#anyways you can definitely like them but i just think it's kinda repetitive and boring 🫶🏻

[atrebcda]

it's so obvious that most of these dudebros that hate the ironwood section are racists 🤷🏻‍♀️ and don't even start with "but the pacing.." when it's not even the "slowest" part of the game (and has, actually, plenty of action)

[muckmagister]

No one dies from love

Guess I'll be the first

Will you remember us

Or are the memories too stained with blood now?

/

You said, "Don't ever eat the acid if

You don't wanna be changed like it changed me"

You said, "All the edges got so jagged now

Everything you saw then can't be unseen"

Last night, I saw it all

Last night, I talked to God

/

I (I might)

I might kill my ex, not the best idea

His new girlfriend's next, how'd I get here?

I might kill my ex, I still love him, though

Rather be in jail than alone

/

So tell me

Why I should

Choose to stay

When you keep on

Treating me in this way

I am stuck in a game

I don't even want to play

So tell me

Why I should not just walk away

/

Are you still in love?

After all the distance, after all the drugs

After all of it, are you still in love?

/

Take me to the distant past, I want to go back

(Distant past, distant past)

Save me from the distant past, I want this so bad

(Distant past, distant past)

Take me to the distant past, I want to go back

(Distant past, distant past)

Save me from the distant past, I want this so bad

(Distant past)

/

Ok goodnight!

i like the synth! is- is that what it is? idk the noises tickle me i like it, and the beat that comes in is great too! i really like this, i kinda wish it was a faster song but i don't think it'd work if that were the case, no idea, good song!

ohh the noises and sounds oaughh this is also very good, and also a slow song! this is ok though i like the lyrics and the way it wiggles the air, and it definitely wouldn't be improved by being faster either

woag like that one movie, actually i googled the plot of kill bill and these things have literally nothing to do with each other, anyway, another slow song! it sounds good but not really my thing as much as the past two, i think it's mostly the lyrics i don't vibe with idk, it's actually so weird listening and feeling like this is a great song while also not like personally enjoying it.. y'know? i feel like english doesn't have words for the different ways you can enjoy or compliment something

this instantly made me think of trackmania?? lmao, instrumental so quick but slow lyrics still, relatable lyrics though- no i wont elaborate on that, anyway i like it! but it's odd, just about the slower songs in general, even though i do really like them i know that normally i'd practically never listen to- like they don't have the quickness or... something is missing, idk, but it's not like the last song where i just don't personally enjoy it like i do.. ffdhshsb there aren't enough words for this either, tbf i suppose i did listen to a lot of slower music like a year and a half ago so maybe i'll be stuck on the slower songs again sometime

aHh ahHHgghskk the souNds naAhHh there's so many noises, my initial reaction was don't like it but then i sat there rebooting for like 10 minutes and now i've actually decided it's pretty good 👍 still not really my thing though unfortunately

awuhgH this is really good!! but!! the chorus is so boring 😭 like if it wasn't so repetitive gaH i still really like this song though it's good, certainly something i could jam to for sure

[generalherasyndulla]

the bingo meme but exclusively villains from visual novels

SO to keep this simple I'm sticking to one villain per VN and I'm being strict in what I even define as a VN (so no danganronpa, zero escape, aini or ace attorney. although if anyone WANTS my opinion on character from those series my askbox is open)

That said except for a few exception most VN villains (at least from VNs I've played are kinda uhhhhh boring) so don't expect much interesting ANYWAY let's begin under the cut

Takano from Higurashi

You know you'd think I'd have more to see about Takano but like I don't. She's a good character and she works WELL within Higurashi but like I don't particularly love her, that said I also don't hate her. I even get why other people love her she doesn't really click for me in a way that other villains or even in a way that other higurashi characters do. She's a great character just not a blorbo at least for me.

Bernkastel from Umineko

Starting to realize this is gonna become repetitive because once again I like Bern, but most of this doesn't really apply to how I feel about her. She's good I like her character, but that's as deep as that goes.

Mitake Toujirou from Ciconia

So Ciconia is not complete yet so thoughts COULD change but for now GOD this man sucks but in an interesting way so far. I think the contrast between him seemingly being a doting and embarrassing father (in a society where parenthood isn't even a thing anymore) and being the kind of person who would just control his child's body to murder one of his friends makes for a very hateable dude. We don't know much about his motives yet but what we do see so far fucking uhhhhh sucks

Rikako Uematsu from Raging Loop

So I have mixed feelings on this one. Because on the one hand, Rikako is one of the only interesting characters in Raging Loop that has some form of depth. On the other hand that depth is underwritten within its narrative and is very grossly and unnecessarily sexualized. And even then she's made sympathetic and redeemed in a way that doesn't really work at least for me. Then again a lot of Raging's Loop's ending doesn't work for me AT ALL. I do think it's funny that there's like only one route she wins because she's just really bad at making her plan succeed. The concept of a failgirl villain is conceptually funny so she has that going for her!

Aimee Joubert The House in Fata Morgana

So Fatamoru is one of those series I'd argue doesn't really have a main villain. Like sure Morgana takes an antagonistic role in the game but like the whole point of its final door is to save her, and is about how even the men she cursed who did horrible things to her are still people and not complete monsters. Aimee however is only in Michel's chapter and is just an unlikeable person who tortures Michel because she can and has zero redeeming qualities. The backstage extra of fatamoru even call her the most evil woman in the game and yeah I agree she sucks SO much but that's the point.

Kimijima Kou from Robotic;sNote

Shout out to Kimijima for being them most memorable and interesting villain in the entire sciadv series. There's really one other sciadv villain I'm gonna talk about her but like purely going off of canon Kimijima is the best written villain. It's hard to really talk about him since what works about him is the plot twist that he actually is a villain but it works really well! He sucks but he's fun to hate. A solid villain for a deeply underrated VN

Wakui from Chaos;Child

So there's not a really a lot of Wakui in canon and he's not even well developed or anything. BUT as you the bitch asking this question know we have talked a LOT about chaos;child and various headcanons and I'm just attached to our version of Wakui that we expanded canon off of so I appreciate him because of that (and the dog that we decided he definitely has)

Maya from Slow Damage

There are technically other characters I could have chosen for Slow Damage but I think Maya is the most interesting of the Slow Damage villains. Sure she's dead before the start of the VN but she really just haunts the game, especially in Fujieda's route, as the awful manipulative person who tried to groom her son into being just like her. She's vile and will gladly hurt others to achieve what she wants, including Towa but she's not just a one-dimensional hate-sink. Towa finding her diary does help give more depth to her in a way that doesn't remotely excuse her actions or tries to redeem her. In fact it's just an effective to show how she has failed because Towa is not like her. He's not alone like she was and he never will be. (and god slow damage is SO fucking good y'all.)

Alphard from 428 Shibuya Scramble

Alphard is such a FUN villain I don't have much to say about her if only because she's more of a plot twist villain BUT the reveal is done SO well and she has SUCH a presence when the reveal happens too. She also kinda wins at the end which is fascinating and really sells the whole brilliant criminal mastermind thing. Even when she loses she wins!!! Also I haven't watched the anime spinoff yet but whatever the fuck is happening with Canaan is probably gay so good for her. She sucks but also we love a girlboss!

Shuu from Hatoful Boyfriend

Yeah I can't justify anything here I just really love Shuu he sucks SO much but also he genuinely doesn't know any other way of being. Sometimes you fuck up EVERYTHING because you're gay and thought genocide was the best way to help a child???? Literally there is SO much wrong with him and I love that for him <33 Also his human design is kinda hot so there's that going for him too.

Ryouta from Lucid9

He sure is a murder man and that's about it really. He sucks but he serves his purpose in the game well so. meh

Toue from drammatical murder

It's been years since I played dmmd and all I remember about him is his line about being able to "stylishly and drammatically murder someone" that's never fucking elaborated on. the fuck was he talking about????

Monika from doki doki literature club

My opinion on ddlc is mainly that it's fine for what it is but Monika's a pretty good character within it not gonna lie. Idk I have a soft spot for her and she makes me :)

Inubushi Keiko from Remember11

Wow a serial killer with DID how groundbreaking :/ Tbh the only interesting thing about her is that she's involved in the whole body swap through time thing so sometimes she is possessed by a fucking baby and a real woman who is freezing to death and ultimately dies. Idk she doesn't do much for me and as a character herself shes one of the weaker aspects of remember11

and that's all I could think of VN villains (besides some sciadv ones I left out because eh sciadv villain are mostly boring). Enioy whatever this is :)

[softxsuki]

hi, han! how have you been?

if i'm not bothering you, could i place an urgent request, please? :(

my twin brother has been hospitalised for two days now. the doctors think he has an intestinal infection.

i'm so worried. i'm very very sad and it feels wrong to be separated from him like that. we've been away from eachother before, but one of us was never hospitalised. and i can't even visit him because there still are numerous cases of corona here.

so, may i have the obey me brothers (together, but in a platonic way) comforting a f!reader who's going through something like that?

p.s.: if you can't do all of the brothers, feel free to choose which brother(s) you'll write for me!

p.s.2: i hope you're taking care of yourself, please stay hydrated, well-rested, healthy and happy! <3

The Brothers Comfort Reader Whose Twin is in the Hospital

Pairings: (all platonic pairings) Lucifer x Fem!Reader, Mammon x Fem!Reader, Leviathan x Fem!Reader, Satan x Fem!Reader, Asmodeus x Fem!Reader, Beelzebub x Fem!Reader, Belphegor x Fem!Reader

Warnings: missing family, feeling sad, feeling worried

Genre: Comfort

Post-Type: Headcanons

Word Count: 1.7k

Summary: In which your twin is in the hospital and you're not allowed to visit him. The brothers comfort you since you've never been separated from your brother for this reason and you can't help but worry about him.

[A/N: Hey! Sorry for the wait, my work schedule is super annoying since I hardly have any days off, but I finally got this done for you. I apologize if any of them sound a little repetitive--it's hard to write for all the brothers about the same topic, but I wanted to do them all for you incase I unintentionally left out your favorite brother by choosing my own. BUT ANYWAY, I hope you enjoy this and hopefully it gives you some comfort as you wait to be reunited with your brother! Hopefully that will be soon, but hang in there! <3]

Lucifer:

Lucifer deeply cares about his brothers despite his serious exterior, so he knows what you must be going through internally regarding being away from your brother because of his hospitalization

It would kill him to hear that one of his brothers had been injured or were ill and he couldn’t see them

So you better believe this man will do anything and everything in his power to make sure you get a chance to see your brother while he’s in the hospital 

The human world has many rules, but rules are meant to be broken, right? 

At least this time, Lucifer will make an exception and find a way to get you into that hospital room with your brother 

He’s seen the deep bond twins have by watching Beel and Belphie interact, and he doesn’t want you to be in pain from being separated from your twin, especially not in these circumstances 

Will go to the human world with you and manipulate the workers at the hospital to let you in or intimidate them. IDK. but he's gonna do something 

You’ll definitely be able to see your brother, his pride in completing this task for you will make it possible

Despite that though, whenever you can’t be with your brother, Lucifer keeps you in his sight at all times and tries to comfort you 

While he’s doing paperwork, he asks you to come to his office and just talk to him because he's ‘bored’

But he’s not actually bored, he just doesn’t want you to be alone, thinking the worst about your brothers condition 

Always reassures you that he’ll be okay

Mammon:

Mammon is one of the most caring brothers out there HOWEVER, when it comes to displaying that he cares, he can get kinda awkward

So if you start crying about missing your brother, talking about how you can’t even see him, Mammon kinda stands there like: “what do I do?”

But eventually the idiot knocks some sense into himself because THE GREAT MAMMON is better than just standing back and watching you cry

SO he distracts you

Takes you out with him to the casino and spends a ton of money on you in hopes that it takes your mind off your twin 

Tries to talk to Lucifer or Diavolo to see if they have any idea on how to get you into the hospital so you can see your twin 

Will even give up his credit card for a week if Luci can make something work for you

After all, he is greedy when it comes to everything, but when it comes to you, his greed is forgotten and he’ll put everything aside to make sure you’re happy

Spends extra time with you, his very special human friend, and becomes greedy with you, needing to make sure that you’re being taken care of properly, and the only way he’ll know that you are, is by doing it himself (that and he also just likes spending time with you, so it’s a win win situation) 

He does feel bad that there’s not much in his power that he can do, but he’s trying and he won’t stop trying until your brother is discharged from the hospital and you’re feeling better about his situation

Leviathan:

Leviathan is a hot awkward mess

He has no idea how to comfort you--Should he let you be? Should he try to distract you? He has no idea, so he sticks with just acting like he usually does, and stays around you incase you need him

Invites you over to his room to play games in hopes that it proves as a decent distraction, oh but then the main character in the game has a brother and there you are, crying 

Levi quickly changes the game and apologizes to you, forgetting completely that the character had a brother in the game

So he picks another game that he knows for sure won’t make you sad and you both play that once you calm down 

You appreciate the gesture and just spending time with a friend does wonders for you in improving your mood

Levi’s tech-savviness comes in handy as he suggests video calling your twin

Of course, it’s not the same as seeing him in person, but it’s better than just talking over the phone together 

It hurt to see him look so sick though and to see him surrounded by the dull, white walls of his hospital room

Levi stays nearby to keep an eye on you and places a hand on your back to let you know that he's there for you (staying out of the camera though. This awkward otaku can’t handle human interaction from anyone other than you and his brothers/friends) 

Satan:

 Reassures you that your twin brother will be okay 

He does his own research to prove it to you, keeping you company in the meantime

Reads you your favorite books or tells you stories of his own

Takes you out to keep your mind preoccupied and wipes your tears away when you need him to

Teams up with Belphie so you can all play pranks on Lucifer 

He loves to see you laugh, so even if it means getting in trouble with Lucifer, he’d do it all just to see that smile on your face 

When you’re not with him, he watches you from afar while he’s reading, making sure you’re not quietly crying on your own or depressed 

Says he’ll come with you to the human world once your brother is discharged so you can see him straight away!

Satan is very observant, so he can tell when you’re thinking about your twin and feeling bad that you haven’t been able to see him for a while

He sees the way you zone out as you hope he gets better or brainstorm a way to sneak by security in the hospital so you could see your brother…and he’s willing to try any method with you, so make sure you let him in on your plans or he’ll just follow you if you try and sneak off on your own

Overall, Satan does his best to comfort you and show you proof that your twin will be better soon

Asmodeus: 

 Pampers you all day long so you can try to relax

Spoils you rotten with shopping sprees, doing your nails, your hair, clothes, shoes, EVERYTHING 

Hates to see you cry, but says something dumb like “don’t cry you’ll get wrinkles” bc as outgoing as he is, ASMO isn’t the best at comforting people when they cry 

He’s very much into himself as he is the number one most important person in his life, with you coming second, so it does talk him a while at first for him to realize that you’re down in the dumps

He probably finds out when one of his brothers says something about your sudden mood change to you, and makes a mental note to talk to you about it later when you’re alone with him

Asmo thinks he can woo the front desk into making an exception in letting you see your brother–and it might actually work…

He hates to see you frown, so get ready for lots of time with Asmo as he tries to wipe that frown from your face by having you focus on him instead

Beelzebub:

Our big, buff, kind baby, Beel, knows exactly what you’re going through

As someone with a twin of his own and having been separated from said twin for a while, he knows what you’re going through

Gets sad with you as if Belphie is the one in the hospital, but quickly shakes himself off as his reaction seems to make you even sadder

Beel is a teddy bear so his initial response is to feed you tons of food and give you loads of hugs

He sees it as his responsibility to make you feel better since you’re his close friend

Yeah and get ready to become part of this twins duo–while you can’t see your brother, Beel makes it clear that he and Belphie are your family too and invites you over as often as he can to do everything together as a trio

It helps you keep your mind off your brother while he’s recovering, but you do still miss him

Yes, Beel is strong enough to force his way into the hospital so you could see your twin, but he knew that would probably ban you from ever going anywhere near the hospital, so he threw that option away

Invites you to either watch him workout, or has you workout with him since he says being physically active helps pass the time and will keep you occupied from sad thoughts

Will 100% make you feel better, and won’t leave your side until you do feel better 

Belphegor:

Like Beel, Belphie knows what it feels like to miss his twin just like you, so he has loads of methods for passing the time until you and your twin are reunited

Of course most of the time is spent taking naps with him

These naps sometimes include Beel as well as you become sandwiched between the twins

Belphie hopes that seeing him with his twin doesn’t make you feel bad, so he tries to just spend time with you on your own instead of including Beel all the time incase you start thinking about your own twin

Takes you to the planetarium where you both spend A LOT of time, pointing to the stars as Belphie tells you about the different constellations 

You daydream while looking up at the stars and Belphie takes his 5th nap of the day on your lap

You knew your brother would be okay, it just hurt to be separated from him for so long while he was in the hospital

It would be different if he was away on vacation without you, with you knowing that he was okay and having a good time, but your twin wasn’t having a good time–he was hospitalized and on his own

Belphie hoped your brother would be discharged soon so you would smile at him again, but he gets it, he’d be sad too if Beel was in the hospital and he couldn’t see him, so he remains patient and never leaves your side

REQUESTS ARE OPEN :D

Posted: 8/14/2022

[phoinexboi]

Evolution:

This is gonna be different from the Illusion post I made. Why:

1. I made the first part of this MONTHS ago for a freind therefore there's a whole introductory paragraph waiting for ya'll (It's definitely edited and refined like A LOT)

2. I need to explain things before I analyze it this time because this episode was... confusing.

Okay one of the things we have to address is the time travel rules this show follows. Now the show is attempting at a loop theory (although they are failing miserably. Why do I say they're doing this? Because this episode basically sets off the events of the show!

For those of you who don't know, the loop theory is a theory in time travel in which whenever someone goes back in time, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. This theory can be done well of horribly. For example, a positive example of this could be "Secrets of Sulphur Springs". It's a fairly underrated mini-series and should deserve more love. ANYWAYS, this show does the loop theory well because... you don't know how things go down in the end. And even if you do it will be written off in a satisfactory way. The show's main element is time travel and it does well with it. A bad example is the episode Timetagger. Now the Bunny/Rabbit miraculous has a fair amount of inconsistencies from the power function to the actual power itself. The main one I wanna focus on is the loop effect that kinda but isn't there....

Lemme explain. Earlier in the episode Bunnyx REMEMBERS that mini-her was waving. Meaning that this event had been planned and happened before looping.

However, later in the episode when the civillians were transported to the past they changed many paintings. If the show was a loop that never would've happened.

Now my problem with this episodes loop...

Master Fu chose teenagers because he MET teenagers. So he KNEW to give it to TEENAGERS!

A lot of people have illogically complained about how this doesn't make sense and how he couldn't see through the Quantum masking. BUT HE DIDN'T HAVE TO!

He knew they were teens... that's all.

My problem is that this is a LOOP situation which is shown throughout the episode but the "time travel is dangerous" exuse. Is still used when it either won't matter in the end or will just be inconsistenly used throughout the episode!

They practically ruined the show with this one scene...

Anyways, that isn't the whole point I just had to get the time issues out the way so you can get back to your irregularly scheduled content.

Now onto my actual thoughts regarding the episode...

Look I originally liked the episode when it came out but I think that was just recency bias...

Was the episode bad? No. Just boring...

Not super boring but slightly repetitive

The show has trouble doing something outside of the format they usually follow and you can tell!

Let's start at the beginning. We pick up right after the Season 4 finalie. The crowd chants Ladybugs name.

I didn't like that they did this... Why? Because they killed all momentum they set up in Season 4! I mean, first off, look what happened in this episode. BARELY ANYTHING! I liked this episode because of the ending. That's it...

So now it's time to continue this epic roast.

Now time for the real JUICE! Me breaking down random and somewhat opinionated thoughts I had about the episode and writing them for the public ^^

Note time!

• Can we just mention the Synopsis though... "Ladybug and Chat Noir face an opponent who is in possession of the rabbit miraculous in a race against time" how cringe...

• The intro still bops-

• The hand holding!

• The Parisians completely ignore Chaton as usual 🙄

• Why do they always respect Monarchs name change in canon? Like I get why we do it but like in canon why can't we just choose whatever name we want at whatever time.... oh right this is a kids show that has no logic and wants to keep things as simple as possible-

• Gabriel is pure evil

• The animation downgraded but it's still good

• Nadja's hair color is so inconsistent in this show across the studios XD

• I thought LB stuck out the middle finger for a second...

• Was it ever confirmed it was called a message retriever? Because that's what the wiki calls it

• Thomas confirmed that Monarch's symbol was a work of the butterfly, Turtle and fox miraculous'. If so... why didn't I see any smoke when Ladybug breaks the akuma signal?

• HOW DID CHAT NOIR BREAK THE SHEILD WITH HIS STAFF ALONE IF HE HAS TO USE HIS CATACLYSM LATER ON?!

• How weak is the shell cast by "Shell-ter"?

• "It's you and me" that's quite important

• LMBO! The scene with Gabriel and the kwamis while LB and CN talk to the Parisians is so funny because it's so poorly chopped together!

• I love how Sass is the father figure. I mean he is the concept of "Intution"!

• Gabriel didn't do anything can he please stop taking credit

• Nathalie is the adult and Gabriel is the child in like 90% of their scenes together...

• Gabriel's camouflage miraculous designs suck

• Gabriel is so quick to do and so late to think

• The LB and Rabbit Noir scene still proves the loop theory

• BUNNYX IS A LIAR! Time Travel won't change anything 🙄

• The faces have definitely changed since previous seasons. You can tell with all the flashbacks this ep!

• BURROW BRAWL!!!!!

• What would Gabriel do with his second rabbit miraculous if he got it?

• Why couldn't Chat Noir extend his staff this time? Is the burrow too small?

• RABBIT NOIR!

• "It's you and me remember?"

• Ladybug is falling in love with Chaton by this point and we all know it

• They chase after Monarch for a bit... very old school...

• "Impressive..."

• No Marinette or Adrien this episode just heros

• The Master Fu scene was cool

• WHY COULDN'T HE JUST EXTEND HIS STAFF AGAIN

• I'm not going in order because this episode is all over the place...

• Bunnyx comes back LITTERALY Teo seconds later to return the Miraculous to Wang Fu

• Alix and her father have such a cute relationship 🤧

• Canigirl is cool. I don't like how they pronounced it in the English dub "Cane-I-girl"?

• Ready for action!

• The resolution for getting the rabbit back was cool but kinda odd because it wasn't much of a fight-

• But then again fighting doesn't solve every problem even in a superhero show ^^

• Bunnyx leaves for a while... it's undetermined for how long though...

• Chat Noir supports Ladybug again even though she doesn't deserve him!

• Nathalie goes off on Gabriel and leaves him for dead

• "LAAAADYBUUUUG"

"And they all screamed into the sunset"

Some inconsistencies but an 8/10 would recommend. I was a bit hard on it but despite a few "boring" scenes it was a really fun episode!

P.S. Sorry for comming out with this so late... school has been very demanding as of late...

[crystalelemental]

“hamofjustice: i've definitely wondered if i've poisoned my own experiences by having the "i'm just running through this to get to postgame" mindset and exploring+remembering pretty much nothing on the way there, when imagining oneself in the pokemon world was the most fun part as a kid. it is a little disappointing that you kinda still have to go out of your way to smell the roses and use your imagination though, still towns of 4 houses with people who say 1 line each in 2022.”

I dunno, I prefer it over the opposite, which I’m going to start calling the Breath of the Wild effect, since it’s the only open-world game I’ve directly experienced.  When everything open and there’s technically tons to do but it’s all very repetitive and boring, that’s way worse to me.

I think the real hit has been...as I’ve gotten older, I feel like I’ve had less time for fun.  I can experience older games with the same excitement because I have established concepts and ideas within those games, and that carries over.  But a new game needs that time and energy devoted, that I’m not always willing to invest because I’m tired, or pulled in too many directions by life, and don’t feel like I can dedicate, and then it feels hollow because yeah, it’s four houses with people who say one line each.  It doesn’t feel like as much.�� There are also legitimate changes that do simplify things.  Gen 8 is actually a smaller world.  Each route is much smaller that previous games, there are fewer trainer battles, and a lot less side stuff to explore, because the game wanted to streamline its experience to facilitate EXP All by removing situations like Gen 2′s Team Rocket segments that go for 40 minutes of fighting the same four Pokemon.  I can’t say it wasn’t well intentioned, but it does leave a gaping hole where an interested spooky Fae Forest should be, you know?

“3 minutes devoted to a character's vibe is pretty cool in comparison! actually putting stuff like that in the game would be a pretty welcome thing i would not complain about online for wasting my time and would make me enjoy every time i encountered them later more (also, i like that the elite four have been characters you actually know in the games lately, instead of four themed weirdo strangers. sometimes even the champion is some rando who said one line to you before)”

Just calling Diantha right out, huh?  But yeah, I like getting to know these characters.  I think the inverse is also fine though.  Like, FRLG kept the same structure where you really don’t know the E4, but your post-game had stuff like the Four Island bit with Lorelei, and I think that’s great too.  I don’t have to know them at first, but there should be something.  I do like the idea of getting some time to know the gym leaders, and I think the best example we had of that was probably Gen 5, where you met almost all of them in advance of their battle, or their battle was immediately followed a segment learning about their character.  That was great.  I think it’s part of why Gen 5′s cast shines so much.  If they could produce something comparable again, I think people would respond positively.

“(and in the language of pokemon tropes a rando saying one ambiguous line to you basically gives away that they're the champion. if i knew i'd have this much to say i'd just have reblogged it oops)”

You’re fine.  But you’re right, I think it was probably a good move on their part to just...announce who is the Champion.  The mystery was pretty easily solved early on.

“megazardx2: @hamofjustice Well, only Diantha was ever really a “rando” as far as Champions are concerned.”

Hehe, we all know about that one.  Poor Diantha.

“Anyways, I agree; they’ve been putting a lot more effort into making Gym Leaders, E4 members and Champions into actual characters for players to engage and fall in love with for reasons outside of design, which is something I very much appreciate. I mean, the existence of Pokémon Masters is proof!“

I definitely like having character, but on the Masters note...I think it’s nice to have gaps too.  I don’t need to know everything about a character, just enough to work with.  Like...part of the fun of a character like Jasmine or Caitlin for me is that we don’t know everything about them, and have some room for interpretation.  I know some find that bothersome and lacking depth, but I think it can be a nice experience at times, too.

[bullshittierlists]

A few notes before I start: Sorry about the white backgrounds, that’s how they showed up and I didn’t know how to fix them. Also, these summaries are going to be a lot shorter than they have in my last few posts just since there are so many characters. Anyway, let’s begin.

Literally godly, this should be your regular outfit -

Rantaro Amami - I shouldn’t have to be the first person to point out to you that he’s hot. Not to mention that the pink bottoms work wonders with his hair.

Nagito Komaeda - Hhhhhhhh

Byakuya Togami - I will admit, I’m basing this position more off of his appearance in the promo art. I don’t know how much I like this look on his regular sprite, but he’s so hot in that promo art, you don’t even know.

Show me who picked this out for you so I can thank them -

Sayaka Maizono - SHE LOOKS SO CUTE OML. I’d go through each detail, but in short: everything.

Gundham Tanaka - Shirtless Gundham, what more can I say?

Ibuki Mioda - I absolutely adore how her swimsuit doesn’t just go with her hair, but matches it. Perfection.

Korekiyo Shinguji - When the trailer first dropped and I saw the screen with all of the released swimsuits, I immediately started scanning to see if they put Korekiyo in a wetsuit and by God, they did.

Shuichi Saihara - He looks more tired than usual, but I just have a gut feeling his other sprites will look better.

Mondo Owada - I probably should’ve put him in standard, but he looks so good without a shirt on, I couldn’t possibly.

Kaito Momota - Space shorts.

Sakura Ogami - She was actually going to be somewhere in the first tier originally, but I just can’t put her there because of the color. I probably should’ve put her down with the other people with this problem (Uhhh... okay... I guess) but I couldn’t bear to.

Cute!/Cool! -

Chihiro Fujisaki - a;lskdfh;adskfijshdkjc He’s so cute, someone help. I’m drowning in cute. He looks so excited to be wearing it, too. I think this was the best choice they could’ve gone with to not give him something too masculine or feminine, fantastic choice.

Leon Kuwata - This category was originally just going to be “Cute!” but his bottoms looked so cool, I had to put him up here.

Toko Fukawa - Not only does her swimsuit look good on her, but I love the way that they designed her and Genocide Jack to be wearing the same swimsuit in different styles. Super cool.

Tenko Chabashira - I think this was one of the only palette swaps that I actually liked. There are probably a few other swaps that I didn’t even notice, but I like this one specifically because of the color swap. She looks great in pink.

Kyoko Kirigiri - I think I would’ve normally put her in standard, but her gloves are just too cool.

Mukuro Ikusaba - Love the colors and love the pattern. Simple, yet great.

Mahiru Koizumi - Mahiru, your camera. You can’t take that in the water. Mahiru- MAHIRU

Akane Owari - This is actually the swimsuit she wore during chapter 2 in the original game and I thought she looked great both times.

Chiaki Nanami - Same as Akane, so there’s not really any reason for either one to be higher or lower than the other. Peko would be up here too, but it’s really basic.

Gonta Gokuhara - I just really like the pattern and also that he’s still carrying the thing over his shoulder. It’s really weird who got to keep accessories and who didn’t, but we’ll get there.

Masaru Daimon - He just looks so cool in his shorts, I’m sure he’s excited to have them.

Shirokuma - Despite how I may feel about Shirokuma, this is a very cute outfit for them.

Standard -

Kaede Akamatsu - Definitely the best-looking of the protagonists, even if Shuichi’s higher. He’s only higher because I have faith that his faults are because of the sprite choice. If I’m wrong, sue me.

Kirumi Tojo - This is another instance of getting to keep the accessories. She still has her headband on. Why?? It wasn’t crucial to her character or anything. I get that Kyoko has backstory reasons and Gonta and Mahiru’s personalities revolve around their items, but why Kirumi? She had other things that defined her better.

Peko Pekoyama - Like I said before, basic and kinda bland. She still looks good, though.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu - He actually gained an accessory. Why does he have a necklace now? His shorts are nice, though.

Hajime Hinata - O r a n g. Or maybe red.

Maki Harukawa - Basic swimsuit, no color change whatsoever. A nice swimsuit, but nothing special.

Genocide Jack - Everything I said before about Toko’s swimsuit still applies, Genocide Jack’s is just way more boring.

Aoi Asahina - A good color swap, but not good enough to make up for her basic swimsuit.

Monomi - I like that they put her in a one-piece. Very cute. Wish they would do that all the time...

Monaca Towa - I just noticed that she is the only character other than Monomi to wear a one-piece. Why??

Makoto Naegi - The most basic swimsuit imaginable combined with his regular color scheme and pattern.

Hiroko Hagakure - I think I like that she kept her jacket? Maybe? It’s a different jacket, but it still counts.

Nagisa Shingetsu - Black and white bottoms. Okay. You do you, buddy.

Imposter - It’s fine. It’s just fine.

Izuru - I like that they gave him a separate swimsuit from Hajime, but why is it so bland and boring?

I love you, so I’ll forgive it -

Sonia Nevermind - She actually looks great and is so cute. So cute that she’d be in the top tier if not for one crucial fact. If you’ll notice, I mentioned earlier that Peko, Chiaki, and Akane are all wearing the same swimsuit here that they had worn in the original second game. However, there’s another character that appears in the scene I’m talking about that is wearing a different outfit than they are here. That charcter is Sonia, who was seen in a wetsuit in the original game. It was thrown off as a joke, but I still can’t stop thinking about how pretty she looked in that wetsuit. It’s literally my profile picture for my main blog, that’s how pretty she is wearing it. I’m mad because they’re basically agreeing that she didn’t look pretty/sexy in the wetsuit when that couldn’t be more wrong.

Celestia Ludenberg - I literally just wish she was wearing a one-piece, it can be the same style and everything. Honestly a missed opportunity.

Kotoko Utsugi - It’s just a weird pattern. Love the colors, though.

K1-B0 - I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the floaty, but he still deserves more respect.

Miu Iruma - The pattern is... fitting... but still bad.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - Taka... sweetie... why...?

Uhhh... okay... I guess -

Angie Yonaga - I like the look, but it’s exactly what she usually wears just without the jacket. Does that mean that she’s always wearing a swimsuit? Why? Even Asahina didn’t wear a swimsuit as her regular outfit.

Kazuichi Soda - I definitely like this color better than the piss yellow he used to have, but it’s still not great. I like that he got to keep his little logo thing, but I’m confused as to why he gets to keep his hat. It’s just like Kirumi keeping her headpiece. I’m fine with it in this case, but why him and not...? Well, we’ll get there.

Komaru Naegi - A lot of the outfits in this tier are just because I like the look and not the color scheme, including Komaru. Yellow’s just an odd fit for the shade of green that her hair is.

Tsumugi Shirogane - The same as Komaru. Nice style, but the yellow and blue clash for me.

Hiyoko Saionji - Surprise surprise, it’s the same thing. I think the style really fits her, but I hate the yellow and green. Not into it.

Junko Enoshima - Ok, we’re out of the color scheme repetition. I don’t know why she’s wearing a tanktop. It just looks a little off, but I can’t place why. I don’t know why she isn’t just wearing the regular swimsuit like she was in the promo art. If she was, I’d probably put her in Standard.

Yasuhiro Hagakure - I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice the alien pattern on his shorts until after I had already downloaded the picture and closed out of the tier list tab. If I had noticed before, I’d probably put him in Cute!/Cool! but I still don’t really like the color scheme. Fitting, but not pleasing.

Kurokuma - The only reason he’s above Kokichi is because he has a water gun and I think that’s cute.

Kokichi Oma - Literally just gut instinct. I like that he kept his checkered pattern and purple color scheme. Something just told me he should be down here.

Monokuma - It just feels wrong, but I can’t place why, same as Kokichi.

Teruteru Hanamura - I probably would’ve liked his outfit better if his shirt was buttoned up at least a little bit. Now that I think about it, Mondo should’ve had one of these, too.

Who signed off on this? -

Usami - WHY IS SHE IN A BIKINI??? SHE’S A STUFFED RABBIT.

Nekomaru Nidai - I can absolutely see him picking this swimsuit to wear, but that doesn’t mean I like it.

Mikan Tsumiki - You know why she’s here.

God no. I hate it -

Ryoma Hoshi - So Mahiru gets to keep her camera, Kirumi gets to keep her headpiece, and Kazuichi gets to keep his hat.. but Ryoma doesn’t get anything? I genuinely had to take a second to figure out who this was the first time I saw him. He can’t even have a sunhat or anything? That would’ve been cute.

Himiko Yumeno - I can’t imagine a world in which she would choose this swimsuit for herself. The color is off, the style is off, I could much more easily see her wearing something similar to Monaca’s swimsuit. Basically, just let some of the girls wear one-pieces. They don’t all have to be in bikinis.

Jataro Kemuri - The pattern. I can’t even stand to look at it long enough to figure out what it is.

Hifumi Yamada - It did take me a second to figure out what his swimsuit was, but as soon as I did, he hit the bottom of the list. Again, it’s definitely fitting, but I still hate it.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Sotsu Ep8

They see Satoko rolling~~ They hating~~

Anyway, thoughts under the cut.

Not to be petty or anything but it’s getting more and more funny how like half of the fandom is going through the five stages of grief as it becomes increasingly obvious that this literally is meant to be a bridge between Higurashi and Umineko, lol.

I mean sure there’s always the chance that he decided to make a new Higurashi anime as a vehicle to elaborately troll the fans of a different, decade-old VN that was infamously way less popular than Higurashi was, but I think we can all agree that that just feels like coping at this point.

Now I’m just curious to see how many ways they’re gonna find to spell it out for us. We’ve seen Satoko bring up the idea of certainty multiple times while mocking Rika’s reliance on miracles, Featherine is literally a character in Higurashi now who gave Satoko her looping powers, they’ve referenced this new set of loops as a ‘game board’ with ‘pieces’ several times, and now they’ve literally used the word witch. Are we gonna see Satoko come up with the name Lambdadelta to describe her witch persona, like what happened with Rika? Are we going to get a look at Lambda’s character design from Umineko? Who knows at this point. Even after everything that’s happened up to now I didn’t expect them to actually bring up witches, since that doesn’t really fit with Higurashi’s whole Japanese mythology motif. But here we are.

Anyway, in spite of how pleased I am about the show barrelling towards the conclusion I’ve been predicting since like halfway into Gou, I’m definitely in the camp of thinking that Sotsu hasn’t needed to be anywhere near as long as it’s been thus far. I still think that a lot of it is just due to them wanting to cater to new fans as well as old ones, but I feel like even that only really applies to Oniakashi, since that’s the only answer arc thus far that’s actually built upon stuff from the VN answer arcs that Gou didn’t already cover. Wataakashi didn’t actually involve or rely on any material from Meakashi, so I honestly think that new fans could just have easily have figured out the mysteries to that in advance, and Tatariakashi also isn’t really based on any material from the VN. Tataridamashi was already more of an adaptation of Minagoroshi than Tatarigoroshi anyway. So it just feels like everything after Oniakashi could have just been summarized in a montage.

It’s kinda odd, since they have the whole framing device of Eua watching everything unfold, which could have been used more frequently as a way to skim over these arcs and just show the important bits, but we’ve only gotten a few scenes like this. It might have gotten a bit repetitive if they made it too frequent, but it’s also just kinda boring to spend most of each episode going over stuff we’ve already seen.

I think all of that is a genuine issue with the writing, and I doubt anything from this point on will retroactively improve it, but in spite of all that I still like what Ryukishi is trying to do with this series, and how it fits into the franchise as a whole.

I recently went back and reread some stuff from the VN to check it, and I feel like a lot of complaints people have with this series basically boil down to fundamental disagreements with how they view the story vs how Ryukishi himself does. I don’t think it’s wrong for people to disagree with him or see things differently, but still. Specifically, it feels like the whole premise of this series is built upon his afterword for Matsuribayashi where he talks about how that arc doesn’t actually represent the ‘ideal ending’ for Higurashi based on it’s world-view and philosophy, since it ends with Takano being the villain who everyone gangs up to defeat so that everyone except her can get a happy ending. He then poses that the ‘graduating question’ [aka where the title of this new series comes from, lol] is figuring out what the ideal ending would be, if it’s not Matsuribayashi. So in a lot of ways this is Ryukishi’s attempt to go back and fix his perceived mistakes with the VN, and the issue is just that a lot of people don’t think it even needed to be ‘fixed’ in the first place.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the sort of idealistic, non-violent philosophy of absolute forgiveness that Ryukishi seems to feel strongly about, but I honestly appreciate just how far he’s willing to go to explore and communicate that message in his writing. I think it takes a lot of courage to go back and re-examine a famous story you wrote from the perspective of ‘the way it ended wasn’t actually perfect, and here’s what would happen if we kept following the characters and saw all the consequences of what happened’.

Ironically, I kinda feel like a lot of this narrative stuff ends up feeling like a somewhat half-baked version of Umineko, since a large part of Umineko was already about revisiting and expanding upon the ideas of forgiveness and abuse from Higurashi, but in a less literal way than what Gou/Sotsu is doing.

Anyway, now that we’re a couple episodes into this arc, I’m getting less confident about how they’re going to wrap this all up by episode 15, if we aren’t getting some kind of unannounced continuation. We’re two episodes into this arc and thus far we’ve basically only covered the first two episodes of Tataridamashi, so unless the pacing picks way up after this, it might take this entire arc just to get through this loop, before even getting to the Nekodamashi stuff.

But on the other hand, I think that after this point in Tataridamashi we don’t really see Satoko again until near the end of it, so if we keep following her perspective, we might just gloss over all the protest stuff with the main crew, and we might be able to get all the way up to the end of this loop in just one more episode.

I dunno if that’d be enough time to set up the descent into self-doubt and regret that they seem to be setting up for Satoko, but there’s a lot they have to get through before this can all wrap up. I’m at least assuming there’ll be a full arc left after we catch up to the cliffhanger from Nekodamashi, anyway.

I don’t think this episode does a whole lot to affect my theory of how this arc will go from Satoko’s perspective, but i’m more unsure now about when she might start to doubt herself and go back on her plans, if she does at all.

The scene at the very end with Eua watching Satoko’s classroom breakdown is kinda interesting, though, since it made it more ambiguous than I expected as to what Satoko was thinking in that scene. On paper you’d just think that she’s continuing her whole charade, but the way that we zoom out and see it from Eua’s more antagonistic and judgmental perspective, and how we see Satoko’s eyes flash red for a split second as she starts freaking out, makes me kinda unsure just how much she was faking it.

Also I just have to admit that seeing Satoko rolling around in the dirt while laughing maniacally was genuinely hilarious, lol. I still think that a lot of this is meant to be morbidly funny in a self-aware way. 

[mayasdeluca]

The scene between Maya/Andy/Carina felt somehow off, like forced, but I kinda love Carina and Andy by themself, they are both fierce and say things how they are, they are stubborn and passionate, I think Carina is more aware of her own problems than Andy tho, Andy needs therapy ASAP whilst Carina seems like she’s doing that already and done it for a while, she reads people very well and she’s aware of everything around her and always gives good advice , she’s not perfect but I like how both are so human, Maya too, flawed characters are what make us feel closer to them.

Whatever happen or didn’t bts, I really really miss Andy & Maya (and Vic)and the little talk they had about being first female chief was a nice callback of they friendship, they are giving us crumbs, I hope whatever happened it can get better cause it’s like the engine or Station 19 isn’t running smoothly and we can all see it.

It was just another level honestly

Give me back Maya Andy Vic that’s all I wanted for Christmas (I’m Jewish but I’m going with the flow I guess lol)

Barrett is just on another level dude, I want Danielle to get some Drama storyline and I want to see them back acting together more than 0.5 sec, and feeding each other lines and pushing their acting up, like good actors can do!

Andy needs some some joy, give her something else to care about, but please she’s becoming annoying and repetitive must be boring for an actor to be stuck in the same storyline over and over again…

Yeah, I felt that too. You could kinda feel the tension/awkwardness, which is sad. Something clearly happened and it's not our business but when it's affecting on screen stuff...it sucks. I really feel like that's also a reason Andy is at Station 23. Which is...also not good. Or the reason they're dragging it out this long anyway. The Carina/Andy stuff was really good though and you're right, Carina is definitely more self aware and I think Andy could learn a lot from Carina and do good by spending more time with her. And also going to therapy!

It's not good if you only have so many females to begin with and now you can't really show their on screen friendship without something feeling off. And they haven't really tried until this episode and it even felt weird with another person there. But I still don't understand why they won't develop Maya/Vic more, especially since Danielle and Barrett are close. They're both such great actresses too. It makes no sense. There's only one reason I feel like they wouldn't but it's kinda mean so I won't go there lol

I want Maya to get something dramatic too because Danielle is great at that stuff, Barrett has been great with her content this season. Andy is honestly so much better this season and it's because she's away from Sullivan. If she wasn't constantly around the annoyance that is Season 23, I would actually really enjoy her but I can't. She's definitely more likable than she's ever been though. She needs to do something else and hopefully they're done doing the same stupid stuff for once.

[ask-the-crimson-king]

Music Shill of the Day: "JUDAS" by Lord of the Lost

PART 1 of 2: "DAMNATION"

Welcome to my Music Shill on the album "Judas" by Lord of the Lost. I think it's the first or second time I've shilled them, and it's honestly due to the fact that I've only found them quite recently. And they just so happened to be releasing a new album. Lucky me.

I will be going through each of the tracks with various ratings, gushing, and general nerdy bullshit on why I like them. Don't expect anything to be really technical, I'm just an average listener. And if you want the theological side of things, ask my friend @hoholupercal-adopts for that. Overall this album is fucking beautiful and is generally fantastic. There are some I like more than others, but please go out and give these songs a listen. And maybe buy the album as well if you vibe with it.

LINKS WILL BE PROVIDED TO THE SONGS MENTIONED. I will also be doing a 1-10 rating system, where this is the scale: 1 - garbage. Horrible. Wow this just sucks. 5 - average. It's decent. It's workable. Not horrible, not great either. 10 - fantastic. An absolute banger. Holy shit. This is so great.

Yes it is entirely subjective. And since this rambling has taken up so much space, I will be putting the actual songs and ratings under the cut, but have a link to the album via Youtube anyway.

ONWARDS, FRIENDS!

1. "Priest" - 10/10

Starting off EXTREMELY STRONG with the song that really got me hyped about the album, we have Priest.

What is there not to love on this album? The drums at the beginning, the ethereal and light singing, and how Chris' vocals pair with them right into those nice, deep "PRIEST." screams. The first verse builds on the opening with that nice riff in the background as intensity builds, and then...

That. Fucking. CHORUS. It sounds so fucking good. I can't accurately state how much I love it actually. Chris' vocals sound wonderful. I love how flowy it is and how much power is within the chorus, I love Pi's backing "We're all at- we're all at - we're all at fault", I love everything about it. I just can't understate it. The fucking sheer intensity this song brings all the way through, then the break for that moment of calm, and then going right into the last chorus...

Perfect. Wonderful. Beautiful. I listened to this song non-stop when it was originally released as a single. It inspired a small piece of writing from me too. It's so good. It's too fucking good. Fantastic opener for the album. What could possibly succeed this amazing fucking track?

2. "For They Know Not What They Do" - 8/10

Another great one. Not as great as Priest, but still a great song overall.

The opening is very interesting but kinda thematic for the album moving forward. It uses a chorus in the opening and closing of the track, which happens to be only 5 people layered over each other many times, and this chorus shows up in several tracks throughout the record. With only the exception of "Viva Vendetta", which had a full chorus of 386 people. That aside, it does sound quite nice. It is indeed a banger.

The lyrics are very repetitive, but it works very well for the song. They don't sound boring or tiring, but the song is more low-key than Priest. Though its chorus is much more reliant on Chris' screams than its predecessor, and the screams do sound great when contrasted by his cleans for the rest of the chorus. The piano melody in the back also sounds beautiful for the entire duration of the song.

A wonderful song, it still slaps immensely. So the album is going pretty strong, but already these two songs were released ahead of the album. What does the first 'new' song of the album have to offer?

3. "Your Star Has Led You Astray" - 8/10

It has a LOT to offer, actually.

It is more intense and a bit more powerful than For They Know Not What They Do, and I do like this song a bit more. I just don't want to do something like '8.3/10' cause if these songs were on a tierlist they'd be in the same tier.

The organ underlying everything is a very subtle touch, and it's a very welcome one. It lends to this feeling of this being a prayer or a confession within a church, perhaps of someone confiding in some sort of priest. Or someone being scorned by a priest or religious figure.

The choir in the background, which also comes out more prominently towards the end of the song, also lends more to this preacher/church vibe that the song has. The instrumentals outside of that act as almost a sort of contrast, at least with the guitar/bass lines. They feel very heavy, very intense, while the piano, vocals, choir, and organ have a more light and almost somber feel. It blends very well and makes for a wonderful song.

So far, so good. Now, what's next?

4. Born With a Broken Heart - 10/10

ABSOLUTE. BANGER.

And I almost thought this may be a Primal Fear cover when I first saw the track title a few weeks back.

While the two tracks proceeding it were more low-key, with some nice heavier feeling added in, this returns to a more heavy and weighty and intense sound. The verses sound groovy and almost bouncy, with the guitars taking a bit of a backseat when the vocals begin. I think it's a great contrast to the rest of the song itself, where they have that same sort of constant sound that they had in Priest.

The chorus is slower, but still carries all the power and weight of the verses right along with them. The vocals on this track are beautiful and wonderful and I adore the immensely. Once more the organ is a very subtle and great touch. Once more, the choir in the back sounds wonderful, and the singled out solo voice of Scarlet Dorn (I believe that's her) sounds as light and moving as it did in Priest.

Overall, amazing song. Absolutely slaps immensely. Love it.

Already a third of the way through disc 1. What can follow this pattern?

5. "The 13th" - 7/10

It is a good song. It is above average. It isn't entirely my style, but I can see others definitely vibing to it. It's very somber, it's very slow, but it still carries weight to it. Also the tie-in to Born With a Broken Heart is nice.

The organs here take a more prominent role in the song, which is nice. The synths in the back of the song are something that I find to be interesting, but not something that I really vibe with. They almost sort of clash with the overall feel of the song in my opinion.

The chorus is very nice, and feels on the same level of Born with a Broken Heart in terms of emotional intensity. This is most certainly a more somber piece for sure. It's much more sorrowful. The vocals are great, the overall instrumentals are fine, this is a good song. Just not one that I enjoy as much as other entries.

With all that being said, onward to the next song!

6. "In the Field of Blood" - 9/10

Alright. I can see people waving phones and lighters to this song already.

Another slower, somber sounding song. But this one is done better than The 13th in my humble opinion. There isn't the odd synth, the piano returns, there's some nice bits of stringwork done around the verses, and it feels more like a classic metal ballad. The piano in the chorus paired with the vocals sounds very, very nice. I love it.

It picks up a bit in terms of intensity for the bridge, when there is a small key change and the introduction of some screams. It transitions very smoothly into a nice chorus, and then there is a nice, pleasant sounding groove to lead the song out.

Heavy, slow, sad, but wonderful. Remorseful as well. Very well done.

7. "2000 Years a Pyre" - 8/10

A really, really good song. Another slower, heavier piece. But it sounds very nice.

The only thing I don't like is how this is the third track now with a chorus that sounds kinda samey. It's another with a beautiful piano accompaniment to the vocals, and sounds alltogether very sorrowful. Which is a good theme since this is the "damnation" of Judas thus far.

However, the song has a nice vibe and beat to it. The choir backing the chorus sounds great. The ending distortion and the ramping of how heavy it is for a bridge is very cool as well. Not quite an absolute 10/10 banger, but still a very good song.

8. "Death is Just a Kiss Away" - 10/10

I. AM. A. BITCH. FOR. GOOD. STRINGS.

AND THIS SONG DEFINITELY HAS THAT. AND! It has the leitmotif taking a much more central role. It's the tune of the verse, and it comes back several times across the record.

And man do I love how its played in the opening. I love the strings, the organ, the piano, how everything slowly keeps building and building over the course of the song. It doesn't just feel the same sort of somber and sad as some of the other tracks do. It builds and builds and builds, ending with Chris' vocals sounding more powerful and much more confident.

The lyrics sound almost like a conversation or some sort of Shakespearean lament. Okay, sure, the other songs do too, but I still love them nonetheless. I also like how the guitars and most of the heavier elements of LOTL as a band take a break for this piece.

I love this song. Love it to death. The choir at the end is a great touch as well. So good.

9. "The Heart is a Traitor" - 9/10

AH, YES. The 90s metalcore sounding song. Hell yeah.

This song kicks ass. A return to the intensity found to open the album, and a style that is reminscent of Born with a Broken Heart but with more of that heavy metal feeling for the chorus.

Here, the instrumentation of the song relies more on the classic bits of LOTL - guitars, some piano, the drums, and some bass. There is also some synth added in, but of course there is. I was almost nervous cause I didn't like the vibe or feel of the synths used in The 13th, but they work really well here. It follows the guitars really well, and it blends into the overall song wonderfully. Plus it helps out that 90s vibe.

The vocals are wonderful as well, with nice screams mixed among the powerful, gravelly sounding choruses and cleaner verses. Overall, wonderful song.

Almost done. ONWARDS!

10. "Euphoria" - 8/10

It sounds very nice. It is slow, deliberate, it has good pacing. The piano sounds very light, and I get visions of something like A Christmas Carol from the song. It has the late December or just a cold winter's night vibes.

Once more, the heavier elements are absent for a good deal of the song, but they do eventually kick in. The build up is great, it is well done, but not as well as Death is Just a Kiss Away to me. Still, the song is very good. Powerful and soft vocals with a nice slow rhythm on drums and a pleasant piano in the back works wonderfully.

A great song, to be sure.

11. "Be Still and Know" - 9/10

The first instrumental track on the record, and it's got the entire band on display here.

The intro is intense, and it brings back the leitmotif as well. The guitar solo is grand, especially how it ties into the leitmotif towards its end.

The song itself serves as a good almost-midway point for the album. A chance to breathe and feel, a chance to listen and enjoy. Of course, you can get that with the other 10 songs too, but there's just something about an instrumental track acting as a great checkpoint that's very refreshing. Even with one that carries such a heavy and powerful rhythm to it.

A wonderful, beautiful piece. Very, very well done. Very enjoyable.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

12. "The Death of All Colours" - 10/10

An acapella piece to see the end of disc 1, and once more the leitmotif is on display through the vocals themselves.

Well, of course they are, there's only the vocals to be heard. But you know what I mean -- last track had them in the instrumentals, this one has them in the vocals.

I love the lyrics here. I find myself singing this song often. It's simply too good not to. This song was already released a few weeks ahead of the album itself, but I hadn't heard it until I heard Priest.

It has power that slowly dwindles as the song ends, and carries with it these sadder and more somber themes. It's a wonderful piece in and of itself. In fact I didn't even realize it was acapella until I saw the "Track by Track" video for it on LOTL's YT channel. It feels whole and complete. A great song. Absolutely fantastic. Great way to end the first half of the dual-album.

Final thoughts will be shared in a separate post, but overall, already there are plenty of really, really solid songs here. I love all of them. Not one do I think is particularly bad or even really just 'meh' thus far. Will this change in disc 2?

FIND OUT IN... About an hour and a half? Maybe? Or maybe just wait for the reblog that'll come at a more reasonable hour.

[violent-optimism]

Why Twilight Princess is the Best Zelda Game (To Me!)

Hey ya’ll,

I know I don’t really talk about video games that much. I really should though! Video Games have been a huge part of my life for pretty much as long as I can remember.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a game that means so much to me I can scarcely put it into words. I was 10 years old when this game came out, the perfect age in my opinion. I think if I had been any older or younger it might have slipped past my radar. Despite the game being rated T for Teen, my parents got it for me and my sister anyway which I think is pretty fucking rad.

Not that we really knew what we were in for, of course. I was just a kid. I didn’t read game reviews yet, and I didn’t have any friends who had played this game so I couldn’t ask them about it either. When we first popped that disc in and were brought to the main menu, we had absolutely NO idea just what kind of ride we were in for or how just how much this game would impact us.

Another thing I’d like to mention was how this game was introduced into my life at the perfect time. My sister and I had just moved schools. We were the new kids, and we had a lot of trouble adjusting and fitting in. There was definitely some teasing, maybe even some bullying. I don’t remember much from those days to be honest. But you know what I do remember? Playing Twilight Princess. This game was the perfect distraction from my crappy school life, and in a time where my sister and I barely had any friends, it was so comforting. We’ve always been close, but I think we bonded a lot over this game.

If you’re a gamer, you know this feeling; the feeling when you are currently playing a game that is just so fun, so amazing, so utterly addicting in the best possible way; that when you’re away from it it’s all you can think about. I distinctly remember my Dad installing the new TV which meant no Twilight Princess for a day or so. I was SO impatient and I just couldn’t wait for him to be done so I could continue playing it.

Even though I’ve now played Twilight Princess so many times that I could basically play it with my eyes closed (maybe lol) I still remember experiencing some of the best moments of the game for the very first time; running around Ordon Village, finding Midna, beating the first dungeon, finding out that GANONDORF was in the game! (Remember I had no way of knowing this at the time). Every big moment, every discovery, every heart-wrenching cut scene, it all felt so real and so important at the time. In a lot of ways, it still is.

Okay, so that’s the personal part. A bit long-winded, I know. I just thought it was important to include for this essay. But what is it about Twilight Princess that makes it so special? Why do I love it so much even after 15 years? (God that makes me feel old). This list isn’t really in a particular order but I will definitely be covering a lot of the BIG reasons why I adore this game so much. Oh, and in case you’re a little late to the party, there will be spoilers. Let’s go!

 Darker and More Mature:

There’s something really enticing about being a kid, and witnessing something in a movie, video game, etc. that you know you probably shouldn’t have watched but you did anyway. Not only is Twilight Princess the only Zelda game to date that is Rated T (I’m pretty sure anyway), but it has some seriously dark and disturbing moments throughout the story; including one VERY creepy cut scene about halfway through the game that still haunts me a little to this day. Beyond that, you’ve got painful transformation sequences, characters being stabbed, characters sacrificing themselves, and a scene where I’m pretty sure Ganondorf’s neck just gets fucking broken. I can go on, but the point is this Zelda game does not screw around when it comes to showing intense moments and it’s all the better for it. I never felt the game went too far with it, but let’s say Twilight Princess definitely earned its T rating.

 Wolf Form:

I’m sure people who haven’t even played TP know that this is probably the biggest defining feature. In this game, Link gains the ability to turn into a Wolf! I know some people might consider these parts of the game to be boring and not as fun, but I have always disagreed with that notion. I think it’s a really cool and out of the box way to break the somewhat repetitive gameplay of traditional Zelda games. There’s more of a puzzle-solving element to these Wolf sections, and I for one find it very satisfying to collect the Tears of Light. Turning into your Wolf form becomes essential, especially towards the latter half of the game when you need to complete tasks that you couldn’t normally do as a human. Plus…Wolf Link is pretty darn cute! His design is awesome too.

 MIDNA!!!:

And speaking of Wolf Link, around the same time Link gains this ability he also meets a character who (in my opinion) is THE BEST Zelda sidekick/companion across all the games. She’s not annoying, she’s not boring; Midna is a 3-Dimensional, fully fleshed out character that plays a crucial role in the story. I can’t imagine anyone playing this game and NOT getting attached to Midna. I know I certainly did. In the first half of the game you don’t really know that much about her, but she is certainly helpful gameplay-wise and doesn’t just give you the same useless hint over and over. Plus, the SASS! My God, Midna is so sassy I love her so much. I love how she grows and changes and becomes a better person by the end of the story. Midna really deserves her own game!

 A Beautiful Game:

Now obviously this doesn’t just apply to Twilight Princess. Most Zelda games are very beautiful, especially the more modern ones such as Breath of the Wild. However, there is something about the specific beauty of Twilight Princess that just takes my breath away. The scenery is just gorgeous everywhere you go. Ordon Village is beautiful, Hyrule Field is stunning, Snowpeak is captivating, the Fishing Hole is serene, you get the picture. And to top it all off, Twilight Princess STILL looks beautiful even after all these years. The graphics have aged really well which is certainly no hindrance. As a kid I always wished that some of the locations were real, and honestly, I still kinda do.

 Best version of Ganondorf:

It’s funny; I don’t normally root for villains. I tend to gravitate towards more heroic characters or characters that are more similar to me. Ganondorf is certainly the exception; specifically the Ganondorf that we see in Twilight Princess. I remember being SO EXCITED when he first appeared in a cut scene after Arbiter’s Grounds. I don’t know if it’s the way he was introduced, the raspy laugh, or his character design, but I LOVE Ganondorf in this game. He is just so bad-ass, so cool, my only wish is that we saw a little bit more of him in TP. Regardless, every time he shows up in the game, he is a formidable and dominating screen presence. And I feel no shame whatsoever admitting that 10 year old Sam developed a massive crush on this Ganondorf. Is that weird? I dunno, but either way he is just so cool as well as a fantastic addition to an already perfect game.

The Soundtrack:

Again, it’s not unusual for a Zelda game to have a really fantastic soundtrack. The series has always had amazing music since the very first game. However, the music in Twilight Princess continues to entrance me even to this day. The Main Menu theme? Amazing. Midna’s theme? Amazing. Lake Hylia? Amazing. And don’t even get me started on those beautiful Wolf Songs you sing throughout the game. It’s just a beautiful soundtrack. To say it’s nostalgic for me is a massive understatement.

Dungeon Design:

Unsurprisingly, most Zelda games tend to recycle the same temple themes over and over again. You got your forest temple, your fire temple, water, desert, time, etc. These are definitely present in Twilight Princess, but there’s something about the way they’re designed and the way you move through them that just feels so unique and wonderful. I won’t name them but I’ve played other Zelda games where the dungeons felt like a horrible, tedious chore. With TP, I never felt that was the case. Every Dungeon is packed full of secrets, with plenty of interesting set pieces to explore. Even the water temple (YES, the Water Temple!) is enjoyable to play through. The Dungeons have tons of replay value as well, meaning that you can return later and find special items that you weren’t able to access before.

And just as a fun bonus, here’s my top nine list for the Twilight Princess Dungeon’s:

9) City in the Sky

8) Palace of Twilight

7) Hyrule Castle

6) Temple of Time

5) Lakebed Temple

4) Forest Temple

3) Snowpeak Ruins

2) Goron Mines

1) Arbiter’s Grounds

 And that about wraps it up, folks! Sorry this was such a long essay, I had so much to say. It is, after all, my favourite video game ever. Of course it’s not technically perfect and it definitely has some flaws. But you know what? It’s perfect to me, and I’ll never get sick of it.

Thank you so much for reading! :) Listen to this track of the opening theme and tell me you don’t feel it in your SOUL!!!

[retphienix]

Phasmophobia maps ranked (totally objective, no opinions here, super srs, psyche gottem it's all opinions)

Brownstone High School

I won't sugar coat it, I didn't even bother going inside for a screenshot for this entry because I hate high school.

Now to be fair, I'm down to play high school whenever, I want to get better at it and I believe that should speed things up a bit and make it more fun.

And HS is the map I think of when I think of running a full 4 man!

But beyond a full 4 man HS is too big, too boring, and too annoying to solve.

It's long hallway with a million rooms after long hallway with a million rooms after small reprieve of finding a science lab or gym followed by long hallway with a million rooms followed by going upstairs to do it all over again.

THERE ARE TOO MANY CLASSROOMS AND I KNOW THAT'S THE POINT

But when the gameplay revolves around finding the room where the ghost is hanging around having these many rooms AND hallways can really drag things out.

Now to be honest, when you have the room on lockdown it's a fun map to maneuver and solve!

So if you walk in the front door and hear something fall over in a specific direction it immediately becomes more playable!

But if you walk in and the ghost is being a quiet asshole then you're in for the least fun you can have in phasmo in my opinion.

Just a bunch of "PLEASE DO SOMETHING" shouting and holding your EMF or thermo practically begging for something to happen.

Bottom tier, worst map, don't like it.

It doesn't even have unique collectibles to make up for the fact that it's a big map so you won't find the bone!

Hardly necessary (though I argue all maps need those) but definitely worth dropping a mention on top of being hallway simulator.

Too many rooms and boring hallways out of 9

Edgefield Street House

Edge honestly doesn't deserve to be next to HS but someone had to be and Edge gets the dishonor purely because it's the most middling map in the game.

Edge is fine.

Edge is passable.

Edge is simple and clean.

Edge isn't exciting is the problem, but it is still a fun one.

The houses aren't renown for being the most interesting; Their job is to be middling and accessible and they get the job done just fine. Edge just happens to be the most middling.

With a first floor that's underutilized, I mean the ghost is in the kitchen if they are here at all let's be real.

Garage is meh, living room is a rare spot for anything to happen, there's a weird back exit area that is never used ever for anything?

First floor is clearly an afterthought for the ghost but it gets the job done.

I actually really dig the basement layout, but I've never once seen a ghost spawn there lol. It's mostly just a place to turn on the power and hide in the locker and that's fine.

The 'star' of Edge is the upstairs which has roughly 9 billion rooms and locations for you to hide, scientists are still counting the exact amount.

You want the blunt end of that?

It's entirely playable- it's safe as hell even since there's a closet every 3 inches- but it's not the most interesting thing for an entire map to be "Go upstairs, look at the 15 doors because one is probably about to open for you and that's the ghost room"

Runs of Edge are a bit too 'samey' since so much of the real-estate is upstairs and it's so dense.

Edge is fine. The most 'passable' map in rotation that I won't complain about but I'm never stoked to head to.

Passable out of 9

Asylum

I'll be honest and say I'm not being thorough with asylum.

It's among my least played, but that doesn't mean my least enjoyed.

It's got a really fun reverb on voices, it's genuinely fun to wander through, but it just feels some strange level of 'too big' while still being... not that?

I dunno how to say it.

But the 1st floor is annoying to clear out with its layout and sure that's inexperience talking-

While the bottom floor is fun due to the aesthetic but it's in a weird place of being overly simplistic.

The bottom floor is just a big hallway with rooms on either side.

That's not the most interesting layout- though it is fun to hide down there, with bathrooms and other makeshift spots to hide behind in most rooms which makes the hallway less threatening.

Asylum is weird, the layout goes between annoying and overly simple between the two floors and it feels too 'wide' for what it has to offer.

AND YET

I like aslyum.

I never play it, but I like it.

Shweppsi out of 9

Tanglewood Street House

Tangle we all know it and what's there to say.

A little bit, to be honest :)

It's the smallest map around and it's a great first map to learn the ropes.

Tangle's strongest feature is its layout- it's both interesting and fun to experience in multiple runs.

I love the little trio of rooms (and bathrooms/closet space) on the left side of the house, the way it's a little mini hallway for two of them (and a bathroom), then deeper in to the left of the living room is the master bedroom, I dig that.

I dig the garage too, the way it's connected to a laundry room feels really nice, but let's be honest every ghost ever in Tangle is in the kitchen.

Sure that's not literally true and I've had a ton in the first room on the left or the bathroom on the left, but that kitchen is where every run on Tangle ends up- with everyone hanging out asking for the ghost to show themselves.

Also the basement is lame, nothing ever happens there and there's no real hiding from what I can tell, just run upstairs to one of the closets.

All said, you take the good design with the bad of being so small every run feels about the same and you end up with Tangle.

I really like Tangle as a beginner map and to revisit for the layout, but I won't lie, kitchen ghosts here are lame and common.

Still not bad enough to outweigh the good, Tangle is a winner.

Tutorial out of 9

Grafton Farmhouse

Once upon a time Grafton was my favorite farmhouse but, well, it's here and the other hasn't been mentioned yet.

Grafton is one of those maps with few "locker" style hiding spots, but unlike a lot of the other maps that emphasize hiding behind things I just never feel comfortable hiding on Grafton- and not in a tense way, in a "The AI is gonna ignore this and walk around and peer out the window for no reason which will prompt it to see me anyway, won't it?" kind of way.

There are some lockers in the storage upstairs now which is nice because the ghost spawns there like 80% of the time.

First floor : Left is dining/kitchen/and a back room. Between those the kitchen is pretty popular for the ghost but also is a spot where orb ghosts can be assholes who hide their orbs for no reason.

Right side is a living room, two bedrooms, and a laundry room, these are some pretty nice spots for the ghost to be because there ARE hiding spots, but their accessibility kinda depends on where in any of these rooms the ghost decides to spawn, making the hunts pretty fun.

Genuinely this right side of the first floor is a win, I dig this area and when the ghost hangs out here.

Upstairs has a shitty terrible awful room where you die (far left), a bathroom where nothing ever happens, and a room with an attached back room/storage that the ghost LOVES to be in to an obscene degree.

Grafton is fine all around, a good hunt location, but really it's where the hiding spots are and where the ghost likes to be that make it just less fun for me.

It's almost always "Upstairs back room / Kitchen / Left Bedroom on first floor" and the repetition of my luck makes it less fun. (though, again, that bedroom is fine because that cluster of rooms is a fun one).

At least there's voodoo dolls out of 9

Ridgeview Road House

Ridge is cool!

It's easy as hell but it's just nicely divvied up, it's one of those maps that benefits from having a very nice layout that leads to games feeling very different depending on the ghost room.

I like the basement, but nothing ever happens there I swear.

The first floor as a whole has some nice spots, anything on the left can be hidden away in the garage lockers (which are at the far end which makes it a little tense which is nice!)

Anything on the right is a little less safe feeling because that back room is terrible, honestly safer to run upstairs to a closet.

And finally anything upstairs is standard house affair- a ton of hiding closets and a good amount of rooms but not 9 billion rooms like Edge.

Ridge is nice. It's small, easy, and well spaced.

Strong layout out of 9

Willow Street House

Willow really is small as sin, but I dig the look a lot.

I also like how hiding is a 'behind furniture' affair unlike a lot of the other houses with their plentiful closets.

My favorite area is the basement, which sadly makes for a less than stellar photo, but I love the multiple rooms in the basement and the lighting in those rooms.

Upstairs has a very different feel from the other houses which does a lot for making it feel fresh as well, definitely the most immediate thing most will notice when playing it since Tange/Ridge/Edge all feel the same due to the aesthetic they carry.

All in all it's my favorite house right now, but I'm curious on its lasting power for that.

It definitely helps that the map is built around hiding spots instead of hiding closets because it's a lot more fun crouching behind a dryer or cutting corners to get behind a dresser than it is to just hold a door shut and know you're effectively immortal as long as you don't talk.

Between the aesthetic and the unique layout it's come this high on my list WHILE being a bit buggy from being brand new, so that says something at least.

A joy to hunt on out of 9

Bleasdale Farmhouse

One of the two farmhouses and for a while my lesser fave, but it's grown on me the more I've played it.

Bleas doesn't emphasize lockers as much as hiding behind changing 'curtain' deals and after giving it a shot, it grew on me a lot- probably my favorite form of hiding spot because you can often still see the ghost as they come right up to you and walk away.

The highlights of Bleas will always be the immensely safe back room where the breaker can spawn- there are lockers here and it makes a fairly safe cut away for most events on the first floor because most events on the first floor are in the kitchen/dining area anyway with the rest of the first floor mostly being dormant in my runs.

The terrible terrible terrible attic which I hate and love at the same time.

it has hiding spots but whenever I have to use them it's highly unlikely I make it to them in time.

It's just a terrible place to be.

And the second floor is a pretty great one tbh! Mostly because there's a nice central hiding spot and the entire area is divided up pretty nicely for ghost stuff- unless you get hallway, fuck when it's hallway. It's the WHOLE hallway as far as I can tell and that's just stupid!

Bleas is a winner for sure, definitely beats the likes of Edge with ease, there's never a dull time hiding behind the privacy curtains- oh and this map has voodoo dolls! I firmly believe all the maps need more collectibles so this one having some is a boon for sure

"We got fingerprints on all the windows in the kitchen!!!" out of 9

Prison

TIME FOR THE BEST BOY!

PRISON!!!!

How to explain it.

When I started Phasmo my least favorite maps were the bigger ones, I hated feeling lost and like the ghost took too long to find all while the houses were fast and easy to understand.

But then I tried Prison and everything changed.

Talk about a beautifully laid out big map!

The sounds, the various hotspots, the fact that it's somehow big as hell without ever feeling too big and empty- I love prison.

Gushing aside, Prison is basically split up into 3 segments.

Main building, A block, B block.

And the unfortunate truth of prison is that the Main building is where most action seems to happen... doubled down with the truth that if the ghost IS in either block then they are significantly more dangerous to occasionally unfair degrees.

Yet despite that it consistently ends up being the most fun map for me to play through!

It all comes down to layout. The main building has a lot of little 'segments' which encourage you to run during a hunt differently, and the blocks are intimidating in their own way because going upstairs in them feels like signing your will.

I'd love to say more, but it's just the most fun one, so that's that.

Best map out of 9... I heard a cell door open, let's get towards A block.

I know it's just a random post of mine and all but hey, what's your take on the maps?

I'd like to hear what some arguments for other faves might be- especially if someone is a die hard HS fan, lol.

[orcelito]

Hi!! I hope you slept well. This is going to be mostly about discacc, just because I've read so much of it (i really like rereading fics, so I've reread the entire thing a few times haha). In any case, i can confidently say that i really love your writing. You have a really solid grasp on basically all the characters and their interactions always flow so well. Both Goro and Akira often get vastly different personalities in different fics (the first because he's a really deep character and some people just characterize him based on the surface layer, while the other because he's supposed to be a self insert for some people). Anyways, your interpretations of both of them are just *chef's kiss*. I've never read any other p5 fic that had this close of a resemblance to how i myself see these two. Also sometimes in fics, i have a habit of skippping descriptions and just reading the dialogue when i feel like everything is just boring and repetitive, but i can confidently say that I've never done that with your fics. Your paragraphs manage to convey the mood of the scene and the feelings of the characters, which i think is really impressive. The pts scenes never feel too crowded and the solo scenes are always amazing and a great insight into the characters' emotions. And i think lastly? This is kinda random but i really like Rei. I feel like Akira really needed a presence like that in his life and i would love to see more of her in the future! I think that's all I have to say for now. I'm eagerly awaiting all future discacc chapters 💗

this is rly sweet and i appreciate it so much ,,, & im glad u like discacc enough to reread it several times :'O

i definitely do put a lot of effort into characterizations, since characters & their interactions r always what drives interest in stories for me. so im glad that's gotten through to readers !!

& i love that rei is a well liked character bc she was honestly an accidental oc. she's Here Now tho and so im happy that ppl like her. ive definitely wanted to find a chance to put more of her in (maybe a day visit?? hmmm) so like, Do Not Worry, she will show up again

[harrysdimples]

evermore track by track review (reaction?)

you know what time it is babieeeeeee......

willow

lovely little plucky guitar. I like the piano arrangement in the background. her vocals sound really lovely in the chorus and in the back of the second verse. i’m going to try and judge this as a separate project from folklore because it’s supposed to be just a complementary project but inevitably there will be comparisons. the 1 as an opening track is probably my preference over this I think on first listen. the bridge (?) is probably my favourite part of the song before the 90s trend line lol (just takes me out the song, kinda like the tweet line that’s in the lakes) but her vocals and how mature her voice sounds are just really light and airy and it’s nice to hear. but this is a lot more rhythmic than most of folklore which is something I appreciate and has enough dynamics so that you’re not bored, although the outro could’ve maybe been shortened a bit (but that’s a nitpicky thing lol). that’s her man!

ok I realised half way through happiness that I HAD PUT THE ALBUM ON SHUFFLE BY ACCIDENT WHICH IS BLASPHEMOUS AND SOMETHING I HATE DOING. I apologise sincerely lmao every song after this is in order with the album track list.

happiness

love a synth. ‘I can’t face reinvention’ ok bitch call me out ??? the lyrics are very lovely, as always. what’s/who’s this about ? lmao. it’s very pretty but not sure it’s going anywhere? more instrumentation could’ve maybe elevated this song just because I feel the lyrics are so flowery and beautiful that they deserve to either be in complete isolation (like from the dining table’s production) or some grandiose orchestral arrangement to properly show off how great and genuinely heartbreaking they are. I have no doubt at some point i’ll lie in the dark at some point and sob to this though loooool.

champagne problems 

ah bitch. the opening line already got me. again, the lyrics on this one are cutting me deep and I really like the production in the second half of the song, it really picks up the song when I was worried the production wasn’t going to be for me. the background vocals and harmonies are lovely. I think the lyricism of this song is so important and reminds me of what jack said in the long pond sessions about people with mental health issues never receiving proper recognition for just doing as okay as they can be because to other people, it’s either not enough or they just don’t get how difficult it is to maintain that level of ‘normalcy’. The idea of people dismissing things as ‘champagne problems’ is so poignant when you think of the fact that so many people disregard mental health issues until they’re directly affected by it in some way and treat others as outsiders/bad apples/something to only remember as a cautionary tale and to be forgotten otherwise. the numbness of trying to feel things (like going on the train) and participating in life and trying to believe that you deserve something good, a relationship, love etc but knowing that people are only waiting for you to fail so they can inevitably move on is so sad. my favourite out of the 3 tracks so far.

gold rush

good old jack antonoff production. girl how many people are wanting to get with joe ???? I really like the lyricism again, and the ‘what must it be like to grow up that beautiful’ bit kinda reminds of olivia’s instrumentation for some reason lol. I wish this hit a little harder because it’s on the precipice of greatness but doesn’t get quite there for me, kinda like the archer. loved the production, but I had anticipated it to have this big build up which it didn’t quite hit for me. I am listening to this currently at night with my blinds shut but I know that when it’s in the daytime/sun this will sound so good, so i’m excited to replay this one. update: it’s the next day and I LOVE this.

tis the damn season

hm. this one was pretty middling for me i’m ngl. I don’t think i’ve had enough love/life experience to really relate to this that much (which isn’t taylor or the song’s fault obvs) but I found it hard to ~connect to and the production didn’t really excite me enough to feel too passionate about it. very much enjoyed the “So I'll go back to L.A. and the so-called friends, Who'll write books about me, if I ever make it” line though lol!

tolerate it

I really like this. really encapsulated the feeling of trying your hardest to meet someone’s expectations of you/your relationship and fitting yourself into parameters to suit their needs/what they want and yet you’re still considered on the outskirts of their life. Trying desperately to make that person care as much as you do for them, but in reality your actions just further the reasons why they don’t want you and why your actions are ignored/silently belittled. Feels like this is a good companion piece to a lot of the folklore tracks and could’ve fitted on that album yet is still different enough to stand out. will def be coming back to this.

no body, no crime (feat. HAIM)

ok so taylor’s having her before he cheats moment?? someone should be working on a mashup asap. you know i’m a sucker for country yeehaw bops so i’ll definitely be playing this on repeat lol, so far probably the most upbeat track along with gold rush and this is probably my favourite track so far. the storytelling through the lyricism is fabulous and I really love the little production elements like danielle saying “she was with me dude” lol, I don’t have a lot of experience/references for “real” country music so if this is a little corny idk but I like it anyway lmao

dorothea

this was a sweet song, might be completely off the mark with this interpretation, but I sort of viewed this as taylor speaking to her younger self and telling her how she can always go back to who she was after becoming too enchanted with fame and the troubles that come with it/experiencing the consequences of fame, and that inevitably it’ll be okay in the end. a nice reassuring, pleasant song. not sure how much replay value it’ll have for me personally but I appreciate it :’)

coney island feat. the national

I like this for the most part. I think it’ll be a grower but I can see this moving up in my ranks once I listen to it a bit more. the second half of the song after the bridge is definitely better than the first and I really like it, but the first half isn’t my favourite. I think within some of the lyrics there are some clunky lines and I’m not sure how well the dueting partner works (idk if that’s aaron dessner or someone else?) but I think another softer (?) male voice could’ve gone better with it, or just taylor herself. the instrumentation and production on this song is fantastic though and I really love the bridge (although the idea of joe and taylor coming together to write about all of taylor’s exes makes me lol)

ivy:

the chord progression really reminds me of like 80% of folklore and idk if this track was “necessary” even though she’s perfectly entitled to her art obvs. but in the context of the album idk if this was needed, probably the most filler-like of all of them so far (for me personally). it’s sort of like a long poem to me and the subject matter of infidelity is always interesting when taylor covers it, but idk, this didn’t do too much for me on first listen

cowboy like me

this feels like a movie or video game soundtrack song, I always appreciate a good guitar solo and the instrumentation in this song is great. I don’t know how much this goes anywhere until the bridge but I love the line “now you hang from my lips, like the gardens of babylon, with your boots beneath my bed, forever is the sweetest con”. I think this has the potential to be a major grower on me though purely bc of how melodic it is and how “vibey” it is.

long story short

yeah this wasn’t really for me. I can appreciate it’s objectively a well produced song with some good lyrics, it just didn’t really click for me sadly upon first listen.

marjorie

yeah so this made me sob. as some of you may know I lost my grandma two weeks ago suddenly so...yeah, this song just really hit me. this is a beautiful track.

closure

what is going on here on this day lmao? reaaaaaaallly not a fan of the production and the synthetic (?) drums that were used on this track and I don’t think the use of repetition in the chorus’ lyricism really works that well here. idk it just feels a little unfinished to me

evermore feat. bon iver

I think this is too lyrically dense for my brain to properly intake after the long road it took to get to this track lol so I think i’ll need some time with it. I don’t think bon iver’s addition works as well as exile but I like the second half of the song which he’s in, in comparison to the first half, it does kinda feel like two songs put into one though. taylor’s vocals sound nice though. 

in conclusion:

favourites: tolerate it, gold rush, champagne problems, no body, no crime, marjorie

in between/grower: cowboy like me

meh: tis the damn season, willow, doreathea, evermore

didn’t really like: ivy, long story short, closure

I feel like i’m going to be crucified for saying this but this feels like a lover-fied version of folklore ajfkhsas if that makes ANY sense to anyone but my own brain. I said when I did this same kind of post for folklore that the album did what the concept for lover tried to do (the love letter to different kinds of love) 10x better and I was happy to see this kind of direction from her. I still love folklore and I think it’s a true piece of art and it ranks high in my tiers of taylor albums, but this just kinda misses the mark for me for the most part (on first listen). It’s very lyrically dense, which is nice, but much less accessible than folklore to me in terms of melodies and the overall structure of some of the songs, which is again, fine, but not necessarily what I had anticipated going into this album and generally usually isn’t my thing. for all that i’ve said about jack’s production in some songs on previous albums of taylor’s, his presence here is missed imo. I’ve expressed that I don’t particularly enjoy long albums because eventually the flow of the album is lost, and that is true here. around the ivy/long story short stretch it kinda loses ground which is a shame because there is some beautiful lyricism in there, but it’s even more susceptible to risking being brought down by the sequencing when it’s a sister album to another project and will end up being compared to that and the tracks there. given the style of music this is in, the fact that it’s a sister album and so long, it’s got a lot against it and I don’t know if it manages to overcome those hurdles for me personally. It’s like what harry said about sequencing, the track listing is so important imo to the purpose and arc of the album that you want to tell and I feel like there could’ve been a lot more “editing” of this project to make it stand up to the highs of folklore imo, or potentially editing down folklore to combine it with some of the really strong tracks on evermore like goldrush, no body no crime etc. I don’t know if the narrative of this album is unique enough to stand against folklore and some of taylor’s other albums for me. I will be returning to these songs for sure, but the sequencing and overall structure of this album kinda lets it down. I can’t help but ponder if this album will age well in comparison to folklore, or both albums will age well with the narrative fuelling it being created in quarantine and as a product of boredom. if folklore wins AOTY at the grammys (which it seems it’s secured to at this point), it’s going to be tied to the “corona year” so it’ll be interesting to see where these projects end up and how well received they are in years to come vs taylor’s other projects and how they’ve aged. we’ll see! i’d probably give it a 7.5/10 in comparison to the 9/10 for folklore. 

[hammurabicomplex-a]

@stfreds​  said:  8, 9, 15, 21, 24, 27 & 28!   /   accepting.

8.   what do you look for in a thread?

     honestly what i look for in writing in general is to feel something;  whether it’s sadness or joy or anger or whatever,  i want that thread to allow me to feel whatever my muse is feeling.   not all threads are That Deep,  but i find that all of them bring me that feeling in some way.   i also like to feel some sort of development happening.   i’m not even talking about super plotted out complex threads,  but i believe that even the most mundane slice of life can affect character development.

9.   what would make you drop a thread?

     i should start this with saying that dropping a thread doesn’t necessarily mean i don’t like our dynamic,  or even that i don’t like the thread itself.   sometimes.....  i’m just not feeling that particular thread,  and now it’s been so long that i haven’t replied to it that neither of us even remember it and it doesn’t make a lot of sense anymore.   it happens a lot with unplotted interactions.   i greatly prioritize plotted things  ( and they tend to be the threads i have the most muse for anyway ),  whilst when our muses just don’t know each other that well and we’re trying to wing it i tend to lose interest at some point.

     it also happens a lot with interactions i feel are getting repetitive,  which is another reason i’m not big on improv.   i feel like a bunch of threads end up getting similar to each other and it bores me to be writing the same thing with a bunch of different people.   also if we have a lot of threads going on at once it’s only natural that some of them catch more of my attention and others end up getting dropped.   but again,  it’s a matter of me losing interest in a particular thread,  not  me not wanting to interact with someone anymore.

15.   have you ever written a reply that made you emotional?   will you share it?

     oh,  several.   i can’t think of a specific one right now  ( except for this one old thread on discord with a friend )  and i’m way too lazy to search for just one reply,  but i just love angst so much.   and if it doesn’t make me at least a little bit emotional i don’t see the point.

21.   what inspired you to make this muse?

     pat was originally a breaking bad oc,  so the show definitely inspired me a lot.   but i think the main thing was i created pat  ( back when she was just a daydream concept without much of a backstory at all )  during a time i was just starting to connect with my culture and with latin america as a whole.   mexico and brazil are very different,  but countries all throughout latin america just have these similarities that make us feel like brothers,  and i love the connection i feel to it.

     before pat,  i used to almost exclusively write white american characters.   and i guess i just didn’t realize how damaging it was to never see myself in my own writing  ( because i wanted to be white and american so bad but lmao of course it wasn’t happening ),  and having a muse who at least sort of looked like me and who was latina too was important to me.   therefore latin american culture was a major source of inspiration.

24.   does your writing style change when you write different muses?

     somewhat.   different characters require slight adjustments  ( like more dialogue,  less descriptions,   etc. ),  but while  characterization  obviously changes,  i like to keep my style consistent.

27.   what makes you want to engage with other muns?

     good writing is the first thing that catches my eye.   i tend to read over people’s threads and headcanons and stuff before asking to interact so i can come up with a nice plot idea,  so enjoying their writing and characterization is definitely a must.   having the mun be nice and enthusiastic about our plot definitely makes all the difference for me too!

28.   what makes you want to back away from other muns?

     oh my,  okay.   not showing much enthusiasm at all in a plot we have going on definitely turns me off.   another thing that kinda bugs me are people who take  problematic fcs  way too seriously.   basically i don’t care about celebrities and i don’t know anything about them.   obviously i don’t want to use like a murderer or a rapist as an fc,  but when it comes to celebrity drama chances are i don’t know anything about it and i don’t like feeling like i have to do a background check on celebrities before interacting with a muse in fear that their fc has done something problematic.   like i’ll be honest,  unless it was something actually serious i don’t care.

     i also do not like following people who post too much about drama.   i know there are times where callouts are very important and necessary,  especially when it exposes racist or otherwise bigoted behavior,  but if there’s a callout every other day on someone’s blog,  or otherwise a lot of posts about drama,  i’ll likely softblock.   it’s not personal,  but i’m just here to write and to make friends and i don’t like having constant negativity on my dash.

[ssixa]

Chance Encounter//Mark Tuan x Y/N

Description: Walking into the night shift at the hospital proves to keep you on your toes. Nights are left to the universe so you can only hope that tonight will be decent. What happens when you find out that one of your patients is THE Mark Tuan from GOT7? how do you try to deal with the chaos erupting from this chance encounter? and how many times do you have to tell yourself that you love your job?

Genre: fluff, slight cringe, idol au

Pairing: Black Fem Reader x Mark Tuan (though I will say there isn’t much description of black characteristics)

Word count: 995 words

Warning: explicit language

A/n: yet again I’m working and uploading this while I’m in the middle of lecture. Nothing crazy to add though. Ngl that I’m actually kinda satisfied with how the collage turned out this time.

*All pic collages are made by me unless I state otherwise. Individual pictures in the collage are not mine and I give credit to where credit is due.

Chapter Four

A whole week passes by and it was just as uneventful and repetitive. My life is really basic, all I ever do is work and go back home (until school starts, then it’s just school, work, and home). I attend my other part time job and deal with a bunch of Karens (both male and female) who refuse to wear their masks, getting asked a lot of questions that I have no idea how to answer, so and so forth. The weeks always pass by quickly since all I do is work, so I wasn’t surprised that at a blink of an eye, I’m back at the hospital. Nothing different happens when walking into work at the hospital...well accept for almost tripping over air walking out of the parking deck. We’re not gonna talk about it.

When I reach the front desk, one of the nurses gets my attention,

“Hey y/n, there’s a note here left for you. Must be from the manager” she mentions. I’m not that taken back since the manager has left notes for me before. I walk to the desk and grab the slip. Like always, my name graces the front of the folded paper. I open it and start reading,

“Dear y/n,

I was hoping that I would have the chance to keep in contact with you after our short, yet memorable, encounter. Though I can’t promise we would ever cross paths I decided to just not leave everything up to chance (you don’t seem like the sappy type to believe in such shit). Anyways, hope to hear from you soon!

Love, your soon to be favorite member, Mark”

I couldn’t believe it, Mark wrote me the sweetest little letter AND he left me his kakao contact. Is that even allowed? Won’t he get in trouble? Maybe his manager gave him permission, but even then it’s such a big risk. Forget it, this is probably one of the best things that has ever happened in my life.

Though the anticipation is there, I wasn’t able to contact Mark until Monday morning. Yes, I know, over twenty four hours, but it was torture not being able to message Mark for that long. Both the shifts were ridiculously crazy and by the time I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. When Monday morning rolled around, I added Mark’s contact and spent a little too long pondering on what my first message should be. Then it came to me, why am I freaking out about this when we’ve met before and have held full conversations with each other, this shouldn’t be difficult. Ok, here we go,

“Hi...it’s y/n, um, your tech” I message.

…

“Who is this? I think you have the wrong contact” the reply came only after a few minutes that felt like hours.

“Oh god he doesn’t remember, wow, I guess it was all just too good to be true” I think-panic to myself.

“OMG I’M SO SORRY!! MY FRIEND GAVE ME THEIR CONTACT AND I GUESS I ADDED THE WRONG ID!!!” I reply in a haist.

“OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU FELL FOR THAT HAHAHAHA!!” Mark replied. I could just imagine him laughing hysterically by himself. I really hate him.

“I hate you so much Mark Tuan.” I surely hope he sensed my anger through that message.

“Oh, no more mr. Tuan? I kinda liked it” I sense the smirk through the message.

“You lost the privilege once you stopped being a patient Mark, you weirdo” I message back.

“Ooo with the insults, I thought we were more than just patient and tech” Mark replies. My heart sped up a little, but then I realized who I was talking to.

“Well I thought you were just a patient who got bored and I happened to be an easy target?” I sassed.

“Fair enough, well how about this, ‘y/n the tech’ will you be my friend?” Mark asks.

“Hmmmm~”

“Oh c’mon y/n, pplllleeeaasseee” Mark begs. Oh do I like the sound of that. He’s always teasing me so even if this is a fake beg, I’ll still take it.

“Oh fine, yes Mark, we can officially be friends” I reply.

“WOOOOO!!”

“Unfortunately I only just got off of work and I don’t think I can stay up much longer” I mentioned.

“Awe really? Well I understand. Get some rest, don’t forget to dream of me” he replies with a winking emoji.

“Trust me, if I could control my dreams I would much rather choose my bias than you’re annoying ass” I reply sassily.

“Ooooo~ so you have a mouth on you too. You’re just full of surprises huh? But imma have to tell JB that, I bet he would be happy to hear it coming straight from a fan’s mouth...well...kinda” he said with a slyness.

“I really hate when I type faster than my brain processes, I’m going to regret this later won’t I?” I reply with a sigh

“Oh most definitely, but don’t worry I won’t tell him. We’re friends right? I don’t want to start off on a bad foot” he said with confidence

“Well aren’t you sweet, hahaha but really thanks. I would much prefer to be friends with all the boys. I’m really not over how I’ve gotten to talk to all of you and even be able to call you my friend. Hopefully we can all get closer...wow that sounds cheesy, sorry” I message with my heart on my sleeve. Wow, I’m really making myself vulnerable with him. I definitely know I’m going to regret that.

“I’m glad we got to meet each other too even if the circumstances were a bit hard. Who knew I would run into ‘fan turn to friend’ in the most unlikely of places...btw didn’t you say you were going to sleep? That was like an hour ago?” he mentions

…

“y/n?”

…

“My new friend?” he continues,

…

“Sleep well beautiful”

“*message deleted*”

“Sleep well dummy”

Previous/Next

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: thanks for reading chapter 4! sorry that this isn’t the traditional way of doing text message convos when you’re writing them, but hopefully it still makes sense.