galaxyhoop

[atwas-gaming]

Leitmotif analysis:

Alarms are used in Trace Rising, Apocalypse, and Indra Internal (feel free to check the rest of the OST's for both games and see if I missed any). The alarms are practically the first thing we hear in all of these songs. All of these are boss fights in which the protagonist, whether Trace or Indra, are fighting their doppelgangers. I am not certain yet whether this is simply a style choice, a message to the players, or just a coincidence. Perhaps future AV games will provide more insight (hopefully??? this simply can't be the end of the series, there's too many unanswered questions).

[julia-bonkers]

do u guys ever feel like fake fans when you only like a certain song from an artist/band ? like i have never claimed to be a fan of the cranberries but when i listen to linger i feel so… idk.. like yes logically nobody should have to be a certified fan to like one song. like youre allowed to like one song and never have listened to any other song from that band. but i have this overwhelming desire to be obsessed with things or maybe its my overwhelming desire to be different and unique and intriguing. whatever it is i know it isnt logical and i know its so odd and i know that i should just be allowed to like a singular song without going on a deepdive of this band but like every time i hear this song my brain is like wowwwww poser alert… sommmmeeones trying to be cool…. like someone get this annoying voice outta my mind!!!!

anyways this is both a rant about my stupid brain and a reminder to you that you can like an artist’s popular songs without feeling bad. including artists that i personally love and am obsessed with. go listen to anti hero. it is catchy. go listen to summertime sadness. its iconic. motion sickness is beautifully written. who cares if its a “tiktok song”

PLUS artists that are already super popular!! going on a tangent now but just because something is popular doesnt mean its bad or even overrated. things can be good. billie eilish is extremely talented. olivia rodrigo’s discography is full of some absolute bangers. and sorry to mention taylor again (im not. i love her music.) but she is an incredible songwriter.

as we all know!!! art is subjective!!! let everyone be happy!!! including yourself!!! unless you listen to like… the hamilton soundtrack. then youre screwed.

just kidding. schuyler sisters is so good. i had a hamilton phase in middle school and it was yeah CRINGE and yeah it was ENJOYABLE and i had FUN. take that.

[the-bitter-ocean]

oceaaaannn hiii! let's go with 3, 5, and 15 for the isat ask game c:

(MAJOR A6SE / 2HATS SPOILERS + FULL GAME SPOILERS AHOY) Thank you for the questions @dekupalace ! Since I’m going to be talking more in depth about the game for one of these questions I’m going to put my responses under a read more:

3- favorite soundtrack?

Oh god that’s such a hard question the whole game has certified bangers. The musicians at Studio Thumpy Puppy were not messing around or pulling any punches. The soundtrack of the game elevates literally every emotional beat. If I was forced to choose only one song out of the soundtrack my favorite track in the whole game has to be “How Can You Help Me, Stardust?” aka the theme that plays when you fight Loop at the Favor tree during act six. Hearing that for the first time while getting the full context of loop’s backstory made me go crazy. It was so fucking emotional and well done. That and it’s just objectively a super intense high energy song that makes me wanna dance around. If anyone deserves the coolest fight theme in the game, it’s Loop.

5- favorite optional event?

Ooh this is also a hard one! I adore a lot of the optional story events because each of them really shed light on Siffrin’s mental state /characterization, as well as gives depth to other aspects like the other character of the world building as a whole which strengthens the themes of the story. Aside from the obvious choice (2Hats Ending/ Act six loop encounter) I think my favorite optional event would have to be the “Who Was Phone” achievement (Change God event). There’s something so fascinating about learning about the Change God. Someone who clearly adores their certified little guy (Mirabelle) and is willing to offer words of kindness and assurance in her identity even if it knows she won’t remember in one instance..and then in the very same breath tell Siffrin that they enjoy watching Siffrin in the timeloop torment nexus because they’re curious to see how they change in a situation where everything is forced to stagnate. It was so genuinely fucked. I will think about it always forever.

15- anything you’d change about the game? be it game mechanics, a new feature, a change in plot, etc

Overall I’m pretty satisfied with the game both in story and gameplay actually. I think Adrienne did a good job writing and expanding on the characters and story that was set up in the prologue. The quality of life in terms of gameplay got improved since the previous game as well ( those who played the prologue can attest to this) . The fact that it was a in universe story reason as to why makes it all the more satisfying (if you want to know what I mean by that please read my mutuals @felikatze analysis about it here.)

I just am happy that Siffrin got to be happy in the end and stay with their family, to be able to talk things out and escape the loops. I know some people didn’t like that or expected a more darker/sadder ending or wanted the gameplay to be more challenging … my response to that is Literally Just Play Start Again: A Prologue. To me it would be extremely reductive to have Siffrin just suffer with no reprieve or escape from the loops (because that’s just a repeat of what happened in its predecessor) or have the group just split off from each other immediately after everything happened. It would have been extremely unsatisfying and ultimately missing the point of the themes of the game as a whole gonna be real lol.

The only things I’d maybe change or add is like it would’ve been cute to see Euphrasie and Claude be together/ reunite on screen in act 6. They should kiss. Lol. (That and just I would’ve personally loved to see Euphrasie in canon expanded on a little more but that’s not necessarily needed she serves her purpose in the narrative. I just like analyzing her and giving her more depth and I like when others do too, but that’s what fanart/ fics and aus are for so I’m not fussed.) 

I don’t mind that the game is sort of open ended and doesn’t answer all the questions. I think that gives artists, fanfic writers, Au makers and people who like to analyze the game more freedom to come up with their own interpretations for things that happened in pre canon and post canon which to me is more interesting. I know Loop disappearing at the end of the game in both endings is sad/ bittersweet but I wouldn’t necessarily change the way that was structured either. I like that their fate was ambiguous because it leads the viewer to come up with their own theories as to where they went. ( personally I love seeing stuff where loop gets to travel on their own and form a new life and identity outside of the loops and learn to heal, as well as post game getting to meet back up with the party and learn to navigate this new life/ change one step at a time. )

[akkrosu]

Thank you, @recentadultburnout, for tagging me and asking for my nine favorite TV shows! I might have gone a little overboard because I haven’t been tagged a lot before, but please indulge me.

This is going to be limited to QLs, if only because I couldn’t think of a single piece of Western (or straight) media I love and/or remember well enough to be able to put on this list. The ones I have chosen are below, in no particular order.

1. The Untamed

This one belongs here both for being a fantastic story and for being the reason I even discovered any of the other series on this list. My entire “obsessed with Asian queer media” thing started all because a friend once told me, “Let me show you what I’ve been watching recently.” What can I say, drunk Lan Zhan got to me.

2. Moonlight Chicken

One of the most beautiful, thought-provoking and mature series I’ve ever seen, QL or otherwise. P’Aof is a genius and I would have to hide in shame if I didn’t have at least one of his works on this list. He created a narrative of six real people trying to figure out life and how to be happy and there is so much strength in every single one of them.

3. Not Me

With at least three watchthroughs one of my most-watched BLs. I mean, OffGun and the social commentary and political action and the queerness of it all and the characters. Ugh, I love this show. Plus, the music and musical editing were phenomenal.

4. Where Your Eyes Linger

Probably my favorite Korean BL ever? Also the KBL to really get me into KBLs, so it already deserves a medal for that (I was missing out on so much). I’m a sucker for good yearning and forbidden relationships, and this series gave me everything I wanted. And, again, the soundtrack. The instrumental of See U playing as Kang Gook storms Tae Joo’s dad’s house lives rent-free in my mind.

5. HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count

Yes, it’s the other HIStory 3, the one everyone ignores because ‘he went out to buy salt’. Look, don’t judge me, I own up to my love for this series. It’s not the show’s fault all anyone ever remembers is the tragic ending. It’s also such a beautiful story about a total dork falling in love with a lonely nerd and defying all odds to be with him. Plus, the best sibling relationship ever. And (spoiler) said dork dying doesn’t invalidate everything else the series tells us. Yes, it was sad, but I can deal with the sadness. And sometimes, the sadness is as much part of a show as it is of life.

6. The Eclipse

This series haunts me to this day. I was obsessed with it, and I still am. Akk is one of my favorite characters ever written, and First portrayed him beautifully. So did Khaotung with Ayan. The sheer existence of P’Golf baffles my mind to this day. These 12 episodes gave me everything I’ve ever wanted.

7. The Eighth Sense

I take back what I said about Where Your Eyes Linger. This is my favorite KBL. I’m not even sure I can explain why. It’s just so honest. And so, so queer. It made me cry so many times, and the storytelling was magnificent. Plus, it’s one of the few full-length KBLs we have.

8. We Best Love

The cups in my profile picture are the ones Yu Zhenxuan and Pei Shouyi drink out of in the flashbacks of the second season, so... yeah.

This was my very first QL that wasn’t a bromance, and so I’m very biased. I’m almost mad at myself for making this my first one, because sometimes it feels like nothing else could ever live up to it. I admit to having a special love for season 1, even though season 2 seems to be the one people talk about a lot more. It’s just perfect, everything about it. Especially Gao Shide’s mom.

9. My School President

What a phenomenal show. I remember how much I was looking forward to Fridays during the time this was airing, and each week it gave me everything I wanted. Gemini and Fourth are fantastic actors, the friend groups made me cry all the time, it’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen, and there are some absolute bangers in there, musically speaking. Gun and Tinn will always have a special place in my heart.

Some honorable mentions because it’s really hard to pin down exactly nine:

Never Let Me Go – I spent a lot of time debating whether to put this or MSP in this list because I love them both equally. And because they aired around the same time, they are sort of irrevocably tied together in my mind.

Big Dragon – I loved this significantly more than I ever expected to, and I can’t be impartial about Yai to this day, because I love him with all my heart. This was such a messy, weird, chaotic show, and yet it somehow gave us such beauty and sappy people in love.

Step by Step – It doesn’t get to be on the list because it hasn’t finished airing yet, and so it could still fuck up, but if it keeps going like this, it is definitely going to become one of my favorites. (Same with Be My Favorite, honestly.)

I don’t know many people around here, and certainly not many I wouldn’t feel awkward tagging, but I’ll just be awkward anyway and kindly ask @ellaspore and @biochemjess if they feel up for it. I wanna know! (No pressure, though.)

[a30somethingslookatpopculture]

Top 5 Animated Scooby Doo Movies 

Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island

What happens when the monsters are real? The Scooby-verse is flipped on its head in this one, as we discover exactly that. And what an amazing soundtrack! Seriously, “It’s Terror Time Again” is an absolute banger! 

2. Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost

Three Words…The Hex Girls! This is the debut of the all female, goth rock group we all know and love! So for that alone, it’s a MUST for me. But I also really love the story of Sarah Ravencroft and the Autumn theme. It’s a delightfully witchy good time! And let’s be real, Ben Ravencroft is totally Stephen King inspired! 

3. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase

Full disclosure, this one is probably only one of my most favorites because of nostalgia. It is the Scooby film that my family and I watched religiously. I recall when it was coming out, and how excited we were .Scooby was (is) kind of a big deal in my family. This one is a fun, cyber filled adventure where the gang has to progress through a computer game in order to defeat a phantom virus. It’s complete with cool Scooby Gang cyber versions, and an eventual face-to-face. 

4. Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School / Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf

I put both of these together because I love them both for the same reason…their inclusion of the classic movie monsters! The Wolfman, Dracula, The Mummy, The Frankenstein’s Monster, etc. Or in the case of Ghoul School ,their daughters (with small appearances from them). I’m Dracula obsessed, and to see the character in the Scooby Doo franchise makes me so happy! Ghoul School has its moments. Any time it focuses on the ghouls, it’s fantastic. I just think it has a pretty wonky, all over the place plot. As for the Reluctant Werewolf, I love the Wacky Racers-esque story. And shaggy himself becomes a werewolf! How cool is that! 

5. Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders

Shaggy and Scooby get abducted by aliens! And they both fall in love with a hippy girl and her golden retriever (who turn out to be the aliens). It’s just really fun to see how this all plays out, and how those two handle it. As well as how Velma, the brains of the group, copes with the idea of alien life existing. 

(I moved one of these around as I was typing this, because I realized as I reread it that maybe I liked some others just a bit more. Either way, these are still my most favs from my childhood!)

[ourladyofomega]

So, @lysistra was nice enough to tag me to name four albums I’ve been listening to intensively in recent weeks (thank you!). It was a tough decision and I literally lost sleep over this, so everyone please be nice to me or I’ll never do this again.

And they are:

#1: Sweeping Promises: Good Living Is Coming For You. Their debut, Hunger For A Way Out, was an essential Pandemic Autumn jam and I was drawn to it because of the d.i.y.-ethos album cover. I listened to that album the most out of any others that season. Now this came out with very little heads-up and I reached for it immediately, effectively taking me back to those Pandemic feels. They stuck with the same post-punk-driven, Pylon-influenced formula and these ten songs come with a slightly dirty, muddy splash in their production values. There’s a few new tricks that vocalist Lira Mondal has tried out and they show. They’ve also retained that d.i.y. method of creating records throughout all of their projects and their entire discography. Still not enough? There’s the orphaned single “Pain Without A Touch” and their other just-as-awesome project Splitting Image. And look at this CMYK artwork?!

#2: Free Love: Luxury Hits. I’m elated to say that I’m the only one here amongst my mutuals who know about this Scottish electronic duo, and that started with Apero, a record that stamps my move into my current residency. Formerly Happy Meals (because they can’t be bothered naming themselves after cancerous toxicity), this married couple have that magic touch in their sound that no one else has. They have such a special soul that could take you to another world; one that could’ve possibly existed but per chance could be a reality. Luxury Hits contain two personal favorites / footnotes of mine: “Tomorrow Could Be Heaven”, one denoting an Autumn Sunday trip out to Greenpoint, and “Pushing Too Hard”, part of a soundtrack to a colorful and vivid but complicated Summer. The latter is a charmer thanks to Suzanne Rodden’s charismatic vocals, and any release of theirs is super high-resolution, sweet colors, and lush sounds. I still hope to keep Free Love as a personal gem only I can have to myself. Maybe not after you see this.

#3: Kontravoid: Too Deep. Whenever I’m not blasting hardcore music while busting my ass at the gym, I turn to synthwave instead. After hearing the electrically-charged sounds of Kontravoid, I’m becoming more a fan. This all started when Boy Harsher featured Kontra's-“Maskerade” on a one-and-done post and the rest was game over. The original full-length has some severe high-voltage bangers (“Turn Away”, “So It Seems v.2”) and some superior anthems included (“Too Deep”, “Cost Of Life”). If you’re headed for the remix album, go on right to Fractions’ version of “So It Seems”, then tell me that you didn’t lose your shit over it because it’s that crazy.

#4: Black Marble: A Different Arrangement. It’s Summer, and you know what that means: it’s time to reach for the record that one of my fellow dee-jays opened my eyes to. Black Marble gives me a elevated feeling of superiority thanks to not only its art direction but also its frigid beats and moderately warm but lush-as-heaven synth work. Chris Stewart’s project is so good that I saw them twice: one at Brooklyn’s Warsaw opening for Cold Cave, and closing out Sacred Bones’ 15th at Queens’ Knockout Center. Both amazing experiences. Bonus points for its’ Eighties sentiment which reminds me of Dead Or Alive’s “Brand New Lover”, and double that for being the soundtrack of me moving into a new neighborhood.

And…because I can’t settle for four albums, I’ll throw in a bonus:

#5: SpaceGhostPurrp: IntoXXXicated. Holy shit. Talk about a venomous Naga-grade pit-viper of a rap release. This has to be the most exotic bars mixtape I ever heard. If you’re looking for a good drugs, money, and sex record? Well...then here it is! It’s super hot.

This time, I will tag: @sibelin, @charliemonroe, @kate2, @tewzz, @aleprouswitch, @sheisthesisterofnight, @restwaerme, @misterwhirly, @maldoror-est-mort, @sclr, @justmakesuresheeatsthemouse, @chickenshit-conformist, @urban-hieroglyphs, @iamdangerace, @the-land-of-rape-and-honey, @testure-1988, @rivetgoth, @theonlycure, @sweetness-doesnt-touch-my-face and anyone else who wants to play.

[spacenintendogs]

3 10 16or 17 for the httyd asks!!

3. Did you play School of Dragon? If so, what dragon(s) did you have?

i tried back in 2018 but my laptop couldn't handle it. i never got past the tutorial with toothless and immediately uninstalled it and then was still devastated when they shut it down :')

10. What are your favourite songs from the soundtracks?

the big 3: forbidden friendship, test drive, and romantic flight.

see you tomorrow is a BANGER

all of the jonsi songs!!

once there were dragons is also so good... listened to that on repeat after i saw the hidden world in 2019

16. What is your favourite plot arc?

edit: i realized this said plot arc and astrid's character arc doesn't rlly count but for plot arc: hiccup & snotlout's arc of learning to respect each other more in riders/defenders of berk. basically the screaming death arc!!

astrid's in the first movie... it's near perfect and her role in the story is so vital bc her mind being changed makes stoick's mind being changed so much more believable. astrid's arc is such an interesting throughline to see the movie through. astrid being the most viking like of the teens and taking everything so seriously only to decide to give hiccup a chance (yes she was hanging off a tree rlly high off the ground and then only apologized bc toothless was whipping her around as payback for her attitude lol) but once toothless calms down that's when astrid rlly sits back and gives toothless & hiccup a chance & you just. see her relaxed for the first time in the movie and smiling so wide and it's SOOOOOOO. i love her so much.

17. Do you read or write HTTYD fanfic? If so, give some recommendations!

i do both!!

for reading, i haven't done a lot & i am kinda particular abt what i read (i heed tags & stuff seriously!! they're there for a reason!!) but!! from recent memory & my bookmarks

promises, promises is by @artinandwritin and it's abt her httyd ocs and @beebooca's oc set post the hidden world (except the dragons are still there!!) and it's such a fun exploration of the effect things can have on oc characters based on what happens to the canon characters they're connected to!! it's very good (and i am honored to have helped beta read :'))

translations by @bignostalgias is a hijack fic where jack frost ends up on berk after following silver dream sand (and ends up becoming "alive" again) and there's the whole thing where he's confused abt how berk exists and seems to be behind modern day and dragons exist. everything is so thought out and carefully put together and i just can not wait for more!!

frowny kisses by @tysonrunningfox bc my snotstrid loving ass adores those losers so much and op has got them DOWN!! the original snotstrid person fr fr i am begging y'all to pls check out their stuff!!!!!!!!!

also fics by @eemoo1o-tfrmoo & @kolasharkattack are also rlly rlly good!!!!!!

and yea i write fics lol but i go through spurts of YEAH UPDATE LET'S GO WOO and then quickly losing steam & updates come rarely even tho they take up so much space in my brain bc writing hard :')

the summer snotlout jorgenson got laid is tied to my modern au & it's abt the brief period astrid & snotlout decided to try dating & obv they break up but hey. unrestrained summer fun :)

burn is a series following astrid & snotlout's friendship. there's only 2 fics rn but windburn is complete and heartburn is a work in progress. i have a few fics for series stewing around in my brain as well but!! yea!!

then there's the calm dragon nip provides which is basically my fishlout smokes weed fic and it's not even a year old yet & tbh i'm not happy with it at all but i don't regret it enough to delete it. u can read it if u wish but i'm not proud of it. c'est la vie.

and those are my most recent fics!! and then my docs are just. full of incomplete bullshit lol <3 ty!!

[adiosterror]

🩶, 🎚️ and 🪽

(@/scarecrowbf ^_^)

Oh geez, three at once,, bet

🩶 (Song that reminds you of your f/o)

There's SO many I could say for this, honestly, but I'll have to go with (and highly recommend) Ascending Heaven by Asyndeton!

I have no idea where I first heard this song, but it really stuck with me when I was in school and I would listen to it every day while I read the comic. It's a very comforting song, especially the chorus with the lines 'I'll take away your pain, I'll hold you in my arms' both feels like a selfship thing and also how she treats her friends and all that. She's very stubborn on making sure everyone she loves is safe, going as far as to literally retcon the entire story so they don't have to die.

🎚️ (Album cover that reminds you of your selfship and/or your f/o)

I'm sure there's a lot of really good answers out there that I could say, and I'd love to hear any other ideas, but I'd have to say I'm split between two! There's the album cover for Homestuck Vol. 10 with all the kids meeting up which is awesome (it also has casey!! i love you so much casey), but that feels like too easy of an answer.

My other option would probably be Owl City's Ocean Eyes. I didn't even know this until I googled it, but this album came out in 2009! Just a couple months after Homestuck first started,, neat! I'd choose the deluxe edition of the album cover, the big lettering and white border makes it feel a bit lighter in color compared to the original. And also, the deluxe has a banger remix of Hello, Seattle.

🪽 (Song lyric that makes you think of your f/o and/or selfship)

There are SO many of these I could scream, but I'll stick to two just to keep it simple!

The first one is from Meteor Shower by Cavetown, specifically the line 'I'd sell my own bones for sapphire stones, 'cause blue is your favorite color.'

I'm not even really sure if blue is her favorite color? I'm pretty sure it is, but there's some hot debate in the fandom about it being either blue or green. I'm on team blue because literally everything is blue except her original shirt and things based off it, which is just Slimer from Ghostbusters,, who is green,,,

But yeah, I think she'd look really pretty in sapphires, now that I think about it,,,

The other song is It Only Takes A Moment from the Hello, Dolly soundtrack!

This song stuck with me ever since I was a little kid, my favorite movie has always been Wall-E lol,, but the lyric for this song is 'Your heart knows in a moment, you will never be alone again.'

I'm not sure why I have it superglued onto June in my head, but the delivery of the line sounds so full of adoration and acceptance, it makes me feel that kinda way, you know? You can just hear the love in his voice, throughout the whole song but especially in this line.

Thank you so much for the ask!! It means the world to me, hehe,, I'm excited to see your responses too! ❤️❤️

[kitsaystransrights]

Okay I’m starting a new series on here called “I just finished this game” where I gush about a game I just finished.

Anyway, if you’re a fan of musicals, visual novels, or Greek mythology, you NEED to play Stray Gods.

If you haven’t heard of it before, Stray Gods is a visual novel with branching story routes, but it has the twist of also being a musical! Many of the game’s major choices take place in the songs themselves, and the songs will actually changed based on your decisions! Each song has numerous different permutations based on around 3-5 choices in each one. I recommend checking out Challenging a Queen, one of the early game songs that’s relatively light on spoilers, to see how some of the choices really add some spice to the game and weave through the songs.

The game’s story just follows Grace, a 20-something girl who witnesses the death of Calliope, the Last Muse, and to make matters worse, she has inherited her powers and role. The Chorus, leaders of the remaining Greek gods (known as Idols), give Grace one week to prove her innocence before she is executed, and the line of Calliope is gone forever.

Accompanying her on this journey are a variety of gods, monsters, and her mortal (strictly platonic… strictly) roommate, Freddie. The cast of Stray Gods is easily its best aspect, full of lovable and complex characters, leaving you laughing a lot, sobbing sometimes, and sometimes not knowing who to trust. And when it’s backed up by a fantastic voice cast, and nearly every character getting their own song if not multiple, I’d be astounded if you managed to get through the game without getting attached to SOMEONE lol.

(For the record, my favorite characters are Freddie, Persephone, and Aphrodite hehe)

And of course, what’s a musical without its music? The soundtrack of Stray Gods is absolutely incredible, even beyond the incredible amount of work and dedication it took to integrate so many variations of all the songs in the game. Lots of variety with the genre, sometimes even changing in the middle of a song! If I haaad to pick a few favorites, I suppose it’d be The Ritual, Look Into Me, and If Only. I’m a sucker for the emotional songs, but Look Into Me is suuuuuch a banger, it feels so threatening and I LOVE it.

OKAY now I’m gonna gush about my favorite parts of the story and get all spoilery so if you don’t want to be spoiled, DON’T KEEP READING! Go play the game yourself! Iirc it’s on all current platforms. Enjoy :)

So HOLY SHIT APHRODITE’S SONG HIT ME LIKE A BRICK??? I love the moral dilemma her whole cycle of rebirth puts you in, deciding whether to honor her wishes and let her die again or to convince her to find peace in life rather than trying to forget. I tried SO HARD to save her without forcing her and she ended up passing on anyways.

Persephone’s character is also SOOOO well done here, the reinterpretation of her story where she kills Hades is a fantastic direction to take her character. She ended up being my main investigative partner for the game and I did NOT regret it. I almost ended up romancing her, and I definitely will on my next playthrough, but I didn’t this time because of…

Freddie!!! Freddie absolutely rules and is my favorite character in the whole game. Mortal Greek mythology nerd who is super gay and wears a cool hat, how could I NOT love her??? My heart was completely torn to shreds when she died, and even though I knew she had to be able to come back somehow because you could romance her, the fury it raised in me made me blaze through the last four hours of the game and finish it in one sitting XD.

And JEEZ the way they let you bring her back is so well done. It’s not outright good or bad, it’s complex! Freddie and Grace are both traumatized by her death and resurrection, and the fact that you went against Freddie’s wishes and passed the line of Calliope onto her just makes it even more interesting from a storytelling perspective. It’s part of what makes If Only one of my favorite songs in the game. And of course, I’m a sucker for stories of unrequited love like Freddie’s is for Grace and now I’m gonna feel so guilty romancing anyone else 😭. Freddie is so relatable istg.

Anyways uuuuuh that’s all I have to say, maybe I’ll do a full review on my YouTube? Thanks for checking this post out tho! Okay bye :)

[loki-who-remains]

The soundtrack for season 2 is unbelievable. I thought nothing could beat season 1 music, but Natalie Holt did it again. I’m in awe. I can't wait for Vol.2.

I’m not a musician, I don’t really distinguish different instruments apart from general terms, but for myself I summarised that strings mainly belong to Loki and Sylvie, the theremin to TVA and Mobius, chorus/voices to HWR and Victor Timely. And again, it comes in three.

Burden of Wisdom

This is the first track for season 2 and it actually starts with the same whispery voices that can be heard in He Who Remains, which is the last track for season 1! I recommend listening to both in chronological order. The contrast between them, the character and gravity they convey. Ugh!

Theremin, chorus and strings are intertwined in a heartbeat-like sound. In this track you can actually hear a bit of the TVA theme but performed on Loki’s strings, as if he's accepted his fate paved for him and Sylvie by HWR. It does sound like a burden.

One Shot

It’s complex music with a lot of drama, hope and despair but also a happy ending. And it is a complicated sequence when Loki time slips to the future, is pruned and gets back to the present. The harp and chorus sound almost asgardian. It’s very stringy, and there are Sylvie’s strings this time too, and an epic, heroic build-up and Loki’s iconic fanfares when he is pulled from the time and soft lands on Mobius. To me personally this is very Sylkius somehow

Temporal Loom

It is the hard of the TVA, so the music sounds like a heartbeat, slightly irregular, quickening by the end. The whispers, and then the epic chorus. You can clearly see a small fragile man on the gangway against this monstrous merciless machine.

Zaniac

This is a banger. 70s disco beat, something from a James Bond movie. But if you listen closely, you can hear strings from Loki Green Theme in the background. They sound ominous but not loud enough for Brad to take it seriously just like he underestimates his opponents just a moment later. Loki’s strings and TVA’s theremin make pretty damn good combo, I love it I love it I love it so much.

Delivery

Such hopeful, pensive music. You know the history was altered that very moment and can’t be undone, this boy will change everything for better or for worse. In the end, the ultimate power in the universe are books in right (or wrong) hands. Chorus is there and is very prominent, not a whisper but almost angelic choir.

Time to Go

I looooove how this one starts so non-HWRy! Very playful, funny and slightly chaotic which suits Victor’s luminary persona that he puts on to hide his vulnerable soft self. It also has Loki’s iconic fanfares, performed by a woodwind this time. It doesn’t match with Loki’s appearance like in One Shot, but still is a really nice touch. And then it’s calm, pensive and somehow lonely. And that’s how Victor is, really.

O. B.

OB’s theme sounds like something from the future. His main notes are simple, optimistic tones arranged with electronic background. It stands out from all other TVA personnel related music. Just like him: a genius unstoppable engineer, alone in his department who won’t hold a grudge for this, always busy, always happy to see his colleagues and work in a team

Your Girl

Hauntingly beautiful and tragically romantic, but with undertones of static, Jaws and a villain theme from a horror movie.

I don’t wanna stop but I will because I feel like I’m starting to repeat myself and don’t have enough words to describe music. No, no, okay, one more

Tricks

The thrill of the chase. Brad's personality aside, it's terrifying to be chased by someone you can neither outrun nor outtrick. Makes you think what would happen if Loki suddenly changed his mind and turned into a full mode villain. Q&A has a similar vibe but with far more dark undertone.

okay I really need to stop here

All I wanna say is, Natalie Holt knows how to convey the essence of a character through music

[agirlwholovesrockstars]

I SAW DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE!

I saw it recently in Aug 3 and guys, GUYS, I've never had a good Marvel film like this before, ever since Endgame, after that it's all just dull and so shallow but I think this era is going to promising and hopefully it continues because I'm having a feeling that Marvel? is going to have a very huge comeback and this is just only the start and I'm very thankful and otherworldly grateful to freaking live in the moment of 2008-2019 full on experience of Marvel! and that excitement, thrilling, joyous feeling is BACK, like, I kid you not! watching this with the whole crowd is reacting with you on the same time is such a bliss! I literally do miss it and I am so incredibly happy to have that again and audience???? was so freaking great and amazing! this is a very hot take but as much as I enjoy the Deadpool 2, this one they take it into a whole another level, I'm so glad that they lessen the "multiverse" and they did not overuse it and Ryan Reynolds is made to be Deadpool and Hugh Jackman is one hell of a an actor like yes, I admit, I did grew up in both actors and I'm very much a fan of Ryan but Hugh steals my attention because after seeing this? me and my bestie (especially my bestie) we're both having a Hugh Jackman filmography marathon, they we're a part of our childhood and Ryan always knows how to make the best Marvel film like I swear to god, a word thank you isn't enough for him like he always ALWAYS does his very best to make every Deadpool film to be the most enjoyable film ever like he never ever disappoint and he does it very seriously! like he takes his time and effort to make the whole movie great as much as possible, Marvel, y'all better take a leaf out of Ryan's direction and also better to take down notes because that's how you make a film that will get viewers to be so pumped, hyped and get your film to be anticipated! my expectations for this film are high but after watching it???? I've never knew they would freaking cross it off the goddamn roof! the soundtracks are always top-notch and a banger, the cameos the mind-blowing cameos, the action scenes, comedic timing is insanely well done, the pop culture references are making my brain stutter is absolutely so hilarious and I am so fond of it! the wait is so worth it and you won't ever regret it seeing it for yourself! 😭😭🤌🏻🤌🏻❤️❤️✨✨

you might wanna bring your bestie with you because???? It's a best buds film???? hello??? 😉

[hldailyupdate]

Finding your voice as an artist is no easy feat. Finding it anew after half a decade spent establishing yourself as something else might be even harder.

After distancing himself from the pop-centric output of One Direction and the dancier sound of his early singles to make his debut album following in the footsteps of the indie-rock he grew up listening to, with his second record Louis Tomlinson has scrapped his self-imposed restraints and he’s never sounded more comfortable in his own skin.

‘Faith In The Future’ is an album with arena-sized energy in its bloodstream. Both larger than life and more intimate than ever, this is how he was meant to be heard. If ‘Walls’ was Louis defining who he wants to be, ‘Faith In The Future’ is him refusing to pin himself down.

Whether he’s rallying through the euphoria of staying up and staying out on ‘Silver Tongues’ or finding a sense of post-heartache peace on ‘Saturdays’, Louis is at his best when he goes all out. The most immediate example of this is album stand-out and certified banger, ‘Written All Over Your Face’. Purpose-built for throwing shapes under dance-floor strobe lights, the track is an indie disco anthem that comes complete with its own battle cry.

Bigger and bolder in scope though the album is (did we mention there’s a string section involved? – Ed), his lyrics remain characteristically grounded. The songs resound with the same kind of warmth and sincerity that you find when you’re a couple of drinks in with good friends at the pub. Heading out to “grab some food then meet the lads for one” on ‘Lucky Again’, or recalling the “house full of terraced dreams” he grew up in on ‘Common People’, there’s a sense of familiarity to his words that makes them almost instinctively relatable.

He’s pretty adept at tugging on the heartstrings too. With its steadfast reassurance that “you’ll be okay, we can talk tomorrow,” for those times when conversation might feel too heavy, ‘Angels Fly’ is almost certain to become a fan favourite. Closing number ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’ takes a different approach to a similar sense of reassurance. Complete with earnest advice, heartfelt support, and a shameless comment to lighten the load, the track feels so much like a conversation with a close friend it’s impossible not to feel endeared.

Eclectic, electric, and always energetic, ‘Faith In The Future’ is an album crafted for the stage, a collection of songs purpose-made for pints-in-the-air, arms-around-shoulders, voices-to-the-rafters sing-alongs. But more than that, it’s an album made for the nighttime, a soundtrack to losing and finding yourself in the dark, the people you meet and the adventures that happen along the way.

4/5

(10 November 2022)

[blazingstaro]

I love Magolor's Mechanical Madness (nice alliteration)

This is seems like a what if scenario where Magalor tried to save dreamland in planet robobot prior to Star allies.

I love the addition of the cute contractor waddle dees, Fumu and Bun grown up, and the comments made for each post, specifically the halberd getting destroyed on a Tuesday.

I adore that Magolor can wield Galaxia, as he can wield a giant ultra sword from his epilogue.

I hope kirby, DeDeDe, Bandana are involved so that the heroes of dreamland return once more.

I also hope Captain Vul is saved, despite his immoral actions in Super Star (Ultra).

I also hope that their are soundtracks from the kirby games and the halberd in kirby's mouthful mode!

Nice story!

This is such a huge compliment! Thank you!!! 💜💜💜 I love alliteration, so I take what chances I can get with titles. This one was too perfect, because as an acronym no less, it's so hilarious to read!

Indeed, it's a somewhat scenario! It's more of a "what da Magolor doin" during the events of Planet Robobot. Following his perspective during the main plot, and what sort of contributions he made (at least in my AU) to make things move forward

Sort of answering various questions throughout the game, such as:

"Why did all the major security doors open for Kirby when he was a main threat to the facility" ; "How come they didn't send Mecha Knight after Kirby earlier, and frequently" ; and many more!

Little things that made me in particular ask, "Why is that so" in the face of a multi-billion dollar, highly advanced tech company with nearly god-like machines at their fingertips

I'm glad you enjoy my witty commentary, heheee!! It's one of my favorite parts of posting pages! So fun!! I'm glad you enjoyed my additions as well! After all, this mostly takes place in parts of Popstar/Access Ark that we don't see in Kirby's perspective of the game, so I have tons of room for creative liberty and so forth!

Mmm yes the bit with Magolor and Galaxia. You see, I mix both anime and game story/plot into my AU, so if you're familiar with Galaxia's lore from the anime, then you may know as to why that is. 👀

King Dedede will be taking a back seat in DotS:MMM just as he did in the game, but we will be seeing Bandana Dee alongside Kirby!! There are a few instances where they cross paths with Magolor!

As for Vul, we shall see what fate has in store for the old bird 👀👀👀

Not sure what ya mean by soundtracks, but OST is a banger and I love it! Love Access Ark's first major theme with that dubstup, just MMMMMM— even my dad loves it!

Also! I will not be drawing the accursed Halberd in full for this comic omg— I did once before for an entire battle scene and don't want to go through that again LOL Those pages were FIRE, but oh my god nope, never again, my soul will surely whither away into dust

Again, thank you so much for this lovely ask!!

[popculturebuffet]

Here Comes Garfield: Here Comes Garfield Review: Together Again (Patreon Review for Emma Fici)

Hello all you cool cats and nobody's fool cats and welcome back to here comes garfield, a look at garfield's fine history of specials.

Last time I took a look at his first apperance with the hourlong special the fantastic funnies which had Garfield's First animated apperance, some interviews with various comic strip creators.. and nothing else of value. Except maybe a possible doonesbury spinoff where micheal doonsebury and broom hilda become wacky roomates.

The Garfield Short itself however was fantastic, adapting a few great strips with Scott Beach doing a decent job in the roll and Thom Huge's first roll as john showoing what a naturual he was. The shorts were impressive enough that CBS ordered a full special.

So thus here came here comes Garfield. Both John and Garfield were recast from the fantastic funnies short: For Garfield they clearly had wide auditions.. but Lorenzo Music easily won after his first. Licking himself probably helped. Music was best known as the voice only character "Carlton, the Doorman" on Rhoda, and while he did some voice work here and there, Garfield was easily his biggest roll, with the second being Peter Venkman on the real ghostbusters, being just as good at the roll as Bill Murray and yes i'll stake my claim on that. He was also replaced by David Collier of Full House Infamy. I'm cursed with this knowledge and now so are you. And yes it was a massive downgrade.

For John they wanted an LA actor, so frequent guest actor Sandy Kenyon replaced Thom Huge. Thankfully Huge would be given the part back after auditoning for the next special when Kenyon wasn't avaliable and despite never leaving indiana, he was just THAT good. We also finally got a cast for Odie with Gregg Berger, who got cast because

I scraped the background info i got for this from wherever I could. Still Berger went on to be a longtime voice actor, being the only one of the big three's va's to still be at it. My faviorite roll of his is he, grimlock but berger has a staggering career I wasn't aware of.

The rest of our cast are: second fred flintstone Henry Collis as grouchy neighbor Huebert, Owl from Winnie the Pooh and frequent scooby doo guest voice actor hank garret as Huebert's wife Reba and pro wrestling hall of famer and sitcom starr, both entirely true I looked it up, Hank Garrett as vet inmates Fast Eddy and Fluffy.

Our final bit of casting wasn't for voice acting but for the Special's soundtrack, a person so integral to these specials I can't imagine them without him: Ladies, Gentlemen and that beautiful rainbow inbetween and outside, please welcome mr lou rawls!

Rawls is a legendary R and B artist, with "you'll never find" being his signature. He's been on the Muppet Show, the Proud Family, Sesame Street, and more. He was a legend and i'm very sad he's gone.

It's these specials that introduced me to rawls, though it took the muppet show to get me to look at more of his songs and he brought his a game. The reason? He saw the residuals sexual predator Bill Cosby was getting from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and had one thought when asked to do Garfield

Jim Davis would be proud.. because he was also in it for the money. And like the earlier years of Garfield, Lou Rawls didn't half ass it: the songs he performed for this special and later ones were truly fantastic and he always had a banger ready to open the special. I'm still baffled they were never put on a cd, with the only album relases being for here comes garfield and a mixtape from various r and b artists that includes shake a paw from Garfield Gets a Life. The specials would not be the same without Lou in them, and i'm happy he kept taking that check as he made them better each time he provided a silky opening song to kick off the hyjinks.

So with a bunch of vetran sitcom actors, the voice of an angel and a ton of strips, how was Here Comes Garfield? join me under the cut to find out.

We open the special with Garfield throwing his alarm clock through a window after rudely waking him up. A perfect intro: shows off he's cranky, sleepy and takes no shit.

We then follow it up with an elaborate dance number from Garfield, as he's known for, set to our title theme tune, here comes garfield. It's Rawls first crack at the character.. and it's a gorgeous, catchy song that sums up everything from Garfield's love of lasanga to his laziness. Is it weird to juxtopose that with an elaborate rotoscoped dance? yes yes it is. Is the animation and song so smooth it dosen't matter? Yup.

The dancing was modeled after Desirée Goyette, who also wrote the songs and sung the final one with Rawls, and also presented an issue as it didn't look quite right at first as Garfield to this point mostly stood like a blob. Since it was done at the Mendelsons where Peanuts was done, Sparky Schultz ended up providing the answer: the feet were too small and it's where Garfield got his big feet and smaller legs. They weren't to the degree they'd grow later, for better and for worse, but it's neat to know this evolution in garfield's appearance came from Sparky.

After this Garfield does some of his usual stuff: He threatens Odie, in his first animated appearance, wants a big breakfast then gets pissy when John won't give him the big breakfast and reacts entirely normally.

Several of the bits from this special were taken directly from the strip. Sadly unlike with the Fantastic Funnies, most aren't bookmarked, but thanks to google I was able to find a few i'll highlight. If I missed one or two, feel free to point them out, as there's a lot. Like the peanuts specials these earlier garfield ones tend to adapt a few one off bits for scenes and weave them into the plot.

Mid Breakfast, cat food as John hasn't yet had his spirit entirley broken, Odie startles Garrfield, a fight insues, and Jon throws his pets outside. Before we join them i'd like to talk about Sandy Kenyon's john.. and how he really dosen't work in the roll. What Huge got and what Wally Wingert and, at least judging from trailers, Nicholas Hoult get as John is that ballance: of put upon weary looser and optimstic dork. The latter part wasn't as prominent yet, but Huge would slide into it effortlessly.

Kenyon's John feels more like we're in a cat themed version of the stepfather and at any moment he's going to kill both pets, change his name and be on to another town. He feels like he's going to put down some plastic sheeting, throw on some huey lewis and get the axe out. He feels like he's one setback away from putting on a mask and going after some teenage cats. John is just too course here, too angry. Kenyon's trying to be deadpan but unlike other Jons, it comes off more threatening. And John CAN be threatning to his cat when he wants to be, but it comes off more like an angry dad, which is what he is, instead of an angry serial killer dad.

So our heroes go out and frolic in the flowers before a dog bites Garfield

And then another dog bites garfiled, Fluffy, the weird looking dog owned by Garfield's next door neighbor Huebert.

I'm so happy to get to talk about Huebert. As you may know, Garfield.. dosen't have the biggest bench of side characters in the strip itself. garfield and friends added a few paticuarlly binky (who went from a one off character in the strip and specials to one of the series best character) and the garfield show did the same, but in the strip it's kept to, outside our three person main cast, Liz, Nermal, Arlene, John's Parents, Doc Boy, Irma, Lyman early on and in more recent decades, the Big Vicious Dog. It's not a bad bench to pull from and some can go out of focus for a while if Jim Davis and his merry band of ghost writers runs out of ideas, but it works. Some strips have massive spraling casts like breaking cat news, some just need a few main characters and a few side cast to function. It didn't mean there were NO other characters or no guest characters, the 80's in paticular has some bangers and two of them even show up in this special, but in terms of recurring cast Jim Davis and Co kept it light.

Huebert and Reba are part of that cast and while not used these days, still made an impression when they were around. They were one note mostly being there to either gape in horror at John and Garfield's nonsense or be a victim of it. It did work though. They mostly stuck to sundays as it gave the gags enough room to work them in.

Huebert here assumes Garfield attacked Muffin unprovoked.. which isn't that unfair if you've known garfield formore than a single minute. Garfield and Odie don't help matters by trolling the guy. Hueburt dosen't help matters by trying to whollop them with his stick.

When that fails, he decides to call animal control. And in the garfield unvierse the city pound is apparnetly fucking psychotic as they not only just. manifest instantly, but don't ask any followup questions such as "are these somebody's pets", "Why do you want these animals removed" and "Whats your offer." They jsut show up to swoop our guys up.

Garfield hides but Odie, befitting his nature, is too stupid to and gets nabbed. Garfield seems genuinely sorry about it.. before griping, reminding us he's nature's perfect asshole. he does try to tell john about it with some fun patnomime.. but all john gets is Garfield might have fleas, a bit I really like.

Garfield gives up to watch some tv, then sleeps, thinking back to him and Odie as puppies.. before seeing the net come in and tkae the boy. And honestly this setup, Garfield feeling guilt one of his only friend sin the world is absent but taking his sweet time to do anything because he's that stubborn and selfish that he can't ADMIT it, works really well.

Eventually Garfield wakes up and needs to feed lest his hunger consume him then us all. So we get our second song, Long About Midnight, a fun jazz number from Rawls about Garfield's appitite. I also say Rawl's r and b style REALLY fits garfield well Rawls music tends to be laid back and jovial, talking about romancin and relaxin, and that fits garfield just fine. He can get it and he's ntohing but relaxed.

We get some food shenanigans during it recycled from a sunday, minus john for plot purposes

Thanks to Alyssabeth on Goodreads for putting this tsrip in her review, I wouldn't of remembered this refrence without it. Though I will say the gags are made better thans to Music's delivery. He just.. fits garfield so perfectly, having that nice combination of sardonic and laid back. There's a reason voices after him.. just haven't quite felt right. Bill Murray did a great job despite terrible material, and Frank Welker is decent, but Music just set an impossibly high bar that's yet to be cleared. He was garfield and elevated the character from great to god tier.

It's telling that for once food can't fill the void inside: Garfield misses his dog/punching bag/brother and decides to go free him. he NEARLY does.. only for the creepy watch men to catch him.

It's in Stir garfield meets two of his cell mates: Fast Eddie and Fluffy. Fast Eddie and Fluffy are actuallyt aken from a January 1981 arc I remember vividly as I had the book it was in as a kid.

The special changed the two slightly changing Eddie's name, Fluffy into a dog, and making both more realistically colored, though the latter's a bit more understandable on Fast Eddie/Guido, as we didn't have a color fo rhim. Fluffy on the other hand was on the back of the book he was in, so I don't know what the excuse there was.

I also admit I prefer Fluffy's original design, the big blue dopey look versus a more generic dog in the special.

The arc they were in was fairly short, with almost none of it really adapted for the special, just taking the characters and the situation of garfield in the pound, but they were still a great take. I may not like the change in fluffy but the two are a lot of fun and help speed along expositoin.

Eddie sticks up for Odie when Garfield gripes at him for getting him thrown in jail, only for Eddie to reveal that Odie is to be PUT DOWN TOMMOROW.

Yes. I wasn't kidding about how.. weirdly sadistic the pound is in this universe. Granted it COULD'VE been this weirdly sadistic in the 80's too but yes, despite having been here for less than a day they already plan to MURDER ODIE to make room. Whose running this pound?

Yeah that tracks. So Garfield tries to figure out a way to savd Odie from death and comforts his best friend on his last night. It's a genuinely heartbreaking scene, not helped by our third song "So Long Old Friend" If you can listen to this song without tearing up, you have no soul and i'm pretty sure even that's sketchy as vampires would cry tears of blood over this.

Garfield vows to save odie but Eddie holds Garfield back as they'll "take you too"

Thankfully Garfield gets an out: a little girl comes by to adopt a pet and all the cats and dogs line up. I also like all the various cats and dogs here, who Eddie outlined earlier my faviorites being Rocky, a nermal sized cat who beat up a neigherbood dog, Charlotte, a lovely kitty who simply scratched up some royal drapes, and Weird Larny who got arrested for impersonating a moose. Garfield gets picked because of plot convience.. but bolts to rescue Odie from certain death...

The other pets join him in booking it the hell out of deathland and overun the one guy trying to stop them. It's here we get our final number, and my faviorite, Together Again, with rawls and goytte combinging vocals. It's a joyful, triumphant song of renuinon as our heroes finally escape and go home.

Jon.. is a bit of a passive agressive dick, assuming they were partying whihle he was worried sick.. even though he clearly didn't you know CHECK THE POUND or do any work whatsoever. They quickly butter him up, he "forgives them" and we get one last gag taken directly from a strip I coudln't find to close things out

Here comes garfield is a great start to the specials. The stakes are high but still grounded enough for early garfield. While the timeline of thigns is a bit sped up, it's anchored by a belivieble yet touching arc from garfield, confromation that while he may bully odie and be annoyed by his existance.. he can't live without the guy and it's a fitting thing to get him off his fuzzy butt to do something. The jokes are fairly funny, the music is top notch. It's an excellent special and only seems lacking.. because they mostly get BETTER from here, with Here Comes Being a good start.. but most of the others take that foundation to new heights. Still it's a fantastic start and well worth checking out.

And like with my monthly muppets reviews, i'll be ranking these as I go and since I already covered babes and bullets and the fabulous funnies, that gives us two to start. I'll also be adding the garfield films to the ranking if I ever do them, and would be happy to do those on comission if anyone's intrested. Anyways here's our current ranking

This ranking probably won't move much at first, but we shall see

next time: In honor of the movie's launch we're looking at this special's followup, Garfield On the Town. With the new movie finally introducing us to Garfield's Father, it's only fair to look back at how we met his mother in one of the best of the specials. Tears will be shed, weird musical numbers will happen and you will be moved> yes you. in the front there.

Thanks for reading.

[libartz]

Day 6 of downpour

Another dream sequence ;-; And a new region!

Artificer

So I got from Underhang to the Wall with nothing but boom jumps, which was fun except for the scavenger squad that kept killing me at the other end. One time I was chased by a Miros Vulture and managed to get to the other end despite it, which would’ve been an epic win had I not then died to the same scavengers again.

Got another dream sequence. Was fleeing from the scavengers with the babies, the blue one with the pearl was left behind and surrounded. This does a good job at getting me into the Artificer's mindset because I hate them I hate them I hate them

I reached the echo at the top. I have officially achieved level 2 karma. Breaking news: being of pure rage feels something other than rage

Was all ready to go into the top of pebbles. Scavengers. 3 times. Can't wait till I have freedom of movement and can hunt down their strongholds (and I'm not normally a 'kill everyone' gamer. I usually befriend them in other playthroughs, and gourmand is best buds with them right now, but this? This is war)

Anyway finally made it to pebs, and he can't even karma me because Artificer is so full of rage. The little dude following me was apparently a drone from one of the citizens of his city, and he did something to it and has now hired me as a hit squad to clear the scavengers out of the city on top of him. 🔪 🔪🔪

I had the green pearl from the wall with me and he read it! He was like 'lol look at this bit where those idiots argue about me'

He also read the pink pearl from the waterfront facility, which seems to be essentially the same as the Shoreline tower pearl, about ‘purposed organisms’.

I went to the new region gate on the top of the Wall and can now go in there! The region is called Metropolis, found a new soundtrack 'Lost City' and also the threat music is an absolute banger. Up there with Chimney Canopy’s threat music.

I killed a scavenger on the way and dragged it with me, and when I was pursued by a cyan lizard I dropped it and now I have a tamed leapzard. It's great, we both do the boom jumpy thing. Unfortunately I’m now attached to it and I keep dying to scavengers when trying to escort it to its extremely far away lair whenever it catches something. I might have to just not feed it so that it lives

Since I came in through the top of pebbles I ate no neurons so I don't glow, kind of annoying

Gourmand- Reached moon with 3 neurons. From what she said Gourmand happens next after Hunter in the timeline. I had to go back to sky islands to eat a centiwig, and it is now subterranean time for the new crackable fruits. The deer still don’t behave themselves. They’re possibly my least favourite thing in the game. They’d be a great concept if they actually worked, but I died twice because they took too long to move and I got vultured. But I managed to get to the start of subterranean. Another reason drainage system isn’t that bad, it offers a way in there that isn’t the goddamn farm arrays.

[we-do-a-little-developing]

Music-based games

Music is used in games in two manners typically - either as a background soundtrack or as the game's core. As a soundtrack, less focus is placed on it's quality, more the vibe and energy of it. However, when it's the core of the game, it has to be perfect, or the gameplay will suffer. If the music is core to a game and pulled off well [Hi-Fi Rush!], the game is extremely fun and works considerably better as a result

Hi-Fi Rush!:

Hi-Fi Rush! is the best thing Bethesda has published since Fallout: New Vegas. It's a rhythm action game where both player and world move in time to the beat [the soundtrack is genuinely a masterpiece] and damage combos can be performed in time with the music, which is extremely fun. In Hi-Fi, music is the core of the gameplay - the entire game revolves around it. It changes depending on player condition/environment and, although varied, is fairly coherent and works extremely well.

Payday 2, again:

just be glad it's not TF2

The soundtrack in Payday 2 doesn't function like a traditional song. Instead, it has multiple sections [anticipation, buildup, assault, etc] depending on what is presently happening - the tense, quiet section will play during stealth, it'll increase with a melody and buildup once the alarm is sounded and it gets into full swing once the police assault begins. Composed predominantly by Simon Viklund and Gustavo Coutinho, the Payday 2 soundtrack has some absolute bangers [Razormind, Break The Rules, On The Road], all of which function as actual songs when in song composition. There are around 20 [30? I'm estimating here] different soundtracks tailored to the Vibe of each heist, such as the Western themes of On The Road or the 80's inspired Break The Rules [part of the Scarface DLC. Yes, that Scarface.].

Just Shapes And Beats:

Just Shapes And Beats [JSAB] is a 2D rhythm game where you play as a small blue cube, surviving boss levels with thematic attacks in tune with the music. It also has a story I won't elaborate on. The attack patterns of each boss are unique, with a fair few attacks being unique to that boss alone. They also typically relate somehow to the bosses design, with some bosses changing throughout the level. Although the levels and attacks are very fast-paced, there are also warning indicators to it never feels unfair for the player.

Geometry Dash:

Geometry Dash [GD] is a 2D platforming rhythm game as a small cube of various colours. The map moves at a consistent pace, and the only thing the player can do is jump. The levels are all made around music by creators such as Waterflame, with jumps and level changes done to the beat. As each level is created around the music, each level feels unique enough to be memorable whilst retaining a constant style and set of tools.

Billie Bust Up:

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=billie+bust+up+gameplay&&mid=6A3FE1D222060198975C6A3FE1D222060198975C&&FORM=VRDGAR

Billie Bust Up is a yet-to-be-released 3D platformer, where the player must tackle levels to the music, with boss battles providing unique music, setpieces and environmental hazards. The boss battles switch between a chase sequence where the player can only move horizontally and vertically, and stationary environments where they can also move in whatever the 3rd counterpart of horizontally and vertically is.

Just Dance:

Just Dance is a series of games published by Ubisoft [dear god], where the player[s] have to perform actions corresponding to a certain on-screen character in time with the music. Because of this, it can only be played on the Wii or Switch as the controllers have gyroscopic controls [it knows when you throw it at a wall, Martha]. Just Dance uses motion capture technology to record unique dances to a number of pop songs for each year's suffering installation.

Guitar Hero:

Guitar Hero is a game franchise that's older than most tiktok users [then again, so is UE5] where the player must use a special guitar controller to play specific notes of a song, typically rock, country or punk. Music is the core of Guitar Hero, and there's not really much else to say. It's Guitar Hero!

Cuphead:

Cuphead is a 2D 1950's themed platformer where the player must play as Cuphead or Mugman to collect souls for the Devil. It's a very normal game, yes. Each fight has its own distinct soundtrack with relevance to the boss itself but still retaining the type of musical style that would have been expected from the 1950's.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengenance:

MGR:R is a 3D hallucinogenic simulator hack-and-slash game where you explore the insides of the police and assorted robots. And robot police. And gorillas piloted by orphan brains. The soundtrack for MGR:R, however, is absolutely insane. Each of the bosses has a very distinct song, with lyrics providing the exposition about who/what they are that the fast-paced gameplay doesn't offer. From Jetstream Sam's 'The Only Thing I Know For Real' referencing how the cocky Brazilian has lost his identity and now only knows fighting, to Senator Armstrong [yes, as in a US senator]'s 'Collective Consciousness' about the lack of free thought and ignorance which he seeks to remove from society [alongside the player character's organs].

Team Fortress 2:

THAT'S RIGHT I LIED

The soundtrack to TF2 is a masterpiece. As is TF2, but that's besides the point. Each character's song represents them beautifully, from the medic's 'Medic!' going from angelic chorus to represent his class role to a whole brass section deafening anyone over the age of 50 representing his personality and slight insanity, to the Engineer's relaxed 'More Gun', with its acoustic guitars to represent his southern origins and darker/heavier tones to demonstrate the threat he poses. I've played TF2 for over a year with about 200 hours and I have no idea if music plays during gameplay. That's because with the sheer amount of background noise [characters yelling, explosions, firing, etc], there's no need for it [not that it would be heard]. The chaos and excellent sound design of TF2 provides sufficient background noise that music isn't required. Or I'm wrong and something is playing.

How will I use music?

I don't know. I don't have the technical skill yet to make a complex rhythm game or the musical understanding to compose my own, so I'll likely have to rely on already made music. Jameskii's 'Ahoy' springs to mind - that's free to use so long as he's credited. I really like Payday 2's On The Road, maybe I can use that as inspiration for a Western game. Perhaps musical layers are collected through boss fights, with the final fight having the full soundtrack.

Actually, I like that.

Huh