#both are so hard to follow like. oh my god just make things straightforward ur gonna make me cry im too unstable for this

[thelivingautomaton]

*also i really really wish there was more stuff in the game with alan and casey (either real world casey or dark place casey) interacting* <- LITERALLY SAME‼️‼️ I had to scramble for footage for this edit but this whole concept is so intriguing to me and I wish we had a whole DLC with them (also thank you for nice tags under the rb ur too kind🫡)

(yes ofc, your graphics go so hard i love them!) and YES, it's such a wild concept to me especially because like. ok lemme put this under a cut for big-time alan wake 2 spoilers but also i kind of word-vomited a lot of percolating thoughts on the game, LOL oops

so for maybe 75% of the game i was CERTAIN that i had the game's twists Figured Out by the end of chapter 1, and i was sure that one of those twists was gonna be "fbi agent casey is 1:1 the same person as the fictional detective casey that alan's books are about, or even if he's not, agent casey was still created wholesale by alan as part of the overarching scheme to get saga to bright falls and have her assume the role of 'hero' in getting him out of the dark place". (this was part of my overarching idea re: saga's storyline which was that the version of events where saga lived in watery and logan drowned was the "true" reality, and alan rewrote her life/memories basically to "make" her into a better/less traumatized hero figure, and also get rid of stuff that would prevent her from wanting to go "back" to bright falls)

so like, at first i felt kind of "meh" about the reveal that fbi agent casey is the "real"/original/whatever version and fictional detective casey arose from alan using echoes of his life as writing material (compounded with the game making it pretty clear that alan can't wholesale make/create new stuff, just rewrite or guide what's already "real", and the seemingly straightforward reveal that saga's remembered version of events is "real" because she's immune to retcon bullshit). but the more i think about it the more i actually think it works really well and if anything is a much more interesting take on the trope of "fictional character and their creator interact/come into conflict"?

like, rather than the usual angst of "oh my god, am i real, is anything in my life real, does anything i do matter when my life is a fictional narrative", you get the more interesting flavors of inner drama both from casey (i.e. "i am a real person, but exactly how much of my memories and life can i trust, how much might have been twisted or rewritten by an outside hand to make a better story, could my past mistakes/regrets be erased, have they already been?") and also more importantly alan (i.e. "holy shit i've been taking Actual Real People and treating them like paper dolls to cut up and rearrange however i want to make a good story out of it")

plus by establishing that alan can't just make shit exist + nobody in the story is a made-up creation (well, i mean. within the narrative nobody is fictional, lol), it helps ground the story and characters and maintain your investment in their struggles and the stakes. and it also helps align the broader cosmology of the alan wake games with the wider remedy-verse by maintaining a baseline "reality" that presumably follows certain rules vis a vis the way objects of power and parautilitarian abilities work. like, the rules might be fucking weird, and we as players are probably getting only 20% of all the information because in-universe people know at most like, 40% of all the information, but it's clear that SOMEWHERE remedy has a bible of rules for How Their World Works so that they can keep things internally consistent across their games

with that all being said i also think they've left things open-ended enough that they can take a lot of these concepts in a bunch of directions simultaneously -- alan can still manifest/write up distorted funhouse mirror versions of "real" characters within the dark place who can yell at him for being a jackass or try to kill him or whatever, i wouldn't be surprised if one or both dlcs have further appearances of dark place casey and/or other "fictional" versions of casey written by alan, not to mention that real world fbi agent casey could easily get sucked into further metafictional alternate reality/narrative bullshit by virtue of how he got possessed by the dark presence (albeit briefly). like the only thing i'm for sure certain about is that remedy will probably keep finding new and exciting ways of pulling the rug out from under my feet, LOL

[thekidsarentalright]

begging the profs at my college to please please learn how to set up canvas pages in literally any sensible way please it cant be that hard

[deer-yoona]

a very late and long live review of pristin’s first and second eps, Hi! Pristin and Schxxl Out

(Hi! Pristin)(be the star) right off the bat we got the calmest beautifulest track

I’m already quite impressed by their voices

And I love the arrangement, how it just gently segues up for the chorus and back down for the verse

the line distribution also looks fairly even so WOW

what a start, the purest song in the world

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE PRISTIN

I mean obviously this was one of my favorite debuts this year (although on a first listen I thought it was annoying… lol two days later I was OBSESSED)

Wee Woo is just all kinds of cute and catchy and they were already solidifying Pristin’s aesthetic

I’ve listened to this song so much it’s hard to not remember it

But let me say there’s all these little production things on the song that you don’t notice on a first listen

WEE OO WEE OOH WEE

any way this is true of both songs I’ve listened to so far so let’s hope it continues

BLACK WIDOW IMMA BLACK WIDOW

not to language nerd out here but I just made that a verb instead of a noun ANYWAY

black widow is WONDERFUL

As with every song by pristin, the track flows seamlessly from verse to rap to chorus, etc, and that complete stripping back of the music during the rap, leaving just the bass? Worth the world

I’ve listened to this one a lot too srry this is my fault I’m late

SO GET UR HANDS UP

they play with the production too… it’s little things that change throughout the song

Like the beginning lets the hard straightforward sound carry it, ethereal chimes/bells paired with backing vocals that lead into the chorus, the chorus has the same ‘geary’ sound to it… the bridge has the xylophone/chime thing happening again… and the last time time around they actually mess with the girls voices to make the back track…. what the HELL

talking of production, much like svt,

(Running) here’s something interesting right off the bat

This song is Pristin’s sound

It is definitely a kpop sound, but this is theirs somehow

RUNNING AND RUNNING AND RUNNING

I hear a lot of Jihyo in Yehana

Their voices are strong and sound full too!! They are solidly talented (the pledis curse…)

Oh my god I am DIGGING THIS SONG

that GENTLE yet upbeat sound?

(Over n over) Straight into a ballad?

Of all the third generation rookie girl groups, their voices are easily some of the nicest,

This song sounds like a holiday or like falling in love for the first time

That RAP that just mixes effortlessly with the rest of the song?

Eunwoo’s voice is NO JOKE

Another effortlessly beautiful song that makes me want to listen again

(We) didn’t they release this as pledis girlz?

I don’t mind check tHOSE VIOLINS

I love this too!!!

This is so cute!!!!!!!!!!! I want to cry, I actually smiled at this song it was so calming

Eonjerado BE ALRIGHT

I get like a 90s or early 00s vibe from this?

This is just such a gentle group and a gentle first ep…. like I’m just amazed at how well they complement each other, how they already have a defined style, how they dance and sing well…. TRULY THEY ARE GIFTS

I also want to talk about how their two debut songs are perfectly at odds with each other? Like the dark and gritty black widow vs upbeat and catchy wee woo?

That’s something a lot of girl groups have been doing, showing they are well rounded (wjsn, red velvet...)

I have my opinions on it, but let’s just say I hope that their style takes more of their title tracks because it makes them stand out!!!

Onto Schxxl Out

(We are pristin) OKAY IM DIGGING THIS CUP/CLAPPING THING

Damn BELT IT GIRLS

WE ARE PRISTIN WE WE ARE PRISTIN

Catchy and fun what a start

I have nothing to complain about how do I make this fun for you guys if I just keep saying “wow” to everything

I LIKE DO DO DO DO DO DO YOU LIKE DO DO DO DO DO DO WE LIKE DO DO DO DO DO DO

Who needs drums when you have 10 young adult girls to make the sound for you

A lot of people complained about this but to me it’s so fun

The arrangement was funny at first but sometimes a different arrangement makes it stand out more, makes you want to listen again

And SUNGYEONS AD LIBS

Her voice is so niceeee

SO FIIIIINE

the ending almost completely departs from the rest of the song and I love that, it makes you want more

(Aloha) I’m not sure how I feel about this song

The weird shaky sound followed by like alarms in the back track?

OH WA ALOHA k y’all I’m sold

YOU MAKE ME SOMETHING SPECIAL LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO

I love the beat of this it’s… guess what … g e n t l e

Oh wait idk how I feel about the bridge

That weird syncopated piano is the problem

(Tina) T I N A

Ngl I’m lowkey obsessed with this song

That lead in to the first “Tina”

The perfect lead in of the back track to each part

The whistling in the back of the chorus?

TINA TINA TINA NE MAM NEOMU TIGA NA

I’m digging the verse just as much as the chorus, it’s so sweet and cute

I love the rise in the background and then the cut

This is easily my favorite song by them ever

That little post chorus semi-rap? Adorable

EUNWOO AND SUNGYEONS BRIDGE

COME ON BOY

this weird off beat thing at the end got me happening

This song makes you want to dance!

(너 말야 너) another gentle song? Ugh bless

Yes, let my babies voices SHINE

this is so much fun

The brass/saxophone is new but I dig it

Petition for next concept to be a jazz concept

Damn this rap!!! The way they deliver their raps is so NICE

Sorry I just saw a comment about how girl groups being too cute but pristin not being like other girl groups… pardon me while I go die what the fuck

WAIT NO DISCOURSE

Cute!!! Catchy!!! Fun!!!

Ugh honestly??? I’m so glad I decided to review them???

I love their songs soooo much

And they have so much talent and it’s being shown in their songs, their voices…

They have so much power over what goes into their music, lyrics and arranging and I love that

(Cough… if pledis gets their shit together… cough)

Anyway, I’m gonna go listen to Tina again