#i'll probably do a version of this with the actual ost!

[bevioletskies]

(thamepo) heart that skips a beat + episode titles

[doyoulikethis-videogame-song]

Ask Masterpost #6 -- 2/22/2025

This puts me completely up to date for all blog-related asks! Next week, I will begin answering the other types of asks I have received :).

Sorry if my answers this time are a little short and curt -- I sort of stressed myself out trying to give long explanations, which led me to NOT answering asks in a reasonably timely manner, and I realized I should probably save that effort for when I actually write up the rules proper. (Doing this does not annoy me and I appreciate all the asks regardless! So please do not feel like you're bothering me with any questions because of this.)

Summary:

Inquiry regarding out-of-service games / song length

Inquiry regarding links/song sources in submissions

Permissibility of mods and fanmade expansions (100% Allowed)

Permissibility / Further clarification on rhythm game songs

Permissibility of mobile game music (Allowed)

Permissibility of folk song covers (Allowed)

Inquiry regarding songs with multiple movements

Inquiry regarding songs that appear on the OST but not inside the game

Inquiry regarding reveal video links

Inquiry regarding circumstances of a specific remake

Permissibility of pop song covers (Allowed)

Permissibility of console menu songs (Allowed)

Inquiry regarding nameless submissions

----------

Can I submit a song from an MMO that’s been offline for a decade?

Related question: Can I submit a song that is 17 minutes long?

Yes and Yes -- But tumblr has a limit on the file size I can upload for both MP3 and MP4, so I might have to crop it regardless. You can add your recommended crop time to your submission if you feel it might be necessary.

----------

For the song I wanted to submit, the only good youtube link for it was taken down recently. So my options would be to send a youtube link for a version with inferior audio (which also uses a fanmade title rather than the official one), or a link to a google drive file that has the song in good quality. I haven't been able to find it anywhere else. Any preference/suggestions as to what I should do?

You can send the google drive link and I'll download it from there if you prefer to have the best audio possible. I'd appreciate having the youtube link as well for the reveal, and then you can drop the google drive link in the comments to share with everyone (if you'd like) :).

----------

Do you take music from mods? If someone's made a soundtrack for a fan made game expansion?

Yes and yes.

----------

While I know submissions aren't open at the moment, I just want to ask so I can find a good submission for when they are, one of the rules states rhythm game songs that aren't EXCLUSIVELY video games songs won't be accepted. Would songs made specifically for a rhythm game count as a video game song in that regard? For example, a lot of songs in bemani games are made specifically for said game either by outside artists or the in-house sound teams.

A very generalized rule you can follow for rhythm games is: - If it's an idol/ensemble-cast/gacha rhythm game: No - If it's a regular rhythm game, such as rhythm heaven, dynamix, arcaea, any arcade game: Yes. This rule specifically exists to rule out submissions of songs from series like Love Live, Bandori, Ensemble Stars, IDOLISH7, etc.

----------

1: do you take song recs?

2: do you count mobile games?

3: Neko Atsume music

1. As far as I'm concerned, all submissions are song recs. 2. Yes 3. Yes

----------

@nutella-icecream asked:

Is it okay to submit the cover of a folk song that was included in a video game if I have the name of the person performing it?

Yes, covers made for the video game are alright.

----------

If a song consists of multiple movements that are technically separate tracks in-game (e.g. a multi-phase boss fight) should each movement be submitted separately or can the combined song be submitted?

What if an official soundtrack release includes both (individual tracks for each movement as well as a track combining them?)

You can specify the specific movement you'd like to submit or the entire song, and it doesn't matter to me if they're combined on the official OST or not :) (just let me know if you have a preferred crop time if they ARE combined). If it's something like a two-part boss fight with one song name, I'd just name it like "Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy (first phase)" and "Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy (second phase)". I would probably not post any of the movements individually if the full song had already been posted previously, but I would consider doing the opposite (posting the full song when only movements have been posted previously). This is highly dependent on the particular song.

----------

would a song that only appears in a trailer but is on the official ost count or nah

If it's on the official OST, it's alright.

----------

when revealing songs with in-game music videos (e.g. submissions from the beatmania iidx series), would you be linking an upload of the song with static album art, or one with the video as well?

I pick the youtube video for the reveal based almost entirely on what I think the most "stable" link might be -- links with more views, that's been on youtube for more time, or that's from the composers / other official channel. If they have an in-game music video you'd prefer for the reveal you're more than welcome to indicate that on the submission.

----------

@jadevampvm-blog asked:

Okay, I have a question about the submission rules. I have a particular song that was a remix made after the publishing of the game, but was never actually in any of the games. Now, there's a remake of the game coming out and the song is in the trailer. In the event that you open submissions before the remake is out, would I be allowed to submit this song?

I think that's okay in this specific scenario :)

----------

are video-game specific covers of non-vg covers allowed? for example, Bioshock Infinite has a barbershop quartet sing God Only Knows, a calliope organ(?) rendition of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and a couple of other 1912 covers of iconic pop songs

also, i wanted to point out that you sometimes (including in the information masterpost) use the tag #not a vg music poll and sometimes use #not a vgmusic poll and the inconsistency of the space in the tags makes finding those posts awkward

Yes, this is totally okay. Also thank you for letting me know about the tags! I try to keep them consistent but I forget sometimes LOL. I don't know why I haven't made an xkit shortcut for it yet.

----------

@moonlitstargazer asked:

are songs from console menus allowed? (e.g. Settings - Nintendo 3DS, Wii Shop Channel, PlayStation Home Menu, etc.)

Yes, because... I think they're deeply iconic to the overall video game scene in general. I may reserve them for special posting days, though.

----------

@lonepower asked:

Ok, so I know that songs which are on an in-game soundtrack but not released as part of the OST are allowed, but (when the time comes) what should I do about a song that plays in-game but isn't on the OST, doesn't have a title in the game files (it's just numbers), and isn't on youtube? I can credit the composer because it's the game composer, but should I just submit it as "untitled [game area] theme", should I make up a title, or would it just not be allowed?

That's definitely allowed :). You can just describe the song the best of your ability or use a commonly attributed name in the fandom or something. I would probably go with something like "[character or area name] theme" or "Song that plays during [chapter/cutscene/moment/fight]". Even just the numbers would be alright.

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Episode 1 "Dub-Uncut" (ENG Dub w/ JP OST) WIP #1 | Ladies & Gentlemen!

Soooo, after plugging away at this little project for more than a year, I'm pretty sure, I think I'm just about done with it--a "dub-uncut" take on ARC-V episode 1's dub! Like when I worked on those 5D's "dub-uncut" episodes, I find that there's some potential in the 4K/KCM dubs, but overall it's hampered by the dub's music [which especially hurts for ARC-V given the awesome score by Kotaro Nakagawa], some writing choices, and other little oddities/cuts. (I also did plan on trying to sub ARC-V up until Crunchyroll took the wheel on that, and I did want to do something with the work I'd put into prepping the OP/EN for that, lol; I think I actually started this a little in early 2022 at some point, but due to my SSD dying on me in October of that year, I pretty much lost everything and had to dig through what little backups I did to not start from scratch (I had to restart this though). This has also been an ongoing idea, since I did do a dub-with-JP-OST take on episode 10's first 10-or-so minutes years back.

Of course, since working on that version of episode 10, we now have things like UltimateVocalRemover out there to help with things like this, as well as Duel Links or Cross Duel (RIP) for better/more accurate takes on different lines. So, after using UVR to isolate episode 1's audio in both versions, I got to work piecing the dub back together with the JP OST/SFX, using lines from later episodes and Duel Links as helpful to make the dialogue more in line with the original; I'd been chipping away at it mostly for the past year, but worked a bit more on finalizing it and leveling the audio over the past few months to get it off the backburner, lol, along with revamping my subs for BelieveXBelieve and One Step (which I'll be showing off separately).

For this clip, I made Gongenzaka properly say his Monsters' names while tributing them by pulling audio from 138's dub (and one other); Yuya's "Ladies & Gentlemen!" and "Quick-Play Hippo Carnival" lines are from DL, and I found an AI-voice-generating site that had the voice of the Narrator from Pokemon's dub, which I thought would fit for the Action Duel narration before the OP. [Also, yes, I will be correcting every instance of "Zuzu" to "Yuzu" using lines with "you" in them because why.]

Lemme know what you think! I'll likely post another couple progress videos while I apply some finishing touches, and I should probably be posting about the full thing in the next week or two.

[bluebudgie]

Top 10 Final Fantasy final battle themes

(disclaimer 1: originally i wanted to do "all" (up to XII minus MMO) final battle themes ranked but there is a 10 videos per post limit and I didn't really understand what the hell officially counts as FFX's final battle theme anyway so now it's a top 10 instead. Same difference) (disclaimer 2: subjective opinions blabla. feel free to add your own opinions) (disclaimer 3: FF1 didn't have a dedicated final battle song in its original version so I'll use the WSC version which afaik first added the final battle theme all subsequent releases use) (disclaimer 4: obviously spoilers)

10 - FFIII. I find this song very impressive for what it is on the NES but while I really like FF3's OST overall I'm not super vibing with any of the battle themes. This one is no exception. Maybe it's the drum beat idk. It's still a bop though.

NEXT

9 - FFVII. No hate. Promise. Not trying to be a hipster. One-Winged Angel is an impressive and very unique song for the time it was released in. It 100% deserves the recognition it got. It's really atmospheric during the final battle. 2:14 and 3:02 onwards are super cool. But the other songs just slap even harder.

8 - FFIX. It pains me to rank the best video game soundtrack of all time where I have to, but... I mean. There's better songs in the OST let's not kid ourselves here. Still, it's a bop, it's groovy, it got the pained moaning of the damned. Anyway here's my hot take that I keep bringing up every 7 years or so: Anyone else think this song is a direct reference to FF5's final battle theme? Structurally they're SO similar it's almost uncanny. I'll die on the hill that this was an intentional reference and that makes the song a little cooler still.

7 - FFXII. The actual battle starts at 3:00 but I respect that they decided to have the cinematic before and the battle as a single song. The build up is pretty good. The transition to the battle part goes hard. In general I think large parts of this song go really hard but then I kinda don't like the second half which is an issue I guess. 4:10-4:23 is divine but then everything that follows is just kinda... It's not bad but it's kind of a letdown after the beginning of the song. Don't like the direction it takes. Still, really love the theme overall. Plus it got the classic Sakimoto final boss rhythm.

6 - FFII. Yea yea originally it was just a regular boss battle theme and it only got elevated to exclusively final boss theme starting with the WSC remake (I think??? correct if wrong) but it is now commonly known for being the final boss theme. Anyway classic banger.

5 - FFVIII. Banger. That's all there is to say, just listen to it and you will understand. I believe this is many people's favourite and yea I completely get it.

4 - FFI. Okay listen. This one came out of nowhere. I've heard FFI's final battle theme exactly once when beating the game on PSP a few years back. I remember thinking "oh that's pretty cool" and then didn't think about it any further. While looking for all the battle themes for this list I took another listen. Good fucking god what an absolute banger. The rhythm. The melody. The everything. Maybe it's a little on the short side compared to other songs but every single moment of it is perfect. They really were onto something with all the songs that got added in the WSC versions of FFI and II.

3 - FFVI. It almost feels criminal not putting this at the top. If you could judge music objectively (which imo you can't) this is undoubtedly the most ambitious and impressive battle theme in the series. In video gaming as a whole tbh. Especially for the time and the console it was written for. It's perfect. The build up and then the payoff in the last phase are incredible. 13:28 is probably one of the best things that ever happened in a video game.

2 - FFV. I don't know how to explain this but there are these 3 seconds in the theme that are SO good they elevate the entire song to the top. I called this one my favourite for a while but at some point I had to admit the next one is just consistently better. Though nothing hits as hard as 0:52-0:55. Don't ask I don't know either

1 - FFIV. In a soundtrack that I generally find to be one of Uematsu's weakest in the series this final battle theme slaps the everliving shit out of everything else. Good god. 0:59

THE END

[the-courtsjester]

Greetings Ladys, gentlemen and... things, today I'll be posting my first headcanons but for what you may ask? ...go on ask me... I'll assume you asked

It's for Honkai Star Rail!

Now over time I will indulge in a bit if smut but for more I'll just probably mention characters doing something lewd or shit for one reason or another anyway let's begin!

Honkai Star Rail headcanons 1:

Stelle:

She's a lost puppy god damn, if she gets attached to someone and they wander off from the friend group she will not hesitate to go off with them

Stelle has more then occasionally had to run from law enforcement because she beat someone for bothering her friends too much

She occasionally just doesn't wear a bra and if someone points it out she'd genuinely have to remember what that is

She can and will bring a trashcan into the Astral Exress if no one stops her last time no one stopped her record was twelve in one room

Stelle will spend a good while on figuring out the perfect song to play in the Express for the day... only to just put it back to Take the Journey it's a good song I can't blame her

Stelle has made copys of their wanted posters and put them up in the Express Welt and Dan Heng have learned to not both with them but March can't stop taking the ones of her down only for seven more to appear

Silver Wolf:

As a gamer you'd expect her room to look like a tornado rolled through well you're very wrong! You foolishly foolish fool she's so meticulous in certain games she's had it bleed out into her real life

Wolfie have more then once stolen Blade's crdit card to use on monthly subscriptions ...not like he knows how to use that thing anyway

Sliver Wolf is a brat change my mind doesn't matter the scenario as long as it isn't life threatening if she finds it funny she'll be a brat

While yes she is amazing at multiplayer games she actually prefers single player and party games think, Mario Party, Smash Bros, The Jackbox series stuff like that one time she got Kafka and Blade to join her in Smash Bros and dear lord the look of Confusion on Blade's face

On the daily she will wear something similar to a hazmat suit and take all her limited edition collectibles and clean then meticulously from dusting off boxes to fixing any mistakes it has to make it absolutely perfect

She try's to make a ligament playlist to listen to but it somehow always get infested by video game osts and when asked for good song recommendations she takes a second to not say a video game song unless it's unironically good

Natasha:

Ask her what sleep it she'll take a couple seconds to respond because this woman doesn't sleep yet she tells everyone else to sleep

An entire corner of her room is dedicated to stuffed animals and she'll have a full on ceremony when she plans to gift one of them to one of the kids

She definitely listens to to System Of A Down in the same playlist as Barbie Girl but no one knows ...about Barbie Girl no one except it from her for some reason

Natasha sets up play dates with the kids and herself many times she has played the princess needing rescue and on occasion she'll play the hero or villain if requested to

On accident some of the kids managed to get her grenade launcher and she had a full on panic attack luckily it had no ammo but afterwards she kept it closer by at all times

Natasha in her free time likes to spend it with a cup of coffee and any one of the solitaire versions or any of those old computer games like minesweeper and has become unironically really good at it

Ah well that will do it for now, I'm only doing three for now as they're the three I would say, I know the best but I do feel like Natasha's wasn't as good as it could be I don't know why though, but I may see you all tomorrow with another post

Goodnight my lovely audience!

[itz-bennaminute]

Hii! I'm new here! Still learning how this site works lol

I'm Italian! I also speak english and I'm currently learning french and spanish. (I also study latin but I don't think anybody here speaks latin as their first language XD)

My name is benna/benny but you can call me however you want (even if it’s not close to my name), my pronouns are they/he/any (I don't really like she/her pronouns though so I'd prefere if you don't refer to me that way, but I'm cool with any other pronouns, even neo or xeno ones.)

I'm mostly gonna post my art and other fun things! Don't be scared to follow me, dm me, ask me a question or anything else, I don't bite :3 I might seem a bit annoying at first but I swear I’m actually pretty nice!

I'm also currently looking for moots so if you like any of the following things don't hesitate to follow me! I don't really have a DNI but I don't want any pedophiles, toxic, bigoted people or weirdos in general following me so.

--_--_--_--_--_--<3

Here’s some stuff about me!:

I post a lot on Twitter (my username on there is N0t_b3ny), I have an artfight (Benny225225), A discord (Homeless3swife). I also have a cool strawpage for twitter you should definetely check! ( benny225.straw.page )

I like: gravity falls, drawing, playing the piano, video games, greek mythology, musicals, operas, learning about composers' lives, writing and a lot of other things!

My favourite video games are Dsaf and Dialtown (I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE these two), Fnaf, Ddlc, Yttd, All the studio investigrave ones, Danganronpa, Mouthwashing and Undertale.

I love musicals! Like Hamilton, Warriors (The concept album), The Phantom Of The Opera, Notre Dame De Paris (I like the Italian version way more then the French one though) (also i know it's technically not exactly a musical but shhh), Mozart l'opera rock, Cabaret, Penelope (Or How The Odyssey Was Really Written), Ride the Cyclone, 1776, Heathers, Epic (the concept album), In the Heights, 21 Chump Street, Chicago, Six (not a big fan though, but I have watched it so I’m putting it in the list), I Promessi Sposi (L’Opera Moderna),

I've watched a few operas! Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Cavalleria Rusticana, Carmen, La Cenerentola (Rossini). I’ve probably watched more but I can’t remember :,)

My favourite anime are BSD, MTP, VNC, WEP and Sk8 (I’ve watched A LOT more though). I’ve also read the bsd manga and some JUNJI ITO ones (Fragments of Horror, Shiver, and Gyo).

I love greek mythology! I've read The Iliad, The Odyssey, Argonautica by Apollonius Rodius, Elena and Medea by Euripides. I'll also read the Eneid soon (before you say anything, yes, I know that's roman mythology).

Other books I've read: The first 3 PJO books (I’ll continue soon!), Notre Dame de Paris (Victor Hugo), If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Italo Calvino), Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories and poems (LOVE those), The Song Of Achilles, My Brother's Name's Jessica (I should reread these two though since I don’t remember much about them), De Brevitate Vitae (Seneca), Giovanni Verga’s short stories, Pollyanna, Anne Frank’s Diary, and others I don’t remember.

I really like music! I mostly listen to Will Wood, That Handsome Devil, and a lot of Jazz (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Benny Goodman…). Sometimes classical music (Mostly Mozart and Chopin but others too), songs from musicals (a LOT of those) and Games OSTs (Mostly Dialtown and Dsaf’s ones, DDLC’s, Danganronpa’s [I’m not a really big fan of the game anymore for obvious reasons but the soundtrack is SO good], YTTD’s, etc).also FNAF songs omg i love those

I play the piano and you should definitely listen to Samba do Beethoven by Jean Kleab (Furio Elise slaps too) because it’s so good! I love learning about music history, especially composers’ lives, in particular I’m really passionate about Mozart, like, really like the guy, so if someday I randomly post some mozart things it’s normal, my PC didn’t get possessed by demons (YET). I’ve made tons of research about him but I’ve also watched some movies and other stuff; Amadeus (the 1984 one) (ofc it’s not even remotely historically accurate since it’s based on a rumor but it’s still a really good movie), Mozart l’Opera Rock (same thing with this one), Mozart's sister (the french one) (this one’s not accurate either but still kinda cool), the BBC 3 hour documentary, Mozart das Musical. I’ve also watched Beethoven’s BBC 3 hour documentary (you can find both and others on youtube) and more but I’m too lazy to write it

[pharawee]

5 Songs Tag - QL Shows Edition

I was tagged by @leonpob and @wanderlust-in-my-soul. Thank you so so much! 💜Negl I saw this tag game going around and I was waiting for someone to tag me because I love (Thai) BL soundtracks. I have a playlist and everything. I could rec you songs for hours. I apologise in advance for this list probably having more than 5 songs. You can't expect me to decide. You just can't.

When you get this, list 5 songs from the Asian QL media that you actually listen to.

🎶They do not have to be custom-made for the series. 🎶Non-western tracks only. Let's support Asian music and languages! 🎶Feel free to tag anyone who may be interested in participating. 🎶Add #5qls tag to your post for others to find the new favourites!

1. Noh Phouluang, พร้อมเคียง (Nitiman)

Probably the first Thai song I fell in love with (aka the song that started a ~16 hour long playlist). This song will always have a special place in my heart. Sometimes I still catch myself just humming along while I'm out shopping. Think of Nitiman what you will (personally, I loved it) but the soundtrack was really good. I'm still sad one of the songs never made it to spotify. Also, Noh has an amazing voice. I really hope he gets to sing again.

2. Pantherist, กี่เหตุผลที่ทำให้รัก (WHY R U)

There's just something about this song that's so beautiful. It's so comforting to me. Negl this song is defnitely one of my happy places.

3. พัตเตอร์ ภูเบศ, ฉันรู้ ฉันรู้ (OUR DAYS)

If you know me even a little bit, then you know I love synths and 80s vibes. I also love Our Days. It's how I discovered Palmy. Putter was a complete surprise though. Sadly it's his only song (on spotify) so far.

4. Newery, พรหมลิขิต (I WILL KNOCK YOU)

Why this song never made it to spotify I'll never know. It's perfect. The whole soundtrack for this series is perfect (as is the series itself but I digress). This is Newery singing a perfect(!!) cover of Destiny and I could listen to this for hours.

5. Kacha Nontanun, ขอลืม (THE LUMINOUS SOLUTION)

Another song that never made it to spotify and it is an outrage. Kacha's voice is heavenly and the chorus of this song hits so hard. It's so sad and haunting and soft, and it captures the series perfectly.

6. Taro Shatree, แค่เธอลอง (EVEN SUN)

I think we can all agree that Even Sun was ?? ???? but, you guys, this song! When it first came out I had it stuck in my head for WEEKS. I can't believe it's not on spotify. Taro Shatree is definitely on my radar now (even if he deleted like, half of his discography from spotify😭). Most recently he wrote and arranged this song for Boom Raweewit (Lue in Chains of Heart) that I also really like.

BONUS: Boy Sompob, ฟังใจ (LA PLUIE)

Oh no, I forgot a Boy Sompob song. This isn't right. You can't make a list of QL songs and not put Boy Sompob on it. Anyway, here's an an acoustic version of ฟังใจ. He sang this live. LIVE. I love one (1) man.

I'm tagging @cytharat @liyazaki @asianmade @singto-prachaya @respectthepetty @bengiyo (please feel free to skip this, of course 💜)

[redshift-corridor]

Okay consider this me feeling prompted to just send an ask about whatever

What are some of your favourite Octopath tracks, from either game?

OKAY time to dig into this. I'm trying not to get too excessive so I'll keep it to a few thematic categories (yes there are way too many tracks I like that I don't want to cut out :,D) This will be heavily OT2-biased too - while OT1 is still my second favorite OST of all time, it lost a bit of ground in direct comparison to 2.

Character Themes

1. Agnea / Partitio

This is a case of "whichever I'm listening to atm is the better one" but overall I think Agnea has the upper hand if I take all versions of her theme into account (Song of Hope goes without saying, and I'm very partial to her pursuit theme).

2. Osvald

No one seems to like this one as much as I do :,) It's not as immediately in your face as most of the other themes and takes a bit to pick up, which is a bit of a problem with the pursuit theme (my favorite in the game by far) and short battle intro dialogue. I feel this this is the only theme where you can really hear the character development in the progression from character theme to final battle.

3. Primrose

Mainstream choice, I know, but this one stuck with me. Probably because of the immense Yuki Kajiura vibes.

Region Themes

1. Leaflands

Literally the reason why I decided to buy the soundtrack based on a 40 second sample lol. The day version is my second favorite theme overall.

2. Hinoeuma

A theme I didn't pay too much attention to until I played the game and ended up standing in the desert just to listen. The night version wins here. That flute. <3

3. Sundering Sea (Night)

Extremely underrated. Idk how much time I spent hanging out on the ocean to this theme.

4. Frostlands

Just so I have three real region themes in here, but this is one of my favorite winter/snow themes in games.

Town Themes

1. Wellgrove/Timberain (Day)

Probably my favorite game theme period. Wellgrove has kicked Tarrey Town of all things off the favorite town top spot and that's saying something. I just love that place okay. Sometimes it gets hard to listen to the rest of the soundtrack because I keep getting stuck on this one lol. (Reminds me a lot of Wild Wind too, another old favorite.)

2. Montwise/Merry Hills (Night)

I don't actually have a lot to say here, I just love this SO much.

3. Crackridge/Gravell (Day)

You know a soundtrack is fantastic when the theme that caters exactly to your tastes is only your third favorite.

4. Flamesgrace

Honorable mention to my favorite town theme ever before OT2 came out.

Battle Themes

1. Normal Battle I (OT2)

Another unpopular one because everyone seems to prefer II. I don't care. I wish this would play in higher level places.

2. They Who Govern Reason

Oh hey, OT1 got in the top 3 without the nostalgia boost. Favorite boss theme ever and not even the OT2 themes come close.

3. Fierce Confrontation / Critical Clash I

Another shared slot for the same reason as the character themes, I can't pick one.

OT2 Final Battle Themes

(yes these get their own section :D)

1. Song of Hope

No competition here, next. Lol. Agnea's theme is already that good on its own and this makes it so much better.

2. The Journey for Revenge Ends

Like I said, character development my beloved. You can hear how this man goes from nothing to lose to something to protect and they didn't even change the theme much.

3. The Journey for Kingship Ends

Took Hikari's theme long enough to do something for me, but it does it really well now. Points deducted for the fact that I couldn't really enjoy the battle because I loathe boss rushes and I didn't want to risk having to do the tedious duel again.

4. The Journey for Happiness Ends

Four again because I can't leave my beloved merchant out lol. What can I say, it's Partitio's theme. Probably the one that worked best for me while playing. Protip: sunset looks great here.

Other themes in no particular order

Victory Fanfares

Love those, especially 2.

Unshakable Resolve

I'm not crying. Phenomenal use in Castti's final chapter.

Beneath the Surface

OT1 wins in the dungeon theme department with this one, hands down.

Invitation to Darkness

Why didn't we get a whole dungeon with this. JFD felt really rushed tbh.

Final Final Battle Themes

Both are fantastic, but I very much prefer 2 to 1.

Sorry for the wall of text ;D

[weed-ols]

Reviewing Every UKISS Release: By Unpopular Demand ~ Only One

Ah yes, their 1st studio album, and the peak of UKISS. I remember this coming out because it was around the time of the Olympics, and I don't know why that's the way I remember it.

But yeah, they were soooo popular now, they had tons of variety shows - Pops in Seoul for the English line, Chef's Kiss was right after this, and I think UKISS Vampire was done around after that, or after Break Time, I can't remember.

Only One - 1st Studio Album | 2010.02.03

I liked Bingeul Bingeul when it came out, and I still do prefer it to MMHN. Not entirely sure why, though it might be because I'll always associate with Chef's Kiss, and that makes me feel some real warm fuzzies. Also, was this when Soohyun's dating scandal happened? Or was it after this? Anyway, kudos for him to just going "thanks for making us the #1 trending topic XD"

This is something I meant to put in the Conti UKISS review but forgot, and it's that they seem so much taller in MMHN. Like I know Dongho and maybe Kevin and Eli were still growing, but all of them just seemed so much taller, for MMHN, and that's the importance of good styling.

So yeah, we're still in their woman-hating era, but it's a little dialed back now. I don't really have any good relevant tea about this era, which is a little weird. Was this when they had their first ever concert? I think it happened before Break Time, and if I remember correctly, it was because the Philippines LOVED Bingeul Bingeul and it went crazy viral there, so as a thank you they had a concert in Manila.

I don't think I ever watched the full concert, but I kinda feel like it would be the endearing disaster that any small-mid company's group would have when hosting a concert in somewhere not South Korea/Japan/even China. I think I remember the audio being really bad and I wasn't sure if it was just the video/recording problem or if it actually sounded like that on stage. Did they even have enough music to do a concert?

Oh right, and beware of this album on Spotify I don't know why it's so messed up, but there's 2 versions of it up, and like a couple songs show up on the Real School OST and none of this is consolidated. It is a hot mess, do I like tell Soohyun this on Bubble or on b.stage or what?

Intro | YouTube Music 2.6k | Spotify 1.3k

It's 20 seconds long what do I even say

The piano is nice until Kevin's autotuned voice kicks in

5/10 meh I like what I heard, but it's 20 seconds

Bingeul Bingeul (Audio) | YouTube Music 3.2M | Spotify 560k / 1.78M

I have 2 numbers for Spotify because the album version has 560k, but for some reason they the Real School OST there, and the numbers aren't consolidated and that one has 1.78M

Yeah I don't get it

"U U U UKISS AND BRAVE SOUND~" so iconic

I like that the whole premise of this song is "baby I love you please come back" like name a more dynamic duo than UKISS and being pathetic begging men

And the fact that this breakup is basically their fault, yet Kibum is still out here calling me bad? Uh excuse you you're the one who's in the wrong

Does that count as woman-hating? Perhaps

"You make me tingle tingle" absolutely horrific, thank you Eli

The "jjaeggakjjaeggak" part after Eli's rap is one of my favourites I don't know why, it's so catchy

This is mostly a Soohyun/Kevin duet featuring Kibum, Eli, Xander, and Dongho

Kiseop was there and he probably looked gorgeous

Not much to say about the singing since it's mostly been autotuned, but Kibum does sound much better here, and I like the contrast between him and Soohyun

The rappers rapped, that's for sure

Something about the way Dongho sings "you are the only one" is so cute

7.75/10, it's just a fun dance song, not much more I can add. Not earthshattering, but super catchy

Bingeul Bingeul (MV) | Fan upload 10M

Wait was this never uploaded officially?!?!

So I'm watching the alleged HD version and it's still giving 360p-480p, even though YouTube says it's 720p

Again, is this the same expensive camera for Shut Up!!?

But oh my god we've entered the iconic 2nd Gen MV Box

I forgot that it's not just The Box, but a Spinning Box

Get it??? They're making kissing gestures because U U U UKISS and~! It's so corny I love it

This part of the choreo is always gets me it's so fun to look at

The rapid cuts between the members lol

Again, some peak 2010 looks here

First, I gotta give my condolences to Dongho apparently it took like 7 bleach jobs to get his hair that light

I don't know if they did it in a single sitting, a couple, or spread out, but damn that's gotta hurt the scalp, even if he was young

He does look good with that pale blond though

Xander's hair is tragic they just gave him what they gave Kibum for MMHN, except it really doesn't suit Xander

Kiseop looks amazing as always

Kibum's hair is like a 3D sculpture I wanna know how much product is in it

I like Kevin's hair colour, that light brown always looks good on him, but I hate the bowl cut it's so not a good look

But yeah the studded jackets, necklaces, copious amounts of leather, so 2010 bad boy chic

Oh and we can't forget the skin-toned lipstick, guyliner for days, and emerging smoky eyes

I forgot the chorus dance is supposed to be done in a circle that's really cool, but I do just love a good circle moment in a dance

Now THAT is a look

Is it good? Is it bad? I don't really know but I love the eyeshadow

The hair isn't super flattering though

I have conflicting feelings about these white outfits

I love the overall look and feel of them, but I think a lot of them aren't flattering when they dance

Kevin and Kibum both have the longer jacket and it makes the dancing feel really clunky and difficult

They also have a padded shoulder look, which I actually do like most of the time, but here it makes them look like they have bad posture and permanently hunched shoulders

It's kinda giving cartoon proportions

So yeah, not much happens in this MV it's literally them dancing in The Box in the studded jackets, some solo shots in The Spinning Box, some other solo shots with the art projects drawn on them, and dancing shots in the white outfits

Yeah there's only 2 outfits in this MV, 3 if you count the art project looks

Yes NH give us no budget

Okay, let's be fair, they blew the entire budget on Kibum's hair products, Dongho's bleaching sessions, Eli's eye makeup, the white outfits, and the ink art shots

4.75/10 it was boring, and saved mostly by Eli's cool eye look, and the fact I don't despise every outfit here. At least they're not in a warehouse for this MV, or you know what, they probably are, but they're contained in The Spinning Box, so that's a little interesting

Bingeul Bingeul (Stages) | Highest viewed 1M (Music Core)

Because I cherish my eyes, I'm watching the 1M MuCore one because that one is in HD

I'm sorry but the opening kinda looks like Soohyun's shaking his butt for us

Oh and they're also using headsets for this, I think this is their first comeback using them

Bless the camera guy for giving us a wide shot of this it's my favourite part of the choreo

I love the use of use of differing heights it makes such an interesting image

Wait, are...are those capris? Are they all wearing capris other than Kibum??? Oh my god

Soohyun kinda looks like an exotic bird with that hair

There's a lot happening with that top - the leather vest, the different coloured sleeves

This is actually a pretty good look for Kibum, and he looks weirdly happy here

I think he winked before this too how cute

Camera guy why are you not focusing on Eli like yeah I love Soohyun too but sheesh how could you ignore Eli during this iconique line??

I love that you can hear them slapping their arms during the "nae ego" part of the rap

CAMERA GUY WHY WOULD YOU CUT AWAY FROM SOOHYUN'S BODY ROLL HE'S REALLY GOOD AT THOSE

I really don't like this outfit on Kevin it's not flattering at all on him

And I hate his hair

Also not loving Eli's top, but I appreciate the random clump of fabric

Ki brothers really do be the best dressed here

He had no lines in the song so they gave him the final pose lol

So I've always thought the Bingeul Bingeul dance was silly, especially the chorus part, but after seeing the MV I see the vision now

It looks really cool when they're in a circular formation, but stupid when they're in lines, but circles aren't the best for stages like this

The dance isn't particular difficult, I think the opening is probably the hardest due to the synchronization

The funny chorus bit was probably more difficult for the MV than here

I will say this kind of choreo falls flat without enough commitment, so while funny to watch, they definitely committed

Not much to say other than that. They clearly work well as group, they're all at a minimum competent dancers, and the only real standout here is Dongho

Like MMHN, this choreo is basically made for him, plus he has that kind of je ne sais quoi and pulls your eye

It was sung live, it was a Soohyun/Kevin live duet, the rappers rapped, and I suspect a loud backtrack for Kibum and Dongho

7.5/10 the stage design is kinda boring, and I don't like a lot of their looks, but it's a fine stage overall

A quick Bingeul Bingeul lookbook because I can still upload more images

I forgot it was a super shiny material

The fabric moves better than I thought, but I don't know I still don't love the look of it

The pants look especially bad in movement, like they're way too baggy because of how the fabric hangs and reflects light

And yeah, I still stand by Kibum and Kevin having the worst jackets

Also I think this was the first stage they did for this?

Mics were really good, and Eli ended this stage? Do they take turns for the final pose?

Why are half of them dressed for the same event and look like they lost the dress memo?

The random thing hanging off of Xander's jacket lol

I like Kibum's vest love the epaulettes

Why is Kiseop just wearing a button-up with epaulettes?

I don't even hate these looks individually, and I even see the running motif in them, but they don't feel unified

Kevin, Dongho, and Soohyun should have larger shoulder ornaments

Xander needs an epaulette or something

And Kiseop should be wearing a vest like Kibum or a jacket like the others

Kiseop finishes this one huh

I hate these looks I like the monochrome idea, but what's with the beige/khaki?

And why are some members in all black but the others are mixed?

Not Soohyun wearing a black pleather crew neck with a black pleather jacket

The mics were really good here and they were all live, I think Dongho's voice cracked a little

Uh those are some looks

I hate those pants so much just let them wear long pants

Before there were those hidden socks and exposed ankles, there were the exposed calves and shins

The copious amounts of pleather is incredible

Without You | YouTube Music 924k | Spotify 388k

Oh my gosh I love this song it's one of my favourites

It's sounds so cute, so sweet, and it's so catchy like I'll honestly start humming this at work without even realizing it

The "baby I love you please come back" song like it's that good

Once again, cementing the fact they're at their best when begging

"Boo" #2

It's honestly amazing how dissonant the lyrics are to the music, like the song itself is fast-paced and cheery

Then the lyrics are basically them begging their girl to come back and crying themselves to sleep

And the fact that this is one of their encore songs, truly incredible

This is basically just a Soohyun/Kevin duet featuring Eli and Xander

They're both killing it though - Soohyun has that bitter voice that works great with the lyrics, while Kevin has that sweet voice that falsely advertises that this is an upbeat song

Their vocal synergy is unmatched

9/10 an all-time favourite of mine so yeah, I'm biased

Mworago (Audio) | YouTube Music 449k | Spotify 26k

Remember how there was supposed to be a 3D animated music video for this? Yeah me neither

The fact that there's a 15 second teaser of it on YouTube literally haunts me

The concept for it is probably rotting in NH's basement or something

So this is what I imagine to be the sequel of OK!

There's a line about the girl making them seem like a beggar, and what did they say in OK? That they weren't going to be a beggar

Thus based off of their pattern of "baby I love you even though you cheated on me", this could either be OK's prequel or sequel

Personally, I like this as the sequel because it makes it 10x funnier

The whole song is basically "you treat me like shit but baby I love you please come back", which is a new variant for this genre

Allegedly, Kiseop does the intro bit, but I'm not buying it. A couple of sites I've checked out attribute it to him, but I don't hear him?

So this is a Kevin-centric song featuring Soohyun and the rap line, with none for Kibum and Kiseop

I think his voice is very well-suited for it - he sounds just like a kicked puppy most of the time, but musters up the right aggression

Soohyun, sounding bitter as always

But they're both hampered by the autotune, that damned Brave autotune

I thought it was interesting they attached Eli's rap to the first verse to lead in to the chorus

Actually, Xander and Dongho both rap before the next chorus, interesting placements

It doesn't sound bad at all, I kinda like it

No funny one liners, unfortunately

8.25/10 more points than Bingeul Bingeul it's more creative and I love a good UKISS being pathetic beggars song

Mworago (Stages) | Highest viewed 89k (Fan upload) | 26k (Inkigayo)

I feel like I have no recollection of ever watching these stages before recently

Oh my gosh I actually love most of these outfits? The black/red is so nice

I love Kevin's little plaid jacket like it's so cute I want it

And not his statement necklace

Dongho has a kind of taupe trash bag shirt, love that for him

The vests are kinda taking me out

And Kibum's single arm warmer thing

Oh I love Kiseop's jacket too, especially the plaid lapels

They all have much better hair here; Dongho back to his bowl cut, Xander's looks more natural and comfortable, Soohyun has typical idol hair, Eli for some reason is blond again, Kibum rocking the same 'do from Bingeul Bingeul, Kiseop's is...very Kiseop, and Kevin's fluffy light hair

The makeup is very light too, love that though I hate the lipstick still

That pose kills me

His lips were moving during this so I guess this is Kiseop's part?

Head choreography was really in with them, huh?

It's kinda cute, makes sense since Soohyun's just shouting "what" the entire time

It's not even that similar but this screams Stalker

Why does he enter like that?

Same vibes as when you're not sure if you're entering the right room or if you're interrupting someone

This is so dramatic, and for what? I love it

It's not a super iconic dance but I like it anyway. It looks pretty aerobics-intensive

There's some weirdly soft moments in the choreo for this kind of dance song though. I don't hate it, but it feels a little out of place since so much of it is sharp and angular

It also makes a lot more use of height, lots of crouching and bending

Soohyun and Kevin are definitely singing live, their expressions say it all, and it becomes obvious when you hear Soohyun fighting with backtrack!Kevin, and when Kevin lets the backtrack take over to catch his breath

It's a bit harder to tell with the rappers since they also have that autotuned voice thing

7.25/10 I would watch it again, not super memorable, but some interesting choreo

I still have 5 images left before I hit the limit Mworago lookbook time

I like these more relaxed looks, very 2010

Wait is Eli wearing sweats?

Actually all the other videos are too crunchy never mind

Bang Bang Bang | YouTube Music 292k | Spotify 27k

UKISS party song hell yeah with a dash of um...I'm not entirely sure

I've read a couple translations of this and I'm still trying to piece it together

I think it's a "baby I love you please come back" and "angry we broke up so now I'm partying the pain away but it still hurts" mix?

It also feels like an allusion to sex? Like other than the bang bang bang part

Not counting it as a UKISS Sex Song but it's close, it just needs to be more explicit

I do appreciate the storytelling in the lyrics, starting off with "feel like shit gotta go have fun", the sex allusion, "baby I love you", "I'll never love again leave me alone >:(", "baby I miss youuuu", and ending with party lyrics again

It's basically another Soohyun/Kevin duet featuring everyone but Dongho

Interesting parallel with the Kibum/Soohyun and Kiseop/Kevin verses

Once again, I'm asking for more VinSeop verses their voices work well together

How do Soohyun, Kevin, and Xander all sound so nasally here? I thought it might've been the autotune or something but Kibum, Kiseop, and Eli sound relatively okay

Like I'm genuinely impressed I want them to try to recreate this some day

"Singing that!" I thought for the longest time Xander was saying "Sing it dad!"

Also Eli back to calling us bad girl huh

7.5/10 it's a fun song, super catchy, but the autotune is...a lot, and I mean there's not much else to it

Dancing Floor | YouTube Music 216k | Spotify 15.8k

Nasal kings here we go

Bang Bang Bang was just warm up here they're so nasally it's incredible

Like I think it was in that 2020 IG Live with Soohyun and Kevin where they're talking about old songs, someone brings up Dancing Floor, and they literally cannot replicate it

It gets mentioned again in their 2021 vocal line mini reunion and somehow Hoon nails it???

But yeah the lyrics are literally "I'm so depressed that my girl left me so now I'm gonna tear up the dance floor and become the disco king"

Gotta respect the mindset

Horrific how catchy this song is, but understandable since this is the same guy who did Mazeltov

It does feel like a proper Soohyun/Kevin main/lead vocalists + Kibum the subvocalists and accompanying rappers who get like 3 lines each as the bridge

Poor Kiseop with nothing

"Sing it daddy!" the only thing more surprising than hearing this incredible one liner, is the fact that Xander is the one who yells it and not Eli

6.5/10 just because of how horrific their nasally voices are in this my god. It is super catchy though

ManManHaNi (New ver.) | YouTube Music 12M | Spotify 451k

Not much to say, it's a MMHN all right

There's just added some more music and a slightly slower feel to the song, which is basically a negative for me

I think I prefer the original version because it's 8 seconds shorter, and I think it carries the momentum of the song better

Not loving the weird tempo change before the chorus like come on stop torturing me like this

But I do prefer the more stripped percussion for Eli's rap

Also not someone in the comment section saying the original MMHN is the same age them baby what you're a literal fetus

6.5/10 inferior MMHN variation, and I had to not only relisten to the original version for comparison, but I had to listen to this twice

OK! (Remix) | YouTube Music 14k | Spotify 5.2k

I know it's a remix and all that, but I wish it was an acoustic or stripped version

Like that was my biggest complaint with the original with how the autotune detracted from Kevin's voice

And now we just have a lot more noise layered on

6.25/10 not horrible, but there's nothing about this remix that improves on the original, except I guess add more dance beats

I Like You (Remix) | YouTube Music 8.1k | Spotify 2.2k

I like that this is basically a remix of the instrumental with the chorus repeating

Like the song was so unsalvageable they just had to remix the instrumental

This is basically something you'd do like an aerobics class to or whatever

6.25/10 I liked it more than the original

Talk To Me (Remix) | YouTube Music 44k | Spotify 5.9k

Okay this kinda slaps

The remix actually tones down the Soohyun vs Kevin shouting match so it just sounds like normal singing now, which makes this pretty nice to listen to (though not as funny)

The recurring keyboard/piano bit even adds a bit of class

7.25/10 I actually really like this and I'm gonna put it on a playlist now

Not Young (Remix) | YouTube Music 15k | Spotify 4.7k

The lively beat helps a bit

But now there's this weird...dissonance? Like this remix is still pretty soft, but it feels too hard for a song like Not Young

6.5/10 I'm very confused, not in a bad way, just...not sure of what to make of it. I don't hate it, but I also don't like it much more than the original, plus the weird clash between the lyrics and beat that just doesn't work

Give It To Me (Remix) | YouTube Music 10k | Spotify 2.3k

Since the song already had a strong beat, the remix works really well

The dance break sounds much better

I'm a bit confused by the choice to sort of 'hollow' their voices? I don't think that was necessary

The tempo feels a bit faster, and I think it fits a lot better with the whole "don't stop the beat move your feet" bit

7.25/10 another new song going to a playlist

Not really fun facts, but some funny tidbits I remember regarding this time - there's an interview of them from either the time they were filming the Bingeul Bingeul MV or just after, and it's so cute. One of the questions was who made the biggest first impression, and I remember Eli said Dongho because he thought he looked like a tacky country bumpkin. Kevin backhandedly compliments Soohyun by saying he took one look at him and knew he was probably the best singer there (cue Soohyun shouting "what, am I ugly?").

They also get asked who watches porn, and everyone kinda nervously looks around, except for Soohyun who proudly raises his arm, and slaps Kibum to raise his too. If you remember my last post, Kiseop had already admitted to watching it on Soohyun's laptop with Kevin, so those two are lying liars.

This tidbit is actually from 2023, but Soohyun was talking about his early days under NH, and how the lower management really liked him because he could sing well and worked hard (to the point they'd tell him to stop practicing and go back to the dorm because they couldn't sleep), but upper management hated him because he wasn't a flower boy. Apparently the higher-ups never called him by his name early on, just always "hey you", and never complimented him, and the first time they called him by his name was around Bingeul Bingeul and it made him cry. NH, I'll see you in hell.

We have one more release before this OT7 era is over, and while I do look upon this time very fondly, I'm excited for the 2011-2013 years, their back-to-back bangers, and the HD JP MVs I have in my possession.

[teeth--thief]

Have you seen Tetris (2023)? Unrelated: what music do you like, or listen to?

-R

I have seen Tetris, yes! Just a few weeks ago, sometime in March, matter of fact, so your timing is particularly incredible. It first haunted me in music form, believe it or not, I kept getting songs from its soundtrack recommend on Spotify.

While I usually really don't like the KGB is in your walls stuff that the Western films always insist on showing, I'll make an exception for this movie because it's pretty fun. I actually liked the Evil Liar KGB had going on, I thought it was very funny. I do have one complaint about the whole thing, though. I wish the pixel animation was utilised throughout the whole movie, not just in That One Scene... :( Just small, little bits (ha) would have been fine...

Fun (not really) fact: I was first introduced to the character of Robert Maxwell through this movie (you have to forgive me for not giving many fucks about the aristocrats of Britain). I have then immediately learnt that his daughter is Ghislaine Maxwell. The Ghislaine Maxwell. Jeffrey Epstein's partner (in crime). How delightful...

What music do I like... That's a terrible question to ask me because I'm very passionate about music... I have playlists for everything I like, even Chernobyl related one... there's not a free minute in my day that I'm not listening to something. I associate music with everything.

I mean, judging solely by the fact that my wardrobe consists of one too many Sabaton and Rammstein shirts, I'd have to say I'm particularly fond of metal. And punk. And rock. I occasionally listen to Hollywood Undead because I discovered it when I was a... young teen, much too young to be listening to that kind of stuff lmao, and so I feel oddly nostalgic about them.

I really like the... weird and experimental stuff? If it has some kind of a connection with nature, I will probably like it. I've been a long time fan of Cosmo Sheldrake - and he just released a brand new album Eye To The Ear on the 12th of April AND a new single just a few days ago... it's everything I could have expected and more, truly. His brother, Merlin (whimsical names is the theme) is a biologist and he wrote a book about fungi, which I really like, but haven't finished because I didn't have the time nor brain capacity to take in all that new information.

And continuing with the theme of slighly weird, I also enjoy video games/movies OSTs. The creepier the better. Little Nightmares (I&II) soundtrack? Perfection. I talk a lot of shit about HBO's Chernobyl but that show's OST is phenomenal (and that's the last nice thing I have to say about it 🙄). From not horror-esque soundtracks: stuff from DOOM.

I've also been mesmerised by the Polish folk music used throughout The Peasants and have been regularly listening to the whole soundtrack. I need to rewatch that movie ASAP... more on movie tracks, I also really like Mad Max: Fury Road's and Moon (2009)'s OSTs.

I also like older, classic bands... Pet Shop Boys, Soft Cell, Bronski Beat, Depeche Mode... Kult, if we're talking local... And because I AM beating the toxic masculinity allegations: MARINA, Paris Paloma, Caro Emerald and sometimes even Lana Del Rey and Mitski. Other than that, I'm rarely attached to one particular artist or band, I usually like two or three songs and hate the rest haha

I'm gonna add a bunch of songs I like under the cut as a little treat, just because:

[serenaoculis]

@pittsbourne just released reresignation and they're probably not going to post it here, so I'm going to do it for them and attach my review.

I'll keep this short, in part because I haven't finished the game, and in part because I don't want to go on too long of a tangent just singing your praises, but goddamn, I have a lot to say about this one. So. First off, let me just say: This is a banger of a game and I love it. You should play it if you haven't. Okay, that's the TL;DR. Long version, with a bit of spoilers:

reresignation is a short and simple work that uses the opportunities videogames have as a medium to their fullest potential in order to deliver an emotional and (dare I say) viscerally physical experience to the player. I can feel what this game is trying to say, and I don't need to put it in words because the way it forces the player to think and act speaks VOLUMES already. The OST and sound effects are awesome, and the soundtrack in particular serves the purpose of making the gameplay itself constantly escalate, while the sound effects are useful for the actual act of playing which is extremely important for the message the game is trying to deliver: reresignation is not an unfair game, but it is a very difficult one and the explicit artistic intention behind that difficulty is palpable. It's a very short work that sets out to explore just one specific emotional experience, but manages to do it with flying colours. It's a beautiful form of artistic expression and I really, really urge you to play it.

[threejadesoflan]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN.

respond to the prompts out of character!

what made you pick up the current muse(s) you have? The answer, as ever, is brainrot. I fell down the danmei rabbit hole after getting the MDZS manhua and am to blame for dragging frexiasought down with me, but it's her who convinced me to make the blog and try writing some of my favourites. That said, I still want to write fanfiction with them too.

is there anything you don’t like to write? Character or ship bashing. I'll never enjoy reading it, and I refuse to write it. Obviously some characters are antagonists, but I'm so tired of Jiang Cheng bashing and Lan Xichen or Lan Qiren bashing. I didn't leave the FE community just to see the same things here.

is there anything you really enjoy writing? Maybe it's because I'm an old woman, but recently I've come to LOVE family content. Mu Qing's style of running his Palace is based on sect culture but also on that. And in general I just LOVE good sibling dynamics.

how do you come up with headcanons? Primarily brainwaves. Typically I bounce these brainwaves off of my notes app or Eva before I finalise them, but there's no telling what prompts some of those. They might come while I'm reading/watching, but also out of the blue while I'm working or showering. I do, however, also have a history of reading fanfics, spotting headcanons or portrayals I enjoy, and stealing them for myself (often with a bit of readjusting to better fit my own purposes). I'm not proud of stealing, and I try to credit the og fics if it applies, but I'm not above admitting it. 

do you write in silence or do you play music? I tend to have speedruns open at all times when I'm home, so I listen to that. Otherwise I typically have music going, though I usually can't sit still when listening to music. I detest silence, though.

do you plan your replies or wing them? I typically wing them. Usually I'll have an idea of how to respond when I first see the post/ask I'm responding to, but as to how I execute that thought and add to it, that's winged. Wung?

do you enjoy shipping? Recently I've come to enjoy more platonic relationships more, but I will always be a shipping whore. I think that my aromantic ass lives vicariously through fictional characters.

what’s your alias/name? BP!

age? I just turned 31 this year and I feel like a relic of an ancient civilisation.

birthday? Mid February.

favorite color? Red and black, judging from my warhammer armies.

favorite song? I go back and forth. Wuji (XiaoZhan and WangYibo version) is very high up there atm though.

last movie you watched? Kingsman. My brother insisted I had to, as a self-respecting Bachelor of English Literature, and he was right.

last show you watched?  I'm actually in the middle of watching the Untamed with Eva! It's a lot better than I expected, the actors very clearly understood the characters they're portraying.

last song you listened to? According to my youtube history, something from the Golden Sun Dark Dawn OST.

favorite food? I would commit a crime for the asian-inspired soups from a local noodle joint.

favorite season? Cranky old woman doesn't like any season. I go from hay fever season into cold season. I'd say autumn, but the cycling roads get super dangerous and the low-hanging sun blinds me. So probably summer, outside of heatwave time, bc both school and work tend to settle down around that time.

do you have a tumblr best friend? Pep and Eva for sure!

[pandaemoanium]

8, 9, 17, 21, 26, 38 & 40 for the video gaymer ask thingy

8. Most anticipated upcoming game? am i allowed to say Alan Wake 2 if it already came out a couple days ago but i havent been able to buy it yet

9. Most hours you’ve put into a single game? easily FF14 with uhhhhh..... 5380 hours?????? i um....yeah

17. Do you play mobile games? not really, still havent found an interesting mobile game that wasnt some boring predatory gacha bs. except maybe Fantasian for the ios, but i never finished it :/

21. A game you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving? Hades! im not usually into roguelikes but Hades really surprised me with its great characters and writing (and a banger ost!)

26. Least favorite environmental hazard (e.g. poison swamp, fire/lava, etc.) probably fire/lava, thankfully i havent seen many poison swamps outside of fromsoft games lmao

38. An unpopular gaming opinion you have. Parasite Eve 2 is super good actually and yall are just wrong :( also this is more aimed at furries i guess but Echo Project is mid sorry

40. Best game cover art. Kingdom Hearts definitely, but i'll also give a shoutout to Fatal Frame 3 (especially the PAL version bc we have a cooler title font uwu (though i still prefer Fatal Frame as a name lol)) smth about the cover has made it stick to my brain ever since i first saw it in the late 2000s

send me a number!

[astralartefact]

Placeholder Name for Atarase's Media Diary

Entry 001 - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

Synopsis

13 "kids" figure out what the fuck is going until finally, in the last 30 minutes, the power of love makes me - specifically the 2024 me - barf all over the place. My therapist will hear about this.

I always wanted to do something like this for the games I play, but I always told myself I would make a neocities or a blogspot or something for it; that won't happen so I'll just do it here instead of not doing it at all

How much did I know before playing?

I knew Time Shenanigans were involved, but other than that only that people really love it.

Did I like it more than I hated it?

I liked it much more than I hated it

Since I liked it, here's what I hated about it

I hated most of the Romance. Ruined the ending of a really cool game for me (jury is still out if i'm hyperbolic, for more on all of this check out the ramble section at the end) they should have cut most of it out - which would be easy because most of it only happens in the last 10% of the game.

(Exceptions are Okino & Takatoshi (even though i didn't like that taka was still 'no homo... right????' in the ending while enough time had passed for the others to have kids) and I think Ogata & Tomi worked too because, well, it was actually built towards throughout the game from both sides, crazy how that works).

Also it feels mean that Miwako (the queen) and Okino aren't playable characters. It's almost as if there's something different about those two specifically. Wonder what that might be.

What did this game make me think about?

What makes you you?

...also the ending shit made me spiral hard about loneliness and romance, probably should be honest enough to mention that

Specific Impressions that will stick with me

The Sentinel Calling animations happening in every character's last scene is really cool. I love when there's an iconic but 'formulaic' thing that every character gets their own version of, like a Magical Girl Transformation. Always great.

Also I played around with having the characters read out the titles of their memories way too much to not mention it.

Also Also, a very specific Tomi scene that I will talk about further below is vividly stuck in my brain.

Outstanding Audio

LEUCINE, LYSINE, High Alert, Seaside Vacation

Honestly, the music in this game was fantastic. I never really heard people talk about specifically the ost before, but I guess people rarely talk about video game osts unless it's something on the iconicness of persona or they know the name behind who made it.

Favorite Character

Keitaro Miura is the Razumihin of our times. I also really liked Ei Sekigahara, but then that ending happened.

Also, of course, Tsukasa Okino is an Icon.

Favorite Arc/Story Line

A lot of them, but I will leave it at these two:

All of the 2188 Miura & BJ stuff

Yuki's detective story line

Favorite Set Piece

The Final Defense sequence is really cool. I actually wasn't sure if I made it or if this was just the game over screen lol

Favorite Scene

I remember a scene where Sentinel Miura tells Ei he knew all this time that something was going on because he's a bad liar, but that they're still friends despite what he did, but I couldn't find it on a quick look through the archive section.

But this scene had more chemistry than both of them had with their canon romantic partners and I will stand by that.

Best Performance

I didn't really pay much attention tbh, nobody really stood out - but I guess in a good way, I really liked all of the JP voice cast. The only thing I ever really thought out loud was "That's Saori Hayami."

--- ENTERING THE PRETENTIOUS SECTION OF THIS ENTRY ---

What about this game gives me Hope for the future of gaming?

I guess I always love when Japanese games demonstrate that they know Queer People exist.

What about this game makes me scared for the future of gaming?

You know how basically all Gamers hate Capitalism these days? Yeah, while that's definitely a net good, this is one of the very specific instances in which it's a bad thing.

I just want to play this game made by the same people again. Not a sequel, nothing that's related to this, but just another game that's mechanically exactly like this that's just another setting with another mystery to solve. Just put to use what you have learned doing this and make a game like this again.

Like, you don't have to do it forever, but you could do it again, just for me who really loved playing this game you made!!!

But we don't really get "easy" sequels these days anymore, because everything has to have a new take, a new mechanic - or else it's lazy and a "cash-grab". And that kind of sucks, because most of the time just doing something again will mean you know now what worked and what didn't.

The Ramble Section where I get to actually talk about what I thought about

Okay, so basically, I really liked how the game portrayed the idea of "You're not just your soul/your DNA, you're also made up by the actions and influences of everyone around you. If you 'lived again' you wouldn't become the same person, because your context would be different."

It's in the whole thing that for every name there are actually about three different characters that are all different people - but I think my favorite example is actually the whole Tomi x Ogata thing - which is why I think it's one of the few romances in this game that works.

There's a scene in her story where in her original Sector Tomi goes to look what happened to her home together with Ogata. That exact same scene, everything she says, also happens in Amiguchi's memories from the loop before - but instead of Ogata, Tetsuya Ida is there as her love interest. And that basically brings it to a point - Sure, who you are/your "DNA" matters - but it also matters who's there with you. And that's why she ends up with Ogata this time.

In one of Ei's scenes Okino also talks about how there is really no difference between him and an AI Nanomachine version of him that's exactly the same - we change all of the time so why would it matter where exactly our memories come from if all of it works the same?

And that's like almost the entire game. People realizing that the person they were and the person they are 'supposed to be' are different people from who they are. It really is demonstrated by the most important character of all - the 'current version' of Chihiro, Iori, is basically fully irrelevant to the plot of the game. And I think that's kind of cool? To argue that any kind of "DNA" could become any size of plot relevant depending on the circumstances. That all of these "same" people have developed their own self and all of theses selves and their decisions are equally as valuable despite not being "fated" to do one specific thing. (It's kind of nihilistic in a way - if nothing about you is specifically 'valuable', everything you end up doing is valuable the same amount)

But this is also exactly why most of the Romance in this game sucks ass. Either you have Miura x Minami or Yakushiji x Kurabe where they all of a sudden argue the exact opposite, where the only romantic development happens through past characters - characters whose whole deal especially in Kurabe's case is that THEY'RE NOT HIM. THAT'S THE ENTIRE FCKIN POINT OF HIS ENTIRE PLOT LINE - and suddenly it's just "Well, the current version also loves them, I guess they are the same, no trust me, they found their way here on their own we didn't just forget to write that" despite either almost nothing (Minami has much more development with BJ - who's alive at the end, you could have just made those two happen and leave my sweet boy alone) happening between them or worse - Budget Homura being a fckin stalker for 80% of the game and then in the 20% where she isn't, Kurabe isn't even around for it.

But then on the other hand you have Ei x Iori, Yuki x Amiguchi and Gouto x Shinonome, where it just feels like they had to add this because... well, they simply need to have romance? Did you miss that this game was about romance? You simply have to understand, these children simply have a need to romance. They need. To. FUC-

I mean, out of these Yuki x Amiguchi still works the best, mainly because I guess at least it's built up during the course of the game, but like. Fuck that. Amiguchi just annoyed her and then bam it's love. Yuki is such a good character, her arc is so great and then she let's herself be harassed into liking this whelp. And then they hate each other in the ending bc haha, isn't it funny that Amiguchi still flirts with other people when they're married??? (and we'll get to the ending.)

Gouto x Shinonome was just thrown in there in one singular sentences for absolutely no good reason. Why even mention it. Why was this a thing you needed to establish. Could you just simply not fathom that at least one character in this game might not have been in a relationship at the age of 16?

(Well, there IS a character who wants to get a relationship but is thanks to this nonsense the only one who explicitly doesn't get one. Her name starts with M and ends with -iwako and she would have deserved to be a main character. I wonder what's different about her from everyone else... i already made that 'joke')

But now to the crown jewel of my hate about this game's romance:

Ei x Iori is absolute garbage. I hate it so fucking much. I said earlier that I thought Iori being irrelevant is really cool - well, it's too bad that only happened because they waste her story segment on whatever this is.

Their entire relationship is... that Iori thinks he's cute.

That's all. That's all of it. They didn't have a single full conversation before they started dating. Why. Why is Iori's only character trait that she thinks Ei is cute. I don't even think she gets to react to Ei telling her he killed her in a previous life. Like, think of the drama this relationship could have. Her figuring out that Ei killed not only her teacher self but the 2188 real self too and now he's here and he's after her so she needs to escape - but he's so cute... (which is the only reason why I will forgive the shippers, i trust you people to make this work)

None of that is in her story. She just wants to meet him again to tell him she loves him. And then she does. And then they're together. And now we're spending the culmination of the entire game on this bullshit.

The home stretch of the game (for me that was the last half wave + the ending) was excruciating for me to play through. To be transparent - part of it is that I'm currently really struggling with loneliness thanks to my pretty severe social anxiety - which of course also includes love and 'finding a partner'. And this game really didn't help when all of a sudden 80% in it decided to become about """Love""" instead.

Everyone ends up in these perfect little relationships with zero effort - and it just made me feel like shit. Suddenly the entire game, everything we've learned about these characters, all of the small interpersonal connections we have made between these characters, every single of them that mattered so much to unlock the entirety of their 'truth', of their willingness to get into the Sentinel - meaningless. The only thing that matters is that they're now boyfriend and girlfriend. The only thing that matters is that they have children now. It doesn't matter what they decide to do with their life, it doesn't matter what they think of the situation they're in.

I think Iori doesn't get a single line about what she thinks about Chihiro Morimura being her.

And that's really it. Instead of getting a revue or something, any real introspective conclusion to these character's experiences that they had over the course of this fantastic story we just throw all of it out of the window so we can instead talk about how all of these people are in relationships now - even the creepy evil dude is """finally""" reunited with his virtual Idol! Isn't that heartwarming! LOVE! ROMANCE!

Ei isn't even in the fucking ending!!!

I hate the Ending. I hate it. Fuck that ending. Almost infuriates me as much as Eulogia. (Fuck Eulogia)

Okay, writing this later than the part before but I read the part of the wikipedia article where they talk about Kamitani's thoughts on the scenario he wrote and I don't get this man - he says he wanted the game (and specifically Ei's story) to be a romance???? That was the original plan that "remained"??? What??? Have you somehow edited out all of those romance parts in the main part of the game and just left them at the end???

Like, again, They have crushes, sure, stuff like that is hinted at or mentioned in passing, but the character's struggles and storylines are for the most part unrelated to the romance of the playable characters and because of that the romance, like, doesn't progress at all, people have crushes that one of the two thinks about in a static thought that doesn't actually develop further from its premise until right at the end where a relationship just happens out of thin air because I guess this is what romance is - so to say that that's a theme they always planned is crazy to me because you did nothing with it.

Also, apparently a lot of the best parts of the game (Yuki's detective storyline, all of Okino, Ogama's story and the Gotou Chihiro sequences) are the ones that were 'hard to write' and/or changed late into production - which is crazy, usually it's the other way around...

[unoisveimved-un-proffesional]

i dont know what this post is.

It would be really cool to have a whole video game ost collection but made with analog snuff boxes (they're music boxes made out of snuff boxes, little boxes people used to store tobacco. It's kind of the professional name for the mini-music boxes, used to just mean "Music Box made out of Snuff Box" (ending up being a tiny music box) but I guess the name stuck so even when it's a box made for music, if it's a certain small size, it's a snuff box, but normal people just call them all music boxes lol) People already sometimes build music boxes to make authentic analog covers of certain songs, but I wonder how accurately you could remake the song using purely analog music box technology that could fit into a little box. Like you could have a bunch of shelves and be like "This is my collection of the Undertale OST, and this is my collection of the Faith: The Unholy Trinity OST".

It'd be too easy to make using electronic parts, it should be a self sufficient piece of analog technology for maximum "Wow!" factor, but still attempt to be accurate to the original's sounds. I've always loved hearing electronic music made without electricity, it's like watching magic to me. Still usually powered instruments, but lookin' more like a chemistry set than a synthesizer. But you could make the case that, if maybe it was like, some kind of a hand cranked copper disc that produced electricity inside, so when you spin it with your hand to a certain point it creates electricity, that'd count, but I'd say it'd only really count if the electricity itself is used to make the music rather than power a piece of technology that does, to create more "unnatural" sounds like bitzes and buzzes, but if it was used as a little generator you know I wouldn't disqualify that, that's kinda awesome and a bit of a roundabout way to make an electric hand crank music box. Wait a minute is that how hand crank music boxes work? I don't know actually. From my understanding music boxes are generally electric in the same way an analog clock or watch is electric. They kind of work off of similar principles of rotation and notation in fact, but one to display visual signs and the other audial notes. They even have big-home use and tiny-hand held versions that are basically the same save for size and therefore use case but use very different names. (I've always wanted a pocket watch. If I'd ever by myself a fancy watch, it'd have to be fancy fancy, engraved and shit, an actual piece of art worth the price. It would be cool to commission someone actually to make a custom pocket watch for me, it'd feel quite a lot more tactile than simply purchasing one that looks nice but is probably mass produced, I'd want something that's really personal to me, to know who made it to, I want to be a little more part of the process than just where it ends up. As far as aesthetics go, call me a bit of an idealizer of the old times, but the ol' bourgeois style got the new bourgeois style beat. Classical, classic, classy. If it cost the same amount I'd honestly buy an old circus themed motor carriage/go-cart over a ferrari. Like it'd be steam powered using a very new and sophisticated steam engine system, but rocking that old world sheen you know what I mean? What was I talking about?)

Anyway I think that'd be cool, so I'm putting it on the bucket list. I always admired those people who were really into watches and music boxes, like into them, on the inside of them. Never felt smart enough to make it my thing but, I'll see if there's any books on that. I used to read a lot of science encyclopedia's about phenomenon, probably time I read something about putting that phenomenon into both practical and impractical practice. Wait a minute I could just binge a bunch of videos on it too, that's a little more affordable, I'm already paying for that privilege! But it feels good to own a book so, if I got the money.

I guess the point is I do kind of like old things. Hell not just old things either. The future is unknowable really, like a fog, but the past is rich in details, tasty textured details. I love details, textures, feeling, crunch, I like what I can feel in my throat when I think about it, like oil and gravel. I want things to painted and engraved, stained and stickered, colored and noted. I want things to be personalized and worn, loved, lived. I like cracks on marble and vines on houses, things painted, and that paint chipped. Rust is a good one, it feels good.

That got out of hand...

[yuuana]

Music Monday #243: Advanced, Suran - DSMN (Don't Stop Me Now) release: April 2024 genre: Kpop, EDM cw: flashing, lens flares

Look, it's not like I don't listen to anything else (okay, it's a little bit like that), but do you know how much good Kpop there is out there? Plus it's a new release from Suran who, I persist in insisting, does not get enough love from Kpop fans, so I'm going to push her music out as much as I can, health allowing. ;)

So I feel like I should start with a note that Suran has a distinct, somewhat nasally vocal style, so if you know that's not your thing, then that's fine, continue on and I'll see you next week. With probably yet more Kpop, but who knows. Anything could happen!

As a collaboration with DJ and producing duo Advanced, DSMN fits well with her other non-OST releases as something a little bit dancey, a lotta bit playful, and some might even say more than a little bit anthemic. Not the first time Suran's written a song about being strong in herself, a message we could all use a bit more.

Once again, we're faced with an official visualizer instead of a music video, but unlike some, this one is all about the vibe rather than putting the rhythm of the song on screen. And so we get three minutes of a lightly windblown Suran enjoying a sunset by the river. To see her actually performing the song in a 'fit that looks very much like something from my college closet, Warner Music Korea also shot a live clip version. The performance version does at least have the benefit of not flashing at you, so if you're feeling photosensitive...

DSMN is available to stream at all the usual suspects. As far as I know, it does not exist as a physical single, so streaming options are all there are.

Want to see Music Monday deep dives more often? Sponsor a song selection! For the low, low price of one (1) KoFi, I'll write up the song of your choice. ANY song of your choice. Yes, even that one that's been played to death. Yes, your obscure faves too. With sponsors, I can stop skipping weeks and falling further and further behind in the releases! Sponsor a current CB for the next open Music Monday slot or sponsor a throwback for a Thursday feature! But seriously, if you've been enjoying my selections and analyses, we (me and the foster kittens) would love a KoFi in thanks. DW | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch