#m2 shinee's back

[theysaidhush]

Why is no one talking about Sunoo asmr with aloe on M2?! His pretty hands covered in the shiny aloe gloss, ugh and the noises that it was making😩 I don't know if it was just me but my mind was not soothed at that part

Like you can't tell me he didn't know what he was doing! He knew exactly what he was doing!

(Was wondering if you could turn this into something:))

Sunoo playing with his gf’s 🐱? (Not the emoji 💀)

Dang, never saw this video but my mind’s going wild with those pictures…

Like sorry not sorry if this isn’t what you had in mind but you can’t tell me this boy’s bad at fingering 😔 Literally did talk about it before but his fingers are so pretty…

Don’t tell me this boy wouldn’t come back to his girlfriend absolutely turned on after this, a malicious smile on his face as he makes his way over her, telling her he wants to try something. Bonus points if she’s a virgin…

He’d definitely tells you about this bio sticky lub 100% good for the coochie and smoothly laid you on your back as he gently and sneakily kiss your way down the bedroom. Sunoo would make those sounds as if he’s the one being on the receiving side of sweet ministrations, his eyes shining with delight and his smile stretching his face at the mere idea of how pliant you are for him - like what did he do to deserve someone as kind and nice as you, even outside the bedroom?

This boy would definitely moan and complain about the fact that he has to put this on his fingers even if he doesn’t mind it one bit because he just wants you to do it for him. He wants to see you looking up at him with those pretty eyes, eyebrows furrowed as your focusing on the task at hand: coating his fingers with the lub. And he bites back another moan because you’re so damn pretty and sexy while doing it - not that you’re even trying. And of course, now that he can’t you have to undress yourself for him - he’s on the verge of passing at this point.

Sunoo would tease you for a bit before he finally touches you when you want him the most. He’d kiss your face, nudge your neck and shoulders with his pretty nose and massage your ear with his other hand - that’s how he learned that it was an erogenous part of your body, now he’s addicted to the way you gasp when your face is reddening and your thighs closing on his hips. Now that he knows that, he’s relentless - it is not something you would have expected from Sunoo of all boys in his group but here you are, falling apart because he’s fucking your damn ear?

His other hand, shining and sticky, teases your cunt. But it’s just a fleeting touch, the ghost of his fingers flicking you’re clit, making the muscles in your lower stomach tighten every time you feel him there. He knows what he’s doing as he finally slowly and sensually draw circles your clit. The contrast between his cold finger and the heat burning in your makes you stir and whine, and he enjoys every bit of it. This sweet boy would gently brings you to your orgasm with only one long sticky finger playing and stroking your private parts; this would boost his ego and he would definitely think about it for AGES.

[talonabraxas]

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 26 – February 4

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26

Once it's nice and dark, spot the equilateral Winter Triangle in the southeast. Sparkly Sirius is its brightest and lowest star. Betelgeuse stands above Sirius by about two fists at arm's length. To the left of their midpoint is Procyon.

Can you discern their colors? Sirius (spectral type A0) is cold white, Betelgeuse (M2) is yellow-orange, and Procyon (F5) is very slightly on the yellowish side of white. Binoculars make star colors more evident.

As Saturday's dawn grows bright, Mercury and fainter Mars have a very difficult conjunction just above the southeast horizon as shown below. You'll need an open horizon in that direction and optical aid, maybe powerful aid.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27

The Moon, two days past full, rises not long after the end of twilight. Once it's well up, spot Regulus to its upper right and Gamma Leonis a little farther to its upper left. These are the two brightest stars of Leo's Sickle.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 28

The biggest well-known asterism (informal star pattern) is the Winter Hexagon. It fills the sky toward the east and south these evenings.

Start with brilliant Sirius at its bottom. Going clockwise from there, march up through Procyon, Pollux and Castor, Menkalinan and Capella on high, over and down to Aldebaran, then to Rigel in Orion's foot, and back to Sirius. Betelgeuse shines inside the Hexagon, well off center.

The Hexagon is somewhat distended. But if you draw a line through its middle from Capella down to Sirius, the "Hexagon" is fairly symmetric with respect to that long axis.

Take the line from Aldebaran to Capella, turn it to go from Aldebaran to Betelgeuse instead, and the Winter Hexagon becomes the Heavenly G.

Yin Yang Cosmic Polarity Talon Abraxas

[ammyamarant]

So I had asked a discord about true damage and atk buffs, and was told atk buffs don't work on true damage. But I couldn't stop thinking about Aak and the aspd buff on his third skill, so I did some experiments with Amiya against Patriot.

Important ops:

Caster Amiya e2 60. No masteries

Skadi the Corrupting Heart e2 90, second skill m3

Aak, support unit, e2 90, no masteries

Shining e2 60 with third skill to keep Amiya alive, no masteries

Eyjafjlla for caster atk buff because why not

Mostima for caster skill aura to make absolutely sure Amiya's skill would be up

Warfarin for later, e2 50 and m2 on her second skill

I only judged phase 1.

So this is with Aak, Eyjafjlla, and Skadi the Corrupting Heart.

Patriot dies right in front of her.

Okay, so what happens if I removed all buffs?

He's still alive, barely.

Okay. How about buffs, no Aak?

Still alive, but with much less hp. Hm.

Alright let's go all out. Aak back in, add Warfarin. Let's get all the atk buffs and the aspd buff.

Holy shit, Amiya.

After posting this to the discord, someone got in touch with another person. And they confirmed the idea buffs don't work on true damage was a misconception and it's based off the unit's atk if it doesn't say it does a flat amount of damage.

So yeah take your favourite true damage dealer with a buff squad and have fun.

[beevean]

Super Metroid/Ridley hot take anon: I think I was being a bit too uncharitable when I posted those, in hindsight, even if I mostly stand by what I said. I don't actually think Super is that bad, but hearing it talked up as the greatest game known to mankind, only to play it and come out feeling like most of the subsequent games (and even the first two in some specific ways) did most of what it was doing better, that's colored my perception of it a lot. (1/2)

(Still genuinely not fond of Ridley though.)

When I take a step back, I can still find things to like about Super, and I suppose it is the most complete package of strengths, but it also feels to me like it doesn't reach as high in any aspect that the rest do in specific ones. But then, I'm also the kind of pretentious asshole who had a similar hype backlash response to Star Wars (Episode IV) when I finally saw it, so certainly don't take my brand of zillennial ungratefulness too much to heart. (2/2)

I understand you. I feel the same way about Sonic Adventure 2, hailed as one of the greatest games of all time but that, when I tried it in 2009, only left me underwhelmed and frustrated. Maybe if I also started with Zero Mission and then went back to SM, I'd also find it unplayable :P then again, I played M1 and 2 as some of my last games in the series and they grew up very quickly on me, to the point that I might have replayed M2 more than SM... so who knows, tastes are tastes.

Obviously it's just a matter of opinion. I like SM's moonjumpiness, the only fault I find is in some specific rooms with some tight platforming (although thankfully you can disable the Hi-Jump Boots), but many people prefer ZM's tighter physics and I can't fault them. They stuck in subsequent games for a reason and I can't see them turning back lol. I also haven't played Dread, but from what I know that game feels nearly immaculate, so that would cause backlash against SM even more I bet.

Personally, SM shines when it comes to atmosphere (graphics, music, special effects), level design, the way it guides you, and the philosophy behind its sequence breaking. That's more than enough for me to deem it fun.

Something that took me some time to accept is that there is a difference between the objective quality of something, and whether or not it has something that appeals to you. SM has objectively many good qualities as much as flaws (no such thing as a 10/10 even in classics), but if it doesn't have what you enjoy in a Metroid game, that is totally fine and you shouldn't feel like your opinion is wrong or you're not "getting" something 👍

[1358456]

Top Favorites

So, before I went away, I revealed that Platinum wasn’t my favorite character of all time, and not even my favorite female character of all time. And I later revealed who my top favorite male and female characters were. And I even revealed what my top favorite franchise was as well. So… who are my top 5 favorite male and female characters, and how does the franchise distribution look? 10 characters here... so will there be 10 different series?! ... No. Of course not. Do I even know characters from 10 different series? I'd be real surprised if there were more than 5 different series here.

To keep things relatively simple, I’ll be considering 6 major character aspects for this listing. In no particular order, these are…

Traits: how much I like the character’s personality traits Progress: how much the character had developments/progress Design: how much I like the character’s appearance and outfits Story: how much I like the character’s past and present stories Potential: how much I like the character’s future story potential Prowess: the character’s combat prowess

Here we go. I’ll list the top 5 male characters first, then the female characters. This is a LOOOONG post. After all, even if I put in only 500 words per character, that's still going to be 5000 words. So if I put in 500 - 1000 words per character, and there are 10 characters... oh boy.

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M1: Majima Goro, from Yakuza

Ah yes. Majima Goro, the Mad Dog of Shimano, the Lieutenant Advisor to the Tojo Clan, Patriarch of the Majima Family, and President of Majima Construction.

… Also the manager of Cabaret Grand, manager of Cabaret Club Sunshine, and Sotenbori’s Lord of the Night. … And also known as Gorogorogoro-chan the Sotenbori postcard master, Goromi the hostess of Club Shine, and Hannya-Man the mysterious man in black. Also shows up as Everyone’s Idol Goro and Officer Majima. And as a zombie because why not. And of course, Okita Soji, the Captain of the First Squad of the Shinsengumi. ... Er, Hirayama Goro, the guy who killed the real Okita Soji and then took his name. Whatever. They're all Majima.

It should be no surprise that he’s all the way up here, as he was my top favorite back in 2022.

Traits: The Mad Dog. What’s not to like? He’s an honest madman who does whatever he wants and in a manner that gives him the most fun.

Progress: Technically, Majima has no character development from Yakuza 1 onwards. But he’s SO damn different in Yakuza 0, which is before he snaps. He becomes the Mad Dog at the very end of that game, and thus the legend is born. He went through all the character development ever needed at once.

Design: He’s certainly unique. No one else can rock an attire like that. And he’s unnecessarily handsome.

Story: Ah, his story in Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 2… ow, my heart.

Potential: Unfortunately, at this point, I don’t think there’s anything left to look forward to. The Tojo Clan disbanded in Yakuza 7, and in Yakuza 8, if it takes place in 2023 instead of 2024, then Majima would be 59 years old. It’s time to let him go? Though I guess… if Yakuza Kiwami 3 would exist, there could be something new involving him. Like… Majima Everywhere wasn’t in original Yakuza but it’s there in Yakuza Kiwami. And the whole Majima Construction side game and story wasn’t there in 2 but is there in Kiwami 2, along with a whole Majima Saga.

Prowess: Majima is a beast, capable of obliterating a Yakuza family invasion by himself. “You’re late, Kiryu-chan! I already smeared all of Sengoku’s girls.”

… I wonder what he’s doing now. He appears in Yakuza 8, so I guess I won’t have to wait long.

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M2: Kiryu Kazuma, from Yakuza

Also shouldn’t be a surprise. Kiryu Kazuma, the Dragon of Dojima, the Fourth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, Chairman of the Kiryu Clan, member of Tachibana Real Estate, foreman of Majima Construction, the caretaker of Morning Glory orphanage, and the manager of Cabaret Club Four Shine. No wait, he’s Kazuma-kun, the legend of Kamurocho’s Pocket Circuit racing! No wait, he’s Suzuki Taichi, the Taxi Legend of Nagasu Taxi, and future Daidoji Agent! No wait, he’s a Daidoji Agent, codename: Joryu, the leader of the Joryu Clan! No wait, he’s Joryu-kun, the legend of Sotenbori’s Pocket Circuit racing! No wait, he’s Sakamoto Ryoma, a samurai from Tosa! No wait, he’s Saito Hajime, the Captain of the Third Squad of the Shinsengumi!

… (Yakuza 7 Gaiden:) The Man Who Erased His Name has had many names and monikers throughout the years. He’s even been Judgment Kazzy the Kamurocho postcard master, and Ono Michio the beloved mascot of Onomichi in Hiroshima who does not forgive thugs who make children cry. "If you ever make another kid cry, I will end you."

… I will miss him very much.

Traits: He’s pretty straight forward, a little baffling at times, but that is what makes him the Legendary Dragon. Always dead serious and yet gets into all sorts of comical nonsense. “I thought she wanted “pizza”, but she was really saying “visa”. I’m such an idiot...”

Progress: Honestly, he’s pretty much the same as he was in Yakuza 0 as he is in Yakuza 7 Gaiden. That said, his overall mood and behavior changes from game to game. In 0 he’s determined. In 1 he’s kind of sad. In 2 he appears guilty and in a “take responsibility” attitude. In 3 he’s happy. 4 he’s normal. 5 he’s very frustrated and lonely. 6 he’s pissed. 7 he looks depressed. 7 Gaiden he’s kind of falling apart. And in 8… …

Design: His outfit is iconic now, and his dragon tattoo is amazing. And curiously, that outfit doesn’t look good on anyone else.

Story: His personal story has been pretty big in Yakuza 1, 5, 6, and 7 Gaiden. Even in 0, now that I think of it.

Potential: … Yakuza 8… He has cancer and he seems to be dying. I’m not surprised, given how much he smokes and drinks, but… NOOOOoooo… Yakuza 6’s ending had 6 games’ worth of feels crammed into one ending, and I cried so damn much. 7 Gaiden’s ending was absolutely devastating, with all the feels of 6, plus even more, and I don’t even want to think about how much I cried. And now, 8 will have 9 games’ worth of feels crammed in it. … I am not ready. I will never be ready. But I need that game right now. Hahaha… …

Prowess: He’s the Legendary Dragon who has not lost a fight once. He can even beat multiple tigers in a fight at once! “Wh – What are ya?! Some kinda monster?!”

… I need Kiryu to be happy. And I especially need him and Haruka together again. But… if Kiryu meets Haruka, then he’ll be happy but she won’t be since she’ll get to see him die again. But if the meeting doesn’t happen, then Haruka will live on normally, suspecting that he’s still alive somewhere and waiting for him to return one day, while Kiryu is denied the last possible chance of a reunion. UGH. … Please be happy… No more pain…

AHHHHHHHH-

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M3: Alarak, from Starcraft

Tone shift required. And so here is Alarak, the Highlord of the Tal’darim! The only character in this whole post who's more sadistic than I am! Which is saying something, given the later entries on this post!

Traits: He’s such an asshole. And it’s hilarious. Unlike all the other Protoss characters who are most always formal or speaking in proper manner and are always noble warrior or assassin types, Alarak is… such an asshole. “So tell me. How did the Zerg defeat the mighty Templar? Did they leap up and chew on your starships?” “Is this the best healing you can do?” “Are you finished yet? Or must I keep slaughtering the Zerg here?!” “You are unworthy of conversation.” “I did not invade your ship to make idle chatter!” “Amazing how many different ways you find to waste our time.” “Oh, I did not realize I could be even more powerful.” “For creatures with such short life spans, you humans are always so eager to die.” “Kill them. Slowly. But painfully.” Such a breath of fresh air, really.

Progress: He has no development whatsoever. Which is actually good in its own way. But… no developments.

Design: He looks so condescending even without his condescending tone and speech. The Tal’darim psionics are red for some reason, and it suits him fine.

Story: He does quite a bit in Legacy of the Void campaign. But… it’s Starcraft 2. The story is a disaster anyways, and as an RTS game, the story is pretty irrelevant. So his performance is cool, but… ehn.

Potential: He’s the Highlord of the Tal’darim, the most dangerous faction of the Protoss. So in that aspect, things could involve him, but… again, Starcraft 2 story. It’s… bad.

Prowess: The Tal’darim only cares for combat prowess. Everyone is bound by the Chain of Ascension with the Highlord on top (now that the fallen Xel’naga Amon is gone). In order to climb the Chain of Ascension, the member must invoke the ritual combat of Rak’shir and beat (kill) the one directly above. So being the Highlord of the Tal’darim means that Alarak is the strongest of the entire faction (or is considered as such). In short, he’s probably the strongest or very close to being the strongest Protoss in the story.

Alarak is also fun to use in Starcraft 2’s coop missions. But it’s always his snide smartass comments that pulled him up here. After all, this kind of character is pretty rare.

Vorazun: “You think us fools?” Alarak: “Yes, but that is irrelevant!”

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M4: Kasuga Ichiban, from Yakuza

The hero himself. The new protagonist of the Yakuza series, receiving the torch from Kiryu in Yakuza 7. The man with a Gyarados on his back. Well, it’s a Dragonfish, but that’s what Gyarados is, so…

And I recently found out that the voice actor for Kasuga is the same one for Nishikiyama (Kiryu’s best friend and “brother”) from Yakuza 0 and 1, and now I can’t un-hear it. … So Nishiki had a koi tattoo while Kiryu got a dragon. And now Nishiki’s voice is Kasuga Ichiban, who has a half-dragon half-fish tattoo. … Well, he’s getting there, I guess. Magikarp has become a Gyarados. Still ain’t a dragon.

Traits: So far, Kasuga is like a more reckless and dumber Kiryu, which isn’t… amazing for a “replacement” player character. But unlike Kiryu, Kasuga has certain comical tendencies and is not deadly serious all the time, which makes his substories more amusing than Kiryu’s, which were already damn amusing.

Progress: He’s mellowed out a bit throughout Yakuza 7, which is great.

Design: The afro and eyebrows… ehn… I mean, the afro was a mistake even in the story. “Hey miss… what have you done? This… isn’t a punch perm, isn’t it?!” And his suit colors are the opposite of Kiryu’s style. Kiryu has white/gray suit and pants on the outside and a red dress shirt inside. Kasuga has a red suit and pants on the outside and a white dress shirt inside. So for a brand new character, he kind of mirrors Kiryu a bit too much. So far, anyways. Maybe as time passes he can make his look become iconic.

Story: His story in Yakuza 7 mirrors closely to what Kiryu goes through Yakuza 1. They both lose their father figure and their brother figure. While Kiryu also loses his love interest, long-time yakuza junior, the clan chairman who highly respected him, and even the long-time friend and the owner of his regular bar, thus leaving him broken and all alone with no one to provide emotional support except Haruka (thus her critical importance to him), Kasuga has a pack of friends with him and their banters are great. And all those friends are coming back in 8.

Potential: His legend is just beginning… supposedly. I mean, Yakuza 9 is going to happen at some point. I’m eager to see his epic tale unfold. Hopefully it doesn’t end as sadly as it will for Kiryu. Though it might, if he starts losing his friends one by one. Uh oh.

Prowess: Well, he’s no Majima or Saejima or Kiryu, but he’s still real strong in a fight.

A big part of Kasuga rising in this ranking is because his voice is the same as Nishiki. I guess that’s why in Yakuza 8, when Kiryu sings Judgment, Kasuga is there taking support role.

Because in Yakuza 0, when Kiryu sings Judgment, Nishiki does exactly that. And vice-versa when Nishiki sings it.

... Look how young Kiryu was back in Yakuza 0...

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M5: Fenix, from Starcraft

The oldest character on this list, and almost story-wise too. Fenix is from the original Starcraft, which is from 1998. Compared to Kiryu and Majima who are from Yakuza 1 in 2005. Or Alarak, who debuted in Starcraft 2 Legacy of the Void in 2015. And since Protoss live very long lives, it’s also possible that Fenix is the oldest character here. Only “possible” since I don’t know how old Alarak is.

Raynor: “You sound like a tired old man, Fenix.” Fenix: “Do not let the fact that I am 368 years older than you dull your impression of me, young Raynor. I am still capable of… how do you Terrans say it? “Throw down with the best of them”!” Raynor: “… I stand corrected.”

And also Fenix is the only character on this list who has died, not only once, but twice… and is still around.

Traits: Fenix is a straight forward honorable warrior type, but also a war hungry zealot. “I hunger for battle!” “I am the blade of Artanis!” Whenever I said in the past that I would like a zealot-type character, I always had Fenix in mind. “I fear no enemy, for the Khala is my strength! I fear not death, for our strength is eternal!” “There is no shame in defeat, as long as the spirit is unconquered!” “Come, brothers. Join me in glorious battle!” It’s not common to have such a bloodthirsty zealot type protagonist, so it’s quite refreshing.

Progress: No development whatsoever. Or at least, what little he may have developed got undone in Legacy of the Void.

Design: In Starcraft 1, the hero units have unique portraits, but have the same model as the non-hero variants, but only green in color due to player settings in each campaign map. … Except Kerrigan, who also have unique models for her regular Ghost hero variant and Infested Terran variant. So Fenix was a Zealot hero, so he looked exactly the same as Protoss Zealots. Then he comes back as a Dragoon hero, so he looked exactly the same as Protoss Dragoons. And in Legacy of the Void… that design… is dumb. It’s like a half Zealot, half Dragoon, and it looks baffling. I still don’t know how he thought he was a Dragoon when… well, Dragoon units don’t have arms… or an upper body. So he should’ve known literally right off the bat that he wasn’t a Dragoon when he could turn his head and move his arms. And yet…

Story: Fenix’s participation in Starcraft’s story is pretty important, but… also largely ignored by everyone. But I guess that’s just the nature of an RTS campaign. That said, Fenix’s story in Legacy of the Void is what sparked the creation of my Legacy story. It’s even called Legacy because the critical scene came from Legacy of the Void. More on that later.

Potential: Fenix comes back in a Purifier platform. As in, he’s an AI now who didn’t know that he was an AI. The existential crisis that came from this realization (thanks to Alarak) is again, largely ignored because it’s an RTS campaign. But given the precedent of the other Purifiers… well, there could be something happening. Too bad it won’t happen. But more on this in the female character listing.

Prowess: A battle maniac Protoss warrior? “Strong” would be a huge understatement. “Now is not the time for words, not when glorious battle lies ahead!”

So, Fenix… He’s a normal biological Protoss warrior in charge of defending a city of the home world Aiur from the Zerg. But the city gets overrun and he dies. But because he’s Protoss, his battered body is recovered and like all other Protoss whose dead/dying bodies are recovered, he gets put into a Dragoon shell so he can continue the fight. “I now reside in a cold, metallic shell of a Dragoon.” After all, a Protoss Dragoon is just a life support tank with legs and a phase disruptor cannon. And a Protoss Immortal is just a Dragoon with a big ass turret on top of it, but that’s a Starcraft 2 unit, so Fenix is in a Dragoon shell.

So Fenix comes back as a Dragoon. His voice lines are exactly the same as his Zealot form, but now there’s a faint mechanical tinge to it, which is cool. And then in the Brood War campaign, Kerrigan betrays and kills him.

Fenix dies in Brood War (1998) but no one really mentions him from that point on. Though Raynor does mention him exactly once in Heart of the Swarm (2013). But then Fenix suddenly returns in Legacy of the Void (2015). It turns out, the Protoss had a Purifier project, which cloned the memories and personalities of notable Protoss warriors, essentially creating expendable AI clones of powerful heroes. The project goes awry when the Purifiers revolted and killed everyone on the research station and the planet it’s orbiting around. Because it turns out, if proud honorable warriors were cloned and they don’t realize that they’re AI clones, and then they’re stuffed in robotic shells and then treated like machine servants, they’ll rebel. Who would've thought. So the Purifier project became the forbidden project. But in Legacy of the Void, desperate times called for desperate measures so Hierarch Artanis reactivates the Purifier project and retrieves its data from another research station. And there, he finds Fenix (deactivated), and learns that Fenix had his personality and memories uploaded to the project as ordered before the events of Starcraft 1. “I am a warrior, old friend. You know this as well as any. It is not my place to question the orders of a Judicator.” So the Purifier Fenix has no idea that he’s an AI, and has no recollection of anything from Starcraft 1.

Fenix spends most of the Void campaign realizing that something’s off with his memories, and studies the archives. “These records are fascinating, Artanis. I can hardly believe the stories they contain.” And then Alarak breaks the news to him.

Fenix: “These are lies, Artanis!” Alarak: “Oh I am the liar? Are you not but a lie incarnate? Machine Protoss?”

And shortly afterwards, Fenix discovers records of his own deaths in the archives, and thus the existential crisis happens. “I am not Fenix, but I hold his memories as my own. I need time to make sense of this.” But this is Starcraft 2, and especially Legacy of the Void where the campaign story is… a disaster. The Void campaign story can basically be summarized as “it turns out, the Protoss are absolutely overpowered”. Even the loading screen tooltip hints that. “Protoss units excel at charging into dangerous territory and annihilating all opposition.” So anyways, Fenix’s existential crisis is not focused on, and he gets over it pretty quickly. I guess that suits his personality since he is a very straight forward warrior type.

And so when I played the campaign, I thought this part might be worth exploring and experimenting with in my stories. So I contemplated on which Dex Holder this would impact the most. And since Legacy of the Void came out in late 2015, this was shortly after the Pairing Shift. So the most impactful at the time would’ve been Blue. So in Legacy (as listed in the spoilers), Blue dies but she had her memories and personality uploaded (without her knowledge) and the uploaded data is converted into an AI with a cloned body (K3). And right before the good/bad ending split point, Blue/K3 has an existential crisis, and Red’s decision directly impacts the outcome of the crisis. The good ending mirrors Fenix where Blue accepts her new role (though she won’t get a new name like Purifier Fenix, who renames himself as Talandar). But the bad ending hints at K3 going rampant and seeking revenge, like how the main Purifier faction did. Except K3 doesn’t have access to Protoss weaponry that can glass a planet in seconds.

Which means, Fenix is the only character on this list whose story directly affected the plot of one of my stories. Not even Platinum can do that, since she would be affected by that story, and not be the one to affect it.

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So in summary of the male characters…

And now onto the female characters.

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F1: Sawamura Haruka, from Yakuza

No surprises here, given how I revealed this the last time I was here. Nothing changed since then. If anything, the missed opportunity in 7 Gaiden and the trailer for 8 has only solidified her position. After 8… we’ll see.

Traits: I definitely love Haruka’s character traits. She’s very kindhearted and sweet, but also incredibly hardened. She’s wildly mature beyond her years due to the hardening, and while she might be a bit naïve at times, she’s really not most of the times. “Haruka is not someone who’s blinded by the glory of being an idol.”

Progress: She was 9 when she first appeared in Yakuza 1. She’s 20 in her last appearance of 6. She’s grown up quite a lot. If Yakuza 8 takes place in 2023 instead of 2024, then she’ll be 27. Oh, how much she would have changed…

Design: … Haruka’s regular outfits copy Kiryu’s color scheme. Kiryu wears a white/gray suit and pants with a red dress shirt inside. So Haruka almost always wears a red shirt and a white sweater outside. Even her clothes show how much she wants to be with him. Ow, my heart.

Story: Haruka’s story is big in Yakuza 1, not really big in 2, 3, and 4, and then massive in 5 and 6. The sheer amount of pain caused by her actions in 5… ahh… And in the end of 7 Gaiden, Ayako and Taichi from Morning Glory orphanage find a hidden camera pointed at Kiryu’s grave and think it’s Kiryu watching them from wherever he was hiding. So they give a message to him, which is very sweet but also absolutely devastating, as Kiryu completely breaks down while watching that message. And Ayako and Taichi say they’ll bring Haruka and the others with them tomorrow so they can give him their message. However, the camera is removed by the Daidoji faction so they don’t get a chance. Which means, Kiryu didn’t get to see Haruka again or hear what she had to say. Which both sucks horribly, and also a tremendous relief, since I don’t think Kiryu would be able to withstand hearing her message. As Majima once said, “that girl means more to Kiryu-chan than life itself”. And if Haruka thinks that Kiryu is still alive and that he had faked his death even to her, there’s a chance that she’d be pretty upset about it, and I think Kiryu is afraid of that. Because unlike in Yakuza 5 and 6, Kiryu doesn’t think at all about Haruka in 7 Gaiden, as if he’s avoiding thinking about her. And now, with that in mind…

Potential: So, Haruka kicked her pop idol career out the window in Yakuza 5 (2012) so that she could be with Kiryu. Kiryu immediately got arrested for 4 years after that point, and when he came out, Haruka was in a coma. And when she woke up, Kiryu “dies” in front of her (to prevent anyone else from targeting her in order to get to him) so she never sees him again. Fast forward to Yakuza 8 (2023?), Kiryu has cancer and is dying. And in the bucket list trailer, Haruka’s voice is heard for one line only. “Are you asking me what I would do if I could see Mister again?” … There is no happiness at the end of that dialogue. Only pain. There is literally nothing that she can do or say that would create happiness for anyone. If she’s upset that Kiryu faked his death even to her… ouch. But if she understands that he had his own reasons and thanks him for all the years he looked after her, and wishes him to return when he’s ready (like how Ayako and Taichi said), then… OUCH. One way or another, only pain awaits.

Prowess: Haruka does not fight. Unfortunately. While it would’ve been hilarious if she had picked up a heat move or two from watching Kiryu fight so many times, it would conflict with her character… unless something went horribly wrong… or right. Hehe. The rival idols give Haruka way too much sh*t in Yakuza 5 due to jealousy. So if Haruka was to smash their faces in with an Essence of Might… “You just had bad luck, is all.” Only if… Hmm… I wonder if she can pull off a Komaki Tiger Drop…

As I mentioned before in the past, if I like a character beyond a certain point, their pain hurts me. And at this point… I just want Haruka to be happy. And ever since Yakuza 6’s ending, I don’t know how Haruka is doing, since her face had not appeared on camera. But Ayako and Taichi said that she’s doing okay, so… I guess she’s okay? But at the same time, I need Kiryu to be happy too. In his last days, I’m sure he’d want to see Haruka again. But… if she was to see him again, she’ll just lose him again to cancer. Is there no way for both to be happy in Yakuza 8? … Only doom awaits? Oh no.

… I simultaneously need that game to have come out last month, and also for it to not exist. ... Just a little over a week left to go.

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F2: Platinum Berlitz, from Pokémon Special

… I don’t have another big image of her anymore… Well, I guess she'll just get the short end of the stick here.

Now, I don’t think I need to explain this entry all that much, after all these years. However, since I’m only considering the canon for all these characters, it does nerf Platinum’s preference a bit.

Traits: Of course I really like Platinum’s character traits. But mostly because of…

Progress: Platinum’s immense character development. From cold and distant to warm and super adorable!

Design: … I don’t really like her design though. Of course, that’s not her fault, since her attire is forced upon by the DPPt games’ female player character. That’s the reason why I updated her attire a long time ago in my stories.

Story: Platinum has no backstory to speak of since her memory seems to be have been wiped. But DPPt does sort of revolve around her, even if she ends up not doing anything in the finale. Twice.

Potential: I believe her future potential is what I had worked with for a long time, even if none of that would happen.

Prowess: For someone who just started as a Pokémon Trainer, she is immensely strong. … Her physical prowess is probably nonexistent though.

I don’t quite know whether I like canon Platinum enough so that her pain brings me pain. I know that Platinum in my stories is liked enough for that. But given her nonexistent performance in the finales and the sh*tsack canon team, I kind of doubt it.

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F3: Alice Synthesis Thirty, from Sword Art Online

Hey, speaking of a strong female character who does nothing in the finale twice… Well, Platinum was reading and then simply watching in her finales. Alice was unconscious, and mostly unconscious before being ejected from the world during her finales. … Not sure which is better.

Traits: I like Alice’s traits quite a bit. Especially her speech reminds me of Platinum. But the whole “noble knight” thing… not unique for me. Even then, Alice’s noble warrior type is a lot more interesting than Artanis from Starcraft. That said, Alice goes through quite the change over time. She was a strong and merciless knight before the first wave of truth is dropped on her, at which point she’s kind of broken and shattered. Then she works her way back up, and then the next wave of truth is dropped on her, which breaks her again. And at that point, it’s entirely possible that she’s now vulnerable to depression… just like after the first truth bomb. Let's see how many truth bombs she can take before she's irreparably broken!

Progress: Hmm… Alice’s character development is a bit… odd, I feel. She goes through a lot of changes and ultimately ends very similar to her starting point, just a bit mellow. A lot of distance traveled but very little displacement, if you will.

Design: The knight armor is pretty cool, but it’s mostly a uniform with slight differences. The golden armor is cool though. Reminds me of Protoss Templar’s golden theme.

Story: I really do like her story. She was kidnapped, had her memories wiped, and became an Integrity Knight. … And then has a rather hostile encounter with her childhood friend who she can’t remember, but who most certainly remembers her. Ooh. He kind of dies shortly after so there isn’t a lot of time for guilt and whatnot, which is a shame. But I do love the premise. It would’ve been real interesting if the two got to talk once things settled down. Painful for them both, sure, but amusing for me. Hehehe…

Potential: … And after all that, coming to terms with the fact that she had her memories wiped, and effectively reconciling with her long lost sister who she still can't remember… she’s yanked from that world and the truth is dropped onto her like a bomb again. She’s essentially a human simulation in a simulated world that’s designed for AI development. In essence, she’s an AI without knowing that she was an AI. … So, a proud Integrity Knight, who doesn’t know that she’s an AI, gets stuffed into a robotic shell and finds out that she’s artificial and is now a property of a company. Where have I heard that before? Well, at least Alice doesn’t have access to Protoss weaponry that can glass a planet in seconds. Still though, the doom potential is quite strong in this one. She fought so hard (figuratively) to prove that she wasn’t a puppet that can be toyed with, only to end up in a robotic shell as an AI that’s literally going to be studied and experimented on. Ouch. And that rivalry thing she has going on with Asuna? I’m quite amused, though I’m very sure it’ll end up very poorly for Alice, along with many other things, really. Even the realistic details. A robotic shell isn’t going to have nerves. No feeling of warmth or comfort? I hope she didn’t hope to get married and have kids someday, because that ain’t happening, ever. And most of all, she has no one who could possibly relate to her, or understand what she’s going through. Yikes. … I wonder if at some point she’d go berserk. Hehehe… … Clearly my liking of Alice is not high enough for her pain to hurt me. Let's see how much pain her mind can take before she breaks!

Prowess: I think Alice is the strongest knight canonically? I don’t know. She doesn’t really do much with that power though.

When I first saw Alice’s fate, the first thing that came to mind was the Protoss Purifier faction. But unlike in Starcraft where an individual’s personal stories aren’t exactly focused on except for Kerrigan, Alice’s fate can actually be explored. It’s a different question if it WILL be explored, but hey. “I am not a puppet!” … But that sure seems to be her fate, to be experimented on as an AI until she’s discarded and replaced by a new AI model. And worst of all, Alice herself had no say in anything that happened to her. It was an accident that caused her to break the “law”, which got her kidnapped. It wasn’t her choice to become an Integrity Knight, as it was truly forced upon her. And it certainly wasn’t her choice to be pulled out of her world and into the real world as an AI. So she’s been a puppet bound to the wills of someone else her entire life.

Also, in a strange boon to Alice’s preference ranking… I quite like the name “Alice”. But it’s for quite the strange reason. As a “mathie”, I’ve seen and solved more math problems in Grade 10 alone than what most people would see in their entire lives. And for whatever reason, in a math word problem, if a character is to be represented with a variable “A”, that character’s name is more often than not, Alice. “A” is for Alice, “B” is for Bob, “C” is usually Charlie, and then it’s pretty random from that point on. So the first female name for the letter A that comes to mind is Alice. That’s also why in that old “Ideal Dex Holder” post, I gave the theoretical character the name Alice.

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F4: Asada Shino/Sinon, from Sword Art Online

Hey, sniper rifle! I mean… … Okay. She’s on here mostly because her character most resembles my go-to style for any shooter game. There’s something about doing a ton of damage from afar that strikes my preference. I guess that’s why my favorite Starcraft unit is the Protoss Tempest, a long range aerial siege unit that sucks absolute ass after all those nerfs. … There was a brief but glorious moment when a Tempest’s attack range covered half the map, which… definitely warranted a nerf because that is admittedly freaking ridiculous. Not that it ever did a lot of damage, for balance reasons. Though I’m sure lore-wise, a Tempest would be able to one-shot a city…

A Protoss Tempest is almost a kilometer long. So that is a big ass death ball of energy it shoots to attack. ... What do you mean it doesn't one-shot a Marine? And it doesn't do splash damage? What the f-

Anyways…

Traits: I do like her cold exterior that shows a lot of cracks. Understandable too. I think a huge part of why Sinon is up here is because she’s a sniper with a lot of understandable vulnerabilities on the verge of shattering. So she puts up a good façade, but she’s breaking. Kind of like Blue, except she does a lot better job than Sinon.

Progress: And that icy exterior comes shattering by the end as her trauma is steadily overcome, which is awesome. I especially like how in any game that takes place before her trauma is overcome, she’s really cold and distant and quiet. But afterwards, she talks a lot more, reacts a lot more, and so on. Kind of reminds me of Platinum in that aspect.

Design: Sniper rifle. … I mean… The Solus attire is pretty cool though. Those floating blades look like a massive pain in the ass that’ll bump into anything and everything, but that attire is one of a very limited few with a blatant asymmetry that I tolerate.

Story: … Strangely, I think Sinon is quite possibly the first and only character in this post who actually killed a human being. At least, as far as I’m aware, since I don’t know if Alarak or Fenix killed any Terrans themselves. Alarak does participate in repelling the Terran Mobius Corps' boarding of the Spear of Adun, and Fenix is in that one Brood War mission where you face Terran while he’s there, but it's unclear what Alarak even did since it happens off screen, and you can keep Fenix away from combat, so… hmm… And anyone in a simulated world could not possibly have killed any human beings by definition. Anyways, Sinon’s backstory and the resulting trauma and her attempts to overcome it… very good! Although… who the f*ck robs a post office with a gun? And Sinon had to shoot him three times to kill him. What a deranged madman. ... Then again, so are all the other bad guys in this series. They're all just insane lunatics, and not in wild, fun, and harmless-to-civilians ways like Majima.

Potential: Unfortunately, now that her trauma is sorted, she’s basically just “another one” in the group. And there are a lot of those. Not a lot to look forward to. The only ranged support, sure, but as a character… Unless that trauma relapses… ... What if she's the one to get shot this time outside the games? Hmm... Nah, that's not that entertaining. Sinon needs to watch someone else get shot, and someone very close too. Now that would be entertaining... for me.

Prowess: She’s a sniper. Snipers don’t really do much by themselves with no support. She needs a tank or a front-line fighter to draw the attention of enemies in order for her to deal critical damage. Just like a Protoss Tempest. Does nothing by itself. You need like 30 supply of Tempests to do anything valuable, but that costs a lot and that also means you don’t have enough supply of everything else so the main army gets overrun and-

… I feel like I mentioned more Starcraft than Sinon in this entry. Well, Starcraft is my favorite franchise for a reason. It’s everywhere.

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F5: Eydis Synthesis Ten, from Sword Art Online

Hey, this is the one character who I barely know who still made it up here! It either shows how much I liked certain aspects of her, or how few female characters I know about that I care about. Or both. Remember that my preference for canon Pokémon Special female Dex Holders is not that high for most of them. That said, Blue almost made it here.

I think Eydis is a game-only character and thus technically non-canon? I don’t know how that works. And I honestly don’t care. Eydis is up here for one reason only, and that is her story and the sheer amount of doom potential it contains. Like, if I wrote for SAO instead of Pokémon Special, she would be my main victim, instead of Blue in SA – Destiny era. I’m not counting Black & White since they’ve only been receiving one-time doom (as opposed to story-wide doom) due to their pairing and the Light Stone incident. I mean, the latter is not my fault in the slightest. And it certainly wasn’t my fault that he was in that thing for… how many days was it? Like 1600?

And also… another character who’s missing an eye. 3/10 characters on this post have an eye missing. Even my profile picture is missing an eye these days! Though Alice gets hers back, and I think Eydis gets hers back too. … Majima ain’t getting his eye back though.

Not after that.

Traits: I don’t know Eydis all too well, but what tidbits I gleamed are okay, I guess. She’s bright and bubbly, and a little teasing. But she also has a real dark side. Honestly reminded me a lot of pre-FRLG Blue. She also seems to be very calm and collected? So that's nice.

Progress: If I don’t know her character traits all too well, I certainly won’t know her character development, or if there even was any.

Design: Not a huge fan of her hairstyle, though her knight armor variant is pretty cool. And I quite like her hair and expression change when she went berserk…

Story: Doom and pain. Pain for her, entertainment for me. … That didn’t sound nice… So. Eydis breaks the “law” to provide for her crippled beloved younger sister since no one else can, and as a result, she got kidnapped, had her memories wiped, and turned into an Integrity Knight. And at some point, her memories were released and she goes berserk, completely losing her mind and self as she demands to see “her” again, even if she doesn’t remember who that is. And after overcoming that shenanigans which she has no recollection of, she subconsciously longs for a younger sister figure so much that she latches onto Alice when she comes along a long time later. Integrity Knights had their age frozen so who knows how old Eydis is and how long she had to deal with that longing. But that’s a lot of pain that she doesn’t remember. Such a deliciously doomed past. Hehehe… I think I’ve made something like that with Platinum. So it’s a nice reminder.

Potential: So, if Eydis was kidnapped while caring for her crippled sister… what happened to that sister? And how long ago was this? Wouldn’t that sister have died a long time ago? Ooh. And so, her soul longed for a younger sister so much that she latched onto Alice. But of course, Alice got taken away for that AI project. So Eydis loses another sister figure (who wasn’t that close to her though). Ooh! And Eydis still doesn’t remember her actual sister who may or may not have died a long ass time ago. What happens if her old memory seal leaks and she goes berserk again? Last time, she was with someone strong enough to restrain her if necessary. But Eydis is the strongest knight now. If she goes berserk… OOH! And how would she react if she found out that the reason why she keeps looking for younger sister figures is because her subconscious dearly misses her actual sister who may or may not be dead? Hehe. I once wrote a backstory chapter for Platinum that's very reminiscent of this. Of course, I wrote that chapter years before I found out about Eydis, so that was a nice reminder indeed. Such a delicious doom potential! Even if there’s a high likelihood that I don’t know enough to accurately measure the tragic past and potential, it’s certainly entertaining enough to warrant her being up here! … Down here, I guess, since she’s the last entry.

Prowess: So… canonically, Alice is the strongest knight, but… Eydis is the strongest non-canon? … Whatever. It doesn’t matter who’s strongest. All that matters is that Eydis is a powerhouse of a fighter. “Careful. Despite how she looks, she’s monstrously strong.” Sure. Also, I think Eydis’s combat style is the Tennen Rishin style that select Shinsengumi Captains use in Yakuza Ishin. I recognize that style even in other games since it was actually a plot point. And also… Eydis’s sword can’t be blocked? It just phases through the defender’s weapon? Well that’s not very fair. It’s like melee-fighting a Protoss warrior whose psi/warp blades tear through everything with no resistance except other psi/warp blades. In the lore, the only way for non-Protoss to beat a Protoss warrior in melee combat is to either throw so many bodies at them that they end up tripping over the pile of corpses (Zealot vs. Zergling), or simply have a body so big that the Protoss blades aren’t long enough to pierce vital parts (Zealot vs. Ultralisk). I wonder if that's Eydis's weakness too. Either flood her with so many enemies that she eventually trips over their corpses, or attack her with a dude/creature so damn big that her sword isn't long enough.

Looking back, I believe Eydis is the only character on this list who has gone berserk at some point. Which is certainly unique and probably has something to do with why she's on this listing. I do love it when characters lose themselves for whatever reason, whether that’d be tragedy, fit of rage, or mind alteration. Ram-page! Ram-page! Ram-page!

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So in summary of the female characters…

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So, out of 10 characters listed, 4 are from Yakuza, 3 are from Sword Art Online, 2 are from Starcraft, and 1 is from Pokémon Special. Nice triangular number form-

Now, if Starcraft is my top favorite franchise of all time, and Yakuza is my third, does that mean SAO is my second, given how 3/5 top favorite female characters are from there? … No. SAO is one of those series that I don’t like that much (as in, not a big positive) for a variety of reasons, but I do really like the characters (well, some of them). And also, I mentioned that my second favorite franchise also has nostalgia, as I remember playing a game from that franchise that came out in 1998. I don’t think SAO is remotely old enough for that… Right?

As it turns out, I can like a series without liking the characters all that much, and vice versa. And for games, a good story is not necessary. Look at Starcraft, my top favorite franchise. None of the main characters (Raynor, Kerrigan, Artanis, Nova, Zeratul) made it remotely close on my listing, and the story is crap. … Nova Covert Ops had a decent story though, with cool implications. For once. But still, I really like that franchise because… well, nothing in-game. I just love the game, especially watching pro matches. ASL, GSL, Ultimate Battles, Major Pro Leagues, etc. And my second favorite franchise is also like that. None of its characters will ever make it onto my Preference ranking, the story is also rather irrelevant, it’s a single player game so no pro matches, but I do so love the games.

And curiously, the two characters on this list who sings Get to the Top are both on the top of their respective lists. ... I guess they got to the top.

[spyskrapbook]

“Westkaai Towers 1+2″, Antwerp, Belgium [2009] _ Architects: Diener & Diener _ “Westkaai Towers  3+4″, Antwerp, Belgium [2016] _ Architects: David Chipperfield Architects _ Photos by Spyros Kaprinis [08.05.2023].

“As part of restructuring the Kattendijkdok, Antwerp is experiencing an expansion of its northern city limits. New residential buildings, business and leisure centers as well as new park areas are emerging between the former dock facilities lining the harbor basin. The two apartment towers, both 56m high, are visible from the city center; they are joined by four new apartment blocks that were built subsequently. As set out in the guidelines, the two buildings differ slightly from each other. Both towers have office and retail spaces on the first floor and 40 respectively 44 apartments on the floors above grouped around the central core. 

There are eleven different types of apartments (the smallest 70m2, the largest 360 m2) and each floor has one of seven distinct layouts, repeated respectively two to four times consecutively. There are more larger apartments located on the higher floors and more smaller ones on lower floors. The apartments open out onto loggias. The towers are not perfectly aligned, but stand slightly displaced. The outer surface of the rectangular buildings shines with tremulous or flickering light that changes with the time of day and the weather situation, sometimes contrasting, sometimes complementing its surroundings. Windows with different sizes and shapes are grouped together and cut from the building’s outer skin made of ripple glass and aluminum sheet metal. The arrangement of the rooms inside the building is made apparent outside by the grouping of the windows.

 The façade’s seemingly random appearance is the result of the systematic combination of the different types of apartments. Aluminum frames enclose the five different kinds of windows. The opaque elements of the façade between the windows consist of three layers: thermal insulation, sheet metal panels, and rippled glass; the rippled glass is mounted in front of the panels, separated by a small gap. The elements are fastened using a profile clamping system, with the window elements being held together by an aluminum frame.”

https://www.dienerdiener.ch/en/project/apartment-towers-westkaai-1-2

“David Chipperfield Architects Berlin was appointed to design the two central towers, Tower 3 and 4. Both have a structural presence and uniform materiality, though each tower differs in articulation. Tower 3 to the south is given a horizontal emphasis by stacked projecting floor plates, while Tower 4 is more regular in appearance with straight façades on all sides. The stretched proportions of the ground and uppermost floors establish a hierarchy of base, shaft and crown for each tower.

At ground level, the footprints of the buildings step back to create porticos along the eastern and southern edges respectively. These porticos lead to entrance lobbies clad in walnut. The projecting floor slabs of Tower 3 create balconies on all sides, extending the living areas, while the Tower 4 apartments have loggias situated at the corners of the building. All the apartments have views across the city, the harbour and the River Schelde.”

https://davidchipperfield.com/projects/westkaai-towers-3-and-4

[blackhairedjjun]

tnc: freefall full thoughts

(cross posted from elsewhere i'm just putting it here too lol)

before this album came out, sonically my fave txt albums are tdc: eternity, tcc: fight or escape (i really like loser lover and moa diary okay), and m2: thursday's child. and i think tnc: freefall is DEFINITELY up there -- idk where it ranks exactly but mannn it's so solid, i get why the critics at the preview were calling it a pivotal / turning point album for them. it does so many things musically yet stays thematically cohesive, the lyrics are lovely, and just feels like a natural evolution for them.

thoughts on each track:

growing pain - i can't believe i'm saying this but i think this track has a chance to dethrone opening sequence as my new favorite album opener (and opening sequence is one of my fave txt songs ever). but WOW i love rock txt!! i love how they pour their hearts out on rock tracks! listening to this right after farewell neverland is such a delight bc you have the contrast between making the decision to fall vs. ACTUALLY falling. and the latter HURTS. and they want you to feel that hurt in the song. i love going back to this track and jamming to it

chasing that feeling - oh this is just slathered in that 80s synthpop sound and i adore it so, the synths are just so catchy and i can't really describe it idk that sound just scratches the itch in my brain the right way. but something about it is such a gut punch?? there's something about "my fate, come and kiss me" and "maybe i'll miss it for good / the sweet mirage" that just GETS me. missing something so bad but knowing you have to move on from it... ugh!! not sure yet where i'd rank this among txt title tracks but man i do love listening to it.

back for more (txt ver) - this is the pre-release, we already heard and loved this one. honestly i like both the anitta version and this one, i feel like their second verses do different things: the anitta version keeps things interesting by changing it up, the txt version does that by escalating things. i.e. the former introduces elements of latin and funk while the latter enhances the nice disco pop stuff already going on. but yeah this one bops, also this song being third in the tracklist + right after ctf confirms to me that it's about wanting more of that neverland stuff even tho you said you would move on from it lol

dreamer - mmmm this song is so smooth!! i've seen a few people calling it the more mature / sexier version of 20cm but i still like 20cm more lol. but they both have a smooth r&b sound that makes you want to melt so i get it! it's a little bit lo-fi-esque which is a vibe that i enjoy and just adds to the smoothness of it, then we've got those lovely lovely falsettos. also wow the lyrics to this are really sweet? like... finding that dream you once held on to when you were younger and getting meaning from it once again. ohhh i melt

deep down - this one is boppy!! unfortunately it's a mid-2010s edm-pop type of song which is not a genre i particularly like, so i can't imagine listening to this one a lot. but for people who like that genre i think it works well! also it being a sequel song to crown is just. so cute. awww

happily ever after - aka happy fools' more melancholy older sibling HAHA. like deep down i can't imagine myself listening to this much, i think it needs a little more oomph to really capture me, but it's got a bittersweet mood to it and it conveys that mood pretty well.

skipping stones - I LOVE THIS ONE. this + growing pain are my faves of the newly introduced b-sides! it has that indie rock ost vibe that i'm weak for but it's also so warm, when i listen to it i want to turn the song into a real physical blanket i can wrap myself in. everyone sounds so good here and it's such a treat to listen to. and when i looked up the lyrics they made me melt!! "in order for the me from tomorrow to embrace the overwhelmed you of today, when it touches the shining waves, i'll hold your two shaking hands"??? STOP YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE ME CRY. i started smiling suddenly while listening to this that's just how warm it feels

blue spring - ok i already knew i would love this one bc i heard it live, but i thought the studio version would just be a cleaner-sounding version of the live one. but then THE ADDED ADLIBS??? THE HARMONIZING??? OH I'M SO EMOTIONAL. MY HEART SWELLS EVERY TIME I LISTEN TO THIS AAHH BLUE SPRING I LOVE YOU SO. that said i don't like that they removed the guitar strumming intro at the beginning and there's some weird autotune shit on some of hueningkai's adlibs. but i love this song as a whole too much for it to detract from my listening experience

do it like that - we all know this one too lol. i agree with all the people saying that it feels out of place on this album and they just stuck it on here cause it needed to go somewhere, but yeah it doesn't fit thematically. it's cute and fun but to me this song is musical candy: a sweet treat to listen to but not too substantial. it does what it does just fine but it's so jarring in this context

chasing that feeling (eng) - can i just say that i love the lyric choices here?? "in my kaleidoscope are pressed butterflies" and "time's a thief that keeps on stealing" and "hoping for twice in a lifetime, is that too much to ask?" and even short phrases like "a perpetual high." mmmm chef kiss. this and the korean version give off different vibes, the kor one is more conflicted / melancholy while the eng one is more wistful / determined. i love them both though

[icharchivist]

would you say that the lucilius raid is your least favorite one?

do you even have a favorite/ least favorite raid at all? if so what is it?

oh dear.

yeah i really hate Lucilius's raid so it's probably up there, but tbh it's the only Very HL raid i've actively participated in, so it's the only one i actually tried (and failed) to understand the mechanisms to, which means it's the one i get annoyed at lmao

i didn't touch a single of the Diaspora type raids, and while i've seen some of them have shitty mechanisms, i never had to bother about that.

ig raids like ubaha/pbaha/akasha/zooey HL/lindwurm also count as super HL but hhh idk i usually hit FA on those and do enough dmg that even when i die it's no biggie per se. Zooey is the most annoying of them to me personally, though Akasha would take the cake if not for the fact that it's so crowded you don't really have to worry about being left in an empty raid.

i've entered some Bubs and Belial's raids, but it's with the context that it's usually bc a friend is soloing them and then he opens them near the end for us to do minimum honor for drops. On that tho, Bubs ends up being hella fun bc the team i have for "one turn max dmg without taking a turn" has enough of an output that it makes me vice mvp everytime. Belial though comes with so many entering rules my crew never explained well so i've been avoiding even leeching it.

Any raids that are on lower levels are usually just "hit FA and forget about it" levels for me, and while there's some raids gimmick i really, really hate (Fediel and Ra in particular come to mind), once i have the FA team for it, it's fine. (Ra for instance, i figured out a team that makes her less annoying to FA, so i get to forget she's rEALLY annoying).

and then there's famously annoying raids that i've avoided at all cost. like Annubis. I got my SoD out of the weapon ticket and never looked back at him. tho he's no longer a raid now...

so with that in mind, yeah, HL Lucilius is probably the one who has the biggest cause in annoying the hell out of me, but i'd probably add Ra on top of "fucking annoying gimmicks and i hate entering a Ra"

as for Favorite raids, ironically, i'm pretty found of Osiris and Bennu. I have a manual solo team for Osiris that i find extremely satisfying to use and it's one of the rare raid i go manual on just because i think it's fun to hit the omens. And for Bennu, i have a FA solo team that does wonder and have Randall especially shine a lot and i often watch it with glee just because i love seeing my team just, constantly dodge attacks.

Anything else is "FA and YOLO" so i don't end up thinking too hard about it ahah

but yeah i really don't do a lot of raids above the m2, and if i do it's generally the gold brick raids to start with, and i can go into the dragons without thinking too hard about it, but i don't really touch the malice and any of the REALLY HL stuff so. yeah.

hope it works out for you tho o7

[allaboutaemin]

(180531) @BUMKEY twitter update Go SHINee! SHINee thank you so much!! This album is also a hit!! And of course I miss Jonghyun very very much. #샤이니 #데리러가 #SHINee Note: Bumkey retweeted with a comment a SHINee cut from their SHINee’s BACK teaser in which they were all singing Attraction, a song by Bumkey.

[cin2min]

😂💙😂

[ultrakdramamama]

[SHINee's BACK] (샤이니's BACK) Teaser

SHINee first reality show 'SHINee's BACK' begins June 6, 9pm KST on Mnet's M2

O M G  I’m so excited!

source: Naver

[shineesubbr]

M2 SHINee’s Back - Episódio 5 (legendado)

• Assista aqui

……………………………………………………………………..

• Tradução: Alice

•  Legenda: Nanda

……………………………………………………………………..

• SHINee Subtitles Brasil @shineesubbr

[jongtaeluv]

Thank you, Taemin 💗

An unparalleled 95 stages plus 2 full, distinct concerts in 9 months (mvs) (songs)

September

SuperM, Tiger Inside, The Stage

SuperM, Tiger Inside, dance practice

Criminal, dance practice

SuperM, 100, Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook

SuperM, Tiger Inside, Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook

Criminal, The Stage

Black Rose, The Stage

SuperM, 100, dance practice

Criminal, Music Bank

Black Rose, Music Bank

Black Rose, Music Core

Criminal, Music Core

Black Rose, Inkigayo

Criminal, Inkigayo

SuperM, Better Days, As We Wish

SuperM, 100, As We Wish

SuperM, One (Monster & Infinity), As We Wish

SuperM, One (Monster & Infinity), The Ellen Show

October

SuperM, Wish You Were Here, Super One Year with SuperM

SuperM, Tiger Inside, As We Wish

SuperM, With You, As We Wish

Move, 11th INK (Incheon K-Pop Concert)

Want, 11th INK

Criminal, 11th INK

SuperM, Better Days, WHO’s Big Event for Mental Health

SuperM, One (Monster & Infinity), The Late Show with James Corden

November

Move, 2020 KBEE (Korean Brand and Entertainment Expo)

Want, 2020 KBEE

Criminal, 2020 KBEE

IDEA, Music Bank

Heaven, Music Bank

IDEA, performance video, Dingo Music

Heaven, Music Core

IDEA, Music Core

Heaven, Inkigayo

IDEA, Inkigayo

Move, Danger, Press Your Number, Want, Criminal medley, 100SEC choreography, Dingo Music

SuperM, 100, Unite ON Live Concert

Be Your Enemy, live video

December

Criminal + Heaven + IDEA, 2020 MAMA

With Boa, The Only One, 2020 MAMA

IDEA, ABU TV Song Festival 2020

IDEA, KBS Song Festival 2020

Criminal, KBS Song Festival 2020

IDEA, KBS K-Choreo

Criminal, KBS K-Choreo

IDEA, SMTOWN LIVE “Culture Humanity” concert

Criminal, SMTOWN LIVE “Culture Humanity” concert

SMTOWN, Hope video

January

IDEA, The Ringtone: SHINee Is Back

Marry You, The Ringtone: SHINee Is Back

February

SHINee, Replay, RDD, Lucifer, View, Sherlock medley, Knowing Bros

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, The Performance Stage

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, Studio Choom

SHINee, Heart Attack, SHINee Inc, Ep 1

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, SHINee Inc, Ep 1

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, MCountdown

SHINee, Heart Attack, MCountdown

SHINee, Heart Attack, Music Bank

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, Music Bank

SHINee, Heart Attack, Music Core

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, Music Core

SHINee, Dear Name, IU’s Palette

SHINee, Don’t Call Me (short version), IU’s Palette

SHINee, Kind, IU’s Palette

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, Inkigayo

SHINee, Heart Attack, Inkigayo

March

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, Sukkiri

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, M2 relay dance

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, MCountdown

SHINee, CODE, MCountdown

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, KBS K-Choreo

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, Music Core

SHINee, CODE, Music Core

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, Inkigayo

SHINee, CODE, Inkigayo

April

SHINee, Beyond Live concert

SHINee, Atlantis, Music Bank

SHINee, Atlantis, Music Core

SHINee, Atlantis, Inkigayo

May

Never Gonna Dance Again, Beyond Live concert

Criminal, TikTok Solo Stage

Move, TikTok Solo Stage

Want, TikTok Solo Stage

IDEA, TikTok Solo Stage

Advice, MCountdown

Advice, Music Core

Advice, Inkigayo

Advice, Studio Choom

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, Bistro de SHINee

SHINee, Atlantis, Bistro de SHINee

SHINee, Diamond Sky, Bistro de SHINee

SHINee, Seasons, Bistro de SHINee

SHINee, Superstar, Bistro de SHINee

SHINee, Atlantis, 13th SHINee Day anniversary party

SHINee, Aside, 13th SHINee Day anniversary party

SHINee, Don’t Call Me, 13th SHINee Day anniversary party

[donttouchtheneednoggle]

@merlinbingo​ 2021 masterpost

M4 - Gwaine - Drowning (mostly Gen with some Gwaine/Merlin, Teen and Up, Major Character Death, 324 words)

It’s funny. The witch once said you were honourable and you almost began to believe it. Ironic how it was her you believed it from.

You played your part in the golden dream and it felt right, right enough that you could ignore all that was so very wrong. Hate is an easy thing to embrace, especially under the guise of shining honour.

M2 - Elyan - Running (Gen, Teen and up, Major Character Death, 205 words)

Years ago you ran.

You ran and ran like you could outrun what was inside of you and save them from it. But it didn’t matter.

A3 - Percival -  Burning (Gen, Teen and up, Major Character Death, 194 words)

Sometimes you wonder if the universe just likes toying with you. Likes watching you carefully build up your life again and again just to kick it into ruin

G4 - Loss of identity -  Immortal (Gen, Teen and up, Major Character Death,  765 words)

He takes your hand and you walk through the world together.

You walk through the world and forget your own name.

G2 - Learning to be loved - Servant (kinda Gen, Teen and up, Major Character Death, 245)

The King. The Queen. The Sorcerer.

Round and round they go in your head. You are only here to live for them, die for them, and you give them your whole life.

G1 - Compromise - Meet the polycule (mostly Gen, General Audiences, 3,615 words)

We got to see Percival meeting one member of the round table, but what about the rest?

I'd give you my sunshine

A2 - Jealousy -  I'd give you my sunshine (Gwen/Merlin/Lancelot, General Audiences, 2,097)

"Are you sure you're not jealous?"

C1 - Sunset - You are enough (Elyan/Gwaine, Teen and up, 8,109)

Deep in the midst of all manner of chaos, Elyan and Gwaine find each other.

Except they don't. Obviously. Definitely, totally, they don't. They're just great friends who maybe flirt sometimes. That’s all. They're not even that great friends really-

A5 - Lamia - 'All of her victims have been men' (Gwen & Merlin, General Audiences, 1,167)

What if Gwen and Merlin's conversation had gone on for just a little longer?

M1 - Sharing clothes -  Knights of the sewing circle (mostly Gen with some Elyan/Percival, General Audiences, 781 words)

Everyone keeps stealing Elyan's hoodie. And really, what is Camelot's pettiest knight supposed to do?

He's not Gwen's brother for nothing.

C4 - Time is running out - To leave the warmest bed I've ever known (Lancelot/Merlin, Teen and up,1,090)

“We have time, right?” There was another long silence before Merlin spoke. “Yeah,” he said at last. “We have time.”

G5 - Love letters - Love letters (Lancelot/Merlin, General Audiences, 1,032)

Lancelot and Merlin's correspondence, from 'Lancelot and Guinevere' to 'The Coming of Arthur'

I5 - Forced to face fear - Revelations (Gwaine/Merlin, Teen and up, 2,120)

Merlin has something he wants to tell Gwaine

M3 - Infected wounds - Let our shadows fall away like dust (Elyan/Gwaine, Teen and up, 3,813)

G3 - Free square - Not on my fucking watch (mostly Gen, Teen and up, 540 words)

Gwaine and Percival want to go after Morgana.

Elyan has a different idea... Let's not do that!

C3 - Gwen/Lancelot - Gwencelot fic rec list

I1 - Freya/Mithian - Come back (Freya/Mithian, General Audiences, 2985 words)

What if Freya had been taken through another kingdom before Camelot?

I3 - Pillow fight - 'fell off the rack' (Elyan/Gwaine/Percival, Teen and up, 1351)

“The axe must have fallen off the rack,” he said gloomily ten minutes later, after he had had an axe embedded in his shoulder. The little bastards were never going to let him live this down.

I2 - Forgiving someone - This brilliant light is brighter than we've known (Elyan/Gwaine, Teen and up, 5,506)

Elyan and Gwaine just want to go on a nice peaceful date. Overprotective friends, lingering trauma and undiscussed opinions on magic threaten to thwart them.

C2 - Romantic comedy - Bi Bi But they're idiots (Gwen/Arthur Pendragon, General Audiences, 2,234)

Gwen and Arthur are married. Everything is wonderful. There is just one little thing they've forgotten to tell each other...

Someone give Merlin a pay raise.

A4 - Aithusa - Why did the dragon honk? (Gen, General Audiences, 1379)

"Merlin!" The warlock turned to see Percival pounding towards him with Aithusa cradled in his arms, wild-eyed with panic and both of them splattered head to toe in mud. "What did you do?" he demanded. "We got in a mud fight, it’s not important, but they honked!" Merlin was confused. “Honked?” "Yeah, like a goose!" "Oh!” Merlin frowned worriedly. “They’ve never done that before." "Exactly!"

A1 - Homesick - The Blacksmith, the Rogue and the Stranger (Elyan/Gwaine/Percival, Teen and up,  8,930 words)

One chance encounter and then another leads to a change in destiny for two wayward souls and one very confused farmer...

I4 - Everybody lives - Sometimes stupid ideas lead to happy endings (Elyan/Gwaine/Percival, General Audiences, Gwen/Merlin/Lancelot, 2912)

“This is a stupid idea,” Merlin announced. “Just letting you know now.”

A tavern, a group of thugs and a lovely barmaid, a prince and his long suffering manservant, and an impulsive hero. The scene is set, everything is as it is meant to be.

Except it’s three years early. And there are a few more players this time around.

Maybe this won’t go exactly the same.

M5 - Marriage - I don't want to write a love song for the world (Gen, General Audiences, 1851)

 Leon's father keeps arranging marriages for him. Leon has excellent reasons for wanting to get out of them.

C5 - Anxiety - Baby I am right here (Elyan/Gwaine/Percival, Teen and up, 1,482)

Waking up after 1500 years of limbo is... not easy. But at least they don't have to do it alone.

[cosmojjong]

could i ask for subs or just a summary of this video please? thank you❤️ youtube com /watch?v=_qloxC5w3vI

hello! i'd love to put subs on this but i'm unable to do so atm. if anyone's willing to do it for me then send the file, that'd be so kind.

i'll still post the translation for you to read here ^^ long post incoming! (i also want to tell you this isn't the full video, if you want me to send you a translation of the fuller version, let me know okay?)

m2 guy: [cheering for shinee] kibum: it's a different person everytime, isn't it? [he is referring to the person who wears the m2 "helmet"] m2: nope, the mpd is always the same kibum: there are rumors that he's a part-timer though? m2: no room for rumor creation! kibum to a shawol: (not sure abt this to be honest, i looked at kibum's lips but it's inaudible, i hear him saying minho] minho is behind it? kibum: a student? caption: [a fun waiting time with shinee]

they turn around and jonghyun's just imitating dionysus lol he holds small talk with taemin without his mic, then the live broadcast begins

kibum: shinee's back [sings] shinee, who've been shining for the past nine years! bling bling, the self-luminous diode shinee! kibum, jonghyun, taemin, jinki: hello, we're shining shinee!

kibum: okay, taemin - today's guest and mc, the dance god, the dance prince - said he'd show you guys the highlight of the choreo

taemin: yeah, gotcha

kibum: please show it (to them)

jonghyun: i cant just sing one time after coming all the way here! [takes his shabat out, starts singing 1of1 and wiggling <;3]

jinki: before seeing shinee's comeback stage, which will illuminate the hearts of k-pop fans- taemin: let's first take a look at sf9's debut (a 9-member group who was set for official debut through a survival show)!