Beat’s hairstyle and his food reactions are hilariously bad. What’s the point of covering up most of his unique facial features?

-        Some of the minor/side characters’ design are too cool for them to have such a small role (eg: Ayano, Eiru). Ryoji did get much screentime but is nowhere as fun as Makoto was.

-        Overall the scope of this game is made a little too big for the team to handle as perfectly as the last game that was very compact, it felt somewhat rushed in development too so the missing pieces are clearly there in the final picture

The entry fee versus paying for it all in the end

An important difference between the Neo game and the original Shibuya game was that the Shibuya rule asked for an entry fee that is the Player’s most important asset, stated as a chance the Composer gives them to reexamine themselves. Meanwhile, the Shinjuku rule neither encourages nor allows personal growth and ultimately aims to erase as many Players as possible. It’s a pity we were never introduced to the full Shinjuku rulebook, as it seems like the system there focuses more on building up power and a grand government to compare with the individuality-driven system of Shibuya.

When you have to compare the new game and the original game (OG), this is an important factor to consider. Also, the OG has a serious storyline running through and through, locked with a different partner/GM creating unique atmosphere for each week and you don’t get to see your old partners again until the end. NEO’s team system does not allow such deep insight and communication between the Players. All of your teammates are always there throughout, the dynamic does change with each new addition but it is not as prominent as a partner change.

Another important factor is how the OG was built from scratch for a new platform as “something no one has ever seen before”, while Neo recycled a lot of old unused ideas from the previous development (check out this interview for more details). The development team for NEO lacks 2 key members and had a change of writer so the final product is not as strongly bound together as the last game.

The new cast is definitely inspired by today’s teenagers (from the view of creators), compared to the old cast they’re more sociable and always seem to take whatever works for them despite feeling unstable inside. They are all innocent and genuinely nice kids, avoiding to hurt each other to a degree that they end up keeping some sort of distance. They’re also unable to communicate at deeper levels, always stagnant at this half-baked stage of equilibrium without any motivation to get to the core of things. That is the cost of entering the game without an entry fee, without even dying or having a reason to be there/to fight seriously. These kids were stolen from the RG into a Game that was decidedly the worst environment for them to change or develop, just wandering around cluelessly to find a way “out” until tragedies started to unfold one by one and they ended up being charged the total sum of the price for their actions – ultimately losing everything in the end.

That is, I believe, a story arc which can resonate more to the youth of today rather than of my generation. If the message of the old game was to “listen”, enjoy life to the fullest and accept to trust others, the message of the new game is to “speak up” from the inside, trying to understand yourself and take actions instead of just going with the flow and finally, to take responsibility for such actions.

If Neku was handpicked by the Composer for being the special one with an all-dense soul to ensure victory of the game then Rindo was just a normal kid chosen out of random by Kubo to be his back-up plan, who just happened to have a high enough imagination to awaken the incredible power from his pin. Rindo was then officially chosen by the Composer as Josh picked up and handed the pin to him again, this time not as Josh’s personal Proxy – but as the Proxy to represent the normal people of Shibuya and via whom he could gamble if humans can fight for their own fate.

The underworld heroine and the hero with little of his own

Shoka is for me a refreshing and layered heroine. She’s the kind of character that took at least 3 trials of creators to form as a complete individual – that included Nomura who gave her the base design and Reaper background, Gen who gave a more cunning touch and the writers who made her English dialogues more punchy. Dishonesty equals “tsundere” is such a cliché, so the English writers tried really hard to avoid that trope in my opinion, while still letting her good intention come through.

She serves as the character who is informed of everything the players should have known, and there was almost nothing she could do about it. Almost. Until she met Rindo.

They were drawn to each other by sharing a state of “not having anything of their own”. They both started out with not being able to truly know themselves, Shoka even hated her RG life but also managed to mature from that stage before Rindo. She must have vibed with Shiki’s love and passion in the Gatto Nero threads, initiating her connection with Shibuya and understanding herself more. With Shoka as Swallow, they were able to open up to each other and offer mental support… but was still not getting to the centre of their problems because for all this time, Shoka could not tell Rindo the most important things about herself.

How did Shoka feel when she met Rindo at the UG? She probably didn’t want to hope that he would live the day until she witnessed the Twisters’ potentials. From the very beginning, they were both incredibly conscious of each other and also constantly frustrated that the person they happened to “notice” was such a condescending bitch/a clueless loser. The Shinjuku Reapers are overall quite drunk in power and uncompassionate to Players, Shoka included. She is also a master of dissociation, which results in her constant boredom, tone swings, haughtiness and subconsciously distancing herself from the friend – the boy she cares about – from false hope, as she judged from facts that it was a hopeless situation where nothing could ever be. Maybe she is naturally a bit of a chameleon just like her name suggests (Shoka 紫陽花 = hydrangea, the color-changing flower), so putting on an act and always dissociating herself from what’s important was easy, while hiding her contradiction was impossible. It was the ex-Reaper Beat who broke it out to her, that she should decide whether she really cared and wanted to do something for a change. He knew how it felt like to cross that line, and knew she wanted to too.  

Shoka is endeared by many of the Shinjuku Reapers and has shown independent acts of kindness (the Shinjuku ghost), proving that her kind and truthful side is as real as her harsh and dishonest side – which makes her a nice mirror to the previous heroine Shiki, who also embraced a dichotomy of self-complex and self-love within her character. In the end, she was the first of the new cast to ultimately accept all that is important to her and independently made the decision to help save Shibuya despite all costs.

She was jealous at Rindo’s interaction with Tsugumi and Kanon but remained silent cuz she wasn’t at a place to have any say about it. She also didn’t reveal about Swallow because that would only add an awkward irrelevance to their current situation, as she was too ready to face erasure at the end of the Game. She only wished to “play a game” with him, be it FanGo or the Reapers’ Game. The tension that the team could only feel at the end, she’s felt it the entire time. The song “DIVIDE” is applicable to not just one bond in the game, but it always makes me think of theirs. There is always a “divide” between her and Rindo throughout the course of their journey, as the living and the dead, as a Player and Reaper, as someone who has a place to return to and someone who doesn’t, someone who knows little but wields too much power and someone who knows a lot despite not being able to do much.

“If only I had the chance to connect with you on the other side

But time goes on, and without us realizing it

The battle is getting heated

Time goes on, and without us realiazing it

Divided again”

To be honest, maybe I didn’t grow any affection for the new main cast from Rindo’s perspective but from Shoka’s. Since I started to sympathize with Shoka, I started to see the boy in a more “real” way. The real Rindo, behind his peaceful façade with others, would lash out on Shoka for her unfairly harsh attitude while none of the others cared. He could also subtly feel that mantle of unspoken secrets from her, her own contradictions, the unresolved chemistry between themselves – and not knowing what to do with it rather than to feel angry with all the unfairness he could not process. (As a Libra too, he’s triggered the most by unfairness!)

It is actually a positive development as he’s at least “reacting” to something strongly now rather than to keep evading his problems. During my replay, I clearly saw the difficult situation Shoka was in, her remaining harshness after the Motoi incident was due to her internal struggle with a mission to save her own life, versus a chance to really be with the team. Her decision was to do both at the risk of losing favour from both sides. Rindo started to accept her layer by layer, as the person who resonated the most to her contradicting nature from the start and knew that via learning her resolve, he has learnt his too.

Later into the game, she even got too much of his attention. Maybe even without knowing she’s Swallow, he’s familiar with her thinking direction and Swallow had always been closer to him than any other friend. It was only after she had to betray her important ones twice that she could start being truly honest. The scene when she died a 2nd time left a strong impression in me, the little reveal let Rindo know that he is also losing Swallow as he’s losing Shoka – and that only death could drive the last secret out of her. Her final “Later, loser” echoed through Rindo as it was the final truth, with only him remaining to hear it: they had actually, already lost everything.

Rindo was the boy who never dared to face all that matters to him until he lost it all, fighting an unfair battle in the faith that they would somehow still win. Shoka was the girl who always knew what was dear to her, but never dared to think she could be together with them ever after and still threw her all into a battle she knew was losing. I think they stir each other on naturally to fill out their gaps, similar to what the Shibuya game partner systerm would have aimed for. The end reward was a little divine intervention to help close up the divide between them once and for all.  

During the game there was not enough space to process anything personal so at the ending when they officially became “friends”, it was an important affirmation of their bond. Some people complained it was friendzoning but it’s not, they just have arrived at the perfect place to start something more. “From now on, we will truly be together” – I read it as that kind of message.  

The heroine from a lost battle, with her story taken away

After reading the secret reports and playing the game to be surprised of how small a role Tsugumi had in the main game despite being the “Hype-chan” thought to be a major character of the next TWEWY installment, many fans would feel sad at a missed opportunity to see the Shinjuku arc in full depiction.

It was shown clearly that, a Shinjuku arc was very carefully planned out and is a vital part of the whole story, yet it could not be made due to various circumstances behind the development scene. I would assume, that the team were not able to make a TWEWY game that ended on a despairing note, but it already happened in their mind, thus becoming a mental burden that forced them to break away from it and started the game anew with NEO. A significant part of NEO became the healing arc for the Shinjuku characters, especially for Tsugumi though I really wished more emphasis should have been placed on her rather than Shiba. We didn’t even get to see her brother – Shinjuku’s Conductor who had a vital role and instead was given the clueless Shiba, who had absolutely no idea what’s going on all the way until the last day in NEO. It’s as if Tsugumi has had her story stolen away from her, because her own battle ended with a saddening loss.

I think every time the game creators look at Tsugumi, they would feel that sadness too. Maybe to them, she is a bigger character than what is seen by the fans, as despite their failed effort to depict her story, she’s lived in their mind for all these years through periods of destruction, healing and rebuild.  Though it is a pity we could not get to experience the full scope of the Shinjuku story, the creators was clear about the place they wished for it to arrive at.    

Individuality, connection and the social network

The team system adapted from Shinjuku rulebook does not allow much room for personal development, as the team dynamic is closer to a work relationship forced to bear results, than a spiritual bond to max out all corners of understanding as found in the partnership system. The old Shibuya system allowed only 1 winner and 1 week limit per game, while the new rule declares for a 1 winning team and only the team at last place will be erased – the other teams will enter another loop. Furthermore, whichever team to challenge the unwinnable Ruinbringers will face the risk of ending up dead last followed by erasure. As a result, the longest-standing teams are most likely not the strongest ever recorded, but the ones who have figured out a strategy to simply survive until something changes, enjoying their newly found social constructs while they are at it. Basically, it is a system to hypnotise players into the illusion that they are still “living”.

Therefore, we as players would not get to the core of each Player individually as fast and directly as we did in the last game. The Twisters were able to stand out not because they’re powerful, they only started to have a real chance after growing enough to each form a meaningful and personal connection to another teammate. It did not come as a team, nor did it intiate from the existing friendship between Rindo and Fret. In fact, I did not find much solidity or anything truly note-worthy about the main team and new characters within themselves until they started clashing with other team members, Reapers and new recruits from week 2 onwards. Rindo found his personal development with Shoka (via a clash with Motoi and pretty much a mini dating sim between them), then via the confrontation of his role with Neku; Fret found his with Kanon then Nagi, the team learned about the real Neku via Beat, Neku entered the UG via Coco’s wish to save Tsugumi… it was not the team but their personal links that empowered them to fight and solve each of their problems.

The other team leaders may have failed because they did not form such personal links, after 30+ hopeless loops Fuya’s team all fell apart to pursue their own interest even at the cost of erasure, Motoi quit his KOL façade to work like a dog for the Reapers (probably to save just his own ass not his team), while Kanon dropped her tricks to find changes via honest cooperation in acceptance of a fair loss. The despairing note in that is huge without making much of a scene because their failure didn’t happen at their best effort to “win”, but in their last attempt to find a way “out”. Even Shiba got his way “out” in the end thanked to his personal friendship with Hishima and Tsugumi.

Something has shifted in the mindset of the game creators in the last 14 years, as both games are about “connection vs individuality” but the last game focuses more on connection between just individuals and this one on the overall network that is formed out of those individual connections.

The introduction of Beat into the main cast was truly the bridge between old and new, they helped each other out in several turns before officially recruiting him. Beat is a character whom a lot of fans including myself have felt somewhat concerned about after Neku disappeared from the RG, so when the new kids welcomed Beat with warm and organic interaction and Beat seemed happy, I started to feel like I wanted to help them out too! I think the overall team chemistry is enjoyable enough for new players, but I could warm up to the new kids more from the pov of a returning character – whom I’m glad to be Beat, as the older brother figure who is genuinely kind, fun, serious and upbeat at the same time; who is needed and needs the kids in return.

The social network is a fun and refreshing feature. You can read all of the crazy tidbits about Shibuya and the links each character have formed with the town people, it’s also fun to visualize how the characters act off screen. Characters’ profiles provide extra insight into their background too, like how it reveals Tsugumi has been friend with Coco during her time in the RG. During the game when not all characters have showed up, you can sometimes guess which empty spot will belong to whom. For example there is a 1 character linking to Neky that is not linked to anyone else, so I could guess that was Joshua, and that another character linking only to Joshua was probably Hazuki, hinting that the 2 Composers are related before either of them even showed up.

Hazuki only showed up for 5 minutes, but his presence is so vital and true to the game that I think he is the most memorable out of the new cast. The two Composers have such an intriguing bond, with their yin/yang or phoenix/dragon themes, opposite color design, the sempai/kouhai tone and the way they keep some sort of distance/work relationship as if it’s mandatory between Higher beings, yet at the same time they can talk so casually because they are truly equal – and different from one another. I have written a separate meta on them here.

Some people pointed out, that all Shinjuku characters’ names and themes are based off Hanafuda cards and the Phoenix in Hanafuda belongs to the Paulownia suit – which is Joshua’s name flower. This is so interesting because it feels like the creators somehow saw it as a sign to interweave the Shibuya and Shinjuku storylines together. Though it doesn’t come out much on the surface, it’s fascinating nonetheless considering both Josh and Haz had at some point interfered with the other town’s affairs.

“Shibuya tour with Haz” was such a special scene, as it happened between 2 characters who do not/no longer have a reason to care about Shibuya, on the subject of what is worth saving about Shibuya. Hazuki carried out the purification of Shinjuku and stepped in to restore Shibuya just as part of his job and unlike Hanekoma or Joshua who both possess profound understanding of humanity, he really didn’t know humans at all. Rindo’s irrational wish invoked in him a sense of curiosity, to try gambling on something irrationally and learning a bit of what his senior have experienced. With all the pieces put together, it provides an overview on Higher beings as a whole, and that Joshua and Hanekoma are really the odd ones out with Hazuki being somewhere in between them and the rest.        

The old friends

It’s easy to have returning characters overshadow the new cast as they have already matured out of their personal story arc and stayed in our hearts for all this time. In the end, I have managed to enjoy both the old and new cast separately and altogether, and they will both find their own place in our memory of this game for the long term.

Sho is truly as crazy as ever, the game wouldn’t be the same if Sho is any less of what he is. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like Neky or Beat is younger than Nagi at all, with moments when it seems like Neky has aged 14 years instead of 3 years. His friendship with Coco surprised me pleasantly, and their interaction together with Beat was fun to watch. Rhyme’s found a new dream and her friendship with Kaie is precious too, especially considering that she can still talk to him online after the game ended. Josh and Neku’s interaction suggested that they have resolved the past and are on equal terms now, they even parted ways in good spirit and I don’t feel any worry about them like I did before.

Neku and Shiki’s reunion scene was beautiful, theirs is such a special bond that it has grown and supported them even without being able to see each other. I am so happy to see them all again and that they stay true to who they are, albeit looking more grown up, cooler and happier than ever before.  

Overall, NEO can’t become a classic on par with the OG, but is definitely a good sequel and a good game in its own rights. I’m happy with whether or not there will be a 3rd game to complete the 3 monkeys theme, but if there will be – I hope the creators can really find the time to learn from the last 2 games and start over with a fresh mindset and strong core.  

[sparxwrites]

Spark, my brain has recently tripped over the concept of Yandere!Scar, any thoughts?

See, I want to love this, but- honestly, people seem to go yandere for Scar way more often than the reverse.

In S6, it's Bdubs who's wildly possessive over Scar (and the mayorship, but also Scar), chases off anyone else Scar is nice to, is determined to be Scar's favourite and only. In Third Life, it's Grian who assigns Scar as his property, runs around defending him, bares his teeth at anyone else who looks at his person.

Scar is... for all he can sometimes be deeply fucked up (see also: alien incident, apparently threatening to eat people, his ongoing kinda half-hearted attempts to be an evil capitalist, whatever the fuck that thing with team BEST was in Last Life), he's not actually very good at being evil. He's not terribly possessive, or territorial, or any of the other things you need in a good yandere. He's more inclined to take himself off somewhere to be lonely and sulk and stew in how he's been abandoned and no one cares (Last Life), or to laugh and toy with the affections of people who've grown attached to him (Third Life).

He wears too much of a mask for him to be good at getting attached, at losing his cool, at letting loose; and being yandere requires, above all else, an unhinged willingness to grab what you've decided is yours with both hands and lose your absolute shit over anyone who so much as looks at it funny. Somewhat incompatible with Scar's careful brand of reputation management.

What he's excellent at, though, is apparently inspiring possessiveness in people who're close to him. And oh, I'm sure he encourages that once he realises that's there, uses it to his advantage - but it's them that have yandere vibes towards him. He's just not good enough at that possessive, demanding kind of love to be particularly yandere imho. But, oh boy, does he collect yanderes around him like some weird fucked up magnet.