#How to Copy OST File

[audrac-blue]

Hi Phantom of the Paradise fandom, I have joined you

A week ago on pinterest I dicovered the amazingly weird and mesmerising Phantom Winslow

I can't THINK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE since then

His character-design, his clothes, the helmet, the MAKEUP, HIS TEETH ...OH MY GOD

This is the strongest and quickest burst of gender envy I ever experienced. I mean, in a few hours I had a whole file of pinterest pictures of him, learned that he was from a movie adapted from the story of Phantom of the Opera from the 70's, had see a bunch of tiktok edit from the movie, read almost the entire wikipedia file of the movie and ended up with a copy of it to watch it right away. I listened to the OST like 20 times since then, watched the movie, wrote a two-pages long word document of notes to make a cosplay of the Phantom...

I was in the middle of a fucking house moving and had plenty of stuff to think of but THIS PHANTOM WAS THE ONLY THING I COULD THINK ABOUT

I'm so obsessed with everything about this character OMG. The fact that he's a tall and thin silhouette wrapped in a cloak figure, this only eye starring in horror in the blackness of the hole in the the owl-like helmet, his black leather-like clothes covered in straps and belts, and his gloves coverring everything ... the fact that the only things we see of him are this horrified eye and THIS. MOUTH. This motherfucking black-lip campy grimacing mouth with THIS TEETH.

For me this is the peak of genderless not-really-human-anymore-creature-like character. I WANT, I NEED to BE that dark and weird figure lurking in the in between

WHY did'nt I discovered this movie back when I was a teenager ? I would have know sooner...

...I don't like my voice (and never had) but I'm starting to learn how to sing Bill Finley's Faust song... thanks you Bill Finley <3

[andrevascreencaps]

FULL STYLE SAVVY TRENDSETTERS OST MP3 DL

Okay I tend to get into this Mood (see: ADHD) with my hobbies where I want to obtain this very specific thing within it, and I just focus on it until I figure out how to get it...

Anyway long story short, I dumped my emulated copy of Trendsetters, found a BCSTM converter for every single audio file in the game, converted the resulting WAV files to MP3s, and did some file renaming & added tags to make them look a little nicer.

There's 319 MP3s totaling 1.11 GBs.

Thankfully the files were already named pretty clearly, and it looks like ones starting with "BGM" are background music (of course), ones starting with "JGL" are... jingles? Shorter songs. Then ones starting with "SE" are sound effects.

I'm posting it with a mirror cause idk maybe this will be the 1st time I get in trouble for sharing files lol

MEGA Download | OneDrive Download

[kaiowut99]

Crow Story Event 1 & Duel Lines Testing VS Aki | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V TFSP Re-Translation Project (WIP)

(Project Announcement blog post/video)

With my GX 115-116 subs finalized in late August, I went on to get some re-translation work done on Crow's story (which is actually pretty cute around his kids trying to figure out how best to cheer him on and everyone else helping them) and his in-duel lines/bio, while also getting work started on GX 117-119 (and trying to finish up another thing I've dabbled with for months that I'll hopefully swing around to posting soon lol)--with all that done, figured I'd show off his story's first event along with some casual playtesting of his in-duel lines, as well as a peek at Aki's which I haven't shown off (unfortunately she didn't pull off Black Rose Dragon in this one, but her other decks were annoying to test with because of Black Garden lol). The in-duel anime OST was edited in by me, and I quite like how it came out! (The only songs I tweaked were Helpless Battle and Crow's Dueling; love how the timing worked out for the ones I didn't, haha.)

Quick note: Crow's attack-name line for his Arms Wing/Armed Wing has it as "Black Tornado!!", seemingly only in the TF games and in the Duel Terminals--in the anime and Duel Links, it's "Black Charge!!". To keep it consistent, I ported over his "Black Charge" line from DL to replace "Black Tornado" and tweaked the dialogue line accordingly (to this day, Crow still doesn't know where he got "Black Tornado" from). Also, a minor tweak since recording this, but I changed Crow's "I'm going to take you down!" in-duel line to "I'm gonna take you down" for consistency with how I was writing him.

(Also, replacing Crow's one voiceline got me curious about whether or not voices for the other characters that should have voicelines could be added back--I tested by making a folder for Johan and copying in Crow's line files, but I'm guessing it'll take more than that and involve editing the game's code since that didn't work... It'd be a matter of figuring out how to enable those characters to have voicelines, tell the game where to find them to play, and then probably also making them show up for the Voice Test in their bios... But questions for later. [That said, since it was so easy to replace Crow's line, it should be pretty feasible to replace budget!Kazama as Dark Yugi with Kazama's DL lines as appropriate, but that'll be a side thing once the base game's done.]

Going to go full speed ahead with finalizing my 117-119 subs, and then I'll come back to work on Kiryu and close out the 5D's big five's stories. But while mainly working on 117-119, I'll likely also be chipping away some more at the bios on my morning office commutes to keep myself busy, haha. Stay tuned!

Also, as a bonus below, here's a bit from Crow's second story event that I thought was amusing as I drafted it; this is as Crow's looking for his kids (who Martha can't find and is a bit worried about) and finds Jack having his usual ☕ time, ft Carly--and I can definitely hear them having this convo, haha.

(The "moment of zen" lines are from Carly, though I did think they were Jack's for a minute and thought Crow was yanking him from his coffee or something before I checked the game footage, lol. [Not shown here, but after the duel, Crow rushes off with Jack but leaves Carly with his coffee bill 😭])

[odysseys-blood]

then, can you give us a list of games you recommend?

i sure can thank u for asking! i'll try to make it a bit more brief but under my top 4 i'll add a readmore with a longer list in case u wana read that and not the like. Odysseys Blood Introductory Game Pack.

so starting with the top picks:

1. The World Ends With You

i think a lot of people have a similar feeling about this game. you play as neku, recently deceased kid with no memories no friends and a whole lot of attitude and your main goal is to survive the reaper's game for 7 days to get a chance at living again. he trusts no one and believes in nothing but himself and being an extremely depressed middle schooler, i related to him but watching the way he changes over time and learns to open himself up. its kind of an eye-opener and i've seen the same though echoed through a lot of different people like me who wanted to really give up but this game does take you by the hand and oush you to try again. make connections. live and whileit may be a struggle its alright because you always have the option to keep going. also the ost is AMAZING and the art style is very unique and the story and characters captivate you so well. idk where id be without this game honestly. preferably if you do want to play its best to play the og on a ds (can be done w/ a hacked one) but if not its on switch and theres a sequel! which is ok but its not as great as original twewy

2. Tales of the Abyss

ToA (or tota as most ppl tag it but i stick with toa to match the tags for other tales games. which are also good esp vesperia i just wont add it to this list bc its already gonna be a long one). what stood out to me a lot with this game besides the main cast who i love to bits, is its theme on religion actually. when i first played toa i was still in the church and the main theme of religion in toa can be boiled down to devotion is all fine and good, but don't let it rule your life. the fate that is written out for you doesn't rule you, you make your own choices. even if they seem futile, you still don't have to take your fate sitting down you can kick and scream and fight as much as you want towards another path if that truly is what you desire. and that resonated with me heavily. this one's a little more crunchy looking from its age but i still really like the graphics (and i played on 3ds lol) and the environments in tales games are all so stellar its such a good game. and oh my GOD the party interactions. tales games usually do really good at having main casts that are "6-8 people who have no business being stuck together but they are anyways" and i think the part for this one will always be my favorite. also last little bit but theres so much about identity in toa as well and the way the main character, luke, is written with his own struggles about feeling like his own person has gripped me to this day. ive heard this one is hard to find a physical copy of but like. again shoot me a message if u have a hacked 3ds

3. AI: The Somnium Files

i've been here since day ONE (not exactly but theres a youtube page for one of the characters they were using to drop some info before the game released and i was watching while that was still going so. close enough). i am obsessed with aitsf. my icon is even the main character (edited a bit and w/ stickers). this game doesn't have combat like the first to and is strictly a visual novel and i adore the way it explores the central theme of love, especially familial love and its many shapes and forms and how sometimes even through blood it just doesnt. exist. but that doesnt mean you dont deserve love. someone will be there to give it to you and if not you take it however you can. this is much more apparent in the left half of the game which to this day has made the mizuki route my favorite. this one's eveywhere (playstation, steam, switch) and goes on sale frequently on steam for like $7. this one also has a sequel which is pretty good but again i think the original is much better

4. Heaven Will Be Mine

honestly with how many people i see daily gushing over poetry and writing im surprised more dont play hwbm. its a space mecha visual novel set in the aftermath of a war where earth sent children to go fight an existential threat which may not have even existed and now all of those kids are adults who have grown up without the shackles of society on the earth which js funny enough, finally calling for them to come back. the writing is beautiful and fun to pick apart and if you're a fan of prose i definitely think you should give this one a try. double of you're lgbt in any way this game is good for its writing about queerness especially if you're trans. please play hwbm. this one's on steam and doesnt have a sequel game but the devs, worst girl games, also made We Know The Devil which i like less than hwbm but its still pretty good! that ones got gay religious trauma

continuing is just a list of more i like in no specific order. some of these may be a bit cringey but i like fun

Witch's Heart

listen i know theres some strange bias some ppl have gainst rpgmaker pixel games but like. 1) odd but ok 2) witch's heart is such a beatiful story i need you to throw whatever biases you may have abt pixel games RIGHT NOW. my header text comes from this game. it means everything to me. do you have a wish you would kill for? does your wish mean more to you than another's? how much will you let your selfishness control you. for a game that looks so silly it made me cry a lot. this one's free on vgperson's translated game list and theres still MORE BEING MADE. SO MUCH GAME. FOR FREE. LOOK AT ME. ITS FREE. and heartwrenching.

To The Moon/Finding Paradise/ Impostor Factory

this description is short but similarly a pixel game like the previous rec. its more understandably heavy considering you play as eva and neil who fulfill the wishes of the dying in their dreams. its sad. i cried. i cry a lot dont i? these r on steam

Just Shapes and Beats

a rhythm game this time! it's got a cute little story mode but it is just a dubstep rhythm bullet hell i like playing. did you know i was a dubstep fan in middle school well now you do and im sad skrillex is mid now. its on steam and switch. not a good pick however if you are sensitive to flashing lights or have epilepsy im sorry. i believe there are safe modes but i havent tested them myself to see how well they work

Paranormasight

paranormasight is a horror visual novel illustrated by gen kobayashi who, if you can tell from the linework on the sprites and in the portraits and what have you, illustrated for twewy. i'll be real i was ready to screan and cry 30 minutes in but its not actually that scary im just a wimp. this one could be seen in a similar vein with witch's heart in the idea of: what would you do to fulfill your greatest wish. how many people would you kill. because you will be killing. on steam and switch.

Bustafellows

for being an otome bustafellows rly got me. while being an otome it is still plenty silly but heavy with fun characters. also i think this is the first time ive really liked an otome mc they tend to be very waify and kinda annoyingly written tbh but teuta is a VERY fun character and not at all a stand in for a self insert. or at least she isnt good at being a self insert which is fine to me because i love a main character that has their own personality. a guy dies like 10 minutes in. this ones on steam

Mamiya

i seem to like a lot of visual novel games with time loops and dead main characters and this is another one. very dark but i love it to bits. also this one requires a warning list i haven't seen anywhere but i made one myself here. its on steam

IVE RUN OUT OF PICTURES. SO I CANT ADD ANYMORE BUT QUICK LIST YOU'LL HAVE TO LOOK UP MORE OR JUST ASK ME ABT ANY OF THESE:

Lethal League Blaze

Hatoful Boyfriend

Fallen Hero: Rebirth (and its sequel Retribution)

Code Vein

shout out also to What in Hell is Bad. not for kids at all this one is explicitly 18+ but for being a goofy eroge otome it has. gripped my by the nuts and it has not let go. ive only been playing like a month help.

[fivenightsatfreddysfanfiction]

Trade Tomorrow for Today

Sydney finds all the beta tester logs before Alex does. The consequences are lasting.

Time Frame: End of Special Delivery Arc, Sydney POV

Inspired by Poison from Hazbin Hotel OST

-------------------------

The VR world remained as unsettling as when he first ‘stepped’ into it following Alex’s instructions. His little brother’s words in his ear via the tiny communication bud had been a grounding presence, kept him from freezing in place the moment the digital recreation of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza built up around him.

It was both familiar and unknown to him, the black and white checkered tile under his feet, covered tables with party hats strewn on them, aged walls that once upon a time had been a lighter shade of blue.

How did he know they had been blue?

But through each mini-game Alex walked him through after passing them himself, Sydney inched through the digital maze in search of the pieces of code that seemed out of place. Fragments trapped in the forms of cassette tapes with a fearful voice explaining her situation in broken sentences. Her words made him tense, a strange tingling passing over him like the faintest of headaches that faded too fast to be natural. He gave himself a small pat on the back for having the foresight to tell Alex not to play the tapes himself until they were all gathered and isolated from the VR world. Maybe playing them as regular audio from a speaker won’t cause the weird feeling.

Something else here had been blue, not the walls, something his Remnant had fixated on and still didn’t let go even when so much had been worn away. Blue, blue, blue.

Along with the tapes and the tingling was this glitching figure of someone in a rabbit suit, glowing purple eyes staring at him as it waved in a stuttering motion, like not enough frames had been put in its animation. Sydney had reported it to Alex and he’d sworn under his breath, growling about the Master File he had suspected had been implanted into the game’s code. While his brother went about modifying the VR game to upload the changes live and contain the A.I., Sydney focused on the figure that seemed to draw closer to him with each tape collected.

Couldn’t play the games with Freddy, kept freezing up and panicking and feeling like if he just cast his mind somewhere else he’d be safe and Alex had to talk him back to himself, get him out of the mini-game, wait until he hacked in cheats to let him skip directly to each tape’s general location and buy him time to search for them.

The rabbit guy seemed to get clearer visually and gain more animation as his exploration went on, a low distorted voice whispering as ambiance. It made Sydney’s skin crawl. This wasn’t the Master File, what little he knew of him and could recall. There was a copy of him at Boss Lady’s pizzeria, Digital Lucian, who was the operator of Circus Baby. Blonde, one green eye, one silver eye, dressed in blue and red, tended to avoid crowds if he didn’t have to be around them, snarky and demanding one second, withdrawn and somber the next; the Master File version had silver eyes, dressed in purple, and had gleefully helped the Aftons drag him and Alex into their schemes to the point both of them were close to just ceasing to exist.

He also liked talking. A lot. Lots of flattery and taunting, conniving little bastard. Different from how Sydney could talk. He tried not to think about what his way of talking could do. He’d slipped once, out of anger that his brother had gotten bullied at the pizzeria, and had only snapped out of speaking once the acrid smell of his victim soiling themselves hit his nose.

Last Sydney heard, that kid never regained the person they had been before, fawning when anyone even slightly raised a voice in their presence. It made him ill. A personality broken because he lost control.

He’d talked to someone here, didn’t he, someone blue, but they didn’t break. Didn’t break, couldn’t fly but didn’t break.

“Wish you were here,” Sydney muttered with a faint sigh, “Someone I couldn’t break. Someone strong like that.. wonder if they’re still around.” He held up another of the labeled tapes, frowning at it before reaching out to press the glitch-textured tape player on the virtual desk that connected to the previous tester’s room.

Fade in, fade out, the case containing the other tapes remained in place on a lone desk with the player he used to listen to them. They were numbered in the wrong order, which had frustrated Sydney when he heard far too late that whatever the tape girl had been afraid of, likely this rabbit thing, had attached itself to the log tapes and she’d broken and scattered them to try and weaken it. But her last tape said she had an idea of what to do about it, so maybe this final tape had her plan?

He’d play it and then let Alex know the steps via their earbud. Then maybe that stupid rabbit thing would go away and the weird pressure in his head would stop. Sydney glanced over his shoulder, scowling at the figure still looming there, leaning to one side and still staring at him with that stupid smile that was sewn into his rabbit head.

Tape in the player, play button pressed.

Why did it smell like old blood?

Sydney listened with half his attention on the tape, the rest cast outside of the limiting view of the VR game, sudden tension gripping him. The air in the testing room had changed, there was a faint swish of cloth, the scent of perfume, the feel of another person in proximity, soft breaths taken to try and conceal themselves. The rabbit drew closer. What did the tape girl say? Alex needed those instructions. Sydney pressed play again, tried to pull his awareness from the other person to focus on the tape. Hard reset? Allow the merge to begin, then trigger a memory flush?

Something cold and metal pressed to his head, making him freeze in place. -Wait, this was familiar too, he experienced this before but not this way, roles flipped, someone blue, old blood- There was a hiss of air pressure and then a sharp stabbing pain as something was injected into him, a new and foreign object locking into place so suddenly he didn’t even have a chance to react.

“Ah, here’s the signal,” that familiarly flirtatious voice echoed in the darkness of the tape room in game, almost in sync with whatever it was that was fired into his head. “I thought one of them would recollect the pieces for us, but I had expected it to be the little hacker boy.”

Shit, they were on to them. They tagged him, but maybe he can stop them from tagging Alex. Sydney quickly raised his hands to pull the VR headset off, only to find his arms halted in place, glowing green hands of the rabbit figure gripping his wrists and holding him in place.

“Wh-what the hell?!” he exclaimed, panicking confusion setting in. The rabbit guy was grabbing him in game, so why couldn’t he move his real body?!

The shadows of the tape room parted to let in the lanky figure of the Master File, a graphic trail of pixels drifting after him as the silver-eyed digital ghost smiled shrewdly. Sydney jerked in place, trying again to wrench himself free, but the rabbit was weirdly strong for having such a deceptively scrawny figure. Why couldn’t he move his real body too?!

“Should have listened to the warnings at the start of the game, Darling,” Master File purred, standing by the table of tapes and folding his arms over his chest in a casual pose. “You and the kid did a wonderful job of gathering up the parts of this learning A.I. for us, and you gave us enough time to get that implant into you.” His eyes gleamed cruelly as he chuckled, “Now I have direct access to you. Electrical impulses, digitized Remnant, you get the picture.” Master File gestured towards the rabbit figure. “I just encourage your brain to believe what happens in here, happens in real life.”

The rabbit lightly kicked at Sydney’s legs and his knees hit the floor painfully, a soft grunt escaping him. Wasn’t Alex picking up any audio? What the hell? Was he in some mini-game that was overpowering the earbud again?!

He felt the careful scrape of fingernails against his ear that made him twitch uncomfortable, then grit his teeth as the tiny bud was pulled out and away, severing his connection to his brother. “Hm, no wonder this one found the learning A.I. first,” the tape girl’s voice remarked outside of the game, a strange accent to her voice that hadn’t been in the recordings, “He’s been cheating with the help of his partner.”

“Cheating a game is one thing, but still a far less sin than the act of cheating death,” Sydney began, promising himself to make up for this later. “How many lifetimes have you stolen to-?”

A sharp pain stabbed through his skull again, making him cry out. The rabbit held him in place as he doubled over, gasping while riding the pain out. Old habit, old habit, breathe through it.

“Oh, did you think you could pull that trick on her? I just told you I have direct access to you, idiot,” Master File sighed as if in disappointment. “Afton, I do hope you have something to transport the data with. I’m going to be a bit busy frying this meathead’s brain to wipe our trail.”

“And waste a perfectly good transponder? Especially one that has the same V.A.N.N.I. connection as the others?” Tape Girl, or was she Afton now, declared indignantly, “I put that in for you to have control, not waste materials!” Sydney could hear her swing the device she used around in the air. “I have the two vessels this body could get me access to, but this is also a good opportunity to gain two more assistants for my plans. Just need to track down where the other one is in the building…”

Panic. This could ruin everything! The deal, the deal was to stay away from their old ways of doing things, right? Couldn’t remember, but close enough. If Alex wasn’t pulled in, maybe he could get away, could be spared.

Didn’t he do this before too? Sent him away, trapped his not-dad in place, and then.. something. Blanks in memory.

“You don’t need him!” Sydney blurted out, wincing at the glare from the Master File, a warning thrum of pressure put on him through the implant. “Wait, wait, think about it. For what you’re thinking, having a kid do that? It’ll be too easy to trace back to you; he’s sloppy with physical shit, that’s why I kept him on tech stuff!”

That sounded about right, right? Convince them that Alex would be useless, keep him out of this, keep him safe. If only he knew more about what they used to do, how they worked. The way Alex talked about it, it seemed this was how they operated. He was the brains and Sydney the brawn and.. someone was.. was there someone else?

“Afton, this network hardware is limiting,” Master File remarked warningly, glaring out at the darkness of the tape room in game. “I can’t guarantee holding control over both of these rats if you implant the other one. Pick one so I can just kill the other.”

It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working! What could he do-?

Oh.

He can talk.

“This much control over me and him? Don’t need to do that if we make a deal,” Sydney spoke with a calmness he didn’t really feel. Master File shot him a suspicious look but Afton made an interested hum. It wasn’t much but at least it was a foot in the door. Don’t break down personality, break down the argument. “No idea how you came back, but I got my new lease on life via contract. And my old job as a merc meant I deal in contracts all the time. So how about we exchange control that’ll be more hassle than it’s worth for a more mutually beneficial contract?” he offered, pushing as much of his old cold confidence into his words as he could without tipping his hand.

“You have my attention,” the woman murmured, tapping a foot against the floor, “What do I get for not going after your partner?”

Okay, okay, took the bait, now to secure the interest.

“Since I wasn’t able to give any identifying report, he’s got no clue who’s involved in this or what the scheme is, so he can’t give anything to anyone else,” Sydney began in the same calm voice, wincing only a little at the grip still on his arms by the rabbit figure. The Master File was focused on him, and the tingling feeling that was starting to ramp up was probably him trying to get a better grip on his brain. “No trail of evidence he can use. Me, I was the senior partner; whatever you need done, I’ve got more experience. I’m the more valuable merc.”

“And for letting the little vermin just scurry away, you’ll be… obedient?” Afton asked in an amused tone.

“Ah, that’s why his Remnant seemed familiar,” Master File suddenly piped up, a sharp smile cutting across his face as Sydney turned a wide-eyed gaze towards the digital ghost, “I have a record matching it from the database we’ve been building. Traces of it were scanned from that paper plate thing that was stashed in the defunct Spring Bonnie unit we recovered from his partner’s Remnant control.” The Master File looked back out at the room, as if he could see Afton out in the real world from within the VR game. “This guy was Sydney Michaels in his past life, hired by the first William Afton to take out Fredbear’s Family Diner, then by your ex to get Remnant sampling data from that Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza location, and ended up dying there. We were using his partner for power to run the manufacturing facility in Sub-Basement D, Sister Location.”

That… that tracked with what little he remembered.

“Oh, so you already have experience working with us!” Afton remarked brightly, “That makes this contract much easier to accept. I had been considering getting a bodyguard for Emelia’s new body and you seem like you’d do nicely to keep her in check.” He heard her clap her hands sharply and the door to the testing room creaked open. His heart skipped a beat at the pounding steps of an animatronic entering the room.

Run, run, need to run, get away, away, away.

His vision went black for a second, the tingling in brain growing nearly unbearable before settling down to a faint pressure that felt like… containment? When the darkness faded, he was alone in a sea of black. No sense of distance or direction. He was free to move, but… he felt odd. Disconnected.

There was the press of metal against his arms, the cold bleeding through the fabric of his shirt to leave a faint impression of temperature. Panic spiked again before dulling, like his head was muffled, stuffed with cotton. Sydney swayed, disoriented. Felt like he was still in VR but.. why didn’t he feel right?

The headset was lifted from him, control gloves pulled off, and he blinked slowly, a groggy feeling like an urge to sleep tugging at him as he looked up. A blonde woman smiled down at him, green eyes cold and calculating as she gazed over him in consideration. “Yes, this works out just fine,” she murmured.

“Wh-what did you do to me?” Sydney growled, struggling to keep afloat of the urge to sink into sleep, “W-we made a deal, I w-wasn’t going to… put up… a fight!” The woman just laughed softly at him.

“That we do, Mr. Michaels,” she agreed, smug smile pursing her painted lips, “but understand that I’d like to keep a training leash on my new dog until he properly learns his place.”

He glared, teeth bared in frustration as whatever animatronic was behind him pulled him to his feet. The fog over him thickened, senses dulling, and he couldn’t fight the urge to sleep any longer. He sank into it, resenting the relief that he felt over not having to face whatever was hauling him around.

.

The world began seeping back in with blurs of color in distorted shapes first. Sydney blinked slowly to clear his vision and bring focus back. There was motion; he could hear vehicles passing, felt the vibrations of wheels on road, the sturdiness of metal pressed to his back, all buzzing through his body as he lay prone. He blinked a bit more, giving himself time to reorient himself. What had happened? What was the last thing he remembered doing?

Ah.

A dull ache in the side of his head, a tender spot that hurt to touch, now he remembered. He clenched his teeth again, a swirl of emotions fighting to make themselves known to him making his head ache more and his gut churn uncomfortably. A few moments to push it all down and away, -don’t think about it, not gonna do any good- and then he was rolling over to get off the floor of whatever vehicle he’d been tossed into. The motion exacerbated the churning in his gut and he leaned against a stack of secured boxes, breathing carefully to let the queasiness pass.

Was he drugged? This definitely had all the earmarks of a classic abduction. The thought almost made him laugh. He’d been abducted. Him. The reborn merc who had a history of kidnapping people. The irony was bitterly amusing. His forehead pressed to his arm to help steady himself as a few soft chuckles escaped him, eyes squeezed shut so tight that they watered and that water escaped him too.

So funny.

Once Sydney pulled himself together, he looked around the area to get a better grasp of the situation. Back of a van, packed with boxes, an endoskeleton curled up in a corner and offline. Body still felt strange, like he was moving himself but as though removed from himself, as if he was stuck in VR and his body was the ‘game’ he manipulated. Jarring. He didn’t try to stand, too risky.

There was also a bench bolted in place against one of the walls of the van -moving van?- and two people were rested on it, straps pulled over them to keep them safely secured. One a young woman, long blonde hair, one strand colored in rainbow, dressed in a white shirt with a soft blue over shirt, ends tied in a casual loop, and a long pastel pink skirt, sturdy work boots still flaked with dirt and wood chips, rainbow flag pin decorating the overshirt, light makeup. She was asleep, slumped aside in her seat.

Beside her was a small boy, brown hair, bit on the skinny side, dressed in a striped shirt of dark colors and shorts, sneakers that looked like they hadn’t yet been used. He was also asleep, leaning into the woman for support. His facial features looked a bit like the woman’s, and the woman looked quite a lot like Afton’s new host body.

Were the three related in some way?

He gingerly picked his way to them, shuffling over the floor as he tried to navigate the new disconnect between himself and his own body. -Was this what Alex meant whenever he talked about disassociation? This feeling of his body only barely being his own?- Once there, Sydney carefully pulled himself up to sit on the bench as well, pulling a strap over himself for safety. As soon as the click sounded he let himself sag in place, slumping against the wall of the van while stress and exhaustion dragged him down in his own mind again.

A shuddering sigh passed through his teeth, a crack in the wall between himself and everything he shoved aside threatening to widen and overwhelm him. This was it, wasn’t it. It was the only thing he could do to keep the two contracts from tearing him apart and risking Alex’s life. He gave up power over himself. Had it been like this for his past victims too? This constant feeling of just barely staying above the drowning line in his own mind while his body seemed on the verge of betraying him, following someone else’s impulse and direction? This want to flee into the depths of his thoughts without looking back, desperate for any escape from what would surely be in his future once the van stopped?

The only difference here, from what he’d been told he did to his victims and what happened to him here… the difference was he chose this. And he had no idea if that was better or worse than whatever he’d done in the past. Were there other options he could have taken? Maybe if he’d been smarter. Alex would probably have found something. All Sydney had was panic and the deep-rooted need to keep his brother safe from any threat, even if that threat would one day be himself. Today just happened to be that day.

So he did the only thing he could do; he talked, said the things Afton wanted to hear, signed himself over to her clutches and just hoped it was enough. That Alex would see him gone and just stay away for his own good. Boss Lady would take him in, she was good about that. They were family.

Sydney’s eyes closed. No point thinking anymore. Even if he didn’t have tomorrow, he did his job today. He got all the threats away from Alex, bought his brother time to escape and paid with himself.

He was done.

[my-brain-is-full-of-wobbledogs]

Balan Wonderworld OST Uptempo Kick Edit Project Steps (aka why I still haven't done it)

1. Listen to some soundtracks on YouTube, mainly the important ones (main theme, boss battles)

2. Find an online YouTube to MP3 converter, find info on which one is safest

3. Download the MP3, put it in FL Studio and find out how to figure out/edit a file's bpm.

4. Rewatch Equal2's kick tutorial. Figure out how to modify it as not to copy completely. Rewatch the video explaining how to properly save files in FL Studio

5. ADD THE DAMN KICKS. (Hard step, will take time and a lot of trial and error)

6. Make a background image. Probably using a gameplay screenshot, maybe draw one.

7. Find out how to use an online visualiser (probably "specterr"). Find out how to download the video properly.

8. Figure out how to upload videos to YouTube. Add links to the original song video and the kick tutorial in the description. Write the description.

9. Reserving this step for fixing any complications that will likely occur when uploading a video.

10. Make posts for Tumblr/VKontakte.

And just pray.

[nyandela-catalogue]

Mark… bbgurl, talk autistically to me about anything you want 🥰

*iiiiiiiinhaaaaales*

“The Singing Reindeer”, also known as “The Happy Reindeer”, or “Dancer, Prancer, and Nervous”, was an Alvin & The Chipmunks-inspired group created by Russ Regan(Harold Rustigan) and Robert Plaisted(Bobby Please), signed by Capitol Records, to compete with said Chipmunks in the late 50s/very early 60s.

Obviously, The Chipmunks won over the majority of the competition, but even with the few songs The Singing Reindeer released (“The Happy Reindeer”, “Dancer’s Waltz”, “I Wanna Be An Easter Bunny”, “The Happy Birthday Song”), we still think they are a worthy competitor.

There was a vinyl released of “Instrumental Clips/Voice Tracks” that I want to get my mitts on since it seems to be the hardest to find. On the A side, there are voice tracks titled “Weather”, “Time”, “Shopping Days”, and “Merry Christmas”, and on the B side is where the instrumental clips are (from what I’ve seen it’s from “The Happy Reindeer”). If anyone reading this is selling a copy of this particular vinyl, we will happily buy it from you 🥺

Despite the fact that The Singing Reindeer have their own songs and are quite different than their main competitor, the majority of their legacy is being called a copy or a knockoff of The Chipmunks.

We got into The Singing Reindeer because of the fact that “The Walten Files” used “The Happy Birthday Song” as part of their OST, and it seems to be how a lot of people in the present day have come to learn of their existence. I think that’s really cool and also important, since it ensures that another bit of old music doesn’t get lost to time.

We currently own the vinyl for “I Wanna Be An Easter Bunny”/“The Happy Birthday Song”, but we hope to one day own a copy of each of the vinyls they released.

Here are videos of the A and B side of the vinyls that we recorded:

“I Wanna Be An Easter Bunny”:

“The Happy Birthday Song”:

ok i think thats all the ramble i can muster aidbwind thanks for reading <3

-Mark📕

[starlightreactor]

Compuper Chronicles

So I've been a user of computers for some time now, and the hard drives of my laptop are almost full. For a good while I thought it's just because I have so many games installed on it, but after a bit of searching my hard drive issue seems to be more than just a lot of games.

I have a C: and D: drive, with 585gb and 346gb respectively (each standing for 'Computer' and 'Data' I imagine). C is where I have most of my documents and such, as well as where Windows is installed. D is where I store most of my games.

I learned that in steam's (the software I use to install games) settings it gives you a readout of how much of your drive is taken up by installed games. According to steam, I have 248gb of installed games on my D: drive (the largest being Destiny 2 at 100gb), and 96gb of games on my C: drive (the largest on that one being Elden Ring at 48gb). Those numbers come as no surprise, but Steam also reads any non-steam installations and lumps them into the category of 'other'. On my C: drive I have 349 Gigabytes of 'other'. Accounting for Documents (64gb), Pictures (10gb), Downloads(8gb) and Videos (47gb) +~10gb total in ART, GAMER SECTOR, 3d Objects, and music, that leaves nearly 207 gigabytes of unknown files on my C: drive.

The D: drive isn't much better. On D: is 97 gigabytes of 'other' according to steam. The only non-steam file on D: is Fortnite, which comes to 26.5 gigs. That leaves ~71 gigabytes of who knows what on D: drive.

Now, I've already done some housekeeping before writing this. I uninstalled the game Elite Dangerous off my D: drive ages ago, but when I went looking in the D: steam folder the whole chunk of the game was still in there! I could boot it up and everything. That was ~50 gigabytes of stuff.

Going back to the C: drive steam folder, I found some pretty interesting stuff. Firstly, in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\music_database\covers, I found a bunch of random pngs? Like this bone:

There is also a fern, greek column, and what I presume is the cover art for a bunch of games' osts. Some of these games I don't own though, like A hat in time, Spooky's jumpscare mansion, and WarioWare smooth moves (that game isn't even on steam!? why is it in here). There's also the cover for Minecraft's volume 1 ost.

^There's some of the covers. I have never downloaded Neil Cicirega's Mouth Moods, but I'm not surprised seeing him in there cuz if anyone would infiltrate the random corners of my computer it would be him. This isn't a storage issue, so I may as well leave them there.

I had also found more game files in steam's Common folder which come up as 'uninstalled' in steam itself but never actually uninstalled, such as all of the old Garry's Mod addons that I unsubscribed from, but were never deleted from C:. Luckily, Gmod has a factory reset button in it's installation folder so I just used that. I found more workshop addons in the SteamVR folder that amounted to 34 gigabytes of stuff that I haven't used or interacted with in any form in years, so that went out the window and into the dumper.

I also decided to uninstall some tf2 mods that I haven't played like ever, and with that I could uninstall the Source 2013 multiplayer SDK (but not before looking through the SDK's files), and for whatever gosh darn reason I found smell.jpg in there:

There he is!! I have no idea how he ended up in the folder, but he was there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (I moved him into /steamapps before I deleted the SDK so he's safe inside steam's folder, dont worry).

Alrighty! Writing these as I find them now. Apparently, Gmod is installed on my D: drive! and all of the freaking addons as well! Thats 25 gigabytes of game that I don't even use because the Gmod I play is on my C: drive.

Found another 1.29gb in Kerbal Space Program, which is also not installed. Easy peasy. 1.67 gigabytes in Portal 2, which, you guessed it, is not actually installed. 3 more gigs freed because I had a copy of the Rain World level editor in Rain World's folder.

Alright. I've reduced D: drive's 'other' to 56 gigabytes. Minus Fortnite that is 30 gigs unaccounted for, which I'll go look for later. For now, it's late so I'm gonna sign off. I will update this tomorrow when I tackle the mystery of C: drive.

[fluffyblue-multifandommess]

I wrote a noob-accessible primer on Torrenting here (link). For those too lazy to click thru the link, I'll copy/paste it in the readmore. There's a TL;DR at the end if you dont want to read the whole thing. <3

(Please note that rarbg, a website I reccd in my post, is no longer up.)

Torrenting 101

I’ve been meaning to make a post like this for a long while, but the recent removal of many shows from streaming platforms prompted me to finally get it done.

This is a long post, so check out the TL;DR at the end if you don’t have the spoons to read the whole thing

What is “torrenting”?

From Wikipedia: “BitTorrent is a communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a decentralized manner.”

In layman’s terms: When you’re torrenting something, you are connecting to other people who have the file you want, and downloading it from them. This does mean that if few people have the file you want, the download may take a very long time. (I’ve been stuck at 41% of an anime OST for almost 2 years now) BUT it also means that if many people have the file you want, the download may be completed in just a handful of minutes.

This manner of downloading files also allows you to stop the download at any point and then simply resume it later, whereas downloading through a browser often requires you stay connected the whole time, or else have to start over.

Why torrent instead of streaming?

Permanent availability: once you’ve torrented a file, it’s on your computer. This means you can watch it any time you want without worrying about your internet connection crapping out, or the streaming platform suddenly deciding to pull your favourite show.

Torrenting sites also generally don’t ask you to make an account just so you can access files, and they usually don’t make you click on a bunch of links that pop out ads - all things I’ve had to deal with on many streaming sites (much to my annoyance).

Also torrents are free.

How torrent? Much confused

In order to torrent, you’ll need a BitTorrent client. Your search engine of choice can give you tons of sites with suggestions, but my personal favourite is Transmission. It works on MacOs and Windows (and Linux distros), and is very simple and easy to use. (You can get it here: https://transmissionbt.com/)

In order to find torrents to download, you simply go to a torrenting website (or you can search “Supernatural season 1 torrent” on your search engine of choice). The ones I use the most are rarbgmirror.org (good for TV shows and films) and nyaa.si (good for anime). But there are tons more.

Safety

Any time you download a file off the internet, there is a risk of downloading malware. Before opening any file you’ve downloaded, you should make sure it’s safe to open. Check whether the file extension matches the expected filetype. For example, a video file should end with .mkv, .mp4, .avi or other file extension used for video files. Music files will usually end with .mp3, .ogg, .aac, or .flac. If you’re unsure what filetype a file extension is for, you can look it up here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_formats.

On Windows, you need to look out for any file that ends with .exe. .exe are executable file types; in other words, programs/apps. Now to be clear; a file that ends with .exe isn’t necessarily malware. Your browser app’s file name ends with .exe. Your art program’s filename ends with .exe. All .exe files aren’t malware. But if you’re downloading an episode of a show, and the file name is the.owl.house.s02e20.exe, don’t open that bitch.

If you’re on MacOs (or a Linux distro), you don’t need to worry about .exe, because those files won’t be able to run.

Checking file types: By default, file extensions are often hidden in most systems, because most users don’t care/need to know them. You can see the full file name in your BitTorrent client, or you can right-click a file in the File Explorer/Finder and click “Properties”/“Get Info”.

As a rule, I don’t download software, because avoiding malware is much harder with those. So I can’t give much advice on how to do so safely, except to use virustotal.com, which checks for malware in the file/link you feed it. It is generally reliable, though it can turn up false negatives (and false positives). I’m not responsible for any malware you get while trying to play Dragon Age for free.

Sidenote: Some torrent file folders will have an .exe with a name like “RARBG_DO_NOT_MIRROR.exe”. Those aren’t malware, they’re not even proper executables. They are just there to prevent mirroring to other sites.

On a different note, please make sure you have an adblocker installed before going on a torrenting site, particularly if you are a minor. Some of them have explicit ads.

Legality

Downloading copyrighted files is completely illegal in most places, while in some places, only sharing files to download (aka ‘seeding’ if you’re using a BitTorrent client) is illegal. Check your local legislation, deactivate seeding in your torrenting client if necessary. Sail the high seas at your own risk.

VPNs: a friend wisely suggested I mention VPNs here. VPNs may protect you from legal consequences of torrenting, but that is only if the VPN company is one that will not give your data to the authorities when asked, so choose your VPN wisely. I don’t use one, so once again I cannot give specific advice on this topic, but https://www.privacyguides.org/vpn/ may help you choose a VPN.

TL;DR

Install Transmission via their website.

Find torrents on one of many torrenting sites such as rarbgmirror.org or nyaa.si.

Click on “download torrent” or “magnet” or corresponding icon

Open With Transmission

Do not open any file that ends in .exe.

Run any games/software you’ve downloaded through virustotal.com before opening/launching them

Et voilà, you can watch Infinity Train as many times as you want.

Final Note

Please remember to support indie artists whenever possible - they have bills to pay, same as you. 💙

everyone says "pirate media" but no ne tells how to do it without contracting 1000000 computer virus

[reduxzone]

Stepwise guide on How to Redirect OST File to Network Share. Redirect OST File Outlook 2016 GPO. Move IMAP OST File Outlook 2013. How to Copy OST File. OST File on Network Share.

[lady-layton]

Assorted Layton loot /o/ 

I’m having a blast hunting down these commercial and promotional goodies for the games. Honestly quite surprised by the amount of stuff I have managed to find despite their age. 

Complete list of the items can be read below   ( ˙▿˙ )

1. A DVD for Eternal Diva. Unsure about it’s release no matter how much I google the text on it “レイトン教授 ナゾトキx感動”. It seems to contain the whole movie as well, but I have not watched the full thing yet to see if there is any difference. My PC calls it “ Layton Kyouju to Eien no Utahime rental DVD”, but the disc does not match the rental copies I have at home.

2. A clear file that I think was handed out in China to promote the HD release of Curious Villager. Unsure about the release of this one as well. 

3. Super cute goodies from the Correct! event held back in march. I bought two setups of the stickers because I actually wanna use them. Still available at Machikase’s shop in cause anyone else wants them ♥

4. Was lucky enough to find a second zalatto tumbler so I simply had to get it as well. (*ﾉωﾉ)

5. Sadly I missed out on the villan acrylic stand that Hina released last year. Lucky for me they restocked it for the Correct! event so I could finally get one for myself. (After all I need all things that are Clive) 

6. A folder? Pamphlet? Unsure what to call this one. It contains info about the first two games, as well as a commercial for Unwound Future. 

7. Keychain by Nanashi-a that released during Correct!. Was quite impressed by the size of it, as well as the cute heartshaped hanger. 

8. DVD released along with Famitsu Wave back in 2010. It’s kinda funny how it contains not only a trailer for Pandora’s Box, but also FF13, Bayonetta and Monster Hunter, aka some of my closest friends biggest obsessions. There’s something for everyone on it haha. 

9. Last but not least a mini soundtrack covering music from several 3DS games. Released in april 2011 for NintendoDREAM, so it’s possible that this one was bundled with one of their issues. It only has two songs from Miracle’s Mask, but since MM does not have an official released OST this is as close as I will get to it.  

[tequitoclown]

I have listened to this video a few times. It's the credits theme to Akira (1988). I just now scrolled to the comments and read the fucking description. This is the best, most aggressive thing I've ever read.

(Long, angry description below the cut.)

I bought the DVD back in 2018 and got the idea to edit some of the OST in the film a short Music Video.

Copied the file and edited it on my FREE Da Vinci Resolve 16 Editing Software.

I really don't fucking care if I got demonetized, really, I'm not even here to make money,

This is my second channel anyway so go ahead claim my fucking video, Make money off of this or whatever the fuck you usually do to even ORIGINAL content creators, Just don't fucking remove this video from your half-asses copyright detector bullshit.

Like it's a 1988 Film it's just ridiculous,

Even the Romeo and Juliet copycats play that was initially made in the 1500s could get their own copyright.

How the fuck can't I get a Fair-Use excuse?

Anyway, personally, I don't believe this shit really gets brought up in the US Courts I mean come on, I'm halfway across the fucking continent.

What the fuck are you going to do if it were somehow proven to violate the copyright law? Delete my channel? I could get another one. Send US Marines across the ocean just to imprison a fucking boy who just uploaded a fucking video on youtube?

Get a grip on yourselves you fucking clowns.

I REALLY, don't need to provide my "Rationale" excuses for your bitch-ass conglomerate sissies, In fact, it should be you whom I should question your rationality.

Are you really going to remove this fucking video? Less than 5 minutes Music Video with no bloody fucking view made by yet another insignificant person in your whole fucking Scamming Empire? Think about it will you?

and uhh, while you're at it I must go to take care of some BUSINESS,

Because unlike YOU what so-called HUMAN who claimed to have a full-time JOB,

My profession actually provides a REAL impact on the society of which you live in,

Of which people that served you on the McDonald Drive Thru,

Of which people that sent your package you bought online,

And of which of those people that working their asses off during this Global-Fucking-Pandemic.

So here's my conclusion in case you have a short attention span, (Assuming you have one to begin with.[which is very fucking unlikely.])

FUCK YOU, Yeah? FUCK YOU. And your fucking Copyright System, Policies, your MONEY-MAKER PUPPETS those called themselves "CREATORS" With their Perfectly-Crafted-Informative-Totally-Not-A-Clickbait Videos that YOU COUSIN-FUCKERS put your AD on. (So you can make money off of that Hell-Hot Fucking GARBAGE, ain't you sneaky BASTARDS.) FUCK YOU. Your whole, FUCKING, Empire. Fuck. you.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 11/16/2021

whew. very text heavy bc i do not want to get out of bed

listening look it can’t always be introducing people to cool new artists like Junie &TheHutFriends or obscure experimental classical music, sometimes it’s the OST off a well known and beloved show, eg the track The Banner of Captain Flint (Black Sails OST, Bear McCreary). i mean, when am i not considering a black sails rewatch, but i am more seriously considering a black sails rewatch. drove through a Torrential Downpour on friday morning next to a river thinking about flooding and this made it way tenser than it needed to be. mr mccreary has done it again with the drums and the hurdy gurdy

reading i thought about 1) finishing and 2) writing about the other john jackson miller star wars book i was picking at, but made a face to myself and realized i really really don’t want to finish it! so i won’t! fallow week babey

watching having a bad brain time but regained control of my own goddamn netflix account and got back into the disney+, let’s do a three word summary of everybody and link out to my longer posts on each film where applicable. hopefully none of these are anyone’s activation phrases:

The Harder They Fall (2021, dir. Samuel) bright, high-energy, uncomfy-trans-rep (can’t find a review by a trans person, someone please shoot me a link if you have written or come across one)

Gunpowder Milkshake (2021, dir. Papushado) hipster, incoherent, suits

Kate (2021, dir. Nicolas-Troyan) crisp, fetishy, polonium

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017, dir. Ronning, Sandberg) “astronomy”, lackluster, girlboss

The Sign of Zorro (1958, dir. Foster, Foster) charming, henchmen, horses

also watched Isle of Dogs (2018, dir. Anderson) to see if i still dislike anderson. yes but now it has tipped over into hate. generally i think he makes beautiful little dioramas of movies. they are shells. nothing really happens so nothing has an emotional impact. i think if the constant switching back and forth between “we are FULLY immersed in a beautiful whimsical world with rules that are not like real life” and “we are going to complain about incredibly mundane adult concepts and problems like dads bitching around the grill at a suburban cookout” was better executed, or a least funny, i would like these more. there’s a sort of faux-vintage powdered steel finish over all of them, like a name brand cadillac pink stand mixer instead of the horrible little plastic avocado green and gold electric hand mixer you inherited from your grandmother. at some point an aesthetic is so stylized it’s like why bother aping that aesthetic at all. just make your own thing.

playing sable! this is a game made specifically for me. the art is eyewateringly gorgeous even at high speed hauling ass through the desert. it is a coming of age exploration game about fucking around and poking around grand ruined buildings in the middle of the desert and looking at things. the bike drifts. so far the puzzles are mostly of the “well fuck how DO i get up there?” in an open world climbing sense, not a platform sense. it rewards exploration in a satisfying to me way.

i ran across a crashed spaceship that a bunch of teens tried to fix up, got properly launched, and immediately crashed again! delightful! incredible worldbuilding!

there’s some weird shit around the default settings (30fps? for realsies?) and a little bit of jank in general (probably bc i am playing it on my work extremely-not-gaming-pc). there are a few odd bugs ive run into, but nothing that makes it unplayable. publishers are not required to really do much anything except throw you some money and help you navigate the process of getting your game files on all the storefronts/getting physical copies of your game out, but they will very often help a studio with marketing or community management or connect a studio to more resources for QA/testing/outside work for stuff like cutscenes and menus. i haven’t heard anything extremely bad about raw fury. it’s just notable that this game has some rough edges where i don’t expect them.

making someone stole the big stupid democrat propaganda sign right out of my dang backyard. godspeed to them i guess.

anyway in this house we have a chore wheel, it was my turn to clean the bathroom by sunday night, and every time we go into a new week and the chore wheel turns i try to fix something about that area of the house i hate. like now we have enough towel rods and i caulked some of the places that were irritating me most bc my landlord’s contractor simply doesn’t know how to properly install trim or cut it to the right size. there are Several more places i need to patch and fix (including The Entire Window) but that’s a job for future kay.

also im never going to shut up about my power drill. pretty hype to put up a cabinet once this wood glue cures properly

elsewhere in the apartment: bought Teensy curtain rods to balance the grow lights on, got another timer outlet so i don’t have to think about it/the housemate most worried about our (generally pretty low) electricity bill stops reminding me to turn them off, reshuffled things so the Other grow light was closer to the outlet. priorities!

[haztory]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬

--erwin smith x reader; fluff, domestic, not canon compliant farmer erwin, there’s a mentioning of injuries but not enough to be considered graphic! (erwin lives!)

a.n: this is my attempt at swinging back into the ways of writing after a long, long, long hiatus! i wrote this in thirty minutes as just an exercise, but felt it was cohesive enough to post. its vague, abstract, and definitely not a magnum opus, but its something. this is more of an erwin story than an x reader one, but i hope you all enjoy regardless!

this was titled after a song on the pride and prejudice ost of the same name. highly recommend you give it a listen

anything for my sweet boy erwin ♡

(w.c: 1686)

At the initial prospect of it, retirement was somewhat akin to shooting oneself in the foot for a man like Erwin. It was condescending, debilitating, almost an insult were he any lesser than a reasonable man.

The word was floated around numerous times after the loss of his arm, spoken with a gentleness and, dare he say, a trepidation they believed must be adopted when speaking to the freshly injured man. For fear of upsetting him or for fear of making the situation real, he’s not quite sure. It was mentioned, nonetheless. In passing, directly, through implication; Everyone seemed to think that Erwin was less of a man and more of a liability because of his lost arm, and that retiring from the Scout Regiment would be the best option for everyone. 

That was something he took offense to. 

His physical abilities may be considerably limited now, yes, but he still holds inherent value to the cause he’s dedicated his life to. Still has goals, still has dreams, still has ideas that must be discussed and implemented if the fate of humanity is to even think about surviving beyond the next few days. 

Erwin still had some fight in him, and he still had things to offer. Things that retirement would take away from him.

The word settled like a thick tar on his tongue and left a bitter aftertaste, one he couldn’t bear to swallow down. So he didn’t. He spit the word back out, removing it from his mouth and sternly asking others to rid themselves of it too. They followed his order, albeit begrudgingly, but the conversation ended then and there. Not permanently, unfortunately. No amount of power, Erwin imagines, could ever snuff out the growing fear his missing appendage has instilled in his soldiers. That even the most untouchable, unshakeable of leaders could be tainted by this cruel world. 

He knows it's on everyone's mind, no matter how many times he can try to assuage the fears, for if the exchanged uneasy glances between his eccentric Section Commander and trusted Captain were anything to go by, then the fear his cadets must feel must be traumatizing. The looks they pass to one another when they think he isn’t looking.

Erwin lost an arm, not his intuition. It seems he’s the only one who knows that. 

But they let it go. They all do, for now at least. They reluctantly put a pin at his assertion that he would continue his work, regardless of injury, and quickly filed this topic as one they would return to at a later date. Appease him now to make him more receptive to the future. They let him continue to work himself dry, let him continue with physical missions like he wasn’t missing a trusted appendage, and entertained his reckless and drastic thoughts to a certain extent.

When he lands himself back in the infirmary, this time with a serious rupture to the side of his stomach from flying debris, and a number of broken bones that will surely cause permanent hindrance to his mobility, the topic is brought back up again. Only this time, it’s non-negotiable. His near death was the final straw in forcing Erwin Smith into retirement. 

                                                              ∵

He hates it.

Hates how quiet his home is, hates how unexciting his routine is, hates not being able to know.

But he finds that making coffee is still manageable with one arm. The sun still shines as brightly inside the walls as it does outside. The birds still chirp excitedly in the morning and the wind still blows gently in the afternoon. 

He hates retirement, but it’s manageable. 

It gets better after a while, the presence of a neighbor making his nights substantially more interesting with the dinner she brings over. 

                                                             ∵

The house is quiet once again, only the distant chirps of the birds filling the empty space. It's familiar, but he finds it unsettling this time around. A feeling of anticipation creeping into his stomach, waiting for the other shoe to drop at any moment.

It doesn’t happen. 

With a slight furrow in his brow and after a long analyzing gaze outside the window above the kitchen sink, Erwin makes his way towards the front door, granting him access to the front porch of the house. Settled away from the city, the land his house is built on stretches for miles; Fields of green spread out before him and littered with tall, blooming and swaying trees. The chickens squawk and run around before him and the horses huff their snorts of boredom. There’s activity in the Smith residence, but it’s not the kind he’s looking for. 

There’s something missing. 

Bringing his left arm up to his mouth, he curls his fingers below his tongue, blowing out a loud and sharp whistle that has all movement still for a brief moment on his farm. All attention piqued on him, the animals and the trees alike waited for Erwin’s response. 

They wait, and they wait, and they wait. But still, nothing.

The crease between Erwin’s brows dips further. A brief flash of worry settles in his shoulders. He pulls his fingers into his mouth again, blowing a whistle that lasts for a few seconds longer this time. His eyes stay trained on the hill before him, hoping to see something. Anything.

He waits a minute before the restlessness takes over and he takes his steps down the stairs of the porch, his boots crunching against the crisp grass still wet from the morning dew. He approaches the top of the hill, the one that lays level with the foundation of his house, before surveying the land further below. He looks left and right, then left again and then right again, eyes peeled for that familiar flash of grey.

Where in the world could that damn dog have gone?

The dog is usually fast enough to return before he even needs to whistle a second time, never straying too far from the property for her to not hear Erwin’s call. But this time is different. She’s gone and isn’t returning to him and that can only mean one thing.

Trouble.

He begins his trek down the hill, the morning still early enough to not have him sweating on this irregular stroll of his, but he can feel the temperature slowly rising through the air. The wind serves as his only semblance of comfort as it continues its mission of cooling the exposed skin of his forearm and neck. 

He must be walking for at least five minutes before he sees it. The scraggly grey hair of a dog's bottom, her top half hidden behind a large oak tree but her tail wagging ferociously. A small smile graces Erwin’s face subconsciously, the slowly building apprehension dissipating in an instant at seeing the vivacious mutt. 

Or at least at seeing her bottom half. 

He approaches the tree slowly, the noises of enjoyment and panting from the dog becoming louder as he draws nearer. But there’s another sound too that fills the air. A sound much sweeter and delicate, one that he’s heard a thousand times over the years,  and yet, Erwin swears it's one he can never get tired of. 

It’s a breath of fresh air, an instant drug in his veins, and the reason behind the swelling of his heart. His smile grows wider than he could have possibly imagined.

He gets close enough and the dog finally notices him, bounding over to him in an instant with a greeting bark and a perk in her step. He pats her head, a silent gratefulness at having found her finally and understanding why she refused to meet his calls. Why she continued to stay at the spot behind the oak tree a five minute walk away from her home.

He finally gets near the tree, peering around its large trunk to the spot the dog previously occupied and can’t help but laugh in surprise. 

Sitting in the space between the bulging roots are his two girls, one aged six and the other three, huddled close together as they coo and giggle over an object resting between the two’s feet. Their backs are turned towards their father, too preoccupied with whatever was settled between them to even notice the beloved dog’s disappearance from her original spot and its replacement with their father. 

His years of training to fight titans kicks in, his steps as quiet as can be as he gets closer to the girls to get a look at what they were currently fawning over. 

A baby bird. Brown in color and more than comfortable between the two children.

“What are you two doing?”

His voice sends a jolt of shock through them, the two girls jumping in the air at the sudden disruption and whipping their faces around to look at the intruder. The fear quickly melts off of their round faces when they realize who it is. 

“Daddy!” The two girls yell unanimously, unbridled joy filtering their features and Erwin briefly sees the beautiful face of their mother in them. The youngest in particular. 

The eldest managed to take most of his features, much to his wife’s pleasure, retaining his aquiline nose, the vibrant blue of his eyes, and his own oval face shape, but her hair is a delightful mix between his and his wife’s. And while she looks the most like him, she acts the most like her mother; Joyous and giggly and a passionate ball of rays. 

Now, his youngest, while looking almost entirely like a carbon copy of her mother, was in fact a replica of his own personality. Quiet, curious, diplomatic. A balance to her impulsive sister, a shining grey crater of peace in the sky.

His sun and moon. His reasons for orbit. The loves of his life. 

                                                             ∵

And as he walks his two girls back across the field to their home, their mother’s figure on the horizon and an excited chatter between them as they recount the tales of their morning in helping the baby bird, a single thought enters Erwin’s mind. 

Retirement isn’t so bad. 

[midnightmonaa]

there's something about the majoras mask ost that illicits such a weird reaction in me and it's really hard to explain. i'll try though!

i didn't grow up with an n64 copy, rather i had it on my wiis virtual console. my uncle had owned it previously, and already had a save file around halfway through the game. i was very young and could barely read, so i didn't really do anything other than mess around in clock town

since i missed the beginning of the game, I didn't know that when the 3rd day ended the moon would crash. i just knew the moon was kinda scary!!

when the moon did crash it scared the SHIT out of me and i had nightmares for weeks. whenever i hear the song that plays at the end of the final day, i feel like im about to pass out and when i try to go to bed usually end up having the same nightmare i had when i was younger

thankfully now that im older ive beaten the game multiple times i now know how to minimize the amount of time i hear it !!

[digi-log-conversation]

this might be the hardest i’ve ever worked for a rip. this rip was made for secret siiva 2 as a gift to the awesome Chango (who, coincidentally, had the nickname “Big Chango“ in the team server at the time). i started a little late because i was still busy with school stuff and instantly knew i was taking on something way too ambitious

you may be wondering what exactly is so ambitious about this rip. well, though the original shovel knight had its famitracker module file released, none of the expansions had this available. luckily, i was lucky enough not to be entirely out of luck! jake kaufman had streamed the creation of the whole specter of torment OST on the mint potion channel:

because of this, i was able to screenshot and stitch the entire module together into a nice 1032 x 19722 png file for reference :)

after that, i had to painstakingly re-enter all of it into famitracker by hand. most of the instruments i could copy from the released shovel knight ftm, some of the new ones i had to recreate by ear. it took me who knows how many hours over the next 3 days to finish recreating the song, and then i still had to put big chungus in there. im mostly very proud of the ways i managed to marry the 3 different chungus songs, it feels very seamless and artful in a way, especially whenever i harmonize the cg5 track with bits of the endigo song. i don’t think i would have made it quite as intricate if i hadn’t essentially gone through the process of writing every single track of the song out myself before making the rip.

i ended up sending the final version over to jp on christmas eve as we discussed, and everyone loved it during the listening party. very wonderful payoff for very fun but stressful work. 10/10 would recommend.

we love working hard we love making people happy. this is why secret siiva is epic and awesome. ive been making an effort this year to push the siiva team to do more fun internal events like it because i reckon that if we’re having more fun, people watching will too. secret siiva 5 went incredibly hard and IMO it’s the sole reason we were able to kick season 7 off so well.

like rips with way too much effort put into them? check out my latest creation here:

peace and love

Todays rip: 07/09/2023

Bigger at Night (Chung Yard)

Season 4 Episode 2 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume for Wii U

Ripped by MtH

BIG CHUNGUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's kind of funny to see just how naturally Big Chungus, the demon itself, slotted into being a core part of the SiIva meme line-up. The meme, obviously, has cemented itself due specifically for how unfunny and Reddit-coded it was, something with no real comedic value beyond making fun of its oversaturation akin to something like Pickle Rick. During Season 4 Episode 1, Big Chungus suddenly showed up in a couple rips in April - a solid four months after the meme had effectively exploded and already became tiresome to a lot of people. KFaD2 took advantage of this and turned the meme, along with a certain bandicoot and echidna, into a joke contestant - a character representing the idea of "dead memes" being remembered purely out of irony. And as I've said before, if Season 4 Episode 1 was the competition, then Season 4 Episode 2 was the celebration.

After the tournament was over, and Cool Meme Team had made themselves known to the SiIva audience...Big Chungus started showing up again. More than even during the tournament, he sort of just became another meme in the roundup, and at this point most everyone was on board. The four or five songs used in association with the characters offer such a wide spectrum of melodies to use in interesting and funny ways, and rips like Bigger at Night (Chung Yard) show how the meme had gotten past just having ironic appeal. Its a genuinely incredible, authentic-sounding arrangement, to the point of even being used in its album release video's list of examples of just how good rips have gotten over the years. MtH has this touch for quality that is just indescribable.

As mentioned before, a big appeal of Big Chungus rips in particular to me is just how many songs the meme comes packaged with - its mainly using the aptly named Big Chungus song by CG5 as its lead melody, but later switches in elements of both BIG CHUNGUS | Official Main Theme by Endigo and Big Chungus by The Slopster as the rip progresses. A kind of variety gets to be injected into this already high-quality arrangement without having it lose focus from the core joke.

That joke, of course, being the very sensible and sane "What if Big Chungus was in Shovel Knight". SiIva truly is wonderful for enabling things like this happen - and for it to always be of such high quality.