#t1 made it to worlds

[dabihaul666]

everything is beautiful and nothing ever hurt

[chosetherose]

Updated as of 6/30

The Eras Tour *Surprise Songs*

Taylor said her goal is to not repeat each show’s surprise songs so I thought it would be fun to track them as the tour goes on! Black strikethrough is included in the main set list. Purple strikethrough are included in the main set list but have been switched up at some show/s. Blue songs Taylor played but might be repeated due to messing up.

Taylor Swift

Tim McGraw (3/17) • Picture to Burn • Teardrops on My Guitar (5/5) • A Place in This World (4/22) • Cold as You (4/23) • The Outside • Tied Together with a Smile • Stay Beautiful• Should’ve Said No (5/19) • Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) • Our Song (3/24) • I’m Only Me When I’m with You (6/30) • Invisible (5/20) • A Perfectly Good Heart

Fearless

Fearless • Fifteen (5/6) • Love Story • Hey Stephen (5/14) • White Horse (3/25) • You Belong With Me • Breathe• Tell Me Why• You’re Not Sorry (4/21) • The Way I Loved You • Forever & Always (5/13) • The Best Day (5/14) • Change • Jump Then Fall (4/2) • Untouchable • Come In With The Rain • Superstar • The Other Side Of The Door (4/28) • You All Over Me (6/3) • Mr. Perfectly Fine (6/16) • We Were Happy • That’s When • Don’t You • Bye Bye Baby • Today was a fairytale (4/22)

Speak Now

Mine (5/7) • Sparks Fly (5/5) • Back To December • Speak Now (4/13, Taylor restarted part of the song but did not confirm it could be played again) • Dear John (6/24) • Mean (4/15) • The Story Of Us (6/17) • Never Grow Up • Enchanted • Better Than Revenge • Innocent• Haunted (6/9) • Last Kiss • Long Live • Ours (3/31) • If This Was A Movie (6/23) • Superman

Red

State Of Grace (3/18) • Red (5/21) • Treacherous (4/13) • I Knew You Were Trouble • All Too Well • 22 • I Almost Do (6/9) • We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together • Stay Stay Stay • The Last Time (6/16) • Holy Ground (5/27) • Sad Beautiful Tragic (3/31) • The Lucky One (4/2) • Everything Has Changed • Starlight • Begin Again (4/23) • The Moment I Knew (6/4) • Come Back… Be Here (5/12) • Girl At Home • Ronan • Better Man (5/19) • Nothing New • Babe • Message In A Bottle • I Bet You Think About Me (4/30) • Forever Winter • Run • The Very First Night • All Too Well – 10 Minute Version

1989

Welcome To New York (5/28) • Blank Space • Style • Out Of The Woods (5/6, Taylor confirmed it might be played again) • All You Had To Do Was Stay • Shake It Off • I Wish You Would (6/2) • Bad Blood • Wildest Dreams • How You Get The Girl (4/30) • This Love (5/13) • I Know Places • Clean (4/1, Taylor confirmed it might be played again, 5/28) • Wonderland (4/21) • You Are In Love • New Romantics

Reputation

…Ready For It? • End Game • I Did Something Bad • Don’t Blame Me • Delicate • Look What You Made Me Do • So It Goes… • Gorgeous (4/29) • Getaway Car (5/26) • King Of My Heart • Dancing With Our Hands Tied • Dress • This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things • Call It What You Want • New Year’s Day

Lover

I Forgot That You Existed • Cruel Summer • Lover • The Man • The Archer • I Think He Knows (5/21) • Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince • Paper Rings (6/23) • Cornelia Street • Death By A Thousand Cuts (4/1, Taylor confirmed it might be played again) • London Boy • Soon You’ll Get Better • False God (5/27) • You Need To Calm Down • Afterglow • Me! • It’s Nice To Have A Friend • Daylight (6/24) • All of the Girls You’ve Loved Before

Folklore

The 1 (replaced IS multiple shows) • Cardigan • The Last Great American Dynasty • Exile with Bon Iver • My Tears Ricochet • Mirrorball (3/17) • Seven (spoken, 6/17) • August • This Is Me Trying (3/18) • Illicit Affairs • Invisible String (replaced by T1 multiple shows) • Mad Woman (4/15) • Epiphany • Betty • Peace • Hoax • The Lakes (6/2)

Evermore

Willow • Champagne Problems • Gold Rush (5/12) • Tis The Damn Season • Tolerate It • No Body, No Crime • Happiness • Dorothea • Coney Island (4/28) • Ivy • Cowboy Like Me (3/25) • Long Story Short • Marjorie • Closure • Evermore (6/30) • Right Where You Left Me •It’s Time To Go

Midnights

On 4/14 Taylor changed the rule: ALL SONGS ON MIDNIGHTS MAY BE REPEATED. I’m adding the dates to the midnights surprise songs but they will remain in black text since they can be repeated.

Lavender Haze • Maroon (5/26) • Anti-Hero • Snow on the Beach (3/24) • You’re on Your Own, Kid (4/14) • Midnight Rain • Question…? (5/20) • Vigilante Shit • Bejeweled • Labyrinth • Karma • Sweet Nothing • Mastermind • The Great War (4/14) • Bigger Than the Whole Sky • Paris • High Infidelity (4/29) • Glitch • Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (5/7) • Dear Reader • Hits Different (6/4)

Other

I don’t wanna live forever (6/3)

[milgram-tournament]

MILGRAM Best Song Tournament, Round 2, Match 1 WEAKNESS vs. THE PURGE MARCH

Propaganda for both options under the cut!

Propaganda for WEAKNESS:

"This is definitely more of a personal anecdote. However, I’m neurodivergent (like Haruka) and struggle with knowing it causes quite a bit of disappointment for my mother. I cry about it a lot. But I find that putting on Weakness is soothing for me. Knowing that there’s a character out there with the same issues…. I don’t know. Just my experience."

---

"why weakness should win over umbilical: - THE SINGING THE HIGH NOTES - this song set the tone to what to expect for the trial songs to come (or what we expected) - the part where the song gets all slow paced and then picks up louder at the end it just done beautifully - it's haruka. - the singing sounds like a mix between of course singing and crying. the 'AHahA' sounds like manic laughing until the end when he's crying and it almost feels like he's sobbing while laughing. - the guitar and the drums complement his soft/sad-ish voice perfectly, especially at the beginning - very emotional, even if you didn't see the music video you can tell he's crying and mentally unwell I'm bad a propaganda, but vote for WEAKNESS!!!!"

Propaganda for THE PURGE MARCH:

"Despite the shorter length, the Purge March has several distinct sections in its structure.

It starts with a rolloff, and then… they don’t follow it. Amane isn’t here to follow the beat.

There’s the spoken-word intro and the upbeat first verse listing the tenets. The prechorus (“dou shiyou mo nai…”) has an amen break. The most-sampled four-bar drum beat. Well, there’s half of it. Is it supposed to mean something? Can I get an amen?

The chorus is so, so cheerful… unless you’re actually listening to the lyrics (“I’ll crush your throat too”) or watching the video. And it’s super catchy. 

The second part of the verse dials things back. Now we’re in reality. This is how Amane breaks her tenets. All the while, those tenets are spoken into both ears over the singing. Get some good headphones. She sounds different in each ear.

The music picks up again with the amen break as Amane happily strolls back home, and then-

Oh.

The somber second chorus, with Amane’s lower singing voice and mournful spoken words, leads into the final chorus, with new lyrics and a more forceful tone. The once-meaningless chanting now has real words. “You’re sorry? I don’t care! Please go ahead and die already.” You can hear Amane’s anger despite the cheerful melody. She harmonizes in the final phrase, as if to say “we’re in this together, me and my little color guard troop.” And finally, it’s just her. Speaking. "Oboetemasuka?" Accompanied by only a single drum.

She is both Amane Momose and not. She upholds the doctrines that she was raised with, but she can’t."

---

"Purge March is geniunaly one of my favorite pieces of fiction both in and out of the context of trauma. Its fantastically directed and composed. The batton twirling is spetacular and energetic, the set and character design of Amane conveys a lot about the world she’s in and the story she’s telling. Purge March contextulizes a lot of Magic in both expected and unexpected ways (insert the entire cat symbolism thesis here) Purge March casts Amane in the role of a scary child. The glowing eyes, the framing of Amane as Above the viewer, the brutality and catharsis of it all. It seems tailored made to make you Scared of her. It’s a continuation of the cycle of abuse that we the audience repeated in T1 when we gave her that verdict. A red flashing warning sign about the Inhumanity and Monsterous qualities of Amane Momose. But Amane as a monster is fufilling and freeing. Again, its deeply cathartic. I would write more if I wasnt so sleepy at the moment but its just some Fantastic work overall. Purge March is also just fantasitic vocally and also hids electricity sounds in the instrumental which I think is evil and awesome."

---

-Amane’s vocals and how they slowly get more and more off the deep end is both really sad and cool to watch.

-The symbolism of the marching band and the flags. Ifykyk

-The beginning where it sounds like a propaganda TV show… really shows just how far Amane’s thinking is rooted in her cult and how that’s shaped her perception.

-The LYRICS. They work so well but it’s also creepy AF considering it’s a child who’s singing it.

-“So there is no second time, I’ll give back the judgment that you gave to me!”

-The overlapping part… gives me chills everytime.

-Building off the last point, the last “I’ll crush your throat too.” Ouch.

-“Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of “I’m sorry” that I said to you?”

-The song also does a great job of showing how much the guilty verdict messed with her.

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Kotoko's Clothes Throughout HARROW

CW Death and murder, vigilantism, online radicalization, mentions of kidnapping, Little Red Riding Hood (so a wolf eating someone and animal death)

In my Kotoko brainrot arc (aka working on a full HARROW analysis), and I think it's really interesting how much Kotoko's clothes seem to change throughout HARROW. Changing clothes in general usually represents character change, which certainly fits how much Kotoko's attitude towards everything seems to switch up as she becomes more and more radicalized (presumably by online discourse seeing some of the other stuff in the MV) and violent. Not to mention the whole Red Riding Hood thing. Let's take a look!

(Btw, I'm not going to talk about the weird changing clothes at the end of the MV, where her clothes are completely different when she sees the kidnapping than when she actually kills the serial killer. It's too much of a mess for this post, so I'll leave it for the full analysis)

(This has probably been done before but you can't stop me from posting >:D)

So, there's four distinct fits Kotoko wears in HARROW, which I'll call White Jacket, Blue and Yellow Jacket, Foggy Forest Fit, Murder Fit. (Clarification: I don't think she actually killed the alley dude, I'm calling it that exclusively for the final murder)

Let's go one by one, in order of appearance. White Jacket shows up first. It's made up of, as you can imagine, a white jacket with red streaks, shorts of the same color, a black tank top, and white shoes.

The interesting thing about this outfit is that it shows up first, then completely disappears after Kotoko attacks the man in the alley. Even when we later see her back in the studio, by that point she's already wearing her red hoodie. This makes sense, as the primary color used here is white. In this MV, I believe white is being used to represent purity of some kind, while red represents danger and aggression. So in this outfit, we see a Kotoko yet untainted by violence (white), but who already has that latent danger lurking underneath (red streaks). Hell, for all we know, she hasn't even dropped out of the faculty of law at this point.

(T1) Q7: What did you study at university?

KY: For a while, I studied at the faculty of law. There's something I want to do, so I'm currently taking a break from studies, though.

But also worth noting, in that first shot, the red hoodie she uses to murder is already behind her. Again, latent danger.

Her shoes are also important, because for Kotoko, shoes are her murder weapon. But not these shoes. The white, pure shoes are those of an innocent individual. In this case, it's because she literally hasn't done anything with them yet.

Finally, the black tank top, which she shares with her "murder" outfit. Allowing myself to go a bit insane, this is the piece of clothing literally closest to her heart. The black doesn't represent evil, but rather grief and pain, I believe.

Becoming light-headed again, it all becomes crazy, the normalcy sought for, fading away, everytime death comes. The soul moves forward - I hate all the evils in this world, I feel like I’m about to break The surrounding net covered with poison

Want to find “HARROW” “HARROW” I feel like I’m going crazy after straining my nerves The person that can’t be saved, is now understanding the abnormality

(Note: I personally think the person being distressed (harrow-ed) is Kotoko herself, becoming distressed at the world's evils. I also happen to think she considers herself "the person that can't be saved" but that's for another time)

So yeah, Kotoko's suffering a lot. We been knew.

Next up we have the "field investigation" fit, the one with the blue and yellow jacket.

Apart from the jacket, she wears a cap of the same brand, Jacques Roulet (I talked about that in this post), and some shorts. As you can see, her shoes are generally hidden, but I think they're the white ones? Either pair would make some sense, but the white ones fit better since Kotoko never performs any violent actions in this outfit.

As stated, this is the outfit Kotoko uses to investigate outside. Going in person to check out crime scenes, talking to the one guy... Thus, the blue of her jacket likely refers to wisdom, patience, intelligence, that kind of thing. It's "calmer" than the colors of the other outfits, because Kotoko is not showing her more dangerous parts (red).

See, the main thing about this design is that Kotoko is being guarded when she wears it. Note that this is the only one where she doesn't show her undershirt, which before I related to her feelings. The cap serves to further imply that, she's keeping herself vaguely hidden. Basically, in this fit, Kotoko is both hiding her feelings and vulnerabilities, as well as "hiding her fangs", if that makes sense. Presenting herself as calmer, more put together, and more rational than she actually is.

However, there's still the yellow. I think that one's meant to represent fun; Kotoko still enjoys what she's doing here. It may even be somewhat stylized as a thunderbolt, because electricity is usually related to excitement. As shown in her T1 Voice Reveal distorted line:

...Fufu... This feels so good.

(I would like to say that she obviously doesn't do vigilantism just for fun, because that's a weird take I've seen mentioned. She has other reasons, she just happens to enjoy it a bit)

The point is that this "fun" is still muted in comparison to the blue of the jacket, because it's essentially in the background. Kotoko's analysis and investigations are the most important parts of these scenes, the fact she happens to enjoy vigilantism is sort of incidental.

Last note for this one, having a "yellow streak" means being cowardly, but that doesn't really apply to Kotoko so we ignore it.

Then we have the outfit seen in the forest scenes. Red hoodie, white tank top, white shoes, black shorts. This one remains the same in all of these scenes.

The important thing to note here is that, because this is the one outfit we see exist inside her mind, this is how Kotoko sees herself, or more likely, how she would like to see herself. Note the black tanktop of despair (Milgram makes you say some ridiculouos shit huh) has been replaced with a pure white tanktop, because Kotoko doesn't want to be sad and hurt. Obviously. Similarly, her shoes remain white even after she attacks Oshii, because she still considers herself "innocent" in the sense of "justified."

Still, though, her hoodie is the red one she wears while murdering. Because she considers herself dangerous and powerful. And she is, girlboss stay winning (preferably away from the other prisoners though).

One important thing which many have pointed out before me is that, by virtue of wearing this red hoodie and being in a forest with wolves, this outfit seems connected to the story of Red Riding Hood. How exactly is a fun question, especially since Red Riding Hood is a fairy tale and thus doesn't have an official version, but let's see.

I imagine you know the gist of the story. Red Riding Hood (RRH) is a girl tasked with delivering food to her grandma, who is sickly and thus weak, but along the trail finds a wolf who asks her where she's going. The wolf then goes ahead as RRH gets distracted, and the wolf ends up eating the grandma and disguising as her. When RRH arrives at the house, she notices the grandma looks slightly different, before she gets eaten too. In later tellings a huntsman comes in and cuts the wolf's stomach open, allowing the grandma and RRH to escape unharmed, somehow. The wolf is also insanely resilient evidently, as it's still alive at this point, but the humans fill its stomach with rocks and then it dies.

... This story is a lot darker than I remembered.

We already have a few superficially shared themes with Kotoko. Protecting the weak, calling out deception... wolves-

In particular, being devoured by the wolf could be seen as Kotoko being consumed by the radicalization which led her to murder. This is especially notable because of the actual underlying themes of Red Riding Hood. See, the story is generally interpreted to be about "rites of passage" and rebirth, where RRH exiting the wolf's stomach is the rebirth. Generally it's connected more to children growing up and going through puberty, but for Kotoko we need a more general reading. As I said before, changing clothes is sometimes considered a symbol of change of character, and Kotoko certainly changes a bit throughout HARROW. For example, by forming an idea of what a "win" entails in the context of her vigilantism.

Stained emotions, what is winning or losing?

“I didn’t mean to offend”, “I won’t do it again” How many wins in a row?

Hell, one of the last lyrics in the song, which plays over a scene of the foggy forest, explicitly says it.

Newly born “HARROW” “HARROW”

And if you need any more symbolism, Red Riding Hood is also sometimes interpreted as representing natural cycles, with the girl being the sun (that's why her cloak is red) and the wolf being the night "eating" her, before dawn (when the girl gets out of the stomach). A completion of one of these cycles is also a symbol of change and rebirth;

Goodnight “HARROW” “HARROW” Laugh and I can get to like myself

so when Kotoko says "goodnight" to herself, she's making an oath to change, say goodbye to the old her and greet dawn with a new version of herself, one which she actually likes ("laugh and I can get to like myself").

And there is an actual cycle referenced in the video. The moon in the forest scenes is always a waning moon, except at the end, where it's a full moon, which is not just connected to werewolves and thus indicates Kotoko "completing her transformation and getting her fangs", but it also represents the end of the lunar cycle. Again, rebirth.

Not to mention the fact dawn breaks in the last scene.

You get it? Natural cycles being completed, being reborn, etc. Kotoko transforms herself significantly as she kills the "wolf", probably the serial killer dude.

And yet, her clothes in these forest sections never changes. To me, this shows a disconnect between how Kotoko sees herself and the way she actually is.

Timelines - 20/6/18 Kotoko: Treat you [Amane] like a child? Hah, you’ve got to be kidding. Back when I was your age, I was already the person I am today. 

This is demonstrably false. I just spent several paragraphs talking about how much Kotoko changes throughout HARROW, let alone during the last 8 years of her life. The point is that Kotoko doesn't realize how radicalized she's becoming while browsing all the websites we see her going on during the video. And you know, there's probably some interesting social commentary and character complexity to talk about there, but if I get too much into it I will be here forever, so I'll leave that as food for thought.

Anyways, you may have noticed I'm not really talking about the pants. You're right! Moving on.

Finally, her murder fit. Same red hoodie as last one, but with a black tanktop and black leggings.

Her shoes are also different, a pair of men's shoes which are also her murder weapon. You see how they're (primarily) grey instead of white? Get it? Because she sees herself as only good and morally right, but she's (say it with me everyone) morally gray.

(Using both spellings to bother everyone)

I've already talked about how her red hoodie represents her violence and danger, literally covering up her black tank top of despair (might as well just run with the term).

Finally, I know I haven't been talking about the pants since I didn't see anything too interesting, but the change from shorts to leggings did catch my eye. However, I think that may just be a more 'practical' change as opposed to a 'symbolism' change. I imagine that if you're doing something illegal like beating up some dude in an alley, you'd feel more comfortable the less skin you showed, even if rationally there shouldn't be any way to identify Kotoko just by her legs.

I know I wouldn't kill with shorts and a t-shirt, but give me some leggings though, and I'm already looking at Amane's mother like she isn't dead enough yet-

Ehem. Disregard that last point.

Well, that's the end! As I said, I'm not gonna deal with the change of clothing at the end of the video, because to explain that I would have to explain an entire murder theory and talk about how I don't actually think Kotoko ever saw the exact scenes we see in the small room with the wooden floor, etc, which is all just too complicated for what's supposed to be a relatively short post. I'll address it in my full analysis, but there's too much going on for me to explain it here. With that said, I hope you enjoyed reading! Take care!

[purgemarchlockdown]

This is a sort of...proof of concept for a T1 Inno Amane I have running around in my brain. CWs for: Cults, Unhealthy Power Dynamics...I like thinking about Amane's Agency.

“Prisoner no. 08: Amane Momose.”

“Your judgement was “innocent,” and as such her ideas were affirmed.”

“Because you have found her innocent…ohohoho it seems like you have found yourself a loyal disciple! She’s become quite attached to the idea of this world as a sort of heaven while you have been asleep.”

“Though, she’s quite hostile to Kotoko Yuzuriha, even after you’ve declared her as an ally.”

“Between you and me, I think she’s  waiting for you to make a decision. Do be careful not to disappoint her.”

—----------------------------------------------

“Momose Amane. I am glad to see you have come back, Warden-sama!”

“I am very glad you have made the correct judgement when it came to me, Warden-sama.” “You have chosen Yuzuriha Kotoko as well? Did God tell you to do that? If so, I do not doubt his judgement but I do believe there still may be hope for these sinners.”

“My song? I am glad God showed you the truth, is there still something else you need to know? I could provide it to you if you wish.”

“You are making a very wonderful world, Warden-sama. I am glad my faith in you was not unwarranted.”

[haespoir]

i only discovered your account yesterday but THE AMOUNT OF HYUCK POSTS HAS ME IN LOOOOOOVEEEE <33333333

here's some hyuck for good luck <3

eeeek ty <333 im glad u enjoyed my posts!!

n omg these hyuck pics actually made my morning tysm 😖😖 i have been brainstorming some hyuck pro esports gamer things… and watching t1 win worlds last night only made it stronger, so high chance i start posting again for my own delusions!!!

[magical-starway]

Shoutouts to Riot Games management for charging $50 minimum to 500 DOLLARS MAXIMUM for a skin to honor Faker, who famously doesn't fucking use skins. lmao.

Could've just made a T1 Ahri skin for the World Championship win and sell Hall of Legends Ahri as an ultimate and still drown in money. Might even make more since it'd actually be affordable to a much larger percentage of players.

Yes there are whales who will buy it, I know. But you could at least pretend to care about the players and how people interact with your game.

It's only been like 2 months since people have (RIGHTFULLY MIND YOU) been calling vanguard, and by extension, League extremely invasive spyware. Do you realllllly need to start selling 500 dollar skins?

I could run a business better than game industry executives and so can you.

[scalproie]

Kazuya's ending is still so amazing the way the questions he's asked are structured like a joke following the rule of three.

Like first they ask what's this whole world domination deal is to him and naturally he doesnt answer bc if he really gets into it it would be too long and would break the flow and it'd be just like "blah blah blah my father threw me off a cliff and now i want power blah blah blah" and 1) He Would Not Fucking Say That (esp not to a TV crew for apparently the world to hear) and 2) we the audience have no use of this info: we know. We knew he's been tossed since t1. And you dont need to think too hard to know hes power-hungry/"evil" bc of his father since they retconned the devil gene made him evil or literally any other reason, we dont even really care. So he just brush the question off and its literally so funny so we're off to a good start.

Second question is about jun and honestly I think the devs had to include it for multiple reasons: they need a set up for the third point: cant immediately be about the sneakers bc the timing would be off, so we need kaz to talk about smth else first -> whats kazuya about? as of right now, world domination (we already brushed that one off), his relationship with heihachi (redundant, already adressed in t7 and heihachi is dead), his relationship with jin (redundant as well, kaz has an entire storymode to put the focus on him and his son), his mysterious relationship with jun who finally came back to mainline tekken (bingo) -> have kaz talk about jun, as their relationship is one of the biggest mystery in tekken and adressing it will be good fanservice -> make it positive too bc if he just goes "I dont care about her", it would make the whole thing fall flat, its honestly more interesting if he talks about what she means to him and thankfully the devs realized that -> accidental but fortunate wifeguy-ification

And finally the third and final question and it's the perfect punchline, kazzy just talked a lot for the previous question and now he doesnt even have to say anything, just getting up way too fast, signature smirk and then showing the rows and rows of shoes. Its funny, it's effective, it's in character, and it's rewarding for fans that long knew he collected shoes by confirming he still does for real.

It's his first "joke" ending (not even by making fun of him but the situation of showing the final boss be A Guy™️ is just so funny) and it humanizes him sooo much Im still obsessed with it.

[good-beanswrites]

Hello hello! It's me again! (That one Anon who requested Lies with Kazui & Yuno, but I've set up my account now so no need to ask anonymously again lol) Thank you for satisfying my previous request, it was such a delight to read. I keep rereading it every now and then and I'm still always left in awe with it like jesus christ you didn't have to go all in on that im sobbing with the 0207 friendship dynamic.

I've also seen your latest post and drabble asks. I'd like to request from the Drabble List#1 - #5 “Idiots. They are all idiots.” with Es themselves!

Let the prisoners have fun and Es just stares at them nonchalantly, silently judging their idiocy from afar, hell, maybe even let Yuno/Mikoto convince them to join. You can do anything as long as you think it'll fit, they're all just a little silly (minus the fact they're in prison lol).

With all that said, take your time and no rush! I can always wait. Thanks a lot! ...now back to rereading my previous request for the nth time,, i love it so much,, thankyouagain

Ah thank you so much, that means so much!! I'm so glad you liked it, that one was really nice to write :'D And yesss thank you for the request -- this was such a blast to do as well! (though I also made myself emotional over Es' lost childhood, that was less fun ;___;) I debated on several activities within the prison but thought this was plausible and fun for some mid-T1 shenanigans

Es had a job to do. They had many eyes watching them. They had several lives in their hands. They had heavy responsibilities. They didn’t have time for something as silly as ‘video game night’, regardless of the laughter that bubbled up from the common room as they passed by. They were not way tempted to join, regardless of how much fun the group seemed to be having when they peered their head in.

Fuuta had whined that Es had replaced all his requests with completely outdated consoles and games, confirming they had been successful in choosing things without any access to the internet or outside world. Plus, they thought, this gave the older prisoners a fighting chance with some of the games.

Not that they cared whether or not the prisoners had a good time. That wasn’t any concern of theirs. Even in these long periods of rest between their more eventful duties, they must remain focused.

The laughter crescendoed into delighted screaming.

Es figured one more look inside wouldn’t hurt. They were supposed to be keeping an eye on everyone, after all. 

The prisoners had gathered various chairs and bedding material, creating makeshift couches. Some piled onto the new seating, some splayed out on the ground, others stood in excitement. The television was so small, the two players needed to lean all the way forward to see. 

Mahiru bounced in her seat as Yuno whipped around her remote. Fuuta was demanding Kazui play better, gesturing wildly at the screen. Shidou chucked to himself as the others grew more intense. Haruka kept asking questions about the game, receiving an answer only about half the time. 

As the match got closer, Yuno leapt to her feet. She tried to shimmy in front of Kazui and block his view. He stood to prod her out of the way. Muu called foul play, though she said it with a thrill rather than accusation. Fuuta repeated it -- with quite a lot of accusation -- and tried to push Yuno out of the way. Mikoto tried to hold him back, voicing his support of Yuno’s methods. 

The others got caught up in the yelling. Amane’s eyes were wide in anticipation. Kotoko pumped her fist as the battle got even closer. The room erupted in movement and shoving and tripping and remote pulling -- until they yanked the tiny television forward. 

The thick cord came free, and the screen went black just before a winner was announced. Ten voices chorused their outrage.

Es shook their head. “Idiots. They are all idiots.”

They turned away as the prisoners hurried to set everything up again. They were just about to turn the corner into the panopticon when Yuno’s voice called from behind.

“Hey!” She ran up, taking advantage of their brief pause. “I saw you passing by. Why don’t you come join us?”

Not for the first time, Es wished they had enough height to look down on all the prisoners. “I’m your warden. I’m not some child here to play games with you all.”

She pursed her lips. “I’m not a kid either. But I’m still down for a night to unwind.”

“You’re lucky to have the luxury to relax. I, on the other hand, am busy right now.”  

Yuno made a show of looking left, then right, across the empty hallway. “And what exactly are you doing right now?”

“I’m working.”

She frowned. “Uh-huh…”

“I am!” They fumbled for more, coming up blank. They should have known the moment she came skipping over to them that it would be impossible to fool her. There was no need for this routine check of the prison; everyone was gathered in the common room except them. Yuno had known this before uttering a single word.

Her hands fluttered in a dismissive gesture. “Too much work is never good for you. It doesn’t matter how mature you are -- if you get too caught up in your job it’ll drive you to some crazy things.” She smirked. “Just look at Shidou. Or Mikoto!”

“I could look at you…”

Though surprise flickered across her face, she kept grinning. “Exactly! So let’s get you in here.” She tugged on their arm. Prisoners couldn’t physically move Es against their will. 

They huffed as they found themselves inching closer and closer to the entryway.

“I suppose I can come and watch,” they muttered, “and still keep an eye on you all.”

“No! No more working!” She managed to get them into the room. “Here, you can take my spot in the next round.”

Kazui looked over. “Who said you were getting the next spot?”

“Oh come on, I was clearly going to win that one.”

“Clearly? I'm pretty sure was seconds away from beating you.”

“Well then, I guess Es can take your spot.”

“Es is playing?” Haruka looked up excitedly. 

“I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”

It was as if they hadn’t said anything at all. The others launched into a discussion of who would give their remote to Es? Who would they’d face off against? Were they resetting the bracket they’d begun? Which game would they return to? The ten argued in circles for a while. For a group of murderers, they were insistent on a fair tournament. After breaking up some bickering that could have become physical, Es once again wondered how they ended up watching over a mess like this. 

At length the game was chosen, and a rematch was slated for Yuno and Kazui later in the night. To save themself time and sanity, Es went ahead and picked their opponent.

“I’ll play Fuuta.” 

He had been the obvious choice: he could supply enough chatter for the both of them, so Es could remain silent. Also, he was guaranteed to win and free them from an obligation to play more than one round. They flashed a look at some of the more observant prisoners, hoping they didn’t tip them off.

However, no one was really watching them too keenly. Mahiru clapped in joy. Yuno beamed. Mikoto shoved a remote into their hands. Haruka started rapidly explaining the rules to them. Shidou directed Es to their seat in the center. Kotoko gave them an encouraging nod. As expected, Fuuta was already deep into trash talk as he sat next to them.

They really were simple-minded people, more focused on this silly game than the fact their warden had just sat amongst them. It was dangerous to let one’s guard down in a place like this, Es reminded themself. 

With a little jingle, the match began. 

Their fingers flew across the controls. Though they had a rocky start, some sort of muscle memory kicked in. Surely this game had come out before they were born, and there was no way they’d played it regularly. None of that mattered much. Their little avatar was obviously gaining the lead.

Their eyes stayed fixed on the screen as they received slaps on the back and nudges. Their guard's cap was knocked off in the shuffling, but they couldn't risk picking it up. Voices called all around them.

“Aw, don’t just let the kid win!” Mikoto said.

“I’m not!” Fuuta was desperate. “They fucking tricked me! They’re a pro!”

Es felt energy run through their entire body. Their original plan already slipping away, they wondered if they could actually beat Fuuta. It would be fun to see… They leaned forward, holding their breath. The audience continued cheering the pair on. Once again, the room was swept up in shouts.

The match ended. A little banner flashed across the screen to name Es victorious. They jumped up, a small whoop escaping them. 

They would’ve melted in shame right then and there, if the sound weren’t already drowned out by the surrounding chaos. The others laughed and shook Es in amazement. Fuuta let out a string of colorful language.

“That was incredible!”

“Holy shit!”

“How’d you do that?”

Es placed the cap back on their head, pulling it over their eyes. “I don’t know. And it doesn’t matter. I’m done for the night.” They tried to pass off the remote, but Mikoto pushed it back into their hands. 

“Nuh-uh. I want to see this for myself.” He grabbed the other one from a dejected Fuuta. “Same game. Same characters. Lemme see what you’ve got.”

Es wasn’t meant to play one round, much less get caught up in their ridiculous tournament.

Don’t be an idiot, they told themself.

“Bring it on,” they told Mikoto.

[monstroso]

🔥 curious about what the train hot takes are

I just realized I'm a bad person to ask about hot takes because I don't spend enough time talking to other members of most communities to know what is and isn't controversial, so this might be lukewarm at best but I will say: the more I look into certain restoration projects the less I like how much gets obfuscated in the locomotive restoration world. Which is to say, I don't think anyone who goes into restoring a locomotive goes in with bad intentions, but I sense a constant need to present nothing but the best possible version of the project at all times and it ends up meaning that bad news gets delayed and the donors get nothing but radio silence until it's too late and there's no hope of saving the project.

To me, it feels like a culture thing. The guys doing the restoration work want to continue to work on their baby and don't want to seem like they're asking too much or trying to tackle the impossible, but the truth is that bad news is better than no news, and people should be allowed the opportunity to have a realistic version of the hurdles involved, even if it means it's going to cost more or owning up to having made a mistake.

I'm being vague on purpose because I don't want to point fingers and say "I think this project is being mishandled" because the truth is, I don't know if it's being mishandled! There's not enough information to come to any kind of conclusion!

I think a lot of train guys would respond to this by saying 'Well, if you're so worried about it you should get involved directly.' which is the dream for sure, but I'm not really able to pick up my whole life and move to fucking Pottstown to work on the T1, as much as I'd like to! (And this is not to say the T1 Trust is a bad operation, I actually think they're the gold standard that other newbuild and restoration projects should try to emulate, this is just an example.) Realistically, the most people my age and skill level are able to do is donate, but we want to donate intelligently and we want to feel involved even if we can't be physically.

Like I said, part of it is maintaining a certain public image, the other part of it (I think) is cliquey subculture drama bullshit that happens in every hobby, and I think will eventually be the death of these kinds of projects if more isn't done to keep interest in them alive. 🔥

[project-sekai-facts]

Maybe they'll overlap events with world link but you have to choose which event to give points to before a live. Because i think the problem with having two events at once isn't with players having to choose between the two (most people already have to do that when two events they like are in a row) but with the leaderboards overlapping.

Assuming the event bonuses are calculated separately, let's say someone has a team that's 360% (all event 4*s and 2 cards matching unit and attribute) for the wxs event, and worth 0% for the nightcord world link (not including all the stuff with support unit).

The n25 event will get about 20% of the points that the wxs event will, meaning that if T1 for wxs is at 200,000,000 (the current estimated T1 for curtain call on en, as i can't access jp history atm), that same person will have about 40,000,000 for n25, which could put them near T100. And that's with two popular groups together, it would only get worse if you combined l/n or mmj with one of the more popular 3.

So separating the leaderboards by only allowing points to go to one event at a time would prevent this problem. Now of course it's only a matter of time to see if colopal makes a logical choice for once or if world link events are hell.

Actually this reminded me of something anon. I went over it in that 3rd anniversary master post but WLEs do have their own unique event bonus system. It lets you have a team specifically for boosting event bonus (smth that is in most other idol games by default) which can have like 12 cards I think it was on it. None of these cards contribute to your actual score but they will boost the bonus significantly. Which would actually make it WAY easier to grind event points because you can get more from less. So what I’m thinking now is maybe WLEs will be in a separate lobby, like how ranked match has its own lobby and leaderboard.

But also maybe I’m overthinking it. Like obviously the more points for less songs score bonus system is designed because of the fact each chapter of the event only lasts 3 days, so maybe they’ll just shove the support team builder on the event page. But then again the whole more for less would also be useful if you were trying to rank another event at the same time. Not to mention this event having a story that works differently to a normal event story, a unique gacha, probably not having a specific banner character due to the story focusing on every member, and the fact it starts at the time October 3 would probably end on a normal schedule (8pm on Nov 8th)… I dunno maybe this is like its own thing. Clpl please just actually tell us what the fuck is going on.

Whatever happens there will probably be changes made to the event by the time we get to the VBS one.

[cycle-hit]

kotoko being a drop out/"on break" will never not be important to me. she says its just because theres "something she wanted to do" but i know its deeper than that girl. you dont go on break or drop out just because you abruptly decided you need to hunt down criminals with no deeper reason. did you grow tired of what you were being taught kotoko. did you realise that none of it would actually help the cause youre fighting for and become frustrated. did you realise what youre being taught actually just perpetuates the unfairness of the system.

like. i make fun of kotoko by saying "she'd probably beat the shit out of you if you said acab" but kotoko. WASNT trying to become a cop. she went to law school for at least two years instead of a police academy. its not like she wouldve been afraid of the direct confrontation that comes with policework either. she knew the justice system sucked shit and desperately wanted to change the world's beliefs, enough to the point she deliberately chose to go into law instead of becoming a part of the corrupted police force.

kotoko PLEASE just tell us your childhood trauma. PLEASE. I WANT TO KNOW WHY OUTSIDE OF MILGRAM YOU ONLY HUNTED CRIMINALS WHO ENDANGERED WOMEN OR CHILDREN. I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU KNEW ENOUGH TO NOT GO INTO THE DOGSHIT POLICE SYSTEM WHEN YOUR BLACK AND WHITE BELIEFS AND BEHAVIOUR IN T2 COULDVE EASILY LED YOU TO THAT. WHAT DROVE YOU TO THE BOILING POINT OF "TAKING A BREAK" FROM EDUCATION.

"umm shes a cop in t2" yes but also no. she is very much meant to be reminiscent of a cop but we made her into that. she was desperate to see milgram (and in proxy, es) as being the ultimate determination of "right and wrong" or "good and evil" because she wanted to be told that what she did was right. so she could have a reason to keep going. and then that same system, us, essentially told her "yeah you were correct in beating up that guy bc he was evil" with our t1 innocent verdict with no further thought put into it. and then we went "yeah we judged these four prisoners as guilty" or. "evil" in the standards kotoko gave. and two of those prisoners were two people who kotoko questioned if they really belonged in milgram (mahiru and mikoto) and then. A CHILD.

we told her that a woman, a child, and a guy with a disorder were "evil". like. damn imagine trusting so fully in the narrative and then having it hit you in the face with a complete "yeah you know the "weak" you wanted to protect? these people fit all those criterias. but we judged them evil and also that it was cool to beat the shit out of that guy because the vast majority of innocent voters in trial 1 affirmed the absolute worst parts of her eagerness to fight crime. so yeah what we're saying is go beat the shit out of the people you once strived to protect. lol. lmao." like. damn. fuck.

and not es. btw. es didnt say that. es tells us multiple times that they didnt want this. the fuckign voices dude!! kotoko can literally HEAR why people thought she was innocent and the vast majority played fully into her "i want to be told i was right so i don't have to think about it anymore- think about myself anymore." in the absolute worst ways possible. kotoko wasnt a "cop" pre-milgram or in trial 1 as much as she is in trial 2 because that wasnt who she was. we made her into that.

anyways. srry. im terminally diseased about kotoko

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Fuuta T1 Cover - Mozaik Role

This song's a bit more odd than some others, but I think it fits Fuuta quite well! Let's see what the connection is, though obviously this is all just my opinion and my view.

CW Online harassment, harmful relationships, sex

Mozaik Role can be read in a few different ways, but the interpretation I'm going with is that it speaks of a romantic relationship between two people which is beginning to break down, as they don't feel satisfied with it. The main reason why is that they feel the connection doesn't go beyond sexual attraction, it's superficial.

Lack of sympathy and superficial sex seem to perfectly describe the unbreakable bond between you and me Saying things like, "Either way, I still love you..." (lol) [...]

In the end, I got tired of you Since I don't know if it's love or lust, what should I call this relationship I'm about to end?

(Translation)

(Note: Purely sexual relationships can still be meaningful and aren't inherently inferior to romantic relationships. But sexual attraction isn't enough to hold up a healthy romantic relationship, the same way romantic attraction isn't enough to hold up a healthy sexual relationship)

Staying together and pretending to be in love only hurts them.

Certain words pierced through you I described the fluid flowing from your wound as "love" [...]

Wouldn't it be better to say you used to love me? We're intertwined, so nobody can touch us Isn't this fate, too? It's just a certain world of love that disappears [...]

Can we say we used to love each other? We were hanging on and struggling Wouldn't it be better if you just killed me, since I hate you?

In fact, in the video, Gumi regains her colors when the other person disappears.

That's the idea. I believe the 'mosaic' in the title refers to a scattered and broken up relationship.

So what's the connection to Fuuta? Well, I believe he's essentially talking to his old 'friends' here. The idea is that their connection is completely superficial, though the 'sex' would refer to as he puts it:

(T1) Q1: What is a friend?

F: Folks you can get hyped over the same thing with.

Basically, their relationship doesn't go further than 'those guys I talk to online to cancel people together and hang out to have fun'. It's all superficial, held together by the shared enjoyment of playing videogames and going on online witch hunts-

(Oh my God that's why Killcheroy is represented by a witch it's because it's a witch hunt-)

Not only that, but they're all bad influences on each other, which is obvious given what their 'friendship' led to. That's why it'd be best if they leave each other behind, if they said they used to 'love' each other. Not to mention that Fuuta's friends do abandon him after Killcheroy dies.

So yeah, a completely superficial relationship. Again, other readings exist, but in my opinion this is the one that best fits Fuuta.

Well that was pretty short. Hope it made sense! Take care!

[op81s]

T1 MADE WORLDS Y'ALL. T1 MADE FUCKING WORLDS. I MIGHT ACTUALLY GET TO SEE THEM PLAY IN THE QUARTER FINALS.

[tyrannuspitch]

okay well fine if no-one else is going to do it - I'M inventing a new ship. loki/ravonna. lokonna? frostslayer? lieslayer? still workshopping that.

anyway here's my reasoning:

i would say ravonna is the most loki character in the loki show - specifically, she's a lot like t1 loki. she's intelligent, she's a perfectionist, she's smooth and authoritative, she clearly loves deeply but she can nevertheless be calculating / ruthless / selfish, she's committed to the tva's morals, and when her world starts unravelling, she panics and does terrible things to try and salvage it/cover it up.

all of this makes ravonna an excellent rival/competitor for loki. two cautious, calculating traitors with a ruthless streak and a need for control. tell me you don't want to see them play 4d chess.

loki was a tva prisoner, now ravonna is a tva fugitive. consider the cat-and-mouse detective potential in either direction.

loki's initial scraped-together plan to rise through the ranks and potentially take over the tva would have made him a rival to ravonna - and maybe eventually a usurper she would feel obliged to rebel against.

each of these characters would have killed the other without a second thought when they first met - which adds weight, tension, and potential for tragedy to any future bond they form.

they both fundamentally want somewhere to belong - and they're each part of the reason the other doesn't have that any more.

ravonna, having been so devout, is the most likely of any of the tva staff we know to have a variant monsterhood complex to rival loki's jotun one - and coming to respect/like loki, another variant, could help her process that.

ravonna also thinks of loki as monstrous because of his sacred timeline role as a supervillain. if she went down a darker path for a while, or if she began to recognise that she'd already been on a very dark one, then, again, it could be interesting to see how her understanding of loki and herself developed in light of firsthand experience.

loki (like all variants, but especially loki) is a kind of religious figure to tva staff - specifically a demon. the tva, meanwhile, frame themselves as angels - servants of the divine plan. ravonna as a falling angel, loki as a fallen god... religious guilt, questioning faith, religious schisms and conflict... there are many kinds of potential here.

loki was part of HWR's masterplan as his successor. based on the recordings we heard in 2.01, it seems like the show might be following the comics in having HWR also have a fixation on ravonna (romantic, in her case.) so they have a common enemy-or-potential-ally, and reason for their paths and interests to potentially converge.

ummm idk man i'm not A Shipper by nature so i have a lot to say about general storytelling potential but i really don't know how to get you to see this as specifically romantic. they're both pretty? yeah that'll do. send post

[burstofastar]

Tekken — Random thoughts

TRIGGER WARNING: POSSIBLE TEKKEN 8 SPOILERS

I… still don't know what developers tried to do with Nina.

That is to say… I don't know what the intention was, if they are going to follow the line of that specific part when Reina makes her a proposal or what other possible path they are going to give her.

And it could be said that Nina is the most neutral and impartial character in the series, perhaps one of the only few who moves along the thin line of good and evil; that she only serves her own interests.

However, and even though her actions as an assassin are morally questionable, there are two interesting factors to take into account:

1- what characters see of her inside the game 2- what we see of her from the outside the game

In the first case, her goal was to kill Heihachi and Kazuya in T1 and T2, respectively. In T4, she had to eliminate a boxer, which would have been easy for her. In T5, she battled for days against her sister and then it seemed like she was going to kill her in the tournament, given the agreement they both made. She helps her employer run a global war in T6. She goes after her target to take him to her new employer in T7.

In the second case, on the other hand; it would have resulted in a "greater good", if her missions been fulfilled in the first two installments. She aborted her mission in T4, since she discovered the origin of her target: her son Steve. She spared her sister's life in T5. The world war was for the "greater good" in T6. She allowed Lars and Lee to take Jin so they could better protect him in T7, rather than giving him to Heihachi.

I repeat; her actions are questionable and her neutrality can be taken for granted, but objectively there is a tendency for her to do good directly or indirectly.

But now, in T8… she just works for Kazuya without further ado (considering what he did to her in T2, and how it envolved); and she seems to pay attention to Reina's offer later.

I mention it again: I know that Nina is neutral, that she only serves her own interests and that she probably doesn't take the "damage" that has been done to her in the past so personally (Kazuya capturing her and Heihachi using her as an experiment, and then she working for them in a future)… However, it makes me quite upset that she is treated only as an emotionless killing machine and that she is only motivated by the money they can offer her for her services, when literally there were numerous situations in which she showed to be absolutely thoughtful and act with an emotional sanity.

Anyway… it was just a reflection that I wanted to get out of me.

P.s.: I'll be probably posting a more general opinion on Tekken 8's storymode, when people be able to play the game... or at least watch it on YouTube, just like me. I don't want to spoil anyone.