#mia plays: v route

[natasha-in-space]

Jumin is literally willing to take everything into his own hands just to let the RFA grieve without having to worry about anything else. He's so incredibly selfless here, and I can't help but admire this about him with all my heart... And he's putting all of this responsibility onto his shoulders while suffering deeply. He's amazing.

[annbourbon]

Mystic Messenger Timeline (Explained)

I'll be obviously skipping a lot of stuff in between, but this is just to make things clear. It's not the way you're supposed to play, just the timeline.

⚠️ Contains Spoilers ⚠️

⚠️⚠️ Spoilers ahead ⚠️⚠️

⚠️⚠️ You've been warned ⚠️⚠️

First Rika Behind the Story (DLC)

Then I'll start counting as Year 1, the events that lead to the RFA and Mint Eye foundation.

Year 1:

V and Rika know each other

They meet Saeyoung

Saeyoung leaves

Rika kills the Twins's mom

Rika gets engaged to V

Mika and Rika (Mina) create 1st draft of Mint Eye

V buys the department

*on that note, seems that there are 4 cameras but Saeyoung only knows of one*

**This also implies that Saeran was abused as soon as V and Saeyoung took their eyes off of him since Rika used Saeran as model to defeat Saeyoung's skills as a hacker.

***What happens because neither Saeyoung nor V know anything about Saeran whenever they reunite for RFA parties and their engagement? Why no one asked anything?

Year 2:

Rika meets Jumin

RFA begins (yes, it was Mint Eye first, and the reason why the name was Magenta first. Mika?) June's Route in The Ssum, First Season. According to Jumin.

The Ssum Timeline

3. RFA 1st party is held

4 Jaehee joins RFA

5. Rika kills Sally

5. RFA 2nd party is held

6. According to V and Saeyoung this is where the hacker starts attacking the RFA (first time)

7. Jumin said he lost contact with V and Rika after the 2nd party.

There's a point where Jumin admits barely seeing Rika after the 2nd party. Meeting with her and V for the last time 3 months before her death. Yoosung Route. Day 9. Chat room 7AM called V's eyes.

According to several chats during Yoosung route, they barely paid attention to V being blinded. This of course included Zen, Yoosung, and Jumin (who is worried and suspects something but doesn't intervene despite V having severe corneal damage from external trauma)

8. Rika must have blind V at some point during these three months.

9. Saeyoung installed the Special System. AKA: The Bomb

10. "Rika commits suicide"

Plot holes: Where's Mika? Why they don't notice there's another person living there? It's not that easy to hide your presence 💀

But according to V, he knew about Mika. It's at least implied.

*At the same time, there's a line, I forgot where exactly, that says that both, Rika and V called off their engagement at some point. They don't say anything about coming back together after that. wtf!?*

Another Story

1 month after her death, prologue.

Five months later

*means 4 months after they break up their engagement? Assuming they did not break up before but because of Rika behavior blinding him. Which kind of solves the plot holes from Year 1 setting Mika on the apartment and V not fully knowing but suspecting, although it would be impossible or almost impossible without his eyes do something about it. Especially since his blindness is recent. If you need to understand a bit more about blindness watch my post on Rika killing Sally. It may be a dog, unlike V lol but it's still enough information to set up the rest of the story.

Anyways, let's go back to our timeline no?

Bad ending prologue #1 (Casual & Deep) and #2 (Another) are part of the same story and unlikely that it is set into an *alternative route* like some people like to say. Bad ending prologues even from Another Story seem to fit almost too perfectly when you think about it, but only if you agree to go with Unknown after rejecting him several times.

Because it would fit into the idea that the MC's were captured by the cult and discarded after a while (or put to work under Mint Eye. But also because according to the opening on the Casual and Deep, it would mean that Saeran's been watching you, so does Saeyoung.)

As I said before, the other MC's are either dead or anything but MIA (whatever that means for Mint Eye?) and this one, the brunette, is selected and it's the only one who survives and passed the whole trial. Not at first but it doesn't matter. This MC is not dead. The others are. You think "The others" are just the player with different image? I've got news for you, each one of this has a number~ check this post ^^

Either you become the assistant of Unknown with that bad ending which is an option available for every prologue or you enter Day 1 to Day 4 of Another Story and play throughout to reach:

Day 6 and Day 10 from Ray/Saeran Route which are part of the same ending. They're not a different ending. Both however lead to the Casual Route, Day 1 (after the prologue)

Which means, if you get the bad ending in the prologue of Casual/Deep you'll be going back to Mint Eye. Yes. It's not supposed to be your first rodeo there. And if you have a Bad Ending on Mint Eye, you're brainwashed andd set on Casual/Deep (You're supposed to be an spy, but who do you work for? Are you a victim or a villainess? that's another story 😜)

My theory?

*This is where I'm still stuck, so I'll be fixing major plots here and there and editing this same post over and over until I get it right. Please bear with me 😭*

Rika DLC > 1st party > Rika gets engaged > Saeyoung leaves > Rika kills Sally > Rika kills Saeran's mom > Rika starts torturing Saeran > Mint Eye begins > 2nd party > Hacker attack > Bomb is installed > Rika blinds V > Rika dies > Another Story (prologue) > Another Story (Day 1 to 4) > Another Story (Day 6 & 10, bad relationship both of them) obviously with what causes these bad endings > Casual Route (with bad endings included) > Deep Story (with bad endings included) > Secret Endings (except for V dying, we'll get there) > Another Story again but V route happens first (no happy or normal ending) and then something weird happens:

And this part if I'm being honest, I have no idea but I'm fixing it cause my theory is that

V and Saeran's route become so intertwined that is almost impossible to know what happened.

The bomb on Mint Eye? Saeran? Although it is suggesting in the bad endings that he died, we never saw that to happen.

V dying in the secret endings?

Saeran burn?

Seven does mention a couple of numbers, associated with the other MCs, somewhere in the game. Unfortunately I can't remember if it's on a call or a chat so I'm going back all over again because I was so shocked at the time I was unable to take a screenshot.

Truth to be said I can't fully find the order rn but! I will, I definitely will. I need time. I mean, more time. I've been working on this for 6 to 7 years now, I'm posting this because it's so big I can't keep it to myself and I'm freaking out here. So I'll be editing this in the future. As many of my other posts. Sorry lol

Ironically, Saeran's AE would be indeed the Final Ending.

Additional Note: Because of time travel, Mystic Messenger is a non linear story, which means you need to pick upon clues here and there to understand where the timeline goes. The other games have a similar issue but not as pronounced as this.

[brighteststar707]

Also for the ask game!! I'd like to make it sound all fancy and smart like I'm an English teacher, but my brain is too silly for that

6 - Something I remember vividly from reading one of your fics: Is it weird that the first thing that came to mind is Jaehee with pigtails from the 'Hair' fic you wrote for her? It was such a domestic piece, but picturing myself playing with her little pigtails and watching her blush as I call her cute, is something I still remember very vividly, oddly enough. I love Jaehee!! And I love the way you write her to bits and pieces. Soft coffee wife, my beloved <3

7 - What made me the most emotional after reading: Telepathy. It's always going to be Telepathy. Okay, maybe not always, but it'll definitely remain up there even in the future. I'd say it's my favorite fic of yours, actually. Which is... honestly very surprising, because I don't get as effected by Jumin/V stories as I do with Choi twins or Rika, for exactly! I do get sad and it's interesting for me to see them explored in different ways, but I never really felt... all choked up about them, you know? Well, you took that and slapped me right across the face with the masterpiece that is Telepathy./pos The way you wrote down the slow and painful process of drifting apart from your best friend... God, it felt both cathartic and painful. Probably because it's something I've experienced first hand, very recently, at that. Telepathy is a fic that left me laying on my bed and staring up into the ceiling, just thinking about it for a good 15 minutes. And, you know what? That's my favorite kind of feeling after reading a fic. I love Telepathy. I will gush about for as long as it exists. Go read Telepathy, ya'll.

8 - What I like the most about your writing: Descriptive writing. Now, it's probably because descriptive is my personal weakest point (in my opinion), and I tend to always focus extremely hard whenever I read someone else use descriptive writing in their works to learn new techniques and memorize if it sounds good or not. Either way, God, do I adore the way you manage to just paint the exact image of what's happening as I read. It's not too much, and it's not too little. It's just right. If I would write up everything I vividly remember from your fics, this ask would get too damn long, but what's important is that I often remember the exact location. How it looked. How it felt. How it smelled. How a certain character was dressed. How their face looked. Whether it was warm or cold. What sounds there were. It's those tiny details that make even the simplest of your stories shine so brightly! They just... get stuck in your head like your favorite song. And I think that's just amazing <3

I don't know what I did to deserve this Mia!! I've been sat here reading this over and over and feeling all warm and fuzzy🥺 Please don't worry about trying to sound English teacher-y, you've conveyed everything here so well.

Soft coffee wife Jaehee! I've made it my personal mission to write her soft and happy because she gets to little opportunity to do that in the canon routes (and I love her to bits and think she deserves the world). I'm so glad the pigtails imagery stuck! She deserves her cute moments too!

The Telepathy love!!! I will always appreciate love for Telepathy, it's one of those fics that will also always be one of my favs because of the writing process and the relationship between V and Jumin. It's a wonderful surprise to hear that my writing had that effect on you, especially for a relationship that doesn't usually affect you that strongly. It's all I could ask for, really. I'm very sorry that you had to deal with the slow loss of a friend. It's a uniquely painful experience and I'm sending you a lot of warmth <3

The details of my stories sticking in your head like a song.... Oooh I'm going to need a moment, that's one of the nicest things anyone has said about my writing. Thank you, Mia.

[muninnhuginn]

Top 5 Ace Attorney characters and why, including spin offs!!

1. Miles Edgeworth

2. Phoenix Wright

3. Mia Fey

4. Ema Skye

Couldn’t decide who to pick for 5th so just did top four.

Went slightly overboard with my reasons so I’ve chucked them below the cut.

Miles Edgeworth

I probably don’t show it too much nowadays but he is one of my all time blorbos ngl. His character arc is just so well done over the trilogy and then tied off with a bow in the Investigations games.

So, like, with Edgeworth the thing is that his dad was a defence lawyer and that one aspect plays out into the first trilogy pretty strongly. Phoenix becomes defence before of Edgeworth whilst Edgeworth is pushed into the role of prosecution because of von Karma. If not for DL-6, the trajectory of both of their lives would have been so different. And it’s not until von Karma is gone that Edgeworth is free to explore what he himself wants his role to be.

Of course, being... not the most emotionally aware or communicative he takes a long route about it (“accidentally implied I committed suicide” is an original detour, I’ll give him that :V). But as of 3-5, he’s in the position where he takes on Phoenix’s role and is therefore able to see what could have been if he had grown up to be a defence lawyer instead of being forced into prosecution. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s super important character-wise that he has that opportunity and it forces him to consider his own role as prosecution/defence. And tbh I would've been happy if they'd finished it there with him, but then we have the Investigations games which actually tie off the stuff with his dad and take him to his final decision. Even though he was initially forced into it, he is now proud to be a prosecutor. That’s the role he wants to take.

I’ve barely even said anything about DL-6 either but the first game actually does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of his character because it’s there that he takes his first step and chooses not to head down the path he was straying towards (evidence forgery, lack of belief in defence attorneys in general). Instead, he takes on the view that defence and prosecution working together will get to the complete solution and they both have to trust in each other and try their hardest to get there. But honestly, Edgeworth’s character develops in every single game pre-time skip even if it’s clearly not easy for him. And speaking of not easy for him, I really like how his fear of earthquakes is kept up throughout and never diminished. It was a refreshing treatment when I’m used to a lot of series introducing a phobia just for it to be overcome and never mentioned again.

Anyway, on top of all the stuff above, I like him because it feels like you really have to earn it as the player before he has his first breakthrough? And even once he's had that he's still fairly abrasive/arrogant/lowkey socially oblivious (which makes his interactions with characters like Gumshoe hilarious) but there’s now an understanding underlying his interactions with Phoenix. (Also, even before he mellows out it’s fun to see him going full fan about Steel Samurai)

Phoenix Wright

I know people who say player characters have no real personality because they exist to be projected onto and whilst I can see why that comes about I don’t actually find it an issue with Phoenix? Probably helps we get peeks at him from other POV characters at times, but honestly his inner monologue is just incredibly entertaining. And the disconnect between what he’s thinking (read: snarking or panicking about) vs what he actually says and does is a great source of humour tbh.

My main issue with him comes from the way that in aa4 he gets this alternate characterisation and then come aa5 that’s just... entirely wiped? I’m under the impression there was a load of rewriting/re-steering the series and aa4/5 fell victim to this, but I can’t help but feel if you’re going to overhaul a character like that you should at least try and commit to it? Carry over some more poker references or ways of acting so it doesn’t just become some bizarre aside. Show that even if Phoenix has mostly returned to “normal” that that entire saga (which in canon lasted years) has had an effect.

But like, even despite that, he’s one of my faves. He’s impulsive and doesn’t have his brain screwed on at times but once you’ve earnt his loyalty you have it for life. Mainly though, he’s hilarious.

Mia Fey

Honestly I was pretty neutral on her until aa3 and then her arc there is actually what won me over. Mia as a rookie especially was really humanising? For the first two games most of what we saw of her was this mentor figure who would guide Phoenix but mainly existed as a mentor before anything else. And then third game comes along and we get to see she bluffs it just as much as Phoenix and also she has terrible taste in men. She gets annoyed with terrible defendants (Phoenix), terrible prosecutors (Edgeworth), and just like Phoenix later on, she’s determined not to give up despite setbacks.

And I do really like her connections because that’s where her role shines. She’s Maya’s sister, she’s Phoenix’s mentor, Godot ostensibly killed to save Maya for Mia. Something something that post about haunting the narrative. That’s Mia, affecting the story long after her death. And she drags herself back into the story to get her closure, protect Maya, and pass the torch onto Phoenix. She gets the closest thing to a happy ending she can get. And then she’s gone. For real, this time.

Ema Skye

This is probably my scientist bias I cri. But she's one of the few characters you actually get to see grow up because of the age she is in the first trilogy/investigations vs second trilogy. So you can kinda compare and contrast how bubbly she is initially vs her later “done with everything” self but with the excitement still peeking through. It’s surprisingly realistic how she changes and is much better handled than Phoenix’s equivalent personality shifts imo.

I'll freely admit there are characters with much more to them but eh. Her theme is catchy, she’s a scientist, she likes chocolate fingers, I’m a simple person.

Misc

I have some characters I suspect would make this list from dgs if I could just make myself finish the games >_< (I've been stalled mid game 1 case 3 for months now). I don't want to put anyone from that there until I've finished.

Also shout out to Apollo and Maya who both have plenty of good writing behind them but just don't click as the type of personality I'm interested in :pensive:.

Bonus worst characters round: Hotti, toothbrush guy, the Badgers.

[space-kitten-606]

Hey Kitten! How are you? Is life treating you well?

You said I could ask you stuff and so I wanted your opinion on something.

If you have played V's After Ending then I think you will remember this scene in his Forgive ending. V was mia for about 2 years without any contact and Saeran was thought to be dead by everyone for those 2 years until V brought him back.

When everyone arrived to the party, Saeyoung obviously still distraught about Saeran's apparent death was surprisingly obsessing over Champagne........ to an abnormal amount..... WHICH IS INSANE BECAUSE HATES ALCOHOL! He has stated many times that he does not drink! due to his childhood trauma instilled in him by his alcoholic mother! He was always afraid of becoming the kind of adults his parents were. So he was scared that smoking or drinking would make him like them. And also because he didn't like it in general. But then in VAE he was acting so weird..... it felt so wrong to see him like that...!

When I was talking about this in reddit, someone said that Saeyoung might have become an alcoholic in the two years due to his brother's death. Seeing this was like a blow to the stomach for me because it was actually plausible. It hurt me so much to think that he started obsessive drinking as coping mechanism :( but it was very probable knowing how much his brother meant to him and how much his guilt must have been eating him from inside... However I'm still a little skeptical about this too because it seems kinda far fetched for him and there's no way the others didn't notice it before.

Now this leaves us with another possibility that Cheritz simply screwed up their writing..... which is also highly likely seeing how inconsistent their writing is. But if this is really the case then that makes me very disappointed. This was a very emotional moment for Saeyoung and they just completely disregarded such an important aspect of his character? Like Wtf-

Either way it doesn't make me feel any better. So I wanted to know how you interpreted the scene.

I'm sorry this became some kind of a rant :") Thank you for reading this and I would like to hear your thoughts if you feel like it ♡

Okay so I am finally answering this lolol

I see why it would seem like a big mistake in writing at first, but honestly I think it is subtle story telling.

So in essence, the answer you have gotten on Reddit is correct. It's really just directly reflected in V's route, but you're right. He does say while you're at the cabin

"You know I don't smoke or drink."

As an answer to Vanderwood offering him a cigarette. A very little detail. While we have plenty on insight on his childhood in his own route, it is never directly mentioned there that he is so opposed to it (which is not necessary because it's a no brainer tbqh).

So yes, I do think they did that on purpose. You see, Saeyoung is suspicious about the hacker you tell him about from the very beginning, to the point that he directly asks you to tell him if you see anyone that looks exactly like him.

He has a very strong hunch that the unknown hacker is his brother, which is already a pretty bad blow to him. And then, even though he tries his best to convince the hacker to switch sides, he finds out that he blew himself up and, in essence, that his efforts were futile/too late.

He failed his only purpose in life - to protect Saeran. He is convinced that it is somehow his fault that the whole situation ended in Saeran's "suicide".

Saeyoung was in unbearable pain before, but now he also blames his brother's death on himself. The very person he dedicated his entire life to. He can't handle the pain and resorts to numbing himself with the use of alcohol. And knowing him, he hates himself even more for that, because now he's even more like this terrible woman (his mother), which makes him spiral even further.

Thus, in V's AE, it is heavily implied that Saeyoung is suicidal. This is pretty much spelled out to the player in the beginning of the game, while they discuss Saeyoung's strange behaviour with Yoosung and Zen.

In Saeyoung's mind it is like this: he has nothing left to live for. So what does he do? He kidnaps Rika, and takes her to the abandoned cabin. He'd prefer to also get ahold of V to gather everyone that is involved in failing Saeran and "end it all for good".

So that was his plan. He wanted to gather V, Rika and himself at the cabin, kill V and Rika and, last but not least, take his own life.

Thank god these events are being averted by the clues about Saeran's survival being much more likely than they thought it was.

I realize I kind of derailed here at some point, but I felt it was important to get Saeyoung's state of mind and the severity of the overall situation across. Because even though it is being explained in the game, at the same time I think it can be easily overlooked if you miss some keypoints here and there.

I hope the wait for my answer to this was worth it lmao also you do not need to apologize for this rant. I have seen this point being brought up time and time again, and iirc I have also explained this a couple times, even before V's AE being released and I am more than happy to shed more light on the overall situation as many times as I am asked to.

[lovehatemysme]

Head-canons/Reactions Master List

*separating my HC and fanfics masterlist! 

RFA with MC who scratches excessively when stressed RFA with Pregnant MC who’s horny all the time [NSFW-ish] RFA with MC waking up with a stray cat beside them RFA with MC who’s Latina/Hispanic that loves her culture and wants to teach them Spanish RFA with Pansexual MC RFA with MC who has natural big anime boobs RFA with anxious MC coming out wanting to be trans RFA with MC who vapes RFA with MC who age regresses RFA with MC having anxiety attack RFA seeing MC in a bikini RFA with an extremely affectionate MC RFA boys if in Rupaul’s Drag Race RFA boys meeting MC in a strip club RFA walking on MC who just got out of the shower [NSFW-ish] RFA going on a roadtrip with MC RFA with suspicious MC at the very beginning RFA with heavily tattooed MC RFA with Teen MC [Platonic ofc] RFA with MIA MC and comes back explaining she has been depressed RFA with MC who has an abusive ex coming back RFA with MC giving up everything to take care of her brother RFA with poet MC who uses poetry to cope with depression RFA (-Zen) with introvert MC who slips and disappears easily RFA with MC working as a disney princess RFA with MC baby talking to the pets RFA with MC who built a pillow fort RFA waking up to a 4 inch tall MC RFA with MC who’s procrastinating on an exam RFA helping MC cope with Migraine RFA with MC can’t sleep unless she’s listening to someone talking RFA with MC who dabbles on every hobby they can find RFA with MC whose real name is Rika RFA with MC who sings bad but is good in rapping RFA reacting to MC overworking herself because she was called lazy all the time as a child RFA with MC who has piercings  RFA with a non-binary MC

RFA + V with MC watching their daughter graduate high school RFA + V being in the delivery room RFA + V with MC who’s a protester for BLM Movement RFA + V with MC who relapsed with her eating disorder RFA + V with MC who can speak Russian fluently RFA + V being caught watching porn [NSFW-ish] RFA + V with MC who was a soldier and have PTSD RFA + V with MC surprising them with a sexy lingerie after work [NSFW-ish] RFA + V with MC who has a rescue house and full of baby possums RFA + V with MC who likes to ride extreme roller coasters RFA + V with MC who’s afraid of bugs RFA + V with badass MC in her judo class RFA + V with MC who likes to play otome RFA + V with MC who has new self harm scars  RFA + V with a really eccentric, energetic, loud, outspoken and slightly chaotic mc

RFA + V and Saeran about what makes their love/romance stands out  RFA + V and Saeran with MC playing MysMe but not their routes  RFA + V and Saeran with chubby MC who is very insecure and doesn’t like her body

Zen with MC who has filthy mouth when drunk Zen with coworkers who call MC his wife and MC finding it out Zen with MC asking the “would you love me if i was a worm” tiktok meme Zen and MC on a typical day Zen with MC who’s V’s twin but they don’t look alike Zen with MC who looks like Snow White Zen who has to delivery the baby because they couldn’t make it to the hospital Zen and MC having a baby that looks like a porcelain doll Zen with MC who’s a restless sleeper Zen agreeing on a wedding lingerie exchange with MC Zen with MC who has a multicolored dragon tattoo on her back Zen coming into the bathroom with MC only in a towel Zen with MC who has a tattoo on her hip and thigh Zen with Cheerleader MC Zen with MC who had her wisdom tooth removed Zen with a guitarist MC on a famous rock band Zen with MC who has drawings and sketches of him Zen with MC who’s an otaku and hardcore fujoshi; been doing the scenes in the books in bed Zen with MC struggling with eating disorder Zen with Firefighter MC Zen with MC who has asthma Zen with MC who’s having a hard time because both of her parents passed away Zen with MC who needs background noise to sleep Zen reacting to his 16 year old daughter who learns how to drive Zen with MC who loves cross dressing males Zen’s Love Language [Personal Opinion] Zen being a hands on daddy Zen with MC who broke a bone Zen in an episode of Superman Returns Zen seeing MC in the front row on his show Zen meeting MC’s ex who he has a lot of similarities Zen meeting nieces/nephews Zen with MC saying no having showers together until their wedding night Zen being pegged by MC

Yoosung and Zen with MC who wears sexy lingerie when they come home [Mild NSFW] Zen and V with MC who brings home a baby possum Seven and Jumin with MC who wants a Poly Relationship Yoosung and Seven with a fat s/o

V with MC who has triplets V with MC who joins drinking session with Jumin V and MC’s matching bracelets story Yoosung with MC having a big family Yoosung react to overhearing MC brag to her friend that she’s got the best boyfriend ever Jumin with MC who doesn’t know how to knot a tie Jumin coming home to MC who’s baking Jumin with MC who gave up baking  Jumin with MC who refuses to sit on his lap [base on Jumin’s bday CG] Jumin reaction’s on Elizabeth running away and coming back pregnant Seven with MC who likes to chill in front of the CCTV Seven with anxious MC but stayed because of him Seven doing MC’s make up Saeran with a new born baby girl who looks identical to him Saeran eating out MC [NSFW] GE! Saeran fluff with MC who likes to tease him Saeran reacting to more Dom!MC

Choi Twins Spa Day

Fanfic & Drabbles Master List

[disemboweled-fish-pastry]

I adore Yoosung and he's my fav, but I honestly don't really like his route that much.

I mean I like it for the fact you can actually be cute with each other, for the back story, and lore stuff, but most of the time he's potentially confusing you for Rika or in potential danger from helping to find the hacker and to protect you.

He ends up in the worst shit, even on his best ending he still gets jabbed in the eye and is made blind there. I do like Saeran, but he mercilessly injured my boy, in the eye. Yeesh. Even with V, I sit back and just think... How? Did they use their fingers? A knife? How did they do it with out the eye... Just... Being beyond saving? I have no idea how that works.

Most of the other routes you can actually spend times with them in person, in visual novel mode before day 11 on the day of the party, not Yoosung. In fact he's MIA for nearly 2 days. My first playthrough, I just felt anxious because I didn't know how the game worked yet and I'd already become paranoid because my first ending was the common bad ending.

I think that ending is what sealed the deal with me making it my goal to pursue Yoosung first. It was too heartbreaking to see him get taken away to only God knows where (as far as I knew at that time). I was like "Noo Yoosung! Don't die, I'll take care of you!! T __T "

When I first saw the game back in 2016, I already made the mental note about Yoosung, as he aligns most with what I'm attracted to, but I didn't play at that time. What actually pushed me to finally play recently (December) was because I realized you could "romance" Jaehee, who also falls under what I'm attracted to. I was like "Aah, she's so cute! She kinda reminds me of Elli, but with glasses! 💖"

Alas, as I went in blind the first time, I just answered whatever I wanted to and didn't target anyone specifically. Therefore earning the common bad ending. It almost gave me a heart attack lol. I didn't see it coming, completely blind sided.

In the end, no matter what route I played, Yoosung always called to me like a siren to seaman and my fate was sealed.

Of course, I played Jaehee next, but I was a bit disappointed because I felt like my loyalty and jealously was being tested. She spent more time with Zen than with me!! Despite being so... "Bff's forever" like, I still felt it was a powerful message for her to hand those keys over to you. That in itself was like a marriage proposal. To live your life together living in and running the cafe together. It was really sweet. However, the fact it was so friendship emphasized, it kinda made me less interested in a focused, romantic way.

I... Digressed? A lot?

Anyway, as a glasses freak, Yoosung ending up in glasses was a beyond amazing and pleasant surprise, while Jaehee loses hers and never needed them in the first place. 🤭😏

[saeyoungs-sunflower]

MysMe Characters as Songs From Musicals

I am almost certain this must have been done before hahah, so I’m in no way claiming this is an original idea. These are just some of my Sunday afternoon thoughts which I felt like sharing😅💛 I gave everyone two songs bc I’m indecisive LOL

Zen

Kiss The Girl - The Little Mermaid (just made me think of the the VN when they’re on the roof watching the stars)

There, you see her Sitting there, across the way She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her And you don't know why, but you're dyin' to try You wanna kiss the girl

Lay All Your Love On Me - Mamma Mia! (almost chose this for Jumin, but it’s just so ~sexy~ that I couldn’t not give it to Zen ;))

I wasn't jealous before we met Now every man that i see is a potential threat And i'm possessive, it isn't nice You've heard me saying that smoking was my only vice

Yoosung

When She Loved Me - Toy Story (okay not really a musical but sHUSH. I use this completely unironically for his relationship with Rika. He got hurt bad, guys)

So the years went by I stayed the same But she began to drift away I was left alone Still I waited for the day When she'd say, "I will always love you"

Proud of Your Boy - Aladdin (for when he meets MC and starts to get back on track. Courtesy of @sunshinejihyun <3)

You'll see, ma, now comes the better part Someone's gonna make good cross his stupid heart Make good and finally make you Proud of your boy

(everyone else under the cut!)

Jaehee

I Won’t Say I’m In Love - Hercules (when Baehee friend zones you but you just tell yourself she’s pulling a Megara. This is her at all of us fools)

No chance no way I won't say it, no no (Give up, give in, check the grin you're in love) This scene won't play I won't say I'm in love (We'll do it until you admit you're in love) You're way off base I won't say it Get off my case I won't say it

She Used to Be Mine - Waitress (bby works too hard and loses a part of herself. The first lines remind me of how she has to dress/act a certain way in order to work for Jumin...)

It's not simple to say Most days I don't recognize me These shoes and this apron That place and its patrons Have taken more than I gave 'em

Jumin

Something There - Beauty and the Beast (everyone’s shocked to see what love does to Jumin <3)

There's something sweet and almost kind But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined And now he's dear and so unsure I wonder why I didn't see it there before

Come What May - Moulin Rouge (JUMIN is shocked to see what love does to Jumin <33)

Never knew I could feel like this Like I've never seen the sky before I want to vanish inside your kiss Every day I love you more and more

Listen to my heart Can't you hear it sings Telling me to give you everything

Saeyoung

I’d Give My Life For You - Miss Saigon (you’re telling me this ain’t him @/ Saeran before he left him with V and Rika? lemme just clean up the shards of my broken heart off the floor one second) 

You will be who you want to be You Can choose whatever heaven grants As long as you can have your chance I swear I'll give my life for you

If I Could Tell Her - Dear Evan Hansen (him in every route that isn’t his. And in his as well tbh. Just him all of the time)

But he kept it all inside his head What he saw he left unsaid

If I could tell her Tell her everything I see If I could tell her How she's everything to me

But we're a million worlds apart

And I don't know how I would even start If I could tell her

and a BONUS because apparently I like tears:

With You - Ghost (for the reset theory)

Every place we ever walked and Everywhere we talked, I miss you You never leave my mind So much of you is left behind

Jihyun

Words Fail - Dear Evan Hansen (this whole thing made me said listening back to it with Jihyun in mind. Now you can be sad too :))

I never meant to make it such a mess I never thought that it would go this far So I just stand here sorry Searching for something to say Something to say Words fail, words fail There's nothing I can say

Falling Slowly - Once (okay that’s better cmon MC show him the love he dESERVES DANGIT. To me this screams Jihyun x MC during his route)

You have suffered enough And warred with yourself It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home We've still got time Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice You've made it now

Saeran

Where Is Love? - Oliver! (this initially made me think of Ray during V’s route when he misses MC ouchouchoUCH but I think it could apply to Saeran before Ray too)

Where is she Who I close my eyes to see? Will I ever know the sweet hello That's meant for only me?

I Dreamed a Dream - Les Miserables (no comment. You know what’s up. The lyrics speak for themselves, he’s just waiting for his brother and losing all hope😭)

And still I dream he'll come to me That we will live the years together But there are dreams that cannot be And there are storms we cannot weather I had a dream my life would be So different from this hell I'm living So different now from what it seemed Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

Rika

(for these you kinda have to view them in a twisted sort of way. I’m not saying the characters who sing these songs are like Rika, I can just imagine Rika singing these lyrics in a different context)

I’m Not That Girl - Wicked (when MC arrives and she realises that, after all she’s done wrong, she’s no longer that girl)

Don't wish, don't start Wishing only wounds the heart I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl There's a girl I know He loves her so I'm not that girl

Good For You - Dear Evan Hansen (and despite realising she’s no longer that girl, she decides to blame everyone but herself...especially Jihyun because, for once, he didn’t choose her)

And you say what you need to say So that you get to walk away It would kill you to have to stay trapped When you've got something new Well I'm sorry I had it rough And I'm sorry I'm not enough Thank God they rescued you

~

I hope you enjoyed hahah, if you have any other songs that you would have chosen for a character do let me know!! so glad I spent my Sunday doing this instead of uni work OOPS

Have a lovely day!!💛

masterlist

[julsinapod]

I have too many feelings right now, so rant incoming

I'm playing Jumin's route (again), and I just got to this part, and I have so many feelings that I physically NEED to vent somewhere or I'll go mad.

I actually believe that this is one of the saddest moments in Jumin's route.

I know that it could come as simple possessiveness and obsession, that it could come as creepy, and I’m not saying that it’s okay to act like this, not at all, but it's so much more than all that.

Here he's literally panicking. He's scared, so scared that he's not thinking straight at all. He's trying so hard to regain control of himself, but he's literally feeling as if his entire world is falling apart.

First, V, his childhood friend, is literally mia.

Then there's his father, the only person other than V and Rika that sees him as a person and not only for his money and status, that starts going against him only for his new woman: imagine having your own father, one of the few people you still think you can trust, literally using you for a complete stranger, everything just to make that "outsider" happy. I would feel completely betrayed and shattered too, honestly

Then there's Elizabeth 3rd.

Yes, she's just a cat. Yes, he's completely obsessed with her. But it's not exactly an obsession, it's more than that. He found in Elizabeth someone that would never betray him, or judge him. He found in Elizabeth what no one has ever given to him. He's alone, he has always been alone, so much so that as a defense mechanism he literally imagined a relationship with his cat. And what happens? She disappears. Not only that, but it seems like she literally runs away from him.

So, not only his father is like an enemy at this point for him (even if he still loves him very much, he's still his father, and family for Jumin is very important, so the thing is even sadder), but Elizabeth leaves him alone.

And then there's mc.

The mc, this person who's constantly worried about him, who's there to help him overcome this horrible situation and that genuinely cares for him, loves him for who he is, not for his money, not for his power, not for his position, not for his fame, but just for who he really is. The mc become literally his lifeline at this point. The only light in the darkness, as clichè as this sound, but it's true. And the only thought of this person, his lifeline, his oasis in that freaking mess, leaving him too is too much to bear at that moment.

So he panics.

He starts with this, trying with everything he got to let her stay there, to convince the mc with simple words. He keeps listing everything that he can give her, like the most expensive dresses, the best food in the world, literally every material thing he can give to her, the entire world if she so desires, and the only thing he asks in exchange is her beside him.

And that's another thing that makes me so, so sad.

Because that makes me think that he thinks that there's nothing else that she can give her except for his money. He truly believes that that's the only thing worth it in him, his money and position. Why else would someone as amazing as the mc being with him? Why else would anyone want to be with him?

He literally tells the mc (and Jaehee too, at some point of his route, if I remember correctly) that he knows he's not normal.

That he's a mutant.

So, what's good about him, if not his luck of being born in a rich, powerful and respected family? He truly believes that, so much that he's basically blind and deaf to any other reason could be there to love him and really care about him as the mc does.

He's scared, and he's trying to do anything in his power to make her stay and not lose the only good thing that he has left in his life: her.

He's basically screaming: "Don’t leave me. Not you too. I can’t do it alone, I can’t do it without you. Please, please stay with me".

And that breaks my heart.

[unsere-zeit-ist-jetzt]

31.07.2019 (4): Neue Adresse

(vorheriger Post)

Rollenspielprojekt von @riddikulus und @shakshuka-grandpasweaters

Wenn ihr von Anfang an lesen wollt: Hier geht's zum allerersten Play

Wenn  ihr einen Überblick haben und wissen wollt, was wir alles nicht  ausspielen, was aber trotzdem passiert: Hier geht's zur Timeline

Wenn ihr unsere Plays auch mal auf englisch lesen wolllt: Hier geht's zum Blog our-time-is-now

Wenn ihr euch fragt, was um alles in der Welt ein Sekretariatsblick ist: Hier wird's erklärt.

Mittwoch, 20:16 Uhr:

David: *hat, während sie mit den anderen Pizza gegessen haben, die Idee gehabt, die Pläne für die neue Wohnsituation mit den Jungs zu teilen, hat sich aber vorher nochmal bei Matteo abgesichert, ob sie es wirklich wirklich offiziell machen wollen und schließlich den ok.cool. Chat geöffnet*

Whatsapp, ok.cool.

David: Übrigens: Meine neue Adresse ab dem 1.9.: Unionstr. 3 10551 Berlin

Abdi: Cool, wo issen das?

Jonas: Neeeee! Haha, Geilomat! Da hättet ihr aber echt auch früher drauf kommen können!

Carlos: *schickt n Link* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OPgbEWLtSM

David: @ Jonas: Ja, irgendwie haben wir beide das Offensichtliche nicht gesehen… @ Carlos: <3<3<3

Jonas: Nimmst du dann Mias Zimmer oder was? Und was ist mit Laura?

Abdi: Ahhhh… jetzt check ich’s! Das ist Matteos Adresse!

Matteo: @ Jonas: Jap, David schläft in Mias Zimmer und Laura bei mir auf dem Sessel. Guter Plan, oder? :P

Abdi: Ist das nicht umständlich? Was ist, wenn ihr mal… du weißt schon?

Jonas: Ja, ist klar, ich hab schon verstanden.

Carlos: LOL Mann, Abdi, du stehst heute echt voll auffem Schlauch! David zieht mit in Matteos Zimmer und Laura zieht in Mias Zimmer!

Abdi: Achso, mann, ja, klar, aber dann schreibt das doch auch!

David: Ist ja erstmal auch nur zur Überbrückung! So haben Laura und ich nicht so einen Zeitdruck was Neues zu finden.

Jonas: Jaja, und nachher gefällt’s euch so gut, dass Laura alleine ne neue Wohnung suchen muss…

Carlos: … oder sie schlagen sich nach einer Woche die Köpfe ein…

Alex: Bei mir ist zur Not auch noch ein Zimmer frei! Ich geb David dann Asyl!

Matteo: @ Jonas: :-P @ Carlos: Niemals! Pazifismus! @ Alex: Gut zu wissen, dann weiß ich, wo ich ihn finden kann ;)

Abdi: Leude, Leude, wie aufregend, das erste Pärchen das zusammen zieht! <3

Jonas: Ja, wir gucken uns dann ab, wie ihr’s macht ;)

David: Danke, Alex, aber ich glaub nicht, dass das nötig sein wird. Falls doch, komm ich gern darauf zurück (zumal Matteo dann wenigstens weiß, wo er mich finden kann)

David: Matteo und ich stehen doch eh unter Dauerbeobachtung, seit wir zusammen sind, also ja, guckt einfach mal und lernt! ;-)

Carlos: Wenn Kiki aus Halle zurück ist, will ich auch unbedingt mit ihr zusammen ziehen!

Jonas: /Wenn/ Kiki aus Halle zurück kommt…:-P

Carlos: Fick dich, Alter!

Matteo: Hach, Brudi Liebe <3

Jonas: War nicht so gemeint, Carlos, komm schon…

Abdi: Wenn ich mal ne Freundin hab will ich auch mit ihr zusammen ziehen, Aber jetzt zieh ich erstmal mit Carlito zusammen!

Jonas: Stimmt ja! Habt ihr schon was gefunden?

Carlos: Jap, war aber voll der Glückstreffer, Abdis Vater kennt jemanden, der jemanden kennt und so, Mini butze, gar nicht so weit von Matteo weg...oh, sorry, gar nicht so weit von Matteo UND DAVID weg ;)

Jonas: Ja, Geilomat! Habt ihr gar nicht erzählt!!! Wann ist der Umzug?

Abdi: Erst am 1.10. Sonst hätten wir die Wohnung vielleicht auch für David und seine Schwester geopfert - die suchen ja eigentlich viel dringender als wir.

Carlos: Ist auch noch ganz frisch. Haben wir quasi gestern erst erfahren.

David: Aww, das ist lieb, dass ihr sie geopfert hättet, aber 1.10. wär in der Tat ein bisschen spät gewesen. Trotzdem herzlichen Glückwunsch, euch beiden!

Jonas: Seh ich das jetzt richtig, dass wir dann zum 1.9., zum 1.10. und zum 1.12. beim Schleppen helfen müssen?!? :-O

David: Wär schon nice, ja!

Carlos: Ey, ich dachte, das wär Brudicodex und so… Einer für alle, alle für einen, oder!?

Abdi: Seh ich auch so! Und wenn du mal ausziehst, Jonas, helfen wir auch…

Matteo: Und es ist immer n Kasten Bier drin, Brudi ;)

Jonas: Na dann…

Alex: Ich würd ja sagen, ich stell mein Auto zur Verfügung, aber ich glaub das hilft nicht…

Carlos: Ja, Mann, hätteste dir mal n SUV gekauft. Mit deinem Sportflitzer kannste ja nix transportieren…

Alex: Aber sieht geil aus.

Carlos: Stimmt :)

Jonas: Aber, Luigi, könntet ihr nicht quasi sofort anfangen? Also Sachen zu dir bringen?

Matteo: Könnten wir, aber…. *schickt ne Italien flagge*

Abdi: Häh? Zieht ihr nach Italien!?

Jonas: Ach, stimmt! Das klappt ja jetzt doch! Freu mich voll für euch!

David: Wir freuen uns auch!

Carlos: Ich würd mich auch freuen, wenn ich wüsste, worum es geht!

Alex: David und Matteo genehmigen sich noch einen kleinen Urlaub…

David: Wir machen spontan einen Roadtrip nach Italien. Meine Patentante leiht uns ihr Auto!

Carlos: Alter, warum wissen Jonas und Alex schon Bescheid und Abdi und ich nicht!?

Jonas: Vielleicht werden Jonas und Alex von Matteo und David mehr geliebt als Abdi und Carlos…

Matteo: Vielleicht. Denkt mal drüber nach, Jungs :P

Carlos: BOAH!

Matteo: Nee, Jonas hab ich’s in echt und in Farbe erzählt und Alex ist halt einfach allwissend…

Abdi: Ne, Leute, das geht so nicht. Deswegen haben wir doch die Gruppe hier.

Carlos: Echt mal! Wie lange seid ihr denn weg? Und wo genau? Und überhaupt?

David: Mit Alex hab ich die Tage viel geschrieben - da hat sich das ergeben… Sorry, war irgendwie ziemlich viel los. Da haben wir vergessen, das in die Gruppe zu schreiben...

Carlos: Ah, verstehe, tiefere Bindung und so…

Alex: *Stinkefingersmiley*

Jonas: Ja, stimmt schon mit der Gruppe. Aber ab und an geht halt auch mal was unter. Das mit eurer Wohnung habt ihr ja zum Beispiel auch nicht sofort berichtet…

David: Wir holen am Sonntag das Auto bei meiner Tante ab und wollen Montag starten. Matteos Oma wohnt in Ravenna. Ich darf nur grob die Route planen, weil es sonst kein echter Roadtrip ist - meinen zumindest meine Patentante und Matteo. Aber wir müssen auf jeden Fall nach Venedig, damit das Auto meiner Tante Venedig gesehen hat (fragt nicht!) und dann gucken wir einfach mal. Schätze mal, dass wir vielleicht zwei bis drei Wochen unterwegs sind…

Carlos: Deine Tante gefällt mir. Hat ihr Auto auch nen Namen?

Matteo: Rudi.

Carlos: Haha, wusst ich! Aber cool, mann, klingt mega chillig. Viel Spaß euch!

Jonas: Geplanter Roadtrip ist aber echt auch nur halb so spannend, oder?

Matteo: Danke!

Jonas: Lasst aber trotzdem mal von euch hören, wo ihr grad seid und so…

Abdi: Aber, Leude, sehen wir uns dann gar nicht mehr, bevor ihr abhaut??

David: Ich glaub, das wird ein bisschen knapp. Matteo und ich haben noch rein gar nichts gepackt, weil ja erst seit gerade klar ist, dass wir fahren können. Und wir sind Samstag noch bei meinen Eltern. Morgen Nachmittag ginge vielleicht noch?! Vormittags ist Carlos ja jetzt erstmal raus…

Carlos: Du hast Eltern!? Haste nie von erzählt, Brudi…

Abdi: Alter, jeder hat Eltern!

Jonas: Morgen hat mein Vater Geburtstag - da ist Anwesenheitspflicht!

Abdi: Und ich hab meinen Eltern versprochen, beim Renovieren zu helfen. Die kriegen ne neue Küche und Carlos und ich können die alte haben.

Jonas: Was ist denn mit Freitag Nachmittag?

David: Da hab ich n Arzttermin, sorry. Und wahrscheinlich sind wir da auch ziemlich im Packstress…

Carlos: Alter, wenn man erwachsen wird, hat man echt zu viele Termine! Wir machen einfach Party, wenn ihr wieder da seid!

David: Ja, Packparty - denn dann können wir echt schon langsam ein bisschen Kram von mir zu Matteo bringen…

Matteo: Da is dann eh bald Mias Abschiedsparty… wir feiern und trauern da einfach alles auf einmal

Carlos: Aber nicht #matteomonday vergessen, wenn du on the road bist, da ist mein Seelenheil von abhängig

Matteo: Haha, würd ich dir niemals antun

Jonas: Dann haut mal rein, Jungs, bisse Tage und so, wir schreiben bestimmt nochmal. Ich muss jetzt los!

Matteo: Tschöö, ich muss jetzt mal gucken, ob noch Pizza übrig ist…

Alex: Beeil dich…

Matteo: Aaahhhh

Wir freuen uns über Likes, Reblogs, aber am meisten über Kommentare und Feedback! Also immer her damit ;-)

(nächster Post)

[natasha-in-space]

Jumin is so damn funny I love him

[titusmoody]

2021 Q2 stuff

Games

Return of the Obra Dinn -- Very different. A great experience to play, it doesn’t use any typical “gamer” skills or knowledge. It also hit on a lot of my personally prefered sensibilities (stories self-contained to ships, non-linear storytelling, mysteries, and meticulous attention to detail)

Kentucky Route Zero -- Even more different. I’m glad I played it for the atmosphere, though it didn’t click with me the way Obra Dinn did. Extremely atmospheric and cool, but also has a strong academic curiosity to it.

DOOM (2016)-- Okay, we’re back to regular video games. Everything about this one seems very carefully crafted. I had a good, mindless time with this one.

Spider-Man -- Not as well-crafted as DOOM, but also less juvenile. I also had a good, mindless time with this one.

Metroid: Samus Returns -- Feels like Metroid. The moment-to-moment combat is different than Super Metriod and Fusion, which is a nice way to keep things from getting stale.

TV

Shadow and Bone -- Sometimes tropes exist because they make for good stories. This show was a good example of that.

Pani Poni Dash -- WTF Japan, in a good way

Princess Tutu -- Much like I felt about Cowboy Bebop, this show was very well-made and I had an easy time appreciating what it was doing, though in the end it’s not the kind of thing that’s really for me

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid -- Pleasant to watch, mostly lighthearted but could definitely have emotional moments here and there to keep you interested.

Kakegurui -- Shows like this are the reason anime fans are so self-depricating. It was thoroughly trashy, but I’d be lying if I said that the trashiness didn’t lead to a lot of fun.

Love, Chunibyo, and other Delusions -- An excellent comfort-watch. About a high-schooler trying to run away from his cringe-y middle school phase. I definitely have criticisms of it, but I’m also definitely going to watch it again.

Devilman Crybaby -- I swear, Masaaki Uasa takes the most overdone premises and portrays them in such bonkers ways that they become pretty cool. This isn’t one of the best examples of that, but it still works.

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket -- Part of Gundam’s brand is that it shows the effect of wars on individuals. This is a great small-scale example of that. 

She-Ra -- It’s good. The plot kinda meanders and the backstory lore is presented confusingly/unclearly at times. But the central characters are good enough to carry at least a few seasons, and the secondary characters really elevate the whole thing. I was personally very fond of Scorpia as well as the way the writers used Entrapta both in the plot and as a character foil.

Chernobyl -- Second time watching this, it’s definitely a favorite. 

Movies

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again -- You already know what this is like and whether or not you enjoy the sort of thing it is. 

Moulin Rouge -- It’s hard to watch Mamma Mia without thinking of this one, so I watched it soon after.

Minari -- My personal reward for being fully vaccinated was to go to the movies by myself. This was a good movie, though overshadowed by the circumstances in which I saw it. I would’ve been very happy to be seeing anything.

My Fair Lady -- An iconic pop-culture touchstone. Not my favorite musical, for sure.

Interstellar -- This movie is in the odd position of currently being my favorite Christopher Nolan movie despite the fact that I don’t like it nearly as much as I liked either The Dark Knight or Memento when I saw those for the first time.

The Perfect Storm -- George Clooney, big wave.

Legally Blonde -- I didn’t hear the term “sitcom” until oddly late in life, and when I heard it, I assumed it meant movies like this where there aren’t a ton of jokes, but the characters are constantly in inherently funny situations. I don’t like this type of humor that much.

Jurassic Park -- A big “moral” of the movie was “don’t trust computers to do anything important” but today it’s hard not to get the message as “never underpay your system administrator” instead.

Apollo 13 -- Pretty good

ET -- I really didn’t like this movie and I don’t quite know what it doesn’t do that Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones do. Imminent danger seem to be part of it, but I don’t think that’s the whole picture.

The Day After Tomorrow -- *shrug* I had fun watching it

Pearl Harbor -- expected it to be bad, it was bad. It was definitely bad in interesting ways, and was almost good a lot of the time.

Die Hard -- I was looking for suspenseful movies with clear character motivation and this fit the description. It was good, though I didn’t like it quite as much as I hoped to.

Star Trek V -- Star Trek is often silly and I just can’t get on board with some of the silliness, like the last part of this movie.

Terminator 2 -- Yeah, I do like suspense. I don’t think I’ll look back on this as a favorite, but I was pretty into it. Moreso than Die Hard.

Cast Away -- Pretty good

Predator -- Somewhere between Die Hard and Terminator 2. I was a bit bored by the end, which ironically was the part that most closely resembled what I was looking for.

Braveheart -- I think romanticising medieval Europe is fun and cool. Unfortunately this movie has some creepy sexual hang-ups as well as rampant “no step on snek” energy that ruin the whole thing.

Redline -- Just a cool looking movie

State of Play -- I forgot the whole plot of this already, but I enjoyed it

Troy -- It’s not as bad as its reputation suggests, though the end does get really over-the-top cheesy

Demon Slayer -- I liked going to the movies by myself so much the first time that I did it again. This time it was in a much more full theater and I was one of very few people over 17. Fun action anime movie, though.

Gladiator -- I’m so disappointed that I didn’t connect to this movie, since over and over I felt like I was very close to loving it. I think the revenge motivation was what ultimately prevented me from really getting into it.

K-19: The Widowmaker -- Hell yeah, extremely tense submarine scenes, that’s exactly what I wanted.

The Manchurian Candidate (2004) -- The movie felt like it wanted its premise to feel plausible, but it really didn’t. Still pretty good, though

The Big Lebowski -- Still not a big fan of this one. 

The Naked Gun -- This confirms that my sense of humor has not gotten more refined since age 17 or so. I still thought this was pretty funny.

Dances With Wolves -- Mostly just boring. 

Angels and Demons -- Even at age 15 the book’s riddles and clues premise felt a bit too contrived. The movie has the additional disadvantage that verbal explanations are the most boring way to resolve questions, unlike books where words are all you have.

Chinatown -- Meh, a fine detective story but nothing really clicked with me. The director’s life is wild, though. He escaped the holocaust, had his pregnant wife murdered by the Manson family, and is currently a fugitive from justice for raping a 13 year old.

The Core -- Like The Perfect Storm, appealing in the “so bad it’s good” way.

Porco Rosso -- Think the type of character study of Kiki’s Delivery Service, but about a middle-aged man, so it doesn’t resonate with Miyazaki’s audience enough for many people to talk about it.

Uncut Gems -- My second time watching it, it’s definitely a favorite. Between this and A Serious Man, I seem to love extremely stressful movies about mediocre jewish men.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) -- Interesting to compare/contrast with the other version. I like both

Galaxy Quest -- another movie that fits my personal definition of what “sitcom” should mean. Again, not my favorite type of humor

Fantastic Planet -- Looks like something between the animated sketches in Monty Python and Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Very weird, it personally really worked for me.

Scarface -- I think romanticising organized crime is fun and cool. 

In the Heights -- colorful, catchy, happy and fun. 

Books

The House in the Cerulean Sea -- a good comfort-read. very simplistic and a little clunky and amateur-ish, but ultimately pretty cute.

There There -- not a comfort-read at all. A super raw look at the modern life of a variety of Native American situations. Very harsh but also interesting.

Six of Crows -- Fine YA fantasy fluff.

[hanjuminnya]

K I love Jumin Han but oof he is NOT great in Jaehee’s route, I forgot how painful this is. T^T

Also, I think it’s really interesting how the recommended game play is Jaehee first, and then Jumin right after. I think it’s an interesting way of leading your story to take you from a place of ‘oh my gosh I hate this man’ to, ‘oh dang he needs a lot of help and love and then he can actually be really great.’

It also makes you think back on Jaehee’s route and analyze the way he was acting a little better. In his route, when he has a mental break down he has the MC to help him through it. In Jaehee’s route however, he has no one (since V is painfully MIA) and so he steals a car and gets into a bad car crash. Like???? If that’s not a call for help masked by ‘Ah what a bad and bratty boss who isn’t getting his way so he’s throwing a tantrum’. It’s really painful, especially that scene with Jumin and V when he begs him not to lie to him because everyone else is. He is so on his own in Jaehee’s route and it makes him react more venemously, it’s kind of heartbreaking while you have to still acknowledge how terrible he is at the moment. 😢 He knows he’s the villain of her route and he hates it but he’s stubborn and not okay so he decides to make that everyone else’s problem. And for someone who sees RFA as his family and only friends, I can’t imagine how painful that would be, and it hurts to see him dig his own grave into it through his actions.

I’ve said this before, but I admire how well Cheritz wrote the characters for this game, because they are all very human and you get to see their worst and best sides throughout the game.

[blackcatanna]

Tales of the Reluctant Kazama Bitch Part 2: Edo Blossoms!

We left our would-be heroine galloping across the country, desperately clinging to the man who's repeatedly threatened to kidnap and impregnate her. However, all of this ickyness is forgotten in the face of a greater threat: her creepy brother and stepdad, who want to turn everyone into shitty vampires.

Chapter 1:

*Sadly scrolls past superior men to get to Kazama's portrait* :'(

If this route contains plenty of free Sen and Kimigiku, I will be less mad at it.

Wait, when you say, "abandon our horse" you are gonna come back for it, right?! RIGHT?!!? O_O

A deserted house, huh? Seems like a great place to have a nap and totally not get murdered by the spirits of the restless undead.

And, of course, Kazama just HAS to take a minute to be a bougie bitch, "Hmph. I would sooner call this a hut than a house."

"Just shut up, and sit tight." Classic Kazama.

Kazama going on about "The destructive force of humans" again -_- Pot kettle black. Bitch.

Wow, the Yukimura clan helped Tokugawa Ieyasu "usurp control of the country with military force." In my head, this takes place in the same universe as the Samurai Warriors series X_X

"You take me for some boorish creep, don't you?" Yes.

"I shall not lay a finger upon you until our marriage is finalized." That's great, provided that I get a say in whether or not we get married!

Amagiri is being helpful and practical and Kazama is just being extremely rude, stubborn and idiotic. X_X

"You'd better not bitch at all, got it?" Um, Kazama, you're the one who bitches about everything. Not me.

"The thought of Kazama rescuing me stood at odds with the initial impression I'd had of him as a crude, sadistic warrior who hated the Shinsengumi." Um, why can't he be all of those things? Just because he's a dick doesn't mean that he's going to let his precious brood mare fall off a cliff!

HAND HOLDING ALERT! THE ORGASMETER IS GOING WILD!!! PHYSICAL CONTACT INITIATED!

Hold up, female demons all have the same stamina as normal humans but males get superhuman endurance?! This is so unfair! -_-

Chapter 2:

Guess I'll never see my beloved Shinsen-gummies again :'(

Here goes Kazama again, shitting on the Shinsengumi for risking their lives because he can't comprehend the idea of anything being worth risking his own precious life.

"Kazama dismissed the Shinsengumi to a degree that I could only describe as willful ignorance." YES GIRL. GET HIM. "I had never met anyone so incapable of empathy." Most sociopaths find it advantageous to at least pretend to empathise with people. I guess when you're an all-powerful demon price, such precautions are needless.

Ooh! Can I please stay at the Shinsengumi's headquarters!

OH SO NOW MY OPINIONS ARE ASININE?!??!!! I THOUGHT THAT THIS HO AGREED WITH ME THAT FURIES ARE BAD!?

Wait, so now I don't want Kazama to kill my family of creeps? Y tho? I love my family but I still wouldn't let them commit stupid genocide. I guess she really believes that she can reason with them. We'll see how that works out.

I am enjoying this slice of Kodo backstory to hammer home how far he has fallen.

FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!! SO, IN THIS ROUTE, KAZAMA HATES HIM SO HE CAN'T PIMP ME OUT TO KAZAMA SO HE WANTS ME TO "MATE WITH" THE FURIES INSTEAD!??!? WTF!?!!

"Bitter, senile idiot" For once, Kazama is right.

Did Kodo just throw me at Kazama?! Stepdad of the year.

"Perhaps I'm being forward, but I see in you the virtues befitting the leader of the Yukimura clan." Stop, stop. My penis can only get so erect.

"You will feel better watching me peel the flesh from their bones with the swing of my sword." O_O Is this Game of Thrones now? Uh, thanks, I guess, for those words of, uh? Comfort?! What girl doesn't want to watch a guy dismember her family!?

Awe, tiny Chizuru's village burning memory :'( My heart! :'(

Shiranui "plopping" himself on the floor is a big mood :')

Nooo! The Shogunate is feeding the Shinsengumi to the furies?! :'(

Spider Kaoru being weird and creepy (literally) as usual.

Ugh, I thought we'd agreed to murder the fam?

Ooh! This house has pretty wallpaper!

Why couldn't Kaoru just live with me and Kodo for all those years?! Did Kodo just hand him over to those abusive fucks because he couldn't be bothered to raise a child who didn't have a precious vagina?

I love the scuttling sound that the minions make when they assemble! :')

Turns out, even Amagiri can't punch a fury to death X_X

DING DONG THE BITCH IS DEAD. Kodo just went so, so evil o_e

I've stopped listening to Kazama whenever he goes off on one of his rants about how all humans suck and are to blame for all of our problems -_-

When the nice music started playing, I expect to see someone I actually liked but it was just Kazama in a new outfit.

CALM DOWN, YOU THIRSTY WENCH! IT'S JUST A NEW OUTFIT X_X

"Quit wallowing in your self-pity for once." Wisdom?! From Kazama?!

"Do you remember the Shinsengumi captain named 'Harada'?" O_O Yes. What happened to him?! IS HE OKAY?!?? DID YOU KILL HIM!!!?!!!!?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :'( :'( :'( </3

And so it begins. Hanging out with these fuckers while watching everyone I love die from afar </3

Awe, Shiranui and Harada became buddies <3 and now Shiranui blames his bad luck for Harada's death. :'( It's not your fault, Shiranui D'X

Kazama: "No time for tears." BEGONE, THOT. :'(

Chapter 3:

Bad news, huh? Bad news for me or for you, Kazama? >:(

*Winces in anticipation of more dead Shinsengumi members*

RIP Kondou. You were too wholesome for this cruel world :'(

Welp, looks like I'm chasing my beloved ho's across the country :D

Oh, Kazama thinks that I'm joking about trying to reunite with my long lost friends. You don't KNOOOW me!

"Harada, who was ripped to shreds at Ueno. No one's patting him on the back for dying like a wounded animal." LET ME AT THIS EVIL CUNT!!! HOW DARE HE!!! I JUST WANT TO SEE MY FRIENDS AGAIN!!!! DO YOU NOT POSSESS AN OUNCE OF RESPECT, OR TACT, AT THE VERY LEAST!?!!?

"All they'll ever be is a footnote in the annals of history. Their legacy is being spat on." "Kazama made a lot of sense." BITCH WHERE!!!????!

"I knew women were whimsied by delusion, but you are sitting at the top of the pile." -_- Are all demons this sexist?! I don't think I want to hang out with other demons anymore.

"You should go after him." Amagiri, why?! -_- I don't wanna! Let him stew in his own miserable juices.

He looks like a disgruntled cat.

OH, BITCH EXPECTED ME TO FOLLOW HIM. I should never have listened to Amagiri. He has no eyebrows.

We're in my burned out village, aren't we? :'(

OMG KAORU'S DEAD BODY IS RIGHT THERE O_O

"Why are you crying?" REALLY?!???!

This is v sad :'(

OH CAN YOU SHUT UP ABOUT HOW THE HUMANS ARE TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING FOR FIVE MINUTES WHILE WE BURY MY BROTHER, WHOM YOU LITERALLY MURDERED. IF YOUR SO POWERFUL, WHY CAN YOU ONLY KILL?! YOU ONLY SAVED ME FOR YOUR OWN DISGUSTING PURPOSES. IF YOU TRULY SAW KAORU'S POTENTIAL TO BE A FINE LEADER, WHY WERE YOU SO QUICK TO KILL HIM?!? HUH!??! D'X

"He died just as he lived--alone" :'(

Kodo absolutely needed a good killing but I believe that Kaoru was redeemable. :'(

WHY ARE YOU ASKING HIS PERMISSION TO REMEMBER YOUR FAMILY THE WAY YOU CHOOSE!?!

"It was never my intention to reveal the history of the Yukimura clan to you." BITCH, WHO ARE YOU TO DENY ME THE HISTORY OF MY OWN CLAN?! >:(

"Impatience is unbecoming" Oh no, heaven forbid you lose interest in me! Not that that would ever happen to this thirsty whore.

"Obedience is a good look on you. You are well on your way to becoming the ideal life." LISTEN HERE YOU SMUG PRICK!!!!!! I WILL DIE BEFORE I EVEN CONSIDER THAT REVOLTING POSSIBILITY!!!!

Here we go, time for an orgy of sadness, courtesy of Amagiri! :(

"Okita has passed away from illness." Not surprising but very, very sad :'( Poor Okita, slowly wasting away while his world falls apart around him </3

Saito's MIA, which doesn't look good but, historically, he was fine so I can handle that, I guess O_O If he is confirmed dead later, imma be real mad. AND SAD. D'X

Nagakura is also MIA?! Big sad </3 I bet that Kazama is secretly loving this >:(

HEISUKE AND SANAN ARE FULLY DEAD!!?? D'X NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO This is too much sad. FFS, KAZAMA, YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME SEE MY FRIENDS BEFORE THEY WERE ALL KILLED, YOU HEARTLESS WENCH! WAS YOUR PLAN ALL ALONG TO JUST WAIT UNTIL EVERYONE I CARED ABOUT WAD DEAD SO THAT I'D HAVE TO CLING TO YOU!?

"What about the others?" WHAT OTHERS?! Hijikata, Souma, Nomura? Is that it?! My family is DEAD, my friends are DEAD. Kazama doesn't see that as a problem because my fertile body is still intact but MY HEART IS BROKEN D"X

"That little dog's still got some bite, eh?" SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP.

"Everyone's still putting up a fight, huh" Well, not everyone. Most people are dead but, uh, good on you for seeing this as a glass half full...

Ugh, why does Kazama have to come with me to Ezo?

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME STRIKES AGAIN.

Aaaawwweee Shiranui brought me Harada's spear D'X

Shiranui is so much better and kinder than Kazama :'(

HOW CAN KAZAMA GO THROUGH LIFE BEING SUCH A CUNT AND SCOFFING AT EVERYONE'S SINCERE BELIEFS. No wonder even his allies hate him.

Shiranui, stop with the kind, heartfelt words! You're making me cry D'X

"Shiranui was nowhere near as bad as Kazama" Truth.

"Isn't this just another worm you've let crawl into your insipid heart?" Wow, this route is actually making me like Kazama LESS.

Sendai is pretty.

WE MISSED THEM AGAIN?!!? NOW I'M STUCK ALONE WITH THIS ASSHOLE AGAIN!?!?

Wow, this CG is telling. Chizuru crying against Kazama's turned back.

Chapter 4:

Well, at least I get to stay in a mansion while I cry over my dead friends and family.

Omg, I'm basically Kazama's housewife X_X

Kazama's in a bad mood, huh? Did Hijikata die before Kazama could fulfill his promise to me? Useless man.

OMG, HE REALLY HAS MADE ME HIS WENCH!!! NO!!! DON'T FETCH HIM THE SAKE!!!!

"Fetch me a bottle at once." "I'm only going to grab you one, okay...? Drinking too much isn't good for your health." I'M DEFINITELY HIS WIFE!!! HELP!!!! HIW CAN I WAKE FROM THIS NIGHTMARE??!!

"Sake is more of a medicine than a poison, and as you've noticed, I'm ill. Make it three bottles." Aaaand my husband's an alcoholic X_X

"Hey, don't take your frustrations out on me. Also, it's only a 'medicine' when you drink in moderation--not when you're piss drunk." Yaass Chizuru! You tell that edgy thot!

"Humility is a more attractive colour on you. From now on, feel free to humble yourself by complimenting me however much you deem fit." That would be never. I cannot with This Bitch. Eat shit and die, Kazama.

Okay, now things are really sad. Still chasing my friends as they fight against all the odds D'X

Aaaaaah, the tension is killing me! This is going to be horrible D'X

SHIMADA AND SOUMA ARE ALIVE!!!

"I'm going to kill each and every one of you impotent bastards until there's none left. See you in Hell!" :') I've missed Hijikata!

WHY AM I CHASTISING SOUMA FOR STANDING UP FOR HIMSELF AGAINST KAZAMA!?

Oh great, now we're hunting for Hijikata's corpse. SADNESS INTENSIFIES.

"What about you, girl...?" First of all, SHUT THE FUCK UP. Secondly, the way he addressed me reminds me of my brother XD

ER MAH GERD!!! HE IZ KISSING MEH!!! O_O

"Although I'd wanted to scream, I couldn't." O_e Tha fuck?!?

WITH TONGUE!!!

Final Chapter:

Please let me not be married to Kazama X_X

"I was alone" Good start.

"This incessant urge to clean" Can't relate.

"Sadly, my father passed away." XD

Yaaaas become a doctor! You don't need no man!

However, tell me more about this cute medicine clerk ;)

Speak of the demon X_X

When you get sick of kindly old ladies telling you to find a man so you settle for some dickhead edgelord X_X

"He was his usual, callous self." Husband material X_X

Wait, I've been all alone all this time?! What about Sen?!? Why can I not have friends? :'(

"I've come to claim you." BITCH, I AM A STRONG INDEPENDENT (BUT VERY SAD AND LONELY) WOMAN!

"I will tolerate no resistance" O_O

"Kazama might have been a pain, but he was my pain" Uh, okay XD

So, I guess I do marry Kazama purely because he's the only person left alive who knows what I went through X_X . At least Chizuru developed... Not a backbone but... Almost a backbone. Maybe X_X I'm sure that Chizuru will make a lovely stepford wife but that make me kind of sad -_-

[artistjojo1228]

Rock and Roll Storytime #9: The Decline and Early Death of Brian Jones (including details I’ve found through personal research)

It was a cool spring morning when, while I was goofing off in art class, I got the bright idea to try writing about the 27 Club for one of those YouTube documentaries. The plan was simple: I was going to talk about Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Mia Zapata, Kurt Cobain, Kristen Pfaff, Amy Winehouse, and Anton Yelchin, seven because of being the “Tragic Seven” and the other three because I found their stories interesting (I actually first heard of the club not long after Anton’s death). 

And then, in about as much time as it took for me to come up with that idea, I went from being obsessed with Kurt Cobain to being obsessed with Brian Jones. Most likely, in my opinion, because of the mysterious circumstances surrounding his early death. I guess, in a way, all it took was me hearing that there were conspiracies saying he’d been murdered to convince me to look into his story. After all, very early on in my Nirvana obsession, I went through a regretful phase where I believed Kurt had been murdered. I didn’t want to make a similar assumption again. 

What I’m trying to say, is that this will be about Brian’s ousting from the band he created, his death on the night of July 2, 1969, and the steps I took to figure out what the hell happened. 

By mid-May, I’d already come up with my first theory: that Brian had an asthma attack and drowned as the result of that. Around this time, I learned that Brian: a, had a sister, Pamela, who’d died at the age of two from leukemia (he was just three), and b, within the next year, he suffered a severe bout of croup that left him with lifelong asthma. While I was researching in the usual way I do, I’d also heard that chlorine can trigger asthma attacks or allergic reactions, especially when there is organic material in the pool (e.g. sweat).  However, it wasn’t until September that I stumbled upon Brian’s autopsy report, so until that point, I’d had little to no idea that the coroner ruled out an asthma attack. Even then, I’d already been hearing my fair share of complaints that the autopsy report was perfunctory, so I’d just made the assumption that the coroner had somehow missed that if it had happened that way.  

I don’t know why my early perspective started changing. I just know that the one constant was that I refused to believe that Brian was murdered (sitting through Stoned on May 31, 2019, certainly didn’t help matters). 

Throughout, I began to learn of Brian’s life story, and how he eventually found himself kicked out of the very band he brought to life. 

In short, Brian used to play in jazz clubs, and it was on April 7, 1962, that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards saw the young blonde calling himself “Elmo Lewis” play slide guitar on stage for the first time (one of the first Britons to master it, through no small amount of effort). In May 1962, Brian placed an ad for musicians in a local newspaper, and was shortly thereafter joined by Ian Stewart, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Dick Taylor, and Tony Chapman. In December 1962, Taylor was replaced by Bill Wyman, and in January 1963, Charlie Watts replaced Tony Chapman. There’s also how the band got their name, but I’d prefer to save that for another storytime. 

What I should probably talk about instead, is where the first cracks started to form in this partnership. 

See, when the Rolling Stones were on tour in October 1963, it was revealed that Brian had an arrangement with the financial advisor, Eric Easton, which basically stated that Brian, as leader of the group, would receive five pounds more than everyone else (this equates to $137.30 today). Everyone else, who was under the impression that they were all earning the same amount of money from each gig, was kind of pissed about it, and maybe rightfully so. However, I don’t see why this should be enough for Mick and Keith to uphold a fifty-six-year-long grudge that includes what is essentially damnatio memoriae, but I guess that’s their business. But keep in mind, Bill Wyman has since stated that, at that time, they were earning 193 pounds per week at this point (roughly $1,963.75 in today’s money). That’s only seven percent of the band’s total income at that point. It still seems like a stupid reason to me for Mick and Keith to still be getting on Brian’s case for something like that fifty-six years later (and before anyone says anything, yes, I know there’s more to it than that, but it’s stupid that it all started with five pounds).  

Going back to my personal search for answers for a moment or two, it was now June 2019, and I was also starting to look into the murder theory, if only for posterity. I remember vividly being on a trip to France and accidentally convincing one of the girls on the trip that Brian had been murdered when I was telling her about him. 

Erm... whoops. 

Even so, in that one brief moment, I allowed myself to entertain that possibility. After all, most of the sources I was reading at that point were all saying that Brian’s death had probably been manslaughter, if not murder, and what was definitely consistent was that the witness reports weren’t consistent, and it just seemed easier to believe that. After all, Brian’s death was suspicious enough, so why not?

Easier...

It only took a day or two for me to remind myself why I had refused to believe it for this long: because of my regrets in believing Kurt had been murdered, and because I no longer wanted to take the easy route. 

If I was going to say Brian was murdered, without a shred of doubt, I had to do more research. 

And now for part two of Brian’s Jones’ slow decline: his relationship with Anita Pallenberg and the subsequent fallout from it. Now, Brian and Anita met on September 14, 1965 (my grandmother’s seventh birthday) after a Rolling Stones concert in Munich. The two apparently found an instant connection, thanks to Brian’s ability to speak German (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5N-O8_eB34). However, the relationship afterwards was very much mutually abusive. Keith said in his autobiography that he would sometimes see Brian with a black eye, and in September 1966, Brian broke his wrist. The “official” story was that Brian broke his wrist in a climbing accident, but other stories suggested that he instead broke his hand during an argument with her when he hit his hand against a metal window frame (though in one more salacious telling I heard, he broke his hand on her face, which doesn’t sound entirely possible to me). 

Meanwhile, he did write and perform the soundtrack for her movie, Mord Und Totschlag (A Degree of Murder), which gives us a rare glimpse into Brian’s extraordinary musical talent and genius. That was probably the only good thing that came out of all this. 

Then of course, in 1967, Keith’s home, Redlands, was busted, and the Glimmer Twins were charged with various drug offenses. Their lawyers recommended they should get out of the country for a while, so Mick, Keith, Brian, and Anita traveled down to Morocco for a little while. However, in Toulouse, France, Brian became ill with pneumonia, and spent the next few days in the hospital. 

Meanwhile, as Brian was celebrating his 25th birthday in the hospital, Anita and Keith went on ahead of him, and they began seeing each other behind Brian’s back. When Brian was finally able to join the group, he surely noticed the newfound chemistry between Keith and Anita, especially considering Keith wasn’t very confident around the ladies at this point in time. He knew he was losing Anita, and apparently, he welcomed the confrontation. In mid-March, 1967, he paid for the services of two “Berber whores,” and when Anita returned to the hotel room, he told her to join them in a foursome. Stories vary as to what happened next, what is typically a constant in this story is that she refused. According to Keith, Brian started throwing food at her (apparently, in a fight sometime around then, Anita had broken two of Brian’s ribs and one of his fingers), and she fled out of fear and humiliation. Bill, in his book Stone Alone, alleged that Brian beat her savagely, to the point where she was in fear of her own life. The abysmal movie Stoned just claimed he sexually assaulted her (which, yeah, I don’t believe happened). Whatever happened that night (lord knows, Brian can’t speak for himself), Anita fled to Keith’s room, where he convinced her to leave with him, basically giving her the “You deserve better” speech and saying that Brian might try to kill her if she stayed with him (which also doesn’t seem likely to me, even being fully aware of Brian’s violent streak). 

In either case, the next day, Mick, Keith, and Anita all left Morocco, leaving Brian stranded there for the next two days. Several years after his death, his own father would claim that Anita was the one who broke Brian’s heart and sent him into a fatal downward spiral, but in Paul Trynka’s book, those who knew Brian like Linda Lawrence (mother of Brian’s fourth child) and Stanislaus “Stash” Klossowski (friend of the Stones’) were of the opinion that it had rather been Mick and Keith’s betrayal that had sent Brian into that deadly spiral. 

Personally, I’d say it’s a toss-up

In either case, Brian’s drug and alcohol abuse worsened. 

Meanwhile, some fifty-two years later, it was July 2019. The fiftieth anniversary of Brian’s death had come and gone, and as my first (emotionally abusive) relationship was reaching a long-overdue close, I decided to get Stone Alone in the mail. Naturally, I had a few reasons for being a bit skeptical, not the least of which included the fact that Bill had dated a thirteen-year-old when he was forty-seven (EW), but still, I had to know what he said about Brian, so I decided to get it anyway. As I was flipping through the pages once it’d arrived, I found the account of Brian’s second child, a daughter whom Bill called “Carol.” 

I’d probably heard about how she’d been diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy once or twice in the past, but for some reason, I’d refused to consider it. Reading about it this night, something clicked. Thanks to the way Bill explained, it, it seemed plausible enough that, somehow, Brian had never been diagnosed with epilepsy. After all, it can be hereditary, and mental health wasn’t understood very well back then. 

That brings me to major theory #2: Brian had a seizure in the pool the night he drowned, and given that he was alone when he died, this seemed the most likely explanation. 

After all, Brian had punctate hemorrhages in his brain when he drowned. It made sense to me, as Brian must’ve been thrashing around quite a bit in his last few moments alive (punctate hemorrhages are typically found in shaken baby syndrome)

It seemed to me at that time that I finally had an explanation for what happened to Brian Jones, but naturally, I wasn’t done with the search yet. 

Naturally, with everything I read, the search for answers continued on, even though I thought I’d had it all figured out. 

I was trying to write about it for a post I made on Amino, and as I was trying to provide some facts, I remembered that I’d found Brian’s toxicology report not long before then. Looking at it now, I observed the fact that the coroner said that the 1720 micro gms of an amphetamine-like substance found in Brian’s body was likely because of prescription Mandrax. 

Mandrax was the brand name for quaaludes. 

This brings me into major reason #3 for Brian’s decline: his own drug arrests and convictions. I explained this more in another post (https://artistjojo1228.tumblr.com/post/188166689760/rock-and-roll-storytime-6-the-rolling-stones), but I’ll give the skivvy anyway. On May 10, 1967, just as Mick and Keith were being formally charged with drug possession, Brian’s home was raided by police. Although he’d cleaned the place up, police still managed to find a bit of cannabis, and Brian and Stash were arrested. On October 30, 1967, Brian was convicted of cannabis possession and allowing his home to be used for the smoking of cannabis, and was sentenced to a grand total of 12 months in prison and a fine. Apparently, during his night at Wormwood Scrubs, the guards taunted Brian, threatening to cut off his long, blonde locks, which left him quite shaken. He appealed his case, and on December 12, Brian’s sentence was reduced to three years’ probation. 

However, not long after, on May 21, 1968, Brian’s home was raided again, and once more, police found drugs, even though some sources state that Brian was so paranoid about drugs by now, that he wouldn’t even allow friends over if they had so much as prescription pills on them. Brian was found guilty for the second time, but the judge took pity on him, and only fined him, also giving him a stern warning to not end up in court again. 

Once again, in the year 2019, it was September now. I was just starting college, and trying to survive my first semester (not easy when you’re a chronic procrastinator), and one night, while I was browsing the internet, I found Brian’s autopsy report. 

Morbid fact about me, this was far from my first time reading through death certificates and autopsy reports of celebrities. Also, I’d developed a sort of obsession with medicine after Anton Yelchin’s death (to the point where I was considering being a nurse for a while), so I was familiar with the medical jargon used by now. 

So, here we are, major theory #3 and the most likely scenario in this case: Brian, trying to get clean, had relapsed on the sleeping pills he’d been prescribed, and had become incapacitated at some point during the night. 

This wasn’t the catalyst for me believing this, but it most certainly reinforced my theories. 

As I stated earlier, quaaludes were once sold under the brand name Mandrax, and had been prescribed for such things as insomnia and anxiety, both of which Brian likely would’ve had after facing the threat of prison twice. This was also before anyone realized just how addictive quaaludes can be, so there is no doubt that Brian probably relapsed, and took one or several too many sleeping pills that night. 

And now, reason #4 for Brian’s firing from the Stones: his increasingly lacking contributions to their music. 

As time passed, Brian stopped showing up to recording sessions, and when he did show up, he was usually intoxicated to the point where he was unable to contribute. In an interview years later, Mick said that one of Brian’s last major contributions to the Stones’ music was the slide guitar on “No Expectations” from Beggars’ Banquet. It got to the point where, on Let It Bleed, Brian only played on two songs: congas on “Midnight Rambler” and autoharp on “You’ve Got the Silver”.

On neither of those songs does he contain the enormous presence he once had over the Stones’ music. 

I can’t really say why Brian stopped contributing. 

What I can say is what the final nail in the coffin was: Brian’s inability to get a work visa in the United States. 

See, by the summer of 1969, the Stones were planning on going on tour again, but as time passed, it became increasingly obvious that Brian would be unlikely to get a work visa in the United States due to his past drug convictions. 

Even then, Brian just hadn’t been in the studio long enough or sober enough to learn any of the new songs. 

At the suggestion of Ian Stewart (himself demoted unfairly from the Rolling Stones by Andrew Oldham in 1963), Mick and Keith decided they needed a new guitarist (Bill and Charlie had no part in the decision itself). By May 31, 1969, 20-year-old Mick Taylor, formerly of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, was starting to record with the band. That just left it up to Mick and Keith to resolve the issue with Brian. On June 8, they went over to Brian’s home at Cotchford Farm in Hartfield, Sussex, and told him that he was being fired, bringing Charlie along in case a fight broke out. 

According to some sources, Brian had been expecting this would happen, and agreed to leave the band in either a temporary or permanent split. Mick and Keith left the press statement up to Brian, and possibly to save face, he made it appear as if he’d left the band on his own terms. 

I shared the statement in my post about the Altamont fiasco (https://artistjojo1228.tumblr.com/post/188181237510/rock-and-roll-storytime-8-motherfing-altamont), but I’ll write it out again for those of you who don’t want to go post-hunting: “I no longer see eye to eye with the others over the discs we are cutting. We no longer communicate musically. The Stones’ music is not to my taste any more. The work of Mick and Keith has progressed at a tangent, at least to my way of thinking. I have a desire to play my own brand of music rather than that of others, no matter how much I appreciate their musical concepts. We had a friendly meeting and agreed that an amicable termination, temporary or permanent, was the only answer. The only solution was to go our separate ways, but we shall still remain friends. I love those fellows.”

At the same time, Mick and Keith also released a press statement on the matter, also saying that Brian had left the band, not that he was fired. 

There are so many questions in my mind surrounding what Brian was doing in the last month of his life. Would he really have started another band, or was he, according some who saw him at that time, musically spent? Did Mick and Keith really agree to give Brian a sort of retirement pension, or was that just to tide him over? (Sadly I wouldn’t put it past them). Was he taking a break from music or was he going into an early retirement?

And most important to me, was he really trying to kick the drugs, like so many have said?

So many questions that we’ll never have a proper answer for. 

The only thing that is certain, is that at around midnight on July 3, 1969, Brian Jones was found motionless at the bottom of his swimming pool. 

I guess I’d better back up a bit, and explain the chain of events leading up to that moment. 

Wednesday, July 2, 1969, featured hot, humid air full of pollen, which affected Brian severely, given his asthma. Throughout the day, he was with Anna Wohlin, his Swedish girlfriend, Janet Lawson, a nurse, and Frank Thorogood, a builder who’d been doing work on Brian’s property. It is worth noting that there are many discrepancies between the witness accounts of what happened, up to and including whether or not the parties involved had been drinking (and if so, how much), whether or not the parties involved watched TV, and even who found Brian, lifeless in the pool, and who pulled him out. The most commonly agreed upon version of events was that Brian and Frank decided to go swimming. Anna was reluctant, but was somehow persuaded. Janet, meanwhile, decided to stay out of the pool. After a while, Anna left Brian and Frank there. When Janet last saw Brian, he asked her to grab one of his inhalers, as he was apparently having difficulty breathing. At some point, Frank also left the pool. When Janet returned some time later, she found him at the bottom of the pool, facedown and motionless. Apparently, she ran off to get help (despite being a registered nurse), and eventually, Anna, Frank, and Janet (or at least two of them) managed to pull Brian out of the pool and began resuscitative efforts. Anna later claimed that she felt Brian’s hand briefly grip hers, but to Janet and Frank, he was very clearly dead. Paramedics arrived soon after, and Brian was pronounced dead after midnight on July 3, 1969. 

Based on the small amounts of drugs and alcohol found in Brian’s system at the time of his death, as well as the fact that his heart and liver had been enlarged by substance abuse, his death was ruled as misadventure. 

Naturally, as it would seem whenever someone dies young, conspiracy theories also began to circulate not long after. To make this somewhat easier on myself, I’m just going to start listing some of the theories that have popped up in regards to Brian’s death (note: much of this will be taken from Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones). 

The most popular of the conspiracy theories states that Brian (who was noted as having mistrusted Frank Thorogood) fired the builder at some point in the 48 hours preceding his death (though, if that were the case, why would he invite him back for a pool party?). After Janet ran off to get Brian’s inhaler, Frank, either in a purposeful act or a bout of horseplay gone wrong, drowned Brian. Not helping Frank’s case is that Tom Keylock alleged that he heard Frank confess to the murder on his deathbed (his daughter has since denied this). Frank’s daughter, Jan Bell, did also claim that her father witnessed an argument between Brian, Mick, and Keith over ownership of the name “Rolling Stones”, during which Keith pulled a knife on Brian (if this did happen, it was likely earlier in the year). Also not helping matters is that after Frank’s death in 1994, Janet and Anna also made their beliefs that Frank was responsible for Brian’s death known (though one of Anna’s friends has since stated that she didn’t start believing Brian had been murdered until later in life). In 2005, this version of events was turned into the movie Stoned, and for those of you who may not have seen my other posts on the subject, I found this movie quite abysmal (”So, I guess you could say this movie... DROWNED on arrival?”)

In 1983, the notion that Brian was murdered first became popularized with Nicholas Fitzgerald’s book Brian Jones: The Inside Story of the Original Rolling Stone. In it, Fitzgerald claimed that Brian had been intending on starting a band with the likes of John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix (those close to Jimi at the time have since dismissed this), and that he and another friend witnessed three men participating in Brian’s murder, and that he had been threatened by someone (likely Keylock) into silence. Most likely, these allegations were used to promote his book, because, you know, there was a real chance for a while that he could’ve been charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact. 

A. E. Hotchner in his book Blown Away: The Rolling Stones and the Death of the Sixties claimed that another two witnesses had seen Brian murdered at a party. It is notable that this story claims that Linda Lawrence had been a witness, and that in the years since, one of the witnesses recanted his testimony as “nonsense.”

Another man, David Gibson, claimed that he had been fitting carpets at Cotchford Farm, and that on the day of the murder, Brian and Anna had been away for most of the day, and when they returned, Brian begged him not to leave. He alleged that Tom Keylock had Brian murdered, and that Princess Margaret had been at Cotchford Farm. Those who believe this will likely also believe that Gibson never came forward because of threats and murder attempts. 

Laura Jackson’s book, Brian Jones, The Untold Life and Mysterious Death of a Rock Legend, also claimed that Brian had been murdered, and this time added the detail that Frank had drugged Brian with a mysterious substance that stumped even seasoned toxicologists, thereby allowing him to hold Brian’s head under the water with no visible signs of a struggle. I don’t know, if it weren’t for those last couple chapters, I’d probably have an easier time recommending this to Brian Jones fans, because I thought it was pretty enjoyable otherwise. 

Geoffrey Giuliano’s book, Paint It Black, alleged that a random guy named “Joe” held Brian’s head underwater for shits and giggles. Last time I checked, that’s not really something people do for shits and giggles. Also, the book claimed that Frank had fled the scene shortly after Brian’s death, despite Frank being noted at the scene when police and paramedics arrived at the scene at 12:10 AM the morning of Brian’s death. 

In 2009, Sam Cutler claimed that private detectives hired by Allen Klein found that Tom Keylock was responsible, citing his attempts to blame Frank, his theft of some of Brian’s belongings, and the fact that he apparently told Janet to conceal the fact that she was his girlfriend at the time. However, in 2013, he expressed doubts as to whether it existed. Seems safe for me to say that this was all a big hoax. 

In general, several conspiracies center around Tom Keylock. The big problem with this though, is that Tom was in London at Olympic Studios on the night Brian died. Still, I think it is safe to say that he probably stole some of Brian’s belongings after he died, at the very least. 

I guess it’s high time I explain one of the big reasons why I always stopped myself from going down that road of believing Brian was murdered (without proper evidence). If Brian was really murdered, and if people did, indeed, witness it, then why the hell didn’t anyone say anything before 1983? I know, I know, some of the theories outright say that the people involved were threatened into silence (Anna claims she was spirited back to Sweden soon after Brian’s death), but even so, I don’t think the people making such threats would’ve had enough sway or power to actually pull off this sort of conspiracy. 

With that in mind, I believe that Brian had an overdose on sleeping pills the night he died, maybe suffering a seizure as well, either from his possible epilepsy and/or as a side-effect of taking Mandrax. Of course, unless Brian is exhumed and a second toxicology report is drawn up that can maybe confirm what was in his system on that fateful night (which is unlikely, due to both the length of time and lack of interest in the case beyond occasional murder theories), there is no way for me to confirm this theory for sure. Besides, either way, there is no way to prove whether he had epilepsy or not. Whilst it is what I believe happened, and does line up with the original verdict of misadventure, I have to keep in mind at the end of the day that this is just me speculating. 

Even so, the story of Brian Jones is one that is fraught with betrayal, hubris, and a path filled with perfectly preventable errors. It’s haunting to think what might have happened if Mick and Keith had been nicer to Brian (or at the very least spoke a bit more praise about him after his death rather than just shit-talk him all the time), or if the effects of drugs had been better understood, or if Brian hadn’t stopped contributing to the Stones’ music, or if someone had been with Brian in the pool when he became incapacitated. 

I’ll be honest, I think the reason I keep coming back to Brian’s story is because of how conflicting his life as a whole was. I’ve seen his life inspire equal parts idolization and vilification, even within myself. 

Because even if Mick and Keith would rather forget, it is my honest belief that more people will continue to find out about Brian, and my hope that they actually take the time to learn about him. 

Sources/Further Readings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tFfzTzOwQ8&t=4s https://asthma.net/living/swimming-pools-triggers/ Stone Alone by Bill Wyman Life by Keith Richards Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones by Paul Trynka Up and Down With the Rolling Stones by Tony Sanchez https://clearcomfort.com/why-asthma-allergy-sufferers-should-avoid-chlorine-pools/ http://timeisonourside.com/chron1967.html http://timeisonourside.com/chron1969.html Brian Jones, The Untold Life and Mysterious Death of a Rock Legend by Laura Jackson https://people.com/music/anita-pallenberg-rolling-stones-keith-richards-brian-jones-love-triangle/ https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/the-27-club-a-brief-history-17853/ https://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-jones-found-dead/ https://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-jones-murdered/ https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/just-why-was-brian-jones-so-important-to-the-rolling-stones/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/obituary-brian-jones-189861/ https://www.denofgeek.com/us/culture/music/281978/the-rolling-stones-and-the-mystery-of-brian-jones-death https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/brian-jones-sympathy-for-the-devil-182761/ https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/15989/brian-jones-it-was-murder http://davidcomfort.org/brian-jones/

[lovehatemysme]

If you’re doing requests could I ask for the rfa with a mc who from the very beginning was like “there’s weird shit going on with rika and v” and they all later find out what happened cause when I first played the game I was suspicious as hell, thank you and I love your writing its not too long and I don’t feel like it’s a huge chore to read it and you keep it interesting

Ahh thank you so much!! 🥰 I don’t want the stories to drag for too long because even then I would also be losing interest in it 😭

Aligned in Seven's Route and AE

Yoosung would be your best buddy!

“RIGHT MC SOMETHINGS SUSPICIOUS ABOUT V” he’s happy he found someone who understands him and as suspicious as he is??

Jumin would be very displeased about you two conspiring against V, especially with Rika already dead

but deep down he’s shaken up a little bit, he tries so hard to trust V wholeheartedly but with V always going mia and not saying anything makes it difficult

and Seven doesn’t really say anything, but he trust V so much with his life and doesn’t really fuel you with your suspicions 

Jaehee will also refrain from saying anything, only saying the suspicions will lead to nothing 

and Zen defends V, might even say you’re going out of line even dragging Rika who’s dead already

 but then Yoosung will come to your aid, saying how V was suspicious ever since she died

and V would only say how he’s sorry that everything seems to be that way

and when everything unveiled, boy was everyone shocked to their core

Yoosung was right, but he didn’t felt smug about it, he was mad he was right about suspecting everything

Jumin was broken and devastated, he hated how you were right about your suspicions but he stood his ground and did everything in his power to still help V and Rika to cover everything up

Seven’s faith to V was shaken, and after everything he couldn’t care less anymore about them as long as he had his brother 

Zen apologized if he offended you before as you were right about everything, he still couldn’t believe it and tries his best to console Yoosung

you were right.... you were right but everyone was broken