#they feel like a lot of just very random songs / demos

[bmpmp3]

IA 2.0 voisona test with a short version of drag on dragoon's ending B song tsukiru/exhausted :) now i can hear Lia's beautiful dulcet tones sing scary scary songs

[didnt-hear-cold-as-you-live]

the way i think of it, ttpd is the main album, and the anthology contains the “vault tracks” (not as strong as the main album and not chosen to be on it for a reason, but still chosen for release after her having positive experiences releasing vault tracks for her prior work)

Yeah I agree w this completely! I actually have a sort of hot take that the anthology tracks were the “secret I’d been keeping for 2 years” end of her speech announcing TTPD - I think she’d been sporadically working on and writing (a lot of) those songs and it hadn’t taken the shape of anything yet, then Everything Happened, then TTPD was formed and she was like why don’t I just release the other tracks too (like you said, in a very “vault had worked out well before” sort of thing). Which is why the anthology songs sound very demo-ish to me I think!

[infamous-if]

we focus so much on the angst (which i love too!!) but can we get some fluffy facts about being in a relationship with the cast pretty please? 💕💕

Yes, I’m sort of ready for some fluff haha

Being in a relationship with

Seven: means a lot of mushiness. Seven is very free with their love. They will stare at you a lot and when you confront them they’ll just shrug and say “sorry you’re just so [insert compliment here].” Seven likes to take a lot of photos and expect songs written about you and many mixtapes. That’s how they communicate everything they feel: through mixtapes and songs. As I mentioned before, seven is also touchy, though it depends on MC’s comfort level, but their default is touching all the time. Always connected, as if permanently linked. Seven will always have at least one finger on you at all times 😭 they’re a clinger, like I said, they sort of act like a needy puppy who wants attention all the time. Pouty. Whining, but in an endearing way.

Orion: means romance in private. Orion is good with all the normal relationship stuff he just tends to cringe more over it LMSJSJS but in private, he is surprisingly romantic and sheepish? He’ll set up a whole five-course date and then play it off like “it was nothing” Orion is also someone who does a lot of things without thinking about it. He’ll buy something for MC and very casually say “this made me think of you so here” and while it may seem like it’s a big deal, it just comes naturally to him. He’s a bit possessive, but not an unhealthy amount? More in a protective way. What you saw in the demo during the interview is what Orion is like with a partner. In public he is a bit less affectionate, but in private there will be a lot of lingering touches, a lot more affection. Orion wouldn’t want to leave MC’s side, even if he doesn’t always vocalize it. He also gets a bit more reckless and loses that sort of “workaholic” habit of his (aka willing to ditch work to stay with MC.)

Victoria: mush, mush, mush. She’s super affectionate and loves PDA and everything that comes with romance. Victoria will shower her partner with constant love and support. She isn’t shy to express how much she misses someone, and will write long letters about how she feels. She wants to shout her love on the rooftops and is a bit clingy like Seven. She wants to be smothered and smothers in return. Hugging constantly; always has herself wrapped around her partner. Random kisses, random gifts. She will take her partner to every event. She does get a bit jealous but nothing too bad, especially considering her experience. She’s a very sweet lover who is proud of her partner.

Seb: Seb can be quite shy. His affection comes with a lot of hesitance and is not as loud, but sweet all the same. He likes to ask permission a lot (‘can I kiss you?’ ‘can I hold your hand?’) and is the type to pick out a flower from the grass and gift it to MC lol I can’t say much about Seb aside from the fact that he does sort of act like a young kid who is in his first stages of love. He questions himself often but there are moments of confidence that are surprising. He’s also protective like Orion, and likes to be entangled all the time (see: hugging from behind.) he’s more of a go-with-whatever-MC-is-doing type. If MC wants to get wild, he’ll get wild. If not, he’s okay with that too.

G: a lot of touching, a lot of kissing. G won’t care about anyone else in the room if you’re around. They won’t even pay any mind to anyone else. G’s love can be sort of intense in the sense that they aren’t shy about sharing how they don’t gaf about anyone else but you. They want to be on top of their partner all the time. Hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder. They want to spend all their time together. All their free time goes to them. G will include them in every convo. They won’t want to do anything fun or new without their partner. They’ll talk about them all the time. Ask where they are, look for them constantly. Moan about how they just want to talk to them or see them. G will become insufferable once they are apart. Like some bratty child. G turns into a completely different person when they’re in love.

August: means August is always thinking of their partner’s well-being. Always by their side. August will send them links to songs and videos that remind them of them and casually boast their partner’s accomplishments to anyone who will listen. They kind of lose a bit of their coolness and get a bit dorky around people they like; fumbling over their words, turning clumsy, getting shy. They’ll get real embarrassed to talk about their feelings or get mushy but they’ll do it if it makes their partner happy. They’ll think of them often and just want to chat about everything. August will be an open book with the person they love. Nothing is off limits. They laugh more, become more open and make more jokes. August becomes very free in the presence of the one they like. They’re a very different person (like G.)

[karasukarei]

Miscellaneous WinBre-adjacent Experiences

I did lots of random stuff during my recent trip and I thought some of them would be of some interest to the WinBre circle 👀

Edit: Omg I forgot to put everything under a cut I'M SO SORRY FOR MAKING EVERYONE SCROLL

Stuff under the cut:

WinBre x Sanrio

Natori's concert

Shizuoka's tea fields

Other random things of some note

WinBre x Sanrio collab

Yeah the title says it all. If I were to be brutally honest I didn’t really like many of the collab designs… The only one I found that was pretty nice was Suou x Kuromi.

The chibis really weren’t that cute imo ;-; 

Also the collab was held at the TV station, so they had the original promo standees on display too!

Yeah this is me simping.

Ok but this was both unhinged and genius. Whoever decided to put the standee in the aquarium. You are my new hero.

Natori’s concert - 劇場〜再演〜

I managed to score tickets to Natori’s concert in Osaka! This is gonna be a mini concert review (and some mild simping, cos I followed Natori even before Wind Breaker). (Just in case you’re not aware, Natori was the artiste for Wind Breaker’s opening Zettai Reido)

Overall, it was REALLY GOOD. He’s one of the rare singer/songwriters who isn’t just a musician, but is an actual performer. I’m not even kidding when I say that he sounds way better live than in any of his recordings, and the way he changes the notes between cadences on the fly really makes each live performance unique. He’s also really big on dancing and enjoying the music, multiple times he’d tell everyone “踊ろうぜ” (let’s dance!) and he’d just start dancing as he sings, it’s just so chill and enjoyable. They also had a brass triplet on stage, they were SO GOOD, the sax player even switched to flute for some songs!

The stage decor was pretty cool as well, you can essentially split the performance into two halves. For the first half, it was a sort of halloweenish sort of situation, where there was like grey cloth (I think to mimic grey stone or thick cobwebs) draped over the stage pieces and overhanging the projector. Once he starts Gekijou (song 11), all of that falls off and you can see all the intricate wooden detail on the stage sets!!! It was SO COOL, and the different decor really complemented the two halves of the setlist.

Setlist

(source)

Commenting on just the memorable parts or areas that I found of note:

Song 2 Sleepwalk was where all the dancing started! It’s so groovy and the easy swing is SO CATCHY, I really admire how he just sings all these long run-on lyrics effortlessly! (I must admit that the way he sings the endings of a few lines, even in other songs, quite erotic cos of how he growls a bit and alters the notes x_x)

Song 6 EAT was SO GOOD live. I heard the demo before and the quality wasn’t great so I couldn’t really appreciate it, but this version was GOOD. It was so much more polished and had better mixing, and you can feel the high and low tension points in the song now, instead of it sounding a bit flat in the demo.

Song 9 Terminal wasn’t a really big favourite of mine when I first heard it, but it’s SO GOOD live OMG. The tension points were a lot clearer, and singing along with the repeating "da da da la da da da" makes it so much more immersive. This completely changed my perspective on the song, I really like it so much more now!!!

Song 10 Seishatachi I REALLY like this song (it’s the B-side to Zettai Reido), from the live you can tell it’s a pretty technically difficult song cos of the all the off-beats x_x I also realised that the very last syllable in the song is a very very long “da-“ that you can’t hear in the recording cos of all the mixing ^^; he just screams “DA——“ into the mic and holds it for a few seconds, it was SO COOL.

Song 11 Gekijou’s true stars were the brass triplet in my opinion, hearing them live was really what turned the performance into a theatre!!! Natori also welcomes you by saying “劇場へようこそ！” (Welcome to the theatre) while striking the same pose as the key visual, it’s just so cohesive and well thought-out and I was SO IMPRESSED by all the planning that went into this one song.

Song 13 Overdose had an extended mix with the chorus repeating at least 2-3 times at the end (I didn’t count cos I was having SO MUCH FUN). I must admit I wasn’t that big a fan of Overdose (yes I’m a weirdo, my favourite songs are Eureka and Cult), but DAMN the party atmosphere in this mix was amazing.

Song 15 Melodrama is his new collab song with Imase, the only note I have is that you get to hear Natori sing both parts instead of splitting with Imase hahaha (I do actually prefer Natori’s voice over Imase for this song).

Song 16 IN_MY_HEAD is an unreleased song and it is SO WILD, the video they showed with the song felt like something out of a Kyary Kyary Pamyu MV with brains spinning around on neon coloued backgrounds x_x But it’s pretty different from his previous songs, it’s far more rock-influenced with more repetitive choruses and head-banging. Part of me likes to think that Kitani Tatsuya might have had some influence on this www.

Song 17 Zettai Reido was one of the only songs he played guitar for (I can’t remember the other one but I do remember it was an acoustic guitar for that), and damn this is a REALLY hard song. I do think this is one of the few songs where his recordings were slightly better, but tbh I do very much prefer the live version because his voice wavers a bit and gives the song so much more flavour.

Songs 18 and 19 Eureka and Cult - DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HAPPY I WAS TO HEAR MY TWO FAVES IN A ROW. THE JOY AND EXCITEMENT. THE ACCOMPANYING VIDEOS WERE SO NICE TOOOO. I especially loved the one for Cult, it was an animated view of a town from up on a hill, and you can see the seasons and day/night cycles throughout the year, and was just so chill and poignant ;-;

Song 20 Itoudenwa sounds SO GOOD live, I already liked the original version but I LOVE the live version, he really sounds like he’s serenading and crooning you ;-; This was also the song where they popped streamers!!! I was surprised at how well they timed the pop, it blended seamlessly into the music and was just such a pleasant surprise.

Merch and goodies haul

GINTAPE (i.e. streamers) - THEY ARE SO PRETTY. This one is pretty beaten up after I tried to get into the case (oops) but I do have spares (might consider a giveaway in future… let’s see how things go.)

Chiitara snack collab - it’s a cheese snack (that I don’t really like…) but they gave out one to each person at the end of the concert! The packaging is limited edition, and the Osaka and Tokyo performances have different designs! The Osaka design I have reflects the food in Dotonbori, while the Tokyo one includes landmarks such as Tokyo tower. Imma be honest the collab is super funny, cos the company that sponsored the snack is a completely unrelated food company called Natori (HELP). 

Gacha album cover art pins - kinda sad I didn’t get Zettai Reido or Eureka, but at least I have Cult and Overdose!! Overdose appears to be especially in demand lmao (for obvious reasons), but I must admit it had the nicest design too.

Zepp tour early bird code - the little card you see includes a code to get access to the earliest round of balloting for next year’s Zepp tour!!! Still wondering if I should just try… Idek if I can take leave ;-;

Shizuoka’s tea fields

In one of Suou’s daily character question, he mentions that a place he’d like to visit is the tea fields of Shizuoka. For personal reasons, I really did make a trip down to the tea fields ^_^

I went tea picking here!!! It is very back breaking work and I have ever greater appreciation for the farmers who grow and process tea now (they are my true heroes; I don’t drink coffee www)

Also here’s the mountain with the word “tea” (茶) on it! It used to be planted with pine, but then weevils destroyed it so they switched to cypress ^^;

Super random but we got lost while looking for this, we ended up too close to the mountain so we couldn’t get good photos ^^; there was a tea shop there with a really kind owner that served us different types of tea and showed us the way to the best photo spots! 

^ this was the original spot we ended up in but you can't see the word really well ^^;

Random merch and other stuff I guess

Yeah I found the vegetable curry, it was the LAST ONE in store. Maybe this will make me start eating vegetables.

I also had a chance to try Wasanbon in some tea snack I bought from Ise Shrine:

It certainly tastes expensive 😳

Thanks for listening to my simping. Please have a nice day ^_^

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

Miss Pauling for the ask game 👀?

favorite thing about them She's just adorable I think her design is really really cute. I love "little lady who kills people" as a trope and the kind of "geekiness" she brings to it is so fun

least favorite thing about them I don't like how she isn't allowed to be friends with any other women :( it's just misogynistic character writing, I think she should have some kind of positive relationship with another woman at some point, even if it's just a friendship and not a romantic thing

favorite line The one where she's like Saddle! Engie, saddle 'em! Saddle 'em up!

brOTP I really really really think she and Sniper hanging out is so funny. Her hanging out with any of the mercs is funny but I think she'd jibe especially well with Sniper, who also likes guns and is weird socially and in my heart of hearts is also kind of a nerd (in a very 1960s prog rock and acid sort of way)

OTP She should fuck that old Administrator

nOTP Scoutpauling but yall knew that already

random headcanon This is a weird choice for this one but to me she's in her mid-thirties. She's definitely older than Scout to me, older than Sniper, maybe about Demo's age

unpopular opinion Idk I have a lot of them I feel like? I don't like her and Scout but I also don't like her and Zhanna. I think she would be Attracted to Zhanna but not pursue her romantically, and Zhanna would sacrifice her in a heartbeat before the group even really needs to resort to cannibalism so it just wouldn't work out

song i associate with them Hmm...... she kind of has I Monster - Back Seat of My Car (Sticky Black Vinyl Mix) energy. Don't question my vision

favorite picture of them

I love her in this whole comic in general but especially as she's hiding bodies. She's just so cute

[ID: Two panels from the Meet the Director comic of Pauling on the phone with Admin, one where she is hefting up a bag of Mann Co. "corpse-grade quicklime" and the other where she is loading bullets into a revolver. End ID]

[ravenbloodshot]

Amotti- Physical 100 Winner....Personality Reading

Definitely a man who works out a lot. I saw an image of him jogging in the early morning, cold/foggy atmosphere, and near a river. So, no matter if it's cold/hot, he may make it a routine to get up early and exercise

Very active guy in general, likes to constantly be moving and doing something.

I don't know if he's someone that hangs out with a lot of older ppl but he may act kind if childish/childlike to be able to get away with certain things. For example, if he was an idol, he would play heavily into the maknae role so he wouldn't have to pay for stuff when the group goes out or have to be responsible for much. He's like the kind of person to want others to baby him. This innocent act he plays benefits him greatly, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a tactic he used on the show to get into those who are older than him good graces and so that they underestimate him.

He has some kind of abandonment issues. He may cling to others too much and is quite sensitive/scared of people leaving him. He's the type to become quite jealous if a close friend seemed closer to someone else.

I'm seeing alcoholism as a possible problem in his family or for those around him when he was growing up. He has quite a strong willpower and makes sure to keep himself away from drugs/alcohol (vices he may have witnessed destroy others in his life). Amotti has a lot of passion, drive, and anger inside of him. I definitely think he's used exercise and other athletic activities to keep himself on the straight and narrow (could have possibly been a kid to get into trouble if he hadn't found a healthy outlet for his anger/passion). He's a person who has full control of his life, has ahold of the reins, and is going where he wishes to go.

He can be quite mature and meticulous, likely has a set routine/schedule he lives by. But I do see a duality of him being someone mature and also childish. Although, I think his childishness is more of an act than anything else, its his way of getting what he wants from others (He uses the innocent act especially to get affection and to be babied).

He's someone that NEEDS people around him. People's encouragement and just presence in general benefit him and make him happy. When he has no one or feels like he has no one, his mind can get very dark. I do see that if he can't be around his loved ones to get the love/encouragement he seeks, he may do random acts of kindness to strangers or give to charities to feel better. He's a people person, and he really has to have someone around him.

Seaside_ demo by Seb is a song that fits this reading's energy

[pathetickuroo]

a ranking and analysis of “epic: the musical” songs so far, from someone who knows a lot about theater and not a lot about mythology

RANDOM DISCLAIMER: to reiterate from the title, i know a lot about music and theater, but NOT a lot about greek mythology. i'm trying to slowly read the odyssey as sagas release so that i'm never too far ahead but i can still have a sense of where things are going. aside from that, i have very basic foundational knowledge from vague exposure to pjo (but i never got into pjo myself LOL)

(also no one better spoil the odyssey for me in the tags or the comments i swear to god this is supposed to be about the SONGS)

putting it under the cut so people can scroll past if they want; this is long as fuck and i'm not gonna pretend it isn't.

9. the horse and the infant

i almost placed this one higher SOLELY BECAUSE OF "PENELOPE… PENELOPE, AND TELEMACHUS". (side note: low placement absolutely does not mean bad. i love every song in epic. like, excessively.) i'm probably going to talk about odysseus's voice A LOT. i love it. the reason i got into this in the first place is because back when early auditions were happening, one of the demos came up on my fyp and i was baffled by the vocals. from a plot standpoint i really like what this song does lyrically and what it shows of odysseus in particular but also how the gods interact with the mortals. zeus is immediately talking down/condescending to odysseus (which is fair because. it's fucking zeus, and also a detail that was pointed out to me by my friend), who reacts saying he "knows" he's ready for, essentially, whatever zeus throws at him… until he finds out zeus is making him kill a baby. the first two songs in the musical (this and "just a man") both reveal so much about odysseus, which is of course good because that's who we're supposed to sympathize with.

anyway. love this song. fuckin bangs.

8. just a man

normally with these early character-establishing solos i like them a little at first and then always skip them after that first listen. that's just a Thing for me. like, i know who you are now, i don't need to hear it again. but not this song. this was the first song that really told me i was gonna obsess over this musical for a long time and that it was going to ruin my life. my ONLY criticism, and it's not even a big one because it doesn't truly bother me/disrupt my listening experience at all, is that it's hard to hear any distinct emotion from odysseus for most of it. BUT I CAN'T EVEN BE MAD BECAUSE HIS VOICE IS SO STUPIDLY GORGEOUS. maybe that's hyperbole but i feel like you can't blame me for that. again as far as plot hearing odysseus's internal struggle about killing the baby is very foundational for our understanding of the character. also, the dual meaning of the lyric "when does a man become a monster" which as others have pointed out refers (most likely) both to odysseus wondering if fulfilling his end of the prophecy will make him a monster and also wondering when, if this baby grows up, it will cause whatever destruction zeus foretold… i have a lot of feelings. i like this song a lot. a LOT.

SECOND RANDOM DISCLAIMER: at some point, you will probably start to think i sound pretentious. i like my own funny words and think i am a magic man. you are allowed to not like my funny words.

7. open arms

i would like to briefly touch on how much i love steven dookie's voice before we proceed. ok thanks. ANYWAY, this to me is our first real shift away from the musical theater genre-sound, something that i love about modern theater and particularly composition. the vocal style is less theater-inspired to me, too--until the lotus eaters show up--which really speaks to the message of the song in my opinion. the laid back sound after the sort of chaos and pain of the past few songs is refreshing to me. as far as characterization it solidifies what i feel we already knew about polites just from that little bit of him we heard in full speed ahead, but shows the more caring side to his positivity (the "you can relax, my friend" refrain and variations). i also love what it shows about the dynamic between odysseus and polites, establishing further that polites isn't just a soldier but a friend. this is one of the songs that i don't have a lot to say about, truthfully, but mostly because every time i listen to it i'm just enjoying the sound LOL

6. full speed ahead

SIX HUNDRED MEN. SIX HUNDRED MEN UNDER MY COMMAND…. this is where we really meet some new characters, and their introductions--true to form for the show--show a lot about them, both right away when they show up and all the way through the end of the song too. eurylochus, the battle-minded second-in-command to odysseus, and polites, the kind-hearted best friend to odysseus, both make their positions very clear not only in their verses but i feel also in just the way that they greet odysseus/each say "captain" (but that could also just be the different qualities of their voices). re: vocals, more vocal excellence from odysseus (have i mentioned "and ithaca's waiting etc" yet?), and polites sounds so fucking good constantly, and eurylochus has such a consistent tone through his whole verse. re: polites, a lot of the other voices in this musical are kind of standard fare (respectfully! i love theater voices genuinely) for what you imagine theater actors to sound like, but polites (played by steven dookie) has such a unique tone for this medium and i love it so so much. the soldier ensemble is insane too. from a compositional standpoint i LOVE the call and response, particularly on "so, captain, what's the plan? (captain, what's the plan?)" + that section where the soldiers echo odysseus that comes right after that. i didn't think this would beat just a man when i started this, but i was very wrong. very very wrong.

5. polyphemus

i don't want to talk about plot OR musicality, first. i want to talk about sound design. the choice of the particular sound effects that were used with the reverb and the overlapping noises from the sheep paint a very clear picture indeed of polyphemus's cave. (something that definitely did not hurt to accomplish this end was the teaser video where odysseus, eurylochus, and polites were in the dark holding candles (? i think, some kind of small light sources at least).) audio panning was also present in the intro for this track, i would say up until polyphemus starts to sing it's pretty prevalent, and audio panning is my favorite thing you can do to establish spatial understanding in non-visual media. okay, moving on. in this song, odysseus directly parrots polyphemus's words and melody, and this is a theme that continues in the other songs the two are both in. this also, to me, shows that one of the layers of his plan is to make himself seem more agreeable to polyphemus (which in itself as a fact i think is rather clear in terms of plot, but i think the specific methodology from a compositional standpoint is fun). AND JUST TO SAY: the moment at the beginning where this suddenly becomes a horror musical made my heart drop through my ass in the best possible way. i had to stand up for the rest of the saga because sitting down limited my range of motion too much and i had to go insane. in terms of characterization, we know that odysseus is smart and resourceful mostly from what we hear about him from others, but i feel like this song is the first one where we see that firsthand. i love this song.

4. warrior of the mind

the first song i had to just sit with and loop for a while (i did the same with just a man, but several days later upon relisten). athena's vocals never fail to astound me, teagan earley's tone is so clear and strong, and this is kind of specific but i like the choices she made on vowel placement, particularly on that last "mind" in the first chorus. also, i'm not even going to beat around the bush: i'm a trumpet player, i've been playing trumpet for theater and in other contexts for almost a decade now, and when i heard that low trumpet line underscoring the first establishment of the melody in the chorus, i KNEW an octave kick was coming and i was THRILLED when it delivered so perfectly. i don't know if it's synth trumpet or a live musician, i assume synth just for ease of production, but either way, i'm obsessed with it. absolutely a fantastic composition choice when it comes to ramping up the energy of the second half of that chorus. again in regards to composition: obsessed with odysseus's harmonic line in the second chorus. it took me a while to pick the notes out because i go a little harmony-blind sometimes when i'm too busy ooh-ing and ahh-ing but once i got that line in my head i was all about it.

(did not think this section would be so wordy, but) what this song shows about athena in my eyes is her fondness for odysseus--which sounds obvious until you remember how zeus interacted with him vs how athena does. athena gets close to talking down to odysseus sometimes, yes, but in more of a human, sarcastic way ("you'll see where it ends"). one could argue that the entire intro is her condescending to him in some way, certainly, but when she almost immediately also establishes that she sees the merit in his skills and his mind and has for some time now, it takes away the sort of preachy sound that was there when zeus was doing it. again in the characterization vein it shows odysseus's spirit, the more childish side of him (of course, because he was younger for much of this song) that we don't get to see in the songs that are set in the "present" period. in warrior of the mind, we see odysseus, the boy. in all the other songs, we see odysseus, the king.

anyway. i adore this song. if that wasn't, like. clear.

3. survive

THE ECHO OF THE HORSE AND THE INFANT. MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR. people other than me have said that this could be a way of showing that the fight with polyphemus is the will of the gods and i can see the merit in that standpoint but i also think that this is, in this telling at least (which is a distinction i make because i started the odyssey literally today and read maybe 10 pages before i had to go to class so i don't concretely know the details), showing that this is the first real conflict odysseus and the soldiers have been in since the seige of troy. also interesting to note: this song, if i'm not mistaken, is actually in compound meter at least in certain parts (before u fight me on this take a second to count it both ways, i'm not even entirely sure because of how i've been feeling the pulse). also, this reestablishes what i said earlier about polyphemus and odysseus parroting each other, but in this case i think it's polyphemus trying to do as much damage to odysseus and the soldiers as possible, certainly more like mocking them than trying to communicate on their level. (but also, melodic repeats are kind of just how music works, lol. remember when i said u might start to think im pretentious?)

now, maybe this is my sympathetic lens for odysseus showing, i fully admit that bias and own up to any way it may skew my judgement, but in that first chorus, i feel like odysseus isn't just trying to rally his men but to find the will in himself to fight as well. after the long war in troy and being confronted with polites's ideology, i would certainly be weary and sick of fighting. something about "it's just one life to take / and when we kill him then our journey's over" sounds so self-consoling to me. idk! maybe just me!

i'm, uh. not gonna talk much about the plot at the end, there. for obvious reasons, as someone who foolishly got attached to polites. we're gonna gloss over that. (fellow polites likers, how we feelin, though? we all coping?)

2. remember them

if you'll recall from many many paragraphs ago, i mentioned that in "just a man", i felt like there wasn't much emotion in odysseus's voice. this? the intro of this? this, to me, kind of makes up for that. and i mean the VERY beginning, the anger/intensity in that first verse. something that i noticed, that the fellow polites likers will be upset with me for pointing out, is that starting on "mark my words now" and through eurylochus asking "but captain, what'll we do with our fallen friends?", the guitar in the back is playing the melody of "we're up, we're off, and away we go" from "full speed ahead", the first song we hear from polites in. (sorry guys, if i was burdened with this knowledge you will be, too.)

this song and "polyphemus" both do a really good job of establishing horror-style tension. eurylochus's "there are more of them?" and what i would call horror sirens on the strings in the beginning of polyphemus are what i mean, here. it gives that nice stomach-swoopy feeling that recreational horror is so fond of. the ramping tension when eurylochus is pleading with odysseus to order them to run is fantastic too.

re: odysseus vocals. "my friend is dead! our foe is blind! the blood we shed, it never dries! is this what it means to be a warrior of the mind?!" will never NOT make me insane. it makes me want to scream, genuinely. and via the lyrics and instrumental sound we understand the ruthlessness of odysseus's vengeful side as well. again, possibly my sympathetic lens, but "let's grab the sheep and away we go" and during the argument up to that aforementioned point, odysseus just sounds tired to me.

also, i'm sure we all collectively shat our pants when we heard athena. i don't have much to comment on the matter further than that, but know that i was losing my fucking mind as soon as i heard her voice.

last thing: odysseus's choice of words when revealing his name is interesting to me. the "infamous" odysseus? infamy has a very negative connotation and maybe that's just him acknowledging that to polyphemus he'll always be painted in a negative light due to his actions in the cave, but it's an interesting choice in verbiage to me.

1. my goodbye

you were a fool if you thought this was ever gonna get anything other than first place of all the songs that are out so far. hearing athena and odysseus tear each other to pieces was so satisfying on the second listen with the new understanding that the partnership was sort of exhausting on both ends. i confess that my first thought right after i finished this song the first time was "HOLY FUCKING SHIT" but my SECOND one was "bro really wrote a breakup song and thought we wouldn't notice (but said with a positive connotation)". as far as i understand it, and i've asked questions about this so i'm fairly certain, there was nothing romantic in nature about the relationship between athena and odysseus (which i see as a good thing), and the song sounding like a breakup song is more a fun creative choice. and i DO think it's fun, in that case! so with that interpretation in mind, when i go back to the lyrics now, i think about how odysseus's original idea that he and athena would be friends was shot down and in this song i start to feel that maybe despite athena's best efforts they DID consider each other as friends. and of course i think that's intentional--that's why "you're not looking for a mentor, i'm not looking for a friend" cuts so deep.

there's also something in the way the two characters argue with each other that i find so compelling. i feel like athena is really trying to be right, or maybe not that she's trying to be right per se but that she's trying to make odysseus understand why he's wrong. odysseus, on the other hand, seems to be trying to hurt athena as much as possible, in as few words as possible. athena's argument has one core idea, and it's that odysseus is reckless/unfit to be her disciple because he's too emotional. odysseus, on the other hand, brings up several points, like 5 or 6 different little gripes about athena that he's probably been holding onto for who-knows-how-long. it just shows how the focus is entirely different on both parts and i like it a lot LOL

vocals absolutely deliver of course, that goes without saying. and i made that point earlier about how i felt odysseus didn't show much emotion in voice, and maybe this is just me being the #1 jorge rivera-herrans defender or something but i feel like a sort of detached-ness was intentional this time. like odysseus saying, "you can't fire me, because i quit." that's not entirely me being biased, i think the language reflects it too: "this way, you'll close the door and have your damn goodbye." that sounds dismissive to me, and the way that he previously frames athena leaving as something that would be good for him ("this way, you won't plague my life").

anyway….. less of a ranking and more of a song analysis where the songs just so happen to also be ranked. this was originally gonna be on my priv twitter, but the character limit was driving me up the wall, so. here.

[tf2-thevictorandthewarden]

the mercs dancing headcanons

🕺Group headcanons: they LOVE moshpits. come on. they get crazy on those. |🕺| Scout set up Just Dance one day and most of their initial reactions was negative because toxic masculinity, but they VERY quickly got into it and now it's a monthly contest. whoever wins holds the month's greatest dancer title (probably has a goofy ridiculous name that they take pride on having). |💃| they argue over music choice sometimes, but they can all agree on disco.

⚾Scout: this guy has a lot of energy. he dances at least once at every party/event with music. sometimes he dances to silence. he's the kinda goof to jam to random beats like the laundry or the microwave or someone's phone ringing. he dances pretty hip hop (my headcanons aren't very historically sensitive, but techhhnically hip hop is around the tf2 timeline) and knows a lot of different moves. he's very hype to watch. he has a big smile on his face while he dances but often makes chad faces and flexes because it gets to his head. if a hispanic song comes on he pretends to know how to salsa that shit up perfectly, but if you look past his annoying ego, he's not actually half bad at it. lots of footwork. dances to all music that has a beat fast enough to keep him engaged.

🦝Soldier: he? moves in a way that can be considered dancing?? LOL they aren't dance moves per se, but he does grin and "yayyy" and clap and bounce. he copies others' dance moves. he loves gimicky easy dances. he ALWAYS joins the others when they invent some gimicky dance move like "the grave digger": someone laying and two shoveling dirt on him. "car wash": one is a car and others are the spinning columns lol. likes "being told" what dance moves to do basically.

💣Demo: if sober, he mostly throws himself on the dancefloor if somebody else is already there. wait lol in what circumstance would Demo be sober at a party lol. if not he is more goofy and forward. the most creative with the gimmick dances. his dance moves aren't very precise he's mostly just moving with the flow, and having lots of fun. gets goofy a lot, jokes around a lot and makes everyone laugh. very fun guy to party with. he and Scout mostly make others feel more comfortable getting loose. usual drink in hand dancer. moves his pelvis a lot lol he has no shame with his crotch. folk music gets him HYPE. cheers and yells and rough houses. dances to a good 70% of the music. mostly dad music.

🩸Medic: omg he is just- so dorky in such an endearing way. my man moves like a quirky puppet. he dances both in feminine and masculine ways. your girlfriend can't do that /lh /j. it isn't extremely energetic. if particularly hype/drunk/celebratory tho, he VOGUES the house down boots, come on. drink in hand dancer. honestly he fantasizes about doing drag shows and one day that he has time he just might. omg he likes slow dancing! he dances to upbeat songs, or romantic songs with Heavy.

🐻Heavy: he dances more than you'd think. it's not the primary thing he does at a party but he does enjoy shaking it off a little. pretty chill dance moves, very much like a dad. there is a secret unwritten rule that Heavy must give foot to starting a Kazotsky Kick. if another merc wants to start it, they always look toward Heavy grinnning until he starts and they all follow. a Kazotsky Kick starting is always a hype event, same with a conga.

🎯Sniper: dances lankily. lmao. he NEVER danced when first meeting the group. EVER. he would anchor himself on the seat and no pushing or teasing from Scout move him. "i just don't. dance." took him a very long time to warm up, veeery slowly started moving more and more. it is rare to see, but when he does join he has a good time. doesn't last long either. he just prefers sitting and watching and chatting :) if he is under certain influences tho he has MUCH less shame and gets more creative. probably has a couple instances he danced in the forest or a campfire night in this way. he really likes the gimick dances he laughs a lot at them. dad rock and glam rock and funk. oh he exclusively dances to songs that match his energy very specifically. (autism)

[in-newjersey]

On similar topics to the prior, I also like to point out that subtle differences in line delivery - again, something more or less up to the performer/director - can completely change ways that that suggests characterization

Let's explore pieces from Michael in the Bathroom and the prior scene:

"Did you ever wonder what it's doing inside you?" - this is how George often said it, and can be taken multiple ways. Obviously, the next line suggests that Jeremy took it as 'he's not worthy for it hence Michael is jealous' whereas, as we know, Michael is trying to say that this can't be its intended use to just end up in a random high schooler

"Did you ever wonder what it's doing inside you?" - saw a community theater production on youtube where the Michael actor emphasised 'doing,' which COMPLETELY shifts the meaning. This implies that Michael is first and foremost worrying about the purpose of the SQUIPs, and the way it's changing Jeremy from the inside. Jeremy's next line, therefore, suggests that instead Michael is jealous of the ways he's personally improving (social standing, posture, skills etc)

Right there - a pair of lines from which a lot of analyses hinge on interpretting the cracks in their friendship - one choice of word emphasis can fundamentally re-direct what it says about the way the character works on the inside

Another more general example (going to keep using MITB because it's The Song), how the actor's voice and gesturing in the song change things.

George in Two River, while certainly heartbroken, certainly came across a lot less timid and anxious than Broadway. On the Broadway recording, the tempo is a little slower (and plays back and forth), he's using more head-voice than chest voice (so less 'angry' and forceful), and in some ways his voice is a lot smoother than Two River. This is the same actor only a few years apart, who originated the character, and already two different productions make Michael seem pretty different, especially how one might intuit things about the character

The biggest, most obvious example out there is the VERY early demo with Will Roland as Michael, where the delivery is completely different. He's sad, sure, but it's a lot more bitter and sarcastic than heartbroken and panicky. The only main musical difference is that it's in a lower key; the rest of it is how the actor chooses to pronounce and intone things, and it feels like a completely different song.

There are some other productions out there with various other takes: I saw a cabaret-style version where the singer decided to make MITB a comedic(?) number, which, while weird and (imo) kind of missing the point, was totally possible; the audience was laughing along. Then you have the Australian production, where the actor decided to have MITB come off as a furious number, almost yelling with how hard he was using chest-voice throughout. Then you have that one large-scale youth production (I forget the company name), where the actor went a little closer to Two-River George for general delivery, but leaned into just full-on ugly crying through the end of the song, which again, changed how the whole thing came off (this is honestly how I personally like to perform it, but again, I don't think that would work for every actor/production)

(there are also, of course - and no disrespect intended, acting skills vary - quite a few high-school productions online where the singer is really just doing his best to make it through and hit the notes, and that's fair too, it's a challenging song for an inexperienced singer)

Anyway, as a followup to how wide a range of character traits are up to the actor, even the same script can be turned and interpretted quite differently! This isn't even getting into non-verbal ways you can have characters interact that might suggest completely different interpretations

[cannibal-nightmares]

!!! yes, please do (talk shop about it)!!

My internet crashed while writing this last night waahh!!! OK OK a preface: I am not always well-versed in who a musical artist is beyond their art (this has come up quite a bit recently hahaha), so if I miss something in that specific regard, that's most likely why: I don't know much about Clarence Clarity, himself.

Second preface: "NO NOW" is tied for my favourite album of all time. Now that that's out of the way…

I almost hate to consider using "NO NOW" as a basis of expectation, but it really is something unfathomably unique. "VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY" was a satiating in-between of "VANISHING ACT I: NO NOUNS" and his demo stuff on Bandcamp (such as "YOUR WRONG," "YOUR WRONG TO," and "YOUR3 WRONG"). "Vanishing Act I" has a similar (in comparison) taste of sound collage to that of "THINK: PEACE;" I could talk all day about Clarence's inclinations for obvious preferences in basslines, instrumentation*, etc… oooor I could simplify it down to an uncountable amount of layers, micro transitions, and hard entrances/exits. In the grand scheme of Clarity, "Vanishing Act II" and his demos are… Minimal! (shhh, we're going to pretend for a moment he doesn't quite literally have an ambient record hahaha).

So let's talk about avant garde. What he did with "NO NOW" is, to me, Beach Boys status. I'm talking The Wrecking Crew on "Pet Sounds," Brian Wilson doing "The Smile Sessions." (If anyone has not seen his producing livestreams... You will not believe what this guy hodge-podges together and how. I don't remember what video it is where he just manipulates the utter mess out of a collection of random public sound effects and samples) To my preferences, sadly, "Vanishing Act II" is not that, BUT, I do like that it has that familiar soul feel throughout it that Clarence loves to lean on, and it can allow newer listeners to get their feet wet in. (Cause let's be real. "NO NOW" is A LOT.) Too, if Spotify-seasoned fans have never heard his extra stuff spread around, it's a good segue between them (with the exception of "Once in the Styx…" which. heh. is my fav CC song. this is beside the point.).

I do like the little flavorings sprinkled throughout II that tie it together with I, but, unfortunately, listening to them back-to-back questions the relevance. Lyrically, they mesh together with a little imagination, stylistically…? For a second it made me think about Crywolf's "widow [OBLIVION Pt. I]" and "exuvium [OBLIVION Pt. II]" in terms of concept sequel and narrative, but then comes the discussion on what happened to the musical execution. Honestly honestly, I think I am just very much well-adjusted to the absolute chaotic calamity that is "NO NOW," to the point that the new record is a jalapeno pepper to the Carolina Reaper I am used to, heh.

It's a catchy album-that-feels-like-an-EP; I have yet to explore some of the lyrics in-depth, though the skewed sort of resentment throughout it didn't escape me: While his emotionality (fictional narrative or not) throughout his songs is often like a dagger pointed at something hyper-specific beyond the listener, this time it felt like there was veil intentionally blurring the message, like he spoke through tongues to snarl an anecdote he feels he can't say outright. ...This could be my own magic brain, though. This is all to say that some of the lyrics felt like that of Everything Everything's "Raw Data Feel" in which the prose was quite literally AI-generated to spit out what sounds like nonsense and might be just that.

If you liked it, listen to or review YOUR WRONG 1-3, if you felt it lacked luster, step back into Vanishing Act I or even "THINK: PEACE." If you think it's a lot as it is… Heh. Listen again until it grows on you. I don't have a favourite track yet, but the opener, "What Year Is This?!?! JFC" has everything I love about the demo tapes plus more; it's punchy just like that of Vanishing Act I's "False Positive," also to include the delayed vocals which I'm a suuucker for. Spooky. In that realm of unreality Clarence is so good at wielding, the ending of "Guinevere" starts to be subtly-"Tathāgatagarbha"-esque, like gently waking up from a nightmare... GOSH WAIT I HAVEN'T EVEN CONSIDERED THE ARG ANGLES.. WAIT. Damn! Maybe I need to get a Twitter account, I'm sure there's lore I'm missing... (//silly) "The Greatest Living Musician, Found Dead" reminded me of that sort of blade in Nolan Potter's "Music is Dead," I keep coming back to "juliano so cute lowkey" as an earworm, "Playing Our Parts" continues off of songs with a sort of "fuck it, just fake it" theme especially seen in Vanishing I. It's all still uniquely Clarence Clarity.

…You know. I wrote all this. And I'm listening to this record for what might be the 4th or 5th time. And all of a sudden I'm realizing it might partly be the mix. Is it a bit low? Anyways, If "NO NOW" is "Skiptracing," "VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY" is "Going Going Gone." Verstehst? Ultimately, I could say I am a bit underwhelmed, but what Clarence Clarity does in terms of music currently goes beyond the definition of hyper pop and PC, and has created his very own realm of avant garde sound collage. No one does it like Clarity, he's setting his own bar of expectation. I'm excited for the life of this album, I'm excited for what's next. :)

Thank you so much for the ask WAHHHH I love yammering about music and getting people into new stuff (shout out to my co-worker who let me play a bit of No Now after we discussed hyper pop and noise, only to then tell me that Arca was a bit much for his tastes LOL I'M SORRY) Since we're on the topic, I will conclude with an interjection: the poem on my pinned post is from "Vanishing Act I," "It's Happening Again"

Thank you, thank you, anon, this was fun :)

[remimibanana]

Nintendo 3DS Retrospective Part 3: A System's Function Continued

I hit the image limit on the previous part, and there's so many more screenshots I want to share with you all! I won't let the limit stop me from blabbing on!

Here is the third part where I continue on about all the system functions and other software I didn't have a chance to show in the other parts. This retrospective was originally one part, and then it became two, and then it became three....

Part 3 is under the cut!

Nintendo 3DS Camera

For the DS/3DS line, one of the main features is the dual cameras featured on the inside and outside of the system. To go with the camera, you need a camera application!

It is a simple application that lets you take photos and videos, and view them all. I used to spend a lot of time here, messing around with all the effects you could set and recording random videos here and there.

You couldn't record any videos on the DSi, so I went a little crazy with it back when. I still have all the old photos and videos I took, although the quality of the photos aren't that great.

It honestly feels like a downgrade from the Nintendo DSi Camera, as there are less effects and ways to edit your image. I miss distorting my images!

But it still was pretty cool to use.

Nintendo 3DS Sound

The DS/3DS line also had a microphone, so of course we need an application that lets you record voice clips and listen to music!

I loved recording myself. I would record the most weirdest of things that makes me wonder what I was thinking back then.

Let me list some of the highlights:

Me swearing very intensely for no real reason in particular, I think I just wanted to say “god damn piece of shit” while emphasizing the last part.

Me singing the beginning to Dragostea Din Tei because I really like this song.

Me singing the entirety of the English cover of A Female Ninja, but I Want To Love because I was really into Yandere Simulator for a bit.

My brother saying “asshole” over and over.

Me recording myself saying a garble of words when reversed, would sound like me saying “moving on the ground”, like Mario.

A whole bunch of calls from Stevo, my quail I used to have.

There is Streetpass, but I never knew how to use it back then. I still don’t know how to use it in fact, it won’t let me add anything to the Streetpass playlist in order for me to turn on Streetpass for this application.

Perhaps one day, I’ll be able to try it out.

Nintendo eShop

Even though it shut down a while ago, you still can use it at the time I post this retrospective.

I really love the eShop a lot. It had soul and our little shopping bag guy. I was there when the shutdown occurred, downloading any last games or demos I wanted.

It looks rather empty without everything...but I'm glad we still can access it and listen to the banger BGM! I always have a smile on my face when I come on here.

I used to spend a lot of time on here as a kid when I had access to the internet, downloading a whole bunch of demos and exploring what games there was!

One time, my dad put $50 into my account since he saw I was on it with his card. I remember being so grateful, he didn't have to put in any money!

I could have bought a single game, but I bought multiple smaller games since I went a little crazy. You can't blame kid me, $50 was a lot of money to me!

From memory, I bought:

Colors 3D

Pokemon Dream Radar

Crystal Monsters

A Shaun the Sheep Episode Set

I wish I could go back to the heyday. It's crazy to think I bought these things over 10 years ago....

I love the Other Settings menu. I used to spend my time here scrolling through it all, seeing what each of the options did. The BGM makes me really emotional when I hear it.

Before the shutdown occurred, I spent over five minutes on this screen trying not to cry. It feels like a part of my childhood got stripped away without my consent. I know we still can use it, but one day....they will stop it too.

Thank you, Nintendo eShop!

Face Raiders

I liked this game a lot! I'm surprised people didn't, I think it's rather charming!

This is my favourite opening animation, the faces sing in a row but the last one messes up and the others gang up on that face.

I used to play this a lot back when I got my red 3DS, since it was one of the only games already on the system. You take a picture of someone's face and then hit the shit out of it with balls over and over in various stages.

My favourite mode was "Share the Fun", especially the underwater stage. I know it was meant for someone else to try out the game, but I used to do it for myself!

Every time it would say to pass the system over to the other person, I would pretend to pass it to myself.

In the underwater stage, you hit someone's face over and over before it falls down onto the floor, with a new version of the face appearing when you destroy it.

I used to always challenge myself to beat my record.

I've never actually beat the final boss in this game, surprisingly. I have the Final Stage unlocked, but I never understood how to beat it. The whole laser thing went over my head, and I think it still does to this day.

I vow to beat it at some point!

Internet Browser

A very simple browser that had limited functionality, especially on the original 3DS line.

I didn’t really use it much when I was a kid, since I had no internet. I did like going on it anyway to get nowhere. I think I tried to use Youtube on here a few times, which didn't load any videos as you might have guessed.

I did log into Twitter before they removed the legacy support since it would have been a missed opportunity otherwise!

You can download images from here, which is what I used it for mainly! You search up the image on Google, view the full sized image and click on "Save Image"!

Not all images could be saved though.

They had to 480 x 480 or below and even then, it might not work for some reason. I used this feature a lot when I drew on Colors 3DS, so I could colour drop the colours I needed for an artwork.

You could put the image you need on the SD card, but if it doesn’t appear in the Nintendo 3DS Camera, you can’t use it in Colors 3D. I wish it wasn't so complicated.

It’s tough drawing on the 3DS.

Colors Gallery

Speaking of Colors 3DS, this is my opportunity to show the Colors Gallery I was talking about in Part 1! Tumblr limit will always be my enemy.

I love this gallery so much. It's a shame we won't ever see it on the 3DS again after the shutdown, but luckily...it won't completely disappear!

There is the Colors Live gallery online which has all of the 3DS artworks! It’s nice to see that nothing will disappear, although no new artworks will ever be uploaded to the gallery from the 3DS.

It's rather unfortunate. I did make my own account and uploaded some of the artworks I was proud of!

Click here to see my profile!

Here is one of the Tokyo Mew Mew artworks I saved when I was a kid in all its glory. It still looks the same as I remember all those years ago....

Friend List

You're probably wondering, why is the Friend List here?

I really like this part of the system, despite how small of a part it plays. You always go on it to see all your friends, add new ones and set your favourite title!

The BGM is a banger, I could spend hours listening to it without being bored of it. I love how they used your Mii inside this card, they would move and even have their own 3DS while you were playing a game!

I remember trying to add people as a kid but the other person didn’t have my friend code so I would be left with these blank cards while waiting for the other person to be my friend.

Once I realised they would never become my friend, I deleted them after a while. If you have a modded system, you can actually put homebrew software as your favourite title which I find really funny.

“I love the FBI manager so much that I should let everyone know!” - someone probably.

Game Notes

You're also probably wondering, why is the Game Notes here too?

I think it’s one of the functions people often overlook, but I used to use it all the time! You only had three colours you could use and only sixteen notes to draw on which was a bit of a shame.

As you can see above, I used it to draw whatever I felt like. Mostly just Splatoon and Pokémon.

Miiverse

It really is too bad it shutdown.

I didn't get to use it too much back in the day, but I'm glad I was able to use it a bit! I remember looking at everyone's posts and admiring all the wonderful drawings!

I even posted on there too, but I don't remember what I drew. There was an offline mode where you could make a post and save it for later to upload. I wish they kept it, just so we could experience it all again like before.

Swapdoodle

The lovely note application we all know and love!

I decided to make this my last title I'll talk about since I have a lot of memories with it. I used this to draw little notes for myself and my friends, sending them when I felt like doing so.

Nikki is the mascot who writes notes to you and teaches you all the things you can do, unlocking new features as you go. You can put up to four badges as an example, which I like to use a lot since I have many of them.

There was a store you could buy more pencil colours and new note backgrounds, but that stopped working with the eShop shutdown, unfortunately.

I regret not buying a pack or two.

We will never see this little notification appear again. I think it's a shame, but what can you do?

And that's a wrap!

With that, my 3DS retrospective is complete! It was a lot of fun reminiscing. Thank you for all the wonderful memories you have given me, you wonderful handheld.

I wish Nintendo would keep supporting it, but all good things must come to an end. I never thought we would reach this point.

To the next console and beyond!

[blaaaaask]

My Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review:

Spoilers ahead, you've been warned!

So here are pros and cons of what I thought about Rebirth.

Overall I really liked it, can't wait for the next installment. I still have a few items to wrap-up with side quests, but I did beat the game with a large portion of items done in 94 hours.

Pros:

Character development is on par. Lots of 'getting to know' not only your teammates but characters they introduced from the Remake version as well. This kind of feels like an Easter Egg moment sometimes, and gives the game consistency and charm.

Gameplay during battle is smooth, consistent, and the added synergy attacks are interesting. Playing as a larger group of people with their own assets can be a little overwhelming, but fun to find your favorite playing style. Using different characters feels absolutely necessary for differing battle mechanics, and I think they did a great job in providing the opportunity to keep all characters relevant rather than 'backseating' someone. The side quests and even main storyline ensure this.

Storyline. The intense amount of speculation people have been doing has been a little blown out of proportion and I kind of like that. I mean we weren't wrong about differing timelines, the game does have that, but the way it is incorporated was done beautifully. They followed the original story very well, and moments that were changed only seemed to enhance the clarity that was occurring in those scenarios. Moments that I had thought of prior were now in different tones, giving different meanings. I enjoyed that.

Voice acting. Using new voices can be a bit of a dealbreaker for those of us who enjoyed the original VAs, but I think they did a great job in continuing with VAs that fit the tone of this 'newer' version of the FF7 world. I do still miss some of the originals, but with the storytelling in this format I think it's done very well.

Music. I really don't know what else to say other than the blends and tones and meshing of songs and the moments they're in is just. It's everything. It really makes every. Single. Scene. If you played the demo you know exactly what I mean.

Scenery. Everything is so gorgeous. Ugh. I just want to paint every little scene into a pretty landscape.

The comedic value is gold. Random characters will bring up points from Remake that will make you die of laughter. Side quests can be beyond hilarious (looking at you, Johnnys).

The intense amount of flirting and goofy moments of people hitting on Cloud is beyond amazing and very fitting. The dating scene I ended up with was with Tifa, and it played out beautifully. I am totes excited to try out the others, too.

Cons:

Too many minigames? It might just be me, but it felt like every mechanic had an unnecessary 'challenge' to it that robbed the enjoyment of the side quests. Each mini game has its own rules, mechanics, and is oftentimes poorly instructed to the point you will be redoing them in multitudes. Precision is key to every single one of them, but getting there seems too difficult at times. It's probably just me lol, but the piano keys with a PS5 controller can be incredibly difficult to get accurate notes. The march portion of the game was increasingly difficult, too, borrowing from the dance mechanics of Remake and yet somehow making it more motion-sickness-y. Granted, it was still funny, but the practice rounds they allow you do not compare to the actual hell hole that is the 3 march portion. It felt like when a teacher tells you '1+1=2' but on the math test they give you 'If Jimmy sells 83 portions of apple purple, who is the sun representing in the third movie of cryptocurrency?' Fort Condor makes a comeback from Yuffie's DLC, which is fun and kind of annoying. I am terrible at timed things so don't mind my venting here. And don't get me started on MOG HOUSE. The weird slide mechanics of trying to 'push' things around in this minigame while trying to avoid haphazard death feels a little too much like reality for me and I cannot deal, yo. The 'Run Wild' or whatever Red XIII game has a similar mechanic, which only makes it frustrating for the harder challenges they throw at you in making goals. Also, every minigame seems to incorporate an insane amount of R2/L2 button mechanics. Being left-handed feels like a bit of a disadvantage in some of these games, and it sometimes feels like the PS5 controller has too much of a 'soft push' on it that doing full trigger clicks is like a whole hand exercise. These games crippled me hahaha. I would love a Story Mode for us cripple-y old fucks that makes it so I don't have to do minigames. To add to that, Queen's Blood ended up being a relief for me after the hell that I faced in all the other minigames, but only later in the game once you get better card decks. However, I am currently stuck on Dale in Nibelheim. Yes. Dale. Don't laugh at me.

Not all characters fit the aesthetic of the original game. I'm mostly thinking of Kyrie and Regina. It's such a dumb nitpick on my part, but I kind of wish they had toned down their looks to match the game a little better that way it isn't such a 'sore thumb' kind of vibe. The moogles are also a bit terrifying to look at. Why did they give them such horrifying teeth?

And speaking of sore thumb, Chadley and MAI. I like the banter but oof what an annoying duo, hahaha. The 'fun' mechanics they're trying to implement with having these two talk to you through the PS5 controller was a bit of a fun and novel concept in the first 2 seconds, but MAI's voice is a bit too grating for me that I had to turn off that feature.

Speaking of voices, Red XIII's splits back and forth at times between his 'pretending to be sophisticated' and 'teen' voice. I prefer his sophisticated voice, and it's a pity they don't have an option to choose what you want to hear. I think I just hate the sound of children's voices, so anything that is too high pitched sounds a bit like nails on a chalkboard for me. I am guessing no one else cares about this, hahaha.

Chocobo mechanics. I like sweeping onto a chocobo smoothly without button pressing, but sometimes Cloud gets off the bird in a direction that accidentally makes it possible to get back on the bird. Also, the open world trekking is only fun in the Grasslands area, after that it is a bit of a nightmare that continuously gets worse the hillier things get. I spend a lot of time staring at the map trying to figure out where I'm supposed to go because you can't actually 'go' wherever. This is a bit unfortunate because it can make simple tasks of 'I need to go here' turn to 'I need to make 70 different turns to get there.' And the traversing for specific regions can also feel like hell, mostly in Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon.

Controller mechanics. Kind of already talked about this, but because the PS5 is supposed to be a 'new, novel console' with things like speakers in the controller, touch sensitivity, motion sensors, etc, they go at it hardcore here. Tilt mechanics, sliding things, and all that garbage is just annoying. I turn it off as soon as I can. It is especially annoying during Cait Sith's time in the Shinra Manor. Boxgate. That is all, lol. If you like silly things like this then more power to you.

I am sure I am forgetting things, but to wrap-up: the storyline is what I'm in it for, and the story was beautiful and therefore I enjoyed it even with my stupid gripes. Please remember this is just my ridiculous opinion. I am merely a purple dinosaur on the internet and should not be held as gospel.

[didnt-hear-cold-as-you-live]

Ok this is so random but. I see people discuss why Katy Perry’s last few albums haven’t been particularly successful despite her being a household name everywhere, but one thing I never really see people being up is the fact that she didn’t write her songs at the start of her career, but she does now. That’s not a dig at her artistic integrity - plenty of artists don’t, the fact that she had other songwriters helping her write isn’t unique - but it does mean that the creative vision in her earlier music is influenced by those artists, and now that she’s trying to write her own music and has more control over her creative vision and is doing things more independently, there are differences in aesthetic and style and execution that attract a different audience. Like, Bonnie McKee cowrote some of Katy’s hits; Last Friday Night, California Gurls; and her solo music is a lot closer to what I think of as the “Katy Perry” I remember from childhood then a lot of Katy’s current stuff. Katy still has some diehard fans, and people who really like her current work, but it’s a different enough style and vibe than what she got famous for that a lot of people who were fans of her during her peak tune into her stuff now and aren’t interested. (And while there might be more people who might be interested in her current stuff, she’s had a few album cycles with critical reactions of “hmm it’s ok but kind of weird and way different than the Katy we remember” and so a lot of people who might be don’t bother tuning in.) Taylor says she always gives the advice “write your own songs” to young artists, and that’s smart from a legal perspective, but I feel like Katy shows how it’s also smart from a marketing standpoint; Taylor’s creative vision was hers from the start, and even when she wanted to change eras and aesthetics and genres the music was still hers, and she retained a lot of fans through those genre switches because there are consistencies across how she writes even across those genres. Idk sorry for the essay this has just been turning around in my head since I listened to Bonnie McKee’s album lol

No this is a really really really great point! I think a lot about this one text post that I’ve seen that was, jokingly, saying “Katy Perry didn’t actually make Teenage Dream, she immaculately conceived that album like Mary birthing Jesus she was just gods vessel for it” and I said it out loud to an artist I was touring with once who was a former Disney star, and she got really serious and was like “no, you don’t understand, that’s LITERALLY true. I recorded demos for most of those songs and at the last second Max Martin and the label pulled it and gave them to Katy Perry. She fully WAS just a vessel sent to deliver us Max Martin”, lol. So you’re so right, people aren’t inherently fans of HER. and I think that plays into the other component that when left to her own devices, she’s really… unlikeable. And I don’t say that in a traditionally sexist way, I just mean for a very long time she thinks she’s holding some kind of progressive banner while simultaneously being very…. Center / outdated politically. This has been proven true both with her weird “woke pop” album (her words) (oof) and with the whole Woman’s World fiasco. Which, for younger people, is inherently pretty unlikeable.

Again, this is interesting because I really don’t think people would feel this way if she continued on the alt pipeline she started as - she began on Warped Tour before I Kissed A Girl blew up!!!! - a while longer, like Taylor had with country

[miniimapp]

Random 4*TOWN Headcanons

Gen ;; Fluff + Crack - Headcanons

Warnings ;; nah

Proofread + Edited ;; no

Auth. Note ;; WELCOME TO DAY 8 OF THE 4*TOWN CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN !!

Am tired and this is p low effort and last minute, sorry, better stuff will be coming today is just not my day lmao

Enjoy !! <3

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈«

Tae Young, Jesse and Robaire were classically trained instrumentalists when they were kids. Tae Young was violin, Jesse was flute and Robaire was piano. T plays ukulele don't ask me why he just does and also the kalimba. Z can play the harmonica. Jesse also plays the guitar

Z learnt the harmonica from his grandad - they had a really close relationship before he died.

Jesse cycled through a lot of different instruments trying to find the one for him (clarinet, trumpet, drums, piano, violin, double bass) before landing on flute and then later on guitar as well

There are some really odd demo tracks and some completely unreleased songs that just go ham with any instrument that they felt like throwing in

They're utter chaos

Truly just a wall of noise at some points

Fun noise,, but still noise

I feel like they have a theatre thing,, all of them

Just like random improv games or,,

Suddenly acting out a famous scene in a very melodramatic way or,,

Randomly bursting out in songs from musicals and somehow knowing the full choreography for them..

Jesse is the one who starts their musical outburst 8 times out of 10

Sometimes though he'll start singing and the others will start to join in,, realise they have ko fucking clue what he's singing and then just listen to him solo like the king he is

T will 100% just start garbling rubbish if he doesn't know the words,, improv king over here

Seriously,, this man can go on with a bit for eons if he feels like it

He'll stay completely in character and be going string while the others are creasing and have no idea wtf to say

Mans lives for it

Oh your singing ?? Tae is adding a harmony onto that for you <3

Somehow he manage to find a harmony for everything and he finds it FUCKING IMMEDIATELY

Does make Robaire a lil jealous with his harmony abilities sometimes

Sometimes though Tae will just go from some ethereal harmony into a goblin voice while still singing the harmony

He's a great impressionist tbh

His voice can go deeper than most people expect,, its a lil uncomfy and he just doesn't like how he sounds so it doesn't happen often

When it does though, Tae is using it for evil

I'm talking demonic noises in the corner while the light are out

Z is the one who somehow knows all th dance moves to every musical ever

Mans starts teaching it to the others too as if they're not complete disasters

My guy has too much faith in these numpties

Z is also really fucking sneaky

So Jesse will be wiping the counter and all of a sudden there's something blowing on his neck

Dramatic ass jumps like 3 feet in the air and shrieks so loud

Z loves jump scaring all of the other members when he can

Also because this is a struggle for me and I need someone to relate to.. caffeine of any kind makes Z so incredibly tired

Like,, half a cup with half him out for 6 hours straight, wake up for dinner because Jesse went to get him and then straight back to sleep

Mans gets over 24 hours of sleep that day

Problem is Z is an energy drink fanatic

And zap the energy right of him

SO

The boys somehow manage to find him caffeine free energy drinks and he's never been more thankful istg

Z just wants to pretend he isn't about o pass out when he's supposed to be wired to high heaven

What's the point of having a drink that's really bad for if you don't even get the short-lived fun effects ??

Robaire loves to flaunt his coffee in Z's face all of the fucking time

Z doesn't even like coffee but it's the principle of the thing

Anways

Robaire would be having his main character moment as they're all jamming out

Singing into Jesse's hairbrush in front the mirror type vibes

Z gets so fed up with it so quickly

Ro doesn't care though

He's having his moment

It's his time to shine

And shine he will

Definitely broke something once trying to climb up onto the kitchen table in a feat of dramatics

Probably a vase Jesse made

Jesse was p upset about it tbh

So the others took it,, glued it back together and then decorated one of the broken pieces each

Now it's the statement piece

And it's glorious

Really wish to bask in it's shine tbh

[glowyjellyfish]

Once the demo loaded for me, I only had about an hour and a half to play before I had to quit and go to bed, and I spent most of that time on the piano minigame.

Some thoughts:

Cloud is such a baby omg. Part of it is the obvious Zack dialogue blatantly coming from his mouth, of course. Loved the obvious swap where Secret-Cloud-Grunt (Ramirez, if you will) was clearly assigned the lines Zack said to Cloud. Cloud’s brain what are you doing.

Sephiroth will take some time to master, especially as I barely remember the controls. He looks like an idiot when I am controlling him, lol. Perfect acting on him and everyone really so far, A+.

I am going to miss so many climbable surfaces

the mountains are so spiky

NIBELHEIM PORK SANDWICH. Well there’s my themed meal! (May not actually do, but come on they threw that out for me a couple weeks in advance??)

I am gonna master every song on that piano dammit. I got very close to star rank tonight, only 2 Goods and the rest Great!

Pretty sure that on my first play through, I am going to do as much as possible and whatever feels right with regards to the affection system. I can’t not rifle through Tifa’s room, for one thing, and I’m never gonna say no to a side quest. Aerith or Tifa would be preferred for the date on my first playthrough, but if I wind up hanging with Cait Sith because I wanted to glean all available information on how he functions and whether Reeve is talking directly to me, so be it.

It’s possible I got some things right in my wild guessing since Remake—more likely character stuff than actual plot, I think—but honestly I am looking forward to being completely wrong about most things.

Also it warms my heart how much Cid and Vincent were in that trailer. Maybe Vincent won’t be spilling his major trauma immediately after we meet him?

Day 2:

Took me probably another hour to get star rank on the piano

Something about Obvious Zack Behavior is incredibly cute when it’s Cloud doing it

I feel like I may have missed a lot of crates and chests

The normal chit chat with Sephiroth and Cloud and Tifa? Omg

Trooper cloud saved Tifa’s life without her knowing!

Sephiroth saved Tifa’s life in the river and Zack saved Cloud’s life, poor nameless other guy but ❤️ Zack and boy must Tifa feel weird about that memory

I want to explore the whole Shinra mansion so badly, I found Vincent’s room and the tubes

I really like how rebirth made it a little clearer that Sephiroth snapped because Jenova started having influence on him once he reached her. Not that I’m trying to make her the villain and him the victim—pretty sure once he falls in the Lifestream, he’s running the show with all his own villainy going, Jenova’s basically The Thing—I just like that the flashes compared to flashes Cloud has had show her influence on him. I like that they didn’t go too hard in making him Evil; you can still see the underlying tragedy.

(I mean, we all know Hojo is the real villain and I think even Sephiroth would agree on that)

Also on multiple occasions I asked Sephiroth why he was so pretty

I REALLY like how those who are in the know about cloud and Zack can easily read between the lines and see what Actual Cloud did—not only showing us Random Trooper on the ground saying “Mo…” but also showing that Cloud’s memories match.

the struggle of having cloud drag himself along the ground while Sephiroth murdered people was AMAZING.

How dare they stop right there before the flashback is over. I know the point is to be tantalizing and they probably changed a thing or two but. Come onnnnnnn let Cloud deliver the cliffhanger.

(Oh, I did look at Tifa’s dresser but then said it was a joke, did not impress anybody lol. Should’ve stayed away!)

(I would like a screenshot of Cloud saying “hey Sephiroth, whatcha got there?” Sephiroth: A KNIFE

[buggysmalls69]

Well I'd best explain myself.

Hey. It's milk ✌️

If you know me from being moots elsewhere.. Hi! This is my special interest blog. A real rebloggy blog. For reblogging. And talking about my interests if I feel like it!

Current interests:

In no particular order

- Figures ✨

I collect figures. I have like well over 300 at this point. I don't keep track anymore and this one is slowly but surely subsiding. I will always adore figures and collecting them though. My figures make my room a safe place for my senses. They're all so pretty 💖

- Pokémon 🌈

Oh my god an autistic person who likes Pokémon it's a miracle. Yeah. I started playing Pokémon when I was 3, so 18 years going strong. I originally preferred the toys and cards, but heart gold and soul silver converted me and then I became a mega fan. Tracking releases, learning lore, creating fanart. Mind you I was like 7. There's a deviantart account out there from when I was 6? and yeah that shit Sure Is (you can try and find it I don't really care anymore jfjsjfjg). Anyway!!! Faves are cleffa, whimsicott, blaziken, galvantula, giratina, mimikyu and Registeel. Faves by proxy include lapras, torkoal, lilligant, gengar, rayquaza, mudkip and ledyba. Fave humans are Iono, Caitlyn, Lillie (LillieMoon 💖💖💖), Ingo and Emmet, Allister, N, Erika and Elesa. Gen 5 is currently my favourite but I have played gen 5 a LOT the past few years and a lot of my faves are gen 5. I attended both the Pokémon center pop up in London in 2018, and EUIC 2024 in London, also for the Pokémon center lmao. I have a cleffa tattoo also!!! Planning on getting a large majority of my faves tattooed at some point.

- Bugs 🐛

Woo big surprise it/they user enjoys bugs. My favourites are moths, exact favourites being hummingbird hawk moths and Madagascan sunset moths. Also a huge fan of weevils, worms, snails, beetles, bees and butterflies! I hope to have a butterfly collection one day in frames :3

Hatsune Miku.

- One piece ☠️

Pretty new one but yeah, I'm caught up so I spend a LOT of time thinking about them damn pirates. Faves in no order are Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, Robin, Perona, Mihawk, Law, Corazon, Ace, Yamato, Katakuri, Crocodile, Buggy, Doflamingo, Lucci, Okiku, and Big Mom.

- No but for reals Miku 🎧

Fun fact! I've been a Miku fan since 2010. That's 14 years baby!! My first vocaloid songs that I remember hearing are nyan cat (duh), world is mine, Romeo and Cinderella, butterfly on your right shoulder, gugurekasu, and my all time fave, corruption garden. Absolutely underrated banger. This should be a general vocaloid section really because my favourite cryptonloids are Kaito, Luka and Miku and then my favourite non cryptonloids are Meika Mikoto, Lily, Nekomura Iroha, PoUta, Teto and Luo Tianyi! My favourite producers are PinocchioP, Neru, Giga, Kira, Iroha(sasuki) and OwataP!

I went to Miku expo in London 2018, 2020 and I am going in 2024!!! A selection from my personal wishlist for London 2024 setlist :

Paradichlorobenzene - OwataP 💛

Kokoro - Toraboruta 🧡

Kunoichi Demo Koi ga Shitai - MikitoP 🩵🧡

Digital Girl - Kira 🩵

Break it, Break it! - E.L.V.N ❤️

Non Breath Oblige - PinnochioP 🩵

Erase or Zero - crystalP 💛💙

-Minecraft 🌲

Yeah yeah you can laugh all you want. I've been consuming Minecraft since it came out, and I've played it for 10 whole years. I got pc edition 5 years ago now (INSANE). I love Minecraft. I tend to play just random mods shoved in a folder, but I do play with friends sometimes!!! If anyone ever wants to play please tell me I will kiss you.

NON SPECIAL INTERESTS BUT VERY IMPORTANT TO MY IDENTITY

-Dinosaurs (since I was like 4)

-Sanrio (as long as I can remember)

-Animals

-Anime in general

-Art (lotta A's huh)

-Shitty adult cartoons (south park, family guy, American dad, I have encyclopedic knowledge of all 3 and I can recall every episode. I also know family guy season 4 word for word :3)

-Sitcoms (Actually enjoy: Two and a half men, modern family, young Sheldon kinda, does house count? It should. Encyclopedic knowledge: Big Bang Theory, Two and a half men, Frasier, Friends)

THE "SOMETIMES" SPECIAL INTEREST

- Five Nights at Freddys 🐻

I know, I'm so cool. This game has had its dirty grip on me since it came out. Basically I hate it but every time a new game comes out I can't help but go on a self destructive info absorb and I watch like 6 hour video essays on the new lore and implications. It's fun I like fnaf silly Creachure. My fave is the puppet because I'm non binary haha.

-UNDERTALE ❤️

I pretty much tick all the boxes for middle school anxiety huh. Yeah undertale is a beautiful masterpiece and every few years I'll have a mega "aaaaa undertale" phase where I'll just do nothing but play and consume undertale content. I've played the game through at least like 10 times? A few of each ending. I'm still really bad at sans fight.

-Animal Crossing 🐾

I think everyone should have this one. Occasionally I'll just be like "hm being an adult in the real world isn't really what I wanted right now" so I play animal crossing until oops 6 hours passed. I'll then play for about a week before putting it down again. I tend to stick with new horizons, just because it has the best gameplay. Also BUGS heheshhfksjgh. Fave villagers are Lily, Eugene, Beardo, Judy, Merengue, Lolly, Merry and Marina. I also love Flick and Celeste.

Kinning!!

Yeahhh I kin some bitches. Big deal.

- Yamada Ryo

The big one. She's just me for real for real. I love her for realsies. Also um hi bocchi kinnies.

- Rina Tennoji

She's so fucking autistic. I also struggle with expression (fluctuates between under and over!).

- Kokoro Tsurumaki

Genki. I have made it my personal goal to make people happy in recent years and it's really helped my own mental health

- Madoka Kaname

😳🩷🖤

- Kirby

Small, Round, Pink, Poyo

- Flandre Scarlet

Tiny Creachure clinging to childhood (with a dash of trauma).

- Kanna Kamui

I just, deep down. I experience friendship the exact way Kanna does. I have no concept of boundaries. I will crawl into your bed at night.

- Stocking

Sweets, hypersexual, kinky, goth, chubby. Me.

- Yamato

Oblivious, love friend so much, bad family relationships.

- Kuromi

*cough cough* *straightens paper* Although Kuromi may look and act tough and punk, she is actually very girly and is attracted to good-looking guys. That is all.

And yeah I think that's pretty much it. Obviously this post will get updated as regularly as it needs it. Hope u enjoy my silly content!!!