#in case that didn't come across

[modernepimetheus]

Yeah no, telling me that plans change and I should deal with it was super helpful and now I'm perfectly fine and regulated. Thanks so much.

[hyperfixation-tangentopia]

So adding stuff to my Wishlist because it's nearing Christmas time and was struggling to think of ideas when Mother mentions making a separate "safe" wishlist for Grandpa

Which makes me remember that I'm in a place that won't judge or question my choice to wear anything pride-related anymore and proceed to add all the pride clothing to my Wishlist that I want <3

(For context, Grandpa prior to earlier today(still confused as fuck about it) refused to call me by my chosen name + would just. Not use pronouns for me. At all.)

[greeenchrysanthemums]

A Friend

Gem brings her new friend to meet an old friend

I could not get this post out of my head. It was distracting me from writing my au, so I had to write it, or else I would never get anything done.

CW: past injury, implied torture, implied murder/death

Words: 3,444

❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀

Pearl sighed from where she was leaning against the boat's railing with her head pillowed under her crossed arms, knees knocking together as she tapped one foot against the deck.

Who knew being out on sea would actually be so boring. It wasn't nearly as fun or lively as the stories of pirates and navy battles made it out to be. They hadn’t even sung a single shanty this entire time! She would have taken swimming alone for hours over this any day.

She was bored out of her mind; resorting to passing her time by watching the same cloud slowly shrink and crawl across the sky at the pace of a sea slug. It didn’t help that the same annoying seagull had been circling their boat for at least 5 miles at this point, squawking up a storm the whole time, as if to mock her personally. It was driving her absolutely nutty.

"I'm bored, Gem." She whined.

"No one told you to sneak onto my ship, Pearl." Gem said, amused. The other woman was sitting on a crate, whittling away at a small hunk of wood. It was too early to tell what she was making, but Pearl had seen many of her other carvings sitting in various place around the boat, and they were all animals, so if she had to guess, this one was probably another animal of some kind. She kind of hoped it was a wolf. They were her favorite land creatures so far.

"Well, no… but you let me stay, and I'm here now!" Pearl argued, "You should entertain me!"

Gem laughed. She put her knife back into the sheath on her thigh and shoved the chunk of wood into one of the many pouches around her waist. She walked over to the mast and lowered the sail, tying off the rope with practiced ease.

"If you're bored, then you're in luck, actually. We're just about in the right spot now anyway." Gem said, walking over to where Pearl was, which also happened to be where the anchor was bundled up on the deck. She raised a hand over her eyes to block out the sun as she squinted out over the sea, a hand planted firmly on her hip.

Pearl stood up straight and followed her gaze out over the water, expecting to find something there. She didn't see any landmarks of any sort, though. No islands, no other ships, nothing like that. The only thing she could note was maybe the birds circling over a particular part of the water. Maybe there was a school of fish in that area that Gem knew about?

"Are we stopping to catch some more fish?" Pearl asked, peering over the side of the boat to try and catch sight of some.

This would be the third time they've stopped to fish during their journey to the next town. She still didn’t understand fully why Gem couldn’t just get all of her fish from one area and be done with it. Something about different species and maintaining the ecosystem, or something like that. She hadn’t paid much attention; fish was fish to her.

"Mmm, no, more like a delivery this time." Gem said, tossing the anchor overboard.

Before Pearl had the chance to ask what she meant, something big moved underneath the waves. Pearl jumped away from the rail, her back hitting a barrel, which she latched onto to stabilize herself.

"What was that!?" She exclaimed. There were only a few things that large that came to mind at the sight, and none of them were good.

Gem laughed at the display as she rolled one of the barrels of fish over towards the side of the boat.

"That," She hefted it onto her shoulder with a grunt, the bells hanging from her headband twinkling with the movement as she planted one foot up onto the rail and tossed the barrel right over the side. It hit the water with a loud splash. "Was a good friend."

There was a moment of silence before something erupted from the sea, sending water flying in every direction. Pearl ducked behind the barrel with a shout as she was doused head to toe with salty water.

"Oh, come one!" Gem shouted with a bit of a laugh. What followed was an inhuman giggle, high pitched and almost similar to that of a dolphin's call. Pearl peaked around the barrel and her heart stopped cold when she was met with the familiar sight of what was unmistakably a siren.

Their webbed, clawed hands gripped onto the railing, holding their upper body out of the water. Pink and white scars covered most of their visible, pale skin, overlapping and criss-crossing each other in ways that suggested the healed over wounds were more likely than not intentional. Green scales the same shade as kelp started at their just barely visible hips and descended down towards what Pearl would assume was a tail of the same colour. There were fins on their elbows, and twitching gills along the sides of their neck.

Her gaze traveled further up towards a cheerful face covered in scars and a smile full of teeth sharp enough to tear her apart. The most noticeable one, and the one Pearl rudely could not tear her eyes away from, was a long scar that split the left side of their face. It was thick, jagged scar tissue that started at the corner of their mouth, cut through an empty eye socket, and went out of sight into their white hair, which was cropped down almost right to the scalp and messy.

"Did you have to splash me, too!?" Gem asked incredulously, wringing out her sopping wet braid.

"Of course not, but it was funnier." The siren answered in a voice far deeper than Pearl would have imagined coming from them.

"You've got to stop doing that when I bring new people around. You're such a pain!" Gem said, voice pitching higher as she ended her sentence off with a giggle.

"But you love me." The siren said, drawing out the 'e'.

Gem sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Unfortunately, yes I do." Gem said. She then marched over to Pearl and grabbed her by the shoulders.

Pearl let out an 'eep!' as she was pulled out from behind the barrel and presented to the siren. Was this Gem's plan all along? To feed her to a sea beast? To think that she came all this way only to end up right back where she started. She stood there stiffly as Gem threw an arm around her shoulders, pointed a finger up at Pearl's face, and said, "This is my new buddy, Pearl. Pearl, this is Etho. He's one of my oldest friends."

Etho raised a clawed hand and gave her a wiggly fingered wave, his eyes crinkling at the corners from the wide, toothy smile on his face. Pearl chuckled nervously and waved back, less enthusiastically. She wasn't scared of many other magical species, but sirens were one of her exceptions. She had a not so good past with them and their territorial tendencies. The scars on her legs and stomach pulsed with phantom pains just thinking about it.

"Anyway, with introductions out of the way, where're my goods Etho?" Gem said, releasing Pearl from her hold. Pearl immediately took the chance to step back and put the barrel between herself and the siren.

Etho's mouth made an 'O'.

"Oh, right! I'll be back in a sec." He pushed himself away from the small boat and dove back into the water.

"This guy," Gem said, shaking her head with a sigh. “He’s never prepared.”

"So, uh, why are we making a pit stop to bring a dangerous sea creature a barrel of fish?" Pearl asked, suspiciously eyeing the water that the siren had disappeared into. Gem turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"Dangerous? Oh, please, Etho wouldn't hurt a fly," She said, and then paused, putting a hand over her mouth with a squint-eyed, thoughtful look, "Unless he had to."

"That doesn't make me feel better." Pearl said with a nervous chuckle. Gem's eyes widened and then her face split into a cheeky grin.

"Wait, are you scared of Etho?" She asked with a giggle.

"Who wouldn't I be?! He could eat me in a second flat with those big teeth!" Pearl defended, crossing her arms as her cheeks burned bright red.

"Nah, it takes sirens at least three days to eat a whole human being." Gem said, waving a hand dismissively.

"Gem!?" Pearl questioned, alarmed.

"I'm just messing with you!" Gem laughed, "But seriously, Etho won't hurt you, I promise."

As if summoned by his name, Etho surfaced not even a second later, sending another splash of water that just barely missed them onto the deck. Etho peeked over the railing with an excited look on his face, which fell into a pout when he saw that he hit neither of them with the water.

"Quite messing around, would you? Get up here and show me what you got me already, you big oaf." Gem said.

"i'm not an oaf" Etho said as he tossed a thick net full of junk onto the deck and heaved himself up over the railing. Pearl gasped and ducked behind the barrel again as the siren's lanky body hit the deck with a loud thump.

Pearl’s eyes widened when she saw that the scars weren't reserved for only his upper body. The scales all along his tail were patchy in places, thick scar showing through the gaps, and his tail fin was ripped in several spots. She couldn’t help but admit that she was curious what could have caused such extensive injuries to something as dangerous as a siren, a being capable of charming their way out of just about any situation.

Gem went to sit cross legged by Etho's side as he pulled the net bag into his lap, his tail folded to the side and out of the way. Perhaps getting the deck all wet wasn’t just to be a menace, but also to make sure he could sit up here without drying out too fast, she noted as her foot splashed in the half inch of water that had accumulated on the deck…How were they going to get rid of the water when he left?

Pearl stood awkwardly off to the side, not behind the barrels anymore but not far away from them either. She could hide if she wanted to. Not that it would help her escape from a siren song, but it was the thought that counted. 

"Find anything good this month?" Gem asked.

"Meh, not really." Etho replied before pulling out a few beautiful shells from the net and handing them over to Gem, who took them with a noise of excitement. "I'll have to start going further out soon. I've just about picked all the wrecks from here to Sirens' Cove clean of anything worth something."

"Hm, don't go too far. I don't need treasure so badly that you need to risk your safety..." Gem muttered, holding the shells up to the waning sun in order to inspect them. "Gods these are beautiful. Pearl, come look at these."

"Uh, um," Pearl stuttered. She would really rather not go over there. In fact, it was the last thing she wanted, but then Gem looked up at her with the most innocent and expecting smile, and she just couldn't say no. There went her plan of hiding among the barrels until Etho left. 

She hesitantly went over and sat on Gem's other side, folding her legs under her in such a way that it would be easy for her to dive to the side. Gem handed her one of the shells and she took it, turning it over in her hands. It was a pretty shade of rose pink and about the size of her palm. She didn't know what animal it came from, but it was beautiful.

She jumped backward when a clawed hand suddenly shoved itself into her face without warning. Her back hit the railing and her head knocked against the wood. She hissed through her teeth and rubbed the surely forming bruise as she looked up to see Etho holding a chain out to her. She looked back and forth between him and the salt water rusted chain before gingerly taking it from his hold.

It was a necklace with a rusty silver chain and a small clam shaped locket at the end. The hinges of the locket were definitely too rusted to get open, and the whole thing looked like it would fall apart in her hands at any moment. Despite this, she could tell that it used to be a beautiful piece of jewelry. Maybe someone on land would be able to restore it to its previous glory?

"For you. Because your name is Pearl," Etho said, looking proud of himself. Pearl raised an eyebrow. His face fell into a frown and he elaborated, "Clams make pearls?"

"Oh, thank you." She said, closing her fist around the trinket.

"Hey, I thought this was supposed to be my payment!" Gem exclaimed.

"It's still my stuff! You don't even take everything half the time, I can give away whatever I want." Etho defended.

The two of them glared at each other, clearly having some sort of a silent conversation, and Pearl felt incredibly awkward watching it. She was just about to try and mediate whatever fight they had going on, unwillingly to be put between an angry Gem and an angry siren, when the two of them poorly held back chuckles before bursting out in laughter. Pearl blew out a relieved breath and let out a chuckle of her own.

"I don’t want to cause any fighting," Pearl hesitantly said, holding the locket out to Gem. 

"You can keep that, Pearl, we were just joking around." Gem said, holding her hands up and refusing to take the locket.

Pearl looked down at the piece of jewelry and then shoved it into her blouse without needing to be told twice. She wasn't going to say no to free valuables. She would likely sell it once they reached land. She would need as much money as she could if she wanted to start a new life, after all. Maybe she could get more for it by spinning an elaborate tale of how she stole it from a siren.

Slowly they went through the entire contents of the bag, trying to determine what was actually of worth and what was just visually appealing. Pearl wasn’t really doing much, to be honest; only taking what Gem handed to her and giving it a once over before handing it back. It seemed to satisfy the younger woman though.

Pearl would occasionally flicker her eyes over towards the siren sitting across Gem from her, still somewhat convinced until halfway through their sorting that he was going to eat her. Her worries were quickly dispelled, however, much to her surprise. He was almost childlike with his excitement to show off certain goods to them, his enthusiasm and mannerisms actually quite endearing.

She also saw how close he and Gem seemed, an almost familial bond between the two of them. They talked and interacted with such familiarity that Pearl was led to believe that this really was a regular occurrence for them, and they seemed more than happy to include her.

She felt her heart warm in her chest the more she watched them alternate between play fighting and gushing over pretty knick knacks together. Her lips quirked into a smile as she examined another pink shell. She wondered how she had ever been afraid of him.

In the end, they split the contents of the net bag into two piles that Gem had dubbed "Goods for Gem" and "Etho's junk", which he gladly scooped back up once they were finished.

Gem stretched her arms above her head and arched her back until it popped, and Etho yawned wide, his clawed hand itching one of the patchy spots on his tail. Pearl yawned as well, and then her stomach grumbled embarrassingly loud. Etho looked over at her and giggled, causing Pearl's face to light up red once again.

"I think that's my signal to get something going dinner wise." Gem said, pushing off of the ground to climb to her feet.

"I'm getting hungry too," Etho said. He pulled part of the net bag over his shoulder, turned halfway around, grabbed onto the railing, and expertly flipped himself over the side of the boat, landing in the water with a slap that once again dowsed Pearl from head to toe.

She sighed. She had just been drying off from the first time. She pushed herself up onto her knees, shook water off of her hands, and turned around to peer over the side of the boat into the dark water. There wasn't much light to be provided by the setting sun, but there was just enough to see the general shape of Etho's head poking out of the water, bobbing along with the gentle waves.

"Are you heading out, Etho?" Gem's voice asked from beside her.

"Yeah, I've left those fish down there long enough. I have to get them home, or something will eat them before I get the chance to." Etho called back up to her.

"Alright, then, take care. Don't be a stranger." Gem said, giving him a broad wave.

"Bye Gem. Bye Pearl. It was nice meeting you. Safe travels!" Etho said before diving below the waves. Pearl gave a tiny wave goodbye; not even sure he had seen the farewell.

"Still scared of the big bad siren?" Gem asked in a teasing manner. She was busying herself with lighting the lanterns hanging outside of the cabin.

"Not really," Pearl admitted, "He seemed really sweet."

"He is a sweetheart," Gem said, "We've been friends for years now, and I've been supplying him fish just as long. It's a heavy blow to my profit, but honestly, I don't mind doing it for him."

"You never did answer my question," Pearl said, "Why do you supply him with fish?"

Gem looked hesitant at that.

"He hasn't been able to hunt very well since the...accident that caused all of his scars." She said after a moment, blowing out a breath. "His sense of direction isn't the greatest, nor is his vision, both a result of that injury to his eye that you saw. He's also not the strongest swimmer, so he has trouble keeping up with most prey long enough to catch anything. Things like sea berries, kelp, clams and crab aren't hard for him to catch, so it's not like he *needs* me to hunt for him, but he's always had a liking for the fish in this part of the sea."

She crossed her arms and set them on the railing, assuming a position similar to what Pearl had been in earlier before Etho showed up. She looked down at the rippling water with a pensive look on her face.

"When he told me he couldn't catch them anymore, I offered to bring them to him every few months in exchange for some treasure." She continued, "Like he said, though, I don't really need any of the stuff he brings me. I just know that he wouldn't take the fish unless he thought it was mutually beneficial to the both of us. He has a lot of pride like that, can't even let me do something nice for him just because I want to."

She shook her head and chuckled sadly. Pearl was silent, studying Gem's grim expression. She was beginning to realize just how big the other woman's heart truly was. Really, she should have realized it right from the very start. Not very many seasoned fishermen with Gem's kind of reputation would just accept a stowaway with open arms, let alone feed and clothe them on top of letting them stay in the same cabin as them. She was one in a million.

"Enough of that," Gem said, pushing herself away from the railing, "It's time to eat. I'm starving!"

Pearl followed Gem into the small cabin without another word, throwing one last glance at the now pitch-black waves, almost expecting to see a pair of eyes watching her. The locket felt heavy where it rested against her breast.

A friendly siren; who would have thought it. Only the gods above knew what else Gem had in store for her.

[idanit]

she likes to discuss rationalist philosophers and carries incapacitating drugs on her person at all times

[kindahoping4forever]

Ashton performing with Eternity Speedway @ Desert 5 Spot LA - 11 April 2024

[manga-and-stuff]

Thoughts on: Ikoku Nikki

I am currently reading Ikoku Nikki by Tomoko Yamashita and I noticed that like a solid quarter of the scenes in this manga do absolutely nothing to drive the plot forward.

It's not even funny banter or world building or whatever, it's literally just mundane little scenes like this:

You could honestly skip all of these scenes, and the plot would still make just as much sense.

But the thing is, I think doing so would make this manga considerably worse.

The manga is about a 15-year-old girl being taken in by her very introverted aunt, after losing her parents in an accident. And these mundane little scenes do an incredible job of grounding the whole story.

For one thing, it fleshes out the characters, it makes them feel real. You can really believe they all have their own lives with their own thoughts and feelings, their own problems and worries which are largely unrelated to the main plot.

It also makes the story feel very realistic. Like, yeah, sorry your parents just died, but you still need to go to school and worry about stuff like fucking lunchboxes. Yes, you just took in your orphaned teenage niece, but you still need to work... and maybe tidy up your room?

Just like in real life, the rest of the world in this manga doesn't care that the main character's world just got turned upside down. The earth just mercilessly keeps on spinning, and the protagonist has to go on living somehow, with all the mundanity and irrelevancy that comes with everyday life.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

gonna point out that all the surviving fire emblem characters (at the moment) are from three houses (+ chrom), i get not everyone likes fe or 3h but for the people who it did appeal to. something about how the game is structured made you VERY dedicated to your favorite characters, doubly so if you liked the house leaders (who are most of the one left in the brackets anyways.)

Oh so this is why everybody is ride or die in my notes

The game is structured to make you insane

I get it now

[defeateddetectives]

IN THIS ESSAY I WILL

[follow-up to this two-image post that's worth more than twenty thousand words and altered the course of my life]

[goodobservationshirley]

As you saved [my life]. Our scales are balanced. No. No, you’ve done far more than that for me. I’d all but given up. But you, you believed in me. You saw strength in me. You pushed me to heights that no one else could have.

[allthatwas-moved]

in regards to the (not new) wave of t.entoorose discourse,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎i wanted to make my feelings clear on it:‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎the reason i do not like that ending for rose is due to the way it stripped her of her agency‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎autonomy.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎while this is a reoccurring theme with the d.octor‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎his companions,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎it is often portrayed as a bad thing,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎something the d.octor should feel guilty for because sometimes their own ego gets in the way of their ability to respect their companions choices.

that is not how it is portrayed with rose‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎the m.etacrisis.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎it is portrayed as this act of love,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎as this thing that was GOOD for rose,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎even though it goes completely against everything she wishes‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎/‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎has worked for.

do i think rose‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎the m.etacrisis would have lived a long happy life together?‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎fuck yeah i do.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎that's why i have my regen verse,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎but i do think that the way it was portrayed is completely fucked up.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎i think if given the choice,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎rose would not have gone with the m.etacrisis,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎both because of the fact that he isn't necessarily to her the d.octor AT FIRST,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎(primarily)‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎because she did not want to go back to p.ete's world.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ in d.oomsday,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎she makes this clear.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎in the b.ig finish audios,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎she makes this clear,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎that that is not her home,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎not her world.

in my main verse:‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎having p.ete's world reject rose is kinda like a be careful what you wish for,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎you got what you wanted,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎sort of ordeal.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎i'm adding the m.etacrisis into that too because i think that feeling of abandonment that rose had in j.ourney's end is important to rose's character ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ the choice of action is important to the d.octor's character.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎now:

why am i so content with having the m.etacrisis forget rose too?‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎doesn't he deserve a happy ending?

the theme of the m.etacrisis is that the man who always loses gets to win,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎if that were the ONLY instance we had of d.avid t.ennant's d.octor getting this arc,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎eh,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎maybe i'd feel worse off.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎but r.td reused that shit,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎now f.ourteen gets that too.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎the m.etacrisis does still remain family with j.ackie‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎p.ete‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎m.ickey as well in that universe.

i do not like the way d.octor who portrayed a woman losing her agency‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎her autonomy to make her own decisions as this big romantic gesture.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎this is NOT a jab at t.entoorose,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎its a jab more so at the t.enth d.octor‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎r.td.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎this is NOT a jab at t.entoorose SHIPPERS,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎because i get it.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎i ship t.enrose,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎i ship t.imepetals,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎those aren't healthy ships.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎just wanting to clarify because i don't want to hurt anyone's feelings,‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎&‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎all i'm asking is that MY opinion of it be respected just like i respect people who love rose's ending.

[wildflowercryptid]

a random thought that i've been pondering : do grimoire & sally keep any form of self defense on their person or are they just rawdogging these investigations with nothing to protect themselves with if worse comes to worst?

[veilk]

i would like to know your opinions on Ethereal Workshop. go on. we’re all waiting. 🙂

gamer, you are talking about an untagged three note throwaway post from a nobody on the internet. i don't even participate in the fandom. at most it mighve unintentionally showed up in the non-tag search because i forgot to break up the name with punctuation. who is "we"

anyway i did say that i specifically was not going to get into my opinions, but hey, you're asking, so why not

song link, followers who are nosy but have no idea what i'm talking about

mandatory disclaimer that these are my own personal subjective opinions and that you're allowed to disagree. like that's fine. you do you

so like to clarify i don't actually hate it sso much as i find it disappointing and kind of bad. i just phrased the post like that because i think it's funny to portray myself as comically hateful about a song in a game that i'm like, ten years above the target age for

imo workshop is sort of disjointed and just... doesn't work well. most of the instruments just don't fit together well and create a sound that is strange in a bad way. yes, yes, i'm aware, chaotic and messy fits the island theme. i've heard this many times before. i present my opinion: fitting a theme does not automatically make something good

the extended portion though... whew. that's where a lot of my problems lie. having all instruments play at once for an epic climax sounds cool in concept, but the problem is the more instruments you have the easier it is for them all to start drowning each other out. you have to make sure there's like, actual room for all those instruments to play. workshop... hasn't been doing this. not well, at least

a little side tangent: [angrily shaking my fist at the sky] pen.tumbra.... it has a cool concept but it sounds severely out of place. it has such a drastically different vibe than anything else in the song that it's jarring. the rest of the song does have... something of a vibe going on. it's just not one that pen.tumbra can fit into, even slightly. i do think it could be saved with a bit of editing and some effects but i'm here to critique the actual song not hypothetical versions of the song that don't exist :p (+ yes i know i could just mute pen.tumbra, but again, my criticism is based off the actual full song)

i've also thought to myself "maybe i'm being too hard on them, this is a song for a game about monsters that sing" and then i remember nexus exists and go "nevermind if they can do that with preexisting monsters from different islands they couldve done better with workshop"

ultimately this is not something that matters, workshop doesn't have anything actually inherently wrong with it. it's just a song that exists. i personally have problems with it but that's not like. objective truth.

genuinely, if you enjoy the song, that's fine. i'm glad you're able to enjoy it! i might not get it but i don't have to. part of the beauty of existence is our varied perspectives and opinions and such. this is genuine, if it's not clear

[petr1kov]

i don't necessarily dislike mike flannagan's work but the fall of the house of usher really got on my nerves after a while. the character of verna, especially, got so grating to me. she's the personification of death who sold what's basically a deal with the devil for the twins in exchange of the continuation of their bloodline, but she also acts like a moralizing avenger about it who won't shut the fuck up no matter what

[arcaneyouth]

i have more restraint than god when it comes to creating things and yet people still always seem convinced i need to be told to stop to keep myself safe. you don't even know what i'm like when i don't restrain myself. if i wasn't listening to my body i'd be pumping out anywhere from 3-15 pieces of art every day. you don't even fucking know the unimaginable tidal wave of work i would do if i didn't know burning out sucks and do my best to avoid it. "don't work too hard willow!" you don't even know what working too hard is for me. i could be the machine of a content creator if i tried at the cost of my entire well being but i'm not because i like being a functional person. this IS me at a healthy level of self restraint bitch

[captain-acab]

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: this is the curse of the Black Pearl

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: actually that was more like the curse of some people who happened to be on (and in one case distinctly under) the Black Pearl. Anyway this is the REAL curse of the Black Pearl

[goldentigerfestival]

Using this as an audio reference for the posts I'm making, but to summarize:

Yuri starts out mad.

Yuri tries to calm himself down with a deep breath to ask for details instead of going through it angry.

Flynn doesn't say "like a good knight" in the sense of putting himself down. He simply says "as a knight" (the tl here doesn't use that, but with that included it's basically along the lines of "even though I had doubts, as a knight, I was determined to follow my orders").

Once Yuri has answers he calms down significantly.

Yuri uses " 'ttaku", which is a shortened down version of "mattaku" (Yuri often shortens words and speaks very casually), which in this particular situation basically would mean "geez", or "good grief". In this manner, it's expressive of exasperation/frustration/etc.

Yuri never mentions that "Flynn told him what to do" like the dub does (because in fact Flynn did not ever tell Yuri what to do. He only gave Sodia and his other knights orders. He expressed his own desire to take responsibility, but never told Yuri and his friends what to do).

At this point you can tell the anger has gone out of him and that he's calmed down, now that Flynn is approaching this with admission and responsibility.

Sodia is asking that Flynn returns as soon as possible (I believe this was a general translation error).

Flynn's thank you to Yuri is tonally much more heartfelt.

Yuri's response and gratefulness at Flynn coming back to himself is tonally much more heartfelt, relieved and sincere.