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tsukihoshino · 5 years ago

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Super long Sasori post

I’m going to begin this by saying everyone is entitled to their view on Sasori and how to characterize him within the parameters set up by canon or whatever AU/Bent Timeline a person has inserted him into but I do believe there are certain things about him that remain the same no matter what situation you put him in-- otherwise he’s just no longer Sasori (IMO.) So much of his character is about hyper analyzing his words and actions, and what others have said about him through a microscope because the fact of the matter is for such an interesting character he really had such little time.

I was originally not going to bring shipping into this but as I was writing Sasosaku kinda slipped in there, mostly because it felt like it provided a good contrast to what we get of Sasori in canon and how it can translate into fanon.

(All of these opinions are based on the Manga and the Akatsuki formation because OP cannot be assed with novels and filler for the most part...Making an exception for Komushi.)

1. He’s highly manipulative. He’s a puppet master and he has a spy ring. He gathers information so he can use it against people, he manipulates the corpses of what used to be people--or things that LOOK, very often like people. That says a lot about who he is as a person.

And when you first see his real face, when he reveals himself to Chiyo this is the face you get;

I don’t get the impression that he’s actually happy to see her given the events that follow, its largely about trying to put his grandmother off center and BOTHER her. Sasori is perfectly capable of acting to get to a desired result--which makes a lot of sense to me because while Bunraku is largely about the Narrator's words there is also the performance element to it via the puppets.

2. He’s all about control. Control of himself, of others, of events. It's really an offshoot of manipulation but I don’t think Sasori blinks without putting thought into the action. ( I mean technically, lmao given his unique anatomy in canon that might be 100% accurate.)

3. He’s not only an artist. The guy is the very definition of being a mad scientist. He sits at a place where Art and Science meet and become something more. It's not one or the other when it comes to Sasori, there is something almost Frankenstein like in the way that he creates his human puppets, the 3rd and himself. Think about the knowledge that had to go into that from basic human anatomy to the chakra system as a whole. I mean we never get a play by play on HOW he did it but we know he’s the only one who ever did and then repeated a similar, much more complicated process on himself.

Then there is his poison, we know he’s primarily relied on the infamous one because it was sooo effective (until it wasn’t, thanks Sakura.) But we have to assume given how he is Sasori makes ART out of deadly concoctions and methods of murder.

To him synthesizing that poison was probably no different than an artist trying to get that perfect shade of red.

The weird thing about Sasori ( and I guess it's just ONE of the many weird things) Is that for an Artist he is very...clinical. When we think about people in the arts we often imagine passionate people like Deidara--bombastic and flamboyant free spirits.

4. Logical and likely to the extreme.

He’s not a sore loser. When he loses and it's fair he accepts it. He's not bitter about the end of his fight with Sakura and Chiyo, he’s not pissy with Konan--he respects it because to Sasori the weak die and the strong survive, losers don’t have a right to complain when they shoulda got gud to begin with.

I don’t doubt that in Sasori’s logical mind he came to the conclusion that his parents died because they were weak. Ergo unlike Chiyo he’s just completely unaffected by seeing Kakashi, the world just followed its natural order in the death of his parents.

He’s got a reptile brain and he just sort of views people as animals because it's probably simpler--except for himself. He thinks he’s above that, to himself he is a god.

The thing with Komushi...I perceive it as largely an accident but in Sasori’s “perfectly” logical mind he was just like well: it’s sort of Komushi’s own fault and never let a tragedy go to waste because again, hyper logical. Not only that but he was BEGGED to do something for Komushi and there really was nothing to be done for him at that point other than make something useful out of his death.

The problem with being TOO logical is that it is just as detrimental as being too emotional. If we all just went around doing what was logical we’d be no different than animals or machines. Logic dictates we do whatever it takes to survive and come out on top even at the expense of others but because we are balanced by emotion most people don’t live like that.

On the flipside because he’s logical he can be convinced by compelling arguments without ego getting in the way. In this same vein he finds it very difficult to feel sorry about things he’s done in the past but when able to recognize it was wrong he can accept it and simply resolve not to do it in the future--he doesn’t have the capacity to agonize over feelings of guilt.

5. He hates being lied to and he’s impatient. Sasori will lie to everyone around him and even to himself if he can manage it but if he finds out He’s the one being lied to? Intense hate. See points 1&2.

6. He’s blunt and often rude when acting as his natural self. I don’t find the need to explain this one much.

7. Sasori is largely self-focused. He thinks he has a perfect handle on himself and understands exactly why he is the way he is--but it couldn’t be further from the truth. He really doesn’t understand his own feelings much less those of others and what he does understand he often doesn’t care about. This can be changed if a person is able to get through to him.

This is the guy who thought that by removing his concious from a human body and sticking it into what's basically a decorative vase all his problems would MAGICALLY vanish. Because as smart as he is, he was also desperate to escape his own feelings not realizing that when you pour the water in one glass into another glass the contents remain the same.

No matter how hard he tries he cannot escape the problem plaguing him; himself.

8. Sasori does not value life, not his own and certainly not others. Unless you are like that ONE person who is able to get through to him. He has what I would call a “Very narrow heart.” which simply does not have a lot of space for people. To him it's probably Sasori and “That Person” VS the world.

9. He likes things that last, sculptures and paintings, classical music and literature, things that have been around for ages and withstood the trials of time.

10. He does not do well on his own. He thinks he does but he really doesn’t, when he is by himself he is destructive. When he feels alone he is at his most dangerous. Sasori is very much a person who NEEDS someone to essentially be his emotional center otherwise we get him turning himself into a puppet in what amounted to a one longass theatrical suicide.

11. Sasori was probably always a little...different even as a kid but environment and events certainly played a role. His parents died at an early age and he was essentially lied to and given false hope. (hence the impatience and hatred of lies.) Throw into that an intellect seldom seen in a time of war where child soldiers are the norm. He killed his first person at 8, he earned himself a title denoting that he was so good at killing he soaked the sands in blood. Imagine what that's like at 8, getting a pat on the head everytime you kill someone?

Of course you would become conditioned to believe that killing is right and good when you’re being congratulated and rewarded for being proficient at it.

Its assumption on my part but I do believe Sasori lays somewhere on the Antisocial Personality Disorder spectrum.

12. He’s vain AF. Look at him. He made sure to replicate himself in his prime to perfect detail in the places that were most visible, his face and his hands. He could have made himself look like anything but in the end he still chose that form.

13. When he wants something he makes a plan and gets it done. Doesn’t matter how long or what he has to do to get to point A to point B he’s going to do it.

14. He has three main expressions; blank, smug and insane.

15: His power levels are again, insane. He is a master of multiple trades. The guy ganked a Kage at 15 the strongest one Sand ever had by that point, ( Orochimaru was waay older and came out way more damaged as far as we know when he fought Sarutobi.) toppled a nation, made himself a new body with mysterious methods.

It's time for the Sasosaku bit:

Part of the reason why I think the two of them fit so well together is that they are opposites and yet complimentary. Sakura is an antidote and Sasori is the poison, but sometimes a medicine can become a poison and a poison can be used as medicine. Sakura is a close range combatant and Sasori is long but they have this odd intersection of skill sets and interest. They both deal in the human body and the manipulation of it, Sakura’s focus is to maintain it as it is and improve its condition if needed and Sasori’s is to both destroy and create it anew all at once.

If they weren’t trying to kill one another in canon they would have had tons to talk about.

Ultimately Sakura gets gut stabbed not because he was aiming for her but because she got LITERALLY in the way of a family feud. He was going for Chiyo and you can assume that's because he thought his grandma was the bigger threat or because he was still bitter about the past on some subconscious level and was gunning for her--i mean he goes in for Chiyo a second time after he disconnects from the arm Sakura was death gripping. But Sakura’s selfless action is something that viscerally shocks him:

And it only gets worse when Chiyo starts feeding her life force into Sakura--a second selfless act on the part of someone he hates and feels wronged by.

Sakura values life and Sasori doesn’t because he doesn’t understand it. He was raised his whole life to think that people like them--Shinobi had no value other than to kill or to be killed. He’s visibly shocked when she starts yelling after socking him in the face about Human lives and family bonds. Like no one had ever mentioned that to him before and forget about risking your life to save someone else's, that goes against his logical lizard brain.

At that point he’s already beaten, he’s already impressed with her. It’s right after her punching him that Sasori gives what amounts to an odd marriage proposal IMO. It was completely pointless of him to even bring it up but you can tell by the “Glint” in his eye that he meant it.

Sasori: Want to become like me? You’ll get what I mean. An undecaying body, Unfettered by a mortal lifespan, capable of being rebuilt over and over again. ( if you were immortal would you offer immortality to someone you had no interest in? Not me. I wouldn’t want to have them around for virtually “forever” in any shape or form. And Sasori is not talking about making Sakura into just some controllable puppet, he’s talking about being JUST like him, sentient thought and movement.)

Sasori: I can make as many people as I want out of puppets….-Looks dead at Sakura- If I want them...but my collection isn’t just about quantity. Quality is important too.

That whole conversation is like A CREEPY FLIRTATION from him because we know what he considers “True beauty” to be. Eternal.

And then it comes to a head where he gives her a “sentimental reward” in the information she wanted. Now I’m not saying Sakura was interested or anything but it seems like he was in some shape or form.

In my opinion when you put someone like Sakura--who is brilliant and logical but also heavily swayed by her emotions with someone like Sasori, brilliant, logical and emotionally repressed. A person who values life with someone who neither values their own life or others what you get is agitation.

Agitation is not a bad thing, it breaks stagnation--which is what, imo drives Sasori to his death. It is the lack of change, he’s made it so he cannot feel physically and he has tried his hardest and for the most part succeeded in numbing his inner feelings.

Part of me is convinced that what ultimately kills him is complacency. He gets so used to being at the top that when he is confronted with someone who neutralizes his life’s work and destroys his collection and keeps confronting and beating him with all the qualities he deems useless and pointless it just drives home the point that everything he has ever done or thought was in vain and on some level wrong. There is no point in winning against them because everything is already destroyed. There is no going back to what he was before, therefore death is preferable.

Through Sakura, in Au’s or alt timelines, or w/e she is able to reach him through their similarities but change him due to the fundamental differences in their nature.

As to what Sakura gets from Sasori; Someone who clearly respects her skills and understands her interests because his own align--and therefore would be supportive and present. The two of them actually have things in common and therefore shit to talk about.

In that same vein Sasori seems like the type of person who if he were to fall in love it is to the point of obsession, for someone who was repressed and held themselves apart from others I see him in a lot of ways as almost touch, and certainly affection starved. It becomes addictive to him. (Which is probably why when I write him he’s handsy.)

We know how Sakura likes to take care of people--we see it with Naruto, Sasuke and Sai. In some of these cases it is often to the detriment of her own well being and Sasori, the selfish person that he is, can reign that in and pull it back so that it isn’t so all consuming. (mostly because the only person she should be worried about is herself and him.)

In the end, If Sasori is the logic and Sakura is the emotion, what you end up with is something more balanced. In the same way that if you were to mix a Poison with an Antidote you would end up with a neutralization.

These are just my personal opinions and thoughts on the matter.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also I headcanon that Sasori is basically Sakura-sexual so -cough- there. I guess that's a topic for another time...

Look at all these conceited Sasori faces:

#Sasori #Sasosaku #Its long

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blackcatanna · 5 years ago

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LET THE ORGY OF SADNESS CONTINUE: Okita's Route Part 3: Edo Blossoms

I'm very interested to see how this plays out. Tbh, I don't really get this relationship yet but that seems consistent with how I felt before Edo Blossoms in the other routes so, yes, I am excited! :D I hope that Kaoru doesn't die X_X I want at least one route with Kaoru redemption but I am not at all optimistic...

Chapter 1:

"Something else entirely had me preoccupied..." Could it be... one spicy, stabby boi?

Wait, are we... LIVING TOGETHER? 👀

Quick question: do silver bullets affect demons or just furies?

BWWWWAAAARRRP!!! PHYSICAL CONTACT ALARM! "I held his soft, trembling fingers in my hands," Whoa there. Please calm down. I cannot allow this level of unbridled eroticism in my Good Christian Suburb.

In all seriousness, though, I GUESS this is SOMEWHAT sweet and romantic but I want everyone to know that I'm saying this under duress. >:( If I fancied him, this would wring the fuck out of my heart.

"Are you sure? You aren't just saying that?" Glad to see that Doctor Chizuru studied under Doctor Gregory "Everybody Lies" House.

"Why is it that you're always here when I wake up?" If you can't figure it out, I sure as hell am not going to tell you!

"Okita seemed to take pleasure from my surprise, and he stared into my eyes." X_X Of course he did... Because he loves to provoke reactions.

"Answer me." MAKE ME >_<

"looking off to the side in a fit of feigned indifference." < Okita in a nutshell

Is he upset because I said that I was here because of worry and guilt? Because, tbh, fair enough. Those were pretty dumb things to say, making out like it's a burden instead of admitting that I actually like being around him >:(

"Well, I guess that's fine then." X_X Oh, come on! Don't use the f-word on me like that! D:

"She's lying." YAMAZAKI!!! >_<

"Look, I know you can't stop thinking about me, but this whole doting-all-day-and-night thing is tiring." Called. The fuck. Out. X_X

Tbf, it seems kind of hypocritical to be fussing over someone while refusing to let them even inquire about your own health. Plus, it's a very one sided arrangement, which is not healthy X_X

"stop throwing a bitch fit" XD Okita is my new hero :')

"I didn't know that my behaviour became a cause for concern for them, too." Then, perhaps, you are foolish and inconsiderate -_-

O: Okita!?? Did he faint?! O_O

Woo! Going on an adventure with YAM! :)

There had better not be any creepy bald fuckers waiting in mah house! >:(

Are all doctors bald in 1860s Japan????

I'm so happy that Yamazaki's still alive in this route :) TOUCH WOOD.

"*Grunt* *Cough*..." Ah, I knew it was only a matter of time before I caught tb -_- (jk)

No, never split the party! D:

"However the price to pay is life itself." DUN, DUN, DUUUUUUUUUN!!! So much for it granting "immortality"

"the poisonous Water of Life" uh... Isn't that kind of an oxymoron X_X

"Retaining your sanity is impossible without feasting on blood." Ah, so all along, the Shinsengumi were just feeding the furies a poor diet.

O: ):< WHO DARES THUMP MY YAMAZAKI?

Of course. It's fucking Kaoru -_-

Blah blah, sadistic fuckery, blah blah. I'm starting to get real tired of your shit, BROTHER.

"Was he trying to play a trick on me?" -_- probably, yeah.

Wow, that's... Actually pretty helpful? Thanks!?

Okay, the doctor folk have gone! I give Okita delicious blood now? :)

Oh. HE GAWN!!! O:

WHY ARE YOU UP AND DRESSED? >_<

"Sleeping all day is such a drag." True, so DRINK MY BLOOD AND GET BETTER >:(

Bloodlust time :O Good thing I'm a walking blood pack! :D

"How long have you been doing this?" Uh, haven't you been watching over him night and day?

"I wrapped my arms around Okita and held him tight " BWAAAA- Okay, yes, physical contact. Hug = gud >:(

"Pease, drink this " DRINK THE BLOOD >:(

"I could feel his breath brushing across my skin..." o_o Saucy...

Why are the blood drinking descriptions so erotic XD I mean, I'm not complaining but-

Who is this strange, apologetic man?

Blood > Porridge

Heh heh, apparently, Hijikata acts "all hoighty-toighty"

Oooh! Looks like Okita's trying to break free of his diligent YAM nursing...

"I am calm" Okita, last time you said that, you went on a killing spree...

Ooh, I wonder why Yamazaki and Okita don't get along... I remember seeing a picture somewhere with casual Yamazaki abuse in the background...

"Okita was acting like a petulant child, throwing his toys out of the pram..." X_X Sexy...

"Do you think the Shinsengumi still needs me?" HONEY, the Shinsengumi needs all the help it can GET!! O_O

Omg, Yamazaki's threatening to tell on Okita! XD He's playing a dangerous (and childish) game!

Side note: the painting in Okita's room is distracting me because it kind of reminds me of the dead mice my cats bring in on a regular basis.

WAIT, IT'S A FISH!!! X_X A NICE, INNOCENT LITTLE KOI FISHY X_X I need to stop spending so much time with my cats...

"What, already? Can't I stay up just a little longer?" Hakuoki: Mum simulator!

"I'll turn in on one condition..." Oo-er :O

"Okita grinned mischievously, and he peered directly into my eyes." O_O OO-ER!

"My palms became sweaty, and my heart skipped a beat." IT MUST BE LOVE O_O

"Since you're here, mind laying down next to me?" DUN DADA DUN! *fanfare plays* We got there in the end, folks! :D

DON'T YOU DARE SAY NO XD

"That's not a funny joke." True. And the only way to teach him a lesson is to PRETEND to take him seriously by DOING AS HE SAYS >:)

"You're so dense." FACTS.

WELL DONE, CHIZURU, YOU DONE COCK-BLOCKED YERSELF, I said, berating the fictional character as if that's not totally something that I would do in real life ..

"Okita blushed, turning away in embarrassment." O: CTRL+Z CTRL+Z CTRL+Z ):<

"I want to, erm, talk to you for a little bit longer..." Oh, we can "talk" all night long ;)

"Talk...? With me?" But I'm only a stupid woman, huh dur, with naught to say but um and er! Actually, Chizuru does say ""um..." I couldn't think of anything to say" in this route A LOT so maybe FAIR PLAY.

Just realised that I accidentally made a rhyme.

"Okita sighed, frustrated" HONESTLY, ME TOO.

"How clearly do I have to spell this out for you." I'm beginning to wonder that myself. He just wants some company, Chizuru! Is that SO HARD to imagine? X_X

"He began to run his fingers through my hair." Oooh! Physical contact :3 Chizuru = pet cat!

"as the tip of his finger touched my skin, my heart skipped." Yeeeesssss... Feel the thirst flow through you... 3:)

Are we gonna get a thirsty Western uniform pan, now? :P

"I tried facing him directly, but for some reason my heart was thudding in my chest..." :O Oh my! I cannot think of a possible explanation! You should get that checked out! >:P

"you find me sexy right now, don't you?" AH-HAH! >:D Caught red handed!

Ugh, can't believe he tricked me into saying he looks good. >:(

UGH. Doctor Matsumoto still needs to perform a final exam on Okita?! Just let him go already X_X

Wow, has Okita been seething against Hijikata this whole time? That... Can't be healthy -_-

"Okita had the tendency to act rashly and avoid looking at the bigger picture, particularly when Hijikata was involved." No shit. He's going to be such a handful X_X

"You're coming, right?" Of course. I'm not just going to sit around here while everyone I care about gets killed O_O besides, you need my nutritious and delicious blood to keep you nice and healthy ^_^

"she can't keep her eyes off me for long enough, to the point where she'll follow me wherever I go" Yeah, because that's how you win at this game >:P

"Aw, is that some blushing I see? It's the truth." Yup.

"Well, yeah," SHE ADMITTED IT!!! 8D

"So, Yukimura. It appears you have some feelings for Okita, is this true?" OH, FRICKING GREAT!!! NOW I'M BEING INTERROGATED BY MY DAD'S EX- COLLEAGUE ABOUT MY LOVE LIFE X_X IF THE GROUND COULD SWALLOW ME NOW, THAT'D BE GREAT! OKITA IS SUCH A DICK XD

OKITA. STOP.

Doctor, why you gotta be so serious? O:

"Criminy..." Uh... Is that a real word?...

Omg, it is a real word! I have never heard anyone use it but, tbf, this is the 1860s :P

Okita needs to stop saying that every decision that Kondou makes that he doesn't like is because Hijikata "coerced" him. He's a grown man. He can think for himself. Please respect his autonomy X_X This is not healthy.

Uuuuuugh. Kaoru >_< Seriously, get a life!

"I'm here to watch the Shinsengumi flail around like pathetic losers as they watch their friends die." ... KAORU, THAT DOES NOT COUNT AS A HOBBY >_<

"Looks like you made it in time for the show, though. You'll be able to witness the glorious execution of the Shinsengumi's idiot chief." Or, in other words, we arrived in time to try and rescue him >:)

"You look nice. All your little boo-boos patched up?" Uhh... There's a lot to unpack here...

"Okita reveled in the vicious display, allowing Kaoru's blood to shower him as he swung repeatedly at the Demon." O_O Umm... Okita? Maybe CHILL THE FUCK OUT. O_O HE IS MY BROTHER, YOU KNOW?!

Aaaand, seemingly Kaoru's going to milk that fact... -_-

Did he... Stab me in the mouth?!?? What am I looking at here? X_X

Also, why doesn't he just activate his demon form!?!

Wait, is he feeding me the Ochimizu?!

Kaoru says that the water of life will eat away at Okita's body faster than if he'd just succumbed to TB but that's clearly not true if he's living long enough to see the end of the Shinsengumi. Plus, a short life of action is better than spending the rest of your days fading away in a sickbed.

"Okita comforted me with the soft tickle of his hands as they wiped away each tear with a warm touch." :3 Pretty darn wholesome! I will concede this point!

"you're a sweetheart." :3 Thank.

"You're a good girl" And am I supposed to wag my tail at that? X_X

"I... I am in love with Okita." O: Damn, that'll go straight to his head X_X

"more than anything or anyone" not that that's saying much :P Sorry, romantic moment, must resist shit talking urges!

"I believed that if I died, no one would give a shit." </3 O: )': DX Neveeeeeerrrrr!!!!

I prescribe HUG INJECTION >:(

"You look like shit" -_- Way to kill the mood.

"Here, come closer." :D Okay, I forgive you! <3

Oh, he played the uno reverse card on my hug plan :O

"How could I keep myself calm when the man I loved held me delicately in his arms?" BIG. MOOD.

Awe, he didn't kill Kaoru because "my heart knew it didn't want you to hate me..." <3 <3 <3 >.<

"My heart melted." SAME.

Chapter 2:

Damn, we're only on Chapter 2 and things are already getting pretty fluffy...

"Do you want me to sleep next to you?" DO IT. XD I dare you :P

"I wonder if Okita thought of me as nothing more than a silk kimono and a warming stone, as if that was all I could offer..." Girl, come on! Don't sell him short like this! Oh, and tell me more about what you want to offer him 3:)

Well, it looks like blood is the answer, for now O_O

"Y-You're not gonna offer me a-any blood today? Trying to play hard to get?" -_-

"his warm mouth drew my blood into his full, tender lips." X_X Sounds like someone needs a cold shower...

"I'm a diseased freak with no hope for the future." D: Don't say that! Everybody dies eventually! You still have strength to achieve the things you want and we can still be happy together! :'(

"I will be by your side, Okita... No matter what." YUS >:)

SEN!!! <3

"Would it have killed you to at least write us a letter?" O: I'm sorry! X_X

Ha. Bold of you to assume that Kodo's continued research might be in your favour.

"Kondou has surrendered to the Imperial Army." O_O OH FUCK.

And of course Okita is blaming Hijikata X_X

"You are making assumptions, most of which are uninformed" Yeah, you tell him, Sen-bae!

I still don't see why we can't at least try to rescue Kondou >:( Are we just supposed to sit tight and wait for him to be executed?!??

" I'm sure that Kondou would be very unhappy to hear his life was saved at the cost of Okita's." >:( And I'm sure that he would be even more unhappy to hear that Okita spent the rest of his days confined to his bed, in misery and anguish. >:(

The dream was pretty wholesome :'o

I guess protecting the things that are important to Kondou, like his legacy, is more important than protecting Kondou himself. Kondou entrusted his legacy to Okita, and so his efforts might be better spent elsewhere, rather than on rescuing Kondou. :'( That's up to him, though.

HUG ALERT!!! 8D

"No matter how many times he touched me, I couldn't have imagined ever tiring of the sensation..." XD The thirst is real!

"Y'know, ever since you came into my life, I've always given you a hard time..." WHERE IS THE LIE?

These two assholes in each other's arms, like "Welp, I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of telling you that I love you so we're just going to continue this totally not heterosexual hug right now and stfu."

:D I am happy to see Hijikata! However, I know someone who may feel differently -_-

"Would you like me to wake him." O_O Nooooot a good idea, Chizuru!

"Without me to blame, I doubt he'll have anything to motivate him, and I'm worried he'll lose the will to live." :O Hijikata, that's kind of sweet in a fucked up kind of way but you underestimate the power of LOVE >:)

THIS HAD BETTER NOT BE FUCKING KAORU AGAIN!!!

:O Kazama and Amagiri?! I was beginning to think that Kazama had lost interest in me. Or, at least, hoped he had.

"This evening... Isami Kondou was beheaded." I just gasped out loud! Kondou, no! D':

OMG, IS CHIZURU TRANSFORMING INTO A BADASS DEMON?! 8D 8D 8D

"A woman who has sullied herself with the water of life is unworthy of my love. Consider this over." ... IF I KNEW THAT THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK, I WOULD HAVE DRANK THAT FUCKING CONCOCTION YEARS AGO >_<

"You are dead to me." GOOD.

Awe, Okita! :'(

NOW I'M CRYING, TOO D'X Damn this game DX

Chapter 3:

Chasing down the Shinsengumi >:) ... Again! If this is anything like Kazama's route, this is going to be depressing af...

We're like two fuzzy wood creatures, going from cozy spot to cozy spot to snooze in during the day :')

"Be a good girl," >_< Staaaaaahhhp!!!

"They went thattaway!" XD I know that this situation is pretty dire but that sentence makes me chuckle!

"Fight...? You?" Ye bitch! >:) I got me my ochimizu powers now!

"How dare you, you bastard!" UM. YOU ATTACKED US!!! WE WERE TRYING TO HAVE A NAP!

*Slash, slash, squelch, splat* X_X

"Ahahaha! You're just helpless pigs!" -_- Uh, Okita? Calm the fuck down, k? You're starting to sound like Kazama!

"his sadistic display of sword mastery." Yup, they be the right words -_-

Ugh, I got shot. Probably shouldn't have been standing around doing NOTHING X_X

D: I killed a guy! GUYS, CHIZURU JUST STABBED SOMEONE IN THE HEART, COME AND SEE!!! :')

"Chizuru, you're trying to hard." *Hides guide* I don't know what you could possibly mean :) :) :)

:O a kunai?! Could it be... my boy YAM?!

YAM!!! :'D

"I just assumed you died or something." Okita is the queen of tact, as always :')

Wait, Yamazaki, don't stay behind on your own O':

NOOOOOOOOO O_O

YAMAZAKIIIIIIII!!!!

OMG HE'S OKAY!!! 8'D 8'D

"I... Cannot afford to die yet..." Doesn't stop you in most routes, though, does it? X_X

"This doesn't look good..." Oh no! Is he going to succumb to his injuries off screen?! D': Classic Yamazaki D,X

"You've been spying on us for days, and I didn't even notice." :') That's our Yam boy!

Aw, Okita gave Yamazaki the thank you!

I reeeeeaaally don't think that Kondou would want Okita to murder Hijikata X_X

"I am going to be late, but I promise to return." YOU HAD BETTER. >:( DON'T DIE, YAMAZAKI!

Owl <3 Hoot hoot to you too, my friend!

Don't kill Hijikata, you dumbass. -_-

"A penchant for violence" X_X That's Okita all right!

It would be funny if he were drinking from Chizuru's foot, instead... Just, something about the way he's holding her hand invites that image XD

FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!! WHY DOES A BATTLE HAVE TO ERUPT EVERYWHERE WE GO!?!

"Okita grabbed my hand" 8D < Happy Chizuru!

Wait... I'M GETTING BLOODLUST?!? MONSTER CHIZURU IS UNLEASHED >:)

Oh, I guess not. Kinda disappointed, tbh XD

Ugh, can we just catch up to Hijikata already? Let's get this over with.

Wait, his sister was "wedded off to some deadbeat"!?! I wonder how old she was... :/

"I was bullied and given shit all the time." :'(

The CG of Okita giving Hijikata the evils is BEAUTIFUL! X'D

"He was a rich snob" somehow, I doubt that...

Wow, Okita really is seething with passionate jealousy for Hijikata... Even though Kondou gave him the sword X_X

I feel like Kondou's relationship with Hijikata is different enough than Okita and Kondou's that Okita's intense jealousy seems a bit much...

It sort of feels kind of like a kid being jealous of their dad's new girlfriend X_X

MORE HUGS >:D

"Before I knew it, you slithered your way into my heart..." That's a pretty weird but also adorable thing to say X'D SLITHER SLITHER

"And you know just what to say," I KNOW, UNCANNY, RIGHT :) :) :) *hides guide*

"We couldn't help but succumb to the hypnotic lull of our passionate embrace." XD Does this mean a fade-to-black is coming :P

I love that their following Hijikata tracks like they're hunting the wild Hijikata beast XD

Is he all alone?

Oh, he has a bodyguard XD

Really inappropriate time to mention this but this route makes Hijikata seem more attractive to me than before XD Maybe it's because of the contrast with Okita's sadistic, violent, volatile side... Maybe it's because he seems more vulnerable when being berated by Okita, idk XD Leave Hijikata alone, Okita!

"You could have saved him!" But Hijikata has RESPONSIBILITIES. He can't just abandon his men and their cause to save Kondou, even if he wanted to :'(

"I COULDN'T!!!" Yeah, you tell him, Hijikata >:(

OKITA, DON'T PUNCH HIS BEAUTIFUL FACE!!! I mean, uh... XD

Wait, we're not going with the Shinsengumi?! O_e

"Hijikata's a real dumbass, don't you think?" -_- .......NO!

Kondou reading to tiny Okita = mega cuteness!

"If I never met Kondou, there's no doubt in my mind that I'd be waaaaay more cuckoo than I am now." And nobody, NOBODY WANTS TO SEE THAT O_O

"You and Kondou are pretty similar" Obviously, that's a compliment and I'm super flattered but I reeeeeaaally hope that this relationship isn't just because Chizuru reminds him of Kondou XP

"My heart suddenly melted in my chest." What, again!?! Chizuru's heart had been through A LOT during this route -_-

"To be fair, it was a little strange of Okita to compare a woman he loved to a man he viewed as a father..." <<< See?! :P

Skipping off, hand in hand :')

Chapter 4:

Aw, tiny Chizuru sadness flashback </3

It's unthinkably awful, what happened to the village, but revenge =/= genocide.

Chizuru, y u lie? -_-

"There were men who took pleasure from their evil deeds." And demons, too... And Okita, to an extent XD

Ugh, I bet Kaoru's gonna sneak up on me while Okita's gone and be all, "Yeeeeesssss.... Give in to your anger... Feel the hate flow through you..." Fucking annoying hate goblin child.

OH, LOOK WHO IT IS!!!

"You're a real bitch, you know that?" Oh, I'M A BITCH??!! Sure thing, tiny asshole. -_-

"At long last, we can come together. We can be the siblings were born to be." ... Happy and free from the burdens of hate and bitterness? O_O

"We are going to massacre the evil forces conspiring within this country, for the good of our people." ... What people? The dead ones? Yeah, I'm sure they'll be reeeeeeaaal grateful from their graves. Sounds like you just want an excuse to torment some humans, you sadistic piece of shit -_-

"Suddenly, I craved blood..." OH HO!

"I... I craved Okita's blood..." 'Sonly fair >:P

"my entire body screamed to tear Okita limb from limb." 8O Yikes.

I... Kinda want to know what happens if I give in to the bloodlust... 😏

Buuuuut I gotta endure it. Damn.

Oh, it's cold up North, is it? ;P What can we possibly do to stay warm in bed?

PENGUIN HUDDLE is hopefully the answer.

<3 :D Looking up at the stars together!

"I want to make your wishes come true. All of them..." :D Okita is every girl's dream sexy murder genie :)

""If you still plan on walking away from me and everything you have..." Okita reached his hand to me kindly." :) :) :)

"Then, I will kill you " FFS XD THIS BITCH!!!

I bet we're gonna kiss now or something. Damn that sexy murder genie X_X

Oh, no kissing, just crying XD That's... Actually more appropriate, even if they are happy tears :')

O WAIT, "I grabbed ahold of him madly" ...

SMOOCHY SMOOCHY >:)

"For once in my life, I felt whole," Awe </3 "the thought of which nearly brought my tears." BITCH, UR ALREADY CRYING XD

"each breath between our zealous smacking grew more strained and sensuous." O_e ... Uh, what did I just read? XD XD XD

"now that Kondou's gone... I only have one reason to fight." Uh... I have a feeling that it's a Chizuru reason... He really needs to find his own motivations, instead of just attaching himself to the causes of people who give him attention. Okay, that was a bit harsh. X_X I'm sorry, Okita!

"How about another kiss, huh?" "B-but, um... W-we just kissed..." ... SO!?! GIRL, YOU KNOW YOU'RE HOT FOR HIM!

"I'm askin' you if you'll have me or not." ... When he says "have", does he mean . . .

"Well, I think there's a time and place for everything." ... Damn. Is this game suggesting that if I say yes, I'm a slut and he'll think less of me? XP BOOOOOOO!

"Watching you squirm like that makes me want to play with you even more." XD As I predicted: Big Dom Energy!

"As long as I will live, I will crave your touch..." *Munches popcorn* Just screw, damn it!

"Our plump lips smeared against one another, and he pulled at a fistful of my hair, drawing me deeper into him as he bit forcefully into my lower lip." :O ... Kinky! >:P I totally called it XD

"I do not mind putting up with anything you might do to me, Okita." How... Romantic?? O_e Just admit that you're horny, Chizuru! There's no shame, I swear!

"I bet when I'm gone, you'll sob like a baby." :'O YES. OBVIOUSLY. >:'(

"Okita spooned me," Classic XD

Ew, Kodo.

"You look pale. Please do not tell me that you have been refusing to drink blood." XD Thanks for your concern...

Bless Okita for offering himself as an all-you-can-eat buffet X_X

"If I were to commit to this relationship, then it meant I needed to separate myself from my family." DRAMAAAA! :D *Pulls out another bag of popcorn*

"I have no desire to carve a life that comes at the expense of hurting others." PREACH B)

#hakuoki #hakuouki #okita #okita souji #edo blossoms #LONG #SALT #otome adventures #SO MANY WORDS #I DIDN'T KNOW THAT TUMBLR HAD A WORD LIMIT BUT I GUESS I FOUND IT #Tune in for part 4 #i have an addiction

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dr-ladybird · 1 year ago

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Backup plan: if getting gud is taking too long and you’re getting bored, activate Cunning Little Goblin Mode. Look up whether the thing has elemental weaknesses. Poison or freeze it at the beginning of the fight so it dies in fewer hits. Own one of the ridiculously OP weapons and pull it out when you’re having trouble. Anyone can be a bleed build if they own half-upgraded claws or bleed fists, or a pulley crossbow. If it doesn’t have a fog wall you can probably creep up and get a few good hits first.

volcano pots hehehehehe. monsters made of wood giving you trouble? gallop up and down Mount Gelmir a few times. What monster?

feel like a creative and intelligent goblin :D

(Backup plan to the backup plan: get spectral knights to help out, feel like a creative goblin who hangs out with awesome spectral knights. If you’re worried they’ll kill the boss for you and you’ll miss out on the fight, try Deenh first. makes you stronger, helps you get a critical hit, gives a few more openings, unlikely to kill anything for you except wormfaces, IS A PET EAGLE MADE OF TORNADOES HELL YEAH)

"Don't you dare reply to this post with 'git gud'" then why did you tag it as the game. You're actually just inviting people to make fun of you

#elden ring #long post

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trashy-croud · 5 years ago

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India: Temple Ruins🌿🧗‍♀️

I'm back but this level broke me. I kid you not, during this entire hiatus from doing these reviews and such, I have been coming back to this level only to cry more in the long run. I am literally only on the second level of this game. This is where I learnt, there is no God. This level held back no punches and was delivering each blow with a full on k.o. for me. Yet I still enjoyed it. Ignore the time as per usual, I spent so much of it actually looking for the secrets and searching every nook and cranny, as well as being absolutely terrified and refusing to move after the first statue came to life.

Now to talk about this level. Well for starters, this one started us off with climbing trees and with mudslides and piranhas and snakes and oh god, there was plenty of stuff happening at the start. This did lead to me being stuck a couple of times of figuring out the best path to take but eventually we powered through. We then encountered our first monkey at one point or another and I thought he’d lead me to somewhere new, y’know, like in the previous level. Hah. The only thing he led me to was my demise as as sad as it is to say, I kept him following me for a bit, not realising that he was taking away my health and I was actually killed by a bloody monkey - of all the deadly things in this level, the first thing to kill me was a god forsaken monkey. I am ashamed of myself. It seemed somehow we annoyed them at one point from the last level, perhaps because I took the key before that monkey could or because I killed it, I honestly cannot remember which one happened when I finally completed it and carried on, but these little buggars are ferocious.

After the mudslide challenge which was interesting to encounter and pretty fun to manoeuvre, along with a waterfall, we entered a dark room. I thought, “Oh lets light a flare!” Because, y’know, I actually have some for a change compared to the previous game, and when I lit it up, the look of horror on my face as I saw a statue. I could only briefly remember some parts of this game and watching my dad play it, I didn’t stick around much for this one compared to the previous instalment, but I bloody remember moving statues and I froze up and entered the menu almost instantly. That may have added to my time with how long I was on that menu thinking about what I was going to do next. After a while of debating the best course of action, I closed the menu off, pulled out my shotgun only to realise that this one didn’t come to life. Luckily I didn’t waste any ammo on an inanimate object but I was definitely wary.

After this room and moving some blocks around, we crawled into the next one and I spotted another statue, I was wary and was right to do so as it came to life and I about wanted to cry. I didn’t even pull out the shotgun this time, I went full pistols on it and didn’t know that the statue could block, didn’t seem to get that memo! So yeah, that one took a while as well, much to my dismay.

After getting rid of it, we found the first secret which was well sneaky of them as we fell into a trap door to pull a switch, but next to it was a movable block which you couldn’t tell it was movable unless you had a keen eye. Entering the room of that secret honestly was a challenge in itself with poison dart traps, a boulder trap to boot as well but we got through it all. It just took a couple of attempts, y’know how it is.

Now, a lot of what happened after is a bit lengthy to talk about and off the top of my head, a bit hard to remember how I reacted to a lot of it, some key areas was the quicksand, which I about had a panic over because that is scary. How dare they bring that in. I panicked about being unable to get any further and it was terrifying! There was also an outside part where some of the ruins came tumbling down and I was in water and had to climb back up. Let’s just say I went well into the double figures with my deaths on that one. There was so much depending on how skilful I was with some of my jumps, and I’m rubbish at jumping. I really hoped this game didn’t depend on it! But alas, seems I’ll just have to “git gud” at this now, and weep whilst I do it. But there were so many different sections to get through, to get keys to progress further through the level. There was also one part which included invisible platforms.

Do not get me started on the invisible platforms. This was the part where my sister thought it was hilarious to watch and then got stressed with me at the same time. We both admit, the way they programmed these platforms was wonderful in our eyes, it reminded me of the uzi secret in the first game, except now we actually have a way of seeing them all through the use of lights, ain’t no leap of faith this time. Basically what we got annoyed at was that I wasn’t able to jump very well and the game sometimes didn’t register the jump, so a conversation like this played out.

“Press the jump button.” “I am, what do you think I’m doing?” “Press it harder then!” “You think it’ll work if I press harder?” “It’s the only way, press the button harder and she’ll go further!”

In my opinion, I found it to be a funny moment between us as she is starting to join in more with some of the game, being more interested in later instalments such as AoD which may be interesting to write about. But this conversation reminded me of watching my dad on the PC when him and my mum would play this, my mum watching him, and literally saying the exact same thing as my sister did. It really brought back fun memories.

Back to talking about this level. After we collected the keys, we ended up with more traps to get around, more boulder traps and more fire-breathing statues. This is the theme for this level it seems. Statues that do things that I hate, such as breathing fire, and moving. As we got past all these traps, we came to a new room. I walked in like it was nothing, only to realise that it was a room with two statues in, two statues that woke up and were ready to knock me out into next week! I screamed like I’ve never screamed before, this included my sister as she just kept shouting to shoot and I ignored all that and ran away up to a ledge that they couldn’t reach. I thought we were safe and panicked once I suddenly saw another statue on this ledge, except it didn’t come to life this time which was mildly reassuring.

I decided to do this the cowardly way and handle the statues from that ledge, dangling whenever they guarded to make them drop their guard and shot them from a distance. Typical me stuff, y’know. After killing them, I was lost. I was a lot little puppy with what to do because I didn’t see them drop a sword each to put on the statue. We were scanning around and I did take a while before we managed to figure it out.

Then there was the next room. The one me and my sister called, “the room with the floating jesus-wannabe”. I told her that this was someones “team mate” (purely because she didn’t see the first cutscene with Tony) and we’re kinda figuring out what happened, “she said she liked what she called them better. I didn’t notice the statue lying in wait up until i picked the key up from underneath Randy or Rory, whichever one he may be, and then heard music playing and footsteps. I started weeping and my sister saluted me and said “good luck soldier”. I about wanted to deck her for that because she left the room to get snacks after that moment, only to come back in once I defeated it. It was super easy when you face them head on with a shotgun. Totally didn’t take to long.

After defeating it, we found more traps that were my worst nightmare, the spiked ceiling was an enemy that I was becoming too familiar with with the amount of times I died to it. Then I managed to do it. My speedy butt finally did it and I was absolutely loving it. There was the other trap as well which was smart but my worst nightmare, because it was underwater with a current trying to suck you in. Oh, I loathed it and wanted to break something. But we powered through, put all the keys in and finished the level. My sister watched and said that Tony was doing some weird “voodoo shizzam”. I thought that was an alright way to put it and after that cutscene, we were ready for the next level but left it there for the day. To be fair, that cutscene was enjoyable to watch and interesting as we saw what Tony was doing, something that we didn’t see before as he seemed to show his true colours. So we found out what happened to Randy and Rory, was probably Tony’s fault, or the artefact we have been chasing after.

As a summary for this whole level, it was super dark yet it was atmospheric. I found out all monkeys are now rude and I have to kill them, and that Tony is also rude and a bit of a prick so I need to kill him too. All fun and games! Oh, I found out that statues are something that will haunt me to the grave, the first instalment had the centaurs which traumatised me, the second had the jade statue warrior by the end of the game, so now they’ve thrown in some right at the beginning. Great. Please let that be the end of the statues though, or am I hoping for too much there? This level has been fun and very challenging, there certainly is a bit of a difficulty jump in comparison to the first levels of the previous instalments, which were a bit easier to handle. Though I’m not complaining, to be honest, we definitely needed a challenge.

But that is all for the Temple Ruins as we will be back with the third level of the India levels, The River Ganges. It mentioned water and I saw a bike, I’m going to hate this aren’t I?

#long post #tomb raider 3 #croud's playthrough #tomb raider #classic lara #classic tomb raider #playthrough #temple ruins #these darned statues will be the death of me #we're making a comeback!

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zenosanalytic · 5 years ago

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THE SACRED TEXTS!!! EPISODE 3

I just finished the 3rd season of Clone Wars(2008) and I have Thoughts!

s3 is typically where I’ve seen ppl saying Clone Wars gets gud but, for the first half of the season, I was pretty skeptical. Until ~ e11 the season’s dedicated to filling in holes from the earlier seasons which, frankly, didn’t really need to be filled? Like: I’m not really sure WHO, in the audience, would be sitting around wondering “gee, I wonder what’s going on with Mandalore’s trade-policy during all of this?”?? Or “was a Republic Army sent to help Ryloth when it was first invaded, and what happened to it?”??? And most of this not only felt pretty unnecessary, but was also pretty Meh (:T There were good bits! Like, I didnt ACTL mind the Ryloth ep, and it acts as a declaration of sorts that it’s now both open-season on Jedi(yeah, technically Kit Fisto’s ex-padawan Vebb died in Lair of Grievous, but he was very much An Outlier), and more broadly open-season on named&faced humanoid characters.

To give an example: not ONLY does Domino Squad from Rookies in s1 get a fleshing-out backstory(which is... very Pat and derivative and convenient, but the characterization is ok given they’ve only got one 22min ep to do it in. & I liked 99′s whole role as basically surrogate dad to all the other clones), but pretty much ALL of them, I think, end up getting killed off during the season? Like I said it’s a clear statement they want to break with the past while building on the “hey fans: CLONES ARE PEOPLE! THEIR SITUATION IN THIS WAR IS MONSTROUS!!” message the series has been soft-peddling from the beginning, but I feel like they didnt really commit to it enough. Like: IF they had stuck with the Domino survivors throughout the season, if we’d gotten to see them in episode after episode, gotten to know them better alongside the other members of Rex’s ARC battalion, gotten to see them face dangers and survive them, only to watch, agonized, as they, and the rest of the Battalion vets, slowly get picked off in the increasingly dangerous missions of the second half of the season, then that would have made the message MUCH more effective, AND made the Citadel and Padawan Lost arcs much more tense.

And really all of the impactful deaths of the season sort of feel like that. Like: we get one episode to know Mina Bonteri(a human, of course) and her family before she’s killed off(though i did Dig how unceremonious and unsentimental it was; that really got across the stakes involved and the sorts of scumbags Amidala, and the audience, are dealing with). We get even less time with the Jedi killed by Oppress; a few seconds at most(and btw it’s kind of HILARIOUS how he just... bulls in there and wrecks em like it’s nothing, after two seasons of ep after ep of uneventful cat-and-mouse. Of course that’s undermined by him&Ventriss, then, utterly failing to be successful against Dooku, purely because the plot demands it |:T) Same with Master Piell. Ziro we know much better, but he was also a fairly annoying caricature and his final eps went out of their way to use him to introduce EVEN MORE annoying caricatures so, while his getting gunned down is successful in showing violence and violent death as sudden, unsentimental, and pathetic rather than heroic and worthy, we dont really care. And that’s further undercut, pretty seriously, by his being a caricature; pathos is hard to pull off with an object of laughter/scorn as it risks just making their suffering funny to the audience(which... is the OPPOSITE of what you want to accomplish). This isnt helped by having the Jedi who find him basically shrugging at his death before racing into a Cool Fight. The “Force Wielders” in the Mortis arc suffer from the same problems(and also: Force Dualism&”The Chosen One” Talk: BLEAGH!). The only one of these they manage to get right, to me, is Kalifa’s death in Padawan Lost which, due to us getting more time to see her sitch and hear her&the other younglings talk about it, genuinely ends up having an emotional impact(if still feeling super-convenient and a bit improbable)((also I love the inclusion of a predator ep, even if they’re cheap dime-story predators)).

The same goes for all the non-death falls and endangerments. The corruption of the Mandalorian Prime Minister falls flat because we barely know him, and he’s never been portrayed as sympathetic or, for that matter, as anything other than a factotum. The only Pantoran we know in Sphere of Influence is Senator Chuchi, and more than half the episode is dedicated to the Prime Minister, his Son, and his(interchangeable) daughters(and we never see any of these characters again in the season); the ep comes off as nothing more than an excuse to reference Greedo(and Im annoyed by him speaking common all of a sudden. Who watching CW would have a problem with subtitles?).

BUT! They’re trying!! They’re moving in the right direction!!! I’m happy about this ^v^ And the later half of the season, while I have my problems with certain episodes, and the continued non-human stereotypes, and the convenient writing, and the not-great(tho getting better!) dialogue, is actually kind of entertaining, and attention-bearing. Arc Troopers, the 2nd ep of the season, is Solid! The Mortis arc is good, overall! The Citadel and Padawan Lost arcs are Compelling!! I like the Witches of Dathomiir, even if their Arc is “Meh” because the series IMMEDIATELY undercuts their cool concept(aside from the laser-bows which are LEGITIMATELY Stupid. I’m sorry; I will not argue over this they’re Dum) by having their plans, and all the implication towards deep plots&cunning manipulation, turn out to be empty and fruitless(ie, Dooku totally should have been terribly wounded by all this, which would have also been cool re: Sidious, as it’d imply THAT WAS HIS PLAN ALL ALONG! TO WEAKEN THE GROWING POWER OF HIS APPRENTICE AND DRAG THE WAR OUT EVEN LONGER!!) Also: the Witches, rather than being “magic users” drawing from the “unique power” of their ~evil planet~(a swamp, of course, following long-established Magic the Gathering tradition u_u) should have just totally been a non-Sith(possibly Pre-Jedi) sect of Dark Side Force Users. I really like the idea of Non-Jedi/Non-Sith(since they’re literally just two sides of the SAME tradition; the Sith are literally Jedi Heretics) Force Traditions being out there in the galaxy, and this was a good chance to build on that which I felt they didnt do enough with, and hope they WILL do more with in future(I especially like the ideas of force-attuned poison? Like what if they could “poison” or “curse” people THROUGH the Force? That would be sweet as hell :3).

Another improvement is in the action in this season. It’s not at a level I’d call “thrilling” or anything, but it feels much less like stiff, rote, weightless FLUFF than it has in the two previous seasons. Frankly I think a lot of this is just their engine and how ppls joints just sort of SNAP into position during fights, and also the excessive acrobatics of the prequel-style, both of which makes it feel unnatural, predetermined, and performative rather than deadly and vital(like excessively practiced and robotically acted choreography, basically). But, having said that, you see ppl make mistakes, you see consequences FOR those mistakes, and thus there is SOME sense of danger and weight to it that makes it more compelling than it has been in the past, and this should be praised uwu

And I like that the Politics are a lot clearer and more forefronted in this season than previously! While the Corruption Arc on Mandalore did feel rather hollow, rushed, and After-School-Specially(and, I DEEPLY resent its peddling of offensive and baseless anti-Ophidian tropes >:( ), it’s core message abt the dangers of profiteering and the corrupting influence of profit-seeking(ie Capitalism) on politics and society is a good one and clearly delivered. The Amidala episodes in this season Knock it out of the park consistently, and especially on their messaging ^v^ ^v^ Also, I DIDNT MIND the very fillery C3PO and R2 ep! Yes: it was essentially a waste of an episode since Bane was working for the Hutts to spring Ziro in s1′s Hostage Crisis & there’s basically NO WAY they wouldnt have been able to provide him with a set of plans for the Senate building(and the prison, for that matter), but WHATEVER: it was Kind Of Fun and I like seeing those two be an old bickering married couple and C3PO freak out over getting praised; IT WAS FINE!

So, while there werent any standout ep that I REALLY ENJOYED like Trespass in s1 and R2 Come Home in s2, and I very much didn’t like the 1st half of the season, I think I do have to concede that s3 is An Improvement, overall. I’m actually a bit excited over moving on to s4, given the upward trajectory this season ends on quality-wise owo

Oh: and the Ahsoka redesign? Neat uwu uwu(if untentionally Hilarious since they havent been changing her model over time so she just... grows three feet and bulks out in, like, a single night, presumably. Togruta Puberty must be HELL :p :p :p)

#Star Wars #SW: Clone Wars(2008)#Clone Wars s3 #Long Post #zA Opinions #zA Reviews #TV Shows #Summaries

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robozinhoveado · 6 years ago

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Heavy Rain Thoughts

That’s right I’m spitting fire on a game that’s nearly 10 years old IT WAS FREE ON PSN LESSGO

- Press O to grab bags.

- Event Failed

- Press X to Kiss Wife

- Event Failed :c

- TFW Divorced

- Surprised the game continues normally when you choose to just sort of...stand Ethan in front of the clown and shout Jason’s name.

- How did Jason die? Ethan clearly is the one hit the hardest...did him tackling Jason actually kill him?

- Lost my shit like 20x times over the way the animations deal with failed QTE’s for simple actions. Especially when you have to QTE to sit up and they just sort of...slowly rearrange themselves back to lying down so you can try again.

- It doesn’t scan that Ethan would refuse to tell the police that his son went missing during a blackout. Are they trying to frame it that people wouldn’t believe a man with a TBI might have blackouts?

- “COULD this be the Origami Killer?” He asks after getting a letter that basically says “I’mma take your boy” and waking up holding an origami figure.

- Just can’t figure it out.

- For real though, is Scott stalking Ethan? How would he know WHEN Ethan blacks out?

- NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, INVESTIGATES OR EVEN VISITS THE ORIGAMI STORE?

- Jayden comments that there IS AN ORIGAMI STORE and then EVERYONE PRETENDS THAT THIS IS COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO THE ORIGAMI KILLER?

- It doesn’t seem odd that there even IS a brick and mortar ORIGAMI store?!

- Madison, predictably for le Cage, barely has ANY information, backstory, or reason to have been involved. Later she claims she wanted to do a piece on Ethan, but it’s pretty clear through gameplay that she just sort of...stumbles into him while he’s wheezing on the motel balcony?

- Similarly, it doesn’t scan that Ethan has this like...precious evidence that he doesn’t turn into the police WELL before he got on their radar AS the killer. It also doesn’t make sense that LITERALLY NO ONE who’d been targeted by the Origami Killer turned in their boxes of origami instructions and guns?

- I mean, I know the cops aren’t always superheroes but...c’mon.

- Good to know that the only weakness HIPPAA has is beating the shit out of a guy.

- Also...you built a case around “grieving mother is scared of ex-husband’s post-coma behavior” and “well sometimes he has shitty dreams about this serial killer that admittedly lots of people are scared of”.

- Actually, dialing back a little, how could the psych say that there was “no damage to Ethan’s brain?” He demonstrably has blackouts, and plot-irrelevant blackouts too.

- I LEGIT didn’t know that the woman in the Baby sequence was different from Lauren.

- I was also having trouble telling Lauren apart from Madison.

- During Gordi’s party, there are literally unaltered copies of the same woman dancing in the living room.

- I have to sit through a WHOLE QTE SEX SCENE later, but they couldn’t put in DIFFERENT WOMEN’S FACES?

- Not sure why there’s so much slash of Jayden and Carter Blake. Don’t get that.

- I mean, I’m a sucker for a coitadinho too, but like...Carter Blake is just icky.

- Wouldn’t the FBI Agent outrank the Lieutenant?

- The thing where he murders his clock repair buddy (my favorite character BTW) makes NO SENSE in retrospect. It’s just not a thing you can play AS the player and then WHOOP turns out it was YOU the whole time!

- Except...it wasn’t. I was there, and THAT didn’t happen.

- The game is trying to force alternate events just to make its crappy story work.

- “Yeah, I remember when that boy drowned in the rain...Incidentally, I make no connection between that happening and the murders that involve young boys drowning in the rain. Don’t think they’re related. Check out the origami on that grave though! I’m willing to bet it’s also unrelated.”

- This is the city of bad detective work.

- I was thrown when the Fridge was a suggested “out” for the house fire, but I assumed it was a false lead, like how you die if you jump out of the windows. Turns out that’s a real way to survive the propane explosion?

- Wot?

- So, if Scott was there when Ethan was hit by the car trying to save his son...and, in his own words was more or less impressed that Ethan was WILLING TO DIE TO SAVE HIS SON...

- Well, why put him through the trials, if he already had hard evidence that he was a father willing to die for his son?

- Like, was he curious if Ethan was up for Round 2?

- In addition, earlier Scott asks Susan Knowles what happened to her husband, and she claims that her husband went missing after her son did. So we can assume one thing:

- The kid’s dad followed the origami instructions, and went to try and save his son. Presumably, since he was never heard from again, he died while engaging in the trials.

- So...there was a father willing to die to save his son.

- Shouldn’t Scott have stopped there? Is being willing to die to save your son somehow not enough?

- You’ve got to be WILLING, but you also got to Git Gud and survive?

- Why does Scott leave the room when Ethan shows up? Wasn’t his whole mission up until now to see a dad go the distance to save his son?

- ...how does the Entire Police Force, DIRECTLY BELOW, and the SNIPERS, and the HELICOPTER seem to not see or react to the site of Jayden fistfighting one of their own Ex-Lieutenants on a huge arial conveyer belt?

- Everyone was in view. There were special forces specifically placed to be able to see as much as possible. No one radio’d in, “Hey Blake, ain’t it weird that those two dudes are like, joustin’ up there?”

- “Eyes on the prize officer we’re not here for that.”

- Ethan is just not concerned about the poison thing, huh?

- Why is Jayden’s “good” ending such a total bummer? Doesn’t he deserve a slightly better ending?

- Where is Grace in the epilogue?

- I don’t even need to say that the Ethan/Madison romance is...forced. And unpleasant.

- VERY good glitches. I had to replay a scene where I make eggs over 5 times because stirring them broke the game. Jayden’s sunglasses frequently teleported on and off his face. Everyone has a little bit of psychokinesis, based on how they handle objects.

- Overall: 10/10 Funniest fucking game I’ve ever played.

#heavy rain #ethan mars #scott shelby #norman jayden #mercutioplaysgames #mercutiofeelings #review #game review #Kotaku are you not hiring me right now?

39 notes · View notes

gaymusicchart · 6 years ago

Video

youtube

GAY MUSIC CHART – 2019 week 05

Welcome to the Gay Music Chart, the LGBTQA related music videos TOP 50 actuality and most request.

Please notice that we received dozens of suggestions, and it's impossible to present all of them in the same week edition because the video would be too long. We have three months three months late to catch up, so it will take some times.

Vote for your favourite LGBTQA related music videos by leaving a comment for this post on :

YOUTUBE (in the comment section of the video of the week) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz7yfp-xq-b08tD6mAWwclA

BLOGGER : http://gaymusicchart.blogspot.fr

FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/GayMusicChart/

TWITTER : https://twitter.com/GayMusicChart with #GayMusicChart

TUMBLR : http://gaymusicchart.tumblr.com

Here are some partners who also makes LGBT charts or presents some LGBT artists :

https://tadslgbtmusiccharts.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/gaymusicgossipshow/

http://picdeer.com/gaymusicgram

Don’t hesitate to visits their sites !

Here is the recap for this week :

OUT : Mx Blouse - "No Match" LW: 31 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 31

OUT : LOZOVOY - Певица ("Pevitsa" / "Singer") LW: 32 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 32

OUT : Jake Shears - "Everything I'll Ever Need" LW: 38 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 19

OUT : Mike Maimone - "Through The Changes" LW: 39 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 39

OUT : Navraj Hans, Harshdeep Kaur - "Gud Naal Ishq Mitha" LW: 40 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 40

OUT : Hương Giang - "Anh Đang Ở Đâu Đấy Anh" LW: 41 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 41

OUT : Westlife - "Hello My Love" LW: 42 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 17

OUT : Allen King - "Mejor Me Quedo Solo" LW: 44 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 29

OUT : Jay Shih 是元介 - "Old Man"《偕老》LW: 45 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 45

OUT : Esteman - "Fuimos Amor" LW: 46 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 46

OUT : Falko - "Fragile" LW: 48 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 48

01 (+ 2) : Calum Scott - "No Matter What"

LW: 03 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 01 (x2)

UK - 2018 - from the album "Only Human" (Special Edition)

This really personnal song tells the story of Calum Scott telling his parents he was gay and their reactions of loving him "no matter what". It's a deep and emotional power ballad.

02 (+ 5) : Lizzo - "Juice"

LW: 07 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 02

USA - 2018

03 (- 2) : Troye Sivan - "Lucky Strike"

LW: 01 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 01 (x1)

Australia - 2019 - from the album "Bloom"

It's his ninth music video which is #1 in less 4 years! Troye is definitely the little prince of Gay Music Chart.

04 (+ 2) : Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - "Shallow"

LW: 06 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 04

USA - 2018 - from the OST "A Star Is Born"

This song won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song 2018, and is nominated to the Grammys and the Oscars. The movie is about seasoned musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) discovers-and falls in love with-struggling artist Ally (Gaga). She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer - until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.

05 (- 3) : Calvin Harris, Sam Smith - "Promises"

LW: 02 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 01 (x1)

UK - 2018

06 (- 2) : Years & Years - "All For You"

LW: 04 / WO: 15 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

UK - 2018 / from the album "Palo Santo"

07 (+ 5) : Bilal Hassani - "Roi" (Lyrics Video)

LW: 12 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 05

France - 2019

Bilal Hassani won Destination Eurovision 2019 and will represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Avivwith this song about self esteem.

08 (+ 21) : Silva - "Duas da Tarde"

LW: 29 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 08

Brazil - 2018 - from the album "Brasileiro"

09 (- 4) : Jax Jones, Years & Years - "Play"

LW: 05 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 03

UK - 2018 - from the EP "Snacks"

10 (- 2) : Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus - "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart"

LW: 08 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 04

USA - 2018

An excellent collab.

11 (- 2) : Sam Smith - "Fire On Fire"

LW: 09 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 07

UK - 2018 - from the OST "Watership Down"

"Watership Down" is a BBC mini-series adaptation of the book, which tells the story about a warren of rabbits fighting to survive numerous perils as they search for a new home.

12 (- 1) : Troye Sivan and Jónsi - "Revelation" (Lyric video)

LW: 11 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 11

Australia / Iceland - 2018 - from the OST "Boy Erased"

The song was nominated on the 2019 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. The movie "Boy Erased" follows the son of Baptist parents who is forced to take part in a gay conversion therapy program.

13 (- 3) : Greyson Chance - "Good As Gold"

LW: 10 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 10

USA - 2018

The song was already in our chart in September, but the music video was released during our break.

14 (=) : Panic! At The Disco - "High Hopes"

LW: 14 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 06

USA - 2018 / from the album "Pray For The Wicked"

15 (NEW) : Jão - "Me Beija Com Raiva"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 15

Brazil - 2018 - from the album "Lobos"

It's the first time the singer talks about his sexual orientation with this song, writen for an ex-lover who broke his heart.

16 (+ 1) : Theo X - "You Don't Wanna Dance"

LW: 17 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 09

Denmark - 2018

In this cute music video, a young teen dares to give an invitation to dance to another boy. Love is love.

17 (+ 11) : Pabllo Vittar - "Disk Me"

LW: 28 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 17

Brazil - 2018 - from the album "Não Para Não"

She was definitely the most successful drag queen in 2018.

18 (NEW) : Ariana Grande - "thank u, next"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 18

USA - 2018 - from the album "thank u, next"

Troye Sivan features in the music video.

19 (+ 6) : Michael Medrano - "Love Somebody Else"

LW: 25 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 19

USA - 2018

The song was previously presented in our chart, but the music video was only released during our break.

20 (- 7) : Peter Wilson & Sean Smith - "Verona"

LW: 13 / WO: 10 / PEAK: 01 (x2)

UK - 2018 / from the album "The Passion and The Flame"

This awesome cover of the 2017's Estonian Eurovision track from Koit Toome and Laura is produced by Matt Pop.

21 (+ 16) : Not.Your.Regular.Boy. - "It's All Yours"

LW: 37 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 21

The Netherlands - 2018

This is his third single.

22 (- 6) : Blair St. Clair - "Irresistible"

LW: 16 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 09

USA - 2018 - from the EP "Call My Life"

This is the third single of her first EP. Her EP was #1 on Billboard

Dance/Electronic Albums Sales Chart.

23 (- 8) : LP - "Recovery"

LW: 15 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 15

USA - 2018 - from the album "Heart To Mouth"

This is the second single of her latest album.

24 (+ 26) : Gloria Groove - "Coisa Boa"

LW: 50 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 24

Brazil - 2018

25 (- 7) : Halsey - "Without Me"

LW: 18 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 14

USA - 2018

26 (- 6) : Federica Abbate - "Finalmente"

LW: 20 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 20

Italy - 2018

This song came second in the first part of the Sanremo Giovani 2018 Music Festival for emergent artists. The lyrics talk about a love relationship badly judged by the entourage. If the lyrics aren't specifically gay, the music video is, with the portrayal of a young man who comes out to his father who rejects him in return. So, the young man can only be reconforted by his boyfriend and his friends. Until... Beautiful.

27 (+ 9) : Sam Smith, Normani - "Dancing With A Stranger"

LW: 36 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 27

UK / USA - 2019

This is a passionate duet about coping with loneliness and trying to get over a lost love.

28 (- 4) : Urgence Homophobie - "De l'Amour"

LW: 24 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 10

France - 2018

As homophobic attacks have increased by 15% in 2018 in France, 70 French celebrities made this song to fight homophobia.

29 (NEW) : Lauv & Troye Sivan - "i'm so tired..." [Official Audio]

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 29

USA / Australia - 2019

30 (- 3) : Charli XCX & Troye Sivan - "1999"

LW: 27 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 05

UK / Australia - 2018

The music video is a real revival of what made the year 1999.

31 (+ 3) : Sam Tsui - "A Million Pieces"

LW: 34 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 31

USA - 2018 - from the album "Trust"

32 (- 11) : Tiago Braga - Ilusão

LW: 21 / WO: 22 / PEAK: 06

Portugal - 2018

A story of infidelity.

33 (- 14) : Allen King feat. Amor Romeira - "My Boy"

LW: 19 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 03

Spain - 2018

34 (- 12) : Jeff Carl - "Buried in New York"

LW: 22 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 17

USA - 2018

The music video shows the singer living his first months of celibacy in New York but realizing that he hasn’t totally forgotten his previous love relationship.

35 (NEW) : Miss Benny - "Rendezvous"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 35

USA - 2019

Miss Benny is the new project of Ben J. Pierce aka Kid POV, aka Benny, well known here for his previous singles, included "Boys Will Be Boys". Welcome back!

36 (NEW) : Hatari - "Spillingardans"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 36

Iceland - 2018

Disturbing. Scary. Intriguing. Exciting... The industrial gothic trio from Reykjavik is selected to Söngvakeppnin, the Icelandic national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Not with this song, but when you listen to this, you are already intrigued and excited...

37 (- 4) : Openside - "Character Flaws"

LW: 33 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 11

New Zealand - 2018

This is their sixth single, but we're still waiting for an album!

38 (- 12) : Scott Free - "We Honor The Dead" (World Martyrs)

LW: 26 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 26

USA - 2019

A tribute to engaged LGBTQ men and women who died while defending LGBTQ Rights around the world.

39 (NEW) : Monique Heart - "Brown Cow Stunning" (Mitch Ferrino Mix)

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 39

USA - 2018

40 (- 10) : The Diesel Tykes feat. Tim'm West / LnK - "Every Day Is Earth Day"

LW: 30 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 28

USA - 2018

It's everyday time to save the Earth with this catchy song by Scott Free !

41 (+ 6) : Echo Black - "Poison Apple"

LW: 47 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 37

USA - 2018 - from the album "Dawn"

The queer lead singer of the band is Danny Blu.

42 (NEW) : Ricky Merino - "Miénteme"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 42

Spain - 2018

This is his second single, and the first on after Operación Triunfo 2018.

43 (NEW) : White Lies - "Tokyo"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 43

UK - 2019 - from the album "FIVE"

44 (- 21) : Sam Bluer - "Body High"

LW: 23 / WO: 11 / PEAK: 03

Australia - 2018

This is his debut music video. A revelation.

45 (NEW) : Reigen - "High on U"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 45

USA - 2019

46 (NEW) : Alex vdH - "Georgia Summer Dream"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 46

USA - 2018

Alex van der Hoek brings you melancholia with this song.

47 (NEW) : Emmanuel Moire - "La promesse"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 47

France - 2019 - from the album "Odyssée"

This personal song talks about how he decided to be openly gay towards his fans while he was already a famous singer. It came 4th at Destination Eurovision 2019.

48 (+ 1) : Milow feat. Matt Simons - "Lay Your Worry Down"

LW: 49 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 48

Belgium / USA - 2018

There is a gay couple in this music video.

49 (- 14) : Zee Machine - "Dangerous"

LW: 35 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 31

USA - 2018 - from the EP "Brainchemistry"

Zee Machine, aka Joe Bissell, released his first EP in April 2018.

50 (- 7) : Clean Bandit feat. Marina & Luis Fonsi - "Baby"

LW: 43 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 50

UK / USA (Puerto Rico) - 2018 - from the album "What is Love ?"

In this music video, during her wedding with a man, a woman remembers her love for another woman in a summer camp.

NEW THIS WEEK

Jussie Smollett - "Hurt People"

LW: - / WO: 2 / PEAK: 25

USA - 2018 - from the album "Sum of My Music"

The singer and actor from "Empire" has been hospitalized after a racist and homophobic aggression by two masked men while he was walking on the streets of Chicago. The emotion in the USA is high after this hate crime.

Bilal Hassani - "Copines x Tout Oublier" (Aya Nakamura / Angèle Cover)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

France - 2018

Bilal Hassani made a huge buzz since he will represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. His victory in Destination Eurovision has amplified the homophobic cyber bullying. He has just filed 213 complaints for homophobic messages, mainly on Twitter.

Courtney Act - "Fight For Love"

LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 27

Australia - 2018

The drag queen is selected with this pride song to "Eurovision - Australia decides", the Australian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

Alfie Arcuri - "To Myself"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Australia - 2019

The Australian singer is selected with this song about self acceptance to "Eurovision - Australia decides", the Australian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

Electric Fields - "2000 and Whatever" (Lyrics Video)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Australia - 2019

Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross mix electronic music with Aboriginal culture. This song is selected with to "Eurovision - Australia decides", the Australian national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

KEiiNO - "Spirit In The Sky" (official lyric video - nature)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Norway - 2019

KEiiNO is a trio composed by Fred Buljo, Alexandra Rotan and Tom Hugo. This song, which mixes dance and Sami ethnic sounds, is selected to the Melodi Grand Prix 2019, the Norwegian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Erlend Bratland - "Sing For You"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Norway - 2019

The singer is back at the Melodi Grand Prix, the norwegian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Last time, he came second with his song "Thunderstruck". Will he win this time ? The answer the 2 March 2019.

Sigmund - "Say My Name"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Denmark - 2019

This song about self esteem is selected to the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2019, the Danish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Friðrik Ómar - "What if I can´t have love? "

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Iceland - 2019

Friðrik Ómar is selected with this song to Söngvakeppnin, the Icelandic national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. He previously participated to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 with Euroband and the song "This is My Life", and in 2009 as a chorist for Yohanna with the song "Is it True?".

Hatari - "Hatrið mun sigra"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Iceland - 2019

The industrial gothic trio from Reykjavik is selected with this song to Söngvakeppnin, the Icelandic national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. They won the Best Live Band Grapevine Music Awards 2017.

The Lovers of Valdaro - "Lost Forever"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Sweden - 2018

We presented this Swedish duo on gay Music Chart 2018 week 33. They won with this song the P4 Nästa 2018, and can now participate to the Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They must submit a new song for it.

Duncan Laurence - "I Miss You" (demo)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

The Netherlands - 2019

The former contestant of The Voice Holland has come out as bisexual. He will represent his country to the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, but not with song, which will be revealed later.

Netta - "Bassa Sababa"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Israel - 2019

This is her first single her victory at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, still composed by Stav Beger.

Harel Skaat הראל סקעת - "Honestly" 【בחיי"】

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Israel - 2018

Sebastian Walldén - "Everything" (Live @ Idol Sverige 2018 Finale)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Sweden - 2018

He's the first openly gay contestant winning the Swedish version of Idol.

Andrea Di Giovanni - "Forbidden Love"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Italy - 2019

The Italian singer based in the UK wants with this song to keep up the talk about the new purge against LGBT in Chechnya.

Brandon Stansell - "Hometown"

W: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018 - from the album "Slow Down"

This song is kind of a representation of his coming out story, with his family who didn’t respond very well. It was named one of the TOP 10 COUNTRY MUSIC VIDEOS of 2018 by Rolling Stone.

Sam Tsui - "Carousel"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019 - from the album "Trust"

Sam Fender - "Dead Boys"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

UK - 2018 - from the EP "Dead Boys"

Andy Allo - "Angels Make Love"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Cameroun / USA - 2019

Lauren Ruth Ward - "Valhalla"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

Erik Altemus - "Desidero"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019 - from the EP "DESIDERATUM"

Bobby Newberry - "Chance"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

Kim Boekbinder - "Fractal"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Canada - 2018 - from the album "NoiseWitch"

Scotty Dynamo feat. Alina Renae - "I Could Be Your Trainer"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Canada - 2018

Nathan Ramos - "Gay Asian Country Love Song"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

Marck Angel - "Wings"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

Tom Goss - "Round In All The Right Places"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

His ode to round men.

Liam Benzvi - "The Morning"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019 - from the EP "Amnesia, USA"

Naomi Smalls - "Pose"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

AJA - "I'm Kawaii / Ayo Sis"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Canada - 2018 - from the EP "In My Feelings"

Soju (소주) feat. Edward Avila - "K-Pop Idol Reject"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

Manila Luzon - "Go Fish"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019 - from the album "Rules"

Trinity The Tuck - "The Face The Body"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

Willam Belli - "Oral"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2019

You must go to patreon.com/willam to watch the "uncut" version.

Maci Sumcox - "Dildo" ("Fernando" Parody)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

UK - 2019

Kameron Michaels Dance Video - "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

USA - 2018

Kika Boom & Danny Bond - "Loka de Pinga"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Enme feat Butantan - "Sarrar" [Brunoso Mix]

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2018

Armário de Saia - "Você Não Colabora"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Juan Guiã - "Libera a Raba"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019 - from the EP "Também Sou Feito de Infernos"

Lindsey Martinez - "Joga No Movimento"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2019

Agustín Malandra - "Ra"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Argentina - 2019

Miranda! - "La Colisión"

W: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Argentina - 2018

Sailorfag - "Amiga Date Cuenta"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Mexico - 2018 - from the album "Sailorfag"

Vishal Dadlani, Shannon Donald - "Good Morning'

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

India - 2019 - from the OST "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga"

This Bollywood lesbian romance is the story of a man, played by Rajkummar, who fell in love with a girl, played by Sonam. Her family is looking for a suitable match for her and while there are several good options, she isn’t ready to say yes to any of them. She says she has a secret, something that causes her parents to turn against her.

If Our Love is Wrong | TJj & Cyrus (fan video by crankyjones)

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

The heartbreaking power ballad from Calum Scott became very popular, even if it hasn't been released as a single. Several fan and slash videos use this song to ship a gay couple on YouTube, as this example from TV series Andi Mack.

Calum Scott - "If Our Love is Wrong"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

UK - 2018 - from the album "Only Human"

Liniker - "Preciso Me Encontrar"

LW: - / WO: - / PEAK: -

Brazil - 2018 - from the OST "3%"

"3%" is the first science fiction series developped by Netflix.

#Gay Music Chart #LGBT music #2019 week 05

1 note · View note

tumblunni · 6 years ago

Photo

Reading the kingdom hearts manga, woo! I saw some of this when I was like 15 or something, but this is my first time reading the whole thing in actual order. Here’s just a few good bits from the beginning so far!

I’ve gotta say that even though this series has a (REALLY BIG) problem with rushing stuff + cutting out most of the disney worlds, there’s also a lot to love!

I think it actually managed to make the beginning way more dramatic just from how everyone is..well.. drawn more disney. Or more manga..disney?? Like its not the same style as how humans are atcually drawn in disney cartoons but you’ve gotta agree that the people are more cartoony and expressionate here and it looks less out of place. Same for how the manga adds lots more humour even while keeping things tense and dramatic! it helps establish people’s personalities a lot quicker than the game does, and honestly GIVES perosnality to Sora who otherwise doesnt have anything except ‘is really nice and good’. Here he’s more socially awkward and hyperactive and like.. endearing cos he tries his best but doesnt always succeed.

And the clear facial expressions for all of these moments leave it feeling less flat and like.. hard to tell what the damn intent of the scene was. Seirously the only way I agree KH1 was ‘a kids game’ is how the attempts at ‘humour’ were really low effort. Like you can tell its supposed to be a joke from how the scene plays out but you really cant tell what the joke was actually supposed to be. Like the sort of “knock knock” “who’s there?” “i’m here!” jokes that kids make when they’re five. And ruining actual jokes by delivering them in the same stilted way, like the whole “the ship runs on smiles” scene could have been funny but it just plays out so weirdly devoid of all sense of comic timing?? And sora’s funny face is barely exaggerated cos they couldnt model it!

It sucks cos that scene was a great example of the ‘very wacky but also extra emotionally resonant’ kind of thing that this manga excels at! The context of that weird joke was that its the first time we see Sora completely devoid of all optimism, beating Traverse Town really is the finishing point of the very long tutorial, and the moment it all sinks in that his friends are gone and he doesnt know what to do. And for a guy who’se ENTIRE PERSONALITY so far has just been ‘nice, optimistic, and you the player can project whatever else you want on him’, it should have been a wham moment to see him fall down in exhaustion after all that and have a realistic human reaction to it all. And then it should have been really uplifting and established their immediate friendship when Goofy and Donald try their best to cheer him up, but like.. theyre fuckin stressed too so they dont know wtf they’re doing either. And Sora ends up actually laughing because his attempt to fake a smile is so god awful, and then they all fall about in one of those so-damn-stressed-that-everything-is-hilarious giggle fits, and Leon looks at them like they’re crazy. But it served its purpose of helping Sora feel optimistic again, not because it was actually funny but because it proves these guys care about him and he isn’t alone.

AKA EXACTLY THE TIDUS LAUGH SCENE IN FINAL FANTASY 10

i get so mad that it’s falsely blamed as a case of ‘bad dub voice acting’, when it was equally bad in japanese and the director fuckin PLANNED it to be bad! The characters in-universe end the damn scene by aknowledging its bad! Its just a fail of scriptwriting that they didnt make the intent of the moment clear before dropping the punchline, and it was animated so weirdly that it didnt really succeed at looking ‘intentionally bad’ but just.. bad. Exactly the same problem as the ‘ship of smiles’ face, for a scene that was supposed to deliver the same sad goddamn moment and instead went down in infamy!

Sneaking character development into a joke is a thing that requires a lot of actual skill, you shouldnt do it unless you’re gonna put the effort in to stick the landing. Steven Universe is the only show I’ve seen that consistantly succeeds at this, and the KH manga does a much better job than the game did. Even if, yes, admittedly, sometimes it flubs up and sticks jokes where they dont work, and actually ruins dramatic moments too. or just doesnt adapt dramatic moments at all and rushes through it cos they’re on a tight schedule. But I mean none of those moments fail as bad as the game’s occasional cringe, and the wacky style fits SO much better with the story that i can forgive those flaws! Plus they got way better as the series goes on, its only really KH1 that seems this rushed. And they actually added MORE dramatic moments to Days! I stopped reading the manga at the end of KH1 as a kid, and I started this whole rereading because I saw a page of Days where they (OH GODDD) turned one particular perosn’s death into legit traumatizing material. I don’t know why “I don't want to go” is such a simple way to burn your entire soul out. So if it started off good but flawed and turned into something even better than the games, HECK YEAH I’m gonna give it a second chance!

...sorry i went wildly offtopic there

Anyway I picked these pages to show cos its a good example of great jokes, how the jokes give more personality, and how they put more effort into personality in general and also the dark and dramatic stuff, which hits harder because its in such a fluffy adorable jokes manga.

Like you can see how Sora is more of a goofball and freaks out more and makes mistakes more, but also how when the fights arent playable they used it as a place to establish that Sora is actually way more intelligent than you thought, and his fighting style is physically weak but strategically skilled. Like he’s basically what Aqua ended up being?? And that’s way more endearing as a protagonist than just super overpowered destiny man where his only failures are because you the player are bad. Anf its also endearing to mix this genius strategist with a guy who’s EVEN MORE goofy oblivious and innocent, yknow? the genius ditz archetype! And also his cliche shonen hero obliviousness is.. well, less cliche. He reacts more like a real kid who’s just scared and out of his depth, and messes up when he tries to talk to the girl he has a crush on. It’s not like “harr dee harr, what is marriage, can you eat it?” unrealistic kinds of oblivious that only exist for the joke. Nah, relateable anxiety man! With goofier faces! I CANNOT OVERSTATE HOW MUCH I PREFER THE GOOFIER FACES

And man the beginning is so more fuckin dramatic when we get all DIFFERENT CAMERA ANGLES and ACTUAL FACES SHOWING DESPAIR and DARKNESS POSSESSED RIKU LOOKIN REALLY FUCKIN SCARY and it fuckin goes so fast from wholesome jokes with ur crush to ABSOLUTE DEATH and cos sora reacts so much more like a normal lil kid you feel actually scared for him even though you know how the story is gonna go. He’s not an archetype of purity he’s just like any lil neighbourhood duderino that you’d see running errands for his mom on the weekend. HE’S TOO YOUNG FOR ALL THIS PRESSURE!! AND SCARY RIKU FACES!!!

And man they fuckin ACTUALLY SHOW SOMEONE GETTING THEIR HEART RIPPED OUT ONSCREEN! Thats a way better way of establishing the whole crux of the plot! When you’re playing the game you know that seeing someone turn into a heartless should be traumatic, but it doesnt focus long on it and you never get to see any of the victims before they turned, and you’re more focused on gameplay. You feel less powerless when you’re physically able to destroy those things whenever you want, there’s never a moment like this where someone dies in a cutscene and its out of your control. (Unless you count some heroic sacrifice scenes in kh2 but thats an entirely different kind of feeling, and they turned out to come back from the dead anyway.) Also wtf i cant believe they got away with showing a creepy pedo lady in a kids shonen! I mean it does make me feel a lot less sympathy for her getting killed, but I still feel super sad seeing Sora get traumatized by it!

ALSO

Cid is good.

The way they write him in the manga reminds me of Bardo from Black Butler? He’s a similar chain smoking grumpy dad figure who looks like harmless comic releif but has a bunch of hidden heavy artillery in his shitty kitchen for when he needs to protect his family. And it was extra badass (and hilarious) when he once actually used his bad cooking to assassinate someone?? tho it was via causing a flour explosion rather than it just being so shitty its poison

ANYWAY IM GOING OFFTOPIC IN MANY WAYS

this mang is gud

also lookit how cute the baby destiny trio look in this style!!!

#bunni reads khmanga #I LOVE COMIC BOOK SORA'S COMIC BOOK FACE #I WANNA SQUSH EM CHEEKS #YOU HAVE ACTUAL FACES NOW!! MY BOY HAS FACES!!!

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cerastes · 8 years ago

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Since you're well-versed in all sortsa mythology, do you have any favourite moments from the Song of the Nibelungs aka man dies from leaf stuck on his back?

YES, I DO, AND IT’S CALLED “KRIEMHILD FURIOUSLY WINS IRON CHEF”. ALLOW ME TO ELABORATE. Now, I’ve said this before, but the Nibelungenlied is what hooked me into mythology in the first place, so it has a special place in my heart, and I just love it so much, so I gotta give an overview that I will accentuate with the grand finale of my favorite moment, when Kriemhild wins Cutthroat Kitchen.

Ok, so what most people know from cultural osmosis is that the Nibelungenlied deals with Siegfried Sigmundson/Sigurd and how he kills the shit out of Fafnir and bathes in his blood and a leaf fucks him up in the long term, we know that. What a decent amount of people also know is that there’s this really hot valkyrie named Brynhildr and that Siegfried had a Balmung in his pocket for her. There’s a couple of versions of how the developments go, but the gist of it is that King Gunther’s sister, Kriemhild, also known by her earlier name, Gudrun, is in love with Siegfried, but Siegfried doesn’t give a damn about Gud because he just wants to carefully cultivate that valkyrie poontang with his dragonoid broadsword, which poses A PROBLEM because Gunther also lusts for the shieldmaiden.

At one point, Odin tasked Brynhildr to shift the tide of battle in favor of one of two kings that were warring with each other, and Odin clearly preferred one of the kings, and sort of assumed Brynhildr would pick the one he wanted. She goes and doesn’t because No One Controls The Bryn.

This obviously pissed off Odin, however, which is a POOR DECISION, and Brynhildr got slam dunked in the Time Out Corner by Odin because she had been very very naughty, and by time out, I mean he trapped her in a castle in the middle of fucking nowhere that was surrounded by a massive wall of shields, and INSIDE THE CASTLE, she was surrounded by a ring of deadly fire. Odin was kinda thorough with these kinds of silly punishments. Siegfried is like “THIS IS MY TIME TO SCORE BROWNIE POINTS” and rode right into that bitch and he didn’t give a shit because he’s fucking Siegfried,so he gets there and beats the crap out of the shields and disregards the fire and, like the romantic stud he is, does this all Very Quietly so as to not disturb the sleeping Brynhildr. Get you a man like this. He approaches her and removes her helmet and cuts open her chain mail, liberating her from Odin’s imprisonment. They fall in love like the warriors they are and get very very cute with each other. Up until here, this is all fine and dandy, but THEN, UNBEKNOWNST TO SUMANAI, HE REALLY FUCKS UP when he gives Brynhildr the Ring of Andvaranaut as a sign of his love.

OK, NOW WE GET TO THE PART THAT a lot of people don’t know too much: THE RING IS BAD JUJU. The Ring of Andvaranaut is triple cursed and a terrible possession to have. Now, the ring is magical, possessed with the ability to make gold, no questions asked. If you have the ring, you are set for life. However, and this is the part everyone was waiting for, LOKI FUCKED IT UP. YES SIR, LOKI IS ALSO INVOLVED IN THIS ONE. See, Loki tricked the original owner of the Ring, Andvari, into giving him the ring. Enraged, Andvari cursed the ring, so now the ring, sure, it makes gold, but it also bring destruction and misery to whoever owns it, so Loki yelled “zoinks!” and got rid of that mamajama real fast by dumping it into some sucker who happened to be The Literal Fucking King of the Dwarves as an apology for other irrelevant things Loki did before, and that king died when his son, a fellow we are all familiar with named Fafnir, bewitched by the ring’s potential, murdered him and stole the ring from his idiot corpse. This is generally what happens when one deals with Loki. Anyways, Fafnir turned into a dragon and fucked off to a cave, where he kept using the ring to make more and more treasure, which he guarded. Siegfried then kicks his ass and that’s how he came to possess the ring.

ANYWAYS, you now know how absolutely cursed that ring is and you can probably tell where this is going: To the dumpster in a silk ribbon. Siegfried declares his love for Brynhildr and the two arrange to marry, and he says he’ll be back to fetch her, since he had to do some shit at the court of Gjuki, the King of Burgundy and the father of Gunther and Kriemhild, and this is where it gets fuckin’ nasty.

Kriemhild’s mom, Grimhild (HER NAME LITERALLY MEANS “MASKED BATTLE” IMAGINE BEING THIS BADASS) concocted an amnesia potion that made Siegfried forget about Brynhildr. Siegfried then was courted by Kriemhild, fell in love, and they both married. Also, remember than Gunther, Kriem’s brother and Grim’s son, was in love with Bryn, so she sent him to go get Brynhildr. THE PROBLEM: Gunther sux and couldn’t get past the ring of fire. Gunther was like “lag” and “siegfried give me your horse, mine sucks”, and Sieg is like sure bro here’s the keys, and he tries again and PIN PON PUN HE FAILS AGAIN because it’s not a horse issue, he just was terrible at platforming. Siegfried is like “UGH DUDE YOU SUCK PASS ME THE CONTROLLER”, fucking shapeshifts into Gunther, GETS there, courts Brynhildr as Gunther, and then they spent three days drowning in passionate, delicious valkyrie sex, BUT he didn’t take her virginity, because “he laid his sword between them”. In Norse mythos, this is a weird ass phrase that basically means “Siegfried used a Super Condom and the sex didn’t count as far as her virginity is concerned” and we just have to accept it. WHATEVER. Oh, right, in the middle of The Sex, Siegfried retrieved his Bad Ring.

So, he comes back, returns to his true form, and marries Kriemhild and Brynhildr (still a bit confused but otherwise truly in love with Gunther) marries Gunther. Now, say what you will about Grimhild and her morally bankrupt methods, but that is one mom that gets what her kids want, alright, holy SHIT.

And then shit hits the fan. Kriemhild and Brynhildr Did Not Get Along Well, and they often argued about My Husband Can Beat YOUR Husband. So one day, they are doing their bit, and Bryn says “WELL MINE RODE THROUGH THE RING OF FIRE AND GAVE ME THREE DAYS OF AWESOME SEX”, and Kriemhild laughed and said “um, sweaty ;) that was siegfried” and Bryn was like YOU WHAT, and hearing this Jousted Siegfried’s Memories, causing them to return and realizing He Had Been Had. He tried to console Brynhildr (also remembering he was deeply in love with her) but Bryn was having none of this shit. Bryn goes nucking futs (UNDERSTANDABLY) and gets Gunther to become enraged with Siegfried by telling him that Sieg took her virginity in the tower (which he didn’t, remember the Super Condom) and this Got Him Real Mad. Basically, Bryn-san wanted Siegfried DEAD. And DEAD she got him, because Gunther got so pissed that he went and– Wait, no he didn’t, because 1) Siegfried is fucking invincible and 2) Siegfried is basically his BFF and he swore an oath of brotherhood with him, which he couldn’t bear to break. He was still mad though, so he got his younger brother, fed him a potion of fury (they had potions of fucking everything in Germany) and, in his berserk rage, Little Bro went and killed Siegfried in his sleep. Before dying, however, Siegfried threw his sword and killed Little Bro, because fuck you, The Sieg doesn’t go down without a fight.

SO SIEG’S DEAD, and this gets Kriemhild so damn sad that she became emotionally stunted. Brynhildr, on the other hand, apparently hadn’t had enough, so she grabbed Sieg’s three year old by the neck and fucking killed him too. It wasn’t until Kriem saw Sieg’s corpse with her very eyes that she got out of her emotional stupor and cried her eyes out. Reminder: Kriemhild herself had no hand in any of this. Grimhild, her mom, did all the shady deals, which Kriemhild had no clue about. Yikes.

When the day of Siegfried’s funeral comes and his funeral pyre is lit, Brynhildr threw herself to the flames, burning to death alongside the man she truly loved and leaving her mark as one of the first yandere in the history of romantic fuck ups.

So fucking everyone’s dead now and Kriemhild is just confused, like, exactly what happened here? Well, she finds out, and KRIEMHILD GETS FUCKING MAD. Kriemhild was not Evil like her grim mom, but she could be mean as fuck too, and the first thing she did was predict the death of her brother, Gunther, for having had a hand in this. She tells him and then leaves, leaving him afraid of his destiny until it comes fetch him, for fear, my friend, is ultimately the strongest weapon of all, and like poison, it kills on its own. Formidable is the weapon that kills on its own. Unlike Brynhildr’s “direct action” style, Kriemhild was more of a believer of the “I want to see you suffer, for death need not come all at once” school of thought.

Kriem leaves and eventually marries King Atli, AKA Attila the Hun. So you might think “WOW SCORE!”, well, see, no. King Atli, based on Attila the Hun, was Brynhildr’s brother, and Grimhild told Kriem to marry him, and Kriem REALLY DIDN’T WANT TO, because she knew it would end in Bad Juju (Kriem had a lot of prophetic dreams), but she ends up doing so anyways. Atli kills her whole family, Grimhild included. Yikes.

And see, there’s this thing in us humans, this thing that we don’t quite get it until we experience it, but once we do, it changes our lives: It’s called reaching the breaking point. Kriemhild Reached The Breaking Fucking Point.

Enough is enough. She was done with losing, she was done with having every shred of happiness she could muster be torn away from her, she was done with always being out of loop, yet still having to bear the brunt, the burn, the misery, the consequences from the plans of others.

Enough is enough.

Kriemhild dons the frilliest, pinkest, cutest apron in the world, murders Atli’s two sons, mutilates them, and makes them food. During a feast, Kriemhild served an unaware Atli his two sons and gets him shitfaced with ale. Once he’s super drunk and super full, Kriemhild interrupts the feast, saying:

Thou giver of swords, / of thy sons the heartsAll heavy with blood / in honey thou hast eaten;Thou shalt stomach, thou hero, / the flesh of the slain,To eat at thy feast, / and to send to thy followers.Thou shalt never call / to thy knees againErp or Eitil, / when merry with ale;Thou shalt never see / in their seats againThe sharers of gold / their lances shaping,Clipping the manes / or minding their steeds.

Translation: YOU JUST ATE YOUR SONS, SHITLIPS.

Kriemhild then sets fire to the hall, which she had coated with alcohol beforehand, and kills Atli and all of his men, leaving the burning disaster behind her and disappearing.

Moral of the story: Family is cool but keep them in the loop or shit happens and then Attila the Hun burns to death after eating his children.

#crystalblueisintheair #KRIEMHILD IS COOL AS HELL #SHE DESERVED BETTER

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thesoulzofhades · 8 years ago

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I beat Ailing Loran’s Blood-Starved Beast on my first attempt, today. I was expecting a lot of “YOU DIED” moments (like I had a few months ago on this) and almost had one, but I kept my cool.

Although I didn’t use the Chikage in this battle, it’s gotten me use to fighting with draining HP, so being Slow Poisoned is no different.

I think that “Git Gud” post I reblogged last night, gave me luck... LOL!

Next boss... Abhorrent Beast!

#Bloodborne #My Screenshot #Ailing Loran #Chalice Dungeons

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terryblount · 5 years ago

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Code Vein – Review

If you are reading this, chances are that you have played Dark Souls, or at least know about FromSoftware’s legendary series. How could you avoid it, really? Throughout three incarnations Dark Souls produced an experience so revolutionary that it carved out an entire sub-genre of action RPG’s. Nothing says you’ve shaken things up like having a suffix attached to your game’s name: Souls-like.

However, something unexpected happened on the 22nd of March. The gaming community could once again bask in the brilliance of Hidetaka Miyzaki’s design philosophy, but it was Seikiro and not Dark Souls 4 that landed on shelves. Seikiro looked, played, sounded and felt like Dark Souls, and rumour told that it even tasted the same if you licked your monitor.

Still, many felt something was missing. Many longed for the days when they could once again light bonfires amidst the ruins of a godforsaken castle. Their withdrawal symptoms did not go unnoticed by publishers eager to capitalise on the Dark Souls-shaped hole in our Steam libraries (that even the re-release of Dark Souls couldn’t really fill).

This is Io, one of the central characters in the plot. You can unlock new levels in your blood code by bringing her artifacts.

Some interesting attempts have therefore crawled out of the woodwork in recent times. There was an Irishman fighting Yokai in Japan, dudes in exo-suits wielding chainsaws on polearms, and even a game where developers couldn’t be bothered to give their characters faces. Now we have Code Vein, the latest game that looks at all the Souls clones and says: “Step aside folks! Let anime show you how its done.”

If you can’t beat ‘em… use a bigger sword?

It is seriously difficult to review Code Vein and not make it sound like I am writing about a FromSoftware game. Bandai Namco even used the catchphrase from Dark Souls “Prepare to die” and changed it to “Prepare to dine,” so you have an idea just how eagerly this game borrows from its pedigree.

As it turns out, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The characters in Code Vein also exhibit that same, floaty movement. There is a heavy focus on stats and the maintenance of your stamina bar. Enemies will likewise attack based on proximity triggers. The bonfires have now been replaced with ‘mistle’. The twisty, curvy paths are designed to curve in on themselves…

I could do this all day. Frankly, I almost got disappointed when I didn’t see the words “YOU DEFEATED” every time I destroyed a boss, and no “YOU DIED” when the last dregs of my health bar left the screen.

That’s the guy I made! They wear gas masks due to a poisonous miasma that has spread everywhere in the apocalypse.

However, there is something unashamed and deliberate about this ride on Miyazaki’s coattails because it is precisely in moments when Code Vein is most loyal to the Souls formula that the experience is at its best. The devs have replicated the FromSoftware formula with surprising accuracy, and as such, Code Vein feels more like a homage to the genre rather than a money-snatching knockoff disguised in anime.

As you would expect, this is a game that wants to make you feel vulnerable. Like the majority of its cousins, the gameplay involves exploring an extremely hostile, open world with environments that carry a persistent sense of death and destruction. Danger is everywhere, with enemies around every turn that can disintegrate the player in one or two swift swipes.

Why on earth go outside then? Well, this is all in pursuit of a central currency in this game called ‘Haze’ (which is Code Vein for ‘Souls’). Haze gets you the good stuff which could be anything from sword upgrades, maximising the efficiency of spells and leveling up.

My favourite weapon. You also get ranged bayonets to shoot from a distance.

As you’d expect the game will snatch all that Haze away from you if you die, but at least they will be floating patiently at the last spot you kicked the bucket. Make sure you do not die on the way to retrieve them though, as you will instantly loose all that sweet moola FOREVER… and ever… and ever…

Bloody good and bloody awful

One of the areas where Code Vein’s gameplay is perhaps superior to other entries in this genre is the emphasis on flexibility. When you look at the stats screen for your character, the abundance of numbers makes you feel like accidentally walking into a seminar on theoretical physics.

All of those stats are there for the player to manipulate as they see fit in order to turn themselves into their own best version of a vampiric fighting machine. You have access to a really staggering array of offensive perks and buffs which you can manipulate with numerous weapons, spells, armour (‘Blood Veils’), special items or by altering your entire character class (Blood Code) on the fly.

Basic stats screen. The icons on the left are all the different blood codes you can collect which change the gameplay in subtle yet perceptible ways.

The combat may be rather clumsy and the levels often smack of being designed so that enemies can jump out from behind objects, or drop from the ceiling at the player. However, using this impressive arrangement of variables, perks and play styles always made the combat so damn interesting.

It really surprised me how soon I could be turned into chopped liver being dependent on one particular character build, only to emerge victorious by swapping around a few things. In this way, the gameplay always felt like it presented a consistent difficulty and that I was being pushed to play smarter rather than easier.

This customization even stretches to your companion, which is perhaps one of Code Vein’s biggest idiosyncrasies. For players that prefer a little companionship while they slaughter, you have the option to to string along a constant co-op partner to bully monsters. You get to choose your partner in case you prefer more help with spells, or if you would like an extra sword beside you.

Okay, you got me. For all the complexity to be found in the character builds, Code Vein does not quite match this with the same levels of sadistic difficulty as Souls games. For veteran players, I would advise tapering your expectations. To the working gamer struggling to find time to git gud at a single game, the more forgiving difficulty might be far less jarring.

I have been putting off discussing the central plot in Code Vein because I still don’t really get what the hell is going on here even after Steam has just ticked over to 26 hours. Something about the miasma causing people to die who were brought back to life by viruses, and then trees stopped giving off blood beads because of the zombies everywhere, so the strong vampires enslaved the weak ones, and then the humans became enslaved. Your character can make the trees bleed again because they are all connected by arteries underground and your job is to kill the queen vampire… wait what??

I am no stranger to the convoluted narratives of anime, but in Code Vein I had no idea what my character was supposed to be involved in. This is because of the game’s tendency to overload you with plot details at every chance, which didn’t so much build up the lore as making me feel lost.

Also, many female characters like Io sport excellent boobs (more on that below!) so I was… uhm… a little distracted perhaps when they were discussing important plot points. Naughty Pieter!

Yet another visual triumph

The Unreal Engine 4 is now officially my favourite game engine of all time. Every single title I have played over the last year looks freakin’ awesome on this platform, and Code Vein firmly joins the ranks.

While the enemy designs feel awfully generic, this is definitely the most colourful and flashy game I have ever played in this genre. It is a refreshing change from the washed out greys and browns we have been inundated with in Soulsborne games.

The frantic particle effects are one of several layers of icing on the game’s visual design, and there are also some striking animations for finishing moves as well. However, the biggest award in aesthetics must go to Code Vein’s character creator.

Dramatic and beautiful

As noted by Jim Sterling, the greatest achievement by Code Vein is the fact that players have been given customisation options to rival even The Sims, and Bandai Namco have not asked for a single cent extra in microtransactions. Whether you want to spend hours making your perfect waifu, or trying to recreate the leading characters of your favourite anime, chances are you will have a blast with all the options available here.

Better than when my sister asked me to play Barbie with her.

I have been reading quite a few objections to the opulent cleavage in this game, but I kind of like it because it takes me back to when anime games were allowed to be sexy. Rather than seeing this as rampant sexism, it is nice to see a game being a little more daring in terms of depicting sexuality.

This kind of audacity is just rare in games nowadays, and I prefer to see this as the game affirming it is not for kids. If anything, this just shows I am an aging gamer from a bygone era. If you are offended, don’t worry: we are a dwindling breed.

Stories around the bonfires

Whenever you have a genre that begins filling up with copycats, it always makes the whole thing feel like a fad the industry needs to get over. This is particularly the case with battle royal games where it seems like studios are more eager to stick a finger in the pie made of money rather than taking risks with their own ideas. The market is more competitive than ever, yes, but even highly-populated scenes should still reward originality, right?

Made you look…

I almost do not want to like Code Vein as such. For all its visual fanfare, Code Vein is far from original in its basic formula which makes it hard to recommend for veterans of this genre. If you play this stuff all the time, I cannot guarantee that this game will not just end up feeling like more of the same once the novelty wears off.

Then again, it is precisely Code Vein’s surprisingly meticulous adherence to the blueprints of FromSoftware that may appeal to you, and it is what I liked most about it. There is a rock-solid Soulsborne experience lying underneath all the anime hullabaloo, and the versatility in the gameplay makes this game an excellent point of entry for the newbies and pro’s alike.

Diverse character builds

Gorgeous visuals

Amazing character creator

True Souls-like title

Bland enemy design

Convoluted narrative

Information overload

Playtime: 26 hours total. Includes substantial amount of… uhm… dying

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox One Controller

The post Code Vein – Review appeared first on DSOGaming.

Code Vein – Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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wionews · 7 years ago

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Opinion: Manju fights to change the script

"The day I was born, my father tried to bury me alive," Manju Singh tells me. "The moment he knew he'd had a daughter, he charged into the windowless room in which my mother had delivered me and started digging a hole in the mud floor. The umbilical cord had just been cut. My maternal grandmother scooped me up and fled."

Sitting before a wood stove in her outdoor kitchen in Haryana, Singh is cooking breakfast. It's winter, around dawn, and the 35-year-old mother of two speaks in a matter-of-fact tone, not allowing her narrative to interrupt the rapid motion of her rolling pin. The year is 2012 and there's bad news from India’s just-published Census report: the number of girls born, compared to boys, has fallen drastically between 2001 and 2011– from 927 to 919.

‘That I lived is nothing short of a miracle,’ Manju says while cooking on a wood stove (Others)

"That I lived is nothing short of a miracle," Manju continues. "My mother had to fight hard to keep me alive. Even while I was growing up my father tried several times to kill me. He'd beat me to pulp. But somehow, I lived through it all. I was just that stubborn." She laughs.

For generations, no girl child in Singh’s family in Sadikpur village had been allowed to live. When she was 10, Manju’s father told her that he had watched his sister being buried alive by his father. Killing new-born female progeny was a family ‘tradition’. The strictly ‘sons only’ policy was implemented ruthlessly.

A milestone on the way to Manju’s village, Sadikpur (Others)

What happened in Singh's family over generations was not an isolated instance. Female infanticide – an unfortunate confluence of culture and economics – was practiced in some parts of India for centuries. The methods varied from region to region, but all were equally macabre – feeding the baby grain husk to slit her windpipe, a morsel of rice to choke her, tobacco juice to poison her. Strangulation, starvation, overfeeding, and the fate Manju escaped – being buried alive – were also common.

These methods are now rare, though not entirely absent. In 2014, according to National Crime Records Bureau data, 121 cases of infanticide were reported in the country. But female infanticide in India was once widespread enough to necessitate a law against it: the Female Infanticide Prevention Act of 1970. It only succeeded in making the killers more furtive, their crimes harder to detect.

What did nearly eradicate infanticide was ultrasound, a technology that came to India in the late 1980s. With ultrasound imaging techniques, parents could identify the gender of their child in the womb. Identification services combined with sex-selective abortions at affordable prices mushroomed all over India. Though the practice of infanticide declined, many more girls actually died.

In 1994, India passed the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Techniques Act to prohibit sex determination during ultrasound. But the Act, as well as an amendment passed in 2003, have been ineffective: India's ratio of young girls to young boys has slid lower every decade.

Manju is trying to counter this in her corner of Haryana. Breakfast cooked, she is now vigorously working the hand-pump in the courtyard to fill water for her family for the day. She tells me about the traditional rituals that accompanied infanticide in different parts of India:

"In the state of Rajasthan a popular song urges the daughter not to return to this land. They used to sing that after killing the infant. And in Punjab they would place the girl alive in an earthen pot with a lump of jaggery, some gram and raw cotton yarn. Then they buried the pot while chanting ‘Gud khaanyi, punni katti. Aap na aayi, veerey nu kalli' [Eat this jaggery, spin this cotton. Don't come back. The next time, send your brother instead]’."

Manju’s kids and husband: ‘I love my son too, but my daughter is special' (Others)

Manju explains: "Gram and jaggery are symbols of celebrating a boy child. And the cotton yarn is what a sister ties on her brother's wrist to ask for his protection. These male symbols are meant to invoke a son."

Singh is a health and gender rights advocate in her community in Ambala district; she works (at the time of our meeting) with the Voluntary Health Association of Punjab. She educates village women about preventing the crime her father tried to commit. "I understand women’s concerns, the pressures they face. I never preach to them; I try to befriend them. That's the only way to make change happen," she says as she winds up her household chores and steps out for the day.

Our first stop is a village meeting. A crowd of women has gathered and a raucous debate is underway. The topic of discussion is the relative ‘merits’ of sons and daughters. Many women give various reasons for their preference: "Daughters are expensive to bring up. We need to spend on their dowries;" "Sons earn money, they bring dowries. Daughters only take from their families;" "A daughter gets married and goes away but a son is always there to look after you;" "Raising a daughter is like watering a tree in your neighbour's garden."

Addressing a meeting, discussing the relative ‘merits’ of sons and daughters (Others)

Then a middle-aged woman at the back of the crowd pipes up in a robust tone: "All of you who want only sons, can you tell me who will make the babies? Can men give birth to children? We need girls too. Girls are great! Ask me, I have two daughters." The air becomes thick with cheers.

But the truth is, there is little cause for cheer. According to Census 2011 data, Haryana has only 834 girls for every 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age group. There aren't enough girls in the state for young men to marry. Entire villages in Haryana are now devoid of brides. Bachelors are desperate, trying everything from propitiating the gods to buying brides from other states and arm-twisting local politicians to get them brides in exchange for votes.

Says Singh, "When I got married I learned about sex-selective abortion. It was all around me. It was happening in practically every home. Women were under immense pressure to do it. Many of them were undergoing five, six, even 10 abortions in the quest for a son. It's physical and mental torture. I felt very strongly that I should work with women to try and stop this killing... It was a calling from deep within.

According to Census 2011 data, Haryana has only 834 girls for every 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age group (Others)

"Even medicine can become a poison if not used correctly," Singh tells me. "Ultrasound technology was supposed to be used to improve the health of mothers and babies. But society has used it as a killing tool. People are complicit. So are doctors. It's illegal to reveal the sex of the child and sex-selective abortion is illegal too. But it happens all the time, clinics do this everywhere. And it's so much easier compared to infanticide that people feel it is okay."

At the end of a day of trudging from village to village, addressing meetings, gathering data, chatting with pregnant women, and talking to young mothers who've just given birth to female children, it's time for Manju to head home. The sun is setting and there's a cold wind blowing. Her daughter is back from school and busy preparing for her mother's arrival. Steaming cups of tea and biscuits await us.

A cold wind is blowing on the way back to Sadikpur that evening; at Manju’s home, her daughter awaits us with steaming cups of tea (Others)

Ruffling her daughter's hair, Singh praises her effort and then turns to me and asks, "Do you have a daughter?" "Yes," I answer. "Then," she says, "you'll know what I mean when I say that they are precious. When I was pregnant for the first time, I prayed for a girl. And god heard me. I love my son too, but my daughter is special."

This article was originally published on 22/03/2016 on the People's Archive of Rural India.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

Image Credit: Svati Chakravarty

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