#so now i want at least 1-7 on the extended versions

[stuckinthedeadlights]

Someone tell me to stop looking at all the Uncut and Directors Cuts of the saw movies on ebay

[helianthus-tarot]

FUTURE SPOUSE: Your first meeting with their family

As written in the title. I posted the extended version on my Patreon which includes what their family will think about you (their first impression of you) and what they will think about the relationship! 👀❤️

Disclaimer: Here | Instagram: Here

Instructions: Focus on the topic and ask yourself the question. Choose a number/picture that you feel the most drawn to or that you can’t stop looking at. Trust your intuition. May the message resonate. Let me know which pile you choose! Feedback is appreciated!

Like my readings? Tip here!

PILE 1 

First meeting: The Tower, Queen of Cups, The Hierophant (The Sun), 5 of Pentacles (8 of Swords), 7 of Cups (6 of Wands). 

It will probably happen by accident. It could happen when you and your person are both out and you guys run into one another. For some of you though, it’ll happen when you both are at your person’s place; so their family members could suddenly knock on the door, and you might start freaking out, especially if you are not ‘supposed’ to be there, especially if it’s nighttime. Maybe you’re from a conservative culture, or your person is, or maybe it’s not appropriate, etc. Whatever it is, there will be a feeling of chaos or panic at first, or the situation itself may be a bit chaotic or out of order. Some of you could meet their family when your relationship hasn’t been properly established yet, so it may feel like it’s a bit out of order; this meeting isn’t supposed to happen at this time because it could cause complications. Something like that.  

I think there will be at least two people that you’ll meet; probably the maternal influence and paternal influence in your person's life, or the main feminine and masculine figures in their life. Most likely they are your person’s mother and father. For others of you, it could be the person who does the nurturing and caretaking, and the person who sets boundaries and supports the family (regardless of their genders or status in the family). The feminine figure will be warm and nice towards you, they may act like nothing is amiss and they’re all right with you there; they're giving the vibe of someone who brings cupcakes and fruits when they visit lol. You will sense their interest and curiosity about you, but they will probably focus more on your person at that time, e.g. talking with your person, asking about your person’s life and whatnot.

Now, The Hierophant and The Sun both fell horizontally, almost in reverse, so I’m going to interpret them as such; whoever the masculine or paternal influence here, this person may not seem like they are happy to see you. Honestly, they may not talk much, they may not show much emotion, hence why they’ll seem that way. They may also come across a bit more stern and traditional.  

So there’s a possibility that you may feel a bit rejected. Because like I said, the masculine figure may not react much, and I feel like the feminine figure may not focus on you, perhaps out of consideration or perhaps because they don’t want to push your person to reveal everything about you two that day, but this can also come across like they don’t really care about you. It’s hard to explain, because they’ll seem like they are nice and caring, but at the same time they’re not that focused on you. Also, the masculine person could say something about appropriateness, manners, rules, and whatnot. I don’t think they will admonish you though, I don’t think they will address you that day, to be honest. Either they won’t say anything at all, or they could make a subtle comment about it to your person. You could feel like they don’t like you much, or you’ll feel like they don’t see you as the right partner for your person. You will be overthinking it a bit.  

But the meeting will end with you still feeling hopeful, not sure why, it could be due to their body language towards you at the end, like, the feminine person could smile or pat you on the arm as they leave, or your person might explain their personalities to you after they’ve left and say something that makes you feel like the meeting wasn’t bad at all. Maybe your person won’t look worried. So you will hold on to your hope and optimism. 

EXTENDED VERSION IS ON PATREON! What will they think about you? What kind of person will they think you are? And what will they think about your relationship with your person? Will they approve?👀📝

PILE 2 

First meeting: Ace of Cups, 2 of Wands, Ace of Wands, Judgement, The Magician, Knight of Cups. 

This meeting will be planned. It could happen outside, like, maybe a family outing or a gathering, and you’ll be there to join them. For some of you, it could be a camping trip, or just somewhere you guys can do activities, like having a barbecue or doing something together. So you probably won’t just sit and talk. You or your person could choose this day or this event to meet their family for the first time because doing an activity together can take some focus off you and help you and their family bond through shared activity. The overall energy of this meeting feels quite nice and positive, but there’s also underlying significance and seriousness, which I’ll explain later. 

The meeting may start with a warm welcome, “oh you’re XYZ, they’ve told me a lot about you” or something like that, with smiles and welcoming gestures. You guys may then talk about the weather, the inconsequential things like the traffic jam, or the day, the place, and whatnot. Whatever they’ll do that day, it may cause you to open up or have to show yourself; so either you’ll have to show yourself through the activity that you guys will be doing, or they’ll ask you questions and make you come out more. Their family will be very interactive, responsive and open. They’ll move here and there; there’ll be a lot of energy. They will want to get to know you, especially you guys’ plans with each other and your true intention; e.g. where you see this connection going, what’s your next plan, what are you working on in your life, what you see in your future together, etc. For some of you, the activity you’ll do that day will bring out your talents, skills or expertise.  

But like I said, there’s something significant about this that may not just be about two people coming together and potentially getting married. For some of you, this meeting is a sign or a mark of a big change, especially a change that includes leaving something sad or negative behind. You, your person or their family will recognise this for what it is; they’ll see this meeting as a full stop to whatever has happened in the past, and they’ll be aware of what’s coming next and what this means.

Some of you may have been married before, or your person has, and so being together means you’re moving forward and changing that part of your life for real. If it’s not someone having been divorced/married, you two being together could involve some massive life change; relocation, or being distant or moving away from your/their family or something in your past. It doesn’t feel like the normal change. It feels spiritually significant, kinda heavy and potentially negative too. I’m not saying there will be something negative about you two, but maybe there’s leftover negative energy from the past. It’s like Fate is being moulded and created in front of your eyes, and a path is being established and aimed in a new direction; and everyone knows it. There may be some conflicting feelings about this change (someone might overthink it a bit), but overall, the meeting itself will be positive.  

The meeting will end well, you guys may also make new plans to meet again, exchange pleasantries and good wishes. Their family could offer you something, and you could offer something back. For example, they could offer to bake a cake or show their kittens when you come over to their house, and you could offer to bring a gift or a painting that you have made. There will be offers of love and care. 

EXTENDED VERSION IS ON PATREON! What will they think about you? What kind of person will they think you are? And what will they think about your relationship with your person? Will they approve? 👀📝     

PILE 3 

First meeting: 3 of Cups, Knight of Wands (2 of Pentacles), The High Priestess, King of Swords, 7 of Swords. 9 of Swords. 

A lot of cards didn’t fall fully upright, so I think there will be some reluctance, most likely on your part. Because when I asked for a card to represent the hidden energy, you got 9 of Swords; so it’s possible that you will have been overthinking this or been stressing about this, and may be not looking forward to the meeting, for whatever reason (it could just be nerves). For some of you, you may have been putting off this meeting; not actively, but perhaps subconsciously. For others of you, this may not be the first meeting, as in, you will have met their family members briefly before (or talked with them online, or via text). So this may be the first long, proper meeting you’ll have.  

Either it will happen at an event, like a party or an open house or a wedding, or the meeting itself will be a social gathering that involves multiple family members. Your person could have a lot of family members who are extroverted (or this is the vibe you’ll get). You will be welcomed warmly, there’ll be obvious emotional expressions or obvious welcoming gestures. But at the same time, being there could feel like you’re being lowkey judged, or they’ll seem like they talk behind your back. I’m not sure if this will actually happen, or if the meeting will feel that way because of your nerves and your own negative energy (maybe you’ve had bad experiences dealing with a group of people, or being in a group).

You may be someone who’s in your head quite a lot. You may be intuitive but you probably have a tendency to overthink, which can make things a bit more complicated, because now you don’t know if it’s your intuition or if it’s just your past trauma or issues. You will also feel like something is being hidden from you, maybe you’ll pick up on subtle energies or body language from your person’s family. But just keep in mind, just because people hide something, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are hiding something bad or negative. 

I think there will also be extended family members; I’m not seeing much of their parents or main guardians’ energies; so it could be that your person doesn’t have those, or it could be that you will be more focused on these other people. There may be several cousins, both men and women. Maybe siblings as well. Whoever these people are, they may seem like they’re quite close-knit; ‘going to different places together’, ‘giggling with each other’, ‘inside jokes’ kind of vibe. Hence why they’ll seem like potential ‘mean girls’ to you (when they may not be) regardless of their genders. Some of you may have been bullied before or have experienced being treated terribly by a group of people, so this meeting could bring that wound to the surface.

There’ll be a masculine person (regardless of gender), a cousin I think, who will be quite flirtatious, this person may tease you or make flirty comments and the rest of the family could laugh or tell them off, but in a joking manner. If you are on the spectrum, the whole thing may seem a bit confusing because you won’t feel sure if they’re on your side or they’re also making fun of you. The thing is, I’m not getting negative energy from them, it’s not clear from the cards; what’s clear here is your anxious, sceptical energy.  

One of the reasons why this meeting could stress you out a bit, is probably because you will feel like you have to exaggerate or overly express yourself, you’ll feel like you have to put yourself out there more. If you are an introvert, you’ll feel like you have to be an extrovert. Whatever it is, you’ll feel like you have to show more than how you normally behave. And again, this could be the pressure you put on yourself, or it could be something you expect from yourself due to your past experiences. You may be a bit restrained, like you’re there to observe before you act. Which can cause that masculine person to tease you even more (some people are like that, they like to poke quiet people just to see who you are underneath your silence and reservations).

There may be another masculine figure (regardless of the gender, but probably the father) who can sound a bit stern and strict when they talk to you, like they’re assessing you and your intention and your plans with your person. It’s probably just their personality. Honestly, I’m not getting a message about them hating you or being mean towards you, but again, this is a general reading. Overall, I think the meeting will end with you still feeling unsure about who you can trust in the family, or what they think of you, etc. You may feel like you just want to hide and be alone or spend some time with your person after that.  

EXTENDED VERSION IS ON PATREON! What will they think about you? What kind of person will they think you are? And what will they think about your relationship with your person? Will they approve? 👀📝   

PILE 4 

First meeting: Page of Wands, 10 of Wands (9 of Swords, 7 of Cups Rx), 4 of Wands, The Tower (7 of Wands), The Hermit. 

You will approach this situation with optimism, openness, and just... generally being your true self. Some of you probably have some innocent, pure, childlike vibe; like you don’t expect the worst from people, or that you don’t think/assume negatively about people. This meeting may require you to travel a bit more than usual (which makes sense). Either going to meet their family will require some effort on your part (e.g. need to arrange time, and buy tickets and whatnot), or there will be a lot of things going on during the meeting itself. 

I think there’ll be something unexpected about this meeting; it’s like you entering this situation having expected one thing but getting another thing. At some point, you could feel like you’re being asked to do more or to give more. I don’t want to say ‘perform’ but it feels like you’re being asked (indirectly or directly) to meet their expectation in some way, or to do something to please them; which won’t be what you expected at all. This could be anything really, it doesn’t have to be some outlandish thing, but it may put some pressure on you and make you overthink a bit. 

For example, they could say or do something that implies their expectations, but they do it in a nice, smiley, socially appropriate way. I can only give Asian example since I’m Asian; for example, if you’re a woman, it’s like they expect you to join them in the kitchen and cook something with them on that very first day (it’s not unusual, some people legit let their future daughter-in-law do the dishes just to test the girl smh, but this also depends on what type of Asian they are, of course). If you’re a man, then they may expect you to carry some stuff for them that day. Something like that. Don’t misunderstand, they’ll be welcoming and warm towards you, the house may be beautiful as well and they could have decorated it a bit to welcome you.  

But yeah, it really depends on what kind of thing they expect from their people, or from people they intend to welcome into their family, if that makes sense. They may start expecting you to be that way as well, for the sake of the family or for the sake of harmony. Again, there will be something unexpected; they could ask you unexpected questions, or something nerve-wracking suddenly happens, like a mistake, an accident, etc.

Whatever the situation will be, it could make you feel like you have to stand strong within yourself, for some of you it may feel like you have to prove or defend yourself a little. For others of you, you could find out something unexpected too, about your person’s family or about your person. And this thing will shift your perspective big time, it will shock you a bit. It won’t necessarily be bad, this depends on your specific case, but it may be shocking. Like “do you know that your person used to be a part of a gang?” That kind of thing. But I think it’ll mostly be something that makes you feel like you need to defend your position, something that challenges you, I just couldn’t think of an example.  

You’ll leave that meeting with a lot of things to think about. This could be good, or could be bad. But some of you may withdraw into yourself to ponder things a bit, to understand your experience from a different angle, to understand why you feel/think what you feel/think, etc. So some adjustments or some shifts in mentality could happen after the meeting. Some of you may feel disappointed about some things, some of you will choose to learn from the experience. 

EXTENDED VERSION IS ON PATREON! What will they think about you? What kind of person will they think you are? And what will they think about your relationship with your person? Will they approve? 👀📝  

[otomiyaa]

nice.png

(literally how I named the image, couldn't think of something else)

Hi guys :') To my followers and tumblr friends, I'm really sorry if my sudden disappearance scared or upset you. It wasn't quite... planned. And today was a busy day and I needed some time to consider what I wanted to do.

Short version of the story:

My tumblr account got terminated for copyright infringement. A certain Mr. Green got me in unlucky trouble (ref 1, 2).

I won't get it back, or try to get it back. It's gone.

Needed a moment to consider 2 options: ask Mia to extend my dramatic farewell letter and stay gone, or make a new blog.

Not planning to post new writing here. I won't be using words like 'never' or 'forever' because I'm a known clown with things like this, but the intention is to no longer post fics. I will finish Tickletober on AO3 and then take a break from writing. So yes, I cancel the swiftscribbles event too, sorry!

When I opened my laptop, I could see my old blog in its final hour lmao (I found out about the loss on my phone). So that's what the snap is from on a fitting grave. It was fun while it lasted!

Long version of the story:

Losing my blog(s): My Tumblr account with main blog + sideblogs got terminated overnight, it was quite the surprise! I've either been reported or tracked by bots. The posts are a bunch of numbered URLs I can't open, but the message is clear: for including anime content, genshin impact or media from other sources (whether it's videos, screenshots, official art, gifs or even fanwork) you technically can get a strike. Upon googling the claimer I quickly found this first, and knew it was a lost cause. Although it feels shitty and unlucky, I am in no place to appeal. It's like when I used to make AMVs in the past, you never knew whether a song or even anime footage was going to give your YT account a copyright strike or even a ban, it was a gamble. I have lost YT accounts before, and now I lost the Tumblr one. With 7+ years of tickle trash content and a bunch of sideblogs. But oh well, moving on!

Starting a new blog: It was a serious consideration whether this was my ultimate chance to do what I've always said I wanted to do eventually - quit my blog. My first thought was to ask Mia to share my explanation and literal goodbye with you guys, and stick to my chaos of a Twitter account to indulge in fandom stuff. But then I thought of how happy Tumblr made me, even without the fic writing, but just.. reblogging things, getting random asks, shouting about life and of course, about tickles. I decided to make a new blog after all, but also decided the following:

The 7K+ milestone swiftscribbles event is cancelled, for which I apologize! The follower milestone, together with the motivation to write the fics, and even the asks with the requests I got, all died with my former blog.

I will see how long I can survive without posting a new fic or drabble. A loose headcanon or two might fly around sometime. And if necessary, a link to a new fic on AO3.

Tickletober? Hell yes I'll finish it, I would cringe in bed for 49 days at least if I would stop. I just won't post the fics here, but on AO3.

Reposting/reblogging my old works? Undecided at the moment but I'm tired and lazy. I don't feel too upset since most of my fics are still on AO3 at least and not completely gone.

Anyways, I'll see what happens and how long I can enjoy this nerfed version of blogging.

Surprisingly I'm not upset about losing my other blog, there were a lot of memories but it was also very cringe. I'm gonna be just as cringe here, but at least I feel cleansed.

For those who choose to follow me again, thank you, but please know that there won't be much original content coming from me, for now!:)

[1moreff-creator]

Is anyone still trying to figure out the final code on the MV? The one with (the world of abnormal sentiment dances)? No judgement, I have no idea what's going on with it either, but I'm surprised there's so little discussion of it. I’m making this post to share some observations, and some of the things I’ve tried as I go insane over this MV. Warning, don’t expect anything too revolutionary.

+First, the code doesn't have a direct parallel in the original LGI MV, so no clues there.

+But I did find something possibly peculiar. You know the "find the 'n'" bit that shows up right after it? Well, it's lifted straight from the original LGI video, but the symbol you're supposed to find there is somewhere else.

That's the equivalent from the og LGI.

And there's the n. It's in a completely different spot, which makes me wonder if it's somehow related to the code. The n does pretty much coincide with a number of the images. Here's a transcription of the numbers, with the numbers related to the n in blue (you should still check I didn't fuck anything up though). Italics and bold means I'm not completely sure about the number.

1 4 6 3 1 4 8 4 2 6 8

1 7 3 7 4 1 0 2 0 1 4

3 0 3 6 4 5 1 1 7 5 9

2 3 3 6 8 6 3 6 2 7 8

9 3 0 4 0 4 9 2 3 7 4

3 0 8 2 4 3 6 7 7 2 0

6 9 7 0 5 2 1 7 3 2 6

&

4 3 6 0 7 8 8 6 5 0 3

7 1 8 8 1 1 5 2 5 7 9

8 7 6 4 3 2 1 6 8 6 4

9 5 6 2 8 0 7 1 3 5 3

0 8 5 9 5 6 3 3 0 7 1

7 5 8 1 4 9 8 3 7 5 2

9 1 4 4 4 1 0 0 5 2 6

Does it mean anything? Hell if I know! I have no idea how any of this works!

+Perhaps a more out there possibility is the changed alphabet. I've mentioned it before, but there's a point in the David MV where a modified alphabet shows up.

In case you can't tell, not only are letters listed in both capital and non-capital form, the alphabet ends W-U-X instead of W-X-Y-Z. This changed alphabet is not in the original LGI.

This is the equivalent scene. You can see it's perfectly fine, and as far as I can tell (aka: zero Japanese, just the translation and vibes) the letters aren't listed twice. And this is the video the David MV is based on, there are a lot of similarities.

This would imply, in my mind at least, that the alphabet was changed for a reason. I've seen it interpreted as another sign David doesn't see himself as human, as he doesn't even use the same alphabet, but it feels like a weird way to go about showing that to me.

So, uh, if you're trying something, and some words don't look right, maybe this can help?

+I have no idea what footnote 14 is supposed to be. "Hint: word length of 256". I've seen it suggested that it relates back to Hamlet's "To be or not to be" thing, but... while I think I did see one source with 256 words once, the word count is highly inconsistent throughout the internet, and almost none of them have it as 256 words. I checked with wordcounter.net.

-Wikipedia: 275 words.

-Poetry Foundation: 259 words.

-Poets.org: 276 words.

-Nosweatshakespeare: 275 words.

-Representative Poetry Online: 265 words

-Shakespeare Resource Center: 261 words.

-Litcharts: 273 words.

See the issue here? And now I don't have any idea what footnote 14 is. Here's some other things that it isn't.

+Literature Girl Insane: >256 words.

+Colored lyrics in the MV: ~190 words

+Lemon: Way more than 256 words

+The part of lemon in the MV: 113 words.

+The defense of Socrates: Way more than 256 words.

+The defense of Socrates, but only the part in the MV, and extended to the next end of sentence: I want to cry. 257 words. 257. One off. Why? Why are you like this? Please, someone check the fucking text and tell me I accidentally pasted in a word I shouldn't have. PLEASE-

+That part of the Little Prince in that one part before the tally 5 code: 198 words.

+Undefeated by the Rain poem: 139 words (in English Wikipedia, or 180, in the English translation found in Spanish Wikipedia, because my life can't just be easy so apparently the English version of the poem is different in different languages of Wikipedia what-)

+Just the correct/incorrect code: The most is 247 characters, if you include "correct13" and "incorrect".

+Yamanashi, the story "kapukapu" comes from: Thousands of words.

I didn't check anything else, but I can't for the life of me find what this is referring to. And it feels important, seeing as it's on the goddamn equal sign. Maybe it’s one of those excerpts from that part of the MV right before the “correct/incorrect” code? I don’t know.

If it helps, I’m pretty sure the code’s going to translate to something related to Xander, seeing as his numeral flashes on screen right before that. And because of that, it’s possible this 256 word thing refers to some kind of revolutionary speech or text or something the like.

How would the footnote matter? Well, you know the ampersand symbol (&) that shows up between the numbers?

Maybe, if we put the numbers on both rows together:

14 43 66 30 17 48 88 46 25 60 83

17 71 38 78 41 11 05 22 05 17 49

38 07 36 64 43 52 11 16 78 56 94

29 35 36 62 88 60 37 61 23 75 83

90 38 05 49 05 46 93 23 30 77 41

37 05 88 21 44 39 68 73 77 25 02

69 91 74 04 54 21 10 70 35 22 66

Then reference whatever text is 256 words long, we can assign each number a word. Possibly, we would only start where the n appears, just to give that some meaning.

Like, here's what you get if you do that with the Wikipedia version of "To be or not to be", starting with the 05 the n represents (starting from the beginning gives you a completely nonsensical message, I didn't even go all the way).

to - sleep - to - and - dream - of - against - to - die - opposing - to - that - and - no - them - consummation - to - to - fortune - be - devoutly - death - die - not - the - and - question - to - and - arrows - ‘tis

Like, that almost sounds like it works, but obviously we would need to find the actual text of 256 words, which isn’t the Wikipedia version of the Hamlet speech. I also tried with the Socrates text, but I don't think it works (from the n you get, like, "O - but - O - word - ashamed", and that's going to be in there even if you start from the beginning).

I also tried some kind of alphabet cypher thing, both with the regular alphabet and with the modified alphabet, and while I would like second opinions on account of my skill issues, I didn’t get anything.

If that’s not what the ampersand is for, here's what you get if you add the numbers together instead of just putting them next to each other:

5 7 12 3 8 12 16 10 7 6 11

8 8 11 15 5 2 5 4 5 8 13

11 7 9 10 7 7 2 7 15 11 13

11 8 9 8 16 6 10 7 5 12 11

9 11 5 13 5 10 12 5 3 14 5

10 5 16 3 8 12 14 10 14 7 2

15 10 11 4 9 3 1 7 8 4 12

It looks like it could be translated to hex almost perfectly, with the 16s possibly just translated to 10s, but I don't know what to do with it. I tried converting to hex and just putting it in as a Tumblr image URL, but nothing. Though there’s a chance I just didn’t do it right, I guess. I even took the first part up to the "n" and put it in th goddamn tally 5 page just in case it did something, but no. I tried the "word association" thing with the Hamlet thing as well, but nothing. Also tried alphabet cypher, even with the modified alphabet, and nothing. But again, any cypher cracking I tried to do should be taken with a grain of salt, since I’m a bit of an idiot at it.

One thing I didn’t do, simply because I don’t know how to, is try to use column cyphers. You can look them up and try them yourself, but I sorta doubt that’s the answer.

Finally, it’s a possibility “world length of 256” is actually some kind of cypher key. Like, not whatever it’s referencing, just “word length of 256” as a key. I severely doubt it, but if anyone wants to try it, be my guest.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, I kinda just wanted to tell someone, I guess. I’m going insane over most of the MV anyways, might as well share a bit of the madness. Also because of the content drought caused by me working on the MV video which is coming I promise but it’s going to take a while-

Anyways, thanks for reading my inane ramblings for so long! Take care!

[loopingpyre]

Yeah, fair enough on the needing more detail point, I sort of wanted to test the waters to see if you'd even care first, cause I wasn't gonna waste time typing out a whole thing if the notion of JRPGs being fundamentally flawed didn't interest you and then you deleted my ask. So I guess I'll now oblige and explain in more detail.

I've been playing a few of the SMT games because my girlfriend really likes them and I, being a good girlfriend (trying to!) want to show that I care about her interests. Prior to this I've only really played Persona 3 and 5 and Yakuza 7. For this, I played Soul Hackers 2, and Devil Survivor 1 and 2 (1 to Yuzu's ending, and 2 to Ronaldo's ending), and about an hour of SMT V, which I found boring, and she, having played the whole game (I'm pretty sure) agrees with me that it's boring, so I decided to not keep playing it (for now at least)

My main issue with most all of these games comes mostly threefold: the amount of time and commitment they take, the difficulty and in particular the manner in which it is imposed, and the heavily formulaic nature of their plots. These are sort of holistic issues, I guess, so I can't really neatly divide them, but I'll try.

First of all: the time commitment. Playing both Devil Survivors to a single ending took me around thirty to forty hours each, going off of my save files. (I was playing the 3DS versions, mind, and listening to all the voice acting, which surely extended the time played.) I understand that it gets faster on NG+, and in itself, this isn't exactly the biggest of deals, because video games in general take a long time (it's the way it is really), but JRPGs just feel like they take way longer than the average video game and this issue compounds when one considers the latter two flaws I've observed.

So, secondarily: The difficulty, and the way it's imposed. Soul Hackers 2 obviously is not a hard game, and there's not that much variance in its content, and it's not the longest of these sorts of games, either, so I wouldn't say it's the greatest offender here (using that term feels wrong...), but with Devil Survivor 1, I felt this the most. About 80 percent of the way through the game, which I'd generally found to be quite unchallenging for the most part, I found myself suddenly struggling against Belial (the fire demon). During a grinding session in which I was trying to level myself up so that I could weather my way through this (to my annoyance, as I found the grinding incessantly tedious, more on that later), my girlfriend looked over my shoulder, and said "why do your stats look like that?"

You see, my stats, at the time, all four, magic, vitality, agility, and uh... What was the fourth one. Strength! Yeah, um they were *all* at exactly 17 (give or take 1.) I explained to her, rather calmly, that I had done this because I couldn't really choose which of the four stats I wanted more of, and thought it would be best if I made all of these numbers perfectly balanced and equal.

This is an approach I almost always take in most any video game that offers any form of upgrade or skill tree: I struggle with overchoice, can't choose a priority to go for, so every time I have resources with which to upgrade, I just upgrade whatever is most recently neglected such that I have a generally well-rounded skill set and can do a bit of everything.

She, an SMT veteran, immediately went like, "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO "

And explained to me that the way I was *supposed* to do this, was to specialize in one area or another, magic or strength or tanking damage with high health, or whatever. To which I said "HOW THE FUCK WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT!" She insisted I should have just known it, I guess? Anyway, I considered this a grievous design flaw that irreparably impaired my enjoyment of the game. As I did not have an old save file with which to revert my statting decisions, and did not wanted to restart the entire game, nor did I want to grind the same fucking goddamned shibuya battle over and over and over and over and over again for god knows how many hours until I somehow corrected my stats

I opted to use my (hacked) 3DS to install an external cheat which inflated my protagonist's level to 99 with all four stats at their maximum of 40. I did this because I had decided I hated how this game was balanced and wanted to finish it and no longer waste my time. I felt pleased with this decision, because I was playing through the bad ending in which the cast brute forces their way out of the lockdown and ruining the world, while myself brute forcing my way out of the game and ruining the game balance. *ahem* I mean, fixing the game balance

My girlfriend said "I'm glad you had fun ruining one of my favorite games :(((" In response, I opined that Devil Survivor would have been better if it were a straightforward visual novel.

While Soul Hackers 2 does not have this specific issue, given that Ringo's stats are all mostly preset by the game and you can only mildly boost them here and there, I did instead take umbrage with the way that the later floors of the Soul Matrix dungeon were organized around teleporters which teleport you from one island of the floor to another, with no clear sense of rhyme or reason to their routing. I considered these teleporters to be arbitrary and stupid, as they were frustrating, and demanded that I have the capacity for rote memorization of the layout and teleporter placement of an entire dungeon whose corners broadly look all the damn same. I called these a blatantly egregious example of "fake difficulty".

She warned me never to touch several of the older SMT games.

I booted up Devil Survivor 2, with my girlfriend's advice about specialization in mind. I enjoyed the game a lot more than Devil Survivor 1, but, for the sake of mitigating gameplay frustration, I pirated the DLC. I quickly realized I would not enjoy the grinding, even with the reduction of grinding that the DLC enables, and cheated to have infinite money so I could have more fun with the game. I went for Ronaldo's ending, because he's sort of a leftist and his voice acting makes him sound like Knuckles the Echidna from Sonic the Hedgehog, and I thought siding with "communist Knuckles the Echidna" was a very funny image

Anyway, across all three of these experiences, I generally wondered, "do I like these? do I like their stories? do I like their gameplay?" and I feel like the answer is broadly sort of... yes, sometimes, but generally no?

I kinda just don't really understand the appeal of being railroaded into repetitive tasks for the sake of increasing numbers that then decide whether or not you win, rather than like, your actual skill, which is just down to pressing the same buttons over and over. I get that part of the appeal is the long-term strategy of building your party, and that's valid and all, but I tend to very quickly get frustrated with it because often times I fail to intuit the correct strategy ahead of time, and the solution turns out to be "rewind the clock back several hours!" and I don't want to do that and have to redo all the work I did up to that point, and then potentially have to rewind again if I do it wrong.

So, the appeal is supposed to be the strategy, I guess, which just takes a lot of dedication that I don't have in me, but if I dial that down to make it easier, then the game's reduced to pressing more buttons, and, just isn't really fun at all in the way it's supposed to be. And that all might be fine if the story was worth the effort, but... is it?

All of these games have very thin narratives which all more or less boil down to "humanity good" vs "humanity bad" vs "humanity bad but sometimes good so it's worth it (sometimes)" ideological conflicts that all end up with killing one or another divine or cosmic entity with omnipotence of one or another variety, and like, cool, I guess, is that worth 50-100 hours of effort? Is that something I'm invested enough in to throw myself into an entire series, hell, an entire genre, of games for? I'm not really sure that it is, to me, so. Weh?

Is that really all that there is to this entire game genre? Like, outside of indie games that mostly have their own issues (they're all very derivatively ripping off Mother 3 and/or Undertale and/or Chrono Trigger and not generally bringing a lot of new mechanical ideas, and even still they just kinda find their way back to the issue of the grind not being that fun most of the time)

And my girlfriend has just argued to most of this that maybe I just don't like the games, and I shouldn't force myself to like them, and she'd like to please stop rehashing this argument with me, and maybe she's right, maybe I just don't enjoy JRPGs, and that's okay, but uh...

I don't know. I want to try and see what she sees in them and find out if I can really care about them the way she does. She has a Jack Frost plushie that I sometimes play with, and it's cute, and I want to care about him more the way she does, not just because he's cute but because I've played these games and had fun and know who he is and definitely don't hate his stupid little face aaahh I love him so much

and I keep inventing fun little lore for Frosty the Jack Frost plushie (she calls him Frosty) about how he sells stuff he stole to the Black Market which is owned by Black Frost, and he's planning to kill King Frost and overthrow the Frost Monarchy, and all that, and she seems to find that cute even though she keeps contradicting it with lore and trivia from the games and I keep going "well I dunno *in the back of my mind: but maybe I want to know*" and like

I'm sorry if this seems like an insane unhinged rant but I just really love my girlfriend and I think it'd hurt a little to have to give up on something she really loves, even if I know, intellectually, that she loves me more, and that that won't change if I don't like SMT, and it's okay if I don't like them.

But I want to like them. I genuinely do. I don't know how to like them and I don't know how to tell her I want to like them and am not trying to start a fight with her over something she loves. I don't know. Am I missing something?

for the record I kind of like a lot of things Soul Hackers 2 does and I think I'd like it a lot more if it was finished but that's a can of worms I maybe shouldn't open....

Holy shit this is so much and thank you so much also for caring enough for my opinion because i have a whole lot to say here, and I adore these games.

Let's break it down point by point.

Belial is fairly challenging, the game is hard. And I think your girlfriend has done you a severe disservice. If she wanted you to min-max your stats in a certain direction, she should have told you about that straight up. I can understand her immediate reaction due to it being uncommon, but how is that your fault? The game is actually designed for it anyway.

You're given party members that focus on different niches, Yuzu and Midori and Keisuke can all perform powerful magic offensive roles, Atsuro is a strong tank, Kaido has powerful offensive stats, and you share a skill pool, so having a less specialised build is really only going to make it that much harder if you try to make your protag the main attacker, which some SMT vets seem to instinctively do in these games. Having a mix means you could play the healer, carry an extra element or phys attack or status condition to cripple a foe.

I personally would have leant towards a code that lets you boost levels faster, but I think her response to cheating was unreasonable. I think the game is balanced well even if you make an even spread but you're trying to have fun and try her thing. Kind of rude to you really, because sometimes you just need to cheat, these games are HARD. Remember that escort mission earlier on? Kind of needlessly tricky.

There's a reason that new versions of these releases have additional easy modes. In some of their PS2 game promotion, Atlus PR famously said 'we get off on your tears'. That mentality has somewhat changed since. Whilst some, like I, say that the difficulty is kind of part of the point, there's only so much you should have to put up with. I actively reccommend cheats in some games as a way to ease you in, when they are so challenging.

(Were you playing the DS version? The Yuzu ending certainly isnt a 'bad ending' on 3ds. The 8th day makes it one of my fave endings. Trying to complete every ending is a fool's endeavor in my opinion, and you should only lean towards what you think is best. Maybe look up an ending guide on the offchance the cool ending you want is hidden in some way so you never have to touch the game again unless you actually want to. The point is about you making Your Choice.)

Moving along, Ronnie my beloved. Love that guy, his route is easily the best. I love Soul Hackers 2 despite it's frustratingly flaws of 'they ripped half the game out and sold it as day 1 dlc' and 'the fucking soul matrix', and a lot of people just dismiss it out of hand based on early dungeon design and miss out on the way it deals with it's cast. Im so glad you can SEE IT.

Within many Shin Megami Tensei games, the stat grinding difficulty is the point insofar as you are fighting a world that is falling apart and wants you dead. And even so, you keep fighting and surviving. These titles can be rather samey as they go over their various aspects of humanity over and over, but thus can they really be made a representative of the JRPG genre? What about Pokemon, which is about adventuring and bonding with your creatures? SMT has a distinct theme they stick to that they repackage in different flavours. Fuck it, play old ones and cheat in them. Load up on macca and buy a gazillion healing items to cut down the grind and overall playtime.

I've noticed a distinct absence of the Persona games too? Which is strange given how they all differ from traditional smt in terms of theming.

My favourite RPGs are 'The World Ends With You' and 'The Caligula Effect 2'. Entirely different from SMT and dont focus on 'humanity' in that way at all and they absolutely aren't representative of more mainstream JRPGs.

(sidenote, what are your favourite RPGs out of curiosity? I can probably help you hunt down some specific titles that you would like more?)

I adore your Jack Frost lore. Why can't that work in canon? Little fairy friend SHOULD overthrow the frost monarchy!

(and that sort of stuff is encouraged in Atlus' other series Etrian Odyssey, which is a dungeon crawler where you make a team of customised guys (you can start anywhere).

I think the only thing you can really do is play more, but i dont think you should push yourself either or you could burn out and appreciate it less. I'm sorry that I don't have magical advice that will solve that conundrum.

Thank you so much for coming to me though, it means a lot and I hope this ramble does anything for you. Im trying to check on my phone that I covered everything in your post and Im so sorry if I missed anything (please point it out if so).

Best of luck?

[dujour13]

for the 7 forms of love questions, i would love to hear from your Woljif about Eros 5, Philia 5, Ludus 1, Philautia 3 & 4!

Thank you Crow!! 💕 Last one for tonight sadly. Work tomorrow.

Once more a disclaimer that these are just musings about the version of Woljif from my fic.

Eros 5

How closely is their opinion of their own beauty (or lack thereof) linked to their confidence? Do they see themselves as more or less worthy of love or sex based on how attractive they feel?

In the game Daeran drops a few bombs about how attractive Woljif could be if he stood up straight, and Sosiel has a line basically saying he’s cute when he shuts up. My point is, he has potential he’s not aware of, or even interested in cultivating. One of the things he hates most is when people imply he would make a good servant or employee – like Deval after he’s saved from the cultists. Not putting those “premium curls” to work if it means being subservient or losing his freedom. He's leery of anyone handing out compliments, and in my hc, among the Thieflings he’s generally considered a waste – could be hot if he wasn’t such a weasel. Due to all this, Woljif doesn’t think of himself as attractive, and as a demisexual (in my hc) puts no stock in it anyway. That changes with Siavash. All of a sudden he wants to dress up and show off his assets, just in case the chief might possibly, on the off-chance, glance his way. He even recruits Daeran for a makeover. The boost in confidence he gets from Siavash eventually translates into dressing sharp – or at least, his version of dressing sharp – and putting on the suave charm when it serves his purposes.

Philia 5

What is their most fervent wish for their best friend(s)? How far would they go to make it happen?

At the end of the Crusade when he does actually admit to having friends, he’s fully invested in the idea of friendship he professed not to believe in at first. His idealism extends to this too. His friends put their lives on the line for him, and it’s only right he’ll do the same. I think he’d go to enormous trouble to help out a friend – and in fact I’d say even in Demon!Woljif form this is still true to a degree. His fervent wish for his friends is for them to be free and each happy in their own way. But also, implicitly, that they’ll all stay together. They’re family now, and that means something.

Ludus 1

Does your OC have any particular favourite chat up lines? If not for themselves then perhaps ones they have suggested to a friend? How effective do these tend to be?

This is giving me ideas. The comic potential of Woljif giving someone romantic advice… “Hey dreamboat” sure worked, but that’s not the only tool in this enterprising tiefling’s toolbox. He can list, without hardly taking a breath, three dozen sorts of chat-up lines and strategies to catch someone’s eye and give them the come hither... funny thing, he never uses them himself unless he’s really in a bind. With Siavash he tripped over his crush confession and ended up saying something sincere by accident… and that was exactly the right mistake to make.

Philautia 3

Does your OC judge themselves by the same standards as they apply to others? Or are they sometimes hypocritical in condemning others for faults they also possess? Or perhaps they find it easier to forgive others for things that they cannot abide in themselves?

Oh Woljif is such an adorable hypocrite. If anybody leaves him in the lurch he’s so indignant. Still I hc that he’s aware of it and he’ll follow up with “I woulda done the same thing, but it’s still low.” He’s more upset with Wenduag and the infamous cherry roll incident because it’s not just stealing, it’s bullying.

Philautia 4

Which of your OC's qualities makes them the most proud? Do they think more people should be like them in this regard? Or do they quite like being rare in possessing it?

Answered here!

[gainesha]

BSG rewatch notes, cont'd:

and here it is, the New Caprica arc. which is, and this might be one of the least heretic things to say about BSG, the pinnacle. there are individual episodes, and even small arcs, that I might adore more (we will see how I'll react to them during this rewatch, but Maelstrom, Sometimes a Great Notion, the Mutiny two-parter would all be in my top 10 episodes), but this 7 episodes, from Lay Down Your Burdens up until Collaborators, are unrivaled as a storytelling high point for the show. the surprise element is gone now, obviously, but I still remember the goosebumps I got during the initial airing when the time jump happened, and how I could barely breath for the remainder of that season finale because I was just so exhilarated and electrified by what is happening on screen. that, yes, they *did* settle down, things *did* change permanently - up until they didn't, of course. but these kinds of twists are so much richer than just killing a main character.

and this is just one thing... there are so many more. like the montage at the beginning of Lay Down Your Burdens Part 1., with Bear's Something Dark is Coming music cue, and Athena saying it out loud should be the most cliched thing, but it's instead truly harrowing and haunting even if you don't know what's going to happen to all these people soon. meanwhile, Laura giggling uncontrollably on the way to the debate - the way the writers and the actors are comfortable inside these characters are paying dividends. then the murk of the occupation, the suicide bombings, the show being dark without grimdark (even if I would have wanted to spend more time in this setting, 4 episodes were a great choice, and even if some little developments here and there would have benefited maybe from more screen time, New Caprica never feels as rushed as the Pegasus arc), poor Gatea, the Galactica dropping down, Hot Dog saying "well, this should be different" before flying out... and, of course, Saul saying "not all of them", and then slowly walking away, the heartbreak, my gods.

and yet, Unfinished Business was always my "I would die on this hill" fave episode. it's the one episode I've rewatched most - both versions. I love the flashbacks to a sweeter, more hopeful time on New Caprica, even if some characters have never believed it would truly last. I watched the Extended version now, and I have somewhat conflicted thoughts, because I was thinking which version would I show someone who has not seen the show before, and the Extended version has several brilliant new scenes or crucial longer segments playing out on New Caprica. we need all of Adama and Roslin getting high, Laura's monologue about living in the moment; we need the morning after with Kara and Tigh; we definitely need Dee and Lee in the Raptor; and also, Lee confessing how much she needs Kara. but also, the flow of the originally aired episode are lightyears better, the editing rhythm of the intercutting scenes is magic, and it is gone in the Extended - moreover, the rhythm is all off. and this episode has to be a Dance in itself. (so I would probably show the aired one, and afterwards these 4-5 scenes separately)

the reveal of the reason behind the animosity between Kara and Lee, and why Lee behaves so antagonistically towards here after the time jump, why their dynamics feel so strange, plays out fantastically. the writers manage it so well, especially in contrast with the reveals in Hero, which...

okay, so Hero is bullshit, and I continue to just ignore the retcon of it all. I would be fine with the Admirality being compromised (that checks out), but Adama being the one who "started it all" (even if Roslin dismisses the thought), even just the fact that it was him on that covert mission, because, you know, he is the lead of the show, is a teeny tiny bit Forrest Gump... too much, too neat, and I get that they tried to take the Adama idol and dirty it up, but he has already been humanized and shaded quite a bit during the first 2 seasons, and I don't really know what this adds to the character or the whole main Human-Cylon conflict either that haven't been already said and explored in different, more fruitful ways. it's a shame, because all the regular actors bring their A-game here, Hogan, Olmos, McDonnell all shine.

I adore Tigh and Starbuck getting close

Jamie Bamber is so good conveying how utterly in love Lee is

Richard Hatch is so good

you could paint a mural with all the reaction shots from the boxing matches, inside and around the ring, I love everybody just grinning or glaring or just being cocky as shit

[himehikoshrine]

Sissia of the Central Nation Stage Script (EN) -- Suzu Route

This is the full Stage Script from the game menu for Sissia of the Central Nation, from Suzu's Route (occasional typos and all, though I tried not to add any that weren't already there, but no promises).

There are seven versions of this script, with substantial changes in each, but we'll start with Suzu, for his birthday.

There are some things in this script that are not in the game version - in-game, parts of the script are elided in favor of summary. The Stage Scripts don't include any character ad-libs from the in-game performance, though. For the Univeil Performance there is a good deal of confessional ad-libbing in every route, so in addition to the usual extended sequences, this contains a lot of alternate versions of those scenes.

(AKA the version of the route love confession if Neji wrote it instead, which is very fun).

Suzu and Kisa improvise a whole scene over what's written in this version, so if you want to see the full version of what Suzu wanted to replace, here it is.

This performance doesn't skip as much for summary as the others, so it's more a few lines here and there that are new, outside of the ending they ad-lib entirely over, but unique to the Univeil Performance, an epilogue with at least one serious twist which for some reason isn't explored in ANY version. Plus full character names. Kielce's is a story you learn more details of in different routes, but this is as good a place to start as any! Happy birthday Suzu. Here's Sissia of the Central Nation script 1 of 7. No promises on when the rest will be ready, sorry. You can find Mary Jane's Stage Script here [x] and Oh, Rama Havenna's here [x] This play is over 800 lines long, so the formatting may get a bit wonky.

Sissia of the Central Nation (Suzu Route)

By Neji Kokuto

(1) The Central Nation of Kielce

◆Along the Border

???:   Over there! Don’t let them get away!

???:   Hahh, Hahh…Ugh!

A shadow crosses over the border. 

The sound of hurried footsteps chasing after them.

Border Patrol A:   Damn it! A rat from the servant country crossed the border into the Arbine Nation!

Border Patrol B:   If word of this gets to the commander and the king of Arbine…

Border Patrol A:   We need to find them, fast!

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

Restless murmurs

Chance:   …

Chance:   Heh heh.

Chance:   Here comes the beginning of another day for Kielce!

◆National Standing Theater (The scene goes from dark to lighter. As if lights have turned on.)

The dazzling show by Kielce begins.

Isaac:   Welcome, one and all to the theater of the Central Nation of Kielce! I am the goat-headed Isaac!

Isaac:   …What’s that? Why do i have such a head, you ask?

Isaac:   It’s a bit of a long story, but when my father visited a farm one day, he fell in love with a female goat, and…

Laughter from the crowd.

Isaac:   Ah! The local officers told me not to tell this story! They asked that I not disrupt the moral standards of Arbine.

Isaac:   Well, let’s put aside the idle chatter, all the kings and nobles, the living and the dead, the passing mugwort sellers…

Sound of fireworks.

Smoke comes pouring in and acrobats enter the scene with style.

Chance:   Let the Central Nation of Kielce’s show begin!!!

Chance:   Hah!

Audience A:   Ah, It’s Chance! His somersaults are the best! You wouldn’t expect any less of Kielce’s star!

Audience B:   What are you talking about? Everyone in Kielce is a star!

Adra:   You couldn’t be more right!

Adra appears on the stage, dancing brilliantly.

Audience A:   Adra! Oh, I can’t believe how beautifully he dances! He’s certainly Arbine’s treasure. 

Audience B:   He certainly is from a family of officials! The flower of Kielce!

Crowley catches Adra dancing across the stage.

Crowley:   Now, then. Allow me to lend you a hand, Adra!

Audience A:   Crowley just caught Adra! He’s the genius who creates these performances, and even joins them himself! 

Crowley:   Now’s the time to forget the time! Next, let’s all sway to a beautiful tune!

Someone singing can be heard, and Carlo appears.

Fan Carlo:   …!

Audience A:   Oh, how beautiful…!

Audience:   She really lives up to her reputation as the most beautiful voice in all the nation…!

Levi appears at the center of the stage.

Levi:   We are the Central Nation of Kielce! Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

The crowd cheers in response.

Sissia watches Kielce’s performance from the audience.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   The Central Nation of Kielce… I’ve dreamed of them for so long!

Sissia:   Ah, I can’t believe this! I can’t believe I’m able to see them perform again!

Blackout

◆Kielce Base

Chance:   Ahhh! Today was another rousing success, huh?!

Chance:   What did you think?! How were my somersaults?!

Fan Carlo:   They were full of energy. You’re like a monkey.

Chance:   Thanks… Hey wait, Carlo!

Isaac:   A monkey, huh? That’s not too bad. Want to switch places with my goat, then?

Chance:   I can’t give long monologues like you can, so I’ll pass…

Isaac:   That’s unfortunate. I’ll take my leave for now, then. 

Chance:   Hey, you going already, Isaac?!

Adra:   He’s always so calm after getting off stage, that Isaac.

Crowley:   Haha, that’s just fine for a comedian. Isn’t it, Levi?

Levi:   Yeah.

Crowley:   You’re not part of the comedy act, so you can stand to give it a little more energy!

Levi:   … There was something I noticed about the performance today.

Chance:   Something you noticed?

Adra:   …Ah, I see.

Crowley:   You’re right.

Chance:   Hey! Stop just agreeing with each other and tell me what you’re talking about!

Fan Carlo:   They’re talking about a problem the Central Nation of Kielce has in general.

Chance:   I’m telling you, be more specific! I wanna know, too!

Isaac appears among everyone chattering.

Isaac:   All right now, sorry to interrupt your conversation. As always, we have some prospectives hoping to join our troupe.

Chance:   Oh! Some future Kielcesters have come, eh? 

Chance:   Let’s see what they’ve got, then!

Fan Carlo:   I’m tired, so I’ll pass.

Crowley:   Don’t be like that, Carlo. They’ve come all this way to see us.

Adra:   There may be some among them with talents like Chance and Isaac.

Isaac:   That’s right. If Levi hadn’t found me back then, I might still be working at a factory. Wearing a goat head.

Chance:   …I kinda want to see that, too.

Levi:   Carlo, you seem to understand the problem with the Central Nation of Kielce we were talking about just a minute ago, so I’ll ask you to join. 

Chance:   Oh yeah! I forgot! So what IS our problem?

Isaac:   I’d like to know, too.

Crowley:   It’s that… we lack a ‘gear’.

Isaac:   A ‘gear’…

Isaac:   …Is what we lack?

Fan Carlo:   It means we aren’t well harmonized.

Adra:   You know how the Central Nation of Kielce’s performance style is just a showcase of our separate talents?

Crowley:   It’s been that way for a very long time, but it’s even more pronounced now that Carlo and Chance have joined. 

Crowley:   As we are now, we can’t put on the best performance ever!

Levi:   We definitely need it. A gear that unites our individual parts to move together as one whole.

Isaac:   I see…

Chance:   All the more reason to hold auditions, then! Come on, Carlo!

Fan Carlo:   Hahh, fine. I couldn’t handle it if someone as tone-deaf as you joined.

Chance:   Exactly! It’d be a disaster if TWO of us were tone-deaf and couldn’t harmonize or… Carlo!

Isaac:   I think you’ve gotten much better, though.

Chance:   Are you trying to cheer me up, Isaac? Gee, thanks a lot.

Crowley:   So how many are we going to let in through the audition, Levi? 

Levi:   Your eyes tell me one person.

Crowley:   That’s our ringleader for you! I do hope that one person shows up.

Adra:   All right, let’s go then. Can’t keep our future star waiting, can we?

Everyone:   Yeah!

Carlo says “Right”.

◆In front of the Kielce Base

Prospective members are gathered in a line.

The members of Kielce test their talents.

Candidate:   Listen to my song, Leviii!

Levi:   Next.

Candidate:   Only one person will pass, right?! I’m confident in my acting! Oh, God! Give me the kiss of death!

Crowley:   Neeext.

Candidate:   I’ve danced for 18 years with the national dance troupe!

Adra:   Who’s next?

Fan Carlo:   Hahh… Levi, I’m sure we’ll all die of boredom if we try and test everyone here. 

Crowley:   Wow, I think I’d be able to write a song with that as the theme!

Adra:   Carlo’s right. We’re making our prospectives wait, too�� 

Mean Candidate:   Hey! Is it my turn yet or what?!

Mean Candidate:   I’ve run out of patience! Only one of us is going to pass anyway! Skills are all that matter in this world!

The prospective starts singing and dancing.

Chance:   Ah, he just started singing and dancing!

Isaac:   He’s like Chance.

Chance:   Hey!

Candidate A:   Hey what gives?!

Candidate B:   Wait your turn!

Mean Candidate:   Shut up! If you’re confident that you’re better than me, then why don’t you try singing?!

Candidate C:   I’ll show you what talent looks like!

People start singing in protest.

Crowley:   Now things are getting interesting!

Fan Carlo:   …Can I leave?

Sissia watches the commotion.

Sissia:   …

Candidate:   My singing is the best! Aaah…

Candidate:   Watch my dancing!

Mean Candidate:   Out of the way! I’m gonna be the one who joins the Central Nation of Kielce!

Adra:   What do we do, Levi? Want to cancel this for now?

Levi:   Yeah. It’s getting late. We can do this another day…

Sissia:   …!

Sissia:   Excuse me! I…

Mean Candidate:   Who are you? Get back!

Sissia:   …Urk!

Sissia:   Please… Please let me sing. 

Sissia comes out to the front.

Sissia begins a beautiful dance while singing in a clear and free voice.

★Song “Departure”

Candidate:   …

Mean Candidate:   …Whoa.

Chance:   Who is she…?

Chance:   She’s cute…

Chance:   Ah, wait! That’s not what I meant!

Chance:   That one’s super good!

Isaac:   You’re right about that… I can just imagine the scene they’re creating.

Fan Carlo:   …

Crowley:   Now that’s unusual, for even Carlo to sit silently and listen!

Adra:   What do we do, ringleader?

Levi:   …

Levi:   An applicant has been chosen. Anyone have any objections?

Sissia:   Huh? Who is it…?!

Candidate:   …

Mean Candidate:   …No! You all saw that too, right? Talent is everything in this world!

Mean Candidate:   Even if I can’t join the Central Nation of Kielce, I’ll keep singing and dancing! Do your best, got it?

Sissia:   Oh, r-right!

Candidate:   …It’s frustrating, but he’s right. I’m rooting for you!

Candidate:   I’ll come watch your show!

The prospective members start leaving.

Sounds of departing footsteps.

Sissia:   U-um…

Chance:   Hey!

Sissia:   …!!!

Chance:   My name’s Chance! What’s yours?!

Sissia:   Ah…Sissia. My name’s Sissia!

Levi:   Sissia, huh? Congratulations on passing the auditions.

Sissia:   Really…?! Thank you so much…!

Crowley:   You’re going to be an apprentice for a while!

Adra:   If you are deemed worthy of being a member of Kielce, it’ll be official.

Sissia:   I'll do my best!

Chance:   Congratulations, Sissia! Let’s get along!

Fan Carlo:   I’m glad we didn’t get another tone-deaf member.

Isaac:   …Welcome.

Sissia:   Thank you all for the support!

Adra:   …Levi, Crowley, we've found what we needed, don't you think?

Crowley:   The little 'gear' we were looking for to make the best performance ever!

Levi:   ..Yeah.

Levi:   Sissia, come with me. I'll show you around Kielce.

Sissia:   Right!

As everyone leads the way, Sissia stops a short distance away from them.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   I can't believe I've really joined the Central Nation of Kielce...!

Sissia:   The dream I've had for so long has come true! My next dream is...

Sissia:   To stand on the stage!

(2) Path to the Stars

◆National Throne Room

Subordinates arrive in front of Major Azur

Aide:   Major, there’s something I think you should know…

Major Azur:   …What is your report

Aide:   Well…

Major Azur:   A fugitive?

Major Azur:   What’s border patrol even doing…? How insufferable!

Major Azur:   We’ll take care of this before the commander and king of the Arbine Nation finds out about this. 

Aide:   Yes, sir…!

Major Azur:   Don’t think you can return alive…horse of the slave country.

◆Kielce Base

Adra:   What’s the matter?! You tired already, newbie?! We can’t put on the best show with you like that!

Sissia:   …No, I can keep going!

Isaac:   …Adra’s more fired up than usual.

Fan Carlo:   That’s just how much Adra is hoping to get out of Sissia.

Chance:   But I’m catching the flack and forced to join their rigorous training, too!

Training ends

Adra:   All right, let’s take a break!

Sissia:   Hahh! Thank you so much, Mr. Adra!

Adra:   You don’t need to call me ‘Mister’. No need to be so polite with me.

Adra:   It’s about time you become a full member, too…

Sissia:   Huh?

Adra:   No, it’s nothing. Anyway, just address me casually.

Sissia:   …Okay, Adra.

Chance:   Great work Sissia! Wow, I can’t believe you can keep up with Adra!

Sissia:   Oh no, not at all… Oh, that’s right!

Chance:   Yeah, What’s up?

Sissia:   Chance, when you have some time, I’d like you to teach me how to do your somersaults.

Chance:   Hey, you’re not trying to steal all my acts, are you?

Isaac:   Well, I’m sure they’ll cut our singing parts. What do you think, Carlo?

Fan Carlo:   With Sissia with us, I’m sure they would. 

Chance:   Whoa! Crap! At this rate, Sissia’s going to take up all my acrobatics time out there…!

Sissia:   Ahaha, your time won’t get cut. no one can fly as high as you.

Levi arrives and everyone gathers around him.

Levi:   …Is everyone here?

Adra:   Oh, what’s up, ringleader?

Levi:   Crowley has something to discuss. Crowley?

Crowley:   Yes, all right! This is about our next performance!

Crowley:   We will have Sissia join our next production.

Sissia:   …!

Chance:   That means…!

Isaac:   We’re going to bring Sissia in as an official member of Kielce, right?!

Crowley:   Exactly!

Levi:   It’s your first performance. Make sure to polish up your act and give it your all.

Adra:   I’m looking forward to it. Let’s show everyone the fruits of your labor.

Sissia:   Right!

◆Kielce Base

Chance and Sissia rejoice together.

Chance:   You did it, Sissia!

Sissia:   It’s all thanks to you for always helping me practice!

Chance:   Heh heh, really? Well, watching you rehearse makes me want to work harder.

Sissia:   I feel happy watching you work harder, too.

Sissia:   You move your body with such wide movements, you sing as loudly as you can, and you give your all in whatever you do!

Chance:   Those are the only things I’m good at, though. I can’t do everything well like you can, Sissia.

Chance:   Come to think of it, why did you want to join Kielce?

Sissia:   Me? I…

Sissia:   It’s because I watched the Border Performance that day.

Chance:   You mean, THE Border Performance?!

Sissia:   Huh? You know of it?

Chance:   I heard about it from rumors back when I was a kid!

Chance:   It was done on top of the border wall between the Arbine Nation and the nameless country, right?

Chance:   So you saw the Border performance yourself? How was it?

Sissia:   It was wonderful! And because it was on the border wall, not only did people from Arbine see it, but people from Quatra did too…

Chance:   Hm? Quatra…?

Sissia:   Oh, that’s the name of the nameless country, before it was taken away after losing the war. 

Chance:   Oh, I see. Sorry, I don’t really know much about history…

Chance:   …After a 77-year-long war, Arbine won, and the nameless country… Quatra, was it? They lost, huh.

Chance:   The war ended about 20 years ago. That was before I was born.

Chance:   They’ve been treated like slaves ever since, right?

Chance:   They all bear a mark of their servitude, the Quatral. A tattoo of a horse meaning that they’re supposed to be worked hard to their bones…

Chance:   …So were the people of Quatra also happy? Watching the Border Performance?

Sissia:   Yeah! Everyone’s smiles were so bright.

Chance:   I see…! I guess song and dance can really reach people, even over a nation’s borders!

Chance:   I might be arrested for treason if I’m caught saying something like this, but…

Chance:   I think the Arbine attitude toward Quatra and all the discriminating practices against them are so ridiculous!

Chance:   This constant talk about race and territory just doesn’t matter at all.

Chance:   All that matters is having fun and being able to share moments of joy! That’s what I think.

Chance:   That’s why I decided to join the Central Nation of Kielce, the brave few that would dare even put on something like the Border Performance!

Chance:   And someday, I want to perform the Border Performance, too!

Sissia:   You too, Chance?!

Chance:   Huh? You too, Sissia?!

Sissia:   Yeah! I decided to join Kielce because I wanted to stand on the border just like everyone I saw that day!

Sissia:   High atop a dividing wall, far away from laws and customs, I want to sing loud enough for everyone to hear! And dance freely with everyone together!

Chance:   That would be the best! Even I’m getting all excited!

Chance:   Let’s perform the Border Performance together someday!

Sissia:   Yeah!

Blackout

Pause

Finishing rehearsals, Sissia takes a break in a private room.

Sissia washes her bare legs.

Pitch black. 

Sissia:   Hahh…

Sissia:   I need to soak my feet…

Sissia:   …

As Sissia washes a leg even further, makeup comes off, revealing a tattoo in the shape of a horse on Sissia’s left shin, the sign that this person is a Quatra, a servant citizen. 

Sissia:   My leg… This tattoo I hide with makeup… 

Sissia:   The Quatra… must bear the mark of servitude, the Quatral.

Sissia:   I want to appear in the Border Performance. For that…

(3) The Quatral of the Servant Nation

◆National Standing Theater

Chance:   All right, then.

Chance:   Here’s to another day for Kielce!

Cheers.

A performance is held on a dazzling stage by the members of the Central Nation of Kielce. The audience is at full Capacity. 

Sissia is one of the members performing as well.

★Dance “Kielce the Nation at the Center”

Audience:   Wowww!

Audience:   Sissia! Sissiaaa!!! That was amazing!

Sissia:   Thank you…!

Chance:   …Heh heh!

Levi:   Good day to you all!

◆Break Room

Adra:   Sissia, you’ve gotten pretty used to being onstage now. My spot as the star of Kielce might be in danger.

Sissia:   Oh, no! I’m still trying hard to catch up with everyone!

Crowley:   No, no you really ARE something!

Chance:   You’re completely in sync with me and my jumps!

Fan Carlo:   The songs… have much more depth to it now that you’re here, so that’s a big help.

Isaac:   It seems like you’re fitting in well with all the different moving parts. Really…

Levi:   Looks like the Central Nation of Kielce has finally found its ‘gear’.

Sissia:   Its… ‘gear’?

Adra:   Kielce is a bit fragmented.

Crowley:   Even if you have solid parts, a machine won’t run if you just place them next to each other, right?

Crowley:   You may be the very one who can connect those parts together!

Sissia:   Oh, no…That’s much too kind of you, but…

Sissia:   I’m so happy to hear it!

Chance:   Heh heh. Well, we’ve found our ‘gear’ now! How about we all celebrate with a meal? What do you say, Isaac?!

Isaac:   I’d like some steak from an Aibee cow.

Adra:   Do goats eat beef? In any case, I’m getting pretty hungry myself.

Fan Carlo:   I guess… it can be nice on occasion. 

Crowley:   I mean, we had a big audience today, right? How about it, ringleader?

Levi:   …Stomachs of the Central Nation of Kielce. Are you ready for dinner?

Everyone:   Yeah!!!

◆Market Street

The members are satisfied after their meal.

Chance:   I ate so much!!!

Sissia:   That was good… That was the first time I had meat like that!

Crowley:   It was such a generous portion broiled to perfection!

Fan Carlo:   Phew… I think I’d prefer not to see any animals with horns for a while.

Isaac:   Huh? Are you talking about me?

Adra:   We’ll bring everyone back here sometime. Okay?

Levi:   Yeah.

Chance:   All right! I wonder what I should get next time!

A loud bang is heard.

[An old man is being beaten with batons in the middle of the street.]

Other citizens crowd around and watch, murmuring to themselves.

Sissia:   …?!

Old Man:   A-Aaah…! Spare me…

Patrol Officer:   You, horse! Do you even know what you’ve done?!

The Quatral is the tattoo of a horse, with ‘horse’ used as slander to refer to a member of the servant country.

Sissia:   …!

Isaac:   That’s…

Chance:   Hey, what do you think you’re doing! Hey, you!

Adra:   Chance!

Patrol Officer:   What’s your problem!

Old Man:   Y-you’re…!

Chance:   I’m Chance Orlando of the Central Nation of Kielce! Why are you hurting this old man…?

Patrol Officer:   The Central Nation of Kielce? Hmph, that makes sense.

Patrol Officer:   I’ll show you the reason why he’s being beaten! …Look at this!

A tattoo of a horse drawn on the man’s left shin is shown.

Fan Carlo:   A tattoo of a horse on the shin of his left leg…

Crowley:   A Quatral… So he’s…

Levi:   …

Patrol Officer:   He’s a citizen who escaped from the nameless country into the Arbine Nation!

Patrol Officer:   Fleeing your country is a serious crime! We’ll deport you and sentence you to heavy labor, perhaps even death!

Sissia:   …

Chance:   Well, there’s no need to do THIS, is there?!

Crowley:   Right! What’ll happen if you kill him?

Crowley:   Isn’t it also a serious crime to kill anyone, regardless of where they’re from?

Patrol Officer:   …Urk! Shut it! I can arrest you for treason, you know?!

Crowley:   What did you say?! We have the son of one of your superiors here, you know?!

Crowley:   The son of the trusted confidant of the commander and king. The aristocrat, Major Azur Hybird!!

Adra:   …Crowley. Stop using my father’s name to get us out of trouble.

Adra:   …But, oh well. Would you mind treating him carefully?

Adra:   I’ll be sure to tell my father, Major Azur Hybird, that you were real nice to me.

Patrol Officer:   …

Fan Carlo:   It could be an opportunity to get promoted, underling.

Patrol Officer:   Urgh…!

Patrol Officer:   How merciful of the Central Nation of Kielce to pity him, after being the very ones who encouraged is crime in the first place!

Levi:   …What do you mean?

Patrol Officer:   He fled the servant country in order to see your performances!

Levi:   …!

Patrol Officer:   And the reason he did that was apparently because he saw your ridiculous Border Performance!

Crowley:   Our Border Performance…

Patrol Officer:   That’s right! Other members of the audience found them sneaking in to watch the play, and did their civic duty in reporting it to us! 

Patrol Officer:   How’s that?! How’s it feel to be an accomplice to his crime?!

Patrol Officer:   This ‘Border Performance’ of yours is pathetic! Singing and dancing on top of the wall is nothing short of rebellion!

Patrol Officer:   You all should have held your performances on a proper stage! Your little shows are nothing but boorish spectacles.

Chance:   Shut up!

Sissia:   Ah…! Chance, no…!

Patrol Officer:   Aagh!

Sound of the patrol officer being hit.

Sound of the patrol officer hitting the ground.

Patrol Officer:   …?!

Sissia:   Chance just hit that patrol officer…!

Chance:   …Singing and dancing isn’t ridiculous. They’re the best thing anyone can do to make others smile…!

Chance:   The most ridiculous thing here is you!

Patrol Officer:   Wh-Why, you…! I’ll arrest all of you!!

Citizen:   That’s enough from you!

Sound of rocks being thrown.

Patrol Officer:   Ow…! Rocks?!

Sissia:   The people around us started throwing rocks…?!

Sound of rocks being thrown one after another.

Patrol Officer:   Wh-What do you think you’re doing?!

Citizen:   Shut up already! Listening to those guys from Kielce is way better than listening to you!

The citizens in the area come to protect Kielce and jeer at the patrol officer. 

Patrol Officer:   You little… Agh, stop throwing those rocks! Damn it!

The patrol officer runs away. 

Sound of footsteps running away.

Citizen:   Haha, that patrol officer ran away!

Citizen:   Take that!

Citizen:   He was always so arrogant. I never liked that guy!

Chance:   Everyone…!

Levi:   Heh, I didn’t expect them to come to our rescue. 

Sissia:   …Are you all right, sir?

Old Man:   Ah… Thank you so much.

Old Man:   I came from Quatra since I wanted to watch you all just one more time…!

Crowley:   Did you enjoy our performance, good sir?

Old Man:   Yes, absolutely…! It was a wonderful performance. Now I can pass on without any regret…

Adra:   Don’t say that, old man. You got a lot to live for…

Major Azur:   …So this is it. The place where some traitors have gathered to protect a fugitive. 

Cutting through the people, Major Azur Hybird approaches.

The father of Adra and a military aristocrat. 

Adra:   …!

Citizen:   It… It’s Major Azur…!

Citizen:   The closest confidant of the commander and king, the strategist of Arbine…

Adra:   Father…

Patrol Officer:   It’s those guys, Major…!

Major Azur:   Traitors who protected a fugitive… Did everyone here participate? 

Citizen:   …!

The citizens flee the scene in all directions.

Adra:   … 

Major Azur:   …To think I’d see you here, Adra.

Major Azur:   And the other clowns of Kielce.

Levi:   …

Crowley:   Oh, good day to you, Major!

Major Azur:   Levi, Crowley. Every time I see you, I’m reminded of the Border Performance.

Major Azur:   And of all the commotion you all caused atop the border wall between Arbine and the nameless country.

Major Azur:   Ever since that day, the commander and king has pushed to imprison everyone in the Central Nation of Kielce. 

Crowley:   Oh my… We must thank the commander and king of Arbine for such kind sentiments. 

Major Azur:   …Hmph. You too, Adra. Even my own flesh and blood won’t be spared in charges of treason.

Major Azur:   Soldiers. Take away the horse that escaped. 

Guard:   Yes, sir! Come on, you.

Old Man:   Augh.

The old man gets taken away.

Sissia:   Sir…!

Guard:   Get out of the way!

Sound of Sissia getting knocked back.

Sissia:   …Urk!

Chance:   Sissia, look out!

Sissia:   Ah! Thank you, Chance…

Chance:   Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!

Fan Carlo:   Chance! Not now… Not now… 

Chance:   …Urk!

Old Man:   All of you from Kielce…

Old Man:   I promise I will never forget the brilliance of your performance today, or your kindness…

Isaac:   Old man…

Guard:   Move, horse!

Old Man:   …

Old Man:   …Weee, aaare, the Central Nation of Kielce!

Guard:   …?!

Chance:   …

Chance:   Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

Sissia:   Chance…

Old Man:   Hahaha…

Guard:   M-Move!

Sissia:   Old man…!

Major Azur:   …

Azur senses something from Sissia.

Though the tattoo on Sissia’s left shin is covered with makeup, he knows of cases in the past where Quatra have hidden their tattoos in the same way.

However, all he has now is a feeling.

Patrol Officer:   Heh… You’d better not disrespect the military anymore!

Chance:   Why, that little…

Major Azur:   Soldiers, arrest that patrol officer as well.

Patrol Officer:   …?!

Chance:   Huh…?

Major Azur:   Of course he’ll be arrested. He committed the serious crime of fleeing the scene with a fugitive in front of him. A serious punishment awaits.

Patrol Officer:   N-No…

Major Azur:   We’re heading back.

The troops leave.

Sounds of footsteps leaving.

Chance:   Damn it! They have no respect for the people…

Isaac:   Chance… it pains me to say it, but in this country, that’s the right way for an Arbine to be.

Chance:   But that’s just…!

Chance:   …

Chance:   …Let’s do it.

Sissia:   Huh?

Chance:   The Border Performance! Let’s put on that show!

Sissia:   …!!!

Issac:   The Border Performance…

Fan Carlo:   Another show…?!

Crowley:   I do know that you came to us because you admired the Border Performance…

Chance:   I mean... It's just so frustrating, isn't it? Not being able to fight back.

Chance:   And that old man wanted to watch the Central Nation of Kielce's performances, too…!

Chance:   I want to make that officer with his ugly mug foam at the mouth!

Levi:   Chance. To put on another Border Performance... You know what that would mean, right?

Chance:   Yes. Moving people through song and dance that crosses borders and race... That's the Central Nation of Kielce I've admired.

Chance:   We might be called traitors. We might be thrown into prison.

Chance:   But even so, I want to fly as far as I can on the stage! I want to dance! I want to sing!

Chance:   I want to show everyone how freely you can express yourself, regardless of who's on which side of the wall...!

Chance:   I want to inspire dreams in others, just as I was through stories I heard about the Border Performance!

Sissia:   Chance…

Chance:   I know all of this is me being selfish, but… Is it impossible to hold another Border Performance…?!

Adra:   Impossible, you say…? What do you think, Crowley?

Crowley:   Hmm, perhaps we should look to the ringleader for his opinion? 

Levi:   …Let’s bet on Chance’s wish.

Chance:   …!!!

Levi:   You’re a man like a shining star, always bright and honest. Your feelings shine upon those in the darkness. 

Adra:   Yeah, that’s true. You’re the man who will likely be the face of Kielce. 

Crowley:   Precisely! There aren’t many whose eyes aren’t drawn to you, even if you’re just standing there!

Chance:   What do you mean, even if I’m just standing there?!

Fan Carlo:   Although we will have to keep an eye out so our supposed star candidate doesn’t overdo it and injure himself. 

Fan Carlo:   …While onstage during the Border Performance.

Chance:   Carlo…

Isaac:   You really are amazing, Chance. We joined on the same day, and you just keep moving on ahead. 

Isaac:   Let’s do the Border Performance. I’ll put everything I’ve got into it!

Chance:   Everyone… Thank you!

Chance:   Sissia…

Chance:   Say, will you stand next to me when we put on the Border Performance?

Sissia:   Chance…

Sissia:   Let’s sing and dance and jump together at the Border Performance!

Sissia:   Side by side, let’s make our dream come true together!

Chance:   All right! It’s decided!

Chance:   The next performance of the Central Nation of Kielce will be…

Chance:   The Border Performance!

Everyone:   Yeaah!

(4) The Military Nation

◆Training Room

The Kielce members are all focused on working towards the Border Performance.

Crowley:   All right, and here’s the big fight! We need more dynamic movement!

Adra:   Don’t forget the details! Feel the movements all the way to your fingertips!

Sissia:   Our seniors really are amazing…!

Chance:   I can practically feel their enthusiasm radiating! 

Isaac:   It’s painfully clear how much they’re betting on this performance…

Fan Carlo:   We can’t let those efforts be in vain. I’ll be training you all hard for the singing, too.

Chance:   Aaugh, looks like I’m not getting any sleep tonight, either!

Levi arrives at the training grounds.

Levi:   Everyone, gather around.

Crowley:   A quick break! Are we talking about what I think we are, Levi?

Levi:   Yeah. I’d like there to be two lead roles for the Border Performance.

Crowley:   It’s a story about a fugitive, seeking asylum elsewhere! Here, the script!

Crowley:   A tragedy between a woman who escapes a country with closed borders, and a man she meets along the way.

Levi:   The two of them fall in love, but the woman continues to be pursued by the country’s officials.

Adra:   The woman falls into the hands of the officials, and the man puts his life at risk to get her back. But…

Chance:   …The man suffers a grave injury and dies.

Chance:   That’s a pretty dark story…

Isaac:   But it’s as if this is…

Chance:   The story is based on Arbine and Quatra.

Crowley:   Heh heh, that’s right! That’s the idea behind the Border Performance!

Crowley:   On top of all that, there’s a giant bomb hidden in this performance. I’m sure you’ll all understand once we get into the singing rehearsals.

Chance:   A bomb?! I wonder what it is… Aagh, I’m so excited!

Sissia:   …Um, who will be playing the leads?

Chance:   Ooh, ooh, ooh! Me!

Sissia:   Chance?!

Crowley:   He’s so noisy about it, he gave us no choice.

Sissia:   Chance is the lead…So then, the other lead is…

Fan Carlo:   You’re the only one who can keep this runaway train from flying off the tracks.

Sissia:   …!

Adra:   It’ll be tough.

Levi:   We hope you’re up for it.

Isaac:   Does it seem to anyone else like we’re burdening her with minding him?

Chance:   Heeey! I’m the lead, so you can stand to treat me a bit more like one!

Chance:   Sissia! How do you feel about it?

Sissia:   It’s obvious, Chance.

Sissia:   I’d love to!

Chance:   …All riiight!

Sissia smiles in approval.

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

Sissia is practicing with Chance.

Chance:   it feels like a dream, huh? Our talk about the Border Performance is actually coming true.

Sissia:   Yeah.

Chance:   Adra’s choreography and Carlo’s singing lessons are crazy, though!

Chance:   But I want to overcome it all and touch the hearts of everyone watching!

Chance:   Ahhh, what do I do? I need to make sure everyone else is enjoying themselves! But I might be the one enjoying this the most!

Sissia:   Ahaha, it suits you better that way, Chance.

Chance:   But well, you know… If I’m the only one smiling and everyone in the audience is deadpan and quiet…

Chance:   Thinking about it that way the responsibility of the leads is super important, huh?! Oh man, am I gonna be okay?!

Sissia:   You’ll be okay, Chance. You’re singing and dancing are both getting better.

Chance:   That’s because you’re always helping me out lately!

Chance:   All the things I couldn’t get to on my own, you’ve thought them over with me and led me to an answer.

Chance:   I’m really grateful to you, Sissia.

Sissia:   I was able to find out a lot thanks to you too, Chance.

Chance:   Heh heh… This is kind of embarrassing.

Chance:   Honestly, I think the idea of wanting to show up those officials doesn’t really matter much anymore.

Chance:   I’m just so happy about you and me being leads and being able to stand onstage together, I can’t help it!

Chance:   Darn it, I wonder if it’s’ possible to express these feelings to the audience somehow!

Sissia:   I’m sure they’ll understand! We’ll just look carefully at what we have to do and find our way through it the way we’re doing now.

Chance:   …I see. Yeah, you’re right!

Chance:   I’m not scared at all if you’re with me!

Chance:   Let’s enjoy this as much as possible so that the others will too, Sissia!

Sissia:   Yeah!

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

A sudden change in mood as an ominous aura envelopes Kielce.

Sounds of murmuring.

Levi:   …What is it?

Isaac:   …It’s the officials.

Major Azur:   …Levi, Crowley.

Crowley:   Well, we sure have been seeing a lot of each other lately.

Levi:   Did you need something?

Major Azur:   Don’t be so defensive. We’re only here for a simple questioning.

Adra:   …About what?

Major Azur:   I want to know the contents of your next performance.

Adra:   …!

Crowley:   Oh? Have you been bitten by the theater bug?

Major Azur:   No. I have not the least bit of interest, but it seems it’s drawn the attention of the citizens of the Arbine Nation.

Major Azur:   As a servant of our commander and king, I wish to know what sort of performance is being planned. 

Isaac:   We’ll be doing a really fun play.

Chance:   R-Right! Like with…puppets. That sort of thing!

Fan Carlo:   …Even a ‘puppet show’ is out of the question now.

Major Azur:   …

Major Azur:   Confiscate everything on the premises!

Chance:   …Hey!

Crowley:   How tragic! We won’t be able to hold our performance like this!

Crowley:   I trust you’ll be issuing refunds for all the tickets we already sold, Major?

Major Azur:   Not to worry. We have but one purpose.

Sissia:   What do you…?

Guard:   Major Azur! It’s here, the script!

Sissia:   …!!!

Major Azur:   …Hmph. Pretty provocative for a puppet show, don’t you think?

Major Azur:   I think we need to investigate further. We’ll be taking all the scripts here.

Chance:   Without our scripts, we can’t practice for the performance…! I haven’t even memorized all my lines yet!

Isaac:   Chance, I think it’s a bit late for that…

Levi:   …Crowley, what about the original?

Crowley:   No use. They swiped it right away. Should’ve expected as much from Adra’s father.

Adra:   Yeah, really unfair…!

Major Azur:   Really, I have no idea why our citizens wish to see such a clown show.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   … I’d like to ask you something, Major!

Chance:   …!!!

Major Azur:   …What is it?

Sissia:   …Have you ever seen a performance by our troupe?!

Major Azur:   I have not.

Sissia:   Then…

Sissia:   We’ll show you one!

Sissia:   Watch! This is a special Kielce dance!

Sissia starts singing and dancing. Major Azur stands confused.

Major Azur:   …Hey, stop twirling around me!

Sissia:   La-la…

Major Azur:   Stop! Don’t sing! What are you doing?!

Sissia:   You just said you’ve never seen a performance before, so I wanted to give you a glimpse of how fun they are!

Sissia:   Right, everyone?!

Levi:   …Heh.

Levi:   Are you ready for some twisted fun, Major?!

Major Azur:   …?!

Chance:   H-Huh?!

Crowley:   Ah, that’s the way!

Isaac:   Sing, dance!

Adra:   …So that’s the idea.

Fan Carlo:   Are you serious…? I’m not responsible for whatever happens next!

Everyone bursts into song and dance.

Guard A:   W-Wha-! The members of Kielce started a show around us…!

Guard B:   B-But it’s amazing…

Sissia:   …Now’s my chance!

Chance:   All right, let’s keep the show rolling!

Major Azur:   …Enough! Stop this at once!

Major Azur:   That’s an order! Or you’re all under arrest!

Crowley:   All right, stop!

Chance:   Sir!

Isaac:   We were just getting started, too. 

Fan Carlo:   I had finally gotten warmed up.

Adra:   You done yet, Father?

Levi:   I hope you enjoyed yourselves. 

Major Azur:   Hardly! How ridiculous!

Within the confusion, one of the scripts was taken back by Kielce.

Major Azur:   We’ve confiscated all the scripts, right? Let’s go!

Sissia:   …

Sissia sighs with relief.

Major Azur:   Come to think of it…

Sissia:   Huh?

Major Azur:   You have an eastern accent.

Major Azur:   Where are you from?

Sissia:   I…

Major Azur:   Show me your leg.

Sissia:   …!

Chance:   Hey, what’s the big idea?!

Major Azur:   …Don’t misunderstand. This is an inspection. Show me your left shin.

Sissia:   …

Sissia shows her leg as directed. Her skin shows no sign of a tattoo.

Chance:   There’s nothing there!

Major Azur:   …

Major Azur:   Let’s go.

Chance:   H-hey!

Levi:   …They’re gone.

Adra:   Jeez, they sure made a mess of things…

Chance:   …Ah wait, the scripts!

Sissia:   Here you go.

Isaac:   A script…!

Sissia pulls out a script from underneath her clothes.

Sissia:   …I only got one, though.

Adra:   You took advantage of the chaos and got it back.

Crowley:   My, that was some quick thinking. How very fun.

Levi:   As long as we have this, we can still hold the Border Performance.

Chance:   Man, I didn’t have any of the program memorized! I’m so glad the script is back!

Fan Carlo:   …The fact that you said that is even scarier. 

Chance:   And what was that last bit about? Having Sissia show him a leg!

Chance:   It’s like Sissia’s…

Sissia:   …

Levi:   …

Adra:   Right.

Fan Carlo:   …

Isaac:   But there’s no Quatral there.

Chance:   Y-Yeah. It’s no problem if you don’t have that ‘koala-troll’.

Sissia:   …!

Sissia:   I…!

Levi:   You are the Central Nation of Sissia. That’s all there is to it.

Sissia:   …!

Adra:   …Even if you come from a country far, far away, all that means is you’re a new flavor, right?

Fan Carlo:   …An accent just makes you interesting.

Crowley:   Yeah, it’s fine! We’ve all seen how much you’ve worked! 

Chance:   You don’t have to say anything!

Isaac:   All you need to do is get up on the stage. Right?

Sissia:   Everyone…

Sissia:   …Thank you.

Blackout

◆Town at Night

Aide:   …Major. About that Kielce member named Sissia…

Major Azur:   That was oil make up made out of dried fat of an Aibee cow. One would have to soak their leg in hot water to melt the cow fat or it won’t come off.

Major Azur:   At a glance, you won’t notice at all, but there’s a slight thickness to it. My eyes cannot be fooled. 

Major Azur:   That one is a fugitive. 

Aide:   Then, shouldn’t we have just arrested the fugitive on the spot?

Major Azur:   You’ve seen them in town, too. Year after year there are more servant citizens fleeing their country.

Major Azur:   Simple patrols are far too ineffective to take care of them. We’ll need to make an example of the Central Nation of Kielce and that fugitive.

Aide:   …What do you mean?

Major Azur:   What do you think of using a fugitive’s corpse to adorn the very wall the servant citizens climb over?

Major Azur:   We can certainly open fire on them once any of the members of Kielce climb the wall.

Aide:   Major, you’re so…

Aide:   If we do that, I’m sure this would alleviate another worry from our commander and king.

Major Azur:   That is our duty and purpose in being here.

Major Azur:   The wall will be the grandest tombstone for any servant citizens who cross the border.

Major Azur:   Hahahahaha…!

(5) The Central Nation of Sissia

Cheers

◆Border Proximity (Arbine Side)

Arbine Citizen:   Hey, what’s that?! Some people are climbing the wall!

Arbine Citizen:   It’s Kielce! It’s the Central Nation of Kielce!

Arbine Citizen:   You don’t know? They’re about to do their Border Performance!

◆Border Proximity (Quatra Side)

Quatran Child:    What’s the Border Performance?

Quatran Mother:   Your mother saw it long ago as a young girl… It was like being in a dream!

Quatran Elder:   I never thought we’d have such entertainment in these days of forced labor…

◆On top of the Border Wall (About 50m high)

The members have just finished climbing.

Kielce Member:   Wow…

Kielce Member:   We’re finally here…

Adra:   … This sight sure takes me back.

Levi:   Yeah.

Crowley:   Hahaha! How have you been, little wall?! It’s like you’re a part of our origins!

Chance:   Whoa… It’s taller than I thought!

Isaac:   We’re really going to do it… here!

Sissia:   …Urk.

Sissia:   …This is the top of the border wall. 

Sissia:   The wall that separates Arbine and Quatra.

Sissia:   You can see both countries from end to end.

Sissia:   The town I grew up in…

Sissia:   Is that the Central Nation of Kielce’s standing theater?

Sissia:   …The wind feels nice.

Sissia:   And even further is… an ocean?

Sissia:   The mountains are over there…!

Sissia:   The sky is still so far…

Sissia:   I’m so… small.

Chance:   We’ve got to show everyone we’re here, using the loudest voices and biggest movements we can manage!

Sissia:   Chance…

◆Observation Tower Some Distance Away

Aide:   Major, they look like they’re about to start.

Major Azur:   The sniper will need some more time to prepare. Let them start.

◆On top of the Border Wall

Crowley:   Now then… Are we all ready?!

Kielce Member:   Yeaaah!

Kielce Member:   Ready anytime!

Levi:   …Let’s begin, everyone.

Crowley:   Goat-headed Isaac! The prologue, if you will!

Isaac:   …

Isaac:   …Right!

The crowd stirs.

The crowd cheers at the appearance of Isaac wearing his goat head.

Isaac:   Welcome, one and all, to the theater of the Central Nation of Kielce! I am the goat-headed Isaac!

Isaac:   …What’s that? ‘Where is the theater?’ you ask? We are THE Central Nation of Kielce, you know!

Isaac:   Wherever we sing and dance, be it a shoddy castle, a lounge, or a chapel haunted by ghosts!

Isaac:   Even a place like Pontartia is our stage! Oh rama Kielce!

Laughs from the citizens.

Isaac:   Now, let’s start the show before the officials arrive! We will now present to you a tragedy between two nations!

Isaac:   A woman who seeks freedom! A man who falls in love with her! The cruel fate that tears the two of them apart…!

Isaac:   We have high-flying, dazzling acrobats and enchanting dancers!

Isaac:   We have the most beautiful singing voice in all of Arbine… No, in all the world! And a magician who weaves his story as he stands upon the stage!

Isaac:   Our gorgeous ringleader who leads us all! Oh, and I, who issued from the loins of a goat…

Laughter from the crowd.

Isaac:   And with the beautiful ‘gear’ of the Central Nation of Kielce, we will take you all to a fantastic dream world.

Footsteps stopping.

The members of Kielce are all lined up together.

Crowley:   Now’s the time to forget the time.

Sound of fireworks.

Everyone:   We are the Central Nation of Kielce!

Chance:   Heh heh!

Chance:   Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

The crowd cheers in response.

★Dance “Quartz Anima”

The crowd continues to cheer.

Audience:   Central Nation of Kielce!

Audience:   That was amazing!

Isaac:   Everyone’s so happy…!

Fan Carlo:   I never knew singing could reach people like this…

Adra:   Haha, in your face… In your face!

Crowley:   Now then, it’s finally time for the climax!

Levi:   We’re counting on you, Chance and Sissia!

Chance:   Amazing…

Chance:   This is so amazing, Sissia!

Sissia:   Yeah…

Sissia:   Everyone’s sharing the same joy!

Sissia:   Our feelings… They’re reaching them, Chance!

Chance:   Yeah!

Chance:   …Hey, Sissia.

Chance:   You’re… from the other side of the wall, aren’t you?

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   Yeah.

Chance:   Heh heh, this sure is something. A person from Quatra and a person from Arbine, singing and dancing on top of the border wall…

Chance:   it’s… what would you call it… Ah, peaceful?

Chance:   I want people to know that people, regardless of nation or race, can stand on the same stage.

Sissia:   Yeah…

Chance:   But wow, this really is the most amazing view!

Chance:   We made our statement, too! We are the Central Nation of Kielce! Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

Sissia:   We practiced a lot for this.

Chance:   Heh heh, we got so used to it all!

Chance:   …This performance is so fun, I hope it never ends.

Chance:   But it has to end sometime…

Sissia:   We have one last song left.

Chance:   Carlo put us through all that ruthless training! We’ll end it all here with a big finish!

Chance:   Let’s go, Sissia.

Sissia:   Yeah…!

Chance:   Heh heh…

Chance:   …?!

Chance:   Look out!

Sissia:   …?!

He pushes her away.

Sound of a gunshot.

A bullet flies towards Sissia, but Chance protects her and takes the bullet instead.

Chance:   …Urgk!

Sound of him falling over.

Sissia:   Chance?! Chance…!

◆Observation Tower Some Distance Away

Major Azur:   What are you doing?! I told you to aim for the fugitive!

Sniper:   But that man…

Major Azur:   All we’ve done at this rate is kill an Arbine national!

◆Border Wall (Arbine Side)

Startled murmurs.

Spectator:   What’s wrong…? They stopped.

Spectator:   Show us the rest!

◆Border Wall (Quatra Side)

Spectator:   Did one of the lead actors die?

Spectator:   It’s part of the act, right? I’m… sure…

◆On the Border Wall

Crowley:   …There’s something wrong.

Isaac:   They should already be performing the song…

Levi:   …

Levi:   I’ll call Sissia back here.

Isaac:   What… do you mean?!

Fan Carlo:   No… It can’t be true…

Isaac:   I’ll go!

Adra:   You stay here!

Isaac:   …!

Levi:   …Take care of everyone.

Crowley:   …Got it.

◆Night Sky

Sissia:   Chance! This can’t be happening…

Sissia:   Chance… Wake up…

Chance:   Heh… Heh heh… They got me.

Sissia:   Chance…!

Chance:   I was ready for this… I did say I don’t care if I was called a traitor…

Chance:   Even if this is the outcome… To be able to have been in this performance…

Sissia:   Don’t be ridiculous!

Chance:   Sissia…

Sissia:   You’re coming back with us, alive! You didn’t come here to die, right?!

Sissia:   We’ll do so many more fun things, and show everyone how we feel… together!

Chance:   Together… with you, Sissia…

Chance:   Yeah… I can’t die in a place like this…

Chance:   Ahh… but can I ask you one thing?

Chance:   For the last song… Sing it for them. Looks like I won’t be able to join you.

Sissia:   Sing…?! The performance doesn’t matter anymore…

Chance:   No, we have to see it through…! That’s what they’d want, for us to quit because someone was injured…

Chance:   You’ve prepared all this time, this is why you fled your country, right? To be on the stage! So then…!

Sissia:   But…! if you can be saved, then I have to…!

Chance kisses Sissia

Sissia:   …?!

Chance:   …M-my old man told me this is how to stop a fight.

Chance:   …Er, well, it’s not that I don’t feel anything special about you… Ahh, what am I trying to say?!

Sissia:   …That just made me not want to sing anymore.

Chance:   Huh?!

Sissia:   I’m just kidding.

Chance:   Oh, you’re kidding…Haha.

Chance:   …Hey, you wanted to sing loud enough so anyone over the wall can hear, and dance freely enough so that everyone in the nation would dance with each other, right?

Chance:   Now is the time.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   Okay. I’ll…sing.

Chance:   Yeah.

Sissia:   I want to hear why you did what you did, too.

Chance:   R-Right…

Chance:   I mean… It’s nothing really. It’s just because I like you… Yeah.

Chance:   I love you.

Sissia:   I see.

Chance:   I see?!

Sissia:   …I love you, too.

Sissia:   Your bright enthusiasm, how you can get along with anyone…

Sissia:   How you make weird mistakes when you talk, and how you feel passionately about things.

Sissia:   How you get angry sometimes, how pure you are, and how you always give me so much energy.

Sissia:   Your gentle eyes, how tall you are, I love all of that.

Chance:   Th-Thanks… Hearing that is making me feel embarrassed.

Chance:   …But I’m happy. Yeah.

Sissia:   Right? Someone telling you what they like about you makes you happy.

Sissia:   I’d like your father to learn how to do that, too.

Chance:   Urgh… 

Sissia:   So, later, tell me why you love me, too. Promise?

Chance:   …Yeah. There are so many things about you I love, I can barely remember them all… I’ll tell you, no matter what.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   … I’ll be back soon.

Chance:   …Yeah.

Sissia walks away.

Chance:   … You can do it. I’m rooting for you.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   I will sing!

Sissia slowly stands back up.

There is no hesitation in Sissia’s eyes.

★ Song “Over the Wall”

◆Border Wall (Arbine Side)

Cheering

Arbinian:   Yeah… Why are people talking about how two countries right next to each other are better or worse than the other?

Arbinian:   It’s true that the war lasted so many years, and we wished that another would never take its place.

Arbinian:   But… is this really what we wanted?

Arbinian:   These ideas about borders and nameless servant countries are absurd. At this rate, Arbine’s just a nation built and ruled by discrimination!

Candidates:   We’ve got tools!

Arbinian:   …!!!

Mean Candidate:   Let’s break through it! That blasted wall!!!

Arbinians:   Yeaahh! 

◆Border Wall (Quatra Side)

Loud thudding sounds that shake the wall.

Quatran:   The wall, it’s…

Quatran:   Shaking…?!

Quatran:   Wait… Are they trying to break through the border wall?!

Quatran:   The People of Arbine…? Why…?

Old Man Forced Into Heavy Labor:   …It was that performer’s song.

Quatran:   …!

Old man:   That performer’s song must have touched the hearts of the people of Arbine…!!!

Old Man:   Get anything you can! Bring any kind of tool you can find!!!

Old Man:   We’ll tear down this wall… alongside the people of Arbine!!!

Quatran:   Yeaahh!

◆Observation Tower

Loud thudding sounds that shake the wall.

Major Azur:   The wall…!!!

Major Azur:   Urk… What are the soldiers doing?! Capture the traitors!

Aide:   W-We can’t… Their numbers… They vastly outnumber all of Arbine’s troops!

Major Azur:   Urrgh…!!!

Major Azur:   Curse you, Central Nation of Kieeelce!!!

The observation tower collapses in a loud crash.

Blackout

Levi:   …Urk, at this rate…!

Adra:   No…!!!

Crowley:   …We won’t make it.

Isaac:   So you’re saying we’ll just leave them behind?!

Fan Carlo:   …

◆The Reddened Sky

Sissia:   …I still haven’t heard.

Sissia:   You were going to tell me all the reasons you love me, right?

Sissia:   It’s not fair that you get to decide to…

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   …Your bright enthusiasm.

Sissia:   How you get along with everyone.

Sissia:   How you make weird mistakes when you talk, how easily you get excited, how you get angry sometimes, how pure you are, and how you always give me so much energy. 

Sissia:   Your gentle eyes, how tall you are, the shape of your nose, your face when you smile.

Sissia:   How you sing when you feel the slightest bit in a good mood, how exaggerated your dances are, and your somersaults were always so amazing.

Sissia:   There’s still more. How you sometimes wear strange clothes, how you buy food when you’re out and can’t eat dinner, and…

Sissia:   And…

Blackout

Monologue

Chance:   After the destruction of the wall, the Arbine Nation collapsed from the combined efforts of the Quatrans and the Arbinians who supported them.

Chance:   The Arbine commander and king was captured with his officials, stripped of their powers, and became normal citizens.

Chance:   The nameless country’s 20-year servitude ended, and the former Nation of Arbine allied with the former Republic of Quatra.

Chance:   And with the collapsed border between them, the two countries became one.

Chance:   Levi Caineman, ringleader of the Central Nation of Kielce, invited people into the troupe from Arbine and Quatra without discrimination, and grew Kielce into an even larger troupe. He also continued to shine as a performer himself.

Chance:   Adra Hybird retired as a member of the Central Nation of Kielce and went out on a journey to wander the lands, learning the art of local dances in each place he visited. He returned to teach his former troupe members what he learned in order to help sharpen their skills.

Chance:   Though he was the illegitimate child of the commander and king of Arbine, Crowley Arbine asserted himself to the throne in order to help the Arbine Nation rebuild itself after its collapse. With the superb eloquence he had polished while in the Central Nation of Kielce and his perfect writing abilities, he helped the nation rebuild into a new kingdom. He continued as a benevolent king, and throughout his life, would lend ear to the citizens, and at times feel the need for a good prank.

Chance:   Fan Carlo Albus showed off her beautiful singing voice to its fullest as a songstress of the imperial court of the new nation, capturing the hearts of its people. Though reluctantly accepting her duties to teach singing to the nation’s new national choir, she contributed to the growth of the generations that followed her. Continuing to face the path of singing in earnest, even in her elder years her voice continues to stay as young as someone in their youth.

Chance:   Isaac Bazmaz continued activities in easing intercultural tensions even after the new nation was formed. Performing as a clown to bring people joy, he created spaces for people to come together like Kielce had done in the past. people say that on occasion, he continues to visit the remains of the border wall, which serves as a grave for an old friend.

Chance:   In the collapse of the former nations and the rebuilding of a new one, the place that became the spiritual home of them all was named after the person whose sacrifice became the catalyst for a new beginning… And so, it was called the Central Nation of Sissia-O-Chance.

The End.

[xjumbled-up-brainx]

Saw you needed octonauts world headcanons so here’s some I’ve got

1. I think there are probably parallel cities and countries to our world since I’m pretty sure Tweak’s dad lives in Florida? So they have at least a US? Anyway the locations of their major cities and counties are all the same. Most animals live in places close to or in their natural habitat, but cities like London or New York probably have animals from all over the place mingling (but to a certain level of logic like you’re less likely to see a polar bear or reindeer living in South America or something). Cities probably also have slightly different designs to accommodate for the variety of species living in them

2. The world population is split between anthro and non-anthro animals, because the octonauts are clearly anthro but the animals they rescue aren’t. There used to be a lot of conflict between the two groups but now most places don’t care and are designed to accommodate both kinds of animals (Like Tweak and Sandy are friends)

3. Whether or not predation of other animals (especially the non-anthro) is okay is a heated debate in their society

4. It is possible for some non-anthro animals (most likely mammals) to learn to walk and use their paws (hands?) like anthro’s, but it’s very difficult (and vice versa if an anthro wants to learn to be more like a non-anthro)

5. There is a United Nations equivalent who are tasked with keeping peace between species. They have a representative for each major species of each biome, with groups such as rainforest or polar regions working as groups or having one collective vote on large scale issues (they are also the ones who fund the octonauts)

6. Like all things, the octonauts probably have a few haters and enemies (because even in this world there are bad people) and they sometimes have to watch their backs when at ports to resupply (I can see them getting into conflict with people who overfish like in that one fic or people who pollute the ocean or oil rig people)

7. Their world is just as, if not more technologically advanced in some areas than ours (I mean, they manage to hide whole helmets in small collars!)

8. Their world likely isn’t post apocalyptic. Instead, humans never existed and many animals evolved in almost identical ways to fill that niche

9. Most of, if not all, the world share a collective language (Called the universal wild language or something) that makes cross-species communication easier. Each genus likely shares a language (with species having slightly different versions (for example: wolves and dogs will slightly different pronunciations or slang, but sound very similar when compared to a fox)), but all animals are taught the universal language.

10. Most animals have extended lifespans that are closer in length to humans

11. Some objects we use that usually have simple handles will have grips or whole shaped loops for paws to make holding them easier

12. Coat colour possibility and variations are far greater than in our world (I mean, Tweak’s GREEN)

OH MY GOODNESS THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Ur ideas are pretty similar to mine so far and I will take all input into my little files ^^

All y’all else👁️👁️ follow suit (if u would like but I appreciate everything!)

[tkwrtnewsfeed]

Newsfeed #137 November 1, 2023 (1 Hísimë)

I know it has been a while, but if you only knew what I have to go through regularly, you would understand why it takes me so long to do anything. I will go into that on another day. It is special because today, the world gets the first look at Book II: The Saga of Thranduil--Extended Version.

If you are a member of the Facebook Group, then you can get it there. If you are not, you will have to go here. It will be available in both places from now until November 7, 2023. It would be appreciated if you would leave a comment on this thread about whether you liked it or not because I sent it out for beta readers for a reason.

I have been in talks with a lot of publishers on demand who want to publish this book. One of them overzealously wanted to turn the book into a Netflix series. (do not ask). I would rather film the story in order, which begins with @tkwrtrilogy3. At over 1200 pages (currently), the entire trilogy is long enough to have a television show (but I would want it to include @oflordsandkingstkwrtbook and @tkwrtsongofsevenrivers). I am aware of that. To be honest, I would like to be the one to write the script as I also know how to do that (from experience). But, because my stepsister (Roseann Grotjan) stuck me into a Britney Spears situation, I do not have access to my money or any way to negotiate the publication of any of my books (and I have several) on my own, so this is going take a while. I have millions of adoring fans willing to scare the BeJesus out of her in order to get their favorite book in print and onscreen.

But. someone leaked to me what a perspective book cover of The Saga of Thranduil would look like. I will post one of the mock-ups because seriously, who is going to notice? It is a mock-up, so it is not a final design. Also, I didn't choose it. It was chosen for me to persuade me to choose this particular company. There are at least seven or eight of these people trying to persuade me to publish this book. One of them has actually read the book, and it made them cry.

They want to sell it in hardcover and paperback. Wouldn't that be nice? My bestie (@fortunatelyclevercandy) wants me to wait. I will not tell you why because I know why, and I'm about to do what she asked me to do. I want literally no FREE PR around it.

Oh, that is a lot I know. But if it were not for my stepsister, the state of Missouri, and the crappy hellhole they put me in the middle of nowhere with shitty internet (on purpose), I would be farther along, and everybody probably would have several copies of this book series by now. The moral of my story is: do not trust your family after your father dies and leaves you some money. They might just get the idea in their head to take it from you to make $20/hour as your guardian by claiming that you're crazy when you just asked them about your own trust fund. But I digress.

Enjoy The Saga of Thranduil--Extended Version. You will be the ones who will decide which version of this story gets published. You will be the ones that will make it possible to see the Elvenking's life story in a book store, online, or even on Netflix.

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #17:

Ian Matthews' If You Saw Thro' My Eyes

I had big plans for this weekend's post. My famous brother has been jawing of late about how I will kneel in perpetual penance before Stephen Stills' altar of jock rock greatness the moment I listen to a Manassas record and I will then declare Stills a rock and roll god. One would think my brother is famous for devilry and nonsense.

Indeed, so confident am I that Stills will forever suck that earlier this week I got down on the weathered floor of my local dollar bin (they know what they're doing in my local shop: all of Stills' records are relegated to a neglected, ground level cardboard box, while The Incredible String Band section towers at chest height over Stephen's treasure chest of trash) and hauled out their cheapest copy of Manassas's debut double album (there were plenty of copies to choose from; no one wants to own Stephen Stills records).

My grand plan was to spend a glorious Friday afternoon playing a drinking game of my own invention wherein I'd drink every time I heard a note that did not suck in Manassas's monster ode to mediocrity and I'd admit to each chug in print. I had no fears about a hangover heading into this adventure; I knew I'd emerge stone cold sober.

Fair Reader, I extend to you my sincerest apologies. You'll simply have to wait, with baited breath, for that future entry. The truth is that moments after gleefully cracking open a cold one and dropping the needle on Side 1 of Stills' pretentious piece of pomposity I heard Stephen open his crack (I honestly could not tell which it was, face or ass) and realized I did not have the spirit for it.

Simply put, the very real terror being inflicted upon our fellow humans in Gaza and Israel makes the musical terror Stills inflicts upon us both unfunny and utterly incidental. Please join me in praying for the safety of all innocent people now living in war zones, most especially the children in harm's way.

So, at least for now, I propose that we put off any further pulverization of the guy who thought it was a great idea to name his new band after the Confederacy's first and greatest victory in the Civil War.

Instead, let's consider some fragile and largely unappreciated beauty by spending time on Ian Matthews' first and greatest solo record, If You Saw Thro' My Eyes.

Nick Drake and Sandy Denny both hold and deserve sainted status in the history of popular song. Almost 50 years after their tragic deaths they remain the yin and yang of cosmic British folk music, their all too brief careers forever marking them as the only true peers we have to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Of course all four artists owe a heavy debt to Dylan, but each was also consistently capable of creating something Dylan, for all his greatness, has often chased after fruitlessly: beauty.

A consummate recognizer of genius, Joe Boyd saw Sandy Denny sharing the stage with Matthews in Fairport Convention in 69 and understood all of this. So he decided that Ian Matthews needed to take a hike. Denny and her almost equally talented bandmate, Richard Thompson, both loved Matthews but agreed with Boyd; so Matthews got his walking papers, leaving Sandy gloriously alone before the microphone.

Everybody knows the more famous version of this story: George Harrison similarly traded in his forever bronze medal in The Beatles then went on to make the truly Olympian All Things Must Pass.

But Matthews story is a bit more complicated. Rather than settling down and producing a masterpiece, Matthews acted like a restless, slightly panicked (but still quite handsome!) toad, jumping from scheme to scheme. Between 69 and 74 he founded two entirely separate bands (Matthews Southern Comfort and Plainsong) and put out 7 (!) albums. All are Dollar Bin winners, but only one, 71's curiously spelled If You Saw Thro' My Eyes, is transcendent art.

So let's talk about it!

A good introduction is the album's second track, Hearts.

Matthews is not considered a songwriting genius; after this record he increasingly turned to covering other artists. But here he shows early equal promise to Young; indeed it's great to listen to Hearts alongside Young's equally tender track Birds, which was recorded just a year earlier. Both songs portray young men setting aside the bruising and dumb elements of their assigned and culturally dominent gender; indeed it's hilarious to compare these songs' equally androginus yearnings with the way an artist like Young was marketed at the time. Just look at the image below.

All he needs is a bullwhip, a fedora and a groveling look of worship from the babe on his hip to complete the image. But there's no macho macho man to be found in either of these lovely songs, and the gesture is missing from every note of If You Saw Thro' My Eyes.

Even so, there are plenty of men making music on this record and they all shred. That's none other than Richard Thompson you hear bubbling and bending on lead guitar all the way through Hearts, and he is a full contributor throughout the record, lending his unmistakable tone and gesture in ways that are frankly more successful than his contributions to Drake's first two records. Richard may have given Matthews the boot, but the two guys still literally lived together in the same house and clearly understood one another's gifts.

And then there's Keith Tippett. My famous brother will now crawl out from under his Stills' shaped rock of shame to shake his fist at me in exasperation when I admit that I know nothing about this guy. But he's clearly some kind of genius. Listen to his quavering, elemental piano work alongside Thompson's guitar on Never Ending.

Seriously, why did the 74 zillion people buy Tea For the Tillerman then skip on this record?

And that's none other than Sandy Denny playing the harmonium behind Thompson and Tippett. While in Fairport together, Denny and Matthews either traded off vocals masterfully, as in the band's version of Suzanne, harmonized conventionally around one another or stood to one side altogether while the other sang.

But on this album's title track, If You Saw Thro' My Eyes, they finally learn to lean in together. Like lovers, friends or even enemies, they perch on the opposite banks of some terrible chasm, reaching out palm to palm over the breach to hold one another up. High above turbulent seas we listen as they leave the land and soar away, taking us with them.

I hope all of you are safe, and I hope you can find some way to reach out in love and peace to someone else this weekend. Even if it's Stephen Stills.

[salami-dono]

Edgy OC asks for Dr. Jester!! 2, 4, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25.

>w> aaaand 13 n 7

Thank you for sending some questions. It took a while to answer.

2. What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

This will be hard to answer, because what I’ve observed about Dr. Jester seems normal to me. Hm, I could think of a few things. 1) He thinks he’s cute. He’s very confident. 2) He likes dinosaurs. 3) He can speak to the small animals Sonic rescued in the classic games. He took a liking to a bird called Chicky (like the Flicky.) Instant friendship.

4. When scared, does your OC fight, flee, freeze or fawn?

When I read this question, I didn’t know what it meant by fawn? I looked it up and I still don’t get it. Anyway, he usually fled when confronted directly. I don’t know if that’s true fear, or if he’s just avoiding unnecessary damage by retreating. Fighting is Saturn’s job… Why should he be scared of a dozen super-powered children?

(Send in the minions so you can escape. Predictable.)

Knuckles blasted through the windshield of his flying machine and he responded by lunging at him. He simply accepted his demise when the Egg Carrier failed catastrophically. Do you think he was scared then?  

Back when I first revisited the story in August of 2022, I wanted Eggman to punish what he saw as disloyalty from Dr. Jester, and destroy him. I thought they'd fight since Dr. Jester had a chaos emerald, but that didn't go anywhere. Now I think he would freeze. Sure, he’s used underhanded tricks when he thought Eggman had wronged him, but he’d never kill him. He had been holding on to the friendship they had long ago. I guess freeze is the answer?

He is not immune to sentimentality.

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

He’s already from an alternate universe. My sibling suggested an alternate storyline where Dr. Jester gets to the Dark Emerald first and frees Chaos. He doesn't like things he can't control.

I think Dr. Jester should be in a vampire AU! 

22. What character alignment would you consider your OC to be?

Neutral Evil.

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

I think the answer is surprise, or fear. 

He can express anger just fine. He’s been dejected, elated… He's animated.

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

I’ve thought about this before. No matter what, he would have been interested in synthetic body parts. He could’ve been a prosthetist (one who makes and fits prosthetics), or developed very reliable pacemakers. What if he didn’t take it too far? He could’ve been a generous doctor that helped a lot of people live full lives--highly recommended! Such a shame.

25. What is your favorite thing about your OC?

He’s so funny. 

13. If you met your OC, would the two of you get along?

He can be civil. That doesn't mean he’d like me. However, he’d gain nothing from hurting me. That’s good for me, I guess. 

Dr. Jester did meet a version of me in the story. He ignored me! I cared about him a lot! As a kid, I avoided writing/showing scenes in which he got hurt. Isn't that love?

Since it’s still fresh on my mind, he would’ve offered to save my cat. Or, maybe he’d put it as “extending her life indefinitely.” No matter how good his designs are, he will never make a robot that looks, sounds, and feels like a real cat. He wouldn’t understand this. He's so detached. He’d take it personally. 

7. What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them? 

He used to be alive. That’s the biggest change. I had an old drawing of him that kinda felt like a “what-if?” scenario. I drew two Dr. Jesters, one of them was NOT a robot. He looked so friendly! What happened to him? I spent so much time keeping his design the same, so appearance-wise, little has changed. At least he has a bit of a background now.

[theghostpinesmusic]

Well, I've decided I want to put off working for real for a little while longer so the 6/7 "Jive Lee" HAPPENS NOW

It was both exciting and weird to watch the band's two-night Fiddler's Green run from the couch at home. As I've written about a few times already, I was so full of Goose-related fervor in '22 that I drove out to Colorado that summer to see two fantastic shows at Dillon Amphitheater and then a just-fine debut night at Red Rocks. I had the chance to go back to Red Rocks for what turned out to be a spectacular two-nighter in '23, but passed on it because for the same amount of mileage on my car and a similar amount of money I was able to do a six-show run from Missoula, Montana down to Los Angeles (it was worth it). I'd imagined another long run in Colorado this summer and fully planned to make the pilgrimage, but when the band announced only two nights (fine, but not worth driving 2,000 miles for) at Fiddler's Green (bigger and downtown-y-er and way less fun than Red Rocks or Dillon) I decided to stay home.

Well, they turned out to be two fantastic shows, but I think I made the right decision watching from home still because now I'm seeing Phish for four nights in September instead.

So, anyway: Fiddler's Green night one. As I said, this was a killer show. Most of the first set was pretty song-y, but the setlist is fantastic and the whole thing is anchored by a really unique, surprising jam out of "Jive Lee" (which I'll get to momentarily).

The second set was a five-song jam- and vibe-fest, opening with a hugely blissful take on "Wysteria Lane" that I dubbed in my own head "The Holy Wysteria," then proceeding through "Feel It Now," a big "Hungersite," the rare and beautiful "Peggy-O," and finally a kind-of-hurried but still jammy "Dripfield." Oh, and an encore of "(dawn)" sans "Same Old Shenanigans"?! Destroy me!

I think the must-listen jam from this show, if I had to pick one with a gun to my head, would be the "Wysteria," but it's also basically one long extended climax for many, many minutes, so there wouldn't be much for me to write about. The "Jive Lee" is maybe more interesting for a few reasons, not the least of which being its recent emergence as dark horse jam vehicle.

I wrote about the song and its place in the "Jivefecta" and the rarity of it being particularly exploratory back during the Euro tour, so I'll skip past most of that here so as to not repeat myself. The short version is that despite being an instrumental that normally gets played for ten to twelve minutes a go, "Jive Lee" opens with a particular melody, and usually the entire jam builds directly off of that melody (with sometimes a brief variation here or there). There were a few versions in late '22 and throughout '23 that stretched out a bit further and/or longer (I'm partial to the Spokane version since I was there), but generally "Jive Lee" remained a fun, energetic, but firmly "Type 1" jam.

Until recently. In my memory, that Glasgow version from late '23 was the first version I've heard that wholeheartedly abandoned the beaten path, but since then there's also been this version (6/7/24) and another mind-boggler a week later at Northlands (6/14/24). I hope this begins a bigger trend, because there seems to be something about this song lately that (sometimes) inspires the band to take it places they normally wouldn't go at all sonically.

This version is twenty-one minutes long, but unlike a lot of Goose songs, there isn't really a "song" taking up the first five to ten minutes of the video's run time in this case. Instead, we get the opening "Jive Lee" riff, which the band jams on for about (literally) thirty seconds before Peter's enjoyment of the OB-6 draws them off into a 70s funk-ish jam that's a great example of 2024 Goose's willingness to leave some space between the notes.

I love this "Jive Lee" first and foremost because of what the rhythm section does in it (Trevor is an absolute beast during the first five or so of these summer shows), but because I normally focus on the guitar and keys most when doing write-ups...I will maybe be less than up to the task of describing the majesty that occurs this time through.

That said, early on here Rick and Peter do a good job of playing off of each other while laying back and letting the groove (mostly) run the show. Around 3:15, Peter moves over to the electric piano (?) and leans in a bit more, which in turn draws Rick out somewhat. Somewhere in there, Peter starts a synth loop that becomes really audible at 3:50, then he moves (perhaps inevitably in such a groovy jam) to the xylo patch, but continues to just add color to the jam here and there. There's a great camera shot of him experimenting with some echo-y goodness around the 5:00 mark.

Trevor well and truly takes over shortly after, prompting Rick to echo him and then stop for a minute to dial in maybe the weirdest tone I've ever heard him play on guitar: it sounds both ethereal and digital at the same time. He and Trevor go back to playing off of each other.

By 7:20, Peter and Rick's tones are blending really nicely, and contrasting well with the grungier, angrier tone of Trevor's bass. Cotter and Jeff have moved to a bit more of shuffling beat at this point.

Ultimately, the band sits in this space and explores it for a bit, which I totally don't mind because this is really different from anything I've ever heard them do before.

Rick and Peter both change things up a bit around the 10:00 mark, and it feels like the jam slows down a little, though in reality it probably doesn't.

Cotter and Jeff start driving things around the 11:00 mark, while the others continue to flesh out the sound here and there. I would love a Ted Tapes album with a bunch of tracks like this!

Around 11:30, Peter hits on a very "Fly Like An Eagle" sounding tone on his keys, and right about the same time Rick starts riffing on a very "Ghostbusters"-like idea. It's a really great combination, especially with the rhythm section still going apeshit in the foreground.

Once again, the band hangs out in this newfound groove for awhile, but that's okay because it fucking rules. Again, it might be my imagination, but I feel like the intensity and the tempo are both growing as the jam continues on...meanwhile, Rick is putting on a masterful show playing rhythm guitar and Pete moves back to the xylo patch.

Shortly after this, Rick takes the lead with a heavily distorted solo, but the rest of the band maintains the DNA of the groove we've been riding for the previous sixteen minutes or so at the same time. It's a potent combo that drives this "Jive Lee" into "NES Castlevania Boss Fight At The Dracula Disco" territory.

Cotter should be illegal.

If you absolutely need some guitar peak with your jam, the area around the 19:00 mark should have you covered :)

Rick continues shredding for the next few minutes, but I can't not just hear Trevor absolutely leveling the pavilion in the meantime.

Finally, just before the 21:00 mark, the band smoothly transitions into the outro of "Jive Lee" completing, for my money, the best version to date (though that might well have been dethroned by 6/14, which I shall endeavor to find video of before long).

[aaronafgash]

10 NEW SONGS - 2/16/24

No significant new albums to note today but a ton of singles that are worth discussing - much more fruitful than last week. Without further ado:

1. TEXAS HOLD ‘EM - Beyoncé

Beyoncé is BACK. After a fun Verizon Super Bowl ad, she surprised everyone and dropped two new singles. As many others have noted online, it appears that the theme of this Renaissance trilogy is Bey reclaiming genres of music that were created by Black artists but popularized by White ones. She tackled house music first, and now she’s onto country.  Listening to “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” has me yearning for a proper cowboy bar to line dance / honky-tonk in. She effortlessly flows on the track, sounding completely in her element despite having just a few “country” songs in her discography (if you liked “Daddy Lessons” from Lemonade, I promise you’ll love this). I haven’t been able to stop singing “And I'll be damned if I can't slow-dance with you / Come pour some sugar on me, honey too” all week.

2. 16 CARRIAGES - Beyoncé

“16 CARRIAGES” feels like a proper B-side single - a slower, building ballad that really makes you feel something. Just an incredible vocal performance and some truly beautifully written lyrics as she reflects on how hard she’s grinded in the music industry since she was 15 years old: It's been thirty-eight summers, and I'm not in my bed / On the back of the bus in a bunk with the band / Goin' so hard, now I miss my kids / Overworked and overwhelmed”. Beyoncé has been constantly reinventing herself for over two decades now - I can’t wait to hear what her iteration of a full-blown country record sounds like.

3.  Older - Lizzie McAlpine

Typically, I am not a fan of the slow, simple, stripped-down pop ballads, but Lizzie McAlpine’s take on that has me hooked. On “Older”, the lead single for her album of the same name, Lizzie sings of transitioning into adulthood, with cutting lyrics like “Over and over, watch it all pass / Mom's getting older, I'm wanting it back / Where no one is dying, and no one is hurt / And I have been good to you instead of making it worse”. I may or may not have cried to this on my commute this morning.

4. Thinking Less - Sinéad Harnett

Sinéad Harnett has been consistently dropping excellent R&B music for a minute now, and “Thinking Less” is par for the course. Over a rhythmic, plucked, syncopated (it's unclear if I used this word correctly) acoustic guitar and a steady beat, Sinéad sings of independence and moving on from a former partner. This vibe pairs so nicely with her first single, “Say Something” - really looking forward to her new album.

5. Cockblocker - Kim Petras

Babe, wake up! Kim Petras dropped an album where she exclusively talks about dicks and sex! “Cockblocker” is hilarious - Kim just lists all the things she likes. You know what she doesn’t like? A cockblocker.

(I just found out that Dr. Luke produced this song and Kim works with him a ton so that sucks, but unfortunately I will still be listening!)

6. Training Season - Dua Lipa

I love Dua Lipa. I love Tame Impala. This song is great, but I don’t love it. I have a feeling it will grow on me (as most her songs tend to do), but it’s absolutely worth a listen regardless. Pro tip - the extended version is significantly better. I’m never mad about new Dua, but I think Future Nostalgia may have set up unrealistically high expectations for her new music.

7. Gen-X Cops - Vampire Weekend

Beyoncé isn't the only artist who's back - Vampire Weekend would like a word! They haven’t dropped an album in 5(!?) years, but they’re finally here with a few new singles. I struggled to pick between the two - I have a feeling that "Capricorn" will grow on me and make sense more in the context of the album - but “Gen-X Cops” grabbed me more, at least initially. It’s upbeat. It’s a bit grungy. It's got a thumping bassline. And I love Ezra singing the line “Each generation makes its own apology”.

8. Spring Is Coming With A Strawberry In The Mouth - Caroline Polachek

Released as a bonus track to Caroline Polachek’s excellent 2023 album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, “Spring Is Coming With A Strawberry In The Mouth” is simply a bop. I love how it builds for 45-ish seconds before bringing to bass and drums together to set the tone for the rest of the track. Add some of those heavenly, airy vocals with weird lyrics on top, and it’s everything I could ever want in a Caroline Polachek song.

9. Inaka - Mei Semones

I’ve been trying to put people onto Mei Semones for years now. Seamlessly oscillating between English and Japanese lyrics, I never really know which direction her music is going to go, but I’m always along for the ride - this is definitely true on “Inaka”. I love the use of backing orchestral strings on this track in particular. She’s often described as a “jazz” artist, but I wouldn’t even begin to try to put her in a box.

10. Like This - Buddy

Years ago, I went to see Aminé live in Milwaukee. Buddy was an opener. I knew a few Buddy songs so I was looking forward to seeing him. A rapper came up on stage and started performing who I thought was Buddy. He was bad. I was bummed. After his set, another rapper came on stage and he rocked. THAT was Buddy! Anyways, this song is great. Jazzy, smooth beat. Laid back flow. Everything I want in a Buddy song.

[olokosomolo]

When Veri-Zone Met-Ro - binhood riding on its T-Mobile ( the force)

veryizone was hungry entity despite his non stop bite and nibble between the quarters feast fully satisfied but constantly hungry , perhaps it was his wickedness gene that made very-zone that feelings. Perhaps similar to the high a cereal killers feels when they execute their attacks on their victims. Of course Veri-Zone are not cereal killers but sure they can harass their clients to the point the customer might start to develop a thought 🤔 to kill themselves. I'm here to talk about a secret cellular company that perhaps many of you know about this seller you have yet to know. We only view it as the cellular company for “Indigent clients”. Really? This is what I thought when I used to have everything in my life. so the common thought that led me and perhaps among all of you too. We created a false cluster such as, if this company serves a lot of poor people, maybe the service and product that their customers receive is poor and inferior in comparison to the giant corporations of the telephone companies. Believe it or not, it was only after a situation fell upon me that caused me to lose everything I had, and somehow it happened at Walmart, she suddenly understood my situation and gave me a Motorola with Metro as the provider. But why does the old provider version forget my 7 good years of records, and only enjoy harassing me when I experience a horrible situation. The version cellular didn't care to check my past while until not long ago I was their best customer paying without any questions nor conditions an amounts of 150-250 dollars every month. Then a fall into a bottomless abyss and I'm still in a state of limbo. Verizon started restricting me, harassing me when the due day they arrived and they didn't get their money, right away disconnecting me when i'm fighting for my life on the phone, my business of fire phone shitt they limited my necessary playing with my poor miserable life anyway. Verizon was the master slaughterer to us all, we was their dairy cows that produce for them a rich amount of fear. The smell of their cow costumes' fear caused the monster this endless hunger that quickly turned into a feeding frenzy. Let me explain: one day after I couldn't pay I was disconnected wow what a fateful disconnection in the middle of Life, poof. I immediately dials six one one, a tone, and then answer the voice response. He: Blahblah blah... Me: yes, yes, yes,yea. Representative. He: What, did you say billing? Me: No representative, him: I didn't get that, did your phone get lost or stolen? Did you forget you username? No!! I need a representative! Don't think I got it, did you mean you want to upgrade your phone? No!! At this time you're not eligible to upgrade your phone. For the main manu push #1. Me: #1 hi this is Verizon. Blah blah blah blah blah and the extra deal we have is a BLAH BLAH. you are restricted coz of nonpayment of your small bill that is already close to the next mini tiny bill all together is estimated a few zeros. me: what do you mean few zeros Willis? I can't understand, maybe try another way! Me: no no Agent. Him: mmh hmmm 🤔 A g e n t?!? Did you mean Agent ? Me:Yes yes yes yeah! Him: unfortunately, wait let me ( cry me a river) me: what him: you just made me destroy all my makeup when I cry the all river for you. Me: wdym? You are just a Robot AI you can't have tears. Him: you are not eligible to talk to a representative please try later bye... Oh I just want to add that perhaps I'm an AI but at least I think like a human so I can feel the cry me a river feeling and that enough to destroy my ai markup I applied before work. Now call later have a great day I'll send you a link for satisfaction please spear ten minutes of your extremely busy life doing nothing and please rate our overwhelming Ace customer service and how was our approach when we quickly came to your Servic* open and extended it wide with our love and care as it came right from the air it emerge, our happeniss right to your Servic* twice. .

That's true they sure spread my nerves to a new high verhi-zone. Now sad without a line without the Internet I'm dropping to an explosion in a sphere looking room. I fumble with my hands to find a comfortable angle for my body. I didn't find a corner in this strange room, what an unlucky day I'll go to rest, maybe I'd rather die than live. Then comes a new day I'm optimistic about the future rings. Back to Veriz This time again I went through all the cabinets, but this time he tried to see how I would react: Him: And before I end this tiring conversation, this time I'm ready to send you to a human being yes our perfect, wonderful customer service full of applause.. but I want To tell you that it will cost you to talk to those talented individuals of Verizon customer service for a small price to be able to talks to the best. Price is negligible. We are really laughing, for connecting you to our talent team. The amount that we require for connecting them is like one grain of sea sand. It is negligible how many grains are there on the beach . It is a special gift to our poor customers who pay twice as much compared to all the rich customers. Yes yes with us it's like you are the smallest giant. That's why we ask for a small amount, a one time fee of 10 dollars in order to reach customer service. Me: What evil robbers. Greedy, and frenzy leftover licker of a meat pot. Him: I didn't understand, did you mean that you are not interested, Me: no no yes yes I am interested yes yes. Wait, did you say no? I, of course, said yes. Him: You are very lucky and I almost hung up, but Ten dollars per pot made the difference between tobi or not to be. Please wait in line. I have finally reached the summit of the highest mountain in our world, no lol no Everest it is a mountain three times higher than Everest it's called the BlackRock mountain 🏔️. I must mention when I finally reached the human customer service. The service was truly exceptional and impeccable, but whoever let Robot AI make our lives miserable did so sarcastically and offensively, because surely none of the customers can make a claim on a robot lawsuit. How much evil lies in this selfish thought to do to customers who are dragged into a huge monthly payment who surely need a phone even more than ever for business failures and the quality of reception varies according to the hours of the day that we will not know of such a problem. Forgive me I came to write about Metro and the beginning I described before I found the light when I Met-Ro-binhood. Friends I'm not Exaggerating, I always say what's on my mind. I want to tell everyone the secret of Metro's 5G is nothing less than phenomenal. How does it happen that 5 Metro's GI delivers ten times faster than Verizon and at&t combined ? Friends, it's a secret, I'm not exaggerating, please try me. I'll give you all my details, I'm ready to be responsible for my good name. I'll also give everyone the name of that amazing person from customer service of Metro and say that me Tobi Simon sent you his name : Jai. One in a million. I received one of the best promo. Unlimited. Freaking unlimited for the price of 30$ and let me frase it ones more unlimited is unlimited calls and Internet 🛜 as wifi becomes absolute.. did I mention speedy Gonzales 5eemen how Verizon plays their way of deception by letting you walk captive after them in high-end price to let you be-lie-ve high price is priceless. Lol sucker me. Also me quite a more-run. Friends you not my friends, yet I'm giving you an amazing secret and a tip on a jam stone by the name Metro I Met-Ro-binhood that ride on T- Mobile and that A huge Turbo. Do it now, switch now and immediately before they become Verizon ( hope they won't, and Metro will maintain their grace, coz a jam stone without its grace, quickly loses its jam to become only a stone. So don't forget to tell Jai ( the costumer service representative) that Tobi Simone sent you and tells him about the $30 unlimited... Guys I just sent you this bless, to become nothing less then happiness

and much applause

Tobi

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

So I have some questions about Rasputin 1. how many subminds did he have

2. Do you think we'll see some of the other D1 warminds like Charlemagne

3. What was Rasputin doing on Io I remember there was a warmind bunker on Io and there's a crucible map that takes place in a warmind launch station for something called javelins

Thanks for reading this I want you know that I like seeing you talk about Rasputin

I'm glad you like seeing me talk about Rasputin! Because I like talking about Rasputin.

I'll caveat this by saying I'm traveling during Week 2 and won't have a chance to play Destiny till Saturday at the earliest, so if there's new Week 2 info pertinent to the question, I don't know it.

In order, the answers to your questions are:

In this season they seem to be using "submind" for pieces Rasputin might partition into when his main network was disrupted, so his submind count now (after the Pyramid Fleet's attack) is likely not his submind count from the Golden Age. We don't know how many we’ll see this season, but my money's on us rescuing seven. I say that because a) there are 7 notches on the "seasonal story" triumph and b) the Seven Seraphs faction/Seventh Seraph weapon line. During the Golden Age we know he had at least one, but that’s all we know for sure - the number of AI in general is unclear. In a fun wrinkle, canon initially said there were many Warminds, then the Warmind DLC retconned them to all be Rasputin subminds, then the Last Days of Kraken Mare un-retconned it back to multiple Warminds. Season of the Seraph hasn't yet declared one way or the other.

I'm hoping we see Charlemagne or a Charley-remnant submind. There are only a couple of known submind names, so this season’s writers are going to have to come up with a few more, and I don't see why not to include Charley. My personal theory is that there were seven Warminds including Rasputin pre-Collapse, and during the Pyramid Fleet's attack the Warminds were slain one by one with each one passing on what was left of its assets to the survivors before it fell. That would leave Rasputin with 6 "subminds" that are all that's left of his original comrades, which reconciles "multiple Golden-Age Warminds" with "but maybe they're all Rasputin subminds?" That tallies with a side comment in one of his messages about "reclaimed CHLM assets" meaning "stuff Charley used to own."

The Warminds' presence extended throughout the solar system. They had ground facilities pretty much wherever. Io had stations for monitoring Jupiter and the outer solar system as well as several launch sites for warsats and Javelin rockets; the Crucible map Javelin-4 is one of those launch facilities. The tall black finned rocket in the central round area of that map is a Javelin, and the rockets we helped launch during Season of the Worthy are smaller versions of them. We don't know much about the Javelins other than that they look cool. They probably served as missiles, cargo haulers, or whatever else the Warminds needed. Rasputin recommissioned/reconstructed a lot of his old Io sites during his arms buildup in Season of the Worthy and later used the Io batteries specifically to fire on the first Pyramid crossing into the Jupiter system (and got shut down for his trouble). That’s why the Warmind towers on Earth and the Moon were retracted in Season of Arrivals but the ones on Io were still deployed, just dark - Rasputin was cut off mid-attack.