#this is why it aggravates me that we 're in the era of a lot of high fantasy tv adaptations

[notmoreflippingelves]

Why is it that my rare pair tendencies are not limited strictly to my hyperfixations of the moment but in like 99% of media that I consume? It's not fair. I just get a tiny little urge for like a day to read a fic or see an art for a specific pairing before returning to my main interest. Only to find that particular pairing that my stewpid brain had convinced itself "must be huge in this fandom because how could it NOT BE?" barely exists--if it even exists at all and I have clowned on myself yet again.

[marginailia]

Revisiting Code: Realize

I have been severely emotionally and creatively stuck for a long while, and just recently settled on revisiting older media that is beloved to me, especially games, because of the way the interactive narrative speaks to me, but also because its historically what has gotten me writing. While one friends suggestion was Ace Attorney, which is absolutely in queue to be re-experienced, I got the more desperate urge to revisit Code: Realize first. As an early adopter of the english localized otome (my copy of Sweet Fuse as testament), this one has long been my gold standard, and it is also the perfect narrative to help me dislodge some back up.

I thought it might be nice to keep a small journal as I play each route to sort of document what makes it so special, and help me process why it is so personally beloved. First, of course, I must replay and look at the common route. I will come back to this post with those thoughts as I go, but to start I will leave the initial premise below.

First, the premise of the game is simple, yet possesses arrangements to introduce a lot of narrative and character complexities. It is set in Victorian-era London, but with a fantasy steampunk flavor. We follow Cardia Beckford, and our introduction to her is... whoof. She is alone, and since her father left her, she has always been alone.

The opening of the game is her lamenting about who and what she is... why she even exists... because as we shortly find out, her father has told her that because he loves her, he must never let her know love. Because she is a monster. It is a painful opening as we see her shut away in a dilapidated home, her room littered with dolls and toys as she sits curled up, head to her knees, only lifting it when some of Queen Victoria's royal guard, sent to apprehend her, enter. They speculate over if she could be the monster, until one of their dogs becomes aggravated by the situation and bites her... only for her blood, and the touch of her skin, to gruesomely kill it.

Cardia tried to stop this, and thus does the commander of the guard realize she is not a monster by intent, only by her making. She is poisonous to her core, the touch of her skin enough to burn and melt another, and if that touch is prolonged, it surely will kill them. She does not know why she is like this, only that she always has been, and because of that she welcomes being taken... welcomes what she believes is certain death. Being alone as long as she has been, longing for touch the whole time and knowing she can never have it, it would be much easier that way.

But gentleman thief and master of disguise Arsène Lupin isn't about to let that happen. He shows up in proper grand flair to whisk Cardia away from the guard, from her certain demise, because he wishes to steal her heart... literally. But gentleman that he is, he will not take it off her without granting her a wish in return, and there is one thing she wants, which she asks him for quite plainly. "I want to... touch you. I want to feel you... your warmth."

He quickly understands. She has never touched another before, believes she never will as she asks if it is impossible... only for him to confidently promise he will grant this wish to her.

That is how we open the game, and boy do we still a hell of a common route to get through (per my memories, it is quite long!) but I am beyond excited. The common route will get it's own post but as a small teaser:

After the opening credits play, it opens on a scene of Cardia lamenting on how her father set rules for her to never find love, and to never leave their home until he returned for her or ruin and heartbreak will surely follow. Cardia reveals she broke this rule once, and she destroyed someone who loved her, though before we delve into this further, she remarks on the feeling of a morning breeze, and the feeling of sunshine before Lupin offers her a simple breakfast of egg and toast.

This little moment already gives us a great look at Cardia, her lamenting, but also how she is surprised by the breakfast, and catalogues to Lupin how while she can eat... it basically melts to nothing right away, but at least she can taste it, and it tastes good. We get little details of how she has to live, what it means to be the monster she is, and how she feels in a world she isn't meant for. It sets us up to feel for her, to care for her, with even more evocative moments like this to come.

Longing for touch... I felt that deeply when I first played this game, and in a post-pandemic world it resonates even deeper. I am excited to open this world of the game back up, just as well the world within me it once opened up.

One last element: please look at how beautiful this games art and design is... Cardia Beckford you will always be famous.

[prettywordsyouleft]

Worth Fighting For // AIRFORCE7

Summary: From the first moment he met you, Jaebum knew you were exactly what he and the air force needed.  

Pairing: Im Jaebum x reader

Genre: pilot au / 1940s era / romance / minor mature content

Warnings: Due to the era it’s set in, this will contain minor war conflict in some of the stories. I will not be making the war-zone my main focus in this series however. 

A/N: Thank you every for being patient for me to get this next part in the series up! As it states above, I’ve not labelled this as M (mature) but it’s a little spicy in one part! I’ve edited this but if there’s any mistakes, I’m sorry! I’ll re-edit in the next couple of days when I have more time.

Word count: 5701  

He saw you walking across the tarmac as soon as he landed and grinned, Jaebum navigating the P51 to its designated spot outside a plane hangar. You waited for the aircraft to stop completely before you approached it, a smile residing on your face when Jaebum jumped down to greet you. “How was the sunrise?”

“I wasn’t out that early,” he admitted, grinning back at you. “But the skies are clear, Captain.”

“Oh good,” you remarked, resting against the lower part of the fuselage and foldings your arms across your chest. “What are your thoughts for today?”

“Well, we’ll have training in the afternoon with the cadets and this morning will probably be working in the plane hangar like usual.”

“What about tonight?” 

Jaebum smiled, moving closer to you. “Why don’t we start that right now, as I said, the skies are clear.”

“I want to see the sunset instead,” you decided airily, pushing through him lightly. He grabbed your arm and pinned you against the wing. You smirked. “Lieutenant, are you going against my orders?”

He sized up your lips and nodded softly. “I’m willing to pay the consequences.” 

You were always worth the risk to him.

“Shouldn’t you be part of the nurses checking us over, sweetheart?” one soldier crooned as Jaebum stood in line for his eye exam, his attention pulled to the neighbouring line where you stood ahead of the men. “Why, I sure would like to get physical with you.”

A chorus of sniggers followed the remark and Jaebum tilted his head as he watched you clench your hands up but didn’t respond, your focus resolute on the front of the booth.

The men behind you were getting further worked up, making vulgar gestures about your body and giggling like a bunch of horny school boys. Jaebum found it hard to stand where he was, the disrespect of their behaviour making his blood boil. But he had promised his mama that upon joining the air force he would stop using his fists for no reason.

This is a pretty good damn reason though, he thought as one of the soldiers edged closer to you, ready to grope your ass. What irked Jaebum further was seeing officials watch on without pulling the cadets up for their behaviour. And so, when the soldier finally decided to reach for you, Jaebum stepped out of his line, ready to throw the first punch.

You moved faster though. Before Jaebum could even raise his hand, you had the fellow soldier in a hold, twisting his arm behind his back until he was crying out loudly.

“Now love, there’s no need to be like this, let the man go,” one of his friends implored and Jaebum scoffed, shaking his head at him.

You glanced at Jaebum’s stance and then threw the man towards his group of lackeys. “I’m not your love; I’m a fellow cadet, just like you.”

“The air force isn’t a place for women!”

“I think there’s plenty good space for such a cadet,” Jaebum spoke up, darting his focus from you to the man who just spoke. “We’re all here for the same reason.”

“Women are meant to be there for us when we get back from fighting, not beside us. She’ll be a distraction to everyone with that body.”

Jaebum let his hand fly at a face this time around and soon there was chaos, soldiers who were merely watching on implicated by being in close proximity. Only then did the officials step in, breaking up the fight effectively.

You had merely stood there watching on, your gaze lowering when the Staff Sergeant looked in your direction. “Who let a woman into the force? It’s always like this when they think women can be equals.”

“She didn’t do a thing wrong,” Jaebum argued, pointing to the cadet who now sported a swollen eye. “He was going to touch her and you were going to let him.”

“Now son, I’ll have none of that,” the official replied hastily when your gaze snapped on his. “There was no need for things to get physical. Let’s all just line up and continue with what needs to be done, shall we? Miss L/N, would you-”

“Cadet L/N,” you corrected firmly and the Sergeant looked at his buddy for support. The other man merely shrugged.

“Cadet L/N, would you prefer to have your medical done after the men?”

“Why should I have to wait?”

He sighed exasperatedly. “Now you know very well why. I think it’s best to let the men go first.”

You chose not to argue, letting your head fall for only a second before you collected yourself up and marched right past the men who had aggravated everything without so much as batting an eyelid.

As soon as you were gone, their bravado returned. “Who let a bitch up in here?”

“Now we gotta deal with hormones when she’s having a bad day.”

Jaebum hissed and the cadets looked over at him, cowering slightly and huddling closer to continue their conversation.

“Don’t worry lads, ladies never last long around here.”

Jaebum smirked at them. “I’ve got a feeling she might outlast half of you.”

“You got a thing for her, lover boy?” one asked and Jaebum merely smiled. “Brought your girl into the force so you could show her what a tough man you are?”

“I think she was the one showing your arm before, wasn’t she?” Jaebum reminded and shrugged. “And I’m not here to show anything. I just hate when someone mouths off and can’t back up their words like you did.”

“Watch out, boy. Troublemakers leave early too, you know.”

Shrugging again, Jaebum turned back to his line, thankful when he could step forward for his eye exam. As he read from the board, he thought over the promise he made his mama just recently.

He’ll have to avoid you if he wanted to keep to it.

Yet, Jaebum found you later that evening sitting alone in the cafeteria, and he bee-lined for your table, placing down his tray before catching your gaze. “Mind if I sit here?”

“Are you trying the protection route? Unlike those boys, your plan is to protect me and make me swoon over your strong arms?” you asked dryly, tilting your head to the side. “I’m not here for anyone’s pleasure.”

“Why would you need protection when you were capable of twisting that cadet’s arm so quickly and making him squeal for mercy?” Jaebum shook his head as he sat down. “I’m not trying anything with you. I just have a bit of a temper, you see. And when I saw that they were going to be further indecent with you, I couldn’t help but step in.”

“Well, I appreciate it, this time. But don’t make it a habit. I don’t need anyone talking about me any further than they are.”

“What about for your skills?” You stared at Jaebum dubiously and he ate some of his food before continuing. “Aren’t you here because you’re a good pilot? I don’t mean to sound like everyone else around here, but they ain’t exactly letting a lot of women join the air force these days. Women who want to help are generally put in the factories, not in the field.”

A wry smile crossed your lips. “I suppose you’re expecting something then?”

“I’m hoping you’re going to wipe the smug smiles off those assholes who belittled you, in the very least.”

“What’s your name, soldier?” you asked, leaning back into your chair.

“Im Jaebum. And you?”

“Y/N,” you answered with a smile before scraping back your chair and standing up, collecting your now empty tray. You continued to smile down at him. “I’ve got a feeling you’re also going to be one to watch out for.”

Jaebum was all smiles on the morning of the first flight training. Orientation around the aircrafts had been explained the week prior, and now it was time to actually show what you all were capable of. Jaebum was excited for the chance to get up in a plane, of course, knowing this squadron was made up of trained pilots already. When his father left him and his mother behind, it was on Jaebum to keep the family business running. He was able to fly the small crop-dusting plane they owned with ease. In fact, it was one of the few things Jaebum was good at. Up in the skies, he felt free from social constraints. He could fly and be who he wanted to be. On the ground, he had been known for his fists doing too much talking after the rumours of his mother got about town. Moving away had been the best thing both of them could do and joining the air force was his new start in life.

Yet he anticipated your performance as well. You looked at ease on the tarmac, though as the Captain continued to explain the expectations of the morning, it was all too apparent that even he was ready to make a mockery of having a woman on his team.

“Well, who wants to go first?” he asked, ignoring the raised hands and smiling sweetly at you. “Ladies first, where are my manners?”

You smiled forcibly and ignored the sniggers from the cadets, stepping towards the aircraft you were all expected to get off the ground before the markers on the runway. You look ahead and then turned to the Captain. “Should I start now?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Do you need a hand up?”

Jaebum watched as you climbed effortlessly into the cockpit, taking the safety gear from the ground assistant before closing the lid to your aircraft. Checks were made to ensure you were safe to take off and all the men moved forward onto the verge of the runway, watching on avidly.

“Bet princess will just blow through those markers down the end.”

“Girls can’t handle big machines like that.”

“Give her a chance,” the Captain called out and Jaebum looked at him, wondering why he had a sudden change of heart. The older man then smirked. “When she realises it’s big and scary, she’ll go back to where she came from.”

Jaebum clenched his hands into fists but focused on you preparing for take off. Once given the signal, you didn’t hesitate, pushing the throttle and making your way down the runway. The laughter stopped as you reached a top speed quickly. And everyone lurched forward when you got the plane up into the air well before the line.

Jaebum clapped and soon others were gasping about how fast that was. When you landed safely again, the Captain was stunned.

“Is it a fluke, sir?” one cadet asked and the older man blinked a few times, holding his hand up to stop you from getting out.

“Do it again,” he instructed and your elated smile was wiped from your face. You nodded once and then repeated the same exercise, this time getting a better takeoff.

“Sir, that is no fluke,” the Lieutenant beside him admired, his mouth still ajar when he stopped talking. “We might have just found our ace.”

Despite all efforts by the other cadets, you were unbeatable up in the clouds. You were also knowledgeable about planes and you were excellent in ground combat training. Had you been a man, you would have been the most liked cadet on the air base.

Being a woman didn’t have the same effect and your vast skills didn’t make you appreciated by others any better.

“Again?” Jaebum asked as he found you cleaning the office in the afternoon, and you glanced away from your scrubbing of the windows before groaning loudly and throwing down the cloth.

“If I wanted to clean, I’d work in a Laundromat!”

“Why were you sentenced to it this time?” he wondered, placing down the files Sergeant Kim asked him to bring here.

You smiled to yourself as you picked up the cloth again. “I corrected Cap.”

“Oh, and you know how much he loves it when you show your superiority,” Jaebum teased and you shot him a grin. After leaning against the desk to watch you, he held out his hand. “Want some help?”

“Why are you always looking out for me?”

“You wanted me to be protective, right?” he mused, thinking back all those months ago when you had first scolded him for getting involved. Now, it was a rare day for Jaebum to go without being paired up with you for something. After all, if you were the ace of the team, he was the one keeping you on your game, just barely behind your tail in all areas of training too. “Isn’t it true most people say something and mean the opposite? So I’m certain you really wanted my company.”

You chuckled. “If it’s what helps you sleep at night, Jae, think as you please.”

“Oh, you even wonder about how I sleep!” he continued, revelling in the light blush that crossed your cheeks. Jaebum felt his heart thump harder with the reaction, knowing there was an underlying tension building between you both. Although you were rivals in the skies, down on the ground, he hoped you could amount to something more most days.

“If you’re helping, don’t just stand there.”

“Yes ma’am,” he saluted you before grabbing a cloth and joining your side. He smirked. “Oh, I finally realised something I’m better at than you.”

“Cleaning?” you asked incredulously, and he couldn’t help but grin at how your arm started to move more vigorously. Anything was worth a challenge to you.

He shook his head, pushing his arm up higher than yours. “I’m taller. You can’t beat me in that, no matter how much you try.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, you can’t grow taller all of a sudden,” he reminded and you nodded softly, soon scrambling up onto the windowsill to clean higher than he was. Jaebum laughed heartily, shaking his head at you. “That’s cheating.”

“I’m still higher than you are right now.”

“That’s a fair point, but you’re also on a ledge that isn’t made to hold a person.”

“I’m not heavy!” you exclaimed and Jaebum chuckled.

“I wasn’t meaning that, it’s just-”

Before he could point out how precarious your placement on the ledge was, you shifted, your foot slipping on the water residue and you toppled. Jaebum lurched forward to catch you, whining when your knee smacked him in the side as you fell on top of him and you both fell to the ground. Stunned, you stared at each other for a moment before you went to scramble away. Jaebum held you there, breathing a little heavily.

“Your heart is beating just as fast as mine, Y/N.”

“I got a fright,” you mumbled, your hands pushing on his chest. He knew you could break out if you truly wanted to but you weren’t using your force as normal. Soon, you stopped pushing altogether, your gaze getting lost in his.

“Are you still frightened?” he asked softly and you sighed, nodding slowly. And then something snapped in you, finally escaping out of his grip and righting yourself immediately.

“You know there’s no way anything can happen between us.”

“Right,” he replied simply and you focused intently on washing the window again. Jaebum smiled. “But knowing that you wanted it to for even a minute just now is enough for me.”

“Are you going to keep helping me?” you questioned curtly and Jaebum bowed lightly.

“I’ll leave you to it for today,” he stated, leaving the room and leaning against the wall soon after, a giddy smile crossing his lips.

His training was complete. If the war came to these shores, Jaebum was certain he would be one of the first pilots called upon from the base. Along with you up in the skies, you had proven to be a formidable pair. The Captain might not agree, but after the assessments were done, you had earned your ability to become a Second Lieutenant already. Although Jaebum wanted to go up in rankings himself, he was proud to see you being recognised by other officials in the air force. It was time for change to occur in how women were perceived in society and you were definitely a good example of that.

What he wasn’t certain about was your personal relationship. After the office mishap, further incidents in close proximities had occurred and you had almost kissed him last night because of it. It was driving Jaebum mad, knowing that you were attracted to him, yet holding back because of some honour code you had conjured up.

“We can’t,” you had told him sadly, stepping back as you let go of his shirt you had anchored your hands upon. You shook your head to reinforce your opinion. “If we get caught-”

“No one will be surprised, Y/N.” You looked at Jaebum then, eyes wide. He tried to smile soothingly at you. “Everyone always has teased us of-”

“And it becoming true will only be more ammunition for them!”

“It’s not like you care what they say!” he refuted and you dropped your head. Jaebum heaved a breath before stepping towards you. “I mean-”

“I do care,” you said quietly, sounding so unlike yourself. When you lifted your head back up, your eyes were brimming with tears. “Every remark about me being a woman pilot hurts. You see it as motivation to be better. Do you know how many times I was turned away from being here? Unlike the men who just need to be of age and healthy enough, I had extra credentials needed to join. I jumped through hoops to be here. And I knew it would be hard, but gosh Jaebum, why do I always have to be better?! I’m a Lieutenant now yet I still hear the vulgar comments, and I know what is said about me when I’m out of ears reach. It matters to me. Everything they think and say, I do care about, far too much!”

He didn’t answer right away; ashamed his words had led to such an outburst. And yet, it wasn’t enough to satisfy him. He nodded once. “It’s a pity though that no matter how much I’ve been on your side, that you don’t care enough about the one who does think you belong here. I always have.”

Jaebum walked away then, not listening to your calls after him.

He avoided you for most of the next morning, only being around you when he had to be. It was petty, even he knew that much. But his pride was hurt and he figured if you didn’t want to progress with the feelings you had both skirted around on multiple occasions that he needed to find a way to let them go. He knew he admired you for the fellow comrade that you were and that would never change.

Jaebum just didn’t know how else to deal with his deeper feelings other than to avoid them.

And that’s why it surprised him when you approached him next.

“What are you– oh my God!” he exclaimed, blushing deeply as he quickly tightened the towel around his waist, darting his focus rapidly around the otherwise empty shower room. You showered in here alone when the men were done at a different time of the day and he knew that you didn’t have a special pass to be in here like he did. After being in the unfortunate place when a whole bunch of grease landed on him, Jaebum had been given the opportunity to shower when nobody would be in here. It was the most relaxing shower he had taken since joining the force.

Until now.

“Y/N, you can’t be in here, oh God, I’m not even dressed, look away!”

You smiled, admittedly a little overwhelmed by the sight before you, yet you had a desire in your gaze that he knew all too well. You were determined. “I never took you for being embarrassed about me seeing you without a shirt on. After all, it’s not my first time seeing you without one. All you men forget to put them on when working away in the heat of the sun.”

“Yeah, well…” He didn’t want to admit that he felt vulnerable right now. Or the fact that your steady gaze was making him react under the towel he was holding tightly around his lower half.

“I need to correct you on something,” you told him and continued your approach closer.

Jaebum backed into the stall he was just leaving and let out a whine an octave higher than usual. “N-now?!”

You nodded. “Mm, now.”

“What is it then?” he asked hastily, looking over your shoulder and imagining Bernard the cook who normally had showers at the same time as air force personnel and all his body hair. Jaebum thought of anything that could help him lower his heart rate and the growth under the towel.

“You were wrong about me, you know.”

You were dragging it out, now standing right in front of him, practically gleaming at his discomfort. Your hand tentatively reached out for his bare chest and he turned rigid, battling with all his self-control not to take you right now up against the tiled wall. It was growing far too hot in the room and he was failing to think clearly.

“I do care about you, more than I’ve let on,” you finally told him and Jaebum managed to look at you, blinking slowly.

“You know, you’re treading on thin ice, Y/N. I could take you right-”

“Then what are you waiting for?” you intervened, crashing your lips onto his. The change in mood was instantaneous and Jaebum’s hesitancy evaporated as his tongue grazed upon your teeth, begging for access. You gasped into the embrace and soon your tongues were entangled, much like your bodies were in the cubicle.

His hands moved to your layers, hastily undoing the buttons to your shirt and cursing when he fumbled on a couple. You worked on sucking on his neck, your own hands on your slacks and unfastening them quickly. You both threw your clothes away from the cubicle to keep them away from the wet tiles before your hands roamed over his torso, yanking on the towel still around his waist.

“Time to get rid of this like you did my clothes,” you murmured as you removed the towel, Jaebum wasting no time pressing you up against the walls and hiking you up in his arms, your passion eliciting moans and gasps to echo around the shower room as you both transported into another realm of pleasure.

When your climax stopped ringing around the walls, Jaebum held you tenderly, turning on the shower above you both. It was a different kind of intimacy now, the rush was gone and you both moved slower, imprinting each other with your hands and lips. Eventually, you dressed one another before each taking careful consideration in how you exited the bathroom. You met up on the court outside the bunkers and Jaebum reached out to discreetly take your hand, kissing the back of it gently.

“Jaebum!” you hissed and he smiled, shaking his head.

“You can’t take back what we just did.”

“But in public, we need to be more careful!”

Jaebum looked around you both before shrugging. “Do you see anyone? Because all I see is you right now.”

“Who knew you would be this affectionate after what you just did to me?” you murmured, nestling into his side anyway. “We still need to be careful about this. My career as a pilot comes first.”

“One day I will change that.”

Despite the intimacy in the bathrooms, you were still decidedly prickly towards Jaebum. He had hoped that you would meet him for secret rendezvous in between tasks on the base, or spend your free time at night with him. Instead, you had distance yourself again, confusing him over your confession. Had the intimacy been bad? He, for one, had enjoyed it and with how vocal you had been, he couldn’t imagine you viewing his efforts as being inadequate. The only thing he could think of was that you were scared. And this conclusion seemed to diminish all that was said and felt within that afternoon in the bathroom.

It, in turn, made Jaebum irritable to be around.

“Son, can you come into the office?” Jaebum nodded and followed the Lieutenant Colonel, wondering if his behaviour on the base lately needed to be reprimanded. Yet, you were also inside the office and for a moment, Jaebum panicked, wondering who gave the officials a heads up about the activities you and him got up to in the bathroom together.

The Lieutenant Colonel sat down and steepled his fingers together. “I have been made aware that you are both the best pilots on the first squadron here at the base, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I have orders for you both. Now, what I am about to tell you of is classified information,” he explained and instead of being concerned, Jaebum felt his heart thump harder with anticipation. He had been hopeful that his training would come in handy one day soon. “The war our allies are faced with is intensifying. They cannot get enough intelligence because they’re too busy sending their finest pilots into the face of battle. Although neighbouring countries are submitting what they can, they need someone to go into enemy territory and gather information. They have asked for us to send our best.”

The Lieutenant Colonel got out of his seat and began to pace the floor of his office. “Now, I have been in two minds of whether to send my best pilots into such a dangerous place. The war isn’t anywhere near our shores, and we have only pledged assistance so far. Sending my finest in may only bring us into the war faster.”

“Sir, with all due respect, getting eyes in there can be an advantage to us as well,” Jaebum mentioned and the older man nodded.

“That’s why I’ve decided to send you both. Another base is also prepared to send some men. You will be deployed at zero seven hundred hours. Do not try to be heroes for a war that isn’t ours to fight yet, you hear me? You come back home together.”

“Yes sir,” you replied, both saluting the man before leaving the office.

A smile played on your lips and Jaebum wondered why. You looked at him and grinned. “He didn’t see me as a woman, but as a pilot.”

Your elation was short-lived. Despite flying the new prototype Mustang P51s, what was happening back home was child���s play. Navigating through the war was arduous and out of the eleven you had started out with, only nine remained into the third day. Jaebum was grim and exhausted. It was harder to source out these hidden bases than he had anticipated and the reality of the war was cold and troubling. And he and the others weren’t even in the thick of it.

After the fourth day in the area, the team had finally gathered enough evidence to return home with when you were caught under fire by enemy fighters. The squadron managed to fight off several planes until there were only two enemies left and one was right after you.

“Y/N, on your right!” Jaebum radioed through but there was no response except for static and you didn’t seem as aware as you should have been, focusing solely on taking down the other plane instead. And just as you succeeded, you became a target. Jaebum sped towards you making a signal you had both often used when up in the skies playing chicken. You saw it right at the last moment and dived left, leaving Jaebum to take on the plane who had been on your tail. He managed to take it out, but not without being hit first.

“I’m hit! I’m hit!” he radioed through, feeling the searing pain in his right arm from where the damage had been made. Trying to focus on flying instead of the pain and loss of blood he knew to be happening around him, Jaebum managed to land his plane at the nearby allied base they were using, a hazy image of you being the last thing he saw until everything turned black.

When he came to, he found you beside him, this time without seeing three versions of you. He smiled lazily as you leapt up from the chair you had been sitting in, calling for a nurse immediately.

Jaebum whined hoarsely. “Why do you gotta do that? I was happy just looking at you.”

“Don’t give me a fright like that again!” you snapped, before darting out of the cubicle to find someone. Once the nurse had assured you that Jaebum was going to make a full recovery, you slumped down into the chair again and held onto his hand.

“Oh, what’s this?” he asked, lifting your linked hands up to gesture to it. “Is it because we’re not back at home that you’re showing me affection, Y/N?”

“I thought you were going to die.”

“So you want to hold on so I don’t? Fine by me.”

You groaned. “Falling in love with you was the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

His teasing smile faded and he watched as you huffed in annoyance. When you realised he wasn’t going to say anything back, you glanced at him, smiling weakly. Jaebum lifted your hand so he could brush his lips along the back of it. “You can’t take it back this time around.”

The day had gone just as Jaebum had predicted. The morning had been filled with working in the hangar on one of the planes on maintenance repairs, and after lunch, Jaebum joined you in the field in front of the new recruits. Unlike at your old base where there were sniggers and lewd remarks at you being a female officer, not a peep came from any of the young men before you both. Jaebum smirked, wondering if it had anything to do with the fact that after your return from the war you had both been promoted.

“Captain, will we be flying today?” one of the cadets spoke up and you looked at Jaebum before smiling.

“Are you eager to get up in the skies?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“What will you do if you can’t get your plane up fast enough for me today?” you continued and several murmurs sounded through the recruits.

“If we can, will you answer one of our questions?” another asked and you nodded once. “Really? It doesn’t matter what it is?”

“I will answer anything as soon as you prove to me that you can get that big fat lady up in the skies before those markers,” you confirmed and the young men went to work immediately.

Moving to your side, Jaebum smiled. “What do you think they’re going to ask?”

“What did the last group ask me?” you questioned him back and Jaebum laughed loudly. You smirked and poked him in the side. “You need to watch out Lieutenant, there are some nice looking ones this time around.”

He gaped after you as you walked towards the teams, inspecting their preparations well. The incentive had worked and now the cadets were lined up, anticipating their earned question time.

Before you could initiate anything, Jaebum stepped forward. “Raise your hand if any of you planned on asking Captain L/N here if she was single.”

A few raised their hands sheepishly and you hid a smile behind your hand as Jaebum took a deep steadying breath. He then smiled forcibly. “Congratulations, you’re now on my training team exclusively.”

“Why, have you also got a thing for the Captain, Lieutenant Im?!” one cried out sullenly and Jaebum folded his arms over his chest before glancing in your direction. You shrugged.

“Professionally speaking, the Captain and I come as a team,” he announced and then moved over to sling an arm over your shoulders. He felt your sharp intake as he grinned. “And personally, we continue that very well.”

“You’re all dismissed for today!” you mentioned hastily, turning on your heel as the embarrassment continued to flood your features. Jaebum jogged to reach your side, your eyes glaring at him as soon as you snapped your head in his direction. “Now, we’ll be the talk of the base!”

“As if we haven’t been since Youngjae outed us to the other members of our squadron.”

“That’s within Airforce Seven only,” you confirmed, flailing an arm about. “Not for the men we are training!”

“What, you said there were some pretty guys this time around. I had to do something to ensure none of them would approach you when my back’s turned.”

“Remind me why I love you?” you grumbled as you stepped back into your office and Jaebum closed the door before pressing you against it. Leaning down, he hovered his mouth just above yours.

“Because I almost died for you.”

“Are you always going to hold that over my head?!” you wondered, slipping your hands up so you could drape them around his neck. “I never asked you to save me.”

“You’re glad I did,” he replied and you kissed him softly before pulling back to give him a small nod. Jaebum pressed on. “Are we still on for that sunset? I found a new spot this morning that I want to show you.”

“Last time I listened to you, I found myself held up by an old farmer with a shotgun for landing in his field. I didn’t even have enough time to get my clothes on!”

Jaebum kissed you softly and smiled. “I found a cabin this time and I rented it. Completely safe, without a farmer in sight.”

“You know, Im Jaebum, you’ve been trouble since the day I first met you.”

He laughed, letting you go and shooting you a wink before opening the door to leave. “You best keep me in line then.”

_________________

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[shou7]

A 3.7k Word Essay About the Failures of Future Pop and the Present State of Perfume

Just something I needed to get off my chest. It took me almost a week to get this done, but here it is.

When discussing a work of art, not only does it need to be evaluated as a product in and of itself, but also as part of a larger context. In the case of Perfume, this context includes but is not limited to: their own team’s intentions, the expectations their team has set for their fans and the general public, and the sonic landscape of the rest of the music industry. How critically and commercially successful an album is depends on how these aspects interact and come together. So before I can discuss why Future Pop has failed, it’s important to set the context into which it was released, starting with the purpose of every album in their discography.

GAME was Perfume’s real introduction to the general public after finally getting a breakthrough hit with Polyrhythm. That’s why it had catchy melodies and unique but still easily digestible production. Triangle’s role was to further GAME’s legacy, pushing GAME’s sound to be as mainstream as possible while still retaining Perfume’s signature production in order to attain even more commercial success. The era’s singles did just that, but the album itself went in the complete opposite direction. Triangle was Nakata self-indulging in 80’s pop and maxing out the auto-tune to the point of concealing the natural charms of the trio, and this alienated a lot of the general public. Thus JPN’s purpose was to gain back the general public’s favor, culminating in their most commercial and mainstream album to date. While this did recapture the general public’s interest, there were long-time fans that were put off by how mainstream Perfume’s sound had become. This brings us to LEVEL3, which served to rebrand them as a global electronic act, once again making Perfume distinct from the mainstream. The album still retained the catchy melodies of JPN, but featured more experimental instrumentation under the guise of EDM for better marketability to a global audience. With the success of LEVEL3 on overseas iTunes, as well as their sold-out overseas concerts, Perfume’s team starts pushing to increase the size of their Western fanbase. And so enters COSMIC EXPLORER, their first era and album featuring explicitly foreign sounds. But perhaps in an attempt not to scare off Western audiences with Japanese lyrics, the album featured more lengthy instrumentals than ever, reducing the amount of actual singing by the trio, and alienating plenty of the fanbase and general public.

And so we finally arrive in the Future Pop era. The COSMIC EXPLORER Tour was over and Perfume needed a new goal to replace Madison Square Garden after struggling to sell-out their North American leg. With Mikiko and Daito being involved in the 2016 Olympics closing ceremony, the answer was clear as day – the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Thus began a renewed focus on Japan rather than the West, an intent reflected clearly in TOKYO GIRL. The production was as inoffensive and simple as possible to please the general public, and it worked. TOKYO GIRL became only their third track to sell 100k digitally (after Spring of Life and FLASH). So having re-established themselves as mainstream artistes after the slight backlash from COSMIC EXPLORER, they began campaigning in earnest to perform at the Olympics. And this is where If you wanna and Mugen Mirai come in, heavy in new future bass influences. Future bass, thus, in this context was less about attracting more Western audiences, but more an effort to have Perfume embody the concept of “future” in the eyes of the general public, and to make them top picks for representing Japan in the Olympics. And this was what Future Pop was being set up to do as well, via the album’s photoshoot and comments from Perfume themselves, such as during the album announcement when A~chan said Nakata was creating a “new era in music”. So with Future Pop’s placement and purpose in Perfume’s discography now laid out, we can start discussing whether it achieved what it was supposed to do. Was it a “new era in music”?

In short: no, not at all. And I think that much of its issues as an album is best encapsulated in how a “dusty floppy disc” is referred to as an “ultra future loop” in Chourairin. Rather than “pop of the future”, it is “pop that makes you think of the future”, a theme highlighted by the contrast between the old and current sounds being fused on this album, as well as its lyrics. Just like how every album has been shaped by the criticisms of its predecessor, Future Pop is no different. The older Perfume sounds and relatively increased vocal sections in the album tracks strongly indicates that its main concern was regaining the older fans that were put-off by COSMIC EXPLORER. Unfortunately, all of the older sounds were added superficially, with nothing having been done to make them fit into the current soundscape of the industry. This is especially so for Tenkuu, which sounds like Nakata had the trio re-record a long lost Complete Best era B-side (think Foundation and wonder2). It’s telling Nakata doesn’t seem to understand that it’s never been the instrumentation itself, but the innovative spark behind the production that attracted listeners to Perfume. Though the production may have been innovative a decade ago, simply rehashing it now without any deconstruction in its use is regressive. Another big issue that this album has, especially to long-time fans, is Nakata’s complete disregard for Perfume’s public image and the narrative they’ve been pushing for the past year about maturing and turning 30. Forcing them to sing cutesy idol-like songs like Tiny Baby this late into their career with their voices pitched up to oblivion so as to sound like teenagers is the most jarring thing for fans that have matured together with the trio. So no, this album doesn’t achieve what it was supposed to do, nor what it actually set out to do.

However, more pressing is that a deconstructive take on “Future Pop” was absolutely not an album that Perfume should have released, not at this point in their careers when they are trying to be recognized as a guiding light for the future of the Japanese music industry. And especially not right after COSMIC EXPLORER played the space theme straight, truly committing to what it had promised, because people expected the same straightforward approach with Future Pop, and they were in fact (mis)led to believe so. In other words, no one expected what was to come, and so no one really wanted it from them. But at this point, I think it’s worthy to note that Perfume have never actually given their fanbase what they wanted. GAME fans never got another Secret Secret, Triangle fans never got another Edge, JPN fans never got another Fushizen na Girl, LEVEL3 fans never got another 1mm, and COSMIC EXPLORER fans didn’t get another Miracle Worker. Perfume’s sound has always been jumping from one genre to another, decided solely by the whims of Nakata, and so it is inevitable that there will always be people that are alienated with each change. The only reason Perfume has managed to remain so popular after a decade in the industry is because they’ve consistently put out quality work regardless of genre, drawing in more new listeners whenever one becomes disinterested. So if we put aside the album’s (mis)direction, does Future Pop stand on its own as a quality album?

Once again, my answer is no. Future Pop clocks in at 42m 3s, their shortest album to date by far, and yet not every second is worth listening to. Start-Up doesn’t really lead into Future Pop, nor does it really set up any atmosphere, and even if it did, Future Pop sets up its own atmosphere well enough, so that’s close to a minute wasted. Future Pop’s 15s outro also has the same issue. All this time wasted could have gone to fixing Chourairin’s abrupt and generic ending. Which brings us to the next problem, the fact that many of the songs on this album have very similar structures. Future Pop, If you wanna, TOKYO GIRL, Let Me Know, Chourairin, Mugen Mirai, and Everyday. That’s more than half the album that are pretty much their first halves repeated once more, with very little progression instrumentally, if any at all. And while the two halves structure isn’t immediately a bad thing, it does mean that there are only two hook sections, making it difficult for the already short songs to leave an impression on listeners. Further aggravating the issue is the lack of an infectiously catchy sing along chorus that has become synonymous with Perfume’s music over the years. TOKYO GIRL barely counts, and even then, its chorus is only sung twice which makes it harder to catch on. It also doesn’t help that this album is lyrically weak. A lot of the lyrics are saying the same thing, and it all bleeds together. Future Pop, TOKYO GIRL, Mugen Mirai, and Tenkuu are literally all about reaching for somewhere else in time, with imageries of light. It’s true that a lot of COSMIC EXPLORER’s tracks were about travelling, but it had a wider variety of tracks, so the monotony issue wasn’t as serious as it is here. And then we have Tiny Baby and Chourairin, which are largely just a bunch of random words thrown together. There is some semblance of coherent meaning in the lyrics of these two songs, but it’s all hidden beneath layers and layers of clutter. So even if listeners pause the music to take a deeper look at what they’re saying, there’s not much to make out. With all of these issues put together, Future Pop as a whole makes for an objectively forgettable listen – everything simply passes by before you know it. So no, it’s not a quality album. But hey, every act will have a weak album every now and then, right? As long as their hearts are in the right place, things will get better! Can’t we all just move past this and keep on supporting Perfume like we always have? So it finally comes down to a question of whether Perfume’s team still cares.

The quality of Nakata’s music has been a concern for quite some time, but Future Pop is the first album where it’s so explicitly clear that he doesn’t give a damn about who Perfume are or what they’re trying to achieve. Even if we set aside the questionable production decisions, there’s just no overlooking the laziness of including every single track of the era on the album. Worse still are their stylists who have only grown more and more brazen ever since 2011. It started with recycling lazy single-color cookie cutter outfits for live performances, which while not ideal, was acceptable. Now they’re just throwing a random bunch of random fabric together and calling it “avant-garde” (because Perfume are all about being cutting-edge right?), no thought at all about whether the colors and materials mesh well, or whether the silhouette of the outfits flatter their bodies. The covers of their singles and their albums always seemed to escape those patchwork outfits, as if they understood covers were sacred ground that should not be messed with, but with Future Pop, even that distinction has disappeared. And then we have Perfume’s creative directors, who, ever since STAR TRAIN, seem to have been selecting covers and promotional images from photo shoots by throwing darts while blindfolded. Not only is there no thought behind which photos work better as posters, artiste profiles, or covers, they don’t even make sure that the photos they’re putting out are flattering for all three members. But at the very least, even if the photos chosen were less than satisfactory, the visual concepts have always been up to a certain standard. Future Pop is nowhere close to that standard. It was already a bad decision in itself to play the “future pop” concept straight instead of following Nakata’s deconstructive take, because that led to album covers and promotional material that don’t reflect the atmosphere or sound of the album at all, which is basically false advertising. But then they also had to use cheap twine straw to represent beams of light for an album called “Future Pop” when Rhizomatiks already has tons and tons of lasers ready for use in their warehouse. Another big issue with the creative direction of this album is its limited edition. Not only is the cover atrocious, the packaging does nothing to salvage it. It’s simply the same packaging Mirai no Museum had, but with a slipcase and no comic. And then there’s also the fact that the booklet for the limited and regular editions are exactly the same. There’s just no excuse for how lazy and basic the packaging is when its title is “Future Pop”, it’s their most expensive album to date, and especially not when the team has been so much more innovative with the past three albums. The direction the creative team took with the promotion of the album is also highly problematic. It was a very questionable decision to promote COSMIC EXPLORER with the version of a track that doesn’t appear on the album proper, but at least the visuals for FLASH didn’t clash so badly with the album’s. And there was justification in that choice, because FLASH was their biggest hit since Polyrhythm, so they were forced to use it in the promotional campaign for COSMIC EXPLORER. There’s none of that justification here for having Let Me Know’s visuals go in the exact opposite direction from that of Future Pop. The wistful Let Me Know had to be chosen as the promotional lead because it was the most mainstream of the album tracks, but that’s no reason to go full nostalgia and plaid for its aesthetics without even trying to incorporate any futuristic aspects into it.

So it’s pretty clear that not one person on Perfume’s entire team bothered to actually think through what’s being done with the album, and it’s really easy as fans of the trio to simply keep on blaming their team for the shoddy work. But I think it’s time we hold the ones at the center of everything culpable, because ultimately, the ones giving the final go-ahead and enabling all of this nonsense are Perfume themselves. Since the very beginning, the trio have been perpetuating this notion that they have no control over their music or image, and that they’re just promoting what all of these talented people are giving to them. Though that may have been the truth at the beginning of their careers when they were nobodies, things have changed since then. There are tons of creators that want to collaborate with them – they have leverage now. They’re the ones that are choosing what they put on, and what they put out, and this applies to their music too. The fact that three of them were the ones who got Nakata to add the Japanese lyrics into Spending all my time shows that their opinions do matter to him. So if they had wanted to, they certainly could’ve sent Nakata a memo to tell him that the vocal tuning on the album needs to be pitched down because they’re turning 30 and it doesn’t suit the whole mature image that they’re going for. If they had wanted to, they could’ve fired their stylists the moment they were presented with those awful rags to wear on stage. And yet they didn’t – because there’s never been a need to. They’ve never been faced with any direct repercussions. Perhaps because of the many years of quality output, Japanese fans tend to ignore any flaws altogether, blindly purchasing and consuming new releases, simply believing that things will get better. The Japanese public and any unconvinced fans don’t say anything either, because being negative would be considered rude, so they just turn the other way, silently losing interest in Perfume. So even when Perfume themselves aren’t convinced with what they’re putting out, like how A~chan was with Triangle, their products continue to sell decently. Even when they appear on stage in garbage, the crowd continues to cheer. In this sort of bubble environment without any form of criticism, it’s no wonder that the three of them would grow complacent. After all, no matter if they like their products or not, and no matter if the products are of high quality or not, even as sales continue to quietly drop, the response remains the same. “Nakata is a god!” “Perfume are goddesses!” All they have to do is put on a smile and promote whatever their team gives them to sell. But even then, none of this is an excuse to have completely given up ownership of their own brand like they have. As such, if there’s anyone that’s really to blame for the current state of affairs, it’s Perfume themselves for leaving their car on autopilot even as it continues speeding towards a cliff.

With that, for one last time, my answer is no. Future Pop was not a one-off bad decision. It’s every problem that’s been plaguing Perfume these past few years finally coming to a head in one gigantic mess, and not one person in Team Perfume, not even Perfume themselves, still care enough to clean this mess up. And so we’ve ended up in the final stages of Perfume’s career. In the latest Ongaku to Hito interviews for Future Pop, the trio mention that they don’t think about how much time they have left as Perfume anymore, and that they’ll carry on as long as people want them to. Some fans may read that as a show of confidence – reassurance that Perfume still has years and years left to go. But put in the context of reality, that statement paints an entirely different picture – them turning a blind eye to the situation, opting instead to just enjoy whatever time they have left as a trio. First week sales for Future Pop are going to be over 35% less than COSMIC EXPLORER’s, and sales for their releases are only going to continue to fall from here. What this means is that if poor sales of Mugen Mirai hadn’t already, Future Pop will have thrown all talk of performing for the Olympics out the window, because there’s just no way a group that’s not even relevant enough to sell 100k copies of their album in its first week is going to represent Japan in a prestigious global event. So with the Olympics now a non-factor, how many people exactly will it take for them to continue as Perfume? That’s all up to Universal and Amuse to decide, and looking at what they’ve been doing with Perfume, the end is not that far off. The marketing for Future Pop was utterly atrocious. COSMIC EXPLORER had liner notes from celebrities and an entire montage commissioned, but all Future Pop has had are cheaply-made Instagram stories and posts. This suggests that they’ve already given up on sales from the general public, and are mainly focused on getting pre-existing fans to buy the album. Why? Because they don’t even expect the general public to be interested, not after Mugen Mirai failed to even sell anywhere close to half of what FLASH did despite having had the same exposure from the Chihayafuru movie franchise. All of the ugly outfits and questionable music directions have finally alienated too much of the general public, and no amount of technological showcases is going to win back their interest or convert anyone new into fans. The social currency of the Perfume brand is at an all-time low and it’s reflected in how magazines like ROCKIN’ON JAPAN didn’t give them the cover to promote Future Pop despite always having done so when there was a big feature about them. The end of any halfway popular thing falling into obscurity is always marked with the corporations behind it shamelessly milking hardcore fans out of as much money as they can, and that’s what’s happening to Perfume right now. Instead of having a CD-only edition of Future Pop, Universal is forcing a DVD/BD filled mostly with already online material into every copy in order to inflate prices and exploit the remaining hardcore Perfume fans. Meanwhile, Amuse is having Perfume sell insanely overpriced clothing through Perfume Closet. 60 USD for a plain black cap with Perfume’s watermark on the front, 100 USD for a plain T-shirt with a little lace in its breast pocket, 180 USD for a plain black pair of slacks – it all screams exploitation of fans. Universal and Amuse are getting maximum returns for investing as little as possible, and with this business model turning in a decent profit for them, things are only going to get worse as they try to squeeze out more and more money from less and less fans.

The Perfume fan experience since 2014 has been like watching a close relative slowly but surely losing themselves to Alzheimer’s. It’s not a steady downwards spiral. In fact, even as the symptoms grow more serious, there always seem to be better days where you can see a spark of who once was. But every time you think they’ll get better, or perhaps even recover entirely, it’s always a turn for the worse. The cycle repeats until one day, you find them in hospital, bedridden and on life support because they’ve forgotten how to eat or breathe. This is where we’re at with Perfume now. They’re not dead yet, but they’re pretty damn close, and all that’s left is for Universal and Amuse to collectively pull the plug when they aren’t turning in enough of a profit from Perfume. It’s painful to keep watch by their bedside until they finally die, denied even one last gasp for air, but the worst pain of all is continuing to pray for a miracle that I know will never come. And so I’ve finally decided to turn in my stan card. I won’t be translating anymore supplementary materials, I won’t force myself to translate lyrics to Perfume songs that I don’t like, and I’ll stop checking every other day for updates - I’ll just go back to being a normal, casual fan.

I will always, always, love Perfume, but these three thirty year-old women singing in cutesy girl voices, dancing in tacky cut-and-paste dresses, and smiling as if all is right with the world even as everything around them continues to fall apart? I don’t know them.

[pixelgrotto]

The horrific Resident Evil playthrough, interlude three

Resident Evil’s a franchise that has almost as many spin-offs as it does main games, and when I told a friend several months ago that I was going to attempt a series playthrough, he was like, “Dude, aren’t there thirty of those?” 

Thirty’s an exaggeration, but there are about eleven spin-off games, give or take a bunch of mobile quickies that only came out in Japan. I’m not counting the “big” spin-offs like Code: Veronica or the Revelations titles, because those are essentially mainline releases with pivotal, canon story elements. I’m talking about games like Resident Evil: Survivor, an early PS1 effort that tried to fulfill the series’ first person perspective fetish with clunky results, Resident Evil: Dead Aim, a light gun shooter, and Resident Evil: Outbreak, an online game that let you tag team with buddies to escape Racoon City.

I decided to pick and choose which of these spin-offs I’d sit down to play, since quite a few of ‘em are mediocre, others have components that are now difficult to get running (Outbreak’s online multiplayer) and I just didn’t have the necessary hardware, like a PS2 light gun, to fully enjoy stuff like Dead Aim. (If you want a more comprehensive study of all of these games, then check out Avalanche Reviews’ Resident Evil Retrospective, which he began at around the same time that I started this playthrough.) I finally settled on Resident Evil 1.5, Resident Evil Gaiden, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles as the ones I was most interesting in experiencing...and honestly, it was a mixed bag. 

Resident Evil 1.5 - This isn’t so much a game as it’s a leaked beta release of what would eventually become Resident Evil 2, and the reason I chose to play this is because it’s famously different from the final product. Thanks to lots of behind-the-scenes development drama, Resident Evil 1.5 (still shown as 2 in my screenshot up there) is an unfinished build that was scrapped and heavily reworked before it became the RE2 that we know today. The differences between this and the final version are stark - the famous Raccoon City Police Station is a modern office building rather than a gothic hall of weird puzzles and art, the enemies include strange foes like zombie gorillas, there was no partner zapping system, and there’s a whole different character available from the get-go named Elza Walker. Elza, initially just a random motorcycle-riding civilian who crashed into the police station during the zombie outbreak, later became Claire Redfield in order to create a connection with Chris Redfield of RE1. I’m kind of fascinated with her, since it’s rare to get a glimpse of a character that was totally revamped during a game’s development, and I mostly ignored Leon to dabble through portions of the playable build with her. I say “dabble” rather than “play” because you can’t exactly finish RE1.5 - all you can do is wander around rooms and use a debug menu to teleport to different spots before giving up and watching a playthrough of someone more experienced do this on YouTube. At the end of the day, RE1.5 is more of a fascinating look behind the curtain than it is an actual game, and the final version of RE2 is definitely superior. It’s no wonder why the devs decided that a drastic revamp was needed, since RE1.5, even in its unfinished state, feels kind of samey to RE1. That said, I remain enamored with Elza Walker and her slick motorcycle suit, and I ain’t the only one, since it’s available as a skin for Claire in the upcoming Resident Evil 2 remake. 

Resident Evil Gaiden - RE Gaiden is a game that got infamously bad reviews upon release, with reviewers crapping on it for not being like the PS1 games. This is kind of unfair in hindsight, because it was released for the darn Game Boy Color, of all systems, and there was no way we were going to get an accurate copy of an experience which originated on hardware that was much more powerful. If anything, it shows how bad gaming journalism was in the early 2000s (you could make the argument that it still is bad, but that’s another story altogether), because honestly...I kinda enjoyed Gaiden? It’s flawed to be sure, but it comes darn close to taking the experience of “survival,” always at the heart of this series, and distilling it down to an 8-bit formula. The setting is a huge ship, just like Resident Evil Revelations (which oddly seems like it borrowed a lot of concepts from this game), and you’ve got to do the usual schtick of running around, collecting ammo and items and dodging zombies. Combat takes place from an RPG-esque first-person perspective that I liked because it struck me as an elegant reminder of Sweet Home, and you’ve got a constantly moving slider bar for each weapon with a key point in the middle that you need to hit in order to accurately fire off a shot. It’s novel but frustrating at times, since advanced weapons have the slider moving so damn fast, and it’s totally possible to end up in a fail state by running out of ammo. You can do this in any Resident Evil game, technically, but it feels more plausible here. Case in point - I got all the way to the final boss and was unable to beat him because I had no bullets. Dang! Still, despite its rough edges, Gaiden feels like a sleeper that didn’t quite deserve the bashing that it got upon release, and for a spin-off designed by a small British studio who had previously only made Mary Kate & Ashley and Tazmanian Devil games, it’s worth a look for people who always wondered what RE would be like in 2D.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles/Darkside Chronicles - I’m grouping these Wii rail shooters together because I expected to enjoy ‘em the most, since they contain remixes of the plots of RE1 to Code: Veronica and also new bits of lore, like the actual story of Umbrella’s downfall. (Why Capcom never stuck this in a mainline game and relegated it to a chapter in a Wii spin-off remains one of the company’s more bizarre franchise decisions.) Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish them, because I realized while playing both that...I don’t really like rail shooters very much. I mean, I think stuff like Time Crisis is okay in the arcade, when you’ve got a partner by your side and a physical zapper in your hand. But playing these after the fact and solo via the Dolphin emulator just isn’t as fun, though they are technically well made, for what it’s worth. I think my issue is that rail shooters take nearly all movement away from the player, and to me a vital facet of this series since day one has been exploration, so to be ushered from location to location with not much to do but blast zombies in the head just isn’t very appealing to me. The camera work in both games was also too much for me to handle, particularly in Darkside Chronicles, which has near constant shaky cam and gave me a headache after ten minutes. Overall, I think the new lore is worth checking out, at least via a YouTube collection of all the cutscenes, but I couldn’t bring myself to play these to completion. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, since I found the Time Crisis-style shoot ‘em up sections of RE5 and 6 to be kinda aggravating, but I was hoping to be surprised. This wasn’t the case, and part of me also finds both of these games to be something of a depressing reminder of the Wii era, where just about every major franchise got a gimmicky spin-off designed around the motion controls of Nintendo’s white box. It happened with Soulcalibur, it happened with Dragon Quest, and it happened with Resident Evil. The Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles are certainly on a higher tier when it comes to Wii spin-offs, but...I still think they aren’t for me.

And with that, I wrap up this so-so experience of Resident Evil side stories just in time for the big B.O.W. in the room... Resident Evil RE2make releases in two days, and you bet that I’ve got it pre-ordered and ready to load. 

All screenshots taken by me. 

[chiaroscuroverse]

Where's the quote on the post you just made from, if you don't mind my asking? (The "falling in love with Rose, in his Doctor way" one)

Hi, Nonny! No problem, that’s why I mentioned in tags that anyone could ask ;) 

Putting under a cut because it’s tumblr ;)

It’s this video of Moff talking about his run on DW. The whole thing is pretty interesting, I thought. But if you’re sensitive about his view of GITF (as a wistful, what-might-have-been sudden love affair) and his character interpretation of the Doctor in re: who he loves, it’s going to be pretty aggravating. 

In that post I was bouncing off his characterization of the Doctor/Rose relationship “he falls in love with her in his Doctor way,” i.e., something other than, or alien to, what we all understand “falling in love” to be. Like, ok dude, but look at all these moments, if that’s not falling in love as we all understand it, then we have some irreconcilable differences about how we see this show. The post is intended to be kind of tongue-in-cheek, but ultimately sincere. 

(Gonna take the opportunity to say, as far as RTD-era fandom goes, I’m on the less anti-Moff side of the bell curve overall. I’m a Whovian first, and I watch every new thing eagerly and do my best to enjoy it for what it is - even if nothing will ever, EVER, get me in the heart like RTD-Who. I think Moff is very good at a lot of things, which is why he frustrates me so entirely in very specific ways. If he was utter shite all the time, it wouldn’t be so aggravating. I have done my absolute best to take everything as it comes and not stay in that “bitch eating crackers” place with him. All that said, the things he believes about, say, Reinette, and the things he thinks are funny, like the jokes about Nancy in TEC....I cannot. And that’s what this post is about. There are some things he apparently will never grok, and the entire arc of the Doctor/Rose relationship is one of them.)

(pictured: a regeneration, not a clone, and the culmination of a three-regeneration love story arc)

keeping this under a cut, and I’m going to be careful with tagging because there are people who watch his anti tag to argue about it and signal boost things to a different side of tumblr and I definitely do not have time for that :P 

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 11th August 2019

Top 10

For what I believe is its fifth non-consecutive week, Shawn Mendes’ new single with Camila Cabello, “Senorita”, is the powerhouse at #1, continuing a reign that has no sign of stopping at least in the foreseeable future.

And as we have had in the past four or so weeks, we have two consecutive Ed Sheeran songs, specifically from the No. 6 Collaborations Project album, as “Beautiful People” featuring Khalid leads the pack not moving at number-two.

Also standing still to my surprise and dismay is “I Don’t Care” also by Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber because I thought this was going to drop off pretty soon and pretty easily, but this seems not to be the case, unfortunately, since this song is incredibly dull and honestly its longevity has been exhausting.

Now we have our first real shake-up here in the top 10 with our new arrival at number-four, “boyfriend” by Social House featuring Ariana Grande (or Ariana Grande with Social House), which should be noted as it’s Social House’s first ever charting song as a credited artist. They’ve appeared in charts before as producers and songwriters for the pop princess but have never lead their vocals on a track until now and considering that, a #4 debut for their career is impressive, but it’s definitely Ariana pushing this to any actual traction, racking up a 22nd UK Top 40 hit and 14th top 10. We’ll talk more about this later but honestly it’s not much to discuss.

Thanks to the Ariana Grande debut, “Ladbroke Grove” by AJ Tracey is down a spot to number-five.

“3 Nights” by Dominic Fike, on the other hand, is up two positions to number-six.

Down two spaces after the hype of the Bieber remix and such dies down is “bad guy” by Billie Eilish at number-seven.

Interestingly, after building hype with a lot of features recently, both of which have charted in the top 20, it’s no surprise what seems to be Aitch’s debut major-label single has debuted high, but I really didn’t expect it to hit number-eight on its first week. “Taste (Make it Shake)” is enough of a smash to mean it’s his third UK Top 40 hit and first ever top 10 song, and I have my theories as to why but we’ll leave that and talk about this song a bit later.

“Higher Love” by Kygo and Whitney Houston continues its eventual rise to the top up a space to number-nine.

Finally, to round off the top 10 at #10, we have “Hold Me While You Wait” moving down four spaces this week, which isn’t quick enough for me personally, the sooner this song dies the better.

Climbers

Outside of the top 10 and a couple new arrivals, this really is a pretty slow week that adds to how the charts have been stalling lately in the Summer, despite a lot of genuine quality. The most notable story here despite a climb less than five positions is probably Joel Corry and Hayley May gaining their first UK Top 20 hit with Love Island theme song “Sorry” at #18, because of course it is. I won’t complain too much though, it’s a relatively decent song. The only other big story this week is Krept & Konan’s “I Spy” featuring Headie One and K-Trap zooming up 15 spaces to #22 thanks to a remix featuring Abra Cadabra, Bugzy Malone and more, but that’s all we have for notable climbers.

Fallers

There are a LOT more of these this week, including some surprises. Starting with #40, we have JAY1’s “Mocking It” down five spaces this week, I’m confused to why it’s not already off the chart. Then we have “You Need to Calm Down” by Taylor Swift continuing its underwhelming performance down nine spaces to #37, “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy pretty much in freefall now down seven to #34, “SOS” by Avicci featuring Aloe Blacc slowly falls out of fashion down five to #30, “Crown” by Stormzy seems to have started a premature fall down seven to #27 – if this is any indication on how the album will end up doing, I’m a  bit concerned. Also, “No Guidance” by Chris Brown featuring Drake is down six to #23, and that’s all we have here.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

The highest drop-out from the chart this week is at #7, as “Cross Me” by Ed Sheeran featuring Chance the Rapper and PNB Rock, which probably would have just fell this week anyway, but since it fell enough for other Ed Sheeran songs to overtake it, it dropped out entirely to be replaced with “Take Me Back to London” featuring Stormzy at #14. This type of exchange has happened before with Lewis Capaldi a few weeks back and this really won’t be the last time it occurs on the charts as long as this rule is in effect.

Other drop-outs are pretty much what you’d expect, songs that were definitely on their way out and have a chance to return in a really slow week, like “One Touch” by Jax Jones featuring Jess Glynne out from #36 without even making the top 10 which surprised me, “Summer Days” by Martin Garrix, Macklemore and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy falling out from #38 once again without peaking as high as I thought it would, “Bounce Back” by Little Mix once again exiting from #39 and finally, “Piece of Your Heart” by MEDUZA and Goodboys, which is still a pretty decent song by the way, ending its pretty moderate-length run peacefully from #40, and honestly I’m just surprised to see a legitimate smash hit song from two nobodies actually let them burst onto the scene and have a really normal chart run, it’s seldom-seen especially in the streaming era where we have an equal amount of overly long and incredibly brief runs.

NEW ARRIVALS

I’m surprised nothing from Drake’s “new” compilation album Care Package has appeared in the top 40 but while that hasn’t, we do have four new arrivals to review, so let’s start with...

#39 – “Outnumbered” – Dermot Kennedy featuring uncredited vocals from Todd Clark

Produced by Koz – Peaked at #2

...Okay, who? I don’t even know who the producer is on this one, and I’m not going to claim much ignorance here since this seems to be Kennedy’s first crossover hit to break out outside of his home country of Ireland. After doing some research, I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s a singer-songwriter in the same lane as the English Ed Sheeran and the Scottish Lewis Capaldi, so it’s pretty expected an Irish one would pop up at some point. Let’s hope the Welsh option has a lot more talent, but we’ll see about that. Apparently Dermot Kennedy has more of a rock edge but I heard that about Capaldi as well. Regardless of his sub-par contemporaries, it’s his and Clark’s first ever UK Top 40 single, and it’s pretty okay, reminding me of Dean Blunt more than anything. I love this dude’s raspy yet still clearly immature and almost slurring voice, it sounds like drunken Irish rambling, especially with the faux-rapping in the first verse, but that’s what works about a lot of his other material, I feel, as a love song about how Kennedy’s girlfriend is just as beautiful as other women but she’s being... “outnumbered”? Yeah, I don’t think Kennedy’s delivery works that much here, but the acoustic folksy guitar is worth something until it’s drowned out by an emotionless trap beat that kicks in for the chorus and the more the song continues the more it sounds like it could be remade pretty damn quickly. The outro’s attempt at making a choir out of the distant backing vocals falls flat on its face, and while the song isn’t bad it definitely does sound like a novice’s attempt at a game that’s already flooded by incompetent hacks.

#36 – “Harder” – Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha

Produced by Jax Jones and Steve Mac – Peaked at #16 in Scotland

Jax Jones, house DJ, has recently re-released his Snacks EP in preparation for the Snacks (Supersize) debut album, adding a track featuring singer Bebe Rexha (Who also met headlines recently when she posted an understandably volatile response to an executive attempting to force a change upon her image due to her being “too old to be sexy” at not even 30 years old) called “Harder”, and it’s pretty bad because of course it is, it’s just derivative house-pop that Jax Jones has been doing for a while, except his brand of EDM typically has a lot more focus on bass and infectiously catchy hooks, except even that has been dwindling since his first few singles. It’s Jones’ ninth UK Top 40 hit and Bebe Rexha’s eighth, and yeah, as I said before, it’s not great. It starts with some admittedly pretty-sounding synth-strings which Bebe Rexha sings well enough against but that’s immediately undercut by Jax Jones’ obnoxious producer tag, which transitions abruptly into a minimal, bassline-lead finger-snap beat where Rexha’s vocals are manipulated to an aggravating screech for the lead melody, and I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be the chorus? Admittedly, there is some artificial groove in the funky slap guitar but other than that, man, this is a dry waste of time, especially when the drop doesn’t consist of any notable vocaloid drops and instead just Bebe Rexha humming in an Auto-Tuned drone. It’s a Summer-ready dance-tune, but that’s not exactly a compliment.

#8 – “Taste (Make it Shake)” – Aitch

Produced by WhYJay

We know how Aitch is, by now, unfortunately. He’s a British rapper who is only any interesting because he is white in a largely black genre (And he very much sounds like a fish out of water when he’s rapping) and is otherwise completely void of personality. Hopefully his debut major-label lead single is showing of some kind of character since the three other features I’ve heard bring down the song’s quality pretty dramatically; “Kilos” by Bugzy Malone would be an incredible trap banger without his verse, and “Strike a Pose” with Young T & Bugsey would be a lot smoother than it is now with Aitch’s bluntly-delivered milquetoast verse. Aitch is just watered-down clichés of modern British trap, rolled into a shape of a human wearing a Bape hoodie, then painted white, and it’s somewhat disappointing as from his brief appearance in the “Keisha & Becky” remix I saw some potential but not nearly enough for his later efforts to be forgivable. Is this any good? No, of course it isn’t, it’s lowest common denominator gutter trash that’s more boring and forgettable than it is frustrating, and it’s really not worth my time or anyone else’s. To be fair, Aitch’s flow in the chorus isn’t awful and this beat is kind of cool, the catchy pitch-shifted vocal sample behind the 808s is kind of cool, but it otherwise sounds pretty cheap. Also, Aitch’s delivery is really unlikeable, with a smug charisma that doesn’t show any self-awareness in his annoying cadences. Oh, and it’s way too long – why is there a third verse and why is the chorus rapped eight times, with very little flow switches in the verses to differentiate themselves. The flute in the outro is putrid as well. Skip it.

#4 – “boyfriend” – Social House featuring Ariana Grande

Produced by TBHits, Mr. Franks and Edgar Barrera – Peaked at #8 in the US

While we’re skipping songs can we get rid of this one too? Usually, I’d be interested at least in a new single from Ariana but after the disappointing thank u, next album directed mainly by Social House in tandem with Victoria Monet, I am definitely not over the moon about a new collaboration between the three, especially if Social House are on board as vocalists. Now, as someone who likes a lot more of the grandiosity of older Grande records and even Sweetener more laidback synthpop-R&B with her cooing softly against trap beats would naturally turn me off, but it didn’t need to because there is something here. The hypnotic pitch-shifted vocal sample could be really interesting if it wasn’t pushed back in the mix, and to be honest I like the groove, albeit stilted. Thankfully, in a surprising move for a song with three lead singers, the song is pretty short and is mostly lead by Ariana, with the other guys from Social House being talentless hacks. Jesus Christ, the first guy is like Khalid with an earbud up his nose and the second guy is infuriating, so much so that his NAV-tinged Weeknd mock-up had to be covered up by ad-libs from Ari, which sometimes are louder than him in the mix. The chorus is pretty simple and catchy, and demonstrates the song’s story, about how the sex is so good that despite them not being in a relationship, they don’t want each other seeing anyone else, and alright, sure, but how much can you actually get out of that? Potentially, the three singers could play a love triangle, but the third guy is just kind of playing the same role as Ari, which is, “I want to be in a relationship because I can’t commit since I’m mentally a trainwreck”, which is actually an intriguing angle... but she’s tapped on it before in songs like “get well soon” and “NASA” and they are so much better than this. Sorry, guys, but this isn’t any good.

Conclusion

The Worst of the Week is definitely going to Aitch for “Taste (Make it Shake)”, and the Dishonourable Mention is a four-way tie between Jax Jones and Bebe Rexha, and Ariana Grande and Social House for “Harder” and “boyfriend” respectively, which means that the Best of the Week has to go to Dermot Kennedy for “Outnumbered” by default, and I wouldn’t even give that song a 5/10. Yeah, this week kind of sucked but at least I had anything to review this time.

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[undeadimpulsereviews]

Nioh

Samurai have been around for some time now; the real deals may have come and gone, but our fascination still runs strong. Yet in a decent amount of samurai stories you’ll follow the tale of someone who has the proper experience to be a samurai; however, Team Ninja’s Nioh is not one of these tales. In fact, in terms of overall setting, character, etc. You’re far from samurai material. For now let’s push that aside. Nioh is the new action role playing game from Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo; Taking some elements from games like dark souls, and other elements from Team Ninja titles we get Nioh. Now I haven’t played to many games from Team Ninja, but have played my fair share from the Koei Tecmo side. However, most of my experience with them comes from the warriors series, and Nioh is a completely different game. I went in as prepared as I could be, though I started with the thought that this would play close to something like dark souls. I’ve never finished a souls game so I was a little skeptical that I would have finish this. Though this isn’t a souls game, or whatever game came before souls; in fact this plays closer to something like Ninja Gaiden than Souls. That aside I not only finished the game, but completed the game one hundred percent. It’s not easy, and it can get aggravating at time; however I loved every moment of it. The story, it’s characters, the game play, you name it; from start to finish I had a blast. It’s a game I highly recommend if you haven’t played it yet; though let me explain why I think this is a must buy, starting with the story.

Deep in the tower of London we find our unlikely hero William, an Irishman, locked away. Thanks to Williams guardian spirit he’s lived a long, if not dangerous, life. Williams make his escape from the tower to find that Queen Elizabeth is looking to get something called amrita in the hopes of defeating Spain in their on going battle. William knows all to well what amrita is capable of and sets out to stop the queens plan. However, before leaving Williams guardian spirit is taken from him by the very person he aims to stop. So now you’re off to Japan, where amrita is rich and Oni run wild. Become a samurai and stop what has been set in motion, all while helping push the tide of Japan’s on going war.

Now the story of Nioh is nothing new for me. I’ve gone through the sengoku era of Japan many times. If you’ve played any of the samurai warriors games then you know what I’m talking about; however, Nioh tells the story in a much more serious and different fashion. Not to mention this is seen through the eyes of a foreigner. Now the main story isn’t Japan’s war, but William and his quest through Japan to stop the amrita from getting to England. William must stop a sorcerer named Edward Kelley; however, Edward plans to have some fun with the people of Japan before returning to the queen. If you haven’t experience the story of the warring states this is both the game for you and not the game. It doesn’t cover a huge extent of the war so you’ll be missing some story; however, it is one of the more serious telling of the tale. This is also one of the more fictional renditions; the outcome is the same, but with the addition of England's plans and the Oni the story tends to diverge from history. The best moment of the story come from the inner thoughts of historical figures and the guardian spirits you’ll obtain throughout the game. Overall it’s a really fast paced and fun story to go through, but for some it may feel very familiar even with the supernatural elements. The same can be said for the characters you’ll meet as you explore Japan.

In Nioh most of the characters you meet are historical figures from Japan. Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hattori Hanzo, you name it; again if you’ve played a samurai warriors game you’ll be use to these names. Though just like the story, the characters are much different in design from the warriors titles. Even their personalities are different. Lets take Tokugawa for example; in the warriors games he’s a very idealistic man who wants an age of peace. He speaks like a classic do good hero. The Tokugawa of Nioh has similar ideals, but he sounds less like a hero and more like a man of war. There are more historic figures then there are original ones; the Oni make up most of the original cast. William, Edward, and a girl name Okatsu make up the three original humans of the cast. As far as development goes don’t expect much from the historic figures; their personality and growth is mainly determined from history and how it was perceived by others. William is the one that develops the most, and in more ways than one. He enters Japan with some interest of it’s customs and practices, but still didn’t pay it much mind. Though near the end of the game he sees Japan as something far greater than what he originally envisioned; not to mention he learns what it means to be a samurai, as well as how to fight as one over the span of his adventure. Overall the characters are really enjoyable, whether it’s pre-existing people, or completely original ones. If you’re looking for a serious action packed story with a set of serious interesting characters then Nioh is right up your alley.

Now given the people behind Nioh you have to wonder what the game is going to look like graphically; I can’t speak for Team Ninja much, but Koei Tecmo has some games that, graphically speaking, are okay. It’s not terrible, but it’s not your triple A quality graphics. So how does Nioh compare? Does it fall in the category of other Koei Tecmo titles? No, Nioh looks amazing; from it’s lighting to it’s set pieces, Nioh was a great visual experience through and through. I especially love the design of the Oni you’ll be facing. From the small mobs of enemies to the bosses; there’s no shortage of nasty monsters who wish to kill you.

Above are some of these Oni you’ll be facing through Japan; I think the one problem I have with them is that even though there are a decent amount of them you fight the first boss a lot throughout the game. This felt a little lazy; I can understand fighting bosses again at a later level as normal enemies, but it gets boring fighting him over and over. Be it characters, Oni, or the levels you explore Nioh gives you something worth looking at at every turn. As for the soundtrack, I honestly can’t remember the songs that played throughout the game. The only one that comes to mind is the main menu theme, but that’s due to the fact that I don’t have much else to focus on. That being said looking back on the soundtrack it’s really good, but a lot of the music gets re-used in boss fights instead of making new songs for each. I don’t mind this to much, but there are tracks that are used for three to four fights and it feels a little lazy. With that said here are a few selection from the OST.

Overall the visuals and soundtrack are very good; they have their limits, but I can live with those limits. Both are beautiful in their own way and give the game a nice atmosphere. Lastly comes the gameplay; each area is strong in it’s own way, but overall the gameplay is where Nioh shines.

Nioh is an action RPG where you must utilize the weapons and amrita you acquire to push farther into Japan. For me I used the sword through most of the game. I feel like the way the gameplay falls short is it’s weapons. Some weapons feel far better than others and I find it harder to play the other weapons. That is why I ended up going to the sword. It’s easy and an all around great weapon. The other weapons of note, for me, were the spear and the dual swords. They have the speed and technique to push fights in your favor; though you exchange a little damage to achieve those. In Nioh you get Amrita for killing enemies and you use this to level up your stats. This is where the souls like elements come in. If you die you must retrieve your amrita from your corpse, as well as the guardian spirit who is with you. If you don’t you can’t level up or get the benefits of your spirit. Then with enough amrita you can bump up a stat like strength or speed. Other than this it’s a basic action hack and slash; attack when there is an opening, and dodge or guard when needed. The game wasn’t to terribly difficult for me, but for some friends of mine it proved to be a challenge. If you play this don’t go in expecting to play something like dark souls; you’ll be in for a rude awakening. The only thing you should take from that is not to distribute the amrita evenly; focus on one style/weapon. If you don’t like what you built you can always try something new later if you have the item for it. This game is a lot of trial and error; know your enemy, how they move and attack, what elements they’re weak to, and what ailments can be inflicted. If you go in prepared you are in for a fun fast paced experience. Near the end of the game they will give you some hard side quests to do. Instead of fighting the fight normally I had to use cheap means to win. Other then that I had a great time through; no bugs or glitches to stop me in my journey, it was all just one smooth ride. Overall I really enjoyed playing Nioh; from start to finish I had a blast. It was fast yet satisfying; not to difficult, but provided a challenge every now and then.

It’s not perfect, but the game gave me little to no problems; I’d give Nioh a 9 out of 10; it’s an amazing game that’s endless amounts of fun be it on your own or with a friend. It’s time consuming, but it’s filled with content for you to play. I highly recommend Nioh to those looking for something for next gen; it’s not for eveyone, but it’s one of the more recent games that I feel everyone should at least try.

Next week will be the review for Complex Age; I’ve been looking over that one and have come to a conclusion on what I’m planning in the future. Other then that however have a nice day and I’ll see you soon.

[boyversusworldblog]

As mentioned in a prior post about my first day in Havana Cuba, I visited the country of Cuba for the very first time. Travel to Cuba had been somewhat off-limits to Americans for some time, so that might explain the huge influx of U.S. travelers to Cuba to see what the country has to offer. The majority of my time in Cuba was spent in Havana.

We arrived in the port of Havana by cruise ship and headed out to explore the city of Havana. Let me first say that we almost didn’t make it to Cuba due to a very intense hurricane season in the Caribbean. Luckily, all three of the major hurricanes that hit Cuba died out and finally left us in the clear to travel. We had been watching our cruise line’s website by the hour in the event they canceled our cruise or would divert us to other islands. The problem was that a larger majority of the islands that the cruise line usually diverted to were also badly hit.

We were also slightly aggravated by the talk by the Trump administration of rolling back Obama era regulations regarding travel to Cuba. The main concern was whether we would be allowed to book our excursions ourselves and travel as individuals or if we have to book a group tour. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Tip: If you’re a U.S. citizen, I would highly advise that you check the US travel website for any recent changes for travel to Cuba before you book your tickets to anything. The regulation changes were actually pending after we had booked our cruise and our excursions, so needless to say we were kind of on edge. As far as tours go, we decided to not book our tour through the cruise line as it was actually more expensive than picking a local tour company on our own. If you are worried about getting back to the cruise ship on time or have a tight schedule and/or don’t feel comfortable booking tours outside of cruise line, then you may want to consider the excursions through the cruise line.

Usually, my sister and I can figure out an itinerary on our own and just make an experience in line with what we like to see. This time we decided to be a bit lazy and let someone else navigate and do all the talking as we did all the walking. You may still be okay to navigate on your own if just get a detailed map of Havana. Be aware though that you most likely will not have cell or internet service in Cuba as it’s regulated and pretty spotty in most areas, so print your maps prior to coming or buy one when you get there. There are certain spots that have Wi-Fi and there have been talks that due to increased tourism there may be changes to allow more Wi-Fi access. I will say that all of the key sites are reasonably close to each other so you won’t have to travel far. If you’re trying to get out of the city a little further, you might need a lot more than just a map.

After a bit of searching on the internet to find a credible tour company, we settled on Havana Tour Company which is a sister company to Locally Sourced Cuba Tours. We didn’t want to be in the midst of all the people rushing off the cruise ship for the earlier tours provided by the cruise ship or other tour companies. Also, it was easier to get through customs later in the day since it wasn’t packed with all the cruise ship tourist. So, we slept in a bit and eased into the day and then ventured out for the Havana Afternoon Delight Tour.

There are a lot of tours to choose from but we picked this tour since it offered a little bit of everything. It’s part walking tour, part classic car ride, and lastly an interactive authentic mojito making. The tour is noted on the website to be four hours long and for groups of two to twelve, so you might be mixed in with a group that is less than twelve. We headed off the cruise ship, exchanged our U.S. dollars (USD) into the Cuban Convertible currency (CUC) and headed our the terminal. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

TIP: Exchange your USD for another currency like Canadian Dollars, Mexican Pesos, or Euros to possibly get a better exchange when you exchange in Cuba. You are automatically charged 10% just for exchanging in USD and then an additional 3% for a financial transaction charge. So you may be able to avoid the large 10% fee if you exchange in a different currency. This is only if you get a good exchange rate to begin with on the currency you originally exchange your USD from.

We didn’t know this before we went but we weren’t worried about the 13% fees since most things are pretty cheap to purchase anyway in Cuba and you may not need a huge amount of money if you’re traveling on a budget.

Anyway, we met up with our guide at the location that was noted on our confirmation email. We found out that we were the only people on our tour, so we basically got a private tour! We also learned throughout the tour that our guide was very educated about Cuban history as well as international current events. He spoke about the degrees he received in university in teaching and in history. We also talked about how many people think that Cuba is completely cut off from the world but they aren’t completely cut off. They know quite a bit about what’s going on in the U.S and U.K and worldwide. As we crossed the Paseo de Marti toward the statue of Jose Marti, our guide was stopped by the police in military clothes. He showed them his tour guide license/identification card and answered a few questions and we kept on truckin’. He advised us that this is a regular occurrence as there are tour guides that aren’t licensed to be actual guides that solicit tourists for tours and they aren’t actually valid tours and may not charge a fair price or provide a comprehensive tour. This is why it’s important to do your research and pick a company that is official.

  We walked past the restaurant bar El Floridita which was frequented by Ernest Hemingway and down the beautiful cobblestone streets of Havana. He explained the historical significance of certain structure around town and talked about the times of revolution. He also drew similarities between the history of the U.S. regarding the slave trade and the history of Cuba. It was intriguing to find out that even Cuba was built on the backs of slaves from Africa, among others. We discussed general opinions about the Obama administration and the Trump administration. He let my sister and I know that it was astounding and extremely motivating when Obama visited Cuba. He said that people were in awe of the fact that an African American, someone like themselves, was the leader of the United States and would choose to visit Cuba. He said that it was a very humbling experience and something that he would never forget. We also talked about the changes that were pending implementation from the Trump administration. It was interesting to understand the impact of actions taken by the president of the nation in which you reside and how it affects other people from the perspective of the people that actually reside in that country. The conversation wasn’t heated politically and I never got a feeling from our guide of any animosity or hatred toward one side or the other. It’s not common nowadays to just have an honest and open discussion about issues that affect the world without interjecting one’s own bias. It was a very comprehensive and eye-opening discussion.

We walked into Havana’s Old Town with it’s wonderfully laid out public squares and market areas. We stopped by a building were local artists were busy at work creating beautiful works of art and were able to chat with some of the locals about their craft. We stepped in briefly to the La Catedral and marveled at the intricacy of the ceiling and other fixtures as well as the facade of the outside of the church. La Catedral charges a small fee to walk around the inside of the church. It’s a nominal fee but just be prepared. It was around $5 CUC as of the date of this blog post. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

What I loved about this tour is that it didn’t feel rushed at all. The guide let us ask all the questions on our mind and it almost appeared that his explanations were finished just as we came upon one of the main areas of focus for the tour. I don’t know if this was strategically planned but it was really awesome to not feel rushed and really get a chance to digest the information that was being provided. There was plenty of time for photos as well. Once we made it to the Plaza San Francisco de Asis, the walking portion of the tour was over and we went to a local bar to have an adult beverage while we waited for the classic car to arrive.

When the car arrived, I chuckled a little because it looked like a short pink Cadillac. I’m not sure how much of the car was actually classic as our guide let us know that they haven’t imported any cars for several years so they have to re-use parts to keep all the classic cars running. We winded through the streets of Havana, past the El Capitolio and away from the city toward the Plaza del Revolucion.

  This seemed to be a stopping point for many of the classic cars but our guide advised us not to venture too far as there is a strong military presence within the Plaza as well as by the Monument to Jose Marti.

The military personnel aren’t to be feared, but you have to just be cautious and mind your manners. So, be respectful and don’t take any photos of military personnel without permission.

After stopping at the Plaza del Revolucion we drove back into the city as the sun started to set for the mojito making. The mojito demonstration was on the rooftop of a local house which appears to be turned into a bar once the sun goes down. The friend of our guide showed us how to make two drinks, a mojito, and a caipirinha. Let’s just say, they’re not light on the liquor and after walking all day I was ready to experience the power of alcohol other than cruise ship drinks if you know what I’m sayin’. Since we were a party of two, let’s just say the drinks were….flowing. It was such a chill vibe and our conversations continued through at least two packs of cigarettes between our guide and my sister. I don’t smoke, so don’t get it twisted.

They do have non-alcoholic options if you want to take this tour so don’t let the alcohol scare you off. I asked our guide what made him most proud to be Cuban and he said that he knows that wherever he goes on the island if he’s ever in need, people will help out as a community even if they don’t know him personally. He said he enjoys the sense of community as a nation and that in a way, he is his brother’s keeper. He said this after I answered that what I like most about being American is that we can be whatever we what and have a sense of self and individualism like no other. This was another point where I really had to stop and think because one thing that I do think is missing in the U.S. is a sense of community. We all try so hard to make it on our own that we forget to stop and ask for help from time to time or don’t try to help each other toward a common goal.

Needless to say, the sun was almost completely set by the time we left the mojito making and our guide took us to a little cafe/bar as a drop off point. My sister and I had a beer as we processed our day and talked about the entire experience. I can say that this was one of the best experiences of my life! I say this not because of the tourist attractions and the key sights but more because of the conversation and the interaction with true locals. That is the experience I yearn for. This was an experience that will leave a lasting impression and give me stories to tell to start a conversation with people who may never get the chance to do the same. I’m also happy that my sister felt the same way. I’m glad that she and I were able to share the experience together as siblings because it’s something I’ll always remember. Pardon the blurry photo with a front-facing camera on an iPhone 5.

As of the date of this blog post, the fee for the tour was $75 per person. As you can tell, it was well worth it. As I mentioned in my previous post, our tour ended up being nine hours even though it was supposed to be four. Don’t let this scare you because the guides are very mindful of your time so if you need to stick to the four-hour timeline, they will make sure you meet your time goals just in case you have other excursions planned or need to get back to the cruise ship terminal or airport. We didn’t have anything planned and I’m glad we were able to make a full day of it.

On a side note, there is also a Free Walking Tour company that operates if you’re on a budget and just want to get a taste of the city to bookmark places to go back to.

If you want to read more about My 36 Hours in Havana Cuba Day One, click on the link. I had to break it up in two parts so you can read about My 36 Hours in Havana Day Two by clicking here.

Happy Travels!

Don’t forget to save this post to your Pinterest for later reference

Review: Havana Tour Company – Havana Afternoon Delight Tour As mentioned in a prior post about my first day in Havana Cuba, I visited the country of Cuba for the very first time.

[smartcitygeek-blog]

Einstein, hey Einstein, where’s the Doc, boy, huh? Doc Never mind that, never mind that now, never mind that, never mind- Yeah I know, If you put your mind to it you could accomplish anything. C’mon, more, dammit. Jeez. Holy shit. Let’s see if you bastards can do ninety. Why is she gonna get angry with you?

Doc, Doc, it’s me, Marty. Re-elect Mayor Goldie Wilson. Progress is his middle name. Yeah. Well, what if they didn’t like them, what if they told me I was no good. I guess that would be pretty hard for somebody to understand. Indeed I will, roll em. I, Doctor Emmett Brown, am about to embark on an historic journey. What have I been thinking of, I almost forgot to bring some extra plutonium. How did I ever expect to get back, one pallet one trip I must be out of my mind. What is it Einy? Oh my god, they found me, I don’t know how but they found me. Run for it, Marty.

Just scroll down for more

Well, I figured, what the hell. I, I don’t know. Yeah, yeah what are you wearing, Dave. Mom, Dad. My god, it’s my mother. Put your pants back on.

Uh, well, actually, I figured since it wasn’t due till Monday- Marty, I’m sorry, but the only power source capable of generating one point twenty-one gigawatts of electricity is a bolt of lightning. A bolt of lightning, unfortunately, you never know when or where it’s ever gonna strike. Never mind that now, never mind that now. You got a real attitude problem, McFly. You’re a slacker. You remind me of you father when he went her, he was a slacker too.

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What could go wrong there?

This is simply sensational to look at.

Depression is not interesting.

Oh, that top photo is great.

This is a simple photo expressing so much.

A simple, easy to use gadget.

It’s not just a simple theme

C’mon, c’mon. Hi, Marty. Believe me, Marty, you’re better off not having to worry about all the aggravation and headaches of playing at that dance. What did she say? It’s your mom, she’s tracked you down. Quick, let’s cover the time machine. C’mon.

Alright, take it up, go. Doc. Yeah well, I saw it on a rerun. I’ll call you tonight. C’mon, open up, let me out of here, Yo. I have to tell you about the future.

Great Scott. Let me see that photograph again of your brother. Just as I thought, this proves my theory, look at your brother. Yes, yes, I’m George, George McFly, and I’m your density. I mean, I’m your destiny. Well, ma, we talked about this, we’re not gonna go to the lake, the car’s wrecked. Okay. What were you doing in the middle of the street, a kid your age.

Sit here, Marty. How’s your head? What’s going on? Where have you been all week? Marty, you made it. Excuse me.

Another thing is

Brown, Brown, Brown, Brown, Brown, great, you’re alive. Do you know where 1640 Riverside- Yeah Mom, we know, you’ve told us this story a million times. You felt sorry for him so you decided to go with him to The Fish Under The Sea Dance. Oh. Ah, where’re my pants? You okay, is everything alright?

Just finishing up the second coat now. Just finishing up the second coat now. Yeah, I think it’s a major embarrassment having an uncle in prison. Hey, McFly, I thought I told you never to come in here. Well it’s gonna cost you. How much money you got on you? The keys are in the trunk. Hey. Thank god I still got my hair. What on Earth is that thing I’m wearing? You got a permit for that? What was it, George, bird watching? Unroll their fire. Jennifer, oh are you a sight for sore eyes. Let me look at you. Bear with me, Marty, all of your questions will be answered. Roll tape, we’ll proceed. What do you mean you’ve seen this, it’s brand new. Mom, Dad. Without any sugar.

A mosaic gallery style

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Having a good time.

Depression is not interesting.

Oh, that top photo is great.

Looking solo.

Caption this.

Having a good time.

Oh, that is simply very cool.

Doc? Am I to understand you’re still hanging around with Doctor Emmett Brown, McFly? Tardy slip for you, Miss Parker. And one for you McFly I believe that makes four in a row. Now let me give you a nickle’s worth of advice, young man. This so called Doctor Brown is dangerous, he’s a real nuttcase. You hang around with him you’re gonna end up in big trouble. Wait a minute. How’s your head? Okay Doc, this is it. What do you mean you’ve seen this, it’s brand new.

[ts_row] [ts_one_half]Kids, we’re gonna have to eat this cake by ourselves, Uncle Joey didn’t make parole again. I think it would be nice, if you all dropped him a line. Breakfast. That Biff, what a character. Always trying to get away with something. Been on top of Biff ever since high school. Although, if it wasn’t for him- Hey man, look at Marvin’s hand. He can’t play with his hands like that, and we can’t play without him. When could weathermen predict the weather, let alone the future. [/ts_one_half] [ts_one_half]McFly. Hey wait, wait a minute, who are you? Stella, another one of these damn kids jumped in front of my car. Come on out here, help me take him in the house. Okay, that’s enough. Now stop the microphone. I’m sorry fellas. I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud. Next, please. Where’s the next group, please. Yeah well, I saw it on a rerun. Hey c’mon, I had to change, you think I’m going back in that zoot suit? The old man really came through it worked.[/ts_one_half] [/ts_row]

  I’m gonna ram him. What the hell is a gigawatt? No, no, George, look, it’s just an act, right? Okay, so 9:00 you’re strolling through the parking lot, you see us struggling in the car, you walk up, you open the door and you say, your line, George. Well, because George, nice girls get angry when guys take advantage of them. Why thank you, Marty. George. Good morning, sleepyhead, Good morning, Dave, Lynda.

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— Touch Size (@touchsize) May 17, 2018

Reasons to do this things

That’s true, Marty, I think you should spend the night. I think you’re our responsibility. What Lorraine, what? Marty, such a nice name. Please note that Einstein’s clock is in complete synchronization with my control watch. That was the day I invented time travel. I remember it vividly.

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It’s information about the future isn’t it. I warned you about this kid. The consequences could be disastrous. Alright, I’m ready. Leave her alone, you bastard. You bet. Alright, McFly, you’re asking for it, and now you’re gonna get it. Doc, you gotta help me. you were the only one who knows how your time machine works. Doc, she didn’t even look at him. Now, Biff, um, can I assume that your insurance is gonna pay for the damage? That’s a great idea. I’d love to park. Hey George, heard you laid out Biff, nice going.

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I don’t know, I can’t keep up with all of your boyfriends. No, Doc. What do you mean you’ve seen this, it’s brand new. Right. Well, what if they didn’t like them, what if they told me I was no good. I guess that would be pretty hard for somebody to understand.

Benchmark Signals Era of Imperious Startup Founder Is Coming to an End Einstein, hey Einstein, where's the Doc, boy, huh? Doc Never mind that, never mind that now, never mind that, never mind- Yeah I know, If you put your mind to it you could accomplish anything.

[xottzot]

2017-1(JAN)-12-Thursday-2017--Thursday--Somebody shot in Midvale.

2017-1(JAN)-12-Thursday-2017--Thursday--Somebody shot in Midvale.

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West Australian news:

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/accused-remanded-after-teen-shot-in-midvale-ng-b88354027z

NEWS:

A 37-year-old man charged over a Midvale shooting has been remanded in custody after police arrested him in Hazelmere on Wednesday night.

Mervin Dean Mippy faced Midland Magistrate’s Court today on charges of acting with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing a firearm in circumstances of aggravation.

Officers were called to a Midvale home about 12.45pm on Tuesday after neighbours reported hearing gunshots.

================================================

So...............is THAT the reason why Police were at the aboriginal CRIMINAL HOUSEHOLD the other day? -- And once again according to the article.....a firearm was used.

That kinda once more adds to the mockery of the once Australian Prime Minister (Mr Magoo) John Howard and his massive dis-arming of the Australian population decades ago.

I remember a part of a slogan that was said at the time......'only the criminals will have guns.'..........

================================================

CRIME RELATED:

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/perths-crime-hot-spots-revealed-with-new-suburb-breakdown-ng-b88353524z

A W.A. news story about a website that lists high-crime rate suburbs in West Australia.

Please note that the site does NOT list all the suburbs. It does NOT list this hellhole.

However it DOES list the next door neighbour suburb of Bellevue, (literally the next-door streets), and that Bellevue place ranks in the high crime amounts list.

The localities that are joined in reality that blend into each other are this hellhole of Koongamia, blends into Bellevue, blends into Midland (and Midvale), blends into Hazlemere and so on. Everything is close and connected and high crime rate.

And all of that has occured in the past 15 years or so. Before then everything WAS fine, and everythng was a very friendly 'country' feel and attitude. It has got bad because it was ALLOWED to get bad. I kept pointing so much out to dear Fliss, and she kept saying how I was just 'complaining about nothing'.....

It seems to me that that dear sweet Fliss has fled and abandoned me to die. - And I'm sure now that when idiots talk to her, they will look at todays era news and prattle on about how bad it is here and it's good 'she got away'.......but I'm still stuck here Fliss (but I want to be with you away anywhere from this hellhole!) and I'm suffering terribly without me being with you. Having all this other shit piled on top of and all around me just makes hell even worse.....and I'm not going to try to tell you of the nightly terrible nightmares I have every night........

There's an incredible lot of stuff that never makes it as an 'official' statistic. I've seen that happen time and time again.

This below is the link in the news article to that user-made wesbite.

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/perths-crime-hot-spots-revealed-with-new-suburb-breakdown-ng-b88353524z

And you wonder why I'm suffering in HELL here in this hellhole?

(article excerpt below):

Burswood was not far behind on 15.2, followed by Perth (14.4), Midland (14.2) and Mandurah (12.9).

The rest of the top 20 list included Wellard, Fremantle, Armadale, Osborne Park, Belmont, Cannington, Forrestdale, Balga, Brookdale, Lockridge, Karawara, Carlisle, Coondanup, St James and Bellevue also made the top 20.

Topping the worst list was Midvale which, according to the site, had 15.9 crimes per 100 people. Assaults, burglary and car theft were the most prevalant crimes.

Menora, Daglish, Kingsley, Wembley Downs, Duncraig, Gooseberry Hill, Carine, Gwelup, Tapping, Ocean Reef, Chidlow, Ashby, Crawley, Winthrop and Parkerville rounded out the list.

================================================

I'm in an incredible LOT of pain.

I was forced to move & drag some very heavy objects by myself. THAT has greatly INCREASED the PAIN. Whilst 'painkillers' are only very temporarily hiding the pain.

There was some light rain in the darkness of morning, but it wasn't anything of consequence. It all dried up, except for a damp road, and few patches on hard concrete. It all just made everything humid and 'swampy'. The day was warm enough and got up to hot. And it's getting hotter every day again.

Usually weather like this, and slippery damp roads makes shitheads in cars tear all about. But it seems the Police travelling about has put a very temporary bit of a dampener on them. - A byproduct of Police and the Mippy incident?

Don't worry, that'll all change as the criminals ramp up for their traditional weekend shit and terrorising.

I wonder if somewhere, someone with politics in mind will do something to band-aid the area(s) here of crime and criminals and shitheads, and then spout how we should all vote for the bastard and support them.

Darkness is coming here.

================================================

P.--12-January-2017----in this hellhole. -- I love you Fliss and want to be happy being together with you well away from here. -- But right now, whilst you're apparently living it up, I'm suffering greatly, as are Sam and Max OUR dogs.