#tfj bad end

[soulesplinters]

No more slacking! I'm on the job! Yes, I know that everyone has to play their part -Come on! Rev the engines of this beast!

[ID: Disheveled doodle of Cel from TFJ's bad end in chromatic aberration, meant to give off an abstract horror effect. Their entire appearance is nearly glitched out and overshadowed. The main trait emphasized being their wide eyed cyan stare in front of their completely wrapped face, and a long purple tear streak dripping down. Bits of binary code are crowding Cel's eye. /End ID]

(cw for scophopho.bia, tee.th, and ne.edles in the song linked!)

[itsbenedict]

get star seeker sequel adventure thing up and running and through the first case

get datasouls combat toy complete up to the first miniboss combat

catch up on TFJ recap logs

become an accredited AWS Certified Solutions Architect and get that raise my boss has been talking about for ages

get an adjustable standing desk and under-desk elliptical thingy, and otherwise get an ergonomic workstation set up

fix the light situation in the bathroom

get through The Sekimeiya and really go to town on that mystery until it’s solved

also finally play Disco Elysium

finish TFTBN character portraits

get a beatrice portrait for my poster wall

run some TPIVW games

badger the condo association landlady until she does something about the junk clogging up that basement storage room i’m supposed to own, and clean unused bulky stuff out of my house

clearly this waitlist thing isn’t working out so take some steps to see an actual doctor for the first time in like three years (and maybe get a cancer screening, or do something about that closed sinus)

get through the remaining 7 WaniKani levels

So, June! As predicted, wedding travel stuff ate up a bunch of that second week, and getting the art done took the full two weeks. I did not successfully launch the thing in June, even though I technically could tonight- I'm traveling to visit my grandparents through the 4th and it'd be a bad time to launch it when I'm away, but I should be able to get it running next month no problem.

I finished all 60 levels of WaniKani! I'm going to keep up with reviews, but I need to get serious about the next steps of language learning next.

I've continued working on that Fire Emblem engine- units now move, engage in combat, die, end their turns, and change phases when their team is done. you can zoom in and out, inspect unit statuses, and control the game with mouse, keyboard, or a controller. I still need to implement some basic features like inventory management and trading, and some more advanced stuff like Shove and Rescue, and there's a few UI things to work out (I need an x2 indicator for double attacks), but after that... the big next step is configurability. Lots of stuff is hard-coded spaghetti, which I need to tear apart and make modular- the objective here is a tool for other people to use, not a game, so I need to focus on making it as clean and extensible as possible. This isn't my strong suit. It'll be tough.

I played some games in June:

I beat Zelda, which was very fun but kind of showed how skeletal it all was towards the end- a lot of the cool new stuff was frontloaded, and it became clear how much was being shamelessly recycled to pad things out as I progressed. Very impressive technical achievement, the mid-game twist was super cool, but it didn't really come together in the end except for a spectacular final boss fight.

At the wedding, my cousin showed me an Etrian Odyssey knockoff called Labyrinth of Galleria which looked cool, so I got the first game in the series (Labyrinth of Refrain), which is so far... mechanically, very fun and polished (save awful inventory management and weapon drops) and comparable to mainline EO, with a lot of depth and teambuilding options. Unfortunately, it's anime horny in all the most Fucking Terrible ways, with sexual assault and child abuse played for comedy and possibly the least likeable protagonist in the history of anything. Not sure if I'll stick with it.

I started Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, a direct sequel to Stay Night, which is thus far very interesting- it's doing a weird thing with how it handles which of FSN's multiple endings it follows from, and there's lots of confusing what the fuck moments and interesting uses of characters. It's structured like a fanservice omake compilation on the surface, but there's, like, a secret plot in the background that I have loads of theories about.

...so that's June. First half of the year. How am I doing? What's left?

Datasouls combat toy

Actually launch Star Seeker Justice/Arcana and finish case 1

Get the elliptical, whoops, forgot about that

Catch up on recap logs (currently blocked for Reasons)

Play The Sekimeiya

Get a Beatrice portrait

The storage room is cleared out but I need to communicate with the building guy vis-a-vis not accidentally clearing out my stuff

run some The Price Is Very Wrong, which I keep dragging my feet on

That's eight things to do in six months, but one's almost done, two more are half-done, and three of them are pretty easy. I'm on track to do most of it- I think for July, since Trails into Reverie is coming out this month and some work stuff is ramping up, I'll take an easy one- on top of the Star Seeker launch I spent June prepping, I'll just do some shopping and try and get that portrait and elliptical.

[astronomeys]

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land first impressions

Omg I’m listening to the rest of the album now and uhhhh here’s my stupid reviews as I listen, none of them are smart:

Highly Emotional People: I swear, Highly Emotional People is gonna make me made me cry, these vocals are so gorgeous.... Aaaahhhh I’m so happy to hear more of Marina, this feels so much like classical Marina?!?!?! This is such a beautiful song lyrically, and the crescendo at the end is so well-placed. Sort of reminds me of the vocals for her True Colours cover! Anyway I’m crying

New America: How the fuck am I supposed to just party after the last song SMHHHH not as bad as I thought it was going to be honestly, but definitely another track where it’s better when you listen to it without thinking too much about the lyrics hdsfblhfds. Definitely better about the political commentary than Purge the Poison

Pandora’s Box: This song is so cathartic... A CCCLLLLASSIC breakup song. I love that it’s a bit more on the relaxed side as opposed to the singles, it gives you a chance to breathe. I like that it has quirky TFJ-like lyrics, honestly! It feels genuine, feels good

I Love You But I Love Me More: YESSSSSSS this feels like a lot of the really good LOVE+FEAR outtakes and I’m fuckin living for it, we love reclaiming our sense of self-love after exes do dumbass clown shit and refuse to admit they fucked up!!!!! 2 breakup songs in a row lmao girl are u okay??

Flowers: GIRL FOR REAL ARE YOU OKAY??? WHAT DID CLEAN BANDIT DO TO YOU?????? But also this one made me a bit (crying cat emoji) because I really do relate to that feeling so close to reaching a turning point and being let down again and again and again, and then having to tell yourself that it’s not you and leave the situation

Goodbye: Okay wait Marina for real I think you need to talk to this dude. Some of the lyrics actually made me giggle honestly ashdal “I don’t even have any kids” girl same why did I parent all my exes!!!

Overall impression is that this album was definitely stuff Marina needed to get off of her chest in a way she hadn’t yet approached music, yet it all rang true to her and gave me some feelings of nostalgia for her earlier music. I was definitely not expecting the last half to be a breakup album, let alone a sad breakup album

The last few songs kind of had similar themes and sounds so that was a little disappointing, especially considering Purge the Poison and Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land also had similar sounds. However, I’m super happy to hear her working thru stuff and am glad she’s still sharing that journey with us, and her excitement for the album is INFECTIOUS. I can tell she put a lot of heart and soul into this album in particular!! It’s not as commercial as L+F or EH which is a relief LMAO

I think this album is one that grows on you, if that makes sense. So far, all of the singles have gotten better the more I listened to them (sans PtP unless I just forget the English language when I listen), so I think that is how the rest of the album will be

Favs are definitely Man’s World, ADIAML, and Highly Emotional People (but Venus Fly Trap and I Love You But I Love Me More are very close)

How about u all out there on Marinablr?? What were your first impressions and favs??

[abcdosaka]

listened to adiaml. i honestly think this is one of her best albums. didn’t really listen to l+f so i won’t talk about it, but its definitely better than electra heart, maybe same level as froot tbh. tfj is #1 for me i think (idk i go between tfj and froot as my top fav).

for me personally her greatest songs are her ballads/dreamy sounding/piano based songs (and i’m really not a ballad person) so highly emotional people, flowers and goodbye are really standing out to me. i think flowers samples happy which is honestly one of the best songs on froot. goodbye honestly sounds like a song off tfj but like, with a way more mature pov so at the same time it wouldn’t fit on that album at all.

but venus fly trap and purge the poison are also bangers, like damn she’s actually amazing at writing catchy hooks. the vft music video is one of her best mvs too, and the bass guitar on the track is SOOO GOOD it reminds me of froot. man’s world took a little while to grow on me but since it came out in like november i actually ended up liking it a lot, but now i’ve listened to it so much i’m not as into it anymore lol. new america i could take or leave. adiaml (the song) is honestly really good but i don’t think its a song i could listen to on repeat bc the production is too 80s for me, but i LOVEE the prechorus and chorus -- the part where she goes ha! is sooo catchy i love it. i love you but i love me more is a bop too. my absolutely fav is probably pandora’s box though, like the chorus gives me chillsss (flowers is a close second i think).

my current rank (but idk positions 4, 5 and 6 are all kinda equal to me):

pandora’s box

flowers

venus fly trap

purge the poison

goodbye

highly emotional people

man’s world

i love you but i love me more

ancient dreams in a modern land

new america (the only skip and tbh its not unlistenable)

tbh the 1 criticism i have: too short!!! i listened to this way too fast. i do like the themes of this album as well. i do see ppl saying its too on the nose but i really think they’re being overly critical bc like, they’re acting like the lyrics of ptp and man’s world are the worst thing to happen to feminism and its like.....hey.

my thoughts on some lyrics: adiaml lyrics are literal poetry, i love it, the metaphors, phrasing, rhyming etc all sound so good. the first verse of man’s world is soooo good. like i can’t believe people hear this and think it’s not the most big brain shit they’ve ever heard:

i honestly don’t think man’s world lyrics are cringe at all at any point, like she’s being straightforward and there’s nothing wrong with that. maybe the part where its like “if you have a mother, daughter or a friend” bc i can see how some ppl could have an issue but its not that bad to me.

i can see how ptp lyrics are a bit too girlboss but if you actually think about it, venus fly trap is the girlboss anthem, ptp is more like girl power sisterhood stuff. i like vft lyrics better bc honestly who doesn’t love a flex/self confidence anthem like that?? ptp lyrics are delivered soooo excellently tho, singing staccato is one thing marina knows how to do well. i like the lyric about britney though, she was really timely dropping that song when she did.

also this part hits. like damn how does she come up with this shit??????????????? its amazing. i wanna be this poetic.

pandora’s box chorus is my fav tho. like i said it 49203 times but she is a genius. i just like when artists reference greek myths tbh. the humming is really reminding of another song of hers but i can’t remember which one is it rn. maybe hermit the frog? but not really? anyway its just so good.

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

...Huh...

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m already pretty mentally drained by life stuff lately, or I haven’t been sleeping as well as usual so maybe I’m already a bit fatigued, or if I ate too much for lunch, or what...

But reading chapters 20 and 21 of DDD has left me emotionally drained.

I’m hoping that means it’s as heavy and crestfallen as it’s supposed to feel.

Definitely have to remember to really boost the Happiness factor in TFJ to make up for that though. Goddamn, Dove’s Dark Discovery really is dark.

(I think the last chapter has a HINT of hurt/comfort vibes, though? Dove is deeply hurt and she has a lot of people around her watching out for her. Taking care of her, talking to her about it, Raven especially giving her much-needed... well, only somewhat encouragement, a great deal of it is reminders of her responsibility to never let it happen again. So maybe even the uplifting parts are a little heavy...)

((And now my brain is like “Look! LOOK! You did the same thing as Tamsyn Muir did in the Locked Tomb series! The second story in the series ended and you MADE IT SAD and SCARY! That’s Not Necessarily A Bad Thing because it’s POWERFUL in Harrow the Ninth! It compels you to read the next one in the series!” And I’m just hoping my fanatical brain is right about that because DAMN I want The Final Journey to be a Satisfying and Contented Ending to the Mindquest Trilogy that DDD is a part of. DDD is the second and The Final Journey is the Happy Ending, DDD was never supposed to have a happy ending. I Really Hope It’s Compelling and a little hopeful, and not just ENTIRELY bleak and despairing...))

[nomoresuckers]

(part 1) Going back to what you said earlier about Marina having different sounds on each album -- I've had this thought for a while, and I realize that we take Marina for granted more than we know. Each one of her albums has a unique and different sound that is completely unlike the others. TFJ has an indie pop sound to it, Electra Heart was mainly electronic/bubblegum pop, and FROOT was very organic/fresh sounding.

The majority of artists today do NOT change up their sound as much as Marina does, and I’ve noticed this across all genres that I’ve listened to. In a way, I’m really glad that she does change up her sound a lot, I appreciate it and I know her Diamonds do as well. But when people flat out expect her to make something different for the next album and it ends up sounding like something she’s done before and they get mad… it just irks me bc what she does is not commonly done by artists. And then when she actually releases the album and people don’t like it, it bothers me even more because why even support her when you know this is how she makes music? She’s not gonna do something she’s done before, and if she does, then we should be happy either way… I’m just so done with people having unrealistic expectations and then getting mad when it’s not what they want… if you truly like an artist then you will support whatever they put out. Rant over lol

very well said!! the only artist i would even think of comparing her to in terms of versatility is lady gaga. (im not bringing up gaga to pit them against each other–bc thats super lame–but just as an aid to my point btw, gaga is one of my queens)

lyrically, she has proved to be a talented artist, able to change her tone depending on the production. in fact, aside from her voice, if you heard just the lyrics amongst each era you probably wouldn’t even think that they were all written by the same person!! and thats amazing. pop music sounds like it was all written by the same dude, and here u have a young woman writing as if she’s 8 different people lmao

there will always be ppl complaining its too different or too similar. ppl are never satisfied, and the rude ones always feel its their job to be loud abt it and annoy the rest of us or make us look bad

idk if i expect her to do something completely different for matd4, but honestly im really looking forward to it. ive seen of the producers shes suspected of working with and they seem to be very edm-ish sounding, and im pumped. anything she releases is pure genius–covers included–so im fine with anything she does, seriously. i dont have a problem with fans having a preference, its just when ppl are mean abt it that i have an issue

idk, my response is to any1 who doesnt like marinas sound after EH is to go listen to top 40 bc most of those artists never change. marina is a person, and people, along with style and perspective, change.

im glad im getting a lot of questions about this topic–its nice knowing im not alone in feeling this way altho the situation itself kinda sucks. thank u for sharing ur thoughts!

[itsbenedict]

don’t drown

draft TFJ update

take out the trash

Whoof, okay, uh- things were difficult today because... well, one is because the TFJ recap was actually of two continuous sessions, for reasons, so that was double-difficulty. (That'll go up later, I'm waiting on a commission for the image.)

The other difficult thing is that, at work... on top of all the stuff I have to deal with from vacation, today they announced that, uh-

-actually, they've asked me not to say until it's publicly announced tomorrow, haven't they? I doubt anyone reading my Tumblr is of any consequence to their business, but I guess I'll keep mum on exactly what happened. But... my boss, the good one who respects my time and pushes back against corporate bullshit and is competent and stuff- she's been fired. Also, some other things are happening. It's... kind of quite bad and a problem! Like, I-might-quit-over-this bad and a problem! Scary stuff! I always knew it was possible dumbass upper management decisions could cost me my job arbitrarily and without warning irrespective of my performance, but I wasn't expecting it this soon! Ended up updating my LinkedIn, just in case.

Okay, vacation's over... and after taking stock at work, there are no less than six approximately urgent things that need doing. So today I'm going to just... communicate status updates to everyone and try and knock out as many of those as possible so I'm not drowning.

don't drown

draft TFJ update

take out the trash