#it will probably be battle music rather than character themes

[projectdestati]

If you could compose a theme for any character in the series (who doesn’t already have one of their own), who would you choose?

Oh, who doesn't have one of their own? I was about to suggest Vanitas maybe deserves a little treat to be musically represented by something different than Slow-Enter-The-Darkness, but moving down the list is Lea/Axel, for sure. If we keep going down the list one more time so the obvious picks are out of the way - maybe next up for needing a character theme is probably Luxu. I have to imagine that he'll actually be given one soon from the upcoming games, but it'd be really neat to hear something that takes elements from the Master of Master's chaos piano and the tuplet time signature of "Xigbar" from DDD. Could be neat^

[vvleoxe]

SAHSR Characters listening to player rambling

I'm sorry if this is a little out of character, I didn't finish many parts of hsr yet. Some of these headcannons might seem OOC, do please forgive me. 😭

But here's my thoughts on how the characters of self aware hsr reacts to the Player and them rambling abt lore or sum crazy theory.

This is pt1 (belobog)

Bronya would probably be sitting in her office or standing idly in the battle when you started your rambling.

She would be VERY confused (and concerned if its FNAF)...though she'd also probably try to learn or mentally note what kind of lore you're rambling about.

Seele would be MADD if she hears about what Afton did, I just know it 😭. She'd be passionately agreeing mentally if you start rambling about your hate for him or sm. (She might attack harder in battles while pretending the IPC npc's are Afton, lmao).

Pela would LOVE to hear abt regular lore or whole ass stories...we all know her love for that series in game, so I don't doubt she'd be listening intently as you ramble (if she doesn't have work, that is.)

Gepard....sweet, poor Gepard. Lmao imagine you're rambling about genshin lore or honkai impact. Poor guy would be so concerned if he heard about Diluc and Kaeya's relationship. But he'd also enjoy you rambling about the nicer and calmer parts of the quests. (Probably ends up visiting Serval, just to subtly try to reassure himself that him and Serval won't ever be on bad terms, after hearing about Kaeya and Diluc lmao)

Serval would also like hearing about lore while she works in the shop! Especially if it's about music or anything similar to Stellarons, she'd be fiddling with something while listening to your voice while you talk about music (She'd be interested if she hears about Xinyan- since both of them have guitars)

Lynx would be camping outside while she listens to you. She likes hearing about relics or the adventures of the characters you watch (Especially if you like to talk about Dungeon Meshi or animes with adventuring like me lmao). I feel like she would like more calm lore rather than horror or something else.

Sampo IS FUCKING LOCKED IN. As soon as he hears ANYTHING about business or scamming people, he. Is. Listening. Bro is furiously writing notes in his lil' heart shaped notepad with a snake themed pen he got from Natasha or stole.(I just know he has one, I JUST KNOW).

Natasha is horrified...if you tend to talk about more medical horror or horror in general. Imagine she hears about Dottore or the MLP Infection au, girl is going to be so concerned 😭. She'd be extra vigilant for any diseases in her patients from then on.

Hook is a certified ADVENTURER at heart! She would love to listen to Pokemon or more lighthearted lore about fun characters! Girl would draw about it, and make up her own adventures based on what you ramble about. She doesnt like horror though. (She'd probably try to search for Klee to make her join her little gang lmao, until Natasha tells her rhat Klee isn't in HSR)

Clara...I don't know how to describe her (I'm sorry 😭). She would love hearing about the Golden Archipelago quest in Genshin, or anything remotely fairytale like or adventurous. She'd probably ask Svarog if he could make something similar to Dodoco or something like Amber's puppet. She's interested in hearing about any creative inventions from any anime or game you've seen.

[blamebrampton]

Books talk to each other. Mostly because practically every writer is also a voracious reader, but also because books arise out of times and places and we share a lot of our worlds these days. So it’s unsurprising that several novels I have hugely enjoyed over the past few years share the theme of the antiheroine who is past all giving of the fucks. Naomi Novik’s powerful dark sorceress kept on her own tight leash in the Scholomance books was a joy to follow; Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow slashed her way into my heart and now Sarah Rees Brennan’s Long Live Evil has added to a list of beloved antiheroines that probably started for me with Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair.

Coincidentally, when considering how to describe Long Live Evil without significant spoilers, I realised that it shared several major themes with Vanity Fair. Young woman unfairly treated by fate decides to embrace her slut era to survive a war zone – both very accurate and wildly inaccurate for both. LLE opens with main character Rae in a hospital bed, teasing her sister about a book series they both adore. Rae is taking refuge in the story they have shared over years because it is one of the few things they have left: she is losing her fight against cancer and has been losing parts of her life, family and memory as that fight has progressed.

My personal hospital experiences have all been to do with major traumas rather than illness, which I vastly prefer because if you don’t die in the first couple of days, you usually start mending and you can immediately make plans to make the best of whatever you’ve broken. Rees Brennan, however, famously wrote a very funny, very horrible, ‘Kids, you won’t believe what shenanigans your girl’s been up to now, it’s only stage four Hodgkins lymphoma!’ post on her Tumblr or LJ (someone who has been hit in the head with taxis fewer times than me will doubtless factcheck that in the notes) about seven or eight years ago and then faced the very serious business of trying to live. The hospital scenes are painfully authentic, as are the stories of people who have left Rae as she slipped further out of everyday life.

For Rees Brennan, a loving family and peer group were there to hold her as close as they could. For Rae, only her beloved little sister, Alice, and Time of Iron, their favourite fantasy series, remain. They read the books together, remember adventures cosplaying and watching the musical, they wonder about the final instalment; for Rae it’s a joy she can still share (even if she doesn’t remember as much as she should), for Alice, it’s her two greatest loves. When a strange woman offers a door into the world of the book and a possible magical cure to Rae, she wants it as much as she disbelieves it.

Stepping into Eyam, the land of Time of Iron, Rae finds herself in the body of a villain doomed to die the next day. No worries! She’s thought and fought her way out of worse scraps than this in her past as a head cheerleader, let alone while battling cancer. She can use her knowledge of the plot to change things! If only she remembered more of the books…

Portal fantasies are common enough, but not all play by the same rules. This isn’t Narnia, where the magical world is more real than our own, for Rae, the world of the book is nothing more a tool to get her hands on the cure. She doesn’t need to care about any of these people, they’re not real. Most of them speak in a formal language that relies on the conventions of fantasy literature (there is an ongoing, warm-hearted skewering of all Game of Thrones-esque texts running through both the story and the in-text ‘quotes’ from Time of Iron) and half the characters are known more by their descriptions rather than their names. So she will play the Beauty Dipped in Blood, with her questionable morals, impractical clothes and centre-of-balance-distorting boobs for the weeks that will pass until the cure is available. Whoever she has to shuffle in the plot to secure a place beside that cure, she will shuffle. While she’s not out to kill anyone, it’s not as though they were ever really alive. Not like her. If she has to be the villain to survive, she will be an impeccable one. The people will cheer evil on!

Obviously, little goes to plan. Rae’s illness has taught her cruelty, but she hasn’t forgotten what it is to be kind. Even as she manipulates her role into ongoing main character, she realises that’s not how anyone gets a happy ending. That’s not how she can live with herself. As she comes to think of the other people in the story as real, they become more so, both in how we read them and in how they impact the story. Rae remembers what it is like to make friends, which she never meant to, but, oh, the luxury after years of watching people slip away!

As in previous novel In Other Lands, Rees Brennan has a long list of fantasy tropes to embrace and undermine, and her deft touch with humour is as evident as ever here, but her publishers call this her first adult novel and there is a shift in tone from her previous works. Anger is more real and lasting. Consequences are more significant. Understanding is reached for, even if it’s bitter. One of my favourite things is that she lets her female characters rage, but never judges those who can’t, whether because they’re too powerless or just too tired, and her male characters are allowed to be people if they choose to be — which all but the most vainglorious do.

I hadn’t paid much attention beyond checking the release date for the book, so didn’t realise it was the first in a series. For me, it worked perfectly as a standalone novel, even with the unended threads, which would have perfectly balanced Rae’s unfinished life. That said, I am very happy to know we will spend more time with these characters in the future. I want more. I do want to know if there is a hope for Rae, if this is the fever dream of a fading life, if this is the story Alice has told to ease her sister from the world or something else. There are a dozen characters I hope for, at least three happy endings that would bring joy. But don’t wait for the next books: sink your teeth into this one and believe what it says about the importance of listening to stories rather than just falling in love with characters. Though if you find yourself cheering on Rae, or her servant Emer, the elusive Eric, Horrible Hortensia or almost any of the others, I am the last person who will judge you.

[demonslayedher]

Checking fic details means I was spending more time back in the Infinity Fortress and ahaha unnnnngggghh it hurrrrrttttssss but these movies are gonna be soooo goooood

So anyway a thought

You know how we have a "Song of Kamado Tanjiro" and "Song of Kamado Nezuko"? What if we get a "Song of Agatsuma Zenitsu" and a "Song of Hashibira Inosuke"?

Pacing-wise it might be hard to fit them in if they are as long and slow as Tanjiro's and Nezuko's, but a little bit of lyrics would be nice. I wonder how they'll incorporate a pinky promise song, or up the drama of Zenitsu's Thunder Breath BGM?

I'm really not ready to hear what new arrangements we'll get of older theme music. Waaaaaaaah. Anyway, playing with more thoughts about the movie adaptations:

Here's how I would break up the movies:

First off, Sunrise Countdown is getting its own that doesn't get announced until after these three air. There's just too much content to picture all of it squeezing into three movies.

First movie:

Takes a little time on set-up and exposition--they will have to assume some people are watching and don't know the backstory, or only watched Mugen Ressha. Not a full backstory, but enough to remind us of the Kagaya and Muzan encounter and everybody dropping in. The manga has us checking in Hashira upset over Kagaya's death, after all.

Gives us Douma's back story

Shinobu's last stand, probably with a very sad spin on her theme music

Builds up Zenitsu vs Kaigaku as the climax (and if it's treated as the climax, that's an excuse for a special intro song)

Ends with Tanjiro battling Akaza, Akaza affirming that Tanjiro has gotten stronger and Tanjiro reaffirming Rengoku's worldview

Movie 2

Exposition to remind us all where everybody is (poor Kanao has been battling Douma in the background of a volume's worth of manga and is already bloody by the time we check in on how she's doing after the Akaza, after all--Douma crying about Akaza finally GAVE HER A BREAK)

Full on Akaza battle, starting with Giyuu attaining a mark (and this also gives us some set-uo for Inosuke's role in this film since Tanjiro has him in flashbacks)

Akaza flashback

Kanao and Inosuke finish Douma off, with Shinobu coming back in for the climax of this film.

Although Inosuke's glory is shared with Kanao and Shinobu, giving him a special insert would balance his role with that of Zenitsu's in the first film.

Leave off with a reminder of what everybody else is up to, especially Tamayo running out of time with Muzan

Movie 3

Tanjiro is more of a framing device in this one rather than actively involved, it starts with him getting Senjuro's letter, so we already have Sun Breath on the brain

Bam, it's Koku vs everybody

Bam, the Nakime battle for some brevity

Baaaaam, it's Koku's backstory (I got this idea years ago, and I still would love to see his backstory staged as Shin-Kabuki)

Baaaaazzzzammm, more characters are dying and we are in paaaaainn, but Koku's defeat is well-earned climax shared among Genya + Hashira

OHHHH HELLLL NAAAAH IT'S MUZAN AND THE CORP MEMBERS ARE GETTING SLAUGHTERED

Maybe or maybe not ends with Yushiro crashing the fortress, maybe or maybe not ends with Tanjirou looking like he's died of Muzan-blood

It'll at least include Tanjiro getting pissed off at Muzan and then Ufotable announcing they are still gonna get more movie moneybout of us the following year because the hype train in infinite.

Also, through--maybe they'll slip in more of the excessive Taisho Secret details that Gotouge had no room for, like details about Hakuji's rival who poisoned the well, or Kaigaku rejecting Jiichan's haori,or Tamayo's efforts to avoid consuming human blood? How long will the run time on these things be, anyway??? My butt is ready for marathon movies, Ufotable.

Anyway. Man, I've had a day. This arc is wild and it's going to make for phenomenal animated scenes. Not only pain!! There will be coolness beyond the pain! But dang it, there will be SO MUCH PAIN

[st0rmyskies]

Can you rank your favorite Zelda games?

1. Majora's Mask

There hasn't been a game like MM since, honestly. I love this game so goddamn much--the music, the art direction, the time mechanic, the story, the allegory of grief, the delicious holes in the lore just begging for stories. Fucking Ikana Canyon. It changed my brain chemistry as a kid and I've never been the same.

2. Skyward Sword - It's the art for me, the soft colors and backgrounds reminiscent of pointilism make it a really lovely visual feast. And Link's expressive face. And his dialogue. The fucking sass. The real, genuine relationships between Link and Zelda, and with the other characters. Oh my god. There's a reason I put this blonde bitch in so many Situations.

3. Ocarina of Time - This is probably a function of my age, but. This game has been single-handedly feeding my brain since before I was a teenager. The lore is second to none. Although if you set OoT and a different title in front of me and asked me which I'd rather replay, I'm probably picking a different title. Mainly because of the graphics.

4. Link's (re)Awakening - My gaming equivalent of mental potato chips. It's adorable. It's simple. The battle mechanic is actually quite fun. Highly replayable, especially since I don't have the pressure of needing to remember much story or much about the commands when I pick it up again. I need to get a hard copy of this one.

5. Breath of the Wild - This game singlehandedly got me through Covid. Its open-world nature makes it so unlike the rest of the Zelda series, but the peaceful, somber feeling of traversing a healed post-apocalyptic Hyrule is exquisitely haunting. The music alone has this high on my list. The overworld theme is just this half-remembered piano music, and hearing Termina's clocktower chime in the final dungeon theme made me cry while playing through it at 1am. Ranks lower than the others mainly for replayability (dis bitch LONG).

6. Windwaker - This is the one I've replayed the most out of all the titles. It gets back to the classic "little kid on a big adventure!" vibe that was missing from the series since MM, but then we get jettisoned right back into that with TP. Talk about expressiveness, this is such a top tier Link model. The battle mechanics were great, the music was so fun (Molgera's theme, anyone??), honestly just writing this bumped the game up on my list another rank.

7. Twilight Princess - This one's climbing the list, as I'm on my first replay of it now. On my first play-through I really didn't appreciate the richness of the story, nor did I pick up on the subtleties of Midna's motivations and her evolving relationship with Link. But most of my interest in replaying this one was learning who the Hero's Shade is, and the fact that wolf!Link makes his BotW appearance. I was SO disappointed when I found out that was an amiibo thing.

8. Echoes of Wisdom - I've gotta pick this one back up, but honestly? I think the thing I like best about it is how much it reminds me of LA. The Wolfos are my favorite pokemon.

9. Tears of the Kingdom - I hATE building shit, but I did like the Depths. I turned off the game right before the fight with Mineru's construct and have had no interest in turning it back on.

[tokiro07]

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2025, issue #22/23: Catching Feelings Week

One Piece: After capturing the Collun Hats, Gunko demands Brook become her slave and make music for her, but he insists he'd rather die than betray Luffy; the Gods Knights formally pose their ultimatum to Elbaf - burn down their institutions and swear fealty to the World Government or sacrifice the lives of their children, a choice Gaban and Robin cannot abide. / It seemed like it pained Gunko to kick her idol, could this perhaps be an early sign of a reversal of loyalties? More importantly, oooh boy, is Robin getting another fight???

Roboco: One of Roboco's old war buddies, Villa, has been slain in battle, so after reminiscing on their time together, Roboco sets out for revenge; Villa turns out to have actually survived. / Saw that coming a mile away, but I appreciate the yuri

Sakamoto: Kamihate's betrayal of the Order is not only because of Osaragi, but also because news coverage of the ensuing chaos replaced the Weather Girl segments; a new enemy, Gozu, arrives to block a fleeing Shishiba and co., but his static electricity shocks Osaragi awake long enough to allow a getaway. / I think it's a little weird to have both a magnetic and static character on the same team, but I'm sure they'll synergize well; both Kamihate and Osaragi betrayed the New Order because they prioritized what they love over a world that's better tailored for their lifestyles, I wonder if that will continue to be a theme for this arc?

EluSam: When Takauji's forces are repelled, he sends Myozuru as an envoy to negotiate, but Tadayoshi's demands that all of the Kono family be executed would be political suicide; Myozuru offers a compromise where the Kono be forced to live as monks and separated from Takauji, leaving them open to be attacked without Takauji being branded a traitor to his men, a plan that Takauji seems to readily agree to. / Without knowing the exact historic details, this feels like a trap for Tadayoshi, since it was Myozuru's plot and not his own; considering that Takauji is somehow both a divine and demonic entity, it seems odd to me that he keeps getting manipulated so easily, but I probably just don't remember how he was characterized earlier on

Witch Watch: A man who's absorbed 34 of Nico's spells appears to challenge Morihito, but all of the spells he's amassed are pretty useless; upon getting so many spells back at once, Nico shoots up to being 14, and her feelings for Morihito start to return in full force. / Finally, progress! Though I assume we're going to be at 14 for a while, so I don't know if I can use that to accurately gauge how close we are to the final conflict

Blue Box: Taiki and Chinatsu go on a date for their anniversary and discuss some plans for the future. / Just a plain cute chapter, I really feel like these kids are in for the longhaul

Akane: Akane has some trouble adjusting to Shomei's rigid performance style, but her delivery is still enough to get laughs out of the audience, giving her a solid chance at the Zuiun Prize; however, Issho places a handicap on Akane - during the competition, she cannot make the audience laugh. / When I saw Akane mimicking Shomei's performance, I thought it would be a good measuring stick for how she compares to Shomei, but I didn't quite like the idea of recycling content like that - it seems that Issho agreed, and is now forcing her to find a unique solution instead of retreading old ground; this also forces Akane even further outside of her comfort zone, which will only serve to reinforce her earlier assertion that she doesn't want to be limited to only one style

Kill Blue: As Iyori suggests doing a more comprehensive reading for Juzo, Student Council President Subaru arrives; curious what kind of man he is, Juzo challenges him to airsoft, but defeats him with ease before he can learn anything useful; the Student Council sets their sets on the Home-Ec Club, as Noren has been the center of a lot of trouble lately. / Subaru's lack of talent despite being in an exceptional role suggests that he's likely the type to only lose once and go all out in overcoming whatever weaknesses he's presented with; this will either mean that Juzo needs to become even better as a marksman, or he'll need to defeat Subaru at a different talent, most likely centered around Home-Ec

Nue: Gakuro and Nue confront Raisei, destroying his arrays and setting his plan back some number of days; unable to think of any tough dialogue, Gakuro asks Raisei if he's in love with Nue, which he admits to and fires back with an accusation that Gakuro is too; after escaping, Gakuro becomes a lot more conscious of Nue, which he tries to shake off in preparation for answering Tsujita and Shiroha's feelings, only for Kazusa to join the fray. / I always figured Nue was going to be part of the harem, but it never really seemed to me that there was any real plan for that; I honestly don't care either way so long as we get the poly ending, but this was still kind of an awkward way to introduce the concept

Kagurabachi: After the difference in their compatibility with their respective Enchanted Blades becomes clear, Hiruhiko tries to beat Samura with a Hail Mary - tearing down the entire building on top of them! However, Samura's Suzaku allows him to heal anything, including objects, and Hiruhiko once again loses both an arm and Kumeyuri. / Since this isn't the first time that Hiruhiko has lost an arm, I don't imagine he's done for just yet, even if he has to pick up Kumeyuri in his jaw again (also thematically appropriate to his first kill being with his teeth); I would assume he'll either be strongly compatible with Kumeyuri's third ability or his upcoming character growth will create the synergy he needs, even if it's not within this arc

Chojo: Chojo and Asuka pretend to be a couple to tail a suspect; though it's awkward, Chojo does show a little bit of his softer side, and Asuka gets a treasured gift. / Polimon, huh? With all of the shippy chapters lately, it seems more like Polymon...That said, I think Asuka might be best girl for me

Kiyoshi: Kurose Sata claims that the Demon World's lowest temperatures exceed what we call absolute zero, and freezes Hitsugi's arm; expending everything he has left, Hitsugi defeats Kurose Sata, collapsing with a contented smile. / That's my boy right there!!! Also, @wickedsick, no, that is NOT how temperature works; Kurose is talking about it like temperature is a show of force, but it's a measure of atomic movement within a system - I suppose atoms in the Demon World might just move differently than ours, but even if they did, our atoms wouldn't be able to move less than "not at all" as they would have no more energy to take, so at worst they'd just reach absolute zero and behave accordingly

Hima-Ten: Himari discovers that Maro, her new cat, came from her childhood friend Sumire; when she tries to thank her, Sumire acts coldly, a major blow to Himari's self-esteem; later, Sumire tails Tenichi on his way to work, mistaking him for Himari's stalker, and reveals that she's actually a Himari stan and just didn't know how to act around her. / Tomboy? Loves the main love interest? Accidentally ends up in compromising positions with the main boy? Close enough, welcome back, Tsugumi

Ichi: Bakugami smells World Hater's blood on Ichi and decides to make Gokuraku his challenger after all - which sends him into a blind rage against Ichi! / This is, ironically, the best possible outcome, as while Gokuraku is extremely strong, he's not going to simply kill himself like any other challenger would; this also gives us a great excuse to see Ichi vs Gokuraku as I predicted several chapters ago, so I get to have my cake and eat it too!

Shinobi: Squad 9 goes to the beach, but Yodaka is uncomfortable in such a public space and stays by the umbrella; Mimizuku tells Yodaka that Aoi's dad was also a ninja who protected Aoi's mom and asks Yodaka how he feels about Aoi; other ninja gather at the beach for a training session, including Hayabusa, an old friend of Aoi's. / Aoi's dad being a ninja adds credence to Kawasemi being her brother; it also brings up the question of whether Aoi might have a Kekkai and if that might be related to why she and her mother were being targeted

Syd Craft: Syd and Lulu track Zero Craft's henchmen to where the kids are being held, and meet Zero's righthand, X Craft; X escapes and sets the building on fire, forcing Syd to stay behind as Lulu and the children escape; Lulu comes back to save Syd, kissing him and vowing to steal his heart. / And Lulu comes out ahead by being the first girl to actively confess! No "it was CPR" either, that was a real, undeniable kiss! The introduction of X makes me feel less worried about cancellation since we haven't jumped straight to the final confrontation, but uh...seriously, Zero and X? Who's next, Axl? Actually, I kinda hope so, that'd be a good bit

Embers: Hikage and Inanaki scout out Kurobayashi's game and find them using possession tactics, a high-level strategy; Oshimi makes a bet with Nerima that he'll let him sit out of the game if he can score three goals in specific ways within 15 minutes, which he does with ease. / Having Nerima beat Oshimi's challenge and earn the right to not play is a great contrast to Haitani, who found a love for the game by constantly failing to beat Oshimi

Beethoven: Aigou and Sakami discuss the goal to crush Yaso at the Reiro Festival; Lexi and Marsha bump into some punks while searching for Beethoven; Yaso wanders the street through the night in a haze until Amano approaches him and reminds him of the song she asked him to play for her. / I knew that idol poster from last chapter was going to be relevant somehow, I think if they hadn't covered the A, I might have made the connection that it was Amano; I'm wildly unclear where this story is heading, but Amano is easily the most interesting character to me, so I'm excited to see where she takes this

Nice Prison: One of the Block 11 Elite Four (three weirdos and a dead guy) plots a breakout during a festival, but Mitsuboshi manages to thwart the scheme and take out a second member of the four by complete accident, leaving only one left. / One of the Elite Four already being dead is honestly a good bit, but I am so sure it's going to turn out he's alive and the joke will be ruined

Long-time readers know that I love love, so seeing Nico rediscovering her feelings for Morihito, Gakuro becoming aware of Nue as a woman and being approached by Kazusa, Asuka treasuring a gift from Chojo, Yodaka analyzing his feelings for Aoi, and Lulu accepting her feelings for Syd was all absolutely great for me!

This Week's Top 3:

Ichi the Witch for setting up Ichi vs Gokuraku

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi for Hitsugi's victory but loses points for bad physics

Syd Craft for Lulu taking an active role in the harem

[aurorarealyt]

Aurora's Top 5 Undertale/Deltarune Community Tracks!

In honor of Undertale's 10th anniversary coming up this fall, I'd like to take the opportunity to acknowledge a few of my favorite songs from the community!

Undertale and Deltarune's music scene is probably the most vibrant I've seen from any fandom, which says quite a lot. Seeing so many of my favorite artists emerge from the depths after the release of Chapters 3 and 4 has been inspiring, to say the least. This is a pretty subjective list, obviously, but my top five songs from the community are below the cut! (As well as my thoughts on each of them!)

5. MEGALOVANIA - Camellia

Imagine doing such a good cover of a song that Toby himself wants to work with you on music. (Yes, these two have collaborated on music!)

Camellia's legendary Megalovania is probably one of my favorite interpretations of the song ever. It plays at a breakneck speed, enough to where nodding along will likely give you a concussion, which lends itself well to how frantic the original Sans fight is. The inclusion of Bonetrousle, Once Upon A Time, and His Theme are also incredibly well done, as well as the sound effects from the game.

The more emotional turn it takes at around 3:57 is what makes me fall in love with this remix. In my opinion, the song as a whole does a perfect job portraying all the chaos, emotion, and power the Sans fight felt like it had. Easily my favorite cover out there.

4. Hopes And Dreams 10th Anniversary Remix - TLoMaCM

This one's a little pre-emptive with its release, but it still stands as one of my favorite Hopes And Dreams covers. It uses a blend of guitars and electronic instruments, which I always seem to fall for.

The addition of His Theme at 5:06 was unexpected, but very much welcome! Its later expansion at 6:16 is honestly one of my favorite renditions of that song- I always love getting to see it included as a part of a battle theme.

Also, this one includes a few hints of Penumbra Phantasm, which was buried in the baseline of the original song! Very nice detail!

3. Penumbra Phantasm V2 - surreal

I knew some version of Penumbra Phantasm was going to be on here, but I wasn't quite sure which. Surreal's cover, in my opinion, stays the closest to Toby's usual style, and will probably sound the most similar to whatever version of this song we hear in-game.

Ah, Penumbra Phantasm. The Deltarune soundtrack that the fan base hallucinated into existence. I won't go through the whole song's history here, but it's genuinely really cool seeing so many takes on a song that shouldn't even exist.

Surreal's is probably one of my favorites due to its very liberal use of motifs throughout the theme. Based on Chapter 4's focus on Kris's piano skills, and the fact that they seem to know how to play so many characters' themes, I think whatever finale theme plays will end up being a culmination of that. Usually motif soup doesn't turn out the way it's intended to, but I think it works really well here.

The general tone of this one works pretty well here too. When exactly Penumbra Phantasm will play in Deltarune (or who it plays for) is entirely up to speculation, but it's generally accepted to be a theme for the Angel of the prophecy. This song hits the nail on the head in that case, because it really does sound like a desperate last stand against some god-like force. 5:15 does a particularly good job at this.

2. VS. The Angel - cianeatsgrass

Penumbra Phantasm made it on the list twice. In a row. Sue me.

Please don't actually-

Cianeatsgrass's cover of the song is significantly more hopeful than the previous entry, which I like quite a bit! It feels less like a desperate fight against a god, and more like an emotional talk with your friend. That would suit the situation well if the Angel turns out to not be a character, but rather a role someone takes on.

There's a drum section toward the end that I like quite a bit, 1:48, that I've been trying and failing to recreate in some of my own music. Something about it is just so cool that I haven't been able to let go of it since I listened to this song for the first time last summer. I've had to talk myself out of using this song somewhere on ARC.

Overall, this version of Penumbra Phantasm hits all of the same emotional spots that I hope the game version eventually does.

1. Don't Forget Your Hopes And Dreams - Aura Solo

This one's a genuinely beautiful combination of the main themes of Undertale and Deltarune. The first minute or so is on a piano before it evolves into an orchestra cover that always manages to make me cry a little.

To me, this song perfectly blends the two and perfectly encapsulates the emotion behind them both. It's easily one of my favorite songs from this community ever.

-/-

Aaaand that's a wrap on my list! I may bring this sort of thing back for other kinds of fanworks closer to the actual anniversary. Overall, the UTDR music scene is one of my favorites on the internet. Some part of that is I think because of how well the original games use leitmotifs as a storytelling tool, making it easy for fans to do the same.

If you've got your own list anywhere, because you're in a similarly deranged state as me, feel free to add on to the list!

[just-a-carrot]

Lying in bed at 1 am thinking about... why on earth DD2 affects me so much... the way it's merged with OW in my mind... The similarities in many of their core themes...

A ramble:

I still find my intensity about the game inexplicable at times, so I've often tried to figure out exactly why, and I've never quite pinpointed it entirely as it's surely many factors combined but I do think a big part of it is because of how much it's become so merged with OW in many ways in my mind and how that makes everything about it hit me at least twice as hard every step of the way.

It's not the only reason because I did become pretty hooked on the first game when I played it too and that was long before OW. Something about the stark almost lonely fantasy of the world, the pawn system, the music, and the major turns that flip the whole story on its head must have really pulled me in. Because I was even considering replaying the first game using OW characters a short while before the second came out, and then I got the second game the day it came out.

But the second game took things so much further and I think it was propelled by the OW connection in my mind, making it the perfect recipe for my brain to become completely and totally fixated on it. And though ofc simply having the chars in there was already enough (especially given the great character creator that let me make them basically exactly how I think they would look in real life), it was the fact that I kept seeing more and more similarities in the themes that pushed it into like, essentially an AU in my mind.

Like. Iggy and the Arisen feel like the same person to me in so many ways. Both are stuck in a cycle out of their control. Both are forced to play a role according to the whims of others. Both have expectations placed on them they didn't ask for. Both end up needing to make their own choice to break the cycle even at the cost of the world around them. And so when my head is filling in the gaps of the game, it starts writing Iggy's story into there, because it's true that the game is a lot more about environmental storytelling and immersion rather than straight-up narrative a lot of the times, which just meant more opportunity for me to fill every nook and cranny with my own ideas to flesh out my personal Iggy version of the story.

And then we have the Genzou side of things. Not only getting to give him a personality that really meshed into what I felt he'd act like in an old-timey medieval environment, but also to make him Iggy's knight in a way. And then the pawn lore my GOD. Like to legit have him develop such a bond with Iggy that it grants him his own will, something pawns should never be able to have, and use that to help Iggy break the cycle, even if that means death, because at least in that final moment, they can both be free of their shackles. Like his love goes against his very creation itself but it doesn't matter because it's so so strong and allows him to make his own choice and I just bawled and bawled and bawled and bawled when I beat the game because they had really become Iggy and Genzou in my head, not just representations of them in a game but truly them and my heart hurt so bad I kept randomly crying for days after that. It was really intense LOL

It just really turned everything into such a poignant and beautiful and just so inherently queer story to me. And it's made everything else about it shine like 50 shades brighter in the process, even despite the game's flaws, and it not only inspires me to write and draw and create but also provides me with simultaneously both so much peace and so much emotional heartache, which you'd think would battle each other but not really lol.

Anyway uhh... I guess this is why I literally have an entire Iggy and Genzou-specific version of DD2's story in my head that at times even overtakes parts of the actual story and thus why it has become an AU to me even if that is potentially odd LOL And the strength of it is probably why I was able to switch to DDON and have it feel like a continuation in my head to give me the same comfort even if it isn't quite the same nor does it hit the same emotional levels. (At some point I also want to replay the first game again and create them in that too as I think that would be really fun...)

And I guess that is my 1 am depression-infused flood of thoughts triggered by the very overwhelming resurge of DD2 emotions after returning to it after 6 months. Even my main reason for stopping to switch to DDON was because I was heartbroken at the final DLC hope basically getting squashed so it tore my heart in two and I needed DDON to give me hope back and allow me to still give them new adventures lol.

If you read this whole thing, thank you, that means a lot ;-; 💕 I just have a lot of emotions right now I guess. And now maybe you understand a bit better why I love it so much, even if it seems a bit ridiculous. My brain just like cannot even physically think about anything else once this silly stupid game overtakes my mind (´～｀ヾ)

[h-worksrambles]

I think Clair Obscur Expedition 33 might be one of my new favourite games. I spent 50 hours absolutely glued to this game over the past week. And I’m probably gonna remain glued to it as I do postgame stuff.

The best way I heard this described is that it’s like a forgotten PS1/2 JRPG suddenly got a luscious remake. One full of clever little design tweaks that retain the spirit of those games. Modernising then without ever trying to fix them.

Combining turn based combat with timed hits and dodge mechanics in a very Mario RPG/Shadow Hearts way. But it’s designed to feed into the turn based strategy rather than overshadow it. Good dodges and parries gain you more AP which you spend for in turn actions. So playing well at the real time element rewards you by letting you combine your skills in interesting ways. Every character in your party has a ton of depth packed into this style, with their own unique hooks and different ways to build them.

Other than that it’s full of so many decisions that either feel plucked out of an old school RPG combined with others that are forward thinking. On the one hand. You have an abstracted open world, the kind you’d get in the PS1 Final Fantasy games or Xenogears, with different ways to interact and traverse with it unlocking over the game. I’m a huge proponent of this because it allows developers to abstract the sense of a long journey across a vast world without bloating the game with an open world and ballooning the cost and resources. And yet, as a more modernised example, items are reworked to follow Soulsborne rules. You have a limited number of heals and revives which get refreshed at each save point and can be expanded the more you explore. This encouraged me to use my items rather than hoarding consumables the way I otherwise would in an RPG.

At no point does Clair Obscur ever feel like it’s trying to smugly ‘fix’ the genre. You can feel the love for JRPGs pouring out of it. And what modernisation it makes is subtle and carefully considered.

The presentation is absolutely stunning. This is basically a new fairly small studio doing all they can with the Unreal Engine. It’s definitely not AAA but it reminds me of the first Hellblade in how you wouldn’t know that until you looked more carefully. But it’s having so much fun with UE5. It’s got that attention to detail and fidelity but it never sacrifices for artistic flair for realism. The world is colourful, stylised and surreal. It’s just a joy to look at. And the MUSIC. I feel like I need to recommend the game just for the soundtrack alone. A huge amount of genre variety. Excellent use of leitmotif. Haunting use of French vocals, and some of the best battle themes I’ve heard in years. The score is phenomenal.

But what I think Clair Obscur needed to nail to really stand the test of time is the story and characters. And if succeeds with aplomb. Despite its incredibly bleak post apocalyptic setting (conveyed masterfully in its first hour), Clair Obscur runs the emotional gamut from bleak to whimsical to funny to agonisingly heart wrenching. It puts its characters through horrific suffering but never feels embarrassed to fill its world with quirky, memorable NPCs. To me, that ability to commit to the bit with strong drama and unapologetic weirdness is the secret sauce of many classic JRPGs and this game nails that. The first time I encountered a fucking *mime* as a secret recurring thing I audibly said ‘oh yeah, this game gets it’.

And all of this escalates with powerful twists and some genuinely strong character writing into a story that explores parenthood, grief and the nature of artistic self expression. The characters are down to earth without ever feeling boring. They each get plenty of time to dig into their respective struggles and build endearing rapports with each other and I was quickly endeared to everyone. Helped by A+ voice acting across the board. Even 10 hours in the game already took swings I wasn’t expecting and it just kept ramping up. Building to an ending I’ve been struggling not to think about since I beat it. I’m gonna be posting some more spoilerific thoughts about the ending specifically shortly.

If you have even a passing interest in JRPGs, do yourself a favour and play Clair Obscur. It’s on Game Pass and at about 30 hours rushing the story, maybe 50 if you take your time with side content I think you could comfortably beat it in a single month.

It’s clearly made with such a deep love for the genre while also thoughtfully designed enough to stand on its own.

I’m gonna be thinking about this game for a very long time.

[goron-king-darunia]

Annon-Guy: Got a favorite Version of the theme Dreams Dreams from the NiGHTS Series?

https://www.tumblr.com/annon-guy2/777553195594661888/nights-dreams-dreams-theme-poll?source=share

I do. The original Dream Dreams Adult version is a classic. A baseline if you will. It's hard to say anything about it because, like "That's it. That's the song, that's what it sounds like." It's soft and warm but peppy. The love song aspect comes through a lot more in the adults' version across the series and the vocal performance sells it.

The original kids version is probably the weakest performance. Child vocalists can have unpredictable voices and have a hard time hitting certain notes. Unfortunately I think the female performance in both Kids versions is a little weak because the high notes feel much more like a falsetto with them than the boys. But they're trying their best damn it, and the kid versions in each game really sell the friendship side. The first NiGHTS game is told to us rather than shown for the most part so the songs are actually a lot more important in the first game, I think. Both games have a lot more of a subtle arc for the characters, but I think the growth between Claris and Elliot is a lot more subtle.

The A-Capella cover is definitely the most unique of all the different versions. The vocals are rich and the soul and choir styling are just completely different to everything else. Absolutely stellar performances but the lack of music actually makes me miss the piano parts and the flute riff a lot. Apart from that, the only other weakness to the song is that it... comes from outside the characters. I would buy it as something that could be sung in their universe since the original NiGHTS had a Christmas version and its lyrics are vague enough that it could definitely be seen as love toward a higher being if you squint. But in my opinion, Dream Dreams exists in both games as a song between the two dreamers who got to experience an incredible amount of emotional intimacy by sharing a dream and fighting evil together. While I could see an argument to be made that the third version is to include NiGHTS themself, and while I love NiGHTS as a character, NiGHTS seems more to be a sort of facilitator for the dreamers. NiGHTS isn't exactly the main character in either game. NiGHTS just gives the dreamers the power to battle against Wiseman and face their fears but he doesn't really change or grow that much because his main problem is that if Wiseman gets his way, NiGHTS can't stay free. NiGHTS is a deuteragonist in their own games. The kids are the protagonists. And the A-Capella cover isn't diegetic becaise there's no real way for it to be from them or about them because the performance is so different.

Sweet Mix and the guitar synth is just stellar. It somehow manages to be Christmas-y without sleigh bells?! It has those classic "winter song" bell beats but with synth? The only nitpick is that super-aggressive "WOO" in the cheering track they used. The returning adult vocals set it back firmly as an in-universe thing, and I would argue that the "call" in the background that is also found in Cruising Together and Growing Wings in Journey of Dreams is specifically there to include NiGHTS. In some ways I almost prefer Cruising Together over Dream Dreams even though they're the same melody in a different arrangement because it includes that call.

Journey of Dreams is just... better in my opinion? The vocal performances are improved across the board for me. Child Helen's vocals are still the weakest link but they selected voice actors that could compliment that sort of warble, squeaky voice she can have when she sings from her head and not her chest. Still a big improvement over the original female child vocals for Clarice.

It's hard to talk about the first four versions individually, since they're all written to relate to and segue into each other. I will say that the individual kids' versions have the amazing benefit of getting to hear the adult and child counterparts duet which not only sells the unspoken narrative that Helen and Will are going to stay friends (or maybe become more) and will grow into people who still care for and appreciate each other, but it lets you hear the vocalists mesh together with each other in unique ways and honestly I think the adult vocal performances shine here more than in the adult version of the song. The songs exist to be blended together into one in various ways. Two Dreamers, two timelines, the now and the future, combining, but never quite one, a duet across the years. It's just a beautiful song about friendship, love, teamwork, and the Journey of Dreams version of the song just sells that across the board with the first four.

The Located Link version is just so bouncy with the synth and music box sound. The track has a sort of "starting a skype call" quality with those ring jingles you get to indicate that you're waiting for someone on the other end to pick up. I was a kid with bad internet and no gamer friends in the same time zone so I never got to hear this version in regular gameplay but I presume it was there when trying to connect with another player across the internet. I remember the Nightopian garden was meant to have a feature like the chao garden where you could interact with other players and their Nightopians. Song fits that very well. (Also, SilvaGunna is known for this, but for real, the remix of the song he made has no right to slap so hard but it does. As with every song parodied and remixed. XD)

Sweet Snow has got to be my favorite version of all though. Once again, winter-y without bells. Like. The bells come in and just make it extra wintery, but it already has that with just the chimes and synth. It's just extra slow and dreamy. Exceptionally tender. The only issue I have is that I do miss the duet with the male vocals. If there was an arrangement of the sweet snow version that kept the adult duet aspect, it would be perfect.

[archoneddzs15]

Sega Dreamcast - Puyo Puyo DA! Featuring Ellena System

Title: Puyo Puyo DA! Featuring Ellena System / ぷよぷよDA! -featuring ELLENA system- [フィーチャリング・エレナ・システム]

Developer/Publisher: Compile / Sega

Release date: 16 December 1999

Catalogue No.: T-6601M

Genre: 3D Dance Game

This is an odd game if ever there was one. Back in the late 90's Japan was having its Music game boom thanks to the likes of Konami's Beatmania series and Dance Dance Revolution as well as Sega's Samba De Amigo and many cheap rip-offs by Namco and Jaleco. So, Compile probably thought it was a good idea to jump onto the bandwagon but what could they use? They really only had two main franchises which were Puyo Puyo and Aleste. Now a music game starring some spaceships would have just been too odd, so Compile went with the Puyo Puyo idea. The result is a very mixed dancing game featuring 7 characters from the Puyo Puyo Series and Ellena who first appeared in a PC-9801 game back in 1994 which Puyo Puyo DA! is based on.

The game plays pretty much like how Dance Dance Revolution plays in that you have to push the direction on the pad according to the way the arrow is facing as it slides over the marker. However, this is probably the only likeness it does have to Konami's game. You see, the player only controls every other line while the computer does the other. This is so you are actually battling it out to see who the best dancer is. Managing to pull off a better dance than the computer will dump a load of puyos over his / her head just waiting to be dropped onto him/her. Unfortunately, the actual button presses to the music don't actually follow the music's beat that well which leaves you slightly confused at times. The music is a mixture of Puyo Puyo remixed themes, and a few vocal tracks taken from various Puyo Puyo games. The music isn't that bad really but with only 8 or so tunes you do become tired rather quickly.

Overall, it's a nice enough game but be warned that it is quite easy, or at least it is to me. I finished the game on all three level settings on my second go. True I used an easy character because the hard characters are just insane.

[kooki914]

We all know how you feel about chapter 2, so how would you "fix" the issues with the chapter?

This is the kind of ask that would've made me go apeshit in excitement a few years ago. TL;DR, I made an AU specifically addressing all my issues with Chapter 2 (and the future of deltarune as a whole), it's called Kingdomrune and you can find it here.

If you want the in-depth explanation, continue under the cut.

First and foremost, visual overhaul of cyber city. It kills me because the concept art for the city that was released recently looks gorgeous but something is just lost in translation when trying to make the concept art a playable area rather than just a purely visual piece of art that you can take in at your own pace. Limiting the palette and making it a bit more muted is the option I pivoted to for Kingdomrune, but I'm admittedly not very good with colours, so make of the result what you will

(Added bonus - there's a parallax effect in the windows of the buildings that reflect the rest of the city, what would usually be street lights is replaced with wi-fi antennae that visually call back to the cliffs, a lot of the floating ads are, instead, replaced with "bug checkers" and loading icons which are animated but not so fidgety to be distracting, and a lot of the "blocky" looking items (trash cans and balloons) are more just stylized in-universe rather than actually clashing with the rest of the environment.) (Also, I hate "WELCOME TO THE CITY" so just imagine "a cyber's world" being the theme of the city instead)

Additionally, the city shouldn't be 90% of the chapter, it just gets boring after a while. My solution to this is splitting the City into two parts, the iconic Cyber City as the second of the two, with the lead-up to it being a place called Hardware Outskirts. I don't have spritework for it, nor presentable concept art sadly, so just imagine a cross between old soviet brutalist buildings and old yellowed computer hardware, and you've pretty much got the mental visual for it. The music I associate with it is anything by Molchat Doma, but more specifically This Song, which adds a necessary tonal contrast to the City's vibrant feel.

Second of all, SOME KIND of conflict in the wider world outside just the kids' adventure. There's hints scattered throughout the game that Queen is planning something big in the city and that nothing's running on time because of it, but we don't get explicit payoff for that. My way of resolving this, and tying it back to the light world, is that Cyber City is essentially at war with the rest of the library.

The new tech is trying to conquer and replace the books and stories that have been there much longer, and the Bookbound Kingdom (in my version of events, at it's head are the card queens that are missing in chapter 1) is fighting tooth and nail to keep the "Evil" Queen at bay. The Bookbound Kingdom is themed after fairytales and textbooks and stuff, the kinds of things kids would most often check out at the library, and it would provide a very necessary tonal and visual contrast to the Cyber City that actually makes it's GOOD aesthetic and thematic choices pop. Where the Bookbound kingdom is wild and whimsical and outdated, Queen's kingdom is rigid and complex and new.

It also gives Queen a reason to ransack the first area like we (implicitly) see her doing in the game. She's actually, violently trying to take over Bookbound and that's when she found Noelle, and decided to kidnap her. Sweet Cap'n Cakes get a bit of a rewrite as well, originally Queen's scouts and allies until the protagonists befriend them through dancing during their battle, which causes them to turn on Queen because their new friends treat them better than she's treating them at the moment (giving us in-universe characters reacting to Queen's change in character caused by the fountain that, in-game, is just told to us rather than shown).

Thirdly, write out Berdly. Entirely. This is probably a controversial take, but I genuinely think Berdly's arc would benefit from having his OWN chapter dedicated to HIM specifically (one I dubbed chapter 2.5 in my AU), instead of him being at odds with Noelle for screen time. Setting up a context where Berdly's the character very clearly out of his own depth and not thriving with people claiming to be helping him, is a much more compelling way to get (me specifically) invested. Put emphasis on Berdly and Noelle being friends and him overcoming his comphet crush on her, no more weird love triangle shit with him inserting himself into Susie and Noelle's business, and most of all, Ralsei and Kris bonding with him in their own ways. Give Kris a REASON to forgive Berdly for the way he treated them, give the two common ground and let Berdly GROW into someone who WANTS to be nice to Kris, rather than whatever the hell happened at the end of Deltarune's chapter 2.

And lastly, I need to talk about Noelle. Like, a lot.

While she was (and still is) my favourite part of Chapter 2, there's still improvements to be made. For one, going from "freezing up completely at conflict" to "ACTing with kris to spare enemies" after just ONE conversation with Virovirokun that completely breaks the flow of battle is... kind of odd to me. In my rewrite, Noelle's first escape from Queen is with SCC involved, they target Noelle as a lightner they can beat (because they can't beat the heroes) and in doing so essentially open her cage. Queen is furious with them and while Susie tells Noelle to get the hell out of there, Queen is trying to coerce her to stay, and Noelle is frozen in place. She doesn't WANT to stay with Queen, but she's rooted in one spot and can't move. When something loud/startling happens, it FINALLY makes her budge and she's able to run away.

Freeze -> Flight

When Noelle first joins Kris' party in Hardware Outskirts, it's not because Susie and Ralsei ditched Kris out of nowhere with weird traffic cones to block them (??? im still salty about that), rather it's because there's a two-way puzzle (kind of like the December puzzle) that makes Kris' team split up in two, and Susie chooses to go with Ralsei because she trusts Kris'll be fine on their own. For context, in my AU there's also chapter 1.5 where the team more firmly learns how to work together, specifically through Kris learning how to bond with them one at a time, so Kris trying to cling to Ralsei and Susie in chapter 2 is weird from those two's perspective because Kris should know by now that a team of two will be fine, the three of them don't need to stick together like glue all the time. Susie and Ralsei aren't completely out of the picture, for the record, they're still checking in on Kris and Noelle and making sure they're okay, even distracting Queen to give them opportunities to get out of dodge. (again, instead of the weird love triangle stuff, I still don't know why that's there in-game.)

Noelle at first runs from every battle that happens. Kris has to fight every darkner on their own, leaving them at a huge disadvantage, because Noelle is too scared to fight them. As you may have guessed, this makes the snowgrave route not possible the moment Noelle enters your party (I'll get to that). Noelle eventually gets forced into battles with Kris during a car chase minigame, where they compete with Ralsei and Susie to see who can take out more enemies in a semi-enemy rush. The problem is, Noelle still doesn't contribute, and when the teams get separated, Kris ends up encountering WareWarewire, who they can't hope to defeat on their own, and at THIS point Noelle runs away again, which opens up the option for KRIS to flee as well (essentially unlocking a new mechanic). Once they're both safe and enter Cyber City, Noelle starts to feel bad for constantly leaving Kris on their own, and asks them to tell her what to do next battle, because she wants to be stronger.

Freeze -> Flight -> Fight

THIS is where the snowgrave offshoot can happen. Once Noelle is with you during battle willingly, she listens to your every command and that can include freezing/killing enemies if you so choose. You can completely erode the positive aspects of her development and ingrain "fight" as the only valid response to stress to her, which undermines the journey she went on for the sake of making battles more convenient for the player. This entire portion of the game after Noelle joins your party would be specifically curated to not make it feel bloated when seeking out enemies and doing puzzles no matter which route you take.

On a normal route, Noelle's character continues to progress steadily, but the one thing she still refuses to do are spelling puzzles, with a bit of emphasis put on it. Her and Kris bond for the first time in a long time without being interrupted by Berdly or Queen, and in the end, she's able to help you do the December puzzle. Together, Noelle and Kris are able to move past their trauma, at least partly, and become closer friends than they were before.

Before the December puzzle, though, there's a miniboss, and instead of a Berdly, this section would actually feature Rouxls as a miniboss. In my mind, he's using the boat as a way to traverse a minesweeper puzzle and tries to stop Kris and Noelle in order to give them over to Queen. On a normal route beating him always leaves him somewhat injured and fleeing, with Noelle worried about his safety. In a snowgrave route, Rouxls is painfully outmatched and while Noelle isn't particularly invested in his safety as an individual, after being forced to do Snowgrave she's in shock, both because of what she did, but also because Lancer leaves your inventory to check on Rouxls.

Oh yeah Lancer, remember Lancer? He was here the whole time!!! Your actions have consequences.

He's very clearly distraught and doesn't fully understand what happened to Rouxls, and his distress at his "lesser dad" being unwell and dying without him being able to do anything rings a little too close to home for Noelle, who's losing her own dad to illness that she can't really stop. She leaves the scene, feeling responsible and out of place, while Lancer stays by Rouxls and refuses to go back to Kris' pocket. Kris enters the mansion without Queen trapping them and encounters Susie and Ralsei inside, grateful Kris caught up to them but confused at Lancer's absence. The rest of the snowgrave route would play out as expected, Spamton taking over the mansion and Susie trying to help Noelle even if she doesn't really know what's going on. Same with the light world, except Noelle doesn't have an "oh Berdly, you overwork yourself too much" moment, rather she has an imposter syndrome moment with Kris and Susie coming to the library together and, apparently, being there long enough that its late in the day and neither of them bothered to wake her up to hang out with her. She's glad the dream is over, but the waking world isn't much better.

On a normal route, though, Lancer helps get you out of the cages and rooms Queen put everyone in. In my AU, he doesn't turn to stone (lore bending go brrr) and instead lets the team do their own thing and find Noelle and the fountain while he goes and looks for his lesser dad. And then there's the mansion. God the mansion. This is such a nitpick but I hate that in-game it geometry makes no sense, so I literally devised a map in which the progression essentially stays the same but the building kind of actually makes sense.

(Bonus - specifically mapping out how her giant robot body upholds the mansion/where each body part is referenced and is most visible)

Once Noelle is rescued, she briefly joins the rest of the team before deciding to help them in her own way, disabling security that Queen has around the fountain in order to grant them access from the inside (because she's still scared of confronting Queen). There's only one fight against Queen, also, none of the giant mecha stuff. She has her speech about the Knight as the protagonists approach and Noelle is already caught on her hand. Noelle is essentially stuck and forced to watch the whole fight as the gang try and fail to set her free, or beat the shit out of Queen. Either way, when they seem to have the upper hand, Queen pulls out a second giant hand and knocks them all down. Tired and almost defeated, Queen turns to Noelle and releases her from the hand, telling her to make another fountain, just like in the base game, threatening Susie if Noelle doesn't comply. Noelle turns around and stands up to Queen, just like in the base game, and in response Queen rethinks what she did. She tells Noelle to choose the world that makes her happy, and uses the giant hands that kept the kids trapped as a makeshift throne that she sits down on and gets carried out of the scene with.

On their own, the kids slowly recover while Susie and Noelle still muse about how much better the dark world is compared to the light world. When Susie offers they open a fountain on their own terms, Ralsei stops her and explains the roaring. Essentially the same as the base game from here on out, except Noelle comes with Kris and Susie once the fountain is closed, filling in the gap on Kris' right when closing the fountain that Ralsei will (hopefully) one day fill.

The rest of what I'm about to lay out is pure wish fulfillment and is less "fixing" chapter 2 and more just adding things I want to see:

Susie tells Noelle the dark worlds are real after she wakes up on a normal route, and offers to take her to Castletown since that's basically a permanent dark world without any of the immediate danger. Noelle promises to keep it a secret, visits her dad at the hospital, then visits Ralsei with Kris and Susie. While those two eventually leave to explore Hometown, Noelle decides to stay in Castletown with Ralsei for the rest of the day. She has a lot to learn from him when it comes to magic and the dark world, and I just want them to be besties.

There's explicit references to Berdly in Cyber City mostly as an homage to the fact that he was once part of the story line of it. They reinforce that Susie and Kris don't like Berdly (kind of like how some of the Hometown kids talk about not liking Susie, it's framed as kind of childish and closed off), while Noelle kind of defends his intentions as positive at their core. It's entirely setup for ch2.5 where Berdly is slowly redeemed not because Noelle holds his hand through his character development, but rather because Kris and Susie are antagonists that want better for him than his so-called allies of the chapter do.

Ralsei and Noelle also have a brief bonding moment in Cyber City, mostly revolving around Noelle being curious as to who Ralsei even is, and him genuinely not having an answer to that question. It reinforces Ralsei's identity crisis during the chapter as well as shows why Noelle is so well liked by other kids in class (she's perceptive and tries to get everyone involved even if she doesn't know them that well).

All in all I think most of the things that would "fix" the chapter for me could genuinely take a lot of the whimsy out of it for other people. I prefer more sombre and subtle emotional beats, but the original chapter 2 was very clearly not aiming for that, and people enjoy it for its peppiness and hype in a way that I just can't. To me it feels forced and unearned, to other people it feels entirely natural and warranted. There's no one way to appeal to everyone and, outside of the structural problems of the chapter (not idiot-proofing the maps so I got lost and frustrated for a while, no save in front of Berdly's fight for snowgrave reasons and not taking into account that the battle is difficult on a normal playthrough and quick resets would be necessary for people not that great at the game, the general unnecessary fluff around that weird teacup puzzle where Noelle is there in the party as well and it's just a very confusing portion of the chapter that doesn't even lead into anything later on that unironically made me scrap the idea of the teacups for Kingdomrune altogether, etc) that could be fixed with trimming fat or just quality of life small tweaks. There's nothing Fundamentally wrong with chapter 2, it's just not what I wanted out of the game, personally. So, if you don't like my rewrite, more power to you. It's literally meant to appeal to just me and no-one else lmao

[tophat-69]

What music/songs, if any, did you listen to while writing it's the good, defining itself?

First, thank you for the question!

Mostly when I write the songs are on very low in the background rather than something to focus on, but especially when I was slamming through this particular story because I was being dragged along in that chapter a day pace.

I listened to the Arcane soundtrack probably more than I should have, but also a few other songs worked their way in not necessarily because they were accurate to the situation but because they reflected a feeling a character had.

“Never Love an Anchor” by The Crane Wives among them, Viktor struggling with guilt but not remorse, and some part of him genuinely feeling that Jayce would have been better off living on without knowing that Viktor had loved him and held back all through their past life.

“Call Your Mom” by Noah Kahn and “First Love/Late Spring” by Mitski, and a few other songs with similar themes because these are the two most suicidal characters I’ve ever written for… which is genuinely sad because I also write for Dazai and Chuuya.

Jayce and Viktor both know they’ve talked the other off a ledge only to find themselves on it later, and that their past lives ended in a double suicide that they’d have been at peace with for themselves but not for the other. Jayce spends so much of this story feeling just how much Viktor internalized the idea that giving up his battle to live is worth it if him dying makes the world better for others. Viktor’s afraid to care about living, now, because from his perspective his fear of dying destroyed their world. Any playlist I tried to make for this story would threaten to become an anthem to depression and self-loathing, considering Viktor.

“Like Real People Do” by Hozier is sweet and lovely and also about digging the one you love out of the grave to be reborn, and the suspicion and devotion and decision to just put aside the how and why and try to focus on the love. While I’m on Hozier, though, “Unknown” was also on there, and other songs shuffled through while thinking of Zaun, like “Eat Your Young.”

I also put on Bo Burnham’s “Inside” in the background while writing with pneumonia and just let it play. Because absurdism and depression go hand in hand. Meanwhile, the Hadestown soundtrack or folklore/evermore are my usual “put it on in the background” albums that I can have on and tune in and out of when I stop for coffee, but don’t throw me out of the story when I’m staying up to stupid hours writing.

Again, thank you for the question and thank you for reading!

[maagicmushies]

Nen Talk #1 Heaven's Arena

So, a few months back I thought writing up something to highlight how Hunter x Hunter uses it's power system less for creating interesting action set pieces and more for fleshing out the stories of characters. I kinda neglected this because of work, but I finally have a more consistent schedule with free time, so I want to start going through it, starting off with the four minor characters we meet at Heaven's Arena.

So, this is an unfortunate batch to start on because Togashi was just getting his feel for Nen as a system, so a lot of these characters feel like they exist for their narrative purpose of teaching Gon and Killua first, with everything being secondary. There are some things that I do like, though. Nen being used to compensate for a disability is very cool, especially with the running theme that Nen is fueled by desire or potentially even greed. If I had my arm blown off by some sadistic loser, yeah my desire to get it back would be pretty strong and probably end up coloring what my Nen would take form as. The problem is just that this is done in a much more interesting way later in the series and two of these three disability compensation abilities do nothing besides that - compensate for a disability. The exception is Gido with his Battle Waltz, Shotgun Blues and Tornado Top. Gido is a nothing character, but the running theme of music with these imply that he was a lover of music before getting wrapped up in the world of Nen, maybe even a dancer to make his current state more tragic. That's the slightest bit of flavor, but I appreciate it. These

Kastro does not have one of these nen abilities based on a disability, but I grouped him with him because there isn't a TON to say about him on his own. Kastro has the ability to create a copy of himself. In my opinion, we can learn a few things from this. The first is that Kastro, while powerful, is incredibly uncreative. After getting humiliated by Hisoka, his only answer for how to beat him was to just have two Kastros. It also shows a lack of faith in his natural talent in enhancement. We see from Gon's later fight with Hisoka that there is a lot that someone with this monster strength can do against Hisoka who mainly fights with tricks. If you have the power to do that, you'd much rather want to do that instead of trying to out-trick Hisoka. The last thing is that while it could be said that he makes a copy of himself, it wouldn't be incorrect to say that he makes a doppelgänger. An alternate form of himself that will always live in the shadows just as he lives in Hisoka's shadow. Or perhaps that's giving this more credit than it's due. Anyways, these goobers are just the preamble for me to begin talking about characters who actually matter like Hisoka.

[markantonys]

Hiya!! Do you know if there's any sort of guide to where each of the tracks from the s2 soundtrack pops up in-show? I adore the soundtrack, but somehow I can never recognise the individual tracks until they're pointed out to me lol

hello! there isn't a guide for this............until now! [cracks knuckles] let's get going

season 2 vol 1

this is the Themes album, so none of the tracks appear as-is in the show itself. but they do form the basis of in-show tracks, so i will note those connections as well as any other scenes i can recall where an unreleased variation of the theme can be heard.

The Desert Warriors: aiel theme. remixed into aviendha's theme as well as "a daring escape"

The Hailene: seanchan theme. appears in "damane", "face it on your feet", "uprising", and "the thrill of battle" (and in "from the west" from season 1)

Darkness and Shadows: not sure if this ever appears. but this version's such a weird-ass banger (complimentary) that i wouldn't be surprised if it was remixed into some creepy ishamael music or something in a way that sounds so stunningly different from the Theme Version that i won't notice it until my 7th rewatch of the season haha but either way, i'm pretty sure it doesn't occur within any of the vol 2 tracks.

Liandrin Guirale: can be heard a few times in liandrin scenes (notably one scene of her either leaving or arriving at mat's cell, but i forget which scene), but nothing that was released on the official album

Aviendha: this itself is in large part a variation of "the desert warriors", and it's very similar to "a daring escape", definitely the closest neighbor to actual in-show music of any of the Theme tracks. it can also be heard in the scene where aviendha gets beat up by bain and chiad (unreleased track; the melody here is, i believe, the portion that is specific to "aviendha" and not the portion that "aviendha" shares with "the desert warriors")

Mat Cauthon: "the horn of valere" and also we hear a glorious few moments of it in that one extremely romantic shot of mat preparing to save rand while silhouetted by the sun

The Dragon's Heart: can be heard a few times in rand/selene scenes, but nothing that was released on the official album. interestingly, i believe this theme only occurs in the early episodes and vanishes after the selene=lanfear reveal.

Egwene al'Vere: "new beginnings", "making plans", "uprising", briefly in "the source of power", and unreleased versions in several other egwene scenes. probably the most-used New Theme of season 2!

Nynaeve al'Meara: "evil has no limits", not sure if unreleased versions of it appear elsewhere in the season, but it's possible. the "like a raging sun" variation on the aes sedai theme also kinda doubles as nynaeve's theme (we hear it again in her test in s2), so she isn't in as much need of a Character Theme as some of the others.

Last Light: not sure if this ever appears

Coming Home: this one is my everest. i'm not sure if it ever appears BUT there is a distinct and brand-new-for-s2 Damodred Family Melody heard multiple times in-show this season (examples are the second half of "the well" and the very end of "the bond that cannot break") and my GUT is telling me that that melody derives from "coming home". but it isn't actually the same melody as "coming home", yet it doesn't match any of the melodies in the other Themes either. so it's driving me crazy!! haha

season 2 vol 2

these are the tracks that actually appear in the show! and i will note the scene(s) they appear in. i decided to list them in order of appearance rather than in album order. also, a number of tracks have part of it play in one scene and another part play in a different scene, so i've noted that where i can, but i don't think i got Everything.

The Well: 2x01 opening Sad Moiraine Bath

New Beginnings: 2x01, first half is the lantern scene & second half is egwene's opening tower chores montage

Making Plans: 2x02 nynaeve overhears egwene talking about her to elayne

Face It On Your Feet: 2x02 atuan's mill battle

Evil Has No Limits: 2x03 bandit attack in nynaeve's first arch

The Test: 2x03 trolloc attack in nynaeve's third arch

Desert Dreams: 2x04 lanfear's resurrection, then again a bit later when she's riding a horse with a flame whip. a version of this track also plays in a few other lanfear scenes, most iconically her cairhien rampage in 2x07, but the exact album version occurs in 2x04. interesting to note that the melody here is actually moiraine's theme from s1, and moiraine still has that melody often in this season but it's also repurposed as lanfear's theme. although it is also simply The Main Show Theme since it's the opening credits theme, so perhaps it's breaking away from being specific to moiraine (we also hear that melody used for egwene in "uprising")

Family Reunion: 2x04 alanna's house

Damane: 2x05 opening shot of the seanchan in falme

A Daring Rescue: 2x05 aviendha & perrin vs. the whitecloaks

The Thrill of Battle: 2x06 final sequence of ryma's fight & egwene being broken

The Bond That Cannot Break: this is the only one i'm not sure about, but i THINK i heard it in 2x07 when anvaere confronts barthanes (or at least a portion of it)

Uprising: 2x08 egwene escapes and kills renna

The Horn of Valere: 2x08 mat blows the horn

Echoes of the Past: 2x08 mat fighting with the heroes & dain seeing perrin kill his dad

The Source of Power: 2x08 end fight with moiraine on the beach and the kids on the tower

[rottenhellion]

raihan

Why I like them: He's that guy that you THINK'S gonna be a total douche but is actually a really great guy once you get past first impressions. Liable to do something stupid trying to impress you. Dragon in human form. Canon fang haver. Brags about himself in the third person and should not be trusted with tapestries. Babygirl you need so much therapy /aff

Why I don’t: That hat that can't decide weather it's a sweatband or a beany. Seriously what is that thing on your head man

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Haven't watched any of his anime scenes tbh, kind of scared to after how dirty they did Leon. So I'll just use this section to show some love to the bit in Pokespe where he tries to take on Eternatus... himself. Not using a Pokemon. 

Favorite season/movie: See above 

Favorite line: ...I'm just gonna put "Especially you, Piers! The way you battled me in the Champion Cup... You really had my Dynamax Pokémon up against the wall!" and apologize profusely. Yes for ship reasons but also the fact that the guy starts hitting on a new rival in the middle of a Dynamax Pokemon rampage just feels weirdly on-brand? 

Favorite outfit: Shout out to that slightly douchey waistcoat ensemble with the Flygon shades from Masters...which he has a matching stupid, stupid hat for. 

OTP: Raihan/Leon/Piers and Raihan/Piers both qualify. Leon just straight up hits the "you don't even have to Ship It, some characters having had sex is just objective truth" threshold and they're often really sweet together, I just have to throw an alt boy in there too to get into it because my brain craves them like a body craves air. And Piers...they get tragically few scenes together but the ones they do get are so weirdly charged? Like someone else said there's a certain "should we be watching this?" energy to them lol 

Brotp: Leon also goes here, mostly because coming up for platonic explanations for the sheer depth of Raihan's brain rot in regards to that man leads to some FASCINATING relationship dynamics. I'm a big believer that romantic vs platonic indicates a relationship type rather than inherently implying a hierarchy of importance and these two are a great outlet for mentally rotating those themes. Also he and Gordie are fun in Masters, I like to think that they became friends while having shared sadboy time in the locker room. 

Head Canon: Probably my biggest is that with the way there's some pretty depressing shit left unsaid about the way he views himself, the occasional signs of anger issues he shows, and how he's the only member of The Rivalcule you don't meet the family of, the guy did NOT have a good childhood. On a lighter note, the guy has absolutely dogshit music taste. Like we're talking Skrillex and below here. The fact Piers doesn't strangle him over it is testament to the depth of his affection. 

Unpopular opinion: Don't really have one? 

A wish: Gigantamax Archaludon whenever the Galar remakes come out in 10-15 years, he deserves to just summon a wholeass suspension bridge (that notably has a weather-related signature move at that). And, well, just more of him in general. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Same as Piers, please don't throw this man into spacetime GameFreak 🤞

5 words to best describe them: Selfie boy kinda worries me 😔

My nickname for them: Rai, Rai-Rai...💖🐉