#but i still think they're fun and at this point nostalgic to listen to

[couriersiccs]

📻 + your favourite fnv oc

OoooOooOOOooo okay I'm gonna go with Courier Sara bc she's my original Courier and my poorest little babygirl, and off her playlist i shuffled The Spine Song by Cake Bake Betty and it's great because just so encompassing of her whole journey in the Mojave, while being such an abstract song lyrically by itself.

It talks about "dancing with men, going round and around" which I interpret as her power struggle with the people in power - Mr. House, Kimball, Caesar, and every other faction vying for control of the region. It talks of headaches which she gets from the TBI inflicted by getting shot twice in the head, it talks about substance abuse which I consider a part of her story in dealing with that trauma, and begging someone to let her say goodbye which calls to a backstory trauma I haven't talked about yet.

it's funny because this song actually kind of helped me shape her character. It ends with asking the listener if they'll use her spine after she's died to "swing from tree to tree in search of places pleasing to the eye" and I think THAT talks about a legacy she could set after she (spoilers) creates an independent New Vegas that will need something to rely on after she's gone, like how Caesar didn't seem to have a solid contingency plan for the event of his own death.

And the last line, calling her a "silly little girl" when a big part of her character is how young and naive she appears to be is just so chef's kiss. It's an integral song to her playlist, because lyrically it's accurate to her story and tonally it's beautiful and mournful and hopeful all at once, just like her.

[jamboreeofsurprises]

i'm having an amusing sort of revelation right now. there's few things more familiar (and frankly, precious) to kids who were raised Christian in the 90s and 00s than Veggietales, and honestly, Veggietales is good enough on its own that I've even seen those who have converted or outright renounced their faith still share their fondness for it.

some of my earliest memories related to music besides new wave bands like Depeche Mode and The Human League playing from my parents' stereo were the Silly Songs With Larry portions of the show, which would be complete breaks from the regular story just to do a fun musical number. i've been nostalgic for some of them recently and in my listening, not only have I found that they're much more musically robust than I ever noticed before, but my god some of these songs just sound like Sparks.

this began when I posted the Manatee Song (one of my favorites) a few days ago and a couple of friends pointed out that it sounded like something Sparks would do, imagining Russell taking over for Barbara the Manatee's high vocal parts and alternating (with himself? with Ron? who knows). i could hear it immediately, and even the string arrangement feels like something ripped out of Indiscreet.

but it turns out, the biggest culprit was right under my nose the entire time, being possibly the most famous song to come out of Veggietales: The Hairbrush Song. please, I implore you to listen and tell me this doesn't sound like something from the Lil' Beethoven trilogy: think Photoshop, Ride 'Em Cowboy, etc. theatrical, ascending vocals set to a highly melodic piano line (that varies delightfully as the song progresses), tricky key shifts, and above all else, the dramatic, emotionally-charged approach to a mundane, familiar subject matter, which is Sparks' bread and butter. i have no idea if Mike Nawrocki or Kurt Heinecke had any familiarity with Sparks or if it's just a matter of drawing upon similar influences, but i still thought this was too funny not to share.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Ghostly Happenings - Silver (Part 1)

Author Notes: The first part of my Halloween/October twst fic series! So yeah, this going to be an ghost AU that I pray is noncanon-compliant. This fic is post Diasomnia overblot and was greatly inspired by the 1947 movie "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." I also listened to "Freaking Me Out" by Ava Max while writing this fic series. As per usual, reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ Ghost AU/ noncanon compliant/ Post Diasomnia overblot/ tad bit of angst with comfort/ fluff/ romance implied/ pining

Word Count: 1427

{Part 1: You're Here!}, {Part 2}, {Part 3}, {Part 4}

Also available on AO3 (link deleted due to glitches)

It had all started about a week ago, with the ghosts talking about how Ramshackle dorm at long last had a new squatter of the undead variety. 

They were ecstatic. Cooing about how it had been centuries since they’d last gained such a companion. A young ghost, apparently, who was still getting used to haunting. In fact, they were so bad at it that they even refused to show their face to the prospective hauntee. 

Namely, me.

“So when do you think they’ll quit avoiding me? I mean, I do live here after all,” I looked up at Amos, who was currently floating over my head, studying the cards in his hand. 

The specter looked down at me, half-startled, before exchanging a look with the other two ghosts, who were politely remaining at the table with their own cards. 

“They’ll get there, kid; they're just a little nervous right now,” At long last he looked back down at me, a half-smile on his see-through face that spoke of knowing something that I didn’t.

“Big deal to do your first haunting, ya’ know,” Billy, the more portly of the three apparitions, nodded sagely as he looked back down at his cards.

I crossed my arms, a smile tugging at my lips as I looked at the three ghosts and Grim, sitting around the little table, playing cards of all things. It was homey, in an odd way, but I was used to odd things by now. 

Dealing with overblots, living with ghosts, and being janitor at a school for magic was nothing out of the ordinary now. Especially not with how long I'd been in Twisted Wonderland at this point. Graduating from NRC as the lone magicless student changed a person.

“So you guys have been giving them pointers on how to best scare me, right?”

Grim rolled his eyes as all three ghosts began to snicker mischievously at my words, but I just shook my head with a fond sigh. Because that was just how my three undead housemates were. Ever impish, and, at the very least, their strange but loving little pranks kept life interesting.

I turned, starting up the stairs and calling back over my shoulder, “Well, I’m going to call it a night. You four have fun finishing up your game.”

My call was met with a chorus of assents and Grim’s shout that he was DEFINITELY going to beat all three of them this time, despite his impressive losing streak that I opted not to mention simply to avoid the argument that would definitely occur if I said anything.

Even if my friends had graduated and my life had changed to the point where I was no longer a student at NRC but an employee instead, Grim hadn’t changed a bit. I supposed it was part of being whatever he was, and in some ways it was a comfort. An added bit of stability to my quiet life here in Ramshackle Dorm.

I sighed as I entered my room, my mind drifting back to the nostalgic days of being a student and spending my time with my friends and classmates. I didn’t miss the overblots or the drama by any means, but I did miss the guys.

Each of them came to visit every so often and called to check in on me fairly regularly, but they’d all moved on and had lives of their own now. And I was glad. I was proud of each and every one of them for having come so far. 

There was sadness to the memories of my school days, but life goes on even if you aren’t ready, and that was something I’d come to accept over the years. Nostalgia came and went, but overall, I was happy with my life. 

It was sometimes a little bit lonely when the ghosts and Grim would wander off to do something else, but that was fine too. Nothing I couldn’t handle.

I flicked the lights off as I got ready to climb into bed, half-laughing to myself about how there was a time where I would have been expecting a Mickey-related dream or for a certain fae to show up in the middle of the night. 

But now nothing so unexpected would happen.

As soon as I’d had the thought that my life had become fairly humdrum with nothing interesting, the light clicked back on, and I sighed with a smile.

Thinking living in a house with playful ghosts was normal… I really had changed so much since coming to this world.

Smiling all the way, I crossed the room. My hand finding the light switch easily, and cutting the light back off yet again, “Carlyle, not tonight, please. I’m tired and have a bathroom to scrub clean in the morning.”

Strangely, I didn’t hear the slender ghost’s usually wheezy laughter. But as soon as I stepped back towards my bed, the light cut back on immediately.

“Carlyle….” My tone was slightly less playful as I stopped this time, but the ghost once again stayed silent as I cut the light back off. A slight frown on my face this time.

Carlyle wasn’t usually one to stay so silent. He’d normally erupt into snickers the second time I had to cut off the light, at the very least.

I’d hardly even taken three steps when the light cut on again, for the third time, and I stopped.

I eyed the seemingly innocent light switch with a frown before glancing around the room curiously. Nothing was out of place, but….. “Are you the new ghost?”

I was greeted with silence yet again, and I crossed my arms with a slight smile, “You don’t have to be shy; I won’t hurt you.”

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. And frankly, the idea of a ghost being scared of me was ridiculous, but I kept those thoughts to myself.

 I wanted to meet this new ghostly housemate, so their being scared of me wouldn’t be for the best anyway.

But the longer I waited, the longer nothing happened, and I frowned. They must have fled when I asked about their identity. Which wasn’t what I’d wanted, but I supposed I couldn’t really force their spectral hand.

I sighed slightly, mumbling to myself as I returned to the light switch once more, “Who would’ve thought I’d have a cowardly ghost….” I cut the light off again, fully prepared to get some sleep before tomorrow came. I could worry about the strange, unnamed apparition later.

I barely made it back to the bed before the light cut back on, causing me to straighten almost immediately in surprise. I quickly relaxed, though, with the realization that I was apparently going to be playing this game for the better part of the night after all.

“I’m not cowardly.”

 I froze at the man’s voice that came from behind me. It had been years since I’d last heard it, but even if it didn’t have that usually drowsy tone, I would never forget that voice. Especially after what had happened… I hadn’t thought I’d ever hear it again.

I slowly turned to see him just standing there, propped up against the door beside the light switch, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. He looked just like he had that distant day that would probably stay in my memory forever.

His arms were crossed as he looked at me silently from where he stood. It was like nothing had ever happened, and I was back in the past during those early days of school here at NRC.

I sat slowly on my bed, stunned as I stared back at the young man who’d died doing his very best to save everyone, myself included, during one of the very last overblots. 

“Silver,” I breathed his name more than said it, and somehow, impossibly, he nodded. Confirming his presence as he uncrossed his arms, one arm slipping back so that his wrist was resting relaxedly on the hilt of his spectral wand, just like it had in life.

 Like nothing had changed.

“You’re…” I trailed off, my mind swirling with too many thoughts for me to ever be able to put them into words as I continued to stare up at him.

“I didn’t show myself to you because I didn’t want to scare you, but…” He paused, glancing around the room, before his eyes came back to me, “Well, I heard you talking downstairs, and it didn’t feel quite right to keep hiding myself.”

@vera-deville

[dwarvenbash]

Something a little niche today, the Touro heavy Mech and Buckmaster light Mech from Brigador!

These neat little killing machines actually come packaged with a few weapon options, allowing you to mix and match a bit, which is very true to the original game's spirit.

Especially fell in love with the Touro even more as I was putting it together, it's a very cute little lump of pewter that is quite satisfying to hold.

If you've never heard of Brigador before and are curious, more info about that and these little guys under the cut!

For the accurate Brigador experience, it's best to keep reading while listening to this track on loop:

Now, although those are miniatures up there, Brigador is a video game rather than one of the table top variety. While that may be a distasteful prospect to some, I can assure you it is still quite fun, as evidenced by this screenshot:

There are like fifty levels and I've beaten (nearly) all of them with every loadout, evidence of me doing as such with the really hard ones have been conveniently omitted in this screenshot however.

The game uses these awesome old-school 3D prerendered sprites for everything, which really scratches my nostalgic itch for that old Diablo/Starcraft look (or any 90s RTS for that matter). Here's how the Touro and Buckmaster look in game!

They're somehow even cuter...

The excellent art direction coupled with some really solid writing made Brigador a staple game for me. Whenever I have a couple minutes to kill and I'm at my computer, I'll usually just boot up Brigador and try to clear some challenge I've been working on. It's a very relaxing habit, despite the tone of the game which is actually quite grim! (Hopefully this doesn't reflect on me badly...)

Anyway, enough about videogames, we're here to to discuss miniatures!

Now while I am still very pleased that the developers of Brigador decided to release their own pewter miniatures based on designs from the game, I must warn you, my dear reader, that these sculpts may have some pretty gnarly flash and mold line issues. I can't say anything for sure, because all the pieces on my Buckmaster were free of residue and too much flash, but both of the Touros I picked up still had enough mold release where they needed a wash, and their chassis pieces had pretty big chunks of flash. I had picked up two to convert one into a Corvid mech (I can't decide between a Sweetheart or a Fatshoe) anyway though so it isn't that big a deal. The Touros were the first models they released, so I'm sure they've worked out the kinks at this point.

All that being said, I still had a good time putting these guys together and I'm very excited to paint them up in their proper NEP livery. I think I'll put them on Battletech hex bases since theyre about the right size and could work as stand-ins for some underdog Inner Sphere mecha, perhaps.

Funnily enough, these miniatures are also technically 1:144 scale, which is exactly the same scale as a Gundam High Grade model kit! Here they are next to a 1:144 scale Pilot to give you a sense of how big they would be in real life:

Something very satisfying about being able to do this with miniatures. I wish Battletech played this nice with regards to scale...

....aaand now compared to a Mobile Suit:

Makes you realize how ridiculously huge Mobile Suits are, huh?

One shot from the Touro's Abbot could probably still blow that poor Leo up, though...

Thanks for reading this far! This one has been especially indulgent, but it's always fun to talk about something underrated in the hopes more people will check it out.

Going forward on here, I'm considering making more "short-form" posts (yes, it is possible) with more quick updates on what I'm working on. Most miniatures probably won't necessitate an entire screed to accompany them either, believe it or not. I'll still be writing up long ones like these though; I have a long, long list of opinions and diatribes and I am desperately trying to spare my loved ones from being subjected to them. Most importantly, though, it's fun to write about this stuff. :P

[1d1195]

I LITERALLY SPENT ALL DAY READING HONEY DURING ALL MY FREE TIME AND UGHHHH☹️🫶🫶🫶🫶 THEYRE SOOOOO CUTE my goodness when he went down in the towel, PLS SHES SO MUCH STRONGER THAN ME I WOULDVE FOLDED FASTER THAN A LAWN CHAIR✋

I WAS SO SCARED THEY WERE GOING TO TAKE BABY CECE🥺 but MC was too smart for them so ofc not. THE HALLUCINATING ??? AND HIM BEING THE REASON SHE GOT OUT ???😭😭😭 GOSH i can imagine her telling him that after some time and he just…. bawls. because that is SO precious. AND HOW SHE KNEW IN SOME WAY THAT HE WAS CLOSE BY UGHHHH

IM PRETTY SURE I GOT THAT PAPER KITES SONG RECOMMENDED TO ME ON APPLE MUSIC BECAUSE OF PAINT AND HOW MUCH IVE LISTENED TO IT SINCE U SENT IT SO I KNEW I HAD TO SHARE, SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT <3333

(i know EXACTLYYYY what you mean. like, i can love a song and listen to it all the time but the second i hear something too much on the radio its just…no. HAHAHA. ALSOOOO THERE IS DEF SOMETHING ABT HIS SONG LET IT GO BECAUSE I WENT THROUGH THE SAME THING)

honestly i don’t even know, everyone is probably so done with me and my bs. i don’t want to sound ungrateful because things are so awesome but i just have NOT been feeling myself here at all. i don’t want to go out anywhere or see anybody, im so done with being perceived😭 the people we know are just wayyy to judgy, talking to them is literally draining. i’m always soooo tired, for some reason my hormones are different here and i went through the. ABSOLUTE. WORST. PMS-ING. LIKE… TERRIBLE. and things with my dad are :/// (when are they not though pfftt) i feel like my days are the same?? the only thing that changes are my outfits but i have this weird feeling like my life is on pause when it should be the opposite. i’m feeling veryyyy nostalgic for fall-winter last year.

i LOVE enjoying the little things, it really does make your day-to-day life just a little better. shifting your closet is soooo cool girl, i feel like you just get to enjoy the different times of year more wholly, you know ? COFFEE HERE IS TERRIBLE IM SO JEALOUS I MISS MY DAILY ICED COFFEE😭😭 and gilmore girls is ALWAYS right🫶 i hope you find time to read soon, other than a fanfic here and there i haven’t been reading either, i brought a bunch of books with me that are literally just sitting on a shelf. BUT I 100% GET WHAT YOU MEAN ABOUT READING A CERTAIN PART OF A BOOK JUST TO FEEL SOMETHING, i am unfortunately VERY guilty of this😞🫣 wishing you and your book boyfriends a very happily ever after 😉 AHH NOT A WEDDING😭😭😭 HAHAHA i do hope you end up having a ton of fun tho. and is it just me, or is there always a certain, something in the air when it reaches this time of year?? just a different kind of craziness than the rest of the year.

you are an absolute sweetheart and I WANTED TO TELL YOU, MY SISTER ABSOLUTELY ADORED LOVE & OTHER WORDS. LIKE, SHE WAS OBSESSED WITH IT. and i was all “omg yeahhh a friend recommended it to me☺️😌” BECAUSE WE AREEE FRIENDS !!!

i think the ranting got a lil out of hand so i’m sorry about that but THANK YOU FOR BEING SO AWESOME AND FUN TO TALK TO, IM SENDING YOU ALLLLL THE LOVE, MWAHHHHH

~🎶

Ma'am you give me some of the best ideas for check-ins. MAKING HARRY BAWL HIS EYES OUT IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PAST TIMES. She's way stronger than me, I would have pulled that towel clean off and had a different kind of breakfast.

Idk how many hours it's been but I haven't moved on from this Paper Kites song, I'll check back in when I move onto Gregory and James.

Things can be going well and you can still feel out of sorts. I really struggle with going out and being social. I have a pretty small social battery. Also dads are the worst more often than not. I'm convinced. My bf was telling my best friend some stories about some of my rage fits I've had in the past (they still happen but they're not as bad as of late) and I'll tell you exactly what (WHO) the common denominator was in each story. Are you still out of the country at this point? Will you be coming back home soon(ish)? I honestly feel like you're homesick, maybe? Being on pause is difficult. It adds to the drained feeling. Hopefully something changes so you can get back into the swing of things and start feeling less stuck 💕

My sister did a semester abroad in europe and I know europe specifically is weird about ice. Or maybe I'm just INSANE (obvi) because I love ice so much. I want my drink cold. I probs use more ice than liquid but I don't even care. ANYWAY. Upon reading more of your message, I kind of feel like you're going through iced coffee withdrawals and if you had one all your emotions would be cured (I hope you're reading this sarcastically because of course I'm joking because I know it's more than that, but I'm hoping you know what I mean). I'm almost certain coffee fixes everything.

Me and my book bfs will def live happily ever after. The -ber months are so busy. It's insane. There's def something in the air.

I LOVE THAT SHE LOVED IT AND OF COURSE WE'RE FRIENDS 💕 I sincerely think it's one of the best books I've ever read. I had an idea to write about Harry based off it. Maybe one day. It's lost to the drafts along with a 100 other things I want to write 😭

This is a ranting blog and there's no such thing as out of hand. I'm so happy to hear from you. I was missing you so much 💕

xoxo

[chromotps]

You, answering my asks while sleep deprived: 👁👄👁

Me, sending asks, depriving myself of sleep: 👁👄👁

You suggesting the feather accessories made me think about Avian Hybrids!CoraLaw. Or, well, a Wings!AU.

- Cora has black swan wings and Doffy has flamingo wings (the only time I'll ever include this dude in my AUs. I avoid this mf cuz I'm starting to like him 😭). Idk what to give Law lmao–

- Cora's wings are huge. Like, 260cm/8'6ft. They're also waterproof, he uses them to cover the people from the rain.

- Law's wings are sensitive, so he doesn't like people touching them unless he gives them permission and consent to do so. Cora is an exception tho, Law even reaches out himself so Cora would touch them (No, Bepo isn't jealous. Of course he isn't.. whaaaat. He's totally okay with sharing his pseudo blanket with Cora..!!! That's a lie. Bepo is sulking in the corner while listening to Uta's songs).

- When it's Cora's time to moult in the summer, Law usually takes him flying when he wants/needs to. It's Law's favourite part of every summer, he gets to have Cora in his arms as he takes them flying. Law also helps toss out the old feathers, but some of them are gonna be used and turn into coats for the both of them.

- As you mentioned, feather accessories! I love those omg, thank you for suggesting them!! Cora has a single earring with Law's feather dangling from it. Law has a feather of Cora's attached to Kikoku and another as an earring.

- Law's wings are warmer than Cora's (that's the real reason why Bepo likes sleeping next to Law, trust me /j), so Cora likes to be the little spoon most of the time, just so he could feel Law's warm wings engulf him (they rarely spoon each other, they look like the type to sleep with their backs flat on the mattress). Law's wings are 210cm/6'10 ft, taller than himself when tucked in (Yes I did use the height comparison website on Google lmao).

(...Nah I'm not gonna give their wings width measurements, I'm too lazy for that and it's 5am)

- And because Cora's wings are huge, it makes him hard to stay balanced and upright. Falling means he starts panicking, panicking means his wings starts flailing, his wings flailing means knocking off whatever it is near him and slapping people in the face lol. He tries to tuck them in as close as possible.

I might expand this because I love it sm, but right now I ran out of ideas. You could add your own btw! My AUs are everyone's AUs xD. Enjoy and have a great day/night!

-S

!!!!! I miss Wing!AUs... They're so nostalgic...

(okay also total sidenote, I have the same thing with Doffy. I went from thinking he seemed cool when he was first introduced to being Big Mad at the sight of him, with him killing Cora and. all that. But I've grudgingly come back around to?? strangely liking him?? I just like when villains have a sense of style and totally commit to being completely unhinged... I'm still glad he got got, but he is a fun character. 😂)

I wish I knew more Bird Facts so I could give a suggestion for Law... all I can think of right now is some kind of hawk... ooo or maybe a vulture?

God, Law still being such a SIMP with his wings 😂 and letting Cora get near them.... (hahaha I see those Bepo cameos... man if I wasn't so down bad for Cora I would throw in more with the law/bepo crew. full respect there). Also Law putting a feather on Kikoku!!!!! Ohhhh the mental image of that is so good.... Like, Law subtly showing that Cora is part of the reason he fights....

Ahhh also thinking about Cora being so used to trying to make his wings as small as possible and not inconvenience anyone with them, but one time Law makes a point to take them somewhere with a wide, open space and ask to see them... Or Cora has to fly them somewhere for the first time while running from Marines/some group that's not worth staying and fighting. And Law is just!!! awed!! at the sight of them!!! I know clumsiness is part of Cora's charm, but based on that mission where he stole the op-op fruit, we know he can be really coordinated and stealthy when needed. So, like, when he finally makes full use of his wings, maybe he's one of the fastest/swiftest flyers Law has seen.

[biitchcakes]

@gammaragee asked: 🎥 - What’s your favourite tv show/movie? // ( accepting )

Okay, strap in ⸺ this is gonna get long I can feel it in my bones HGFDSGK I cannot. . . not talk about both of these things in a stupid amount of detail. I'm literally gonna just go ahead and stick the keep reading here.

Favourite shows ! I'll start off with SCRUBS. Oh, how I adore this show with every fibre of my being. My stepdad, someone pretty important to me, worked in the emergency room, and actually started his internship within a year of Scrubs beginning. So, watching it with him meant it was always going to cement itself into a special corner of my heart, but even with that aside ⸺ the show is just damn good. It's hilarious, it's heart wrenching, it's got a killer soundtrack each and every season. The characters feel so real, no matter how goofy they or the situations their in are at times.

I simply just think of the episode My Screw Up or My Fallen Idol and I feel a pit in my gut, I tear up. Everyone always brings those episodes up when talking about Scrubs, but there's a reason for that. MAN it's some good T.V. I hardly ever listen to podcasts, but the Scrubs rewatch podcast was one I tuned in for.

The way J.D. sees the world, his little fantasy cutaways, his rambles ⸺ hate to relate to the man LOL but boy does that hit home here. I was thinking about including a favourite scene but I couldn't. The whole show is just everything.

Next up: SUPERNATURAL. Man. I actually haven't seen much of the show past season nine. And even then, I haven't watched seasons 8 or 9 since they came out about ten years ago. And there's 15 seasons in total. That said, the first five seasons of that show. . . Holy hell. I can't begin to get into the way that show makes me feel 😭 It's so nostalgic, it's like coming home after a long time away. My one and only tattoo ( so far lmao ) is from that show. I know it can be cheesy at times, but that adds to its charm for me. I love how of it's time the first few seasons are.

The visuals of it, it's so aesthetically beautiful. And God, when the emotional scenes hit. . . they HIT. They punch through to the depths of my very soul.

There are things about both the brothers I find relatable. They're comforting to me, they're like family.

Last but certainly not least, THE GOOD PLACE. I nearly didn't watch this one. I got into it around the middle of seasons three, but I only knew the premise of "woman who should be in hell ends up in heaven by mistake". Which, if you've watched to show, you know is definitely not the only thing that happens DHGKSJ

I won't go into detail because I always want to avoid spoilers about it where I can because the twists the plot takes throughout the seasons are a lot of fun to experience first hand. And, even if you do know, the show is still super worth it. It sent me down my own philosophy rabbit hole for months. Already interested in it before, I've kept up on it since, I watch lectures whenever they pop up.

The finale. . . UUGGHGKSJDHGKS. One of the best on television. That show fundamentally changed me. I am chronically bad at finishing things, but I have finished both Scrubs and the Good Place. Boy am I glad I have. Best finales ever.

Alright this got away from me very quickly HGSDJK

I'll be brief here fhdskjfds so MOVIES ⸺ my top 7 are:

Willow

Meet the Robinsons

Shawshank Redemption

Lo

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Stardust

Here is my LETTERBOXD account.

A list of MY FAVOURITE FILMS.

( bonus ⸺ here are my favourite horror movies, as well as my ranking for animated Disney movies; I'm currently working on a list of Jessica's favourite movies for a post on here at some point. )

[sonicrainbooms]

for the ask game - W Q P and as many OOOOO’s as u want!

Hi, thanks for the ask! (game)

Sorry this took so long! I started to type and it ran away from me. It's VERY long. The rest is under the cut.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Hmm... this is hard HAHA I can't think of any atm! I always love Pokémon au's, so anything I love in the Pokémon universe will be fun! Oh, and the other day I watched Death Note right before I went to sleep and had a Light Yagami!Hemlock dream which was...an experience. Not sure how a Death Note Star Wars universe would work, a lot of stuff would need to be changed, but it would be funny as hell.

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why?

Another hard one, I don't really abandon fandoms, I just...stop liking shows as much and don't feel the "need" to interact with them anymore. I guess I still really enjoy Gravity Falls, but don't engage with the fandom at all anymore except when I'm feeling nostalgic. I didn't even know about the current countdown on the website until last night! I used to be ALL on top of that!

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom

I'm not sure if the question means fanfic tropes or au's or what. So I'll just list some stuff in general fandom spaces I don't like bc I'm a hater. If you like these, MORE POWER TO YOU! I'm sure there's HEAPS of stuff I like that you don't! Live laugh love <3

I don't like coffee shop au's, florist au's, the "omg they turned into a baby and the other/s have to look after them!" trope, honestly not a huge fan of soulmate au's, dont like a/b/o at all sorry.

I HATE it when certain characters (COUGH COUGH WRECKER, COUGH COUGH PINKIE PIE) get get infantilised/woobiefied despite being grown adults just because they're a bit silly. I DO NOT LIKE IT when grown adults are reduced to The Mum Of The Group™ for...no reason. Yes, that last point is about fanon Echo. I do not like fanon Echo and I am not in the mood to talk about why rn HAHA.

Anon, honestly there are more but saying the real heavy-hitting will get me assassinated by the fandom secret service.

Again, if you like these, I do not care. I'm so glad you do, honestly.

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

I don't really think of pre-existing characters or ships when I listen to music, to be honest! When I listen to music, I primarily see if it can remind me of one of my oc's. And you know, if I actually enjoy the song or not. So I won't be able to answer this question, either!

That being said, Brutus by The Buttress (I LIKED THE SONG BEFORE TIKTOK FOUND IT!) reminds me of Captain Rex. Not because of the "My name is Brutus, but the people will call me Rex" line, but because the theme and story of the song matches up with my personal headcanon of the clones secretly holding grudges against the Jedi for always, even if unintentionally, being famed and loved throughout the galaxy for being peacekeepers and fighting the war while it was actually the clones on the front line dying, with lifespans too short for the senate to seriously consider actually giving rights to. For most clones, it was a mild annoyance. For others, it was a real grievance.

I like to think, in my interpretation, the line "I don't want want you have, I want to be you" has two meanings. The first: Those jealous clones maybe didn't mind carrying out Order 66. Of course, it's wrong. The Jedi did their best. But if I were a clone...yeah. I might harbour some ill feelings towards the sect of people using me like that. I would want to be appreciated as more than a solider, I'd want the right to choose. I'd want to be them.

The other meaning I have relates more to Rex himself. I wonder how much pain and guilt he's felt since the ship went down with Jesse and the others still in it. He is one of few left to pick up the scraps and continue fighting what seems to be a hopeless battle without resources or assurance. He's the one people turn to, now. How often does he think of Jesse, or Cody, or Fives, or Kix? How many times has he remembered the total lack he had when he was trying to kill Ahsoka, and ordering his men to do the same? Watching his own body and voice act unable to stop it... I think it eats away at him. I think he has major survivors guilt. I think he sometimes, privately, secretly, wishes he were Jesse or Ridge or Fives. I think he wishes he were dead. "I don't want what you have, I want to be you". He wouldn't feel as horrible. He wouldn't feel anything. He'd see them again.

I know neither of these headcanons are popular, nor well-thought out atm HAHA but that's what I feel!

On a lighter not, Lynchmob by KMFDM reminds me of Wrecker <3

Thanks for the ask!

[remimibanana]

3DS Retrospective Part 1: Memories of the Past

Since the 3DS eShop has now closed and the online is shutdown, I thought I would take the time to look back at some of the games I've played on the 3DS!

This handheld was a huge part of my childhood, and I still play on it to this day. It deserves a very long retrospective from me for being in my life. I would love to come back to this in the future and smile at all of the memories I once experienced.

I have to thank my dad for introducing me to Nintendo or I wouldn't be here right now blabbing about this. He truly was my number one supporter in my gaming journey back then. I’ve played a lot of games so this will be long aha (sorry....thank you for reading this all if you do!).

Part 1 is under the cut!

Animal Crossing New Leaf

One of my absolute favourites on the 3DS! Love the music and gameplay and practically everything about it.

I remember going with my dad to my local Target to buy ACNL around the time it came out. I had my red 3DS with me, ready to play it as soon as I got back into the car.

I was so excited, I remember rushing to the 3DS section and instantly taking the game off the shelf while my dad was chasing after me. We went back to the car after he paid for it. I couldn’t wait to open the game, and I think I remember my dad going “open it already”.

Which I did!

Unfortunately for me, there was no game cartridge inside there. The staff forgot to put it in after we paid for it, and we didn’t even notice.

I told my dad and he was saying we could come back tomorrow because we were already far from the Target.

I was so sad about it that my dad turned around and drove back anyway lol

Once we finally got the game cartridge, it was time to play!

In New Leaf, you get to name the town you’re moving into. I didn't know what I wanted to name my town so I asked my dad. He said Knin, a city in Croatia where he comes from. I put it as my town name while asking him how to spell it.

Unfortunately I lost pretty much all of my games a few years ago, including this one (they were all in this giant yellow case and I can't find it, weep). But I do have screenshots! They're super nostalgic.

I loved the Southern Islands the most, the minigames were a lot of fun and listening to the cap sing was so cool. I never skipped his songs, I never knew you could (unlike some people).

You could even play with people from around the world with Club Toritimer that cost like 50 medals to obtain. I remember working hard to gain so many of them—all so I could go to the International Islands!

And hoo boy, I have a story to tell regarding this.

I went to the island and there were these people who were talking about giving bells. I stared at them, not wanting to interfere with what was happening.

One of them dropped like 50,000 bells, and I remember staring at it in awe.

Guess what I did?

I ran to the bells and picked them up into my pockets like any sane person would. I ran away while the others chased after me, yelling at me to stop. I clicked on the button to get me out of the island and that was that—I was a thief!

I can't believe I would ever do such a thing, stealing bells like that! I don’t even remember why I did it! I was really something as a kid.

I even ran into one of them again after a few weeks on the International Islands and I was so scared they would yell at me. They didn’t seem to realise or they just didn’t care, but I ran off anyway.

Tomodachi Life

I love this game.

I remember making myself, my whole family and other random characters and friends on my island! I used to spend hours on there, utterly immersed.

My brother and I used to play together since we only had one copy and things always went awry because of it. Case in point, let me tell you some things that I remember occurring.

My cousin married my old childhood best friend, which was flipping funny to my brother and I from memory. I told my cousin and she looked at me as if I was crazy and you know what, deserved

I didn't want a boyfriend in game at all, and somehow I never managed to but my brother decided to go behind my back one time.

I came back to me having a boyfriend and the game already saved. Once you save, that's it. Unless you had an action replay or something, you were screwed and stuck with whatever happened.

For those who have never played Tomodachi Life, the Miis can have dreams while sleeping. Some were interactive, allowing you to do things in the dream—those were the best.

You would also get an item relating to the dream, so it was always worth checking them out. I think it was one of the main reasons why I played.

My favourite dreams were:

The Transform (Superhero) where the Mii character says "by the power of (insert item)" and they just transform and say some random advice. Every time I looked at one of my Miis dreams, I always hoped it would be this one.

The Hide and Seek one where there are two Miis and the seeker says "are you ready?!" and the hider goes "not yet." and it just repeats and repeats until you exit. My brother and I used love copying this dream a lot lol

The Giant, where a Mii is sitting at a cafe in front of a closed window and the window blinds open to show your face using the inner camera and the Mii freaks out intensely lol

Of course, we can't forget that you can make songs! I used to love this feature. I was a kid, so I just made my characters swear lmao or sing about weird things.

I unfortunately lost this game, so all I have left are screenshots and my own memories….

I currently play the Japanese version on my 2DS since the European version I had installed stopped working for some reason. It’s good practice!

Bring it to the Switch Nintendo! please I beg I'll do anything even sell my brother why not

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

My favourite Pokémon game! I love everything about this game, hands down one of the best remakes ever made.

I remember getting this for Christmas back in 2014. I woke up at like 4:30am alongside my brother (for some reason) and we went downstairs and started opening presents.

At this point, I already knew what I was getting. It wasn’t much of a surprise but I was so excited none of the less!

My dad who was awake at the time said "what the hell go back to sleep", and that we did. We went back to our rooms with our presents.

Fun fact, my brother got this small car while I got a whole 3DS game LMAO

When I woke up again, I instantly turned on my 3DS and started playing. A few weeks before Christmas, I got the guidebook for ORAS (I still have it actually!) instead of clothes like my mum wanted me to lol

I used that guidebook throughout my playthrough, and I managed to beat the entire game in one day which is seriously impressive, I could never do that now

I loved soaring the most, it was such an fun feature! Soaring through the skies with Mega Latias and exploring Hoenn...I can hear the soaring music even now. Take me back...

Secret Bases were the bomb, I remember always looking for those little holes around Hoenn and seeing how much space there inside them was with Hidden Power. My Secret Base was at Route 119 right before you enter Fortree City, at this grass bush.

I remember that you could buy decorations at Mauville City, and you could even get special ones on a Saturday.

I transferred my level 100 Sylveon from X to this game for some reason, I think I wanted my beloved partner with me but it wouldn't listen to me for the entire game lmao

The only reason I beat Steven back then is because Sylveon finally managed to listen to me and land an attack on Mega Metagross, which obviously died immediately upon impact lol

Good times.

Pokémon X

I remember getting Pokémon X because my friends had Pokémon Y and I wanted to play with them and be cool but I didn't remember they had Y at the time so I chose X lol

My old childhood best friend gave me a shiny Haxorus at my cousin’s birthday party when I showed him how I had the game and was stuck in Reflection Cave.

I loved all the customization, the music and just the entirety of the game! Probably my second favourite overall!

My favourite town is Lumiose City, it was so fun to skate around and explore every nook and cranny. It’s literally amazing how well they were able to make it.

Especially the sketchy alleyways, I used to always go through them all and then get lost because I don't know where I landed lol

I know how people didn't like the postgame (or how little there was) but I really liked it! Working with Looker and meeting Emma and her little Espurr Mimi....good memories!

I remember when I found out about Sylveon, the new Eeveelution in Gen 6, I knew I had to have one. I remember searching up how to evolve Eevee into Sylveon on Google, and it said it needed high affection.

So the new Poke Amie came in handy. I love Poke Amie so much! My favourite minigame is Head It, I can't believe they removed them after Gen 6, they were so fun ;;

But I wasn't sure how much hearts I needed for my Eevee so every time it tried to evolve, I would spam B to cancel it, I was that afraid of not getting Sylveon lol

I did this until I had full affection and then I let my Eevee evolve and I was so happy to see a very cute Sylveon! I checked again after and you only needed three hearts at the end.

This Sylveon was the first Pokémon I ever got to level 100 and it had Dazzling Gleam, one of my absolute favourite Fairy moves. The same one I moved to Alpha Sapphire I just talked about lol

Sylveon has been in my team ever since (had one in Gen 7, 8 and 9) and I plan on keeping it that way! Pokemon Legends ZA was announced and you bet your butt I'm going to have a Sylveon in my team.

The ost is so nostalgic to me. Lumiose City always makes me stop and reminiscence...

Yo-kai Watch

I love this game so much!

Technically this was my brother's game back when, he was the one who wanted it initially but I used to play it all the time since it was there.

The music and story is really good, I'm sad it kind of flopped overseas because it's really popular in Japan. Another reason to go to Japan....one day

I really like Komasan, just a cute Yokai that says "oh my swirls!".

My brother was the real pro at this game, I remember he used to mock me because I couldn't beat a boss that looked like some crazy doctor. He nearly finished the entire Medallium and got all the legendary Yokai which is rather impressive I might add!

(Unfortunately that copy got lost so he uh…lost all that….aha)

My most favourite part of this game is Terror Time. It happens randomly at night where the clock stops and you get transported into Terror Time. It's like a nightmare where you have to escape at the exit without getting caught by any oni minions otherwise they call Gargaros, the main scary oni. He was real powerful and strong and kicked your butt when you get caught.

I would also put away the clock and just run around at night on my bicycle hoping Terror Time would come. If I stopped randomly and I can't move, that meant it was Terror Time. I live for that thrill.

My brother used to be so afraid of it while I begged for it to happen. Every time it did, he'd give me to play so I can get him out of it.

Please localize the Yokai Watch 1 Switch Port I beg Level 5. It wouldn't be that hard. Pleaseeeee

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

I know most people don't like this game but I really like it! It was my first introduction to the world of Paper Mario.

I played the entirety of it with my brother and it was a lot of fun. I was the main person who actually played, my brother was moral support as we tried our best to beat the game!

I loved collecting all the stickers and going through all the worlds to get the royal stickers. I remember the beginning where everything is destroyed, and you have to save all the toads from being stuck in various places.

There was this one toad where for the life of me, I could not find. I looked everywhere and it just did not exist. They hid them too well, I'm afraid.

Fun fact, at the end of the game when you have to use Kersti to beat Bowser, I cried. For like three days lol. I didn't want to use Kersti, she was with us for the whole journey and I grew attached to the floating sticker.

Like I was full on crying in bed when I remembered using her. My brother didn't even give a damn.

It was sort of sad, wasn’t it? I finally got over it and used the flying sticker to beat Bowser up with my brother by my side. When we beat him, we were so happy.

I miss those times when my brother and I played games together, we don't do that anymore...

Pokémon Dream Radar

I remember buying this game when my dad put $50 on my account and I didn’t know what to buy. My friend recommended it and so I got it!

It was a very simplistic game where you would use the 3DS camera to shoot at these little energy balls to collect points and catch Pokémon.

You could even transfer them to Black 2 and White 2 after, which I always did with my Black 2 copy.

You could get the Forces of Nature (Thundurus, Landorus and Torandus) from this game, I believe it was one of it's main reasons for existing (but don't quote me on that one). As you play through the game, you upgrade your equipment and get closer to meeting them and of course, catching them!

I think I managed to get only two of the three back then.

Professor Burnet is in this game actually! She's the professor we're working under. I remember being so shocked when I saw her in the Sun and Moon anime. I knew her back when she was researching dreams, hah!

And then you have to capture the Pokémon, which is a whole another story. You had to move around a lot and shoot a continuous beam of light until you fill the meter before the time limit. it was honestly tougher than expected, the dang Pokémon keep moving!

Colors 3D

This was a game I got because my friend told me to get it, like above.

It's a drawing application where as the name suggests, you draw. There is a whole palette with every colour, a few brushes and tools you can use at your disposal.

There is only 5 layers, which isn't that great in all honesty. I wish it had more, it would make drawing much easier.

But I still use it from time to time! I like drawing on there when I’m bored and don’t want to drag everything out. Doodling has never been easier.

My favourite part was the Colors 3D Gallery, where you could view art uploaded by other people. It was very simple, but I used to go on there all the time! Loading into the gallery is pretty nostalgic to me.

Everyone is so talented on there! I don’t get how people can draw such intricate things on a 3DS. I suppose it really proves that it’s not the brush that makes the artist.

You could also add someone else’s art to your own gallery to view and draw on. I remember saving Tokyo Mew Mew art and whatever I liked at the time to my gallery.

I’ll miss going on it (´ｰ｀)

Mario and Sonic at the 2012 Olympic Games

I love this game. It’s my second favourite game in the whole series.

I think my brother got this game for himself, but I used to play it all the time because it was a lot of fun! Anyone could argue that the Wii version is better overall, but I think the 3DS version holds up well!

There were many events to choose from, such as water sports and equestrian! My favourite events were the Rhythmic Ribbon and Beach Volleyball! I was an absolute beast at Beach Volleyball, the one event I could beat at any difficulty without breaking a sweat.

Although you couldn’t choose any character for any event, as you can in the Wii version. Each event has a specific set of characters you can choose from, such as the girls or the heroes. Only four in each group and that's all you got.

I remember being disappointed a bit, since I was used to how the Wii version was.

Back then, I managed to get a gold medal for every event in the easy, normal and hard difficulties! I was as they would say, a pro at the game.

I think the story mode for this game is pretty decent, I remember beating the entirety of it. The end with Bowser and Eggman all powered up with the fog was actually pretty tough, the game let me pass because I kept failing the events over and over out of pity.

The records menu is the most nostalgic to me, the bgm makes me stop and feel things. I feel that a lot with those settings menus, their bgms are always so nostalgic.

I often come back to it from time to time but my skills have dwindled unfortunately…(blames my current 2DS for sucking and not me sucking lol)

Mario Kart 7

I know most people prefer any of the other Mario Karts, but I think this one has to be my favourite one!

I had a white 3DS XL that came with Mario Kart 7 pre-installed, but I also had the physical copy that my brother played with that I got from my birthday.

Emphasis on had. I have a story to tell here, one I’m not that proud of.

Unfortunately as a kid, I was way too naive. My old friend at the time wanted my physical copy in exchange for an eShop gift card.

Of course, that sounds stupid and I wouldn’t even dare consider it now. It was my copy!

I don’t know why, but I did. I think my reasoning was that I already had it on my 3DS at the time, and he was my good friend.

I think it’s one of the things I regret to this day, because I got legit scammed! The eShop card was used and it was only like $25?! My friend got a whole game and I got legit nothing!

To make matters worse, I didn’t even have internet at the time!

My mum got mad at me, and for good reason. I didn’t think I did anything bad, which probably made things worse. My brother was upset because he couldn’t play Mario Kart anymore.

Needless to say, I shouldn’t have done that. I remember regretting it after a while.

We got another physical copy at the end since my brother wouldn’t stop crying about it, but I learnt the hard way not to be so naive.

But anyway, back to the point.

I am an absolute beast at this game. I always beat my family when playing it. I love all the tracks, and pretty much everything about the game!

Rainbow Road is probably my favourite track, the 3DS version is so good! It is so big and immersive!

Sonic Generations

I remember getting this because I loved Sonic. I vividly remember playing it and showing my dad how fun it was.

It was one of the ways I could play Sonic, and it was also one of the reasons why I got a Sonic the Hedgehog emulator on my old laptop thanks to my dad.

I know this the console versions are better but I've never played the console version before. I think this version is not that bad as people claim it to be.

It holds up. The online on the other hand doesn’t, I’ll admit lol

I think I prefer the final boss here, I remember it gave me so much trouble as a kid (and even now when I replayed it some time ago aha).

The levels here are so good. Sonic legit has to outrun a killer whale, what more do you want? I used to replay them all the time!

Fast forward to now, and I just learned that one of the stages is from Sonic Rush that has the banger music. I didn’t know as a kid that Generations featured other game’s levels.

Pokémon Moon

I love Alola so much.

This game I got relatively late actually, during 2019! Why didn't I get Ultra Moon when it was right there?

I wanted to play the original before jumping into the sequel. I think I'm glad I did that, because I like Moon over Ultra Moon lol

This game is special, because it was the first game I ever completed the Pokédex on! My high school friend was the one who encouraged me to do it, and that I did!

I remember recording a video of when I did, seeing that 100% and getting that shiny charm felt so cool. This is one of the games that I still have to this day, luckily.

I always like to come back from time to time and see all my Pokemon, look at my beautiful party.

This game is also where I got my first shiny! I did the Masuda Method with the shiny charm and I managed to get Shiny Buneary in 64 eggs! I remember freaking the heck out!

I then tried to do the same for a Shiny Ralts, as I love how Shiny Mega Gardenvior looks like. That was an absolute failure and I was left with like 6 boxes of Ralts lmao

So I traded them all away using Wonder Trade! I wonder if anyone reading this got one, ehe.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

This was the version I played the most out of them all. I really like this one for how fun it is and the whole coin idea!

My brother and I used to play this one together, alternating levels and having our own saves. Honestly, one of the reasons I was able to beat Bowser at the end is because of this:

The Gold Super Leaf, making you practically invincible. Mario would turn into a white raccoon and no enemies could kill you. You still can die to lava or if you fall, but otherwise...

Cheating but not really cheating. Perfect if you suck at the game.

This would appear if you kept failing a level over and over, and I used to use it without a second thought. I would like to try to beat the game again without the use of this one day!

Super Pokemon Rumble

I loved this game so much as a kid. It was probably one of the first spinoffs for Pokemon I played!

I remember getting to the very end of the game, but never beating the final level???? I think I didn't have strong enough Pokémon for it, or I just didn't get around to it. If I ever do find my old copy, I'd like to finish the game.

The music is really good, I really like Toy Town and Axle Town! They're really nostalgic to me, I remember running around in them and healing up my Pokémon at the Dewdrop Fountain that was in the middle of each town.

The Toy Shop was objectively the best part of it all. It was where people from Streetpass would come to your shop and buy some toys. If enough people bought toys, then something special would happen in game. I believe it was that special Pokémon would appear and could be collected.

We need a remake of this Game Freak, i beg you

Pokémon Rumble World

This is more of a recent game I played, but I absolutely enjoyed it.

You go on these air balloons to various places to collect all the Pokémon! I remember downloading it because i enjoyed the original and this one had even more Pokémon to befriend!

This one unfortunately uses gems as a currency for in game purchases. It’s not needed to play the game, but certain things are locked behind them that help you catch Pokémon.

For example, there’s a stop mechanic that costs two gems to use. It's real useful.

This allows you to stop at the place you want—otherwise it’s random chance. At first, it was hard getting to the right place. You had to pray that it would miraculously land there.

And there was no way in hell I was going to pay for gems just for this one game I played from time to time. The eshop was going to close anyway, so there was no point.

I have a modded 2DS and I found a cheat that gave me max diamonds…you can guess what I did. For legal reasons, this is a joke and I would never do such a thing no wayyyyyyy....

With that, I was able to catch every single Pokemon available in game! It’s my greatest achievement probably, and one that I will flex on you all right now:

You can't get any more than 719 Pokémon. Try to beat that LOL

Probably my greatest achievement ever.

Nintendogs + Cats

I loved the original Nintendogs, so I had to get the sequel as a kid as soon as I found out it existed. I still prefer the original, but this one is still pretty fun.

I had a very cute dog that I took perfect care of. The walks were the highlight of the game, in my opinion. It was sort of an upgrade from the original, although the original always clears.

I have a story with this game as well, also concerning my old childhood best friend. I know, you're wondering how did so many things happen to me lol

Back then, I used to bring my 3DS to my cousin's birthday parties so I could play with said friend. We would sit on the couch right next to each other and get lost in our own world.

One time, it seemed that I dropped my copy of this game during one of these parties and my friend picked it up. He told me that he had it and that he’ll give it back to me at primary school.

That never happened and its been years since then. WHERE IS MY GAME DUDE?! I WANT IT BACK

So I got scammed and my game stolen by the same friend...maybe if we ever meet again, I'll demand for it back. Get some retribution for all the sins they've committed against me.

I hold grudges man and I HOLD THEM HARD

Animal Crossing Happy Home Academy

I actually got the set that came with the Amiibo reader since I didn’t have one. I still have it somewhere, but I don’t think I ever used it.

This was dubbed my brother’s game, and so he got to play it first.

I remember being upset because my brother chose the boy avatar, because I didn't want to be a boy when I would play.

I was smart and simply dressed up his character as a girl.

I put on a wig and a skirt, and boom! Girl character! It was the easiest way instead of nuking the whole save file. When my brother would play, he would make his character look like a boy again.

This game is pretty simple, but it’s a lot of fun! It’s no wonder they did it again for ACNH with the Happy Home Paradise DLC. I still think I prefer this one over the DLC.

Decorating houses for the villagers, especially the ones you like the most is the best part. I remember spending so long trying to get everything looking perfect and beautiful.

I managed to finish all the buildings you could make in the game, I was so happy to see Digby and Isabelle here!

Super Smash Bros For Nintendo 3DS

My brother got this game as well, but of course I played it way more than he ever did.

It was my first introduction to the series! I absolutely loved it, fighting as characters I love! I am a huge fan of fighting games in general, so this was right up my alley.

My mains were Rosalina and Luma, Zero Suit Samus, Zelda and Peach from memory, I became really proficient at using them all. My favourite stage was the Tomodachi Life one, since the Mii's you had in your Mii Maker would appear inside the apartments.

The 3DS version had Smash Run, one of the best modes ever if I do say so myself. You had to collect items to improve your stats so you can beat the final boss at the end! It was timed and honestly harder than you would expect.

It was a multiplayer mode but I used to always play by myself since I had no friends to play with aha

I remember always getting the same kind of stats and wondering how all the COMs were able to get such amazing ones—cheating I say!

Skylanders Giants

I remember vividly buying the game at Target. It came in a large box since it had the portal and three figures, as you can see above!!

I wish I could play this again, you need to have the portal and figures, and the portal I had is gone ;;

I remember being really invested in this game, playing through it and admiring how cool it looked! The story was pretty captivating.

My favourite Skylander is Chill, always loved her design! I actually broke the figure by accident, the ice spear she held fell out of her hand aha

I have a story to tell that is somewhat related to this game.

One time, I lied to a friend of mine that there was going to be a new Skylanders game after Swap Force that allowed you to use the figures on any game, particularly on Spyro’s Adventure.

My friend was stuck on the final boss in Spyro’s Adventure and I was a terrible person to make up such a story. I don’t even know why I did that, I think I got too excited making it up….

The worse thing was that they believed me completely and even told someone else about it because I told them to….

I’m sorry…..

Cars 2

You’re probably wondering, why did I play this? Well, my brother got it since he was a huge fan of the Cars franchise, but he barely played it.

And guess who did? ME BECAUSE HEY A GAME AND I LOVED CARS 2 AS A KID

It was pretty fun! There are many modes in this game, but I mostly played the Mission Mode as you could choose from any level you wanted (of course, warranting you played it in the main story).

Holly was the person who greeted you in this mode, and she was my favourite car back then. I always tried to play as her if I could since she was the only girl car playable in the game.

My favourite levels was the ones at the party in Japan, where you first play as Finn McMissle and sneak through the party without being caught by cameras or by Lemons. It was such a thrill, I became a pro at it!

Then you would play as Mater, rushing to the fountain before he overheated after trying Wasabi for the first time. That one was way harder than it seemed, the meter went down way too quickly so if you weren't fast enough, you fail.

They were the best levels, alongside the ones at the Oil Rig. Anything with Finn McMissle was a banger. He is a super cool spy car after all!

New Style Boutique Fashion Concert Demo

I never had internet when I was a kid or much money to buy many games, so I used to download demos. You never say no to free things.

One in particular is this one here!

There were two demos you could download for the game, the Fashion Contest and the Shopping Experience but I always preferred the thrill of being in a contest over simply dressing up your character.

I would like to introduce you to this one guy named MC Mode who is the contest official you see every time you play!

I loved this guy as a kid, not because of how he looked or anything. I liked this one specific dialogue he would say.

GO BE FREE MY BEAUTIES

It's not even that funny but it always amused me for some reason. I would even voice the line with a low voice. Every time I loaded up the demo, I always hoped I would get this.

You could tell by the opening lines of his speech, if he doesn't ask for the audience to turn it up a notch, then it would be the other dialogue that was in my opinion, boring as hell.

I have specific outfits I use for every single theme that always gets me to 1st place in most cases. That’s how much I used to play it.

I remember playing this demo with my cousin quite a bit because she liked dressing up games and this was the closest I had that looked appealing to her.

We used to get mad at the demo when it gave us the same theme over and over. The themes are randomised every time the demo starts, and can’t be influenced too much.

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance Demo

Probably my favourite demo of all time. I remember downloading this when I scrolled through all the available demos to download.

It was my first introduction to the Kingdom Hearts series, although I didn’t get into it until way later in 2019.

I loved flying around as Sora! The controls are a lot of fun, and you get to explore most of Transverse Town and beat the boss there! It was a giant monkey that was kind of a pain to beat.

I remember I used to always procrastinate actually beating the demo in favour for exploring. The controls were so interesting and I really liked how Sora could summon his little Dream Eater friends to help him out while battling.

With that, Part 1 is complete! I've played more games than this, but these are the main ones that I've made fond and not so fond memories with that I wanted to share!

I hope it was an interesting read! This took me forever to write. I feel like you can learn a lot about me.

Part 2 and Part 3 will go through more of the inbuilt software! I hope to see you over there too!

[rocksanddeadflowers]

hello, mechanisms enjoyer. who is your favourite mechanism. what is your favourite album. what is your favourite song. do you have a favourite mechanisms photo.

Oh!!! The mechs ask person!!! Hello!!! Yay I like answering questions that let me ramble thank you

It's literally impossible for me to pick a favorite anything but for the mechs specifically I think I have a special soft spot for Brian and Jonny, as well as the prison mechs. I will honestly obsess over one at random just rotating them BUT I find Brian and Ivy relatable and stupidly loveable. Raphaella's vocal range is very similar to mine and I'm always down with mad scientist types. Marius is just so fun to write and he's just like,,,,, idk he's got such a fun demeanor. Jonny memorizes and recites large pieces of script in a way I can relate to (because autism) but mainly aside from his overall Jonny-ness, it's the New Texas thing. I grew up in Texas and I like projecting a lot of southern culture onto to, mostly the cool stuff that makes me homesick (which is also why I love Lyfrassir bc I can project a lot of my Norse Mythology info and pagan lifestyle onto them, but they're not technically a mech so)

Clearly my favorite album is The Bifrost Incident, mainly because Norse Mythology was one of my biggest special interests for years (it still is btw I'm just not as deep anymore). Also after the disappointment of the Loki series, getting into The Mechanisms was just awesome. I will say tho that even if TBI is objectively my favorite, I listen to HNOC the most lmao.

Very hard to pick a favorite song bc I'm obsessed with like .... almost all of them. So my 'favorite' isn't necessarily which song I think is the best, but it's Rose Red. I have many feelings about that song. OUAT(IS) was my first album (literally at that point my only info about The Mechs was someone's post about "Jonny Sim's - you know the TMA guy - stupid and embarrassing uni band" so here i was looking for a giggle actually) i was laying in bed in the middle of the night listening. IMMEDIATELY enraptured by it (it's not stupid and embarrassing how did that person come to the conclusion is this because I'm a theatre kid) and the gasp I let out at Rose Red!! Because most of the songs I didn't really recognize except Pump Shanty really, but Rose Red was a song close to my heart!! It was an old choir warm up, and one of my favorites bc it was the only one we did that wasn't silly and dumb, but straight up sounded ethereal man!! It was just super nostalgic. So after King Cole that song went on loop for a while. Cut to months later when I finally listened to DTTM, yeah anyway that version made me cry. Lot of feels <3

I have many favorite pics!!!! I posted one of my favorite Brian pics ever somewhere on my Tumblr but here's a couple pics I've been rotating a lot recently:

Also here's the favorite Brian pic

Think about him a lot <3

[crancisfrozier]

Re: your previous post, I just have to ask what your FF album rankings are thus far! Also I’m loving that someone else is talking about the band at length, it’s been too quiet in the fandom on here haha

Okay this is such a big question I actually switched from mobile to desktop to answer this so be prepared for a novel here lol. But first of all yea I am so surprised the fandom is so quiet on here? I can almost always depend on Tumblr to have a little group of weirdos blogging about a vague special interest I develop so this is a little jarring! Especially considering I can see the fandom was once big enough that there was fanfiction written for it! Makes me a little sad that I seem to have missed it's heyday, but I'm glad there's still a few people kicking around haha.

(putting this under a read more because it got long wow wtf)

ANYWAY though onto the ranking! Now this list changes rapidly from week to week and sometimes day to day, but here is my current list descending (no pun intended):

Always Ascending

Franz Ferdinand

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions

Tonight

You Could Have It So Much Better

*I adore Sparks and FFS, but since it's a dual release I'm excluding it from the list. However, if I included it I would probably put it between Right Thoughts and Tonight*

I feel like it's controversial to put Always Ascending above, well literally everything, and it's also funny because I use to consider this to be their WORST album, but it has grown on me so so much. I really appreciate that they were trying to do something new and experimental with their music and also I presume make an ode to one of their huge influences (Talking Heads). And throughout it all they continue to stick to (and in this case exceed imo) their thesis of "make girls dance". It's just so fun, y'know? So dance-able! The instrumentation is also EXCEPTIONAL on this album. The guitar licks in "Lazy Boy" are some of my favorite of any recent songs and the sparkly synth beats in Lois Lane are GORGEOUS. It honestly reminds me a lot of what they were trying to do on Tonight, where they stripped back their sound a bit. The focus is more on the drums, the beat, and the bass than the kind of punchy guitar attitude we heard on Franz Ferdinand and YCHISMB, but Ascending just takes it one (or two) steps further.

Now, the above is my list of favorites which is different from what I would consider to be objectively better music. If I was ranking this critically/professionally it would probably be this:

Tonight

Franz Ferdinand

You Could Have It So Much Better

Always Ascending

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

The thing about both of these lists though is that, for me, there is no bad album on this list. They are literally all cover to cover listens with iconic bangers on every. single. one. What is considered my favorite could change with my mood or how nostalgic I'm feeling that day. My personal theory on these albums though is that people's preferences are going to sway with what they like FF for. If you like them for the punchiness of their first two albums (that was such a hallmark of the post-punk revival) you probably won't like Right Thoughts and you'll probably actively dislike Always Ascending. If you like them when they're doing weird stuff you'll probably like Right Thoughts and Always Ascending much more. Tonight I think is a really good mix of both which is why it's a lot of people's favorites and a good starting point for any new fan if they only know Take Me Out and or/stuff from their debut album.

Btw it's really funny that as I saw this ask and was thinking about it, The Hard Times came out with an article of "All Franz Ferdinand Albums Ranked Worst to Best" that is almost identical to my second ranking but also pretty cruel to AA and RTRWRA :(. They also gave an honorable mention to FFS but said Call Girl was a skippable track (blasphemy). But yea, I just thought that was pretty amusing timing lol.

I really cannot wait until they release a new album because Curious and Billy Goodbye are such absolute bangers (catch me dancing in my kitchen to Curious at least once a week) and if those singles are anything to go on, the next album is going to be AMAZING.

I would also like to give a shoutout to Alex's collab he did with Pip Blom called "Is This Love?" because it's quickly working it's way up my spotify rankings of top tracks since I cannot stop listening to it on repeat, it's just SO GOOD.

Okay I'm so sorry this turned into a thesis about Franz Ferdinand, but I have had a lot of pent up obsession about this and you just gave me a world class excuse to info dump lol. I would be really interested to see your ranking as well and see how we compare! Thank you so much for the ask btw it means a lot! :)

[gummybugg]

hello! i really like character making and character design :]

i'm wondering if there's anything in particular that inspires you. and who/what jumpstarted you into creating your own characters and stories

-🌈

(This one's gonna be a bit all over the place, sorry about that I got a bit excited)

So hi! I really love character creation, it's one of my favorite things to do :')

i'm wondering if there's anything in particular that inspires you

Music like the Beatles, ELO, Queen, Will Wood, indie, punk rock, and really whatever I get when I hit an interesting recommendation (I'm eclectic)

Video games: Persona series, Fallout, Hypnospace Outlaw, Undertale, Sally Face, umm also indie horror games are generally where it's at for me

Jojo's bizarre adventure, one punch man, neon genesis

I was a theater kid at some point and am inspired by Chicago, Cabaret, Cats, Rock of Ages, and Rocky Horror for their wackiness/vibes

Webtoons/comics: Paperteeth!, After Dark, I'm the Grim Reaper, Lovebot, Space Boy, Solid State, The Prince of Southland, Yuna and Kawachan, Electric Bones...

Besides media, I am inspired by people I interact with (which can help me build character relationships) and qualities I pull from the inside. Also, I have had a strong interest in psychology for a long time, so my stories are very character-centered. I also like throwing in a funny edge to most things I create because I don't like being serious 100% of the time. I like to experiment with irony a lot, as you do.

I'm inspired by ideas I wish people talked more about, what'd I liked to have seen as a child, untraditionally beautiful characters, wacky characters, and characters flaunting who they are because they're proud to be themselves. I love unfixable characters who learn to find worth, characters who are overly complex, characters who fall from grace, blah blah blah. Or sometimes I just write characters for fun and with no real motive, who gain a purpose later on by chance. But not all stories need lessons or purposes or morals or whatever. Some things are more fun when they're just existing because they can. I feel like my wip Crater City is like somewhere in between having a purpose and having none at all.

Other things that help inspire oc: drawing them with random art generators, scrapbooking their very own page, filling out oc interviews, participating in writeblr events/games, spending a whole day listening to their playlist, forcing myself to write one scene with them in it, pinterest-ing, creating a blog/journal/site about them, etc.

who/what jumpstarted you into creating your own characters and stories

I started writing as a small child and would create illustrated "stories" based on real events that happened in my life but lowkey exaggerate them because I was like 6, hehe. Or play with barbies or legos or whatever and that's its own thing right there. Then I moved on to big boy things like writing in notebooks about girls with horribly made up names that mysteriously resembled Disney princesses' names because I'm bad at naming things (see: my webkinz pet named "the blue whale").

I'm not sure what jumpstarted character creation for me, I guess it was always this ✨️💕thing inside me all along 💕✨️. I think it was because I was a quiet child and kept to myself, which meant a few friends and a lot of introspection at a young age. But I was/am inspired by things all around me. Things that make me feel nostalgic, bittersweet, or whatever other emotion that's hard for me to explain because emotions are weird for me.

As a child, I created ocs based on who I wanted to be more like. Ex: an outgoing hero with bold hair, a strong anti-hero with a bit of edge, an adventurous hero who easily befriends others, etc, etc.

As a teen, I created ocs fueled by spite ("I can make better ocs than half of you seasoned authors even if I'm just a kid") and also my knowledge of the dsm-5. I think I was inspired most by my trauma, so yeah, that'll do it to you. I still dig deep down for some inspo from my Deep Dark Past™, which has helped me understand myself and ocs better, who would have guessed? But this doesn't exempt me from research.

As an adult I am motivated to write because of the impending doom that we all die some day so I better wrap it up before something happens to me and I lose my ability to write by some chance I'm out of college and I have my whole life ahead of me and have no more boring essays tying me down :'DD

[autisticempathydaemon]

hello! for your redacted matchup!

some basic things about me is that i'm just an intj-t and a reserved person and have a lot of difficulty opening up to someone. i also am the stubborn type, trying to solve my problems alone and head on with no breaks. it does lead to a lot of issues where people think i'm too hyper-independent, but we ball and we vibe!

as for your whimsical questions (that i adore btw):

i adore long video essays on youtube! usually about books, drama and social issues around the world. mainly because it's cool to hear about how different people perceive the same piece of media!

i spent most of my life hating my name, so you'd have to put me on gun point to change it. that being said, there was a point in time i wanted to change to something similar to my current name so people can pronounce it easier.

the recent avior video is definitely one of my top fives now! i also adore sam and aviors' healing videos, vega's first video with warden and all of vincent's videos where he gets to act like a dork.

i hope i don't get crucified for this but i really can't see the appeal in lasko. he's too jittery and jumpy and i'm way too impatient to deal with someone like that. i'd still want him as a friend, thought.

as for who i am attracted too platonically, all of the DAMN boys, milo, asher and vincent! they're all too best friend shaped for me.

oh god, when i get tired, i tend to ramble about how people annoy me. i'll be shit talking people in my sleep and i think that's funny!

my go to gas station is circle k and i'd usually get either coffee or a peach quencher!

my favourite playlist rn is my darlin' playlist because it's filled with nostalgic songs for me! (a lot of 90a and early 2000s rap and rnb)

ooooh, my guilty pleasure media would have to be redacted audios! i'm a very basic person when it comes to my media choices so this is literally the "weirdest" thing i listen too!

thank you sososo much for having this event open! do take your time and don't feel pressured to have all of these done! i love you and i hope you have a good day! 💞💞💞

Your INTJ-T (the Turbulent Architect) nature gives me fun Aaron vibes- not that I’d necessarily pair you with Aaron but that you remind me of him… and you know what you and Aaron could use? A cute, bubbly pizza Guy.

The beauty in yours and Guy’s relationship would be the lovely, charming ways you contrast; where you might be introverted and stubborn, Guy is extroverted and open- maybe a little opposites attract sort of thing? He seems the type who could easily draw you out of your shell and become, if not your rock, your safe, happy space.

Also, I think Guy would be so tickled pink to hear you be sleepy and grumpy and gripe about the people who irritate you. He’d love laying next to you and encouraging your mumbling, probably recording silly, nonsensical snippets of it for when he misses you. Guy’d think it’s so cute and sweet how garrulous you can be when it’s just the two of you, and he’d be so proud that he is granted the privilege of experiencing you that way.

Song:

Some people want diamond rings/ Some just want everything/ But everything means nothing/ If I ain't got you, you, you

You just know, without a doubt, that Guy would be a sucker for a good, nostalgic, shower jam, and is there any better than this? It’s classic, it’s simple, it’s cheesy as hell, and Guy absolutely sings it off-key in the car, knowing you’d never skip the track and throw him off his groove when he’s having fun.

Runner-ups:

Leaning more into comparisons than contrasts, I definitely considered David and Aaron for you. David, who is also independent and stubborn, would make himself very available as a rock and foundation for you; he is incredibly dependable, which is very attractive in a partner. Aaron strikes me as having the same MBTI as you, as being similar in that way that would make you fast friends.

Note: I am having a fantastic day, thank you ❣️ I hope you are as well and that this, god willing, made it just a touch better 💖

Want a match-up of your own? Read this post, and tell me about yourself! 💌

[declanlikesmusic]

Today's Listens: Episode 006

August 11th & 12th, 2023

I'm sure you might be aware that my last episode was a delayed bummer by the end of it, so I'm really just gonna start writing these episodes on the days once again to hope for a better outcome with them. My days without work are already over as soon as they began and because of work yesterday and a knockout bout of hayfever today, I'm gonna have to turn this into another double episode because I've hardly listened to enough on both days. Still though, let's have fun with these

We got some more content warnings on this one, albeit they're minor in comparison: Do watch out for a short but immediate mention of suicide as well as a reference to sk*nning that even I can barely tolerate most of the time.

ℍUM♥ℕIGHTM♥RE – 宇宙の認識 (2016)

Do pardon the unicode that comes packaged with this artist's name, but this is HUMANIGHTMARE, a once young & up-and-coming vaporwave producer who tragically lost to suicide in 2020. I caught ear of this particular album during a commemoration livestream on Vapor Memory and it allured me enough to want to seek out and check it out back then. I thought it was a very good album at the time and to this day, I still think the same way, though it leans very much into greatness at a good handful of points. This was a super meditative take on the growing slushwave sound of the time along with some hypnagogic drift tunes and I think the results should not go overlooked by fans of those genres. Tracks like the opener 宇宙の誕生 as well as 脳の網 are absolutely gorgeous, while the track that hooked me in the first place, 宇宙との関係、is so captivatingly strange to me in a way that I can only adore and fascinate about. If you're already deep into vaporwave, I highly recommend this one.

7.5 / 10

Highlights: 宇宙の誕生、宇宙の盛り、宇宙との関係、宇宙の夢、脳の網、復活

SURFING – Emotion (2019)

Up next on the trans agenda is the third and most recent album by vapor & chillwave duo SURFING. Their 2012 debut is one of the most iconic works of the genre and rightfully so, because it perfectly blends original instrumentation & singing with dense, hazy and deeply nostalgic vaporwave samples. So I have no idea what brought in them the need to forgo that entirely, as 2018's Incubo was still sample-based but nowhere near as dreamy and this one fully submerges into the stylings of chillwave & indie rock with none of what made them so excellent before. That said, with that expectation in mind, while this is still their least good album, it was at least better than what I was anticipating after the first couple of tracks. Visions is the song everybody turns to and for good reason, because it does bring a newfound energy to the band, but my favourite moments were still where they leaned back into their dreamy & hazy sonic roots. It's still a good album and if you're a fan of dream pop, I'd give it a shot. Just don't expect anything particularly dense.

6.9 / 10

Highlights: Visions, Crazy, Hearts, Enough, Give You Up.

Chat Pile – Remove Your **** Please (2019)

I'm going to say it now, this is among the worst EP titles I have ever read. I know that this band was deadset on making intensely dark & grim stories through noise rock & sludge metal, but if it wasn't for me keeping an open mind, I would've steered clear of this record entirely even despite the loving reception this got back then and even now. Which is a complete shame because I ended up enjoying this one more than any other Chat Pile record so far, even God's Country (which warrants a relisten at this point). I even found my current favourite Chat Pile song through this record in the form of Davis, weirdly enough. The drums just sounded much better on this record than I had previously heard, sounding way less blurrier and more burrowing, though that might just be attributed to my headphones being replaced months ago. Couple that with the noise, the energy, the vocals and especially Davis's melodies and despite the horrible name, I'd recommend this one to fans of dreadful rock music. I still don't love them as a band, but this gives me hope that whatever they cook next, I might be able to start clicking with them.

7.2 / 10

Highlights: Mask, Davis

netbooks.WRLD – loosies '19-22 (2022)

Speaking of EPs, I don't know how many y'all heard this up-and-coming talent named netbooks.WRLD? Dude's pretty local in the online vaporwave & electronic music communities and his discography is about as fresh as the next lemon you will ever buy, but real talk? I think he's by far one of the most promising artists to pay attention to! I was initially a dumb stupid dumb skeptic back when his debut album ENDLESS STAIRCASE popped up in 2021, but upon the last couple of months, revisiting that album, tuning in to his brand new single, checking out his Skylive performance and now coming over to this EP of loose cuts, I have fully turned into a believer! The dude makes some downright excellent post-industrial plunderphonics and vaporwave tunes all over his catalogue and I think I found some of my favourite tracks he's ever made through this EP. Sure, they were mostly featured in other places and that's counting the bonus tracks, but god, I've been hooked to them completely in the 24 hours since hearing this. My only sticking points against it are the volume of the high frequencies being a little too harsh for my personal headphones, but I know that's by design considering his aesthetic. Other than that, holy shit, go check out ENDLESS STAIRCASE and this EP at your earliest convenience.

8.3 / 10

Highlights: pipes song, shook shook, RAGDOLLS

Vįr+üål Åįrßñß – ▚ ▛ ▜ ▟ ▞ (2021)

It's the second day and one of the best discoveries I've made last year was this random but completely ethereal-looking and unpronouncable album by a young Virtual AirBnB and I thought to relisten to it for the morning. Spoiler alert: This might just be one of my favourite vaporwave albums. This record is compact, but it is so gorgeous and stunning! It flawlessly blends together elements of mallsoft, new age music, I believe sophisti-pop R&B vocal samples and just overall aesthetics of beauty, nature and the future. Almost every single cut here is downright heavenly. Listening to them all from front to back is one of the most soothing, relaxing, beautiful and often transcendent experience I've personally had with the genre and it's so criminal how overlooked this album is so far. High recommendation to the absolute heavens. Just put your headphones on and let the rivers drift you away.

9.3 / 10

Highlights: ⿴ ༄ ℣ ₪ ℣ ༄ ⿴, ••• ❒︎ ❒︎ ᵒ ᴼ ᵒ ▫ 𐊔 ▫, | ⟗ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☵ ⟗ |

サイバー '98 – RENDERED FANTASY

Saiba '98 is an enigma to me. I don't think, even in the vaporwave scene, this short-lived alias got any of the credit it honestly deserves. The music's not excellent, but for a vaportrap artist, this guy managed to craft some of the unique, jarring and abstract material in this form. Upon relistening to DIGITAL FOREST for instance, I found it absolutely fascinating in how the tempos are sporadic and unformed, the beat instrumentaion is basic and minimal and the backing ambient atmospheres are ghostly and dark. This culminates into his last album under the project, RENDERED FANTASY, and while I can't tell you in good conscious that I love it or that it's completely great, this is honestly the best release of the few still publicly available. More than any other album I've heard from them, this album is glitchier, darker, more ominous, eerie and experimental than ever before. I almost completely admire the way he was seeing through his vision on this one. If you're curious, I can't guarentee you'll love it, but if you're a fan of vaportrap or experimental music, I'd give it a fair shake.

7.3 / 10

Highlights: b e n z a i t e n , Love Translator (self care), Hospital Flower, Kingdom_$lave, Life is a Constant Double Helix

crt paralysis – "Slideshow" (2022)

I'm about neck deep with vaporwave again these past couple of days, so next I threw on this project that got me very curious. Known for making some great vaporwave & DnB as dotnds, CRT Paralysis is a broken transmission side-project of theirs that I'm not fully enamoured with but still greatly appreciative of, especially with their Winter Paralysis series of albums. This "Slideshow" caught my eye though as it looked to center completely around the nostalgia of 2000s office computers and Windows 95 styled corporatism. However, not exactly in the way that I viewed it as a child, which is a little disappointing, but I still found this to be a very good time. The presentation was what drove this home to me the most, it's pretty off-kilter, even for Bandcamp standards. If you're curious for some late 2000s vaporwave nostalgia in a format that I could see INTERNET CLUB doing back in the day, I'd recommend this one.

7.0 / 10

Highlights: "Newlife" 2008/04/02, "Screenshot" 2006/08/17, "Evening" 2008/07/03, "Email" 2008/07/04, "Lounge2" 2008/07/09

RAWINTHEVOID – Alphalord (2018)

How do I go about this one? This was the third album from a then very young RAWINTHEVOID. RAW is a talent in post-vaporwave & plunderphonics that I've been looking forward to seeing his growth for a few good years now. His two latest albums MD (Manifest Destiny) and NOTINTHEMOOD are especially great and, even with some very rough patches, they still shine in comparison to his very, very humble beginnings. I've been going through his catalogue backwards and it's fascinating to see how rudimentary & borderline regressive their sample-based works were back in the day. Even on Alphalord, currently my least favourite of theirs (but only barely behind Double Couple), I still found a wealth of fascinating ideas for its alphabet-long tracklist. For example, I would've never thought that speeding up a whole ass noise rock album down to less than six minutes in a song would've sounded any good. To spoil you, it doesn't sound good, but I'm glad someone tried it anyways. I don't recommend this one. If you're curious, go through his latest albums and his live sets, but don't go digging through the back catalogue. Trust me.

4.4 / 10

Highlights: c3, m13, o15, q17

VHS Head – Persistence of Vision (2014)

To close off this post, I went with the sophomore album from one of the most "Dude, how come you've never heard of this guy" artists in the realm of electronic music. VHS Head is a producer of IDM & Glitch Hop beats that are constantly punchy, sporadic and memorable, all thanks to his incredibly persistent sampling of found VHS tapes. He's growing a cult following overtime but it's not exactly helped by his sparse release schedule. This album came out less than five years after his first and he only thought to put out a followup just a few months ago. I can't wait to try that out, but I would shoot myself in the foot if I didn't go for this album first and I'm very glad that I did. I guess when I heard it, I was a little unenthusiastic in a way? But only the way that still made me love this album in the end, like my thought process was "Of course this album is great." The beats are still punchy, the constantly shifting sample flips are more memorable this time around, I think it's even better and more consistent than his debut! Highly recommend this one, with no doubt.

7.9 / 10

Highlights: Enter the Devil, Don't Look in the Closet, Camera Eyes, Red Ocean Apocalypse, Dead to Morrow, Frozen, Body Magic, Angels Never Sleep

Finally, another episode in the books! You'll notice I'm committing to these a little less and less, but I'm honestly not sure if I can keep doing these daily. I'll keep 'em up for as long as I like, but I think it's time to finally admit that I might skip days proper. I'll find a way to still make them work though, because no doubt, every day, I find something new that I want to talk about. Maybe I could make it more of a highlights thing than an outright journel, but we'll see how that shapes up. Until then, I'll see you next time!

[grave-bride]

Amaya's Favorite Weird Lil' Games

Hello, I'm Amaya. I needed some kind of pinned post here, and introductions are lame and I'm not funny, so I figure what better to have as a first introduction than a list of some of my favorite games, especially ones I consider to be somewhat under-rated. That's a vague term in some regards, and can mean different things to different people for different games. Regardless these are several video games I hold very dearly and many of them are quite formative for me as a person. I've posted something like this on Twitter before, but switching over to Tumblr gives me a little bit more leeway on how many words I'm willing to give to each title, as well as many shift some titles around, and I may edit this more in the future. It should go without saying by the way that all of these games have some incredible soundtracks please listen to them sometime if you can. Either way... shall we begin?

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth

I've been a Digimon fan all of my life, so in some ways this feels like cheating, like of course a Digimon game would wind up on this list when it was effectively my first fixation. Cyber Sleuth though, is a genuinely good video game, and honestly probably the first time a Digimon game has been "Good" with no caveats. This is a well constructed turn based, monster collecting RPG with a compelling narrative that unfolds over the course of multiple different mysteries you, as the titular Cyber Sleuth, work to solve by utilizing your Digimon combined with your unique ability to travel through cyberspace itself. While clunky around the edges, it's a fun video game that feels similar enough to its contemporaries like Pokemon that its fairly easy to slip into with a really good, quirky cast of characters, even among the nameless NPCs there are several who remain memorable due to their entertaining quips or the nature of whatever side quest they're attached to. Among the fandom there's even a bit of a running joke about Cyber Sleuth and its seemingly magical ability to turn people who aren't Digimon fans... INTO diehard Digimon fans after completion. The Complete Edition available via PC and Steam includes bonus content and all the old DLC, including the whole ass sequel, Hacker's Memory, which takes place concurrently with Cyber Sleuth but from someone else's point of view... I am more mixed on that game, but it's still worth trying if you manage to pick up that version.

Digimon Survive

Look I'm a little bit sorry about putting two Digimon titles back to back but I need to talk about this one for a bit bear with me. Digimon Survive is a visual novel, and those won't be to everyone's tastes, though it is broken up occasionally by some RPG battles, still you can scroll down if that's an immediate dealbreaker. Survive though is... hard to explain for me, especially being a visual novel, it's basically impossible to discuss without spoilers. Compared to many entries in the Digimon canon, Survive feels more down to earth and grounded, all things considered. Taking clear inspiration from the original anime series, but putting a more "realistic" spin on the general premise, acknowledging the implicit darker elements of a setting like this, and it truly uses it for some powerful moments, and across its multiple endings were willing to go in directions I kind of always wanted Digimon to dive into more but never really expected they would do. It's a very... fulfilling narrative to me, and even as far back as the first trailer, its main instrumental track leaves me feeling a sort of pained, nostalgic, melancholy, and I think the full game managed to live up to whatever ethereal feeling that first reveal gave me all those years ago. Who knew it was possible for a game to come out of development hell just fine?

Wild Arms / Wild Arms: Alter Code F

Wild Arms was legitimately one of the first video games I ever played, and has stuck with me in many ways, affecting me all my life. Despite being a sort of "forgotten" franchise, it still has a bit of impact continuing to this day, with the main creator later going to work on fucking Symphogear of all things, and the influence is noticeable. Now he's working on a more direct spiritual successor, Armed Fantasia, which does look good but it was kickstarted so I'm trying not to be too excited! To be more focused on the topic at hand, this is... a very old, classic RPG, despite releasing on the PS1 its DNA sort of traces back to a very "SNES flavor" of the genre in its general vibe. It stands apart though with its very creative setting for its genre, a Wild West inspired setting with cowboys, and samurai, and mages and ancient civilizations with advanced technology and aliens and it's all... very much, but it creates a very fascinating and unique world. It's a world that's fun to experience and explore with its "Tool" system, which may as well be adapting a sort of Zelda/Metroid like system of upgrades to an RPG, granting the ability to solve various puzzles or gain access to areas previously locked off, and in combination with this, each party member has drastically different abilities in how they function. It later received a remake for PS2 titled Alter Code F which... I think genuinely stands on its own. Many things were redesigned aesthetically, mechanically, and more. New party members and side quests added, music rearranged. It creates a very different vibe that makes it hard for me to say if there is a "definitive" way to experience Wild Arms, but I think it's a journey worth taking either way.

Wild Arms 3

Okay, admittedly this is a bit of a tough post to write after the one on Wild Arms 1, because Wild Arms 3 in many regards is just a better Wild Arms 1. The setting is mostly the same vibes, and most of the core gameplay remains, but its feel and narrative are in a world of their own. If you are a fan of Symphogear already, then this is the title that will be more in line with what you know from the creator. Though many aspects of the original remain in play, Wild Arms 3 mixed things up quite a bit with its unique take on how skills work. Spells and skills are now tied to 12 Runes which you can divide up among the 4 party members, and you can change these at any point, even mid-combat, but there is some emphasis put on planning as each characters stats are geared towards using different spells but those are often bundled with spells the character in question cannot use as effectively. Plus, the Runes are also where passive skills come from, so while you can swap Runes at a moments notice to best take advantage of a situation, doing so does mean jumbling around the passive skills that some characters may be relying upon. It's a unique system and I like it a lot, even if admittedly the base game is hardly challenging enough for it be a common problem to consider. You can sort of tell the creator would later go on to make Symphogear based on this title, because even this game feels like an anime series split across multiple seasons, with the story split into multiple Acts, each one introducing new antagonists and even a change to the games opening movie, and it all culminates in a twist villain that sticks in my head because of how much she seems like she comes out of nowhere... until you take a second look, and realize on a new playthrough she was always there, always watching, always just out of reach.

7th Dragon 7th Dragon 2020 7th Dragon 2020-II 7th Dragon III Code: VFD

Yes, I'm putting the entire series here, because I genuinely do just recommend the entire series if you can bear it. 7th Dragon is a series of RPGs where the emphasis is on the challenging bosses, traversing the dungeons they find a home in, all while using a party of silent protagonists you design yourself by picking out their Classes and how they invest in their skills. In many respects it is similar to Etrian Odyssey and that's... because they're made by the same dude, though sadly 7th Dragon didn't have as much success outside Japan... or even within Japan. It's a series that I appreciate a lot because I think it has a very unique style to it but they can be brutal, especially the first game. I've played many RPGs that feature the "indomitable human spirit" as part of its plot and how the conflict is overcome but I'm not sure I've ever felt it through gameplay quite like I have in these games. It's the sort of game where you will boot it up and get your ass beaten by a squirrel, and you... just have to overcome that, and every obstacle after, by finding your own strategy that works, and planning one out can be an ordeal in of itself as several Classes have such unique mechanics that it barely even seems like every member of your party is playing the same game as each other. (Seriously you can have a mage who casts spells by using MP in the same party as a mage that casts spells by micro-managing Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.) You can play as a catgirl.

Dark Cloud

All right this one is just a fun adventure. Honestly you shouldn't expect any deep story here, nor one with any emotional impact, but it's a damn fun time if you're willing to give it some time. Dark Cloud is a dungeon crawler, where you will be venturing into multiple dungeons, traversing floor after floor after floor of procedurally generated rooms, hallways, enemies, treasure, and traps. What makes it a little bit unique though is the "Atma" you'll find alongside the way which give you all manner of things such as trees, fences, rivers, roads, houses, windmills and... people! In between dungeon diving, you will return to the surface to use the Atma you've collected to rebuild several destroyed civilizations, turning barren wastelands into small villages, bringing the peaceful people back and listening to their requests to make it even better than it was before it was destroyed... or ignore them all and do whatever you want. Either way, it's a fun and addicting little adventure full of dungeon crawling, boss battling, city planning, and making new friends along the way. Also sometimes you build a giant robot and engage in time travel shenanigans. You can play as a catgirl.

Okage: Shadow King

Probably the most obscure game I have ever talked about, Okage is a forgotten but beloved cult classic RPG about a boy whose shadow now harbors a demon who is pushing him on a quest to conquer the world in exchange for curing his sister of her curse to always speak in pig Latin, by turning her shadow pink. It's a very ridiculous game wild a wild sense of humor, and a very quirky and charming cast with a memorable aesthetic. Sadly it is a bit of a low budget title and the game does show that sometimes with how rough it can be but the poor balance and other issues can easily be overlooked for the games absurd and entertaining world and dialogue, all of which later gives way to a pretty interesting story starring a person who feels forgotten and isolated in the world, and them learning to be more confident and aggressive by reminding the world they do exist.

God Eater Resurrection God Eater 2 Rage Burst God Eater 3

Again putting the whole series here. Each game has unique elements, but they're all worth the time if you ask me, with hundreds of hours of content and some decent stories, I especially am a big fan of the found family narrative of 3. Though the primary reason its on here is for the gameplay, God Eater is a series of action games in a similar vein to Monster Hunter, where you are tasked with going on missions to take down dangerous, towering beasts. Though these games generally are much faster paced with a greater emphasis on the break neck combat, and your ability to customize your character with armor, a melee weapon, a gun, various passive skills and even abilities that may enhance your move set or completely change how some of your attacks behave on a fundamental level. More importantly, these games all have co-op that allow up to 4 players to tackle most missions in the game, including being able to experience the story campaigns together from beginning to end. So y'know... hit me up on a weekend sometime, I am just saying...

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

Ys is a long running RPG series and it is perhaps a criminal offense to specifically be recommending the ninth entry, especially seeing as how it is the last game in the series chronologically at the moment, and serves as a capstone for the protagonists current adventures. Though it was my first game in the series myself, and even after playing all of them yeah I still think this is the best one. Monstrum Nox is an action RPG where you are trapped in a large city, forced to remain until you can solve all of the mysteries in the dungeons under its paved roads. Though you and several others have the ability to turn into "Monstrums", powerful beings with unique abilities that are helpful in traversing the city and its dungeons. There's a lot of fun in meeting the Monstrums and not knowing their true, civilian identities, especially because you will often encounter their civilian identities a decent time before its revealed they are one of the Monstrums helping you too dispel monsters around town. Alongside the fun of combat, and running around dungeons with the cool cast of Monstrums, the size of the city and the various movement abilities you unlock almost make the game feel akin to a platformer sometimes, a feeling bolstered by several collectables spread through out the city and the main map keeping track of your completion percentage for all of said collectables. While the action RPG part of the game is great on its own, there's something to be said about the joy of running up a skyscraper, double jumping off, doing a roll forward into a glide to reach a far off building for another feather. You can play as a catgirl.

Harvestella

This is the most recent release on this list, and quickly became a favorite of mine. Harvestella is a farming sim/action RPG hybrid, with emphasis mostly put on the RPG half of the game. It's a compelling narrative that rings with vibes of classic Final Fantasy and Bravely Default, filled with likeable characters and several gorgeous locations along the way. It's a thrilling adventure that you can tackle at your own pace, going on an adventure through dangerous locations or doing side quests in between just chilling on a farm, planting crops, raising animals, making products, all to craft various tools, prepare food or sell for income. Since it is so new I don't really want to go into it too much but look... it's good. No catgirls but the gender selection at the very beginning of the game has nonbinary as an option, and in the post-game you can give become "Life Partners" with any of the party members by giving them a "Promise Ring".

[arthyritis]

Shells Info

OC asks from this post except I omitted some for whatever reasons I felt like!

does your oc have any motifs?

Red and glowing! Her hair was dark red as a kid and had a habit of almost "glowing" and when she was well into her teen years it just randomly turned bright red and glowed consistently with mood. She also blushes bright red when in love specifically.

describe your character's voice. do they have a voice claim?

Peyton List is I think a good comparison for how I'm thinking of her voice currently.

is your character an indoor or outdoor person?

Outdoors, incredibly. She'll do anything she can as long as it's outdoors.

what was your character's dream job as a kid? is it different than what their career ended up being?

She was very indecisive as a kid but her biggest bout was something in art. She ended up losing interest in this when she was a teen and is an accountant now! Very different.

what is the thing your oc likes the least about themselves?

How easily her emotions show themselves. She feels like she can't hide anything from anyone and hates that feeling of loss of control.

what is the thing your oc likes the most about themselves?

Her hair, probably!

what book genre is their favorite?

Romance, horror. Better if they're combined.

what book genre is their least favorite?

Anything funny but not in the mostly because she reads before bed and she will not fall asleep if she's giggling.

what kind of music do they enjoy?

She doesn't listen to much music but when she does it’s only listens on the radio and it’s gotta be rock.

has your OC ever fallen in love and with whom?

She falls in love very easily but I think the one that matters here is that she fell in love with P. It’s been hard but she tries her damned-est.

how well does your OC do in school?

She did well! She’s very smart, especially in the area of math.

where would your OC like to go on a honeymoon?

She’d probably love to just go somewhere in the middle of nature, maybe the sea.

who is your OC’s best friend?

P, Paulie, Pipsqueak XD

how does your OC feel about their parents? (Answer from an ask)

Shells is really close with her parents! Mentioned in another post a while ago saying P moved in with a friend in his teen years; Shells was that friend. They’re eccentric people with so much love in their hearts and Shells has pretty much always been close to them. She had no need for rebellion at any point, though she did tend to sneak out, they would always be waiting because they knew she knew how to stay safe.

how does your OC feel about their siblings?

She’s got one older sibling. Much older, though, like in their 40’s as of present. She was kind of a miracle after them, to be honest.

a memory that still makes your OC angry?

Any memory of P being picked on. And people messing up her name. It’s not as prevalent now as it was when she was a kid but it still happens on occasion.

a nostalgic memory from your OC’s childhood?

Going fishing and playing sports with her dad. He’s not as young as he used to be, after all, but they still do things together.

hobbies your OC enjoys? (Answer from an ask)

She’s not a very creative person. I think she might also do boxing/martial arts or any sport for fun, really, especially after sitting all day. She does math for fun, too, even though it’s part of her job.

what is holding your OC back to achieve their goals?

She’s pretty much achieved all goals except living closer to P but that’s because he moved away from their hometown and she doesn’t want to leave </3

how does your OC handle death of someone they know?

Poorly. She holes herself into one space and refuses to leave or focuses all her attention on work.

favorite food and color for your OC?

Pizza and silver.

least favorite food and color?

Cherries and green.

your OC’s zodiac sign?

Aquarius. January 25th.

is your OC a dog or cat person?

Both, neither. She cares for animals very much, to the point she doesn’t trust herself with them.

when was their first kiss?

A sleepover when she was 17 in a closet.

does your OC wish to be married someday?

Absolutely!