#long-ish post

[tribow]

Why do I tell people to play indie games?

K' so you may have seen that post I made a little while ago asking people reblog and put into the tags an indie game that they did NOT like.

I made that post because I wanted to hear about what indie games people had bad experiences with. There was another post I made saying "Tell me you don't play indie games without telling me you don't play indie games" in response to a ton of youtube videos saying modern video games are no longer fun. A lot of tags would say, "Well indie games can suck too!" This response was extremely silly to me and I wanted to know what games they could be talking about.

I didn't ask for it, but so many people starting explaining why they didn't like a certain game. So I decided to make a little pie chart with the reason people would give in the tags

There are some outliers not here. There were 5 tags saying a game offended them and some responses that were too specific to really count. Half of the posts also gave no explanations so I'm not going to act like this is representative of every response on that post.

Okay so what's the point? Why did I do this?

There's this one 30 minute video by Josh Strife Hayes that does a super good job showcasing all of the bad practices that happen with modern gaming. He talks about each issue thoroughly, but I'll list them here:

Microtransactions, Limited Progression, Invite Boosts, Premium Currency, Loyalty Programs, Selling Power, Battlepasses, and Selling Progression

He doesn't even mention other issues like games releasing in clearly unfinished states, games that are clearly chasing trends, and game developers being restricted by their publishers.

Why is this significant? Well answer me this: Was there a single tag response in my post that complains about an indie game doing these things?

Say what you want about indie games, but I bet you didn't pay $60 and got psychologically manipulated to spend more on that game. I bet you weren't getting manipulated by some free to play model to spend more money than you would on a normal game. I bet the game actually released in a finished state and even if it did, the game clearly communicated it wasn't done.

Sure, you could give me examples of indie games that do have those bad practices, but I guarantee you that you cannot prove that most indie games do this.

So yeah, play indie games. Don't support corporate bullshit unless you know the game was made with the player's best interest in mind.

[kaeyachi]

Years ago, when Diluc left, Kaeya was shorter than him.

He has always been shorter than Diluc, from the moment they met when Crepus rescued a shivering Kaeya from the storm till the night Diluc ran off to search for answers in the freezing climate of Snezhnaya after scarring the younger one's face.

Diluc, for the longest time after his return to Mondstat, thought that Kaeya was still shorter than him. Kaeya was more outgoing, confident, flamboyant, different, but him being taller than Kaeya seemed to be a fact in his brain that wouldn't budge.

However, one day, in the middle of a disagreement with the younger, did he realize that Kaeya had grown taller than him.

For a moment, he was pissed. How the hell did Kaeya grow taller than him? That doesn't make any sense!

But then he thought oh. Kaeya was now taller than him. He wasn't there to see him grow taller.

He wasn't there on Kaeya's 18th birthday. He wasn't there to celebrate with Kaeya on his promotion to cavalry captain. He wasn't there to see when Kaeya grew independent and made a name for himself.

Diluc stares at Kaeya. He still looks the same, more jaded, but still the young boy who followed him around when they were younger, but when did he grow older too?

Where did the time go?

.

.

.

Kaeya later forms a snowball to hit him on the face with and Diluc, while sputtering and fuming, can't help but feel relieved that some things never change (even if that unchanging thing was Kaeya's mischievous tendencies)

-aka diluc experiencing what older siblings experience when they go home after a long time and they see their siblings are now grown ups, but they can't make sense of it because in their eyes, theyre still the little baby siblings to them-

[ohnonotthehorrors]

Right, walk with me as I dive into Canary Curse/SecretLife Martyn lore.

The current working theories are:

A: Jimmy is a sign of doom to his allies. Most of his allies have done poorly when partnered with him (Scott, Mumbo, Tango, Joel, and now Martyn), at least in reference to their usual abilities.

B: Watchers dislike Martyn. (And Jimmy)

These are valid in my mind and pair well with the phenomenon. However, I don't think it's exactly what is happening.

Which leads me to a mildly popular theory I'm still debating about (which will be my main point of this post):

Martyn is actively sacrificing himself for Jimmy.

It's not a poor theory, but I don't think it's accurate. For one, it doesn't fit wonderfully with Martyn's character (in game), which is untrustworthy, turncoat, and survivalist among other things.

But lets talk about why I DO like it first.

So this theory is similar to a different situation that happened in limited life. When Joel famously said after Jimmy died 'I was going to sacrifice myself for him, so he wouldn't go out first.' Most people have taken that to mean 'I was going to give him my time/let him perma-kill me.'

What's interesting about this is Joel is going about it in a very productive way. He is gathering time from other players, which he will then give to Jimmy to further Jimmy's odds. It could technically also imply that Joel doesn't plan to die instantly. If he has enough time he can share with Jimmy without full sacrifice.

Joel never got a chance to do this. Making the words tragic and full of broken hope, especially considering how he was then hunted by the majority of the server. Soon dying near where Jimmy fell.

Martyn's actions would be tragic in a very very different way.

This isn't a man being productive. this is a man actively self destroying. looking the universe in the face as he chooses to beat it just seconds before it can kill it's favorite punching bag.

I can not begin to describe how much this feels like a man clawing victory out of a race only he knows he's participating in. (Only he knows hes Winning)

Martyn is not Helping Jimmy's case. He isn't somehow giving him more time on earth or showering him in diamond armor until he's safe. This is not a story where the victory will come sweet, this is one where the victory is death. Not more time with friends and family. Death.

I genuinely love imagining that. Full stop.

However, I don't think it's the Reasoning behind Martyn's actions. (at least partly)

Martyn is known partly for Rebellion. Or at least, THINKING about rebellion. (see, that's an important detail)

Character Martyn always planned on betraying Ren. Always. He was going to mutiny, coup, whatever you want to call it, from day one.

In Double life he doesn't live with his soulmate. Actively, killing them at one point. In Last life he begins talking to Them, beginning his journey into becoming a Listener agent.

In Limited life he actively disobeys the unspoken rules of conduct. (Which, to be clear, I do not think actually EXIST). He steals peoples kills, he acts amicable only to knife people in the back seconds later, he killed people that are supposed to be his allies. In a game where everyone was loyal he he betrayed his closest ally to win the game.

Now. Here's where the Thinking comes into play.

Martyn is never actually rebelling.

Not in any meaningful way at least. It's like the crab in the bucket example, he's pulling other crabs down to get to the mouth of the bucket (winning) and in doing so he Thinks he's rebelling. But he's actually just playing into the Death Game.

throughout this whole thing the ONLY thing he can do to rebel would have been to simply not play the game.

(Which is technically true from a Meta stand point as well)

Martyn could have let himself die. Could have refused to kill. In doing so he is causing the most active form of rebellion against the people Watching, in that he is giving them nothing to watch. He is refusing to PLAY the Death Game.

Now. He didn't chose to do that...

But what if he did THIS time?

Martyn has succeeded his goal, he's won. He is the fourth winner of the life series. And guess what?

It got him SHIT.

An hour and a half of abject loneliness in an abandoned war torn server, all while he slowly waited to die. And after? No escape. No nothing, just right back into the Game.

It's a little like the universe is laughing at him.

"Oh, you thought this would make you Special? You thought this would beet us? This is exactly what we always wanted"

So that one goal Martyn's had since the beginning? Gone. Out the window. And if THAT option is gone, there's really only one left:

I don't think Martyn is trying to die first to save Jimmy. I think Martyn is trying to die first to beet the Watchers/Universe.

(After all. What's a bigger fuck you than breaking the most solid curse in the game?)

[henrysglock]

It does actually upset me a fair amount that Henry's story is never about himself in fanon or canon.

TFS? Picked apart for byler parallels and willel content. Picked apart for Jopper content. Does Henry's story even register as anything more than background noise? Does it matter? Does he matter in his own story? Or is he only important as a support for someone else?

The VR game? Picked apart for byIer content, eImax content, wilIel content. Nothing to be said for Henry's childhood and time in the lab, which takes up more than a third of the game. Once again, Henry's ignored and sidelined.

For the majority of his life his story itself isn't even about him. Canon childhood? Revolves around Virginia and Brenner (and Patty, in TFS). Then he's just another dead kid in the obits. Even Patty seems to have forgotten him for whatever reason after he's taken by Brenner.

Canon teen-adulthood? Revolves around Brenner and El. He's a number, a caregiver for children who only exist because of him, but who will never be aware of that fact and the implications it carries, and a pet to Brenner...and maybe a coworker at best.

He doesn't exist as something actually lovable until El starts caring about him. His trauma as One doesn't exist until he gets his few minutes of "being quietly upset about 20+ years of mistreatment" time while he's surrounded by the corpses of children he was fond of, children that he more than likely didn't kill because they don't actually exist, given that they fucking move and blink out of existence altogether. (Even that is deemed too long by the fandom, who would really rather see cute, useless scenes of wiIlel. or byIer. or. or. or. Less than 15 minutes of words for 20+ years of abuse, and it's "too much". He's "joker-fied" for being upset at all. Really I guess he should just be grateful he got to tell his story before El blasted him into the ether (over something we can't actually prove he did), whether that ether be the darkness of NINA or the fires of Dimension X. Should he take a bow and leave gracefully? Would you like him to get down on his knees and thank the security cameras before he goes? Should he have pinned himself to the wall? Should the lamb get on the alter and tie its own legs for the sacrifice?)

He ceases to exist entirely outside of Brenner as soon as El's memories of him are wiped.

Henry only exists again in relation to crimes he's blamed for but there's only flimsy circumstantial proof linking him to.

Henry's blamed for the murder of children that often times blink out of reality altogether, children we only seem to see in a fucked up Matrix-like computer simulation. Children he sounded fond of, and who were fond of him in return, even if they didn't really know him.

Henry's accused of manipulating El, but there's no solid proof that he did so. In fact, there's more proof saying he didn't do that, and was genuinely trying to get her to leave out the tunnel...but we don't acknowledge that. We also don't acknowledge that he stuck El in a closet to keep her safe while he went out alone into only God knows what situation.

Henry's blamed for Will's disappearance, despite the fact that Vecna (whoever he is) makes no mention of Will at all in canon, and when he does make mention in the VR...Will's already in the UD/void Castle Byers. There's no actual evidence linking him to Will's kidnapping in the shed. Vecna notices Will, but as of yet we have no solid evidence that he stole him.

And if he were to come back for some kind of "redemption arc", which I hesitate to even call a redemption arc, since we have no solid proof that he's got a body count over [checks notes] two: Virginia, whose circumstances of death are muddled with TFS, and that one guard in 4.07. (Yes, only the one guard. He threw the other four. There's no confirmation that they were anything more than knocked out, especially in a scene where they make a point to clearly show who Henry killed.) We can't even say he killed Alice, since we haven't seen the circumstances of her death...in fact, it's more likely he didn't kill her, based on what we know about his powers. Henry has a reliable body count of two, and both of them arguably had it coming. One had just sold him and his best friend out to Brenner, two children as lambs to the slaughter on the alter of "give Virginia Creel her normal life back :((((", and the other was an imminent threat to his and El's safety.

So I hesitate to call his possible return a redemption arc, because what does Henry have to be redeemed for? And if he were to have this "redemption" arc, he'd likely be put on the chopping block for people who haven't given him a second glance since 1959 (El aside).

I mean...how fucking unfair.

An unloved child sold to a freak doctor, imprisoned and abused for 20 years, forgotten entirely for the next 7 years, and scapegoated to the nth fucking degree as soon as he's brought back into the picture not of his own volition but because Brenner and El and Nancy dug him up and decided he was definitely and unquestionably to-blame for everything.

And were he to be absolved of any association...he'd likely immediately be expected to sacrifice himself for the "greater good".

Like...this guy had better get a happy ending or so help me god.

[soopsiedaisies]

potter, james potter

@roalinda @lovelymasks

“Potter, James Potter” is basically a Spy x Family au. A super-spy from a country that is vaguely based on Berlin Wall!western europe (Westalis) has to go undercover in a country that is vaguely based on East-Germany (Ostania), in order to ensure there’s no new war starting. He has to assume a new identity, acquire a child, enrol the child in a prestigious school, and make contact with the Main Guy who’s a big danger to a new war starting, Abraxas. He also has to get married. It’s a found family but an actual family, basically.

James Potter (code name: Prongs; most talented spy of the Order of the Phoenix, the intelligence agency; professional liar) is a psychiatrist who adopts a little orphan boy called Harry. Harry can read minds. James does not know this. Harry’s also four, not six; James does not know this either. But he’s ‘papa’ now and he takes this task very seriously.

In order for little mind-reading Harry to enrol in the super elite school, James also needs to be married. His informant Franky Franklin Severus Snape tries to help him with this but Severus doesn’t make a convincing woman (to Harry’s amusement). Enter Sirius Black, code name ‘Padfoot’: a regular guy who is terrified to be seen as a spy, and who needs a boyfriend/husband ASAP. He’s also one of the best Assassins in the country, but nobody knows this. They get engaged in a very beautiful scene filled with dead criminals and an exploding grenade. It’s all very romantic.

Anyway then they’re a family and it’s a whole fluff fest. The whole family loves each other to pieces (“For the mission” - Agent Prongs) but They Do Not Know about the secret identities. An idyllic family of Liars. Harry (very advanced for his actual age) hates studying but needs to in order to advance in school. Harry also punches Draco (very annoying; son of the guy James needs to stop) on the first day of school. He’s one step closer to expulsion every time he enters the school and it stresses James out So Much because Harry needs to remain in school because the mission would fail otherwise. Sirius is mainly stressed about being a Good Husband (he doesn’t know how). Snape is a reluctant fun uncle. Also Lily is like the Head Spy of the Order.

Regulus (raised by Sirius and obsessed with Sirius) also has a secret identity: he’s part of the secret service. He Hates James so much. Despises him, really. James is not worthy of Sirius. He’s got a bit of a brother complex/daddy complex.

Also James figures out that Regulus is part of the Secret Service the moment Regulus tries to ‘get to know’ him. James cannot, for the life of him, figure out that Sirius (the husband he’s with for several hours every day) is an assassin. James panics when he thinks Sirius is mad at him (for the mission). Love makes blind, I guess.

Here’s a snippet:

James Potter walks past bags of rubbish and through rotting, rusted gates, approaches the doors of a rather dilapidated building without a hint of anxiety. Wool’s Orphanage isn’t exactly the height of luxury, but it’s for the best: these children are scarred and quiet and likely hardworking, easy to forge a background for. He would know.

The Matron, an older woman who calls herself Mrs Cole, is drunk. The children may be fed and dry and clean, but they all look miserable and frightened. Prongs—James asks for the smartest kid of the lot, one who can at least read and write. Matron doesn’t seem to have to think for long before leading him to one of the many cramped little rooms, and then gestures at a little boy who can’t be older than four.

“I’m six,” says the boy immediately, rocking back and forth on his feet. He’s cute, in that way a ragged animal with torn ears is cute. His eyes are massive and green, his black hair is a mess, his features are sharp. “I’m Harry.”

“He doesn’t look six,” says James. Can he even read yet?

“I guess.” Mrs Cole sniffs. “Smartest of the lot though. Can do the crossword—”

Harry procures a puzzle book and a pencil from somewhere, sits down, and begins to scribble. It’s not a particularly hard crossword for a trained spy such as himself, and Prongs can answer several hints correctly with nary a glance; but then Harry holds the crossword up, triumphant, and Prongs sees it’s all filled in correctly.

He does not goggle. Spies do not goggle.

“I’ll take him,” he tells the boozed-up Matron. The wording does not leave a bad taste in his mouth. That’s been trained out of him.

“Brilliant,” says Mrs Cole. She looks sickly pleased to have Harry taken off her hands. “I’ll get the papers ready.”

[far-side-skies]

Crystal Headcanons - Fan-Crystals

So over time I've come up with a big collection of fan/headcanon crystals for Storm Hawks. It's such a fascinating concept to me that I feel didn't get explored often enough in the show, despite them making up the entirety of the world's established magic system and being crucial to other parts of life such as travel and combat. I love making up new crystals to fill the world with so here's all the ones I have so far. I may have missed some, but this is most if not all of the crystals I've made up for stuff like plot, macguffins or just because I saw a random game mechanic I liked and thought "can I make up a crystal that does that?"

Some of these were made in collaboration with @ashe-alter. The raystones, hex crystal and channelling stone are the main three, but they've helped me figure out bits and pieces of other ones in this list. Go check out Grimm's stuff, they just made an ask blog for their awesome oc Austry too.

Borealis crystals: The colour of the Aurora. Popular in ski and snow resorts across Atmos, Borealis crystals are capable of changing the weather to snowfall. High-grade ones in the hands of powerful mages can even be used to summon vicious snowstorms. Must be handled with care, as an unstable, leaking Borealis crystal can cause Borealis poisoning, a chronic condition that shortens your lifespan.

Magnesis crystals: Silvery crystals with a metallic sheen. These are crystals that produce their own powerful magnetic field. Frequently used in heavy lifting equipment.

Leechlights: Black-purple in colour. Rare. Adjacent to leech crystals, leechlights are able to absorb light in order to create pockets of darkness. They are a favourite of Cyclonia's Nightcrawlers, awarded to their highest ranking officers.

Orbital stones: White, shard-like crystals. Splintered bones of death itself. Capable of severing the soul from the body. Handle with extreme caution, deadly to undead beings and dangerous for individuals with a silver allergy. Do Not channel into a Crescendo.

Memory stones: Yellow. Used to store memories for safekeeping. Legends tell of an ancient demigod who first created these crystals to record history.

Adreno crystals: Another crystal with origins in myth. On the surface they seem like standard purple energy crystals, until you realise how uneasy they make you feel. Their true power is that they cause an increase in adrenaline and stress-related hormones, triggering one's fight or flight response and heightening anxiety.

Rally stones: Myth origin. Comes in red or green. Red triggers passion, green triggers fury. Has disturbing uses in brainwashing rituals.

Raystones: Gold like the sun. Uncommon. Adjacent to sol crystals, they turn sunlight into concentrated blades and are better suited for weaponry.

Echo crystals: Light blue. Used to record audio and play it back, a common component of record discs and tape players.

Saltpetre crystals: Often colourless. Explosive crystals used for fireworks. A vital component to most firearms.

Glowstone: Can come in many colours. A Minecraft reference. Popular among crystal smiths for weapons development, glowstones aren't particularly bright and absolutely useless in combat. They do, however, leave a trail of light wherever they go that lingers like a long-exposure photograph. This makes them useful for navigating caves without having to scratch marks into the walls, and smiths use them to check the energy-conductive tracks in crystal powered weapons.

Bifrost crystals: Range from purple to blue-green. Incredibly rare but usually found among deposits of borealis crystals. At a glance, they're not anything special, but when struck by a bifrost powered weapon, the target is swathed in a shroud of shimmering light. A second strike causes said light to detonate around the target. If this sounds familiar, it's because I took this from a God of War Ragnarok mechanic.

Avia crystals: Green. A unique legendary set of crystals belonging to the Amazonian royal family. With these crystals, users can take the form of a bird, and if used in tandem with the rest of the set, they can turn other people into birds too.

Thunder opals: Opalescent stones that can create loud cracks of thunder and a wave of force when activated. High grade thunder opals are indicated by their white colouration. Lower grade ones with less force are popular with sound effects artists for use in movies, songs and radio productions. Black ones are silent but still produce a deadly shockwave when used.

Deadwood crystals: Dusty brown in colour. Frequently making up the cores of arid Terras, deadwood crystals create dry winds that can escalate into dust storms and twisters if used in the right environments.

Channelling stones: (aka Godtrapper crystals) There are many debates as to whether or not these crystals actually exist. They can be used to steal the power of divine beings for mortals to use for themselves.

Hex crystals: One of the only crystals with a 'liquid' form, hex crystals produce a purple substance known as Hexane that can be used to store oxygen, carbon dioxide and other chemicals. In the right conditions, creatures submerged in this liquid can be kept alive in a sort of "stasis" indefinitely

[nana2009]

ok i'm not one to comment on these kind of stuff and i'm a bit out of the bubble but apparently chronically online motherfuckers have decided to, once again, cancel funamusea.

seriously? a-fucking-gain? for the same fucking reason back in 2014, it's happening again because some twitter dwellers don't like HER CONTENT that she makes WITH HER OWN GODDAMN CHARACTERS.

how low in life do you have to be to instigate your own ideals of what's right and wrong on others, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY'RE FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CULTURE. yea, she may draw violence and controversial topics that are seen in a bad light(with a completely valid reason, i understand!) but for fucks sake, no one deserves to be burnt at a fucking stake over FICTION.

why don't you use your rage against somefin actually fucking dangerous to others, like, y'know, actual predators????? and leave this poor old woman alone, she's already went through so much, she doesn't need any more of your shit.

Funamusea is completely justified in stopping content for west audiences, and i hope she gets better soon. I love you sensei <3

[cyber-neptune]

Ramble post

Alright so it's almost 3am and I finished watching Mothra (1961) and I really enjoyed it!!

Maybe it's because I like watching old movies and seeing how certain things were made (or because I like moths lol) but I seriously really found it enjoyable.

Id really love to find a behind the scenes look of the production (if it exists). I liked seeing the miniatures (is that the right word for it?) and small cars being used in scenes with Mothra and large shots. Really fascinating tbh.

This shot is one of my favorite ^^

The details and the way you can see just how big Mothra is even as a newly hatched larvae compared to the islanders. I just love looking at this pic because there's just so much details!!.

Speaking lf Mothra,

Behold the lady herself. She's gorgeous and fluffy and absolutely huge compared to her surroundings. I love her colors and how fluffy she looks.

I'm pretty sure she's a puppet and I wonder what the concept arts looked like (if there is any, im curious). I also love how they made her wings so smooth while flying.

Also liked how her cocoon kinda looked like a peanut but that's probably just tired me finding it funny kek

Anyway I should probably go to sleep because I'm probably not making any sense lol.

Anyway, really liked this movie and I recommend it if you wanna see a pretty giant moth^^

Pics I took while watching it

[metamelonisle]

sanji: oda please just let me die already. im a doomed character. it's so obvious im not making it through this story alive. just do it already. there's nothing more for me, anyhow. sanji: I just... I just want to die. eiichiro oda: when you were a child... oda:...sitting on that rock... oda: you seemed awfully hungry. oda: so hungry you could starve. oda: i wonder why you wanted so badly to satiate it, then? oda: Why not simply curl up and waste away, if you wanted to die so badly? oda: If you don't satiate your hunger, you'll starve to death. oda: you eat when you are hungry, because you don't want to starve. oda: you don't want to starve, because you don't want to die. oda: You are hungry because you want to live. sanji:... oda: And why was it, that you wanted to live so badly, then? oda: it's because you knew that there was a reason you wanted to keep going. you knew there was more to life than what was dealt to you. you knew you were surviving, but you weren't living. oda: you wanted to stop surviving and start living. oda: and more than anything, there was a dream you wanted to chase.. wilder than anything in the skies above and the caves below. oda: that beautiful, fantastic sea... oda: ...now what was its name, again? sanji, with tears in his eyes: ...All Blue.

[lulucicada]

Do you ever think about how the watchers, as they are defined by Grian, would be the most powerful force in the universe?

I mean, watchers are.. us. We are watchers. Which is Duh, of course we are but its a bit more complex than that. Watchers would be classified as Gods which exist OUTSIDE of the universe: you know the end poem that’s basically ‘you are the universe and the universe is you’ basically watchers are disconnected. Because when we watch a video we aren’t IN the video thus making us, not apart of the universe.

How does this make watchers the most powerful forces of all? Well, in a traditional sense it wouldn’t.

They don’t have very much affect on the world as people inside it do, thus watching it unfold and only being able to give warnings through forms of voices, comments, chats etc. If this were the case this would make Technos voices and Phils crows to be watchers in disguise and this would actually be very plausible.

I mean when we join a minecraft world we look.. as regular as a player can be: no robes or wings as the statues depict them in Evo. We just look.. like a regular player. Like watchers visiting as guests taking on human forms to blend in such as that subscriber who visited Evo because they won a contest. A watcher in disguise.

Grians appearance changes after becoming a watcher if you go by Evo timeline terms, becoming more plain looking and less evo looking. More like a human to hide his less than human godlike origins.

If you think about it Watchers would be more powerful than the Goddess of Death Kristin almost. I mean, we as watchers basically made her god, she wasn’t apart of the SMP naturally we just decided it. We has watchers gave her that power the same way we gift godhood to other characters in the form of headcanons: but its rare these actually come into affect.

Its like a story of ancient gods being shut off from everything to avoid abusing their power. I mean, in EVO watchers for the first time ever seen actually interacted with the world in the form of signs, riddles, games, puzzles, punishments and even sending an asteroid flying into a building in the main spawn area. If thats not proof enough that if watchers were given the power of free control over their main worlds they would be the most powerful force in the multiverse.

Honestly if the watchers sent an asteroid into a building who’s to say they didn’t make moon big happen. Just a thought. I mean the moon falling? Grians old skin being Link? Watchers being directly connected by the recent Last Life with Martyns lore who also conveniently had moon lore. It was all a coincidence but y’know. Still plausible.

What we make in the form of AUS just proves this fact, we mess with the timeline but we can never rewrite or alter the original. Evo is unique BECAUSE its altered by the watchers actions and their decisions: taking Grian away from Evo to become a watcher, whether of his own free will or kidnapped, could’ve caused the original fate of Evo to shift. Altering the future events in a sense.

Watchers would be more powerful than Kristin, DreamXD, Aeor and Exor. They exist in a universe and have to abide by its rules. Watchers however, dont.

The watching quality of it is also very accurate because they really do see everything but they can pick and choose. Watchers know about Tommys Exile but others don't, if they so choose to know everyone they can.

The ability to rewatch old videos and storylines also implies the watchers really can Time travel and thats were they get their ability to send the Evolutionists further into versions, we time travel with watching content all the time. Screw Watchers living in the End or the Void put them in the Aether or Outerspace those would be better fits for these anomalies, since once doesn’t exist and the other is replaced by the void meaning that outerspace the way we know it doesn’t exist. Maybe because we know it though, thats why is DOES exist. See what I mean by complex now?

What are listeners then? What would that mean for Grian if he were still a watcher as Last Life seems to imply. Its all so interesting I’d love to see discussion on this; sorry if any of this repeated or if my grammar is awful I am very sleep deprived and am thinking very self existentially.

Just thought that watchers are associated with time travel and sight of everything. Grian was admin of a time travelling server, he owned a time machine that could to back to Alpha which is conveniently where Evo was before, he has a rift in S9 that literally bends worlds and has a very similar aura and feel to the old portals to travel through updates, with clues as well like the watchers would do. Woah.

TL;DR: We are watchers, were fucking stacked because we can see fucking everything if we choose, if Grian is a watcher he'd be the BAMF-est bitch ever and would be stronger than the Goddess of Death and DreamXD and Aeor and such since he can interact with the world unlike other watchers.

Man, I got carried away. Discussion anyone?

[tutuandscoot]

Can you give some specific examples of where vm really strike you as either ballet or contemporary dancers on ice? Seasons comes to mind for ballet, but what about some other particular instances?

Sure!

So seasons is pure classical ballet- think nutcracker or sleeping beauty, the sugar plum pdd or wedding pdd. This can be seen and heard through the music, the types of lifts, holds, grandeur of it all. Their presence on the ice is very much reaching to the back of the arena as you would on a theatre stage (yet they also manage to balance that with their intense and exquisite intimacy).

The second most classical program of theirs is Valse Triste. It’s a waltz the whole way through (before the stupid rule of having to use two pieces of music and/or mandatory tempo change). This is again visible in the way they carry themselves through their upper bodies, arm positions. It is more intimate and close in their projection than The Seasons, and keep in mind this was their first year seniors, it’s where commentators immediately identified them as the one team who was actually dancing, and dancing with each other. It’s also where it was identified that they have a kid of intimacy when they dance that doesn’t exclude anyone but instead invites you to feel what they are feeling on a very deep and intimate level.

Mahler, while it is an incredibly balletic program, I would say is more or a lyrical classical, more inline with say Romeo and Juliet- a non-tutu ballet. Because the lifts are a bit more acrobatic than say Seasons (she is mostly upright in all of them), it is a bit more free version of ballet- taking the basics and technique and being more interpretive with the basic positions. The music is not from a ballet and not the kind of music you would hear in a ballet due to the lack of audible beat/count in the music, this meaning the choreography isn’t limited to fitting phrases of music (also making it MUCH harder to interpret and demonstrate musicality).

Latch is obviously their most contemporary style program. There are fewer pure classical positions through the upper body, less traditional ice dance holds, the way they move within each other’s arms- while they are always incredibly close no matter the style program, Latch has a more melting quality, the way they lean into and out of each other, use each other’s energy to push and pull- creating conflict and drama that way rather than phantom and gestures. Also the emotional tone of the program. It’s is darker, more personal- they aren’t necessarily playing characters in Latch- they really are telling their story.

There are certainly dozens of examples of more somber, emotional tones in the classical ballet repertoire, but generally, and specifically in the world of figure skating the music that people use that come from ballet scores is usually of the more up-beat, lighter variety (not in all cases, just generally).

The costumes also are less balletic. I love, and I truly don’t know if this was planned, but the fact that their last performance of the Seasons they were wearing pink and navy blue, and then their main (second) costumes for Latch were also pink and navy blue- I’m not the first to point this out but it’s as if, as they said, The Seasons was suppose to be their story up to that point in their lives, a continuation of Mahler, but it didn’t really end up being the program they wanted it to be, so when they came back and did Latch, it was like that’s what The Seasons should’ve been. Seasons was a more polished, sparkly, performance version of their story, then in Latch they did the honest, pure, stripped naked version that was much more painful and they leaned into emoting far deeper. The more contemporary style allowed them to do this, using both instrumental and vocal music, it takes both them and us on much more of a journey.

While both The Seasons and Latch are the same run time and performed in the same athletic medium (ice dancing) they can tell two different versions of the same story- one that feels like the climax of this big performance- so the conflict has happened earlier in the ballet and this is the happy, triumphant finale to it all, and another that is so quiet and intimate it doesn’t feel like a performance at all, more just them having a silent conversation.

Carmen is also style wise very contemporary, with elements of modern dance and opera. In competitive dance circles, and it varies between countries, contemporary, modern and lyrical will be split into different categories: contemporary is where you get less overt balletic style and movement, quite edgy, dark themes, less focus on ballet technique from a judging pov. Then modern and lyrical it depends what counties you are in. Where I’m from (🇦🇺) lyrical and modern competition classification was interchangeable. Some comps would use modern- or ‘modern expressive’ and some would use ‘lyrical’ but we would compete the same solos/duos/groups nonetheless. Lyrical or modern would differ from contemporary in that it would be a more balletic based dance. Prettier, classical music or ballads. Often you would get kids who were more ‘ballet trained’ compete just lyrical/modern or both lyrical /modern and contemporary- because they generally had better technique transferable to each style as well as a classical ballet solo. Those who were more jazz or hip hop would normally just compete contemporary solos bc they would generally be less judged on their ballet technique, where as in lyrical/modern they want to see that training. This has changed tho and I’ll explain below it’s thanks to the influence of American competition dance.

In other places (US and Canada in that case bc we’re talking about VM) it’s contemporary and modern that are more interchangeable, and lyrical is very much more removed as closely related to ballet, but this again can differ between regions as you will get more ‘competition kids’ (ie Dance Moms style lyrical) that is all about tricks and acro and really not very good technique at all, then some places that the lyrical is more in the style of say Mahler. In fact, in North America now it is ‘contemporary’ that is the balletic technique based dance style and lyrical that has become more edgy and just about tricks (this is all in reference to competition dance not professional dance where contemporary technique was properly developed by people like Martha graham, Merce Cunningham, etc..).

VM described Carmen as ‘modern’ in the respect that it is very edgy, dark (tone/theme) at moments it is more upbeat/stronger music, strong movements, sensual, the flexed feet at times.

They also described their Pink Floyd program as modern- this would be more in the sense of ‘modern jazz’. That’s a whole other story where we can dissect the off shoots of jazz whether it be Broadway (Funny Face is Broadway Jazz), funk, kinda ‘pop’ jazz (the kind you learn in kids dance school) etc. Modern jazz reaches more towards contemporary dance and contemporary technique (which it’s self stems from ballet), think Fosse or Jerome Robbins style (tho these choreographers worked in other genres as well).

The original version of Moulin Rouge is also very contemporary. However saying that, it is of all their programs the biggest melting pot of styles. Contemporary by definition means ‘of the current time’ so really anything can be classed as contemporary, if it doesn’t distinctly fit into another category. The first half blends contemporary and tango, the holds in the step sequence are a prime example, going from closed holds to dragging her along the ice, to chocking her, then into more traditional tango leg flicks. The second half (cwm) then abandons basically all of the tango movement and leans more into contemporary and classical movement. I’ve pointed out before and it’s been documented that in working with David Wilson they took inspiration from a ballet called Manon (which has a similar storyline to MR) and in the last pdd where Manon is dying, there is choreography where the man will throw and catch her as she becomes weaker and weaker (I have 2 posts detailing all of this called MR x Manon) VM mirrored this in the movements after their curve lift where she will glide in an arabesque before collapsing and he will catch and place her back on her feet before she collapses again. (Manon by the way is also a non-tutu ballet so another that while not story wise- dance style wise is more akin to Mahler). This is an example of taking inspiration from ballet movements and ‘dirtying’ them up to a) put it on skates for which is inevitably very different to ballet just in the surface they are dancing on, and b) for the specific type of the story they are telling. They took a much darker approach into their creation of MR initially than what most of the world saw in the Olympic version.

The Olympics version became even more of a melting pot of styles as they changed the CWM track to lighter and more.. theatre-esk. So you have tango, ballroom, contemporary, edgy modern jazz, lyrical, pure classical ballet and theatre acting all merged into one stunning piece of art.

So. To summarise all of that, just in a more basic level categorising all their Free Dances:

Valse Triste: classical ballet

Umbrellas: Lyrical but also more of a theatre/ story piece. Truly a ‘Free Dance’ in the simple definition

Pink Floyd: Modern Jazz

Mahler: Lyrical ballet

Hip Hip: Latin Ballroom

Funny Face: Broadway Jazz

Carmen: Contemporary/Modern with opera/theatre influence

The Seasons: Classical (Tutu) ballet

Latch: Contemporary

MR: just… VM’s style.. it really can’t be put into one category.

And THAT my friends is called V E R S A T I L I T Y

And THAT is why they are the GOATS

I also want to say that no matter the style, they adapted themselves to it amazingly- there was a never a style where they looked completely out of their depth/awkward/embarrassed. Scott by far is right at home in the more ballroom styles- he plays the leading man role perfectly and just completely draws your eye. T is stunning in the classical/balletic styles but then also her tangos are to die for. So yes they do have styles they excel at better than others but overall, I can confidently say there has never been another team to take on and deliberately reinvented themselves in so many different styles/ storylines etc and excel at all of it like VM did.

[misty-wisp]

Quiet.

That's all White Space ever was.

Endless, empty, and quiet, save for the sound of Omori's scribbling away at his sketchbook, gentle pencil strokes providing a bit of solace in the Space's deafening silence. What he was drawing wasn't anything special, just another study of his creator. Said creator was the only person Omori knew how to draw up from memory, given how many memories Omori saw of him just staring at himself in the mirror in his new home.

He'd gotten an eyepatch shortly before moving. If he came back here, though...Omori doubted the idea of the eyepatch coming along with him.

It was nothing to worry about, anyway. His Dreamer—No, just Sunny—had no need for White Space anymore. It wasn't somewhere for him to belong. It's done its duty.

He didn't need Omori anymore, either.

...Although that was difficult for Omori to accept.

Omori quietly set down his pencil and sketchbook, having finished up with his study. It was simple, really. Just a plain sketch of Sunny with minimal shading. Omori wasn't the best artist, unless he was referencing off of the memories he unfortunately shared with Sunny.

He stood up from his spot, with Mewo quietly stepping over to join him by his side. As for himself, he stepped over to where the door to his Neighbors' Room stood, his hand hovering over its doorknob.

It's always been here, never once disappearing since the moment Omori came back into existence. He'd considered going outside his home and visiting Headspace again...but he was always too afraid to.

...Okay, "afraid" likely wasn't the best word to describe it. He didn't feel a need to leave. His friends were most likely dead, and whatever may be happening out there wasn't of any importance, even if time has passed.

"Waiting for something to happen?" his cat mewed from his side, looking up at him.

She had always said that exact line, over and over in the past. It was nothing new—

"You can't sit here forever, you know."

—Well. That was new.

"Eventually curiosity's going to take you over, don't you think?" Mewo asked, a bit of amusement in her voice.

"Are you taunting me?" Omori replied, his own voice quiet. Not as monotone as it used to be, he noticed.

...That was probably the first time he'd spoken out loud since waking up.

"I'm just saying..." the cat moved from beside him to in front of him, not once taking her gaze off him. "You haven't been doing so well. Some time outside should do you some good."

...

She wasn't wrong.

He'd been doing too much thinking and not enough of...anything else.

"It wouldn't hurt to at least check up on your best friend's flowers," Mewo said, turning to the door in front of both of them before looking back at him. "It'd be the least you could do, don't you think?"

...

"Maybe," he spoke, grabbing the doorknob and twisting it, slowly creaking the door open.

Mewo followed him as he stepped into the world behind it.

He wasn't surprised, seeing the slightly neglected state of the world outside White Space. Things were falling apart a little, and the forest looked to be a bit decayed. Not to the point where it's dying, but it didn't look as alive as it used to be, either.

He stopped his short stroll once he saw himself in the playground’s floating mirror, stunned at his own appearance, paying no mind to his memories of his old "friends" smiling behind him. He was older, yes, that was expected, but...he looked more disheveled than anything, with longer, messier hair.

He didn't expect to see a tiny light in his eyes, either. He probably shouldn't be too surprised, given his...revelations, but it was a shock to see nonetheless.

...

In short, his own appearance looked a bit unsightly to him.

With one hand, he raised the knife he still carried, and with the other, he pinched a bit of his hair. In under a second, he sliced off a clump of said hair.

Hm.

Uneven.

He tried again, with a different clump.

Uneven again.

He tried one more time.

It was a waste. Instead of getting it to look better, he just made his appearance worse, with now choppier hair.

What a pain.

"At least it's quiet right now," a thought came to him. Not his own, but rather, one of Sunny's.

Very few thoughts and memories flow into the former vessel's consciousness these days. He doesn't hear as much from his creator as he used to, as said creator appeared to have been more content with himself as of late. And he should be, of course; he'd been through enough, after all. It'd be a lie if Omori were to say that Sunny shouldn't be any better than before.

But it'd also be a lie for him to assume that Sunny was taking proper care of himself.

The thoughts that flow in from here and there are still not the happiest, Omori noticed—Homesickness was a common theme in them, and so was disappointment at the way Sunny’s friends treated him before he moved away, two of them refusing to see him off for their own reasons. This wasn't to say Sunny didn't understand why, however.

Omori knew that this would happen.

What made it surprising was how well Sunny handled it.

Omori moved on from his spot, concluding that he should just stop looking at himself in the mirror from then on, with an appearance like that.

It didn't take long for him to come upon the path of flowers, and just like he expected, they were all wilting. The sunflowers, the lilies of the valley, the gladioli, the roses, the cacti, and even the tulips...all of them withering away. The only reason they clung to life was the nature of the world they were cursed to live in. Nothing can truly die in a dream. Not until that dream ends.

"They're a lot worse than I thought..." Mewo spoke, trotting up to the sunflowers. "Poor things..."

She turned to face Omori, a glint of sadness in her eyes. "You can make it better, can't you?"

Omori remembered he could've, in the past. Sometimes Aubrey would ask to check up on the garden, and suggest for him to water the flowers while everyone looked for Basil. He never did, thinking it was only a waste of time.

Some best friend he was.

He slowly approached the patch of sunflowers, picking up the watering can set beside them.

"I can," he almost whispered, pouring water over one of the sunflowers, with it turning good as new in a couple of seconds. "It's...the least I could do."

Nothing would make up for what he did.

But doing what he refused to do in the past could work as a start for his atonement.

These flowers weren't any better than how Sunny was feeling, anyway, Omori thought as another of Sunny's thoughts passed by in his consciousness.

"I want to go home."

Sunny wasn't doing okay, Omori knew that, but he was doing better than expected. Of course, that didn't stop Omori from...worrying? Feeling concerned? He wasn't sure how to describe it.

He'd been...feeling something. Some kind of emotion.

A want. That's what it was.

A want to help.

Sunny...No, not Sunny. They weren't friends or anything. The Dreamer wasn't eating as much as he should. And while he promised a friend to go outside more often, he hadn't once tried going on at least a jog. All he'd really been doing is establishing a good sleep schedule and properly drinking water. Which was fine on its own, Omori supposed...but it wasn't enough.

One wrong move, and the Dreamer could fall back into the same habits he was stuck in before.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" Mewo asked, snapping Omori out of his own thoughts.

He glanced at her for a second, a frown on his face. Then, he looked back to the flower patch, watering the final sunflower.

"...I am," he said, placing the watering can back down and moving on. "But...I don't think I could do much to help."

"Is it because of your regrets?"

He froze, a shock sent through his body.

"How do you..."

"I know a lot more than you think I do," Mewo said, hopping up onto Omori's shoulder. "And it's easy to tell how you feel just by looking at you."

He could only look at her in dismay.

"You just wanted to help," Mewo continued. "You could do better now, don't you think?"

"I'm...not sure..."

He moved on to the lilies, taking extra care with watering them. Mewo purred in satisfaction at seeing them sparkle again.

"If I could do better, I would..." Omori murmured. "But...I don't think he'd appreciate me being here, let alone trying anything."

"But it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

How would he even help?

The only idea he could come up with was influencing the Dreamer's actions directly, to get him to do something...which could produce disastrous results if Omori wasn't careful.

But he knew better this time, or at least, Mewo thinks he does. He's matured a little, he's aware of his mistakes, and he wants to atone.

Maybe...maybe he could help Sunny.

One more time.

Without hurting him this time.

"I'll...I'll think about it."

[land-of-classpects-and-analysis]

Who is the Prince of Blood

The mortifying idea of being known. A common thread of anxiety that runs through so, so many people. The sense of being “known”,though, is such a broad way to put it. Especially because, for certain people, there are specific ways they may fear being known.

The fear of being vulnerable or open. That is what so many Princes of Blood struggle with, as many Princes do in general. For the Prince of Blood, though, the idea of coming out from their shell is a mortifying thought. The idea of letting others into their abode and mingle with their boundaries.

This is because the Prince of Blood has been shown, time and time again, that opening up leads to nothing good. That there is no real prize in showing your true colors to others. There is nothing good to be gotten from being yourself. All you get from being known, vulnerable, and open is hurt.

What does the Prince of Blood do/struggle with?

There are numerous things that the Prince of Blood struggles with. Of course, this shouldn’t be a surprising thing to hear about any Prince. They are ones who face some of the greatest struggles compared to other Classes. For the Prince of Blood, their struggles - born from and combined with their Aspect - are ones that affect both the Prince themself, as well as those around them.

Obviously, the biggest struggle with the Prince, in a broad stroke, is that relationships are very, very hard for them. However, it is the cause of this relationship-based strife that defines the Prince of Blood. As hinted at before, the Prince of Blood is someone who has seen what happens when you open yourself up to others. When you open the doors and windows to your home, leave them all unlocked, and speak with others.

When you fail to keep people less than arm's length away.

The Prince of Blood has seen the hardships and depressive trends that can occur in any type of relationship. People who the Prince may once have cared for have more than certainly been hurt, perhaps even badly, by being in these relationships. It’s not that the Prince of Blood blames these people for the harm they’ve experienced, it’s just that they don’t want to even risk experiencing first hand for themselves.

Where does the Prince of Blood fit in the world?

The Prince of Blood is quite the anomaly when it comes to their place in the world. They are a loner, but they attract so many people to them. They want to hold and be held, in any which way, but put themself upon a pedestal above everyone else. They want to be a healer, but the only way they know how is one of fiery destruction.

It’s not that the Prince of Blood doesn’t have any friends. They must certainly have people that view them as a friend, a companion, and perhaps something else of affection. Whether the Prince of Blood will ever openly reciprocate such sentiments, though, is not something anyone should hold their breath on.

Ultimately, the Prince of Blood will reject their Aspect all that they can. They will scoff at any attempts at bonding and comradery. They will often make excuses for avoiding such occasions. The biggest one of all, though, is that they’ll insist upon being a Leader of the group. Leaders, they will insist, much not become too attached to their followers.

You never know when one of them will fall off of the wagon. Sometimes, it’s best to never really notice at all. Instead, it’s better to keep trekking ahead, never looking back to see who is still holding your hand. It’s easier to pretend it doesn’t hurt when it happens.

Yet, even then, they notice. Every last one they have lost, they notice, and it deepens their rejection and fear of it even more. They are a leader, but only out of fear and desperation for an alternative. They are a leader, but only to their own self-assured destruction.

[henrysglock]

How Henry interacted with El in that one scene that you posted makes me think: did he actually meet any other number before her? Or was his interaction with El his "first attempt" to act as an orderly? And why with her specifically?

Because he seems to be like you said very unsure on how to communicate with El (he didn't even introduce himself to her) however in the series 001 presents quite professional. Obv it's unclear how many time passed after their first meeting and the NINA events and Henry probably didn't know how to interact properly because of the potential lack of instructions, but this all seems very weird to me.

I'm really not sure! The fun thing about this scene is that there aren't any other numbers present...at all. It's just El, by herself, with the Magic 8 ball. Like...where are the rest of them? Why does he act so awkward when his in-show counterpart has an air of relative confidence about him? No one knows except the Duffers and Kate.

It's so odd that Brenner says the DOD wanted him to dispose of Henry, but that he managed to convince them not to. What happened that made them want to dispose of him? He also notes, while Henry's bound and gagged, that Henry's "been such a good boy" in the recent past few years...what about the full 15-20 years before that? What happened?

The whole sequence opens up a bunch of questions that none of us have an answer to.

I do have a bit of speculation in a different route, though.

It's so funny to me that the Shadow/the UD has been likened to the KGB over and over, meanwhile Brenner works for the US equivalent: the CIA. Brenner at the end of TFS hasn't aged since 1959, and there are a ton of implications that Brenner somehow is the Shadow. It makes me wonder if that lab scene was even real.

Like...let me put it this way.

Why does Brenner still look the same way he did when Henry gave into the Shadow that first time...and why does the Shadow in the VR take on the form of Brenner? Is there any possibility that the lab scene in TFS isn't real, it's in Henry's head, and that the unchanging Brenner is actually a manifestation of the Mindflayer?

Henry's kept locked away, sure...but he's not just isolated or bound. He's also gagged. He's not allowed to move or speak or have any influence over his surroundings. Could it be that the end of TFS is what the inside of Henry's mind looks like? Him, bound and gagged, while the Mindflayer (read: not just the Shadow, but the combined Mindflayer), who presents as young Brenner, runs the show? Could it be that the Henry who acts so bizarrely in 4.05 is being controlled or is a NINA-manifestation of Controlled Henry, but the Henry who acts more awkward/personable and speaks in weird, secretive leading questions is the genuine Henry underneath it all? The one who's been "such a good boy" (read: stopped actively fighting back, may still be dropping hints) and is now being allowed to interact/have some control over himself because the Hive Mind (DOD) decided not to dispose of him the way it disposed of Will...because the Mindflayer (CIA) decided he was still useful irt bonding with El, even if genuine Henry isn't completely aware that he's being used?

Idk. It just stinks of unreality/dissociation/watching yourself do things with no control over it, the same way the attic scene does.

[hcguesstheauthormessageboard]

HCGTA2023 STATS AS OF JULY 6

alrighty folks! it’s time for your favorite event of the day!!! STATS!!!!!!

FANDOMS

Hermitcraft SMP (48)

3rdLife/LastLife/DoubleLife/LimLife (8)

Minecraft (2)

Creepypasta (1)

Empires SMP (1)

TLOZ: Majora’s Mask (1)

The Mechanisms (1)

MindCrack SMP (1)

New Life SMP (1)

Video Blogging RPF (1)

X Life SMP (1)

CHARACTERS - TOP TEN

GoodTimesWithScar (21)

Grian (18)

impulseSV (13)

ZombieCleo (10)

EthosLab (10)

MumboJumbo (9)

PearlescentMoon (9)

Cubfan135 (8)

Docm77 (7)

VintageBeef (7)

RELATIONSHIPS - TOP TEN

Grian & GoodTimesWithScar (5)

MumboJumbo & Grian (4)

No Romantic Relationships (3)

Jimmy Solidarity/TangoTek (3)

Joe Hills & ZombieCleo (2)

Grian/GoodTimesWithScar (2)

Cubfan135/GoodTimesWithScar (2)

Cubfan135 & GoodTimesWithScar (2)

EthosLab & ZombieCleo (2)

GeminiTay & PearlescentMoon (2)

ADDITIONAL TAGS - TOP TEN

Angst (10)

Hurt/Comfort (8)

Fluff (4)

Happy Ending (4)

Other Additional Tags To Be Added (4)

Hermitcraft Season 9 (4)

Horror (3)

Time Loop (3)

Possession (3)

Paranoia (3)

and, just for sillies, let’s do ratings, warnings, and categories :)

RATINGS

Teen and Up Audiences (22)

General Audiences (21)

Mature (5)

Explicit (1)

WARNINGS

No Archive Warnings Apply (34)

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings (12)

Graphic Depictions of Violence (4)

Major Character Death (2)

CATEGORIES

Gen (35)

M/M (9)

F/M (2)

Other (2)

F/F (1)

Multi (1)

[d-lude]

Finally, I'm done writing this thing.

I'm going to be completely honest on why I'm so abnormal about Justice. (No, I genuinely was not kidding about that essay earlier. And you know it's real shit when I actually use caps and proper grammar and whatnot.)

So much of my music taste is based on what others recommend to me, especially my parents. And that on its own is special, but when it's what happens 99% of the time, it sort of becomes a normal feeling.

So, imagine discovering a band on your own in this situation, one you think is actually good.

When I first listened to D.A.N.C.E, it was unlike anything I had ever heard (and seen, as I watched the music video) at the time. But there was a slight bit of familiarity in the sound, one I somewhat associated with Daft Punk, a band I had started listening to only a few months earlier. Of course, I now know that Justice are very different from Daft Punk, but I didn't realize that at that moment. I'll go into that in a few paragraphs.

It took about 2 or 3 months for me to warm up to the rest of their music, but when I finally did, it changed A LOT for me.

“The cross is a very strong visual symbol, it evokes the idea of communion. Do not see any other message! I read that some spoke of us as Christian electro. Stop! Everyone is welcome. Yes, we convert the public, but only to our music.”

-Xavier de Rosnay

...And they had succeeded in doing just that. They had converted me to their music. That was when I realized they weren't all that much like Daft Punk. While Daft Punk's music sounded much more clean, more polished, Justice weren't afraid to get their hands dirty. They weren't afraid to keep people guessing with each album that came out. Not saying Daft Punk didn't change things up, because they did. But each album sounded so different, that when I heard Get Lucky on the radio for the first time, I didn't even realize it was them.

Justice, however, somehow managed to keep that sort of signature Justice-y feel in each of their albums, despite the major differences between their three studio albums. I don't know how the hell they accomplished it, but because of that, I only proceeded to become more and more obsessed with their music. Each song I listened to never failed to impress me. I mean it when I say the French electro wizards had me fucking hooked. Each time I listened to their albums, it only got better and better. It didn't take me long to just goddamn absorb, for lack of a better word, pretty much anything and everything involving them.

Whenever I reached tough points, some of their songs would play a part in somewhat helping me out of those spots. It motivated me. It kept me going. To name one specific song, Randy. Yes, the song I named myself after. It was seriously that influential to me. I talked a little bit about it in this post after an anon jokingly sent me an ask with the lyrics to the song. (Anon, if you're reading this, I'm thanking you once again.)

Anyway, soon, I started doing research on Gaspard and Xavier, and it gave me people I could look up to. People I wanted (and still want) to be like. It was kind of surprising, honestly. I never thought I would look up to guys like them so much. In fact, I recently watched their A Cross The Universe tour documentary, and I was somewhat shocked to learn that they just seemed like fairly normal guys (Although I'm still wondering what the hell I even watched!!)

If you're reading this and haven't yet listened to Justice, I highly recommend you do. I'm not even joking, they've changed my fucking life.

TL;DR: I just think they're neat.