#jet set radio had the same thing too

[syoddeye]

consequence / hyacinth

price x f!reader | 1.9k words series directory tags: exes, angst, references to depression. a/n: an ex boyfriend. a story. a kiss. ☕

a surprise trap door. an errant self-driving car. a jet engine falling from the sky. anything to get you out of this.

hyperbolic? maybe. necessary? absolutely. forty-five minutes, and you haven’t gotten a word in edgewise. ben drones on about his studio and his upcoming exhibition. you brought this on yourself by doing the polite thing and asking him how are you?—lesson learned. 

it hurts. it blisters to hear how happy and successful he is and how he’s moved on from the breakup. as if he didn’t leave you hanging with a dinner you couldn’t afford after admitting that he cheated. he hasn’t asked about your wrist, your old flat, or your art career.

eventually, he stands. sets you free.

“i should go, long trip home,” he says, eyes glued to an incoming text. “it was lovely to catch up. thanks for holding onto this junk for me.” he hoists the box off the seat beside him and tucks it under an arm.

you let him kiss your cheek. “yeah. of course.”

he doesn’t look back. you wish you could do the same. 

you order another cider and resolve to not remain looking like the miserable slump you are.

~~~~

>> are you in town?

>> if you are, i could use a drinking buddy

john’s hair is still damp when he spots her at a two-top in the garden, nursing a cider. he waves, then ducks inside for his own drink. his head buzzes with whatever this invite means.

he checked with the florist twice to ensure the flowers arrived intact at her place. made the woman on the phone read back his apologetic note and bit his tongue when she reminded him it wasn’t her ‘place to say whether it sounded good enough or not’. he never heard if she liked them.

there’s a stiffness to her smile but relief in her voice. “you came.”

“‘course.”

“how’re you?”

in six words or less, he knows something’s off. he eases onto the seat, trying to exude a sense of humor and not telegraph his one hundred questions. “undercaffeinated, but i’m more interested in how you’re doing.”

“i noticed you hadn’t stopped in.”

“didn’t think you wanted me to.”

“about that. it was rude of me to kick you out without warning.”

guilt isn’t what he wants. he adjusts course to shoulder the blame. “i crossed a line.”

she isn’t having it. “please, it was rude. i know you weren’t trying to…”

“cross a line? overstep?”

her mouth wavers undecided between a frown and a smile. “you didn’t know. i could’ve explained. spare you £45.”

you. little.

“so you did get them. the note, too?” she nods. “then why the radio silence? hyacinths a bad choice?”

“no, they’re perfect. i just. i sort of froze. i had a rough couple of days.”

the hangdog expression she hides with the glass makes his chest hurt. “i’ve been told i’m a decent listener.”

“it’s a long story.”

“i got time.” he offers quietly. “just got back. caught me in the shower, actually.”

her eyes narrow, curious. “did you dress and come straight here?”

“well, it’s generally frowned upon to walk around naked.”

he beams at her laugh, her shaking shoulders. for a moment, her whole face lights up. it relaxes her posture as it peters off, leaving her looking less like a cornered mouse than when he initially sat down. 

“so.” john pushes carefully. “the paintings.”

her smile lapses into something unreadable, a pause to find the right place to begin. her fingers trace the table’s grate.

when she finally speaks, she refocuses. meets his eye. good. he doesn’t want to twist her arm to get the story. the tale starts innocently enough.

the woman is hannah, her best friend and a ceramicist. they met on the first day of her mfa and were paired for the terms project shortly thereafter. they quickly became inseparable, until his girl met ben.

~~

“i can’t talk about hannah without talking about ben. to talk about ben, you need context.”

john leans in. his thick eyebrows lift in a silent go on. 

“they say it happens when you’re not looking, right?” you nervously laugh, smiling at the table sheepishly, unable to meet his eye. “well, i met ben at a networking event. last place i thought i’d find a date, rubbing elbows with alumni. but he introduced himself, said he liked my portfolio book. told me about his work and all these shows he’d done. he took me to lunch the next day.” 

you wince at the memory, crystal clear and acutely embarrassing. how starry-eyed you’d been. your throat dries, sandpaper scraping down your esophagus at the thought of ben scribbling his number on your wrist. you clear your throat.

“then he asked me to dinner. during lunch.”

if john’s disgusted or disappointed, he doesn’t show it. his self-control is infuriating yet reliable. steady where you’re shaky.

why can’t i be like that?

you push on.

“without diving into minutiae, i eventually had to introduce hannah and ben. they hounded me, because if i wasn’t with one, i was with the other.” 

“jealous of each other.”

“i think so. i agonized. they’re big personalities, i thought they’d clash.” you replay their first meeting in your head. you have a thousand times. “and they did.”

~~

‘differing artistic opinions’ and ‘absurd expectations’ are the root causes of the squabbling she describes. her words, not his.

(he thinks of less charitable ways to characterize interpersonal conflict.)

barrages of text messages competing for her attention. underhanded attempts to get her to cancel plans with the other. emergencies that turned out to be trivial. guilt trips. one particularly ugly screaming match at a mutual friend’s birthday.

(if it were him, he thinks, they’d’ve lost privileges long ago.)

“it took weeks for them to come around to the idea of each other.”

“what was the catalyst?

“me again.”

john hums. he watches her rest against the back of her seat, her arms crossing and tightening over her chest. compressing herself as much as she can. embarrassment rolls off her in waves. he doesn’t say a word, afraid he’ll cut what courage she’s mustered off at the knees.

she has her own idea.

“can we—are you finished?” 

his glass is two-thirds empty, and he polishes off the rest. a fist squeezes his heart when her lip twitches at his abruptness. she makes it difficult to be collected with his interest.

“where to?”

“where else.”

it’s a challenge, defending oneself from an insistent, bullying cat. cece shows no mercy.

“she likes beards.”

“does she see many beards?”

“just a theory.” she leans against the cushions, watching him and the cat, a glass of water held in both hands. “yours is the only one she’s tried.”

in the end, after negotiations, cece loafs between them. her purr a white noise.

“where were we?” her tone suggests she knows precisely where.

“the truce and you.”

her eyes find a spot past his head to rest. he’s tempted to tilt his head into her line of sight, assuming that nudging her on home turf’s a safer bet than in public. but the hesitant, almost imperceptible exhale that leaves her keeps him still.

“alright. so. me.” her chest expands with another sigh. “i was already struggling two terms into school. really struggling. when i applied, i had this clear vision, but then classes started, i met my peers, and suddenly it felt like everything i thought i knew just disappeared. nothing looked right, nothing felt right. i pulled constant all-nighters. sat through brutal critiques. i’m lucky i had thick skin from my job, otherwise, i might have dropped out to join a convent or the circus.”

immediately, his mind conjures the image of a tattooed nun, swiftly followed by a tattooed strongwoman. his lip quirks. he hastily buries what those do for him. later. 

their gazes meet briefly to share a smile.

she licks her lips after a drink and sets the glass aside.

“they realized their bickering wasn’t helping, so they put their heads together. kind of forced us to become the three musketeers. they helped me where they could, and things smoothed out between them in the process. he found her ceramics shows to exhibit. let her move her wheel into our joint space. we were in close quarters, and i needed it. i needed them.”

a couch width is suddenly too far a distance with how she crumples. something difficult passes over her face, and she excuses it with a shrug.

“despite their joint efforts, i barely scraped by that first year. i was burnt out, miserable, and i spent two weeks holed up alone, trying to not go off the rails.”

oh, sweetheart.

“where were they?”

“hannah was visiting family stateside, and ben was traveling for work.”

not that his schedule allows flexibility, not that he’s behaved the perfect partner in the past—but john knows instantly that he would not have left her. he’d’ve been there. the more he hears about ben, the more he wants to meet him. come to a violent understanding. impart a lesson or two on loyalty.

“when ben returned, he told me he decided to move here to ‘reconnect with the country’. something about ‘capturing and celebrating the bucolic’. he wanted long-distance, but i, uh, i said i’d rather quit and move with him. we fought and he called in reinforcements. at hannah and ben’s…encouragement, i finished out the term. and it nearly killed me. as you know, i withdrew.”

john often reads between the lines. a vital skill, interpreting indirect and unintended communication. what’s unsaid. shame pulls her inward again, a moment where she seems smaller. swallowed by the enormity of whatever she doesn’t say. can’t say.

“i know they were disappointed. they didn’t need to say anything. hannah felt abandoned, and ben burdened by my tagging along. i got this awful feeling the morning we left and i ignored it. i was convinced leaving school behind and taking a break from art would fix me.” 

cece stretches, stands, and allows herself to be scooped up. 

she holds the cat under its front legs, bringing their faces closer together. “but it’s like that saying or whatever. ‘wherever you go, there you are’. i got here. settled in. and i was still a loser.”

it’s instinct.

“you’re not–”

she bulldozes.

“i started working at the café. ben booked murals. he painted the big one a few streets over.”

he’s familiar. “the one with–?”

“yep.” she releases cece. “he tried to get me to paint. he begged me. but i couldn’t do it. things took a turn last summer when ben won a huge job in the city, which snowballed into an invitation to exhibit. hannah got busy with the final stretch of the program, and couldn’t visit much.”

“so you were alone again.”

“yeah.” her voice thins, then breaks. “alone again.” she digs the heels of her palms into her eyes before a single tear drops off her lashes. 

john’s beside her before doubt seeds itself in his mind. one arm gathers her to his side, his chin lifting then settling atop her head when she tucks closer. his other arm winds around her, and the slight tremors of her distress ripple through him. she’s quiet, not quite sobbing, but sucking in deep breaths. he rubs her back in a slow circle, murmuring nothings.

“what do you need?” he asks as she gradually stills.

she sniffs. 

“sleep.”

without thinking, he kisses the crown of her head. “okay.”

john only catches a glimpse as she hands him a quilt. but he sees them. blue hyacinths, pinned and drying above her bed.

“sorry. this is all i got. you set?”

he smiles at her sweet, tear swollen eyes. 

“yeah. i’ve got all i need.”

[ebullientheart]

sidetrack. aaron hotchner x reader

content — hurt comfort. swearing. mention of hotch’s divorce. gn!reader. short fic. established relationship.

aaron doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice. or sidetrack, by catfish and the bottlemen.

aaron hotchner was an fbi agent. to achieve that, he, like all, had to pass his physical fitness test to go into the field. but he was seriously wondering how effective that was, because as he dived off the bau’s jet and let his feet carry him over the wind to his car, the breath was knocked entirely from his body.

his satnav insisted the bridge was the quickest route home, but it felt longer in the silence. he couldn’t bring himself to slow down and switch on the radio. not when he’d woken to such a simple message from you — “give jack a kiss.” he knew, rationally, that you were just kidding, referring to a photo of jack puckering up to the camera before going to bed. but it set off haley’s last words before she left, and they were knocking at his temples like hammers. you had to be there when he got home. you had to.

aaron turned off home when he was at work, or at least he tried to. sometimes he thought about you telling him that he was everything you wanted. but he strove to keep his mind focused. if he didn’t, all he could think about was losing the life you had together, and that was unacceptable. he never wanted to feel the backlash of you turning from him. he never wanted to feel that way again.

had he been too caught up in work again? he struggled to remember.

everytime he apologised, you’d look at him with this endless patience that he felt undeserving of. he felt too responsible for it all. you promised you’d wait for him. would you wait for him?

the satnav beeped that this was the quickest route. he wasn’t convinced.

at a red light, he rested his head on the steering wheel for a few moments. he’d been short with you the night prior, when you rang to say goodnight, all loving and affectionate, and he’d had little to say back. a sincere whisper of love, but he was sure you were frowning on the other end of the line. it made him go mad to consider you weren’t getting back the endless love you threw at him. aaron needed you to know that he loved you. to really know it.

fuck this. he spun his car into the next lane, pissing off the drivers behind him and his satnav. he switched it off, confident he knew better. he was right. he needed to be with you as soon as possible, to make sure you were tangible. nothing ever good comes when there’s nothing on the line. something you told him a long time ago. did you know he used it like a mantra?

the door opened quietly. he might have been half delirious at that point, but he knew his son was well tucked into bed at this time of night. you probably had a hard time getting him down, he didn’t want your work for be to nothing. and you might be in bed too. he told you he’d be back that night, but he said things like that a lot.

he thought his heart was going to give out, constricting so tightly as he took in the scene before him. you were still wearing your jeans, and one of his college sweatshirts, curled into the sofa with a book hanging loosely from your grasp. you had tried to wait up. you believed him when he said he’d be back.

aaron crossed the carpet, imagining you scolding him for not taking his shoes off first. gently, he took the book and marked the page you were gripping so you wouldn’t lose it. he didn’t mean to wake you up, but your eyes were fluttering open at his movement and the adrenaline coursed through your body as you recognised his face.

before he could get a good footing, you shot up and threw yourself toward him with the energy infected in you by his son. your arms were around his neck and your legs were around his waist. instinctively, he held onto you as he stumbled back, managing to keep the two of you upright as you clung to him, reminiscent of a koala. his hands curled under your thighs as he shifted you slightly off his bad hip, thinking that he definitely needed to check on that fitness test.

“i didn’t mean to wake you, honey, i’m sorry.” he mumbled first, but you covered his mouth with your palm, ignoring the awkward position it put your elbow at. you shushed him lightly and pressed a chaste kiss to his downturned lips.

“no apologies, not right now.”

with his hands occupied, he used his head to make sure you were looking resolutely at him. he needed you to see his words, not just hear them.

“i love you.”

[rainismdata]

PriceGhost: A Falling Helicopter

a short story in alternative canon for the scene of Price's helicopter falling down after being shot at; Modern Warfare II.

Ghost probably thinks it was the fastest run he had in a while when he was running to aid Price. He doesn't know how bad it could be, knowing Price and Ramirez getting hit by the RPG. Ghost just hoping they would be okay because the RPG didn't hit them directly. But, that also doesn't mean they wouldn't get injured, too. Having a crash is more likely to get them some injuries.

“Price? Price?!” Ghost, screaming directly to Price's radio. Hoping answer to let him know what happened to Price and how Price is doing. “I'm almost there.” Ghost numerously talk to the comms, calling Price.

When Ghost finally get into crash site, his heart was breathing faster. He was mindfully looking for Price and Ramirez, without letting his guard down. It didn't take him more than a minute to find out that the Captain and the Pilot were okay, when he saw a trace, not the usual one. The trace that would only Price could do for Ghost, knowing it was how Ghost would do if he was the one who needs tracking.

Ghost could definitely hear the loud sounds coming from Soap and Rodolfo's fight with Graves. That doesn't take away his focus on finding Price. Price knew Ghost. Price knows Simon. Ghost was taking in the information that Price was doing exactly what he was going to do if it was him that got crashed, well— actually Ghost would do better because he was a lone wolf for a longer time. With all the negative thoughts going on his head, Ghost went to his positive thinking, hoping Price could hear him on comms, just maybe Price couldn't answer him.

Ghost went into one of the jet's garage. It was not the nearest to the crash site, but Ghost knew it was forcibly opened, a plus score to the thought if Price comms was off, so that he couldn't ask the Vaqueros for the PIN.

Ghost immediately pointed his gun to the person who was just jumping towards behind him, and almost got him shot while the person was raised both his hands.

“Price!”

“Simon. I am sorry. Our comms were off. I am sorry I can't respond to you, I can only hear you.”

“I— I thought I—” Ghost finally pointing his gun down, his hands were shaking, he could feel he was panicking over the thought.

“No, no, no. None of that.” Price coming closer to Ghost, taking his hands into his own. “We are fine. Just Ramirez got panicked after the crash, he was passed out. We are good.”

“Are you? Is he? You don't feel a bone cracking? What if there's trauma on Ramirez's body?”

“We are totally fine. Well— maybe I can feel the sore on my neck, but yeah. We are fine. We can wait for Ramirez to wake up or we can just bring him back.” Price smiled at Ghost, reassured him that he was fine.

Ghost leans forward, slouching his back, and letting his head leaning to Price's shoulder. He let out a relieved sigh, knowing Price was okay. Knowing that his theory was more likely true. Price caressed his back gently, then gave hummed at Ghost head, as if he could imagine he was actually sniffling Ghost's actual fluffy hair.

“Let's go see him, Price. I don't think it would take him that long.” Ghost straighten up his back and setting his gun to his back.

“We have the same thought, Simon.”

Ghost sighed at Price who was just responding him cheekily. “You look pissed, though.”

“I am.” Oh... Looks like Ghost has reminded Price about a thing. “I lost a bloody hell good cigars.”

Ghost scoffed then chuckles lowly at the thought of Price storming the error comms with him swearing over the crash, a cigar, and also probably while looking for his hat, too.

[mrwolfhare]

Did you get to choose the new team or was it the studio? Yes, no.

Have you had conversations with Marvel about their plans for the guardians now that you’re done? Yes

Are there any deleted scenes with Llyla, Rocket, Floor, and Teef? No.

Did you ever consider inserting any other Marvel characters to cross over into this picture? No

Is there a reason Quill didn't have his helmet in Guardians 3? It’s in his desk drawer in Knowhere. He had to get out of there fast as you know!

Is there an in-universe explanation as to why Quill’s ditched his helmet and rocket boots? They have jet packs. The rocket boots comparatively suck. That's like cheap shit you get in the intergalactic version of Radio Shack. And Chris could never have done those amazing hallway moves with a helmet on.

Was there a plan for a new helmet design for Star-Lord (the classic design would’ve been cool)? No.

In the scene where Rocket and Groot are dancing, was that you and your brother on set? Yes

I was VERY curious on how Drax knew the JOOB JOOB but Mantis didn’t being Ego’s translator? Drax knew the language from his childhood. It's not in anyone's translators.

Why did no one understand, or acknowledge the language on Counter-Earth not being recognized by their translators? It's a cloistered culture. It would be normal not to have their Humanimal language in the translators.

Was the line always going to be “I love you guys” or did you have other options? No

Was there any consideration given towards giving the one spoken “F***” in the movie to Groot? Consideration? Sure.

Was redesigning Howard The Duck your idea? Yes. I've redesigned him on every movie because I've never been satisfied and we were rushed the first couple times. I'm happier now.

Did you ever think about giving Howard the Duck a bigger role in these movies (just asking because he’s my favorite Marvel Character)? Yes.

Does your average MCU earthling know that the Guardians of the Galaxy exist? No

Was Miley Cyrus not able to reprise her role from Guardians 2? Was that the same character? Yes. Yes.

James is Adam Warlock single? Yes

Has Grandpa Quill heard about Peter’s world-saving adventures already? No.

Does Peter Quill’s grandfather know about Ego? No

Was there an actual dog playing Cosmo or was that CGI? No, yes.

Was the Eagle in the cage an Eagly reference? Or just an Eagle? That was actually the real Eagly.

Can Groot grow a new body very quickly now? Yes.

Will there be Vol 4? No.

Will there ever be a director’s cut of the trilogy? Yes (the trilogy as is is the Director's Cut)

Do you want to do an extended version? No.

Does Guardians 3 have an alternate ending planned? No.

Will there be a longer cut of the film that has more Michael Rosenbaum in it? No

Will there be a commentary version of this film? Yes

As early as when you were making GOTG 1, did you already have ideas on where Vol 2 and 3 would go that eventually made it in the final films? Or were your initial ideas totally overhauled along the way? Yes, no.

Did you have to fight/negotiate hard with Disney to have all of those dark scenes? Or were the pretty open to your final vision? No. Yes.

Was it difficult writing Gamora’s arc in Vol 3, knowing Infinity War was going to kill her off? No.

Nebula's arm is the Bucky's arm from Holiday Special?? No. It's way better.

I saw you mentioned Annihilus as a possible villain for Vol 3. Was he also going to be a candidate for Rockets creator? Yes.

Does Rocket keep in contact with Thor? No.

Is there a super big, deeply-hidden Easter egg like the first one? Yes.

Did Bradley do all the young Rocket voice work too? No (Noa Raskin is baby Rocket, Sean Gunn is Young Rocket)

Since Halfworld isn't a thing in the MCU (I guess this is what you retconned out from the 1st movie) does that mean Rocket isn't a halfworlder in the MCU, right? You could consider Halfworld a more intergalactic name for Counter-Earth.

[elbiotipo]

Notes on technology in Campoestela:

Most spaceships are single-stage-to-orbit. They have rather standard jet engines to lift off from the ground like a standard plane.

To get into orbit, they use a rocket engine that uses a solid fuel made of a HIGHLY combustible (yet stable) carbon-nitrogen compound which allows a better fuel than anything previous. This was first discovered by Iranian scientists who named it "Nafta".

(sí, Beto tiene que estacionar su camión espacial para cargar nafta)

Nafta was a big discovery on its time, allowing cheap SSTO rockets. Nowadays it's produced in many worlds and widely available. It also has uses as weaponry, but it's not that efficient.

Nafta is used for lift-off and orbital burns. For manuevering in space, there are small jets on the nose and tail of spaceships, similar to the Space Shuttle.

Spaceship piloting is still not an easy task, but it's comparable to being a jet pilot, about 4 or 5 years to master. Hard, but something on the reach of many people. People from the generation ship clans are a bit more used to it and often represent an outsized part of space pilots, but there's always many wellers (from down the gravity well) who get their licenses too.

The hardest thing is always landing. Especially given all the different gravities, atmospheres, orbits and such you have to learn in each different case, even with all the automation in the world. Many spacers feel confident sticking to one or at most two or three planets they know.

Pilots that only do shuttle or cargo runs in the same star system or planet are called "Starters", because they go around the same star. It's rude, but many spacers do it.

FTL travel is another thing. FTL travel is done using a ring-like structure that projects a bubble around the ship and takes it to a (completely made-up for the setting) dimension called the Aether. The Aether is one of the meta-dimensions (there might be more) that uphold reality. Conveniently, you can use it as a shortcut to travel between stars, which project "shadows" on the Aether.

The Aether has its own navigation, with currents and whirpools and areas of thick dark matter (which, for cinematic purposes, actually look like bright nebulae) There are routes that are easier to travel and navigate, and these are where the most visited worlds are. Even stars that are close in real space might be very hard to get in Aetheric space, so there's routes that can take you all over the galaxy in a week, while many other places are out of reach.

Navigating the Aether is very similar to flying a plane through a cloudy sky. Some spacer says it's even easier than flying in real space.

Staying on the aether depends on how much you can keep the fields upholding your "bubble". This depends on the energy of your ship. Big ships can travel all over the galaxy but they have enormous energy consumption requirements.

Smaller ships (such as Beto's Mastropiero) dock with a ring-like structure that allows them to make short jumps. The average jump in an explored route is about 12-48 hours, so it's much like aircraft flights.

Exploring new aetheric routes is something that is very romanticized but in reality is a tedious process of jumping, cataloguing new systems (many of them empty and useful only as refuelling stations), seeing where the streams go and end, how they change, and more.

There is no FTL radio or live communication. There is a kind of aetheric radar that allows you to see incoming ships and do some morse-like communication, but it's not very efficient, there is no such thing as a galactic internet (though it's said ancient civilizations had one)

Aether travel engines require very sophisticated manufacturing and materials, which were hard for humans to develop. This was long only in the hands of governments and corporations, but after the Machine War, accessible aether starships hit the civilian market.

Smaller ships are still used by governments (more like loose "leagues") to do what big ships can't: supply satellites and equipment to remote bases, small-scale transport of engineers, researchers, aether "meteorology" and exploration, etc. This is very much like bush planes in remote regions or the role of Aeroflot in developing the USSR.

While humans in the setting, like most species, are composed of many different leagues, cultures and organizations, their technology is remarkably consistent. This is because cheap and reliable spaceflight depends on very reliable standarization. Some of the spaceship parts used six centuries after Gagarin are still the same used in the Soyuz. The ISO is perhaps one of the most enduring legacies of human civilization, along with FIFA.

[omegaremix]

Lindenhurst.

I lived in Brentwood for much of my timeline; mostly at my childhood home and later moved down the road not too far away post-Stony Brook. The latter move was a result of me refusing to move down to Myrtle Beach with my parents. I never had any desire to leave New York State and I never had enough of visiting New York City. Around the time, the economy plundered. I went broke and applied for the first job opportunity that was open in order to survive. I had no idea that place would ruin me. For most of the time at the second Brentwood residency, I wasn’t feeling 100% because of constant targeting of management and their crony co-workers. It took me a while to get back on track and eventually whatever I lost I gained back and more. I discovered a few key artists that made me see the light. I got back into broadcasting with a new radio show, and I finally re-united with Cath- whom I haven’t seen in a few years due to her addiction and sordid history.

But, some things turn sour that’s not your fault. Ma’ commits suicide and your dad ends up moving back in with you. You end up working two jobs without a day-off in near vicinity. Cath-’s #1 dies of a heroin overdose and she cuts off all ties from you with absolutely no reason given. Your unemployed gamer landlord doesn’t put in his fair share of rent and utilities, so you end up with no internet and you’re literally freezing because there’s no running heat or hot water for all of winter. Of all the major events going on, that final one had my bro- take notice. He was living with his lady and their first-born in Lindenhurst. He felt so bad learning I was living with no utilities that he not only offered me to move in with him to Lindenhurst but also into a new house. I shouldn’t say ‘offered’. He told me so. Sure. I wasn’t complaining.

I had about a week to pack up all the loose ends and was told to take out all my records, discs, cassettes, VHS tapes, and DVDs from the drawers and throw them in giant bins. Him and his friends managed to lift all the furniture up out of the old Brentwood residency and into the new one in Lindenhurst. It was my duty to take some of the smaller boxes of personals to stuff in the trunk, back seat, and passengers’ seat of my car.

I’d be leaving behind the un-mopped dingy floors, the eventual basement floods, and the other disused soot-ridden rooms which the former random inhabitants lived in. One ‘neighbor’ who lived in the adjacent room from me came home on the weekends totally wasted that he collapsed face first on the floor as soon as he walked in. He almost caused a house fire by forgetting the bag of popcorn he was cooking in the microwave. And the best one – get ready for this - was when a fully nude lady almost walked into my room. It was his prostitute looking for him. Jesus Fucking Christ.

I went to work and was told by my bro- that everything would be moved in the same day, so just come to the new house in Lindenhurst. I had no idea how good I had it. My new room was up on the second floor and triple the size of my previous one. Carpeted floors. Windows that faced the peeking sun. Low-flying passenger jets. A wider, larger closet space, and a pair of smaller doors revealing an attic for storage. Plus, being in Lindenhurst meant that three record stores were in near vicinity: West Babylon’s Looney Tunes, Amityville’s High Fidelity, and Massapequa’s Infinity Records. Lindenhurst had quickly become a favorite place to live in.

I arrived from work on a sunny 70* Sunday. June 1st to be exact. Most of what I kept from my childhood home and the previous residency came with me to Lindenhurst such as a gumball machine, my gramma’s Lafayette LR-810 receiver, and a massive Philips 24” CRT TV that would paralyze anyone attempting to lift it. All of it was there and a few boxes of my audio / video library. I wasn’t interested in unpacking. Not just yet. Our wi-fi network was set-up. That was the most important thing to me. I haven’t had consistent wi-fi in six months. The first thing I looked up was to see how Cath- was doing despite her taking everything we had and throwing out the trash as if it was nothing. Good news: she’s started a new life solo in Arizona and has been clean for one month.

The first finds to mark my new stay in Lindenhurst? Someone had posted Pharmakon’s “Xia Xinfeng” where her murderous screams break through a fully-running frigidly cold hum. I was sold instantly. The vinyl-finds groups lead me to Mass Production and Peter Brown; soul-jazz and pop respectively. I stuck with the L.I.E.S. label after fully enjoying Ron Morelli’s solos for a quite a while, all released through Dominick Fernow’s Hospital Productions. His label compilation, Music For Shut-Ins, supplied Samantha’s Vacation, Svengalisghost, and Legowelt. Omar Souleyman started gaining a name for himself in the states. Experiencing “Kell Il Banat Inkhatban (All The Girls Are Engaged)“ is truly something. I never heard keyboards go that crazy. Then we have WUSB’s own Alice, dee-jay of Nightmare Aquarium. Without her, I wouldn’t have known who Ariel Pink and William Onyeabor were. I credit her for introducing me to the magically sublime Black Marble.

Nary did I have a day off during that Summer I moved in. I could only count four…maybe six total. The electronics place finally gave me full time, double-dealing between that and part-time at the Italian market. The only stand-out moment I had during the hotter months was getting lost somewhere in the sunny woodsy section of Mastic looking for Nicole’s residency which I did find an hour late. Nowadays, one listen to A Different Arrangement instantly takes me back to those June Sundays.

Autumn came. The days were getting cooler and darker. Driving past Argyle Pond coming home from work became a staple memory with synthwave vibes of “Fright Night” from Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti forever attached to it. Hospital Productions gave me another artist to savor in the Italian-based Ninos Du Brasil  with their dying-hot exotic techno sounds. Suicideyear would be distinct to the season and to Lindenhurst alone which makes their sound personal in my book. Another neighborhood memory, Dual Action’s “NC-17 Drive In”, is forever intertwined to the Autumn soul. Our WUSB hip-hop dee-jay Dr. Ceus played me SpaceGhostPurrp’s “Mystical Maze” adding another bookmark in this asterisk time. Mono/Poly’s “Alpha Omega”, Lussuria’s “Mondo Narcotico” and “Keys To Unlock Paradise (Roman Showers)” from American Babylon,Function & Vatican Shadow’s Games Have Rules, the obscure Axxa/Abraxas’ “Waiting Daze”, and selections from The Bug’s Angels & Devils left their imprints on another feel-good season at Lindenhurst.

Before I knew it, my streak of 83 straight days of work was finally broken a few days before Thanksgiving. I came to visit the market for my hours to see that I was written out of the grid. Week after week it became a normal occurrence. I’ve been giving them my other hours in time without fail but now no more results. No discussion, no rhyme or reason why. I was let go without any notice. It was a blessing, however. A soft end to six years of non-stop belittling, boys-club behavior, and endless soul-torturing has finally been put down to die.

Winter was where things started to get fucked for discoveries; like the ‘parenthesis’ in an equation. My ex- Yenny is leaving for Lima and she’s asked me to house-sit for her in Hauppauge. A two-week stay meant all music discoveries default there. A residency inside a residency. Before and after, XXYYXX’s only full-length and two finds from the Ze label Xmas Record, Suicide’s “Hey Lord” and Alan Vega’s “No More Christmas Blues” are embedded in those frosty, chilly Winter days back in Lindy-. The latter two would be put on pause as I walked a couple of blocks to the bagel place for a heavy baked breaded breakfast.

Then came a March announcement from my bro-: we’re moving to Ronkonkoma. This was unexpected. He was excited to start a new point in his life. His lady was expecting their second child and wanted something even nicer than what we have. There was no issue with where we lived. I had none and truly wanted to stay longer. But, what my bro- was selling us on that we’d upgrade from the slightly crowded residential streets, noise-polluting airplanes, and highways across every direction for a gentler, calmer, at-peace setting of historical context, well-manicured lawns, trails, veteran’s parks, and a 4.5 square-mile scenic lake. To me, Ronkonkoma was Record Stop on Portion Road, punk luminary Jimi LaLumia’s Record Connection on Hawkins Road, and what used to be Lakeside’s bar where I’d go for some small-scale but breakout-violent local hardcore shows. Other than LaLumia, none are still standing. It’s a new decade now; far away from the community-college shows and record-buying jaunts from the Stony Brook era. We had up until May 1st   to get everything together. The Lindenhurst finds dwindled down to nothing, and all the discoveries found that Spring ended up at the current residency we’re at now. It was time to say goodbye to my old furniture: the twin-sized bed, the old bookshelves, dressers, drawers, the gumball machine, and the Lafayette that was losing its functionality. We left all the small stuff in front of the gate and left the furniture behind. Goodbye Lindenhurst and hello Ronkonkoma.

**********

I can tell you that my very first experience in the new neighborhood was delightful and exotic. We were only a few blocks away from the new house. My dad had me pull up to our neighborhood 7-11 for his daily coffee. I grab a pack of Hostess chocolate cupcakes and behind the counter I see the perfect ginger. Bright long copper hair, brown eyes, freckles, and all of pale skin. Jackpot. She was a sight to be seen.

There was a line of five people in front of us with two registers open. Dad was more than ready to sip his coffee but was getting restless as the scalding hot was wearing off. Lucky for me, the young Indian kid took care of him. I put my Hostess on the counter for the ginger to ring up. She was quiet, expressionless. Tired, bored, introverted? Who knows. Who cares. She made quick work of my purchase and I was two more cupcakes happier. The day was off to a great start. I didn’t believe people like her existed.

She was my very first memory at the new neighborhood. I still remember her to this very day. There’s some faces you never forget.

Pharmakon “Xia Xinfeng”

Mass Production “Slow Bump”

Atari Teenage Riot “Modern Liars”

Peter Brown “For Your Love”

Black Marble A Different Arrangement

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Schnitzel Boogie”

Purling Hiss “Don’t Even Try It”

Omar Souleyman “Kell Il Banat Inkhatban (All The Girls Are Engaged)“

Poly Styrene (as Mari Elliott) “Silly Billy”

L.I.E.S. label Music For Shut-Ins (2013)

Carbonas “September Gurls”

Predator “Honest Man”

Run The Jewels “Blockbuster Night Pt. 1”

Arca “Thievery”

Broadcast “Goodbye Girls”

Ariel Pink “Put Your Number In My Phone”

Ninos Du Brasil “Pandiero Sinchinsa”

NeruvianDOOM “Disastrous”

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments “Please Hear My Plea”

Suicideyear “Hope Building A”

Hussy, The “EZ-PZ”

Carbonas “Frothing At The Mouth”

Krewe Of 77 “Three’s A Crowd”

Ekoplekz “Robert Rental”

Wara From The NBHD “Squeal (Peel Off)”

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Fright Night (Never More)”

Mono/Poly “Alpha & Omega”

Casket Girls, The “Chemical Dizzy”

Bug, The “Void”

Suicideyear “Rememberance”

Standish / Carlyon “2 5 1 1”

Vereker “Rosite”

Ninos Du Brazil “Tuppelo”

SpaceGhostPurrp “Mystikal Maze”

Dual Action “NC-17 Drive In”

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments ”Turntable Battlefield”

Bug, The “Swarm”

Suicideyear “I Don’t Care About Death Because I Smoke”

Travis Porter “Do A Trick” (Suicideyear RMX)

Ninos Du Brasil “Rebanho Espetacular”

Lussuria “Mondo Narcotico”

Function & Vatican Shadow Games Have Rules

Axxa/Abraxas “Waiting Daze”

Lussuria “Keys To Unlock Paradise (Roman Showers)”

Blossom Dearie “Sunday Afternoon”

XXYYXX “Witching Hour”

Alan Vega “No More Christmas Blues”

Suicide “Hey Lord”

XXYYXX “Fields”

[p5x-theories]

Since we have all these new party members, how would you rate them and their personas’ designs? Are they all hits or are some of them misses? Give the people your thoughts! *holds up microphone patiently*

Aw, I'm touched you want to hear more of my thoughts on the party member and Persona designs! Alright, sure.

Same as the last posts, I do really like all the newbies! Actually, this might be some of my favorite Personas yet, in particular.

And same disclaimers as last time as well; For thieves, I'm just commenting on what the design looks like it's doing/trying to do, and whether I think it works and I like it. For Personas, I'm not really taking into account how well they do (or don't) represent the figure they're supposed to be, just how well I think the design gets its concept across, and does (or doesn't) match its thief.

Starting out with Bui and Apseudes!

I love Bui's whole vibe, honestly. It feels lightly sci-fi/futuristic, and a little unreal, which is perfect for a teammate who's based on their video game avatar rather than their real real-world self, without being too much. My favorite part is easily the rollerskates! She gives me a vaguely Jet Set Radio Future vibe with them, though I wouldn't say she literally looks like a JSRF character, haha.

I do wonder about those... hair decoration... bunny ear things she has going on? She has them as Yui as well, but I'm very curious if that's a game thing or just a distinctive detail they chose to give her. It's not a problem, per se, just slightly strange in the way where looking at it, I feel like I want an answer for what it is/does? Same with that partial ring/collar thing that floats around her neck. It looks kind of unreal/sci-fi, sure, but it can look a little strange if you focus on it, and raises that same "what does this do?" question for me.

As for Apseudes, I do have to say, I love that it also mirrors her weird hair decoration/bunny ear-shaped things. Also, big fan of the hexagon half-dome thing, and the whole hydroelectric arms and legs thing she has going on. I'll admit, she looks notably more sci-fi than Bui, but I think they get away with it, because she also sort of looks like a power plant or something, which kind of goes with Bui's tech (as a power source), and also clearly reflects Apseudes' element.

Next, Puppet and Nemertes!

My favorite parts of Puppet are probably her visor, that strap thing going around her back and the little forked (almost coat tail-like?) thing around her waist that it appears to hook onto, and the thick, kind of water shoe-like soles of her shoes. Especially with her "weapon", she immediately gives the kind of sea explorer vibe I'm sure she's supposed to, so I think they're very successful on that front.

I do think her design can come off as just a tad boring overall? I think the grey on black isn't the best for helping someone to immediately notice the details. But we don't know her that well yet- this might honestly be fitting for her, for all I know right now! I think the only thing I actively dislike about her outfit is the sort of... grey fabric thing stretched over her chest that ends like halfway over her breasts? It just looks weird to me, like if her shirt was riding up or something, haha. But that might just be my personal opinion, I don't know if that's really a problem.

(My biggest question about Puppet is actually why her codename is Puppet, honestly. I really like it as a codename, I just wish I had more context for it!!)

Now, Nemertes compliments her sea explorer vibe perfectly, as far as I'm concerned. She does admittedly look a little more like a car wheel than a submarine, but the sea creature-theming and water around her more than makes up for it, at least for me. That's definitely my favorite part of her, actually- the tail and fins, along with those pink eyes (or eye-like) structures, and the shape of her head. Those pink eyes, along with the silvers and whites on her, also help to make Nermertes stand out actually a bit more than Puppet does, which ultimately makes sense when you consider Puppet spends basically all her time inside her Persona as a navigator.

On to Riddle and Daeira!

I really love Riddle, she's cute, immediately comes across as a prospector/miner (which, while this joke was probably not intended, makes it really funny that she's the youngest minor on the team), and also still feels entirely competent despite being much younger than the others, especially with all the machinery she wields. My favorite parts of her design are probably her mask (which doesn't make me think "miner" on its own, but somehow really works with the rest of the outfit), her clunky boots and gloves, the double collar going on (probably a shirt underneath the suit), and the puffy sleeves and shorts.

There's really just one detail of her design that bugs me- the weird gap between the tops of her socks and the end of her shorts. It's certainly not as bad as it could be, because her skintone at least isn't a major contrast that draws your eyes to this random bare skin on her thighs (as opposed to Violet in P5R, who does do that), but it still just feels unnecessary. I guess maybe it helps sell the idea of her shorts as shorts instead of pants, but... I don't know, it just bugs me a bit I suppose.

Daeira, then, is interesting because her colors are different from Riddle's (a lighter pink, more orange instead of yellow details, and then a dark blue instead of dark brown), but it still works with Riddle overall. I think it's because of two main things: 1) the pink and orange make Daeira feel a bit brassier, which matches the vibe of an old-fashioned prospector/inventor's big robot that she pilots around, and then 2) it makes Daeira feel a bit more like a big robot toy. I wouldn't say they're the best aesthetic match of the entire cast, but they definitely work together better than it feels like they should.

Last but not least, Sepia and Gorgyra!

Sepia's the one thief out of these four that I don't feel like I can immediately get a beat on what they were going for. He sort of has a gentleman... highwayman... vibe to me, maybe? It feels vaguely cowboy-era to me, and yet I wouldn't call him a cowboy. And the super fluffy cape collar seems to just throw off anything I'm thinking, haha. I like the design (other than maybe the extent of the cape fluff), I just can't quite read what the intention with it was. Maybe he's meant to be some kind of charlatan? He sort of gives the impression of someone a bit overconfident, but maybe not entirely infallible... I'm not really sure, though, so I think whatever the goal was could have been a bit clearer.

I do like the silver/copper lining on his outfit, though, and the hints of purple that are kind of subtle compared to the red gloves and tie (despite the fact that even the red gloves and the tie are desaturated compared to the other thieves). He does absolutely feel like a teammate who would use curse skills to me, even if I don't know exactly what's going on with him.

Sepia aside, I love Gorgyra's design. The pointed glass bottle shape, the scrolls of pink-purple text wrapped around it, the huge hat, the glasses and grin. It's so fun and distinct! It feels like some kind of literature wizard, but also that grin makes it seem just a bit less than trustworthy... I'll admit, I don't quite understand how all this is meant to go with Sepia's outfit, but they do at least share a similar color design (though with Gorgyra being lighter overall), so against the odds, they manage to feel like they go together anyway.

-

Aaaaaand that's everyone! I do really like these four, my individual nitpicks aside. I wish we got to know them better in this beta!! But I suppose that's something we'll have to look forward to in the future, at least.

[fruitymarcy]

I want another Sega console so bad, the Dreamcast was so revolutionary and imagining what Sega could do with a new console nowadays is awesome to think about. Reminder, the Dreamcast was super powerful for its time and had the first real online play of any console. It had classics from the Sonic Adventure games to Crazy Taxi to Jet Set Radio. Sega pulled out all the stops for the Dreamcast and it’s a shame they couldn’t recover trust from fans

That’s really the biggest thing I think, Sega fans had watched them fail with the Saturn and decided to switch to the new PlayStation, and instead of getting a Dreamcast many just waited for the PlayStation 2. It’s sad because you can tell Sega really tried and the developers worked hard to deliver experiences that would wow players. And they did! They wowed those who played and the console did well enough early on, but the incoming PlayStation 2 meant so many people just waited for that. And Sega wasn’t gonna win over any new fans with how the Saturn had failed, so they couldn’t really cut into Nintendo’s player base anymore, and that was how they briefly became king with the Genesis. So really no matter how hard Sega tried with the Dreamcast it was doomed in a lot of ways from the get go. Maybe they could’ve done better but I don’t see a world where they won in that landscape where they’d already lost so many fans

With Sonic’s recent astronomic rise in popularity from the movies to Frontiers to the IDW comics—I think Sega could make a console comeback if they wanted to. Especially given how the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, as much as I love the ps5 I gotta admit, these consoles, they don’t have many exclusive games. They’ve got a few but even then many are cross generational. God of War Ragnarok, Spider-Man Miles Morales, Halo Infinite—these games are playable on ps4 or Xbox One and so many fans are disappointed in Sony and Microsoft’s output of exclusives because of that

And while Nintendo is flourishing with the Switch it’s important to consider that if Sega made a comeback they probably wouldn’t want to COMPETE with Nintendo, moreso win over their fans without asking them to abandon Nintendo entirely. Back in the day it was “Genesis does what Nintendon’t” but I think now with how many people are willing to buy multiple consoles for games, Sega would rather compete with PlayStation and Xbox than Nintendo. Just ask Nintendo fans to buy a Sega console in ADDITION to the Switch, and go after the others instead. Nintendo is on top right now. PlayStation, while doing fine, is far from their peak and are losing goodwill with fans. Then you see Xbox which is struggling to convince people to buy their consoles and have decided to just sell their games on pc too since Microsoft owns Windows anyway…which while it’s good for someone like me who has a gaming pc and no Xbox, it’s not the best business model to keep people buying Xbox consoles

All of that is to say that I think Sega could make a console comeback if they made a competitively priced console with a bit more power then PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and invested heavily into creating games that will wow people again. Like, Sonic Frontiers is great but if they wanted to make a new console they’d need to give Sonic Team a much larger budget and team to create an experience that will feel truly next gen. And that would go for every title, the games Sega released would need to be impressive. They’d need a console at around the same price and as powerful as their competitors while simultaneously delivering better games in popular franchises and creating new game series as well

I don’t see Sega making a new console anytime soon. But if they did I think they’d have a chance. However, I think their best chance at a console comeback is to wait. Take Sonic Frontiers, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania—take these successes and build upon them. Make better and better games, which yes means investing more money into them, and they’d not only make a better return (which could help fund a return to the console space) but also would make fans happy with Sega again and make new fans as well!

Sonic Frontiers’s sales numbers aren’t out yet for the United States as of writing this. Bur we have Japan’s numbers, and in Japan it did better than any Sonic game since 2001. The best selling Sonic game in TWENTY YEARS. And that’s because Sonic Team put in the effort and Sega let them delay the game by a year to better the experience. The thing is Sonic is doing great and Sega is doing better overall than before at delivering quality content for game series in general. They could make a comeback, whether soon or far into the future. I really think they could do it

Sorry for this long ramble, I’m a big Sonic and Sega fangirl lol. If anyone’s read all the way to the bottom I appreciate that, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the reblogs or replies!

[beegswaz]

The beegswaz/RAD1OSILENC3 @kingshovelbug Game Recs Post! Featuring my subpar image designing as seen Above!!

Everything will be Under the cut so I'm not blowing up someones dash with a Text post the length of that One colours of the sky post!!!

CWs will consist of anything that isnt Jumpscares or violence or blood beclaws those are Pretty standard in some of these Games

Hollow Knight

Steam Link | No CWs I can think of? Though, flashing lights Warning for some attacks! I know it was initially suggested en-mass but it's SUCH A SILLY GAME!! GENUINELY SO FUN! I'm no good at most metrovanias and such but I have a blast every time I Play this game :D It's so pretty AND 4! FREE! DLCS!!! And A fanmade one that's Unironically so good! (Pale Court!! It's so good I love what it adds <3)

2. Phasmophobia

Steam Link | No CWs outside of a General feeling of dread :3 And also some flashing lights! I suggested this on stream today when Everyone was discussing horror games but I genuinely have So much fun while playing this with Friends!! Solo runs are also fun but I am too scared to Do solos :( Could also be fun to do subscriber games if You wanna do more sub interactions!

3. ___ of the Killer

Gamejolt Link | No CWs beclaws all of the games in the Series are light-hearted, but just to be Safe there is some mentions of Stalkers and Cults! I love the __ of the Killer series so much!! They're so fun and I played them a Ton on discord streams in the Past! I love the style of them All so much and they Aren't too long of games, so you Can always make a pseudo Marathon out of them! Good games :)

4. The Bunny Graveyard

Steam Link | Flashing lights! Fun game! It's only a demo right Now but its enjoyable! I don't remember how Long the demo is, but you can always play it with Some other short games to make a decently length Stream! Also: very cute style :3

5. Escaped Chasm/Dwellers Empty Path

Itch.io Link | Itch.io Link | First game warns of high-pitched Tones and flashing lights! Second game doesn't warn of Anything :] TEMMIE GAMES!! First one is only around 15-20 Minutes unless you try and Get all endings, second game is About 1-2 hours! They're in the Same universe and would best be played one after the Other :] Escaped Chasm reminds me a Lot of the opening of OneShot, and Dweller's Empty Path is just generally delightful to play! Cute games

6. Rain World

Steam Link | I.... I think minor Flashing lights? Hollow Knight but if it was Harder and more miserable to complete!! Adorable protagonist and beautiful Scenery!! I've only played... a Little bit of Rain World actually, but it's fun! If not difficult!!

7. Inscryption

Steam Link | Bright/Flashing Lights if I remember Correctly? And also it's listed As a psychological Horror Imagine if you had a Deck of pokemon cards but like maybe one of them is Alive and also you can make one Entirely unkillable and get its stats up to 1000+ attack for the vine! And then add a 2d game and Also bosses that are all kind of Assholes!! Excluding Grimora she's a delight :D It's such a fun game with so much lore and a robot whos entire thing is Insulting you at Every turn!

8. Hi-Fi RUSH

Steam Link | Bright/Flashing lights! Only game to fill the void in my Heart that Jet Set Radio left </3 (Not really, I can just go play JSR whenever I want LOL) ITS SO FUN!!! This game is so silly like Actually, I adore the style and the Characters and the Music :heart: My friend has been streaming this game to me and I just Adoreeee it

9. Cry of Fear

Steam Link | Flashing Lights, general disturbing enemy Design, I believe mentions of Suicide? This game actually made me really scared(? Uncomfortable?) both When I played it and When I was watching a Stream of it?? It's so good but god damn dude. I'm really only throwing this on here Beclaws I enjoy its atmosphere and the horror Aspect of it

10. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Steam Link | No CWs(?) Coming out August 18th, I lied when I said that Hi-Fi filled the hole that JSR/JSRF Left in me!! This game is the real void-filler! It's directly inspired by Jet Set in both design, music, and gameplay (WHICH IS DELIGHTFUL!!!! if sega wont do anything with jet set, then the Fans will!!) it just OOZES style and I think itd be fun to Play on stream when its out!!

END OF THE LIST!! BECLAWS IM TIRED ITS 12 AM HERE!!! Other games not listed but I think you should play: Ib, Pocket Mirror, A Hat in Time, Neon White, Slime Rancher, Subway Midnight, No Straight Roads, Angels of Death, The Witches House, Hello Charlotte, IMSCARED, Spookys Jumpscare Mansion, The Bluehills County Collection (Parsnip, The Testimony of Trixie Glimmer Smith, Three Lesbians in a Barrow)

[not-souleaterpost]

The suprisingly bad plot of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

So I played this little fun Jet Set Radio clone (don't worry, it ties into the iceberg, so I wasnt technically procrastinating with video games-)

And the thing that stuck out besides the expected and fun is how the story was bad. In a surprising way - not as "oh I didnt expect it to suck so much!!!" But nah, what I mean is that it failed in a interesting way.

So what do I mean?

Well lets start with the whole setup "Oh yeah, you get your head chopper of and are actually just a random scrap metal robot controling a should-be lifeless body."

This is weird enough, but the fact that there is that much head switching and body stitching is just strange, you wouldnt really expect that from a skating game - hell it makes the casual light-bulb eye-switching from Naruto look tame in comparison.

Still, one could guess that its just a quirky thing (or more disturbingly that some of the developers gets off from it, like not the weirdest thing that exist) - just some funny detail to get attention and stand out.

But not, this thing actually is the crux of the whole "theme" and "charachter arc"

And its weird that this kind of game trys that, like if mario struggled with alcholism as a framing decice for generic platformer #64. Cause why do something that is overly ambitious and will fail?

Like this game sadly failed - the whole search for "roots" just felt kinda unatural and as if the people were living in a different world from you (like ok I get it the society literally is that much weirder, but I mean in a sense of just procecing information and emotions differently than a standard human would)

Just the fact that the charachters feel empty and you dont really connect with them or their relationships makes everything hollow - yet its weird that they tried at all - cause yeah in the end in Jet Set Radio, nobody gives a shit about that stuff, we just wanna ride the line with carefull cartoon charicatures.

Yet still the story decided to introduce plot twist, thematic foils, villians with pseudo-arcs, drama etc.

But somehow it doesnt get how at the same time it just doesnt work on a basic level - like after its revealed that not only that Faux guy killed Felix for a petty reason but also is about to kill all other Graffiti pals, its kinda irellevant that his "big secret" was "Oh your dad kept you out of trouble"

Yet the game plays that up as some final all revealing shocker, and even gives Faux a death mirroring Felix initial fall.

Also the whole arc of Felix is both weird and at the same time something that seems to be trying to say something - from starting as some random smart hair-dryer, to it being revealed that he secretly was a legendary skater with amnesia, and the whole "you are both now"-

I get kinda that they tried to say "look he died partly because of his arrogance and not letting others be close may sparked Faux's psychopathy", but still at the end it just doesnt click, you know what Im saying - the first thing after coming to life with no memory is "Oh I wanna paint the city, yeah why not and find my original head even if its not really mine" and then "Oh I guess I learned the power of friendship, even if we interacted minimally and in the end only the final thematic attack showed the use of bonds"

Like yeah, it showed literally moments how without other people he would be dead but still it was so subdued that its weird to do a whole story like that.

Especially a story as whacky as it - with a evil skater head taking over the police and brainwashing everyone to do his biding while becoming a giant centipede monster.

But the weirdest part is that it even had the whole meta-commentary about how yeah it IS a rip-off and one cant escape that, but like, we are totally something new too guys!

But guess the only really clever writting was the set up of that weirdo with angel wings actually having a absurd but believable reason for overhearing everything lol.

Yet other things just go nowhere - the sniper kinda disapears from the story, there are obvious times where you are just sent in circles for padding, etc.

And that last thing is kinda what leads me to my attempt to reverse engineer the story -

I would guess they started with the wacky desing of the main guy and someone though "but why do he be having that crazy head thou?"

And from that it sparked the idea, well he lost the head - and that connected with the whole "identity" thing especially when they had to think if they were making something creative or just puppetering the corpse of a dead, head-team less corpse of a faux legendary franchise (I dunno why I said faux, I like JSR, but I had to tie in the names)

The details came later, hence why DJ Cybers Mask is supposedly Felix's, even though it doesnt fit the latter - cause yeah the charachter designs werent made like that originally.

And thats why there is some weird padding and moments - cause of budget reasons some things had to be stretched, or maybe some things had to be used in a way to maximise what one has done and to not throw away some cool concepts, even if they clash.

Also, Im not knocking this associative way of coming up with storys, just speculating if thats how it all came together.

Still, the fact that the story isnt just "Yeah we are rebels and here are police, lets fight!" without any of the before mentioned window dressing is surprising.

And, being non-generic is a positive surprise, no matter the execution - so see, this "essay" wasnt shitting on this game afterall.

(also contrast for a simmilar story that is unsurprisingly bad - Gravity Rush - but I'll save that for another time, man I wish that games creative direction was done by someone else, cause the gameplay itself has moments of being more fun than a lot of things...)

Oh also the proof that this all relates back to the Soul Eater iceberg - see what I found (sadly not first, cause I googled and some redditor noticed 2 months ago, alas if I played this game way back I would have had this eternal glory, not shame😔):

And if you say: That's it? I expected more!:

Yeah...Sorry

[strawbrygashez]

POSTAL/JET SET RADIO CROSSOVER FIC

HOME

(this is just some stupid idea I had where Dude is Beats Dad 💀 this is my first time putting a fic anywhere and it’s not done bc idk if it’s even good/worth continuing. Please don’t be too mean!! I know it sucks)

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There are a few things Beat prides himself on; his ability to problem solve, think fast on his feet and his can-do attitude but somehow, right now as he skates through the small town named Paradise, as a few odd stares are thrown his way, it just now occurred to him he really should have called first.

During all the chaos and last minute planning back in Tokyo-to, he’d managed to forget his father is a bit of a traveler and or is always on the move. Whenever if he just didn’t like to stay in one place for long like he’d said in the past or for other reasons…couldn’t, Beat didn’t really know and wouldn’t dig for a answer. They don’t talk as much as it was already, their last call being maybe a year or two ago, which also happened to be around the same time Dude had told him he finally left his ‘bitch’ of a ex wife. Damn it- now Beat was even more willing to bet Dude might not be here not having that ‘anchor’ with him anymore. Who the hell knows where he left to or is doing right now. Either way, he came all this way and was here now so he had to at least check through that old trailer park Dude had lived in for years upon years now and plan accordingly after.

Walking up to the small era of trailers on the side of town, a wave of relief washed over as the old beat up trailer house and crudely thrown together dog house and shed came into view. While it wasn’t the most sightly view- it did make him grin a bit to see not much has changed and pretty much everything was how he remembered it. He couldn’t talk about the living area himself that much anyways- having been living in a old garage that had only been renovated somewhat himself. Just another way they are similar he supposed- but no matter that right now, Beat still wasn’t used to the usual heat in this town yet and today in particular seemed worse than he remembered it getting ever. So with only just a bit of nervousness slowly developing as he walked up to the door, he breathed out before knocking.

Expecting he’d have to wait a moment for any reply, he was taken aback when as soon as he knocked a loud yell came from within. “I ALREADY SAID IM FUCKING SORRY MAN- I DONT-” followed by the sound of shuffling and something knocking over. Before Beat had the time to perhaps slowly walk backwards or decide this would be the last time he’d ever come back to Paradise, the door opened revealing who else but his slightly disheveled and irritated looking father, stood there huffing.

Though he was wearing his sunglasses as usual, Beat could tell when Dudes huffing stopped- and he froze that he definitely was trying to decide if he is actually seeing things or was his 17 year old son, who hadn’t called or visited in forever, standing in front of him. Even despite what had just happened a minute ago, a smile couldn’t help but tug it’s way to Beats face seeing his old man trying to process what the hell was going on- perhaps the good ol’ usual smile Dude was used to seeing in those old photos he got sent or took way back when helped him finally get a grip. “I- kiddo..is that you- what the fuck are you…” before he could go on anymore Dude suddenly got huge grin himself before hugging the little twerp a lot stronger than he needed to while a chuckle broke out. Beat couldn’t help from chuckling too with a “Hey dad” even though man…it really wouldn’t have hurt Dude to go take a shower. He couldn’t even pin point the smell or maybe it was coming from inside, from what he saw for a split second, the inside of the trailer looked rough though again, he did show up unannounced.

Once Dude finally let up some. Beat stood up straight, still grinning but looking away when explaining. “Well uhm…back home- well ‘home home’ me and my..pals kinda ran into some trouble.. and I was maybe wondering if I could just lay low here with you for a bit. Not for long if that’s a problem”. He knew his father doesn’t have a exactly clean record or is perfect himself either so it was his best bet coming to seek help here…he knew if he went to ask his mom for help he’d be ratted out in a second. And like he expected, Dude only kept smiling to himself before shaking his head in ‘disbelief’. “Still just like your old man huh?” He asked before moving some to the side to invite him in. In reality, Dude only knew a few things about Beats day to day life. The most he knew was spray paint and a ‘gang’ of teens of some sort was involved. He wouldn’t dig for answers like Beat didn’t either. Sure he was worried for his kid, who wouldn’t be? But he didn’t have much room to talk about life choices and vice versa. He supposed the most each other could hope for was that the other was alive and in some variation of ‘okay’.

“I guess. But what was going on with you?” Beat asked as he finally walked into the trashed up house and sat his bag on a spot not littered with trash or clothes. It seemed like Dude only realized how bad of a condition his place was in when he had watched Beat try to find a spot to set it. “Ah shit-” he began once he saw his ‘health’ pipes were just laying around..for anyone to see. He started to put those away first. “Well some douche bag I owe something to won’t stop showing up. You’d think people would keep work and home life separate.” He joked as he slid some pipes back into a drawer near by. Beat only watched for a minute before laughing a little. “Dad I’m 17. You don’t have to hide that shit. I’ve kinda seen it all anyways..”

“You have have ya? Well I hope it’s only the healthy stuff you’re getting into..otherwise..” Dude couldn’t really think of a otherwise. He could threaten to kick him out as a joke but yknow, other than that. A father you’ve only remember being around like maybe four times while not being a baby doesn’t have much power over you but a man can worry over his kid. It’s natural. Beat chuckled again while walking over to the old sofa that sat in the middle of the room and plopped down. “I’m good I’m good. I’ve got too much going on to mess with anything crazy nowadays anyways.” He explained, once again taking a look around the place from where he was. That’s when he finally noticed a dog food bowl with half the food ate on the table. “Hey where’s Champ by the way?”

[glassmarcus]

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk: The Best Dreamcast Game

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a result of asking the difficult question of ‘What would it look like if Jet Set Radio was good?’ And then ask the question ‘What if it was not eternally stuck on the original Xbox?’. Sure DJ Professor K isn't hyping you up constantly, but it terms of gameplay, style, and vibes, it is everything Jet Set Radio is and should be. And that's all we've been asking for in past 20 years. A few weeks before writing this I saw a Minus World article listing the top 200 or so Dreamcast games. And look, I've never played the Dreamcast. Or maybe I did and just forgot because I was 3. Regardless, I'm no authority on what the best Dreamcast game is. I can say with credibility that Jet Set Radio is a rough game and I reject any reality in which no other Dreamcast game tops it. Sonic Adventure 2 was on the Dreamcast for god sake. I'm absolutely in love with the idea of it being the best Dreamcast game, but it's just not true. Jet Set Radio is wonderful sketch of a game, but it is barely functional as a complete piece. I felt it when I first played it 10 years ago, and I felt it months ago when I beat it. I wanted to like the game, but knew I could only enjoy a fully realized version of it. And from the second I hit the menu on Bomb Rush, I knew for sure that this game was 'close enough'.

I cannot express how immediately I knew that this was what I've been asking for. I hit the jump button and it spoke to me. The jump arc had a message, and that message was "We're gonna make your jumps floaty as fuck so you'll be able to do some whacky shit in midair". It became crystal clear that Team Reptile understood the assignment. And every decision about movement went further in proving their understanding. When you walk around in this game...you actually walk. Back in 2003, Tony Hawk Underground had this brilliant epiphany that extreme sports games don't have to glue your player character to their vehicle at all times. Sometimes it's better to just walk around instead of constantly attempting to build momentum. This benefited Underground's more open exploration and Jet Set would have received the same boon from adopting that approach. And Bomb Rush proves this. Not only does skating not take a year to get going, but if you don't want to be sliding and want precision, you can have it at the press of a button. And it's implemented so smoothly too. If you hit a rail while walking, you automatically put your skates on. If you hit a flight of stairs while skating you're back on your feet. You can switch in midair and you get this sick animation if you do. There's even special surfaces that you can only slide on effectively if you are on foot, so there's a combo extending benefit to switching between these two states. This along with how easy it is to perform tricks is the key to making Bomb Rush feel good to play at all times.

Cyberfunk encourages you to get from one side of the map to the other and back in the same trick. This isn't really emphasized in the Original. Again, it's more of a Tony Hawk thing. But in Tony Hawk it's also hard to do that shit. Every motion you do in those games is a skill check. Jet Set wasn't like that. Tricks were just fun things you can do on the side to get your completely optional score up. As such, they were easy to execute. Bomb Rush takes the simplicity of the Jet Set Radio trick system and treats it as if it was a Tony Hawk trick system. So I felt like I had near mastered every mechanic by the end of my playthrough. It's a happy medium. It's nowhere as deep as a Tony Hawk game, but that amount of skill based requests would have ruined the game’s vibes a bit. Exploration was always a bitch in the first few proskater games due to having a strict time limit and gaps being hard to clear. That's not an issue here, and the game leans into that aspect as hard as possible and litters each city with functional and cosmetic collectibles. And because there's less skill in getting from point A to B, the routes taken in getting these collectibles are near irresistible. Each city focuses on a mechanic it wants you to master, but mastery isn't exactly an ordeal. Bomb Rush offers the exact amount of challenge necessary it can before breaking the illusion of being the coolest graffiti artist of all time. The only ones who are allowed to ruin your time is the cops.

After playing the original, I came to the conclusion that the police were a necessary evil. In order to capture the essence of street art, the act of expressing oneself in the face of overwhelming opposition must be exuded. Jet Set does this by making the most annoying enemies in any game ever. It has yet to be surpassed. Bomb Rush has annoying cops, but I don't despise them the way I despise JSR cops because they don't plainly outline every issue the game has on a functional level. In fact I somewhat like it when the cops show up. Not because they impose challenge, but because I sometimes need some bodies to practice my combos on.

Bomb Rush gives you the blessed ability to both Tag Walls AND Punch Fascist. The same buttons you use to do tricks are the same ones used to throw hands. Every attack is some cool looking flip with a lack of hit stop that didn't bother me for some reason. Fighting always looks cool because you style of fools by default. It's not complex and not expansive. But there's no expectation for it to be because it's not a huge part of the game. Honestly I'm surprised it's as in depth as it is. There are launchers, heavy attacks, and combo finishers where I would have been satisfied with a basic 3 hit combo. And it's cool how each attack is the same tech you'd use outside of combat. Launchers are just super jumps. Heavy attacks are just boost tricks. Spray paint is just... Spray paint. Every mechanic in bomb rush has a use and while combat isn't a huge focus it does do a lot to highlight the thought put into each mechanic.

Bomb Rush doesn't just stop out doing its predecessor mechanically. The narrative really got me to care about what was going on. I wasn't really hit by the plot or characters in Jet Set Radio. I liked the world and character designs, but the only one to leave an impression is DJ Professor K. I say this as a guy who has spent days drawing Gum and has a Jet Set Radio poster with every character on it: I don’t give a fuck about the GG’s. They just kinda look cool. The Bomb Rush Crew though? I would die for these guys. All it really took was having scenes of them interacting together to engage me. You can tell a cast is put together just enough when there's a shot of them at the end of them all posing together and it feels hype. That happened in this game, and I did get hyped. The writing in Bomb Rush isn't exceptional, and I struggle to even call it good, but it's earnest and substantial which ends up elevating the whole game. There are themes in the story. Themes punctuated by cutscenes and gameplay set pieces, culminating in some of my highlight experiences. And the story never gets in the way either. You're only slowed down at logical points and you are never rail roaded into completing story events. Overall great implementation.

It's just a game that's fundamentally fun to play and experience. And I haven't even gotten to biggest draw of the game. The art and music. Stankfunk and 2Mello are on this album, so it's automatically a godlike OST, but they really only make up 15 percent of it. Every other artist here more or less brings it. There are so many composers I want to keep my eye on after this game. It's so wild how JSR basically created a subgenre of music, and now that it's evolved after 20 years it can be used by what is essentially the next JSR game. I'm going to be listening to Next to You for years to come and I will never be able to repay Team Reptile for introducing me to it. And look. I love cell shaded games as much as the next guy. This obviously had to be cell shaded. But that's not what makes this game look great. It looks great because these character designs are all winners. They're all stupid, and cool, and tacky, and expressive. And they all look great in motion. And at the risk of sounding too horny Bel is so hot. I wish she was real so she could sit next to me an act like I don't exist.

There are just a few things keeping this game from being perfect. Flaws inherited from its spiritual forefathers. Jet Set Radio was obtuse and buggy, and while Bomb Rush isn't as bad in this regard, it's not much better. Playing the switch version, it was not uncommon to fall out of world or having a cutscene crash the game. The map in this is as barebones as it gets despite being so stuffed with collectibles. The only details it gives you are the basic geography and graffiti locations which you have to unlock for each area. It makes navigation a bitch. And one of the most baffling decisions this game makes is the omission of any the games more advanced mechanics. All the tech I found for combat were things I learned on the internet after I beat it. I didn't know how to super jump until the one graffiti I had left to collect required me to do it. I didn't even know this game had side quest until near the end. There are so many cool things about this game that the devs just don't want to tell you about them.

All of these issues can be easily fixed and I hope they are. This is the foundation for one of the best games of this decade, but it's not there yet. Some polish needs to be added in patches for sure, but even beyond that there's more potential that can be dragged out. And I'm confident it will be. Not by Team Reptile, but by modders who will turn this into a super game. While the music in this game is great, more music would be better. While some of the game's harder challenges are satisfying, I still crave more of them. While the characters are great, none of them are MF Doom. Modding allows all of this and then some. Dear Lord, there's already online multiplayer modded in. I’m gonna take a break from this game, buy it on PC and play it with mods a year from now. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this modded version ends up being one of my favorite games ever made.

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm Gonna Play: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

This was my most anticipated game of the year as I've been wanting to see another cel-shaded style game taking after Jet Set Radio, and I finally got my hands on it! Probably its biggest selling point, the presentation sends nostalgic waves of what made Jet Set Radio stand out. The same cel-shaded, blocky and exaggerated proportions with that hip-hop influence was done very well. One thing it does better than JSR (naturally) is that it controls so much better, it's responsive and swift, not feeling like I have to wrestle with my controller like with the PC port of JSR. The graffiti system is also another improvement. Although the classic rotate the joysticks in directions is just as fun, BRC really feels like you're spraying in a ultra flashy fashion. Each graffiti had its own code, so you either have the chance to memorize your favourite pieces, or just surprise yourself by taking random directions which is what I did. However, there were many instances where I often unintentionally would make the same graffiti, which is the drawback of this system. The plot is also somewhat interesting, with a more ''mature'' outtake due to slight blood and violence references. I got a sense of a bigger plot that could've potentially unfolded if the game was longer.

However, I did have issues with some aspects. One letdown is the game's failure to properly explain its mechanics. I often struggled with what I was supposed to do, and when I did figure it out, the game would tell me WAY too late. Some examples are using skateboards on fire hydrants (never explained at all) for platforming purposes, or providing tips in the middle of a timed event rather than before. The latter being an issue is due to how the tips are presented, which is using a telephone that you need to press a button to bring up (like Grand Theft Auto 4 or 5), and then have to navigate about 2-3 times to get to the messages section, and then press the down button again to read the entire text. I was also looking forward to the character designs, as I went in mostly blind with only knowing the protagonist's design. But only one other character stood out to me. There's amazing use of shapes, but the characters lack in colour, often blending with the environment which also doesn't seem to take in much liberties in being more colourful. I should put a disclaimer that I haven't finished JSR, so this could be one of the moments where the game is really faithful to its inspiration, and I respect that.

The music is good, but not groundbreakingly catchy. There is one song that I particularly disliked as I found it quite grating. Thankfully that was at the beginning, the rest was groovy or chill!

Regardless, this is such a passionate game that I'm glad to experience, and I look forward to what else Team Reptile can come up with. I'm also looking forward to the recently revealed upcoming JSR title!

[arcticgraverobber]

I just finished: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk!

Alright, it's been a while since the last review and been even longer since I actually finished this game, so hopefully I will be able to get back into the swing of things again now, and remember what this was actually like.

Ever since I heard about Bomb Rush Cyberfunk I was extremely excited, being a huge fan of the Jet Set Radio games, however I was aware that I'd been excited about similar projects before, so was attempting to be reserved until it actually came out - which thankfully wasn't entirely necessary.

To be clear this is not a Jet Set Radio game - much like what Bloodstained - Ritual of the Night was to the Castlevania franchise, BRC is very much it's own thing, don't expect a carbon copy - and while that thing is not too my taste as much as JSR, I do have to respect it for trying to have it's own identity.

The main thing that excited me about BRC was that Hideki Naganuma, the main composer for the JSR franchise, was going to be working on it. Now he is - but his music is not as big a part of this as in JSR where it made up at least 50% of the soundtrack. He has 3-4 songs in the game, and they're all pretty good - the rest is done by various other small artists; this game didn't exactly have the budget to have something like Dragula on the soundtrack. The soundtrack is generally good, and is similar enough to JSR music - but I didn't quite jive with it as much, and the biggest issue I had was the lack of variety - most of the music was extremely similar, which when people make 'Jet Set Radio Inspired Music' often forget that the games had a mixture of music on them, not all breakbeat stuff. Again, it's not Jet Set Radio, and that's fine, but temper your expectations about how good of a successor it may be - especially considering the music is the most important part of JSR for me - that's why I was more excited about a composer from them working on this than the director or anything - it's central to it's identity.

Aside from the music, the game play is very similar to JSR, and the general aesthetic, graphics and animations feel perfect. The big differences - both of which I'm not super fond of - are the addition of a focus on combat, and an attempt to do a somewhat complex story.

The original JSR didn't have much in the way of combat - you dealt with everything the same way: skating to get to them and then spray painting them - this applied whether your talking about graffiti, a cop, or an attack helicopter. The games also had more of a focus on running away from the enemies and not directly taking them on - not so much the case in BRC· The game kind of even has an attack button - although it's more of a trick button that is first introduced as an attack button, you can do a lot of things like in the original: spray painting enemies and such, the game just doesn't do a good job of explaining this. It also has lengthy boss encounters that take FOREVER - this is extremely boring, you can just run away from these, you have to defeat them, they happen fairly often and they just aren't FUN.

The other frustrating thing is the story. JSR of course had an extremely simple and quite silly story, an evil business man trying to take of the world by corrupting and controlling music, and the way you take him down? Friendship, of course, and spray paint. BRC had it's own ideas about this, making a far more complex and frankly boring story about characters I mostly do not care about. The game is hinged initially around a murder - someone's head gets chopped off looking like something from killer7 - and that is initially interesting but the game then insists of focusing the whole game around the character of Red - I did not like his stupid robot head and I did not like playing as him, but BRC doesn't care about that and kept changing me back to him to force me to play with their favourite. A little spoilers ahead, but the game's villain isn't even a cop or business man, its another graffiti artist - the cops are made out to be kind of cool in this as well, which I can't abide by. There's a cool women cop with a jetpack who I think your meant to like? But she's a cop?

Anyway, whilst that was two paragraphs about what I disliked about the game - I still really enjoyed the game. I will say most people will probably not enjoy it enough for the £30 price tag, so wait for a sale unless your a big JSR fan like me. One thing we can maybe thank BRC for is showing SEGA that there is interest in a successor to JSR, with talk recently about a possible JSR reboot with the original team. I'm not holding my breath on that, but I am hopeful.

Grade: A

Significance: 1/3

[omegaplus]

# 4,415

Lindenhurst.

I lived in Brentwood for much of my timeline; mostly at my childhood home and later moved down the road not too far away post-Stony Brook. The latter move was a result of me refusing to move down to Myrtle Beach with my parents. I never had any desire to leave New York State and I never had enough of visiting New York City. Around the time, the economy plundered. I went broke and applied for the first job opportunity that was open in order to survive. I had no idea that place would ruin me. For most of the time at the second Brentwood residency, I wasn’t feeling 100% because of constant targeting of management and their crony co-workers. It took me a while to get back on track and eventually whatever I lost I gained back and more. I discovered a few key artists that made me see the light. I got back into broadcasting with a new radio show, and I finally re-united with Cath- whom I haven’t seen in a few years due to her addiction and sordid history.

But, some things turn sour that’s not your fault. Ma’ commits suicide and your dad ends up moving back in with you. You end up working two jobs without a day-off in near vicinity. Cath-’s #1 dies of a heroin overdose and she cuts off all ties from you with absolutely no reason given. Your unemployed gamer landlord doesn’t put in his fair share of rent and utilities, so you end up with no internet and you’re literally freezing because there’s no running heat or hot water for all of winter. Of all the major events going on, that final one had my bro- take notice. He was living with his lady and their first-born in Lindenhurst. He felt so bad learning I was living with no utilities that he not only offered me to move in with him to Lindenhurst but also into a new house. I shouldn’t say ‘offered’. He told me so. Sure. I wasn’t complaining.

I had about a week to pack up all the loose ends and was told to take out all my records, discs, cassettes, VHS tapes, and DVDs from the drawers and throw them in giant bins. Him and his friends managed to lift all the furniture up out of the old Brentwood residency and into the new one in Lindenhurst. It was my duty to take some of the smaller boxes of personals to stuff in the trunk, back seat, and passengers' seat of my car.

I’d be leaving behind the un-mopped dingy floors, the eventual basement floods, and the other disused soot-ridden rooms which the former random inhabitants lived in. One ‘neighbor’ who lived in the adjacent room from me came home on the weekends totally wasted that he collapsed face first on the floor as soon as he walked in. He almost caused a house fire by forgetting the bag of popcorn he was cooking in the microwave. And the best one – get ready for this - was when a fully nude lady almost walked into my room. It was his prostitute looking for him. Jesus Fucking Christ.

I went to work and was told by my bro- that everything would be moved in the same day, so just come to the new house in Lindenhurst. I had no idea how good I had it. My new room was up on the second floor and triple the size of my previous one. Carpeted floors. Windows that faced the peeking sun. Low-flying passenger jets. A wider, larger closet space, and a pair of smaller doors revealing an attic for storage. Plus, being in Lindenhurst meant that three record stores were in near vicinity: West Babylon’s Looney Tunes, Amityville’s High Fidelity, and Massapequa’s Infinity Records. Lindenhurst had quickly become a favorite place to live in.

I arrived from work on a sunny 70* Sunday. June 1st to be exact. Most of what I kept from my childhood home and the previous residency came with me to Lindenhurst such as a gumball machine, my gramma’s Lafayette LR-810 receiver, and a massive Philips 24” CRT TV that would paralyze anyone attempting to lift it. All of it was there and a few boxes of my audio / video library. I wasn’t interested in unpacking. Not just yet. Our wi-fi network was set-up. That was the most important thing to me. I haven’t had consistent wi-fi in six months. The first thing I looked up was to see how Cath- was doing despite her taking everything we had and throwing out the trash as if it was nothing. Good news: she’s started a new life solo in Arizona and has been clean for one month.

The first finds to mark my new stay in Lindenhurst? Someone had posted Pharmakon’s “Xia Xinfeng” where her murderous screams break through a fully-running frigidly cold hum. I was sold instantly. The vinyl-finds groups lead me to Mass Production and Peter Brown; soul-jazz and pop respectively. I stuck with the L.I.E.S. label after fully enjoying Ron Morelli’s solos for a quite a while, all released through Dominick Fernow’s Hospital Productions. His label compilation, Music For Shut-Ins, supplied Samantha’s Vacation, Svengalisghost, and Legowelt. Omar Souleyman started gaining a name for himself in the states. Experiencing “Kell Il Banat Inkhatban (All The Girls Are Engaged)“ is truly something. I never heard keyboards go that crazy. Then we have WUSB’s own Alice, dee-jay of Nightmare Aquarium. Without her, I wouldn’t have known who Ariel Pink and William Onyeabor were. I credit her for introducing me to the magically sublime Black Marble.

Nary did I have a day off during that Summer I moved in. I could only count four…maybe six total. The electronics place finally gave me full time, double-dealing between that and part-time at the Italian market. The only stand-out moment I had during the hotter months was getting lost somewhere in the sunny woodsy section of Mastic looking for Nicole’s residency which I did find an hour late. Nowadays, one listen to A Different Arrangement instantly takes me back to those June Sundays.

Autumn came. The days were getting cooler and darker. Driving past Argyle Pond coming home from work became a staple memory with synthwave vibes of “Fright Night” from Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti forever attached to it. Hospital Productions gave me another artist to savor in the Italian-based Ninos Du Brasil  with their dying-hot exotic techno sounds. Suicideyear would be distinct to the season and to Lindenhurst alone which makes their sound personal in my book. Another neighborhood memory, Dual Action’s “NC-17 Drive In”, is forever intertwined to the Autumn soul. Our WUSB hip-hop dee-jay Dr. Ceus played me SpaceGhostPurrp’s “Mystical Maze” adding another bookmark in this asterisk time. Mono/Poly’s “Alpha Omega”, Lussuria’s “Mondo Narcotico” and “Keys To Unlock Paradise (Roman Showers)” from American Babylon, Function & Vatican Shadow’s Games Have Rules, the obscure Axxa/Abraxas’ “Waiting Daze”, and selections from The Bug’s Angels & Devils left their imprints on another feel-good season at Lindenhurst.

Before I knew it, my streak of 83 straight days of work was finally broken a few days before Thanksgiving. I came to visit the market for my hours to see that I was written out of the grid. Week after week it became a normal occurrence. I’ve been giving them my other hours in time without fail but now no more results. No discussion, no rhyme or reason why. I was let go without any notice. It was a blessing, however. A soft end to six years of non-stop belittling, boys-club behavior, and endless soul-torturing has finally been put down to die.

Winter was where things started to get fucked for discoveries; like the ‘parenthesis’ in an equation. My ex- Yenny is leaving for Lima and she’s asked me to house-sit for her in Hauppauge. A two-week stay meant all music discoveries default there. A residency inside a residency. Before and after, XXYYXX’s only full-length and two finds from the Ze label Xmas Record, Suicide’s “Hey Lord” and Alan Vega’s “No More Christmas Blues” are embedded in those frosty, chilly Winter days back in Lindy-. The latter two would be put on pause as I walked a couple of blocks to the bagel place for a heavy baked breaded breakfast.

Then came a March announcement from my bro-: we’re moving to Ronkonkoma. This was unexpected. He was excited to start a new point in his life. His lady was expecting their second child and wanted something even nicer than what we have. There was no issue with where we lived. I had none and truly wanted to stay longer. But, what my bro- was selling us on that we’d upgrade from the slightly crowded residential streets, noise-polluting airplanes, and highways across every direction for a gentler, calmer, at-peace setting of historical context, well-manicured lawns, trails, veteran’s parks, and a 4.5 square-mile scenic lake. To me, Ronkonkoma was Record Stop on Portion Road, punk luminary Jimi LaLumia’s Record Connection on Hawkins Road, and what used to be Lakeside’s bar where I’d go for some small-scale but breakout-violent local hardcore shows. Other than LaLumia, none are still standing. It’s a new decade now; far away from the community-college shows and record-buying jaunts from the Stony Brook era. We had up until May 1st   to get everything together. The Lindenhurst finds dwindled down to nothing, and all the discoveries found that Spring ended up at the current residency we’re at now. It was time to say goodbye to my old furniture: the twin-sized bed, the old bookshelves, dressers, drawers, the gumball machine, and the Lafayette that was losing its functionality. We left all the small stuff in front of the gate and left the furniture behind. Goodbye Lindenhurst and hello Ronkonkoma.

**********

I can tell you that my very first experience in the new neighborhood was delightful and exotic. We were only a few blocks away from the new house. My dad had me pull up to our neighborhood 7-11 for his daily coffee. I grab a pack of Hostess chocolate cupcakes and behind the counter I see the perfect ginger. Bright long copper hair, brown eyes, freckles, and all of pale skin. Jackpot. She was a sight to be seen.

There was a line of five people in front of us with two registers open. Dad was more than ready to sip his coffee but was getting restless as the scalding hot was wearing off. Lucky for me, the young Indian kid took care of him. I put my Hostess on the counter for the ginger to ring up. She was quiet, expressionless. Tired, bored, introverted? Who knows. Who cares. She made quick work of my purchase and I was two more cupcakes happier. The day was off to a great start. I didn’t believe people like her existed.

She was my very first memory at the new neighborhood. I still remember her to this very day. There’s some faces you never forget.

Pharmakon “Xia Xinfeng”

Mass Production “Slow Bump”

Atari Teenage Riot “Modern Liars”

Peter Brown “For Your Love”

Black Marble A Different Arrangement

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Schnitzel Boogie”

Purling Hiss “Don’t Even Try It”

Omar Souleyman “Kell Il Banat Inkhatban (All The Girls Are Engaged)“

Poly Styrene (as Mari Elliott) “Silly Billy”

L.I.E.S. label Music For Shut-Ins (2013)

Carbonas “September Gurls”

Predator “Honest Man”

Run The Jewels “Blockbuster Night Pt. 1”

Arca “Thievery”

Broadcast “Goodbye Girls”

Ariel Pink “Put Your Number In My Phone”

Ninos Du Brasil “Pandiero Sinchinsa”

NeruvianDOOM “Disastrous”

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments “Please Hear My Plea”

Suicideyear “Hope Building A”

Hussy, The “EZ-PZ”

Carbonas “Frothing At The Mouth”

Krewe Of 77 “Three’s A Crowd”

Ekoplekz “Robert Rental”

Wara From The NBHD “Squeal (Peel Off)”

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Fright Night (Never More)”

Mono/Poly “Alpha & Omega”

Casket Girls, The “Chemical Dizzy”

Bug, The “Void”

Suicideyear “Rememberance”

Standish / Carlyon “2 5 1 1”

Vereker “Rosite”

Ninos Du Brazil “Tuppelo”

SpaceGhostPurrp “Mystikal Maze”

Dual Action “NC-17 Drive In”

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments ”Turntable Battlefield”

Bug, The “Swarm”

Suicideyear “I Don’t Care About Death Because I Smoke”

Travis Porter “Do A Trick” (Suicideyear RMX)

Ninos Du Brasil “Rebanho Espetacular”

Lussuria “Mondo Narcotico”

Function & Vatican Shadow Games Have Rules

Axxa/Abraxas “Waiting Daze”

Lussuria “Keys To Unlock Paradise (Roman Showers)”

Blossom Dearie “Sunday Afternoon”

XXYYXX “Witching Hour”

Alan Vega “No More Christmas Blues”

Suicide “Hey Lord”

XXYYXX “Fields”

[blazehedgehog]

Got a top 5 or 10 most wanted Fortnite skins?

I've been playing Fortnite regularly since 2019. I've had every Battle Pass since Chapter 2. I get free currency daily for having a Fortnite Founders Pass (hence why I have every Battle Pass).

I am drowning in so many skins that the 100 locker presets Epic gives you is nowhere near enough. Every time I get or buy a new skin, I have to make the hard decision of what I can safely replace.

It actually genuinely influences my spending habits because I'll think, "I've wanted this guy for a long time, but I don't feel like deleting anything for him."

If you mean: are there any skins not in Fortnite that I really want? I don't know if I can answer that. Partially because of what I just described, but partially also because of "Santa's Lap Syndrome" where I'm sure I've said "oh I want that in Fortnite" but now I cannot for the life of me remember a single thing.

Following through on Samus would be nice, I guess. It seems like she was really close to releasing and then got held up at the last second. There's a fair amount of evidence in her favor (but this post is long enough as it is), and I was all prepped an ready to buy her back when I thought she was right around the corner.

As for skins already in the game, I can just skim a list to tell you that.

Envoy. She's priced cheap and I think she's cute.

I'd love to have Calamity, but she's a battle pass and as such will never rerun. She's just a cool cowgirl and has lots of alt styles.

I've come very close to buying ISO and her male counterpart. They're actually in the shop as I'm writing this. FIGHTING POLYGON TEAM

Sandshark Driver reminds me of Gum from Jet Set Radio. That's enough for me.

Mezmer is another guy I've come EXTREMELY close because I think his mask is rad.

I think Peekaboo's juggalo/goth clown alt is hilarious but I've never been able to bite the bullet and buy her.

The Joker is fun but he's always a real money skin and he's only sold in a pack with other stuff for like $30. Barf.

Mariana looks super cool but I wonder how visible she is at night.

Trog was a Battle Pass skin so he's gone forever.

I like Errant because you can apply gun wraps to his armor, giving him hundreds of customization options. But I own another skin that functions somewhat similarly.

Silver Surfer just looks cool.

I have Deadpool, so the other X-Force members just make sense, like Domino and Cable.

I regret not being on the ball enough to get this Playstation Blue variant of Versa. (it was free for PS+ subs) Vanilla Versa is definitely a "one day when I have enough vbucks to spare, I'll buy her."

The Classic Storm Trooper is also just a good in that "I always had this skin in Quake 3" way.

Blackheart is another Battle Pass skin I would die for. Blackheart/Blakebeard is one of THE best characters in STW, Fortnite's campaign mode. AND HE HAS GHOST PIRATE STYLES

Dire is yet another Battle Pass skin I missed. He was the Halloween skin one year and is basically just a cool werewolf, and you can toggle how far in to the transformation he is.

Spider Knight is just a cool looking... uh, Knight. Really, I also want his glider, which is a giant flying black widow spider. But the skin looks great, too.

I've come very close to buying Ghost Rider.

I've waffled back and forth on Rustler because I don't know how much value there is for me personally in just going "hur hur it's my little pony." It's still funny it exists, though.

I've thought about getting the OG Beef Boss, but I already own a couple of other variants, so it's less important now. Same for Tomato Tom.

They put a freakin Gundam Wing parody (Sentinel) in the Battle Pass and it is maybe my #1 regret not having it.

Sometimes I want Crackshot, but I have a friend who uses him pretty often, so it'd be kind of weird? (Another STW all-star character)

When I first started playing, Moisty Merman was the top of my most-wanted list. Now I've wondered if I still care.

Deadfire is in the same camp as Calamity as far as "cool cowboys" go, but this guy is also a phantom cowboy. Double cool!

Order Remnant is the same category as Envoy where he's not very expensive and I just like the way he looks.

Madcap is a fun concept for a character and I like his colors.

A World War 1 gas mask guy is a weird thing to see in Fortnite, and that's the entire reason I want Sky Stalker.

I don't like Chiara's default (with the silver paint), but I love her alt.

I didn't love Kill Bill, but something about Siren is still cool.

Taskmaster is like The Joker where I'd like to have him, but he's in an expensive real-money pack and no thanks.

Eternal Voyager was a Battle Pass skin from the season before I started playing regularly and he's awesome. That skull alt...

...Honestly? That's a lot more than I expected. And I'm probably forgetting or missing some. For comparison, here's a (also probably incomplete) list of all the skins I already own.

If I had to boil it down to a top ten most wanted, I'd say: Chiara, Versa, Mezmer, Ghost Rider, Sky Stalker, Taskmaster, Madcap, Deadfire, Domino and ISO, I guess.