#jul-likes-magpies

[lehdenlaulu]

Game asks: 5, 9, 14, 22 😁✨

Thank you, love!

5. Game(s) coming out that you’re looking forward to

First of all, Dragon's Dogma 2! It coming out in this year's March was such a delightful surprise. The original game from a decade or so ago was really interesting and in many ways innovative, though it has remained pretty obscure to larger audiences. Even I came across it pretty much by chance.

It's not that I mind the recent trend of tactical/isometric RPGs (though I've never been that big a fan of turn-based, as someone who grew up on the OG Infinity Engine games, RWP all the way), but an open-world action-adventure is still a welcome change (Starfield, bless its heart, doesn't count). I've also never been into the JRPG genre, but DD is an interesting case because while it's a Japanese production, it doesn't feel like a JRPG, aesthetically or otherwise.

Anyway, feast your eyes on the latest trailer!

There are others that I'm looking forward to as well, like Awoved, Broken Roads, Star Wars: Outlaws, and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 (though with the developmental weirdness and the complete overhaul of the entire concept of the game that followed, I'm more cautiously curious than excited now). But realistically, I only expect one or two of them to actually come out this year.

Oh, and there are some cool visual novels coming out that I'm looking forward to as well, like Made Marion (currently in Early Access with Robin's route already playable), Call Me Under (which I hope has avoided the issues the studio's last two games, Errant Kingdom in particular, had), Imperial Grace, Tenebrae, and When Stars Collide.

9. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved

Huh. It's pretty rare for me to go in completely blind, though I usually don't go out of my way to look things up either as the joy of discovery is a big thing for me. But... I guess I could say the first Dragon's Dogma? I did not have many expectations, and while it wasn't the most brilliant thing ever and had some frustrating mechanics, it was super enjoyable (until the endgame bits ugh, but that's a me issue I guess).

Oh, and Enderal, of course! It's safe to say I Had No Idea What I Was In For.

14. A song that’s sure to hit your nostalgia buttons

Hah, how nostalgic do we want to get? Though a song specifically narrows things down a little, hmm.

Honestly, the first one to start playing in my head was Malukah's gorgeous Beauty of Dawn for The Elder Scrolls Online, but my brain also protests because a ten-year-old game is apparently not old enough for it to count as nostalgic. 😂

Something really old, then? How's A Pirate I Was Meant To Be? 😎

22. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

Well. The thing is, I'm apparently chronically allergic to finishing games. It's not that I lose interest, exactly, I guess I just don't like things to end or something? So I'm basically what you might call the complete antithesis of a speedrunner, I have to do literally everything else first and I often find myself loading an older save if I feel like the main quest is proceeding too fast (depending a little on the type of game, of course). 😅

So this is a bit of a challenge for me. Also, endings are tough in any media from a writing standpoint, truly satisfying and impactful endings are difficult to pull off.

But... even though I haven't technically finished it, I think I have to say Enderal. I mean, there are several possible endings, but they're all emotionally impactful, make sense, and will haunt you for a long time afterwards (as does the entire game, really).

Talk to me about video games?

[garf-lover96]

Vesuvia Weekly; Watching Them Sleep (Rowan and Julian, feat. Portia!)

originally i had two concepts for this prompt and then just kept scrapping them interchangeably before i finally settled on this one. i wrote it in first person to try out something new!! the word count is like 1k as usual

———

"...And you're telling me this happens all the time?"

Portia stares down at Julian's unmoving body, his cheek pressed against the kitchen table and eyes closed. Her eyes are wide with shock but I can tell it's taking every ounce of self control she has for her to not burst out laughing.

Julian was convincing me that he could manage to stay awake for a few more hours since we already invited Portia over for some early evening tea. But the moment I left the kitchen to let her in through the shop's door, we both heard a harsh thud followed by a low croak. Apparently it was Malak that played a part in making Julian smash his forehead into the table.

I shoo the raven off his head with a deep sigh and he lands on the nearby counter with an annoyed caw.

"Not all the time... We just fell out of our sleeping routine a bit recently." I say quietly and cross my arms, "We used to go to sleep together—getting into bed strictly at the same time—to keep our schedule consistent, but all it took was one all nighter pulled and..." I wave my hand in Julian's general direction with a mildly guilty expression. It was my recent fever that made him not sleep well in the first place after all.

"Even all that caffeine didn't help him in the long run, huh?" Portia scoffs and rolls her eyes, "...He looks awful." she mumbles, tilting her head to get a better look at him.

We both keep staring at Julian. Nobody would expect someone as perpetually exhausted as him to be an aesthetically pleasing sleeper... And he sure looks terrible. His hair is disgruntled, his eyebags worse than ever, he has a faint red mark on his forehead and he's starting to drool onto the table a bit. That's actually kind of cute... At least his face doesn't seem tense, as it so often does due to his night terrors.

So, suddenly, I get a very strong urge to defend Julian's honor in front of his own sister...

"Actually, he doesn't look all that awful. He's been worse. This is, despite the fact that he's passed out on the table, a big improvement from where we've come from-"

"I can still say he looks ugly." Portia cuts me off with a snort, desperately trying not to start giggling about the situation like a maniac.

"Well- I doubt that Nadia looks all royal and stunning even while she's asleep..." I bite back and nudge her arm with a smile.

"Hey, don't you dare drag Nadia into this! I'll have you know, she looks especially gorgeous when she's asleep!" she tries to sound offended, but isn't able to hide the huge grin on her face.

"...I refuse to believe that."

Just when I think our bickering session is only beginning, Bluebell, that's been sitting cuddled up to my neck this whole time, snags a strand of my hair and brings my attention back to Julian.

"...Right, I should at least get him to bed." I sigh out and scratch the magpie's neck gently.

"Need help with that?" Portia asks, but she's already walking around the table to hoist Julian up from his seat.

"He's light enough... If you just help me get him into my arms, I should be fine."

We move the chair away from the table and Portia manages to catch him before he completely topples over.

"Damn it, he's completely knocked out." she grunts out as he grabs his shoulders.

We maneuver his limp, asleep body for a good few minutes before I finally manage to get a secure hold on him. His arms get thrown over my shoulders which causes Bluebell to fly over and perch on Portia's head instead. And I have to hold his thighs really high up so that his feet don't drag on the floor...

"Pfhah, now he's drooling on your neck..." Portia snickers and slides the chair back under the table.

"Right, just... Just open the door to the bedroom, please..."

I can feel Julian tighten his hold on me for a moment and beginning to nuzzle into my neck before his chin painfully stabs my shoulder. It makes me shudder but I just start walking faster to get him in the bed as soon as possible... At least he's easier to carry when he's holding on like this.

Portia holds the bedroom door open for me and I finally manage to walk over with him to the bed. Supporting his back, I try to lay him down as gently as I can, but I accidentally stumble and make him hit the mattress. Then I almost fall over on top of him which actually makes him stir a little.

"Ahh, who goes there...?", he rubs his eyes and squints at me, his accent sounding a little thicker with those being his first conscious words.

But oh no, I know that tone...

"Has the time finally come? A charming knight has arrived to wake me from my slumber..." he says in a theatrical voice and raises one of his hands to touch my cheek.

I freeze, feeling Portia's eyes boring right into my back. "Uh, Julian-"

"What, aren't you going to kiss me and seal our..." he trails off when I shake my head at him. Then he just stares at me with a very confused and disappointed expression.

I straighten up and step away from him. He goes completely red in the face the second he notices Portia is in the room as well.

"I should've known you guys roleplay of all things. Why haven't I seen you on the stage together yet?" she says with a smirk, looking between the both of us. Julian's still so disoriented after the nap that he can't even get a word out... He probably forgot we were having Portia over too.

"We should get that tea, uh... Brewing... Come on." I quickly pull a blanket over Julian and take his sister's arm to lead her out of the bedroom.

"...Are you going to answer my question?" Portia asks after I close the door behind us.

"I uh, I have stage fright, actually." I answer quickly and take Bluebell off of her head.

"You should get over it, and soon. I can only watch Ilya alone on a stage, monologuing away so many times... Maybe a romance would be a nice change of pace in the repertoire." she elbows me in the ribs with a small giggle, "I am serious though. I could even help you practice and all!"

"...I'll give it a thought."

I really do not want to give it a thought. But I know Portia won't let this go, maybe ever. I might as well start getting a costume ready...

[alackofghosts]

got two lil bits of memery for you today ehehe. i'm tagging @callsignnightshrike, @azemessence, @jul-likes-magpies, @fourteenthz, @all-of-humankind - no pressure of course, and feel free to snag one or both memes!

first off tagged by @oneiroy, thank you <3 :3

Last Song Listened To: doctor blind by emily haines & the soft skeleton. recently remembered this song from My Youth and now youtube likes to sprinkle it in sometimes on autoplay lol

Currently Watching: recently graduated from obsessively watching sunrise/sunset times, currently obsessively watching the local weather site for spring weather updates. tv shows, never heard of 'em

Sweet/Savory/Spicy?: i tend to actively crave savoury things more often, but i'm waaaay less picky about sweets (if it's sweet i'll probably eat it, it is as shrimple as that)

Relationship Status: 2 aromantic 4 this

Current Obsession: like two weeks ago it would still have been fallout 4, but i have returned to being able to do and think about other things since then. i don't have anything that's of the making me chew on the bars of the cage right now levels of obsession, but you know, having fun noodling about in ffxiv now that i have escaped todd howard, making little plans for what to get done before dawntrail and drawing my lil pictures

and also the 5 songs i'm into meme, tagged by @crackinthecup <3 sticking it under the cut for length!

...narrowing down the criteria for this was a challenge and a half, but i'm playing this on hardcore mode and leaving out 1) oc/character/ship songs 2) all time faves that i love but i'm not super actively listening to right now, i've only got 5 songs after all, gotta make 'em count!!

1) stoppa mig juni (lilla ego) by kent - tbh still kinda reeling from the revelation that kent... good??!! when ingenting made me want to set the radio on fire as a 12 year old. anyway, this whole meme could be populated by kent alone, i've been listening to them so much

2) it will all make sense in the morning by halou - i adore the atmosphere in this song so much, one of those 'i wanna apply this to something but i don't know what' tunes

3) a masters in reverse psychology by murder by death - ...if i pulled up a random song from this album to put on this list. well. i'm SO obsessed with the whole album, not a single bad song on it and i love listening to it from start to finish all the time

4) children of the sun by poets of the fall - the absolute fight for my life against rule nr 1 when it comes to potf... and even so, the line is very blurry with this one BUT i just love this song, it's so gentle

5) isa tuli koju by metro luminal - the obligatory estonian entry and i'm trying to be slightly less predictable by not listing terminaator for a change. it's a bit of a meme with my family, but i can't deny that this song nevertheless fucks, i love the dark lyrics

[rei-does-stuff]

Any more opinions on the Sah dub?

Just watched the Ep 2 of the dub so here’s my liveblog of it

-The intro is so long…And the music is so bad, why couldn’t they just dub one of the existing songs??? We’re little scouts in english, cmon!!

-why is everything so yellow?? The original wasn’t this yellow?? It’s like everything has been dipped in piss or something! Was it film damage? I imagine the original already had its fair share of damage but surely it wouldn’t have turned THIS yellow if there’s rips with better quality

-Foxes are already introduced when they aren’t supposed too (the picture is clearly mice?)

-I will admit the music they use in the beginning (when the magpies are arriving) is pretty good

-Not a problem with the dub I don’t think but for one frame Geum’s outfit changes from brown to green

-“I understand you’re fighting for your people just like us” that’s how you know they didn’t know shit about the original because THEY WOULD NEVER SAY THAT

-With the name changes and everyone looking the same its gonna be so hard to understand what’s going on yall

-Commander Jogjebi laughing along with the music is very cute ill admit

-NO THEY CHANGED THE “how dare you point a gun at me scene” and made it worseeee, it was rlly funny in the og :(

-God they make the already convoluted story even more convoluted because of how confusing they make everything

-I thought they cut out a lot of the violence yet they kept that violent murdering of that mice soldier?

-The music when Juldarami gets caught is nice too

-Really likes to tell you what is on screen in annoying detail

-AND THEY KEPT JUL STRANGLING A MOUSE WITH HIS HELMET WHERE IS THE CUT VIOLENCE

Overall it was once again just okay, I am hoping the censorship at least gets more funny and things get less boring !!

[vocalsynthbdays]

im sorry for posting this so late, but happy late birthday to cyber songman(vocaloid 4), Bones(alter/ego), Magpie Batty(utau), and XELTA(utau) !!!!!! [oct 31]

cyman

bones

magpie

xelta (jp design)

cyber songman (aka cyan or cyman) is an english synth developed by yamaha, and released in 2016. his vp has not been revealed, and seemingly neither has the photographer nor model of his image. cyman's v5 released on 12 jul 2018, ands called "Cyber Songman II". hes available on the mobile vocaloid editor and vocaloid neo.

Bones is an english and japanese synth, developed and voiced by Tora-Ouji/ NEUTROGIC, and released in 2016. bones is illustrated by Sleppu. bones is the second default bank for the alterego engine, replacing daisy who was the original default bank. his companion creature is called Diggard.

Magpie Batty is japanese synth created by and voiced by MAGPIE, and released in 2019. magpies imagines were also done by MAGPIE. she has 5vbs (i think).

XELTA is a english japanese synth created and voiced by Dav-P, and introduced on 10 nov 2021. xelta is illustrated by Mirek. xelta is an adult trans man. he is homosexual and demiromantic. he is 167.64cm tall. his character birthday is 31 oct. xelta is south korean. he is also a zombie. he has ptsd (post-traumatic stress disorder)

tw for discussion of bigotry, transphobia, and grooming(?) for the next part.

i was also going to post about Kei Mochizuki(utau) and Dr. Hai(utau) but i decided not to. according to the utau fandom wiki kei is referred to with a transphobic slur in her character profile. however i do not know japanese and i cannot confirm nor deny this. as such, if anyone knows more about kei or just knows japanese and would be able to clarify this i would appreciate it !! either way, as a trans person i did not want to uncritically draw attention to her because of this. if any other trans people want to have a look at her and give their thoughts on kei i would appreciate that also ! im not posting about hai because his character profile describes him as being bigoted, and i felt its a bit weird and uncomfortable to post about an oc someone decided to make bigoted. less canonical, but, on his utau wiki 2.0 page there is a poor mspaint-like drawing of hai by Lasaillax. from what ive seen there is some cross-over/ collaboration between Lasaillax and Dav-P(creator of hai) so i wanted to mention it. on this drawing is text reading "Also this person clearly knew that the victim was virtually a preteen and literally didn't know what they were doing but yet again proceeded to have sexual talks and roleplays with them as if that is socially acceptable we don't stan we we do not". hai has been alive for around 7000 years according to his character profile but looks 27yo. so again, i did not want to post about an adult character who is said to have sexual relation with minors. if this is a misunderstanding or if anyone can tell me if i am misinterpreting this or smthing i would greatly appreciate it !! also, hai was released over 6 years ago, and kei over 11 years ago, so i am not trying to cancel or call out any of the people involved. i just wanted to explain why im not posting them and ask for some further information or explanation if i can !

cyman full image

bones logo

original art by tora

magpie red and honey

magpie brain and death

magpie natural

xelta eng

[alwayscryingoverdannyb]

Tag nine (9) people you’d like to know better

tagged by @teddy-after-all ♥️

Last Song: yesterday before I went to bed I played “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis on my guitar

Currently Watching: nothing. I’m cautiously excited for s3 of The Witcher but I’ll definitely wait till all the episodes are out

Currently Reading: I’m giving the city watch (audio)books by terry pratchett a second listen :)) they’re quite complex and also I don’t remember that much of it so it’s still very enjoyable (I’m at book 2 “men at arms”)

Current Obsession: none. and for the first time in my life I’m not itching to obtain one. I’m just too tired of everything. my obsession are generally audiobooks bc they keep me company and drown out unwanted thoughts

tagging: @fishylife @bourbonthesecond @tedkordisanasshole @jul-likes-magpies @fluffleforce-mysdrym @agrumpyfox @blizzly

[spicetdusk]

Tag someone you want to know better

Thanks @fanghuas and @pastelcheckereddreams for tagging me! (thanks for the same hell solidarity, guys)

Favorite color: Purple! 💜

Last song: Terrible workplace radio station aside, the last song I actually chose to listen to was I think…House of Mercy by Sarah Jarosz

Last movie: I watched Red, White, and Royal Blue about four times the week it came out, I think 😅

Currently watching: Mysterious Lotus Casebook— round 2! Finished it yesterday and started right back over at the beginning aha ✌️

Currently reading: Not reading anything at the moment, actually. I had an absolutely insane book devouring month last month, I’m taking a break for new show hyperfixation at the moment haha. But the last book I read was the first part of the official Guardian translation that just came out!

Currently working on: No in progress projects at the moment, which was why I was reading like a maniac last month to keep myself busy, haha. Should start thinking about any paintings I might want to do for Christmas gifts soon though.

Current obsession: I am simmering Mysterious Lotus Casebook in my mind on medium heat. I am kissing the main characters on their foreheads and tucking them into a gas station hot dog warmer and watching them proudly through the glass. I am literally SO unwell about these men, dear god. (This is of course entirely the fault of my two lovely taggers, but the serotonin high is fucking lit so I’m happy to be here lmao)

Let’s see, tagging @jul-likes-magpies, @silvergifting and @thearrogantemu , if you guys want!

[jezebelgoldstone]

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[nipuni]

Hey, i saw a tag on one of your posts, just wanted to ask are you ok? D:

Hello! aaaaah that is so sweet of you 😭 thank you for your concern!! I am alright, just being dramatic!! 😆 these last couple of months have just been trying. With the usual third world economy problems come the goverment restrictions and saving up and accessing my own money has been hard, there is also a lot of visa related paperwork we are working on, finding health insurance that accepts immigrants is proving difficult, also a job! we don’t have much time left here so its been busy and on top of this my grandma is hospitalized waiting for surgery but has several complications so it is a bad situation in general, my own health hasn’t been cooperating much either and I’m trying to keep up with freelancing schedules so I’m just..tired 😩 but these are all problems I was expecting and can handle so it is alright no worries! I just vent in tags when I’m frustrated 😆 thank you so much for checking in though!! 😭💕💕💕

[lehdenlaulu]

Heyo is Marco Polo worth warching? :3

Oh yeah. The first season especially, the second one is a little disappointing to be completely honest.

It's grade A eyecandy, has awesome diverse cast of characters, an unusual and fascinating historical setting, cool court intrigue etc. etc.

It should still be on Netflix, too, so go watch it! 😁

[slavicafire]

So as a czech bulgarian language nerd i have a fairly good grasp of slavic languages, but polish is sort of hard for me. However, I think I found my FAVOURITE* slavic word in one of your recent answered asks, *pierdolenie*. IT’S SO FUNNY AND CUTE 😂😂😂

ah, it is one of my forever favourite words too! 

[actualmermaid]

jul-likes-magpies replied to your post: �� amazon planning a sil based series

I snorted at the slowly dancing rock. I HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN THE FILM AND I KNOW OF THE SINGLE FUCKING ROCK

sadly that is not even the worst part of that time M Night Shyamalan made a drunk bet to see how badly he could ruin one of the most perfectly-crafted animated series of all time

[thelioninmybed]

jul-likes-magpies replied to your post: hi i was just wondering, where in the legendarium...

I always thought it was @tosquinha’s design that sort of started thos? And also I sort of imagined it to be possible because Zuko has dual swords in ATLA and cartoons can’t be wrong, rifht?? Right?? Especially ones with flying six legged bison!!

Ah, interesting! Tosquinha’s designs are gorgeous and that makes a lot of sense. 

People definitely did dual wield! It just comes with a bucketload of caveats and was (to the best of my knowledge - my experience is all with European weaponry) more reserved for martial art forms than the actual battlefield. 

With full-length swords, dual wielding would require a phenomenal amount of strength and coordination to strike with equivalent force to one sword held in two hands and to keep your blades from getting tangled up with each other. And if you use shorter swords to sidestep those issues, an opponent using a longer sword has a huge advantage, reach is all kinds of game-breaking. 

I have no doubt at all that Zuko uses actual dao forms, the ATLA animators were awesome like that, but our boy is a phenomenal martial artist, doing the near impossible and making it look easy. 

[brazenbells]

I'm sure you'll all be happy to know I have sold my soul and will never be sleeping again I don't even know why I'm at work today I should be at home being Tenoch and saving the world

[gurthang]

actualmermaid replied to your post “My lit professor: and with the Maedhros and Fingon story - there’s...”

That struggle where you have to seem like you’re not TOO interested in it hahahaha

Indeed! lol what I actually said was “Yeah!!! That’s - well, Fingon sings, and then. He sings back. And then. Yeah, it’s really - yeah. Singing.” And then I smiled stupidly at his desk for 30 seconds. #PLAYINITCOOL

irreverentecthelion replied to your post “My lit professor: and with the Maedhros and Fingon story - there’s...”

oh my god this is the best thing

jul-likes-magpies replied to your post “My lit professor: and with the Maedhros and Fingon story - there’s...”

Your lit professor kniws who maedhros and fingon are????? I am so envious wow!!

I knowwwwww. Oh my god, I know. I’m in his class on fairy tales, as a genre, which is a lot of fun, and every time Tolkien comes up I just grin into space like a fool, it’s a lot of fun. 

There was once when he asked if anyone had ever read the silmarillion - a guy sitting in front of me was all “well I’ve heard a lot about it” and i was like Bish Stand Down - and had me briefly explain the Halls of Mandos to the class, I felt like I was floating. 

[alwayscryingoverdannyb]

jul-likes-magpies replied to your post “DAI update: so. I finished my first DAI playthrough! how about that...”

Yeah, me too. He’s just. A good storyteller ya feel? That’s the only reason. Yep.

a good storyteller.. the difference between him and varric in this aspect is that varric is full of shit, as in, he’s constantly behind this persona and I never feel like he’s completely honest with me. solas, for all his big secrets (lol), had a strange sincerety to his stories and I could feel genuine kindness when he talked about spirits. that’s what drew me to him.  I was so sad when I came to him one day and the stories ran out -.-