#i've been playing the game for six years and i still haven't managed to get to level 100

[blessyouhawkeye]

people who are really good at stardew valley scare the shit out of me what do you mean you achieved 100% perfection in under two in-game years

[invisiblebadword]

My Top 10 Video Games

I've decided to put together a list of what are my favourite video games of all time. Its completely subjective, so you WILL disagree, but I just want this to be somewhere on the internet.

First up though I'm gonna post two things:

The Games that were disqualified

The Games that came to mind, but didn't make it into the consideration for the top 10

The Disqualified Section:

The reasons I didn't put these up for consideration is simply that I have played them too recently for me to be sure about them, or that I haven't played them enough yet.

Core Keeper

Deltarune

Lethal Company

Just Shapes & Beats

Metal Hellsinger

Slime Rancher 2

Wuppo

The ones that didn't make the cut:

Games in this section either have something slimy about them, like some glaring issues (like We Happy Few), scummy monetization (Like GTA V), or I was simply already sure that they wouldn't perform well when I was getting to eliminating games for the top 10 (Like Cookie Clicker)

Barotrauma

Brotato

Cookie Clicker

Dead By Daylight

Devour

Doom

The Escapists

Grand Theft Auto V

Helltaker

Hitman 3

I’m on Observation Duty

Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes

Move Or Die

Phasmophobia

Payday 2

Sea of Thieves

Subnautica: Below Zero

Supraland: Six Inches Under

Turmoil

We Happy Few

We Were Here

These aren't all the other games I've played. Just the ones I do still like very much, that do still deserve to be named somewhere.

That being out of the way, here's my Top 10 games:

Number 10:

Undertale

I don't think I have to say a lot about Undertale. Everyone and their religious leaders has at least heard of it, played it, or has been told the story in some other way. A good rule of thumb was, that if a game made me cry I would have to put it up for consideration. This game made me cry. Back when I was in boarding school my shitty laptop couldn't run most games, so I ended up playing through Undertale at least 20 times (I really wanted to see Gaster). It is also one of the few games, whos soundtrack still makes it into a lot of my playlists.

Number 9:

Plants vs. Zombies

I don't know if the game is just that good, or if the nostalgia carries it, but PvZ will always have a place in my heart. It was my "mom, can I have your phone while we wait" game. And when coming back to it years later it still holds up for me. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the rest of the franchise, even though pvz2 has been a good amount of fun. But at that point the monetization was already so horrendous that I didn't sacrifice a thought to it. PvZ however is a delight to come back to. I think the pacing is great, the characters are all funny, and the minigames are a lot of fun (except pogo party. I hate pogo party). Don't even get me started on the soundtrack either. I adore Graze The Roof with my entire being.

Number 8:

Cult Of The Lamb

I tried this game out not that long ago, and what followed was me falling behind on all of my assignments. I am a huge fan of roguelikes, and cotls spin on it made it an instant source of addiction to me. The OST is amazing and prime dnd background music material, and I love the asthetic of eldritch entities combined with cute widdle animals. I've had so much fun with the game, and it somehow managed to never feel stale, something that happened with pretty much all other games on the list at one point or another throughout my playthroughs. If you're a fan of roguelikes I can highly recommend.

Number 7:

Portal

This should be another one of those games that just speaks for itself. Portal is one of the greatest games ever made and that is not an opinion, but an objective fact. While not being as great as its successor, it already innovated so much, and immediately gave GLaDOS so much character, so efficiently. The way it conveys the story of Aperture is amazing, and the gameplay enhances the experience by magnitudes.

Number 6:

Subnautica

I love Subnautica. I don't know how a game manages to look this stunning. My partner loves bioluminescence, and big mushrooms. If that is your cup of tea, then this game is for you. The way it builds horror is magnificent too. Not many games find their horror so naturally. You genuinly feel scared of whatever could be in the depths. I think Below Zero kinda forgot what made the first game so great by relying on small, narrow corridors too much, instead of giving the player the anxiety of being vulnerable from all angles, but subnautica combines the awe inspiring flora and fauna with a constant feeling of lurking danger. It even manages to build a memorable cast of characters without you ever seeing another face. I'm gonna stop myself from rambling further.

Number 5:

Inscryption

I never thought a card game would sweep me off my feet this hard. I love myself a good strategy game, and the way Inscryption rewards you for learning the mechanics of the game feels incredible. It's super creative mechanics like being able to stand up, or making your own death cards aid the game so much too. Not only in gameplay experience, but also in building the many supporting characters, as well as the world in general. Every time something new is introduced it breaks the roof the game has built so far, and it is a delight every time, like all the arg aspects, or the gameplay changing completely, or characters returning, revealing that there is more and more to people you didn't even think had anything behind them. I am being very vague, but that's just because I don't wanna spoiler anything.

Inscryption would've easily made number 3, but there are passages that felt a bit tideous, especially in the middle, but for how short these are, and how exciting the story conveyed within them still is, it still makes the game worth every penny. Towards the end it also absolutely made me cry, so that's something.

Number 4:

Portal 2

I think this is a good point to say: Any game from this point onwards is a serious contender for first place. They're all just this good, and I could never say I like Portal 2 less then third place, for example.

I think Portal 2 shattered my expectations for what games can be. The humor is still one of it's greatest strength, and I almost feel bad not gushing about how amazing the mechanics of both Portal 1 and 2 still are to this day, but somehow the rest of the game manages to overshadow what would otherwise be the greatest aspect of it. All the characters are amazing. You either love them, or love to hate them. From Cave Johnson to the little ball that would later go on to inspire Elon Musk, every character is memorable. God damnit, I will never look at a potato the same, because I played this game.

Not only is it amazing on its own, it is also amazing as a sequal, expanding the world in ways any story teller would dream of. Every little detail feels like there's so much love put into it, and the way all of the story beats are conveyed via some of the most engaging gameplay is amazing.

And I have to stress again, the humor is S++ tier. I will never not find The Part Where He Kills You funny.

Number 3:

Papers Please

I almost feel bad, putting this game so high on the list, because of how simple it is. But god, it delivers. It builds such an engaging story on top of such a simple gameplay loop. And i think the monotony of said gameplay loop is exactly what end up making the story feel so special. By all means, this game should be boring, but the job of working as border control has the fact going for it, that you will meet so many different people, all at varying levels of desperation. Every time you meet a character it feels like an actual person, and every time they plead for you to let them through it feels heartbreaking when you have to send them back. I really can't say that much about Papers Please, especially because I don't wanna spoil anything. It is one of those games you just have to experience. And I highly recommend it. Glory to Arstotzka.

Number 2:

Terraria

There are few games holding as special of a place in my heart as Terraria. Unlike most of the games on this list Terraria doesn't have an amazing story with highly fleshed out characters. At least you don't get that through mere gameplay alone. I know that there is more to it, don't worry, but I can't get into all of that.

Terraria is the first steam game I've ever owned. In a way, it might even be the first game I've ever actually owned, aside from minecraft maybe. Even before I had a computer I played the mobile version, with Ocram and everything. I must've been in 5th grade back then. I ended up getting the game as the Premium edition in a store. I didn't have the money at the time, so a friend lent me his store gift cards. I must still have the collectors cards and poster that came with the game somewhere. There are many anecdoted I have about this game. So there's undeniably a lot of nostalgia fuelling it's place on the list. But god damnit, Terraria deserves it. With the game still being actively updated today it is clear that I am not the only one that loves it this much. Terraria is just one of these games I will always come back to. It will always be special, and I hope that generations in the future, when I'm long gone there will still be people enjoying this piece of history. But torch luck should've never been in the game lol

Quick Intermission

Im gonna take some time now to talk about the contenders that didn't make it in the top 10. I won't say as much about every game though. There are kinda ordered by how much I like them, but rather than a ranking its more like its ordered into vague groups.

Antichamber

I loved playing it. Just a great overall gameplay experience. Very trippy!

The Binding of Isaac

As I said, I love roguelikes. I never got any of the dlc, because money, so it's kinda sad to know so much of the game is paywalled, but seeing just how much they add I don't see it as a huge problem. Really fun game, really great story, will play again (And I will buy the dlc, just not now).

Factorio

Can recommend if you haven't played it already. It's just a very fun base building game. When things work it feels soo rewarding. I just love how the main problem is how to fit things into spaces. That's what makes minecraft redstone so appealing to me.

Spore

Love it. Funny little creatures. Spore is just an overall silly game with a fun gameplay loop.

Superliminal

Again, very trippy. This time it also has a nice story. I adore the setting, and the gameplay mechanics are on the same level as Portal's to me. (I'm sure Stanley Parable would also be in here, but I have yet to play it)

Mortuary Assistant

If you like horror games, this one I can recommend. The scares are awesome, and it somehow has replayability. The animations could be better, but thats whatever. Nothing I would hold against it.

Raft

Raft is absolutely top 10 material. The gameplay is super fun, and the story telling is decent, though it could be better. Especially if you have some friends to play with, you should give this one a try. Too bad they added other people to the game. That kinda ruined the whole vibe for me. I still wanna see the rest of the update though, but my friends got bored of the game. :(

Supraland

Got this one free on Epic Games, and I gotta say, I would pay money for it. Super fun game, super fun characters, and super fun gameplay. As a completionist this game is just like a giant bowl of food, though I am having trouble finding the final treasures, and no matter how hard I try, I can't figure out how to get them. I can't figure out how to look them up either, so I guess ill lever have the 100% :( (Also, the credit song is really fun).

Minecraft

I mean, it had to be in here somewhere. I'm sure if anybody is actually reading this, they might even suspect that it would be Number 1. But no. I love Minecraft, don't get me wrong. There is a reason for why it's so popular. I even have some anecdotes similar to Terraria, like how after buying it, it was just laying on my PC untouched for a year, because 6th grade me didn't know how to install java. But I feel like minecraft very much relies on modding and servers and whatnot. I could always replay vanilla terraria, but I'm kinda done with vanilla minecraft. Feel free to disagree, by any means. At the end of the day, its just 3D Terraria to me /j.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

Silly little turnip guy committing silly little crimes. The game is just a lot of humor and its cute af. Just a very good time :)

Fran Bow

I love the Alice in Wonderland horror this game has. The mechanics aid so hard in telling this awesome story with all of its whacky characters. Just something I can recommend.

Slime Rancher

You get to live on a farm, on another planet, and get to goof around with little slimes all day every day. This game is living the dream. I wanna live in the Far Far Range! The supporting characters are also amazing. Love them all.

Stardew Valley

This and the game after are absolutely contenders for the top 10. In my eyes Stardew Valley made it on that list. We should switch to duodecimal so that a top 12 list is more intuitive, because Stardew Valley Deserves to be on it. If you haven't played it, you should! I'm gonna stop myself from trying to explain what makes it so great, because I could never do it justice though.

Celeste

Once again, Celeste is on the list. It should be. I cried. I cried a lot. Celeste is such a great game. The story makes me cry, the characters make me cry, the music makes be cry. I am too trans, not to cry. Play Celeste, if you haven't already. It's also hard as shit though.

Ok, it's time.

My number one game of all time is:

Number 1:

Hypnospace Outlaw

There is a very very good chance you've never heard of this game. Maybe you have though, its hard for me to really tell just how popular it is, or not. It's popular enough for me to have bought a plushy of it. I don't usually buy merch, so thats a big deal. There is a reason I put this game on number 1. Whatever I tell you about the game will not do it justice though. The game is just so human. The characters are all just so great and fleshed out, and believable.

I wish I could play this game blind again, so that I may experience it all over again. But there is no way that anything will be as great as playing it blind. You are tasked with moderating this late 90s alternate version of the internet called hypnospace, and find out aboiut all of the people using it, and maneuvering it like an actual PC, kinda like Welcome to the game, or whatnot. Again, I could never do it justice. You just have to try it out on your own.

The soundtrack is also one of the greatest pieces of art I've found in a game. There are so many songs by so many artists. The humor too. The humor is top notch. Not only in regards to the characters, but the technology as a whole. The references to the real world are awesome, like conspiracies, and viruses like bonzai buddy, edgelords on the internet, and web comics. It all feels so real and alive. Thus, experiencing the story doesn't feel like reading a book, but like actually being part of it all. The fact that your choices actually have an effect on the ending of the game enhances this even further.

Im repeating myself, but I cant stress enough how much I would love to be able to experience this game all over again.

Alright, that's it then. I doubt anyone will read through this. If anything youll probably scroll through and see if your favourite game is on the list. That's fine. I'd do the same, honestly. I just wanted to put this somewhere, to express my love for these games somewhere. I'm happy if you've made it this far. This isn't much more than me rambling on for hours, but I'm glad I put it somewhere. If you have any other games you think are great, feel free to tell me about them. Cya!

[nelvana]

A couple months ago now I was fortunate enough to buy a used switch lite from my friend, and even luckier to obtain a copy of Pokemon Scarlet at the local pawn shop at a very reduced price (plus a couple other things but that's not the point rn). So, we go right from the earliest generation of pokemon to the newest back to back, with possibly just as many bugs and glitches, to my gen 9 team!

Team stats and general gameplay info under the cut:

"Nila", Meowscarada, ♀, U-Turn - Play Rough - Flower Trick - Night Slash

"Quaord", Clodsire, ♂, Poison Jab - Earthquake - Liquidation - Megahorn

"Guache", Grafaiai, ♂, Slash - Knock Off - Poison Jab - U-Turn

"Stella", Luxray☆, ♀, Volt Switch - Spark - Crunch - Ice Fang

"Étoile", Pyroar☆, ♀, Flamethrower - Hyper Voice - Swift - Crunch

"Pharle", Farigiraf, ♂, Crunch - Shadow Ball - Twin Beam - Tera Blast

General Playthrough Notes:

Okay look I need to level with you all right off the bat, I don't like the vast majority of the pokemon introduced in gen 9. They feel like such first drafts to me. I normally go into these games with a team plan but this time I literally had two slots missing going in, I just could not think of what to put in there. And I already planned on using two poison-types and two normal-types! Normally I avoid doubling up on types as much as possible! After a bit I used the codes to get a bug-tera mew and a cetitan and was just thinking "I guess they'll be mainstays??"... then I immediately ran into a shiny shinx. Then a shiny litleo. They happened to slot right into the team and I've never been fortunate enough to use shinies in a playthrough (except my soulsilver randomized apocalocke but shhhhh we aren't there yet), so I put them on. But if they hadn't shown up and essentially saved my ass I would have been hard pressed to fill up a team of six (look I literally just used a mew I'm not in a hurry to use it again, at least it's been a couple years since I used luxray in a playthrough).

Anyways, despite all that, I had fun! I knew going in it wouldn't be too difficult and would have its lion's share of glitches, so I was just along for the ride. I like the friend group you form in this game! I like vibing with koraidon as an honorary team member! It's just a pleasant time.

Back to shinies for a moment, overworld shinies without any sound effects to indicate them is evil. I spent so much time staring at groups of pokemon trying to tell if one of them was off-palette. Thankfully, I never ran into any shinies other than the ones I caught.

The raids are neat, though since I don't have Nintendo Online and no frequent enough local players it isn't super interesting with just the npcs. Caught a few neat fellas though, including a steel-tera breloom and a fighting-tera azumarill.

Speaking of, when I first started playing those mewtwo raids were going on and I wanted to participate in them so bad. I barely missed my window, though from what I've heard I wouldn't have stood much of a chance anyway, haha.

I wish there was more post-game other than the raids. I've redone the tournament like half a dozen times now; I wish there was a battle frontier or something. To be fair, I haven't caught all those ruin legends yet; though the one I have caught I managed to get in the first ball, lol.

Do I have the dlc yet? No! I can't just throw around that kind of money willy-nilly. Maybe someday though.

Picnics are really cute though I wish I could pet my pokemon instead of just wash them. Also why can't I sit down on the chairs that are set up around the picnic table??? Still don't really get the sandwich hype, I might mess around with it a bit though, I want to give it a fair shot.

"Hey Nel, why haven't you talked about the Elite Four? You usually start these notes with them?" The E4 is very unremarkable, sorry. I won't bore you by being the billionth person to rag on how Geeta is objectively the worst champion. Also when I rematched all the gym leaders I didn't have to terastilize or heal my pokemon. They were a bit more impressive the first time around tbh. The gym puzzles were neat though!! Except for Tulip's. Fuck her.

Oh yeah, terastilizing is a thing. Mega evolution is still better.

I wanna hang out with my friiiieeeennnds more, both my irl friends and Nemona, Penny, and Arven. It would be so fun to do raids with them or something like that.

Cold take but the uniforms suck I wanna customize my outfit like Nemona, Penny, Arven and Team Star do

(Normally this is where I'd show a screenshot of me finishing the game, but I'm one of the few weirdos who can't use captchas and haven't found another way to transfer files from my switch to other devices. Have a picture of my cat instead; his name is Prince.)

[omegothic]

opinion on ffxv after 75 hours of playing (and one hour of running in circles to level gladio's skill up) (still haven't played any of the dlcs but i'm gonna take a break or something for a few days because i severely neglected my university stuff and spent most of the last week obsessively playing this game)

i love this game. am i tired? hell yeah. would i want all these hours back? hell no.

the game is a mystery to me.

the sidequests are genshin impact open world quests level (which means that if i hear anyone talking, i'm pressing the skip button because i don't give a fuck). you listen to someone yapping about unimportant stuff and they make you collect the same shit over and over again. peak game design.

the main quests are good but the ending made me age 10 years in a week. there's NO NEED for these tragedies. boy you literally have the power of gods on your side and they tell you the only way to get rid of the big bad villain is to kill yourself? sounds like bullshit to me. also why even bother if there's only a few thousands people left in the world. you already lost, all this stuff had to be done 10 years ago to have any meaning. and there's no way the world didn't just implode or something when the sun stopped rising. the true ending is noctis getting spat out of the crystal and realising everyone is long gone because there's no sunlight.

the mentally ill hobo could have been more cooperative too geez. i'll be honest i like him much more than the six. and everyone's like "oh gods are helping you" no they hate me and want me to die for no reason. i'd rather join forces with ardyn and try to take them down. even if he did a lot of questionable stuff (cough- killed my bride -cough-cough- and her brother -cough- also kidnapped my friend and tortured him-)

the hunts are kinda fun when it's a big monster but when it's a bunch of goblins i'm like,,, why did you call me here? ngl i thought all hunts would be like the first one, it was truly cool. there was some kind of plot, some interactions with my friends, some stealth, the monster seemed really tough (meanwhile me, fighting the lvl 99 adamantoise 65 hours later: the ring of lucii go brrr-)

the dungeons are ass. i thought nothing could be as disorienting as daggerfall's randomly generated dungeons but they really managed to do a miracle with ffxv. although the dungeons in ffxv are not scary at all, that's the difference.

the open world is okay. there're some interesting places (when you first see the big mysterious creature in the lake you're like do i have to fight it?? can i get closer to it?? what is this??) and the nature is beautiful. altissia looks majestic but sadly there's not much to do. i appreciate the hard work tho.

using regalia was a delight. when you want to take a break and just look at the landscape you can just sit still with a controller in your hands and enjoy the ride. really therapeutic. don't drive at night when you're low level though... listen to ignis. ignis is always right.

the camp life is by far the best out of all games i've had an experience with. there's so many little details everywhere that you cannot help but adore your companions. it's the way every time you make camp you get a bunch of photos prompto took since the last break. it's the way your companions talk to you almost all the time and you truly feel like you are on a road trip with your friends. it's the way gladio calls you out on your bullshit and afterwards you want to bite his head off each time you talk to him. it's the way ignis cooks for the entire party and makes you help him sometimes. i just love the way friendship is portrayed here.

what was not as good is luna and noct's relationship. there was not enough of luna. yes she loves noct but why? yes noct loves luna but why? luna literally appeared in the plot for two minutes and then tragically died. i think it's really bad. also imagine not seeing your bride for 12 years, when you finally meet her again she immediately dies, then you spend 10 years trapped in a crystal, fucking die and then get to marry your bride. honey it's been 22 years since i last talked to you in person. i'm NOT marrying a random woman in the afterlife (no hate for luna, just this love story didn't seem convincing enough). hopefully i'm gonna see what they wrote in the dawn of the future soon (please pray so that my amazon package doesn't get lost 🙏)

the music is incredible. the woman who wrote the soundtrack is my goddess and i am a devout worshipper 🙏🙏🙏

so, why is the game a mystery to me? because no other game could make me endure 75 hours of boring side quests. i managed to play hogwarts legacy for 44 hours and i despised that game when i finished it. i despised it long before i finished it. but not ffxv. they could make me do all this boring stuff again and i would do it (not for free tho because i've got better things to do with my time 🤣)

i enjoyed ffxv a lot. it also made me depressed for a week because ending a game like that should be a crime. i think i'm gonna do a few last quests after that but there's not much left (and i'm not looking for more because if i think i am done then i am done). not sure how long episodes gladiolus, prompto and ignis are gonna take, but they're also in my plans (no ardyn tho, gotta go watch some playthrough). there's also anime and a film so plenty of content for me. and i am waiting for the arrival of my book 🫡

(noticed that there's nothing about the combat. well it's because i don't care. i don't like combat. i don't like it in any game. i prefer to flee)

[thestarfishghost]

800 before the end of December is looking nearly impossible smh but eyyy! 777~

NGL, I'm movie and ova grinding so hard. I usually manage to watch 100 new things a year, but this year I instead rewatched nearly 40 things. It's been a big year for nostalgia for me, but also for getting a few people into different things with me! Vampy has personally watched so much stuff with me this year? Oh my God??? It's been a blast! I have never felt more human than when Vampy and Kimchi enjoyed Dragon Maid along side me, I swear. I also got Vampy into Enstars by starting the anime together and I am delighted >:3 Made this in celebration actually >:3 @shut-in-magical-girl

That said, I have actually watched some actual shows too, such as the first season of Oreimo and the first two seasons of Kami Nomi! Those were actually really fun. The first season of Oreimo has some of the most impassioned speeches I've ever heard about the more ""controversial"" sides of anime. I did admittedly have a love-hate relationship with Kirino at first, but honestly, it was just because of the more wildly exaggerated tsundere tropes. They became easier to laugh off after awhile. I really relate to the way she loves the hobby, and I think it really helped me warm up to her more quickly. How she enjoys collecting and getting excited over it... I relate to that in those same ways lol specifically to her Meruru shrine lol (ik no one asked, but aside from Krino, my best girl is actually Saori. I look forward to seeing more of her every time an episode comes on! :3) Also, Idk why I skipped Kami Nomi for so many years, but I legit just left it on my P2W list for a decade lol. I've only had one other person ever recommend it to me as well;; and that was like 4-5 years ago now lol;; I slowed down with playing eroge and bishoujo games around,,, 2015/2016(?), but I used to play them religiously. Keima should probably not be someone I relate to... but here I am. Relating to him. While nowadays my main passion lies in the animation side of things, I still really find relatability and comfort within this specific Reference Humor genre of anime, so I've really enjoyed this series so far. I finished up Irregular Witch too :( First show from the current airing block that I've actually completed. Bittersweet, but I had fun with that one too. I'm going to especially miss seeing Phoenix every week. I find that I usually watch whatever comedies are airing when I do tune into the blocks as they air, and this one was a really nice companion piece for the heavier stuff I've been keeping up with. I watched a few other full series, but this next one is the last I'm mentioning for now. I might make more posts another time; we'll see. Two of my favorites that I got around to during my sick week are these two next mentions; first up is Wotakoi. I am devastated that there isn't more Wotakoi. Help. They covered pretty much all of the manga according to other fans, so it's unlikely more will come out of it. It always hurts a bit when something is fully finished, though. especially when I enjoyed it so much. I might read it just for the sake of wanting more of it. It was really straight forward and was honestly a breath of fresh air. There weren't any real love rivals or anything; just nerds figuring themselves out and their dynamics out. I literally just watched six weirdos make friends and fall in love with fairly no complications involved. I'm thriving. (Or maybe I'm just a lonely, nerdy adult who is tired of drama in my life. Maybe that's the only takeaway here lmao /lh) And then,,,, finally,,, Magical Witch Punie-Chan. I have... No words. It was amazing. I loved it. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. 4 episode OVA with an additional 4 episode Omake after. Wonderful if you like darker gag-humor series and want a short little trip. This one was weird but delightful, truly. P.S. I kept "Lyrical Tolkarev~ Kill Them All!~" as my discord status for like 3 days lol That theme song is going to live in my head rent free for the rest of my days. As for what I'm most excited for in 2024, there's probably, like, A LOT. But off of the top of my head, I can name the next Given project (PLEASEEEEEEEEECOMEOUTALREADYYESSSSGIVEITTOMEEEE JANUARY27THCANNOT COME FAST ENOUGHHH) and the second season of Bokuyaba (one of the only manga I have bothered with in 15 years, going to be so real right now;; I cherish this story). When these things come out, I know for a fact that my blog is going to briefly implode. Apologies about it ahead of time lol!;; I'll probably be saying more as the currently airing series all come to an end over the coming weeks. There's quite a few I don't want to end TT~TT so talking about them might be nice!

[tiredrobin]

opinion on raincoat girl?

oh, hi!!! this is both a very fun and somewhat bewildering ask! mostly because raincoat girl does not, as far as i am aware, commit any notable acts that might be seen in a negative light! (her locking six out of that shed doesn't count due to the fact that six was down and she was still being hunted. it was a smart decision, and i don't fault her for her fear.) my opinion of her is Neutral Positive, overall. HOWEVER: i do have Thoughts, and i will delightedly share them!

RCG will henceforth be referred to as Ricky by me, which is the name i gave her because the "rc" in rcg translated to ricky in my head and i felt that "raine" was way too on the nose. this is silly, because rk is probably way more likely to get that kind of name logically? but i've been calling rk Una for since i learned about them, pretty much, so. rk is una, rcg is ricky.

DISCLAIMER: i havent played vln and i havent watched a complete playthru. i've read all of ricky's wiki.

anyway. since i haven't seem (much) gameplay, im not particularly familiar with ricky's body language or conduct. most of what i understand about her is based around the fact that the nomes of the maw have apparently drawn her, and that she helps other kids and nomes multiple times throughout her escape from the nest. so i personally think ricky is (or was, rather) helpful and compassionate. she seems survival-oriented in a way that makes her inclined to help others, likely because she recognizes that thats how u Get help.

she goes out of her way a few times to help the kid in the red scarf and six, and iirc she does seem to follow them, or at least her path consistently heads in the same directions they've gone. this can be, of course, limitations set by the environment; only so many climables, only so many vents. she likes nomes and toys (evidence for toys: the vln collectible spring toy thingies). however, the general vibe i get from her is that she's a pretty independent person most of the time. she knows her skills and limits and is good at thinking several steps ahead, and does well with little. she has no qualms asking for help—all the nome-focused puzzles—but she's focused and determined enough to manage on her own as she needs.

i also get the general vibe that ricky's kind of playful and silly? i bet she likes little jokes and practical pranks, or she would if those were plausible in the ln reality. i bet she'd use humor to cope with things and it'd seem pretty lighthearted, at least hypothetically. this aspect mostly comes from (1) the general atmosphere of vln is lighter and way less spooky due to game style and limitations; (2) something about her hot air balloon or blimp, man, idk, it just speaks to me; (3) her collectibles are playful and relatively lighthearted compated to mono's remnants and six's statues. kinda. sorta.

random hcs are that she's a year or two older than six, maybe. she'd be the second tallest (usurped only by mono), and she would have a hard time getting along with mono. she and una would be fine, and i think six would be okay with her but they wouldn't be super close or anything.

hm. there you have it! not rly sure what else to say—i don't really care about ricky all that much, unfortunately. i don't NOT care about her, it's just that she's dead and an important piece of six's background, so my interest in ricky is mainly in that and not really in herself as a character. sorry if that's disappointing!

thank you for the ask i had fun putting my thoughts into words :]. lemme know what you think, maybe, nonnie?

[wishuponroses]

Top 5 Zelda games

This is a real challenge. Because I adore the Zelda franchise, it's one of my favorite gaming franchises of all time. Hopefully I won't get flames!

A Link Between Worlds ~ Although I've already talked about this game in a previous ask, this may still be my favorite Zelda game to date, even though I haven't touched my 3DS in sometime. I adore the story, artstyle, and gimmick. It's set in the same Hyrule as ALttP with similar dungeons. The characters are remarkable. Truly a gem! Maybe it will be dethroned one day. One of my gripes with the game is not earning an important item in dungeons.

Tears of the Kingdom ~ Over 140 hours in, and I still haven't beaten it. I've been savoring every moment I play. I get easily distracted by places, enemies, characters. The caves are awesome. I haven't built a mecha yet (doubt I ever will), but simple Zonai tech will have to do for now!

Link's Awakening ~ Nostalgia time! Fun fact, this was my first ever Zelda game that I ever owned. While my brother played OoT on the N64, I bought myself a Game Boy Color for my birthday one year with Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition and Link's Awakening DX. Fell in love with LA DX instantly. I managed to conquer two full dungeons on my own before finally putting it down and leaving it to rot. And then of course I finally beat it years and years later when Link's Awakening HD remake came out for Switch! I really hope we get Oracle games in the future to follow-up. (only played both once in my life) It's such a sweet little game!

A Link to the Past ~ Hopefully I'm not cheating, but... I first played ALttP on the GBA. I ADORED it, despite not getting very far. (I hated how they reused Link's cries from OoT/MM...) I've tried it a couple of times on Switch Online, but gave up twice. Third time's the charm! I restarted it again earlier this year before TotK came out. I've gotten... maybe at least five to six dungeons down, tops? The manga adaptation is probably my favorite out of any of the Zelda stories. I love the Link and Zelda of this universe. They're terribly sweet together.

Ocarina of Time ~ Would you believe that once upon a time that Majora's Mask was my favorite game in the series? I love it, but the three-day cycle really takes a toll on me. I finally gave up on the Water Temple in the 3DS version. I don't even know if my brother beat it back in the day. But, we did beat OoT together. I think it's purely out of nostalgia for this game. I hope it gets delisted when/if I play WW HD/TP HD in the future.

I have played Minish Cap, BotW (around 200 hours) both Oracle games (once in my life), TLoZ, Zelda II, and Skyward Sword HD.

What I haven't played are Wind Waker, its sequels, Twilight Princess... I would love love LOOOVE to play those games if they come to Switch/Switch's successor. They both look like they have their own charms, characters, stories and love for adventure!

Thank you for being so patient with this ask, JJ. I appreciate it my friend!!!

[chemicalbrew]

hi. if i wanted to get into a xeno series which one do you recommend i should start with? i've also been thinking of starting a trails/kiseki series but which one of those fellas should i start with too?

RE: Xeno: there are three different 'arcs' in this series, each related to the other moreso in theming than continuous story\plots. But within each subset there is a definite play order.

There's Xenogears, a single ps1 game from 1998 with troubled development that was supposed to be (iirc) part five of six and spans 2 discs, with the second one famously consisting mostly of text dumps with very brief gameplay breaks. It's easily the most complex work in the series plot-wise, with much of its lore literally hidden away in an artbook. I can't say I regret trying to get into it, but it was very intimidating, and I have no idea why I even bothered to try and do it when I was, like, 16.

There's Xenosaga, a trilogy of games on the ps2. These games are my personal weak point (the only ones I haven't watched\played), which I do plan to eventually fix in the future, but for now, I guess I'll just mention that they exist. This series was also planned to have six episodes rather than three, but from what I was told, it managed to have an ending stretch far less abrupt than Gears.

And then there's Xenoblade, which is easily the most accessible both in the literal sense with the games available on the Switch and in the 'having a digestible plot' sense. It's also, naturally, the most popular part of the franchise and the easiest jumping in point. Technically you can play 1 and 2 in either order, but playing in the exact order (1 then 2) tends to have more impact when it comes to certain story beats. I believe you have to play both before touching 3, though, but I can't vouch for this, because I still haven't played 3 yet (haha, I'm a fraud /j)

Xenogears and the first Xenosaga game had soundtracks composed by Yasunori Mitsuda (of Chrono Trigger\Cross fame), and he also contributed to some extent to Xenoblade 1\2. I'm mentioning this because Mitsuda is my favorite video game composer because this might help spark your interest!

RE: Trails\Kiseki: thankfully, this is much more straightforward. Play in release order, and don't skip anything! (Trails in the Sky FC-SC-3rd, Trails from Zero-to Azure, Trails of Cold Steel I-IV, Trails into Reverie).

Some people tend to suggest you start with Cold Steel instead, because it has a stronger start than Sky FC and also has more modern conveniences, but doing that will make things more complex down the line, since Cold Steel III and onward assume you know what happened in all previous games, including Zero and Azure. Therefore, you would have to have a sudden change in style\look just two games in! I don't see the merit of doing this, unless you really can't stomach the slow burn that Sky offers.

There's also a spinoff called Nayuta: Endless Trails that's scheduled to have an official English release next year. It is (or at least, appears to be) related to the series in nothing but name, but it is a very fun game in its own right with a banger soundtrack to boot, though it plays nothing like the rest of the series, being an action RPG with sectioned-off stages rather than a turnbased RPG set in a hub town\continent. I still can't believe such a niche title is finally getting what it deserves! <3

[sobredunia]

i come bearing another tale from identity v history. this is something that happened while i was taking a break from the game, so i wasn't aware of it until later, but it's still legendary.

uhhh warning for possible spoilers for the promised neverland???? i don't go into plot details or anything bc honestly i haven't read this far yet but it does involve characters who aren't present at the start of the series so yeah.

so identity v announces a crossover with the promised neverland. the crossover is... relatively successful, with some nice skins, fun events both in-game and on social media, and generally it just goes over well. fans of tpn are happy, though some of the choices for who gets what costume were a little baffling (though that may just be me lmao).

later that year, news breaks of a second part to the crossover. it's based on the sorta second part of the manga, with characters introduced later getting skins (while skins from the first part of the crossover also return). the skins are all revealed, and it turns out we're getting skins of the characters sonju, zazie, mujika, and peter ratri.

sonju, zazie, and mujika look... fine!! in fact, i'd say they even look good!! it's clear the designers paid a lot of attention to details and they're honestly among my favourite crossover skins. faithful, pretty, fitting for the original characters' models, basically what a crossover skin should be.

so, what about peter?? surely he, too, got a good, faithful costume, right??

well...

this was his poster.

now this was. an unpleasant reveal. why is he making that face?? he looked... goofy. why?? what happened?? how did whoever was doing the art for this manage to make such good art for the rest of these skins for both the first and second parts of the crossover and then drop the ball on a skin for a character who was likely meant to look attractive / pretty??

a lot of people were disappointed, but we hoped he would maybe look better in-game. after all, we've been deceived by art before; hopefully this would be one of those times.

well, uh... he looked like this.

yeah. possibly worse than the poster.

he became the fucking laughingstock of the fandom overnight. no, that's literally what he's referred to on his wiki page. the laughingstock of the fandom. everyone was clowning on this man. and the memes never really went away, if the fact that now, two and a half years later, someone fucking changed the official idv discord server's picture to the mascot of the game with his face superimposed onto her. he came out in late 2021 and we are still making fun of him.

there was never any change to his model as far as i know. they just dropped him and left. idk if they expected us to eat it up anyway, if they were just too ashamed to really ever touch him again, or if they thought he couldn't be fixed so they just abandoned him. dropped him and let us rip him to shreds.

this is the only tpn skin i have never seen in-game. i've encountered every other skin, i even have emma. but i have never seen anyone, not in competitive play, not on streams, not in my own gameplay, use the peter ratri skin. he exists only for us to bully.

that's it for your idv history lesson for today. i'll finish this off with some of my favourite comments on his wiki page, because just scrolling through them is actually really fun lmao

I'M CRYING THIS IS SO FUNNY HELP??? UGLY RAT BASTARD MAN MOCKED BY EVERYONE EVER

Also why do the other skins have six fingers I'm???

[nota-londra]

I'm back (?)

Long time, no real posts

Hi :)

I think the last post I made was about a very toxic "friend" I made in college who not only lied and manipulated my actual best friend and I, but she also went around telling people things that simply were not true because they didn't happen. I think the blame game would go something like "Alondra deliberately made me feel bad about my body" (Not what I did, but if you had the same sick, twisted method of processing words incorrectly that she did, then you'd believe her) and "she made me feel like shit about an eating disorder" (I can't explain this one. I was a piece of shit at 19. I also wish that I hadn't felt like I was driven to that point [here's where I tell you I more than likely was expressing symptoms of mental illness during this time and for years to come.])

We did this thing called the "Joker Era" after college for a little bit. I blame the pandemic. You know? The whole two years or whatever that the state of Tennessee decided it was going to half-ass shut down. During the second-to-last semester of my college education, for fuck's sake. We went full-circle with that guy but it, of course, went nowhere. Now you're unemployed in your mid-twenties blogging in third/second/first person. No tense, just swag. Putting it all out here because you deleted Twitter almost a month ago (oh, buddy, don't get me started on that one). You finally decided to follow your dreams, BUT you haven't written anything that people have read since you were TWELVE YEARS OLD.

As a result, I'm drinking beer as the edibles hit while the movie about cannibalistic monsters I put on is playing. The dishwasher struggles to be louder than my boyfriend's loud TV speakers. I've managed to talk myself out of self-sabotage and destruction successfully for the nth week in a row. We're doing a lot better, surprisingly, for someone who's twenty-four years old, unemployed, and has no idea what she wants to do for work except the things she actually knows how to do.

No one really talks about how much low self-esteem and the perception of self can really fuck someone's shit up. I put my entire life on hold for things that genuinely do not matter: a man, because I felt like I wasn't good enough, because I was scared, because I was unsure. I've found myself saying things that begin with "Because girls like me don't/can't--" much more often at this age than I ever thought possible. All the versions of myself I'd make up when I was younger were nothing like the way I am now. I imagined myself being brave, strong, successful, and so much happier at 25 when I was a kid. As a teenager, I didn't even imagine myself alive, so that's a huge win.

How was I supposed to imagine all these great things about myself when I couldn't even imagine myself alive? I had to walk such a fine line growing up or I would be forced to face such violent consequences. How was I supposed to know that making mistakes as an adult was ok? How was I supposed to know that I shouldn't turn to my obsessions to cope? How was I supposed to know that an obsession with people and alcohol was as equally bad as any other substance and that finding peace and moving on was the correct answer?

I find myself still mesmerized by self-acceptance. How people seem to fully non-conform in a very conformist world and still live their truth despite it all. I still don't know my whole truth, but when I do (if I ever do), I'll know how to be more accepting and loving of myself than I ever have.

Through all of this, I've had this tumblr account. Six instagrams, four twitters, three facebooks, two tumblr accounts. The only thing I've used consistently is this tumblr account. None of the other social medias I had a decade ago still exist. For someone who likes to reset her digital footprint every so often, I've stuck with this one through a lot. From the awkward All Time Low gifs, to the moody fall photos, I can honestly say you've been the only constant in my life. As someone who's afraid of everyone leaving me, I'm thankful you never have, and now realize that it doesn't matter if people leave or not. It gets better, even though it might not really seem like it at first.

[seventhrounder]

I went thru my folder with old hockey magazines I had saved from around 2011 to 2015 and came across this one and thought it could be a fun to make a post about now in hindsight.

This is Jääkiekko magazine from May 2012, they always have a section of "99 questions with ..." and in this issue they interviewed Teräväinen.

I’ve translated the questions I found interesting under the cut! It ended up being about half of the interview. (*) are my additions.

On the cover "seuraava superjokeri" means the next super joker, he played for Helsingin Jokerit so it's a word play from that. Under, on the blue print it says: "The 17-year-old forward will become a first round draft pick in the summer. The natural goal scorer can dominate in SM-Liiga as soon as next season."

In the 2nd photo the headline and lead paragraph goes:

"A post with dents* - A year ago Teuvo Teräväinen was known only within a small number of hockey insiders. Few passers-by recognize him now either but after a flashy rookie season the Jokerit sensation is on the radar of every NHL team and is a strong contender to become a first round draft pick. Next season with Jokerit the talented second line center will be one of the main talking points in the SM-Liiga."

(*references the net Teräväinen had in his backyard and into which he practiced his shooting)

3. You've been described as a magician, top scorer, wunderkind and a prodigy. What do you think of these descriptions?

TT: Heh, those are some descriptions yeah. What can I really say? Don't really wanna comment on them much.

4. How nervous are you about the Draft?

TT: I try not to be nervous as best as I can. In a way I don't have anything to be nervous about since I don't care which team picks me or at what number I go.

6. Which is stressing you more, English interviews or physical tests?

TT: Maybe both. Bench press (laughs) and English interviews can be tough.

12. How far along have you planned your career with, for example, your parents or your agent?

TT: Haven't really planned things with others but I've thought about them myself. I try to go step by step and not jump too far ahead.

14. How does it feel to be so young with all the star players in Jokerit?

TT: How to say it? I haven't felt like I was young but a part of the team instead. The team's been very good with me and they haven't been looking down at me like: "oh he's young". It's been fun to play in an experienced team.

15. Is there a generational gap between players?

TT: You can see the age difference, older players look older but we're all childish, at least with our topics.

17. What does a 17-year-old do in the sauna nights of the team?

TT: I actually haven't been in any yet. I've always been at national team's camps or something.

19. Did you get the number you wanted?

TT: I did, yeah. I could've taken #18 but Semir (Ben-Amor) has it. But i'm happy with #86, it's good.

23. What are your strengths as a player?

TT: Offensive play and with that playing with the puck, passing, IQ, power play and skill, just the usual skill - skill with hands.

24. And weaknesses?

TT: They are to do with defensive play, strength and physicality. Battles and such but I think I took a step forward last season. That's a good thing.

25. Have you ever been "pressed into a mold" or has your playing style gotten to develop naturally?

TT: As a kid the play was mostly offensive/attacking, I didn't have to think about playing defence. Up until 15 years old, I got to attack pretty freely. Playing defence became more important when I started to play in A-juniors a couple seasons ago.

26. On a scale from 1 to 10 how determined are you?

TT: Maybe 8, feels like an 8.

32. What kind of role are you planning to take with Jokerit next season?

TT: I think a pretty big one. I try to be a top player and not just take others' example but give others example myself too. So that someone in the team can take something out of the way I do things on the ice and off the ice.

35. If you could pick anyone, who would be your car driver?

TT: Nico Manelius for sure. He's been my driver this season. I've had others too, like Riku Hahl but he's not nearly at the same level. Nico’s clearly the best.

36. What are the most important qualifications to be a good driver?

TT: The car is obviously important. Hahl's car is totally awful, he takes a lot of heat for it from the guys too. I wouldn't dare driving with him. Manelius is a steady performer, never lets you down.

38. What sports did you play as a 10-year-old?

TT: Hockey and floorball, probably football (soccer) during the summers at the time too.

42. When did you decide to focus only on hockey?

TT: So when I stopped playing other sports? Three years ago, before that floorball was kind of a side thing, I played a couple of games in the regular season and playoffs.

45. Do you follow floorball or other sports? Go to games?

TT: I don't go to games but I like to watch floorball on TV, it's an interesting sport. Sometimes I watch football too but I don't follow it much. Feels like they never score there.

47. Have you ever played with a wooden stick?

TT: As a kid I did play with a wooden stick.

49. You won the hockey players' golf tournament last summer even though there were more experienced players too. Are you good with all stick games?

TT: Well, I've been pretty good in all of them. I've played golf for a long time and still play it.

50. How is your swing?

TT: Pretty bold, kind of a hockey swing. I don't really care where the ball goes - as long as it goes far.

52. What do you think of off-ice training?

TT: Let's just say it's more stupid than being on the ice but you still gotta do it to be better on the ice.

56. Which word describes your professional relationship (with his coach, Tomek Valtonen), tranquil or colorful?

TT: Colorful of course. At times we're joking around, other times it's more serious but the relationship is really good.

57. Coaching you has been described in many words: good, bad, worse. What are they?

TT: Heh, well... I won't tell them here. He (Tomek) keeps the discipline during practices but sometimes when things haven't gone to a plan I've had to jump on an exercise bike in the middle of a practice.

58. What have been the reasons?

TT: I'll quote Tomek: "when I haven't been present".

59. Have you ever tried to turn the resistance of the bike to zero?

TT: (Laughs) Of course I have and sometimes I've even succeeded.

60. Describe your diet in three words?

TT: Greasy, healthy and good!

64. Your first name is not common for people your age. How did your parents come up with it?

TT: I actually don't even know. Maybe they didn't want a usual Ville*....

(*very common name for men of all ages in Finland)

66. Which of these is the most important: skill, unexpectedness or courage?

TT: Skill!

68. Your longest video game stint?

TT: Six hours, at least. I've played a lot of War of Duty lately.

72. The dumbest thing that has made you upset in hockey?

TT: Probably if I didn't get an assist on a goal even though I should have. Or even worse is if I score and they mark it down for someone else.

79. Have you had any concussions?

TT: I haven't had any, I've managed to always dodge them.*

(*ouch, tho it's good the recent one is his only as far as i remember)

84. In 2011 Team Finland finished in the 5th place at the U-18 tournament. Why only as 5th?

TT: Because we lost to Team Russia in the quarter final, just as well we could have won that game too.

89. You didn't get to be on the ice to accept the SM-Liiga bronze medal (because of the U-18's). When and where did you get it?

TT: I actually still haven't received it, I don't know where it is.

93. What is the population of Helsinki?

TT: There's like 5 million people in Finland so maybe around 500k in Helsinki? (to be exact 596k) Did i really get it right...?

94. Who's the mayor of Helsinki?

TT: I don't know, I barely know the president.

95. Do you think the municipalities in the capital city area should merge?

TT: Luckily I don't have to decide but they probably shouldn't.

96. What do you check first in the news paper?

TT: The sports section.

97. Your favorite tv show?

TT: Putous* was pretty good, I liked a lot of the characters. The grandma was pretty good.

(*Finnish live improvisation comedy/sketch show (there are still new seasons, the latest just finished). Every actor comes up with a humor character with a catchy phrase and one of them wins. "The grandma" is Marja Tyrni and I just got such flashbacks from typing this sentence.)

98. Last book you read?

TT: I don't read many books. The last book was a study book, a Finnish book. I wrote an essay on Tiki (Esa) Tikkanen's biography. An eventful book, great career and a lot of chirps.

99. Who should we ask the 99 questions next?

TT: Riku Hahl could have good stories, he's also seen a lot of the world.

[nanaminokanojo]

Play the Game | Nanami Kento X You | Part 3/8

CHARACTERS: Nanami Kento X You (fem!reader | PLEASE READ THE NOTES BELOW*) | Gojo Satoru | Geto Suguru | Shoko Ieiri | Utahime Iori | other JJK Characters CHAPTER COUNT: 3/8 WORD COUNT: 4,000+ GENRE: romance | fluff | slight angst | eventual smut | ooc depictions | female reader with described appearance* | modern au | rich people au | aged up characters CHAPTER TRIGGER WARNING: profanity | age gap | strong/mature/suggestive language | mentions of murder/crime/dying | mentions and use of drugs SPOILERS: n/a

collection masterlist

one - two - three - four - five - six - seven - eight

"Play the Game" Masterlist

"Do you remember the last time I was in your car?"

The hitch immediately started with that one question. It seemed innocent enough with the way you said it in nonchalance while you let your eyes roam the ivory interior of the Lexus. The two of you were only halfway out of the highway when you asked out of the blue, ultimately pissing Nanami off.

At the reminder, his knuckles immediately turned bone white on the steering wheel, his expressions turning dark as he glanced at you, mouth set in a thin line.

He couldn't remember a darker time in his life than watching you almost die from the rear view mirror of his car as you lay shivering on the backseat, unresponsive even if he struggled to both drive, not to crash and keep you conscious. The glassy look about your blue eyes and the way your pupils had blown up to more than twice their size making him shiver. It was safe to say it scarred him for life.

It was a day like any other. He had just gotten off work after a long day at the court, a mix of sadness and elation coursing through him after winning the case for a teenage girl who was brutally murdered. He finally put the man responsible for it in jail for good. It felt good to see the relief on the faces of the grieving parents; to finally put an end to the daily misery they have to go through, having to be reminded of what has become of their daughter.

But as he was resting in his study, a damp towel draped over his tired eyes and throbbing head, his phone suddenly rang. It wasn't yet 10 o'clock in the evening so he opted to answer it, surprised when he saw your name on the screen. You never really called, and the last time you did, it didn't bode well.

"Hello?"

"Suguru..." came your hoarse voice from the other end of the line, your shallow breaths and wheezes evident in each syllable followed by the sound of faintly splashing water.

"You've reached the wrong person, sweetheart," he muttered, reminding him just how Geto was your favorite among Gojo's friends. He did not resent that, but to say he wasn't the tiniest bit jealous was a lie.

Nanami called your name several times but there was no response, just loud rustling and what seemed to be the device falling on the floor with an echo.

"I fucked up big time," you managed to choke out when you spoke again, your tone slurred, and you seemed to be having a difficult time speaking.

"Where are you?"

"I n-need you... p-please..."

"What's going on?" Nanami was already on his feet, dashing out of the study and picking up his keys, still coaxing you to respond when he heard a ding on his phone. You managed to send your location but you weren't speaking anymore.

He was not religious, probably did not believe in a higher being, but as he drove towards your location, thankfully only half a mile away to the suburbs, he found himself fervently praying for your safety.

When he finally got to the address, he found a modernistic structure, a house, and there seemed to be a party going on. He saw some familiar faces, the gallery manager from the previous exhibit of your recent collection and some art connoisseurs he recognized from the same event.

He barged into the house, being handed a champagne flute the moment he entered, everyone welcoming him but he didn't see your face among the people. He refused, asking instead where you were, sprinting up the stairs in large strides when he was told you went upstairs with some people.

Nanami pretty much kicked every door open until he finally found you in one of the upstairs bathroom. He thought his knees would give out as his heart literally stopped at the sight before him.

There, on the half-filled bathtub was you, soaked to your chest. Your white hair was matted over your forehead while the tips floated on the water. You turned your head when you heard him enter, revealing bloodshot eyes, your lips blue and you looked like you didn't have any blood left with your almost greyish pallor.

Hurriedly, he took you out of the tub, carrying you downstairs much to the curiosity of the guests. "You will be okay. Stay with me," he kept telling you.

Despite your state, you managed to smile, tears springing from your eyes. "Nanamin..." you said weakly, making his heart swell that you were at least happy to see him.

He seriously thought you were going to die, but apparently, you did not necessarily overdose on the cocaine you had taken in as he would later find out from the doctors themselves. You had a bad trip and had to be weaned off the substance for the next twenty four hours.

"Are you drug dependent?" he asked when he picked you up from the hospital, opting not to tell Gojo about the matter until he got his answers.

"You won't tell Satoru, will you?" you asked.

"That depends on your answer and whether you're telling the truth," he told you gruffly, fighting hard not to be angry seeing as how fragile you looked. He hadn't slept and he felt as if his nerves were frayed.

You shook your head. "That's the first time. I promise you it won't happen again. I know it's stupid, but I was just curious."

"Your devil-may-care attitude will kill you."

"I know."

He didn't say anything more no matter how much he wanted to scold you and beat some sense into you. He never brought it up and neither did you. That was an unspoken agreement between the two of you. It was your secret which he will carry to his grave and for the last three years since then, nothing like it happened again. You voluntarily cut your ties with the people who were in that party and since then, you had been well.

"Don't remind me," he snapped at you, keeping his eyes on the road.

You’ve reached the shop that Utahime had instructed you to go to for your fitting, but before he could kill the engine, you spoke again.

"Come to think of it, I've never properly apologized for it, and I haven't said thank you enough for saving me that day."

Nanami shot you a sharp look. "I don't want to talk about it."

You sighed and held his hand as he was taking off his seatbelt. "I don't mean to make you angry, but I am sincerely apologizing for it. I am sorry because I put you through that."

Nanami held you by the wrist instead, meeting your gaze with a cold stare. "If you are, then I hope you also realized what a selfish person you are. You're right. You put me through hell. What could I have said to your brother if you died on me that night?"

You didn't say anything, appearing contrite for the first time.

"Gojo would have lost you. Your friends would have lost you." He sighed heavily, holding your hand properly, his expressions softening at how tiny yours looked in his. "I would have lost you."

At his last statement, you nodded and chuckled quietly. "I wouldn't refute that if it saves me. Still, I wanted you to know that it was a big deal for me." You smiled at him. "But that's not all. I could have lost you, but you're still here. So, thanks." And in a surprising turn of events which left him dumbstruck, you lifted both your hands and brushed your lips on his knuckles before disembarking from the car and skipping to the couturier's shop.

His mind wandered throughout the time he was being assisted into the suit that the bride- and groom-to-be had chosen for him to wear on their wedding. He had to give Gojo props for choosing well and suiting the ensemble’s piece to his preference. But he couldn’t quite concentrate on the task at hand when the scene in the car kept playing in his mind. The back of his hand still tingled where you kissed it.

All he wanted to do was see you, but you were a room away, also being pricked and pinned. He wanted nothing but for the fitting to be over so he can be with you again, regardless if it was just for the short drive going back to Gojo manor. Your course of action and words fueled something in him he thought never existed, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to see you, hear you, smell you, touch you. He wanted you, wanted to have you for himself come Gojo or high water. He already knew that, but he never felt as strongly as he did for you than at present because he also knew, that for the first time, you were being yourself and not playing games with him.

Nanami vaguely heard the tailor say something to him, but he didn’t quite catch it, but his image on the mirror suddenly became clearer as he was interrupted from his daydream. His brows furrowed together as he assessed what the man said, but before it could drag on for too long, his cluelessness, he said, “I’m sorry, you were saying?”

“Is the fit just right, Mr. Nanami?” the man asked again, expert eyes scanning over his figure.

“It’s perfect. Thank you,” Nanami stated hurriedly. He couldn’t care less about the suit, but it was already great. He didn’t see any reason to prolong the appointment. “Can I get changed now?”

“Certainly, sir,” the tailor said. “I will leave you to get dressed.”

He just nodded and carefully shed the suit off before changing back into his clothes, meticulously folding the sleeves of his shirt before he set out in search of you. He knocked on the door he was directed to, hearing music playing on the other side of the door along with some voices, one of which was yours.

The door opened and his eyes immediately met those cool blue ones through the mirror. You had your arms spread out to the sides as three women worked around you. “Done already?”

Nanami felt heat creeping up his neck as he averted his gaze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were far from finished.”

“Oh, shush. I need your opinion.”

He snorted. “Yeah. Like I know anything about this.” At odds to his words, he sat down.

“Your boyfriend is handsome,” the couturier commented with a flirtatious giggle as he sized Nanami up.

“I –”

He was about to protest when you cut him short and said, “Isn’t he?”

“That coming from the person who said she didn’t feel like drawing my face,” he said, feigning annoyance.

“Oh, baby. I can’t draw your face if its saves me.” You flashed him a seductive smile. “You’re too perfect.” You winked at him through the mirror while he just sat down and shook his head in amusement, picking up a magazine but not really reading through it. He just watched as you were directed like a doll to pose whichever way the stylist wanted and he could have sworn he has seen nothing more beautiful.

“Just another pin right here,” the couturier said flamboyantly, fastening this and that around your sides, “…and we’re done!” He clapped his hands, standing back as he admired his handiwork. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s fine,” you said, tilting your head to the side.

“Hmm,” Nanami butted in, closing the distance between him and you. He came closer behind you, silently ordering everyone else out of the room with a succinct jerk of his head before he stood there, eyes on your bare back. He placed both hands on either of your shoulders, towering over you.

You quietly observed what he was doing from the mirror, your expressions unchanging even when he traced your spine with his finger. His lips curled at the corners ever so slightly when you slightly jerked forward when he reached the small of your back, relishing the smoothness of your skin against his calloused digit. He lingered there, drawing circles as he met your gaze on your reflection.

“Isn’t this too low?” he asked, his breath hitting the shell of your right ear. “You’re attending a wedding anyway.”

“Oh?” You twirled around so that your back was to the mirror, while you looked over your shoulder to check what he was saying. The plunging style of the dusty rose gown dipped all the way to your waist. “You think so?” You looked up at him, noticing how his face was just inches away from you. “I think it’s okay.”

“Okay for everyone to see?”

At that, you smiled smugly at him. “And you don’t like that, do you, Nanamin?” you asked sultrily.

“I am your boyfriend after all,” he teased. “While I’d like to brag about you, it wouldn’t sit right with me to know everyone’s seeing what’s supposedly only for my eyes, now would it?”

“I never took you for the jealous – whoa!”

Without preamble, he wrapped a strong arm around you, pulling you close so that you were flush against his chest, a devious smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. He wasn’t even concealing his enjoyment anymore. He liked having you close like that, your intoxicating scent dominating his senses.

“Why did you say that to the stylist?” he asked, leaning closer and reveling at the fact that you were caught off guard, eyes wide in surprise.

“It’s easier to just say so than explain, isn’t it?” You leveled your bearing with his. “You didn’t do anything to disagree either.”

“First, you kiss me in front of your brother, flirt with me like it’s normal and say things like that. What are you playing at?”

“Is this one of your games?” you asked, returning his question to you the previous day. You reached up and cupped the side of his face, eyes lingering on his mouth. “Cause I’ll play, Kento.”

He has never quite thought of his name before, whether he liked it or not. It was given to him and he couldn't imagine being called anything else. But he has never liked the sound of it as much as he did when it was rolling out of your tongue. It brought out a strange feeling, spurring him on to give in to his desires instead of holding them back like he usually does with you.

It was all the encouragement he needed. Fuck everything, he thought, dipping his head lower to close the distance between the two of you until he was touching your lips. A quiet gasp left your mouth when he pressed his lips onto yours in an experimental touch, gentle as a zephyr. Your ocean eyes stared at him, taken aback when he pulled away but the dazed look you had was the same one that drew him back to you, landing pecks several times, each one lingering longer than the last.

"Are you teasing me, Nanamin?" you breathed out softly, the laughter in your voice dying out when he captured your lips, this time shutting you up for a good while, coaxing you to respond to his ministrations. He knew he won over you when he felt your fingers grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, pulling him closer, your chest rising and falling against his in shallow breaths, making his heart thrum wildly.

His senses were already heightened whenever you were in the same breathing space as he was, but it was always a different story when you were touching him. Hyper aware. There wasn't a better word that would describe how he felt at that moment. He seemed to see everything he wouldn't usually notice; hear his heart thrumming over every other thought in his brain; almost touch the tension in the air and feel that intense heat blooming from his chest outwards.

But at the same time, nothing mattered but the person in front of him, kissing him and making him feel all sorts of ways. He was a gonner and he knew it but he didn't want to fight it either.

You moaned into the kiss when he gently darted his tongue into your mouth, seducing yours in a fiery dance that united your breaths. His hands made their way up your shoulders, the feel of your soft skin awakening carnal thoughts, making him think of nothing but ways to own you, mark you until he was satisfied. He cupped your face in his large hands, holding you in place, unable to get enough of your taste and the sensations you gave him. They made him crave like a man starved and deprived and he wants to take, take, take.

By the time he pulled away, he was a panting mess, eyes closed as he leaned his forehead against yours, willing himself to calm down. He couldn't help the smile that graced his lips the moment he opened his eyes to find you flushed, lips swollen from his kisses. But that was short-lived when he heard a clinking sound on the side of his head and a wicked grin stretched over your mouth. When he followed the sound, he saw the keys to his car dangling on your fingers.

"What –"

You took a step back when he tried to reach for it, effectively holding it away from him. "Prestidigitation," you declared, sounding victorious. "I'm driving. No arguments."

Nanami sighed, his senses still fuzzy from your kiss and the sight of you whirling around in chiffon and taffeta. He just gave in to his affections for you in hopes of coming out the victor, but you still played him in his own game. "Fine. You win."

You stood on your toes and pecked him on the cheek, stepping off to the side to ring the bell for the shop staff. "I promise not to crash your car."

**

Nanami sat on the passenger side of the car, glancing at the fair-haired villain who stole his car keys, currently driving him to some surprise place of your choosing. He had protested when he noticed how you were going to the opposite way from the manor, taking the highway that led well away from the town. Thrice, he told you to turn back and for every reason he cited, you had a counterattack, not necessarily valid but enough grounds for you to get your way.

"I need to read through the case file and take down notes to make up for the time I'm missing at the firm," came his first excuse but you effectively shot that down by pointing at his briefcase neatly tucked at the backseat.

"Yeah, cause as anal as you are about your job, you don't keep spare copies in your car in cases of emergency."

He jerked on his seat at your comment. "Hey, I'm not anal about my job! I'm just being prudent."

You laughed at the way his voice was raised than usual. "No need to get defensive. Besides, Your initial hearing isn't going to be in two months and by the looks of it, you have everything almost done."

"How did you –"

"I saw them the first day you arrived." Shrugging, it was your turn to shoot him with an annoyed gaze. "You keep forgetting that I have photographic memory. I'm cursed to remember everything."

Truth was, he seemed to be forgetting whose sister you were, letting his guard down and kissing you the way he did. He knew he could have done more if he completely let go of his reins. You were just too tempting, too beautiful and brimming life and infinite galaxies in your eyes which devoured him and made him lose of all sense of time, space and just sense in general.

"Satoru will be looking for you," Nanami attempted for the second time which only earned him an imperious look from you. You said everything in that single action: one, that you didn't care and two, that he was behaving ludicrously.

For the final time, he tried to appeal with something which you would actually give a damn about. "Don't you want to spend time with your friends?"

"Seriously, Nanamin, they're the least of your problems. We're going camping tonight. Besides, they know –" You deliberately stopped talking, your ears turning red, evidently flustered.

"They know what?" he prompted, leaning forward to have a better look at your face to assess your mood.

But then you said, "You're distracting me."

"And you're being evasive."

"If you don't want to spend time with me, just say so." In an abrupt swerve which made his life flash before his eyes, you pulled over to the side of the road, letting go of the steering wheel after you killed the engine. "Drive us home then."

You motioned to remove your seat belt, but Nanami stopped you, shaking his head. Why anything never went right when he was dealing with you was beyond him. "That's not it at all."

"Then what?" you snapped.

Damn, he thought. If the two of you were already fighting the way you are at present, he couldn't imagine how things would be once you were in an actual relationship. Then again, maybe it was the confusion as to what was happening that was causing the unwarranted tension between you two.

He sighed. "You're just too erratic. I can't keep up."

"And you're too fucking vanilla!" you growled.

Nanami was appalled that you would say that same comment in such a way. Leveling his ire with yours, he spat, "That's rich coming from you. Didn't you date that Kamo kid?"

You were stunned at his citation of your former relationship, even more so at his childish attempt at spiting you. It was so atypical of him. "You..." You jabbed a finger at him, about to spit fire when you realized that he cared enough to notice. Your brows knit together. "How did you know about that?"

"You think I wouldn't notice that he's been following you around like a lovestruck puppy during last year's autumn festival?" Nanami scoffed, sneering. "A person like you with someone more boring than the vanilla you claim that I am?"

He was being petty, he knew it, too. The look on your face as you just ogled him in stunned silence says it all. It was as if you never expected him to ever retort the way he did. It was really unusual if he would say so himself since he never really indulged you enough to actually argue with you the way the two of you were doing at the moment.

Out of the blue, you burst out in a fit of giggles, the corners of your eyes watering. "Come to think of it, he acts more like an old man than you do..."

"You dare call me an old man?" He knew your argument was over, but he couldn't help but say it. There was an out of place sense of satisfaction that engaging you in a word joust gave him no matter how unintelligent and shallow it was about.

When you finally calmed down, you said, "I want you to have fun and have a sense of adventure for once. I swear I won't throw your dead body to the ocean."

His left eye twitched at your sentiment. "Well, if you put it that way..."

"Just say yes to me for once."

"I always say yes to you if you haven't noticed by now."

You snickered, starting the engine. "I want you to say yes to me now."

Nanami felt something tug at his chest. "Yes."

"Good." You leaned over and poked him on the cheek.

Nanami sat there, rolling down the window as you drove, letting lose and enjoying the scenery the car passed by on the way to the sea. For the first time in a long time, his face ached from smiling too much, unable to help it.

He knew it and he didn't care if he was doomed. He was in love with you, always have been and always will.

-end of part 3-

*I used “you” here, but since my character is Gojo’s little sister who is established to be his female clone for reasons essential to the plot, she possesses the same blue eyes and white hair. I did not exactly want to create an OC (although technically, I did by describing Y/N), but I opted for the best of both worlds in this fic, leaning more towards the literary aspect of it as opposed to it just being reader/you-oriented. I hope this isn’t iffy to anyone, and yeah, i’m not being exclusive or whatever.

Thank you so much for reading. Likes, comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated! Hope you enjoyed it.

© ORIGINAL WORK BY nanaminokanojo. CHARACTERS ARE INSPIRED BY GEGE AKUTAMI'S “JUJUTSU KAISEN.” [20210716]

PHOTO/IMAGE/GIF/FANART CREDITS TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

[colour-outside-the-liness]

Hey, I'm doing good too. Just normal amounts of stressful stuff right now. Just moved to a country I've never been to before but can't complain, things are not as hard as the last time I did this so. Thanks for asking! Yeah, I saw you posting about some pretty scary health issues before, I'm glad you came out of that alive and hope you're healthier now!

The nerve some people have! Haha I know I would be pissed if people were questioning my intelligence like that especially after a couple of drinks in haha. Though I do like taunting people when I play group games, I'll be like "don't need to try that hard guys, you're gonna lose anyway" just to mess with them or just call people sore losers if they accuse me of cheating haha (they're probably right on the accusations tho). People get real mad sometimes it's kinda funny. 😂

Omg literally laughed out loud reading this! Hahaha, how did you manage to fall over a road sign then end up in a ditch? lol omg hope you didn't get hurt too bad 😂 I was trying to downplay my drunken escapades but since you shared yours I should tell you my worst one:

I was at this summer street party at night and got drunk on something made out of tropical herbs and cachaça (which is about 48% alcohol), drank 3 and a half bottles of that like it was apple juice, made friends with a bunch of strangers in a bathroom queue (who tried to talk to me weeks later but I had no idea who they were), had to be held by my best friend while I peed (mostly missing the toilet), fell in the middle of the street and scraped my knee, threatened this boy who was helping me walk and told him not to try anything funny or I would beat him up, then dragged my friends to the beach and left them shortly after to go make out with my ex, came back with lipstick all over my mouth and chin and when my friends asked what I was doing I said I was just talking to my ex and they were like NO YOU WERE NOT, hahaha then I kissed all my girl friends on a dare and we danced under the full moon, then I told my best friend I had to puke so she took me to the ocean but I changed my mind and happened to step on a dead turtle on the way back and started crying bc of it, but last month my best friend told me it was a rock I had stepped on (I believed it was a dead turtle for 7 years!). Had the worst hangover of my life the next day. ✌️✨

Ah I'm happy you liked it! I've never listened to Six musical before but it sounds fun! I can see why you like it haha made me want to dance around my apartment 💃. And hey if liking musicals is your thing then it's great, I'm sure Hozier will understand if he's not your top artist of the year. 😋 Here's my "damie" Pinterest board if you or anyone else wants to check it out, totally recommend making one if you're a visual person like me!

https://pin.it/UcHVlkq

Oh I could talk about Dani and Jamie forever I think. I love the beast in the jungle speech too and it's so painful to watch, VP delivered that beautifully, but I have to admit I'm always a crying mess from episode 1 when older Jamie starts reciting that song about being sad while waiting for her lover to return, this show is fucking cruel I hate it and love it at the same time hahaha. Omg your mom 😂 but I mean it's truly an honor to be compared to someone like Dani, no? She's really great even if she needs a little help haha (don't we all).

Aaah you're amazing! Thank you so much, I'll read this pirate AU soon!

I used to draw a lot, really loved doing it when I was a kid as I said before, and all throughout adulthood too but I haven't done that in almost a year now bc I've got a bit of a case of burnout I guess, it just takes a lot of effort to do it when it shouldn't be like that at all. I used to do fanart too, for other fandoms. Even made one for Dani x Jamie but ended up not liking how it turned out haha. I've got a lot of respect for writers and fanfic writers also! Yall can make words make sense in really interesting and beautiful ways, build worlds so enthralling I can see them vividly in my head. Writing is such an incredibly fascinating skill to have! And I guess the most important thing is that we enjoy doing these things right? Even if we think we're not particularly good at it.

Anyway, have a lovely weekend! 👋✨

Good I'm glad you're doing great but sorry you're dealing with stressful stuff!! Hope living in a new country goes well for you I'm so jealous that you've lived in different countries I'd love to live somewhere else even if just for s few years!! Awwh thank you so much I definitely came out of it alive and am feeling so much better now thank you I mean I do some pretty ditzy things so when people say it to me it's pretty deserved sometimes, I'm secretly smart and people just don't expect it so I never mind too much haha I might have to start saying the things that you do and just taunting them over it I mean, I usually do win even when they make me answer different questions so I will definitely have to start saying things like that to them Haha I love that you're just like "yeah they're probably right in their accusations" I agree seeing how mad some people get over games and stuff is funny (it's me I'm people I hate loosing games depending on what it is and I am very competitive) So it was very dark and all we had for light was my roommates flashlight on her phone but while we were walking home a friend of ours that lived else where kept texting her to make sure we were still safe (my phone as dead at this point) so while she was texting him her flashlight was facing down and someone had moved this road sign to the footpath and it was on that sits on the floor so while I couldn't see it I walked into it and fell over it but while I feel I grabbed hold of it and flipped with it and fell in a ditch with it on top of me... I was fine and was just laid laughing while my friend looked down at me and in the most northern accent ever just said "get up you dickhead." and helped me off of the floor and then asked if I was okay... and I was so it was all good!! Haha 😂 I love this drunken story that sounds like one hell of a night and is a roller coaster from start to finish!! I'm sorry you thought you had stood on a dead turtle for 7 years though, someone really should've told you that it was just a rock!! But that sounds like my kind of night!! I love nights like that... stories that will last a life time... the only down side is the hangover... luckily I have only ever had one hang over in my life and it wasn't the morning after the road sign fiasco... I felt surprisingly good the morning after that haha 😂 It's such a good musical it's about Henry VIII wives and I just love everything to do with his wives and that musical is so much fun and actually gives a little insight to the lives the six Tudor queens had away from Henry and with him because at school we're mainly just taught about him which sucks!! I loved the Hozier song and am definitely gonna have to listen to more of his stuff!! I love musicals so much I mainly listen to musical soundtracks at the minute- usually, Legally Blonde and Six on repeat haha 😂 Ooo thank you I will definitely check out this Pinterest board thanks for sending it to me!! I could talk about them forever too... since watching Bly Manor my niece has been asking me so many questions about it and I am more than happy to talk to her about it haha!! The beast in the jungle speech just breaks my heart every time I relate to it so much and VP just delivers it so beautifully!! Oh yeah now I know at the beginning that it's older Jamie I am just a wreck the whole show is just so beautiful and heart breaking at the same time I LOVE IT!! Even though it makes me sob- I keep putting myself through it!! I mean, yeah I was happy that she said it Dani is great but it was the way she said it... my mum can be something else sometimes... she said she thought Dani was like me the first time she does the accent when she says "I've fallen quite in love with London" because I just randomly do accents a lot too but it was the way she was like "She needs help... but I like her she reminds me of you" I was just like... "Should I go get help?" I still don't know the answer to my question about if I need help or not but I mean I probably do need it You're welcome I really hope you like it!! It's a

great fic I love it!! Yeah I get that if stuff starts taking too much effort and burns you out you're not gonna wanna keep doing it so it's understandable that you stopped!! I think fan art is great and I really would love to be able to do it myself but I just don't have the skill it takes!! Awwh it's a shame you didn't like the Dani x Jamie one you did I would've loved to have seen it!! Honestly there are so many talented writers out there and when I read their fics I am just in awe of the worlds they have built and the stories they have created we are so blessed in this fandom to have so many amazing writers and so many amazing fics out there Oh yeah definitely its important to enjoy what you do!! I know I love writing and love writing fics for Dani and Jamie so I think I'll be doing it for a while even if I'm not great at it haha Awwh thank you very much I hope you have a great weekend too!! ☺️

[ts1989fanatic]

You Belong With Me: How Taylor Swift Could Still Get Her Masters Back

While Taylor Swift made headlines Monday with news that Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings had potentially doubled its investment in her early catalog with a reported $300 million sale to investment firm Shamrock Capital, the superstar’s strategy to regain control over those recordings is still unchanged: If she can’t own them, she'll copy them. Since June 2019, Swift has been saying she’ll re-record her first six albums, which were released between 2006 and 2017 by Big Machine Label Group, and the process is apparently already underway. "I can't wait for you to hear what I've been dreaming up," she told her fans in a lengthy Twitter note on Monday.

By re-recording and re-releasing these albums, Swift intent is to undercut Shamrock’s investment (and Ithaca’s before that) and reduce the value of those old masters, while creating more value for herself. The simplest way to do this is to deny uses of those old recordings and only approve uses of her new recordings once those are ready. Swift can do this because she controls her publishing, through Universal Music Publishing Group, and has the right to veto any (potentially quite lucrative) uses in movies, TV shows, commercials and video games. She could even prevent use of her original masters on newer streaming services like Twitch, which currently has no label licensing deals and must take down any copyrighted content at a rights holder's request, or the next generation of platforms like Peloton or TikTok, which all require licensing deals as well.

Per her original Big Machine contract, Swift can re-record all her old masters as of early this month. Promising "plenty of surprises in store," Swift says she recently began this process. But, assuming she follows through, what can we expect? Never mind that the 30-year-old megastar will no longer sound like the hungry and empathetic teenager she was when she first sang "15." (Although today's Taylor Swift may do a better job of imitating, say, 1989-era Taylor Swift.) How will she drive listeners to stream the new versions of her songs when classics like 2014's "Blank Space" have drawn nearly 2.7 billion YouTube views and more than 436 million Spotify plays? While her passionate fans have pledged to support her here (“We all will be deleting all of her old music from our playlists and apps and will only be streaming Taylor's art owned by Taylor,” tweeted one fan earlier this month), the answer, as always, really comes down to money.

Swift will need her powerful label, Universal Music Group-owned Republic Records, to aggressively market her new recordings through advertising, social media and search-engine optimization. When a Spotify user, or even one of Spotify's own curators, adds a Swift hit to a playlist, she'll want them to choose the new recording, not one owned by Shamrock; when a music fan googles "Fearless," she'll want the new recording to lead the results, not the 12-year-old original; when somebody asks Alexa to play "Speak Now," she'll want the new version to come up, not the 2010 original.

he people at Republic are skilled at doing all these things. But there's a catch. A different Universal division continues to distribute Big Machine's recordings, even under the new Shamrock ownership, and those include Swift's early catalog. That creates competition within the same company: One side potentially working to ensure the 2010 "Speak Now" is Alexa's choice and another trying to change the default to the new re-recording. Who will win? The short answer: Universal. The label will continue to profit from just about everything involving Taylor Swift, including publishing. The more nuanced answer is that Republic's CEO, Monte Lipman, and his boss, UMG's CEO Lucian Grainge, are likely to go along with anything their biggest-selling star wants to do.

Still, if all this comes to pass, the result will be... confusing. Artists including Def Leppard, Squeeze, Blue Oyster Cult and JoJo have re-recorded their originals over the years, and while some of JoJo's newer material has generated big streaming numbers, none of these re-recordings are major hits. Then again, none of these acts are the world's biggest pop stars, and they haven't come close to matching Swift's ability to generate sales, streams and attention.

The new owners of Swift's master recordings seem unfazed by the singer's long-stated goal to undercut her early catalog with new material they don't own. They know she despises the guy who continues to have some kind of stake in them: Braun, who manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande and once represented her nemesis, Kanye West. Braun's company bought Swift's first label, Big Machine, in June last year and took over ownership of those early recordings. This week, Braun sold them to Shamrock, which offered Swift a partnership. But because "under their terms [Braun] will continue to profit off my old musical catalog for many years," the idea was a "non-starter," she tweeted.

"While we hoped to formally partner," Shamrock said in a statement, "we also knew this was a possible outcome that we considered."

In the end, Shamrock is betting Swift's original recordings will always be more valuable than any re-recordings. They may be right. No matter how formidable 2020 Taylor Swift and her team may be, no matter how righteous her cause, no matter how lovingly and authentically she recreates her original songs in the studio, it'll be hard to overcome the power of clicking on the original "You Belong With Me" by 2008 Taylor Swift. But then again, if Swift can cause a big enough headache or drive down the value of those early masters enough, she could wind up in a better position to make the kind of deal she’s been looking for all along.

ts1989fanatic this is pretty much bullshit look at the highlighted section above, saying that @taylorswift will need the full might and resources of her label too promote and new album is already disproven.

Her label knew next to nothing about folklore until the day it was released and it has been one of the most successful Taylor albums to date.

[novoplata]

I don't wanna play anymore!

Back in the internet-less days of my childhood, my sister and I would entertain ourselves with a game of reversi and whenever I felt like she was about to beat me (like she often did whenever we played board games), I would immediately leave the room screaming, "sa tia mau main suda!" (I don't wanna play anymore). A straight As student growing up, I wasn't quite used to losing -- even in board games. Nonetheless, much to my chagrin, as I grew older, I would later discover that no winning streak lasts forever. You would lose at one point. Question is: what do you do when you lose? Do you dust yourself off and play again or do you run away screaming, "I don't wanna play anymore!" like a little girl? As I ventured into adulthood, I would encounter several more instances of these 'losses' during which I was just so tempted to run off and scream "I don't wanna play!". There was that time when my then-editor rejected my article submission and demanded that I rewrite it; which made me wonder for a split second whether I was really meant to become a writer after all. Then, there was a time when, as a fresh Blue Belt, I was submitted by a male White Belt -- an episode that saw my ego being incinerated to ashes and took away my motivation to train for weeks. Then today, after making decent strides in CrossFit for the past year, I was suddenly wondering why I kept not being able to hit a new power clean PR. Besides, it's been six months since I've last power cleaned a new weight. It's about time, right? Why am I so slow? Sigh, am I sure that I still wanna play? I remember watching BJ Penn's last fight against Clay Guida in which, he was handed his seventh straight loss. I remember feeling a bit cringey for him, but at the same time wondering how does anyone have the mental resilience to keep on going even after losing so many times (yes, he gets paid win or lose, but you know what I mean). Today also reminded me of my conversation with my earlier writing mentor, Adrian, who instructed me to write 1000 words a day, seven days a week, whether or not I felt like it. I only managed to keep up with the writing schedule for the first week and the following week, I stopped writing altogether. "I see that you haven't written anything new in a while," he said one day, after checking the Google document we shared. "I figured, what's the point?" I said, little petulant girl poking her head. "Even if I do write everyday, can you guarantee that I will one day be published?" "This is the most Bumiputera you have sounded in the length of time I've known you," he said. "I can't guarantee that you will get published even if you do write everyday, but I can guarantee that you definitely will not if you stop writing now." I remember holding back tears of frustration and impatience and went back to hammering on my keyboard -- 1000 words daily, rain or shine. I eventually did get published, thank God. And thanks to all the writing practice that Adrian had made me do. So, it sucked that I didn't get to hit the lift I wanted today, but there's always tomorrow and the days after. Even if I don't hit a PR for another six months, I can still be sure that I will definitely grow stronger each day. Like they say, the only bad workout is the one you didn't do. I did mine, and this would have to do for now.

[hawkeyedflame]

Hey, I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing by asking this in question but would you say it's possible to have executive dysfunction while still being able to perform well in school? I don't have trouble with assignments but I've been wanting to read a book that sits in a cupboard 5 centimeters from me ever since October and haven't been able to force myself to open it. Could this be explained by EFD or should I look into something else? Or maybe I'm just lazy lol idk

It is absolutely possible. I excelled in high school while also committing myself to cross country and indoor/outdoor track sixs days a week for five years. I graduated with 15 varsity letters, over thirty medals at district and state meets, a 4.0 GPA, special or high honors every semester, 97th+ percentile on my SATs, 4s and 5s on all six AP exams, early acceptance to University with a merit scholarship, etc etc. I could go on but you get the point: you can have executive dysfunction and be successful in school.

[This got really long so I’m putting a readmore]

You might be wondering how I managed all those achievements if I have this disorder that I say I have. That’s normal. Most people hear “ADHD” and think “hyperactive child who can’t focus in school.” While that’s sometimes true, it’s far from an all-inclusive representation. The answer to my previous academic success, I’ve realized, is that I relied very heavily on externally-imposed structureLet me walk you through one of my days in high school, and you’ll see just how much of my routine was being enforced externally.

My alarm went off every day at 6:20am, and my dad made sure I was out of bed by 6:30 before he went to work. He usually made steel cut oats and left some for me. My mom always made sure there was enough food in the house so I could make my own lunch. I let the chickens out before leaving for school.I went to school for six hours of short (50 mins) classes of 18-25 students, where my teachers knew me (and my parents) and where phones and laptops were strictly forbidden. Notes were taken on paper only and homework assignments were due the next class, and everything was graded. Agendas were given out at the beginning of each year and we were expected to use them every day. Parents would be notified if behavioral or performance issues arose.After school I went to cross country or track practice where the captains led us through warm ups and then the coach told us what sort of training we were doing that day. They often timed us and recorded our progress over the season/years.After practice I went home, where my mom was starting dinner, and I did my homework that I had to do if I didn’t want to get a 0 and have a parent-teacher conference. I ate dinner, did the dishes because that was my chore, put the chickens away, worked on more homework, and then by 9:30pm my mom would be berating me to go to bed. I didn’t have a smartphone or a computer so it wasn’t possible for me to lay in bed staring at a screen all night. On weekends I cleaned the bathrooms and vacuumed the house because that was my job. Somewhere in there I also cleaned the chicken coop and attended to their food and water.Rinse and repeat.

If you look at that routine, you’ll see only two tasks that I truly did on my own: making my lunch and putting the chickens in/out. I didn’t want to go hungry at school, so I made myself food. And I frequently forgot to let the chickens out (and put them back in, but fortunately we had a solid run that kept predators out). Everything else that appears to be self-discipline was actually motivated by desire to avoid external punishment. And that punishment was very real to me because it was always immediate and harsh.Late for school? Detention. Phone in class? Confiscated, sometimes detention. Didn’t take notes/do the homework? 0s in class, parents notified, not allowed to participate in sports, absolutely grounded. Skipping practice? Not allowed to participate in meets, possibly kicked off the team, definitely in trouble with Mom and Dad. Don’t do chores? Time to get yelled at. Don’t take care of the chickens? They might die and then I’d be in huge trouble. Stay up too late? Yelled at.Everything I did was motivated not by desire to serve my own future, but desire to avoid immediate negative consequence. And I didn’t have hobbies for myself. I liked reading but I didn’t have much time for it. I didn’t play video games, surf social media, watch TV, go to the movies, or do anything purely for enjoyment’s sake.

When I went to college, all of that structure disappeared. I didn’t do a sport because I couldn’t compete at a Division I school (partially due to joint pain). My classes were large, long, and spaced out throughout the day, with weird breaks between them. Most professors didn’t care if we had phones or laptops, and often we actually needed them for class. Homeworks were due online, sometimes two weeks from when they were assigned. Grades were posted online. No warning for poor performance, no teacher giving me a talking to, no parent-teacher conference. Nobody told me when to do homework. Nobody told me when to eat (or to go grocery shopping). Nobody made sure I went to bed or got up in the morning. Nobody kept me from playing video games or scrolling social media all day.Nothing except my own desire to succeed held me accountable for managing my time and working hard in class, and like I said, I didn’t have that desire. People with ADHD don’t have that. Motivation and self-discipline stem primarily from aversion to negative long-term consequences, even more so than from desire to obtain positive outcomes. This is because negative emotion is felt more strongly and for a longer duration than positive emotion. It keeps neurotypical people on track. But people with ADHD lack the ability to “see” the long term consequences of not doing what we need to do, when it needs to be done. That’s why we are chronic procrastinators. We favor instant gratification over delayed gratification because we fail to integrate awareness of far-off consequences into our daily actions. In other words, people with ADHD struggle to orient their behavior towards their goals because it is difficult for our brains to recognize things in the future as real.

And so, because of all that stuff under the surface, I floundered and flailed. I didn’t know how to hold myself responsible and I didn’t know how to ask for help. And I was depressed. I was so depressed. And anxious. And losing weight because I wasn’t remembering to eat. And that made my body weak, it made my hands shake and it made my brain dull and foggy. I was being treated for depression and anxiety because nobody saw the other half of my history. The part where I crumbled the moment I had to hold myself up. It was missed entirely until I stumbled across information about rejection sensitive dysphoria, which is only experienced by people with ADHD, and I realized that rejection by my parents was what drove that fear of consequence that had been motivating me all my life. When I started looking at my history through the lens of inattentive ADHD, the picture became clear. It wasn’t laziness or depression that was stopping me, it was executive dysfunction.

So my point in all this is YES, it is 100% possible and is actually quite common for people with executive dysfunction to excel in structured academic environments. It’s especially normal for people whose ADHD is dominated by inattentive symptoms over hyperactive ones. One of the major reasons why many young women are not diagnosed until their late teens/early 20s is because they’re more often inattentive, not hyperactive, and so their executive dysfunction doesn’t become apparent until they enter an environment, such as university or a job, where they are expected to hold themselves entirely accountable for their own positive outcomes.

As for you personally, I can’t diagnose you. I can say that what you described is possibly a symptom of executive dysfunction, but I don’t know enough about you or your behavioral history to say whether or not you should consider seeking a professional opinion. If you are experiencing deficiencies in your self-discipline/motivation/memory/attention that are disrupting your quality of life, and if you can identify those as patterns throughout your life history, then you may have reason to see a psychologist. If your symptoms are confined to inconsequential/nonessential things like reading a book you’ve been wanting to read, I wouldn’t worry about it too much as I’m fairly certain that’s a normal experience for most neurotypical people.

Anyways thanks for coming to my TED talk, sorry for taking fifty million years to get to the point.