#scary stories with rufus

[arosesstorm]

Gossip girl couples but it's from the Gossip Girl herself (with ratings since y'all seem to be confused) xoxo <3

Gossip Girl here! Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite...

Dan and Serena -> 9

Fav couple, mastermind, endgame. Dan fucked up so many times I cant give them a 10 so we'll settle for 9. I can't forget the first season chemistry just YES. Wished for the ending to have been a little more explained: the Gossip Girl thing was pointless and messy and very much simplified.

Blair and Chuck -> 8 Enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies to... The definition of "love is scary"; have rooted for them since day one! Soulmates honestly; very weird couple but it works for them so who are we to judge? ^_^

Nate and Vanessa -> 7 Don't like both so it's fair, kinda cute together I'll give them that. In a strange way it works so, I'll say If Nate had to end up with someone it should have been either Vanessa or Jenny.

Rufus and Lily -> 6

Would have been cute if the whole thing was not absolutely weird with Dan and Serena being together. I think they're soulmates even if they've been very selfish with their children; still should've ended up together. Mixed feelings on this one.

Nate and Jenny -> 4 I despised jenny so much I couldn't stand her, really, have to admit though that she and Nate were cute but never really understood the age gap and how they never really gave it a shot.

Serena and Nate -> 4 I don't get how people say they're endgame; Nate sure has always been madly in love with Serena but she surely has not. Strongly believe it never worked out for them because Serena didn't even try and I can't blame her honestly (so boring ugh).

Blair and Nate -> 2 Pointless really: Nate never even liked queen B while she forced herself to be with him only for status and image. It's how it all started though so it's cool, I guess(?).

Dan and Blair -> -1

Throwing up, honestly the worst part of the story line, still cringing. I will fight whoever says they're cute; strongly believe they were both high during it all. If I were Serena I would have absouloutly throw fists with this one and then slept with Chuck :).

Dan and Vanessa -> 4 Super lame, super boring. God please save us from boredom.

These are the only right opinions on Gossip Girls' couples, I don't make the rules, or maybe I do ;).

And who am I? That’s one secret I’ll never tell. You know you love me. xoxo… Gossip Girl.

© 2023 of Mia (arosesstorm). All Rights Reserved.

[aph-japan]

{J.P.N Fan-Made Horror roleplaying (rpg) Game} Hetalia Fox Tales ~ QUOTES + "PERSONIFICATIONS" vs. "HUMANS" + "DEATH" vs. "Disappearance"

"SO, I was thinking, {to BRING 'Gilbert' back...} - SPAIN

(Note: "Rufus" is a 'secret' spoiler character that shows up mid-game. Jia Long = H.K. {Yes others also Cameo if not have scenes}; others are human charas, other main charas etc.)

{Netherlands}

"The 'PERSONIFICATION' does not have to be 'KIKU HONDA' either."

(I'm coming back to this comment, but continue on...)

While the "lore" (and handling of H.W.S's) isn't perfect, all I'm saying here IS, if you like pondering the lore of what "personifications" means along with horror r.p.gs involving time-loops and mythological stuff and which basically acts as a (un-official - these are un-related fan-series) parallel to "HetaOni" except somewhat in reverse; (And Yet Not Completely!)

You all will probably be interested in watching "Hetalia Fox Tales", which is now fully and completely 'subbed'!

(And yes, the game itself, from 2k16, is 'completed'!)

Caps by @aph-japan Credit to DinoSlayer235 who Edited + Subbed from C.N. script {DO NOT re-post / claim as your own without Permission} (Please ASK to Use!) {The play-list is linked below - follow to direct link!}

Warning: It is still a HORROR R.P.G. There will be lots of eventual blood-splatters imagery; "Sound" of blood can also be heard often in later parts, notably well within even the first few parts.

Basic {Starting} Summary: The Nations are all visting (or planning to arrive at) {Kiku}'s location; {Not the 'main house', but Kiku's 'hosting'} Kiku seems to have also "invited" them for something. After a night of telling "scary stories", strange events begin happening. They all (+Kiku) tried retiring to their rooms, but... It would appear the "mansion" of ""Kiku""'s contains the "Spirit" that Kiku talked about from within Kiku's "Tale". Moreover, not much later on, "Romano" suddenly appears. He joins the group inside the mansion, after managing to find the way inside. "Antonio", who was trapped outside trying to join them as well, can't immediately get inside the mansion... (It uses graphics + a turn based battle system very similar to HetaOni. {Down to almost exact same 'attack names' in many cases} Thus, it might look a little outdated there; Please remember this is from around 2k16.)

(Check comments to see if I link to further references!)

[starbeambully]

♬♬♬ !!!

     send  in  a  ‘♬‘  and  the  mun  will  share  a  song  that  they  love  &  why  they  love  it  !!   (  if  you  can’t  see  the  symbol,  send  in  ‘music  note’  instead )

It Gets Dark by Sigrid

This song just feels so hopeful about like... moving forward or starting a new chapter, and I personally haven't heard many artists who can communicate the beauty of new things being a little scary.

Hallelujah sung by Rufus Wainwright

Hallelujah. Everyone knows this song, everyone loves at least on version of this song. I went with the Shrek version because that's the one I'm feeling right now. I think this version is so heartbreaking. It's just Rufus and a piano, it's like he's confiding in you about how his heart was broken. This song and the was he preforms it is so intimate and I love it. I love it so much. Also Listen to Leonard Cohen version, I don't think it gets the recognition it deserves and HE wrote the damn song.

Furnace Room Lullaby Neko Case

Okay, I'm a big fan of Americana and songs that tell a story. This song is like Edgar Allan Poe but what if a woman? And can I just say the way this song starts with "All night, all I hear is your heart. How come?" Incredible. Oh my god, this song is just so good.

[wolfblood-of-anubis]

somethings to say about the Nina tribute video:

i originally planned on her video maybe being 5 minutes long

def was not my plan to have a 15 minute video. (14:50 if you wanna get technical)

wowza.

and im STILL missing the uncut version (yep there's more!)

but im honestly okay with it bc well the thing about nina is that she had SO much going on:

navigating a new school and residence, dodging false accusations from an angry girl, meeting this mysterious woman that sends her on a quest, becoming the de-facto leader of a new group and people looking to her for what to do next, sarah dying, hearing voices around the house, thinking she may be going insane, rufus zeno threatening not just her life but her friends’ lives as well, learning she’s the chosen one and assembling a magical cup all in less than five minutes, an evil spirit threatening her life and now her bf’s life and now her friends’ and grandmother’s life unless she finds some mystical mask in a set of tunnels under the house, accidentally hexing her friends leading to alfie regressing to a child and baby; and amber aging to a very scary point, choosing to put on the mask of anubis in order to save her friends and gran’s lives which meant her going into the field of rushes and just flat out die basically. all the while deal with romance drama and joy’s villain era.

so to put all of that in a five minute video would not suffice it nor do her justice

i did try and do parts for each song

power of the mind is and always will be a nina song, it was the first song i picked out for her and i just think it really fits her

like the first song is mainly her introduction, the most important bits like meeting sarah, getting the locket, her parallels to sarah and her ingenuity as well as smarts and recklessness too, just her character overall and then we slowly moved to chosen one stuff in the next song and then senkhara's hold over her as well as why she wants the mask after that

i didnt show a lot of rufus going down bc it's nina's story to tell, rufus is a whole other thing and at the end, i really tried to focus on nina specifically

that being said, it does end with fabian (and amber) missing her, the last bit of her being the hand written letter (not the locket, that's another thing entirely) i wanted to focus on something nina did rather than what she was given

i used imovie for the software, dont really have anything to say about it bc its free for me so i dont really know other video editing software *shrug*

the penultimate song (the way by zack hemsey) was almost this song called dwell on dreams and i changed it bc it was just too uplifting, like nope, we gotta go down darkness right now

i listened to like eight different songs trying to decide what fit fabina in the end, and i think last kiss by taylor swift really does summarize them in majority, if anyone else has another song please let me know

there’s seriously enough recorded content to make a senkhara video im ngl

also a victor video would be fun too but i’d have to go back and record his scenes again bc i was mainly focused on sibuna stuff

at one point nina’s video has over 54 minutes of content. yep. (thats not including the fabina scenes. in total it should come around to an hour and thirteen minutes. yep.)

15 doesnt sound like a lot now, does it?

i just realized while i didnt end up publishing it on July 7th, i managed to get it out there on July 17 which i think is a fun win!

my favorite part of the video is prob when vera asks victor “what is it about that girl? she makes you nervous, decidedly nervous.” i love it, i wished more characters talked about nina and what she can do, like idk rufus or some of the teachers smth like “dont underestimate them. especially nina martin.” and shit.

like for example in the s1 ending for HHA victor’s on the phone w the real bad guy or whatever, and he’s asking who’s responsible for all this shit and victor answers, “Her name… is Nienke. Nienke Martens.” or smth like that i cant remember

the next video is Alfie’s and i hope his does remain with five minutes bc the song i have for him is perfect and unlike Nina he does have one direct line of evolution from class clown to traumatized to untrustworthy sibuna to brave sibuna, proving to us and to his friends but most importantly to himself that he’s the bravest sibuna no matter what.

[milfjagger]

my record collection 2023 :)

Vinyl

Scary Monsters & Super Creeps - David Bowie The Dreaming - Kate Bush Never For Ever - Kate Bush The Songs of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen Wind on the Water - Crosby & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash - CSN Songs of the Sea - Pete Dawson Ultraviolence - Lana del Rey Lust for Life - Lana del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell - Lana del Rey Romance in 1600 - Sheila E. Liege & Lief - Fairport Convention Tusk - Fleetwood Mac Close up the Honky-Tonks - The Flying Burrito Bros Transangelic Exodus - Ezra Furman A Trick of the Tail - Genesis Godspell (original cast recording) Dookie - Green Day Hair (original cast recording) Live Through This - Hole Celebrity Skin - Hole Living In the Past - Jethro Tull Jesus Christ Superstar (1973 motion picture soundtrack) Greatest Hits (1974) - Elton John Joanne - Lady Gaga Court & Spark - Joni Mitchell On The Threshold Of A Dream - The Moody Blues The Black Parade/Living with Ghosts - My Chemical Romance Bella Donna - Stevie Nicks Songs for our Times - John O'Connor GP - Gram Parsons  Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Queen - Queen Queen II - Queen Sheer Heart Attack - Queen A Night at the Opera - Queen A Day at the Races - Queen News of the World - Queen Jazz - Queen The Works - Queen Live at the Rainbow 1973 - Queen New Again - Taking Back Sunday Man on Fire - Roger Taylor Goats Head Soup - The Rolling Stones Through the Past, Darkly - The Rolling Stones Metamorphosis - The Rolling Stones Get Yer Ya-Yas Out! - The Rolling Stones Linda Rondstadt - Linda Rondstadt It’s My Way! - Buffy Sainte-Marie Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme - Simon & Garfunkel The Sound of Music (motion picture soundtrack) Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen The River - Bruce Springsteen Below the Salt - Steeleye Span Stephen Stills - Stephen Stills Under Soil & Dirt - The Story So Far Grave New World - Strawbs Crime of the Century - Supertramp GLA - Twin Atlantic Hesitant Alien - Gerard Way Blunderbuss - Jack White _

CD

Almost Famous (motion picture soundtrack) Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos Odelay - Beck Daisy - Brand New Grace - Jeff Buckley Hounds of Love - Kate Bush Let Love In - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Push The Sky Away - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Everybody Else Is Doing It… - The Cranberries Blue Bannisters - Lana del Rey Flowers of Flesh & Blood - Nicole Dollanganger Observatory Mansions - Nicole Dollanganger Ode to Dawn Weiner - Nicole Dollanganger I Told You I Was Freaky - Flight of the Conchords Ceremonials - Florence + the Machine High As Hope - Florence + the Machine Born This Way - Lady Gaga Wolfways - Michael Hurley A Creature I Don’t Know - Laura Marling The Mask & Mirror - Loreena McKennitt Elemental - Loreena McKennitt The Book Of Secrets - Loreena McKennitt The Visit - Loreena McKennitt Blue - Joni Mitchell Clouds - Joni Mitchell Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance Danger Days - My Chemical Romance GP/Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons Trio - Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris Meds - Placebo Band of Joy - Robert Plant The Bends - Radiohead OK Computer - Radiohead The King of Limbs - Radiohead Transformer - Lou Reed Darkness on the Edge of Town - Bruce Springsteen The Promise - Bruce Springsteen Western Stars - Bruce Springsteen Carrie & Lowell - Sufjan Stevens Suede - Suede Dog Man Star - Suede Dead & Born & Grown - The Staves Velvet Goldmine (motion picture soundtrack) Want Two - Rufus Wainwright Harvest - Neil Young

[ladyaislinn]

The Diplomat update #5

The Diplomat Season 2 Updates: Cast, Story & Everything We Know (screenrant.com) Keri Russell stars in the Netflix political thriller The Diplomat and the end of the premiere season sets up a season 2. Will it happen?

The finale of The Diplomat ends with a car explosion and a few possible victims. This moment is the only time any characters in the show have been in danger of being removed from the cast. Hal, Stuart Heyford the Deputy chief of mission (Ato Essandoh), and Ronnie (Jess Chanliau) are caught in the explosion before the credits role. Hal and Stuart are probably too important to the story for their characters to be removed, particularly Hal for his turbulent marriage with Kate, and so should return in season 2.

Debora Cahn knew that Keri Russell would punch Rufus Sewell in the face. Russell and Sewell knew they didn’t need stunt doubles to pull it off. Sewell remembers his costar asking him, “Should I just punch the fucking living shit out of you?” And Russell fondly recalls director Andrew Bernstein’s seal of approval: “Yeah, let’s do this.”

How Keri Russell Decided to “Punch the Living Shit” Out of Rufus Sewell | Vanity Fair

“With certain people, you don’t have to try or figure anything out, and I don’t have to figure anything out with Rufus,” Russell says. As Sewell remembers the filming of the scene, “We did it from scratch over and over and over again, so many times, and every time it was a living and slightly dangerous thing.” Sewell calls it a “scary scene,” meanwhile—one in which he played Hal’s fighting for Kate’s continued belief in him, for their ability to move forward together amid the great dysfunction around them. (As the scene consistently shows, security guards loom on the other side of the garden, uncomfortably watching this very private moment.) Kate slowly winds him up, goading him into confessing his deception, which he tries helplessly to explain. “That’s his position,” Sewell says. “That’s what’s hilarious about it, because he fucking means it. He does!”

[pony-central]

Things that make each of the characters in my past comics cry Part 1

Sick BF

Injections. These traumatised him since he was seven, so I don't blame him for being terrified of them

Being away from DrugFriend. This was shown in "A Boy Gotta Work"

Lightning

Dropping his ice cream cone is enough to get him crying

Getting his ice cream stolen

Being reminded of Senpai. Also counts as a Berserk Button for him

Being judged by his looks

Anytime he tells someone a secret, he regrets it afterwards

Every time he has an argument with DrugFriend

Whenever he gets stage fright

The Titanic

Sad stories

Disney Pixar movies

Almost everything else makes him cry

The only thing he doesn't cry over is Live Action TV

DrugFriend

Spiders

Losing track of Benjy

His fear of lightning gets him to start crying

The Titanic. In fact, the Titanic movie makes almost all of Parodies Town cry

Anything Sick Boyfriend cries over, DrugFriend does the same

Sad stories

Coming last in the Egg and Spoon Race

Being denied Taco Bell

Being called Drugsy Wugsy

Freund XML

There aren't a lot of things that make him cry. But there is a few

Anytime he's reminded of his deceased mother (Carol XML)

The Titanic

As seen in "Game of Parody Thrones Series 3", each time a member of his alliance is eliminated, Freund will cry

He's scared to admit it, but Freund will start crying whenever he goes to the opera

Sick PonyCentral

Too many things make her cry, even if she's alone at home

Everytime someone brings up her past life at the PTIAFTC

Anytime someone calls her "Sickly Kayleigh". It sometimes results in her Berserk Button being pressed, but it's mostly her feelings being hurt

She has admitted that watching a romantic comedy movie will get her to start crying at the romance scenes

Getting a minor injury, such as a papercut or a splinter

Being tripped over by her own shoelaces

Watching Scooby-Doo apparently will get her to start crying over the Monster of the Week. Happens every time she watches the show

Opera House

Being denied ice cream

Her dad. Explanation will be given later

Lack of WiFi connection, even when she's about to send an email to her mum only

High school in general

Her inner demons

Weddings

Funerals, because she had to go to one for her grandfather. She was in a healthy relationship with him

Anytime someone brings up Parodies Town High School

Musicals, including Grease and Mamma Mia

Every single time an SMG4 video has an emotional moment

Naughty PonyCentral

Most of her crying is similar to Sick PonyCentral

Each time she lashes out at her mother after a fierce argument

Funerals

She does tend to start crying at the drop of a hat

The dark, especially during a power cut. This was due to one of the light bulbs in her house running out of juice

When Nathan had to leave for college

Each time she lost a poll

Nathan Files/Naughty Boyfriend

His cousin's unexpected death due to heart problems

Being away from Naughty PonyCentral for a full year

Funerals and weddings

Whenever one of his kids started crying, he would get teary-eyed

Whenever he stubbed his toes, he would start crying. This was when he was in his pre-teens (he was ten when he first stubbed his big toe)

Being late for school (happened once. It was kindergarten too)

Rufus Cole/Young Boyfriend

Cobalt Bee (don't ask why)

The SpongeBob Bounce House (shown in vs SpongeBob Parodies mod)

Having his balloon stolen

Scary movies

Baxter Wow/BF Wow

Deny him a fishing trip and he will burst into tears in front of you

He will also cry if his tooth falls out

School plays apparently

Haunted houses give him the heebie jeebies. He will also cry at the jumpscares

Freundin

Whenever Freund starts crying, she will shed one tear

Nân Pêngyöu

He will cry if he gets interrogated

If he's reminded of a past traumatic event in his life, expect him to start crying

Not getting one AI Generated image of him makes him cry

Getting pranked on April Fools Day (possibly)

Don't hurt his feelings. Evan Barsham will not hesitate to hurt you

Evan Barsham/YBS Boyfriend

Getting an F on his exam

His claustrophobia will eventually lead to tears

That's all for Part 1

[arwainian]

Reading This Week 2024 #25

Despite being about the same amount of socially busy this week I read way more! I blame the heat wave, even though reading some of these books made me sweat way more than I would have otherwise...

This update is coming a day late because... my girlfriend just got engaged! I was busy on Saturday filming the proposal and yesterday on celebrating with her and her fiance, so you get the reading update a little delayed

Finished:

Reading Rape: The Rhetoric of Sexual Violence in American Literature and Culture, 1790-1990 by Sabine Sielke now, in my last update I said I was slipping into skimming this, but actually the final chapter had some more bits relevant to my work! I think I'll be drawing the most from the first and 4th chapter. an analysis of rhetoric is interesting, but I hope I can dive deeper

"The Law of Genre" by Jacques Derrida, translated by Avital Ronell I am... not sure I understood any word of what was being argued here until maybe the last page?

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles As i said in my small liveblogs of this book, there are some fucking EXCELLENT arguments in this book. and between the main couple no less, where they both come off poorly but ultimately feel justified. I've had this waited on my shelf for about a year, and picking up the sequel (listed below) from my local library on a whim last saturday was the push I needed to finally read it. gosh it had been too long since I read any KJC and it felt good to get back to her work. (this is the aforementioned book that made the heatwave much sweaty [for stressful plot related reasons, get your mind out of the gutter])

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles Luke is exactly a character type that I love to fall for. I love schemeing scoundrels with the skills to socially manipulate situations to their own ends! Also the fights between Rufus and his extended family were so awful and satisfying, KJC has a real skill with dialogue, which includes both flirtatious banter and intense and harrowing arguments. I really loved how, even beyond the fact that this is a sequel to Country Gentlemen, its was just packed with self indulgent references to other KJC works, w/ Lord Corvin cameos and the book Jonathan from her Wanted, a Gentleman/Author novella. Those were put in there for me specifically. However, I will be categorically ignoring a portion of the epilogue of this book, because I think it was dumb/messed up what was already established in the rest of the book. instead in the epilogue in my head Luke and Rufus get kinky in the scary cellar temple after Berengaria finishes that painting of them as pagan god and worshipper

original fiction on the Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast

Peaceweaver by Jennifer Nestojko, narrated by Tiana Hansonon At the Mouth by Gurmika Mann, narrated by Maya Chabra "Alphabet of Signs" and "Jade General" by Ursula Whitcher, narrated by Jasmine Arch Where My Heart Goes by Heather Rose Jones, narrated by author By Her Pen She Conquers by Catherine Lundoff, narrated by Heather Rose Jones The Black Handkerchief by Gwen C. Katz, narrated by Lara Zelinsky

I've been listening to a lot of the Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast recently and I figure I should start keeping track of the original fiction that gets published through it. always fun to have a sapphic short story to listen to on a walk or a drive

What Did You Eat Yesterday? Vol. 10 by Fumi Yoshinaga, translated by Jocelyn Allen cute as always

"The Reality Effect" by Roland Barthes, translated by Richard Howard "Realism and the Novel Form" by Ian Watt (I have no notes on the above two in my journal, and I dont want to go check Zotero. read for research)

Love & Bees by SJ Blasko little poetry booklet I picked up from a queer art fair last year, happy to have finally read it. there's some wonderful stuff in here

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, translated by Faelicy & Lily, illustrated by Xiao Tong Kong my hold finally came in from the library <3. awful, hilarious, the Shen Jiu chapters made me heart ache, and it is so so funny and infuriating that it seems like half of Binghe's flirting technique is making himself seem sad and pitiful because of Shang's bad romance advice

Started/Ongoing:

Uzumaki by Junji Ito I read the first two chapters and had to set this down. the body horror for this is very visceral to me and I think I will have to take it quite slow, but I am excited to read more

A Transmigrator and a Time Traveler Walk Into the Bamboo House by VeryCharismaticDragon on ao3 finishing volume 4 of SVSSS made me decide to give some fanfic another try. I'm most of the way through this and I think the early parts are a bit better than the later parts but I am having a good time.

Reading Plans:

-more articles for research -uzumaki (but slowly) for shelved by genre -Always the Almost by Edward Underhill for a queer book club -We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian bc if I got back to KJC I should go read the Cat that i've been putting off, and I put a hold on another book from her at the library to motivate myself

[foxingpeculiar]

FF7 R&R:

Okay. I beat Remake. So tomorrow (probably), I'll play the Intermission DLC with Yuffie, and then it's Rebirth time.

So, just kind of going through my notes, beginning with leaving Wall Market to head up to Shinra HQ.

First, that must be a helluva motor on those grappling guns of theirs. I know it's a "just go with it" kind of thing, like how Cloud is apparently able to jump like 50 feet in the air and... physics just generally works by anime logic. But I dunno. It feels so... tactile and realistic, especially in comparison to the original, in so many ways, that the anime physics stuff kind of stands out for me. It's not a dealbreaker, it's just silly.

I took the stairs up Shinra HQ, because that's what I always do, and it's worth it for the fun banter. Whoo, you really feel all 59 floors in this one though, don't you?

For the most part, I like what they're doing with the characters, including the non-party ones--Scarlett using a dude as furniture, Palmer being a tea-sipping little nebbish, even turning Mayor Domino into a sort of pathetic freedom fighter is a fun touch that feels like it builds on the world in a cool way.

I still don't know how I feel about Sephiroth in this game, though. They did do the creepy blood trail, but it's Jenova blood (I guess?) that's all purple and sparkly but doesn't have the same visceral impact. And that's kind of the whole thing--you're showing the monster too much. He's right there, in your face, from the beginning moments. And like... it's not clear what his nature is. When he's only in Cloud's head and when other people can see him too, and whether any of those appearances are really "him" in a meaningful sense or just projections according to some mechanism that's not yet explained.

It could be so cool! Cos he is a creepy, eldritch, kind of otherworldly thing. He's supposed to be kind of scary! Like, when you come upon the impaled Midgar Zolom in the original, that's such an "oh. shit." moment, cos that thing just kicked your ass eight ways from sunday. "What kind of power does this guy have?!" you think to yourself. (I'm really curious to see if and how Rebirth handles that.) But now, he just kind of shows up and acts sort of creepy, and it's like I've already fought him and won once, even if it wasn't the real him, so he's just not as threatening or mysterious as he should be at this point in the story, y'know?

I remember struggling with the last few fights the first time I played Remake, but this time they all went down pretty easy. I died once to Rollerball because of some depth perception issues with the camera, but other than that, took 'em all first try. Rufus and Sephiroth both pressed me a bit, but it's not bad, difficulty-wise.

The tour through Shinra HQ was pretty fascinating. The corporatized creepyness of all of it kinda got under my skin. And it was an interesting loredump. There are still things I'm curious about--like what Wutai's interest in the war is. But maybe we'll get there as we go.

Man, fuck Hojo. He might be the most evil dude in this thing, and that's saying something. The whole sequence with him and Aerith was just... ugh. Which is exactly what it should be, so good, I guess. It's just... seeing the whole situation depicted in a modern game--which is a lot less abstracted than one from the '90s--whoof. Like, Aerith casually being like "this is where I grew up" and all these kid's drawings in this sterile, hostile room. It's just... it hits harder than it did for me playing the original.

It's interesting to me that we still don't really know much about religious practice in this world. Specifically because Shinra invokes that kind of language, talking about scriptures and the promised land, when discussing the Cetra. And the point the game seems to be making is that they believe in the scripture, but misunderstand it--fatally. By using Mako energy, they're destroying the very thing they're trying to find, but they're--collectively--blinded by capitalism and fascistic power and unable to recognize that.

Which I think is interesting in the context of what Remake is doing specifically with the whole Whispers thing. They're a neutral force--connected to all the same mystical vibes that Aerith and Sephiroth and Jenova are all sensitive to--but they're not aligned with anyone, they existed only to keep the story on the path it was supposed to go down, the plot of the original game.

Except then I destroyed them (I guess? I assume that's what that explosion of sparkly shit meant). And, hey, just as I did, suddenly there's a potentially very significant deviation from the original story when Zack appears, alive. So it's like the story is saying "aha, now we can fuck with your expectations." This feels like a tease about saving Aerith. I feel like it's setting me up to believe I might be able to. Which is why I think I won't. Like, if you changed that, it would fundamentally change the whole story--it wouldn't Final Fantasy 7 anymore. But it shows you "visions of the future" as cutscenes from the original game, and pointedly includes that moment. "This can't be our future" (I think it's Tifa that says that). So what's the point of setting me up to believe that? How is Rebirth going to follow through on that idea? I'm very curious about that, cos I was skeptical about all the Whisper stuff the first time through, but this time it feels more like it's just building to something.

Nanaki is great in this. The part where he "smiles" at Barrett in the truck was a lot of fun. There was a moment that made me wonder... I'm not really clear on how much Aerith knows at this point, about everything that's going on, and how. Like when she stops Cloud and Barrett from attacking him, she says "This child is a friend." And they were both in the lab for a long time, it's conceivable they did know each other. But then there's that whole moment where she reaches out and touches him and something magic kind of passes between them, and the fact that he doesn't speak before that point... the way it's presented made me wonder what, exactly, happened there. How much is she able to intuit and how much does she know from her own direct experience? Especially when she's talking to/about Sephiroth at the end there ("Everything about you is wrong.").

There's a point--and I didn't make a note of what exactly she says, but it's at some point after they're escaping Hojo's trap with the sword-fish-robot thing. Aerith has a line that's like... oh, she knows she's going to die. She's aware she's doomed by the narrative. I wonder.

I dunno, I have lots of smaller stray notes, stuff like:

The PHS terminal in the lab was a nice throwback

Aerith identifying herself as "local florist!" when facing off against Rufus slayed me.

Tifa not wanting to go into the men's room

What does Hojo's lab smell like? They make a big deal of that.

Barrett, of course he was running off to get a gun. C'mon man.

Heidegger almost getting a motorcycle to the face was pretty sweet.

Biggs is alive! Wedge... might not be.

The whole "we gotta go after Sephiroth" moment at the end is so very "...and my axe!" y'know? A tropish fantasy moment.

But yeah. From here, we're in unknown territory.

[reksigh]

What did you like about FFVII Rebirth and what did you think of Dio in FFVII Rebirth?

ff7 rebirth was really great! i did everything on dynamic mode (have to do a new file on hard in order to platinum...) going in i was nervous about the combat and pacing since i didnt really enjoy the combat or pacing of remake (i ended up never finishing it, i stopped right at the rufus fight) all the things i wanted changed from the original/expanded on happened. cloud's mentality being one of them and also tifa's like hesitancy/fear regarding him? sephiroth was soo scary the like bending of reality and me not being able to tell what was actually real versus what cloud was hallucinating was really good and way better than i expected. it was so addicting and i cant wait to play it again on hard mode! i do wish zack had a more significant part in the story but he's one of my favorite characters so i'm biased LOL.

as for dio, he was really funny! i liked the voice and flamboyance they gave him he was reminding me of an ace attorney character a little bit which is /pos. thanks so much for the question!!

[axnewxera]

What do you think about Rufus and Sephiroth? To me their new beef was the most interesting part of the game.

// OH HELL YES

I love it. I love everything about it. And I'm REALLY excited to see where they go with it.

Obviously I'm a bit biased but Rufus is 100% a character that deserved more screentime and story. I LOVE that they're making him out to be this puppetmaster orchestrating Wutai's tensions with Shinra in the past - I'm gonna be SO disappointed if Sarruf ends up NOT being Rufus lmao - and that Sephiroth is exploiting that to essentially mess with Rufus and distract the planet from his plans. It just WORKS and fits in super well with the story so I'm totally here for it!!

All this new stuff gives Rufus a more personal stake in the main conflict against Sephiroth, especially considering that the form Sephiroth is choosing to take with him is one that Rufus has a personal and tense history with. And I LOVE their dynamic!!

In general I am just REALLY happy with how they are handling Rufus in the remakes and I can't wait to see what he does in part 3!

I'm honestly a bit mixed on Sephiroth's overall use in the remakes. Don't get me wrong, he is cool as all hell and every scene he's in has been great. In the original game, though, he's very much an unseen presence for so much of the story, just a few steps ahead of you and out of reach, and I feel it made him seem a lot more scary and mythological. He loses a lot of that vibe for me by showing up as frequently as he does, but I also can't really complain because they still do a great job of making him badass and formidable.

[ceaselxss]

//i have very mixed feelings about Tseng's scene in the Temple in Rebirth

On one hand, I like the scene, I like that he gets to interact more with Aerith, I like we see Rude having to carry him out. It's one of the very few scenes with notable blood so it punctuates it nicely. I like that you get to see how worried the Turks are, and Rufus protecting him from Hojo is a very nice touch when so much Turk trauma comes from Hojo taking survivors of horrors (Elfe and Zack) to fuck with

I understand it's likely done this way so he can more easily exist in the 3rd game; by following the OG story here, Tseng really wouldn't turn up again and clearly they're adding depth to the Turks and Rufus

but it just doesn't hit hard enough

Sure, being stabbed through is scary and painful but its not him being opened from shoulder to hip and left for dead. Tseng bleeding out, fully accepting his death and waiting to be embraced by it, only being saved by Reeve's mercy - versus Tseng literally just walking out, walking back to the Turks. i just wish it was more dire for him, though i understand why it wasnt

[asoulofatlantis]

Okay, now that I have eaten (too much), drank some water and took a big red painkiller its time to go back to playing Reverie.

Yeah and it was quite the ordeal, so this better be worth it!

WOAH! If you thought his Dad-Mood was scary in the spreadsheet-translation then look at this and think again. Not just that here he clearly says “my child” were it was “our child” (as in the SSSs Child) here, but I am pretty sure he wasn’t that aggressive in the fan translation either. Its... scary to admit that him being in overprotective “touch my daughter and you are dead!” - mood makes him oddly attractive... uh... just forget that I said that!

*achem* That aside, I would love to know which translation is closer to the truth because for once, I like NIS adaptation better XD

Ah right. That is were Dr.Seiland was. I forgot about that... I was a bit occupied with other things in this chapter to be honest. Mainly Reans route causing me to scream in Panic like 5 times in a row... but we get there later. (In any case... I do still believe there is something up with that Doctor we yet have to find out about. It seems awfully weird to put a face to a mostly random doctor, even if it is a good one. It could easily be that they will use her as a great doctor again or something like this. But trusting Doctors or Scientist or ANYONE with a Labcoat really proves to be rather hard in Falcom games ^^’ (Erika aside, she is too much of a mother to join the organisation that could have harmed her dear Tita before...)

At this point Erikas desperate tries to get Agate away from Tita by being the bitch she sometimes is, has started to be more amusing then annoying. Agate is there to stay, so... instead of worrying about whatever Erika could do to cause him to run, we should be amused by how hard she is trying even tho I am pretty sure she has secretly long accepted that she has lost that battle.

Did you ever saw the theory that McBurn might actually be Epstein? At first I felt like that it made no sense, but... given that we know that Epstein suddenly vanished and that he was making experiments and stuff far beyond of what our amazing Engineers and even his own disciples are capable of... it doesn’t seem so unlikely that he broke the divergent laws and accidentally or on purpose fused with some sort of otherworldly being? Not to mention that we still haven’t fully figured out what the Genesis were capable off and those were in his position, as far as we know. So... it doesn’t seem totally impossible at this point. Especially since it seems and awfully weird detail that he is wearing glasses...

I am interested to one day find out the truth behind his story and see if the theories at least scratched the surface of what is the real truth.

Its scary to think of what this will mean for our future. Imagine all the people we might met that might not be the real deal in the future. I mean like that, literally everyone could be replaced by a machine without even the most dedicated players ever noticing it until it gets revealed. Scary!

I will always hate missions like that...

Way to make an entrance Noel XD

Lloyd... I think we established playing dead is not your thing XD

That was cruel!

Now we have Renne in overprotective-daughter-mood. What an exhausting chapter this is... spectacular, but freaking exhausting.

Being a doll is certainly not easy, that much is for sure. But have no fear, Rufus is here! (You will get that in a moment.)

This scene was so cute... but then Rufus had to ruin it for me forever that damned Idiot! (You will get that one in the next chapter...)

Well whatever... in that moment it was still cute... even with the knowledge I have.

[cwarscars-a]

leg, ghost, and heel emoji

☠ ― 𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑆𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠.

🦵 - Does your muse have any physical ailments? How do they live with them?

yes - ! so; the scar across his eye actually took around 70% of his vision from that eye ( he can't see shit outta that eye! ) he's lived with this since he were a young man ( 22 ), so has learned to live life with the lack of vision. he's learned to thrive despite it and will rarely mention it.

he's also developing arthritis due to his age / his physical activity throughout the years. he's always been so physical, throwing himself into battle headfirst and being wounded over and over that his body is ( essentially ) passed its expiry date ( lol ). he's aching all of the time.

the big one though is his heart - when heid fought in the very early days of the wutai war as a commander on the front line, he fought godo head-to-head. this battle ended with heidegger being stabbed through the chest; the blade scraping his heart ( ignore reality, embrace fantasy lol ). this wound is a wound that's stuck with him ( heid essentially lives with a broken heart ). this injury has given him a weak heart since and he has to take medication to keep his blood pressure low and his heart from giving out.

( i imagine heid's weak heart is a reason why rufus decided to pile the science department & all the other shit on him. man probs hoped it'd kill heid off, lol ).

👻 - How does your muse handle feeling scared? Do they enjoy horror? Do they believe in the paranormal? What calms your muse down? Do they have any scary stories?

i see heid as a bit of an andrenline junkie in some ways - he's a man who gets his kicks from the thrill of a fight and with that, i guess comes fear? he's the sort of guy that - when his heart starts racing - he gets excited. he wants more. he wants to feel the sweat on his brow and the thump in his chest. it's very rare that he's afraid but when he is, it's more akin to excitement.

take the end of ffvii remake - cloud runs a wheel of a motorbike directly beside heid's face, he whinces and leans back ( the fucking MAD MAN ) and after is heavy breathing. we don't see him again until later, but i like to imagine that after this happens - he's thrilled by it. avalanche have proved themselves worthy time and time again and sephiroth is a presence in himself to fear and i think ( and i hope ) we see heidegger excited over the prospect of fighting / capturing them. like, in my heart - i would LOVE to see the proud clod fight turn into individual battles. i would love to see heid break out the katana and for him to be a boss fight in himself and i'd love to see him WANT it.

i went on a tangent, but my point is - he enjoys fear.

however, he does not enjoy fearing for others. he doesn't want to worry about his daughters or any lovers. he doesn't want to fear for his friends ( lol, frienD ). when he finds himself fearing for other's, he finds himself truly scared and he simply does not know how to handle that fear ( he will freak out and probably, respond with anger ).

i also wanna side-note here that i headcanon heid as being scared of the northern crater due to his past experiences - this is a more natural fear. almost like a phobia even? he's afraid of the place without letting himself delve into why so it comes off as unnatural and he's unsure of what to do with that fear. he fears that place like a person fears spiders - no thrill to be had, no interest...just...fear.

👠 - What kind of shoes does your muse usually wear? What is most comfortable for them in regards to footwear? Can your muse walk in high heels?

boots ! always big, clunky, leather boots! sturdy - maybe even steel-capped; boots that are good for kicking! probably around ankle height, no heel. but very, VERY sturdy. gotta make a dent when he kicks the shit outta someone.

[flowerssamara]

Wattstax

Wattstax is a film released in 1973, capturing the Watts Music Festival held in 1972. The music festival was organized by Stax Records to commemorate the Watts Riots that took place seven years before. Many entertainers were in attendance such as Isaac Hayes, Richard Pryor, Rufus Thomas, Kim Weston, William Bell etc. I appreciated the Black success, Black luxury, Black education, and the Black power that was exhibited in this film. I also loved that the seats were filled with Black people to a point that I am led to believe only Black people were there. The more interesting segments were when people told stories about their real experiences as opposed to the musical performances. However, the musical selections that were chosen were very historical and are songs that we still sing today. A man explained that when he was a little boy, his brother was told by a white boy that he was not Black. His brother believed the white boy and came home referring to him as Black but not himself. His mother told him that if he was not Black then he was not her son because she is Black so therefore so are her children. That was very relatable for me because my mother instilled the same teachings in my brother and I and for that I am grateful. The energy from the film reminded me of how I felt at my first homecoming at Morgan State University. Before then, I had never seen that many of my people in one setting at the same time. Another connection I made was while hearing the The Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice “. It allowed me to revisit a memory of me as a child leading my entire school choir in song. I cannot stress enough how appreciative I am for my upbringing and how much it has shaped me into who I am. The film represented “ texture, taste, and sound'' as stated and I couldn't agree more. I also came across the realization that Black communities have an abundance of churches, it is even common to find multiple on the same street. A man explained his first time in a Black church and it was almost scary how similar his experience was to mine. As well as the association a woman described that she had to the song “Amazing grace”. She said her great grandmother died of cancer and everytime she hears that song she thinks of the funeral. Similarly, I, too, can only think of my great grandmother’s funeral when I hear that song. My great grandmother also died of cancer and I was chosen to sing “Amazing Grace” at her funeral. Another interesting aspect of the film was their outfits. Many of the outfits that the men wore at that time would be considered feminine now but instead they were praised for their fashion choices then. For instance, Rufus Thomas’ hot pink outfit. A quote that I found comedic was “ I always say I would never fight over a man, but let me find a good black man a b*tch can't say sh*t to me or she will get her a** kicked”. I found delight in this quote because I agree. The film was beautiful as well as the concept behind it and a gathering of such importance should be held in the present day.

[schrodingers-rufus]

Scary Story Reading Requests?

I've started doing spooky story readings, since I enjoy reading stories aloud and have a decent mic. Does anyone have any stories they'd like to hear in audio form? I'd prefer that the stories: -Be public domain/uncredited and online -Not have any explicit sexual content -Not have strong language (since I'm a wimp about cursing and not very good at it) -Not be spooky at the expense of real people/real groups of people. (Lovecraft's racist rants, I'm looking at you.) As long as they follow the above points, basically everything's welcome, from creepypasta to folktales to Real Proper Literature.