#so catchy its gonna be stuck in my head for the rest of the day

[osaemu]

2010s music was actually so catchy. they don make music like that anymore </33

[yjyt85r98r]

Aikatsu song reviews: Kira・pata・shining

Possibly the most "wait, this is from Aikatsu?" song of them all. And also the most questionable.

Song

It's a very, very unusual song for Aikatsu. It still loosely follows the most basic anime song conventions, but it ignores a lot of them, instead using a rhythm, scale, and instruments inspired by Indian music. I love when a song breaks the boundaries and does something different. But...

It's been becoming more and more clear to me that I can't stand songs that have one loud instrument making the same sounds over and over throughout the entire song. In the case of Kira・pata・shining, this instrument is the sitar. I think its sound is just too powerful to be at the forefront for the entire song, especially in a song with vocals. It loudly plays the same notes over and over again for the whole song and it sort of drives me crazy. It's fine to have a recurring motif that carries the rest of the song, but ideally, other instrumentals should sometimes overshadow that motif so that it's not dominant for the entire song. When the same thing stays at the forefront for an entire song, without changing at all, then it becomes really boring and annoying. But I don't know, other people seem to like this song, so whatever.

As much as I don't like the main instrumentals, I like the rhythm, and the way it adds in hand drums and occasionally clapping as the song goes on. I think more Aikatsu songs should have used this rhythm and percussion style.

One thing I can say for sure is that this song is incredibly catchy. After hearing it just one time, the chorus kept getting stuck in my head.

Vocals

Sora's voice is the best part of the song to me. There are some parts of the song where I don't know whether her vocals make them more annoying, or if they're just annoying to begin with.

I think they could've done some double tracking to go along with the multiplied visual effects. That would've increased the 'trippy' feeling.

Lyrics

So these lyrics, huh...

I don't really know where to put this, but eventually I was gonna have to talk about early(ish) Aikatsu's whole thing with sexy-type performances and different cultures. Kira・pata・shining is definitely the most glaring example.

Most of the other Aikatsu songs inspired by music from other cultures (e.g. Trap of Love, Chica×Chica) have highly personal lyrics that help the songs feel grounded and genuine. But Kira・pata・shining's lyrics are about magic spells, impermanence, and being mysterious. They're full of deliberately opaque metaphors. They feel somehow distant, as if the whole appeal lies in keeping it foreign. It also doesn't help that they're some of the most suggestive lyrics to appear in Aikatsu. The whole "foreign = sexy" thing is a problem.

It was a whole decade ago at this point, and they don't do this kind of thing anymore so it's no longer a problem. But it's also kind of sad that newer Aikatsu series didn't explore different music styles from different parts of the world. Maybe one day they will have a perfect balance, especially now that anime is becoming a more worldwide, multicultural thing.

Choreography

It has a nice swirling quality. I sort of like the choreography, but combined with everything else about this song, you could say it goes too far into "sexy" territory. Still, it's not the worst that Aikatsu's ever put out.

Visuals

I forget how much I like the stage until I see it in motion. The flaming torches, the sky that turns darker, the fireworks, the way the palace disappears for a split second... very mysterious. It's also unique how Sora begins the song with her wings folded like a fan, and they only unfold after the first verse. The whole thing is full of spiritual imagery and vague visual metaphors.

It sort of reminds me of a 70s/80s music video, what with the orientalist setup and surreal visual effects. If you've seen any early MTV videos, you probably know what I'm talking about.

I still feel like this whole performance is sort of just a cultural mishmash. The stage design is obviously influenced by the Taj Mahal, so it fits the music's theme, but the brand Bohemian Sky is allegedly based on Sora's time in Morocco, and the designs don't look like they're based on anything in particular. As Long As It Sounds Foreign!

Good points: Unique song, nice rhythm Bad points: Main instrumental is too repetitive and overbearing

Rating: 5/10 Personal rating: 1/10

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #127

Brain Curds are lightly edited flash fiction - practically first drafts - posted daily (haven't missed one yet!) and sometimes written with the express intention of being terrible… but, you know, in an endearing way. Please like and reblog if you enjoy - the notes keep me going!

He's gonna be Frank with you. Read the rest of The Frank Program here on Tumblr!

“Welcome back to The Frank Program. I’m Big Mike, your host for the day, since Frankie-boy couldn’t make it. But you won’t want to miss this episode, because our guest is rising pop-star icon, Rhonda Pope! Welcome to the program.”

“Thank you for having me, Mike.”

“On this show, we usually jump right into the questions, but I know you’re nervous, so let’s loosen up a little, shall we?” Mike pulled a bottle of whiskey from under the desk and set a couple shot glasses next to it on the table. He poured both of them and slid one over to Rhonda.

“Oh… uh… I don’t drink, actually.”

Mike had already downed his shot. “Oh well, more for me.” He took hers and threw it back. “Anyway, I’m relaxed now. The great thing about podcasting is no one can tell me what to do. It’s great. It’s like a vacation. Anyway… Let’s try an ice breaker: If you had to choose between Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, who would you fuck, marry, and kill?”

“I do not feel comfortable answering that question.”

“Yeah, ha ha ha,” Big Mike giggled. “I don’t blame you. Actually I wrote that question down a few weeks ago, it’s got nothing to do with recent events.” He held up his hands. “Okay? It’s a perfectly normal edgy kind of question.”

Rhonda sat in quiet discomfort.

“The internet is gonna have a field day with this. They hate me. They all hate me because I’m not afraid to tell it like it is.” Mike remembered what he was supposed to be doing. “Sorry about that, let’s get back to you. What’s it like finally catching your big break, years after the release of your first single?”

“It’s amazing, actually. I’ve always just, mostly tried to make sure I was making something I like, something I want to listen to, because I think as an artist you need to start from a personal place. So yeah, I stand by all of my previous releases even if they didn’t get the same attention as Bi-Bye Bitch. And I think my new fans are diving into my singles from last year, and even earlier, and they’re finding more of what they love about that song, but still unique. It’s a beautiful thing.”

“I can tell you that for me, personally, I’ve had Cigarette Burn stuck in my head every minute since I heard it. It’s exceptionally catchy.”

“Thank you. I -”

“Like, no, no, no, listen. It’s too catchy. I can’t get it out of my head, it’s driving me off the edge.”

“I’m… sorry?”

“You’re good.”

“Thanks. Uh…”

“Is it true that your record label dropped you last year?”

“It is, yeah. I had to get a job as a waitress to make ends meet.”

“Their loss, huh?”

“Yeah, I think indie pop really is the way of the future. My label never knew what to do with my music, you know? They couldn’t decide if it was for the gays or the girlies, but it was always for the gay girlies, you know what I mean? It’s that intersection.”

“Is there still a place in the pop world for megahits and superstars?”

“I guess so? But it’s never going to be like it was when I was a kid. Everyone knew the top forty because it was on the radio, and people were listening. Every year had its signature biggest song, but now? Monoculture is dead. Pop culture is dead. Nothing gets that big anymore. Everything is regional and demographical and, like, calculated to appeal to the most people and they still can’t do it. I’m lucky, you know? Because I’m getting popular enough to be self-sustaining, but I don’t have all the overhead the labels do. They spend more than anything else on marketing.”

“That’s old media for you. Do you see them sticking around?”

“I don’t think anyone really knows what’ll happen.”

Just then, the door to the studio slammed open, and Frank walked in with his arm over Daryl’s shoulder. “We… are… BACK!”

Mike furrowed his brow. “We. Are. Recording!”

“Get outta my seat, Michael. Shoo.”

Mike groaned and moved to the next seat over. Frank adjusted his microphone as Daryl returned to the dusty chair in the corner.

“It’s getting really crowded…” Rhonda shrank in her seat.

“Well too bad, darlin’. If you don’t like it, head on out.”

“Hey!” Mike punched Frank’s shoulder. “Do you know how hard it was to get her to come on the show?”

“I don’t know a damn thing about this girl, Mikey. Can’t imagine I care. Nothing you can say to me can ruin my mood. I got my boy back!”

“Wow,” Rhonda said half-heartedly. “Congrats! I think I’m gonna head home, actually… yeah.” She got up, grabbed her purse, and walked out before anyone could stop her.

Mike’s jaw hung open. “Why? Why, Frank? Why couldn’t you just stay home today?”

“Because it’s my show.”

“But you have no idea what you’re even doing!”

“I don’t need to. All that matters is family and making something I’m proud of.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, man? Ugh, forget it.” Mike threw down his headphones and stormed out of the studio.

“Well’n, I guess that’s all for today’s episode of The Frank Program. Thank you all for letting me be Frank with you. See you next time.”

[anyways-wonderwall]

Album of the Week #68

Planet Her

(2021)

by Doja Cat

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

TL;DR: Probably an objectively good album, I’m just tired. Tired of hearing these singles that were drilled into my head, tired on the stupid one-liners, tired of the trap snare. While she has a fantastic singing voice and seems to be having fun, I’m too damn tired to have the enthusiasm rub off on me. 

(You know, I'll give her this, that is a badass album cover 10/10)

Every week i somehow get busier. When will it end

Overall Thoughts

As her albums become more refined, focused, and professional, her intent of writing about sex and womanhood becomes clearer. I think that Robert Christgau’s description of writing sex songs instead of love songs fits even more with this album. Every duet is about sex, every rap mentions it, even “Kiss Me More” which sounds like a lighthearted love song is incredibly graphic once you listen to the lyrics. I’m not saying this is a bad thing at all, it’s just fascinating to hear a whole album that has pop woven through it not mention love (I wonder what boomer Robert Christgau has to say about that). 

“Woman” starts the album off with a sensual tone and is I think the most creative and distinct song on the album. The rest kind of blend together and I think how overplayed some of them were on the radio ruined a few of them for me. I don’t think many of the songs offered anything unique or especially good, with a mix of predictable slow songs and rap songs that offer your standard sound board of effects and beats. The only real variation you’ll get is in a sometimes really good chorus or baseline, as she also offers about the same flow in every song. I think most of the album (especially “Naked” and “Need to Know”) fall into the category of “songs I’d dance to at a club and enjoy at the time but never think about again.” You need songs like that in your life, but that also means that I don’t have much of a desire to listen to this album in full again. 

In listening to her whole discography I’ve found that the one thing that Doja Cat lacks is being a good writer. Okay that sounds really harsh but I think her messages and themes are great, her ideas are solid and complex, she’s just really bad at writing well crafted, smart, and good lyrics. Often they’re stupid enough to border on funny which was fine in her early days but as she wants to be taken more and more seriously it just doesn’t really work. Often lines don’t rhyme or barely rhyme, the word play is stupid (“square like Madison”??? That’s dumb as hell), and when thing do flow and rhyme it feels like gibberish. I hope she gets better soon because if you’re gonna start billing yourself as a rapper (like she is in her newest album) you at least have to be able to write. Sure you can say the lines, but are they worth saying?

Part of me wonders if I’m especially harsh on this album because pretty much every song that was a single when this came out was so overplayed that it makes me genuinely angry to here. “Get Into It (Yuh)” is one of my least favorite songs of all time tbh, and if I have to hear that weird bird owl sound effect one more time I’m going to throw my headphones into the road. “You Right” is probably a good song objectively but I just find myself wanting to turn it off because its so boring to me, and the only song (other than “Woman”) that I find myself coming back to is “Kiss Me More.” 

You know, to end this review on a good note let’s talk about that song for a bit. It’s honestly perfect. I’ve had it stuck in my head for the past week but not in a dreadful way, in a “nodding my head and humming while doing the dishes” kind of way. The baseline is perfect, all the guitar parts are wonderfully catchy, SZA is fantastic in it, and its the perfect length. I’m glad the album ended with that song because I was at least left with a good taste in my mouth. 

Next week's review: Scarlet (2023) by Doja Cat

[silviatheorbit]

Loossemble Album Review

And it's finally out! The album as a whole is a 9/10.

Track 1: Intro: Searching for their Friends 7/10

The beginning was so dramatic and I loved it! It incorporated a lot of elements of the "loona sound" and sounded distinctly familiar. They really did a good job of making it sound familiar while also being fresh.

Track 2 (title track): Sensitive 8/10

The chorus has been stuck on my head for days now lol. The whole song is really catchy and the girls absolutely slayed the high notes. I'm so glad that the members of loona with the usually most minor lines got to show more of what they could do! I will say, that the 2nd verse isn't my favorite, it doesn't have any natural rhythm and I think it's that trend these days in K-pop of "talk-rapping". Besides that, I loved every other part of the song. It definitely deserved being the title track.

Track 3: Real World 7/10

The beginning definitely threw me off because the vibes changed so fast. But I definitely liked this song, I do think it could have been better if the chorus was just as explosive as the rest of the song. The chorus is currently my least favorite part. Also, it sounds like a Red Velvet song for some reason? I can't point out why. Anyway, it was a solid track but could have been better.

Track 4: Colouring 9/10

This song definitely gives loona vibes, and I love it. It sounds like it could be on the XX album along with Colors. It's a chill song with a good melody and overall a really good track. Nothing much more to say, there's nothing about this song I would change.

Track 5: Newtopia 10/10

You don't understand how much I love this song. It really embodies its title, sounding fresh and new without being in-your-face bright like Real World (the only way I can explain it lol). It just gives me a boost of serotonin every time I hear it. If happiness and contentness could be personified into a song, it would be this one. The instrumental in the bridge is just *chef's kiss*! It's super catchy too, and honestly could have been the title track if Sensitive wasn't so good.

Track 6: Strawberry Soda 1,000,0000/10

This is the best song of the album for me. It's super catchy, has a relaxing vibe, a beautiful instrumental, and amazing lyrics (courtesy of Yves!). It really reminds me of Love Me Like by Odd Eye Circle (it's almost like they were from the same group....ok I'll shut up now). Love Me Like was also my favorite track from OEC's album, so I think I just like songs like Strawberry Soda. I'd also like to call attention to the lyrics of the chorus which are really sweet:

That moment we'll dive into the bright red sky The magic starts, as for mood, feel so high It spreads sweeter, sometimes sour Don't know what it is, but Like strawberry soda It's time to dream, alright?

Track 7: Day By Day 10/10

I was taken off guard because strawberry soda came before this and the vibes are totally different. But this song is so good. I tend to find emotional songs boring, but not this one. Adding the rock elements made it so interesting, also knowing Hyunjin wrote the song's lyrics. It just adds that extra layer. This was a really good song to end the album with. Also, may I mention Hyeju's high note???? Those "who's gonna sing" people are going to have a fit after listening to that. I even heard some "orbits" joke about Loossemble asking Chuu for help recording songs. Honestly, those people are so annoying. Anyway, this song definitely passed with flying colors on making me cry. Even more when I watched them perform it on their tour.

Just remember that Hyunjin wrote these lyrics:

Believe, I believe forever We will be one

And on that note, have a great day! Stan Loossemble!

[recurring-polynya]

Do I mind if I ask how you approach writing longer fic? I've always struggled to write anything more than maybe two chapters long and I'm curious if you have a particular method to how you approach such stories.

Thank you so much for this ask! I absolutely love it when people ask me for writing advice because it makes me feel like a Smart Person Who Knows Things.

Before we start, here is one grain of salt to take all of this with: I have a naturally long-form brain. It is very hard for me to write something less than 1k. Short fiction is great, and there is nothing wrong with sticking to short things if that's what your brain likes to do.

So. You have decided to write a story. This is going to focus on "stories". Some people write fic that's more freeform or whatever, I am not going to cover that. What I mean by a story is this:

It starts

Some stuff happens

It ends

It is highly probable that your story contains a change of state, which could be that a villain is defeated, or a goal is reached, but it could also be that character falls in love with another, or someone learns to like broccoli.

I like to start out by completing the sentence, "This is a story where _______". This is basically like coming up with a summary for an ao3 post, except that it doesn't need to be catchy. Lots of different kinds of things could go in that blank! It could literally be what happens: This is a story where Ichigo goes back in time and punches young Aizen in the nose. It could be about what you want to explore: This is a story where Hitsugaya gets a better understanding of his zanpakutou. It could be about the vibe you want to achieve: This is an AU where everyone is in a punk rock band and has cool hair and outfits. The idea of this is to clearly define what you, the author, is interested in writing. Make sure it feels right! Maybe you pick the first one, but when you say it out loud, you say, "You know, I really just want Ichigo to go back in time so he can horse around with young Renji and Rukia and punching Aizen in the nose is just an excuse for that." That may sound dumb, but it's fine, actually! Most people don't read stories strictly for the plot, they read stories for the implications of those plots! Will my favorite two characters kiss? Will there be funny interactions between these two groups of characters? Will there be sick fights? Stories are excuses to have scenes. Sometimes, you will have a story where the interesting sequence of events is the draw, but the point is to know what you're about.

Once you feel happy with your "mission statement", you need to decide the bounds of your story: where it starts and where it ends. It may be easier to start with the end. In some cases, it may be obvious from your mission statement: everyone gets home, a villain is defeated, Kenpachi realizes the meaning of friendship. On the other hand, let's look at that punk rock AU. You've picked a vibe, but you don't really have a natural story arc. It has to have a destination, though, otherwise, it's not really a story, it's a recipe for 3 chapters of an abandoned fanfic. So brainstorm a little: Maybe they get a record deal? Maybe they win a Battle of the Bands? Maybe Byakuya accepts that the band is actually good and tells Rukia he is proud of her. Do not settle for a plot just because it works. Pick something that makes you excited! You're the one who is gonna have to write it!

I said that we needed to pick a beginning point, too, but I'm actually going to skip that for now. The next thing I do is think of all the Big Scenes I want to write, the ones you are hype to write, the ones that pop in your head as you think about the premise. Make a bullet list. They don't need to be in order. The descriptions don't need to be super detailed, but write down anything about it that is important to you. If there's a mood or a snippet of dialogue or a joke you want to make, go ahead and jot that down so you don't forget it later. What you're doing now is putting broad blotches of color on a canvas, filling in space and leaving the detail for later.

Once you are pretty happy with what you have down, try to arrange it in chronological order. Put your end at the end (if it wasn't one of your big scenes, add it now). The next task is figuring out how to traverse your scenes. You've already picked out where you want to spend the majority of your energy. The rest, I regret to tell you, is your slog writing. Now, it often happens that you will find joy in some of these scenes and your best writing may occur there, but that's serendipity. These are the scenes that you are gonna have to make yourself sit down and write, so you honestly want to limit them to just the ones you need.

So how do we do this? Look at the first thing on the list. Can you start there? If so, congrats, that's your beginning. If you can't, what needs to happen to get to there? Where can you start so that you can get to your first fun scene as soon as possible? There. That’s it. You’ve picked your beginning, good job! Now, go through the rest of your list, and add in things that must happen, even if you don’t particularly look forward to writing them. The characters need to travel from geographic point A to point B. Shuuhei needs to say something that Izuru hears and misinterprets. The Central 46 makes a new law. If you have a good idea of how these things happen, go ahead and write them down, but it’s okay if you don’t know yet. Fill in all the blanks so that if you think of each bullet list as a scene, you could read it as a story, start to end. Once you get writing, you might add more scenes, or move things around or whatever, but you should have a thing that functions as a story.

If you struggle with this, an alternative is a story with a very strong structure that is going to guide you though what you have to write.Here are two examples from my own stories Hold On, Hold On (which is only one chapter, but the principle is the same) is structured around the 5 stages of grief. Not Broken, Just Bent takes place over roughly a week, and I just decided what happened every day of the week. See You on the Other Side takes place in the middle of a bunch of canon events, which worked at mile markers.

Congratulations. You’ve just made a rough outline!

Special note for avoiding burnout!: I am a slogger. I will drag myself through the broken glass of an interminable plot to get to a single thirsty scene. That's why, at this stage, I try to look at the ratio of what I want to write to what I must write. It's gonna vary for everyone, but this is a hobby, and if looking at this proto-outline makes you feel deeply tired, maybe this isn't a good story to be devoting your time to! Can you carve it down? Can you chuck two scenes you really want to write and get rid of 80% of the slog? Or maybe you can't! In that case, just write that thirsty scene as a standalone drabble! Or just go work on something else! Maybe in the future, this one will come back to you and you’ll have a fresh idea or a renewed enthusiasm for it.

Another thing I sometimes like to do at this point is to write out some notes about my characters and their motivations and moods. Character A is homesick. Character B is so determined to defeat the enemy that they are having a hard time being sympathetic to Character A. Character C cares for both A and B and is trying to support them both. This is sort of background info that you want to keep in your head as you are writing. Depending on the type of story you are writing, this might actually be the main plot, or it might be happening subtly, but adding to the emotional impact of the story. It’s very easy for me to write these sorts of emotional arcs, but if you struggle with that, you may wish to go ahead and made a more detailed outline for that, too.

Now, it’s time to start writing! I am great at beginnings-- it is very often the case for me that the opening scene was one of my Big Tentpole Scenes. (Before you hate me too much, I make up for this by being double horrible at endings; just let me have this) Usually, I will start at the beginning and write linearly for as long as I can until I get stuck. Then, I will look forward on my outline and do the next chronological scene that I feel like writing. In general, if I sit down to write and there is something I have an urge to write, that trumps everything else. Inspiration is a precious commodity, and you should embrace it when it hits! You can slog any day. I will occasionally hold off writing a scene that I really want to, because I am saving it, like a prize for myself for getting that far. This is a very personal process of figuring out what motivates your brain and then giving your brain what it needs to be its most productive.

Eventually, you will run out of things you are excited to write, but the good news is, you’ve got a bunch of story now! Odds are that what’s left is going to be a lot of those connective tissue scenes, and you’re just going to have to do them, except that now, because you’re connecting two concrete points instead of two abstract points, it will be a lot easier. You can continue running jokes you’ve started. Maybe you invented a cafe in an earlier scene where your characters hang out and you can have them return there. Try to think of ways to make these scenes more fun, both for yourself to write and for your reader to read. 

Around this time, I like to start refining that rough strokes outline into what I will call an “as-built” outline. (This is an engineering term where you update your plans or models for something to reflect any changes that had to be made along the way). This is a great activity to do at times when you feel like you have writers block. I write down every scene I have written as a 2-3 word blurb, in order. I break the scenes into what I think makes logical chapters, and I will do a word count on those prospective chapters and write it down. As you do this, you will realize that maybe you can move a scene from here to there, which will make it 1000% easier to write. Things may be happening too much, or you’ve got the characters eating three times in the same chapter. If you have subplots and dangling threads, this is where you make sure they get closure. I know this sounds very headache-y, but you are so far along in the story at this point that it’s really not-- it’s a way to look at the problems you have left. Use some sort of formatting (I like to bold things I haven’t done and sometimes I put them in red) and it gives you a very visual to-do list.

You specifically mentioned multi-chapter fanfics and I admit that I don’t tend to think in chapters, I tend to think of the story as a whole and just break it up where it feels natural. The as-built outlining I described is very helpful in making sure that my chapters feel balanced. They don’t necessarily need to be the same length, but I like them to have the same amount of stuff in them. One chapter may basically contain one long scene, and other may contain many short ones. I don’t tend to, but you can certainly have a fanfic that varies between short and long chapters, that can actually be an interesting effect. But like I said, I always like to know what I am doing, and so having it mapped out, you can say “welp, this is what I’ve done, how do I feel about that?”

Polynya, you may be saying at this point, do you write the whole fanfic before you post any of it? and I regret to inform you, the answer is yes. A lot of people write as they go, and I have made one attempt at this and I didn’t like it. I don’t like locking myself in, I just need to be able write out of order and go back and change things. Here is the story of a little in love: someone gave me an AU prompt and I got mildly obsessed with it, and wrote 5 snapshots drabbles in that universe, ending with a slight cliffhanger ending. I probably should have stopped there, but I decided to keep going. I wrote out an outline of 5 acts where the first act was detailed to the degree of each chapter being specified. The chapters here were much smaller than I usually make chapters: 1-2k. I wrote act i and ii and it was actually great, and then I hit act iii which required a lot of set up for misunderstandings and a mini romance arc. I couldn’t wing it, but nor could I figure it all out with outlining. I write dialogue in almost sort of an improv “Yes, and...?” style, so until I do it, I don’t know what’s going to happen. So, what I did was treat the second half of act iii as a complete story in the process I describe above, wrote the entire rest of it, and then posted it. One might notice that the chapter lengths grew to 3-5k each. I have two more acts to go, and I haven’t decided how I am going to do them yet, but I suspect I will treat each of them as their own mini-stories.

(I will admit that in Heart is a Muscle, I tend toward chapters that are about 10k long, and this is honestly too long, someone should smack me. If you like punchy chapters, 1-2k is good. I think 3-6k is probably an ideal chapter length. Is this how long the chapters are in my latest fanfic? Absolutely not.)

Okay, so there’s one more step, which is quality control. I am habitual re-reader-- I read my fanfics-in-progress over and over and over while I am working on them. I understand that not everyone does this, but I am usually the primary audience for my own writing, and this is the actual fun part for me. Nevertheless, you should re-read your work at least once, to make sure it hangs together.

This is purely optional, but I recommend it: get a writing friend (if you don’t like re-reading your work, I recommend this even more strongly). If you can get a full-service beta reader, that’s great, but if you can’t find someone, or if receiving that level of critique stresses you out, it’s perfectly valid to just find a friend who will read your stuff and a) shower you with compliments, b) reassure you about parts you aren’t sure about (or suggest ways to help) and c) point out any huge problems you missed. When I am writing a long fanfic, it is a huge motivational factor for me to be able to send my beta chapters as I finish them. If you are already an established writer, and you have people who consistently comment on your fic, they might be overjoyed to get a sneak peak at your work.

And that’s it! That’s the way I do it, anyway! Some people are able to sit down and write a very detailed outline and the write it start-to-finish. Good for them, I say! I have tried this and it doesn’t work great for me. I will admit that some of my fics (especially my early ones) I just sat down and banged out whole-cloth like an insane person and they are generally better than the ones I actually plan out, but that’s not a reproducible process.

As one final mechanical note, I usually write in Google Docs, which I can access on multiple devices (I used to write a lot on my phone), has convenient sharing functionality, and I use the ao3 html formatting script add-in. I generally have two documents for a single story-- one is the outline, and any other notes I want to have handy. I’ll usually put a trashcan space at the bottom for scenes that got cut but I don’t want to lose. The other is the fanfic itself.

I hope this is helpful! Please feel free to follow up with other questions and good luck with your writing!

[shootingstarwritings]

Hans Off the Computer!

The human mind, when boiled down to its most fundamental building blocks, was simply a system of ON and OFF switches. In that sense, it is functionally identical to that of a computer’s mainframe. When putting both of those thoughts together, the idea that the human brain can be completely digitized and transferred through networks isn’t too far-fetched an idea.

At the very least, that was the thought of Hans Hopper, a freelance software engineer. Currently, he was working at a computer repair shop to get some extra money and to kill time between projects—including his own.

“It could be possible,” he voiced his dreams to his boss, Carl, as they took a look at some guy’s gaming PC. The components were state of the art, some not even out in the market yet. Just the graphic card and motherboard made Hans drool at the sight. Streamers get all the luck, he thought. The owner, some small-name star with a big ego, took poor care of his machine, leading to landing on Carl's shop.

“Y’know, Hopper,” Carl began as he cleaned some dust off of the PC’s parts, “I think if you put that head of yours outta the clouds and into reality with the rest o’ us, you’d really take off. Least you wouldn’t be stuck in this freelancing business and get a real job like some o’ your peers.”

“And be like those corporate suck-ups?” Hans snorted. “As if. I’m not gonna be another cog in the machine. Now being in a machine." He grinned, already fantasizing about the things he'd do if he could ditch his flawed, physical form for a future full of infinite potential inside of a network. "That's what I'm after."

“Least those corporate suck-ups can afford their own places,” Carl sighed. “You’re still living with roommates at, what, 30?”

“...27, actually.”

Grinning, Carl said, “And there’s my point. At your age, Hans, I--” he paused as his phone began to ring with an irritatingly catchy tune. “Aw, shit. Lost track of time.” Before Carl ducked to the back of the store and towards the hall that led to his home, he glanced back and said, “Can you wrap up here and close the store, Hans?”

“You got it, boss," Hans said, waving him off. "Take care." Carl left without an answer, and Hans found himself alone with a PC he could only dream of. "Well well," he said, digging into his pocket and pulling out a flash drive. "Looks like it's just you and me from now on. Let's see if what's under the hood's enough to get my program running."

While Carl had a point that Hans' dream was beyond the capacity of current human technology, the world of sci-fi and fantasy lacked such rules. "Just like that ol' title," he muttered to himself as he inserted the flash drive into a USB drive. "A machine can't act like a human mind, but it can calculate runes with no trouble. Sometimes when we can’t use tech to get somewhere, we gotta use shortcuts.”

This PC was his best chance to experiment on his little program to see if it worked. After checking to make sure the drives were all up to date and the whole thing was running smoothly, Hans executed his program. A few keystrokes later, a magic circle formed on the screen. “Let’s gooo—WOAH!”

Although Hans should have figured that the ritual wouldn’t be painless, having his physical form ripped apart and turned into data was nothing short of excruciating. Reforming himself later wouldn’t be any less unpleasant, but he could never turn down the chance to become data and revolutionize the field of… magic? Science? Magitek?

He witnessed his fingers slowly fade as if turning into dust and flow like a stream of water into the screen. As the entirety of his arms completely disappeared, sprites that resembled arms appeared on the screen. "L-Least it works?" Hans nervously said as more and more of his body faded away.

Eventually, Hans' ability to feel, taste, hear, and see waned as his body fully waxed into the computer. The sensation… was nothing. There were no nerves or sensors to feel with, but he could understand the data that his mind had access to. Overwhelming, yet the sensation felt like precious wine on his lips.

The network… Though small, Hans was amazed at how he could travel through the network of the shop—including Carl’s personal PC.

“No, no,” Hans realized he could hear. He saw Carl through the uncovered camera and heard him through a microphone that remained plugged in. For a tech-savvy guy, Carl was real lenient in terms of privacy. "C'mon, Elise, be reasonable here. We got a meeting with the divorce lawyer tomorrow. Can’t you have your little wine party another day?” Carl rolled his eyes as he pocketed his phone. “Fuckin’ bitch. Can’t give me a break.”

And now, as Carl sat down to work on his computer, Hans realized he could attempt the other upside of the ritual. With his mind now data, he could reach out and override the "data" that was another's consciousness.

“What the hell am I supposed to—MMGPHF!”

It wasn’t the most graceful exit, but Hans couldn’t deny the results. Black tendrils—an unnatural amalgamation of data and flesh flew from the screen and landed on Carl’s face, causing him to fly back a few inches. His body twitched and convulsed, back forming a C,  as Hans’ essence flowed into each of Carl’s orifices. Carl’s feet kicked at the ground, fingers gripping his chair’s armrests, as Hans’ essence attacked and invaded his brain.

“A-Ah, ahhh.” Carl helplessly moaned as Hans override any freedom and control over his body. After a few painful seconds with his back arched and his toes curling as the sensation of being overtaken overwhelmed him, Hans awoke in his boss’ body.

“Well, well,” said Hans, feeling his new arms. “Not exactly my first choice for a body, but not a bad test drive.” He stretched in the comfortable office chair, a gift from another customer. “Man, Carl, for an old guy you don’t feel half-bad.” Now realizing that he was alone, a mischievous thought crossed Hans’ mind. “Well, got some time to keep doing some more research on my little program. Maybe I can find a way to hack into other networks." Grinning to himself, he stood up and slowly stripped out of Carl's clothes. First, the shirt came off as the nipples hardened in the cool air, then the shoes were chucked to the side to allow his feet to breathe. The pants came off next, and finally, the underwear flew across the room as Hans embraced his newfound potential—and his borrowed pole.

“Who knew old farts like you still had crazy stamina like this!” Hans cried out, furiously and desperately thrusting into his grip as he jacked off his boss’ body. “F-Fuck! Fuuuuuck!” Hans let out a roar as he came all over his boss’ keyboard. “W-Woah. Gonna have to clean that up later. Dunno where he keeps his tissues, but...” Hans paused and grinned once more. This wasn’t his body, so what the hell? He bent down and began to lick the keys clean, making sure to savor his boss’ taste with each slurp.

The next day, he sat in his boss' room, giving another client's laptop a check-up. It was a Sunday and so the shop was closed, but Hans' mind was far too wired to relax by simply lying around the place. No, tinkering around and keeping his hands busy was how he would wind down.

Although, Hans remained without any clothes. The feeling of the chair against his naked skin was intoxicating. Never in his life had Hans worked in the nude, but he might have to start doing it more often as he tried on new skins. For now, though, might as well enjoy Carl’s life for a few more hours before trying on someone new.

Hans’ roommates were certainly appealing prospects.

[traumxrei-archive]

1) YEAAAAAHHHHHH LEONA WOOOOOO Love all of your leona fics, they are so, so good!!! Silly lion man, love him. you write him super well too!!!!! (also tumblr how dare you not give me a notif. /lh) Honestly your leona fics are what got me to actually like his character in the first place- i mean i liked him in book 2 (just not as much as i do now-) but idk they way some of the fandom portrays him- y e a h. Love him lots now so thank you for that! /srs

2) Enstars. ive had “come on baby america” stuck im my head for around 5 days now (thanks to my friends on discord- thanks a lot roblox hq.) To be completely honest ive never really been a big fan of rhythm games- at least before twst (i know it’s technically not a rhythm game but like. come on. its 1/3 rhythm game) But i’ve gotten slightly better at rhythm like things thanks to twst so looking forward to enstars!!! also cant wait to get attached to the characters, i know like literally nothing about them-

3) Yes okay thanks for pointing out the crossed out demon on Yu’s intro sheet!! Both of his parents are demons, (mother((Emiriko)) is a water demon, basically demons specifically adapted to living both on water and on land. father((Luka)) is a fire demon, adapted to living in lava and extremely hot places.) so it doesn’t really make sense for him not to be one. Instead, he uses potions (specifically made to not leave a magic scent/residue on the user) To hide his demon appearance, mainly his horns and tail, since its harder to hide those, however said potions do hide the rest of his demon features really well! (fangs, ears((which are normally like small elf ears and tipped in dark gray and black.)), etc.) i could talk all day about my boy, but for now im just gonna leave you with this.

Have a great day!!

-🍓

(leona fic goes brr)

1 - I'M GLAD YOU ENJOYED THE LEONA FIC !! it was also such a blast for me to write >:DD and that's...that's actually really touching :')) i'm kinda surprised that you fell for leona because of my fics and ahh saying that makes it sound unreal again-

but i can understand why some ppl choose to portray leona as someone who's just plain mean and lazy. bc that's exactly how he comes off. even after his overblot, he doesn't quite get the same wake up call that the others got. he didn't get the scolding like riddle, he didn't get the fact that his friends would always be there like azul did, and he most certainly didn't get the same emotional release that jamil. chapter 2's writing isn't the best twst writing out there, so it's easy to dismiss his character as just what he appears as. his flashback does give us some background on why he puts up such a mean and lazy front despite having potential, but well...some creators might prefer for him just to be that. i'm not here to critique them on how they portray him but it does make me kinda :') when i see that ppl don't like leona as much bc of stuff they've read around the fandom or bc they judge him too quick. n e ways enough abt leona we alr know how whipped i am for him-

2 - I'M SO SORRY FOR YOU BUT ME TOO- c'mon baby america syndrome is real everyone !! stay safe and don't watch cover song 1 crazy:b x undead usa which you can find at this link no matter what !!! /j it made me cringe so hard i had to take a break from watching it but it's so damn catchy TT^TT also you knowing literally nothing abt them was me 40-ish days ago. don't you worry !! you'll get to know them slowly hehe and if you wanna get to know them quickly you could read previous stories or their wiki pages ofc (you could dm me for resources if you'd like :D)

3 - and ooh !! yu lore drop !! how was he able to keep this all a secret from the rest of the ppl at nrc btw ? or does crowley + the staff know, but they keep it a secret from the rest of the student body ? and idk if this is a weird question to ask but did he have any problems like...making the potions ? since he's in twisted wonderland now and not his original homeworld, did the ingredients differ or was it mostly the same ? idk if that makes sense, anyway, i just like asking abt ppl's characters bc it's so interesting to see how many details you have abt him <333

hope that you're having a good day / night wherever you are, strawberry anon !!

[hyunsuks-beanie]

Stray Kids Thunderous Review

Stray Kids finally made their much-awaited comeback, and Thunderous definitely is one hell of masterpiece. I've reviewed complied a review of the song, using different categories instead of just relying on the beat. This is my first attempt at a review, so I hope you'll enjoy it!! Let's get right to it!

I have added the link to the M/V in case some of my moots still haven't seen it

The Music

These days, every time Stray Kids have a comeback, one can expect to be met with the a whole new set of glaring vocals, loud instrumental sounds and bizarre melodies. Each of these would stick out like a sore thumb on its own, but together, they somehow manage to make a song that will be stuck in your head for sure, like it or not. And Thunderous is no exception, with SKZ charting into a territory that screams God's Menu, but still holds its own.

The song starts with dramatic trumpet noises that build the stage for what's to come: a full fledged slap-you-in-the-face rap. The song is catchy, and you're gonna have a hard time taking in all that's going on. The opening eventually gives way to a more laid-back pre-chorus that's heavy on the vocals, before jumping straight into what promises to be an addictive chorus.

The second verse is much more relaxed, but definitely has its highs, like Han's rap or Seungmin's part. It does its purpose of building up the tempo for the bridge, which has a more confident vibe. While the first verse can be thought of as a rebellious kid, the bridge transitions into more of an "I'm right and I know it, do what you will about it" type of feeling.

Bottomline

Overall, Thunderous may not be everyone's cup of tea, because it's super heavy on the tempo, but one thing's for sure. Like it or not, you're not gonna be able to ignore it. You may like it on first listen, or it may take a while to grow on you. But rest assured that if you do listen to it, you're not gonna get it out of your head any time soon.

The Lyrics

The lyrics of Thunderous are different from God's Menu and Back Door, but they still seem familiar. The "I don't give a f**k what you say" vibe that just oozes from every single word is a perfect match for the obnoxious melody. It's like Stray Kids finally found the sound that suits them the most, and they don't plan on letting go any time soon.

The second Changbin says, "Changbin, I choose my own path," you just know you're in for a rebellious ride, where no heed is given to anything that doesn't matter. One interesting thing about Thunderous is how SKZ have tried to incorporate poetic, story-like phrases into their lyrics. Take "woodcutter and wood," or "the Thunderous ones," for example. It's just the perfect bled of traditional meets modern.

The "Ptui Ptui" part definitely is the highlight, and will probably be stuck in your head. Every single syllable oozes confidence and faith in oneself, and can be just the perfect anthem for blocking out haters this year. What's even better is that not only does the song take a jibe at haters, it also instigates them, calling them "jealous" and saying they "talk too much."

The final nail in the coffin has got to be the bridge, where villains are warned to "back off," because the Thunderous ones (cue Felix's smirk) are here.

Bottomline

The song is perfect for those who'd like to take a "Not giving two f**cks approach" to haters, but need just a little added push. Much like the lyrics, your blood's gonna end up boiling if you listen to Thunderous closely (and if you can make out what they mean, even as the melody threatens to overpower your senses).

The M/V

I have to say, with the traditional touch making a comeback into KPop songs, Stray Kids definitely stand out. That's because instead of going full-on hanbok-style, they have opted for modern sensibilities and punk, against a cinematic period backdrop. The heavy drum sounds in Thunderous seem to reverberate through the setting, ultimately reinforcing the strong sound.

It's rather hard to go wrong with a fully traditional aesthetic (provided your song suits it), but Stray Kids have walked into uncharted territory with their red clothes. And I must say, despite the newness of the concept, they have managed to nail it, as if they've been doing this for years.

Bottomline

One can see that had SKZ gone full pyscho with their themes for God's Menu or Back Door, the result would have been Thunderous. And the same seems to be working in their favour, so let's enjoy this while it lasts.

The Choreography

Not gonna lie, Stray Kids' main track choreographies, more often than not, seem like a full workout of their own. The energy is always insane, and Thunderous is no exception. While the choreography in the verses is not easily perceptible in the M/V, the chorus alone is enough to get my heart pumping. The "Ptui Ptui" part really stands out, with its unique move.

Much like the lyrics, the dance too, seems to instigate haters to try and say something useless. This aura reaches its peak near the bridge, especially at Felix's part, when they pair it with that smirk.

I also really liked the part near the ending, when Changbin and Hyunjin can be seen riding atop the others. I'm not too sure if it's a part of the choreography, but either way, it's a great addition to the M/V.

Bottomline

The choreography is really interesting, if not completely unique. The familiarity comes from SKZ's own songs, especially God's Menu and All In.

The Styling

The styling, much like the general concept, seems to be an extension of what Stray Kids have been trying for the past year. I particularly liked the hair accessories (Hyunjin), and I especially loved the hair extensions that Felix tried out.

SKZ also put quite a lot of emphasis into their headgear, with many different types of hats/caps on display. While Changbin's signature baseball cap was quite familiar, Felix's beanie and oversized hat were a welcome new.

Meanwhile, Hyunjin's hat with their intricate feather was really beautiful, as was Lee Know's beret and Han's hat.

The color code went exceptionally well with the song's whole vibe, with the black and white being more chill, and the red being more in-your-face.

In Chan's case, though, at this point I think the stylists have really stopped trying to hide his abs underneath layers of clothing. Hence, the bandaged look that was a fairly new concept. I have a feeling this could trigger a new fashion in KPop altogether.

Bottomline

The costumes went pretty well with the whole ambience of the song, and will probably look really cool on stage too. SKZ's visuals will most likely pop in the best way possible, thanks to the intricate hair fashion, and the bold makeup that's not glaring.

Conclusion

Overall, Stray Kids have served yet another song which screams of their signature sound (the perks of self-producing), and Thunderous is likely to be remembered for at least a while. The hook is catchy and the lyrics are enjoyable, making this song one hell of a ride.

The bold concept really suits SKZ, and it's nice to see them making full use of it. I loved the comeback, and I have a feeling this song is here to stay.

A/N: This was my first attempt at a review, so I hope it was good. Do let me know how it was! Have a nice day!

[fukurodaze]

uhm for the 200 followers event (congratulations btw! i’m a long time follower and i rly love your works! 🙆🏻‍♀️) can i request for atsumu and the keywords are milestones, journey, and forevermore.

thank you for sending this in! ahhh thank you for loving my works! my heart went w h o o p i e when i read ‘long time follower’ <3

a/n: this is atsumu x fem!reader, where reader works with the black jackals :)

as drizzling raindrops turn into a nightly storm, the voice on the speaker announces that your flight is, once again, delayed, for another few hours. you blink tiredly, pulling the hood of your sweater up and over your hair, tugging on the strings and tying it in a small bow. your hands come to wrap themselves around the tall handle of your carry-on suitcase, filled with emergency amenities for the second ten-hour journey abroad. 

you let out a soft groan, and atsumu’s eyes flutter open. you feel the arm he has around your shoulders curl up into your neck. 

“wait, what time is it?” he stiffens up, scrambling to find his phone on your lap, “did we miss the flight?”

“it was delayed again,” you cock your head to the glass paned wall ahead, “we might even be staying overnight at this rate.”

atsumu yawns and stretches his arms out, bending down to get to his backpack. he reaches into the side compartment, taking a bright green, rectangular can - mints. he opens the container, shaking out a good four mints, and shoves all four of them in his mouth at once.

meanwhile, you’re stuck with the annoying charger wire that only works when you plug it in a certain angle. you remind yourself to buy a new charger later - you’re not sure when ‘later’ is, but you know it definitely isn’t now, when your feet have melted into your sweatpants that have melted into your seat. you sigh loudly, resting your phone on your lap on top of atsumu’s. 

you look to atsumu, smiling at how his hair sticks up in stray strands after his quick nap. “you nervous?”

he places a hand on your thigh, lightly caressing the fabric of your sweatpants, “for what?”

“your first away game. on the other side of the world.”

atsumu shrugs, and out of boredom, you lazily quip, “you know, the adlers have multiple games in the states all the time,” making sure you stress your tone on adlers and all the time.

at that, he meets your eyes, head panning slowly. you try your best to stifle a laugh, but you only get away with an obvious smirk. 

you lean back, arms crossed, your smirk turning into a smug pout, like taunting him, what you gonna do, huh?

atsumu briefly looks around the lounge, watching to see any of his teammates nearby the secluded sofa corner you two are seated in, before bringing your face in his hand and pulling your lips to his. it catches you by surprise, but you welcome it, missing the feeling of his lips like home. 

he is home, though oddly mint-tasting.

it’s an even bigger shock when he starts to slip his tongue into your mouth, and along with it, a tiny shaped candy you can only identify as his spearmint mentos. 

with a hand on his chest, you pull away, eyebrows furrowed, “what was that?”

he takes out the familiar bright green container, reading its title, “it’s mentos, pure fresh, pure breath, in the flavour of spearmint.”

you roll your eyes, sticking your tongue out, pointing at the mint in the middle of your tongue.

atsumu shrugs, muttering, “well, if you don’t want it, i could just-” 

as atsumu leans in once more, you’re quick to push on his chest, letting him back down onto his seat. you send him a look of question, and he confesses, “can’t get mad atcha.”

his hand returns to your lap, finding habit and solace in the touch. your head nuzzles up against his shoulder, your arms finding themselves around his arm. it’s silent for many moments, only the faint sound of a storm against thick, dual-paned windows.

“do you remember that yellow dress i wore?” you speak, quietly.

“the fifth date dress? the one you said you lost somewhere?”

you lift your head up for a second, eyebrows raised, “if you call it that, then yeah, that dress, you remember it, right?”

atsumu hums, and you continue, “well, i found it.”

“where?”

“it was in this suitcase, for like, three years.” you put a hand on the bag in front of you, “i think it was that one time we fought and i almost moved out.”

this time, atsumu’s hand reaches for yours, fingers intertwining.

“i’m thinking of wearing it while we’re there. we get, like, one free day.” you chuckle, “i heard it was going to be sunny.”

“maybe, if we like it there, we can add that to our list?”

“‘tsumu, our list is already a two-page google doc.”

“better more than less!”

you exhale through your nose with a smile on your face, the mint still dissolving in your mouth, “or maybe, instead of choosing only one place, what about we just go to all of them in like, ten years?”

atsumu jokes, “ya think we’ll get to ten years?”

you give him a light hit on the arm, “we got to five, we can do twice as much, don’tcha think?”

his thumb traces the backs of your fingers, stopping at your fourth, feeling the silver metal band cool to the touch. a small diamond sticks out of the ring, beholding the jewel up. he wants to ask you if gold would look much better as wedding rings, but he thinks the silver matches you just right. 

eventually, atsumu hums, “maybe a late honeymoon wouldn’t be so bad.”

although the storm continues to rage and the flight is continuously delayed, your thoughts start to fill with brighter daydreams. whether it be back in osaka, off to any one of the places on your list, or the place you’re supposed to be going to now, there’s one image that sticks: it’s you, in that yellow dress he’s dubbed a catchy name, prancing beside him, hand in hand. it’s loud around, but surprisingly calm with him, and you can almost feel his heartbeat in your fingers, going the same pace as yours. it’s then that you see the next ten, twenty, thirty, whatever many years, and you don’t find any doubt in the world that you’ll ever get tired of holding his hand.

you scoff to yourself, and at atsumu, whose head is rested on your head. 

you really wouldn’t mind spending forevermore beside him. 

[doorbloggr]

Friday 1/10/21 - Media Recommendations #20

Contents: Deltarune

I'd been meaning to get to this one for ages, so once again, I think to make it easier on myself, and my readers, today I am only recommending the latest videogame creation of Toby Fox. This ended up being quite an extensive article, so I split it into sections:

MY CONTEXT

OVERVIEW/PREMISE

GAMEPLAY

PRESENTATION

CONCLUSION

Deltarune (Chapter 1+2)

Toby Fox

1. MY CONTEXT

So context for my own gaming experience going into Deltarune, I have never actually played Undertale. Back when Undertale was getting big, it was only a PC game I think, and I just don't play games on PC. I probably should but yeah nah. Soon after it got popular however, I watched a comprehensive Lets Play of Undertale by Rubber Ross and Barry Kramer, and their voices for Sans and Papyrus are still to this day how I imagine those characters. Through that Lets Play, I experienced both the Pacifist and Genocide runs, and got intimately well acquainted with the characters and world Toby Fox had created, and how the actions of the player can shape how we save or ruin that world.

As a general context, I have always been a person who likes the idea of turn-based, random encounter fantasy RPGs, but the deepest I really got was Pokémon. I've been trying to change that recently, and after beating Monster Hunter Stories 2 a while back, I wanted to try more of the genre. Turn based battles are a lot more my speed than pure skill, like fighting games I've become sick of, and RPGs seem to be big on story, so when I heard the Deltarune demo had an update, I thought this is finally the time to jump into that world.

Going forward in this review, I'm gonna try and stay broad and unspecific with my descriptions, so as to not spoil. I may discuss some gameplay themes and characters, but I'm avoiding giving specifics away. I really think you need to experience all parts of the game yourself first.

Minor Spoilers for Undertale and Deltarune Ahead

2. OVERVIEW/PREMISE

Deltarune is a project of love. Pure charm and personality ooze from every aspect of the game. Dialogue is clever and snarky, and that charm even leaks into item and location flavour text. The setting and themes are fun, but with a bloodstained silver lining that is best appreciated by mature audiences. I guess I should just explain the premise?

Deltarune puts you in the shoes of a human named Kris. For unexplained reasons you live in a world of monsters and you are the only human. And by monsters, I mean curious looking critters of a variety of shapes and sizes, since, there is really nothing monstrous about them. One day at school, Kris and classmate Susie end up being transported to a whole different world where dark fountains construct monstrous subworlds, and it is up to the chosen ones, the lightners Susie, Kris and darkner (dark world native) Prince Ralsei, to seal the evils of this dark alternate world.

Deltarune is still a work in progress, and as the subtitle of this article suggests, 2 Chapters of a possible 7(?) have been released, and it is unknown at the time of writing if the rest will come out when the game is done, or as more standalone chapters.

3. GAMEPLAY

Deltarune borrows a lot of theming and game loop premise from its parent game Undertale. The tag line of Undertale was: the RPG where noone has to die. This is because the encounter based battle system is built on two courses of action to take. You may FIGHT enemies and reduce their HP to zero, or you may ACT, and talk the enemy into leaving the battle. Deltarune is built on this same system, but with extra layers. Kris is the stand in for the Undertale MC, who has the options to FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, SPARE, or GUARD. Most of those options were in Undertale too, but Guarding is a new addition where you earn Tension Points, or TP, for not engaging the enemy at all.

This TP is used for extra powerful ACT actions, or for special moves of the other party members. This is the main big difference in gameplay loop. Since the player controls a party now rather than just one person, each party member can specialise in different action types. Kris's ACT can incorporate input from other party members; Susie for toughness and Ralsei for softness, in general. Susie is the powerhouse, and if you chose the violent route, she does more damage. Ralsei is the Mage, and can heal allies, as well as use magic to resolve fights peacefully. Those extra abilities use TP.

In most turn based RPGs, there is a back and forth, where the player chooses actions, and sometimes there is a timing aspect to how well those actions perform, and then there's the enemy's turn, where most of the time you just have to wait and let it happen. Undertale and Deltarune have this truly unique system where the soul of the party members, represented by a heart, is directly controlled on the enemy's turn. It's a mini game unique to every enemy type, where you must move the heart around to dodge their attacks, and how good you dodge will decide whether you take a lot of damage, or even none at all. Deltarune adds an extra layer onto this, where if you make the dodge closer, so that the enemy only JUST misses, you earn TP, and open up more options for your next turn. I found this extra detail really endearing, and I made a lot more riskier moves than if there was no incentive to.

I probably mentioned it above, but just to close out this section, the option to either ACT or FIGHT opens up two types of play. Chapter 1, being a sort of intro part, does not differentiate, but the distinction becomes important later. ACTing to SPARE an enemy earns you money, and in Chapter 2, will lead to befriending monsters. FIGHTing will also earn you EXP in Chapter 2, making your options to hurt enemies more powerful. In Undertale, this difference in playstyle actually changed the ending in real time, and from what we know of Deltarune, it is likely going to be the same case.

4. PRESENTATION

Undertale had this unique visual charm to it that may have been a limitation of its Independent Development, but it was probably also a stylistic choice. Deltarune builds on the same type of artstyle, adorable pixel sprite graphics that bring a lot more colour and depth than its predecessor.

Many, but not all characters have little character portraits in their textboxes, and they change expressions to match the situation, and its so cute.

Character and enemy design are so top-notch. A team of designers have been brought on this time, and every one of them have brought gold to the table. Every random battle encounter is dripping with personality, as you learn how best to sweet talk your way out of battle, or how to best destroy them. Most recurring NPCs are lovable, and those who you hate, you love to hate. Dialogue is witty and hilarious, and the writing is fun.

The chiptune style soundtrack is phenomenal. Although I think Undertale's common enemy battle them was more memorable, that may just be that I have become more familiar with it. All character and boss battle themes are so catchy and energetic. Toby Fox is a master of high energy... fun music. It gets stuck in your head, and your brain bounces around at high velocity.

5. CONCLUSION

Ok so this review is already like 3 times longer than a normal Media Recommendation Article, and like 5 times longer than I planned it to be for this one game, so I should probably wrap it up here. Deltarune is a game experience I put off playing for way too long, and now I can't hold my excitement for when the next part comes out. And important to keep in mind, it is essentially a demo, in that it is just a taste of what's to come, but it is a damn meaty demo that will keep you engaged for many hours.

Chapters 1 and 2 are packaged together as a free game on most game platforms at this point, so there's nothing really stopping you from giving it a try. I don't usually rate my recommendations, but since I wrote this more like a review, I might as well...

Deltarune Chapter 1+2: 9/10

Please play it!

[angeloncewas]

Welcome to my unnecessary sort-of-review of Lovejoy's second EP, Pebble Brain ! All opinions are subjective and though I do have actual, technical music training, it's not super relevant because I just like things :)

-

Oh Yeah, You Gonna Cry?

The vibe really matches the cover art, if that makes any sense; it feels bright and fresh and even kind of beachy. The instrumentals are absolutely killer, Ash, Joe, and Mark (and Wilbur !) did fantastic (and continue to do so through the whole EP). The lyrics are nice because I actually understand what they're about for once (I think); and the vocals are super high-energy and sharp to match. It feels like they've already improved as a unit. (Though this song specifically is, I would argue, a little repetitive.)

Model Buses

I took notes while listening and just wrote "killer instrumental" again, but I wasn't wrong ! It feels both cohesive with the last track (as a body of work really should be) and distinct as a song of its own (which is great - a lot of artists fall into the trap of turning their albums into a sort of run-on mush). The tune feels reminiscent of both Sex Sells and Cause for Concern in places, but the lyrical themes set up the rest of the EP and remind me of some other writing Wilbur's done (about fear of the future in particular).

Concrete

OBSESSED with the lyrics on this one ("I hope the saltwater ruins your clothes" caught my eye immediately). I like the somewhat abstract structure (for lack of a better term) with the stripped-down chorus and much more punchy verses. Not super standout to me, since I can't actually recall what it sounded like after one listen, but it's a very solid song and I think it's gonna grow on me.

Perfume

I've got a special place in my heart for this once since we got to hear it early (and I looped it... a lot) but it genuinely is so catchy. A bit different than I expected - the backing is both clangy-er and less gritty than it sounded in the snippet - but I think the changes take it further away from the style of AYA and make it a better fit for PB, as well as making it the most polished track on the EP up to this point.

Shoutout to the verse, "You say your ex-boyfriend's a policeman/Well, I say you need better standards."

You'll Understand When You're Older

This song has a good mix; I feel like Wilbur lets his voice get lost in the instruments sometimes, but here his vocals remain gentle without getting overpowered. The lyrics are also super interesting, but not so complicated that I get confused (which, y'know, might just be a me-thing, but I feel like Lovejoy really loves to scramble their pronouns). RIP Soft Boy with the use of the trumpets and "and if you think that it gets better" - that little guitar riff near the end is SO GOOD and is gonna be stuck in my head for days.

The Fall

To me, this feels like the Cause for Concern of the album. Not because they're similar necessarily, but just because it strays the furthest from the central energy and pattern of the rest of the songs (with some deviations even within them, of course). The chorus surprised me (in a good way) and even though he's just kind of talking, he gets a lot of emotion through. It's almost an entire performance in and of itself, even just as audio. I feel I actually get what this one's saying too, which is nice; I really like its more direct storytelling style and the things it says in-between the actual lines.

It's All Futile! It's All Pointless!

A very different sound - both from the original and from what I thought it might end up being, but not at all in a bad way. Wilbur's higher register is amazing and it really fits the band's style over what was MIWB. The pre-chorus falls a little flat imo, but I really love everything they did with the chorus itself, from the balance to the funky little drag on "drain." The new approach really adds a sort of distance that's more than welcome; the original sounds like the downtrodden college student speaking while this feels more like a retrospective. And as such, I believe it that much more when he uses words like infestation. As though he really doesn't want to be involved in this still - truly doesn't miss her - but is so attached to everything that was there.

-

I don't have a good wrap-up for this; it's a really fun EP with a lot of strides forward from their already-great last one. I'm super happy with it as a listener and I can't wait to scream these lyrics in a crowd one day :D Stream Pebble Brain and support the artists !

[bunnimew]

Not the Junk Yard!

Fandom: Rise of the Guardians Relationship: Jack Frost/Pitch Black, Jamie/Cupcake Tags: Modern AU, Ghost AU, Jack and Pitch are ghostie boyz, Is it major character death if they start out dead and don't die harder during the fic?, Cupcake is only in one scene Rating: Teen Words: 2,954 Summary: Jamie stiffly looked forward and pointedly ignored Jack, even when his phone started playing Candy Crush on its own.

He would be fine.

His car was haunted.

He would be fine.

Or Jack and Pitch are obnoxious ghosts with nothing else to do but terrorize Jamie.

For @rotg-hope-week 2021 Prompt: Free Day! On AO3 here!

“Get off our ass, dickwad!”

“Use your turn signal, asshole!”

“Hey Idiot! That’s not how you make a U-turn!”

This was Jamie’s life now.

If he turned his head, he wouldn’t see them. Sometimes he forgot, when he opened the door and climbed inside, that just because his backseat looked empty didn’t mean it actually was.

If Jamie looked up into the rear-view mirror, they would be there.

Jack and Pitch, they told him the first week he owned this car. They had passed in a horrible accident and their spirits got stuck here. Jamie never asked if this was the car they died in, because he didn’t really want to know that.

He asked a million other questions though. He couldn’t help it! Ghosts! Real ghosts! In his car!

It was an absolute, utter, horrible, terrible pain in the ass.

But Jamie would have been so jealous if this car belonged to anyone else.

-o-

“I think it’s a day for fucking with the radio,” Jack nodded sagely. He turned his head to Pitch. “What’re you feeling?”

Pitch straightened his back and adopted a posture of confidence and poise. “I’m thinking Queen.”

“Solid choice,” Jack approved. He gestured grandly at the front of the car. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Pitch nodded once. “I would.” It took barely two seconds of static for the catchy pop song topping the charts this week to transform into Freddie crying, ‘Bicycle! Bicycle!’ and Jamie didn’t even glance over. He already knew.

His head connected with the steering wheel. “So it’s gonna be a day like that, huh?”

Jack shrugged and waved flat hands at the front seat. “I don’t know what his problem is. This song is amazing.”

“It might be that I played it last week, too,” Pitch suggested. Then grinned. “Or the inevitable hours of repeat he’s anticipating.”

“I still count that as a blessing,” Jack said, shaking his head. “Few things are more angelic than Freddie Mercury’s voice.”

Pitch took Jack’s hand and lifted the knuckles to his lips. “I could not have died and had my soul entangled to a better man.”

Jack rotated their hands and returned the sentiment with a smile. “Nor I, Pitch my love,” he dramatically declared. “Nor I!”

-o-

“In two-hundred feet, turn right on–”

“Why’s it telling you to turn here?” Jack asked. Jamie only knew he was poking Jamie’s phone because suddenly Google didn’t know which way was up and had backed all the way out of Navigation and was trying to find him fast food to eat.

“Damn it, Jack! Stop touching it!” Jamie flapped one hand at his phone, occasionally passing through what felt like weirdly cold pockets of air. He had to re-search his destination and re-enter navigation and pray he was turning right where he was supposed to, all at the same time. “You’re gonna break it! Or drain the battery, whichever comes first.”

“It’s faster to go straight and turn on 182nd. Trust me, we used to go this way all the time.”

“I kind of trust you,” Jamie tentatively said. It wasn’t a lie, if there wasn’t any GPS, Jamie would totally follow Jack’s instructions. But there was GPS, and it was telling him to turn here. “But there might be traffic or something that isn’t usually on that road, so it wants me to go around.”

“But it’s telling you to take Harding. Harding is way slower than Orange. You should turn around and go back.”

Jamie rolled his eyes. “If I turn around, I lose the, like, one minute advantage of taking this route.”

“One minute? You’re taking a slower route to save one minute?”

“It’s one minute faster!”

“It’s slower!”

“That’s literally not how that works, Jack!”

Pitch’s chuckle, borderline giggle, cut through Jamie’s screeching. “You may want to keep better control of yourself. You’re looking a bit…”

Jamie turned his head, dread and embarrassment taking hold even before he saw the man one lane over staring back at him in alarm. The man looked away quickly and started talking to the driver, but it was too late. Jamie knew they knew that he was talking to himself. It was every driver’s worst nightmare. That someone else on the road would notice what they were doing.

Jamie stiffly looked forward again and pointedly ignored Jack, even when his phone started playing Candy Crush on its own. He… mostly knew the route.

He would be fine.

His car was haunted.

He would be fine.

-o-

“Pitch?”

“Yes, Jack?”

Jack tapped his foot against the door of the car, legs propped in Pitch’s lap. He was staring at the ceiling, noting the wear in the roof lining around the dome light. “How long do you think we’ll be stuck in this car?”

Pitch shook his head. He was resting a hand on Jack’s shin, fingers pleasantly scratching back and forth. Jack was happy that being dead didn’t mean he couldn’t feel anything. “I couldn’t say. I’ve never been dead before. We could be here forever. We could move on tomorrow.”

Jack bit his lip and shifted in the seat so he sank further down, nearly lying on his back now. “What if we are stuck forever? This car’s not going to last forever. Where will we go?”

Pitch’s fingers pressed a little harder into his skin. “Wherever this broken down car goes, I suppose. A landfill? A junk yard?”

Jack closed his eyes and whined. “I don’t wanna go to a junk yard.”

Pitch rubbed soothingly into Jack’s leg. “Isn’t the whole point of this line of questioning that we may not have a choice?”

Jack covered his face with his hands. “That just means I’m gonna whine harder, Pitch.”

“Of course you are.”

“It’ll be so boring. And so lonely. We can’t, Pitch!”

Pitch sighed and leaned down to press a kiss to Jack’s thigh, just above his knee. “At least we’ll be together?”

Jack pressed his hands up into his hair so that he could look at Pitch through the frame of his wrists. That was something. He wouldn’t be completely alone, but still.

“I love you, Pitch. And I’m glad that if I’m stuck forever with someone, it’s with you. But.”

Pitch folded his hands over Jack’s knees. Of course there was a but. “But?”

“But we absolutely can not go to the junk yard!”

-o-

“This is highly rude, I just want you to know.”

Jamie knew, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it. There was nowhere else in the car his new, new to him anyway, tv would fit. The screen was just too big. It had to go in the back seat. Besides, what was Jamie supposed to do if he wanted to give his friends a ride sometime? Make them crawl in the trunk instead of use the perfectly functioning back seat?

Jack and Pitch were being pretty hilarious about it though. They were honestly trying not to touch it, pressed to opposite doors and barely in their seats. Pitch was practically folded against the wall and ceiling of the car, like the tv might burn him or something.

Or maybe he might burn the tv?

Suddenly it was a lot less funny.

“I’m sorry, just don’t break it, please? It was a really good deal and I definitely can’t afford another one,” he pleaded into the rearview.

Jack looked a little panicked himself. “No promises, but it won’t be on purpose.”

That was super not reassuring at all. Jamie pressed the pedal a little harder. Now he kind of felt bad about them trying not to be in the tv. “Can’t you guys, like… sit in the front seat, maybe?”

The ghosts looked at each other, which Jamie had to shift in the seat to see because they were so far apart. Pitch looked back at Jamie. “Maybe?”

Jack, on the passenger side, was gazing deep into the upholstery like a puzzle he was struggling to solve. “We’ve had pretty free rein of the car, right? We just…” Jack’s face contorted into something like concern or discomfort. Jamie got the feeling he didn’t want to say why they hadn’t tried it, yet.

“You don’t have to!” he was quick to say. “I just thought it might be more comfortable.” And also less dangerous for the tv.

Jamie had to take his eyes off of the rearview for a while. He was driving after all, and he could check in on them but he couldn’t watch them the whole time. He heard Pitch saying, “It can’t actually hurt, right?”

“I mean, we’re already dead,” Jack replied.

Which didn’t mean a whole lot. Sure, physical pain wasn’t a consideration, but their souls were still their souls and… Jamie should really do some research on ghosts. He was shocked out of his thoughts by a sudden metaphorical bucket of ice water spilling over his back and into his very being. He nearly slammed on the brakes, but caught it just in time. Getting rear-ended right now would suck for many, many reasons.

“Oh my God, Pitch! You have to warn me when you do that!”

“I did!” Pitch was no longer in the back seat, so Jamie couldn’t see his expression. “It’s not my fault you were too distracted to hear me.”

That was fair.

“Where’s Jack?”

He heard a cough.

“With Pitch.”

Jamie smiled and actually tried looking over at his passenger seat. It was empty, of course. That was a little sad. He knew they were ghosts, but it would be cool to talk to them face to face some day. “So it worked? And you fit?”

There was a snort. Probably from Pitch. “Sort of.”

Jamie… had to shrug it off, because it probably wasn’t anything important and he had to pay attention to the road. If it was working, sort of, that would be good enough for now.

“Sorry about the back seat.”

“It’s fine,” Pitch said, and the tone of his voice said it really was. “We understand this is your car, even if we’re eternally stuck in it.”

Jamie smiled again, but didn’t try to look at them. “Honestly. I’d like this car a lot less if you weren’t stuck in it, so.”

“Aww,” Jack cooed, “I knew you liked us!”

Jamie was almost home. “I could do without the songs on repeat, but… my car is haunted! That makes it the coolest car I could have!”

“Oh, I see, so it’s not about us,” Pitch said.

Jamie pulled into his drive and put the car in park, so he was safe to look over and pretend he could see them. “Of course it’s about you. It wouldn’t be haunted without you.”

“Any ol’ ghosts could be haunting this car, Jamie.”

The pretending was getting to him, so Jamie pressed the buttons on his door to turn the passenger mirror so far in that Jamie could see Pitch and Jack reflected in it. The angle wasn’t great, because it was only one side of them, but it was something.

And it was something.

Jack was sitting sideways in Pitch’s lap, his shoulder pressed to Pitch’s chest and his head resting on Pitch’s shoulder. This meant Jamie could only see the back of his head, but that really didn’t matter, did it? Pitch’s arms were around Jack, and his head was propped against Jack’s. As he watched, Pitch’s eyes caught Jamie’s in the mirror. They were precious.

Jamie’s smile felt like it was splitting his face in two.

“Then I’m glad it’s you.”

Pitch smiled.

-o-

It was already awkward, trying to do this across the front seats. Jamie couldn’t really help that though, because if he’d tried to sit in the back with Cupcake, he would have been thinking about Pitch and Jack dodging them the whole time, the way Pitch and Jack sit and lay and stretch in that seat, the way Jamie feels cold every time he reaches back there.

He shouldn’t have bothered. The way he was leaning to reach her lips was a little bit painful and a lotta bit hard to hold, but then there was Jack, talking in his ear, “Is this your girlfriend? I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.” So Jamie was thinking about them anyway, and all of his efforts were for naught.

“I kinda thought you might be gay.”

Jamie’s eyes snapped open to glare at the backseat. Jack wanted to talk about this now? Really?

“I’m just saying. I guess my gaydar is as dead as I am.”

Jamie wanted to laugh, but he also wanted to cry. And then he realized Cupcake wasn’t reacting to Jack at all. Couldn’t she hear him?

“Nope.” His expression must have given away his thoughts. “Only you can hear us. You know, just to make this as awkward as possible for you.”

Jamie definitely wanted to cry now. So he closed his eyes and chose to focus on Cupcake, who did not make him want to cry. She sure made him want a lot of other things, though.

“So…” Oh God, he really wasn’t going to stop, was he? “Should we make out too, or…?”

Jamie fought down a groan and pulled away from Cupcake to the sound of Pitch’s laughter. She wouldn’t understand why he was frustrated (And wasn’t that frustrating?), so he tried to act completely normal when he asked, “Think you might be able to sneak into my room?”

The devilish look she gave him turned Jamie’s mood right around.

-o-

“Aww, man…”

Jamie knew it would happen eventually. No car stayed in working condition forever. Something was bound to break, and it wasn’t like Jamie bought this car new or anything.

“What? What is it?” Jack’s voice was alert and panicked. Jamie felt a chill in his right shoulder that told him Jack was leaning forward between the seats.

“The engine’s overheating,” Jamie said. “I’ll have to pull over and, I dunno, try to figure out what’s causing it.”

“We’re breaking down?!”

Jack’s voice was so close that Jamie instinctively leaned away. “Uh, I guess? I hope not. I hope it’s just something easy, like… like the radiator needs coolant or something.”

“I’ll fix it!”

“Wait! No!” Jamie cried. Although he didn’t know what he was objecting to. And also it wasn’t like he could stop Jack. And also he had no idea if Jack actually could help or not, so there was… all of that. “What? Jack! Pitch!” Jamie turned in his seat, stupidly forgetting that wouldn’t help, then turned to the rearview. “What is he doing?”

Pitch looked alarmed and that did not calm Jamie down one bit. “He dove into the engine. I know nothing more than that.”

“I’ll cool it down!”

“How?! Jamie demanded. He was officially looking for any shoulder at all to pull off on. Unfortunately, this road had a curb. Stupid curbs. “How are you going to cool it down?”

“I am literally a cold spot. That has got to be useful for something.”

If Jamie weren’t so panicked about pulling over, he might have marvelled at Jack’s quick thinking. As it stood, he barely thought ‘Fair’ before he was working on the next problem.

“But you don’t even know what’s causing it! That’s not fixing, that’s duct tape! What’re you gonna do? Hang out in the engine every time I drive from now on?” Not to mention, a disembodied voice talking to him from the wrong side of his dashboard was disconcerting as hell. Odd that the disembodied voice talking to him from the backseat was no longer all that weird.

Before Jack could reply, Jamie felt another cold brush pass through his right arm and Pitch’s voice on the move. “I’ll go… see if a fan isn’t turning. Or if a hose is leaking.”

That was legitimately reassuring and Jamie felt adrift in the wake of his panic. Now what?

Right. Jamie pulled into the first parking lot he saw and stopped the car as far away from other humans as he reasonably could. The temperature gauge actually had stayed steady after Jack… yeeted himself into the engine block.

Jamie didn’t turn off the car just yet, in case leaving it on helped Pitch diagnose it. “Do you see anything?”

“The fans are turning, so it’s not that. This could be a leak, though. Might as well try the coolant.”

“So turn the car off?” Jamie asked.

“Turn the car off,” Pitch confirmed.

As the engine quieted down, Jack’s voice filtered through the dash. “So it’s fixable? We’re not going to the junk yard?”

Jamie snorted. “I was more thinking we’d go to the mechanic.”

“We’re not going to the junk yard,” Pitch confirmed again.

“Why are you guys talking about a junk yard?”

Suddenly half of Jamie was swathed in ice and when he looked up, Jack’s determined face took up more than half of the rearview mirror. “I will fix this car with sheer spite and will power if that’s what it takes to keep us out of the junk yard.”

Oh. Jamie didn’t really know what to say. Jamie’s panic over mechanic bills and inconvenience sure seemed inconsequential next to Jack and Pitch’s eternal damnation to a trash pile. Put like that...

“You guys can be a real pain in my ass sometimes, but…” Jamie shook his head and laughed disbelievingly. Repeat music, broken electronics, no making out in his own car, all sucked pretty hard, but moments like this made him realize. Jamie would also do damn near anything to keep them out of the junk yard. “I really hope I get to drive this car forever.”

[crdenhart]

10 Movies You Should Watch This Halloween 2020

It’s the first full week of October, so Halloween is in full swing! This year, I continue my tradition of recommending some excellent films to watch during the Halloween season but with a COVID-19 twist for many of the movies on this list. Here are the 10 movies you should check out this Halloween:

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

“My family’s always been in meat.”

This movie recently got a 4K remaster making it look even more gruesome than ever! The film feels so real compared many other slasher horror films with the deaths coming out of nowhere and the killings being hyper-realistic. They even used real skeletons for the making of some of the scenes! The sound design also is something so terrifying; you’ll never want to listen to the sound of a chainsaw ever again!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

“Let’s do the Time Warp again”

One of the most fun horror movies of all time celebrates its 45th anniversary this Halloween! I like how the film satirizes the B-movie mad scientist genre and Tim Curry gives a stellar performance as Dr. Frankenfurter. Also the songs are so fun and catchy and will get stuck in your head forever! My favorite songs in the movie are “Science Fiction Double Feature” and “Hot Patootie - Bless My Soul.”

Hausu (1977)

“My fingers are gone!”

“House” is the title in English. This trippy Japanese haunted-house movie is a real treat for the eyes! The film is so mesmerizingly weird with its flashy colors and cartoon-like special effects. Definitely one worth checking out if you are looking to feel terrified and strange at the same time!

The Hunger (1983)

“Forever and ever!”

David Bowie as a vampire... yes please! The makeup and effects are really good in the movie especially in the scenes as Bowie’s vampire character ages rapidly from lack of drinking blood. The film has some creepy sequences, including some intense scenes in which it seems as though Bowie’s vampire is going to claim another victim and a scene in which Susan Sarandon’s character comes across several coffins of vampires. Definitely one of the scariest vampire movies of the last 40 years!

Ghostbusters (1984)

“Who you gonna call?”

We didn’t get the highly-anticipated Ghostbusters: Afterlife this year because of the pandemic, so to tide us over until it comes out, this Halloween would be a good time to revisit the original horror-comedy classic. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and the rest of the cast give some of their most memorable performances in this movie. Growing up I used to watch this and its sequel in the ooze-green boxset that included a couple animated episodes; highly recommend tracking a copy down if you want the best Halloween viewing experience.

The Exorcist III (1990)

“I have dreams… of a rose, and then falling down a long flight of steps.”

This movie might be one of the best horror sequels ever made! George C. Scott gives a fantastic performance in the lead role as do Jason Miller (returning as his role of Father Karris from the original Exorcist) and Brad Dourif as the Gemini Killer. I saw many of the filming locations when I visited DC back in 2015. A majority of the movie takes place in a hospital, which is usually scary enough on its own. There is an especially frightening scene involving a possessed patient and surgical scissors! This year marks its 30th anniversary, so this Halloween would be a good time to check it out if you haven’t seen it in a long time or are a fan of the original and never saw this one (you can actually skip the second one as this film makes no direct references to that movie). There is a director’s cut that was released a few years that provides some good deleted scenes and extra dialogue, though overall I prefer the theatrical cut.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

“Michael Myers is my business!”

This 6th entry in the Halloween series celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Lots of fans consider this the “worst” of the Halloween movies, but I find lots of good merits in the film, especially the producer’s cut released 2014 which features several extended and alternate scenes. I really like the Halloween (holiday) scenery of the film making it feel like it really takes place on October 31st unlike most of the series particularly in the scenes taking place at the Halloween carnival (the “red rain” scene being a highlight). The cinematography and suspense also are superior compared to many of the sequels, probably the closest the series has ever come to capture the style of the first two films. I also like how the film explores the mystery of Michael Myers more so than the other ones giving him a reason for his killing nature other than he is just “evil.” This movie is the last time Michael Myers is actually scary and not just a “killing machine” or some dummy for Busta Rhymes to kong-fu fight (ie Halloween: Resurrection). This also marked the final appearance of Donald Pleasance as Dr. Sam Loomis as he died in real life shortly after filming his scenes. Definitely check out the producer’s cut if you have never seen the film or you have only seen the theatrical cut as it makes it one of the best Halloween films.

Goosebumps: “The Haunted Mask II” (1996)

“That’s no mask! That’s your face!”

Everyone is wearing masks these days, so what a fitting episode of Goosebumps to watch this Halloween! This is one of my favorite episodes along with the first one from 1995 (which was on my 2018 Halloween watch list). The scenes set in the basement of the costume shop are so creepy; something about abandoned places, especially in the dark, have always frightfully fascinated me. I used to watch the VHS of this movie every Halloween at my grandparents’ house and always hope they would do a 3rd one. Maybe someday!

Cabin Fever (2002)

“I don’t want any of us getting sick!”

Everyone is worried about coronavirus right now, so this Halloween would be the ideal time to check out this slasher in which a deadly virus is the killer. Really creepy shots of people getting infected and dying from the virus; the movie will make you a germaphobe! Interesting note that David Lynch was originally going to produce the movie but backed out during production, however Lynch’s frequent composer Angelo Badalamenti provides some of the music for the film.

Doctor Sleep (2019)

“We’re all dying. The world’s just one big hospice with fresh air.”

This sequel to The Shining was released last November nearly 40 years after the original, but it was well worth the wait! The film visually maintains the same style and tone of Kubrick’s original film while expanding upon some of its themes but without giving too much information as to ruin the mysteries surrounding the original. Like some of the other films on this list, there is a director’s cut which fleshes out scenes and characters; highly recommend it!

As a Halloween treat, here is a shot from my new spiritual horror film Sister, which should be released sometime this coming year! Happy Halloween everyone!

[buckysbitch107]

Blobs and Shadows | Steve Rogers x Blind!Reader

Summary: It originally started out as just some fuzzy spots in your line of vision, but by the time you were 10, both of your retinas had completely detached. After multiple surgeries and piles of medical bills all before your 13th birthday, you stopped trying to fix it. You never had a friend who stuck with you the whole way, that is, until you met your best friend Clint. You were friends until he ran away to join the circus, but eventually reconnected at S.H.I.E.L.D. While Clint got married and settled his family down while also juggling this job, you simply stayed single. The fact that Steve hadn’t noticed your obvious infatuation with him, or your visual impairment, confused you. But when Bucky tries to set you two up, Steve voices his concerns, not noticing you standing right behind him.

Requested by: Anonymous (I lost the original request, so this is the best I could do!)

Warnings: Swearing, Sarcasm, Angst I Guess?

Word Count: 2.3K

A/N: Sorry this took so long! I wanted to do extra research so I didn’t get anything wrong, and this was also just a challenging request in general. I focused on retinal detachment, specifically my cousin’s experiences (I’m aware every blind person is different, that’s why I simply focused on him.) I also did change Clint’s storyline a little bit, mainly saying that he was orphaned at the end of high school instead of earlier, and I did write Comic Clint. I made him younger to fit the storyline, and I based his hearing loss on one of my good friends, so not everything will be like the comics. I really hope you enjoy this one, and another one should be out soon. Just a reminder that I will be starting school again on August 18th, so the time it takes to write a fic will extend a little more. Also sorry for the song I use in this fic, I watched Rio last night and it’s stuck in my head.

You sit quietly in your fourth period English class, waiting for the teacher to introduce herself as they all did on the first day of school. A book sits open in front of you, your fingers running over the raised dots as you wait for the teacher to start, well, teaching. You hear other students file in, and soon enough, the teacher clears her throat and begins introducing herself.

“Hello, class! My name is Mrs. Luken, and welcome to 8th grade English. Now, my number one policy is that at all times, I need watching eyes and listening ears!” A look of confusion crosses your face, and you slowly raise your hand, not realizing you’re the only one doing so.

“Yes, Clint?” She asks, pointing to the other person in the room with their hand up. He lets out a loud sigh before responding, his speech slightly slurred.

“I’m deaf.” Mrs. Luken lets out a small “oh” as she tries to think of a response.

“Are there any accommodations you would like me to make?”

“Just annunciate and write things down and I should be good.”

“Got it! And yes, (Y/N)?”

“I’m blind.”

“Oh, dear.”

~~~

“May I sit here?” A voice asks, one you immediately recognize from fourth and fifth period. You nod and feel the table shift as someone sits down, the sound of a lunch tray clattering against the table ringing out amongst the chaos that is 6th-period lunch. 

“How could you understand the teacher?” You ask, honestly curious about the exchange that happened earlier in the classroom.

“I can lip read pretty well, it’s also how I can understand you.”

“Huh. I’m (Y/N).”

“Clint.”

~~~

“Tony, what is this?” You question, rolling the unusual object around in your hand.

“(Y/N), meet Athena. Couldn’t come up with an acronym, so I just settled on a catchy name.” A small string of silence rings between the two of you as you continue feeling the object, now slightly recognizing it.

“Is this an upgraded guide? Does it still have F.R.I.D.A.Y in here? I like her.”

“Upgraded? Oh honey please, that doesn’t even begin to describe it! And yes, F.R.I.D.A.Y is still your guide. Go ahead, put it on!” You sigh before eventually complying, placing the small little earpiece in it’s designated place. A small beep signals that it’s on and something immediately seems different.

“What the? Why are the blobs clearer?” Tony lets out a short laugh as you still stand there in confusion, wondering how in the hell your “vision” cleared up a bit and you can see the tiniest fragment of anything other than shades of gray.

“Athena is emitting a high-tech neuro frequency towards your retinas. It can’t repair them yet, but it provides a little bit of aid.”

“Is this what Instagram filters look like?”

~~~

“Athena, help me out here. I need to get to the kitchen.” You whisper, stepping out of your room, completely alone with her for the first time.

“Of course!” She replies, pausing for a second before continuing. “Go ahead and take about 10 steps to your right. You’ll feel the floor tiles shift from carpet to a smoother texture. Once you do, take another right and you’ll be standing in front of the elevator.” You nod to no one but yourself and follow her instructions, walking confidently to be in front of the elevator. You hear the doors slide open and you step in, the doors closing behind you before the lift begins to move on its own. “ Don’t worry.” Athena reassures, most likely feeling your heart rate shift. “I communicate with the building’s mainframe to make mobility and everyday life easier for you.” 

“Got it.” The elevator stops and you step out, the light from the windows brightening up your vision. Athena guides you to the counter, allowing you to grab an apple and a knife before you begin to carefully cut it. The familiar beep rings in your ear, and you listen for whatever Athena has to say.

“James Barnes is entering the kitchen and dining area from the main elevator.”

“Okay thank you.” You whisper to her, receiving a small beep in response before you lift your head and turn it so you’re not shouting into a cabinet. “Hey Buck! Want an apple?”

“Um sure? I didn’t know you heard me come in.”

“Tony gave me a new guide. Name’s Athena.”

“Oh cool. Also, I’m gonna have to cancel our sparring session today. Sam’s taking me and Steve to the new sushi place downtown.” Your cheeks immediately flare up at the mention of America’s Golden Boy, also the man you’ve had an infatuation with since you got here. Bucky notices and laughs, quickly shutting up as you hit him on the arm before retorting an answer.

“Are you sure about that? Or do you just not want to get your ass kicked by a blind girl?”

“A little bit of both.” He admits, taking a slice of apple off the cutting board. You turn your head to glare at him, his body creating a large shadow in your viewpoint.

“Thought you didn’t want an apple.”

“I didn’t. I just wanted one piece.” You roll your eyes as you finish cutting your snack, taking a bite out of the delicious fruit after setting the knife down. “Also when are you going to tell him?” You nearly choke on your bite, calmly swallowing before turning your head to face the man, or at least you think (You really couldn’t tell if you tried).

“Tell who what?”

“We’re not dumb, (Y/N). Well, I’m not. I honestly don’t know about Steve ‘cause he hasn’t noticed your obsess-”

“It’s not really a-”

“It’s an obsession (Y/N). Don’t even try to deny it.” You huff out a sigh before Bucky lets out a short gasp, immediately drawing your attention.

“What?” You can’t see him, but you can practically sense the grin on his face.

“I have an idea.”

“I’m scared.”

“You have reason to be,” Athena comments, making you giggle to yourself. Bucky somehow hears it, as he lets out a loud sigh before explaining his plan.

“Just wear something nice, okay. And meet me in the living room at-” He pauses, thinking of an appropriate time. “7 pm, got it?”

“Sure, and what’s your definition of nice?”

“Not a ballgown, but good enough for a date.”

“Bucky no, you are not-”

“Yes I am, now go get ready.”

~~~

“Athena, who’s in the living room?” You ask, rubbing your sweaty palms on the edge of your skirt as you walk down the hallway, your feet making a small pitter-patter noise on the tile.

“James Barnes and Steven Rogers.” You let out a small sigh before walking further down the hall, just barely entering the room when you hear the two men arguing, causing you to take a step back into the shadows. 

“Where are they?” You whisper, holding your arms to your body and trying to make yourself as small possible.

“Standing in the middle of the room. Mr. Barnes is facing you, and Mr. Rogers is facing away from you.” You nod and peek out from behind the wall, Athena alerting you that Bucky had noticed you, but Steve hadn’t.

“I don’t get why you’re getting upset Steve! You like (Y/N), don’t you?!” Bucky yells, trying not to keep his eyes on you for too long as to not alert Steve of your presence.

“I do, but you know that I don’t date anyone!”

“You told me she was different!”

“She is! And I don’t know if it’s in a good way. She seems to kind of, I don’t know, look past me? And she does these little things that I don’t know if it was how she was raised or something, like stopping before entering a room, or staring in the completely wrong direction. I don’t get it, Buck! I don’t! And even if she is different, I still don’t date! She’ll be like the rest. She’ll see me like this famous piece of muscle, not the small guy from Brooklyn. Thanks for the offer, but I’m declining. Tell (Y/N) I said sorry.” Steve rants, walking out the other entrance to the living room as you start to step forward.

“(Y/N), I-”

“This is why I didn’t tell him.” You whisper, stopping in front of him when Athena tells you to. Bucky tries to speak again, possibly apologize, but you’ve already turned around and started heading out of the room. Athena leads you to your favorite spot in the building, the balcony facing the river. You carefully climb on the railing and sit, balancing yourself as not to fall, but still feeling nearly weightless in the evening breeze.

“James Barnes is walking onto the balcony.” You sigh before turning your head, hearing the other man gulp before eventually walking closer.

“I’m sorry you had to hear all that.” He whispers, receiving a short grunt from you. Bucky places something on the railing, the sound of crinkling paper piquing your interest. “I brought you some bread, its fresh from the oven. I know that carbs comfort you so…”

“Thanks Buck.” You sigh, taking a piece of bread from his hands and holding it in your own. He steps a little closer, resting his arms against the metal railing, standing next to you as the light slowly fades from the sky. 

“I’m gonna go, I know you like being alone so-”

“Thank you.” You whisper, turning your head towards the last place you heard his voice. He leaves the bread with you before heading back inside. You listen to the crickets starting to chirp, but also the sound of New York City starting to come alive.“Hey Athena?”

“Yes (Y/N)?”

“What was that song I was singing yesterday? The very offkey one?”

“You’ll have to be more specific.” You mutter a short “ouch” before racking your brain again, trying to specify what you wanted.

“From that movie. Rio, I think.”

“I believe the one you are looking for is ‘Fly Love’ by Jamie Foxx.”

“Yes, can you play it on the speakers out here?”

“Of course. Anything else?”

“You can turn off for a bit, I just want to listen to music and eat the delicious demons they call carbs.”

“Understood.” A small beep signals the AI turning off, leaving you to the sounds of the city before the music softly turns on. You start humming along to the melody, your feet swaying along. You begin to sing along, not noticing the sliding glass door opening quietly behind you. Since you told Athena she could turn off, you’re not aware of the blonde supersoldier stepping onto the balcony.

“Um, (Y/N)?” You screech in surprise, your hands grabbing onto the railing. Your body slightly tilts forward, causing your bread to tumble off your lap and down onto the ground below.

“My bread.” You whine, staring at the direction you think it went. You feel Steve move up to stand beside you and you turn your head towards where you feel his presence.

“Sorry about that. Listen-”

“Look at my eyes.”

“What?”

“Look at my eyes and tell me what you see.” You explain, turning your head fully towards him so he could see your face. He stays quiet for a few seconds before responding.

“Your eyes are glazed over?”

“And what does that mean?” He stays silent before gasping, realization hitting his brain like a bullet.

“You’re blind?!” He exclaims, making you roll your eyes.

“Wow! Sherlock finally solved the fucking mystery!” You speak, a horrible British accent coming out alongside the words. 

“Wait so-”

“So I can’t see the ‘famous piece of muscle’. All I see is a blob. A very handsome blob, I’ll give you that, but still a blob. I fell in love with you for your personality. I fell in love with that little guy from Brooklyn. And the reason I seem to look past you or stare in the wrong direction, is because I rely on hearing, dumbass.”

“You heard all that?”

“Mhm.”

“Oh.” He pauses. You can practically hear the gears turning in his head. “Wait, you love me?”

“What?”

“You said you fell in love with me for my personality.”

“I didn’t say-”

“Yes you did! You love me!”

“Not anymore I don’t.” He fakes a hurt gasp and you laugh, flipping your legs over to rest on the balcony side of the railing.

“What if I said your love is requited?”

“Then I’d be so overjoyed I’d faint.”

“Okay, so I’m not telling you that.” You laugh again, Steve joining you this time. “Dance with me.”

“What?”

“You were listening to music. Dance with me.”

“I don’t know how to dance. The last time I could see while dancing was square-dancing in fifth grade.” Steve lets out a short laugh at that, before carefully grabbing your hands, placing one on his shoulder, and holding the other in his.

“I’ll guide you.” So the two of you sway to the music, Steve having the speaker play the song over.  You rest your head on his shoulder, the whole situation quite calming. As the song ends, Steve places one of his hands on your cheek, the other going to sit behind your neck. “Is this okay with you?” He whispers, his voice severely closer than it was last time he spoke.

“Yeah.” You reply, nearly feeling lightheaded from imagining what’s to happen next. Steve presses his lips to yours, and you nearly faint right there. He smiles into the kiss, pulling away to rest his forehead against yours. 

“I love you. A lot.” He whispers, a short chuckle following his sentence.

“I love you too, even if you are just an attractive blob.”

Permanent Tags: @wintersoldierslut​ @breakmy-bedbarnes@stuckys-hot-dogs​ @andreasworlsboring101@yaxamarvel @donutloverxo​

Just a reminder that all requests are open! My masterlist is in my bio, so you guys know who I specialize in, but really I do anyone y’all request. As I’ve mentioned, nothing is too fluffy, angsty, smutty, or gorey for me. I mainly write Marvel and its characters/actors. I can also write some characters from other things, you just have to ask! Also please let me know if you want to be a part of the Permanent Tags! But please, for now,

Call me Emily

[starrysamu]

shout out to the next time playlist for being the only thing getting me through this semester, its probably saved my grades. its enough of a bop im (sorta) motivated but chill enough i can focus. special mention to la la lost you for being a whole vibe ✌️ (also ghost is so catchy its gonna be stuck in my head for the rest of the day akslbhdf)

the way i just adore u so much .....

THE WAY U R A REGULAR LISTENER ... someone suggested updating the playlist and i might once i wrap up the series bc i made a mini list of some other songs too that remind me of next time (what say u? should i update it or do we like the way it is?)

literally almost all of those songs tho r like on a regular rotation. la la lost u kinda reminds me of a personal experience (that unfortunately didn’t end too well!) so i’ve taken a slight break from it BUT .... i do love it a lot :3

HHHH GHOST IS THE LATEST TRACK ON REPEAT. i still can’t believe u regularly listen to my recs like that like girl shut up!!!! but fr i’ve been listening to ghost nonstop i love love love it

i’m glad u like it so much i really am ): i’m even more grateful that u even read the story grrrr ): i adore u and i hope ur finding some time for urself too ): SCHOOL CAN SUCK A FAT ONE! but wishing u tons of luck and hopefully lots of rest time <3