#like its structured so well and already made me a bit emotional in the way it's retelling the story

[frostbite-the-bat]

society if literally 80% of rw fandom and especially rw analysis youtubers (who are great, EXCEPT) stopped calling gourmand heckin' chonker chubby diabetic ginormous whatever and paid more mind to their whole character and not just the fact that they're fat

[milgram-tournament]

MILGRAM Best Song Tournament, Round 2, Match 1 WEAKNESS vs. THE PURGE MARCH

Propaganda for both options under the cut!

Propaganda for WEAKNESS:

"This is definitely more of a personal anecdote. However, I’m neurodivergent (like Haruka) and struggle with knowing it causes quite a bit of disappointment for my mother. I cry about it a lot. But I find that putting on Weakness is soothing for me. Knowing that there’s a character out there with the same issues…. I don’t know. Just my experience."

---

"why weakness should win over umbilical: - THE SINGING THE HIGH NOTES - this song set the tone to what to expect for the trial songs to come (or what we expected) - the part where the song gets all slow paced and then picks up louder at the end it just done beautifully - it's haruka. - the singing sounds like a mix between of course singing and crying. the 'AHahA' sounds like manic laughing until the end when he's crying and it almost feels like he's sobbing while laughing. - the guitar and the drums complement his soft/sad-ish voice perfectly, especially at the beginning - very emotional, even if you didn't see the music video you can tell he's crying and mentally unwell I'm bad a propaganda, but vote for WEAKNESS!!!!"

Propaganda for THE PURGE MARCH:

"Despite the shorter length, the Purge March has several distinct sections in its structure.

It starts with a rolloff, and then… they don’t follow it. Amane isn’t here to follow the beat.

There’s the spoken-word intro and the upbeat first verse listing the tenets. The prechorus (“dou shiyou mo nai…”) has an amen break. The most-sampled four-bar drum beat. Well, there’s half of it. Is it supposed to mean something? Can I get an amen?

The chorus is so, so cheerful… unless you’re actually listening to the lyrics (“I’ll crush your throat too”) or watching the video. And it’s super catchy. 

The second part of the verse dials things back. Now we’re in reality. This is how Amane breaks her tenets. All the while, those tenets are spoken into both ears over the singing. Get some good headphones. She sounds different in each ear.

The music picks up again with the amen break as Amane happily strolls back home, and then-

Oh.

The somber second chorus, with Amane’s lower singing voice and mournful spoken words, leads into the final chorus, with new lyrics and a more forceful tone. The once-meaningless chanting now has real words. “You’re sorry? I don’t care! Please go ahead and die already.” You can hear Amane’s anger despite the cheerful melody. She harmonizes in the final phrase, as if to say “we’re in this together, me and my little color guard troop.” And finally, it’s just her. Speaking. "Oboetemasuka?" Accompanied by only a single drum.

She is both Amane Momose and not. She upholds the doctrines that she was raised with, but she can’t."

---

"Purge March is geniunaly one of my favorite pieces of fiction both in and out of the context of trauma. Its fantastically directed and composed. The batton twirling is spetacular and energetic, the set and character design of Amane conveys a lot about the world she’s in and the story she’s telling. Purge March contextulizes a lot of Magic in both expected and unexpected ways (insert the entire cat symbolism thesis here) Purge March casts Amane in the role of a scary child. The glowing eyes, the framing of Amane as Above the viewer, the brutality and catharsis of it all. It seems tailored made to make you Scared of her. It’s a continuation of the cycle of abuse that we the audience repeated in T1 when we gave her that verdict. A red flashing warning sign about the Inhumanity and Monsterous qualities of Amane Momose. But Amane as a monster is fufilling and freeing. Again, its deeply cathartic. I would write more if I wasnt so sleepy at the moment but its just some Fantastic work overall. Purge March is also just fantasitic vocally and also hids electricity sounds in the instrumental which I think is evil and awesome."

---

-Amane’s vocals and how they slowly get more and more off the deep end is both really sad and cool to watch.

-The symbolism of the marching band and the flags. Ifykyk

-The beginning where it sounds like a propaganda TV show… really shows just how far Amane’s thinking is rooted in her cult and how that’s shaped her perception.

-The LYRICS. They work so well but it’s also creepy AF considering it’s a child who’s singing it.

-“So there is no second time, I’ll give back the judgment that you gave to me!”

-The overlapping part… gives me chills everytime.

-Building off the last point, the last “I’ll crush your throat too.” Ouch.

-“Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of “I’m sorry” that I said to you?”

-The song also does a great job of showing how much the guilty verdict messed with her.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Drafting an Adventure: A death at dawngrace

The rampage of some winged beast has brought you into the service of Syr Volias, an experienced knight errant who has sought you out in hopes of putting an end to its far ranging carnage. It is early spring, and your party follows the thaw up the side of the mountain to an old ruin which surveils the surrounding valley.   So far the ruin, and your quarry, remain beyond sight. 

A new DM asked me if I could walk them through the creation of an introductory adventure; combining not only a solid first questhook but also incorporating my advice on session zero, party formation, and the fundamentals of dm storytelling. This adventure prompt is the result, serving not only as a tutorial for newer players, but a teaching example for new DMs as well. It can easily be run as a oneshot, used as a launching point for a greater story, or (for those of you who have some adventures under your belt) seeded into an ongoing game as a sidequest. The structure of the adventure is fairly simple, so rather than slathering on extraneous detail I’ll be going in depth about WHY each section of the adventure happens the way it does, and what purpose it serves in turning a group of scattered players into an invested adventuring party. 

We begin with the party already gathered and on their way up the side of the mountain, providing everyone (including the DM) with a clear direction for the action. What are we doing? we’re heading towards the ruin, and all we need to worry about at the moment is taking actions that lead us closer to it. Similarly, this adventure provides the players with direction during session zero, as they know vaguely what they’ll be doing on this outing (hunting a beast alongside a knight) and what sort of characters they might be playing: who would sir Volias seek out for aid? What have they done to earn themselves reputation as monster hunters? Why did they say yes? Using these sorts of ideas to guide character creation gives you a cohesive group identity right from the get go without having to bend over backwards to get the party together.

The mountain itself is a series of easy challenges intended to show off the game’s basic mechanics: as well as brief problem solving challenges like: the old bridge is out over this frozen stream, how do we cross? Do we take the high road or the low road, and can we make a survival check to get more information? Throw in some low stakes combat against some woodland critters freshly woken from hibernation and you’ve got yourself a solid tutorial. 

Travelling up the mountain also lets you start laying down the emotional foundation of the adventure: Character introductions can be made as in-depth as your group feels comfortable with, rounding off with the reserved but jovial Syr Volias.  Wishing to foster a spirit of camaraderie, the knight errant is quick to defer to others in situations where their skills or abilities would take prescience ( and thus giving you as the DM an in-canon method of spotlighting different players).  A shadow will be cast over the proceedings when the party finds the remains of a hunter lodged in a tree, a victim of their quarry thoroughly savaged and partially devoured, a prelude to more devastation should they fail. Bonus points if the hunter is someone known by at least one of the partymembers (perhaps providing the backdrop for a character introduction on its own),  with EXTRA bonus points if the hunter has a family back in town that the party has to inform. This pulls double duty of giving the party something to care about early, along with a reason to check out the town later on. 

Once they reach the overlook, the party is in for a chance of pace:  The ruins of Dawngrace were once the towerhome of noble family that ruled the region before the current war, and Syr Volias aims to use them as cover during his ambush of the beast. That of course requires the party to partake in a bit of dungeon delving, which gives you the chance for some structured exploration as they make their way through locked chambers and fight off whatever critters happen to be squatting within. Paint the dungeon as an escape room, a sequence of challenges to be faced to get to the ultimate goal, with a few hidden secrets and bits of treasure for them to discover along the way. If they start to develop a taste for lore,  splice in a few hints about the family that used to live here, and the war that pushed them off of their land some two decades ago. 

Then comes the night, the party’s first introduction to the long rest mechanics and a refresh of all their capabilities. Use this time to do some more character/roleplay work by asking them how they spend the night, what they’re feeling on the eve of battle. Mention the chance for a couple characters to go hunting and maybe snag some dinner, or pass around a flask. Likewise mention that after his late hour Prayers, Syr Volias removes his helm and starts preparing his gear for the next morning, signalling to the party that this might be a good time to approach him and ask about his whole deal, now that he seems to be less on guard. 

The knight errant is happy to talk about his previous adventures and his plans for the coming confrontation , but Making a proper persuasion or insight check ( good to give those social characters something) will reveal their chivalric escort has much more to say. As it turns out, the older warrior was hungry for glory in his youth, and the Kaeriellas, the noble family that plundered the lowland settlements and installed themselves as the new powers of the region. Volias is sparse with the exact details, save that he did many things that he regrets during those bloody years, and has spent the decades since trying to atone. He’ll mention that his shield was gifted to him by an elder of the temple of Pelor, a sign of the new beginning he made on his quest for redemption, and a weighty reminder of the past for which he must atone. 

Having fought many a beast of the wing, Volias is prepared for tomorrow: shelter the more vulnerable characters inside the ruin and prepare bait for their target within striking distance. Run ropes between the trees and various pitons to restrict its arial movement, draw it in as the dawnlight crests over the ridge and reflect it back with his sacred shield, potentially blinding it and causing it to crash. The battle will go well enough, but the beast the knight has set to fight is no mere drake as he expected, but a wyvern, which will bring it’s deadly sting to bear on the party… and the valiant knight who will intercede between them and a killing blow. 

After the battle is done, it’s time to ham up the death scene: Players often enter a campaign with different levels of investment, and it’s shared experiences (Both good and bad) that help them tune in to eachother and turn a gaggle of friends or random aquaintances playing together into a cohesive adventuring party. Its the clarity of the scene that’ll help sell it: a beautiful dawn lit morning, the chill of the mountain air, and the bitter sting of martyrdom that the party will need to come to terms with as Syr Volias chokes out his last. This knight  could have been a mentor to the party, he could have been a friend, and now they have to watch him die as the poison eats him from the inside out. He’ll congratulate them on their victories, offer a few memorable pieces of advice regarding their failings, and tell them to take the beast’s head to his onetime patron to ensure they get their reward. 

As one final request, Volias asks them that whatever they decide to do with his body or the rest of his possessions, if they could carry his shield to a particular temple several towns away and return it to the high priestess there, with an apology about not being able to keep his promises. This provides you with one of your first early game quest hooks to not only encourage the party to go out and see your world, but also gives them something precious to protect, something both emotionally charged and mechanically useful that might be stolen or lost if they’re not careful. 

You also might have noticed that we’ve been building up an early game antagonist in the form of the Kaeriellas noble family, who seized this region in a war of territorial aggression a generation ago.  No great world conquering villains, they exist to give your party someone to resent early game, especially after the heroes jump through several hoops (travel, talking their way into an audience, bringing the head if a wyvern to whatever Kaeriallas cousin serves as local magistrate) only to have their trophy plucked from their hands and their promise of payment revoked. The Magistrate will insit their agreement was with Syr Volias, reward to be delivered when he delivered proof he’d slain the beast,  and since Volias is not there to collect, there is no contract to pay out. This is going to drive your players up the wall, but that’s exactly what we want, getting them to dislike the Kaeriellas is not only another strong feeling they have about the world, but is also a stepping stone to getting them to dislike anyone the noble bastards work with in the future, a great way to set up new villains who come into the story as the party adventures and levels up. 

I hope this has been useful to you, and if it seems like a lot of prep work for a simple adventure of “ go here and kill this thing” understand that a lot of these steps are me over-explaining a lot of DM storyteller skills that usually become subconscious when mastered.  

[nicosraf]

Hello!

I've got an interview coming up for a pretty top Uni and I put angels before man as a possible book that I would be open to discuss.

I was just wondering about your thoughts on the themes of your book, especially the implementing of homoeroticness and the sympathetic stance for a widely condemned character.

Hello!!! Good luck with the interview!!! I hope it goes well and u get into whatever school is the one of your dreams :') I'm honored u named ABM. It's hard to talk about themes without rambling forever so I'll try to ramble just about what you specifically asked about:

On implementing homoeroticism — I think it was important, for me, to inject queerness into the story itself.

It's not a "queer retelling" just because a boy-ish character likes another boy-ish character (Lucifer and Michael don't even identify as men! They're angels!). ABM had to be a queer retelling in the way it told its story (not keeping to a conventional act structure), queer in its world (the angels are all So Flamboyant and Gay), and queer in the coming of age portion (Lucifer grows up feeling Different, feeling embarrassed, having the moment of Sexual Awakening from Seeing Other Boys in the Locker Room and the moment of Falling In Love with the Handsome Macho at the Sports Game, and Lucifer loves singing and dancing and is emotional and feminine; he's queer in a way beyond his attraction to Michael).

Making the homoeroticism so normative meant gushing about how handsome the angels are, about sexualizing them. It also meant using flowery language to sexualize them, to be tender about it. The angels aren't men but they're almost men, and men are usually denied flowery, tender sexualization. I wanted to approach it that way.

And now about making a condemned character sympathetic — I think you can either turn a condemned character into a complete victim (usually by taking their agency away) or make them... complicated. I wanted my take on Lucifer to be the second option for one big reason: the Bible is so strict in being Good vs Evil with no gray, so I wanted to make it gray. If I made Satan just the good guy and God just the bad guy, then I would be falling into that same problematic moral dichotomy of the Bible.

So Lucifer is complicated. He's the victim, but he hurts innocent angels. Phanuel didn't deserve that. Dina didn't deserve that. Baal didn't deserve to be manipulated either. Lucifer was also never really perfect; he was always a bit self-absorbed, and he's always been too quick to get emotional.

But I think positioning the devil as an "imperfect victim" is important too. Victims who lash out in ways seen as "unacceptable" are so often demonized, especially SA victims (which Lucifer is). Lucifer's explosion at the end of ABM was about catharsis, not about revenge, and it's not meant to be pretty (God already made his suffering pretty, made Lucifer cry flowers) or forgivable.

You're not supposed to forgive Lucifer; he doesn't want your forgiveness!

Forgiveness. I think a lot of readers think providing a sympathetic stance for a widely condemned character is about asking the audience to forgive them. Maybe for some authors, that's true, but John Milton, for example, never intended for you to forgive Satan. Recently, the Hunger Games prequel came out, which served as President Snow's "villain origin story" — anyone who read the book or watched the movie knows that Snow isn't forgivable in that. Milton and Suzanne Collins were just... trying to explain them, trying to provide a little nuance.

I think the question of forgiveness is really important when it comes to the devil. The Bible is centered around forgiveness, a lot of Christians ask why God doesn't forgive Satan or why Satan won't accept God's forgiveness.

In ABM, Lucifer begs for forgiveness from God over and over throughout the book. The chapter he meets him, Lucifer crumbles to the ground and says, “Father, Father, be merciful, please have pity on me, please forgive me.” He doesn't even know what he did, but he's sorry, and he's sorry and sorry and sorry until the end. There's this line from the revision that puts it nicely, I think:

'Heaven will despise me. No one can ever love me again.’ “I’ve done the unforgivable.” Lucifer had become the unforgivable. But he was breathing easier, though he didn’t realize it yet; he had unshackled himself from the pity of angels. From the promise of salvation, he had been liberated.

It's always been important to me for Lucifer to become unforgivable in the end, not just for God but for majority of readers. He frees himself from pity (of the angels and of the readers) and from being a "good" victim, from being good. The first to free himself from the moral constraints of wanting to be good — that's really what makes him the devil.

I hope this ramble is helpful :') good luck!!!

[jamiesfootball]

One of the things that’s been noodling in my head since the finale is how Ted Lasso plays the forgiveness card in regards to the Tartt Sr situation.

Yes, I’ve banged on this drum before. I shall bang on it again. Buh-dum.

Bear with me as I start from the outside and work my way in by first referencing a moment from a different show.

In Leverage, there’s an episode where they convince the guy they’re trying to take down to break out of police custody by making him think he’s in the middle of a deadly epidemic that’s being covered up by the government. The details of this aren’t important, but when Nate is explaining why it worked, he says something along the lines of ‘there’s a part of your brain that’s meant to question and make judgements. What we did was we tapped into the emotional center of his brain, so that he would forget to question anything.’

Now I'm paraphrasing, but this is actually a good summary of how a lot of cons work- they create an emotional story and a sense of relationship, to make you forget to ask ‘wait does this guy just want my money.’ Think of scary voicemails telling you your student loans got sent to collections and you need to call now. Think Nigerian Prince schemes. Think car dealerships.

Because that is the power of a story when the narrative structure follows all the guidelines. You become invested, and you believe the narrative. (This is also why Jump the Shark exists, when a narrative has wobbled so off its tracks that the belief becomes suspended, but I digress.)

So the issue for me with regards to the James Tartt Sr story line, is that from a technical standpoint the wider Story of Ted Lasso did meet the minimum requirements for ‘believable.' My coworker, for instance, absolutely loved how ALL the story lines tied up in the finale, including that one. She couldn’t explain why, she just said it was ‘really nice and it worked for her.’

But I’ll highlight that bit in the middle—she couldn’t explain why—because that’s the thrust of the situation. The Story, from her perspective, told a satisfying emotional conclusion by hitting all the correct points. It essentially did what a con does, and in the resulting emotion she failed to question it.

And I think therein lies the trouble with the Jamie's dad story line. Because it is being told within the scope of a broader narrative, it is allowed to coast on the merits of the rest of the narrative. For three seasons, the show preaches forgiveness and second chances and people having depth, so when it asks you to do it again at the end - with Jamie's dad, hell I'd even say with Rupert for a hot second - you already have within you all the emotional build-up to say 'yes.'

Except that the buildup doesn’t happen with James, or even Rupert, it happens to the people that they hurt. Jamie’s the one who learned how to be better. Jamie is the one who tried to make amends to the people he hurt. Jamie is the one who had to un-fuck his whole life. Jamie earned all of that emotional payoff.

His dad did not.

So the show sells you one emotional story, and at the end shuffles in another to reap the benefits of it.

But just like a con only works as long as you don’t start to question it, the second you question the James Tartt Sr storyline the more you realize how much of that work happened elsewhere in the story.

You know those youtube videos that are cut together scenes of ‘every time This Character talks about Big Plot Point’? Think of those videos. Sometimes they’re a concentrated dose of very high tense moments, but sometimes they’re a little anemic, aren’t they? Sometimes you watch those videos and realize just how much heavy lifting other scenes did just to imply that the narrative was moving forward.

Well if you made a youtube video of ‘all the scenes that mention / have James Tartt Sr in them’ and cut them together, you definitely do NOT get an emotionally satisfying ending. In fact you go from someone who implies that their father is violent, to seeing their father be violent, to seeing their father threaten violence to his kid, to seeing him inflict that violence on someone else in place of his kid, to the kid confiding in someone else that even more fucked up shit happened, to the kid’s mom trying to console him, to the kid literally showing symptoms of PTSD at the idea his father might be around-

-to someone asking him if maybe he should try to let that go

-to their dad being proud of them

-to reestablishing contact

-to a happy montage of them smiling together the end.

At bare minimum there is an entire confrontation missing. And that is minimum. Minimum narrative work said this storyline should have had a climax. But this is a storyline that did not breathe on its own- it relied on a dozen smaller, unrelated, moments to give it the illusion of a satisfying ending.

And since it was weaved in with the rest, to some people – people who were too in vested in the story to question it – that was a great ending. That was a perfect ending.

That’s the illusion of telling a story- people are predisposed to believing the story that is being told, to the point where they will forget to ask questions.

When people talk about this kind of narrative being a dangerous one? That’s where that comes from. That’s what it means. It’s not just that someone depicted a story of someone forgiving their abuser, it’s that the did it in such a way that that isn’t even what happened. Most of the time it is the narrative that forgives the abuser, not the character. The character doesn’t get to scream and cry and let out all the pain they suffered. The character doesn’t get to set boundaries and learn to experience the world safely. The character, often times, isn’t even worth an apology from the person who hurt them.

It isn't the character who gets closure in these narratives; it's the audience who does. And it’s so insidious that it can very nearly trick a person in real life into thinking that maybe they too will get closure if they forgive someone – without ever realizing that in these stories, the narrative was never on their side in the first place.

[semi-foldable-triangle]

I watched this video from Jacob Geller a few weeks and saw the second video from Venus Theory just yesterday, and they've had me all existential. So I have some thoughts. (Below the cut)

I started making music again, not all that long ago. I stopped years back because I felt like the expectation of me to make "good" music - structured well, mixed correctly, unique enough to "be interesting and not pretentious" - and all of that was just more stressful than it was worth. So I started again with the decision that I wasn't going to share what I made with anyone, and for that reason, I can stop myself from feeling influenced by anyone else's perception of what I'm making. I can make music just for me.

And that works, sorta. I'm making what I want to and I don't feel pressured, but deep down I'm still that 15 y/o kid that wants to seem like the "cool synthesizer guy" and it's not that I don't share the fact that I'm making music. I just don't share the music itself. So am I making music for myself? Can anyone create music for themselves if they're truly, completely honest with themself?

In what way does art have value when detached from context? An artist can't "appreciate" their own art. They can't ponder it and consider its meaning. The artist knew every bit of meaning they intended as it was being made. Death of the Author isn't applicable when you, yourself, are the author. So what is your art if you dont share it? Do you feel emotionally fulfilled looking at or listening to or reading your own art? Maybe you do while you're making it, but after all of that, when the canvas is sealed, the recording is finished, and the book is bound, what is it worth to you? The knowledge that you felt those emotions while you made it? If you are to feel deeply moved by it a second time, you have to have forgotten it first. To find your finished art compelling a second time, it has to be made by someone else. A different "you" who already knew it.

Maybe people can experience their own art and feel catharsis, but ive never had that experience, and I've never heard of musicians listening to their own albums on loop, or writers reading their own books again and again. If youre making art for yourself, what do you do with it after its made other than either discard it to make space for something new, or wait long enough for someone else to have made it? As he points out, all of the pieces Geller talks about in the video are known. Maybe City could have been kept a secret. Was it Michael Heizer's vision for it to never be known or just never seen? The Nazca Lines were undoubtedly understood by the civilization that made them, and Plexis leaves the uncut pages there for you to try to make out. These were all meant to be known. So I suppose maybe it is possible to create solely for yourself. I guess anyone who can't will just never know.

[bonesandthebees]

“elytrians are a bit lighter bc if bone structure…” ok COOL this made me remember and halfway answered an old question about elytrians/phil which was do elytrians have hollow bones like birds? also what other similarities to birds do elytrians have?? besides wings and claws, do they have any distinctly bird-like behaviors???

kinda different question, but i’ve been listening to the passerine podcast recording of clinic and my favorite detail in the whole story is when wil takes tommy to the food truck for the first time, he mentions that phil doesn’t eat chicken. the idea that a guy who just grew wings one day doesn’t eat chicken (and presumably all birds) is both hilarious and interesting and i was wondering if all your versions of winged phil are like this??? like Villains with Standards is already such an interesting concept and i feel like something like this lends itself well to characters like morally gray wf!phil.

also the idea of stars!phil being a guest at some fancy banquet (with potential political consequences) and being served some kind of bird and not wanting to eat it has its own little corner in my mind (ik that birds irl DO eat other birds, esp larger birds of prey and such, but im choosing to ignore that for funsies) on that note tho, the idea of someone being terrified that they’re serving bird meat to phil (who they did not know before was elytrian) only for phil to dig in is ALSO a fun little concept

WOAH this got way longer than i thought it would…

- 💜

I wouldn't say elytrians have hollow bones per se because they would be way too delicate if they did, but they do have decently-sized air pockets in their bones! (I know birds also have large air pockets in their bones and are not necessarily hollow, but what I'm saying is elytrians have smaller air pockets than birds). also like you pointed out, they have claws like birds. besides that, their wings are very indicative of their emotions like I've had phil talk about in previous chapters. I know 'instincts' are a very popular trope in hybrid-esque fics in this fandom, but elytrians do not have those partially because I don't usually have much interest in writing 'hybrid instincts', and also elytrians are not technically birds like we know them. they're an alien species. so yeah, most of the similarities to birds are purely physical. preening is somewhere in between. it's not at the level you see it in a lot of hybrid fics in this fandom, I'd say preening an elytrians feathers for them is basically the equivalent of playing with someone's hair or brushing it for them

LMAO yeah I honestly just thought the 'phil doesn't eat chicken' in clinic bit was funny to include. I wouldn't say this is the case for my other versions of phil though unless I specifically mention it in the fic. again, elytrians might look like they share similarities to birds, but they're an alien species. so no, stars!phil has no issue with eating winged creatures from other planets. none of my other versions of phil have this issue either.

I'd say world forgetting!phil would be the only one who would possibly also share this trait with clinic!phil, except he just doesn't care that much. sometimes he sees a rotisserie chicken and feels a bit conflicted, but then he's like "I'm not a chicken what the fuck" and eats it anyway lmao

[changeling-rin]

Gerudo here. The Links are once again magically confined somewhere. This specific place is a large cavern, about the diameter of an American football field long. They are standing on a sort of spider web structure, like an orb weaver's web but made of stone. It is a very precarious thing to be standing on, and anyLink who cannot balance will fall. Below the web is an abyss of an unknown substance. It is tar-like, a very dark bubbling purple, very similar to Malice. The sound of growls emanates from the tar. Anyone who falls off the web, falls into the tar, which is magical and will corrupt them. But they are not alone on the web. Several very strange, very large spider-like creatures seemingly made of the tar and bone, with glowing red eyes, are stalking them. When one is killed, another takes its place, endlessly. However experimentation reveals that not attacking the spiders nor experiencing strong negative emotions will result in the spiders not being hostile. The Links are aware that they will be kept there for five hours, at which point they will be retrieved and placed back where they were, without any healing or corruption reversal. Who falls in, who figures out how to make the spiders not-hostile, and what does Shadow do?

Now I will expand on the tar's exact effects. Because this actually has a fandom source (RWBY), I'll give a quick rundown of what it does. First of all, it doesn't kill people who fall in, weirdly. Magic. Not even if they breathe it in or swallow it. This particular version of corruption is essentially merging the corruptee with the Grimm, the monsters in the tar and on the web. The result being that the corruptee's skin and hair turn bone white, eyes are black with glowing red irises. So what's the "corruption" part? It also gives the corruptee an insatiable desire for destruction. Happened to RWBY's main villain. Also it gives them the ability to control and create the Grimm. So yeah. Same happens to anyone bitten by the spiders kinda like an infection. Also what happens after, especially with the ones who fall in? Because I refuse to believe nobody falls in in five hours. Also I'm insatiably curious. And I might write a fanfic about it.

Also I provided a time limit this time.

I'm once again a wee bit confused as to what, exactly, you're wanting from my input here, because it seems like you have a very definite idea already of how this plays out, but! I'll answer as I think you want

Those Who Fall In: Steam, Ocarina, and Realm. Steam's not the most physically capable Link, so he's bound to lose his grip at some point. Ocarina just doesn't strike me as skillfully coordinated, and Realm most definitely got lost and ended up down there on complete accident

Who Figures Out The Spiders: my money's on Wind, due to being on the more observant side, although Speck could also be a good contender

What Does Shadow Do: well he probably kills a lot of spiders, at first, before they figure out that they Should Not Do That. then he glares a lot. and then once they have the corrupted Links to deal with, he gets put on Defense Duty, because he's the most likely to be stabbed and not need medical attention for it

What Happens After: a major hole in a Link's given repertoire is that none of them are particularly good at spiritual cleansings. That's Zelda's forte, and none of them are Zelda. So the corrupted Links get bundled up and restrained as best they can, and then everyone troops off to find the closest Zelda to see if she can't purify whatever this stuff is.

(I have never seen RWBY and only have passing familiarity with the tar you're talking about, so I'll leave it up to you as to whether or not it can in fact be purified by Hylian magics. I personally think it would work, but I like happy endings!)

...although I do remember you saying something about the Master Sword being a cure-all in this situation? But in the interest of keeping it darker and angstier, in the way the I think you want, I'm going to say that the Master Sword needs to be used to... eh, mildly impale the victim for maximum purifying effect. Like, a very gentle stabbing. A vague sort of shallow slice on the arm will do. Otherwise people would be getting purified just by carrying it around on their person, and that seems a bit too easy for what you've described

[ladyadrestia]

Strawberry, maroon and imperial forcthe ask game :]

hehe omg tai you're so cute this made me smile lots sorry this was so late i have been smiling when i see it in my inbox so i was waiting for a good time to sit and properly answer strawberry: what album would you love to have on vinyl?

you already KNOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW its love yourself tear, i was actually so close to buying this bootleg fanmade vinyl of ly:tear but since hybe released ly:her for vinyl i am SOOOO sure tear is gonna come out soon bc they knowwwww how peak that album is for so many army

maroon: what role do you play in your group of friends?

hmmmm i guess it depends on the friends because i kind of adjust to the people around me? but i think in general i try to be warm, and i try to give people lots of affection, i feel like im never the mom of the group bc im never THATTT responsible but maybe like a cute sibling hehe one that gives you lots of love and care

imperial: what film, in your opinion, has the best cinematography and/or special effects?

omg i'm so film illiterate actually so this is kind of hard for me but first thing coming to my mind is call me by your name despite the problematic aspects of the franchise and some involved people as a whole i thought the movie itself was so beautiful, and i felt like the way it was filmed and structure really showcased the specific emotions that were very integral to the work as a whole. i love depictions of unhappy love that is tinged in this dual yearning and despair, i think i find it a bit relatable and so when i see that specific layer of love being depicted very well i enjoy it alot! also the soundtrack for that movie ooo chefs kiss, and timothee chalamet really is THAT actor for me 🏮 shades of red asks

[tharizdun-03]

Kyousougiga Watchthrough

Episode 1: A Family's Circumstances and its Background

uhm... holy shit

Obviously, the first thing here is that the show feels very FLCL. Same kind of sporadic style of storytelling, with Gainax (like) visuals, lots of hints for stuff to be explored later that have few explanations now, and awesome music (tho obviously not the same type of music).

I'll admit, it was a bit difficult to keep track of everything that was going on, cause a lot happened very fast, but I think I followed along pretty well.

Visually, it is just gorgeous. Narratively; super fun concepts, already got some solid emotional hooks, and all around just felt like a fairy-tale come to life. I'm not sure what I'm getting into here, but I'm here for it.

Episode 2: What Came Was a Little Sister

Kyousougiga continues to be one of the most stunningly directed series I've ever seen with its second episode. Watching this show is like magic.

Narratively, it's still a bit difficult to keep up with, but I think it's more of an experience rather than keeping up with the plot specifics.

It seems like the show is structuring this with each episode centering around one character's PoV and then we'll pull it together in the second half.

I think it did a good job of tying us into Koto's backstory and motivation, but it's really just the gorgeous art direction, Shiina Gou's orchestral score, etc, which makes it so special. I can't tell if the story yet will come to match, but I'm here for it. 

Also, great opening. Awesome visuals, but I really love the song too. 

Episode 3: The Eldest and his Happy Science Team

Not much to say about EP 3. It continues to be a beautifully directed show, and while I'm not blown away by the story or anything yet, I am interested in seeing where it'll go, as it's obviously still laying out the groundwork, establishing our character motivations.

Episode 4: The Second Daughter and her Wonderful Monsters

EP 4 is Yase's episode, who doesn't care as much about going to the outside world, but just wants her Mother back. Like all the siblings really, it's about their love for their parents and the desire to be with them again. It's a very emotionally warm theme.

Episode 5: The Worries, Beginning, and Ending of the Young Third Son

I'm not resonating overtly with Kyousougiga or anything, but presentation-wise, it is just the best anime has to offer. Solid, emotionally based themes as well, so might pull something together for me a bit later on. Had a good time with EP 5 as well either way.

Got Penguindrum vibes from the cardboard cutout-like people. 

Episode 6: A Story Where Two Plan and One Worries

EP 6 confirms that Myoue is suicidal because he never got over it the first time. He loves his "parents", but at the same time, they brought him back and made him unable to die, without his consent. I'm expecting their reunion to not just be a jolly good time.

A lot of previously unspoken resentment rising to the surface all at once between the siblings here. 

Episode 7: Mom's Back, and Oh, Dad's Back, Too

EP 7 has their mother returning, and the siblings react perfectly in character. Yase is overjoyed, Kurama is a bit distant as he's suspicious, and Myoe is distant as well but because of his personal resentment. Good stuff.

Episode 8: Troublesome Talks Here and There

EP 8 introduced a bunch of world-building drama with all the planes at the risk of being destroyed, which I don't really care about as much as the family stuff, but still some good stuff there and I'm not too worried about it or anything. Looks nice as usual.

Episode 9: Let's All Think about What We Can Do

It's sweet how the fake siblings Inari created to keep Myoue company were the ones that ended up helping him more than their dad ever did. They might've been created to comfort you, but that doesn't mean their feelings aren't true.

Episode 10: A Manga Movie About People Who Have a Fun, Busy Life!

Kyousougiga's finale wrapped everything up pretty much perfectly.

Overall Thoughts:

What a directorial debut Kyousougiga was for Matsumoto Rie. Can't say the narrative resonated with me especially, but it's still a good story about family love. Its gorgeous aesthetics, rich direction, and spectacular soundtrack make it that much of an experience either way.

[legionofpotatoes]

the only truly innovative thing the new doctored strange does in the context of the em cee you is that it really really really doesn't try to be likable or charming, and it sucks how much that stands out and feels "fresh" now

spoilers from this point on. my usual disjointed thoughts

I sort-of like the bookending. the "are you happy" stuff. roping in the issues of consequence and guilt, pitting that against wanda's baggage, folding in his ego and shitty interpersonal relationship skills, managing to sponge out some form of character catharsis, passing it on to youth. almost great. it was broken up and dramatized super unevenly, but his final pep talk as a rotting zombie with a fully locked emotional close-up was peak raimi and almost exactly the type of camp and tonal flexibility these genre films lost over time

but it's the simple, non-grandiose stuff that really works and gets to the heart of very-very basic storytelling. admitting love and fear to mcadams, the bowing to wong, the choice to transcend ruthless calculus. and all of it actually motivated. elemental two-step arcs! none of this is in any way groundbreaking, but I'd need extra limbs to count all the marvel films where protagonists don't really change in meaningful ways. again, it genuinely sucks that basic shit like this feels fresh

and it mostly works on the other end as well but eurgh the wanda stuff. I get how on a story level it foils with strange but I have such a personal bone to pick with narratives painting motherhood as madness and didn't wandavision deal with all this crap already. jesus christ give that woman some meat on her lines she tries so hard to work with the scraps

sam raimi said shallow cameos are meaningless fodder and treated them as such. king shit

there's always a high caliber woman being wasted in every marvel movie huh? rachel mcadams you deserve so much better than this

you also deserve a nicer wig. no one agrees with me but it, uh. stands out?? my kingdom for due appreciation towards makeup departments in these films, but likeee

I really want to say danny elfman killed it but I can't recall a single motif or memorable musical moment. yes, even the literal musical moment was mostly, kind-of, sort-of musical in various chopped-up bits

and really most of the magic in these films is just conjuring up medieval-style tools it feels like. or fireballs! this isn't really a nitpick but more of a symptom - I understand how maddening it must feel to keep thinking up creative ways to maintain people in Disney-aliveTM states as they face literal gods and sorcerers

I truly believe that pacing - ergo structural editing - is only bad if you simultaneously care about and suck at it. And I feel like there's a tangible difference between someone who understands craft and is deliberately wheeling the ship into stormy waters to end up getting away with and having way more fun, and someone who's barely managing to keep it together to get the bow pointed north. Incredibly convoluted metaphor but I think it gets there

somewhat related to this - always a big thumbs up from me when a movie squeaks by at 2 hours of runtime. respects my time, nerves, and bladder

felt like sam raimi made this for sure. in aesthetics mostly, and partly in its gnarly, horror-esque ethos to punish and exact swift consequence on characters both deserving and not - right up to the closing shot with the eye. it's a fun way to approach superhero movies, but something the fancam crowd will certainly hate. it attempts some textual horror as well, but it don't work that well when you know exactly who the monster in the shadows is (evil soccer mom with seven movies and a tv show)

I appreciate the totally deliberate references to doom eternal nobody correct me on this. wanda had hell barons in her single-room fortress! and they totally glory killed that cacodemon in the beginning! yeah! cool! I have no clue what exactly happened to captain marvel but sure, that too!

briefly amending the danny elfman comment because I just remembered the x-men cartoon jingle when xavier first rolled in. Goofy, inexplicable, why not just throw that in there, yeah!

I've seen token characters expanded into full ones through sequels, but mordo truly innovates by somehow doing the opposite

In conclusion: okayest superhero movie of 2022. not too interesting. won't watch again

[starvels]

5, 16, 27, 38, 49 <3

hi sweet ev! thanks for asking 💖

answering asks from this fic writer's meme!

5. how long have you been writing?

i would say i've been writing since i was a kid ! i've always loved poems and prose and i made up two whole fantasy verses and started writing them and character designing when i was like, 10. so longer fiction has always appealed to me. i was the annoying kid that always wanted an essay in school instead of multiple choice, haha.

but yeah, for fandom: i started writing naruto fic when i was in my early teens too, that never saw the light of day. then i was in og spn fandom for a bit and marvel and a:tla and fma and then one direction and then all the way back to naruto and marvel to publish a shit ton of words. life's a circle is the answer!

16. easiest verse to write

mm interesting question!

i feel like i go through phases. for me at this moment, 1872 is real easy to slide into, but in general, we were meant as a verse is very easy to write (and does still have two sequels on my drive awaiting my attention span long enough to finish) and respiraro, si te videro, which uh, i guess its a secret but i have...already started writing...more for...dkjnbkd

27. best review you ever got

oooh difficult! i won't say reviews are best or worst type things, so here are two (relatively) recent ones that i hold p dear:

on rstv:

I'm losing my mind, this is so good. The way you wove the requested elements in, and gave them narrative purpose and emotional weight and coherence within the universe as written. The way you didn't handwave stuff away, physical or emotional, and let revelations and character development be messy and imperfect for both of them.

which felt rly good bc rstv is actually a much heavier plot than i usually do and it is such a complex one to boot, that i was worried about conveying everything well. really affirmed that i am capable of doing this level of intricacy in plot crafting, to me!

and someone in my dune discord server shared with me what they said to a friend of theirs abt my writing in general:

do you ever read something in a style you could probably never write in and just feel this feeling that's like half awe and half burning jealousy? like I this isn't even how I write, but I wish I could write like this, because I like it so much

which felt very uplifting and delightful, coming from a person who is as technically skilled and well read as they are. i've had some worries about how purple my prose is and how meandering my plots are and when i hear things that say my style in particular is enjoyable, it really makes me arthur_clench_fist.gif feel a lot!

38. do you reread your own stories?

oh absolutely, lol. i love what i write, it's catered to my niche interests. i have rstv open on my phone right now for pre-bed reading. and i do reread fics a lot in totality when i'm working on writing them, so i keep everything tidy and structured proper in my head, so i've been reading stop bath and devils in the canyon a lot lately.

will also say - i do read some of my own fics more than others. the ones i've written in massive marathon sprints of 10k a day (rstv, aws, wwm verse, wwwg, etc.) are in some ways more fun to read than ones i spent a long time writing, because they still feel a little mmmm shiny and i haven't worried so much about one line or another that it gives me stress to recall.

49. writing advice

identify what it is that you actually love about writing, and cultivate a relationship with the craft through that. hold onto the good feeling it inspires within you. don't worry so much about process or plot structure. take risks. take inspiration and organize it so you can actually look through it when you need inspiration. read people's work who write what you wanna write and how you wanna write and publish where you wanna write. find your community and be vocal in it; ask about your insecurities if you decide that improving on the craft is what you wanna do.

writing is a bit like carefully preparing meticulous slices of your heart for people to slurp down in a second. learn to meter out how much labor and expectation you want to extend to that cooking. don't take it to heart when people leave without a word to the chef. they still ate it.

find your community and be vocal in it!! nothing replaces a comforting voice in the middle of a vortex of self doubt, calling out to you to go the fuck to sleep because none of the demons roaming your work page at 4AM care about your delicate feelings.

[dragonssxheart]

Rebirth and Beyond

Some long-form thoughts about VII:Re so far as I'm barreling towards the end.

I'm only on Chapter 12 which is pretty close to the end of this game. More often than not I tend to second guess how I feel about these things as I feel like I'm missing something. Because I'm having fun I tend to doubt my perception of a story or what it is trying to accomplish. However, I've come to find I'm simply more forgiving than most. I prefer to meet a story half-way rather than throw the whole thing out. A narrative not accomplishing what it set out to do does not make it "bad" in that sense to me. Poorly executed but for me, Rebirth is a long way from "bad". The same way FFXV is a long way from bad narratively but that's another conversation. The problem from the outset for Rebirth was, from my view, how do you tell someone the middle of a story? Without a clear three-act structure what exactly do you do? I think Rebirth certainly tries to present itself in a conventional way but it doesn't really work as well as it should. SQX's approach to filling out the run-time of Rebirth is not executed very well simply because we're supposed to be going somewhere and we're not, at least not really. How do you tell the end of the middle of a story? You can't push the stakes too far because we're not at the end. You can't push the emotions too far because we're not at the end yet. Nothing can truly resolve because we're not at the end yet. So while we're getting a lot of time with the characters we're just kind of hanging out. To be honest, there's nothing wrong with just hanging out with the FFVII crew. I love these characters. I wish they had more banter as they run around. Considering what happens next I feel like Aerith should definitely have more things to say.

This can be seen in the way Rebirth opens. We're treated to a rendition of the Nibelhiem incident. Instead of a mystery unfolding before us we're shown what happens from the outset. We don't know how we got to Kalm or when but it can be assumed we walked there. The game is already banking on you having played Intergrade. Is this a problem? Well...maybe. I think it's better to approach Rebirth as a sequel rather than a Remake (no matter what the developers say). It strikes me that this is not necessarily a game made for people who are new to this story. It is but it is not. Mechanically it functions that way. A new person is absolutely going to need their money's worth from a game like this which is where I feel like a lot of the padding comes in, for better or worse. However, for someone familiar with this story things kind of fall apart here as the story is being told in a different way. In an effort to keep your attention every area and character has been turned up to 11 in Rebirth. We're not in the third act yet, remember? The middle of a story isn't usually all that long so we have to find a way to take you on another roller coaster ride. The answer seems to be to turn everything into a mini-game. Some good, some absolutely abysmal. This game does a great job of celebrating its nostalgia but almost to a detrimental degree. You had to hunt down and wrangle a Chocobo in the original right? Well, now you get to do it for every zone in a very poorly crafted stealth mini-game. Costa Del Sol is an amazingly fun time, treated with the same make-over that Wall Market had but underneath are mini-games galore. Not to mention that the highest score is required for every single one of them if you want to platinum the game (which I will NOT be doing). Even exploring the Shinra mansion is turned into a bit of a mini-game as you control Cait Sith to...throw boxes at switches.

The Zack chapters, don't really seem to have any importance so far. I mean they're setting something up obviously but they seem more like commercial breaks. Something to break up the litany of open-world bloat. Now, while the ubisoft towers they put in aren't the most abysmal thing ever it's very clear that SQX is using every modern gaming trick in the book to help you reach that 100 hour runtime. Chadley returns to be the most annoying character they've ever created as he chimes in constantly. They even gave him an assistant to bicker with.

Now the changes they've made to the story are hit or miss depending on who you're talking to. When the game is not slowing you down with messy mini-game mechanics it's going at break neck speeds. I can only reassert that this was bound to happen as we're in the middle of the story. The pacing issues that Rebirth has is anchored around the fact that it has to save all of the good stuff for the end. Of the moments we do get, I think we have to analyze them isolated away from the original. What is the Remake trying to do with Dyne specifically? While in the OG the confrontation between Dyne and Barret is wonderfully done I don't think that makes the changes made in the Remake bad, just different. What we are treated to is wholly different than what we get in the OG but that's the point right? It's supposed to be different. They are re-telling the story. This was never going to be a 1:1 Remake. Does that the new confrontation bad? I don't think it does. It's still heartbreaking. It's still tragic. Just different. As for the boss battle after. Well, I think you can take a few ways. It's comedic and is emotionally tone-deaf. Which is fair. I think you could also (and this may be a stretch) see it as the party also not getting a moments rest so you don't either. Barret just had to put down his friend, someone he could call a brother, and yet here comes Shinra. They catch everyone off guard and now they're in the thick of a fight with the loathsome Palmer. The rail shooter was a little much but we come away from it with a more determined and resolute Barret. Different, not bad. in my opinion.

However, I cannot overstate how much I think the stifling of stakes and emotions are reliant upon them being in the middle of a story. They can only move things along at a certain pace or else this game would hilariously short for its price tag. I think Mr. Lodbrok is a perfect exmple of this. Trying to raise the stakes in a story where we already have a clear motive. We're chasing Sephiroth. We're discovering the Black Materia and The Temple of The Ancients. It's all there but move too fast and Aerith is dead before Cloud has his Costa Del Sol outfit off.

All in all, I'm having fun with Rebirth even if it suffering narratively and is absolutely dragging its story onward with bad mini-games. However, "bad"? Nay, it will not come from my lips.

[legacyofacat]

[8] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

Chapter 8

The flotilla was on its way again once morning dawned, moving with the sun in the back.

Churchgrim was enjoying its warmth openly, lying in the sunlight, while Zeitwächter sat on the railing, choosing the places thrown into shadow by her superstructure.

Kongō, for her part, was slinking around the piano on her deck as if fighting with herself whether she should play it or not.

It was a sensitive topic, Zeitwächter knew that, but she pitied the blonde immensely.

She heaved herself up, the damaged structure of her knee turning the action into a real effort: "Kon-chama!", she switched to the cheery voice and waved happily, "can we start with the piano today? It's such a long and boring way~"

The blonde’s head had snapped up when she’d heard her name, the corners of her lips concealing a smile, most likely well aware of what her friend was doing.

"I see you're eager. Come over."

Zeitwächter jumped over with a shout of "Yay!" and then stood there, prim and proper, while waiting for orders.

Kongō gave off an amused huff and led the other over to the instrument, sitting down on the bench together: "How much do you already know?"

It wouldn't do to bore her with knowledge she already possessed, after all.

"Not much", the battleship looked sheepish, "I can't read music sheets, but I do know that one normally begins with the right hand and also that it goes 'c d e f g a h'. Ah! I think… this one is c?", she hesitantly pointed towards a key.

"That's right", Kongō nodded, "well done."

Zeitwächter beamed in an insecure manner (that that was even possible…) and explained: "Parasite taught me. Onē-chan still remembers quite a bit…"

Right, her sister was Parasite.

It felt so natural to be with Zeitwächter, that Kongō sometimes caught herself forgetting other people existed – that numbed the pain to a certain amount, but it was still something she would need to get under control.

"We'll start with something easy", she made a few pieces of blank paper and a pen out of nanomaterial, using it to write a simple melody in letters instead of notes and put it up, "try playing that, don't worry about the speed."

But the speed wasn’t the problem.

Shifting around a bit to get her hand into a comfortable position, her eyes rushed over the white keys almost in a panic and she repeated 'c d e f g a h' in her head various times.

She felt her right begin to shake, clenching the hand into a fist various times before finally lowering it together with her head: "I don't know…"

Kongō wore a schooled expression; while the reaction itself didn't surprise her, its strength sure did.

Though, when thinking back, as Fatum she used to be shy and quiet, but everytime she showed emotion it was strong. Back then Kongō didn’t have a Mental Model yet, so her perception could very well just be altered, but that was her interpretation.

What's more, whatever altered Zeitwächter’s body so badly had taken a heavy blow on her processor, so the ship's inability to connect the keys with the notes might also very well be influenced by that.

"Hey, don't worry, that's nothing bad", her pale hand grabbed the other’s fist and moved it back up, "here, try it now. Is that better?"

The keys had letters on them now and Zeitwächter’s widened eyes met Kongō's: "You don't need to alter your piano for me! It's a keepsake, right!? I-"

"It's fine."

That made Zeitwächter stop in her path.

"If I want to, I'll just change them back."

"But…", she stopped. 

Arguing with Kongō was a senseless activity as she was proud and headstrong – arguing with a wall would get you more results because you could use force to just break through.

"With the right, right?"

"Yes."

Zeitwächter played the same melody a few times, Kongō adding new lines once her student could play the next, slowly adding a second hand and soon it had transformed into an actual song.

When her current playthrough ended, Zeitwächter finally allowed herself a breathing break: "Phew… what song is that?"

Kongō, who had stopped supervising with her eyes a while ago and instead taking to scribbling on the still blank papers from before, didn't look up: "It's called Dawning Light, but I gave you a simplified version."

"Dawning Light?", she blinked, "I never heard of it."

"I wonder why."

"Did you write it?"

"No", she said, you know, like a liar.

A different Zeitwächter might have been able to sniff out the lie, but this one was just ready to accept it: "Oh, okay. In any case, it’s a very nice song."

Thank you, Kongō thought and then put her things away to pay full attention to the other: "I'm glad you like it. Where are we going, by the way?"

"Ironbottom Sound!", the battleship beamed.

"...Thank you…"

"Ahaha, don't be mad! At the very least, I would have told you before actually entering the area!"

"I do hope so, it's sacred after all."

"Oh", that brat looked genuinely surprised, "you know that?"

Kongō sighed heavily, forehead in her hand: "Zeitwächter, I had enough time to read various books, why are you surprised that I know something like that?"

"...Oh, right, supercomputer."

"Please don't tell me you forgot that you're one yourself."

The sheepish grin really was answer enough.

A small part of Kongō wished that she would get money every time she had to actively suppress a sigh or eyeroll.

--

Start Last Next

Friendly reminder that Maya had to google "jam" for this woman (who was able to quote Sun Tzu or something)

Can also be found on:

DeviantArt Wattpad ff.net AO3

[bruxadehekate]

Feeling healed from the common cold, I've been asked from someone to whom I've done a reading before (for a different situation) to take another reading to help her in a college matter, I'm analyzing this reading below 👇🏻✨ (long analysis, 3 different spreads)

Yet again I made a big clean up on my room, broomed the floor, cleaned my desk, put away the fresh laundry and of course lighted my incense along with good music and cheers

This time I had my hopes a bit up due to the moon water I've made during the super blue moon, I couldn't wait for it to deepen my intuition, however through the reading, I think it made out for the week I spent away from tarot due to my illness. Anyway, it was of great help!

As I was alone and my requester wasn't asnwering my texts I went through her audio explaining her situation to get a grasp of her emergy while shuffling the cards, this was the cards I drew:

Spread 1

This spread is about the connection between two people, in this case my requester and the person she's been having conflict in college. To make it clear, I know my requester very well and could tell already how her cards (the two left) made a lot of sense.

She's a pacifier like the Temperance, trying to find a way to make everyone happy, trying to balance all parts even of they're very opposites. Her challenge was also clear, she is emotional like the Empress, putting everyone's desires above her own, even from people who wouldn't do the same for her.

The other person was the deal, I do not know them outside what my requester had explained and told me in other occasions (not much). The cards drawn (two right) also are very opposites but the spread structure helped me read them a lot better.

The Hermit is about solitude and self learning, however I've got a big feeling that what it really means is the person is hiding something, be it an insatisfaction towards requester or their college matter, or an emotion repressed. The Sun, on the other side, is about openness, shining, but as a challenge, it might represent too much light, meaning the person might be too exhibitionist, attention seeker and individualist.

Again, I do not know the person irl, so I left the task for my requester to analyze it deeper, at first she felt like the description was off.

Finally, the fifth card (above) is their uniting force between them, and I admit the Star was quite the challenge to read. It's one of the most positive cards among the Major Arcana but the situation overall is not positive, so I had to dig. I came to the conclusion both sides feel like their attitudes are correct, neither thinks of overcoming their challenges (one putting herself first and the other leaving their individualism behind). They might even be playing dumb towards said challenges, thinking it all will be solved on its own.

Spread 2

This is called Clarity spread, I felt necessary to get a grasp of my requester's situation (card 1) and it's factors (cards 2-4)

Her situation is VERY clear, she's got tangles all over, everything is a mess and only a (big) change can help untangle those knots

Her factors are just as clear, Justice brings the weight of decisions, she might know exactly how to act towards her situation, but a tough decision is less attractive than several light decisions that are not effective but easier to execute. The Devil alerts about old habits, or perhaps toxic relationships, which speaks directly to the Lovers, an overall positive card but in this reading might be taken literally, the people requester chose to keep by her side are contributing more towards her problem than to her solutions.

Spread 3

I admit, before this spread, I tried the connection spread several times because nothing seemed to make sense, the only spread that came close was the very first one (the first from this analysis that I decided to take a photo of) but I still had doubt. I tried several times and my back started to hurt.

Before going back to the picture and trying to read it properly I laid back on my chair and asked for one card to represent the issuing person, it was the Emperor, which represents both solid and bold structure that is great at building things but can also be stubborn, authoritarian and even oppressive. It made sense.

To that, I took the next card to represent requester, and funnily enough it was the Empress, it's perfect counter, being creative, nurturing and caring, sometimes exaggerated and too needy, doing everything for people who don't deserve it.

Finally, I asked for a card to represent their situation, and the next card is the tower. It's their current storm, it looks like everything is falling apart (maybe it is) and that their current pain will heal and become experience, I also took it as a message not to be too pessimist, specially to my requester after presenting her so many negative cards about her situation with person.

･✧･･✧･･✧･

In this specific reading I was indeed looking towards each card's negative face because the situation was an issue between them, it's not positive or else it wouldn't be an issue.

Bring cards' common meanings would be reading the same paragraphs over and over looking for an answer that's not there, specially for the Sun or the Star (if you own Wild Unknown Tarot, you know what I mean).

Requester found all the readings quite accurate, most of the issues presented were indeed things she'd noticed before, either in her own attitudes or others'. One thing she disagreed was the first spread's sun, indicating individualism or attention seeker, she couldn't recall memories of person acting that way.

Later today, requester had news about her college matter and we started a call for her to tell me more about it all and I asked more about person, in one story in particular requester said how person seemed to disregard her and other people's words during a class presentation, and there I could see that Sun card, someone trying to glow brighter than the others, eager for compliments and credit.

Again, I shouldn't be so shocked to learn how the cards are indeed correct, yet deep inside I hope requester will solve her issues even if my reading turns out to be faulty or wrong about person. Honestly, I don't really think it is.

[aranarumei]

araki hours... going to talk abt his covers of villain and call boy bc they have some of my fav arrangment choices. which is ABSOLUTELY one of the reasons he has some of my alltime favorite covers and is my fav utaite in general. in addition to the fact that i just like his voice lmao. will keep this under a cut bc i babble

ok so villain can be up first. one of my favorite songs, and one of my favorite covers.

first off: his voice is just... so good for this song. i think thats exemplified in both here and call boy, because both of them really suit a voice thats kind of... yknow rough, a bit disinterested? which araki can definitely do. his voice just flows so well with the emotions to me like with the “nee” bit in the second verse, the way he gets like audibly louder and more aggressive? great. one of my favoriteeeee parts in this is around 1:05, where araki does this fun “ooh”ing over the whole “villain villain villain” bit, and it’s so. it made me go back and check the original and i’d thought the part he was singing was just an instrumental line but listening back it actually really sounds like flower’s voice with a lot of effects on it! and i think it is So Cool to be like. re-voicing that bc it sounds sooo good when its brought out like that. and then!! and then at the first chorus with the “ageku no biran” line, there’s just this nice added part in the back that extends to “no” into “no-o-o” and it sounds so good for real. but bc its like. a bit quieter it doesnt rly detract from the silence between “ageku no” and “biran” that the first chorus has... to me at least. i think smthing abt villain that i really love as a song is that its got soooo many lil flairs and flourishes that rly add to the whole thing, and it feels like araki rly commits to showing those off? like all the doubling thats here in this song. its so good. like the way the hits on “life” in the “dakatsu life” really, well... hit. the layered vocals sound so good.

secondly: call boy. gahhh again his voice just sounds sooo good w/ this song. like the whole song itself is this thing of like. oh fuck everything im in a destructive spiral and araki just totally embodies that callous feeling to me. im sure anybody who’s listened to his cover already knows what im talking abt but the line around 0:40 (”naa nandemo yaru kara sa”) is so. like the laugh between “naa” and “nandemo” ABSOLUTELY characterizes the song so well. its such a good detail and doesnt feel out of place at all, especially bc call boy also has a bunch of like those little vocal flourishes and interjections(? idk how to describe them) within the song. other things i LOVE though. in that same line when the “sa” is held out right before dropping into the next line and then the chorus, the instrumental has this little like. it walks up a few notes to build tension. and araki just voices that with lil “ooh”s! it sounds so good. then theres the chorus which is like. it sounds great. again lots of layered vocals which is great! it sounds absolutely explosive and also like, a party so very in-theme for the song to me. and then! the chorus ends with “don’t stop / kamawazu ni mou ippai” which gets repeated with some variation after each chorus. love that line. but araki also adds like some “ooh”ing vocals here which kind of... matches the instrumental? like its working off of the same base structure but it’s really not a one-to-one. but again it like really adds to the impact and it sounds good and I really think it makes it so like. the thing he did before feels consistent and reasonable instead of just random. these lil vocal additions right before and at the end of the chorus happen for all three times the chorus comes around! such a nice detail. and OF COURSE i have to mention the last line (”won’t stop / shinu mae ni mou ippai”) because oh my god. in the og this line is basically sung how it is in the first chorus, but the “i” in “ippai” is accented/held just a lil for some oomph. araki goes and like. changes the rhythm a little and ends up landing on a much higher note than how the usual line ends and it absolutely is just like. oh great that had so much energy to it that i’m ruined for other covers now.

ok thats everything. i hope i could describe this well enough bc i know fuck all abt music.