#i think thats it. i think generally i like having a bit more of a clean slate to work with since i was previously balancing a lot

[love-byers]

(same anon that previously sent an ask about the monologue, because writing all this just got me thinking)

Another thing to take note of is that Mike only talks in the past/present tense, but never in the future tense. He says "I've loved you every day since" but never "and I'm going to love you every day for the rest of my life". He's clinging to the past, he's refusing change. There's a line after where he says "And I’m not ready to lose you -- you hear me??". It's just so clear to me. Once he's ready, he can finally grow and allow new and better things to come into his life, and truly come of age. That's the kind of ending I believe is right for the show and those characters in a more general sense anyway.

OMG IVE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE PAST/PRESENT TENSE STUFF THATS SO TRUE

i've always thought that it seemed like both mike and el were clinging to the past. it starts in the s3 epilogue when el says i love you too. its supposed to be taking the next big step in their relationship, maturing and changing. but mike realizes he doesn't want that, he doesn't want things to change. he doesn't want to get more serious with el. he yearns for the past when he was closer with will and didn't have the pressure of growing up and committing to el. and of course the idea of that scares him bc it makes him question the nature of he and will's relationship.

"And I guess...if I'm being really honest...I don't want things to change. So I think maybe that's why I came in here. To try to maybe...stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were."

i've analyzed the living hell out of this in a byler way, because it is undoubtedly coded towards byler, but i think there is a bit of mileven here too based on what happens in s4. here's some quotes/moments that made me think mike and el were clinging to the past because they know they have no foundation of a future.

"Bitchin' right?" "Yeah, yeah, bitchin'. Do you come here a lot?" mike is so dismissive of her here it's kind of funny

then there's mike bringing her eggos before their fight. he's trying to make peace with a staple from their past, but it doesn't work, because that's not what makes a relationship strong.

"You can't let those mouth breathers ruin you, ruin us." again a reference to a joke/phrase from their past. something they share, or should share. mike feels like saying that will draw them back together. but it fails

"They're nobodies. And you're a superhero." "Not anymore." i feel like this one speaks for itself lol

and the fact that the song playing over their fight is called "Eulogy", a track that plays during scenes referencing dead characters (barb, bob, el (before mike knew she was alive), billy) and metaphorical deaths, like el moving into the cabin with hopper. "This is your new home." it's representing the death of el's old life in the lab, and finding new beginnings. their fight was the death of their relationship, and even mike knows it. a fight you can't come back from.

[ii-evil-confessions]

ooc: [OGAY!!!!!!!!!!! PHOTONS GO!!!!!!!!!!!

yeag anyways. this is generally what photons look like

head wings?? arm wings?? back wings?? so many wings...

yeag anyways!!! this is kinda what photons look like!! i wanna make a better ref later at some point because i do wanna point out that some markings on their bodies can be iridescent

so theyre based on birds. yaknow. thats their animal mode too. they go bird mode. its actually quite difficult to tell when they ARE in bird mode and when theyre not because theyre constantly birdpilling crittermaxxing

they're constantly emitting some sort of energy - whether thats light or their wings! they can summon and retract their wings at will. also they can fly but unlike electrons they dont really need to. their flight ability is more for show

their energy is more solid than other particles. why? i wanted an excuse for them to be able to preen each other. yes you can touch their wings. they can be preened. they can feel it. they can give you a wing hug. isnt that splendid?? also their wings are slightly see through

stereotypically, theyre seen as regal and cryptic. everyone thinks that theyre super important and can give you magical blessings. ethereal and shit. in reality theyre naturally kinda mischievous and are very curious. more like ravens than peacocks. however atom society is fucked up and they have to act like theyre all super important and cannot allow themselves to get attached to any other particle because "ohhh you cant do that. you cant have friends. youre a mini deity not some guy"

wanted to try and seperate them from how protons are stereotypically seen. protons: professional. powerful. photons: ethereal. regal.

they looove shiny stuff. very much

they got TALONS!!! long ass talons. i didnt show how long they were here but they can get very long

yeag. markings vary too btw. someone could have an amongus on their chest. did you ever think about that

they're rare to see in atom society - or at least, rare to see in the area that the atom trio is in. they're more common in other areas..... yeah im expanding the lore. i WILL make a map of where the atom trio live. this is a threat /j

creative little bitches. minds are constantly whirring with ideas.

also they think differently than other particles!! theyre crittermaxxing, remember? actually theyre cryptidmaxxing. i lied. theyre cryptidmaxxing

a majority of them are religious!!! they love the sun. there's a religion based around the sun and moon and stars. some people, however, take their beliefs a bit far..... cough cough... /silly

photons are attracted to light. theyre kinda mothpilled too. they like to fan out their wings and lay in the sun

umm will make more lore. yeag. also i should probably make sum more lore for neutrons and protons too huh]

[dreamsy990]

heres my designs for all the important gods (I FORGOT HEPHAESTUS SORRY) in epic

thoughts/explanations behind the designs + sketches under the cut

general notes: my biggest headcanon for the gods designs is that they can be just about anything because they (within some limits) choose how they appear. so a god can look like just about anything, but its almost always mostly human. the only real rules to that i think are that 1) their design should usually try to incorporate their main symbols/domain in some way (in some way allows for a lot of range though, so athena for example is very much a bird creature since shes very associated with owls, but aphrodite has just some roses and shells in her hair, and 2) things like scars and such cant be hidden. this rule mostly only matters for athena. i realize i incorporated gold into almost all of their designs but that wasnt intentional lol. anyways let meee talk about the specific gods now. also for fun, no god has normal eyes. theyre either shadowed out entirely, weird shapes, or have no pupils. or all three! i think weird eyes is what distinguishes a god in my designs. i havent done this in my circe or calypso designs but since theyre not quite gods but adjacent i might give them similarly weird eye shapes but also pupils. idk we'll see!

aeolus: so my aeolus design is originally from a sketch i did in class. i was trying to draw telemachus with long hair based on a friends fic and then i was like "oh this looks like how i imagine aeolus would" and the next thing i drew is pretty much Just this final design. i drew aeolus very loosely, he has a clear shape but he should never be fully defined if that makes sense? so when coloring it i decided fuck it he looks like a weird mass of clouds now. its fun! i might change that but idk. also its subtly trans colors because i believe in transmasc aeolus supremacy. i imagine him moving around very freely and seeming to appear and disappear out of nowhere

apollo: so i think apollo is actually the oldest design here? which is to say that i drew apollo ONCE in my sketchbook at the start of my epic hyperfixation and got really into this specific design. i sort of wanted to color him similarly to uh, if you know ginjaninja their design for their oc kynthia? but i ended up going with more just white and gold to keep it simple. i LOVE tiny color palettes lol. the original outfit i believeee was inspired by gigi's hermes actually? but i havent looked at that design in a while so its probably changed. he has a halo that originally looked more like the sun but ive simplified it a bit. why? its cool. also i mightve stolen that from somebody else but i literally CANNOT remember. anyways one fact about this design is that the first time i drew it i labelled it WHORE. you can see i did that in the sketch here too. in his honor.

hermes: little freak guy!! theres honestly not THAT much to say here about hermes. i drew him with a little messenger bag once and i cant NOT draw him with it now i think its cute. i draw odysseus, ctimene, and telemachus all with a gaptooth, and i've never drawn anticlea but i've had the conscious thought that id give it to her too, so fuck it! hermes gets it. it comes from him. the family gaptooth is from him i hope youre happy hermes erfgfrefgfr. color scheme wise i wanted to keep it mostly simple again, i always pictured hermes with silver/white hair for some reason idk why but thats here! and he has rainbow. because is it even hermes without rainbow. i might darken this palette a bit but i am pretty happy with him.

athena: so my athena design ive drawn a ton and shes changed a lot over time. i didnt originally want her to look tooooo birdlike? and then i committed to owlthena because its just FUN man. anyways her silhouette is meant to look very closed off, her "cloak" covers most of her body, just generally shes supposed to seem sort of unapproachable. (note: hes not here but i do this with odysseus too! both because i wanted a similar kind of closed off look for him, and that i wanted him and athena to have visual parallels). her cloak is actually just her wings though! i doodled them unfolded so you can see her without them, as well as without her helmet. her helmet covers one of her eyes with a shadow (again to make her look like shes sort of hiding something), which was a design choice i made BEFORE we found out she lost an eye to zeus, so! coincidentally its good for hiding that scar :]. i doodled her with long black hair ONE WHOLE TIME and its stuck in my mind since so i have to keep that design element forever now. sorry official brunette athena youre not real to me. her color scheme was a STRUGGLE for me though. i knew i wanted to fit blue in there somewhere, but i wasnt really sure how? i eventually caved and made her mostly black and silver with a bit of blue in there. the blue and black gives more magpie energy to her than owl, but i dont know, i like it. i might mess with it more, but yeah! athena! shes really fun to draw lol. i imagine shed be animated in a very constrained sort of way most of the time like her design sort of implies. she doesnt really make big gestures or unnecessary movements she would be sort of uncanny in how still she is most of the time i think.

aries: ive had an aries design for a while so i was basically just finalizing it here. he was supposed to look both very similar to athena and very opposite of her. so they have nearly identical outfits, they both have a helmet shadowing their eyes (but it shadows both of aries' here), theyve both got a lot of animal features (although aries is less visible here, he's a bit dog inspired. you can see his tail eheh), etc. the main difference is that aries is meant to look a lot less, for lack of a better word restrained? his scarf (because its really more of a scarf than a cloak like athena has) only covers part of his face and absolutely none of his body, so it think it gives him a look more like hes ready to fight at any second than athena. i also wanted him to look very scarred/like his armor is scratched up. he and athena are both war gods, but aries is much more likely to throw himself into things and get hurt, while athena plans things in such a way where shes almost never actually hit. brute force vs strategy and whatnot. i sort of wish id made his scars golden too, to look a bit more like athena though. originally the black was red, but it looked really bad, which SUCKS because i wanted the red to contrast with athenas blue. but he just has red eyes here.

aphrodite: very little thought behind this one because my first sketch of her was like two days ago and very inspired by gigis. i sort of wanted her to look doll-like and have a cupids bow lip, but otherwise i got NOTHING girl. shes got pearls and shells in her hair to allude to her connection with the sea though. also roses because i wanted to put in one more symbol and that was a nice way to get a bit more red in there.

hera: im the least happy with this design, almost entirely because of the coloring. i sketched it being more purple, but then i realized that 1) peacocks are a lot more green and 2) IM STEALING FROM JUNE AGAIN!!! THATS HOW JUNE DREW THEIR OC IN A MIRACULOUS AU GODDAMNIT. so the colors are traditional peacock and im NOT happy with them at all. the design is also still basically stolen from june once again i am SO sorry their work is just so integrated into my mind that its a part of me now i do it without thinking. very little notes here otherwise unfortunately,,,,

zeus: weirdly enough i think this is my favorite design? which is WILD because i basically thought of it on the spot like two or three days ago for a shitpost based on a silly manwhore au-adjacent fic i read. the design over all is inspired by neal's? but honestly i think ive done my own thing with it a bit. i didnt really want to do clouds in his hair because id associated that with aeolus in my head, but then i thought of it fading into a dark grey like stormclouds, and having his scarf like lightning? and then he appeared fully formed in front of me. bro is BARELY dressed dude put a shirt on. also his eyebrows are cloud shaped like ursaluna. i fucking hate this dude but im happy with this design

poseidon: OKAY SO POSEIDON IS THE MOST OUT THERE DESIGN HERE I THINK. hes definitely the most inhuman looking one despite us having literally a bird right there, but that was somewhat intentional? and also somewhat because i had a very clear vision of him and needed to make it real exactly as i first thought sorry. anyways, for some characterization, i think with my idea of the gods choosing their appearances and poseidon being a lot more monstrous, you could say he CHOOSES to look unnerving. side note, this is very personal to me but i really like the idea of athena looking more like poseidon than any of her other family. i dont know WHY i just got really attached to that idea. so they have the same hair and somewhat similar faces i think. the resemblance isnt major but it is THERE for sure.

and thaaaats all the gods! i hope you like them :] im going to go review for a test i have tomorrow now

[s0m3b0dy2u]

"but roman..."

"why didnt you script youre immune to hate" / "why did you literally script haters into your dr???"

three words: because it's funny.

I scripted that hate doesn't bother me, and that i think it's funny. also, im very petty and i cant do dumb shit just to spite the haters if there are no haters. i did script that my friends dont get any/get very little hate. for example, people only think good things about theo because he literally posts the most gorgeous photographs, shes amazing at their job, and hes just the kindest person to literally everyone they meet. nico has haters in the way any loud and obnoxious youtuber will but theyre very few and far between and he also finds them funny, but in a slightly different way then i do. felix's legitimate work is amazing, and theres so little room for criticism to begin with, and most of his shitty takes are on tumblr, so hes safe. venus gets the same kind of hate anyone that makes the kind of music she does will, also largely angry christians like i have in my hatebase. she, of course, is the best at handling hate out of any of us. shes absolutely brutal. shes also the first to clap back if any of her friends get any hate to begin with. of course, she has the largest fanbase out of all of us so... yk how that goes, im sure. she also like... thrives off of drama.

also, i've litterally written whole critical articles about myself, if anyone wants to read them

Blasphemy Disguised as Art: The Dangerous Message of Empire’s 666

Style Over Substance? The Fall of Rome’s Theatrics

etc.

the first one is my favorite (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ

lets talk about 666

the only reason the ep (or even me in general) blew up as hard as it did is because of christian supremacists.

!! i dont hate christians or christianity, and i do not intend to mock the religion itself !! 666 is about my own personal struggles with religion !! also, the christians im talking about here are the kind that hardly live like christians--the ones that dont live and lead with kindness, but instead anger, and the kind that would condemn you to hell if they saw you walking down the street holding hands with someone of the same sex because "its a sin." the bible says we, as humans, are in no right to judge one another, etc. etc. etc. the reason i didnt script people like this out in this dr is because theyve greatly helped shape the person i am today--for better or for worse. (i feel the need to mention, now, i did script out homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination) !!

these people, maybe they saw the album cover, read the lyrics, or even just read the album and song titles, whatever it was they got so pissed. most of them havent seen anything else about me, and just jumped to the "hes encouraging devil worship" "he thinks hes better than God" etc etc etc. this lead more and more people to seeing my stuff and so... yeah

also the people that are like "EMPIREs too theatric" "romes too dramatic" like... no shit?? thats my whole thing?? idk what to tell you. my fans eat it tf uppppp too.

the people that are like "mmm maybe try making happy music now?? :/" piss me off tho like no???? my whole thing is doom and gloom. i am death incarnate, im fuckin--IM A VAMPIRE OK IM SUPPOSED TO BE VAMPIRIC ૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა /silly

also theres nothing funnier than tiktok comments like "you need jesus" and "go read the bible" pllssss what????? (╥﹏╥) lmaoooo

and like keep hating, all youre doing is making me more famous??? idk like....

i also love ironic haters

like yes, lets pretend we hate each others guts while were sitting in a cozy lil cafe tg

lets say we hate each others music and then drop a collab not even a week later

૮꒰˶> ᴗ <˶꒱ა

uhhhh rant over

if youre still here, how was your day/morning? remember to take care of yourselves, drink some water, eat something--even if it's just a little bit--and take a break if you need to. i love you all <3 have a nice day/night

[pshbites]

﹒⌗﹒❕﹒౨ৎ˚₊‧ 1k followers

hai pshbites nation!! i can’t believe i hit 1k followers.. i really didn’t think i would stay on blr this long but im so glad i have :) ! first thank you to my followers and readers, without your constant support and feedback i don’t think i would’ve been that motivated to post my works. im so glad that you guys like my works and interact with me <3 through every reblog, like, and comment my motivation to post only grows and im so glad to have that support. literally would not be here without u pshbites nation 🥹🥹, so thank u for all the love and support!!!

it’s about to get a lil bit sappy so…

to nunubear : i think we sorta grew closer after #that friend group but im glad we did bc we discovered we both write LOL… and started bonding through that. i feel like we’ve been through a lot together and icb #NunuNana is entering 3 years 🥹🥹🥹.. wow like this is oomflationship realness. but thank u for listening to me rant about blr or even just being there to talk to me 🫶 love u bad habibti @haedgaf @lqfiles

to classic man : you two are my best friends in the whole wide world. i think we’ve grown so close to the point where our families even know each other and that to me is real bonding.. trust.. REAL FRIENDSHIP 😭💔. i love u guys down but u know that because every ft call we end with love you and goodnight. i also wanna thank u guys for supporting me because if both of u hadn’t said i should continue with this i think i would’ve deactivated a long time ago. you already know i trust your judgment more than anyone else’s so i wanna say thank u for everything @wavetokgv @ronniee-26 also i can’t wait to celebrate tonight BYOF (bring ur own fic) it’s celebration time 😭😭 and pls don’t go on their accs they’re bots….

to neoz : sav, liz both of you have become people in my life i talk to everyday and thats a new feat for me. liz, i dont know anything other than saying thank you 😕. you listen to me rant about everything under the sun and im so glad to have found someone who understands me so deeply, i hold so much love for u like an older sister would and im glad we have that connection. @cupidhoons sav, i know we’ve only started getting closer these past couple weeks but i feel so happy when i get to talk to u, you make my day with whatever you say and i also hold love for u just as an older sister would 🩷. i love when you tell me about your day to day life and i just love talking to you in general so thank you 🫂 @ourhees i wanna thank both of you for always supporting me and beta reading some of my fics, i love both of u so so much and i can’t wait for us to spend so much more time together!

to my close moots : if i were to personalize this i think i would be saying the same thing over and over so, thank you all for supporting me and talking to me. in my conversations i have with each of you i genuinely enjoy talking to you all and im glad that ive had the chance to meet you guys 🥹, truly thank u and i love u guys @leeechin @kiss4noo @suneng @coqhee @geutori @kairoot

and once again thank you pshbites nation we #Love you and without your support i think i would’ve given up so thank for reading my mediocre writing and tuning into my works WE LOVE U PSHBITES NATION!!!!!! 💔😭😭😭😭😭

[reco-obsessed]

ok . short debrief on my thoughts on rekos feelings about men because id rather put it as its own post instead of ranting on the tags of that post . just this one time

i think a huge part of reko's harshness on men has a lot to do with possible history in the music industry as a child that gets glossed over a lot, both within the story and by the fandom. of course being sold out by her father is already setting up a poor foundation for her expectations of the men in her life, but even besides that- theres so much inherently about the child star environment thats conducive to her distrust in men.

because i think thats a key part of it. reko isnt just harsher on them for no reason; reko distrusts men.

ytts spoilers under the cut.

she has this interaction with professor mishima in ytts, and i think it explains a bit more of initial poor opinion of him. reko doesnt just think hes some weird guy, she thinks hes some weird creepy guy. which, to be fair, if i some some old professor showing up with a young woman as a pair id probably be suspicious, too.

this is also outright confirmation that reko has had personal experience with men in positions of power who used that to take advantage of young women. but back to the child star aspect of it.

i dont think reko was ever in dan schneider levels of concerning situations, but even if reko never experienced being taken advantage by creepy men directly within her time in the lime light, i cant imagine she didnt find out about others who did. with her father blinded by greed, from her perspective, it mustve seemed like a "near miss" situation even if it never ended up happening to her. theres also how being popular so early on wouldve exposed to her the public eye, and how very well a lot of creepy men couldve been making up the most intense of her fans before she actively rebelled so she could have some autonomy over not just the kind of music she was making, but to the kind of people she wouldve been appealing to with her music.

i think theres also a really important character trait of reko's that gets understated in these conversations: reko is someone who isnt willing to compromise or be pushed on her boundaries.

this interaction may seem innocuous ("of course she doesnt give away that kind of information, its a creepy question"), but it directly contrasts something we learn about the AI earlier:

so not only is this something shes not willing to trust with someone she generally trusts (sara), its also something that as an AI should technically go against her nature.

theres other examples as well- reko shutting down joes fanboying at the very beginning of the game by asking him if its really the time, and of course a lot of her interactions with her brother are shadowed by the fact shes not willing to hide the fact she wants nothing to do with him. then, theres this dialogue tree which hints at a weird interaction between keiji and reko offscreen:

which is again hinting at the idea that reko doesnt give in or try to handle people 'softly' should they cross a line with her. her mixture of self-respect, not worrying about coming off crass, and distrust of (and possible history with creepy) men means she comes off pretty harsh at times; at least compared to what specifically women are expected to behave like, though the majority of it is like more defensive than offensive.

lastly, theres also the perspective of reko as an extremely talented woman in a male-dominated genre. punk, and rock music in general, are both mostly led by men. there are a lot of people out there who discredit women in rock music and will claim they have no musical talent, only being there to serve as eye candy, especially if the other band members are men. its not impossible that she went from making shitty (probably pop music) she hated because of being a gifted kid, and then finally working with the sound she wanted, only to suddenly have people turn and try to claim she couldnt play for shit because she was a woman. and in that sense, her harshness could come from another place too- the fact that its a lot easier to get credit as a man automatically for what others have to work to prove. though this take is the one based most on speculation, both because we dont have direct evidence of reko personally feeling this way, experiencing this, and also because im a westerner and this is based on my knowledge of the western punk rock scene, though id be far from surprised to hear if similar precedents were set in japan.

if you reblogged this and am wondering why i havent mentioned her harshness on men having from originated from her father and brother its cause this rant was inspired by this post that already discusses that

[averagefungus]

Although Videogame music usually does suck to listen to outside of its intended context, there are some songs like Redial that just work on its own. One of the songs I can listen to the most without getting sick of it. I think the best description of the original Redial on Bomberman 64 was that of Elevator music, but this remake I think is the best version of the track to listen to.

2. The Flying Beagle album by Himiko Kikuchi is a masterpiece. I remember seeing the cover on youtube way back in highschool and on a whim decided to listen, because of the funny beagle. My mom has always been a jazz fan, but this was my gateway drug to other Jazz Fusion artists and bands like Casiopea, Spyro Gyra, and Masayoshi Takanaka, instead of just listening to what she was a fan of. Baby Talk in particular is a dance track for me, this is the perfect groove.

3. This is Rayman music. Not literally, but in essence and soul. Without a doubt the silliest song that'll be here, Geerts whistling ability has made him infamous in competitive whistling, as literally no one can come close to what he's capable of. You could trick someone into thinking that the whistling was a proper instrument, but no thats some dudes lips and his lips alone. This piece is the embodiment of "Bitches love me for my whimsy."

4. I don't exactly remember when I learned about this piece, but I can guarantee it's something my mom was listening to and I asked about. That classic jazz love from my mom is most obvious in older songs like this. This is the easiest song I think when you imagine an AMV created for your original characters since the divide is made so strong and obvious.

5. This is the best instrumental ever made. The year I don't listen to this is the year I died. Even ytpmvs with the slightest care put to audio mixing become divine with this. The original sample from David Bowies Space Oddity is euphoric to listen to on its own, and expanding it into a full beat like this has created, indeed, the best instrumental ever made. The full song feels like a bonus over this. Some special herbs and spices indeed.

6. Remember when I brought up Casiopea 4 or so paragraphs ago? I do! Im a sucker for Jazz Fusion, as stated, and Casiopea is basically THE emblem for Japanese Jazz Fusion, as I had learned when trying to find more artists. This songs just really nice and lovely. I still need to experience more of their catalogue, but for the time being I enjoy this track.

7. You know love songs pronouncing how much you appreciate someone? This is the opposite. Use this to break up with a toxic ex. Tell a girl to fuck off and then have a beautiful trumpet solo. As a Tuba player I'm biased for brass but even based on that, it's still beknownst to be a banger. Brass Bands in general I think are underrated, I would've brought up Fanfare Vagabontu if Spotify gave me the chance. The No BS Brass Band overall is a group you should look out for.

8. An exception to the VGM rule are title screens. Because you don't do anything on a title screen except change the settings and maybe relax a bit before jumping in, this is just a wonderfully chill bossa-nova beat. De-Blob is a cult classic for good reason, I really ought to beat the whole thing instead of playing level 1 over and over like I did when I was younger.

9. Does it count as VGM if you found it from a MVC3 Doom montage? (No but ask this to piss off your friends) This song speaks for itself, its an absolute banger. "Top it off, now they're playing victim and the violin/Dripping the color envy, more greener than Ireland." is a pair of verses I repeat to myself Ad-Nauseam. I only discovered this song in particular late in 2024 and it still took the #1 spot by a landslide. DOOMs entire career could make for essays from me, especially as I read further into his history and learn more of his albums, but sometimes you just want to cherry pick 1 wonderful slice out to indulge in you know?

10. Picture this.

It's been a long day. You've been spending the past day with a group of friends you've developed around competitive gaming. You just went to a small tournament, but for yourself, it's the biggest you've ever seen. Lined with arcades, you played for hours until the sun has long disappeared. And while reminiscing on the road, where conversation has died down where your faces are only illuminated by the street lamps passing by. And this song comes on...

And its been. Half a decade.

It's silly to use a funny Omni-Man meme to describe this, but I don't really know how else to represent it emotionally. Whether this tournament was pre or post pandemic matters less and less every year. The Time still slips away. I know that I will forget their faces, forget their names, and the joy that day brought will be an ache in my heart. I miss my friends. I miss them a lot.

Of course, as a tag game I can't just leave it on that sour note, so for tags I summon @ape-of-no-state @door-insurance @am-i-gay-test @smorzinc @bubblewonderabyss @t1mmytim @autogeneratedkahootnickname @lemmon-grove @sagerenard

Join if you'd like, I personally just really like writing about art! :D Maybe I'll make a part 2 of music I listened to outside of Spotify, since I know my tastes are informed by whats available, and there are plenty of artists who don't use Spotify for a good reason.

On repeat 🎶

thanks for the tag @badhairred !!

shuffle your “on repeat” playlist and add the first ten songs, then tag 10 people

Pain is Cold Water - Live From Fenway Park by Noah Kahan

Little Wonders by Rob Thomas

童话 by Micheal Wong

It's Called: Freefall by Rainbow Kitten Surprise

Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl by yuele

Look Who's Inside Again by Bo Burnham

Love Me Anyway by Chappell Roan

Falling Stars by Max LL

Save Rock And Roll by Fall Out Boy

Caramelldansen by Caramella Girls

Tagging the html tryhard gang u.u @hatsukoi-neidhardt @jihnari @voiider @mystyrust @yuureitheghost @gumbabunny @starryjellyfishies @amethystheart2421 @gifbot @jadedandconfusedao3

[lucabyte]

i feel like people are sleeping on the occam's razor situation of how buckwild it is to outright accuse a guy of being a clone of your friend even if you DO have a lot of circumstantial evidence. there's other options is what im saying. they could just be like. a guy. that's a sensible deduction. you should explore that deduction. ignore my shirt that reads I <3 RED HERRINGS.

i still think odile has the correct theory on lock but she's smart enough to know it needs like... a real smoking gun to be able to bring it up without sounding insane.

anyway. (mirabelle voice) i know its rude to speculate but has anyone else noticed the grieving? they seem to be grieving. does anyone have any thoughts on the grieving? i have some thoughts on the grieving.

[arsenicflame]

It's a time-honoured tradition- every time Sam comes across Izzy (and Ed) in their travels, he asks Izzy to marry him. And every time, Izzy turns him down.

At this point, Sam is asking more for the sake of it than any belief Izzy will ever say yes, a remnant of childhood dedication touched with 30 years of heartbreak and regret- though even now, a small part of him still holds out hope. Sam's promises have only got more extravagant over the years, from a job as his first mate, to a captaincy, a fleet at his command, a whole fucking island if that's what Izzy wants- but he knows it isn't though, not really. If Izzy was ever going to agree to marry him, to leave his life and go with Sam, it wouldn't be for anything Sam could offer him. Izzy never did care for flashy shows of wealth, for a ship or to be captain. The only thing that ever mattered to him was loyalty given, and loyalty shown in return. 

It all comes to a head after Stede left and came back, after Izzy lost a toe, lost his leg. Sam hasn't seen him since before things with Ed started to really slide off the rails, before stress permanently set into the lines of Izzy’s face. So, when he sees a dishevelled man with a hoof for a leg in a no-name port, he doesn't even consider the idea that he might know him. It's only when he turns towards him, and Sam catches a glance at those oh too familiar tattoos, he realises this is Izzy, his Izzy, that stands before him.

Knowing Izzy's discomfort with pity, he doesn't treat him any differently than he would in years gone by, positioning himself in Izzy's line of sight before approaching and sweeping him up into a bone crushing hug. 

“Israel-goddamn-Hands!” he exclaims, as Izzy grumbles back a begrudging “Samuel-fucking-Bellamy”, a tradition almost as old as their friendship itself. Izzy might not hug him back, but he can’t keep the corner of his mouth from twitching, just for a second.

(If Sam holds Izzy a little tighter and a little longer than usual, well. That's his business)

By the time Sam lets go, most of the crew has appeared in the town square, drawn in by the commotion. They may have given Izzy his leg and welcomed him as one of them, but still there’s an underlying tension, with nobody quite ready to set aside everything that happened before the Kraken. Seeing him cosying up to an unknown man sets everyone on edge, unsure whether to come to their first mate’s aid, or to assume that they've been betrayed once again.

When Ed sees that the yelling was Sam, his hand goes tense where it's held in Stede's. He knows the routine, has seen it more times than he can count, but as he watches them part he realises that this is the first time in a long time he's unsure of what Izzy's response will be.

Knowing that something’s different, knowing that Izzy's feeling vulnerable already, Sam doesn't go for the same flashy proposal he’s been giving for years. He doesn't promise Izzy the world, he doesn't cause a scene (or, any more of a scene than he already has, anyway). He looks at the fractured man in front of him, takes his face in his hands, and says the exact same thing to him he said when they were little more than boys. “Israel, I have to ask you. I know what you'll say, but I have to try. Come with me. Marry me and sail away with me. I'll keep you safe”

And Izzy… hesitates. He glances over at Ed, at Stede, and says to Sam “...We’re staying in port for a week. Ask me again then”

That's the moment Sam knows there is something deeply, horribly, wrong. He's not just looking at an Izzy who got seriously injured in a fight and is struggling to cope, this is something so much bigger than that- and that Ed has something to do with it. Izzy wouldn't even be considering leaving if he didn't. Whether it was negligence or something more sinister, Sam doesn't yet know, but he intends to find out.

[telesodalite]

Never getting over Fulcrum being a project manager...

Idk why, but something about that is so funny to me. Not just because the title of "project manager" is inherently kinda funny for a Decepticon, but also because-

1. It's vague sounding and hard to explain irl because it technically exists in multiple fields, like healthcare or manufacturing, which surely translates into canon in some way.

2. In canon, it's simultaneously a really mundane, innocuous sounding job, yet it's also a super morally awful position to reside over depending on the context. (*cough* forced colonization and cyberforming *cough*)

And 3. It solidifies the fact that behind all the surface level militaristic work we get with both the Decepticons and Autobots, there's also Cons and Bots with "normal" jobs in both factions.

Like, sure yeah we get scientists and doctors, engineers and programmers, but usually in big important or warfront positions. (For plot reasons, understandably.) But it's also really funny and interesting to think of those that worked background positions, or minor jobs.

Like an Autobot working in their equivalent of an HR department, or a Decepticon who runs one of their outpost's or starship's kitchens.

Just all the pre-war jobs that didn't just disappear with the war, but instead evolved to exist within the factions.

It's particularly funny with the Decepticons though, because it could be a super mundane job or situation, but because it's them, it has to have an air of ~e v i l~ to it, either legitimately and/or merely for the vibes, like Tarn's "performance reviews".

[icewindandboringhorror]

A little costume with eyebrow whiskers again.. making their return lol..

[bittasol]

clarazz are so strong if i was (vaguely in love with and) slightly possessive of my best friend and the whole world was obsessed with him (like i was) id crash out 😭

[arovalentines]

much ado about pleasure

[itsohh]

I've been listening to all the audio record for the r6s operators in arknights and I had a few thoughts

I think I've realised in all my hours playing frost I never really listened to her voice. Its actually really nice.

I always was like 'haha kapkan frost friends cause they both trap operators' but her voice lines actually really back that theory up

Frost calls the Doctor sir which is big sad as a female play BUT it's also really funny if I think about it that she just asumes my Doctor is male and shes too embarrassed to correct Frost

Intrestingly enough they translated all of Tachankas Russian lines to English in the subtitles but they didn't with Fuze (малыш was translated) (same goes for the rest of operators I'm just using them as an example)

I did very much short circut when Tachanka said малыш ngl. covered my face and everything. Vlado Stokanic did a fantastic job

Ash's voice sounds kinda different than in the game. Perhaps its the sound mixing or maybe its just the voice actor but she sounds older. At first whenever I borrowed Ash I wasn't a fan but its really grown on me.

I straight up just don't understand what this Ash voice line means

Especially after reading through her event, I think Ash has grown a lot as a character in Terra.

I think all the second crossover voice acting sounds exactly the same as the game (r6s), it could be just because of the voice actors age or perhaps the mixing, it could also be because their tone of voice is pretty much the same as when they say the same lines in r6s. Eg Ela's depart line sounds exactly (it is rerecorded tho) how it does in the game. "No time to waste". The second crossover operators shout some of their lines where the first crossover operators say all of them

I love Blitz I do but his voice lines have made me realise if I was paired with him in combat I would slap the shit out of him. Hes such a nerd, I understand why Ash is so done with him

This Iana line gets so me so hard because its like, is she talking about the fact shes human in Terra or is this a reference to her albinism and her compromised retina? My poor baby I love her

That all being said I still think they all did a fantastic job and for a still anime picture I think they have made the characters feel so alive, even with just a still anime picture. Then again the r6s cross over kinda exspanded the charactisation of most of these operators more than ubisoft has in the last uh 5 odd years.

[esterigermaine]

You can all blame @animentality for this because their posts got me into durgetash (thank you!!!!!) and now I want to torture the villian couple. Probably won't make much sense because I drank enough caffeine to kill a horse today and my brain is going a million miles a second.

You know that scene where Orin shapeshifts into durge and tells them what she did to them? What if Gortash found out about it the same way and had Orin rub salt in the wound by then showing him the prayer for forgiveness?

She is cruel enough to do it and I can't think of any worse way to find out about what happened than for the attempted-murderer to shapeshift into their victim and describe what happened to them in explicit, gruesome detail. The attack itself, the tadpole, how they were abandoned to die alone like trash, how Gortash wasn't there to protect them, all of it. Only to show grieving Gortash the note

[lesbiancarat]

want to give my two cents on the AI usage in the maestro trailer--

i think seventeen doing a whole concept that is anti-AI is very cool, especially as creatives themselves i think it's good that they're speaking up against it and i hope it gets more ppl talking about the issue. i also understand on a surface level the artistic choice (whether it was made by the members, the mv director, or whoever else), to directly use AI in contrast to real, human-made visuals and music in order to criticize it. i also appreciate that they clearly stated the intention of the use of AI at the beginning of the video

however, although i understand it to an extent, i do not agree with the choice to use AI to critique AI. one of the main ethical concerns with generative AI is that it is trained on other artists' work without their knowledge, consent, or compensation. and even when AI generated images are being used to critique AI, it still does not negate this particular ethical concern

the use of AI to critique also does not negate the fact that this is work that could have been done by an actual artist. i have seen some people argue that it's okay in this context because it's a critique specifically about AI, and it is content that never would have been done by a real artist anyway because it doesn't make sense for the story they're trying to tell. but i disagree. i think you can still tell the exact same story without using AI

and in fact, i would argue that it would make the anti-AI message stronger if they HAD paid an artist to draw/animate the scenes that are supposed to represent AI generated images. wouldn't it just be proof that humans can create images that are just as bad and nonsensical and soulless as AI, but that AI can't replicate the creativity and beauty and basic fucking anatomy that's in human-made art?

it feels very obvious this was not just a way to cut corners and costs like a lot of scummy people are using AI for. ultimately it was a very intentional creative decision, i just personally think it was a very poor one. and even if some ethical considerations were taken into account before this decision, i certainly don't think all of them were. at the very least i feel like the decision undermines the message they want to convey

i would also like to recognize that i myself am not an artist, and i have seen some artists that are totally on board with the use of AI in this specific context, so clearly this is not a topic that is cut and dry. but generative AI is still new, and i think it's important to keep having these conversations