#dont fall into the trap of meta chasing

[machinedramon]

something for new players to monster hunter from an og veteran I want to stress since there's gonna be a million tier lists and meta builds coming out:

there is no such thing as bad weapons, only weapons you're bad at

if a weapon ppl think is "shit" is your favorite just keep playing the way that is fun for you. so many of those tierlists are just the creator telling on themselves about their skill level, or only relevant to the specific way they play and enjoy the game. not everyone is after the same thing in monster hunter.

there is no wrong way to play monster hunter. there is no one correct way to play monster hunter. if you're having fun, that's the right way to play. and whatever weapon is your personal favorite is "the best".

theres a reason the team's sign-off is "happy hunting!" go hunt and be happy.

[kiawren]

Heyy it's been a while I went off tumblr to focus on studying (although I barely am) but I was still plagued with kiawren thoughts..

Ugh I should have slept instead of writing this but I've been listening to pierce the veil and this AU is on my mind. I have like one post here tagged #suneater!kiawren for it but here's what it is basically: kiawe and wren as ace and yamato from one piece respectively. Wren has the Tiangou devil fruit and kiawe obviously has the flame flame fruit. Which for non one piece ppl means they have those powers. And if you've got a zoan fruit you're a furry basically (For mythical zoans like the Tiangou (a tiangou fruit is not in canon btw, but yamato has a similar mythical dog fruit) honestly have whatever the fuck powers you could just go ham with the lore to give them some op in universe power (idk this is from I've watched so far) so Wren can turn into a dog and also eat the sun or whatever I don't car I'm just writing that for kiawren don't care about the meta

Anyway so wren falls in love with kiawe in this AU. And in one piece I think yamato and ace only actually spent one night together? I think they loved each other though, maybe not necessarily romantic. And maybe it was more yamato. And I relate to that one sided desire to be near someone. Anywayyy Yamato is chained to an island and trapped, I didnt specify that wren is similarly chained but he also has certain ambitions he can't reach yet. And kiawe reminds him of those ambitions. And how it may be possible to reach them. And he wants to go with him. Obviously also reflecting irl me LOL ok. One piece spoilers here...

Ace dies so maybe kiawe does too iddk? I don't want him to die but just remove him from wren's life it's vague what happened to him but anyway that dog is gonna be so sad he's gone. And his hope and ambitions are crushed. And keep the vivre card scene (your vivre card burning means you're dying) I can be trusted to be normal about this scene and its composition and colours dont worryy also cuz burning. Is a motif here.

OKAY HERE'S THE WRITING I GOTTS SHUT UO

—————

When you first saw him, his form ablaze among those tiger-vermilion fires, did you not think it surreal, like seeing the sun, right in front of you. How alluring it was, how intimate. Merely recalling it feels like trying to remember a dream. Like trying to reach a sun, that taunts you with every sunset. You cannot reach what you want. All the colour in the world, and what are you? But he turned to you then. The flames grew gentler. He smiled. And it struck you. Less like a lightning bolt, more like sunlight after stepping out of shade. It made you lightheaded. In front of you was someone who could embody fire. But not in unbridled rage, or blind passion. He had all the strength of a sun's heat, but also a heart. He was not pure heat. He was warmth. And it drugged you. And you would spend the rest of your days chasing it, to bask in it. Not in it's whole. Just a sliver. You were just a like a dog. Dizzy, desperate. 

You are still a dog. It didn't take a fruit to make you a self-fulfilling prophecy. You were already a creature, but a smaller body housed grief perfectly next to pride. You would have done anything to see that sun again. That sweet, sweet fruit and its enlightenment. You could climb and climb. You could finally reach those skies, their blood red and bruise purple a naked mirror of your dying ambition. So you could only do one thing. Climb higher. Feel the heat. Is it just like an embrace? ...I've missed you so much. Higher still. It starts to burns. It only feeds a high. You start to cry. Higher, You're close. It's blinding. You see white. That's not death. It's life. You're right in front of it. Here you are. This is it. Widen your jaws. Wider. More. The flames kiss your mouth. It burns and bleeds. It almost feels like a communion. It will feel holy. Now place your mouth around it. This will be it.

It does not feel that big now that you have it. Where are you? Anguish boils like bile from your gut in your mouth. You close your jaws. You hope it brings catharsis. You hope he finds you. He doesn't. And there's no relief. It just stings. It just burns. That ugly grief you had culminates. You have him. So where is he. You have the sun in your mouth, and it burns. YOU HAVE THE SUN IN YOUR MOUTH AND. IT BURNS. WAS THIS THE RAPTURE YOU WANTED? IT BURNS. YOU HAVE THE SUN IN YOUR MOUTH AND YOU TASTE DEATH. THE TISSUE BLEEDS AND DRIPS RED, BLACK. IT ALL BURNS. WHERE IS HE, WHERE IS HE. EVERY SCAR BLISTERS LIKE LAVA AND YOUR LIPS DRIP LIKE BLOODY RAIN. YOUR MOUTH MELTS AND TEARS APART. 

THIS WAS NOT THE SUN YOU LOVED, YOU BLIND, DYING DOG.

[tropicalgoon]

Spoilers for the Homestuck Epilogue below.

First things first, i had caught up reading Homestuck on the exact day the Gigapause started (10/16/13). So long pauses and people arguing about canon was pretty common. Then the comic ended but later we got snapchats. Once the snapchats started coming people were unsure how ‘canon’ the snapchats were. Also    

i was surprised with how fast the rest of the Epilogue came out. I figured it would have been drip fed like the comic was but reading it now i can see why that was not the case. If you haven't read the Epilogue i have one thing to say.

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE CONTENT WARNINGS THEY ARE NOT JOKES.

With that out the way, i think the biggest shift in the Epilogue vs the actual comic is that everything is way more mature. While Homestuck was full of angsty, snarky teens and a lot of jokes, ironic and not, the Epilogue overall has a more somber, powerless mood to it.

Also one more thing, i do not have a fav character or ship. So that might be why im upset about how it is.

Now i read the Candy choice first so ill talk about that. Now as soon as i saw the juju i knew it was going to have an effect. And i was right, the juju makes people feel okay with their surroundings and so when John ate it he felt at ease with the chaos his life and friends were becoming. But hoo boy did everyone suck all around. 

i knew Gamzee was gonna be back and i was not wrong. i think the whole iVe bEeN GeTtIn mY MoThErFuCkIn rEdEmPtIoN On sO EvErYtHiN I Do iS GoOd was a funny bit but maaaaaan did it get a lil crazy. Jake has always been a doormat and easily manipulated. So nothing too new there but it was nice when he ran off with lil tavros. Also i guess hes the earth c equivalent to a kardashian.

 It really surprised me how fast Roxy got together with John. In fact the Candy Roxy is way different than the meat Roxy. i guess thats the juju at work. Rose was sick with an “illness” but soon after the candy was ate she got “better”. What actually happened was she stopped trying to open her mind to the infinite degree and just let herself live in the moment and be truly happy. It was nice to see her and Kanaya have a happy life, at least until everything went bad. As for Dirk i felt bad for him because he always had that whole meta textual self importance thing going on so when he offed himself i was like oh no. Its nice that him and Dave had bro-sesions.

And now time to talk about Jade, Dave, and Karkat. It feels like Dave and Karkat have mostly stayed the same with a few big differences.1) they both are a little less insufferable, 2) Karkat has accepted he is a leader and 3) their tip toeing around relationships was kinda annoying. Which brings me to Jade. She was butting into all three of their relationships trying to force them to admit feelings. While ive seen some people say Hussie killed Jade i personally dont think so. Jade was always a headstrong, stubborn person who would go after what she wanted and i mean she was on an island by herself for most of her life if she wants to have fun let her. 

Jane really went off the deep end. Which i dont think was so far off her canon personality in the comic. Her denying being xenophobic while being incredibly xenophobic was funny but also pretty real. While i didnt like they way she interacted with Jake it honestly fits in with what happens in the comic. (the trickster stuff, the crockercorp kidnapping). Her whole shadowy rise to hidden power was inevitable also i feel like she was really echoing the Condense on earth. Allowing Gamzee to spread his faith while funneling her wealth and fame into passing the policies and laws she wants. I do not think its out of character for her and Dirk to hate trolls since their lives were so affected by them. 

Johns depression clouding his judgement and making him not want to react was sad to read. It really felt like he was just drifting around, letting all of the situations and chaos just wash over him. So when he was talking to Terezi and she helped him make sense of things it was a nice turn of pace.

Speaking of Terezi, its sad how long she went chasing after (Vriska). As of this moment i dont really think the quadrant system is really in place anymore (at least relationships with humans in it). With John and Terezi talking to each other it really felt like blackrom.  “1F 1 W3R3 3V3R TO DO BL4CKROM 4G41N, 1T WOULD H4V3 TO B3 LOW K3Y”. It is sad her obsession with finding (Vriska) led to her dying in the void.

Seeing Aradia and Sollux was a surprise but they really didnt add much to anything (esp. Sollux). It was kinda funny how much of a dickhead Cade (Calliope Jade) was towards her. Cade was interesting. i really feel like she acts like she did in the comic. 

(Vriska) returning was also not a surprise. She THE most known character. Of course she would be back, but not by her own accord. She wants the spotlight, she HAS to have it. Now that she is trapped on earth c she is now out of canon and so she is out of the spotlight. Thats why she was wailing about needing to SEE it. I think its kinda funny she ends up having a quick fling with Gamzee, and he tries to sell her on his redemption arc bullshit. It really shows how far her obsession has let her fall.

And now its time for meat. Honestly im glad i read candy first because meat was really nice to read after candy. As i said with candy, i figured meat would be the more active of the two (duality like the cherubs). 

First off it was really nice to see how much Dave believes in Karkat and how he thinks Karkat would be leader earth c NEEDS. In Meat they still have their relationship drama with themselves and Jade. I really feel like shes slightly more direct in this one. After the blowup 

John dealing with Roses instructions, finding and bringing together the younger versions of themselves so they could go fight a younger Caliborn and getting sucked into the the house juju was not a surprise since its been theorized thats what would happen. Of course Rose did not warn him, or even tell him what to do. Even when the younger versions of Johns friends die and get hurt he still tries to save them. 

Jake is a very powerful figure in the new earth, he doesnt even realize it. Which leads to everyone trying to get him on their sides. I honestly feel like this is partly his page powers (but then again the classes and aspects dont mean all that much) but he has always been unconfrontational and a doormat. Dirk, Jane, Dave, and Karkat only want to use him for his ass and fame so they can further their agendas. 

i think its rather fitting that (Vriska) doesnt get to see how the battle against Lord English ended. It was GREAT to see Davepetasprite^2 make a comeback and fight Lord English. She KNOWS the final battle isnt her battle but she is still THE ONE who turns the tide. She’s the one who has brought the winning piece so its still a victory of hers by proxy. Also she does not have the talk with Vriska (rose and kanayas kid) on a clown throw pillow so she does not get to do the self reflection she needs. Instead she gets sucked into a black hole.

The Jane and Dirk combo was not surprising, they both had the hangups about Jake and i feel like it ended the same way. Once they got what they wanted it was no longer exciting, or mysterious. But reading the political sabotage and Dirks plans coming together made me realize he was using her for his own gains too. 

Now the whole Rose dying because her physical body couldn't contain the infiniteness of infinity was truly heartbreaking. Especially when Dirk was fucking with Kanaya. i do not know how much of Rose was being manipulated by Dirk and how much was her wanting to end her chronic suffering(2real4me). Addressing all of the....implications around those two. i really do not think they ran off to be together. i believe Rose is the first person Dirk has really connected with on a actual personal level. From what ive seen he does not really treat people as well... people. I think him and Rose are feeling the, “i am the only real person here and everyone else is a puppet” feeling John and Terezi was talking about. But unlike John, Dirk was never one to sit idly by, hes a mechanic after all. All the pieces have to be in place.

The whole bit with Cade and dirk taking control of the narrative was something i feel like has been building up for a long while. The unreliable narrator has been established a few times in the comic, in friendsim, and now in the epilogue. But it does raise a good question about who has been narrating the story and can they be trusted to give us the truth. We saw Dirk acknowledge that he is not unbiased and says things as he sees it. Cade says shes unbiased and just gives the whole truth but all i can think about is how she made Jane carefully cradle the juju and put it on the mantle. Watching Dirk outsmart Cade was defiently exciting to read. I cannot wait to see where all of this is leading to. 

Do i think thats the end of both of Davepetasprite^2 and Lord English? No, as the comic has always said,” Don’t turn your back on the body.” We dont know where they ended up but we’ll just have to wait for more to come out and i cant wait. Does Rose, Dirk, and Terezi (i guess) have an agenda, yes. Do i have any goddamn idea what that is? Nope, and im fine with that. Overall i enjoyed both of them.