#i do hope sisyphus is happy in the second game

[aenthroppe]

one must imagine narcissus happy

[8o8o8o8o8]

More Sisyphus & Ferryman. It's still sad.

Context: Minophus divorce, both of them on friendly terms with the Ferryman

"If it's any help," he says one day, quiet, as they shake on his lap. "Minos would tell you of endless thousands with worse sins than you, if you ask him."

Sisyphus' hand is warm on their damp shoulder, his brightness piercing the meager shield their cloak provides. He's found them hiding outside in the rain—neither Gabriel nor Minos would think them so cowardly as to do such things—and wordlessly scooped them up and brought them down to the engine room. They try not to think of how considerate it is of him to bring them to what he definitely knows is their favorite place on the ship.

"That's other people. I am the worst version of myself." The engine to their left drones in its duty. They lay their head against it and let the vibrations take over their shivering. Drown out the fading itch to scratch their skin off.

Sisyphus huffs once, frustrated with them (as usual) and accepting (as usual). One week into their... association, they've started to avoid talking to Sisyphus when Gabriel or Minos are in the room. They don't want the looks of concern they get when the two of them starts baring their metaphorical teeth. Minos is too kind, and Gabriel holds them like they're a fragile precious thing. They'd rather be soft with them.

But with Sisyphus... It's breathtakingly easy to loosen their own chains around him, to bite and snarl and be the wretched, violent person they haven't allowed themself to be in centuries.

"Mind your words. If the others hear that you will have to explain all this to their satisfaction." They know he doesn't mean the position they're in, squeezed into a crevice in ferry's engine room. No, it's all the other times he's caught them hissing curses under their breath. All the thrown objects. All the times they hid down here and screamed and screamed and screamed—

His fingers trace the fresh cracks on their shoulder blade, the backs of their ribs, not hidden enough under their cloth. The cold leeches out a little more.

"I'm surprised you haven't told them. It is strange of you to not take advantage of my weakness."

"There is nothing I can gain from causing you such harm, angeling." His tone is flat, the way that it gets when he's too annoyed at their way of thinking to even hide his meaning.

"You can protect Minos from having to suffer me." They point out to deafening silence.

Eventually, he swallows. "...You are bold to imply that I—that it would make him happy." It's far too brittle a threat. Gap in his defense. Months ago, they would have torn him open with that.

"He loves you." Sisyphus turns away, making to push them off and get up. They quickly cup a forceful hand around his cheek, practically grabbing his jaw, turning him to face them once more. His eyes are a touch wider but he meets their empty sockets gamely. "I'm serious. He'd be happy that you care for him."

"Don't change the subject, this is about your–"

"Fuck whatever I was doing." They would laugh if they weren't so focused on getting their point across. "Minos misses you. He's still upset at you, yes, but he spoke about you with this-this—Urgh." They groan. The strata of love and loss and rage of centuries-old longing they sometimes catch in Minos feels too raw and personal for them to deliver second-hand like this. They sigh.

"All I'm saying is," they tap their pinkie against his neck once, a demand to keep eye contact, "Minos, above all else, is a kind man. You will have his forgiveness if you ask for it."

"It's rude to raise hope like that, my captain." He flashes an easy grin, turned crooked from their firm hand on his cheek. It doesn't hide the panic pounding too visible in his chest. Perhaps it's not supposed to, and he really does just find humor in damn near everything. In that moment, they could see exactly how Minos fell for him. In a kinder world, one that didn't raise a Ferryman that flinches and runs when good things come a little too easily, perhaps they would have, as well.

...Perhaps it's not too late to try, anyway.

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

Pokemon Emerald: Ralts Only

The Wally challenge. AKA Why Would Anyone Do This, Please Love Yourself!

I've been watching frankly too much solo Pokemon content and decided to try my own run. But rather than anything remotely sensible I decided to start with Ralts. Oh. Ralts. We're going to get extremely acquainted with one another aren't we.

Ralts is quite bad and honestly a baffling choice for a solo only run.

It's base stats are really low, honestly lower than you would think they should be. It's BST is lower than every other Pokemon you can catch in the area, that's how little they want you to use this Pokemon. But even worse is...

the movepool. There's good moves on here and getting Psychic at the brisk level of 26 is really nice! But we are going to have to gatekeep gaslight girlboss our way past a lot of the early game Pokemon in Emerald. Every Poochyena is an Avengers-level threat.

Let's get started (and the last time I use an emulator's screenshot function again, holy shit).

You might be wondering if the run is even possible at all. After all, the very first thing you do in Pokemon Emerald is defeat a Level 2 Zigzagoon, and you might notice that we don't have any damage dealing moves. Only Growl. Surely the run is just dead?

Nope! It turns out that if the Zigzagoon would KO your Pokemon, it will actually run away instead! Which is both really funny, and depressing. There's no way out for us. We're Sisyphus, and we're assumed happy.

It is at this point that the realization dawns on myself. We cannot actually get to Route 102 without first defeating Brendan, and his Level 5 starter. Eagle eyed readers might notice we replaced Treecko, so Brendan is going to have Mudkip. (Edit from the future: what the fuck are you talking about how did you mess this up?) How, exactly, are we going to succeed in actually defeating him? Well, I have a plan.

It's not a good one, but it exists.

Now this isn't exactly a speedrun. I'm not exactly confident enough in my ability to play through these games quickly enough to make time feel like a relevant metric. I will eventually win, no matter how long it takes. ;w;

But for now, I do the most important part of the run. I save the game and open up PKHex. I'm using a Ralts, so I need as much help as I can get here, and besides, it wouldn't be fair if this Ralts wasn't as good as possible, right?

We actually got really lucky on the nature, as Naive nature is exactly what I was hoping for. 45 base Speed is going to need all the help it can get, so I'm happy for the 10% bonus. Sp.Def is probably our least important stat as well. Now you might wonder why I'm not going for Timid or Modest and...the answer is, unfortunately, we're going to need our Attack stat for a lot of early game fights and throughout the run.

The choice of ability for this run was Trace. Neither Trace or Synchronize are really that good in all honesty, but Trace gives us a bit of information and can potentially be good depending on the situation. Synchronize is neat as a status punisher, but it comes up too infrequently and isn't that good to boot.

Now it isn't immediately obvious, but this actually isn't a perfect Ralts. This Ralts is 31/30/31/30/31/30. This is because this run is going to be using Hidden Power. I'm personally going to be locking in Hidden Power Fire for this run for two reasons. The first is that I think the coverage on Steel-types is going to prove critical for one fight in particular, and the second is, I don't actually think Hidden Power Fighting is good. It sounds like a good answer for Steel and Dark-types, but in Generation III, Hidden Power Fighting is Physical and that means we can't boost it, and it's impacted by Intimidate, which is surely not remotely relevant.

Also for those who don't know, Caitlin is the name of one of my girlfriends, @juci-luci . It felt fitting to make her a Ralts. Love you <3

So let's talk about my plan for Rival 1. Brendan 1. The Mudkiperino. If we had access to Route 102, this would actually be nothing worth talking about. We would mull about in the grass until we got a Ralts or a Seedot encounter, and then use all of our Growl PP until we could use Struggle. But...

Like I said, we actually cannot go to Route 102 yet. So we have to find a way to deplete our Growl PP...and not go to the Pokecenter to heal our HP at all. Let's look at our options here.

Route 101 has three available encounters: Poochyena is definitely the worst, because it's only move at Levels 2-3 is Tackle, so it will constantly attack us. Zigzagoon is also pretty bad though since its a Normal-type, and will do a lot of damage to us as it rams into our face. Wurmple isn't a very strong Pokemon thankfully, so it could work as long as we keep trying for a Level 2 Wurmple.

If you're curious about Route 103, don't worry, it's even worse. Wingull doesn't even care about Growl and will blast us with its special STAB Water Gun. This ain't it.

We actually get pretty lucky and find a Level 2 Wurmple on our first attempt! Now begins...the pain. At -6, this Wurmple is only doing 2 damage to us but what's actually kind of weird here is that the Growls don't actually impact the damage. Wurmple's Attack stat and Level are already so low that the rounding evens out everything anyways. Just an incredibly weird quirk of how the damage formula works. But as an additional quirk, no matter what Wurmple's Attack stat can be, a critical hit will always deal 5 damage. This has a couple of interesting knock-on effects.

The first is we don't need to heal in battle. Once we get to a low enough HP total, we can just run away a use a Potion out of battle. This might seem odd, but it's actually beneficial to do so, since Wurmple's damage isn't affected by anything we do, but String Shot does meaningfully impact our Speed. Outspeeding the Wurmple will give us at least one additional guaranteed Growl, plus it means I can avoid using items in battle entirely. :D

The second is that, ignoring the possibility of crits, we always can waste a minimum of 9 Growls with each Wurmple we fight, and Wurmple has 50/50 odds of using Tackle or String Shot, so we'll likely waste even more. Despite my initial concerns about Potion rationing, we might be able to get away without having to use many Potions!

I'm not going to labor the point too much, but we do manage to waste a whopping 23 Growls during our first encounter. That's what I call progress!

A few short encounters later and we've finally used all 40 PP for Growl, and now have access to Struggle. Generation III is the last generation before Gamefreak decided to bust the kneecaps on this move to prevent shenanigans with infinitely long fights (see: why Wobbuffet was banned in competitive Pokemon for so long), so we won't be taking too much recoil.

It is precisely this moment where I realized I needed to replace Torchic and not Treecko in order to get my rival to pick Mudkip. Honestly I have no excuses for this, I started this at about 1 in the morning. We're just going to live with this embarrassment and move on.

I'm not really convinced this fight is doable at this level, but that is actually a fairly decent amount for Struggle to do. Ultimately it's very close but I needed Brendan to be slightly less aggressive with his attacks.

I've actually never whited out at this fight so I didn't even know respawning here was a thing that happened. It might also be because I didn't visit the Pokemon Center. The things you learn! Unfortunately this is going to be a reset, so let's just add this here...

Reset Counter: 1

There we go.

I want to make it clear how thin the margins are here. I think this is doable, but it is probably going to require some above average luck.

Growl is a blessing and a curse in this battle. On one hand, if Torchic uses Growl, it's a turn where it's not hitting you with Scratch, which deals 4-5 damage without a critical hit. But, Ralts is already doing 1 recoil damage to itself, so Growl reducing our damage output also, paradoxically, means we are going to deal more damage to ourselves with Struggle.

On the 4th attempt, Caitlin just decides she's had enough and scores a critical hit on her 3rd Struggle, not only knocking out the Torchic but doing it without taking a single hit. I knew she could do it. :3 We get a nice 69 EXP for our troubles and...oh. Well that's unfortunate.

Oh they REALLY did not want you using this Pokemon. Ralts being in either the worst or the second worst leveling group (depending on how you view Erratic honestly) is truly tragic. We didn't even come close to leveling up after the Torchic fight. Which means we're going to need EXP to help us out. Before I forget...

Reset Counter: 3

Oh boy do the hits just keep on coming. Emerald in particular REALLY hates Ralts with every fiber of its being. If this were Ruby or Sapphire, this Poochyena would actually be a Zigzagoon, and we could grind up to Level 6, learn Confusion, and push past it. But Poochyena is a Dark-type, meaning its immune to Confusion. So while we could get Confusion...there's no point. We might as well try and see if this fight is doable at this level.

Fortunately the answer is yes. We even got a little lucky with a Turn 3 Howl, but even if the Poochyena just used Tackle all three turns, it wouldn't have mattered. Keep in mind...for most of the early game, Every Single Poochyena has to be dealt with this way. The first available damage dealing move Ralts will have to deal with Dark-types is Thief. From the Slateport Museum. We're dealing with a special kind of bad here.

I'm gonna stop here because this post is already long as fuck, but the next one will include the first gym leader, and the Poochyena that will make us want to use literally any other Pokemon.

[maigo-san]

for rntn ask game!! ❤️🥵💣💤

🥺🥺hello, zero!! hope you have a great day and thank you for the asks!! Omg, these are some really good questions!!

❤️ - what are your favorite kind of RenTan stories? (Canon, Rengoku lives, modern… etc)

definitely, Rengoku Lives stories since it's just the default. It's so fun to fiddle with it. Maybe it's because of the time period or the fact that it's directly from gtg's ideas, it just hits harder. But I've been really liking stories where one or both of them are mystical beings, whether it's the konpon au, dragon tan, fox scholar kyou~ I can't choose, they're all so gooood

🥵 - what are your thoughts about their rank difference? Did you want Tanjiro to study under Kyojuro?

I think their rank difference is interesting because they're both unconventional. Tanjirou doesn't really care about his rank, he uses his breathing technique almost pragmatically, while Kyoujurou has always been destined to be a hashira. Yet, after that, we don't know what he wanted. It was never explained even in vol 0 or the fanbook, and it might be intentional since gtg also had been using the supporting characters pragmatically, but I also love how it adds to the angst factor.

Imagine living your life not really looking forward to the other side of The Death of Muzan when your whole family, your entire life has been designed and curated to defeat Muzan. He's Sisyphus, if Sisyphus is happy.

So what I like about a Rengoku Lives spin is Tanjirou being by his side, not necessarily being the sole reason for him to live by becoming his tsuguko (since getting a tsuguko is the second closest thing we get to his life goa) just like how Tan becomes his living proof in the canon (symbolized by the passing tsuba) but by being his soulmate.

I've written both where Tanjirou becomes his ideal tsuguko (becomes a tsuguko until the end of the story and even learns a bit of flame breathing because he has a talent for adapting different breathings) but I've also written when he stops becoming one (tho this hasn't been uploaded yet I think) because they find their power imbalance a hindrance to their relationship.

In the end, these are just labels to them and I feel in any scenario, if Tanjirou gets to see Kyoujurou the next day, he'll use every excuse to see him. (this made me remember I have an unfinished fic where Kyou teaches Tan how to sumo wrestle post-mugen train)

💣 - share your most controversial RenTan take. Set your thoughts ablaze!!

BHAHAHA WHYYYYY

Kyoujurou has a fat ass!

jk.

I honestly don't know~ maybe one of the reasons I'm die-hard for rntn out of all of my ships is because I tolerate most headcanon lmfao even the darkest or dead dovey... idk. I wrote and made some questionable stuff myself so usually, if there's an au or trope I can't get behind, it's just how the author/artist executes it and if I have the energy, I'll try it with my own version. I get to make something I like and rntn gets more content

Like for example, I think Kyoujurou is not as experienced as Tanjirou just because he's older. There's barely anything he accomplished romantically or sexually around those five years gap. He's as young and awkward as Tan. But I can see why people would think that. He's adored by so many people. But so was Tanjirou and I feel, if Tanjirou becomes a charcoal burner for a bit longer, it could be the other way around since Kyoujurou is a bit intimidating.

Hey, maybe he learned everything just from three volumes of shunga and erotic novels!

💤 - what are your feelings about Enmu? Was he an effective villain in the story? Do you like him in AUs?

he's so funny, I don't think I can hate him. He's probably the funniest character gtg has ever made aside from zenino so yes he's very effective!! Overall, Mugen Train is very well made and every character serves their purpose very well. I admittedly have never read a fic with him as a relevant supporting character and I barely used him in my fics but if I ever want to write something comedic, I would love to add him.

Thank you for the ask, it's been really fun and made my morning.

ask game

[iloknalem]

The church bell rang again today

As it always has, the church in front of my apartment rings its bells every Sunday, without fail, at 9.45 am, for 5-7 minutes. Just the perfect duration to make a half boiled egg.

The church. It used to be so overcrowded, they built another church around one kilometre apart at the end of the 19th century. Nowadays, both of them doesn't even do weekly mass anymore. Seems like people would fall out of love for religion after the reality of 2 devastating wars hits in. I cant imagine the hopelessness those people felt, when the rock they stood on was unceremoniously swept away from under their feet.

But this is not a lesson about hopelessness. What caught me pondering was the guy ringing the bell. The church also rings at different hours of any other day, just a short ring, around 30 seconds.

I assume the guy must just be someone appointed by the catholic organisation, or whatever they call it, to maybe do the upkeep of the church and whatnot. Just another cog in the going-down-in-popularity-machine called catholicism. An honest man in the system, just doing his job, a symbolic job of what used to be the cornerstone of peoples life, nowadays only done for formalities. A function, stripped of its significance— shortly said, its useless

Nobody comes anymore to the church, the bell is just a noise polution at this point. The Germans are pretty stingy about noise on Sundays, and yet here they are, ringing their old bells again,

and now i wonder, how does he feel about his job. I used to be someone who thinks that everything needs to have its own purposes, its destiny, its contribution to the society. This job looked pretty useless to me, it lacks any real meaning nor purpose. I thought, if i was the man tasked to ring the bells, i wouldn't be happy with what i do— i wouldn't be content with my life.

The closest comparison might be the legend of Sisyphus. After 2 times eluding his fate to die, he was punished to roll a boulder to the top of the hill, and watch it rolls back down, endlessly. A completely, useless, destiny i must say. And yet here we are, in life, facing the same reality in one way or another.

Some of us maybe are said to have been lucky, to have found "find the meaning of the universe", to maybe work in their dream job, have a dream family, fulfill their destiny for the world.

And yet, i think those kinds of wishful thinking, the "expectations" of a perfect life and their understanding of it, potrayed in social media, in our society, is just a naive way to give purpose in this funny game we play called life. Its just religion 2.0, its there to give comfort, to justify that everything we do have its own meaning in the grand scheme of things, or to simply give that push to wake up in the morning and do our day-to-day duties. A sense of hope, the light at the end of the tunnel, whatever you want to call it. A normalized addiction.

At this point, you might think i would go all nihilistic to say that life is meaningless, and therefore theres no point in justifiying the meaning of what we do. I dont think its like that.

I do think theres a reason on why things are. Reasons, for why stars shine, why water flows, and why the world revolves. Yet, our understanding, or in this case our lack of understanding, underlines the puniness of human nature, how small and insignificant we are. These humbling factors, we need to acknowledge them first to understand, to realize our inability to parse the meaning of life.

Theres still a lot of things that we still dont know, a lot of things we need to sit on, discuss about, and figure out together something other than "42". This, gap, between our teeny tiny minds and the meaning itself, some people call it the absurd— the absurdity of life. Theres still a long way to go, and i dont think were gonna get the answer in our lifetime, at least not mine. Until i die, i wouldnt get the answer of why my coffee spilled this morning, or why i needed to get through a lot of hardships, too much so that it seems comical, that i think someone is voodooing me. I mean, i know why i spilled my coffee, thats because i tripped on my table, but i will never know the reasoning behind it, in the grand scheme of things.

To try to find the meaning of everything is to embark on an endless journey that often leads to more confusion than clarity, It is futile. It's more liberating to accept that some things might remain enigmatic, allowing us to appreciate life's mysteries without being weighed down by the relentless pursuit of meaning.

There are a lot of solutions for this "problem" we have, which is our nature to seek reasoning, and the overbearing non definitive meaning of life. Some seek to find their own meaning for themselves, some threw all reasons and morals out of the window. Some find comfort in accepting their insignificance and prefer to not live at all. None of them are wrong i must say.

For me, I think that I must try to confront the absurd, to not give in to the situations and conditions we are given, as we are free to do what we want, to be where we want to be, as long as you want to challenge life itself. This part, im still figuring out on what to say about it, its still a journey for me.

One must imagine that sisyphus is happy, that he's content with what he does fully knowing that what hes doing is absurd, for the struggle itself is enough to fill one man's heart. One must not question the reason, and just embrace the happy things in life, the lofty goals we make, the stupid obstacles we find, the sorrows we endure, to laugh, to learn, to love, and therefore to live. Life is absurd, and thats okay.

And therefore i conclude that the bell guy has a chance, and might have found happiness too in doing what he does. I hope he does.

To not be a slave of destiny is the way to live, and thats how i want my attitude on life to be. Its going to be my own adventure on challenging the absurd, and im going to define how it will be as much as i can. Obstacles are going to come and go, and theres no deeper meaning in it other than to learn from it and to embrace it —to embrace the absurd.

[tiredofthedrive]

Why I Decided to Stay

tw: suicide

Last thursday, I thought about killing myself. I'm not really sure why. It wasn't a bad day; my sister had just come home for the weekend and it was nice to get together as a family again. School was going okay; a little stressful but nothing out of the ordinary. Something in me just could bear the thought of going on living, couldn't imagine a life in which I was really happy. I wasn't really thinking straight and part of me knew it, but it didn't stop the feeling from being there.

I didn't do it, obviously. I've thought about suicide a lot over the years, but I've never actually tried to go through with it. There's always something that stops me. Most of the time it's thinking about my mom, or my dogs. She'd probably never recover if I did it, and they'd never understand where I'd gone. I've had other reasons throughout the years but few of them have really stuck with me.

The problem, in my mind at least, is that the conventional wisdom when it comes to pain sucks. A million useless phrases jump to mind. It'll get better. Time heals all wounds. Focus on the positive. Find the beauty in life. You'll be okay. They sound real nice, but think for a second. Is there really anything to them?

Saying that things will get better or be okay is just plainly bullshit. No one knows if things are going to get better for anyone. There's no reason to believe that things have to get better for you, there's no cosmic scale weighing all the good and bad things that happen to people. Things happen. Sometimes people get hurt. Sometimes they don't. That's it.

And the ones that tell you to get through it, that you're strong enough to make it through? They

don't really hold up either. Because even if I can go on, why should I? These platitudes place this inherent, untouchable value on life when that just isn’t a reality for everyone.

I’m reminded of this Theodor Adorno quote: "To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric."

What he meant by this, or at least one interpretation of it, is that the horrors of the Holocaust couldn’t be expressed in a medium as subtle and as playful as poetry. The facts need to be stated conclusively, the horror needs to be acknowledged outright, and playing linguistic games after such an atrocity is disrespectful to its victims.

I think the same is true of platitudes. You reach a point where being told that it'll be okay,

that everything will work out, is insulting. You don't know that, so why tell me? The truth is that 

you think my life will be easier if I believe it. But it's too late for that, I know that it isn't true. There are too many people who have suffered too much, too many horrors and injustices for me to ever believe that justice is automatic. I don't believe you anymore, I'm sorry.

So that's where I was on Thursday. Sometimes, reading philosophy helps. A while back I read Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus and thought it was what I needed. The book is about how one can go on living without hope. The central metaphor of the text is Sisyphus, who is forced to roll a boulder up a hill and watch it roll down again, forever. Camus' argument is that even Sisyphus could find contentment with the right mindset, that "The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart." The problem is this just isn't true. Not for everyone anyway. Definitely not for me.

Not all philosophers are so optimistic, and I tend to be drawn to the ones that aren’t. There’s something about pessimism that so easily seduces me. I have to consciously fight it, and I don’t always win. 

That week I'd been reading about Thomas Ligotti and Phillip Mainlander. Ligotti is a horror writer who specializes in psychological and existential horror and Mainlander was a 19th century philosopher who committed suicide after the publication of his first major work. In their eyes, life is a burden, not a gift. They believe that human beings are capable of causing and experiencing so much meaningless pain that trying to justify this world is absurd. Both argue that existence isn’t worth the cost of admission, that it would be better if we gave up the goose. Mainlander specifically says that death is the only redemption we are capable of.

I can’t bring myself to disagree with them. Too many terrible things have happened to innocent people for me to be able to make a legitimate defense of life. That inherent, untouchable value that we prescribe to it? I don’t think it exists. I think Sisyphus would want to end his torment any way he could, and I don’t think anyone has the right to take that away from him. Your life is your life, and no matter what anyone says the choice to live or die is always yours, and yours alone.

So why did I, in spite of all of this, decide to live? Well, part of the answer is cowardice; suicide is scary, really scary. But more than that, as I said before, I also knew that if I killed myself I’d also be killing my mom, and my sister. I could never do that to them, even if I really wanted to.

And that, I think, is the point of all of this. If I forget myself for a moment, and remember everyone else, the picture shifts. Most people are suffering, in one way or another. Most people want to live. And all of them need help. 

Capitalism, racism, imperialism, sexism, abuse, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, ableism; there are so many cancers destroying the lives of so many people. If we lived in a perfect world without suffering, or if I were completely alone like Sisyphus, I think I could go right ahead and take my leave. But to do so now would be to abandon all my brothers and sisters and gender nonconforming siblings. If I can’t justify living, then so much the less can I justify leaving them all to live without me. People are hurting and we just can’t let that stand.

So fuck optimism, fuck platitudes, fuck “things will get better”. I’m going to live because I’ve got these two hands and the world is full of people who need someone to help them up.

And as for you, what I want you to get from this is that you don’t have to believe in life to keep living. If you’ve known enough hurt to consider suicide then you know just how much good you can do if you help ease the burden for others. All we have is each other. We can’t afford to lose you.

[straykidsnerd255]

Hi! I borrowed this from a prompt list, but : type of kisses - starting with skimo kisses and ending with a soft kiss. With your favourite characters from saint seiya and haikyuu! Please? Thank you!

This one was really fun to write. I hope that you like it and thanks for requesting!!

Song- Can we kiss forever? By Kina ft Adriana

Saint seiya Lost canvas/classic:

Capricorn- El Cid-Lost canvas

Eskimo kisses-

This happens to be his favorite kiss with you. It was gentle in ways that made him smile throughout the day. It was his way of showing how much he loves you. Days that he would come home from a hard day at work, you would walk over to him and wrap your arms around him and press your nose to his. “I love you.” You would say in a cheery and happy voice making him blush and cover his mouth turning to stare at the wall to calm his blush down, but he would repeat the action and press his nose to yours. “I love you too.” He would whisper back.

Pegasus- Seiya-Classic

Butterfly kiss-

This one is his favorite. It wasn’t intimate it was soft, almost calming. Days where he would come home to see you sitting on your shared bed with your knees drawn to your chest and audible choked sobs leaving your lips would have him setting his things down and moving over to your side. He would pull you against him and hold you tightly waiting for you to calm down before pressing kisses all over your face. Sure that wasn’t the normal butterfly kisses, but that was his butterfly kiss for you. It always made you giggle and that’s what he wanted to see.

Griffon- Minos- Classic

Forehead kiss-

He may work for Hades, but he needs someone to love him. That’s where you come in. Everyday when he would come back home, whether it was from working with Hades or training, you were always there with open arms. On days where he didn’t have to go anywhere, he would hold you close. On occasion, tip your head back so he could press a loving kiss to your forehead. It was a small gesture to how much he loved you, but, you wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. His soft forehead kisses were everything to you.

Capricorn- Shura-Classic

Top of head kiss-

He may seem stoic and void of emotion when working, but when he’s at home with you, he is smiling, and laughing. Everyone morning, when the two of you have the day off, you both just lay in bed. Him holding you close to his chest where he is able to press loving kisses to the top of your head. Every time without fail, when he kissed the top of your head, you would press closer to his chest. It made him smile every single time. This is why he loves kissing the top of your head. He loves watching you get closer to him every time.

Leo- Regulus-Lost canvas

Kiss of an Angel-

You loved getting kissed by Regulus. He was always gentle. He was afraid that you would break. Sure the two of you were planning on getting married soon, but this kiss was your favorite when you were both together. He would gently hold you head and press small kisses just above your eyelid but below your eyebrow making you smile with your eyes closed. It usually ended with a simple kiss to the lips. You honestly adored simple moments like this. Soft kisses shared between you and Regulus were always the highlight of your life. You knew that it was also his as well.

Pegasus- Tenma-Lost canvas

Kiss on the cheek-

He would manage to sneak one of these in everyday before leaving for training. You never complained though. It always left you as a blushing mess when he kissed your cheek and ran out the door. You never grow tired of them either. On days the two of you can just lay at him and talk, he’s always leaning over and pressing small kisses to your cheeks making your giggle or return the kissing by kissing his cheeks as well. He pressed his hands to your cheeks and pressed his forehead against yours. “I love you no matter what happens.” He whispered. You smiled. “Ya, me too. I love you more than you know.” He said.

Pisces- Albafica-Lost canvas

Shy Kiss-

He wasn’t used to showing affection to anyone. He had believed that he was a poison and that if anyone touched him, they would only end up getting hurt. Not with you though. He could hold you and actually hold your hands without you getting hurt. It made him undeniably happy. It really did. The first time he had ever kissed you was out of pure accident. You both turned at the same time and your lips met. Ever since then, he has been, in a sense, craving another kiss. So, when he got the chance, he would pull you against his chest and barely press his lips to yours. He would pull back and look away with a massive blush on his face. You would giggle and hug him from where you were. “Cute little shy kiss.” You said. He would bury his face in your shoulder and beg you to stop teasing him.

Sagittarius- Sisyphus-Lost Canvas

Kiss on the back of hand/soft kiss-

This man is just too chivalrous. Kissing the back of your hand while kneeling on one knee was his favorite thing in the world. He loved how you became a blushing mess and would try to make him stand back up. On days that he knew you needed to be cheered up, he would put aside the kiss to your hand and press small kisses to your cheeks, nose and then your lips. He wanted to make sure that you knew how much he cherished and loved you. “What’s wrong, sugar? Are you ok?” He asked, pulling you against his chest. You told him everything that happened and his grip tightened. He gently lifted your head and pressed his lips against yours. The simple, yet soft kiss testified of the love this man held for you. It made tears of total happiness stream down your cheeks. Your hands reach up to wrap around his neck before pulling away. “I love you. No one can tell you otherwise. Right?” he said pressing his forehead to yours making your giggle. “Right.” you answered kissing him again.

Haikyuu!!

Kuroo

Shoulder kisses-

Kuroo wouldn’t deny that he loves smothering his princess in affection from time to time. Especially after a big game. He doesn’t care if you are cooking dinner for you both or reading a book. He doesn’t care if your shoulders are covered or not. His favorite spot to kiss is your shoulder. He likes it when your hand immediately moves to his head and scratches gently. It's almost like he's an actual cat sometimes. Sometimes, he’ll even sneak in a lip to lip kiss just because he feels like it. 

Hinata

Shy peck-

Shy little sun. When he wants to kiss you, he gets more embarrassed then you do. He ends up racing over to you in the halls at school, (He’s taller than you in this- 3rd year Hinata) he would bend down and shyly peck your lips before pressing his lips against yours and running as fast as his legs could carry him to the volleyball gym. You would be in total shock and your fingers would move to your lips and just barely touch your lips. A blush would slowly appear on your face but your lips would curl into a smile. You loved your boyfriend more than anything.

Kageyama

Timid forehead kiss-

He’s so not used to this. Not even for a split second. “Kaga, come on. It's just a forehead kiss. Nothing serious.” You said moving to sit closer to him. He blushed but sighed. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against your forehead. You closed your eyes and basked in the gentleness that was behind the kiss. Sure it wasn’t what you wanted, but you were willing to let Kageyama take his time and work up to kissing you. When he pulled back you opened your eyes and smiled gently at him. “I could get used to your timid forehead kisses Kaga.” You said making him blush a dark red then before.

Oikawa

Back of hand kiss-

Sure he was always surrounded by fan-girls and such, but he always kept you in his heart. You were his and there wasn’t anything anyone could do to change his mind. You were his princess and he, your knight. That’s why he always kissed the back of your hand. He loved the knightly aspect that the kiss had behind it and he couldn’t get enough of it. Especially when you would look at him with so much love in your eyes. Your smile was everything he needed in life. He managed to even get over teasing Kageyama and spend as much time with you as he could. Bringing your intertwined hands to his lips to kiss them while shopping was your favorite thing to watch. His eyes always closed when he kissed your hand. You truly loved him so much.

Eita

Eskimo kiss-

He may not seem like it, but this boy loves pressing his nose against yours. It always made him smile. You couldn’t help but return that smile and gently move your head side to side. Eskimo kisses were both yours and Eita’s favorite kisses to share. They were timid, cute, but held so much love as a normal kiss would. Whenever he came home from practice, you would run over to him and wrap your arms around his neck and press your nose against his, before giving him a kiss. You both loved each other and that was that.

Tendo

Forehead kiss-

He’s an absolute little shit. No doubt about that. However, if you are in pain, crying, or just in total shock from something bad happening, he pushes his goofy side away and holds you tightly. He would gently press kisses to your forehead, or any part of your face to sooth you. Forehead kisses usually did the trick in calming you down and making you relax long enough to tell him what caused you to start crying. Even after knowing what happened, he would still press gentle kisses here and there against your forehead. He always made sure your happiness came before his own.

Ushijima

Gentle after date kiss-

“I had fun tonight Ushijima. Let's go on a date again sometime.” You said. You and your boyfriend, Ushijima had just finished your date and you both were practically on cloud 9. You had got to a concert and then to dinner with his friends from the volleyball team and let's say that whatever Tendo did, had both you and Ushijima laughing. He smiled and held his hand out to you. “I had fun as well.” He said. You placed your hand in his hand and smiled softly when he pulled you closer to him. He bent down and pressed his lips to your gently. This was always his favorite kiss. They meant more and always kept your love alive.

Akaashi

Soft Kiss-

You had been dancing around in the kitchen when Akaashi came home. He was surprised but a soft smile crossed his face when he watched you. You had the biggest smile on your face as you spun around the kitchen. He placed his things down on the table and floor before walking into the room. As you spun, he reached his hand out and took your hand in his pulling you against his chest. “Where is my welcome home kiss?” He asked, leaning down and pressing his lips to yours. A slow, gentle kiss was enough to convey the love that you two had for each other. Why else would the two of you be happily married. Pulling away from the kiss, Akaashi would pull you into a hug. “Damn. I love kissing you.” He said. You giggled and buried your face in his chest. “I love kissing you too.” You replied, ending up with Akaashi pulling you in for another kiss. This time, a little lease gentle but still, a soft kiss that made your heart soar.

#Haikyuu  #Saint Seiya classic and lost canvas  #Requested  #anon  #enjoy  #favorite kiss  #Fluff  

[whitehairedclea]

Red Roulette part IV

The world is always trying to push us to the next challenge. It's like Sisyphus and his stone. Always ups and downs. The point is to try to stay on top as long as possible. But can you imagine Sisyphus not trying to change the game, to cheat the fate called the stone? It is in human nature. It is inside all of us. Especially if you don't like to play by someone else's rules.

Roanapaur was a perfect example for such people. All their 'stones' lay outside their houses somewhere. Like a manifesto about their independence from the gods or their sense of equality. If we understand how people here think about their humanity, we can also figure out how important is the strength in the cave of gods and monsters. 

Everyone's motto is "You're strong or you're dying." Keep in mind that what welcomes you here are the ropes with a loop attached to the bridge. Clear message. This world was terrible, but not so different from the mythological pantheon.

Helena tried to fit in here with the help of the Triad, and business was going exceptionally well. The cards were on the table.

Until that one incident that changed everything.

A gun shot suddenly pierced the casino. An unexpected shot brought everyone to their feet. The bullet hit the head of one of the customers. The deceased fell on the table, and everything around it began to flow in blood.

"What the fuck ?!" shouted a guy from the Colombian cartel. They all pulled their weapons in anticipation of what might happen next. At the same moment a black man with green glasses stepped inside.

"DUTCH! How many times do I have to say that I don't want any shootings in my casino!" Helena shouted at him "Do you know how hard it is to get rid of blood stains from these materials ?!"

"Sorry Roulette, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to catch that bastard"

Dutch took the man's body off the table and put it in the bag and added "I got the job and wanted to get it done as soon as possible"

"What did this guy do?" Sebastian asked, Helena's right hand.

"I have no idea, I don't care, I just want money considering who gave me this assignment," he took a puff from his cigarette. He noticed Helena's eloquent gaze. The question seemed obvious. "Balalaika's stuff" he added.

"I could have guessed" she laughed. With a quick movement of her hand, she took the most expensive vodka from the shelf. "I'm going out Sebastian, take care of everything here."

She threw her coat over her bare shoulders and walked over to Dutch. "Our unexpected guest will keep me company, hope you don't mind if I take a ride with you to Hotel Moskva?”

Those green fox eyes didn't seem to take any form of denial. Without even answering, Dutch picked up the body of the shot guy and carried it to the car.

Roulette nonchalantly threw the vodka in the back seat and got behind the wheel.

"My car?" Dutch began.

"And?"

There was no discussion, so he sat down in the passenger seat.

The road was not long, but all the way from the casino he wondered about Helena's purpose. Twice he tried to talk about it. The first time she replied "Do you really care about something like that?", the second time she said "I want to drink vodka with my Slavic friend."

Neon lights lit up the city's nightlife. If not  the sounds of shooting from afar and the prostitutes scattered around in the corners, it might even seem like a pretty city. Suddenly the guy was kicked out of the Yellow Flag club by some Triad men. Thanks to Helena's reflex, it was possible to avoid it before it hit the hood of the car.

"Damn so close," Dutch muttered, when the car stopped.

"They were supposed to protect the casino and now they want to kill its owner" she added sarcasticlly.

The figure of a man approaching the car could be seen from far away. A long coat and a white scarf hanging down the sides made it immediately clear who it was.

“Forgive me, Dutch, Roulette, the accident at work”, shouted Mr. Chang.

“Problems?” she sneered.

"Not really" he said casually, then shot the guy.

She clearly smiled and moved on. When traveling by the last avenue, Dutch told her about the whole functioning of the Lagoon Company and its employees. To be precise, they were doing a well-paid, dirty job. She found it interesting and announced that if she had any task, she would contact him. There are also many problems in such a city. In fact, Dutch's first job was to get Helena to Balalaika. He didn't evenknow how simple it was.

When they got there, they entered the office at the Hotel Moskwa. Helena immediately took out a vodka "I will not believe that among all those thugs you had someone to drink with, no offense to your people of course."

God only knows how much they drank. It was definitely the middle of the night when Polish and Russian began to understand without borders.

"Rotten city, what are you doing here?"

"And how do you know I'm not a rotten person who does rotten things?"

"HA! I don't doubt it!" Balalaika lit her cigarette and handed it to Helena. After a moment of silence, she continued in a calm tone, "I hope you know that people in this city deserve nothing but hanging. Happiness, love, peace are foreign terms here."

She drank again and looked at Balalaika.

"Are you saying this specifically because...?"

"Rumors travel quickly, Helena. And this journey through such a small town is not long" she paused, lighting another cigarette "He was in your casino as the first of all the bosses, remember my words, that the first one who takes a step will lose"

“What is this bullshit ...” Helena muttered, but suddenly the phone rang.

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 120: Storm in the Room

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s even you up there.”

There are certain episodes of Steven Universe that act as culminations to multiple stories from the past. Pseudo-finales like The Return and Earthlings rely on tons of backstory to show how far we’ve come in the series, and big showstoppers like Mr. Greg that do likewise for specific characters rather than the show as a whole. But as our saga continues, we’re blessed with stories that have the same vast reference pool as these payoff episodes without the finality; at this stage, so much has happened that “regular episodes” can also be riddled with nods to how small elements of Steven’s overall journey have shaped his universe. Storm in the Room isn’t about solving problems, but acknowledging them, and because the problem at hand involves the past catching up with the present, I love how much this episode looks back.

We start right as The New Crystal Gems ends, making this the seventh episode in a row documenting a very long day in Steven’s life (granted, one of them is him listening to what his friends were up to on Earth, but he’s still stuck in the Zoo uniform). Connie, glad to relinquish her guardian duties, gets nervous when Dr. Maheswaran doesn’t answer her phone, and Steven tries to relieve the tension in a way that seems insensitive at face value. His insistence on playing games when she’s clearly upset is awkward as hell, but he eventually acknowledges Connie’s feelings in a way that shows that in his own flawed way he was trying to help. The problem is that his version of help involves ignoring problems instead of facing them, and if this seems familiar, Connie completes the reference by practicing a calming breath from Mindful Education: she learned that episode’s lesson, but just like his mother, Steven’s instinct is to push his issues away.

Connie’s reunion with the good doctor evokes the ending of Nightmare Hospital, with Steven gazing from a distance at a mother and child embracing after a scare. But this time we don’t get the bittersweet imagery of his big smile slowly fading as he hugs Rose’s sword; he’s just alone, a background character to something he’s never experienced, all bitter and no sweet.

The tonal shift when Connie departs is stark and sudden. So far the episode has been full of Steven’s chattering, Aivi and Surasshu’s subtle score, and the ambient sounds of crashing waves as Steven says goodbye, but as soon as he shuts the door we’re met with crushing silence. It’s not hard to guess that his cheer has been forced, but it’s still brutal to see the act drop all at once before an extended and largely wordless routine of taking care of himself because nobody’s around to take care of him. We might not know it until A Single Pale Rose, but just like his approach to problem solving, his double life as an outwardly chipper hero that’s secretly suffering is another way he’s his mother’s son.

From the start of this quiet period, we see his discomfort with the portrait of Rose that’s graced his room for the entire series. The last time it’s been this prominent was Rose’s Scabbard, another eye-opening episode about her past, but now it haunts Steven as he makes his way through an empty home, magnified to show how small he’s made to feel by the cosmic scale of his burdens.

Steven briefly heads outside to avoid the picture staring at him through closed eyes, and we get a moment of pleasant rain that earns some murmured approval, but it morphs from the baptismal drizzle of The Answer and When It Rains to the harrowing downpour of Alone At Sea. Only when he’s back inside, with his dinner ruined and nowhere else to turn, does he truly speak. And for the first time in ages, since the era of An Indirect Kiss and Lion 3, he speaks to Rose.

It might be enhanced by the silence preceding it, but Zach Callison’s performance here is tremendous, even for him. Steven doesn’t even have the energy to be angry, he’s just cold and weary as he finally starts verbalizing his negative thoughts. They’re enough to make his mother’s door glow, and he knows as well as we do by now that Rose’s Room is a place of horror as well as wonder, but he steps inside anyway.

It’s so important that Steven admits right off the bat that none of what he's about to see is real, not just because it’s been a while since young viewers saw this place, but to preface the emotional illusion with his mental awareness of its fakery. He isn’t being fooled like he has in the past, but he’s so desperate for this connection that he’s willing to take questionable means to get it. When he asks to see his mom (rather than asking to see Rose Quartz), the clouds form into another image of her with her eyes closed, but unlike the portrait, she can open them right up.

Steven is already nervous when he enters the room, and gets even more flustered at the voice of his mother coming out of the simulacrum. But the illusion is so real that he composes himself, and despite his earlier nod to reality, he’s clearly drawn in no matter how much his head might tell him not to be.

There are tells, of course. Fake Rose Quartz Rose Ersatz is all about what Steven wants to do, lets him win at his video game with a patronizing “Hooray,” and gives a dramatic speech about the value of sports because the only reference point Steven has to her voice is the similar tone of her message from Lion 3. But beyond the appearance factor, there are tricky ways Faux Quartz seems more real than Connterfeit from Open Book: she’s inquisitive about the video game, she’s willing to pull pranks on her kid, and she provides a compelling rebuttal to Steven’s anger that suggests that maybe, just maybe, her room has a good enough grasp of the genuine article that this is more than a simple fake. After all, back in Rose’s Room, the most detailed deception was Greg, the person Steven encounters that Rose knew best.

But before we get into that conclusion and rebuttal, let’s look at the prank. There’s a certain mythological power to yanking a football away from a kicker: Charlie Brown isn’t that different from the likes of Tantalus or Sisyphus in this metaphor for futility, and while it’s obviously a funnier gag than trying to push a bolder up a hill, the inherent sadness of classic Peanuts is inextricable from the laughs. The glimmer of hope has to be built up every time, only to be dashed when Lucy betrays Charlie Brown’s trust, and it’s not hard to see the parallel with Steven trying again and again to understand the truth.

(While I loved my Peanuts growing up, my favorite iteration of the football gag is this spoken word reenactment starring Paget Brewster as Lucy, John Moe as Charlie Brown, and two of my comedy heroes, Paul F. Tompkins and “Weird Al” Yankovic, enjoying the show between them. It’s brilliant both as a tribute and a deconstruction of Charles Schulz.)

Given the setting, it’s inevitable that the situation turns dark. But despite the turmoil Steven endures, there’s a sense of catharsis as he unloads all his angst after spending so long bottling it up. As with Joy Ride and Steven vs. Amethyst, our hero reveals new insights into what’s going on in his head in a way that can’t be done right without saying it outright. His anger is sold by its specificity, and Callison again proves his chops in a damning monologue about all the ways Rose failed the expectations that have been built for him.

Out of the gate he connects her lie about bubbling Bismuth with the hypocrisy of her shattering Pink Diamond while punishing her friend for suggesting it. It’s a problem that was at the forefront of my concerns when the news of the shattering was first told, and while I felt vindicated in the show talking about it at last, it sucks that this didn’t lead to freeing Bismuth to continue the conversation. He’s just getting revved up, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get past how Bismuth was left high and dry for so long when I assess the show as a whole.

The real meat of the rant involves Steven isolating Rose’s biggest flaw. It’s visible from the second episode of the series, which revolves around Steven looking for a cannon that Rose could’ve told her friends about before passing: she has trouble telling the truth. Sometimes it’s negligence, as with the cannon, but often it’s deception. It was so ingrained that Pearl interpreted it as a sign of great leadership in Rose’s Scabbard, and Garnet’s obfuscating attitude before her character development kicks in could be read as an influence of the old boss’s style. So it’s about time that Steven out and calls her a liar.

I love that after so long worshiping Rose, Steven does a full swing in the opposite direction when forced to confront her imperfections. He’s not interested in seeing anything from her point of view, but assumes the worst possible intentions: we go from her causing harm (which is certain) to her intending to cause harm (which is probably not the case) to Steven worrying that he only exists as the ultimate escape option (which is definitely not the case). Even though Rose Quack counters this last point with calm grace, and Steven seems to accept that the tape was telling the truth, it’s hard to trust a character defined by mistruths. We’ll see in Lion 4 that even though he lets her off the hook at the end of the conversation, his doubts persist.

Regardless of the details, Steven’s fate is set. Whether or not she meant for it to happen, he did inherit Rose’s messes, and because his martyr complex has taken root, he’s all set to sacrifice himself at the end of the season. He took the big step in addressing how awful his situation is, which is better than letting it fester the way it’s been doing for sixteen episodes, but the step is perhaps too big. There’s a balance he has to reach for him to truly be happy, but it’ll be a while yet before he finds it, because he’s a fourteen-year-old kid.

After such a heavy episode, it makes sense that we end with some hope. Steven sorta oversells a sense of surprise that all four members of his immediate family have returned, but he’s been through a lot so I’ll cut him a break. We get pizza with the wrong topping, but as Greg predicted in Keystone Motel, Steven has learned to accept all pizza.

Perhaps the most important aspect of Storm in the Room is that it actually sticks. Mindful Education seems to be the start of a new outlook, and Steven does start looking for more answers after futzing around for a bit, but a more apparent shift takes place here that it’s gonna take a while to pull out of. He’s not trying to find the truth anymore, because the sheer scale of untruths surrounding Rose makes real answers seem impossible; plus, the last time he tried his dad was almost stolen forever. So for now, he’ll have to settle with sulking. Thank goodness the show makes it interesting to watch.

Future Vision!

Steven’s discomfort with Rose’s portrait never really goes away; after a couple of years, he decides to store it in Lion’s mane at the end of Rose Buds.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

A heavy episode, gorgeously paced and directed, but honestly it’s such a bummer that I don’t watch it that often, and the conclusion with Steven’s living family feels just a bit too cute for this to crack the top of my list.

Top Twenty

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

Last One Out of Beach City

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Mindful Education

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

Steven’s Dream

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Chille Tid

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Catch and Release

When It Rains

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Buddy’s Book

Gem Harvest

Three Gems and a Baby

That Will Be All

The New Crystal Gems

Storm in the Room

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Adventures in Light Distortion

Gem Heist

The Zoo

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

Future Boy Zoltron

No Thanks!

     6. Horror Club      5. Fusion Cuisine      4. House Guest      3. Onion Gang      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

[dustedmagazine]

The Dusted Mid-Year Exchange: 2018 Edition, Part 1

In our fifth annual switcheroo, Dusted writers review each other’s favorite records, venturing out of the genres where they feel most comfortable to wrestle with excellence outside their frame of reference.  As always, assignments were made at random with the only rules being: a) you can’t review your own pick and b) you can’t review something you’ve already written about for Dusted.  

Unlike in past years, there was no clear favorite in 2018, although artists including Marisa Anderson, Olden Yolk, DJ Koze and Kacey Musgraves made multiple lists.  And perhaps most heartening, a number of writers amended their mid-year favorites after listening to other writers’ picks.  We hope you’ll also be able to find some new favorites among the artists we highlight.

Today, we’ll run the first half of the mid-year blurbs (alphabetically) from Marisa Anderson to Joelle Leandre & Elisabeth Harnik.  We’ll cover the second half of the alphabet tomorrow, then close our feature with individual writers’ best of lists through the first half.

Marisa Anderson — Cloud Corner (Thrill Jockey)

Cloud Corner by Marisa Anderson

>

Who recommended it? Eric McDowell

Did we review it? Not yet, but it’s assigned.  

Ben Donnelly’s take:

"Slow Ascent" is one of the titles in Anderson's latest batch of profound electric guitar explorations. It's a good phrase to summarize her career and style, hiking higher with each release, wandering further from the trails. For the second time, she's tracking a few extra instruments into her miniatures without disrupting the solitude, keyboards and acoustic strings mostly matching the cracks and chime of her main axe. Her fingerpicking has a fractal aspect, where intricate and rapid patterns can create a cycle that's relaxed and gradual, as on the title track and other lilting numbers. "Lament," a slide blues with a dissipating tempo and skeletal keyboard notes is forceful in its minimalism. She's becoming a master of small contrasts. Nowhere better than the closer "Lift,” where folks sounds step aside for a plucky scale that spirals up, offset by sweeps that sound like brushing the harp of an open-lidded grand piano, but take focus as a harmonized electric. Her brilliance is ever more in focus.

 The Armed — Only Love (Throatruiner)

ONLY LOVE by The Armed

Who recommended it? Jonathan Shaw

Did we review it? Yes. Jonathan Shaw said, “The Armed will likely be delighted by the divisive responses Only Love generates.”

Ian Mathers’ take:

You almost wish for anyone who’s potentially up for the Armed’s pummelling, exuberant, often frantic, tremendously maximalist take on hardcore and assorted associated genres to come to the record totally blind, and not just because “Witness” comes leaping out of the gates so forcefully. It can be fun to start digging around and register all the distancing tactics, purposeful obfuscation, sense of play, and weird links (to everything from Converge to, err, Rubicam and Young), but the visceral impact of Only Love is powerful enough that all that context should be saved for later. It’s one thing to start filling in context, it’s another thing to hear something as ferocious and compelling as “Role Models” (“NO INS! NO OUTS!” yell-chanted in a way I’m pretty sure even little kids would find appealing, if you could sneak this synth-spiked bomb past their parents) in the context of trying to figure out the game, if there is indeed a game here. After the roiling chaos of the first few listens subsides the sheer number of hooks packed inside these songs really settle in your mind, anchored by Ben Koller’s incredible drumming (possibly commissioned on false pretences) and just as adept at etching out a multi-part climax like the seething “On Jupiter” as just full-on sprinting on the likes of “Heavily Lined.” And then there’s “Fortune’s Daughter,” maybe the strongest earworm I’ve encountered yet in 2018. Who are the Armed and what are they up to? It’s not that I’m not interested in the answer to that kind of question, it’s more that as long as they keep making records as good as Only Love I’m happy to believe whatever they tell us (or don’t).

 Bardo Pond — Volume 8 (Fire)

Volume 8 by Bardo Pond

Who recommended it? Jennifer Kelly

Did we review it? Yes, Jennifer said, “The sound, vast and muscularly monolithic as ever, seems more like a demon summoned periodically from a ring of fire than the product of any sort of linear development.”

Isaac Cooper’s take:

Like fellow travelers Yo La Tengo’s There’s A Riot Going On, Bardo Pond’s Volume 8 is stitched together from jam excerpts and spare parts, but unlike Riot, Volume 8 is remarkably cohesive and propulsive. Even at its droniest and spaciest, there is no shortage of momentum or sense that Volume 8 is a collection of barrel scrapings to tide over the diehards; it stands with any of Bardo Pond’s releases. The guitars on “Kailash” and “Flayed Wish” howl and wail like Lear on the heath, while the rhythm section pushes on, determined as Sisyphus. Two shorter pieces, “Power Children” and the gorgeous solo guitar piece “Cud,” act as a brief respite before the entropic and monstrously heavy closer, “And I Will”. Musical improvisation is one of the best means we have of tapping into the murky world of the unconscious, and Volume 8 demonstrates that while there’s plenty of chaos and darkness down there, it’s also the source of inspiration and transcendence.

 Cut Worms — Hollow Ground (Jagjaguwar)

Hollow Ground by Cut Worms

Who recommended it? Ben Donnelly

Did we review it? Not yet...

Patrick Masterson’s take:

“Amid all the noise nowadays, there’s precious little that still makes me feel the way those peoples’ songs do, and aspiring to reach that level is a big part of what makes me do this to begin with.” This is Cut Worms’ Max Clarke in a charmingly earnest Medium interview last fall on some of his biggest influences – John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed. Maybe you’ve heard of them; maybe you’ve heard of the level of cultural influence they have exerted on us all. And if you’ve heard the Alien Sunset EP that was released just after the interview ran, you’ll easily be able to see where Clarke was coming from in the time that he spent putting the homespun eight-track wonder together, splitting halves between Chicago and his current Brooklyn home. It’s a beautiful record that doesn’t overplay its hand, choosing instead to let the simplicity of his natural ear for a melody do the talking despite the humble recording quality. He was never going to reach the mythical heights of his influences plying away at that trade forever, of course, but his art was all the better for sounding so self-assured in its limitations.

Hollow Ground, however, is a Trojan Horse of the most exhausting variety. Those same reference points – the Beatles, Dylan, solo Reed – still apply, only here they spring forth in an aggressively augmented form with a backing band and a more fleshed-out sound that’s like saying, “Alexa, give me every pop music trend of the 60s at once” or, more accurately, like listening to someone too young to have experienced the decade but old enough to be familiar with its most basic cultural signifiers play an album’s worth of icons. How do we know? Check the new versions of Alien Sunset’s “Don’t Want to Say Good-Bye” and “Like Going Down Sideways”; they’re wholly different, coldly unlovable remakes of the intimate originals. Even his lyrics feel unconvincing; Clarke uses the pet name “baby” on 60% of the songs here, which, look: I don’t need to stare into a wordless void with Bill Basinski to feel something and there’s an evident surplus of genuinely touching heartache present, but that’s an affectation of the most irritatingly trite variety.

For a certain kind of person, Max Clarke is the perfect person; for that person, Hollow Ground will resonate simply, perfectly. I am not that person. I will never listen to this again – likely not individual songs, certainly not in full. Does that seem unduly harsh? Does it feel too personal? Does the cut worm forgive the plow? Guess we’ll see. Ask again when there’s a follow-up.

  Sarah Davachi— Let Night Come on Bells End the Day (Recital)

Who recommended it? Bryan Daly

Did we review it? No

Bill Meyer’s take:

Sarah Davachi puts out albums often enough that it’s hard to catch up, so please cut Dusted some slack for not getting to Let Night Come on Bells End the Day until now. The Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist has followed All My Circles Run, an all-acoustic minimalist chamber piece, with an overdubbed solo recording for electric organ, acoustic piano, Mellotron and synthesizers. Like some ecclesiastic initiate, she has followed a solitary path to arrive at a place that is one with the cosmos. Her slow-morphing tones, incremental melodies, and exquisitely voiced harmonies don’t just sound like they should be played in a chapel; they erect a virtual space around the listener that only lets the ineffable through.  If Andrei Tarkovsky was still around, he might be writing a movie to wrap around these sounds.

  DJ Koze — Knock Knock (Pampa Records)

Who recommended it? Patrick Masterson

Did we review it? Yes. Jennifer Kelly said it “has a humid, organic air, even its most rigorously electronic tracks seething with jungle-y vitality and caressing warmth.”  

Ian Mathers’ take:

Like a lot of his peers, DJ Koze has been active and prolific for years without ever putting out that much in the way of “proper” albums, which probably goes some way towards explaining why Knock Knock, only his third, sounds so relaxed, confident and casually accomplished. With stellar vocal turns by everyone from Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner to folkie José González to Róisín Murphy (who’s rarely put her imperious purr to better effect than on the two perfectly-matched tracks she’s on here), 16 tracks in total and a lengthy running time, Knock Knock feels like a bit of a Statement from the producer. Which makes it maybe even more impressive that some of the best stuff here (like the sad jam “Pick Up” with its perfectly deployed vocal sample, or the almost-Avalanches style “Baby (How Much I LFO You)”) is just Koze without a high-profile guest vocalist. The whole thing has a friendly warmth and subtle propulsiveness that makes for compulsive listening; if this isn’t Koze at the peak of his powers, it sure feels like it could be.

 Tashi Dorji and Tyler Damon — Leave No Trace: Live in St. Louis (Family Vineyard)

Leave No Trace: Live In St. Louis by Tashi Dorji & Tyler Damon

Who recommended it? Isaac Olson

Did we review it? Yes, Isaac said, "While these performances are undoubtedly chaotic, they never feel purposeless.”

Justin Cober-Lake's take:

That guitarist Tashi Dorji and percussionist Tyler Damon have a limitless supply of ideas isn't surprising, but it's remarkable how well they've organized them into sensible packages on Leave No Trace: Live in St. Louis. Neither of the quarter-hour tracks here are exactly linear, but they do progress both coherently and unhaltingly. “Leave No Trace” offers the most noise, with the first half of the piece continuously crescendoing. The disappearance of one artist or the other simply means the soloist has more volume to cover. The pair spend the last two minutes together, Damon crashing away while Dorji sounds like two guitarists fitting blips together.

“Calm the Shadows” works differently. While not a suite, the song comes in sections, with Dorji and Damon filling in an outline as they go. The pair respond to each other, and work mutually on an unpredictable but discernable path. The slow build to the noisy section lets the chaos function as a thesis statement with the back half of the track the understanding of what to do with it. Dorji's pointed playing through that section answers the early rumble without making anything easier. Damon's sounds complete the thought. When “Leave No Trace” works so hard to slowly heap sounds before smashing through it all, the effect is amplified but the control of its predecessor. Dorji and Damon are a few albums in now and, while there wasn't much doubt from the start, they seem to be working in a rare place right now.

 Holland/Parker/Taborn/Smith—Uncharted Territories (Dare2 Records) 

Who recommended it? Derek Taylor

Did we review it? Not yet.

Jennifer Kelly’s take:

It feels like a math puzzle. How many distinct ensembles including duos, trios and quartets can be formed out of four musicians?  But hearing it in practice as master bassist Dave Holland, free jazz titan Evan Parker, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer-vibe-ist Ches Smith assemble and disassemble into improvisatory groups is quite another thing. “Trio No Tenor” on disc one takes a luminous shimmer from jangling metallic percussion, abstract interpolations of piano and the shape-shifting tone of plucked, hanging bass tones. “Duo Bass Tenor” on disc two is far more fluid and contemplative, as long bowed bass notes underline the fluttering explorations of sax; its two old friends finding space in each other’s musings, darting in to challenge and interject and locating points of agreement even in occasional dissonance. The quartets, though, are the most astonishing, (I like #5 from Disc 2), as extraordinary, unruly energies careen off one another, extemporizing, reacting, reaching over and in between each other in a dense mesh of sound that seems, nonetheless, uncrowded and precisely choreographed. Only three cuts were composed ahead, the rest worked out in two days of live improvisation. Uncharted indeed.

 Quin Kirchner — The Other Side of Time (Astral Spirits)

The Other Side of Time by Quin Kirchner

Who recommended it? Bill Meyer

Did we review it? Yes, Eric McDowell said: “ Kirchner sidesteps novelty and navel-gazing by putting pyrotechnics second to, well, music.”  

Jennifer Kelly’s take:

Kirchner leads from behind on this sprawling two LP solo debut, his drumming feverishly hot but held in check so that others — saxophonist Nate Lepine, bass clarinet player Jason Stein, trombonist Nick Broste and Matt Ulery — can take the spotlight. Interplay between the two reed players is intricately, acrobatically fine. In opener “Ritual,” Lepine jets off with Stein in hot, asynchronous pursuit, Kirchner executing a furiously syncopated undertow, part samba shuffle, part continually exploding roll. “Brainville,” the Sun Ra cover, swings and swaggers, bass and drums in arch, stylized conversation. Kirchner is, maybe a drummer’s drummer, but this is not a drummer’s record, except on two lovely, timbrally varied “Drums & Tines” tracks, where layers of kit rhythms and kalimba intersect in fascinating geometric patterns. Kirchner clearly reveres another band leader whose instrument didn’t always occupy the top of the mix; Mingus’ “Self-Portrait Three Colors” cuts the drums to brush-on-snares, while giving Broste a chance to wail, the two reedists to evoke lush dance-hall sensualism, the bassist to pluck out dark blots of body-moving tone. Kirchner is not the façade, but the architect and also the guy who holds up the building.

 Joelle Leandre & Elisabeth Harnik — Tender Music (Trost Records)

Tender Music by Joelle Leandre / Elisabeth Harnik

Who recommended it? Eric McDowell

Did we review it?  No

Isaac Olson’s take:

The best part of listening to improvised music is hearing the moment when the musicians lock in and the music takes on a life of its own, when the thrill of discovery dissolves the boundaries between performer and audience. There are many such moments on Tender Music, an improvised set from bassist Joelle Leandre and pianist Elisabeth Harnik. A few examples: the swelling tension that emerges at the one and a half minute mark of “Ear Area I,” the rising anxiety and tentative conclusion of “Ear Area IV”’s final minute, and the march that closes out “Ear Area VI”. Between these peaks, Leandre and Harnik evoke Cecil Taylor, Morton Feldman, blues, bop, classical and more, sometimes all within the space of two or three minutes. Fortunately, Leandre and Harnik are attentive enough players that their restlessness never comes at the cost of coherence. Leandre and Harnik are formidable soloists whose use of extended techniques coax ear-tickling, unexpected timbres from their instruments, but it is when they’re playing together, and more or less “normally,” that Tender Music is at its best, that the melodic and rhythmic invention of both players shines brightest, and that they’re able to speak to each other, and to us, most clearly.

[pendragonfics]

I’ll Be There For You

Paring: Isaac (The Fault in Our Stars)/Reader

Tags: bookstore, fluff, angst, blindness

Summary: After growing up and apart from Isaac, you find out from Augustus Waters of the turn of events that have affected your friend; for better...and for worse. So what's a best friend gotta do?

Word Count: 1,471

Posting Date:  2016-05-21

Current Date: 2017-05-10

You and Isaac had history.

Not that kind of history - the real kind. The friendship and childhood memories kind of history with the images of every event slowly turning sepia in your minds.

Your mother had known his, and both gave birth in the span of hours, Isaac coming first by eight hours.

He would never let you forget it.

As children, you used to play in the sandbox until the fateful age you learned that the contents weren't for eating, and after that, you learned the definition of video games - the explosions and raw graphics that got better over time - and continually played the fictional universes until both pairs of yours and his thumbs ached from being overworked.

And then, a few years after that, not too long after puberty hit the both of you, hard, you learned a new word - cancer.

When Isaac's eye was removed, you faithfully stayed by his side, the friend you were: making the usual horrible jokes friends do, always aching to make his day by a smile. After the surgery, though, you watched him begin to branch out with a new crowd; those kids from the cancer Support Group.

Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters and such; even his girlfriend, Monica, got more of his time than you. But you didn't notice the branching out of Isaac, the slipping away - but it got to you, Komodo dragon bacteria in the system, killing you softly.

Slowly.

And then it was another day at work, ad for a Sunday in a bookstore, it was uncommonly bustling. You were stacking the shelves, and having done the tacky romance novels and the classic tales, you started the young adult sector.

It was also then you heard your name, and not from your boss.

You turned, half expecting to see some creep who had read your badge, but were momentarily shocked to see Gus Waters.

"Can I help you?" you wondered mechanically. The routine question.

Up close, you could see the completely characteristic charm that the famous Augustus Waters had been known for - and you knew after a second the tales weren't wrong at all.

Hazel was a lucky girl.

"Twofold, actually," he grinned, "if that's okay." After you nodded, he added, "first off, I'm looking for a copy of 'An Imperial Affliction'. A present for someone."

You smiled to yourself - you loved that cancer book. It was amazing, and had gotten to you more than any other work of fiction ever created in the world. Sisyphus the hamster had been your favourite character, and the ending -

Hazel had gotten you hooked to it, ever since she came back with her Mom to get another copy, as her original was in pieces, she'd read it so much.

"It's right here," you turned to the shelves and plucked the perfectly priced paperback from the pile, and handed it to Augustus. "And the second question?"

His smile faltered. "It's more of a request, ______," he started. "I heard you used to be a friend of Isaac's."

You paused, and regaining your quietly broken composure, you confirmed, "Yeah, I was, Augustus. I fell out of the loop, though. I don't think he'll remember me. It was easily years ago."

A tad more of a smile pulled onto his lips, and Augustus added, "it was Hazel's idea, if this plan isn't a go," he laid plausible blame before continuing, "I hope to Van Houten that he remembers you, ______, you're kind of like a beacon at sea at the moment."

Your breath was caught in your throat. "Is it back again?"

Augustus shook his head. "It came and went. He's officially NEC by the doctors, but...now he's..."

Your stomach dropped. "He's -,"

"Blind." Augustus winced, deadpanning. "Sorry to break it to you this way, ______. Hazel thought - and I agree - that you're the only one to get him out of his eternal disparity."

If you had been holding anything, it would have long fallen to the floor.

"You want me to see if I can make him feel better? About being blind?"

Augustus sighed, and added, "Monica dumped him, too. You could say he's in a bad place."

"I'll help him," you pledged.

You were his oldest friend. You'd do your best.

"Thanks, ______." Augustus grinned, and as he went off to pay for his book, you barely noticed his limp, you were so focused on what had just happened.

The rest of the hours of your shift trickled by, each slower than the previous, but at last you were out and texting your mother that you'd be doing stuff.

Going out for a bit, don't wait up for me. - ______

Really? What happened to family night, ______? - Mom

You groaned, and replied,

I'm going to hang out with Isaac. Jeeze, Mom. - ______

Totally okay! I'll pick you up at six - Mom

You knew the way to Isaac's place from anywhere, and running, you made it to his familiarly dilapidated front door, and knocked. Your breath was caught in your throat and feet burned from pounding the asphalt and you knew your cheeks were red hot from the exertion.

When his mother answered the door, you blinked, "______," she breathed, "I haven't seen you for a while."

You bobbed your head solemnly. "I heard about Isaac," you had to take a deep breath from running across town, "Could I -,"

"Go in," his mother stepped back, letting you in. "Shout if you need anything."

Just like the old times.

As you perused the familiar hallways, you could hear Isaac's little brother Graham engrossed by whatever program was showing on the television - "Hey ______!" He called out - but momentarily ignoring Graham, you made it to Isaac's room, the familiar plain door embellished with only a dilapidated post it note that had the word always messily scrawled onto the yellow paper.

And you knocked.

"Go away, Graham," you heard him, your friend Isaac growl.

You cleared your throat. "It's not Graham," you began, "it's, uh, ______."

There was a pause.

Then, "come in."

There was a few things you noticed as you entered the room you had practically grown up in. The blinds were down, lights off. The posters on the walls had changed over the time you had been apart from Isaac - the Toy Story had been traded for X-Men - and you saw - barely, in the shades of grey of shadows he was swathed inside - in the chair underneath the shades, Isaac.

"Hello, ______." He greeted, almost stiffly.

You flipped the lights on, and sat at the edge of his bed. "Augustus Waters, that guy from Support Group, told me to come," you started, "He told me -,"

"He just made the top of my hit list, then," Isaac murmured.

You frowned. "What? No, no, Isaac, I'm not here to give you sympathy. Everyone's probably done it already and sympathy sucks. Being kind doesn't bring back, you know, the gift of sight."

Isaac sat straighter. "This is new," his lip pulled up at once side, "I missed your bluntness, ______."

You looked to your hands. "I - I was told also what happened...with Mon. And I know you're going to do a tough act but I know how much you guys were in love. I was there for half of it."

"_______," Isaac began, "I don't need this speech again."

You closed your eyes, and were shocked to find tears there to greet you. Your breath was hitched when you spoke, "Damn it, Isaac, I'm your friend. A lousy one, looking at it, but I'm still your friend. I'm still supposed to do the stuff family can't do, what strangers won't ever be able."

"________ -,"

"I'm supposed to keep you cancer free and happy and not blind and make sure you're not holed up in your room with nobody to talk to. Augustus was worried enough to come to me, Isaac, and he's one of your newer friends. Seriously." You felt the cool tears slip down your face and onto your lap.

You heard a shuffle and felt a stray hand on your knee. Looking up, you realised Isaac had risen from his perch, and was beside you. Slowly, cautiously, an arm wrapped around your shoulders.

"It doesn't work the wants to sometimes in life, you know - I'm an example of it," he spoke quite sagaciously, "You can't just make all better by being a good friend."

You sniffed. "But, Isaac, I'll be there for you. From now on. For ever. I promise. I'll practically live at your place. I'd hate it if I was you -,"

You were interrupted by a hand on your face, and suddenly, you felt yourself guided to meet his lips. Even without the sight, Isaac could still do the kissing thing quite well.

"I'll be there for you too, _______." He vowed.

[hgfstreamchats]

The Sting

thenightetc joined the party.

thenightetc 09:52 PM Hello!

highglossfinish 09:54 PM Hello! thenightetc joined the party.

thenightetc 09:55 PM No video/audio yet

thenightetc 09:55 PM There we go!

thenightetc 09:55 PM Chicken!

thenightetc 09:56 PM Awww, she's brooding. SpadedAce joined the party.

highglossfinish 09:57 PM Alright, any movie suggestions?

thenightetc 09:57 PM How about... :thinking face:

SpadedAce 09:57 PM we could watch the classic live action scooby doo, that one's pretty awful

thenightetc 09:57 PM The Sting!

highglossfinish 09:58 PM This The Sting?

thenightetc 09:59 PM I think so!

thenightetc 09:59 PM I know it's pretty old, and I remember it being a fun time, but I haven't seen it in a while

highglossfinish 09:59 PM Heads Scooby Doo, tails The Sting.

thenightetc 09:59 PM *crosses fingers*

thenightetc 09:59 PM Yes!

thenightetc 10:05 PM *settles in*

highglossfinish 10:05 PM Huh, so that's where that piece of music is from.

thenightetc 10:07 PM Actually... I wonder if they just used an existing period-appropriate piece

highglossfinish 10:08 PM Also plausible.

SpadedAce 10:10 PM they did I think aha that's a verrrry classic piano rag song

thenightetc 10:10 PM Oof.

thenightetc 10:12 PM Or DID he.

thenightetc 10:13 PM Heheheh.

thenightetc 10:16 PM Oh, this money's going to last him a while, huh.

highglossfinish 10:21 PM Oh dear.

thenightetc 10:22 PM In one goddamn bet.

thenightetc 10:23 PM Does the picture keep pausing for anyone else?  Audio's fine, it's just the video pausing for a few seconds.

thenightetc 10:23 PM Dunno if it's on my end or the stream itself

highglossfinish 10:23 PM That's odd. It's fine on my end.

thenightetc 10:24 PM Must be mind, then, I'll try reloading thenightetc joined the party.

thenightetc 10:24 PM Bah, I'll just put up with it.  Might be my connection

highglossfinish 10:24 PM Or kast being kast.

SpadedAce 10:25 PM gamblin' during the great deprrerssion is quite smething

highglossfinish 10:25 PM Isn't it?

thenightetc 10:27 PM Whoop.

highglossfinish 10:27 PM That human's going to end up in a storm drain.

thenightetc 10:28 PM Ohhhh dear

thenightetc 10:28 PM Oh nooo

highglossfinish 10:29 PM Why couldn't it have been pinstripes?

thenightetc 10:29 PM Right?  Mister big spender

thenightetc 10:33 PM Says the guy currently wanted by the mob.

highglossfinish 10:34 PM Are we supposed to be rooting for this human?

thenightetc 10:35 PM Hmmmm... borderline.

highglossfinish 10:35 PM They certainly do enjoy that word.

thenightetc 10:35 PM :/

highglossfinish 10:40 PM Ugh.

highglossfinish 10:40 PM I'm guessing the movie isn't going to end with both of them dead while this music plays.

highglossfinish 10:40 PM But I can dream.

thenightetc 10:41 PM There is certainly some stuff in here I didn't remember.

SpadedAce 10:43 PM ok m back what did I miss since the cop beat him up

thenightetc 10:43 PM a BUNCH

thenightetc 10:43 PM The mob found out who they were and they murdered Luthor

thenightetc 10:43 PM Now pinstripes is out for revenge

thenightetc 10:46 PM Pfffff

highglossfinish 10:46 PM Hah.

SpadedAce 10:47 PM oh no Luthorr :c

thenightetc 10:47 PM Yeah :<

thenightetc 10:49 PM Ha.

thenightetc 10:58 PM If looks could kill.

thenightetc 11:01 PM He is just making himself POPULAR.

highglossfinish 11:01 PM Look at him go!

thenightetc 11:01 PM awwww

thenightetc 11:02 PM Ewwww

thenightetc 11:05 PM Oho Jflee13 joined the party.

SpadedAce 11:05 PM 999999999999999999

SpadedAce 11:05 PM 10

thenightetc 11:07 PM oHO

highglossfinish 11:07 PM Here we go.

thenightetc 11:08 PM Hahhaha.

thenightetc 11:11 PM I do like seeing it start to come together.

thenightetc 11:24 PM I swear that guy looks familiar testi joined the party.

highglossfinish 11:34 PM Hah!

thenightetc 11:35 PM Right?

thenightetc 11:35 PM Smooth.

highglossfinish 11:35 PM Very.

thenightetc 11:36 PM Just.  Leaves the wall half-painted

highglossfinish 11:36 PM As you do.

thenightetc 11:40 PM ...I forget whether these guys are legit.

highglossfinish 11:40 PM They all sort of blur together.

thenightetc 11:47 PM Ha.

highglossfinish 11:48 PM I want to see Luthor avenged, but I also want to see the Redford human die.

thenightetc 11:49 PM That's one of those "moral dilemma" things, isn't it

highglossfinish 11:49 PM It is, it really is. webml joined the party. webml joined the party.

thenightetc 11:58 PM She could do better.

highglossfinish 11:59 PM Much better.

thenightetc 11:59 PM Sure, just leave the window open

thenightetc 12:00 AM Did she... steal his clothes??

highglossfinish 12:00 AM ...Did she?

thenightetc 12:00 AM And if not, what WAS he looking for?

SpadedAce 12:00 AM good on her

thenightetc 12:02 AM Did she steal his money?  It looked like it was still in the wallet fadesnoat joined the party.

thenightetc 12:04 AM WHAT

highglossfinish 12:04 AM Will someone just please kill the Redford human?

thenightetc 12:05 AM "'cause he knows you're too stupid to look after yourself" Zephra85 joined the party.

highglossfinish 12:08 AM Zephra human!

thenightetc 12:08 AM Hello!

Zephra85 12:09 AM I made it to a stream!!!

Zephra85 12:09 AM Everybody everybody ask me why ask me why

thenightetc 12:09 AM Why, why!

highglossfinish 12:09 AM Why? Don't keep us in suspense!

Zephra85 12:09 AM I got a new laptop!!

highglossfinish 12:09 AM Glorious!

thenightetc 12:09 AM Oh, nice!

Zephra85 12:09 AM So I don't have to fight to the death to use my bf's laptop anymore

highglossfinish 12:10 AM Excellent!

Zephra85 12:10 AM When we both wanted the laptop before we'd pull out swords all highlander style and scream at each other 'THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE'\

thenightetc 12:10 AM Pffff

Zephra85 12:11 AM So yeah I should be able to make it to a LOT more streams now that I have my own laptop!

highglossfinish 12:11 AM Just in time to see the Redford human die like he deserves because he's wretched.

thenightetc 12:11 AM Good, good!

highglossfinish 12:11 AM That's fantastic!

highglossfinish 12:11 AM Sigh.

Zephra85 12:12 AM I don't know this movie, is it that bad?

thenightetc 12:12 AM It's The Sting

thenightetc 12:12 AM And this guy's been sort of an ass all movie

highglossfinish 12:12 AM He's also a wretched person in real life.

Zephra85 12:12 AM Oh, oh is this a twist?

thenightetc 12:12 AM It is!

Zephra85 12:13 AM Good I made it in time for the best/worst part

Zephra85 12:13 AM perfect

highglossfinish 12:13 AM Yes, yes you would.

thenightetc 12:13 AM In one night, no less.

Zephra85 12:13 AM FFFFFF-

Zephra85 12:13 AM that song

SpadedAce 12:14 AM well I gtta say.... that movie dd... not hold me sobs

Zephra85 12:14 AM So how's everybody doing during this apocalypse?

highglossfinish 12:14 AM Enjoying the empty-ish roads.

thenightetc 12:14 AM Can't complain... too much.  How about you?

SpadedAce 12:14 AM essential worker here ✌️

SpadedAce 12:15 AM I need a vacaton

Zephra85 12:15 AM Oooh my condolances, Ace

Zephra85 12:15 AM :(

thenightetc 12:15 AM Oof

thenightetc 12:15 AM *patpats*

Zephra85 12:15 AM How're you holding up?\

thenightetc 12:16 AM Well.

Zephra85 12:17 AM sa;dfj this vid is killing me

thenightetc 12:17 AM Much appreciated.

SpadedAce 12:17 AM ok imma dip sobs. play some games and vegetate

SpadedAce 12:17 AM see yall!

highglossfinish 12:17 AM Have fun!

Zephra85 12:17 AM Bye buddy!! Take it easy!

thenightetc 12:17 AM Goodnight!

thenightetc 12:18 AM Are... are we making a bomb?

highglossfinish 12:18 AM We'd better be.

Zephra85 12:18 AM lol

Zephra85 12:19 AM I'm a caterer so I got laid off immediately

highglossfinish 12:19 AM Bah. Sorry to hear it.

thenightetc 12:19 AM Yeah :S

Zephra85 12:20 AM I feel really bad because I'm Canadian so my government aid money is literally a LOT more than my usual salary

Zephra85 12:20 AM I'm making so much more money NOT working I feel like crap

thenightetc 12:20 AM Awwww

Zephra85 12:21 AM ... that's how I paid for my laptop

Zephra85 12:21 AM I'M A MONSTER

thenightetc 12:21 AM You're really not.

highglossfinish 12:21 AM Your society's doing what a society's supposed to be doing!

highglossfinish 12:21 AM Well, apart from preventing plagues.

Zephra85 12:21 AM Ugh legit

Zephra85 12:22 AM I feel bad for essential workers though with me doing so 'well'

Zephra85 12:22 AM well has quotations because I am a social person so not being able to go places and see people is THE ACTUAL WORST

Zephra85 12:22 AM I MISS MY FRIENDS

Zephra85 12:22 AM I MISS MY KARAOKE NIGHT

thenightetc 12:22 AM Yeah :S

Zephra85 12:23 AM I MISS JUST HANGING OUT AT THE MALL OR TRYING NEW RESTAURANTS\

thenightetc 12:23 AM Think of it as a bribe to try not to spread the plague.

Zephra85 12:23 AM Fair

highglossfinish 12:23 AM "Cheap crappy goods for suckers."

Zephra85 12:23 AM A;SLDJFA

Zephra85 12:23 AM this guy is hilarious

thenightetc 12:24 AM Right?

Zephra85 12:24 AM It's edited perfectly to for max humour

thenightetc 12:25 AM It really is.

thenightetc 12:26 AM "So at this point I have an idea"

highglossfinish 12:26 AM "Where dreams are made."

Zephra85 12:27 AM Hey Knock Out was the whole green energon/scraplets/ancient rust plagues handled as weirdly as we modern humans are managing our disaster?\

Zephra85 12:28 AM Sorry for all the extra slashes guys I"m still getting used to this new keyboard so I'm constantly grazing the slash key

highglossfinish 12:28 AM To the best of my knowledge, we never protested in the streets for our right to go out and leak rust on one another.

thenightetc 12:28 AM They can just climb over the desks.

Zephra85 12:29 AM I'd HOPE to imagine that's a rare thing in most societies during plagues

thenightetc 12:30 AM God.

thenightetc 12:31 AM Oh, I"ve played games like this

Zephra85 12:32 AM i'm losing my freaking mind this is killing me

thenightetc 12:32 AM Make a thing to make a thing

highglossfinish 12:32 AM His timeskips are always gold.

Zephra85 12:32 AM They're perfect

highglossfinish 12:33 AM There's Grace!

thenightetc 12:34 AM We must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Zephra85 12:34 AM I love Grace

thenightetc 12:34 AM Oh wow

highglossfinish 12:34 AM I saw "Surviving the..." and my attention's captured.

thenightetc 12:35 AM *eyes emoji*

thenightetc 12:35 AM How could this have happened!

Zephra85 12:35 AM I'M LOSING IT

highglossfinish 12:36 AM Oh, this should be good.

thenightetc 12:36 AM Oh look, practice

highglossfinish 12:36 AM Hah!

Zephra85 12:36 AM Knock Out how happy are you to have discovered terrible human media in the long run?

highglossfinish 12:37 AM Absolutely *delighted.*

Zephra85 12:37 AM Excellent

thenightetc 12:37 AM Ha!

Zephra85 12:37 AM LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH~

thenightetc 12:39 AM Ha!

Zephra85 12:39 AM The video is lagging a bit but it's absolutely not hindering my enjoyment of this video

thenightetc 12:40 AM Burial pit

thenightetc 12:40 AM BURIAL PIT BURIAL PIT

Zephra85 12:40 AM It's all about the commentary with this guy

thenightetc 12:40 AM Ha!

Zephra85 12:41 AM AS;DLFJK

thenightetc 12:41 AM Well

highglossfinish 12:41 AM I wish every game he played gave him the option to rename things.

thenightetc 12:41 AM Same

Zephra85 12:42 AM silver lining: that's less housing we need to make

Zephra85 12:42 AM every rich person's response to death EVER

highglossfinish 12:43 AM Photo man's out of control!

Zephra85 12:43 AM when will he be stopped

Zephra85 12:44 AM If a meteor shower happened DIRECTLY on your village and resulted in NO deaths I think that'd be something to celebrate tuki2 joined the party.

thenightetc 12:45 AM Pfff.

Zephra85 12:46 AM Science points?? Don't let shockwave play this game

Zephra85 12:47 AM he'll devote his entire existence to it and die of starvation eventually

thenightetc 12:47 AM Please, this is absolutely how research works.

highglossfinish 12:47 AM He absolutely would.

thenightetc 12:48 AM Was that a meteor

Zephra85 12:49 AM Hey hey Knock Out

thenightetc 12:49 AM "So we're going to run a little experiment" my favorite words!

highglossfinish 12:49 AM Hm?

Zephra85 12:49 AM Did you know when the nemesis's security footage leaked when Ratchet was captured

Zephra85 12:50 AM We all started calling Shockwave and Ratchet 'SCIENCESHIPPING'

highglossfinish 12:50 AM The more you know!

thenightetc 12:51 AM Amazing

Zephra85 12:51 AM Well you were there

highglossfinish 12:51 AM It's to the point and completely without frills, just like Shockwave and Ratchet.

Zephra85 12:51 AM you saw how Ratchet was a step off from overloading every time Shockwave showed him something new

highglossfinish 12:52 AM Alright, one more quick one for the road...

thenightetc 12:52 AM Uh oh

Zephra85 12:52 AM YAY

thenightetc 12:52 AM What am I in for

highglossfinish 12:52 AM You'll see.

Zephra85 12:53 AM hrn oh oy

Zephra85 12:53 AM oh boy

Zephra85 12:53 AM no

Zephra85 12:53 AM noooo

thenightetc 12:54 AM gaaaaah

thenightetc 12:54 AM GAH

thenightetc 12:55 AM yikes

Zephra85 12:55 AM ... nope not gonna go there

highglossfinish 12:55 AM Organics are a perpetual yikes.

Zephra85 12:56 AM ANYWAY I'm glad I got to be around for a bit at the end at least!

thenightetc 12:56 AM And for the factory video!

Zephra85 12:56 AM It was great seeing you guys again!

thenightetc 12:56 AM Same!

Zephra85 12:56 AM I'll hopefully be around a bit more

highglossfinish 12:56 AM Likewise!

thenightetc 12:56 AM I hope so :)

Zephra85 12:56 AM Bye Night!

highglossfinish 12:57 AM Certainly looking forward to it!

Zephra85 12:57 AM Bye Knock Out! Say hi to the fam for me!

highglossfinish 12:57 AM Will do!

highglossfinish 12:57 AM Good night, everyone!

thenightetc 12:57 AM Thanks, an