#hopefully we get to play lps too

[danothan]

why is my baby sister already so swagged out

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Hello! I was the anon who asked about the SAHSR au.

May I request headcanons with Caelus, Dan Heng, March 7th, Welt, Jing Yuan, Sampo, Kafka and Blades reaction to having 2 players in one account? One ABSOLUTELY loves the fighting (and the flirting choices) of the game, while the other is more invested in the lore (ESPECIALLY the garbage can lore). (Ill call em FP and LP respectively).

Both share one main team when they play story mode together but have their own teams when they play independently, they work together like an well-oiled machine when they play together. (FP specializing in fights with equiptment and strategy, while LP aids in lore aspects of quests, and explains lore to FP when theyre confused) The main trio have a special place in their hearts so they lovingly call em "our children"

Id imagine, they'd get petty if one accidentally plays some of the storyline ahead being like " you played ahead...??? Without me?!?!?! JAIL! JAIL FOR 100,000 YEARSS >:o" - LP

Heres some interactions I'd imagine the character may overhear:

Fp: *about sampo's slits of skin* he's just a goofy little guy who just a little fruity, I mean sureeee he's aware of the fourth wall and scams people BUT he's just so silly 😌💕 Lp: Listen, I get it, he's your snookims 🙄 but just because he's dresses fruity DOES NOT make you immune to the cold, ESPECIALLY the Belabog winters.😒

LP: *Blade makes a quote about death* Me too bestie, me too 😔✌️ FP: Jesus christ, LP we've talked about this, this is the exact the reason I can't let you have Blade on your team. LP: I mean to be fair, the difference between me and them is that I got therapy and a solid support system. He's just my darker timeline. FP: ..... Dammit your right..

FP: *Just pulled Kafka* LETS GOOOO!! MOMMY KAFKA HAS COME HOME TO MEEE!!! *barking* LP: *snorts in the background* FP: Oh Shi- * hits themselves with the phone* LP: * laughing hysterically with the sounds of slapping can be heard in the back*

LP: *out of the blue* I miss my hubby :( FP: Who? LP: Screwllium FP: .... The robot??? LP: Yeah :( FP: Why?? Are your old men not enough for you? LP: Besides how cool his design is, and his genuine charm, I have a better chance at romance with a robot then any human-esque being FP: ... if we ever see your cousins again I'm going to beat the living shit out of them for destroying your confidence...

(if it's too much and your not comfy, no pressure to do this, but please just let me know Also, sorry that it's long, I got super excited 😅 and needed to get it out of my head ajdbjdnd, but thank you if you accept my request)

Hi! Thank you for your request! This is a really cool idea; hopefully I've done it justice. I love the interaction examples you've put in your request; they made me laugh! Sorry it took a while. I hope you like the headcanons.

Fandom: Honkai Star Rail

Characters: Caelus, Dan Heng, March 7th, Welt Yang, Jing Yuan, Sampo, Kafka, Blade

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A self-aware au in which two players with very different play styles share an account. What do the characters think of them?

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The first of the “children”. Caelus feels flattered that the players think of him that way but is a bit curious as to why they call him that considering everyone’s respective age…

Loves the banter between the two players. He’s a quietly sarcastic little gremlin so that’s right up his alley.

Has a soft spot for the lore focused player, mostly since they like the garbage can lore and that’s something he feels he and the player can bond over.

But both players hold a special place in his heart since he’s formed a bond with both of them over the course of the game.

Dan Heng has so many questions. Why are the players calling him their “child”? He’s older than they are. And there’s certainly no biological connection.

Regardless, he knows it’s their way of displaying affection so he’ll take their comments with gratitude, despite their baffling nature.

Has a preference towards the lore invested player, mostly because history and the story behind the story are his interests as well. He feels they can bond over that shared interest.

He also appreciates it when the players find records that get added to the archive. He wouldn’t be able to read as much if they didn’t so he’s very grateful.

Unlike Dan Heng, March absolutely loves being referred to as one of the players “children”. She thinks it’s a sweet term of affection.

She doesn't like playing favourites but she has a preference towards the player that prefers fighting and flirting. She thinks they’re fun!

Like Caelus, March loves the banter between the players, as long as it doesn’t get too serious; she likes to keep things fun.

She always gets nervous when the story progresses with only one player present. She knows they only play the storyline together, so she gets concerned that something has happened to the other player.

Welt is concerned about the players sometimes…why is one of the players calling Screwllum their “hubby”? And is the other player talking about him when they talk about the old man?!

But his concern is just his way of displaying his affection for the players.

The contrast between their playing styles may have confused and annoyed him at first but it quickly grows on him and now he can’t imagine any other playing style.

Doesn’t really have a favourite between the players. If he had to choose, he might lean more towards the lore focused player since flirting isn’t really his style. But he cares for the both pretty equally.

Jing Yuan will argue over who the players are referring to when they talk about the “old men” forever. In his mind, that’s him; if he’s going to be called old, it may as well be in reference to someone showing interest in him…

He’s a general so he has a lot of respect for the players for taking turns when their respective interests and strengths are relevant.

Despite their cohesion, Jing Yuan will sometimes critique the players on their shortfallings. They work well together most of the time, but when one plays ahead, Jing Yuan just shakes his head.

He knows there’s going to be some pettiness to follow the next time both players are on together.

Sampo doesn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted when the players keep talking about him being “just a goofy little guy who’s just a little fruity”.

He loves the fighting and flirting player; they remind him a lot of himself so he feels like they share a strong connection.

Since he’s the only one with the power to break the fourth wall, he often passes on messages from the other characters. He just has to find ways to work those messages into the story so it doesn’t seem strange.

And the other characters have to repay him somehow. Sampo’s not doing that for free, he’s got his own messages to pass along as well.

Kafka is subtly honoured that the players feel so positively about her, especially the fighting and flirting player.

When she came home for the first time, she was bombarded by screams as the players celebrated her arrival.

Doesn’t have a favourite between the players but if forced to choose, she would probably say the fighting flirting player.

What can she say? Undying affection is something she can appreciate and that player certainly has that in droves for her.

Blade is more reserved about his affection for the players. His main way of displaying affection for them is increasing the number of quotes he says about death.

He knows the lore based player likes those quotes and he enjoys hearing the banter between the players after he says something edgy.

He is slightly concerned about them sometimes though. His edginess and depression is fine since he’s just a character. But it’s different for the players and he hopes they’re doing okay.

No preference between the players but he prefers it when they’re both playing together. It leads to less conflict in the future…

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[lpsotd]

hopefully this isn't too weird to say but - i read the tags on your last post, and you said you were on your last year of childhood – don't worry about that!

im currently 25 and im starting to collect lps again, and ill tell you, even though there's more responsibilities, you still get to be a kid! no one ever truly grows up! my 67 year old grandma keeps one of her ragdolls from when she was a kid and always sews it new dresses. one of her favorite hobbies is watching anime with me! my 46 year old mother loves tv too, but one of the things she's crazy about is boardgames! we have a big collection and we all always play together. (she's got crazy competitive spirit btw. i never win). my 28 year old sister goes out with her friends just to wander around town and eat fast food like she did back when she was a teenager. you're never too old to have fun :) you just gotta let yourself have it. <3

thank you for this !! tbh it's kinda hard to let myself be a teenager when i seemingly have so much to do kgjdnbkjgb, and it doesn't help that i have less-than-supportive around me (not friends. i mean family) who are quick to belittle me or dismiss the things i'm interested in. i just can't stop thinking about the time my aunt saw my lps collection and started laughing, it hurt a lot especially since she's (usually) the more understanding one, and it may have been a "woah??" kind of surprised laugh instead of a "i'm making fun of you" laugh, but it felt that way kjgsnbkjgsfbn

i did have friends who actively made fun of me for what i was into (i no longer associate with them, so phew), and they're one of the main reasons i'm always so hesitant to share and infodump about the stuff i like kjgnbkjdbnkdfgjb

i feel like kids shouldn't be pressured to grow up fast. like, once you reach a certain age, you shouldn't have to stop playing with dolls or watching cartoons. you can stop doing those things when you aren't interested in them anymore, not when people tell you that you should stop, because they don't know anything.

in february i'm gonna be 18 and it's a tough concept for me to grab. i've always been told that i am ""mature for my age"" (i am not, by the way.), and i think that also kinda warped my perception of myself, because i've always felt like i Had to act a certain way, or else people are gonna see me as childish instead of this serious and mature person, but i was only like, what, 14, 15 ?? i should not have felt that way !! i should've been doing what young teenagers usually do, not feeling the need to impress middle aged adults.

it's only now that i feel like i have a sense of self because i'm trying to distance myself from certain people (ahem. family) who made me feel that way, and i'm trying to embrace who i really am: i am not mature or serious at all. i'm 17 years old who enjoys toys, cartoons, coloring, and playing video games with my friends. but i'm also ready to embrace my up and coming adulthood, and i'm serious when i need to be. i'm me and i think that's good enough.

very sorry i went on a bit of a mini tangent there. your ask made me very happy, so thank you !!

[yorgilord]

XENOBLADE Chronicles 3: One Year LATER

Or: one man’s unhinged ramblings on a game that may be one of their favorites of all time.

A few disclaimers before reading this:

1: this is an enormous wall of text. This is 11849 words long and by far the longest I’ve ever written, just as a heads up.

2: This will contain spoilers for the entirety of the Xenoblade series, not counting other Xeno games because I’m from Europe and I am someone who loves having physical copies, so it’s going to take a while before I get the chance to play those.

3: there will be minor to major grammatical issues and faulty sentence structures because I’ve started writing this on this on the 26th and I suck at grammar and don’t have the time to proofread the entirety. So, uh no beta we die like Hackt.

4: This is going to be mildly unhinged, filled with swearing and is highly subjective you’re allowed to have your own opinion nothing I say is a fact as I’m just as much a fan as you hopefully are.

5: if there is anything that I say in this text that may or may not be considered to be offensive please tell me and I’ll try to fix it.

As of today, it has been about a year since Xenoblade chronicles 3 first hit store shelves, and for many of us our home. Although it would be wrong to say that this game hasn’t been without its controversy the overall reception towards the game has been relatively positive. With people praising the characters, the music, the revamped combat system, etc. To me this is the first game in the series that came out with me being fully caught up in the hype cycle (I got introduced around 2016-17 through Chuggaaconroy his lp of XC1, the date may be off but I remember watching the lp either during or just after my burnout and that was about the time of my burnout, but wasn’t as of yet fully converted, that only came after playing the first game for myself on the new 2ds I bought specifically to play it, despite owning a Wii meaning it would be cheaper for me to buy a used Wii copy as I’m from the Netherlands and we actually had Wii copies of the game and they weren’t too expensive on the local version of e-bay, which is called Marktplaats (lit market place) but tbf I also really wanted to play that new fire emblem Musou game so yeah choices were made, I don’t know if they were great ones but they certainly were choices. Despite taking a bit to warm up to the game when watching the lp it was eventually love at first sight. Eventually I bought a switch in 2018 got xc2 and loved it, (not sure if in or despite of) its differences, managed to snag myself a collectors edition of DE where I played up until after the metal face fight on day 01. I really enjoyed my time with every game in the series, even picking up a Wii-u specifically for X late last year and despite the difficulties in adapting to its take on the game also loving it. So, you can probably guesstimate my reaction to the game being announced on the of February 2022. The hype cycle was amazing, watching every Luxin vid that came out learning more details about the game salivating over the first trailer, giving myself the habit to regularly check my mail multiple times a day in order to see if the pre-orders for the Collectors Edition were up yet (I still haven’t kicked it), fantasizing about the potential of the game and just in general good vibes. I did have some doubts about the game, wasn’t really feeling the clock theming and really hoped that the gameplay was more akin 1 than 2 (to put emphasis on this the last few times I played 1/de I played the entirety of the ether mine as Sharla and I enjoyed it, needless to say I really like the first game) What I really didn’t expect was for this game to become one of my fav games of the year and most likely of all time, up there with the golden cow that is XC 1 and joined by titles such as dark souls 3 (after I played it earlier this year), Shin Megami Tensei V, DMC V and Halo: Reach. To put it briefly, I love this game. Now to finally get to the point of this introductory piece: a few months ago after reading on reddit someone claiming that to fully get the game you should play it a few times I came to a realization, there were some things that I wasn’t too sure about, so you know what I decided I’m going to replay the game. And I’m going to write a piece about it, and you are reading that piece right now. So, without further ado these are my lightly structured and sorted thoughts and feelings on this beautiful game.

Ok so now before I get to praising the game for the way too many things it gets right, I do have a few gripes with the game itself. Gripe number 1: now this is more of a petty complaint but why can’t you level down before beating Z that’s a weird choice imo and makes it kind of annoying to return to older areas if you’re over leveled.  Gripe number 2: while I am glad that the game kind of returns to a more rigid style a-la xc1 when it comes to arts and such, I am kind of miffed by how they are implemented. I prefer my RPGS with characters that have rigidly defined roles and while I think that versatile parties can be fun to play around with, i.e. I love the challenge of putting together a party to specifically counter bosses in Megami Tensei games, I still in a sense prefer the games that force you to be creative in the constraints you’re given. And if I’m going to be real here this game plays, at least to me, a bit too fast and lose with those constraints, which annoys me but only mildly and not enough to detract from the joy of playing this piece of perfection. Gripe number 3 whose idea was it to not put location names on the map? I want to talk with them not hurt them, just talk. Gripe 4: the tutorials are way too overbearing. Gripe 5: I would prefer if there were more quests to be found on the world map instead of through idea bubbles, i.e., give me more X less the worst segments of persona 4. Gripe number 6: I dislike how relatively speaking the Agnian trio has less focus put on them in comparison to the Kevesi trio, at least when it comes to the main story. I have more but those will come up when I feel its necessary. Those are just however gripes and not anything major just minor annoyances, ok some are not so minor, but they don’t ruin the game.

Chapter 1: Ouroboros

“Fighting to live and living to fight” Those were the first words we heard in the first teaser trailer on that fateful day and those are also some of the first words we hear used in the game. And they describe the vibes that Aionios gives at first glance pretty well. The first chapter of the game is a bloody violent introduction to the world of Aionios it tells us in plain simple language hey, you there, welcome to hell. It introduces us to the colony system, to the flame clock and how it enforces a constant need for bloodshed, and it showcases how this affects the soldiers. A neat thing about this chapter is in how it directly showcases the power the flame clock has over its victims through integrating the flame clock as a mechanic that the player has to deal with. The opening of the game swiftly introduces us to the sheer brutality of this world by showcasing the battle between the Kevesi colony 9 (not that one) and the Agnian colony Sigma (male) which is shown in brutal bloody detail. What I love about this opening is the sheer sense of scale that is seen in this battle, which has, to my imperfect knowledge, only been seen in e.g., the battle of sword valley, the defense of NLA and the assault on / defense of the life hold core. The aftermath of this battle also showcases the mundane evil that the war makes the soldiers commit, i.e., the Kevesi soldiers casually trampling over the Agnian husks. This is also the first showcase of the sheer level of dehumanization that both sides employ on their enemies, which will come up later.

The section in colony 9 is also a good showcase of how despite the ever-present war and the constant violence a simulacrum of normal life is still possible and ongoing. Which in a profoundly fucked up sense is beautiful if you ask me. That despite the horrid dehumanization of the soldiers, the abuse that the consuls lash out, the ever-present threat of death. Life is still ongoing, no matter how shallow or how much of a simulacrum it is. I like this. In a sense it’s the idea of the indomitable human will when faced with the horrid oppressive cards that they are dealt. Which makes the position of Off-seer a small mercy granted to the soldiers, a sense of comfort to the warriors, a sense of peace not permitted to those who die on the slaughter fields of Aionios. And I love this section, the sense of atmosphere it has is unparalleled in my opinion and only rivaled, at least to me, by the Li Garte Prison Camp section. Also, as an aside I really fucking love the highly distinct uniforms that the Kevesi and Agnian forces have. Each uniform just looks so good. The black colors, almost skintight suits and visors found in the Kevesi army. The borderline Wuxia white robes, kabuto helmets and Japanese inspired aesthetic of the Agnian army. God, I just love those designs.

The introduction of Moebius D&J, although its mainly Dirk in control for this part as a misdirection, is masterfully done. Give the player what looks like a standard assignment, make it become more shifty by introducing the first hints of the lost numbers, through the automatons and later Guernica, and then pull the rug completely by revealing a monster which just doesn’t fit in with the local fauna and flora, which as an aside I have to say I really like, and by that I mean REALLY LIKE, the character designs of the Moebius and Ouroboros, (I guess I should thank CHOCO for this one huh), that are found in this game. They just feel so wrong, so unnatural, so borderline mechanical, like they saw the idea of the uncanny valley and decided to hike right into it. Their designs are, at least to me, perfect, which makes the fact that every single moebius, not counting FR, has a unique design personality and powerset especially amazing. And I really like how they sell the difficulty to beat and sheer power of the Moebius.

The introduction of the ouroboros into the story is also beautiful and one of the more wonderful scenes that is found in the game. And I really like the speech that D gives when the transformation takes place is amazing.

(Credits to the Xenoseries wiki for the script.)

“Noah: What...? This hand...

Noah & Mio: Is it...mine?

Noah & Mio: Huh? H-how are you inside me?!

Noah & Mio: Inside...? Hold on... Are we...?!

Moebius: (chuckling)      Well, you sure catch on quick. So you got yourselves an Interlink going, eh? Guess I've gotta give the old fool credit where it's due.

Noah & Mio: Interlink?

Moebius: Well, whatever. That form you just merged into? It's called "Ouroboros". Sear that into yer skulls.

Noah: Ouroboros?

Moebius: Oh, and... Me, I'm Moebius. We look a bit alike, don't we? When Keves and Agnus come together in unity, you're practically one step away from being on the same level as us.

Noah: So we're...

Mio: one being...?

Moebius: Ehh, to put it bluntly, you're failures. Fact is, the two of us are mortal enemies.

Noah & Mio: Enemies?

Moebius: You got the picture? No further questions? Then let's get back on the dance floor!”

The fact that the ouroboros team are not immediately friendly with each other and there’s still some minor hostility among them is Imo pretty good. I really like that. Because their lives as of that point have been spent fighting each other and it is only through this incident that they become friends and teammates. Which at least to me feels somewhat realistic, only joining forces after being forced to abandon their own colonies due to the influence of Moebius and their weird mind control censor powers. Also I am mildly annoyed by the fact that it is jingoistic Gigantus instead of Rotbart, I mean I know that bombastic Rotbart jr is a thin but still. I’d really just prefer it if it was Rotbart.

So that was chapter one of the game, and I’m going to end it with a bit of a hot-take. I feel like this first chapter is one of the best introductions in the entire series. It has the atmosphere, it has the vibes, it has the beautiful music, it has a very engaging hook, and in general I really like this. I mean yes, the battle of sword valley, Mechon assault on colony 9 and Shulk’s vow for revenge from 1, destruction of earth and waking up on Mira from X, and the awakening of Pyra from 2 are fucking iconic, not counting any dlc here just the full games. But yes, I really do think that the introduction to this game is the best one in the series. This is however only an introduction, the real fun is just about to begin in.

Chapter 2: Moebius

This chapter of the game is when the story really gets going as it details the journey to the Aetia region, through the Eagus wilderness and leads to the confrontation with Colony 4, the resolution of that conflict and their departure for the Ribbi Flats. You know I really like the chapter transition screen which are formatted like entries from Mio’s diary which I feel like is a nice touch. This chapter also introduces us to one of the most important characters to the story Ethel. And I really like Ethel. The presence of Ethel in the story is used for some fun stuff.

One of the first scenes in this chapter shows us the beginnings of the friendship between Lanz and Sena and I really like this. Sena and Lanz are just best muscle buddies, can be interpreted as both romantic and platonic could go either way. But yeah, I really like how despite Lanz being the one most adverse to the team-up, next to Taion, he’s also the first one to actually befriend his Agnian counterpart. Also, since I haven’t mentioned this anywhere, I’ll mention this here. CHARACTER DESIGNS ARE FUCKING PEAK. THANK YOU, MAGATSU SAITO-SAMA, FOR GIVING US THESE CHARACTER DESIGNS AND OUTFITS. But yeah, I really like those designs and their characters, just heads up but Eunie best girl I will not elaborate. But yeah, the first section of this chapter is pretty good. What follows is the “water” and the Eagus wilderness, one of my favorite regions in this game when it comes to the aesthetic, Maktha is the best I will elaborate on this later, also as an aside but think that Mio’s entire bit with having difficulties with heat is a reference to the Japanese concept of “ 猫舌” which roughly translate to cat’s tongue, or rather to quote Wiktionary “(idiomatic) being incapable of drinking or eating anything hot (high temperature) due to having an overly sensitive tongue” This makes the fact that someone from Gormotti descent such as Mio, assuming that Nia has passed the Gormotti genetics she acquired from eating the flesh of her sister down, a bit hilarious and most likely highly intentional. The introduction to Chain attacks is logical and it is interesting to see how they come upon the idea of working together to kill that one really hard to kill Aspar. What makes that one Aspar so difficult to kill? But that gets us to the battle with colony 4.

I really like the conflict that the battle with colony 4 imposes upon the members of Ouroboros, and it is a great expansion upon the ideas shown in chapter 1 with the mind control abilities that moebius has, and the power of Moebius in general. Speaking of which, I love how Moebius are fully introduced in this chapter, and specifically the hierarchy, of Moebius, or rather lack of hierarchy among Moebius. In a sense the ranks of Moebius are egalitarian, each of the Moebius are only loyal to Z and the freedom that is granted to them by Z. It also introduces us to the apparent true nature and behavior of the members of Moebius. And it does this through the presence of K. The moebius are in this game childlike to say the least. They are constantly pursuing the joy and ecstasy of the highest order. They do this through the pursual of their twisted desires, whether this is through slowly orchestrating the demise of their own colony, taking to the seas as a man of the sea, acting like the director of a stage play, being a wannabe tactician or in the case of K just the childlike pleasure of killing your foes. I also think that K has a few of the best one liners in the game.

“Hahahahaha! My dear boy... Your vaunted intuition... is shit!!!” or “It's the big bad boss. Boo!”

K also leads us to the first true battle with a Moebius and the first use of the second Moebius battle theme. And hoo boy this fight is truly a banger like for real I love each and every single moebius battle and the music that accompanies it. I thought about doing a ranking of my favorite battle themes from the game, but I’m going to be frank here EVERY. SINGLE. VARIATION. OF. THE. MOEBIUS. THEME. WOULD. WIN. I really like bombastic faux opera ok, God Shattering Star is one of my favorite boss themes sue me all right.

It also features the full awakening of the Kevesi Ouroboros and I have to say I really like each and every first transformation, the mindscape the foreshadowing through shards of fragmented memories and the unity of Keves and Agnus in what I now realize is foreshadowing of what happens when they combine for too long as the animation is pretty similar to the annihilation event we are shown in the first scene of the game. And now we move on to the next part.

Chapter 3: Saffronias

This chapter, at least to my opinion, is peak Taion. Like this is his chapter.

The aftermath of the battle is also pretty interesting in how it shows the difficulties of overcoming the programming and hatred of the soldiers and how they try to adapt to life outside of the flame clock system, while also showing through that one asshole Homs that some are not so willing to overcome their prejudices. And then we get the first hero quest and the introduction to the class system. I have my gripes with the class system like mentioned earlier but overall, I like how it is presented in the game and I also like how the full customization of the heroes is locked behind beating the game, due to the aforementioned reasons.

This is also the point where the game really begins opening up to the player and granting them the choice to begin on the abundant, to put it extremely lightly, side content of the game. And hoo boy is it meaty. We first get multiple colonies to liberate and heroes to recruit with every colony also having quest lines of varying length associated with them and every colony questline delving from a differing perspective into the question of “What now?” and I do love how this varies for each colony depending on their situation. 9 has issues with acquiring food and therefore eventually turns to the farming of spongy spuds, while also reorienting the entirety of Zeon’s character around them. Gamma goes on with Teach upholding his role as a mentor to his soldiers, 30 is finally free to pursue the special interests of its commander and goes full ham on the construction of Levnises. Etcetera etcetera. Another point I really like is how the presence of gray gives hints to the involvement of the city in the larger politics of Aionios, which the player might pick up upon, but could also easily miss. I’m going to talk about each hero when they first become available, skipping ethel due to her being locked off for a large part of the game.

So first off, we have Valdi I like the goober. Like some may have picked up from the earlier word choice I choose to interpret him as being at least somewhere on the spectrum and having a fascination with Levnises. But I like him and specifically how he grows to detest the use of Levnises as weapons of war, eventually becoming more pacifistic. The fact that gruff Lanz is also acting like a brother to him is extra fun and cute. His class is reasonably useful in the early game but sadly becomes overshadowed the further it goes.

Zeon. I like how he has difficulties with reconciling the fact that ouroboros abandoned the colony and how he tries to somehow accept their help. I also really like how his entire arc is about attempting to wrangle his colony unto the path forward, I remember the colony 9 storyline being one of the darker ones and really showing the difficulties of life without the support from the castles. It’s a shame then that I only really used his class to get topple on some characters due to it being the only source of master arts that make one able to topple until you get Cammuravi.

Teach his quest is fun in how it in a sense is the complete opposite of Zeon’s quest. Where the ouroboros were welcomed with hostility in 9, Gamma opens them with wide arms and Teach at first seems friendly. And then we get his maelstrom of power speech which I find truly fascinating, I like teach. He’s cool. And I especially like how he chose to be a teacher when granted the choice by G. Also, his class is extremely useful due to his ability to both remove debuffs and grant atk up to party members in the area.

As I am also discussing the available dlc, not Future Redeemed cause I haven’t got the time to do so even if I wanted to, I’m also going to talk about Ino. She’s really interesting in how she basically acts upon xc2 rules with her being an artificial blade and like Poppi a Nopon in a humanoid body, although she acts more like a stereotypical Nopon than Poppi ever did. But yeah, I like Ino I do however agree that her voice is a bit difficult to get used to and can be a bit grating the first time. But overall, I like her character and gimmick of having to collect ether to level her. Which is fun at least to me as it gives you a long-term goal to work towards. Her class is also really good in chain attacks to increase the damage.

Gray. I like him, he’s mysterious. I like his fatherlike bond with Eunie. I like the gameplay of his class, especially the positioning pro skill which oh god yes that is so fucking good, especially when combined with unsheathing lucky 7 because it shortens the rotation to get that to cooldown. But yeah, I like gray and how he leaves a bit of a mystery to the story while also hinting at the presence of lost numbers even more than Guernica and co. Also, he’s basically fucking Kakashi but with guns.  His quest is also interesting and is the first hint at the larger significance of the mysterious items we later learn to be origin shards.

Seeing as this is where she first becomes available, I’m also going to talk about Alexandria. Mythrakid suspect number two here is interesting. I like how you can fight her early but have to wait until chapter 5 to truly have a fair chance to beat her hero quest. But yeah, hers is in a sense the most traditional liberation of a colony due to the fact that you actually have to fight your way to Iota and have to beat both dame Alex and E before actually talking with Alexandria and liberating the colony from the clock.

Whew that was a detour now back to the plot. The conversation at the foot of the Saffronia tree is the first insight we as players get into the mindset of Taion and the trauma he endured, besides from the fragmented memories shown in his fusion with Eunie. And I have to say that I really didn’t expect much from him when the game first released, he seemed to be the calm aloof tactical guy whose aloofness would be used for comedy more than would be interesting. But he really surprised me, especially the scene with him recognizing the fears that Eunie has and thinking of a way he is able to help her. And thus, leading to the beautiful tea scene and one of my favorite deep bonding conversations while beautiful music plays™ that are found all over the game.

Riku and Manana’s hero quest is interesting as it takes up almost the entirety of the Urayan caverns which I have to say are just kind of sad to look at, recognizing the ruins of a once great society now crumbled to nothing, due to years of war and thousands of years without maintenance. But going back to Riku and manana I like them. They’re both “common variety Nopon” although manana is way more common variety Nopon than Riku I feel like. But yeah, I like both of them. Especially the fact that they provide a different type of humor from the main Nopon of the past few games. And I admire how in certain parts manana tries to keep spirits high despite the circumstances. But yeah, they are good. I also really like the fact that they contextualize the food bonuses and gem crafting found in this game, xc1 gems are better sue me these are just worse aux cores, and their hero quest is wholesome goodness, with minor angst about R&M being unable to fight, nothing more to add.

The section of being pursued by the forces of lambda has an amazing atmosphere and I love the effect of the smoke appearing on the floor. I mean I get why we couldn’t have something like the poisoned sections from ps4 Spiderman, but this is still pretty good for the limitations. I also really fucking love the effect of the red moebius eyes cutting through the fog. Then we get to the battle with Lambda, and I have to say hats off to mister Ian Bouillion he’s pretty good and it is amazing that he plays both the seething hatred of the mud clone and the calm gentleness of the normal Isurd. But yeah, this battle is one of the larger spectacles in the game with you actually fighting the Ferronis itself which is if I’m correct only beaten by the battle with Zu Pharg in X in regards to the scale of a fight in this series. And yeah, this entire part rocks and the culmination with the awakening of the Agnian ouroboros is amazing. Seeing Taion & Eunie lift up from the water and cloning themselves, Sena taking the lead and Lanz & Sena tipping the entire colony and the Mio & Noah dodging all those attacks. I also love the aesthetics of these ouroboros and feel like I actually prefer their general aesthetic over that of the Kevesi ouroboros, to add to this Sena & Lanz is my favorite ouroboros design.

The J reveal is one of the more impactful reveals in the game and one that some maybe saw coming from a mile away. But I was fully taken by surprise by this reveal. It is, however, a great reveal. And adds a lot of drama to the mix with Joran’s death being the catalyst for Lanz’s growth he now has to face a version of Joran completely unlike whom he remembered. And just wow Despite this being mainly Taion’s chapter, and thus mainly Olivier Huband his time to shine, Jack Bardoe absolutely kills it as Lanz iirc.

And then we get to the ending scene of the chapter Noah and Mio sending off the mud husks that were killed by J. and I feel like many moments with the weight of life playing that it is a profound moment of just wonder and sadness.

Overall whereas chapters 1 and 2 are more introductory I feel like chapter 3 really gets the ball rolling with the main conflict and themes, but that’s just an opinion. So next up is.

Chapter 4: Life

This chapter is amazing and may just be my favorite chapter in the game, yes, I know end of 5 and beginning of 6 is amazing but I feel like I prefer chapter 4’s content as a package.

However, I must interrupt the journey deeper into the Pentelas region with a minor distraction to talk about Isurd. Isurd as a character is one of the less remarkable Heroes, I think he’s cool with his tactical behavior and his skills are just amazing to use. But his class is mostly a mainstay in large parts of my playthrough, I do however feel that he’s a at some times a bit unremarkable, I do however like his grown interest / obsession with hot springs in his ascension quest.

So, we begin with the jolly walk from the falls into Maktha with the conspicuously placed Umber Drague. I don’t know why it’s there, I have no explanation for why it’s there it’s just there to give the characters a convenient excuse to experience the time limit of their interlink, as an aside if you’re really desperate for an explanation but can also enjoy some comedy I’m just going to leave this https://archiveofourown.org/works/45594703 here cause its hilarious and y’all should read it.

Afterwards we move past the falls and into my favorite (aesthetically) area of the game, the Maktha Wildwood. In order to explain why I’m going to give an example using the last of us. There are two types of people who play the last of us. Those who enjoyed the series and want to try the game, those who like / dislike the game, and then there’s me who plays it to enjoy the overgrown modern city aesthetic. And that is why I love Maktha. This beautiful fusion paradoxical of the Bionis region with the highest density of plant growth animal wildlife and overall jungle vibes, mixed together with the lifeless desolated hellscape that is Morytha. I love this place from an aesthetic point of view. However, from a level design point of view, from the perspective of this layperson who has never touched level editing software and whose opinion is therefore factually wrong, it sucks and is too confusing. I prefer the level design found in the Fornis region over this entire region. Pentelas has just a few too many bottomless pits for my taste, same for the Keves castle region and upper Aetia.

The they/them person of royalty and holy they/them agnussy themselves Juniper is fucking based. I like their character a lot and think that it is interesting how their colony lived a low sustenance lifestyle and had some sort of survival of the fittest mentality. What makes it more interesting to me is how this all apparently planned out by U, which makes me feel like U may or may not have known Juniper in their original life and that U has somehow done this more often. I do like colony Tau though. It is a pretty cool colony, the Ferronis makes me think of Nopon. But yeah, I like it. It is cool, it’s a shame though that I almost never play as Juni or their class because it is slow, and I do not understand it due to my brain being a bit too smooth and preferring arts spammy builds. (/s)

The flute scene is one of the more beautiful scenes in the game and I feel like this entire chapter has loads of introspective conversation and speeches about you know life the meaning of it the value of it. The flute exchange scene is just one of many that I feel are extremely profound.

This is followed up by the duel with Cammuravi and Ethel while the fight in itself is one of the best this game has to offer, I feel like the story revolving it is even worthier of being one of the coolest and best character driven parts of the game.  The fact that Cammuravi and ethel have this realization that they can make their own choices, that Cammuravi rips out his own eyeball in order to remain in control of his own actions. And then their shared murder suicide is just wow, it is a beautiful scene, being one of the most profound scenes in the game imo, being a beautiful scene that showcases the themes of the game pretty fucking well. And fuck dude. It’s just beautiful.

The following action scene with O&P is also pretty amazing. Mio’s sheer rage over the behavior of O&P, the following part wherein every member basically joins Mio in solidarity and the 6 of them all give O&P a piece of their thoughts and really just fucking go off on them. I love this scene. The action scene following this is also a beautifully choreographed scene where I really love the beautiful choreography. Especially that first uninterrupted scene, with the female ouroboros constantly assaulting O&P with the first notes of weight of life playing in the background is just so beautiful. The sheer power that exudes from O&P just seconds before the annihilation effect starts, and then Noah and Mio REMOVING A PIECE OF LAND USING LUCKY 7, just to get them away from the annihilation event. This revelation also sort of allows me to think a bit deeper about the nature of the ouroboros time limit. Cause I feel like this time limit can be explained simply by thinking through the effects of an annihilation event. So, like an annihilation event is simply a reaction similar to the idea of annihilation we can see in quantum mechanics. Matter and antimatter collide and vanish. So, like ouroboros and moebius grow from their core. So, I feel like their core is the fused state of the interlink. So, Noah and Mio, Eunie and Taion, Lanz and Sena, D&J etc. This core is an overlap between Agnian and Kevesi matter and sustains a construct, the sustaining of this construct takes energy, energy which would be needed to keep the core stable and an annihilation event at bay. But then it gets too much. The energy is expended, and then it gets too much. Which leads to it drawing in the fog and an annihilation event taking place. Or at least that’s how it feels like. I mean I do not know quantum mechanics, but I feel like this is a possible explanation for the time limit that I have thought way too much about.

The seeing off of Cammuravi and ethel is also beautiful which is great imo just another beautiful way of life performance.

Kevesi castle region is cool, I like the castle, too many bottomless pits, but yeah, I like it. Also, it contains my favorite hero in the game Ashera. I love her colony and her story. Hell in the one piece of fanfiction I’ve written as of today in this fandom is partially about Ashera, or at least contains her as a perspective, and I really like her character. Especially how her entire persona is a bit of a façade for the truly damaged soul that lives behind it, especially her fear of dying at her homecoming.   Which wow, I’m also going to be frank she’s the main hero I’ve used throughout the game. Cause you know I am a sucker for the big damage numbers that she brings. But yeah, Ashera is one of my favorite characters and I really like her relationship with Eunie, I am not sure if I consider them a friend or relationship, but I just really like their relationship in general whether it be romantic or platonic. Also, like said earlier, I really just like her character and the references she makes to imo the best character from XC1. I really do hope that she’s a good sister to panacea outside of Aionios.

The castle infiltration is imo pretty cool, especially the getting in, the fighting through the soldiers and then. A second encounter with DJ. I like the second DJ fight, it feels cool. And I love how Eunie tries to overcome her own trauma and fears, or more specifically how she utilizes her trauma and fear and behavior that D expects from her as a weapon to make DJ underestimate her and how she eventually manages to overtake him. I really like this fight ok. Also, Mythrakid suspect number one is just a villain I love to hate.

I love the bait and switch of the annihilator seeming to be the climax of the chapter, but then pulling the rug from underneath you and then throwing you into a battle with the Kevesi Queen, best girl of the first game MELIA motherfucking ANTIQUA. And wow, just wow. I remembered being panicked and having a feeling of holy shit we’re fighting her now. Last year when I first played the game, keeping in mind that I expected there to be 10 chapters instead of 7, but now I can recognize it as the midpoint of the game and in that sense, I love the battle. And the music the fucking music. I remembered reading around release that people compared it to the music from souls and now having played the games and defeated gale in 5 attempts, I do have to say that yeah it fits. False queens are one of the most foreboding and intense battle themes in the game.  This combined with the first in many revelations about the true nature of the cycle of life in Aionios is just wow. I love this game. But that’s it for this chapter and just like the ouroboros escaped the Castle I will now be escaping to.

Chapter 5: Eclipse

This chapter contains some of the most iconic moments that are found in this game imo. First off, we get the reveal of the city and the reactions that the party has to the “true nature of the world” or something like that. And wow the scene with the baby is just so moving it’s so cute and adorable, I love how Taion just fucking melts, and I like the comedy that comes from A Eunie’s afterward seeming obsession with babies and B knowing that Riku most likely got a bit lost in character during that scene, or he has never seen a Homs birth and Nopon births are even weirder than we can possibly imagine.

The city also can be a bit shadier I feel like than it at first seems to be. Cause I really feel like that’s important to take in mind. This is a society in which the fact of life is that procreation is expected and necessary, cause Shania’s whole deal is definitely an example of the shit that the city would likely put people through, or at least the people who live there put others through. Cause I feel like you know the city is but one place, and less populous than it was in its first incarnation. And as can be taken from the fact that everyone looks like a baseline human / homs implies that a lot of “breeding” has taken place to make everyone so homogenized. Especially because of the diversity that can be seen at the liberator base in FR.

Speaking of FR, we due to that have also the confirmation that the lady Masha, the second dlc hero, is descendent of the one and only ZEKE VON GENBU BRINGER OF CHAOS WIELDER OF THE PURPLE LIGHTNING DREAM SMASHER GRANTED TO HIM BY HIS BELOVED LIFE PARTNER AND COMPANION PANDORIA AND THEIR PET TURTERS. So yes, we can therefore sort of confirm that being a theater kid may or may not be genetically hereditary, in spite of how serious and borderline dour Linka can be, I haven’t completed every quest in FR yet shame on me indeed. But yeah, I like the gameplay and behavior of Masha she’s a very fun borderline ojousama archetype, which is one of my fav archetypes, who’s also skilled in her craft. Also, I really like using her class, and her model is just amazing just wow. Also, it hits a few of the archetypes that I like. But yeah, I enjoy her character a lot. And like said earlier I love playing her class because it can be a lot of broken fun, I mean not as broken as an l7 based flash fencer build, I used it I do not apologize. But still very fun.

Another hero I gained access to at this point was Monica, she gave me one of the final keys necessary to fully break the game. Smash as an art. Usable in chain attacks. After this I just managed to break the game.

But yeah, the Cadensia region it’s pretty cool, lots of water so yeah there’s that. We need a boat. Like stated earlier, I dislike the boat controls, but I do love the overhaul that this game has made to water based combat by actually allowing the player to fight while submerged in water. But yeah, the Cadensia region, being one of the largest single maps in the entire game is fucking enormous and imma be real I like it. It feels nicely balanced between the marshes of the great sword base and the large open Erythia sea with its many islands. Only real issue I have is that some islands are a pain to navigate, e.g., Daedal Isle. But overall Cadensia cool, also I like the upgraded ship theme, but the original ship theme is better.

I do enjoy the steps involved in getting to the Li Garte Prison Camp and I like that it is not as easy as 1 2 3 boom completed. Such as infiltrating the radar base and having to attain some more geological data.

While drifting, maybe at night and while being carried by the waves, one may encounter an island where one can see the mighty colony 15 stride across. I like the pirate theming of colony 15 it feels different from the other colonies, although this has to do with the dementia grandpa that’s T(riton). I like how this quest shows the playful and childlike nature of Moebius from the perspective of the one good consul who is so old that he has grown past his murderous and childlike glee and is now just looking for equals. And I really like how T chooses to aid Ouroboros despite them being natural enemies. I’m even more confused as to why Z allows him to still use his powers, although that’s likely explained by him making that so because it amuses him. Anyways I like t and I prefer his create your own op class mechanic over the complicated tiger tiger addiction inducing mess that is Poppi qtπ, even though I do have my own minor gripes with the skill upgrading system, more specifically the borderline ludicrous requirements to fully level every art and skill. I also, however, love the fact that Eunie has to ask permission to punch him and the fact that Noah grants it.

The other colony with an unusual moebius would be colony Mu, I do love the minor mystery revolving round the identity of the consul and where the flame clock is placed. Also, I love mu’s Ferronis design and how it harkens to Raijin, I think? But yeah, I like mu and Fiona’s class is also broken as fuck. Also, mu contains the best NPC Nico, who is the girl that I am referring to in this sentence yup that is her Nico, she’s cute. Or well one of the cuter characters in the game. Just like Fiona. I like how her entire story is revolved around both: oh god Irma’s the consul and oh god how will I deal with the fact that Irma is dead. Also, if I’ve read it right there are also some self worth issues involved? I’m going to be frank I don’t have a really good grasp on her character, I like her dynamic with Lanz however it Is very cute, just like her nicknames.

Also this is where the first side stories and ascension quests really start opening up, I think at least with the ascension quests, which I am going to cover, not going to deal with the ascension quests, because I only completed like 4 of them and I can quickly summarize my views on them I think.

Ethel: see Cammuravi.

Valdi: I remember thinking it was fun but am also somewhat confused as to why they didn’t make the completion ­of Dorin the ascension.

Zeon: Spongy spuds. That is all.

Teach: I like the reveal of his past as Oleg and it recontextualizes his speech about maelstroms of power.

Riku & Manana: Manana gets a better pot, I mainly remember it because you need to complete it for the 7 legendary Smithpon.

Gray: like how this quest shows more examples of dissent in the city, the role that gray plays in keeping the peace and his bond with his wife Rozana.

Alexandria: I like how this entire quest is about the secrets that Dame Alex has while also adding some complexity to the mix.

Ino: This quest Is just sheer Nopon hilarity, and I love the Xenoblade 2 callback, also as an aside I am highly disappointed that it wasn’t a red pollen orb. I was actively saddened by this, and this impacted my day very negatively.

Isurd: I like his quest also I feel it is interesting how the entire quest is basically Karōshi prevention. Dude needs some hot springs.

Juniper: I like how this quest deals with the manipulation of the consul of the colony. Also, I like Juniper. Hope Kite at least has the chance with them.

Ashera: Depression hidden behind a layer of suicidal aggression. One of the beset side quests for one of the best heroes imo.

Monica: That one dude is a Milf hunter, and I appreciate his dedication.

Masha: I like how this gives more insight into the somewhat more depressing lives of the lost numbers and their desire to be remembered or leave memories behind.

Fiona: This one deals with the secrets of Irma and how Fiona struggles to reconcile with them I like it.

Triton: dementia grandpa has dementia, it is not funny, it actually is kind of funny, but also just somewhat sad. However also “…Just one.”

Ghondor: this one’s ok, not much to it. I do like the Tirkins, I actually really like how this game tries to humanize the Tirkins way more.

Miyabi: cooking. It is fun. Nothing to add really. Oh yeah finding the ingredients is a pain if I remembered it correctly.

Cammuravi: this is not a quest, this is 4-5 cutscenes stitched together.

Segiri: I don’t remember too much from this one, but I am sad that you have to kill her sister.

But leaving those behind we get to the first side stories.

Eunie is an interesting inspection of the system of colony ranks and gives more insight into how much the system is rigged to kill the soldiers in Aionios and allow the Moebius to harvest their life. I also like how the game uses this quest to follow up on Eunie finding her own husk on the ruins of that battlefield, and also explains as to why that happened. But yeah, this one’s cool and I also like that it gives a part of the spotlight to Brolearis.  What I don’t get however is why the spark is this required to fight X in origin. Like seriously why? That does not make any goddamn sense. Monolithsoft, I love the games that you develop but its choices like this which keep me up at night.

Lanz his side story is also excellent in that it allows him to deal with the demons of his past while also foreshadowing the clock fuckery that Y commits later I the game. I also feel like it is an excellent showcase of his character growth up until this point, with him realizing that there’s more to life than just fighting.

The Li Garte Prison Camp section and Ghondor. I do like this section and feel that it is interesting in how it uses frustrating and repetitive quests to keep the player in a constant state of numbness and boredom in order to simulate the experience of being imprisoned there. As for Ghondor I wonder could you call the quests surrounding the camp her hero quest by technicality because you get her after completing the quests. Idfk. But back to the topic I do like Ghondor. Yes, she’s a foul mouthed midget who could punch my lights out for saying that, but I do like her softer moments such as the fondness she has for her mother’s cooking and her friendship with sena and the way in which she forgives Shania. Yeah, she’s a little bastard, but I feel that her heart’s in the right place. Her class is ok, I don’t mind playing it, but I don’t agree with the talent art, due to me preferring spammy builds. 

When it comes to the escape portion of the chapter, I do not think that I have words enough to describe just how perfect this entire piece is. The constant tension regarding M & N the mystery they present, the beautifully executed foreshadowing, the beautiful and amazing M remixes of the moebius themes, the beautiful choreography in one of the most impressive long takes I’ve seen in a game, and the sheer despair of the prison. The fact that the vocal song is used to display the sheer hopelessness of the situation and how almost everything Mio says takes on a double meaning when you realize that it is M speaking. The excruciatingly tearjerkingly beautiful tones of a life sent on blaring as M is coming home and the amazing voice acting from Harry McEntire. I cannot put into words just the sheer excellence of this sequence which once again brought tears to my eyes and left me distraught in ways I seldom experience. I have no funny jokes or quips here, just hats off to the sheer excellence of this section.

Chapter 6: Choices

I’ve also got nothing but praise for the beginning part of this chapter. The reveal of n’s past the fact that he destroyed the city to revive Mio, Future Redeemed makes it more complicated but sticking to the main game here, the turning of the tables, n’s breakdown, the battle against N, the unsheathing of lucky 7 leading to even more brokenness, the battle against the Agnian queen, the bait and switch with he city, Shania’s suicide, hopes rest the destruction of hope’s rest. Just wow I have so much good things to say about this part that I feel like I can’t even put it into words, so I’ll leave it to holy fuck this is impressive.

Captocorn peaks are ok in comparison to the peak of the other snow areas, Valak, Tantal, the black mountains Captocorn is ok, not excellent but ok. What I do like however is the hero quests that are found in this region. So, let’s talk about them.

First off let’s get going with Mio’s side story / the Miyabi fun hour. This infodumps the information that we could glance from the first Kevesi and Agnian ouroboros fusions, A Miyabi was once Mio’s friend, B Miyabi is dead. I also like the presence of Y in this quest and how the thing that beats him is the flutes. BECAUSE FLUTES RULE BABY, in this case at least. A thing that however confuses me is the fact that only at this point do they introduce the burst mechanic through a tutorial which is weird seeing as the player could have used burst way earlier in the game if they got Teach. But anyway, that’s besides the point, I also however like that this is another point I can add to the reincarnation cycle is imperfect agenda.

Cammuravi’s hero quest is somewhat interesting in how it is somewhat about the revival of Cammuravi and showcases the consequences of his resurrection. Also, him remembering Ethel, having his left eye damaged and still hurting from the self inflicted harm. Also, I really like his mantra and how he calms himself using it. Also, his fear of heights is extremely relatable.

But with those done I can now deal with the most complicated to access hero quest in the game which is of course Segiri’s inhumanity.  While I do have to say that I love the fact that it is payoff from something that happened most likely 25 hours ago. But I do feel like however that the fact that it is so confusing to access is annoying, and dislike how it is so easy to miss this quest. Because of that This is the only, non postgame exclusive, hero quest I did in the postgame the first time around.

The entire Cloudkeep section is pretty good. I got emotional when drifting soul started playing, I was surprised by the fact that they actually had the balls to kill Nia so soon after she was reintroduced, I liked the final brawl with DJ, the first time we get to fight D and J separated, the conclusion to Joran’s tale and Lanz’s arc, the reveal / reminder that Nia’s a Flesh Eater blade and therefore unkillable except if her core’s damaged. While I do agree that the later parts of Xenoblade 3 are weaker than the earlier ones I still feel that this is as good as the earlier parts.

Chapter 7: Time Moves Again

The same can be said for chapter 7, except when it comes to the fetch quest, I fully agree that almost every part of the fetch quest is just not that great. Except, for the final part. Noah’s side story is an interesting look into Noah and Crys. What makes this side story so interesting is at least to me very interesting in how it approaches the fact that Crys became a moebius. What I find the most fascinating however is his disconnect from Moebius as a whole. Whereas most did it to venge on those who harmed them or to simply enjoy their new lease on life to the fullest, Crys choose to reincarnate because he wanted to meet Noah once again. And I love how in a sense Crys is just testing Noah to see if he’s right in his points. Or at least to hear his song once more. And I feel that that is interesting, especially with the implications that he’s so miserable in the cycle that he chooses to commit suicide either through self harm or by cop. Which is just wow. This is pretty interesting stuff.

And now the other side stories which I completed around this point of time. Taion’s side story is pretty good in how it follows up to the earlier mentions of Isurd wanting Taion to bury the watch of Nimue there. I also like how this shows how like colony Tau there can be nontraditional colonies even though this one’s only nontraditional due to the defunct flame clock. I also like how he uses his tactics to beat the moebius and I think that his choice not to reveal Nimue that he knew her at this point. Overall, a great side story.

And now we get to side story Sena Ghondor, sorry that was not a funny joke. But yeah, Sena’s side story is one of the shorter ones and one of the darkest I feel like in how it fully deals with the character of Shania her becoming S and the trauma that led to her becoming S. I think that Shania’s character truly is intriguing. Especially in how the emotional abuse committed by her mother leads to her breaking down and eventually betraying the city. I think that Shania truly is a fascinating character and I’m sad for her that she never really had anything that gave her even the remote possibility of a good upbringing, with a mother who’s like the nightmare tiger mom, Ghondor not having the best tact in trying to encourage her, and the fact that she gets brought back as a Moebius. This last part is truly depressing to me. The fact that Shania who joined the side of Moebius in order to have a chance to enter the eternal now as a soldier, to be able to have multiple shots at life, to be free from the shackles of expectation, becomes a creature imprisoned by even stricter constraints than her old life. I lowkey feel like her choice to assault the city was not one made to appease her new master Z, but one made because she knew that it would fail. What I’m implying here is then is that like multiple other characters in the story I feel like this is Shania attempting suicide by cop. And she succeeds. It also adds another point to my “the city is actually not such a great place” agenda which I will discuss later. Ultimately every single one of the side stories is interesting and fun in how it further explores the messed-up corners of the hellscape that calls itself Aionios.

The assault on Origin feels like, at least to me, a way better worked out version of what the assault on the life hold could have been, except in this case it is to destroy a place instead of defending it. But yeah, Origin is in a sense an even more over the top version of the Lifehold core. The aesthetic of the area the length, making it feel like a true journey to reach the core, and THE MUSIC. All combine to make origin at least to me the best final dungeon in this entire series. I will not elaborate on this further because I feel like I’ve already made my point as to why I feel this way.

The showdown with N in the prison of eternity is amazing. The removal of his Moebius title, the fact that one of the most beautiful battle themes is playing during this fight, the sheer beauty of Harry McEntire’s voice acting here and just wow. I fucking love this fight so much. The sheer beauty of it is just amazing. Really a shame that the chain attack theme interrupts it. Really wish we would’ve gotten that toggle, oh well.

The battles with X and Y are just there, I find it weird how you can just walk away from their dissolving corpses. They should’ve at least had a cutscene commemorating their defeat and death, or were they too inconsequential to receive one despite this being their final outing? I do not get it, these are the choices that befuddle me Monolith soft.

And now at the end I’m going to give some of my thoughts on Z and moebius. Maybe a hot take but Z is a great antagonist and the fact that they lack any depth and are uninteresting and shallow with their motivation and how they interact feels at least to me like a stroke of genius. Because they are not human, they do not have any motivations, they are just a blob of emotion, and what destroys them is not killing them but rather two moebius, two of his victims, creatures that are made as the fear of the unknown future manifest, choose to accept the unknown future and the unpredictability that it brings. And to be frank I love this. And just moebius in general what others may see as complaints I feel like are choices that have been made intentionally to showcase the sole facts of their existence. They are cruel, they only want to have fun, and they enjoy the fleeting pleasure of pursuing their ephemeral fun.  Not planning for what comes ahead, just eternally living in the moment, unsustainably pursuing the pleasure of ending lives and the joy that comes with snuffing out flames. And that makes them, at least to me, just terrifying, at least when you think about it a bit. They are a group of man children who have been given near omnipotent powers by their demiurge leader, and all they do with it is torture and play with those they once may have considered as friends. Or to put it shortly “Absolute power corrupts Absolutely.” Also, as an aside I think that thematically they are a better demiurge than Zanza, might elaborate on this later down the line if I ever feel like it.

And now we get to the final battle. And in my opinion one of the most spectacular final bosses that this entire series has seen up until now. While yes alpha has an amazing fight, Lao Chimera is a brilliant horrifying design, Zanza, is iconic and the final duel with Malos at the end of Torna is just amazing with how it recontextualizes the chain attack mechanic. I do have to say that I prefer the showdown with Z. Their entire presence in the game Is just exquisite and amazing and I love how they don’t go down like a chump. Their fight is comparable to the final boss of p3 and like that boss I love it for how long it is. Because it makes achieving victory feel like a true test of both your skills and endurance while it also makes the fight more memorable. I love that when they are beaten in the first phase, they just become this abstract face and mess of emotions because that is cool and an interesting way to showcase their personification of fear, how they change their face to reflect facets of the protagonists, I love this fight. I, however, do agree that it is complete bullshit and that it is annoying that they can just one-shot you at certain times. Due to time constraints related to me writing this piece I eventually just used the bonus Exp I had accrued to boost myself by 10 levels and just gank them just to get done on time. It wasn’t that easy, but it still really alleviated the stress of the fight.

But that was Z the Omega to Alpha’s, uhm well Alpha. The end to this trilogy. And wow. I’m going to be frank here when I rewatched this entire ending section for the first time in a year just a few days ago I was just shocked at rewatching this beautiful piece. I love how Noah throws away lucky 7 figuratively declaring his intentions to never fight again, I love the reveal of that one picture, I cried when I saw Poppi emerge from the ether furnace, I feel like that was an ether furnace, and the beauty of where we belong. Which like many other things in this game is I feel like the best version in the entire series, in this case being the ending credits songs. Its just so hauntingly sad while also being so fucking heartwarming so filled with hope and so filled with sadness. I don’t have any words to fully describe the beauty of this ending. I just love it. God, I love this game.

And then the post credits scene comes along. Which is a great return to, and continuation of, the first cutscene and then the first hint that all will be alright. Which FR will eventually confirm. But that is not something we will discuss today. However now we will continue to.

Chapter EX: assorted thoughts.

As I’ve hopefully already made clear in this piece, I really fucking love this game. I have a few issues, but I still feel like it is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had while playing a game. I do also have a final headcanon and some small insights to make which I here now wish to share.

First off you may have noticed that I have avoided saying certain things relating to Z namely I feel like Z has no gender, which is due to a certain hypothesis I have let me explain. First off X Y and Z feel like mirrors to the trinity processor units. The idea here is that because Z was the first, they based themselves on data they could find and what was the architecture of origin based around: The Ontos core. Ontos was meant as the balance between Pneuma and Logos, therefore Ontos has no gender, thus I feel like if Z did indeed base themselves on Ontos that they would also not have any possible gender. Then in that same sense X and Y could be based on the idea that Ontos was meant as a mediator between Pneuma and Logos and thus they created X and Y two moebius that while not acting as the balance to, do feel like polar opposites, one seeming to be a young girl who enjoys fighting, the other being an older man who talks in almost Miltonian cadence and style. There’s also what the TV tropes page puts on their page which could, at least in my opinion, strengthen these parallels between the trinity processor and the true moebius, which I will quote here.

“Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The original three Moebius, being born from Origin itself, share similarities to the three Cores forming the Trinity Processor that powers the Conduit:

X is one to Pneuma, a.k.a. Mythra. The two of them have the personalities of Bratty Teenage Daughters, serve as a foil towards whoever they're working alongside, be it Rex or Shania, and of their trios, the two perform the most direct work in the frontlines, whereas the rest of their trio take more of a backseat.

Y is one to Logos, a.k.a. Malos. Both are incredibly hammy villains, rely on technology to get their jobs done for them, and cause the most direct damage to their respective worlds of Alrest and Aionios, especially when compared to the people they directly work for.

Z is one to Ontos, a.k.a. Alvis. Although Z isn't actually a god like Alvis is, they were both the central Cores of the devices that created them, have absolute control over their worlds without anyone but their closest subordinates realizing it, and often get people to work for them simply by having conversations with them.”

And now for some overall points about the game.

This game has some of the best combat in the series, only being surpassed by Future Redeemed which is also amazing but I also feel like simplifies the combat too much, I do prefer the bond points system to the soul points or level based unlocks of the main game.

This game’s Ost is just amazing. I have many songs I really enjoy but I feel like every song with the moebius leitmotif, not counting the moebius battle themes because those are on another level entirely, almost automatically becomes one of my favorites due to how creatively and just great each variation is. If I had to rank my 5* (*way more than 5) favorite songs they would prolly be 1: moebius battle (all variations) 2: all songs containing the Moebius leitmotif, 3: carrying the weight of life, 4: the false queens, and 5: Kevesi battle.

The eclipse homecoming is one of the most well executed scenes of pure fucking despair I’ve ever seen in a game.

The art style and world are just amazing, and it truly feels large, in a sense even larger than X at least to me, that game feels kind of small after obtaining a Skell.

The challenge mode is ok and while I haven’t played too much of the gauntlet mode, I do feel like it could be pretty fun.

Also, as a final aside I like the detail of filth and grime buildup on clothes which can both be erased through washing your clothes and through swimming in water, but I also like that certain regions have higher buildup of dust and resin and such. This is way too detailed for a game like this and I love it, I mean by this that this is an amount of detail that you normally don’t see in JRPGs.

And I feel like that’s all there is to say about Xenoblade 3, within the constraints of having written this in 3 days due to my own issues with managing my time and having to compromise on my original vision in which I would have attempted a 100% playthrough. But yeah, I hope that if you did read this entire almost 12000 words long piece you at least enjoyed it. This is the first time I’ve actually written such a piece, and also the longest piece I’ve ever written, and the first time I’m posting something on this platform. But I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this. Also, if I’m allowed a minor bit of shameless self promotion, I’ve also uploaded a fanfic today to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the game which you can find here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48958873. You don’t have to read it, but you could. Anyways thank you for reading and have a wonderful day.

[pikespendragon67]

And Now, The Long Awaited "Pikes Check-up" Fall 2023 Edition!!

Decided to make it a habit to type out my current interests/progress in life in case I find it difficult to jump into conversations with friends

Let's begin, shall we?

Current Life Events

It's been over a month and I still haven't had my annual review at work so if I don't get it by the end of December I may go nuts. Need to either get a better position in this firm, get better payment, or probably find a job somewhere else because wow working 8 hours (which is essentially 10 due to traveling & 1 hour lunch break) is not worth $20 an hour [i'm in CA so that's like barely above minimum wage & i gotta keep other expenses in mind].

On that note, I do have an interview for a state job next Friday (though I hope my coworkers/supervisor don't find it odd that I dress as usual on casual Fridays) and I keep getting calls from legal recruiters, so that's a good sign. Might try a probate firm since I enjoyed being a loan signing agent.

Brother and sister-in-law are hosting Thanksgiving this year! This will be the first time in decades where my parents don't host (and even then, it's mainly just a few family friends instead of actual blood relatives when they host. Think the last time I've been to a family Thanksgiving was when I was 7?) I get to properly meet my niece-in-law instead of just seeing her at the wedding. Sadly no nephews-in-law, so I might need to cut back on the gaming talk

Next party event for me is White Elephant with IRL friends, then for Chrimbus my parents & I are gonna go see my godparents for a week. Finally a week vacation (I need better hours too OTL)

With every passing day I think of gender being wonky so hopefully one day (when I'm financially stable to be on my own comfortably and without the fear of losing things) I can figure it out. Right now I'm thinking of using Bishop as a secondary online name but we'll see if that sticks.

Possibly maybe could go to Japan in April? Mom said she's organizing an event with my brother's old high school and she might be able to get my dad & me to join. Though I'd be a complete weeb, so I feel like I'd be rude to folks in Japan, I'd still love to go.

What I'm Playing

As much as I love Sea of Stars, I was getting antsy to play something else. (Especially when I heard the requirements for the true ending). SO, I decided to swap over to Digimon Survive since my brother got it for me for Chrimbus last year. I would've played it at launch but of course Xenoblade 3 came out at the same time and then I got lost playing Pokemon Scarlet then Hi-Fi Rush then Octopath 2 then replaying 999 then Ghost Trick then Sea of Stars-

But yeah I'm loving the character writing so far in Survive (I'm on part 3 most likely going to end with the moral ending) and the Digivolutions keep me on my toes. I don't think there's a branching system like in the Zero Escape franchise/AI The Somnium Files, so I'm not sure if I'll do a repeat playthrough. Gameplay itself has an isometric camera like FF Tactics so it can be a bit wonky placing your units to attack enemies. Plus I like how this game actually tells me what path I'm taking (hint hint Triangle Strategy before New Game+)

I also just got Super Mario RPG but the timing for action commands feels off? I press when the exclamation point appears but apparently I have to wait for the attack to actually connect. Weird

Then for games I'm watching through LPs because of time/funds/my wrists being god awful so it's hard to play games, I just finished watching Judgment and I think Yakuza Like a Dragon still holds the award for the game that made me cry the most but damn this also had good moments.

I'm also now watching P5 Tacticia (might get it if I can get used to Xcom gameplay) and man I can really make a babygirl meter based on the older dudes in P5 (going from Kasukabe to Sojiro probably)

New PFP that I've named Hattagan c:

Finally, man I might want to sell my PS5 despite it being my graduation gift from 2021. It's uncomfortable to play it with my current chair (as I like to usually play games lying down to help my back), and with me working full-time now, it's difficult to find motivation to play when I get back home. I'd need to connect to my work's Wi-Fi to take advantage of remote play, unfortunately. And while I could get a longer USB cord to keep the controller charged or get a bean bag or something, my room's way too small for that configuring & I'd have to keep unplugging the console when we clean every other week. Most of the games I want to play are already on Steam and are playable on the Deck, so I might use that instead. (Though I pray Ghost of Tsushima and Gravity Rush 2 get ported, then Yakuzas 4-6 are made playable for Deck).

Current Collection Wants So Far

Ever since I've garnered my own funds, I've made a habit of collecting fan things. It usually boils down to plushies (mostly Pokemon, but now favorite characters as well), games to collect (currently Switch, GBA, DS, 3DS, and Vita since I'm not really playing my PS5 for PS4 games anymore), Fire Emblem Cipher cards, and now DVDs for series/movies I like because I can't trust streaming services these days. Don't know if I'll be able to do Pokemon cards because I just collect for art & characters I like. Plus with how the Paul brothers ruined that market, I'd prefer to not dip my toes in that. When I get my own place, hopefully I can get other consoles to collect for. (Also I'm not planning on getting everything; mainly just games that pique my interest).

What I'm Watching

Last week, I saw the new Digimon 02 movie dubbed. Glad that Davis, Veemon/Ken, and Hawkmon reprised their roles. The only real issue I had was Armadillomon having the Stitch voice instead of the usual Texan accent. Other than that, Digimon's movies has this weird air of trying to market to nostalgic fans by telling them to move on from Digimon. I get folks didn't like the ending of the original 02 for shipping reasons, but the DigiDestined still had their Digimon as adults so I think it's a bit mean to say adults can't have Digimon or that they should stop having them. On that note, I felt like the "villain" could've been more terrifying if they actually showed how messed it up it was. (Like you're expecting me to believe it created Diaboromon just by it saying it watched the events on TV?)

So along with me nearly finishing Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (just have 2 episodes left since I decided to binge last night), here's what I'm watching in the fall 2023 anime season

needless to say i am going insane so i'll at least give some highlights

Paradox Live: I got into the series for Saimon back before the anime came out (I think it was a few months before Buraikan were officially revealed?) and wow the songs are great. You might've noticed me posting some of the groups like TCW, AKYR, etc. So far the animation for the series is self is pretty good, though they're changing a few story beats from the audio dramas. Like man we're getting starved on AKYR content. In terms of my favs, they're Saimon, Haruomi, Hokusai, and Shiki with Anne getting an honorable mention as well

Undead Unluck: I love the fast-paced humor and animation. I think the director for the Monogatari series is working on this and it's paying off in spades.

I'm dreading next week's episode of Jujutsu Kaisen and I'm praying that when Hiromi's in the anime that he'll get a good casting for both sub and dub (my hopes are Akio Otsuka and Joe J. Thomas, but that's personal bias talking). If he ends up dying I might drop the series.

Black Jack appeared in episode 1 of Pluto and that got me so stoked. Like I know Black Jack and Astro Boy are both Tezuka, but still.

Everything else is great, mind you, but my mind can only process so much. I'm also hoping to see Boy & The Heron when it comes out because Robert Pattinson actually voice acts in it, so here's hoping he gets other opportunities like that.

I'll most likely edit this post to add some other things, but yeah, that's my current status atm!

[artvinyl]

Uncovered: 75 Dollar Bill - Power Failures

The shortlisted album artworks have been announced for our annual art prize Best Art Vinyl 2023. We now begin to delve into the creative process behind some of the 50 nominees. First up is 75 Dollar Bill's re-release of Power Failures for the first time on vinyl. We were lucky enough to catch up with the band's guitarist and album cover designer Che Chen.

Che Chen founded 75 Dollar Bill in 2011 with percussionist Rick Brown. He tells us, "I wanted to be a painter before I wanted to be a musician, so the visual aesthetic of the band has always been really important to me. I've done the artwork for all of our physical and digital releases, and many of our posters and fliers too."

Che Chen flyer design work for 75 Dollar Bill

Che Chen explains, "Power Failures first came out as a digital release on Bandcamp in July of 2020. It was our first pandemic summer, Trump was still president (hopefully for the last time!) and George Floyd had been murdered by Minneapolis Police Officers earlier that summer. There were protests everywhere, against police violence, institutional racism, wage inequality for essential workers, etc. The title of the record was very much a response to all of this, the way the pandemic exposed the failures of the state on all these different fronts."

The use of text-based artwork has in fact been a consistent theme for the artist, he told us, "Text has always been central to the visual language of the band, and many of our record covers feature text as the only "image" in the designs. This approach made sense to me for Power Failures, since the title was very evocative of everything that was going on, but also open-ended enough that I didn't want to add an image that might get in the way of whatever associations someone looking at those words might have. I wanted to push the idea of a text only image a bit by using the typography to create a pattern (of W's in this case) which is only broken by the album title. The digital album just had the single square image as its artwork, so when Karl Records in Berlin offered to make a vinyl edition of the album as a gatefold double album, we got to expand the art significantly. I repeated this process on the back cover with the band name and changed the background colour. The  LP centre labels refer back to the font and colour schemes of the front and back cover. I should also mention that the beautiful inside layout was done by Roland Küffner at Karl who did a fantastic job."

We asked Che Chen about the techniques he uses for his artworks, he explained, "The fonts I've used in most of my designs are actually from industrial moveable rubber stamp type. I've scanned physical prints of each set, several versions so that there are multiple versions of each character with slightly different imperfections, etc. I like the physical character of these fonts, how each impression is unique. For our first LP, Wooden Bag, Rick and I actually hand stamped the covers for the entire first edition using this rubber stamp type, but these days I mostly do the type setting on the computer."

Chen Chen got into music as a teenager in the suburbs of Washington DC in the 1990s when the post-hardcore scene around Dischord Records was thriving. The DIY ethos of bands taking control of their own production, from running their own labels and booking their own tours, to playing protests and benefits for local causes and working the door at their own shows, was and is still a big inspiration to him.

He tells us, "I've tried to carry those ideals on in my own work as best I can. Doing the art and the design for music projects I am involved with (and occasionally for friends) feels like an obvious extension of this. I love bands and labels that have a strong visual aesthetic and also really respect when artists are resourceful and can make striking designs using sometimes limited means. Sun Ra's home made jackets covers for his Saturn Records LPs and Harry Partch's Gate 5 Records are both examples of this for me."

Taken from the 'Sun Ra: Art on Saturn' Book - The Album Cover Art of Sun Ra's Saturn Label

U.S. Highball |Gate 5 Records, Issue No. 6 (First pressing, inscribed to Amos Vogel in 1960) Hardcover – January 1, 1956

Che continues, "Lisa Alvarado’s screen printed album covers for the Natural Information Society records and her paintings that hang while they play (she plays harmonium in the group too) are another perfect fusion of visual and musical aesthetics to me."

Mandatory Reality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society. Artwork by Lisa Alvarado

Power Failures by 75 Dollar Bill on Karl Records is shortlisted for the Best Art Vinyl 2023 Award. Artwork by Che Chen.

[church-of-beelzebeef]

Moving to Copperdale was such a big change for us all, but we’re growing to love this little mining town! It’s especially different to the kids, who only ever lived in San Myshuno. Nestor and I both grew up in small towns, so we recognize some of the similarities, but my hometown wasn’t at all Watcherly whereas Copperdale has a long and proud religious history. It started with the Herded families who moved here to work in the plumbite mines and bring the word of Beelzebeef to the surrounding mountains. Unfortunately the town really struggled after the mines closed and other, less devout Sims starting moving in and pushing out the Herded community. But praise Her, there’s been a huge comeback in recent years, and that’s how we’ve come to be here! We’re so honored Beelzebeef has chosen us as a family to do Her work and help reclaim this town for Her followers.

The task She’s placed upon Nestor’s heart is at the local high school, Copperdale Academy. It’s spent the last few years in a bad way -- low test scores, physically falling apart, and an aggressively secular curriculum that did nothing for the souls of its young students -- but thank Beelzebeef, it was bought up by an organization called Institute for Herded Families who poured money and prayers into it. Now it’s a thriving Watcherly school. We’re proud to not only have Nestor work here, but Beth study here too!

IHF also bought up this old abandoned motel by the pier and turned it into a community center! There’s lots of activities for Sims of all ages including a cafe, a function room, an indoor play space for kids, and of course a church! We’re now proud members of The Free Barn church and we love fellowshipping with our Herded family.

Here we are listening to a sermon by our local Pasture, Lance Lovett, while his wife Lacey plays the piano. We’ve settled into a routine of going to The Free Barn every second Sunday and alternating with home church on the off-weeks. Nestor thinks its important to worship as both a community and just as a family, so this gives us the best of both worlds.

We spend so much time at the community center -- here I am with the local Wives and Helpmeets club, where we get together over coffee (usually decaf; there’s always a few of us pregnant!) Faye Harris and I are both expecting precious blessings from Beelzbeef; how exciting!

Nyssa and Nestor II -- or the Nessies as I call them! -- can’t wait to become big siblings for the first time. We’ve been having lots of talks with them about being good role models for their little sister when she arrives. Hopefully that won’t be long now! I can’t believe Beelzebeef has entrusted me with five souls to care for and raise. That may not be many by Herded standards, but I will never stop being humbled by Her faith in me!

AN: I totally stole the name of IHF from @meetthefundies���, who is amazing and you should read the adventures of their fundie Sims. Their IHF is Institute for Harmonious Families, which is itself based on Institute for B*sic L*fe Principles. (I could have gone for Institute for Beelzebeefian Life Principles, but decided I didn’t really want google searches for IB*LP showing up here.) It’s not a strict borrowing of the real life institute -- I don’t really see Beelzbeefian churches as having an equivalent to Goth*rd -- but I will be cherry-picking some of the concepts, such as retreats. The Calientes are sloooowly drinking up more and more of that kool-aid 😂

[mamapsims]

Hey y’all it’s been awhile. I finally got a chance to play again and it feels oh so good! I used some pieces from the new CC set by @oshinsims and @sixamcc and I absolutely love the simplicity of it. All of the pieces fit my aesthetic and they blend in perfectly with the game too. It’s still in Early Access but worth the coins if you have them. Get it --HERE--

Hopefully I’ll have a video up soon. I’m really just now able to play with infants so I want to have fun with it for a bit before I record gameplay. I’m thinking maybe we’ll check in on the Martinez household then start a new LP. Laterz :-)

PS- That’s Nova Curious (now Nova Sheldon) and her Hubby holding their baby girl. I guess we need an update video on her too ;-)

[jackitkvids]

Just got done writing out an update for the channel/plans for October.

For those not willing to click the link...

With September at sunset and the fact I haven't gotten around to recording a Game N Chill yet. I'm going to summarize my plans for October here. The short answer is "I don't know", but I'll probably won't be uploading my usual content at the very least.

Last year I took a break from my usual uploads all together and focused on making various videos and shorts of my OC world/dream game Overseer of the Elements. But with how much time I've been focusing on trying to finish up Dawn of Djinn, I haven't had too much time to work on videos.

So, my uploads for October might be a bit more random and without a theme. But I get the feeling anyone following the channel closely is already used to that. I'm still finalizing what I want to make and upload for the month, but currently I'm leaning towards taking a break from Legend ZA shorts. Hopefully replacing them with OC related content, but I might dabble in a few Golden Sun related shorts as well. It has been way to long since I've done anything Golden Sun related. I have a couple ideas of shorts that would fit the style I do for Pokemon Legends ZA, just with Golden Sun instead. But again, we'll see how things pan out. I do still have at least one more week to finalize plans.

Last year, I focused a lot on game mechanics, so if I do bring Overseer October back this year, I want to spend more time on the characters. They're probably the most flesh out part of this concept, but I've been hesitant to share too many details about them because I don't want to spoil the game before I even write a line of code for it... But surely there's some things I can share. I want to experiment more with Youtube's feature to make video replies to comments.

So, I'm tempted to make a Q & A video where you can leave questions for me to reply to on Overseer of the Elements. I just don't know if I want to set it up in a way you can ask the characters questions directly or just a video where you ask me about the OC directly. The prior could be fun, but I don't think I would want to do voice acting for all the characters so I don't know how I'd handle that, especially for the female characters. Plus the later would allow people to ask about things beyond the characters, such as the world, mechanics, and things just in general outside the scope of the characters.

(Shrugs) I'll figure out something once I decide if I'm even going to do an Overseer October this year. But if this even vaguely is of interest to you, please let me know what you think. Especially if you're interested in a Q & A and either of the ways I proposed it to be done.

Oh, I almost forgot. I've got a playlist, specially for videos talking about my OC. So if you want to get caught up, you can just check this out. It isn't a lot so it shouldn't take too much time to watch them all.

And if you're still reading, just want to remind people that Dawn of Djinn Second Mix (v 2.0) is still alive and well. I tend to play test or work on it several times a week, if not once a day in some form. I just don't want to draw too much attention to it before release because well, you know, its an unofficial game and we generally know how Nintendo can get about those types of projects, especially the way I'm making it.

I am occasionally making posts about my progress on Discord & site blogs so feel free to follow either of those platforms for more precise updates on the matter. Half the reason I'm conflicted about doing Overseer October is that I was double checking the anniversary of Golden Sun and realize that I could do something funny if I finish Dawn of Djinn quickly enough.

As much as I enjoy Dawn of Djinn, I'm kind of at the point of looking forward to finishing it up so I can invest more time into Godot and focus more on making "official games" that I can be more loud and proud to share. Maybe even get one step closer to making the world of Overseer of the Elements "real" some day.

[wevelocityteampresents-blog]

Exciting Developments In Paldea!

The air quality this week was completely UNBEARABLE. I don’t think anyone could have survived it without going through some pain. (Either physically or mentally.) And because the air was unbreathable, I was stuck playing Pokémon Violet Version.

Thankfully, I managed to have a lot of fun in the game world!

JULY 5TH

I’ve finally got my mojo back!

I know I said that I wouldn’t take on Ranked Battles anymore. But this seemed like the easiest way to get into battles without having to deal with players who don’t want to play by the new rules.

And it’s not like it’s a bad thing. The more I battle, the more League Points I get to spend on items that can improve my Pokémon!

After I got my LP, I went back to the academy to hand my report to Geeta.

If only I had the time to read everything here...

And it only took you until NOW to think that?

In all honesty, I barely sleep here. There’s already a few Pokémon Centers across town I have more access to. (Not to mention, I’ve been slacking off on my classes...)

I guess this could be useful.

Once she left, I was forced to go to sleep. After a full week (or a good night’s sleep), the day of the Academy Ace Tournament finally arrived.

It’s been a while since I’ve done anything big. This tournament isn’t a Battle Tower, but it’ll have to do.

Good. That’s too bad...

That’s it? I was hoping for something more strict like, “No two Pokémon can be of the same species or hold the same items.” Or “Special Pokémon are banned from entry.”

After all this time, the Academy Ace Tournament has finally arrived! You can see all of the matches on the Web Stadium.

You’ll get used to parenthood eventually.

Also, I guess this counts as the mandatory “Battle with the country’s researchers.”

Trust me, if I were a teacher, art and character design would be my profession.

Hopefully, he doesn’t get fired.

How is she supposed to be a special guest? Standing around in the academy’s main hall must’ve given her SOME attention.

Was there ever any doubt?

That’s probably because I had more powerful Pokémon on me this time.

How thoughtful! A hat that I’ll never wear.

At least we managed to win another more notable prize. (I love how the trailers for the Galar and Paldea Champion Ribbons are colored after the versions they appear in.)

Even with the new fighting experience and prizes, not all went well that night...

So it only took until after that tournament for them to start appearing in my cartridge?

That’s why you should ALWAYS use the buddy system and go into these raids with a team that can ACTUALLY stand a chance.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Top 10 Albums Of 2023... So Far! Part Two: 10 - 6

Welcome to the next part of my list of top ten albums of 2023! We started with five honorable mentions, but now it's time to get into the first half of the list proper, starting with...

Drain - Living Proof

2020 was a clusterfuck of a year that derailed the careers of a lot of bands, including the hardcore / crossover thrash band Drain. They released the incredible California Cursed in 2020, only to have their touring plans halt in their tracks, but three years later, we've got their second album, and first for Epitaph, Living Proof, and it's another solid record. It's more or less the same as what they were doing on their debut, but in a tighter package, and including a bit of variety, such as a hip-hop interlude towards the end of the record. This record doesn't quite hit as much as California Cursed, but we'll see if that changes by the end of the year. This is just the first half of the year, but even then, this is a great hardcore / crossover record that fans of the genre(s) will certainly appreciate.

Blood Star - First Sighting

At the same time the new Enforcer came out, I came across the debut record from a band called Blood Star, entitled First Sighting, and come to find out, that this band is a new endeavor from the guitarist of Utah heavy metal Visigoth. They're a big name in the 1980s metal influenced camp of the genre, and listening through this record, I can hear it. The guitarwork is wonderful, and even the vocals are incredibly good. Like Nostalgia by Enforcer, this doesn't do anything unique that a lot of other bands already did, but I wanted to pick one of these albums to include on the proper list, and I found myself coming back to this one more. As far as 1980s styled metal records go, this is a good one, and it's worth your time and attention, especially when this album is only around 35 minutes, give or take.

Paramore - This Is Why

Six years after their last LP, After Laughter, Paramore are back with This Is Why, and it's, uh, a post-punk album? Yeah, Paramore surprised everybody with a new record and a new sound. Instead of their 80s synth-pop / power-pop sound they had with their last album six years ago, they came back with another sound with its roots in the 1980s -- post-punk. Armed with angular guitars, vocals are almost like they're spoken-word poetry, and lyrics that have a more political bent to them at times, This Is Why is a very interesting album that works quite well, for the most part. The first half is a lot stronger than the second, but it's not by much. I also wouldn't say that This Is Why is Paramore's best album, but it's easily their most interesting, and one of their most unique, because you don't hear a lot of bands doing this anymore, so it's worth a listen for that alone, and it'll be interesting to see how much I come back to this album throughout the year. 7. Enforced - War Remains Thrash metal has had a bit of a lackluster year, as not a whole lot of notable releases have come out, other than one that I'll talk about here in a second, but Enforced dropped their third album (and second for Century Media), entitled War Remains, and if anything at all, it tightens up their sound after their last LP, Kill Grid, whether it's shortening up the length of this record, or just making fast, loud, intense, and energetic thrash that pulls no punches and doesn't hold back. War Remains also doesn't waste its time, or spend any time bullshitting around, like their last album unfortunately did. This is a quick half hour that comes and goes real quick; it knows what it's trying to do, and it does it extremely well. Not too many thrash albums have come out this year, but hopefully fans have playing this one a lot to hold themselves over from the next thrash album that will take up their time and attention. 6. Metallica - 72 Seasons This year has been a big one for the biggest bands in certain genres, but the biggest metal band in the world, and possibly of all time, released their first album in seven years -- Metallica. 72 Seasons is the name of that record, and I reviewed it earlier this year a bit after it came out. I already went into detail about it, but Metallica is one of my all-time favorite bands, and this record is the best possible scenario that we could have gotten from a modern-day Metallica -- a nice mix of classic metal and thrash. I wish I would have put this higher, because it's a great record, but this record is way too long at times, and it does get slightly boring and middling, but just when it starts to get that way, something comes back and catches my attention again. I just can't put this extremely high for that reason, but I do really love this record. Who knows if it'll change later this year, but I don't want to put this album at the top of the list just because it's Metallica. With that said, though, it'll be interesting to see what's at the top, if Metallica's not (although if you look at the collage I made, you can already see what the rest of the list looks like).

[leweekendrock]

A Le Weekend Retrospective - Part 2

Like the night sky, the band Le Weekend has been around more than 15 years. While the night sky lazed around and contributed nothing to anyone, the band used the time to write songs, play shows, and put out recordings at what couldn’t be called a breakneck pace.

Responding to a fantasy where there was popular demand to hear our story, please enjoy–or failing that, read–a retrospective in some number of parts.

This is the second part. It covers 2009 and most of 2010, in which we continued on as a trio and released our first LP at full price for half the material. If you missed (or suddenly miss) the first part, it’s here.

SOUNDTRACK: https://leweekend.bandcamp.com/album/dblscrt

DISCLAIMERS: 

The writing is mostly Matt. Bob’s unprecedented, all-platform social media ban has still not expired.

This isn’t supposed to be (slash hopefully isn’t) a nostalgia trip. Those are for things that are over. We’re just demonstrating some ongoing history behind this thing we do and keep doing for some reason.

I’ve tried to avoid the social media pose of pretending to be an Important Band. It’s hard to avoid entirely when writing anything (suggesting something is worth your time is already bold). But we’re merely a Good Local Band in the sense of all three words, and mean well.

Finally, if you’re looking for Salacious Details(!!), you’ve come to the wrong band. Here are the three most shocking excerpts from the whole thing:

The short-lived sales bump was chalked up to market confusion: there was a similarly named album by some howler monkeys that went on NPR.

The public story about what the initials stand for is well known, but during a quiet moment on the set he revealed it was "Looky Loo.”

Slowly returning to my senses, I dropped the baseball bat and stared blankly at the no longer moving body. Had anyone seen me and Santa Claus come in here?!

And they’re are all from Joan Cusack’s autobiography.

We found ourselves in the early months of what the kids used to call “a 2009.” As I told you last time, we had gone down from a quintet to trio upon the official release of our first recording in December 2008. It was sad to say goodbye to two of our founding members (Ben Ridings and Missy Thangs), but exciting to consider where we could go next with this relatively new project.

I couldn’t find a photo of us all together during this period, so here are two from the same parking lot.

(l-r: Robert Biggers, Bob Wall)

(l-r: Matt Kalb)

We had a definite ease of playing together--great communication--so it wasn’t as hard to rearrange some of our existing songs or to come up with a number of new ones as I’d feared. Revisiting our existing material got me thinking about the arbitrariness of seemingly “final” choices. (Plus I’ve always loved Slacker, so Should Have Stayed At Bus Station laying out the idea of multiple realities spawned by choices made and not made was probably in there, though not consciously). I saw potential to go different directions that were more or less equally great and equally fitting. Thus, less than two months into our existence as a trio, I fired off a too long, kind of bizarre email, which was a style at the time. It even had the subject line “DOUBLE SECRET.”

From The Mixed Up Sent Items of Matt Kalb, Jan 31, 2009.

When we work on songs…I've always been struck that things can work well in a lot of different ways. Since our songs are hard to learn, we don't end up getting to play with this much. What I'd like to do is record an album this year where we double the songs – record two different versions of each. What I DON'T want to do with this idea is make it about 'opposites' per se (where we have rules to follow, like if every song was done full band plus augmentations and then done again 'stripped down' in some way). I don't want it to be a formula where when you hear one of the versions you can predict what the other version will be. I just want to use different approaches such as…

[blah blah about the different approaches]

...The end result would be one CD with two distinct I'm-going-to-call-them phases where a version of all the songs appears in an order that works well, and then the songs are presented again being different versions and importantly not in the same sequence, etc. The phases themselves also reflect the idea—e.g. it won't be straight in one phase and weird in the next, or stripped down then lush, that sort of thing—those differences should happen internally in each. 

[snipping out a thing I don’t want to spoil about “Better Practice” and “The Story of Le Weekend Suite.” We’ll get to it]

That's what I've been kicking around for LW09.

When we reached out to Lincoln Hancock about doing artwork and graphic design for the CD, it turned out he was already exploring something similar in his visual art. Synchronicity! It was a quite different process, but there was a resonance between what we were each getting into. And needless to say, we got a great cover out of it.

(Art and layout by Lincoln Hancock)

In the meantime, we wrote a number of songs, then essentially wrote them again with different decisions. Then we approached Nick Petersen and began recording, this time at his house.

The most straightforward version of the doubles is the pairing of "Strwpr" and "Strpwr". There are no changes at all to chords or structure (except “Strwpr” has a brief outro), a few blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em changes to the lyrics, and a substantial change in arrangement and feel. The first is an essentially live, high energy rocker mostly home recorded by the trio--although sadly that backwards guitar solo required an overdub. The second is our version of lush, adult studio jams, with the trio stepping back in the arrangement to make space for a bunch of talented guest musicians.

Our Very Special Guests(™) on “Strpwr”

Chris Eubank (cello)

David Garfield (saxophone)

Jeff Herrick (trumpet)

Shannon Morrow (percussion)

Hank Pellerin (trombone)

Crowmeat Bob Pence (bass clarinet)

Alan Petermann (violin)

Carrie Shull (English horn)

Wendy Spitzer (oboe)

Bob also played the Rhodes. Essential.

The rest of the easily recognizable doubles explored the concept in less overt ways. Some were expansions/reductions of each other, some reused melodies over new chord progressions, some took energy levels to opposite poles. There were also many cases of home recording vs. studio. Still, it was always clear they sprang from the same material. The differences were the choices in how that material was presented and re-presented.

In contrast, the double relationship between “Better Practice” and “The Story of Le Weekend Suite“ (that thing I didn’t want to spoil from my email above, remember?) was much less overt. Each song was written before we came up with the “doubles” concept, but were a big part of what inspired it in the first place. “Like how PG-13 is because of Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” you’re probably thinking, “even though the movies themselves are just PG!” Sounds like you nailed it.

To me, the songs represented the two main approaches I take to songwriting. We’ll call one the “Better Practice” way: a journey through many parts that may not seem connected at first, and if not done right, ever. The second, or as they say “The Story of Le Weekend Suite” method, results in a song overly succinct by pop standards, around 60-90 seconds, but if done right it feels complete. “Better Practice” also recapitulates an aspect of the doubles concept by having various parts recorded in different ways and then sequenced together, while “The Story of Le Weekend Suite” was both, as the title may suggest, a story (or images from a story) about recording Suite and a double of the song “Le Weekend Suite” from that album. Notably, the song “Le Weekend Suite”, unlike the “story” of it, is very much in the “Better Practice” vein. Finally, for someone who started playing in the last century and still thinks in terms of “albums,” you can honor the best songs by making them the opener or the closer.

Of course we didn’t want it to be necessary for a listener to nerd out on these layers to enjoy the songs or the album. Some are extremely inside baseball, and even for the band about as much gets figured out in analysis after the fact (i.e. frames of reference that can be applied afterward, or not) than gets planned up front. We aimed for a good record, thinking these elements could help make that happen. We also didn’t intend for it to be reducible to a hook or gimmick, but at the same time understood it might draw people in. In any case, everything was meant to be very openly “hidden”–I mean, we called the damn thing DBLSCRT.

We got some very much appreciated local press attention for this one. This included a feature by Chris Parker in the Indy (which we owed to the music editor Grayson Currin’s interest), and a review by Brian Howe in Shuffle.

The Indy article came out just in time to promote our bad ass release show at the Nightlight. Ezekiel Graves (w/ guest Crowmeat Bob) and Eric Roehrig opened, even debuting an occasion-specific number that I’m sure Erie Choir breaks out now and again late in their set lists. Most of the guest musicians from the album were able to join us, with a pinch hitter on violin.

Chris Eubank (cello)

Ecki Heins (violin)

Crowmeat Bob Pence (bass clarinet)

Carrie Shull (English horn, oboe)

Jeff Herrick (trumpet)

David Garfield (saxophone)

Hank Pellerin (trombone)

For that night only, the core band was a four-piece, with the incomparable Wes Phillips (sadly, no longer among us) on various instruments to recreate some of the band’s overdubs. And Nick ran sound so we could make all these things happen. It took a considerable amount of planning and squeezing inputs (not to mention squeezing people together) to pull off 11 musicians with a mix of electric and acoustic instruments through the Nightlight PA of the time!

As if that wasn’t enough, throughout the evening Dave Bjorkback and David Nahm provided astonishingly well researched color commentary / heckling, like if Statler and Waldorf were given mics. They even had to trigger Robert’s Discman (™) at two critical points in the show, for no extra pay.

And Ben Spiker documented it all! Well, parts anyway, but those are parts...of it all! A good bit was linked above. Dive into the rest for more photos and videos.

(Screen grab from video by Ben Spiker. l-r front row: Hank Pellerin, Jeff Herrick, David Garfield; back: Ecki Heins [profile], Robert Biggers [at drum kit], Matt Kalb, Wes Phillips [upstage, seated], Bob Wall; not pictured: Chris Eubank [upstage of Ecki], Crowmeat Bob and Carrie Shull [both front row, left of frame])

One bit of trivia before we go: Dave Bjorkback arrived at the show with his copy of the Indy that he’d picked up from work. When he saw someone else’s, he realized some of the unusual artistic choices were added post-print.

(Indy Article With Contributions By Unknown Graffitist (2010), photographed by Ben Spiker)

During the time frame of this installment, we played these shows.

03/12/09 - Nightlight - DEBUT OF LW AS A TRIO w/The Antlers and Actual Persons Living or Dead

05/09/09 - The Pinhook - w/Grappling Hook and Minor Stars

05/14/09 - Tir na nOg - w/Sorry About Dresden and The Dirty Little Heaters

09/04/09 - The Pinhook - w/Savage Knights and Bicameral Mind

09/19/09 - Nightlight - w/Inspector 22 and The Summertime Whisky Band

10/25/09 - Live on WXDU

02/20/10 - Nightlight - w/Monsonia and Actual Persons Living or Dead

06/09/10 - Nightlight - w/Green Grocer and Secret Boyfriend

09/17/10 - Nightlight - w/Decoration Ghost and On The Take

09/30/10 - The Pinhook - w/Jeremy Blair From Effingham and Wembley

10/29/10 - Nightlight - CD RELEASE for _DBLSCRT_, w/Ezekiel Graves and Eric Roehrig, plus live commentary by Dave Bjorkback and DC Nahm

And that’s all you get! For now.

[newmusicradionetwork]

Lion Heights Announce New Album “False Reality”

Outlaw Reggae outfit Lion Heights are excited to announce their long-awaited album False Reality. Lion Heights is an unforgettable reggae experience with talent destined for launch into international recognition. With their first full-length LP since 2017, the band is ready to showcase six years of hard work to the world. False Reality is due out on April 7th. Based in Austin, TX, Lion Heights is a mighty band who have created their own musical trademark influenced by roots reggae music pumping out of Jamaica in the 70’s and 80’s. The band is comprised of Dane Foltin, Jeremy Carlson, and James Campbell. Since relocating to Austin, Lion Heights have become a prominent band in the diverse music community. They have opened for acclaimed acts like Kabaka Pyramid, Jesse Royal, Arise Roots, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Cocoa Tea. A truly unique musical experience, Lion Heights has coined the genre “Outlaw Reggae.” Not trying to fit into Jamaican Reggae or Cali Reggae scenes, the band is developing their own sound, stemming from their collective interests and musical inspirations, and making the music they want to create and hear. Bringing their sound throughout the Lone Star State for years has led to Lion Heights becoming one of Texas’ most respected Reggae bands. False Reality is Lion Heights first LP since their 2017 debut album “Same Situation.” The album was recorded at the band’s Tall Sky Studio in Austin. On previous projects, Lion Heights utilized sampling classic Jamaican records. This new record captures the bands live sound with mostly live instrumentation. On the decision, Jeremy says, “It feels like it’s more “ours” too. It’s an evolution. When you listen to both of these albums back to back, you’re going to hear the growth; in the songwriting, vocals, instrumentation, and arrangement. It’s cool for us to experience, and I’m sure as a fan of the band, it’s cool to hear also.” This album is an accumulation of songs Lion Heights has been crafting for several years. The title False Reality carries a powerful message both for the band and for the nation. Dane explains,  “As a band, one part of the false reality is the world we are forced to create and live in on social media. In order to get our music out, to get shows, to work with booking agents, we have to put so much time into building these social media accounts. At this point, we have to play the game just to reach fans. Hopefully they reach the real us through the music.” He continues, “As a nation, the false reality is the system itself. Without getting too deep into it, there are many ways in which we are being exploited and used. They keep us docile with distractions so we don’t realize we have given our lives to the system. Essentially our sense of freedom is an illusion” The songwriting throughout False Reality is purposeful, with each song having its own story. The title track was inspired by the Ferguson riots and became the concept behind the album. Dane says, “During the Ferguson Riots, I was seeing them create false narratives and fake enemies. It was so clear that fear and misinformation was the main tactic used by media and police.” Written in 2012 while they were still living in Chicago, Better Weather finds the young aspiring musicians dreaming of the sunny days that they would soon get later on. One Night is a clubby minimalistic track inspired by Popcaan’s 2020 FIXTAPE about going out with your girl and getting in a fight instead of having a good time. Ain’t What It Seems came about while Jeremy and James were living in a converted school bus. Jeremy states, “I put myself in a space where I WANTED to create, and nothing was coming. I sat there with no ideas. The concept that started the tune was ‘what if I write a song about not being able to write a song?”. Life Is Not A Race is an anthem to live life at your own pace and to keep moving forward. Resting Place is a more emotion-filled cut, written by Jeremy the day his aunt passed away. The band explains, “We had a show that night at the Double Door in Chicago back in 2013 opening for Mishka. Jeremy’s job wouldn’t give him the night off, even though he asked weeks before. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to make the show. In the morning, he was notified about his aunt’s passing. His job finally let him off work because of that. So, instead of going to work, he wrote “Resting Place,” and then we played the show that night. It was a great show too.” Lion Heights are proud to present their new album False Reality on April 7th. The band concludes, “This release has been a long time coming; a good amount of our story is in there. More than anything, we’re just glad to finally share it with our fans.” Stream Reggae on the Rise HERE Connect with Lion Heights Website Instagram Facebook Youtube Spotify Apple Read the full article

[dealgemeneverwarring]

De Algemene Verwarring #83 - 12 december 2022

The eighty-third episode of De Algemene Verwarring was broadcast on Tuesday December 12, 2022, and you can listen to it by clicking on the Mixcloud widget below. And if that does not work, here’s the direct link to the Mixcloud page:

https://www.mixcloud.com/MedialabKortrijk/de-algemene-verwarring-83-12-december-2022/

Before I start telling you about the picture below: apparently that Mixcloud widget doesn’t show up anymore so just click the link above to go directly to the Mixcloud page. I don’t know what’s up with that and I am too lazy and not IT-intelligent enough to look for another solution. But you know the deal, I always post the direct link. ANYWAY. 

Pictured below is Belgian band Aroma Di Amore. Probably unknown to most of my foreign listeners (hi Neil!), hopefully not unknown to the Belgians here. Aroma Di Amore played their very last show last week in Brussels, after a career that spanned 40 years. Ok, there was 25 years between the 1987 album Koudvuur and their comeback album “Samizdat” (2012), but the influence that the band had on me is immense. The name of my previous radio show De Radio Is Gek Geworden? It’s a song by Aroma Di Amore. They sing in Dutch, and it’s just too easy to put them in the league of other eighties Belgian post punk bands such as De Brassers or Siglo XX or The Cultural Decay. Aroma Di Amore is a blend of their own, some of their tracks remind me more of Big Black then of Joy Division, and the trademark drum computer that they use is more punk than the same instrument used by The Sisters Of Mercy. By the way, the eighties output of the band is now collected on an LP-box called “Zwarte Doos” and released by Onderstroom Records. I’m in doubt whether to buy it or not, it’s pricey but all those records are just very very good. 

Allright, other music in this episode is new stuff from Non Plus Temps, Fleur, Tramhaus, and Puppet Wipes, and older stuff from Dinosaur Jr., Supercharger, Coïtus Int., Bailter Space and The Clean. And beneath the photo you can find the playlist for this show. Enjoy!

Playlist:

Dinosaur Jr.: Just Like Heaven (10” Fossils” on SST Records, 1991)

Chiff Chaffs: The Fly (LP “Up To No Good” on Trash Wax, 2022)

Supercharger: Don’t Mess Me Up (LP “The Singles Party (Singles Compilation 1992-1993)” on Rip Off Records, 2002)

King Automatic: Le Redresseur De Torts (CD V/A “Voodoo Rhythm Records Label Compilation”, on Voodoo Rhythm Records, 2011)

Warm Exit: Sonny Cynar (7” Warm Exit” on Rockerill Records, Belly Button Records, Drink & Drive Records, Love Mazout Records, 2021)

Escape-Ism: Whatever People Say That I Am (That’s What I’m Not) (LP “Rated Z” on Radical Elite Records & Mono-Tone Records, 2021)

Fleur: Fais Gaffe (7” “Le Capharnaüm/Fais Gaffe” on Soundflat Records, 2022)

Non Plus Temps: Continuous Hinge (LP “Desire Choir” on Post Present Medium, 2022)

Tramhaus: Amour Amour (EP “Rotterdam” on Subroutine Records, 2022)

Coïtus Int.: Under My Skin (LP “Sex For The Wealthy”, self-released, 1985)

Aroma Di Amore: Meisje Zijn (LP “Koudvuur” on Anything But Records, 1987)

The Drin: (I’m On) 75 (LP “Engines Sing For The Pale Moon” on Drunken Sailor Records, 2022)

Bailter Space: At Five We Drive (LP “Wammo”, reissue on Matador Records, 2021, originally released in 1995 on Flying Nun Records)

The Clean: Getting Older (CD V/A “Yeti Six” on Yeti Publishing, 2008)

番長 Taste: Passed Out In Petals (7” “番長 Taste” On I Dischi Del Barone, 2022)

Puppet Wipes: I Was Injured On The Job (LP “The Stones Are Watching & They Can Be A Handful” on Siltbreeze Records, 2022)

Leif Elggren: xNEW8 (CD “Tin Can Crowns” on Firework Edition Records, 2021)

Drew McDowall: Agalma V (With Kali Malone) (LP “Agalma” on Dais Records, 2020)

[newmusickarl]

Top 50 Albums of 2022: #50-41

If 2021 was a year of recovery, then 2022 was the big reunion party.

For the first time in two years we had a full 12 months of live music and festivals, with rooms and fields full of people singing their heart out without the weight of COVID restrictions bringing palpable delight. The whole year has felt like a communal cathartic release, as the full joy of being able to experience music in all its various forms properly returned. The artists felt it, the venues felt it, the touring crews felt it and most certainly us fans felt it.

As a result, I think I listened to more new music in 2022 than any other year I can remember. My Apple Music Replay tells me I've listened to 785 albums, 860 different artists, 4,901 different songs and 38,680 minutes of music – crikey that’s a lot of music, even for me! However, my own tally that I keep every year has broken this down into just over 210 albums from 2022 and around 1,100 songs from the last 12 months as well. This has given me the impossible task this month then of choosing just 50 albums and 100 songs to call my favourites of the year.

Pound-for-pound, I think 2022 has proven to be my favourite year for new music at least since 2019. Not only did we get the final big wave of lockdown albums come through, but the return of live music meant a lot of these records could actually be experienced as they were intended – amongst big festival crowds or simply in front of eager audiences hanging on every single word and chord. Whittling this mass of great music down hasn’t been easy but after much internal debate, I have landed on a Top 50 Albums and Top 100 songs list for 2022. The songs will come in playlist form later in the countdown along with a roundup of my favourite EPs and live shows of the year, but for now let’s get into the best LPs that the year had to offer.

As ever, these 50 albums come from a multitude of genres (pop, rock, indie, hip-hop, R&B, electronica, shoegaze, punk and post-punk - it’s all here!) so although there is a good chance you won’t enjoy everything on this list, hopefully there is at least something for everyone to enjoy. Of course, the variety also makes it very difficult to rank one above the other, so don’t get too hung up on the placements. Generally, I’ve favoured the albums that:

Had the biggest impact on me and the wider music world in the last 12 months

Had ambition or something unique to offer

I played the most during the year

Ultimately produced the best front-to-back listening experience

Got it? Good.

Here’s the first 10 albums that made the cut:

50. Ghosts on Tape by Blood Red Shoes

Kicking things off then at #50, we are going right back to the start of the year as Brighton-based indie-rock duo Blood Red Shoes released, for me, a career-best effort.

Ghosts On Tape is a cohesive and imaginative record, packed wall-to-wall with fun, atmospheric bangers, with the pair pushing their sound into fascinating new territory whilst still managing to bring it altogether into a tightly sewn, coherent package. It all makes for a mightily entertaining experience, like hopping on a Ghost Train you’ll just want to ride on again and again.

Best tracks: Morbid Fascination, Sucker, Comply

Listen here

49. Alpha Games by Bloc Party

2022 was the year Bloc Party got their mojo back. Whilst the band’s 2016 album Hymns still had its moments, it very much reflected a band going through a transition. With Alpha Games though, it was thankfully a different story, with this one marking their first record with Louise who is now a permanent fixture on the sticks.

Although it is far from a perfect record as it still contains a few niggles, if you’ve ever been a fan of Bloc Party’s work there is plenty to enjoy here. The songs are great and the band sound rejuvenated, with the new line-up finally finding their groove with one another. So, whilst it may not hit the heady heights of Silent Alarm, it certainly beats Hymns and as one of my all-time favourite bands, this one was always likely to make the final cut.

Best tracks: If We Get Caught, By Any Means Necessary, Of Things Yet To Come,

Listen here

48. Better With You by KAWALA

An album that grew on me massively throughout 2022, KAWALA really do have a sound like no other. This one came alive during festival season and has pretty much remained in regular rotation since that point. Here’s what I said about the album back in March:

“Centred on a consistent aesthetic of catchy Afrobeat-influenced grooves, led by the dual lead vocal harmonies of frontmen Jim Higson and Dan McCarthy, Better With You is the sound of a band getting ready to hit their stride…

This is a solid debut for KAWALA with both flashes of promise and plenty of fun tunes to be found. You do get the sense the band have another level they can hit, and although they don’t quite get there on Better With You, that is something they can explore in the future. Right now though, this is the ideal launch pad and a summer-ready debut for fans to enjoy.”

Best tracks: Sailor, Never Really Here For Long, Searching

Read my full review for Gigwise here

Listen here

47. Islands by Josef Salvat

Aussie singer-songwriter Josef Salvat has always been one of the most underrated voices in pop and he proved it again in 2022 on his shimmering third album, Islands. Darkly personal but with vibrant synths and killer hooks, there were few better pure pop records this year. Here’s what I said all the way back in February:

“Salvat is now creating as an independent, having left Sony after the release of his sophomore album Modern Anxiety. The result is a record that, despite it largely being crafted during lockdown, sounds unfettered and more liberated than any of his previous work. The moody ballads have been mostly sidelined this time around, with Salvat instead crafting an upbeat pop record that boasts vibrant production, catchy melodies and emotionally-charged songwriting.

Islands is a triumph and easily Josef Salvat’s strongest album so far. Free of major label pressure, he has finally delivered the captivating pop album you feel he’s always wanted to make. Calling back to his own words on the title track, Josef is now exactly where he needs to be—and he’s never sounded better.”

Best tracks: The Drum, Islands, Sunbeams

Read my full review for Gigwise here

Listen here

46. The Present Is A Foreign Land by Deaf Havana

Back from the brink of extinction, Deaf Havana delivered their excellent sixth album in 2022 that was as heartbreakingly personal as it was anthemic. Here’s what I had to say back in July:

“In its simplest terms, The Present Is A Foreign Land is the soaring stadium rock of Bruce Springsteen colliding with the moody, self-reflective pop of The 1975, but it is also much more than that.

Narratively the album tells the story of the band’s last three years, taking the listener through their whole challenging ordeal, unfiltered. At various stages, the brothers confess to their existential crises, relationship breakdowns, alcoholism, mental health issues and other intensely personal struggles. It can be a dark listen at times, but thankfully the uplifting nature of the music and splashes of hopefulness stop it from ever being too overwhelming.

Overall, The Present Is A Foreign Land is a magnificent rebirth – a deeply personal record from beginning to end, simply brimming with all the heart and resilience the brothers could muster.”

Best tracks: Nevermind, Kids, Someone/Somewhere

Read my full review for Gigwise here

Read my interview with Deaf Havana on the making of the album here

Listen here

45. Now or Whenever by Spector

An album that I proclaimed as “the first great record of 2022” back in January, it may have taken Spector seven years to finally release the follow-up to their glorious sophomore album Moth Boys (the record I named as my Album of the Year back in 2015), but Now or Whenever was well worth the wait. Steered by Fred Macpherson’s wildly unique, astute lyricism and Jed Cullen’s masterful guitar work, Now or Whenever is Spector delivering another soaring collection of poetic and wonderfully crafted indie anthems.

Due to the gap between their last two records and the narrative of the band changes, many publications at the time described this album as a “rebirth” for Spector, but for me this album was never that at all. This is simply one of the best indie bands of the last decade creating the great songs they always have done.

Best tracks: Funny Way of Showing It, This Time Next Year, Catch You on the Way Back In

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44. The Dream by Alt-J

I’m pleased to say that Alt-J finally emerged from the shadow of their incredible, Mercury Prize-winning debut An Awesome Wave in 2022. Now whilst fourth album The Dream may not quite stand shoulder-to-shoulder with that record, it was certainly a big step up from its two predecessors and easily their second-best outing to date.

From cinematic overture Bane, to groovy singles U&ME and Hard Drive Gold, through to the wonderfully quirky moments like Philadelphia, some of the band’s most interesting work is littered across this one. However, the record really shines for me in some of the quieter moments, with the beautifully understated Get Better and Cormac McCarthy inspired Happier When You’re Gone arguably the best of the bunch.

A big bounce back after Relaxer, The Dream is an engaging front-to-back listen with plenty flashes of both beauty and intrigue.

Best tracks: Get Better, Philadelphia, Bane

Listen here

43. Reeling by The Mysterines

Arriving earlier this year in a quieter week for new music releases, I’m so glad I found this debut from Liverpool rock quartet The Mysterines, as it proved to be one of the finest first outings all year. Packed throughout with seismic grunge riffs, big festival-ready anthems and powerful lead vocals from frontwoman Lia Metcalfe, this is a moody and assured debut that will have you moshing out in no time.

Basically, if you were to create a venn diagram with classic bands like Nirvana, Hole and Sonic Youth, and more modern ones like Arctic Monkeys and Nothing But Thieves, you’d probably find The Mysterines floating around in the middle sweet spot. Opening on the full throttle roar of Life’s A Bitch (But I Like It So Much), the four-piece spend the next 40 minutes ripping things up and packing a punch with their intoxicating bluesy rock sound. It makes for a thrilling listen, with plenty of sonic nods to classic rock bands of years gone by, but also a freshness brought about by their own palpable youthful energy.

Best tracks: Still Call You Home, Hung Up, All These Things

Listen here

42. CRASH by Charli XCX

In 2022, the career of experimental pop genius Charli XCX really did come full circle. Having made the original (and still arguably the best) lockdown record in the form of the Mercury Prize-nominated How I’m Feeling Now, CRASH sees Charli turn everything up to 11 and go all out with an album that is just pure wall-to-wall pop bangers. I did originally consider not including this, but there really is no denying just how joyously infectious this album is and, as a result, it has easily been one of my most played records of the year.

CRASH is an album that sees Charli strike the balance between hit-making machine and visionary pop artist. Although at times it can feel like it is built to sell, critics and fans of her later work will still find plenty of her own stylistic signature painted across CRASH, with splatters of modern flair and experimental production techniques amongst the big, polished 80s throwback numbers.

Also, what CRASH lacks in How I’m Feeling Now’s instant and lasting impact, Charli makes up for with fun, playful pop and very few duff moments. Singles Good Ones and You Used To Know Me are mightily catchy, the collaborations with Christine & The Queens, Caroline Polachek and Rina Sawayama all continue to pop off, and there’s plenty of quite intriguing new cuts too such as the late-night quiet rave of Move Me and the dream-pop melancholy of Every Rule.

So whilst I wouldn’t say this is her best project, it is still one of the finest pop records of the year and a solid culmination of - and testament to - Charli’s career to this point.

Best tracks: Good Ones, You Used To Know Me, Every Rule

Listen here

41. Ribbon Around The Bomb by Blossoms

Is it just me or has this album massively flown under the radar this year?

Whilst I appreciate the Stockport indie rockers have set the standard pretty high with their discography so far and the tracks here may not marry up to their catalogue’s biggest singles, Ribbon Around The Bomb sees Blossoms achieve greater artistic maturity with some of their most finely constructed songs to date.

I’m also fully convinced they simply don’t know how to make a bad record at this point, as this is another thrilling 35-minute listen that boasts catchy, instantly timeless songs from start to finish. Ode To NYC will hook you in straight away, a romantic love letter to The Big Apple driven by sweet harmonies and galloping acoustic guitars. Born Wild is another highlight, a hugely cinematic number that draws comparisons to some of The War On Drugs’ recent material. Single Care For still sounds great too, with its 70s flair and swooning, string-tinged melody.

However, it is in the back end of the track list where the best songs really start to appear. Cinerama Holy Days is a wonderful Northern Soul-inspired number, with its upbeat piano melody and cooing backing vocals. Edith Machinist will then have you checking you haven’t accidentally put The Coral on instead (in a good way), before closer Visions delivers an epic seven minutes of bluesy guitars, soaring strings and exquisitely crafted laidback grooves.

With nostalgic sounds, cinematic production and superb songwriting, in another year this one could’ve easily ended up a little bit higher.

Best tracks: Visions, Cinerama Holy Days, Ode to NYC

Listen here

The countdown continues on Sunday with #40-31!

[radioheadmerch]

Whether you're in search of a Radiohead T-shirt or Sweatshirt, or you're looking for something more casual such as a tank top, there are plenty of options available to you. There are also plenty of new releases available as well, such as In Rainbows and Kid A Mnesia.

Kid A Mnesia

Earlier this year Radiohead announced a special collection of merchandise to celebrate their upcoming triple album reissue of Kid A and Amnesiac. Items included a custom-made tea set, bedsheets, a tin of bear-shaped biscuits, and patches. They also released a special virtual art exhibit to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Kid A.

The virtual exhibit, which is available to play on PC and PlayStation 5, is an unconventional way to experience two of Radiohead's most revered albums. It features audio clips from the albums, accompanied by artwork from Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood. It's also been designed to be a sort of interactive museum. Users can scan QR codes for access to objects and interact with them.

The virtual exhibit was originally conceived as a physical installation. However, the laws of physics and zoning conspire to prevent this. To get around this problem, the band enlisted the help of video/computer artist Sean Evans and interactive producer Matthew Davis.

In Rainbows

XL Recordings, a subsidiary of Sony Music, released Radiohead's latest LP, In Rainbows, on 31 December 2007. The album has been certified gold in the UK and is the first major label release for the band since their EMI contract expired with Hail to the Thief in 2003. It has sold over three million copies worldwide and has topped the US Billboard 200.

The album also made a splash in the music business by virtue of being the first album by a major artist to self-release on the web. This gave Radiohead the ability to set their own price and promote the record in a number of ways. One of the most effective marketing tactics was the use of a viral video. This video featured singer Thom Yorke performing the track, "Fear of a Blank Page." It went on to become the most successful video of its kind to date.

Radiohead Hoodies

Getting your mitts on one of these high tech tees will be the first step in the right direction. The good thing is that Radiohead is more than willing to oblige. The only caveat is that you need to be in the right place at the right time. The best time to do it is on a Sunday evening. Besides, you can never have too many options in your arsenal. It is not surprising that the aforementioned dudes have a knack for snagging the best deals in town. They are also a swell bunch to boot. Hopefully this article has provided you with the requisite information you need to land the deal of the century. The rest of your aforementioned evening can be spent slaying it in style with the best company on your best company.

Sweatshirts

Whether you're looking for a gift or just want to wear the latest trend, Radiohead sweatshirts are perfect for anyone. The hoodies are made from a 75% cotton 25% polyester blend, and are available in five different sizes. These are also machine washable, making them a great choice for anyone who likes to have their clothing squeaky clean.

The hoodies come in a variety of designs, including The Bends, Radiohead, and more. These are all adult unisex, and are printed with high quality prints. They are also sweatshop free, so you can rest assured that you're getting a quality product. They also ship within three to five business days, so you can have your new hoodie within a short amount of time. The designs come in a range of colors, so you'll be sure to find one that suits your style.