#maxim rad

[spilladabalia]

Maxim Rad - She Got No Brain

[maximalismdaybyday]

Source

[estavionpira]

a core tenet of fascism is the idealization of an imagined past. in this way, the way to maximize fascism in someone would be to find (or make) a fresh amnesiac and forge a fake past for them that fucked hard. that way whenever they think about the rad as hell things they did.. thats fascism babey

[asha-mage]

Cyberpunk Meta: The Power of Sticking to Your (Narrative and Thematic) Guns

I've been struggling to articulate why exactly I find Cyberpunk 2077 so damn compelling, given how far it is out of my usual wheel house in terms of genre, tone, and even ideology. And I think after beatng Phantom Liberty it finally clicked-

What enthralls me about this game is it's complete commitment to it's underlying themes and ideas.

Most video games struggle to challenge the player on a story level. Some of this is the capitalism of it all: the idea that video games that aren't trying to make every moment exciting and engaging and wish fulling aren't going to sell well, and so video games should try and maximize player satisfaction above all else. But it's not just that- video games have an inherent limitation of medium in that, since they ask for so much time from the player, they have to be hooky, to draw you in, and keep you there. You don't loose a video game when you die and have to start over. You loose a video game when you put it down and decide to stop picking it up again. And that means that the ways a video game can or will push it's audience are sharply limited- it curtails their ability to make the player uncomfortable, to deprive them, to push them into things like no-win scenarios, and bad endings, to force the player to reflect. And that limit is a hurdle to making art inherent to video games as a medium.

What I admire about Cyberpunk 2077 is it's willingness to find away around, over, and through those limits, while still sticking to it's narrative and thematic guns. Cyberpunk could so easily fall into the trap of making the torment nexus look cool and rad. But it doesn't. Night City is a suffocating capitalist hellscape plastered with advertisements, where the right of way belongs to the person with the car running you over, the only way to get an ambulance is to have a good enough insurance policy, and dodging bullets on your way to work is just a part of every day. The game is unafraid to hammer it home repeatedly that this world is broken, sick, lost, and their isn't really anything you can do to save it. One of the main themes of the game is that sometimes, their are no good choices: just ones you can live with.

And nothing hits this home harder then Phantom Liberty's King of Wands ending. The game hammers you during it's final stretch, again and again- how much are you willing to help Songbird, someone who is, at the end of the day, no different then you- a young kid way in over their head, dying from betrayal and loss, with only a razor thin margin of hope. Helping her is the right thing, but what are you willing to do for that? The game slowly strips away your other motivations and reasons, until you are sitting on that train left with just one reality: do you call Reed and betray Songbird because that's the only way to get the cure you need? Or do you preform an act of true altruism and charity, in a world tormented by greed and selfishness? Do you put her on that rocket, and send her away knowing you'll get nothing for your trouble but the knowledge you stuck to what you believed was right? Or do you choose to give her up to the FIA, to Reed, to Myers, knowing what that will mean, knowing that all she's done to win her freedom?

And like, the sheer audacity, to add an ending via DLC, and it's not a good ending. Their is no magical reward, no last minute silver bullet, or dues ex machina. Virtue is it's own reward. The extra ending you get, for compromising, for betraying, for choosing the same selfishness and greed as everyone else in Night City- it's a bad ending. You loose all your personal relationships, you loose our chance to be a legend, you even loose Johnny in the end. And for what? To most likely end up like Reed one day- on the leash of the NUSA, used up until their is nothing left but regret. I've never seen a game quite do that, because it runs against that central idea of video games- it's anti power fantasy. Your extra time, extra missions, extra choices- their not rewarded, not repaid. The story doesn't let V find a third door just because they have been moral and true. It's unjust. It's cruel. It's unfair.

Just like the world Cyberpunk 2077 is warning against.

And that, is a brilliant bit of art.

[velvetvexations]

Fascinating. I'm glad you found how you did want to be treated, and it's rad that yaoi helped!

I have OCD so my tagging has a lot of rules, but I'm assuming you're referring to me tagging things like that Lain post as both #trans and #transgender? Because that's just trying to maximize SEO lol.

happens all the time

I'm happy to help, anon. <3

[thelittlestseal]

Sooooo Lpscon 2024…

I'm happy I went, but the best parts of my experience were the sweet, memorable interactions I had with vendors and other guests.

A few of my grievances:

1. I didn't have a CC pass but still went upstairs multiple times and attended workshops because they just let my dad sign us up without checking out tickets??? We didn't know the higher floors were closed off for general admission until 4:00pm (well into the con)

Communicating that did not happen. I'm so sorry for the people who spent extra without getting the perks ://

2. We knew beforehand that you needed to sign up for the fashion show and kahoot AT ADMISSION. They advertised it as first come first serve and knowing that, wanting to partake in both we tried to sign up AT ADMISSION and were told (paraphrasing here) "Yes it's definitely first come first serve. Come back in 15 minutes because we want to get everyone inside first. We will sign you up after admission" 15 minutes later it's sold out. This seriously put me off and was extremely frustrating. We kept up with their socials, planned ahead, came with the notion sign up would work the way they said it would, did everything right and missed out anyway. This was on them. Awful, awful experience. The whole first room was seemingly set up to maximize cramping and confusion.

3. The looping video/announcements made the first floor unbearably loud.

4. The raffle was an HOUR LATE and stretched out far, far too long. Vendors were packing up and they still hadn't finished!! It seriously killed the vibe and probably left a lot of people on a sour note.

5. I might not know much about convention planning but there HAD to be a better layout than this ://

This was my first con ever and despite the constant malarkey I made some really special moments and came away with a ton of rad goodies, customs, pets and friends. I got to meet Prescott hill in person and show him my work, see so many breathtaking customs and exist in a room with thousands of Ips (heaven)

After all that I’m really interested in starting a local small scale meetup just to rectify the mess of a management team Lpscon had. It's very "if you want it done right you gotta do it yourself" pfafaffa

[louissatturi]

CELLBIT AWNSERING TO STUPID BACKLASH ABOUT THE ONE-SHOT ON DISCORD

"I enter to see people's reaction wait and talk a little bit, i just read a bunch of out of nowhere toxicity because im doing something special with New friends.

This one-shot is heppening before the 3 spin-off because EDM (enigma of fear) delayed and that is out of my control, we are trying hard to create something interesting and yall who say that "support" the thing are only slendering because it has people yall dont know or because is in a languege yall arent fluent, althought it was already clarified that i are un search of a Professional translator team to maximize acessibility as much as possible

I feel sad with this reaction, and all i can say is : it it dosent interest you, dont consume it

Yall arent oblied to stay here, and are welcomed to give space to people that are actually interesting on the things instead of hating something that has the effort of dozens of people"

"Innit?, we ware already waiting/hoping* for that,they think that everything from ordem is too expand the universe but maybe he (Cellbit) just wanted to play RPG with his friends innit?"

Exactly, if I do spin-offs expanding on the lore and adding diferent layers, the problem is "its too complicated it was better when it was just friends playing RPG".

If i do a really short special to play with friends in getting to know, it will be "bad because it wont be relevant".

Honestely,Im only here because i care about the personal oppnions of the people in here (discord) and always come to check out what yall are talking about,I could just ignore it and go to work and everything would end up Alright anyways.

I just feelt sad seeing this type of reaction when people are working their ass off*, and who many doors this will open, enable a live-action, animation or whatever thing with the product in ENGLISH and shows results and looks way easier.

But anyways, because it was to do with minecraft and gringo creators, its a huge problem to some people in here(discord). Honestly i just really greatful for the people defending and supporting the thing (ordem paranormal), thats crucial for us to keep going having energy to do all off this.

It would be 10.000x easier to just stream minecraft 12 hours a day and gain a fuck ton off money without doing any other project, i do this because i LOVE it and want to keep doing even more.

Again, thanks for the support, and lets give your best to surprise everybody again with this special that is going to be rad* ❤️ im sure that will be really fucking fun"

TRANSLATOR NOTES

* he dosent use such crude languege when saying this, he says "trabalhando mais que nada" (working more then nothing) but because it dosent exist in english i used this cruder expression

* animal can be used as rad in brazilian portuguese

[jaden-r-h-quinn]

MAJOR ONE PIECE MANGA SPOILERS (Ch. 1138) ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

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....so that mural huh? I wanna put some of my thoughts here, because I think I'm a little onto something??? Bc there's some stuff I noticed

- The slashes aren't saying "and" they're saying "or"

- In the end of the first world is a hundred percent when the Red Line was created. The Earth God being "enraged" lines up pretty well with that, as well as "they could never meet again" (we'll come back to that one) and the Red Line separating the seas. This is the world that we heard about called "The Era of Slaves"

- The Second World is when Devil Fruits started to exist, this is the world of The Void Century, with the God of the Sea being enraged lending itself pretty well to Vegapunk's revalation about there being a 200m flood.

- In the second world, we see a crew of 10 people plus Nika plus various allies vs. The Devilish figure, I think that's interesting bc Luffy has always said ten crewmates would be perfect with him being allied to the leaders of Wano, Alabasta and also having the grand fleet.

- It's so cool to me seeing Franky be the one to see this, because he's gonna see first hand that a robot was on Joyboy'a crew, and so his friendship with Luffy is destiny. Which tugs at my heartstrings even if it doesn't come up in story.

- I think it's so rad that the Ark Maxim and The Noah are gonna be important.

[demonfox38]

Completed: Super Lesbian Animal RPG

Yep!

Did you want to see my Twitch recap for last year?

I know, right? Total loser, being in the top 10% for two categories. (To be fair, it's usually that I'm cooking while I have a speed runner on in the background.) Relevant to this image and review is streamer Punchy, pictured above in my top 5 streamers for the year. While primarily known as a speed runner for survival horror games, dude's got a myriad of games that he routinely runs. Like, over 100.

One of those games being "Super Lesbian Animal RPG."

I know. That's a fucking title right there. Instantly curious, I put Punchy on, watching him go through about fifteen minutes of the run. I probably needed less than five to be sold on the game. I've got a certain weakness for RPG Maker games, to begin with. The colorful visuals, mixed sprite/smooth artwork, and catchy music were also sellers. Probably the thing that made me snort-laugh my way into getting this game is one of the main characters sharing a name with me.

Look, man. I only see Allison come up in video games under two categories: localizers needing to fill out names for random Pokémon foes, and localizers just being weird in general (see: "Totally Rad.") Knowing what I know about Japanese, Allison is a pain in the ass in terms of spelling and pronunciation, especially if you throw honorifics into the mix. Given most of my game choices are either Japanese or built in admiration of Japanese games, I just don't see the name come up a lot. So, I was amused it came up here, of all places.

I suppose it could be a reference to Alison Bechdel, now that I think about it…

If the title "Super Lesbian Animal RPG" isn't self-explanatory as to what the game is about, I don't know what is. In slightly expanded terms, it's a game about a fox name Melody who becomes a paladin in order to aid and protect her girlfriend (Allison) while adventuring around the Sapphire Islands. Things go awry after fellow magician and literal cowgirl Claire attempts to power them up and train them, accidentally gaining the attention of both a misanthropic, anthropomorphized VHS cassette tape and the deity long since vanished from their world. What follows is an adventure in sapphic love, undead cowboy aesthetics, winter wonderlands, and some of the greatest collections of color palettes seen since the 1980s.

"Super Lesbian Animal RPG" is also the professional, copyright un-infringing descendant of a title called "Super Lesbian Horse RPG," a "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" fangame. I only bring it up to give some kind of epiphany/explanation for the aesthetics going on here. The main tower, hometown protector Faith, and the main female villain Verena may also remind you of a few characters from that show. So, if you were like, "Hey, these vibes are—" then YES! Yes, the vibes are.

Being an RPG Maker fangame (specifically, RPG Maker VX Ace), the gameplay is pretty intuitive to anyone familiar with this engine or genre. Battles are telegraphed with moving dark, glitchy blotches on screen (although, dens with random encounters are also made available for grinding.) Combat is taken in turns, allowing the player to input commands before the enemy and your party take swings. There are some considerations here that I find both unique and extremely helpful! For example, the game rewards you with using the party members as their role dictates, granting Star Power for actions like Melody healing, Allison and Claire attacking, and fourth party member Jodie defending others and tanking damage. This Star Power allows access to more powerful combat maneuvers, so it's important to get as much as possible to maximize both damage output, defense, and recovery. Additionally, acting as the game wants you to will also adjust the combatants' actions to be most beneficial to you. Like, Melody will always move first when healing, but last when attacking. Similarly, Jodie will also break through enemy defenses before Allison and Claire can attack, allowing them to maximize their damage. It's a super rewarding system, and I appreciate its consistency!

Outside of combat, standard RPG obstacles await the player. This can include challenges like locked doors, ice skating puzzles, bridge manipulation, finding passcodes for safes, and generally what you'd expect for traversal threats. It's not the roughest challenge in the world, but should you need help, the game's creators have your back. (Additionally, lead creative Bobby Schroeder is also on Tumblr, if you want to learn more about her!)

This game really does go out of its way to try and help the player. It offers two difficulty settings (normal and easy), as well as a quest log to help keep track of any pending jobs or story beats. Frankly, I'm tempted to say the game is almost too easy. Like, it was a rare instance to have a character get knocked out. About the biggest threat I faced was a set of side bosses (the VHS tape's sons), and even with them, I was able to squeak by on a first attempt. I also maxed out levels super early, so the final dungeon was more about getting enemies cleared out of the way than actually grinding for strength.

Not that I don't think things aren't trying to kill me! I just think adhering to each character's strengths goes a long, long way. Also, putting the Powerhouse Pin on Melody and having the Amorous Paladin track makes recovering MP a breeze. I've heard rumors of a hard mode being developed, so perhaps this criticism has already been noticed or taken to heart. But, if any tips for hardening the product are needed, nixing the Powerhouse Pin and the Amorous Paladin route as an option would definitely be an easy way to make things harder.

I probably should explain the whole "paladin route" thing, shouldn't I?

The major gameplay style adjustment you make early on is by selecting Melody's paladin specialization of choice. This includes Woodland (granting regen abilities to characters), Amorous (sacrificing Star Power to restore MP or Star Power for your other characters), and Resolute (inflicting damaging seals on enemies.) I haven't experimented with the Woodland or Resolute paths, but considering the amount of money I saved on not having to purchase gobs of healing items, I found what I picked to be pretty darn helpful! I would suspect that Resolute would be the next best option, but maybe I'm just not seeing much value in the Woodland's Nature Nurture ability (healing everybody the amount of health that Melody has.) Or, maybe I see that as a risk, if she gets hurt.

Despite being a stickler for character classes and the roles they play, this game is anything but orthodox. I mean, if the "Lesbian Animal" part of "Super Lesbian Animal RPG" was any indication. It's been a while since I've been as consistently amused with a game's sense of humor as I was with this one! Its characters aren't above calling bullshit on the game's circumstances, and enemies are just as quick at handing sass back. If you have an inborn sense for riffing bad movies and don't mind taking a few potshots, this game will be right up your alley.

Additionally, this is one of very few games that I felt motivated to talk to all NPCs as much as possible. Like, "Tales of Symphonia" got me to pop up to a 50% ratio, and that was only by bribing me with money and goods! Everybody's some degree of weirdo, whether it comes down to capitalist machinations, a family's fascination with world domination (and everyone treating that as cute/sweet), hidden aspirations for competition, or just generally people with urges to do weird things. The NPCs feel very unique, feeding into the motivation to talk with them as much as possible. It's rewarding even before going on missions for them.

Also gotta love an RPG that gives you a quest to get a knife for an 8-year-old, then contemplates on whether or not that's good to do (and even gives the player an exit strategy, if they're narcs.)

Honestly, if I got tired of anybody, it was Melody. But, it's in that way where my own mental defects have made me into a calloused, hardened bitch, so I lack patience with people who succumb to the mind's tyrannical nature. I'm not saying she's not right to have a breakdown or two! It's just one of those things where I go, "Okay, fine. I'll ride out your anxiety attacks/relationship squabbles until you're ready to go again." And then, "Wait, are you seriously being pissy enough to drop some of your most useful skills? GIRL, GET IT TOGETHER."

I want to highlight that the emotions I had were a minor irritant and resolved relatively quickly. Like, I go through this with most RPG leads, if they aren't mute protagonists. It's a part of the cycle. Find a problem -> whine about it -> go solve the problem when no one else will. About the only lead RPG character that didn't trigger that cycle and response for me was "Tales of Vesperia"'s Yuri Lowell, and that's mostly because he reacted to injustice and being pissed off with murder. (It's not the healthiest coping mechanism, I admit! Satisfying, though.)

From a graphical and musical perspective, this game is fantastic. It's a mix of synth instruments and Lisa Frank-esque color schemes alongside smooth illustrations and modern audio samples. Like, if you like "My Little Pony" adjacent palettes, you're gonna like this game. Pretty obvious, considering its development heritage. Approaching this as someone whose favorite furry media includes "Star Fox" games and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" properties, I thought the visual and audio design here was pretty solid! A little unusually colored? Sure. Not quite full sparkledog. At least, nothing that made me cringe like "Dust: An Elysian Tale"'s Fidget. (Though, I may hate that character more for her accidentally getting the player killed in a subquest more than anything else…)

Having zombie cowboy elves is sure unique! Gotta give it up for that call. Can't say I see that every day.

If you'd like some musical sampling, give the following tracks a shot:

Ancient Machine

Scrap Metal

Labyrinth Rave (Original 998 Mix)

Fighting in the 990s

B.A.D.

t r a n s c e n d

Given the game's subject matter, aesthetics, and ease of gameplay, I'm surprised that "Super Lesbian Animal RPG" isn't a Tumblr darling akin to titles like "Dream Daddy" or "Undertale." (Not to call "Undertale" easy, mind you. It could be called "Super Lesbian Animal RPG" for one subplot, though…) I mean, some of the playable characters are even bi and trans! Isn't that worth something? That's at least 3 letters out of LGBT getting represented! Maybe the ratio is lower in other acronyms, but I still think that's gotta count for something!

I never had to think about what it means to be a trans-passing cow prior to this game, but hell. A good game will help you generate those kinds of thoughts. Feel new things.

If you are equally entranced by the bluntness and audaciousness of this title, you can pick it up online for the current price of $14.99. It's often on sale as well, if you're feeling the need to pinch some pennies. But, honestly, for a 16-20 hour game with multiple route replayability? That's a good deal right there.

And if you need a twisted recommendation—this game pairs quite well with "Space Funeral" and "Hylics." Maybe not in the funky appearances or message. Definitely in the RPG Maker games doing cool shit way.

[extraordinaryhistories]

#24 - 'The First Full Moon' (non-album track, 2001)

At birth we are given character, a name, and a power. When we enter the Great Narrative in a flurry of arms and tears and legs, God strikes with us a bargain that He knows must necessarily put oceans of distance between us: free will for the price of devotion. This is not a bargain that we should take lightly. We are now able to cause pain and be hurt; give love and take it away; aim high and fall down; all the while courting every disaster that human fallibility makes possible. Some power!

Yes, it can be utterly exhausting. But we would not have it any other way.

I am not a Christian. In another life I might have been; as it stands, though, I find it regrettably hard to extricate the beautiful, rich, redemptive parts of the faith from the violence, hypocrisy and hatred that it inspires in so many. (That and many other reasons.) But I cannot deny that the Christian conception of free will is, and permit the clumsy expression, really rad. The notion of agency as the greatest trait that we humans have, a Pandora’s box gifted from on high that embodies every power-begats-responsibility maxim you could name. And moreover, the notion that in the creation times God had the choice to keep us obedient to Him as His perfect creations for all of eternity but nonetheless chose to release us from those shackles in one great thunderclap of love, understanding that we would drift and stray and disappoint him ceaselessly and doing it all because He understood that true love is given and not wrested, knowing that He would be watching his children fall sick and suffer and sin and die across the rises and falls of a thousand empires, but accepting that this price must be paid for every human’s ability to create something bigger than themself: that right there is perfection. And it inspired one of the most unique Sufjan songs ever recorded. Which is arguably even cooler.

‘The First Full Moon’ does not go into that level of detail, of course. There is a grand total of seven unique lines in this song, all of which are vague enough that any number of interpretations are possible here (how’s that for free will?). I think, though, that there are enough clues to point us in one direction. There’s obviously the lyric ‘I've got a lot to lose / If I'm allowed to choose’, a self-explanatory couplet which Sufjan pointedly ends both verses with. Free will enters us into a contract with our fellow man and with God, such that we must use our agency to do right by the world around us; hence ‘I put away my clothes / I put the best thing on’. Acknowledge that choice is a privilege and use it for good ends. That’s what believer and heretic alike can learn from ‘The First Full Moon’.  

There is a wrinkle here though. What to make of the titular full moon? Or the repeated ‘do you mean it?’ refrain that dominates much of the song? One possible answer reveals itself when we consider that Sufjan circa 2001 (the year of ‘The First Full Moon’s release on an Asthmatic Kitty compilation) had a penchant for infusing explicitly Christian narratives into every song. Imagine, if you will, a man who was present for the ‘first part’ of Creation; a man who saw the first full moon and found it to be glorious. He was God’s greatest earthly masterpiece. His Father created for him a beautiful wife, a perfect body and a perfect, painless existence in a garden built just for him. But God also granted him choice, and with choice came the allure of evil. Evil was good at alluring. So good, in fact, that evil led him to choose knowledge over God’s love. When God discovered what the first man had done, He must surely have recognised that it was a consequence of the agency gifted to us. The man who is allowed to put a foot wrong will, at some point, put a foot wrong.

Adam – and therefore humanity – clearly had a lot to lose. The price of free will was far too high, and in the end, the first human chose the thrill of the unknown over the safety of the known. No wonder he can do little but ask ‘do you mean it?’ in ‘The First Full Moon’. Did God really mean to give Adam a power that would inevitably lead to suffering? Did God really mean it when he told Adam ‘cursed is the ground because of you’? And does God really mean it when he gives all of us that same exhilarating power today? Even though He sent his son to die for our accumulated sins, we are largely left alone on Earth, with no ally but ourselves (and the Scripture) to determine the best path through a life full of contradiction, paradox, danger, and – occasionally – beauty. To me, ‘The First Full Moon’ captures each of these concepts with a perfectly understated wisdom.

There’s really only one way a theme like this could be translated to music. ‘The First Full Moon’ is one of the most full-throated rock songs that Sufjan has ever created, and it is remarkably authentic, perhaps more so than anything else in his oeuvre. Even in songs that I previously defended as being fair facsimiles of alternative rock, like ‘The Oracle Said Wander’, there are little Sufjanisms all over the arrangement that are unmistakeable characteristics of his early work: a shambolic, lightly-played drum part here, a spidery guitar line there, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink lo-fi production everywhere.

Shockingly, I cannot find a single Sufjanism in ‘The First Full Moon’. This song is so atypical that I found myself genuinely stunned when I discovered it – outside of the vocals, which are predictably thin and beautifully melodic (I am always bowled over by the melody carried by the title phrase; so many emotions in such a small space), ‘The First Full Moon’ is a murderer’s row of everything that Sufjan doesn’t do. The first clue comes in the opening thirty seconds of the song, when that twitchy, anaemic organ line gets supplanted by a chordal guitar riff so thick, filthy and muscular that the only reasonable comparisons are bands like Nine Inch Nails and the Melvins – like, how absurd is that statement? A Sufjan Stevens song. Mentioned in the same breath as Nine Inch Nails. In case it isn’t clear, this does not happen very often.

The guitar line is but a taste of things to come. After the first verse, in crash the drums, and they are here to kick caboose and take names. I suspect the drums on ‘The First Full Moon’ were initially played with about the same (lack of) conviction as any other drum part that Sufjan himself has performed on record, but you wouldn’t know it considering how aggressively overdriven the part is on the final recording. Sufjan must have gone to town on the drums with limiters and distortion pedals during post-production, because they are indefatigably pummelling here. Listen to how each element of the drum kit sounds locked in a battle for space on the track, especially right at the end, where the limiter gets so overwhelmed that you can hear the open hi-hat jumping in and out of the mix as the technology struggles to keep pace.

Let’s talk about that end section. Is there a bigger structured cacophony on any other Sufjan song? He is no stranger to moments of free-form instrument salad, especially in his early work, but the climax of ‘The First Full Moon’ is rhythmically gridded, entirely intentional and catastrophically loud. Play this section on a pair of good speakers at a high volume and your points of reference will move from the Melvins to crescendocore face-melters like Explosions in the Sky. It is that heavy. All this comes together to create a track that dispels any notion of Sufjan being incapable of creating truly blown-out music. Maybe he’s not so good at cock rock riffage, but give him some effects pedals and a mixing desk and he will create something larger than the entire world. It's sort of amazing that ‘The First Full Moon’ is the height of obscurity even in Sufjan fan circles on account of how unique it is. One cannot help but wonder what drove him to make a song like this – and why he never really tried it again.

Though I suppose it’s just a matter of scaling up his sound as he scales up his subject matter. Sufjan built a career off of telling small-scale stories: people, places, myths, experiences. These stories have rich and profound subtexts that speak to universal aspects of existence; ultimately, though, they start with a folk singer’s tale. On ‘The First Full Moon’, though, he cuts out the middleman. This is a song where the narrator (Adam, as I ambitiously suggest) expresses his trepidation at one of the most fundamental elements of existence. It is staggering in scope. How else was Sufjan meant to capture the gravity of free will in a microscopic package? Life is pandemonium, a flurry of stressors attenuated by moments of indescribable pleasure – and we hurtle through this maze without any guard rails, knowing that our choices will have impacts that live even as we all die. A young Sufjan accepted this challenge and proceeded to write a song that sounds exactly as massive as these responsibilities. Fuck the first full moon: this one’s as big as the entire night sky.

[unscharf-an-den-raendern]

Für die maximal 4-5 folgen die er noch dabei sein wird,ist ein Happy End unmöglich,falls es einen geben sollte währe es nur kurzfristig,sie kriegen ihr Happy End und colin erzählt im am nächsten Tag dass er das Einstein verlässt…

Ach ja, die gute alte Schloss Einstein Art: "Endlich bin ich mit meinem Crush zusammengekommen! Ab nach *dreht Rad* Papua-Neuguinea!"

[lexiepaprika]

hey ♡ just wanted to say I think it’s really cool you’re wanting to collaborate with artists ! do you have a particular idea for the aesthetic/sorta work you’d want to incorporate into your blog (I just think this sounds cool and I’m curious 😅) ? also a zine sounds like it’ll be fun !

hope you’re having a great day <3

thanks so much for the message!!

i def def def would love to work with artists who match my ~vibe~ (bright colors, heisei era, vintage manga, kitsch, collage/cut-and-paste/diy aesthetic, maximalism, etc) but i'm also interested in expanding my creative horizons. that is to say i'd be totally down to work with artists who have drastically different styles the focus of my content would likely remain within the realm of old school gyaru/ganguro but i think it'd be rad af to combine this with aesthetic stylings that one might not initially associate with gyaru for example, as a huge horror lover, i've been dying to combine gyaru and horror in some tangible way. so i'd love to collaborate with a horror artist essentially, i'd love to go down a variety of artistic avenues. i want to push myself creatively this year. i want to make cool things with cool people.

[kivaember]

YES RUBICON REUNION OLD MAN YAOI Walter comes to Michigan like 'I'm here to discuss G13 Raven.' And Michigan knows damn well he's just here to angst. He also knows that Walter cant resist him--

there are a few old man yaoi anons in my inBOX BUT YOU GET THE LUCKY DRAW OF. i'm writing the pwp. here's a teaser wip bc ofc i can't help but do. fucking. worlbuilding. oeugh.

On the outskirts of Brigid, the provincial capital of the southern Belius region, the Redguns had set up their permanent base of operations within an industrial brewery complex. 

The deep, underground cellars that had once stored Rubiconian ale were now reinforced bunkers for ammunition and other dangerous substances, and the large, sprawling warehouses that had been used for ale storage prior to interstellar shipment had been converted into field garages for the Redgun’s ACs. What had once been a rustic perimeter of ornate fencing and lush gardens were now towering Bremer walls, steel-reinforced concrete that had regular patrols of both foot soldiers and MTs. Floodlights lit up the cracked road that snaked its way towards the complex, and its entrance had not one, but two tetrapod MTs standing guard, their robotic hands carrying heavy-duty gatling guns - keeping to the Dafeng maxim of “material superiority”. 

It made for an imposing sight, but Walter didn’t let a single shred of apprehension show as his transporter trundled towards that militarised outpost. His ride was fairly ubiquitous to the Rubicon of today: a BAWS-produced MRAP vehicle, heavy on the armour and designed to survive mostly landmines or peripheral explosions. If you weren’t rolling around in a heli-transporter or some sort of mech, then the BAWS MRAP (known ‘affectionately’ as the Pillbug) was the only safe way to travel on Rubicon.

His driver was one of the men Carla had ‘loaned’ him when he and C4-621 had landed on Rubicon. Her most ‘reliable’ men, she had sworn, and thus far Walter begrudgingly admitted he had no issue with them so far. Yeah, they spent their recreational time huffing Coral fumes or trying to get high from Coral-infused mealworms (with varying levels of success), but on the job - that being, repairing and maintaining C4-621’s AC and the garage, as well as collecting supply drops and doing other various chores - they functioned well enough. So long as they did that much, that was all Walter cared about. 

They were also fairly blase about practically everything. A hired merc off-world might’ve been sweating bullets driving up towards a military outpost that had more guns than a Furlong Dynamics warship pointing at them - but Carla’s RaD guy? He was smoking away, both hands tapping away at the steering wheel as the vehicle’s radio blasted out something that resembled dubstep, of all things. Not a single care or worry in his head. 

“Turn the radio off,” Walter muttered as their vehicle slowed to a halt in front of the outpost’s checkpoint. “The Redguns aren’t known for their taste in music.”

“Got it, Boss-man,” his driver drawled, obligingly muting the music and rolling the window down. A blast of arctic cold air immediately swept into the vehicle, but Walter suppressed a shiver. 

A heavily-armed guard approached the opened vehicle, dressed in tundra fatigues and their face concealed behind a balaclava and snow goggles, their hands grasping a frost-coated heavy assault rifle. Despite their imposing appearance, though, they seemed very relaxed. 

“ID,” they said flatly. 

Walter leaned forwards, resting a hand against the back of his driver’s seat as he held up his ID: his old Furlong Dynamics AC pilot one. Though it had been taken almost forty years ago, Walter had to admit that he’d lucked out on the genetics lottery and aged fairly well. His resemblance to the youthful Walter Kohler on the ID was clear.

“Michigan’s expecting me,” Walter said as the guard took the ID to closely scrutinise it. “I’m the handler of the independent mercenary, Raven.” 

The guard nodded and turned away slightly, accessing the walkie talkie hooked onto the front of their fatigues. Though they spoke quietly, Walter could still hear them over the loud growl of the vehicle and the whistling wind. 

“...yeah, Walter Kohler… the boss is expecting- right, okay. Got it…”

The guard turned back to face them and handed Walter his ID. “You’re clear to go in. Just you, though. Your driver’ll have to come back to pick you up when you’re done.”

“Fine.” Walter pocketed his ID and climbed out.

The ground was nothing but icy slush, but Walter kept his balance as he stepped away from the vehicle and shut the heavy door. He banged the side of the vehicle with his cane, and slowly the MRAP reversed away from the checkpoint. Walter didn’t wait to watch it leave, he just turned back to the guard. 

“Gotta go through security,” the guard said, pointing towards the checkpoint. Next to the large gates meant for vehicles, there was a small door leading into the attached building. “You’ll be given a pass, so no one thinks you’re some spy. Though…”

The guard’s gaze lingered on his cane, slowly dragging up to take him in as a whole. “I doubt anyone’ll think you a threat, old man.”

[slightlytoastedbagel]

Top 5 Vivid Bad Squad songs? Can be covers and commissions

I am preemptively saying that when the WAVE cover comes out this month it will be on this list unless they fuck it up so badly somehow (which I doubt). anyway

1. Alter Ego

Only thing that may withstand WAVE sweep. I love this cover so much you don't understand. The power in their voices contrasting with how Miku almost sounds... Dead I suppose? Which works well considering it's Alter Ego. Like Misumi's og version is good but VBS version is also good and they're so different despite being the same song gahhhh I love it. my only wish was that Kohane also got an alt. Curse you Gunjo Sanka (I kid ily Gunjo Sanka).

2. Kashika

I have (?) talked about how much I love Kashika before it doesn't need repeating. It's Kashika. Still the best comm ever.

3. Hitsuji Ga Ippiki

Kick It Up A Notch will forever be famous to me it's what took me from "yeah Kohane is my fav character in this game" (Awakening Beat's fault) to "Kohane has reached a level of beloved only one other character has ever achieved" that solo song was life changing. And Hitsuji Ga Ippiki is equally life changing definitely a song to listen to on loop.

4. Ultra C

Recency bias be damned because I am also Kohane biased lmao. This was the perfect song to round off the RAD Weekend stuff with. Giga/Teddyloid/Reol commission was also the right call 100% idc what people think OVER RAD SQUAD!! was an almost perfect event for how they have taken VBS's story in my eyes.

5. Rekka

This could have also been Beyond The Way. Or Unaware Drunkard. Or Marshall Maximizer. Or YY. Or Odo or Shanti or Gekokujou or any other Akito comm or Beat Eater or any of their covers since Egoist or Children Record or Devil's Manner or Daybreak Frontline or Imperial Girl. What I'm saying is that I like VBS covers and commissions and choosing a top five gets hard because the top 4 are (more or less) set in stone so ???? But it's Rekka because Niki and Whip The Wimp Girl and An Shiraishi and AnHane progressing as a duo. Uh yeah.

Thank you <33

[definitely-not-a-lucifer-clone]

How would i be able to maximize the use of my reactor to spread the blessed rads of the ommnisaih via meltdowns?

FIRST OFF, NUCLEAR CAVALIER; LAUNCHING SUPERHEATED FUEL RODS AT YOUR ENEMIES IS A GOOD START. TRAIN IN ENGINEERING; THIS WILL LET YOU TRULY UNDERSTAND YOUR MECH'S REACTOR AND HOW TO PUSH IT TO IT'S FULL POTENTIAL. NOW THEN, I'D RECOMMEND THE MANTICORE MECH AND A MIX OF GENGHIS AND TOKUGAWA SYSTEMS. THE GENGHIS WILL GIVE YOU EXPLOSIVE VENTS, ALLOWING YOU TO "BLESS" YOUR ENEMIES WITH HEAT ANYTIME YOU COOL DOWN YOUR REACTOR. TOKUGAWA SYSTEMS WILL ALLOW YOU TO PLAY AROUND WITH HEAT AND REALLY MAKE SOME FUN CHOICES. THE MANTICORE EXPLODES. CATASTROPHICALLY, AND MORE THAN OTHER MECHS. THOUGHT YOU DESTROYED IT NORMALLY? NOPE, REACTOR MELTDOWN. IF YOU ARE TO FALL IN COMBAT IT MAY AS WELL BE A GLORIOUS FALL. YOU CAN EVEN MAKE THE MELTDOWN MORE AWE INSPIRING, THOUGH IT WILL DEFINITELY KILL YOU. THE MANTICORE ALSO DISCHARGES ENERGY WHEN REACTOR HEAT BUILDS UP, WHICH SEEMS TO FIT WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. (ALSO, WHAT THE FUCK IS AN OMNISSIAH? IS THIS A RA THING? IF SO, THE MANTICORE IS ESPECIALLY APPROPRIATE.) AND REMEMBER: OVERCHARGE EARLY AND OVERCHARGE OFTEN; STRESS IS A RESOURCE!

[retfarcyroeht]

Qorvex (Warframe) a quick look

(can you imagine if they gave this name to Citrine?)

Qorvex has good base health and armor; supplementing his shield gating and a decent energy pool.

+3 punchthrough on his passive synergizes with Containment Wall. Sounds really good for shotguns (Azima secondary fire also sounds like a revisit may need to happen)

Chyrinka Pillar's been disappointing some content creators but it's not a horrible power or even a bad one. It has two forms of crowd control; rad status effects and a slow... good duration and an okay base range for something you can have two of. Damage is not bad for a t1 support ability. It's definitely a defense/chokepoint ability; I wouldn't expect much more out of it than that.

It may be counterintuitive to have a cc (slow) on an ability that turncoats mobs (like the blind component of Breach Surge) but it still bumps up its own/your dps by converting trash mobs)

The line of sight may be an issue on certain maps but be less applicable in open world and roomy tilesets. I built to maximize range to start stacking those rad procs asap.

As a subsume, I'm not sure where I would go with this (outside of meming Wisp, Oberon, Atlas or Limbo)

Containment Wall is pretty fun; big wall smash type fun. It's a semi grouping tool (just lines up but doesn't bunch up mobs) that uses rad procs for its control, softens up mobs with damage vulnerability, does a bit of damage and doubles the dps of any pillers in its path for 5s (adjustable by duration mods). Strength modding to increase dmg vulnerability.

Disometric Guard - I hear that this isn't 100% status protection but it allows me to Bramma and Bubonico at point blank range, so I'm good. It's a persistent yet fluctuating buff; stay away from nullifiers.

Crucible Blast is an all or nothing "Combustion Beam"; works freaking great if there's a bunch of mobs that you can group up... not so much if mobs are scarce. Infuse (Piercing) Roar over Pillars and/or some Topaz shards to make this even more ridiculous.

Just my initial thoughts... nothing too in depth.