#spiritual successor to I would like to be like you someday | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

asklilmissrarity · 9 months

Text

Progress Update on Melodi

Hello, everyone!

Happy New Year!

On December 15th 2023, I made the public announcement that Lil Miss Rarity will receive no further comic updates from me, finally confirming a common theory that I had lost the will to continue creating it. Lil Miss Rarity, just to confirm here, is now public domain and I encourage fan-blogs and will proverbially pass the torch to anyone who would like to take up the mantle.

It wasn't an easy decision to make because of how many times I'd promised I would never stop updating it, and I did in fact have future plans for it (I will be making a video on YouTube describing how I'd planned to continue the story, and how I would have ended it if I ever did).

But in its wake came Melodi, a spiritual successor to Lil Miss Rarity, and I've decided that a story-driven video game with ongoing updates would be the smartest decision, at least for the introduction to the series.

And so along came this twiggy elf. (Important note: Her booby size on her sprite is exaggerated, same as her head size. The in-game art for cutscenes will show more proper body proportions.)

Melodi is now just four directional (diagonal movement) sprite animations away from being a complete character sprite, which means creating a proof of concept will be just a matter of time.

As of today, I have completed:

The intro cutscene for the game, leading to the introduction of Melodi and her teacher, Eliah Sterium (Multiple full color images accompany that cutscene)

Seven unique songs entirely composed by myself (Literally learned how to make music a week ago just for this project)

Four directional movement sprites consisting of 6 frames of pixel animation each direction (Including separating each part to make them usable for other characters' sprites)

Four directional idle animations consisting of 6 frames of animation each direction (Again, making paperdolls to use later for other characters)

A discord server for the ongoing production of Melodi RPG where I'll be answering questions, including answering as the characters from the game similar to the LMR ask-blog

27 (just counted) preliminary sketches to flesh out character designs and have reference for myself

Eliah Sterium's design, making the ladies go gaga

Mountains of lore (a lot of which can be found in the Discord's lore channels)

Personalities for the primary cast of deadbeat magic school students

Art for the title screen

The entire storyboard for Episode 1 and Episode 2

The pricing model for the game (Episode 1 will be a free demo, and all remaining episodes will be bundled together in a $10 purchase)

The "Pet Cwow" option on the Quit Game menu and what happens when you pet him (You'll see)

The entire intro in-engine (Screencapped above with Eliah there)

Many new fans/friends who've introduced themselves in the Discord

And, I have received (on December 31st) my very first negative review of the game, which I will cherish. Someone who knew nothing other than "It's a game about an elf who goes psychotic" and saw the title art said that the game was basically doomed to fail because Melodi has large breasts, to which I replied "Imagine being this fucking butthurt over tits existing" which set him off into an obnoxious and insulting rage that ended with "Enjoy nothing but horny virgins playing your game and ignoring the dog water, generic ass story." A quote that I will never, ever, ever forget, and if I someday make a physical release of the game, I promise you, that quote will be on the back of the box.

There's even more than just all this, I've already sunk tons of hours of time and effort into the production of Melodi and I am super excited to continue.

I want to thank everyone for the support of the game so far, and I hope once people know more about the story and characters, the game sees the same kind of fandom that Lil Miss Rarity once had.

Luv you all

~Jay Tonique

#Melodi #Melodi RPG #Sprite Art #Animated #Game Dev #Melodi Ravenian #Eliah Sterium

64 notes · View notes

awiola · 1 year

Text

Super late mass update

And the title rhymes.

While I don't suppose a lot of people will read this, I'm pretty much dead everywhere besides discord at the moment [and even there I plan on taking a break] so a, belated, update is in order.

At this point my bird app account is pretty much abandoned and I don't wish to bother with reviving it at all so it's just waiting to rot and disappear, hopefully forever. There wasn't a lot of stuff there to begin with. Unless I decide to move somewhere else, tumblr will be my main platform of contact with people that don't share servers with me. Though I think I'll try my hand at a side art blog…

Anyway, this is a dev update so let's focus on games. Within the months of my inactivity and total radio silence here, a few games were created. Considering I have no idea how far back it should go, I'll start with my bird jam entry that I was a terrible lead for.

BIRD GAME

My total inability to assume responsibilities of my own work aside, the team did their job well. The actual story is finished and working and the only reason why the build has its current name is because I never went around to finish the GUI and the last CG properly and then disappeared for months due to personal reasons. As it stands, the story lacks nothing to enjoy it mostly as it was intended, though I may finally move my ass and update it. Just not now.

After that I took part in the creation of two projects for the queer edition of O2A2. One being a sequel of sorts to Annur's story, featuring Azazel. The other a very rushed personal project. Rushed only because I felt like making it at the moment and its quality only confirms that.

I won't really say much about either of them as due to the nature of the jam, they're naturally very short. I think both have around 700 words each? It would be cool if you checked Azazel out, though. That 'saga' might eventually get a third part. It's also pretty different from Annur's story, less horny and with a different artstyle… Or maybe just medium.

The newest creation is my submission to Orifice jam. Despite how it might sound, or maybe exactly because of that, the entries [planned ones included] are pretty cool. Not a lot of them at the moment of writing this post, though.

Both here and in my O2A2 short I decided to use the style that comes the most naturally to me. Maybe it wasn't a good idea, it's pretty avant garde and bizarro leaning, if I say so, though at the same time pretty normal and grounded. But those are my standards of normal, don't trust them. They're also chock-full of reference, although this time, based on the previous feedback, I tried explaining the most important ones. Everything else is still a bonus most likely no one would get. I just can't stop myself.

After that comes Mushroom jam which I'd recommend to join if you have even the slightest interest in the topic. It starts in september [technically august in almost all time zones] and is supposed to be as crunch free as possible, lasting three months and all. You can read the details on the page. It's a spiritual successor of Bird Jam and in a way OH jam as I ended up hosting a jam each year, always with a different theme, and plan to continue doing so, even if there ends up being close to no interest.

This also relates to my planned projects. As of now there are two main ones, one that I help with and is still a secret, two-three that I'd either finish someday or not and multiple "maybe if I get inspired to actually write" ones. Generally as long as it's written by me, it's likely to be on an unpopular topic or written in a way most people don't seem to like but as I have the most funn with these, well ¯_(ツ)_/¯ No one pays me for that, might as well.

Since there's no reason to disclose anything on the "maybe" category projects and the secret one, let's focus on the two main ones and these that probably should get finished.

Going by the chronology of planned releases, the first would be a some sort of SF story for sunofes playing with the idea of Agartha, Wanderers etc. I can't even promise what kind of mood it would have but given my lack of science skills, it would be closer to soft SF, if that's even a term that's used. Think analogous to soft fantasy but SF. Probably "interactive fiction" [actually kinetic, no choices, linear] with illustrations more so than vn as I wanted to write something longer than usual that's still moderately low effort. Not getting the urge to create custom gui really lessens the workload~~

The other project is for Spooktober, Mushroom jam or both. I kind of feel like it would be cheating, given the insignificant amount of fungi in the story but we'll see. Due to Spooktober rules, it's still in planning stage, though I'm starting design sketches. No idea if I manage to pull it off but I wanted to try something different style wise, with isometric view that changes depending on MC's mental state. It's honestly a lot of work for one person so I'm not even deluding myself I'll finish it for Spooktober, it would be just free exposure at this point :') Especially important as the SEO is going to be absolutely terrible and horrendous, being a yet another reference [created from two of my ideas that mutated and merged]. At least the non game results would explain what exactly was I referencing lol

If I actually manage to pull it off, it's gonna be the coolest looking of all my personal projects. Not that there's strong competition but still. Hope it works out.

From the stuff to finish, there's the above-mentioned bird game, Argousze and Red String Theory. RST's development doesn't exactly rely on my so it either remains a demo or the whole team gathers again to finish it. In the meantime I can draw my pretty boi Adisa whenever I want. As for Argousze, it's been close to three or four years since its initial release. I feel like I should finish it eventually, being ad short as it is but I kind of dislike the ending of the initial idea + had problems with designing aliens I liked so it either changes or gets a sequel/part with alien's pov as comparison, not sure yet. The pov change would have a completely different tone but would help me with my SoL sentai later on and as such requires further consideration. Hopefully it's finished before the fifth release anniversary passes.

Other than that there's some art etc related stuff going on but as it's not strictly dev related, I'll omit it. The whole post ended up quite long, as expected but that's what happens when you update people once a year. See you[?] next time.

#devstuff #vndev

1 note · View note

citrus-cactus · 3 years

Text

Finished the story of Psychonauts 2 last week! It was really good. Like, REALLY, really good. I don’t have anything profound to say, but here are my thoughts if you wanna read ‘em. Obviously there are SPOILERS BELOW, so click at your own risk if you haven’t played into post-game! (FWIW, I HIGHLY recommend playing this game as spoiler-free as possible. And play the original, while you’re at it!).

Here’s a pretty tame spoiler that I don’t think anyone will mind me sharing though: RAZ IS A CUTE. JUST LOOK AT HIM:

Things I appreciated:

Raz asking permission before entering almost every brain

PET THE GOATS

BOBBY DANCE

Getting to see Whispering Rock a couple of different ways! Actually, the theme of showing events from multiple perspectives (and the different forms of trauma resulting from certain events) was really good.

Raz helping the Psychic Seven help themselves. The game is so gentle with these old damaged hippies. SO GOOD.

QUEEPIE AND FRAZIE and just… all the Aquatos, man. What a group.

The family being given space to grieve together (important) before yeeting their middle boy into the whirlpool (badass). And them still having a lot to unpack/figure out post-game. It’s complicated, man! Of COURSE they wouldn’t have it all figured out yet!

Larry and Pam! LOL.

SAM BOOLE, WTH. Best dialogue tree in the game??? XDDDD

WHOMST in-universe put the graffiti on the back side of the funicular? Oleander?? :O

I have not finished the Scavenger Hunt yet, so idk if Raz gets his clothes back. I’m betting not *shakes psychic fist at Norma* XD

Powers and combat were all really cool!

ANIMATION! ALSO!! REALLY!!! GOOD!!!!!

I’M STILL LOSING MY DANG MIND OVER RAZ’S ARCHETYPE, good god. Double Fine, you mad geniuses, how DARE you stage a Zim/Gir reunion in the year 2021??? If anyone has ever equipped the pin that mutes that delightful little paper lad, I cannot emphasize enough how dead you are to me XD

I thought Cassie sounded a little like Mona Marshall?? The credits proved me wrong, but there were several moments I thought “…maybe??” (I have a much easier time ID’ing her when she’s playing a boyish character than a woman, whoops!)

So much symbolism in the brains! “Subtle” is maybe the wrong word to use, but between some of the throwaway dialogue, the different subsections in each, and the different set designs, most of the mental states just felt more… complex? nuanced? than the first game.

I don’t actually know if I could pick a favorite level! Compton’s Cookoff was definitely the most unique (I would have appreciated the option to try the food challenges again, but “getting the best time” is obviously NOT THE POINT, so kudos to the game making it about the story/character and not about the player here!), and I really enjoyed the paper-and-book-aesthetic of Cassie’s! Bob’s boss battle was one of the most poignant, but the 60’s psychedelic aesthetic and Nona’s different layers were really creative and fun. I also liked that we got a few different styles for Raz (especially in the 2D sections!) but I always could have used more!

On that note though, CENSORS! IN!! SEQUINS!!! XDDDDDDD

THE MUSIC!!! My husband and I JUST realized that Peter McConnell scored the Sly Cooper series as well, so we have newfound RESPECT and AWE for this guy’s ability to write absolutely fantastic music in so many distinct styles and genres. Both of the songs w/ lyrics also slap.

The return/spiritual successor of Goggalor (Pootie-lor???). Amazing. Incredible. Did not expect it, loved it for how narratively important it was. The ending in general just made me quite emotional.

The post-game conversation between Truman and Lilli. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it absolutely RADIATES Tim Schafer dad/real-life daughter energy.

The Grulovia level was a really interesting way to introduce a villain. Based on every level previous, I was actually prepared for the game to offer some sympathetic facet of Gristol (such as finding out the ride was something he had been conditioned to think from a lifetime of hearing an idealized version of the story from his parents, and it was somewhere he would go to rationalize his actions despite not really believing them… or something), but obviously the longer you spend there, the more you realize it’s something he constructed himself, and he is actually delusional (er, delugional) about Maligula and his family’s legacy. Really sets up an interesting parallel with Raz, in a way. Gristol’s mental state is essentially that of a child… but Raz is an ACTUAL child, and demonstrates more maturity, empathy and understanding than both Gristol the kid (see the Mental Vaults) and Gristol the adult. Kind of amazing he was able to fool a whole building full of psychics for as long as he did (and I guess he was a fine mail clerk too??), but tl;dr I like how the game’s “true” villain is the only one who is unable to change/experience any sort of remorse for his actions (maybe the jury’s still out on Dr. Loboto though XD)

A little concerned that Hollis said Gristol’s fate was to be “experimentation,” and only corrected to say “therapy” when questioned by Raz. UM. This game does make it part of its point showing us the flaws in the Psychonauts, both as an organization and as individuals, leaving them in a bit of a mortally grey area (who are clearly mismanaging their resources if they have a whole Motherlobe of agents doing who-knows-what and their primary source of funding is running summer camps for psychic children). I am… definitely concerned about what Hollis said (as well as Otto’s assertion that he would be picking up where the Seven left off!), but I guess I can accept it as part of the theme that no one and nothing is perfect. Maybe that’s sequel fodder though??? (hey, I can dream about Psychonauts 3, can’t I? XD)

Genuinely though, I’m just… SO PROUD OF RAZ. He’s going to be such a good agent someday!!!*cries forever over one begoggled psychic acrobat son boy*

#psychonauts 2 #psychonauts 2 spoilers #double fine #the cactus speaks #video james

52 notes · View notes

flipflap-flipflap · 3 years

Text

I wanna talk about my interpretation of the ending to Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song.

As a preface, I really applaud the open ending to this show. It demands that you really think about what you’ve been shown: not just in the ending, but throughout the entire season. Why did it end like this, and how are we supposed to be okay with it?

A lot of people are dissatisfied with the ending. I was too at first. But like most things in this show, there’s absolutely a degree of depth that isn't being spoonfed to us. I’m sure future rewatches, as is repeatedly suggested in cast/crew interviews, will reveal a lot more.

I’m really eager to hear other people’s thoughts too. A takeaway I got from the cast interviews was that it’s really valuable to hear other people’s interpretations of this show, and getting active in the fan discord has really reinforced that idea. Everyone sees this show just a bit differently, and I’m sure that goes a long way toward how we each individually interpret the ending. And I want to know how we all reach those different interpretations.

But anyway, here’s my opinion that no one asked for.

A lot of things could have been done to save Vivy, assuming things were as plain as they were presented to us (unlikely). She didn't need to be connected to the Archive to sing her song. A backup copy could have been made of her. She also had no actual reason to sing, since the virus would take down the Archive anyway. Lots of different solutions were right there.

(Mind you, I absolutely think there’s a reason Vivy had to sing while connected to the archive, but that’s even more theoretical than this and would merit its own post entirely. What I want to talk about is why she didn’t back herself up knowing she was marching to her death.)

Fluorite Eye’s Song had a lot of messages, but I think the most important line is what came around halfway in, about how even if she loses all her memories, she’ll still be right here. It seemed out of place in a song about how memories are indispensable above all else. But I think that line is it: why Vivy accepts that she’s not walking away from this. And, I think, why Diva accepted her death so gracefully as well.

What we learned from Diva's arc, and what that line is reinforcing, is that her mission will always lead her to become the same person. Even if she loses her sense of self, her mission to sing from the heart will always guide her back to become Vivy. After all, by Episode 13, Vivy had become indistinguishable from Diva. That’s because they’d both accomplished their mission, learning to sing from the heart. And just like Diva did, Vivy fully trusts that her successor will be able to as well.

It feels tacky to get spiritual when talking about robots, but for lack of a better way to describe it, I think "singing from the heart" became a sort of predestined spiritual path for Diva/Vivy. I think what I'm trying to say by spirit is the way their base programming inclines them to think about their mission and the world around them remains the same, independent of memory. She will always come to the same understanding of her mission, and thus always become the same person. It may take time, and she will be a different consciousness, but this new Vivy will, someday, experience that same awakening and become the same caring, memory cherishing person.

The apocalypse is over, so all that remains of Matsumoto’s mission is one component: Vivy. Knowing Matsumoto he of course has a backup of Vivy’s memory tucked away somewhere. That he hasn’t given them to her yet says one of three (or all of these) things: it would not bring back Vivy; it would be counterproductive to the growth of this new Vivy; and/or it is not what the old Vivy would have wanted him to do. Naturally, I think it’s all three.

(As we learned with Grace, and as is outlined in greater deal on the website, the process of cloning doesn’t produce an exact duplication anyway. What we can extrapolate you're doing is applying memories and settings to a new AI, who then builds a new personality based on an objective analysis of it. That's why the replacement Grace was no substitute for the original: she lacked the foundation of love to reciprocate her fiancé. Imagine being a newborn AI and getting whammied with Vivy's fuckfest of a life all at once. Even with the knowledge of Vivy’s sentiments behind Fluorite Eye’s Song, the new Vivy would probably lack the foundation of love necessary to see these memories as anything more than a flood of horrible, horrible things belonging to someone else.)

What I would really like to see in follow-up content, either a movie or just fan content, would be the new Vivy quickly learning her legacy (how couldn’t she?), and wanting to know about her former self. But, Matsumoto would force a deal on her: learn to sing from the heart like your predecessor did, and then you’ll have earned the memories. And over the span of what probably would be a century or more, she eventually would. And I’d be curious to see if she’d still want the memories.

#vivy: fluorite eye's song #Vivy #vivy spoilers

48 notes · View notes

queenlua · 3 years

Note

You're a druid and an ex-evangelical, right? What does being a druid mean to you? How did you get from evangelicalism to where you are now? And of course feel free to ignore this if it's nosy. (sincerely, a Christian who wants to leave but who doesn't know what to do)

this is going to make me sound ignorant as hell, lol, but i'm happy to share

under a cut because this got very long, sorry, lol.

my personal progression was: "vaguely christian -> VERY christian -> christian agnostic -> agnostic/atheist -> agnostic/druid -> some sorta druid-neopagan-animist thing." i guess i'll just go through what made me switch between each of those, and close out with some high-level thoughts that may be helpful for you?

okay, so when i was

VAGUELY CHRISTIAN,

i went to Sunday school every week because That's What You Do, and because my whole hometown was very southern Baptist, i never questioned the veracity of its teachings much... until they ran a whole weekly series on "why [x] is wrong," where [x] is some other group

e.g., we had a week on why Mormons are wrong, and i didn't bat an eye because i hadn't even known Mormons existed until that moment

then we had a week on why Muslims are wrong, and that... bothered me, because i had a friend who was Muslim, and she was just objectively a better person than me, and i was like "any universe where she goes to hell and i don't seems really fucked up"

then we had a week on why EVOLUTION was wrong, and that just absolutely threw me, because while i hadn't thought about evolution much (i think i was in fourth grade or so), it seemed common-sense? scientists thought highly of it? "adaptation over time" just seems logical?

so i went to the public library every day after school for like a week, read some Darwin and some science books, and came back to my Sunday school teacher with, like, an itemized list of objections to the whole "evolution is wrong" thing. and he came up with some standard Answers In Genesis rebuttals, and i did more research and came back the next week with more science, and we repeated this a few times until he was like "lua, you just gotta take some things on faith"

which. lmao. full existential crisis time, because no matter how hard i thought, i couldn't *not* believe in the science, but i also didn't want to go to hell, so i was like "maybe if i believe SUPER HARD i will SOMEDAY be able to unbelieve the condemn-me-to-hell bits"

so i decided to become

VERY CHRISTIAN

and my frantic googling for shit like "proof of god" and "god and evolution" *eventually* broke me out of the Answers In Genesis circles of the internet, and into some decent Christian apologia, like, think First Things and various Catholic bloggers. and there, i found some way to square my gut sense that evolution was right, with a spiritual worldview.

like, i remember finding some blogger who said:

"young earth creationists get tripped up when they try to explain stars that are millions of light-years away, and end up basically arguing that God's tricking us somehow, and—no! my God lets you believe in the evidence of your eyes, my God does not demand that you make yourself ignorant or stupid, my God expects you to use your brain"

and i just started crying at my computer, because no one had ever said "using your brain is Good and part of God's will," i was like *finally* here's someone who won't tell me i'm going to hell for just *thinking* about things

(st. augustine does a much better riff on a similar theme, fwiw, but i only found him later)

still, it was an uneasy fit, because, the more i learned and read about world history, the more it seemed... weird... that the One And Singular Path To Salvation was... the successor to some niche desert cult... which didn't even occur at the *beginning* of written history, like, it was all predated by that whole Mithraism thing, etc... and like, sure, i could trot out all the standard theological talking points for why Actually This Makes Perfect Sense, but gut-level-wise, the aesthetics just seemed kinda dumb! and no level of talking myself out of it made that feeling go away!

so at this point i started referring to myself as a

CHRISTIAN AGNOSTIC

i mean, not aloud. i still lived in southernbaptistopia and i didn't want, like, my hair stylist to tell me i was a horrible person. but in my *head* i called myself Christian agnostic and it felt right.

and i started church-hopping, which honestly was really fun, would recommend to anyone at any point. i visited the fire-and-brimstone baptist church, the methodist church, the episcopalians, the universal unitarians, etc.

unfortunately, while this gave me *some* new perspectives, each of the places either had the same shitty theology as my old megachurch (i remember the *acute* sense of despair i felt when i was starting to jive with a methodist church... only for the dumbass youth minister to start going on about evolution), or, they just lacked any sense of the *sacred*. like, the Church of Christ churches, with their a capella services, *definitely* had it; i felt more God there in one service than i did in a lifetime of shitty Christian rock at the megachurch. but their beliefs were even *more* batshit, so. big L on that one.

having failed to find a satisfactory church, i was basically

AGNOSTIC/ATHEIST

by the time i went to college, but honestly pretty unhappy about it; while it was harder than ever for me to actually *connect* with the divine, i didn't like thinking that my previous experiences of the divine were total lies. because my shitty evangelical church, for all its faults, could not *completely* sabotage the sense of God's presence. there were real moments in that church where i do believe i experienced something divine. mostly mediated by one particular youth minister, who in hindsight was the only spiritual teacher in that church who didn't seem a bit rotten inside, but! it was something!

so when i happened upon a bunch of writings on the now-defunct shii.org (that's the bit that makes me look WILDLY ignorant, lol), i was utterly captivated.

said author was a previous archdruid of the Reformed Druids of North America, an organization that was formed in the 1960s to troll the administration of Carleton College (there was a religious-service-attendance requirement; they made their own religion; their religion had whiskey and #chilltimes for its services). however, this shii.org dude seemed to take it pretty seriously. he was studying history of religion and blogged a lot about his studies, both academic and otherwise. while RDNA had started out as a troll, that didn't mean they hadn't *discovered* something real in the process, he said.

this, already, was going to be innately appealing to me; i've got a soft spot for wow-we-were-doing-this-ironically-but-now-it's-kinda-real? stuff in general.

in particular, shii.org’s discussions on the separation of ritual from belief was really interesting to me: most religions/spiritualities have *both*, but like, you can do a ritual without having the Exact Right Beliefs (if there even is such a thing!), and it can still be useful to you, it can have real power. (he had a really lovely essay, speculating on the origins of religion as just a form of art, but that essay is now lost to the sands of time, alas.)

(note that i wouldn't really recommend seeking out *recent* writing by the shii.org guy; he kinda went full tedious neoreactionary-blowhard-who-reads-a-lot-of-Spengler at some point? sigh.)

the shii.org guy led me to checking out a bunch of books on the history of neopaganism & also books by scholars of religion in general, and the more i read, the more excited i became. and i started doing little ritual/meditation stuff here and there.

then i was fortunate enough to attend some events with Earthspirit (this was when i lived in Boston), which cemented my hippie dalliances into something more real. the folks there, being from Boston, were all ridiculously overeducated (a sensibility that appeals to me), but also, being the kind of folks who drive out to a mountain in the middle of nowhere for a spiritual retreat, they tolerated a full range of oddities (everyone from aging-70s-feminist-wiccans to living-on-a-farm-with-your-bros-Astaru to dude-who-started-having-weird-visions-and-is-just-trying-to-figure-out-the-deal to Nordic-spiritualist-with-two-phds-from-Scandanavian-universities-on-the-subject, etc), which gave me a lot of room to explore different types of rituals, ceremonies, "magic", etc.

(polytheism in general lends itself well to this sort of easy plurality! i can believe other people are experiencing something real with their gods, and i can be talking to a totally different set of gods, and that’s just all very compatible, etc)

anyway, i started calling myself

AGNOSTIC/DRUID

around then, because i knew i'd found *something*, something that felt like all the realest moments i'd ever had in nature, and all the realest moments i'd ever had in that shitty megachurch, but i wasn't quite ready to put a theology to it.

but, idk, you do the thing for a while, and you start encountering some things that you may as well call gods, and you realize you're in pretty deep, and you ditch the "agnostic" bit and just throw hands and start describing yourself as

SOME SORTA DRUID-NEOPAGAN-ANIMIST THING

because that's the most precise thing you can muster. in particular, the druid bit resonates because nature's still very much at the center of my practice; the neopagan bit resonates because i'm not especially interested in reconstructing older traditions or being faithful to any actual pre-Christian traditions, and animist resonates because what i sometimes call gods seem to be tied pretty tightly to the land itself. it's all very experiential; all this mostly means i'm some weird chick who sometimes grabs a car and drives out someplace very lonely and hikes for a while and does some hippie shit to try and talk with the land or the god or whatever is there. and sometimes i come back from it changed, or refocused, or what-have-you, and hopefully i'm better for it. i'm aware this makes me look a little ridiculous, and is an unsatisfying answer, sorry!

WRT YOUR SITUATION

i don't know you or your situation, obviously, but if i wanted to give former-me some advice to save her some angst, i'd say

-> Christendom itself is far wilder and more diverse than many churches lead you to believe. if you still want to be Christian on some level, and it's just a shitty church that's convinced you the whole project is fucked, i'd honestly explore, i dunno, your nearest Quaker meeting. they're invoking the Holy Spirit with regularity but they're not raging douchenozzles about it.

-> if you're specifically interested in druidism, i found John Michael Greer's "A World Full of Gods" really nice. (caveat: Greer has *also* gone full right-wing nutjob these days, sigh, so like. would not recommend a great swath of his writing. but that one's good)

-> deciding that a just God wouldn't give me a brain and then ask me not to use it was hugely comforting to me. like, that was the start of the whole process, that was what made me feel ok searching for other churches and trying to find something that fit. obviously you should take this with 800 grains of salt, because obviously i'm no longer Christian, and thus maybe i'm just some poor misguided fallen soul, but... i still kinda believe that! maybe if you can make yourself believe that, it'll seem less scary?

idk, happy to answer more questions, sorry for the long ramble, hope it helped~

#druid stuff

23 notes · View notes

dailydogdoodles · 5 years

Photo

Legendary Dog Chart

This is the spiritual successor to the Pop Culture Dog Chart that I made two years ago--but with a more mythological flair. I’m a big fan of myths and local legends, so combining that knowledge with doggos was a natural move.

(I also know that this chart is NOT comprehensive, and am going to someday chart all the legendary dogs I know of)

This is also an *~*Unofficial Daily Dog Doodle*~* but I felt like you guys would appreciate it! You can also pick this up as a poster (with FOIL affects) over at AnimeNYC next month, at table B12 8)

#daily dog doodles #unofficial daily dog doodle #mythology #legend #Japanese mythology #welsh mythology #english mythology #cerberus #barghest #cwn annwn #doggos #legendary dogs #digital art #corel painter #animenyc #animenyc 2019

2K notes · View notes

yyh4ever · 4 years

Text

Togashi-sensei talks about Yu☆Yu (V-JUMP, 1992-93)

Scans by: @moonq5151

12.30.1992 - Many secret stories revealed now!

Reiko Hadouken

The Secret Successor Arc (Genkai's Tournament)

First, the main reason for this arc is that I wanted to introduce someone spiritually stronger than Yusuke. That's how Genkai came out. It's a common pattern, right? Old and strong people. It is also a classic storytelling technique not to reveal a secret right away. In the meantime, you can do whatever you like. In my case, I like the development of a large number of people gathering, competing, and continuously being eliminated from the competition. Like the Ultra Quiz, for example.

Therefore, I made it in the format of a Succession Competition and also included an element of mystery, a youkai blended in with the humans, but the readers have completely figured out the answer. I apologize for my lack of experience.

Human World Migration Plan

The Four Saint Beasts

I decided on the four saint beasts first. I created four enemies on impulse, but there were only Yusuke and Kuwabara on the human side. They still weren’t strong enough to take on two youkai at a time, so Hiei and Kurama appeared on the scene. They are the current protagonists (guffawing). Joking aside, this series made me fully realize the difficulty in making a battle manga. Even before the serialization started, I had been pestering my editor that I wanted to do battle stuff, but there’s a big difference between seeing and actually doing it. I learned its depths. The biggest takeaway from this series is that I’ve learned that portraying the strength and badness of an enemy well is just as important as drawing an attractive ally character.

2.21.1993 - Secret Stories revealed only to V-JUMP

The secret of the birth of the Four Saint Beasts’ characters!

I got their names from somewhere. When I decided on four enemies, I wanted to do something coherent. Then, I realized there were the four gods.

➀ I like ugly Genbu. I had a mental image of a simple rock, so I made him look like that.

➁ I like ugly Byakko. I had a mental image of a simple tiger, so I made him look like that.

➂ Seiryuu was an idiot guy. Judging from the meaning of his name (Blue Dragon), he is a character who was supposed to live a little longer, but his luck ran out when he had to confront Hiei.

➃ I was planning to make Suzaku more perverted. One of the basis of my character creation is the good points and shortcomings. If someone has a good-looking appearance, they should be as evil as possible. That’s right. It is entirely my personal bias.

From the most frequently asked questions in fan letters...

I would like to answer some of the most frequently asked questions from recent letters.

Q1: What about the characters profiles¹ other than Keiko and Botan’s? A: It’s hard to say. To be more specific, in my case, rather than thinking about the story, I feel like I am idly watching the events happening somewhere else, in an absent-minded state. I can’t reveal the birth dates etc. of the main characters, unless they come to my mind when I’m in such a state. Sorry.

Note: ¹The readers are talking about these small profiles Togashi released in the manga. They wanted the author to share profiles for the main characters as well. Only Keiko’s birthday was revealed. Watch out! I’ve seen many people sharing this guy’s fake post from a YYH forum saying “Yoshihiro Togashi’s latest manga volume of Hunter X Hunter has included a note about Yu Yu Hakusho’s characters date of birth”. THAT’S ABSOLUTELY FALSE. The author hasn’t included any birth dates regarding YYH or Chrollo in any HxH volume or Shounen JUMP issue so far.

Q2: The Spirit World Beast (Puu) finally appeared, but what about the seven tools…? A: This crossed my mind. (lol) I plan to reveal them someday.

Note: Togashi did reveal some of the others seven spirit detective tools in the Chapter Black‘s Arc.

Q3: What should I do to improve my drawing skills? A: Draw something on the back of an advertisement every day, and set it aside with the date. If after six months you look at your drawing and think "Wow, it looks bad", it's proof that you're improving.

4.4.1993 - The Secrets of Yukina Arc ~ The Dark Tournament Saga!

The reason I came up with this story was very simple, I wanted to draw Yukina and Tarukane. Before I knew it, I took a liking to the Toguro Brothers, and decided to take them to the next saga. That is the Dark Tournament. From this point on, the ratio of my feelings “I want to write a story like this” and “I want to draw a character like this” has become approximately 4 to 6. It used to be the other way around.

In other words, what I mean is that I am getting into this current method where a new enemy appears and the story unfolds. Toguro was the precursor to that. If I were to do another long-running saga with a strong enemy, it will naturally be a villain of my liking. In other words, someone with a very dissolute character. Naturally, Yusuke and the others will be in trouble. Muwhahaha. I guess someone will die. Muwhahahaha. Which one should I choose? Muwhahahaha.

I lost my composure a little bit. Excuse me.

July, 1993 - Togashi-sensei Game Report

Commemorating the Yu☆Yu Game Adaptation!!

Togashi-sensei's Game Hakusho

We asked Togashi-sensei straight out about his impressions of playing the Game Boy version of "Yu☆Yu", and his expectations for the other video game consoles!!

Yu Yu Hakusho is a manga that focuses on combat, therefore it seems there are many action games. I received a sample of the Game Boy version from the manufacturer, and tried it out for a while. I got quite addicted to it! I think the result is very nice. As an aside, I recently bought a Game Boy, and the first game I played was "Yu☆Yu". (laughs)

As for the other consoles, I am anticipating the graphics. I had a chance to look at the background illustrations of the games earlier, and they turned to be too eerie for my liking (laughs), so I'm looking forward to seeing the actual images displayed on the screen.

I think the makers are also working hard to make sure the image of the characters is not spoiled. Dear readers, please wait for the release of the game!

#yoshihiro togashi #yu yu hakusho #vjump #four saint beast #yukina #toguro #kurama #hiei #yusuke #kuwabara #genkai #dark tournament #suzaku #byakko #seiryuu #genbu #yu yu hakusho games #yuyuhakusho gameboy

84 notes · View notes

pokabrows · 3 years

Text

Adorable home (free app) is the spiritual successor to neko atsume. Also you can be gay and they have pride month items rn. I just got the garden and am trying to figure out how to summon non-cats.

Cookie is my favorite cat. Oh but I want to get the farm so I can work on growing food and then the kitchen so I can make homemade meals for my cute gf/wife/partner in game. Her name is Sam because that's a v good v gay name. I was so against settling down with someone before I realized I liked girls, but now I'm kinda excited about making lunch for a fictional gf in my cat game. I hope someday I'll have a cute gf and we can cuddle and live together and be happy.

Rainy attic room (free app) is kinda slow and sad and peaceful. You just sorta talk to your depressed friend and make their space a little nicer.

Digimon are more work than tamagotchis. They poop too much and then get sick because of all their poop. Also if they get sick 20 times in a stage they die. I need to set an alarm so I don't forget about them.

I like doing raid battles in pokemon swsh but also I'm kinda getting bored of the game overall. Though I do need to finish the dlcs. But would rather just do more raid battles...

I still need to start fire emblem three houses but it's kinda scary because I'm scared I'll mess up and do things wrong even though I know that's stupid and I can play through multiple times.

#personal //

0 notes

the-archlich · 6 years

Note

Greetings archlich. I hope you are fine. I want to learn about mid-late Wu, but i'm lost. Could you provide me with key names/info so i can do proper research? If it is not much of a problem. Also, there's something about the nomad tribes and their importance to the time? (like Yan or Proto-Korea)

If we’re talking about Wu’s relationship with the tribes specifically, it was complicated. When the Sun family first started taking over the south, much of the land was controlled by the tribes (though they weren’t nomads). These tribes were slowly brought under Wu’s control over the next several generations, and they were integrated with the Han population. Tribal rebellions were frequent, and the far south was never really pacified.

Wu is a pretty big subject in general. If I had to summarize some key points…

From 220-226, Wu was engaged in defending its territories. It fended off Liu Bei’s Yidu Campaign (221-222), Cao Pi’s Great River Campaign (222/223), and his Guangling Expeditions (224, 225). Wu was victorious in all of these campaigns and established it’s control over the territory that it would hold for the remainder of its existence.

From 226-234, Wu became more aggressive. Repeated attacks were made against Wei, often in conjunction with Shu. However, Wei proved capable of fending off these invasions. It was during this period that Sun Quan made himself an emperor and established Wu as an independent dynasty - something many southerners desired for generations. Despite military losses, Wu remained strong. This was the high point of Sun Quan’s reign.

Some of Wu’s leading figures during this first span include the generals Zhu Ran, Zhu Huan, Quan Zong/Cong, Lü Dai, Pan Zhang, and Xu Sheng; and political figures like Gu Yong and Zhang Zhao. There were also a number who filled both roles, like Lü Fan, Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, Pan Jun, and Bu Zhi.

From 235-252, Wu entered a more insular period. While there were a few major campaigns (like the Red Crow Campaign of 241) the state was more concerned with internal politics. The Wu court became plagued by corrupt ministers, who drove many of the long-serving members out of government. During an incident popularly called the Crown Prince Affair (a dispute over Sun Quan’s successor), many were exiled and/or killed. By the end of this period, most of the old guard was deceased.

Sun Quan died in 252. His heir, Sun Liang, was a child, so a regency was installed for him. The head of this regency was Zhuge Ke, son of Zhuge Jin.

From 252-258, Wu was controlled by a succession of three regents. Zhuge Ke was the most competent, but he was also arrogant and not well-liked. He was a successful general but, after a defeat at Hefei in 253, opinions turned against him. He was assassinated and replaced by Sun Jun, a major player in the Crown Prince Affair. Sun Jun was a corrupt and extravagant regent detested by all. He died of illness in 256 and was replaced by his cousin Sun Chen, who proved even more corrupt. He was the most hated of all. Sun Liang tried to oust him from power but was exiled instead, replaced by his older brother Sun Xiu.

Leading figures of this time include Zhuge Ke, Lü Dai, Zhu Yi, Lü Ju, Ding Feng, Teng Yin, Sun Jun, Sun Chen, and Sun Luban.

Sun Xiu soon had Sun Chen killed. However, he was a negligent emperor, more interested in books than government. Wu was controlled by his corrupt supporters Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu. When Sun Xiu died in 264, Shu was recently conquered. Rather than putting his young son on the throne, Puyang Xing chose his nephew Sun Hao.

Sun Hao ruled from 264-280. He proved to be the cruelest tyrant of the era, perhaps even worse than Dong Zhuo. His court was almost universally corrupt, aside from a few loyal and virtuous men who kept the state limping along. Sun Hao was also a negligent emperor and let Wu’s military fall by the wayside. When Jin invaded in 280, most of Wu’s subjects welcomed them with open arms.

Wu’s last men of renown were Lu Kang, Lu Kai, Shi/Zhu Ji, and Zhuge Jing.

This is a very broad summary and misses a lot, but it’s a starting point. Maybe someday one of us will write a spiritual successor to Generals of the South.

7 notes · View notes

donutcryforme · 6 years

Note

19. who is your favorite nonplayable character and why is it sophie larsen, the spiritual successor to serenity james, now that leah has been promoted to series regular

S O P H I E!!!!

1) Someday I’m really going to develop Leah / ILUSHUN and give her a backstory so she’s playable. Trying to differentiate her from Sarah so it doesn’t look like I’m playing a carbon copy of a muse has been a challenge, since originally she wasn’t going to be anything other than an NPC who introduced Sarah to her own sexuality, but she’s been fun to play around with! Like Sarah, she’s used graffiti as a form of activism (though for different topics–like she’s really into saving the bees). Mastering the Tough Girl, But WIth Flowers Aesthetic has been tricky, and frankly my mind isn’t in her right now, but one day she’s gonna be a wild ride.

2) Sophie serves as a catalyst for so much in Natey Boy’s life. The idea that you don’t always have the strength to live for yourself, but find it in the necessity of other people that depend on you, is such a prevalent theme in his story. It’s the reason he runs away from home. It’s the reason he finds food and shelter every night. It’s the reason he goes on living.

I’m still trying to figure out where she fits in his story present-day / in-game. Part of me wonders if there was a terrible accident when he was looking after her and she didn’t make it, which would alleviate that problem (and also give him a healthy dose of undeserved guilt, my personal fave), but that’s … just too sad for me to bear. Plus, if his mom died in a car accident with Mia’s mom (name tbd), I feel like that’d be just too cruel. So that’s still up in the air, unfortunately. But nevertheless: Sophie!!! I have a bunch of tiny little shits / headcanons that need flushing out in my Google Keep, so it’s a work in progress.

3) Follow-up goes to Cain James. I loved him. The little James brother who loved to look through his telescope and would always get caught reading in odd, secluded places. (He’s a little hard of hearing, so it often takes a long time to find him). My boy!!! Julia and I had fun chatting about him, for sure. I think if I was ever at a loss for a character to develop and needed somebody new, I would use him a skeleton for somebody playable and great.

Roleplayer Ask Meme | Open 4 Bizness

#thanks for asking!!#gothicromances #( out of donuts )#( inbox. )#m;nate #m;leah #m;jonah

3 notes · View notes

jezfletcher · 4 years

Text

1000 Albums, 2020: Albums #10-1

Here they are, my Top 10 albums of the year. As always, these are the top 1% of all the albums I heard this year which means, at least statistically speaking, they must be pretty good. The other thing that means they’re good is the fact that, well, they’re all just very good.

#10. Joe Wong - Nite Creatures (baroque pop)

This is one of the albums I heard as part of the period this year where I was up a lot in the middle of the night with a hungry, cranky baby. And it’s a hauntingly good soundtrack for the wee hours of the morning. It has a psychedelic wash to a lot of it, and orchestral-sounding arrangements that blur the line between strings and guitar, plus harp from Mary Lattimore. It has a rich slate of moving harmonic progressions, in the way that I like in the best dreampop. Wong’s voice is a pleasingly melted-chocolate baritone, which works well with the atmospheric swirl. Wong has a history as a composer for TV and film, and you can definitely see the influences of that in this work.

My top track (I have several) is Day After Day, elevated as it is by the presence of an oboe—an underutilised instrument. But other tracks are excellent as well, for example, the title track Nite Creatures, which almost sounds like what The Go! Team would write if they took a lot of LSD in the 70s. Other standouts are Dreams Wash Away, Nuclear Rainbow and Sleeping.

Recommended Track: Day After Day

#9. Luis Pestana - Rosa Pano (experimental electronica)

A fantastic sonic journey, Rosa Pano sounds atmospheric and theatrical from the very first moments, starting with a low drone, before bringing in tuned gongs, atonal synth scrawls and heavily processed vocals. This is never an album that feels weird-for-the-sake-of-weird though—it uses the more challenging elements as dramatic devices. For every moment of atonal noise, there’s a plunge into the cool clear waters of restrained melody. And yet at every moment, I feel like I’m leaning forward in anticipation of that next unexpected element. Pestana does an amazing job at drawing things out just longer than you expect, or giving you exquisite moments of crashing relief. I’ve not felt this level of control over experimental electronica since Roly Porter’s 2016 album Third Law, which also ended up near the top of my end-of-year list.

In some senses this almost feels like the 2020 equivalent of a classic album like Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. It’s experimental, but has the feeling of narrative to it—elusive though the story might be, something is developing across the scope of the album. As such, it’s difficult, honestly to pick out individual elements—even though Sangra, for instance, contains some of the best bits in the album, it’s even better when it seamlessly moves into Arde Asa. Ao Romper da Bela Aurora brings in choral elements that shock you back into a remembrance of humanity, and Asa Machina provides an engine-like consistency moving you towards the finale. At 31 minutes, it absolutely packs a punch for its short running time, and is absolutely the kind of thing that you can (and perhaps should) consume at once, whole. It’s also the kind of thing I would love to see performed live one day. Hearing this boom over you in a dark room, sharing the experience with other audience members, would be a pretty incredible thing.

Recommended Track: Sangra

#8. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension (art pop)

It has been a long time since we’ve had a proper solo release from Sufjan Stevens. In fact, his last album, Carrie & Lowell was actually the year before we started listening to 1000 albums a year. So The Ascension felt like a moment that was long coming for the music project. Better yet was the fact that unlike the subdued folk of his 2015 effort, this one feels more like the spiritual successor to his second-to-last album The Age of Adz. That was an album I adored (and saw him perform twice in concert), so I jumped into The Ascension with a great deal of joy. It has Stevens’ trademark ethereal but strident vocals, and layers upon layers of drifting synths. But there’s still a sense that there’s pure folk at its heart. The presentation might change, but so many of these songs you feel would survive either this level of heavy production, or Sufjan singing them with a guitar and no backup.

There are many tracks I love in here, including Make Me An Offer I Cannot Refuse, Tell Me You Love Me, and the harmonically challenging Ursa Major, which feels like the vocals and backing track are in constant tension with each other. I’m going to single out Lamentations though, which adds a surprising rhythmic element to what would otherwise be an extremely subdued, downtempo track.

Recommended Track: Lamentations

#7. MisterWives - Superbloom (indie pop)

In some ways, MisterWives is a victim of its own success with me. For a start, after so loving their 2017 album Connect the Dots, this was labouring under extremely high expectations. Moreover, while I generally try to hold out on listening to singles if I know that an album is imminent, I couldn’t stop myself from picking up the first trickles that came from this album, and then the half-album EP release that preceded it. Which meant that by the time it actually came around to listening to Superbloom, I’d heard approximately 50% of it already. I had missed that moment when all the goodness crashed on me at once. Of course, it’s still an extremely good album—but if the world were a fair and equal place, you feel like this should be a pure lock for my Album of the Year.

There’s still plenty of great, thoughtful but mostly upbeat pop in this album. Danceable tracks like It’s My Turn and Love Me True are tempered by more atmospheric numbers like Valentine’s Day and Decide to Be Happy, the latter of which feels like it’s channeling a lot of 90s RnB, in the best possible way. Another thing, which made me realise this wasn’t the standout album of 2020, is that it’s an extremely long album (it’s 19 tracks, and over an hour in length), and the quality isn’t entirely consistent. This almost certainly means that tightening up the album would improve the overall quality. As a whole album, it suffers, even though as a collection of great tracks it packs more of a punch, perhaps, than some albums above it in this list.

Recommended Track: It’s My Turn

#6. Lola Marsh - Someday Tomorrow Maybe (Israeli noir pop)

For a long time this year, this was considered the front-runner for me. Coming out as it did in February, and being a clearly great album, everything released later was always compared to it: “is this as good as Lola Marsh’s album?” was a tacit question whenever a new great album came up. This survived most of the challenges, and winds up still in my top ten after what’s been a great year of music. This has excellent moments of songwriting, delivered with a sense of ennui, very appropriate for 2020, even though it was released before the pandemic truly took hold.

There are moments of exceptionally subdued folk songwriting, and elements which expand into rich dramatic presentations. Tracks like Like in the Movies start out with a beautifully simple melody and then build in a series of vast smash cuts to an ecstatic conclusion. The best track, however, is the opening track Echoes, which is melodically beautiful and develops in a number of unexpected but harmonious ways. They seem to know it’s the best track too, because they rework it into the more melodic, less rock-driven closing track Where Are You Tonight?. In some senses it feels like cheating to use the same song twice, but a) it’s such a great song that you don’t mind hearing it again, and b) the reworking is so skillfully done that it feels like both are worthy inclusions on their own merits. But it’s a great album, and one that still feels, 10 months later, like one of the very best of the year.

Recommended Track: Echoes

#5. Dyble Longdon - Between a Breath and a Breath (chamber folk)

This is a bittersweet album, a collaboration between vocalist Judy Dyble of Fairport Convention, and David Longdon, a multi-instrumentalist from the group Big Big Train. Shortly before its release, Dyble died, meaning that this was and is always going to be the only release we get from this duo. And that’s a damn tragedy, because this is a phenomenal album. It is even better as a collaboration, because there’s an inspired synergy between Dyble’s sweet trad-folk vocals and the sumptuous and rich arrangements from Longdon. There’s always a connection between the two, so it never feels like the simple folk qualities are being overwhelmed by post-rock ostentatiousness—often there will be interplay between the vocals and Longdon on flute, for instance, which connects the two elements beautifully.

Best though is the fact that they can use these elements to balance each other, or provide contrasts that generate immensely moving moments of drama. There’s the epic 11-minute France for instance, which feels symphonic in scope, or there’s my personal favourite, Obedience, which ties a beautifully sweet and simple folk tune with an immense prog-rock crescendo. But the album overall is a journey in itself. It’s incredibly sad that this is only perfect moment of collaboration we get from these two.

Recommended Track: Obedience

#4. Hugo Kant - Far From Home (downtempo nu-jazz)

I’m genuinely surprised with how well this held up, but I also remember how much I immediately fell in love with this album when I first heard it (in brief snippets when screening the week’s new releases, and then again when I listened through in full). This is a fabulous set of music, building rich soundscapes around punching downtempo breakbeats. You will notice jazz flute a lot in some of my top picks this year, and here’s another one which uses it extensively. But there’s a rich instrumentation overall here—woodwinds are part, but there’s more of the orchestra utilised at various points where it’s required to provide drama, or an upsurge in emotion from swelling strings.

Even better is when non-Western influences are incorporated to broaden the scope of the sound, or when there’s a deep groove to the bassline that drives a track forward despite anything else going on, such is the excellent Everything Is Transformed. My personal pick is personally High Gravity, which is probably more motif-based, and driven more by its percussion. It’s a high point for me, but others will probably consider tracks like Melancholia, or The Second Sun as more representative of the album overall. But whatever you pick from this album, you’re likely to find something good. It’s an eclectic but extremely enjoyable outing.

Recommended Track: High Gravity

#3. The Lemon Twigs - Songs For The General Public (alt rock)

This is a genuinely fabulous collection of tracks. It’s less of a thematically linked album than some of the others on this list, but the hit rate is quite phenomenal, especially given it’s quite a long album. There’s a genuinely beautiful throwback quality to a lot of these tracks—they feel often enough like they’re unstuck from time. Is this a long lost track from the late 60s psychedelia? Perhaps it’s pop rock from the 80s? Maybe, just maybe, it’s an ultra-hip interpretation of the last 70 years of music from the year of our lord 2020? Whatever it is, it’s exceptional songwriting for the most part, delivered with almost a kind of glam swagger that evokes the early albums of music project darling Kyle Craft.

Singling out tracks is both easy and hard to do, because I love so much of this album. The lead single The One is a particular favourite, but I grew to especially love the meter-shifting Only a Fool the more I heard it. Plus you can’t deny that it starts strongly with the one-two punch of rock driven sing-along Hell On Wheels followed by sunny pop Live in Favour of Tomorrow. But you have to also consider the cabaret charm of organ-or-maybe-calliope heavy Why Do Lovers Own Each Other?. You can see the bind I’m in. It was, to some extent a bit of a surprise to find this as high as it is on this list, but when I look back on the smorgasbord of goodness available from it, it absolutely feels like a correct choice for a Top 3 Album of the Year.

Recommended Track (aw jeez… let’s go with): Only a Fool

#2. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - K.G. (microtonal psychedelic rock)

The first time I really got into King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard was in 2017, which was happily the year where they set out to record 5 albums in 12 months. What struck me then was that this was a technically brilliant band that managed to maintain a stunning level of quality when you’d expect them to be prioritising quantity. The standout from 2017 for me was Flying Microtonal Banana, their first experiment with non-Western microtonal tunings for their instruments.

Their successor to this, K.G., also done with microtonal tunings, is even better, and it’s perhaps the moment when my generalised love for King Giz turned into something genuinely special. This is a remarkably fine collection of music, played as a zero-gap set and running the gamut from heavy prog rock to swirling psychedelia, 90s electropop and metal. Everything is tinged with the alien from the unexpected xenharmonics, but everything is also bolstered by the technicality of the performers. It’s very easy for this kind of thing to become a mess—to lack structure or to get caught up itself too much. This does none of that, and stays crisp and polished right through to the slamming finale, The Hungry Wolf of Fate.

Recommended track: Intrasport

#1. Ada Rook - 2,020 Knives (electropop concrète)

In my mind, there’s no better album to summarise the year we’ve just had than this sprawling, angry and claustrophobically intimate album from Ada Rook. Rook has been prolific this year, releasing an album as part of the duo rook&nomie towards the very end of 2019, producing and mastering albums for an array of artists whom I’ve also enjoyed, and even turning her hand to industrial grindcore under the name crisis sigil. But nothing is better than 2,020 Knives. There’s a wrenching sense of trauma at the core of these songs—lyrically they can be by turns devastating, heart-breaking or strangely life-affirming. But they’re placed in a strong, aggressive punch of industrial electropop, laced with guttural screams of existence that seem to perfectly match the state of the world in 2020.

It’s not a satirical album though, and it’s not obviously trying to make some sweeping statements on the state of the world. Instead, it’s clearly a deeply personal album—but there’s such quality in the songwriting, the beautifully polished production, the complexity of the rhythms, that something connects and then we start to see our own reflection in Rook’s. And if it connects and hits as often as it does for me—well, it ends up your #1 album of the year. It’s a perfectly fitting album for the year that was 2020.

Recommended track: Reverie (JH Ligation Experiment 1)

And there we have my top albums for 2020. Stay tuned for my top 50 (!) tracks of the year, which I’ll post over the next couple of days. After the Christmas break, I’ll also post my longer list of albums #31-100, and my list of tracks #51-100.

I’m also in the process of collating a playlist of my top tracks of the year, which I’ll post after all is revealed.

0 notes

aegon · 7 years

Text

Bran Stark, Bran the Builder, and A Song of Ice and Fire

I’ve already written a meta on my comprehension of the title “A Song of Ice and Fire,” which you can find here.

Essentially, I am a firm believer that the title refers to the concept of balance, of the notion that everything in this universe has a counterpart, Ice has Fire, Death has Life, Good has Evil, etc. However, that particular analysis was specifically about Arya Stark, and it had me thinking of how the Big Five (Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister) contribute to this idea of balance and their representation in the title. Since each analysis is incredibly long and I care about people’s attention spans, I’m splitting this into a meta of each main character.

Bran Stark It’s important to mention that Bran is the youngest of all the main POV characters, and yet, has the most profound storyline. He is often overlooked for more “active” character plots, but Bran’s magical abilities surpasses everyone - and I do believe at some point, he will be stronger than Bloodraven. As a powerful figure, and the rightful King in the North, Bran is at the very core of the story and could very well change everything. And no, I don’t believe he’s going to be a tree or revealed to be the Night King.

And yes, I believe he is Robb’s true heir. He is the trueborn son of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully. If he chooses to accept his crown, the North and the Riverlands would openly support him over Jon or Sansa, the former a “bastard” and the latter written out of succession by Robb to protect Winterfell from the Lannisters. These are facts. Rickon and then Arya are Bran’s heirs. Until (or if) he chooses to reject his claim in the books (the show doesn’t count) I’m considering him the King in the North. And that is what I’m choosing to focus on, Bran’s role as the King of Winter. In terms of his role in the conflict and in the title, my theory is that Bran is Ice. Additionally, I do believe that Bran may become Bran the Builder 2.0, a successor to the first King of Winter and the first of his name.

Bran Stark and Daenerys Targaryen GRRM loves his parallels. In the same way that Daenerys is being set up to parallel Aegon the Conquerer with three dragons and the establishment of House Targaryen, Bran has parallels to the legendary founder of House Stark. I’ve already written about how everything has a counterpart, and while Bran’s magical abilities overpower even that of the Old Gods in some aspects, his storyline serves to parallel Daenerys Targaryen. Dany and Bran’s parallels are subtle yet fascinating. Early examples are their encounters with their respective elements and “singing.” Bran hears the wolves singing in his coma, Dany hears dragon fire singing in her dreams.

Both witness the graves of their ancestors either literally in a crypt, or in a dream where they line a hallway. Both experience visions, have spiritual mentors, think of marriage when describing the weirwood/pyre (symbols of Ice and Fire) and have special relationships with their respective animals that they identify with.

Both are capable of flying, either literally on a dragon or by warging. Both have survived assassin attempts on their lives. Both have been severely underestimated in their capabilities. Both have magic intricately woven into their storylines. Both are said to be incapable of carrying children. Both are heirs to the thrones of Kings that built their houses. The connections are too numerous to be pure coincidence.

Bran the Builder Ned Stark had told Arya that while Bran would never be a knight, he could raise a castle like his namesake. In the show’s video of the history of Westeros, narrated by Isaac Hempstead Wright himself, Bran the Builder is portrayed as being carried onto a platform, and several people have theorized that he was, in fact, a cripple. Another passage of note is in Clash of Kings when Durran is said to raise a seventh castle, the largest of them all, and that he was directed to do so by a small boy, one who would Bran the Builder someday. At such a young age, he showed initiative and leadership, much like Bran Stark did when he was Lord of Winterfell in his brother’s absence. Moreover, Bran the Builder built the Wall after the first great battle with the Others with the help of giants, and is said to have known the Children of the Forest. We’ve all seen the Wall - there’s no way it was made by hand, even giant hands. GRRM wrote a story about the Ice Dragon, and one interesting part about it was that, upon their death, a highly reflective pond is created in what would be their ashes, leaving the surroundings much colder. You know what’s a highly reflective pond in a cold environment? The pools in the godswood of Winterfell. Catelyn Stark even makes a point to say she always feels cold around it. Bran the Builder is speculated to be a warg, so one can imagine him warging into an Ice Dragon to not only help with defeating the Others, but in creating the Wall. The proximity of the possible grave of an Ice Dragon lends credence to the theory. Bran is growing to be an increasingly powerful warg, and it isn’t hard to see him one day controlling a dragon. Moreover, Bran’s nickname is “The Winged Wolf.” Bloodraven told him that he would never walk again, but he would fly. This could be more to do with him becoming the Three Eyed Raven, but I think there are several readings to Bran and flying. There is a very popular fan theory that Bran will one day warg into one of Dany’s dragons, and I have a feeling it could be an undead one, much like Viserion in the show. Alternatively, there is another theory that a dragon sleeps under Winterfell that could very well be a true Ice Dragon, and it may wake soon (in the books, of course). Thus Bran has a parallel with his predecessor in controlling an Ice Dragon. I also feel like Bran will play a massive role in potentially creating a new pact with the Others, as I don’t believe they will be entirely defeated. This is where his connection and understanding of the past is integral. In this new pact, he’ll probably reconstruct the Wall after its fall (because it will fall) and then return to Winterfell and oversee the rebuilding of his home as the King in the North. In the process, he’ll help to restore what has remained of House Stark. I don’t think Bran is sterile as they say, so it’s most likely his sons that will continue the Stark line.

Bran and Balance To just tie in to my original theme of balance, Bran Stark’s role in the conflict and in restoring harmony is in his rebuilding of the North, the Wall and his potential responsibility in creating a peace between the Others and humans. Currently, the impending imbalance of Ice and Fire is the arrival of Winter and the Others. Fire has responded with the birth of Dragons, but Ice is responsible for the imbalance, and Bran could be the one to bring it back in harmony to Fire, with Dany’s help. Bran Stark, the King of Winter, the Winged Wolf, is the Ice of A Song of Ice and Fire.

These are just my muses, but if anyone has anything else to add, then as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

#bran stark #meta #asoiaf #game of thrones #got #house stark #bran the builder #gotbranstark #bran stark meta

182 notes · View notes

ladyloveandjustice · 7 years

Text

The Great Ace Attorney Replay, Dual Destinies DLC Part 1

TIMETO DEFEND THE HECK OUT OF A WHALE.

While Athena was wayyyyy more sidelined/underserved in SOJ than Apollo was in DD in general (EVERYONE NEVER FAIL TO FORGET IT WAS DD THAT ACTUALLY MADE HIM POPULAR IN JAPAN) I’ll admit they are both equally screwed over in the game’s respective DLCs- Apollo is basically left out for no reason here much like Athena is in the SOJ DLC.

Phoenix on why he got his badge back: I made a promise to a certain someone. ~An important promise~.

Phoenix is GETTING VERY CLOSE TO “THAT MAN-ING” Miles here I almost expect him to burst through the wall and say “THAT’S MY CUTE THING TO DO WHEN I TALK ABOUT YOU WRIGHT GET YOUR OWN THING”

Phoenx’s reason for leaving Apollo behind seems to be litetally “I’d rather hang out with Athena.” I mean I can’t say I wouldn’t make the same decision but. harsh.

Athena being completely devastated when animals ignore her and then getting obsessive about getting their attention and approval- relatable.

Sasha’s ENTIRE REASONING for requesting Phoenix to defend a killer whale in court is bc he cross-examined a parrot once. I love that this is the most defining aspect of his career in-unverise as well as out.

also i love that this seems to be the entire conciet behind this dlc. “remember when Phoenix cross-examined a parrot. that was the best. let’s do more of that.” Honestly,the decision I would make,

Sasha: You're the only one who can do it, Phoenix! I heard you once questioned an animal during a trial, and that got your client off the hook!

Athena: No way! You did that?!

Phoenix: I, ah... might've tried something like that at one point in my career...

Athena: Ooh, you're gonna have to tell me all about this later, or I'll ask Apollo for all the juicy details!

Buckler: When I heard you didn't discriminate against animals, I knew you'd hear me out.

I was going to say “Athena Apollo wasn’t there” but then I remembered Apollo is a nerd who researched every single detail of all of Phoenix’s trials before he met him and his heart was broken forever.

AND SO IMMEDIATELY:

Phoenix: Even an orca deserves a fair trial. If the one responsible for Orla is dead... then I'll take responsibility for her!

Athena: You'll what?! I guess doing crazy things just once in your career wasn't enough, huh? But what the heck! I'll take responsibility for her, too!

Look at that earnest impulsive ridiculousness that unites him. Phoenix has truly found his successor. (I agree with azuresquirrel that Athena is more in line with Phoenix’s general philosophy and approach to things, and inheriting the firm. Apollo is much more suited to doing his own thing. Which he IS doing now. so good for him.)

(And I honestly think this demonstrates it, Apollo would be bringing up a billion problems with this bizarre scenario and analyzing it skeptically for like. an hour. Whereas Athena is just RIDE OR DIE immediately SHE JUST MET THIS ORCA BUT SHE LOVES IT AND WILL PROTECT IT SCREW COMMON SENSE. And that’s how Phoenix rolls as well, so I think Athena is way more his spiritual successor)

Guess who’s here! Pearly’s here! She and Athena get along so well immediately- Pearl actually asks her to call her “Pearly”- “that’s what my cousin and friends call me”- and so she does. And Pearl even consistently takes her side against Phoenix it’s so great. When Phoenix tells Athena she’s scaring the penguin with her scowl Pearl is like

Pearl: Mr. Nick! How could you talk that way to a lady!

Phoenix: (Oh no...I made Pearls mad...)

I love that he’s still scared at her even though she seems to have grown out of slapping people whenever they annoy her. HE STILL HAS THE MEMORIES OF HER RIDICULOUS STRENGTH.

Athena’s intense envy Pearl can get animals to like her so easily- also relatable.

I like that older Pearl is noticeably less sheltered than younger Pearl, but she still has some things carried over from her childhood- like she’s aware of technology and knows all the names for it now, but admits she’s still not very good using it (which bonds her with Phoenix)...and she still gets easily overwhelmed and confused around crowds. Awww, baby. But she has friends! She went to the aquarium with her friends, guys! I’m so proud of her!

Phoenix notes how strong the whale is and Athena informs him she intends to be as strong as a whale someday, in fact she feels she’s pretty close right now, “DON’T UNDERESTIMATE MY STRENGTH” to which Phoenix is like “Athena...you seriously don’t have to make everything a competition”. YES SHE DOES PHOENIX I BELIEVE IN YOU ATHENA YOU CAN BE AS STRONG AS A WHALE.

Norma’s kind of a jerk, but I respect her bangin’ sense of style and writing saavy. When I’m a bigshot writer, I want to dress like that. iirc she’s actually got pretty strong morals too and genuinely cares about being accurate in her writing, which I appreciate.

When we go to court Simon makes sure to inform us the only thing he cares about in the aquarium is the penguin exhibits because BIRDS. Thanks Simon. WE NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED.

The Judge is just overwhelmed every time he sees a cute animal- he is already down not to convict our client just based on how adorable she is. RELATEABLE.

We get the Orca off the hook! But now Sasha’s accused of the murder! OH NO.

TO BE CONTINUED

#the great ace attorney replay

5 notes · View notes