#this miiiight get a part 2 i feel like it needs it

[stxrshxpxd]

those who have kissed before

pairing: 90s graham coxon x reader

word count: 796

warnings: none

prompt: reader is playing a game of truth or dare with the boys and graham and her relive some untold memories

* * *

“I said from the start this was a bad idea,” I reminded Graham as he grimaced at the question he had just been asked. Being one of Damon’s oldest friends, I had tagged along for the UK shows of their European tour. It was about to be 2 am and we were all sitting in a circle around a small table in the back of the tour bus, lazily playing some sort of card version of ‘truth or dare’.

“No, I’m trying to count,” Graham laughed, thinking hard about his body count. To my right Damon rolled his eyes, laughing, and slid down in his seat till the back of his head was lying against the low backrest.

“Right.. Depending on what counts and what doesn’t, somewhere between ten and thirteen,” Graham said, his cheeks shifting to a light red shade. Everyone around the table was grinning and I could swear we all felt like giddy teenagers. We were definitely a good few drinks in and all nearing delirium.

“Did you count Damon?” Dave asked with a jokingly serious tone and expression.

“Fuck off!” Damon chuckled and tossed a bottle cap at him and the rest of us laughed.

“Alright,” he muttered and sat up straight again, picking a card.

“Oh shit.. This one’s for all of us.”

He looked around and we were all quiet again now, expecting the worst.

“Those who have kissed before need to kiss again,” Damon said in a calm voice. My eyes somewhat discreetly shot up at Graham right away. I imagined we were both remembering at the end of a party last year when we had sat on our friends’ balcony and somehow ended up kissing for a solid minute, before someone had stumbled out to puke onto the street and the spark between us was killed. What’s weird is I don’t remember us being that drunk.

“Alright, sluts first,” I announced and nudged Damon in the side, earning a dramatically offended expression.

“Oh, have you not kissed every single person in this room?!” I argued and Alex, Dave and Graham held in giggles. Damon sighed and heaved himself over the table, placing quick and rushed pecks on all three boys’ lips and ended it with one on mine. We were all back to falling in and out of laughter and I took a sip of my beer.

“I haven’t seen you two kiss before,” Alex said but it sounded like a question and he was pointing at me and Damon.

“Oh, please, he was my new year's kiss like every year from when we were twelve to like.. nineteen.”

“Fair enough,” Alex laughed and shrugged and then he suddenly turned to his left to grab Graham’s face and pull him in for an unnecessarily wet kiss. Dave, Damon and I collapsed in a pile of yelps and laughter as Graham was let go and his cheeks grew even redder.

It seemed everyone had kissed who they were supposed to kiss and were coming down from our giggling highs for a moment. But my heart was beating hard and I was avoiding eye contact with Graham.

“I would quite like to cleanse my palette after that,” he said at last and I couldn’t help but return the obvious stare he was directing at me. Our eyes met and everyone got completely quiet for a second. Damon’s eyes frantically flickered between the two of us a few times.

“You’ve kissed?”

Neither one of us answered for a few seconds. Then I exhaled and nodded.

“Last year.”

Damon was shocked neither of us had told him. I didn’t know why I hadn’t. It was just that it didn’t really feel like it was a silly drunken sloppy thing between laughing friends. It was something else entirely, and neither of us had talked about it since. Hence why it felt incredibly strange to do it again now in front of the boys.

“Shit. Well, go on then.”

Graham and I shared eye contact again and he laughed softly and forced a shrug of his shoulder, and he began to stand and lean across the table. I couldn’t do anything other than to follow his lead, and forcefully suppress any emotions so as to not let him feel them. We kissed shortly and sweetly. It was definitely more than a peck but there was no tongue.

I found my brain had instantly blocked out all the sensory details of the kiss, and being sad about having done so, when I sat down again. I wished it had lasted longer and I felt I desperately missed his tongue from the party last year.

My ears tuned back into the scattered laughter all around the room and I was back to avoiding Graham’s glances again.

[the-s1lly-corner]

HH cast crushing on the reader 2/3

Forgot to mention in the previous post alastor will be excluded for this prompt. "But admin you write for him-" I tend to approach his writing with queer platonic ideas and while I do think this prompt can still work with that, idk how to put it into words

Characters: Lucifer, Adam, Lute, Emily, Velvette, Rosie

Notes: reader is GN, mostly focuses on canon characters, if your character isnt here check the other parts unless I dont write for them

CWs: none

LUCIFER

On one hand he wants to be with you. But on the other I feel he is still a bit hung up on Lilith. It's wouldn't be fair to you to pursue someone else when there's already someone else in his heart. He flipflops between approaching you and shutting you off. It's going to take a lot and you might have to ask him if there's something going on or if you did something wrong. He's crushed that you think you did something wrong. Baby steps with him, give him some time and the two of you could possibly make something. He finds himself sitting at his workspace making art (ducks) based off of you.

ADAM

Oh he is so open about it and it's kind of obnoxious. Well.. open isn't the right word. He's very up front with making sure you know that he thinks you're... desirable to put it lightly. But to actually be soft and vulnerable and say he wants to be with you for more than just wanting to bang you? It's going to be like pulling teeth to get an actual confession from him. He teases you a lot more, and makes comments about you and he leans into it if you're receptive. Just know that if you catch feelings first and he notices, he's going to hold it over your head and use it as ammo.

LUTE

Similar to Vaggie in the previous part, she's going to get... closed off. Unlike Vaggie, she's going to totally close herself off from you and try to bury herself deeper into her heavenly duties. She's hardwired and trained to devote herself to Heaven and she believes she doesn't have time for you. She almost feels like it's a betrayal to have these feelings in the first place. She won't confess, at least not out of looking for a relationship. I can see her doing it as a way to release her feelings in hopes that saying it out loud will somehow get rid of them. It's a little sad when you sit and think about it, but I do think with enough time and patience you two might be able to build something.

EMILY

Very giddy and very quick to telling you how she feels. She takes time out of her day to check in on you, as well as giving you something she knows you like or something that reminded her of you. Noticeably happier around you and perks up at the mere mention of your name. She always has time for you, she makes room in her schedule for you. She's a lot like Charlie in regard to her being a bit overbearing and clingy, but she really does mean well with her intentions! Just let her know if she needs to scale it back!

VELVETTE

I can totally see Velvette being the type to hide her feelings and translate to something else. Bonus points if you're a rival of hers in the industry, all the more reason for her to try to twist her feelings. I guess in a way you can call her a tsundere. Even through the meaner things she says, there are some teasing words slipped in here and there in your interactions that admittedly leave you feeling a little conflicted and confused. If you shut it down and be firm you miiiight get her to cut the act, but it is not a guarantee because she's grown to like the game.

ROSIE

She doesn't throw herself at your feet, she has some dignity. She is polite and kind towards you, though... but just because you've got her attention doesn't mean she's going to date you just yet. Think of it as her giving you a chance to show yourself off to her. She sometimes does small favors for you in town, even giving you some special privileges thanks to her status as an overlord. Waits for you to confess, if you're showing your signals as well. There will be subtle hints, though, even if she's not outright flirting with you... most of the time... she can't resist sometimes, even with the above stated. Really it just depends on the circumstance and how you are as a person.

[cosmic-ghost-hermit]

What mask do you wear that is keeping you from the rebirth you have been waiting for?

I have a ton of prompts that I have waiting! My partner picked this one intuitively for the day so shout out to them. The decks used today are the Star Spinner Tarot, the Healing Waters Oracle and the Starseed Oracle. Take what resonates and leave the rest behind but always be open to new experiences.

_________

PILE ONE

Astrology: Leo, Pisces, Cancer

Song: Magic by B.o.B.

Vibes: Pink, blue, yellow, mice, rabbits, corvids, dice, bear, mushroom, 666, watermelon, kiwi, pancakes, hockey, activism, university, fairies, Amaterasu

Cards: The Sun, The Moon, 6 of Wands, The Waterfall, Cracked Open

Hello, pile one! The mask you wear is a mask of logic. You think you need to see it to believe it. You have a tendency to see the worst-case scenario in a lot of situations. You see life as guilty until proven innocent. This point of view is understandable but it is limiting your success. Why assume that you will fail before you have even begun? Especially, because you are so capable and a powerful manifester. You seem to believe that you deserve to fail. This belief is a subconscious belief that you can definitely remove easily if you just knew it was there. Take this mask off and you will see your dreams come true! Your manifestation will come true fast and easy it'll feel like the impossible became mundane. Spread your wings and fly my dear. You don't need to fear jumping from the nest. You have always been ready no matter who told you that you weren't. I believe in you, the universe believes in you! Please believe in yourself too!

PILE TWO

Astrology: Scorpio, Aquarius, Sagittarius

Song: We Are Golden by MIKA

Vibes: Lavender, periwinkle, gold, make-up, skin routine, hair routine, routine in general, butterflies, dragons, 444, sleeping beauty, roses, stars, crown, the sky, chocolate

Cards: King of Cups, 4 of Swords, 4 of Pentacles, Thank You, The Golden Children

Hi, pile two! Welcome to your reading. This miiiight be a little hard to hear so heads up on that. You are being held back by a mask that can't exist in the present. You are constantly thinking of what will be to the point where when you get the manifestation you were wishing for you can't even enjoy it because your mind has already turned to the next achievement to work towards. You are incredibly driven but I see how unsatisfied you feel about all that you do because of this mask. Take time to congratulate yourself! Take time to give yourself a gold star for your efforts. You worked so hard!!! Thank yourself for working so hard. Thank the world for what you have in front of you. What you will have is important to work towards but what you have now is still worthy of recognition. Look back at how much you put into what you have now. Look at all that you have achieved! It's hard for you to recall. The tunnel vision you get from the task at hand is blinding you from everything you have already done. Please see how well you have performed so far. Acknowledge yourself. Acknowledge your strength. Your inner child is screaming at me "ACKNOWLEDGE ME ACKNOWLEDGE ME ACKNOWLEDGE ME!!!!" You need to hear them because wow they are yelling loud. Don't just buy them something nice by the way. Genuinely allow them to feel happy about what they have done. Pat them on the head and tell them you see them.

PILE THREE

Astrology: Libra, Aries, Capricorn, Taurus

Song: The Call by Regina Spektor

Vibes: Pastel pink, yellow, teal, clocks, falcons, Horus, armor, coy fish, 8888, storms, renaissances festival, mermaids, libedo, strawberries, cucumbers, caramel

Cards: 6 of Cups, 8 of Wands, 8 of Pentacles, Let It Rain, Star Brothers

Pile three, welcome. You wear a mask of perfectionism. You have the belief that only you can perform tasks to the right standard. Part of this belief is good but some of it is holding you back. I am glad you have confidence in your abilities and feel capable enough to do things on your own. The problem is you feel this way a lot more than is physically healthy. You believe it so deeply it makes you over-exert yourself constantly. You probably feel super tired all the time. Part of you longs immensely for help with all the tasks you do. It feels lonely to do everything alone with no companionship. Let me tell you a little secret, my friend. Let them fail. Let people underperform the tasks that aren't and shouldn't be your responsibility. If you let things slip through the cracks it might seem like you are failing but really what you are doing by letting people fail is helping others learn lessons. You are doing yourself and the people around you a disservice by taking responsibility for tasks that need to be failed. If the people around you fail, they will be more likely to learn faster. You are robbing them of lessons and exhausting yourself in the process. That literally helps no one. The next time you see someone not doing their job properly. Let them. Let them not do their job. If someone else tries to make it your problem you tell them what I just told you, okay? It will make you a better teacher and the people around you better students. Let people fuck it up. Trust the universe. Trust people to learn even if it takes them a couple times to figure it out. Failure is the best lesson teacher.

PILE 4

Astrology: Capricorn, Gemini, Virgo

Song: Hell's Coming With Me by Poor Man's Poison

Vibes: Purple, lilac, navy blue, ibis bird, Thoth, architecture, stars, akashic records, 3rd eye chakra, crown charka, dreams, diamonds, lilys, daffodils, angels, whiskey, pyramids, curse breaker, dragonfruit, mangoes

Cards: The High Priestess, The Star, Ace of Swords, Stagnant Waters, Star Ancestors

Hi there, pile four. You wear a mask of imposter syndrome. You don't think you've done enough. It doesn't matter how much you have achieved. You never think it is enough. You are blind to how much you do. You have the belief that the world would be better off without you but the thing is. You raise the planet's vibration WAAAAY more than you believe. You have such a good heart and you are so balanced. You are kind, smart, intuitive, wise and witty. I wish you could see yourself clearly because you are truly an angel. The thing is all the things I just named are things you wish to be. You wish it as if you aren't aligned with those things already. The mask you are wearing is distorting your vision of your true self. The only thing holding you back is your perception of yourself. Let go of the past criticism that plagues you, my dear. You took that critique in stride and grew far past your initial goal. You have succeeded already. You already did it! Congratulations on being super awesome and cool! You don't need to wish upon a star anymore, baby! You are already a star yourself. <3 Change your view of yourself and you will be UNSTOPPABLE!!!

[professor-walten]

just a seventeen year old forced to save the world, again, you know how it is.

he/him only, don't let the tits fool you ✨

Lee's my real dad lol. If I ever say "dad" I mean Lee.

Owner of Motostoke's one and only Hop Walten Labs. Ireland's Pokémon researcher, rescuer, rehabilitator, and releaser. Giving every Pokémon a chance is my job and passion. I am a Pokémon rights activist and I believe in league abolition. You would know if you read my book. Nobody in Galar really has. Legally classified as a "shiny hunter," but it's just conservation efforts

Callaghan Psychics know all of the known universe. Not other universes, I guess. That's kind of why I'm here? The multiverse kinda needs us atm

DID system. There are ten of us here if that matters to you. If you want to ask questions about it take this guide. Not being specific on ages because like none of us are normal humans lol

🌨️ - Tori, she/her, adult | 🌌 - Janus, thon/thonself (they/them if that's difficult), adult | 🐐 - Tobey, he/they, teen | ⚾ - Marcello, he/him, teen(adult) | 🪙 - Auryn, he/him, adult | 🍀 - Ryan, he/him, adult | 🔥 - Rin, he/she/they, adult | 🐉 - Zabi(maru), she/he, teen(adult) | 👻 - Aoife, she/her, child

And me of course -(🐏)

The fate rests in the balance of a bunch of mentally unstable children. It always has, huh? My work is important to me, and so is understanding the multiverse, so you can always give asks about either. Cool 👍

[ooc under the cut :3]

pfp is a gift from bunnyhasaknife on instagram

disclaimer banner art is commissioned from littlebumblebe9

account banner is just dubwool from the anime

EDIT FOR CLARITY: The start of PULT takes place 3 and 1/2 years after the events of Pokémon Sword and Shield. Everything about the games is history. Leon isn't the champion, Hop is a professor, etc etc. Keep it in mind

EDIT 2: this will generally be lighthearted but the lore for hop in PULT is quite serious to certain topics like drugs miiiight end up being brought up. I'll tag each post with (tw __" so you can block it if you need to

HI, I'M HOP! Yes, my actual name is Hop too. He/him for admin as well. I've been wanting to make one of these for ages but only just now got the balls lolz. A little rotomblr/rotumblr based on my characterization of Hop for my Pokémon AU I've been working really hard to write, Pokémon Unown Legends Tale!! Read about it on my main @irlkisukeurahara I have a tag for it. I don't want to post it officially until the Unova book is done so I can provide weekly updates, so for now I wanted to make a little RP thing for it to kinda get people interested I guess

This blog 100% will spoil some aspects of it but I mean whaddya gonna do. I won't spoil major plot beats.

This is mostly just shitposting and talking about my character lore because I'm really attached to it. Having roleplays with stakes is fine but for the most part this is just silly behavior

Since the multiverse is canon in PULT I love the idea of other Hops/professor Hops/literally anyone interacting here and whatnot!! Who gives a shit about doubles I'm here to be silly

No explicit NSFW, sexual or self sexualizing jokes r fine but propositions or shit like that are obviously not

Hop has a bunch of ships in this universe (polyamory not a gay harem anime) - two OCs + two canons + one of his alters. Feel free to ask about em lol

The ships: Bede, Arven, Miles, Nico, Marcello

Feel free to ask DID questions here in or out of character, I just make Hop like this because I have DID too lol

I might say "fag" once or twice but otherwise no slurs plzplzplz but swearing is obviously fine because I will do it A LOTTT

If this gets any traction I'll make Leon and Arven accounts too

Pokémon teams: (some characters share Pokémon)

✨ = shiny

Hop

Doesn't have a full team because he isn't a trainer but his 3 main Pokémon are

Dubwool ♂️, elderly Pokémon he got from Leon as a birthday gift at 3, can use Electro Ball like a god

Azumarill ♀️, a chipper girl who saved his life

[✨] Saakash/Spoons (Alakazam) ♂️, reincarnated dead 7 year old boy with a major attitude problem, Hop's half brother (yeah.)

Tori

[✨] Kurama (Alolan Ninetales) ♂️

[✨] Toshiro (Glaceon) ♀️

[✨] Ryu (Kommo-o) ♂️

[✨] Ravenmore (Umbreon) ♀️

[✨] Saakash (Spoons) ♂️

[✨] Yukina (Froslass) ♀️

Janus

Cruinne (Cosmalenia) [Fakemon] ♀️

Supernova (Metagross) ♂️

[✨] Saakash (Alakazam) ♂️

[✨] Ravenmore (Umbreon) ♀️

[✨] Cosmo (Espeon) ♀️

Rukia (Clefable) ♀️

Marcello

Bucky (Crobat) ♂️

Doomshell (Cloyster) ♂️

Thunderstrike (Electrode) ♂️

Furyblade (Scizor) ♂️

Kickzilla (Hitmonlee) ♂️

Velvet Vogue (Lopunny) ♂️

Auryn

[✨] Goldbricker (Steelix) ♂️

Crypto (Gholdengo)

Ponzi (Corviknight) ♂️

[nickname incoming] (Alolan Raticate) ♂️

[nickname incoming] (Scrafty) ♂️

[nickname incoming] (Honchcrow) ♂️

Ryan

[✨] Kagome (Clefable) ♀️

Hawkeye (Decidueye) ♂️

Luffy (Infernape) ♂️

Aizen (Malamar) ♂️

[nickname incoming] (Weavile) ♂️

[✨] Kisuke (Mimikyu) ♂️

Rin

Sesshomaru (Houndoom) ♂️

[✨] Shippo (Ninetales) ♂️

Hashira (Blaziken) ♂️

[✨] Val (Delphox) ♀️

[half shiny] Usagi (Cinderace) ♀️

Helios (Volcarona) ♂️

Zabimaru

Hihiou (Vaporeon) ♀️

Nozarashi (Haxorus) ♀️

[✨] Hiei (Hydriegon) ♂️

Kommo-o ♂️

Harley (Garchomp) ♀️

[✨]Shenron (Dragonite) ♂️

Aoife

[✨] Kisuke (Mimikyu) ♂️

[✨] Seanchaí (Spiritomb) ♂️

Fomorian (Golurk)

Shadow (Hisuian Typhlosion) ♂️

Morrigan (Gengar) ♀️

Caelum (Cursola) ♀️

[pikespendragon67]

Pikes Summer Check-Up 2024 Edition

Started to go “hm I still have to unlearn the don’t speak unless spoken to mindset that I have” but remembered I could do a checkup post instead!

Current life updates:

Right now I’m saving up for conventions happening this August, though plushie collecting & Steam summer sales miiiight have interfered. Whoops. (…and I wonder if I should get back to my FE Cipher card collection). My next big-ish trip is visiting my middle school best friend with another high school friend. I’m also hoping for my next big trip this year to be Boston in late September to meet with a friend. After that, it should be a trip with my middle school best friend to a farm, something Halloween related with IRL friends depending on what they want to do, no clue for November, and seeing relatives for New Year’s.

Gonna see if I can reorganize my closet since everything in my room got reassembled when we got new flooring. Feels cluttered as a result. Hopefully my back won’t kill me.

Might have jury duty next week too OTL

What I’m watching:

Current schedule for watching anime is as follows:

Mondays - Digimon rewatch along with Spice & Wolf 2024. I really like Lawrence and Holo’s banter. For Digimon I just got to where Mimi obtains her Crest. Man adult me really just became Joe, huh.

Tuesdays are filler at the moment since I need to wait for Pokemon Horizons to update on Nettingtonflix (I watch the dub) and I finished Kakuriyo. Part 2 of Kakuriyo was…eh, I guess? I noticed stiff animation a lot and I didn’t really get the sense of drama/urgency that I was expecting. Might throw in some more Digimon episodes until Horizons updates. (I’m liking it so far, though it’s not something I’d shout to the heavens about)

Wednesdays - Baccano finally. I might need to rewatch some parts because they retell events from different perspectives, but I see repeats and get confused if I already watched the episode or not because of that.

Thursdays - Moribito. I’ve heard this show was good, though I think I need to rewatch this one as well since I miss important info when something dramatic’s not happening. The curse of having a show as background noise during your lunch break at work.

Fridays - Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure rewatch. Friends were talking about watching it so it got me interested in rewatching once more. I’m still on Phantom Blood but I’m excited for the rewatch until I hit Stardust Crusaders. Unfortunately it’s not my favorite part and it’s the longest.

Saturdays - My Hero Academia and Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin. I’m gonna see if I end up liking Sakuna more as an anime or as a game. As for Hero Academia, I’m really liking how this current season’s hyping up the finale. And with the manga ending next month, I kind of hope Vigilantes can be animated

Sundays - Tower of God season 2 and My Deer Friend Nokotan. Nokotan kind of reminds me of Lucky Star, but I’m hoping the shitposts aren’t just making fun Koshitan. Tower of God season 2 looks pretty promising. Though I lament that God of High School had to rush everything into 1 season.

I’m getting hyped for TYBW part 3 subconsciously and also hope the light novels get covered.

In terms of stuff on Youtube, it’s mostly let’s plays for games that I want to see if I want to play them myself. I appreciate that SMT 5 Vengeance fleshed out certain characters more, but damn. I also finished watching the ProZD Plays Ace Attorney 2. Franziska is wonderful, I wish she was in a different game. I liked case 2 the most in spite of Hotti’s mere existence.

What I’m Playing:

Stopped TTYD in the middle of chapter 6 since I didn’t want to deal with the turning platform section. So now it’s back to 428 Shibuya Scramble. I’m in the 3 PM section of the game now and things are getting spicy. So far my rankings of the routes are Tama > Minorikawa > Osawa/Achi > Kano.

I also have quite a few fighting games in my Steam library now! I still only button mash, but I’ve been playing with some folks in the Granblue community and my friend Merlin. My “don’t speak unless spoken to” mindset unfortunately kicks in when it comes to inviting people to play games, though. Like granted people are busy and I don’t want to bother them but aaaaaaa (so if you wanna play with me on Steam I’m free most weekends. Though my wrist may fatigue itself too. F)

I’m also contemplating if I want to have various small fics in a collection or add alternate endings in my main Bleach fic

AND NOW, I end asking how ny’all are you doing. Any cool things on your end?

[whataphantasia]

ugh ok that poll i reblogged made me listen to UUFO again and i didnt realize it's been like a few months since i listened to it in full FKKEDN (ok this got long so it's under a cut now)

every song ive just been going "OMG I LOVE THIS SONG" DJAKDJEK IM NORMAL IM NORMAL

i know its cringe to like a camellia album this much but uufo is like. a culmination of a LOT of the things i like, and all of camellias experience leading up to that point yk.. and so much love and effort went into it from so many different people.. auuuughhh

every part of the album comes together... i LOVE albums with a theme and this one is PARANORMAL OCCURENCES and URBAN LEGENDS and shit ITS EVERYTHING I LOVE!! the different pieces of album art... ufo girl... wauuuu wauuuu cries sobs

idc if its uncritical and cringe to love every song i do what i want. i dont rly care abt if a song is structurally good as long as it makes me happy it goes hard (and all of them make me happy)

the website.. so pretty...

ok im gonna go to bed after doinf this but heres a few tracks i want to ramble abt (i wish i could do all of the tracks but i wont (FOR NOW...))

for the longest time buzzbox was my favorite song LOL. it was one of my first songs on the album and the russian bass/hardcore mix is just SO good. idk why i liked it so much honestly, its not rly what i LISTEN to yk. i have a fond memory of making my geometry teacher listen to it in 10th grade and she never let me pick a class song again. SHE LIKED EDM TOO I THOUGHT SHE'D GET IT </33

obviously ghoul is amazing. no notes. everyone loves that song.

OOPARTS IS A BONUS TRACK ON THIS ALBUM. OOPARTS. OF COURSE IT'S GOOD

speaking of the muzzle facing.. god idk. the melodic metal undertones. i LOVE a big variety in musical textures and this song just SCRATCHES my DAMN BRAIN. the part where it goes *metal guitar riff* *oingo boingo ass scratching noises* ANDJWJDJEJD IM NORMAL (at 1:37)

POLYBIUS GB IS SO GOOD. the way every section of the song builds on eachother AUGH. the final drop with the chiptune/extratone. CAMELLIA AND HIS EXTRATONEY FINAL DROPS ARE SO GOOD WAUUU WAAAA

a lot of what i feel abt polybius gb ALSO applies to final blenderman!!!! except final blenderman has WAYY more electric guitar YEAHHHH!! camellia final drops. the shift from rock guitar to chiptune melody, and an extratoneish finale,, reminds me a bit of million pp actually? haha. it miiiight be my favorite song? it outranked buzzbox a while ago but tbh this place might be slipping for like, the muzzle facing.

i actually didnt like myths you forgot as much as the other tracks when i first listened to it.. idk why? maybe bc it was a little slower? past me has no taste bc this track is so layered. and good. thanks toby fox

artcore is usually an "eh, its good" for me (i have a lot of artcore i enjoy, like fallen symphony) but #1f1e33 is different.. just felt like pointing it out (esp since this album has a longer version of it) like! i never felt BORED! every section builds! and has interesting auditory textures! lol. ig thats how u keep my attention (not that "being boring" is inherently bad ofc)

i have really fond memories of listening to microwave-proof cat in like, 10th/9th grade... sighh that song is so fun. the main melody's texture is just so bouncy. kisses it.

OKAY. DAMN. its 3. i need to go to bed. i'd love to continue rambling abt this though. maybe later.

as of right now my favorite camellia song (outside of this album) is parallel universe shifter :3c yeah, like, his most recent 7 minute song. of course its good. idk just.. it has all the things i like in it. i'd love to be able to one day make music like this song specifically. but point is, it has all of my favorite musical things.. in it. idk how to explain it. the name too. its super personal to me LOL. and the references and callbacks in the song. so tasty

ig another 8+ track edm album i like is also good evening hollowood... can you tell i love paranormal/halloween themed albums. JK LOL the songs in that album have nothing to do with that. while im talking abt t+pazolite i like ponko2 girlish too.. maybe ill dedicate a post to that if i get bored.

OK FOR REAL NOW ILL STOP. BYE

[kangjaehee]

bro writing the prelude of mfov like the Actual Route from the very beginning is an experience.... like how the fuck. how the fuck so they manage to fall in love. seriously.

[shiftytracts]

Stop Wanting More, part 2 of 2 (T/M/A fic)

In which season-four Jon tries to quiet his hunger for live statements by gorging himself on paper ones, and Daisy tells him what she used to do when she got shaky between hunts. Part one here.

Content warnings for this half:

Nausea, and brief descriptions of prior vomiting

Vague discussion of Daisy’s passive suicidality

Animal cruelty and death: Daisy talks about hunting rats for sport

—

“Statement of Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner, regarding—”

“Shhhh! You’ll wake the tape recorder.” Her hand clapped over his mouth so hard his teeth buzzed like mugs in a cupboard. He did his best to say Ouch. The salt on her palm made his inner lips itch. Daisy sighed: “Too late; I can hear it hissing.”

At once the cushions began to lurch again, and his stomach contents with them. On her way past him off the couch Daisy managed both to step on his trouser leg and elbow him in the sacrum. Chills curled up in the shadows of heat she’d left on his forehead, stomach, legs. Her way back into her prior position went smoother, though. She even remembered how tightly to press his belly with hers. Why did returned warmth always make him shiver?

“Alright—skip the spiel. Just Ask.”

“What did you used to do when—” Daisy cut him off with a hollow laugh, which Jon seconded. As soon as he’d begun to speak the tape recorder clicked back on, as he’d suspected it would.

“Whatever; just do it.”

“You won’t be too self-conscious?”

She shrugged. “Won’t matter; I’ll be compelled.”

Jon bit down the wave of remorse and resentment her words stirred inside him. She’d agreed to this—cajoled him into it, even. He could examine those feelings later, when she’d gone to bed. When he was alone, and warm, and.

Unbidden into his head came the passage from Tristram Shandy about the “beds of justice.” He’d never read it before, having got through hardly ten pages of that book, and wondered now for half a second how Beholding could have thought this would help, until there thundered across his mind the words, I write one half full,—and t’other fasting;—or write it all full,—and correct it fasting;—or write it fasting; and Jon swallowed, as if that would make it stop. Less than a second later he could feel his stomach trying to expand around it.

Last week he’d tried reading an encyclopedia—vore-ing it, cover to cover. No good; he quit a third of the way in, when it bored him so much he caught himself fantasizing about its giving him a paper cut he’d have to get up to attend to. Eating fear-free trivia was like trying to fill up on tic tacs. Only when stuffed could he even feel it going down.

He told himself if he didn’t Ask her for her story now he’d only spoil his dinner with more useless facts.

“What did you used to do when you got shaky between hunts?”

“I hunted rats around my flat,” Daisy said at once, in the expressionless way of compulsion. In a voice more like her own, she went on, “Not inside, not at first, just—around the dumpsters. First my building’s, and then some nights the whole block. However long it took before I got too slow to enjoy chasing.

“Then one night I thought I saw one dart past in the corridor. So I left out bait for it, half hoping it’d attract more rats into the building. It worked; I found three in there that week.”

“What do you mean bait?”

Again her first sentence emerged as though she were reading it off a list. “Leftovers, mostly. Wasn’t hard—I didn’t have much appetite for” (in one-handed air quotes, with a huff of laughter) “'people food,’ anyway. I’d just make sure to leave a few bites unfinished, and stick them under the mat at the top of the stairs. Sandwich crusts usually, nothing gross. When I got Chinese takeaway I’d use the cabbage they put in the box.”

To make air quotes Daisy’d had to fish her hand out from under the blanket. Now she returned it to its slot on the side of his gut where hip gave way to bloat. Jon almost wished she hadn’t; he feared the reminder might weigh him down. He felt giddy and light, like if he stood and walked, hell, ran, it might not hurt his legs and chest. Like if he flapped his hands instead of wringing them he’d bump the ceiling. For Daisy to comfort his body he’d have to remember he had one.

“How did you catch them? It does—uh.” Whichever Watcher department took charge of compulsion seemed to know his question ended here, because Daisy responded before Jon could finish his follow-up sentence. (It doesn’t sound like you laid traps, he’d meant to say.)

“By the tail. I ran after them and stepped on their tails and then.” She paused for an entire second and closed her eyes tight, but by the time Jon realized what this meant she’d already concluded: “I snapped their spines with my shoe.”

That was all she said, but not all he learnt about it. The Eye let him—made him hear the crunch. For an instant it shared with him the satisfaction Daisy’d felt at the finality of that sound. It had been a sore spot for her, a then-recent wound, how many monsters didn’t die when you broke their necks.

Then her satisfaction left him, and he felt intensely sick.

“Stop—don’t say any more—I’m sorry Daisy, I didn’t—”

She snarled a sigh. “Yeah, I know. Guess I should’ve told you not to ask about that part.”

“Oh. No, it’s. I'm alright, I just meant, it looked like you… didn’t want to tell me that.”

“No I didn’t,” Daisy concurred, in a tone so flat he wondered whether he’d somehow compelled it.

“Is there anything else you don’t—er. What other questions about this would you prefer I didn’t ask.”

She shrugged. “Everything else is fair game.”

“Okay,” Jon said, wishing that answer reassured him more. “You don’t—need a minute, or?”

Again she shrugged. “Yeah, alright. You look like you might, anyway. How’s your gut feeling.”

It took him a moment to realize she meant his actual gut, not like. When he did he answered without thinking: “Not bad? Ignorable, mostly, but. That in itself is.” He looked down at his fingertips for some loose skin to peel. “I’m… stronger, now, already, my. My limbs feel like.”

Daisy nodded. “Like they could carry you without having to think about it.”

“Quite,” Jon agreed, though he wished as soon as the word left his mouth that he’d picked a different one. Something that sounded less like he wanted to talk about the phenomenon’s downside, its sinister implications. He very much did not.

“The rats, did you… eat them?”

“Ew, Jon,” she replied, like it was obvious. “Not literally, no. Didn’t have to. You don’t literally eat statements either, yeah? I just killed them and it… fed me.”

“But didn’t satisfy you,” Jon suggested.

“No. They didn’t make me less hungry, just made it easier to sleep. And they made my belly swell up like yours.” (She patted his; he huffed in pretended offense.) “That’s why I only did it after I’d gone home for the night: it made me slow. I’d know I’d had enough to go to bed when I couldn’t run after them anymore. When I tried to go without—I couldn’t keep my eyes closed. Soon as I stopped thinking about it, they’d fly open. Or at least, it never felt like I slept. Guess I must’ve done, though, ‘cause sometimes I’d find myself chewing on the bedding.” Daisy shook her head, with a sigh interpretable also as a laugh. “Think I’ve started doing that again. I keep finding holes in Basira’s sleeping bag.”

“Not yours, though?” Jon knew she and Basira slept with the edges of their two sleeping bags zipped together. (A frankenbag, Daisy called it.)

Daisy grinned: “No. Hers is a better texture.”

“Thought you said you didn’t remember doing it.”

“I don’t, but mine looks like it’d be grosser to have in your mouth.”

In reality, Jon had never seen her sleeping bag up close, but now Beholding showed him what it looked like. Once kelly green but now faded grayish, like a pond; the fabric was all over pills. It smelled like wood smoke, Ritz crackers, and the lone sock one finds at the bottom of every suitcase.

“That’s fair,” Jon allowed, hoping the strain in his voice would sound to her like a laugh. Somehow this piece of information, about the godforsaken sleeping bag, had brought his stomachache back way above the “ignorable” waterline. The nauseating smell, maybe? He tried to steady himself with a deep breath, but, well.

“You look sick.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“You’re not subtle, Jon,” she scoffed; “you gasp and writhe.”

Jon tried to shrug, tried to laugh. “I’m fine. It’s just… a lot. I’m alright, I’ve just never.” What, been this full? Compelled an eldritch snack after having already eaten his weight in paper? As if that weren’t obvious. He drew in breath to speak, but still hadn’t thought of an end to his sentence. Then he felt Daisy’s hands—both of them—start to dig shallow trenches, one up each of his sick sides. His breath came out in a shaky sigh.

“That help?”

“Yeah.”

Each time they reached his ribs—or, in the left side’s case, the place where his ninth and tenth ribs used to be—her hands turned back, in a slight arc so that they made narrow ovals, each a little closer to his stomach’s center than the last. Until they met in the middle, then worked their way slowly back out to his sides.

“Could you… keep doing that while I hear the rest of your.”

Her laugh had an edge to it that miiiight have been contempt? But she said, “Sure. What do you still want to know?”

“Uh.” He pretended to have to think about it. “Why don’t you hunt rats now?”

“I don’t want to kill things just because they’re weaker than me.” Daisy’s hands had frozen in place while she spoke these words; now they resumed. She sighed, but Jon wasn’t sure at what. “Rats are fine, they don’t need to die.”

“I wouldn’t say they’re fine,” Jon scoffed; “pretty sure they serve the Corruption. They spread hantavirus, ratbite fever, lymphocytic”—he paused to swallow a wave of nausea, hoping it was the ugliness of these facts and not their sheer bulk that sickened him. He hoped also that she’d assume his voice had caught on the pronunciation, rather than. He cleared his throat and continued: “Lymphocytic choriomeningitis, and leptospirosis. And the plague, of course, though not without help from.”

Daisy groaned, her teeth bared to the canines. Jon could feel her fingers curl into fists, though thankfully none of his skin got trapped between her nails and palms. “That’s exactly the kind of judgment I’m trying not to make anymore. They’re—they’re also good, okay? Rats. Had a friend with a rat once, when I was a kid.” For an instant Jon wondered if she meant Calvin Benchley. Then the Eye told him she did. “You can teach them tricks. Like dogs. His knew how to fetch, roll over, go through mazes to find treats. And they’re affectionate, friendly. The tails are weird, but—they have sweet eyes.”

A huff of laughter tumbled out of Jon’s nose. “All animals have sweet eyes. That’s a pretty low bar.”

“Don't flatter yourself.”

The Ceaseless Watcher seemed to side with her on this, showing him the eyes of lemurs, flies, goats, anglerfish (the regular kind).

“Either way, I hardly think that outweighs the plague.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Daisy insisted, still sounding querulous. She’d retracted her hands now, and held them balled together close to her chest—like Jon himself did when he felt too shy to stim outright. If they hadn’t been talking about rats the attitude probably wouldn’t’ve struck him as rat-like, but.

“It doesn’t always need to matter which one of those things is more important,” she went on. “It feels like it does, but—sometimes that’s just a habit we get into. Some things just are, okay? I like not having to think about it anymore.”

“Right, that makes sense, we can….”

“Besides. I didn’t care about any of that when I was hunting them. The diseases or whether they’re part of the Filth or whatever. I just knew they were gross, and that people were scared of them. That’s the main reason I killed monsters, too.”

“What if you just… caught them and let them go?”

“Monsters?”

“No, rats.”

“I don’t want a substitute, Jon. I’m alright going cold turkey.”

“But it’s not cold turkey, it’s—no turkey.”

Daisy looked at him for the first time in what felt like a while, and smiled, but furrowed her eyebrows. “Just what do you think ‘cold turkey’ means?”

“I know there’s no actual turkey,” Jon sighed, trying to ignore the Eye’s barrage of suggestions for where the phrase might have originated. God, his stomach hurt. He missed having her hands there to rub away some of this nausea and ache. Wondered what he could say to bring them back. Doing it himself at a time like this would’ve felt so. “I just mean, withdrawal is—different. It can kill you, but you’re still abstaining from something that people in general don’t need to live.”

“Aaaand you think people in general need the Hunt.”

“Of course not. I know you know what I’m getting at,” Jon persisted. “You’re talking about starvation—which, unless for some reason the Fears are too sentimental to throw their old husks away, means it will kill you. Not just—‘can.’”

“Maybe. Probably, yeah. If some monster doesn’t come around to kick me off the wagon first. I’ve told you that before, though.”

“…Okay. Yes, you have, that’s. Yes. So then—?”

“What?”

“Why are you giving me a statement!?”

“To commiserate,” Daisy recited first, in the flat tone of compulsion—and then, “Shhh!”

“Tape recorder’s already on.”

“Yeah but Basira’s out there; she might—be asleep. It’s not a statement,” said Daisy. “Just a story.”

As usual Jon let himself fall into the trap. Was it a statement? By Institute standards, maybe not; he wasn’t sure it counted as a supernatural encounter, except from the rats’ perspective. And most of the fear in it was the rats’, too. He supposed you could call it an encounter with her own changing nature? Statement of Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner, regarding her supernatural hunger and how she.

“But why would you feed me a story when the answer you come to at the end of it is that it’s better to starve?”

This time he didn’t mean to compel her—was sure he’d phrased it indirectly enough not to. But Jon was surer yet Daisy wouldn’t have given the answer she did except under compulsion:

“Because I felt sorry for you.” Then she winced, bared her teeth, shook her head; Jon wondered if she’d felt that one. It seemed like people usually didn’t—just heard themselves speak words they hadn’t meant to, and surmised what had happened from that. But maybe after so many in a row she’d begun to feel the static.

“For what? Why?”

“For feeling evil. Because it reminded me of me.” In her own voice: “Think maybe I wanted it off my chest, too.”

So, what? The moral high ground was alright for her, but he was too weak for it? Or, or not, what, spiritually advanced enough to walk that plane? Because he hadn’t been conscious for his six-month limbo between life and death, like she’d been in the coffin?

“But you resist, so—? Why wouldn’t you think I should starve too?” On the ocean floor of his stomach something evil emerged from its hole. “Hhh—wait, don’t answer that, I’m—”

Too late. “Because eating the statements doesn’t hurt anything. The ones already written down—just recording them, it’s harmless. And you can’t give me bad dreams anymore, so—ugh.” Jon opened his eyes to find Daisy clawing at her temples. She shook her head, to the extent she could without knocking into his. “I told you I'm trying not to do that anymore.”

I’m not ready, Jon had meant to say. But seeing how little she liked having answered, he wished he could claim it was for her sake he’d tried to stop her.

He still wasn’t ready to hear or think or talk about this, really. The top half of his belly seared with such pain he couldn’t think straight; lower down it squirmed. He felt perilously sick. His whole body wanted so badly to curl into a ball that his legs wouldn’t quit twitching against Daisy’s. He pressed his elbows into his sides, while his hands hovered, pathetically he was sure, just over the top and center of a stomach he feared would pounce if he dared touch it.

But he felt like owed her some proof he’d been listening. “Do…?”

“Judge people. Decide what’s right for them.”

“I see,” Jon lied; that was all he could manage for now. In truth he needed a break before he could even parse what she had said.

“Turns out I can’t lie to myself under compulsion either. I didn’t think that was the reason?—thought I was just not judging you.”

“I think”—he pushed himself back from her, sure for a second that he was about to be sick. It passed, but his breath caught on it as on panic, so he couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened.

Especially not since Daisy too shot upright, her nails loudly scraping the cushion behind her as she hurled herself against it. “Shit—turn around—not on the couch—”

“I’m okay, it’s.” He did turn around, just to ease her mind, but the motion required had quite the opposite effect on him. Jon heard the sounds of ragged breath and whimpering, then recognized his own voice behind them.

Daisy’s hands came to perch one on the back of his shoulder, the other on his side between rib and pelvis. “Don’t worry about it, just get it out. We’ll clean it up later—just like last time, remember?” The fingertips of the hand on his side twitched back and forth at his stomach’s very outer edge.

“N—o, I.” He swallowed. “I think I’m alright.” Tried opening his eyes. Nope, not ready. His breath shuddered again. Daisy’s hands vanished from his shoulder and side; he heard the flapping sound of a blanket being shaken out, then felt it flutter and settle on top of him. Must’ve got dislodged when he rolled over, though he was warm enough now he hadn’t noticed. Dimly he recognized this as a victory.

Her hand moved to stroke his back; she kept saying Shhh, but not in the harsh way she had earlier. “You, uh.” Again Jon swallowed, though what ailed him was a lack of spit rather than excess of it. “You weren’t nearly this nice last time.”

“What?” The hand on his back stilled. “I was too! I tied your hair back for you! I let you ruin my jumper by wiping your pukey mouth on it! I sat with you, on the cold hard floor, in front of the toilet, and let you babble all your egghead theories to me about vomit and the Corruption, even though I’d been sick not two days before, and could barely stand the smell even without you philosophizing about it—”

“No, I meant—the time before, when you. Never mind.”

“Oh—when I had to clean it up?” Jon nodded, hoping she’d be able to tell that from the back of his head. “Yeah, well. Guess I like you better now.”

“Can’t imagine why.”

“Me neither.” And yet she scooted closer to him, hooking her chin over his shoulder. Her hand came to rest on his belly again, its heel in the hollow at the edge of his pelvis. “This okay? You alright with touch right now?”

In response Jon felt around for her hand. When he found it he slotted his fingers between hers, pulled her hand to a sicker-feeling place a few inches higher up, and left his there on top of it.

“Right,” Daisy laughed—“my mistake.” She dragged their combined hands very gently back and forth across the place he’d brought them to. “This where you’re feeling yuckiest?”

His breath caught again, but with surprise and relief this time. With his free hand Jon covered his eyes, willing himself not to think about how ridiculous he must seem to her right now. “That’s, er. That’s perfect, yes.”

“Sure.”

“Though actually—do you think—maybe a slightly… longer stroke?”

Again she laughed. Her hand went limp under his. “Backseat driver. Alright, show me how it’s done.”

It took him a minute to determine that himself. He tried pulling her hand back and forth past his navel, but that grated against something sharp inside. Supposed he couldn’t consult the Oracle for this. Up and down, maybe? Yes, that would do. Or a circle perhaps. Anti-clock—? No, clockwise, definitely. Much better.

Once they’d got that sorted out, Jon said, “I wonder if… you’d let me Ask. One more question.”

“Seriously? I can feel how stuffed you are; how could you possibly want more? Five minutes ago you nearly puked.”

“I’m just—curious, alright? I won’t be sick, I promise.”

“Fine.”

“Did you ever… throw them up?”

“I didn’t eat them, Jon. Told you that already.”

“Alright, poor choice of words. Did you ever—” he tried to think how best to phrase it. “When you threw up regular… people food. Did something of the rats ever come up with it?”

“Yeah. I only got sick once in the time I was doing it, but, I think so, yeah. Thought I was just really out of it at the time though. They didn’t make me sick, I don’t think—just another stomach bug, like the one I gave you. One of those bugs where everything has to come out? And it came on me in the middle of the night, so the last thing I’d”—a pause to sigh; her hand slipped out of his, presumably to make air quotes, but then took it again before he could think of somewhere else to put it—“‘eaten’ was the rats. Not as many as usual; I was already feeling slow that evening. But, yeah. They… it wasn’t their actual bodies, though, okay? I thought I was just dry heaving at first—you know when you’re hanging over the toilet bowl because you know you’re gonna be sick—”

Jon squirmed, fighting a temptation to cover his ears. “Yes, thank you, I’m familiar with—”

“—but you can’t get anything solid up yet, you just retch and drool and cough into the bowl. Well it started then, and then, some of it got mixed up with my sandwich. It was like I… felt their fear, like I—became them, for a second. Each one of them.”

She’d been right; it was too much. God, please don’t make him be the rat! Jon bit his lip ducked his head to his chest curled his toes bent his knees, anything, trying to barricade the doors against the onslaught of information. He pressed his and Daisy’s combined hands hard into the place where his stomach jutted forth from ribs for fear if he didn’t try to equalize the pressure inside from without he might burst like a sheep in clover and flood this whole room in half-ruminated text, a cloud of serifed letters scuttling heinously all over himself and Daisy like half-formed spiders.

“I don’t know how I knew that’s what it was,” Daisy went on. “It wasn’t like I saw the scene again, or heard the crunch, or felt the. Anything like that. I just—was the rat. I was prey. Just for a second. And knew that I—me, as in.” Again her hand slipped out of his. “The Hunter, was about to kill me. And… then it faded and I was me again until the next one.”

Her hand returned to the dome at the top of his gut where he’d last set it, but its ghosts on his palm and between his fingers remained cold. She brushed the hand up and down his belly, airily—oblivious to how its muscles clenched and undulated. Jon panted and forced himself to focus on her hand and nothing else. How it bumped and shuddered when his stomach’s shape morphed under it. How at the end of his every exhale her touch became so light it tickled. This was the present Daisy, and the present Jon. Here on this couch in the Institute basement. Both thin, her bony ilium pressed closer to his sacroiliac joint than was quite comfortable. Warm, except up one leg where the blanket let in a draft.

The one who’d tried to prey on him was long gone. If anything he was the one feeding on her, now. And they just laid on the couch together, massaging her horrors into more comfortable shapes inside him.

“That enough?”

Jon grunted an incredulous huff. “Too much,” he admitted, unable to keep the strain out of his voice. “You were right—I, uh. Didn’t know stomachaches came this size.”

Her laugh sounded affectionate. The lines up and down his stomach morphed into circles around it. “Ha—look how much higher your belly comes up on this side. That must be where your ribs were.”

“Yes, I’ve. Noticed that before, thanks.”

“Think you’ll keep it all down?”

“Hope so.”

“Good luck. Wouldn’t want you to have to relive the rats again.”

Oh, god.

“The less said about it the—better I’ll feel, I think.”

“Well that’s a change,” Daisy mused, patting his stomach as though in summation. “I should get to bed. Be alright on your own?”

“Er.” No, no, no, god please no, not alone yet with all these? “Yes, alright. I should be fine.”

She laughed again. “I’ll stay til you fall asleep.”

--

(For Daisy’s take on “the time before,” when she had to clean up his vomit, see Abyss of Possibilities; to view the drawing in less-bad resolution, see this post)

[ksbwnotes]

Chapter 8, Part 3

*leaning back in chair from exhaustion* my brain needs to learn how to shut up sometimes.

1. *tilts head to the side* Hmn.

Not that Sangwoo is intentionally lying here, I think he genuinely feels this is the best answer he can come up with. Because it’s better to covet nothing and be given nothing, then covet something only to be given nothing. 

There was this Thor thing before, with his sister Angela, belonging to a race of angels (and i loooooove their rendition of angels because anything that subverts the original, purer narrative is my jam and butter): “Nothing for nothing.”  The Angels in that comic will only do things if they are given payment in exchange for doing so. Odin is considered “The King of Nothing” because he once expected them to do the right thing (saving humans, I think?) just for the sake of it, rather than for material gain. This was an insult to the Angels, pretty much equating this to Odin seeing them as worthless. Thus, if you give nothing, you get nothing.

Sangwoo grew up having to deal with “Nothing for something”. As in, he puts his mom as priority and, in exchange, his mom abuses him.  He behaves himself as much as he can, and in the end, his dad abuses him. He emulates an upstanding citizen to others and, because of that, they love him only for the mask he puts on, deterred from him the moment there is a crack--and this was something that went on looong before he became a sociopath. He is expected to give and give, but get nothing in return.

So now, Sangwoo’s actions are pretty much begging “Something for nothing”.  He wants to be given love and respect even though he knows that he has done nothing to deserve it. Because this hurts less. At least, here, it’s more of a self-fulfilling prophecy rather than the world kicking him while he’s down just because it wants to. At least, this way, Sangwoo can kick back and fool himself into thinking that every kick doesn’t destroy more and more pieces of himself.

2. Extension of prior panel and theory

Right now, Bum is the only one who has given him “something”. Even if it ends up being “nothing”, there is “something” to accompany that oblivion. This, in a way, is a reflection of the Lima syndrome Sangwoo is experiencing while Bum is experiencing Stockholm at the same time (though, he experienced the beginnings of it much earlier than Sangwoo). 

For Bum, Sangwoo will treat him kindly, but then do shit like...throw him against a car. Threaten to cut him up. Hang him by a pulley. All that jazz. But then, later on, Sangwoo will treat him nicely again and intersperse the abuse with little rewards he dangles in front of Bum like a master training their dog with snacks. 

For Sangwoo, Bum will give him a sense of humanity that Sangwoo probably hasn’t felt in...like 4 years. But obviously, Bum won’t be able to commit to this because Sangwoo is his abuser, so the times Bum treats him lovingly is an extension of his response to Sangwoo’s abuse. Like a frog that will end up staying in the boiling pot that will then be cooked alive then given as sustenance to its slaughterer. 

Sangwoo doesn’t know how healthy relationships work, that it’s not “nothing for nothing” or any of it’s variations, but actually “something for something”. All relationships are meant to be an equal give and take, but that requires work and being able to work through pain in a positive way, instead of falling straight into despair. 

So, Sangwoo is trapping both himself and Bum in a cyclical relationship where Bum gives him “something for nothing” and Sangwoo is now in the position of power that his parents put him in--the “nothing for something” position. Eventually though, we’ll see Sangwoo gradually try to give Bum “something” for his efforts, only to realize just how empty he is afterwards. That giving Bum “something” back only makes him feel like he’s still “nothing”. 

3. Wait, how did he kill CEO Daughter girl...

I looked back and saw the blood on her forehead, so maybe he used the sledgehammer that he hit Bum’s leg with to hit her on the temple or something. Because we don’t see a cut beneath her chin or something. So, again, the ones he loses attachment for just die, but people like Bum...they receive a lot more cuts and bruises I think. More evidence of how much he is trying to make them hate him, proving to him that they were lying when they said they loved him. 

4. Seeing it this way...

...I think this is more proof of how much Bum has proved the impossible. He has lived so much longer than what should be expected for any of his prey. Again, Sangwoo does not consciously go in planning to kill his victims, but his subconscious is preparing him for it and he knows the drill. It may not be planned, but Sangwoo still expects it. So the fact that Bum is still alive goes against all of Sangwoo’s expectations.

Subconsciously, now, he goes in preparing to keep Bum alive. That cut underneath the chin was probably how Sangwoo killed past victims, the ones who got the closest before Bum arrived. That is probably how he ended them. He slit deep into their throat before they could tighten their grip around his neck.

But Bum has surpassed them, so Sangwoo is giving Bum that scar as a warning to stop what he’s doing so that he doesn’t feel the need to kill Bum. 

Because, now, he’s scared of the regret that will follow once he kills Bum. He’s more scared of the consequence of losing Bum than the consequence of letting Bum further into his life (because, right now, Sangwoo has hope for the future with Bum in it).

5. Ooooh I love the comparison of everyday life and food to Sangwoo’s slicing and dicing of Bum

This shows just how much Sangwoo’s alive can no longer be normal. 

Like...he can look at that sliced meat and imagine all the bodies he has sliced open. How are you supposed to continue with daily life after having experienced what he has? Then, furthermore, after doing what he has? 

It drives further home to Sangwoo that he is ostracized from humanity as a whole. That no one in this planet can accept him (actually, there’ll be plenty of people who can, but the thing is, that’s not the kind of acceptance Sangwoo wants, or else Bum would’ve been enough for him/he would’ve had a much easier time of finding a fellow sociopath--I do think Sangwoo being a sociopath, not a psychopath, something to do with it, since he’s using killing as a coping mechanism rather than a response/release).

That, in the end, he is only furthering how he will end up dying alone and dying painfully.

6. Heyyyy, Jieun, that you??

Lol, if that is, then I love how Bum in the next panel drives home their every closer intertwining fates and that she is soon to be dead.

Also, where...is Sangwoo bringing her??  Even with how obedient Bum is, I don’t think Sangwoo would risk bringing her to his house unless she’s going to the basement with Bum...which, again, I don’t think he’d do lol. So...love hotel???

Whether or not that is Jieun, I think this also serves as a representation of Sangwoo questioning his sexuality because he is now genuinely thinking of being with Bum. And Bum is a guy, so does that mean he’s gAyyY?

Also one thing to point out, which probably doesn’t mean anything but still miiiight...here we see Jieun’s blissed out face, which is similar to Sangwoo’s o-face in earlier panels. However, Sangwoo’s face is obscured and we don’t see anything. This could suggest that he doesn’t actually feel that great doing Jieun, showing how he’s unable to have normal sexual relations due to...yeah. 

7. AND NOW, SANGWOO IS AT A FUCKING GAY BAR *WHEEZE*

Ahhh, Bum. The things you somehow make Sangwoo end up doing. It’s applaud worthy, now that I think about it. Sangwoo obviously, from the beginning of this, wasn’t completely straight. But he’s also not gay either. I personally think, with sexuality being a spectrum rather than a conglomeration of separate categories, being with a guy shouldn’t automatically make something homosexual. If anything, Sangwoo is on the bi or demi spectrum, but he’s feminine-inclined.

But the fact that Sangwoo wants to actually see whether or not he’s gay. x’D  Because, if that’s the case, then that means he can widen his prey circle beyond women and see if he can find someone who can accept him amongst the male population as well. 

So, I think this experience will show Sangwoo that Bum is...special. Like. To a point that it’s ridiculous for him because it’s like his sexuality is this vague hetero-excluding-Bum-sexual. Which will drive home even more for Sangwoo that, for as long as he still thinks a normal life is possible, he needs Bum to stay with him.

8. ....But...why this guy???

Of all the people for you to choose, Sangwoo, what happened. xD You could literally pick up ANYONE ELSE--look at that slender blue-haired guy in the last panel--and this is the one you end up going for????  

No, seriously, what. What even. 

Oh wait. Criteria. Criteria. Right. Sangwoo has to be careful about who he chooses. If he chooses a worker there and they end up dead, then that can lead back to Sangwoo way too easily. 

He doesn’t go in planning to kill the one he hooks up with, but obviously, he has to prepare for that just in case. Because he knows that they could trigger him at any point in time, so no matter what, his prey has to fit a very very narrow criteria. 

Which makes me think of that CEO daughter girl. I don’t think she can be someone whose father lives there in Korea. The daughter probably just decided to go their as a tourist and Sangwoo picked her up in a bar or club or some other tourist hot spot. That will make things very difficult to find him because it will take a while for her to be realized that she’s missing and by that time, it’ll be too late to track things back to him.  This shows how much he pays attention to his surroundings at any given time, because Sangwoo probably thinks of every little detail to make sure that, even if police do go to that area, he made sure little to no attention would be called to him. 

So this actually don’t really help much in convincing Sangwoo to explore his sexuality lol. Gay people have preferences too, they’re not just gonna go after any gay person. And he already has this oral trauma, so. Even less points to being gay lol. 

Anyways, I can barely think at this point, I should just end it here...

9. ALMOOOOST. DOOOONE.

Lol I have a feeling that Sangwoo is pissed at Bum because if it wasn’t for Bum, Sangwoo would’ve never gone to that gay bar and experienced the disgusting feeling of blowing another man. 

Because, actually, Sangwoo might have done it. Just so he can convince that guy to go home with him so that he can kill that guy. Which...would just make Sangwoo even all the more pissy. xD

Actually, one thing to note...I think Sungbae later goes to that same gay bar??  To get information or something??  And one of the workers actually gives vague information that point Sangwoo having been there and doing something. Which would be unusually sloppy of Sangwoo. And that’s only because Sangwoo was there due to Bum’s influence--in an entirely new situation that he was uncomfortable with and unable to properly exercise his usual precautions. 

This is a distant call to how, later on, Sangwoo makes more and more mistakes, sloppier than the last, because of how desperately he tries to integrate Bum into his life. 

[tammyhybrid21]

Sara Deserves Better

It's six in the morning, and I am mad!

Mad because of a small thing admittedly, but you want a sum up?

I'm mad because I hyped myself up to write a MSA/Tadeo Jones crossover oneshot that would basically be Vivi being excited to meet an actual living Mummy, with other things, but the majority... and then started thinking beyond that small scope of fun and just-- got frustrated.

Because here's the thing... I made a post about Vivi and her glasses, and then started thinking about the crew in Tadeo Jones and--

Like here's the deal, my brain... just... completely forgot Sara has glasses. I remembered Tiffany's glasses. I remembered the PHOTO with glasses-- but the first ten minutes of Sara's screen time being spent with her in glasses? NAH--

Sooo that's not actually what this post is about. Just a small annoyance with myself. So what is this post about-- well the obvious is look at the title, Sara Deserves Better.

Also, not just shipping wise... but mainly shipping wise, because GOD DAMN IT. Let Sara break free of the Love Interest box PLEASE. Because for crying out loud, it's been two movies and this is one of the most painful flaws I can see. Also-- just as an aside, I really, really want to like Sara but right now... she's stuck in that box so much she's honestly kind of... bland and boring to watch.

Also just--

In general. I want to say something that's just, my BIG gripe and the reason I come bearing this rant but...

Vivi.

VIVI is why I'm making this RANT!

And you want to know why? It's because in the approximately 16 odd minutes of the Mystery Skulls Animated vidoes we get-- SO MUCH information about who she is and what she stands for as a character. WE HAVE SO MUCH TO WORK WITH. Hell even in the brief flashback sequence, there's a lot to analyse and unpack-- she's not just reduced to-- Lewis' former girlfriend despite how easily that could have been the case. Which-- I mean, I have... a number of rants for Vivi in the works... beyond just my MBTI analysis that's already up...

BUT conversely... and maddeningly-- I can't say the same for Sara. Between the two movies if there is one character who feels kind of... empty aside overtures, or rather underdeveloped... it's Sara.

Which is a crying shame. But there's two movies of content and I still only have the vaguest idea of WHO she really is as a person. Oh I know who she is. But... I don't really know Who she is.

Like, seriously... the closest we get to some glimpses is this opening of movie 2, some scenes in movie one, and her moment with Mummy.

Which... I have other things to talk about regarding this... a more proper analysis regarding her verses Tadeo on these events... BUT THAT'S ANOTHER ANALYSIS.

Also what moments from Movie 1?

How's about priorities?

"But first tell me if ANYTHING you told me was true!"

ALSO, I have some things to say about Tadeo's response to this... but that's ALSO deserving of it's whole own analysis and it really wouldn't be fair... And aside this... well again... moments.

Which... I still don't actually have much, but these are sort of... the moments with the most character from Sara. OH, aside from when she's with Tiffany, and arguably-- when alone and kidnapped with Rackham... which, huh-- That would bring me to another point honestly... but this isn't actually my "Making your Villain Memorable" rant. ALTHOUGH-- The Rackham stuff and Tiffany will need to be addressed.

I want to talk about the moments I currently have first. Which aren't... precisely in order, but I think they're in order of the impact for me.

Which first moment is when Tad's sacrificing his father's cufflink, his greatest treasure. Giving it to Mummy, and again-- I have many words... but what's telling is Sara's reaction and how that kind of ties into the significance there. Because overall it just says-- well, it says how deeply she's affected seeing it as well-- Which isn't something you see much in these movies unfortunately.

The next moment I would like to call the "I sense bullshit radar". Considering how she finds Tad's story initially a bit flawed, also laying out the law, starting to plan. Sara has a head on her shoulders and is NO FOOL.

UNTIL SHE IS.

And I think only HALF of this final highlight moment can be blamed on the situation because heyyyy--

Let's circle around to the Rackham stuff. And... other movie 2 stuff.

Which, I know this miiiight be arbitrary or not really something that can be linked. BUT there's a difference in how she handles these moments... And hell, I would also add the opening to movie 2-- but Sara has... levelled her head A LOT more when it comes to handling potentially life threatening danger between movies. In what information she grabs(opening) and then in the above scene, what she actually lets the villain learn.

Which also, anyone else get a short circuit feeling from that?

And hell, even as much as I have issues with the whole sequence of events and a SPOILER filled rant about it...

Even here, again. Pretty chill, pretty level. At best/worst it's really stunned silence. But this scene has a number of issues and I have a rant that will go up after a fic(if I can just keep myself long enough to WRITE that fic...). And just... well--

Then the last thing is-- well Tiffany.

Also... just generally on this second screencap here, I like to just-- talk about the moment before as well-- since there's something just... Really wild in what leads to it.

Like... why does she look SO CONFUSED?! Like-- I don't know if I'm the only one who sees this, but when Rackham first shows up... she looks so confused, like how could he get there so quickly?! And then Tiffany steps out and there's that shocked expression and it gives off this sense that just-- When Tiffany stormed off Sara knew but she didn't know. Like you ever have those moments-- where you know someone's going to make a bad decisions... and yet-- you're still SHOCKED by how bad a decision they make?

Yeah, that's Sara here... and she's... been trying with Tiffany.

But still... yeah.

And what does all this ultimately add up to?

Sara still being too broad in the long of it.

BECAUSE IT TOOK ME A GOOD HOUR, OR TWO, Of ranting and discussing this with some friends for me to dig out these moments and I STILL don't have a solid, solid character for Sara. And do you know why?

Because of the one FATAL FLAW...

Forced

Romance

...And when I say forced romance, I really, really mean it. Do you know what one of my BIGGEST COMPLAINTS of movie 2 is. It's that when Sara gets mad, or feels like she should be mad, it's not allowed to hold. It's just glossed over. And then of course, complaint two is the other obvious thing. Sara feels... as if she's just there to dispense the plot and then to be kidnapped.

She spends the first two and a half quarters of the movie kidnapped, and even after only gets the barest amount of screen time. Hell she had MORE to do in movie 1, and that's probably because the plot was broader and gave them all time to shine with action, even if she still felt-- hard.

Like seriously, does-- any of these moments stand out on their own? Without a number of rewatches and forcing my focus to actually be on Sara to analyse... not really. It all blends and blurs because of one big thing that EATS up her character and forces it into that kind of bland box.

She's forced and pushed to fit the lens of the love interest. With Tad's chasing-- and how that impacts the story.

And I'd also like to complain about ANOTHER thing in this similar vein but...

In movie one there's a sequence I... haven't really brought up in this rant, along with in general how Sara is there-- because here's the thing. Aside the glimpses... she... really feels like a PROP a lot of the time. In both movies. But-- in movie 1 there are a few moments specific.

And the first is actually the train moment with Kopponen. Sara was definitely NOT going to hand the tablet over...

But of course, Tad had to SCREW UP trying to be a hero... and for the rest of the sequence it feels a lot like Sara's only purpose is to more or less be grabbed and damselled again... And even later on, it feels like Wasted Potential--

Like, she's used to motivate other characters--

Which okay... I'm not going to say that Vivi is excused from, since that's who I'm comparing her with... BUT there's a DRASTIC difference of character agency in HOW and why they are used as motivation between them.

Might not on the surface seem like much of a difference--

Especially in the immediate context that's offered here with how Lewis is using the picture in his locket and the implied additional angle to his attempted revenge against Arthur-- which, mind you-- there's a HELL of a lot more going on there... BUT-- When it comes to the ACTION... not just that moment up higher... but when there's actual ACTIVE danger...

Come Hellbent... And Shiromori...

Meanwhile with Sara the best we have across both movies... is moments. She handles herself in the opening of the sequel and-- well we actually have the climbing sequence to the final temple... which... I have-- words about as well, but the big ones right now is actually in the choice of lyrics playing over what--

But...

Sara actually only gets the "Now I'm Invincible" stuff-- or the Majority of it. There might be the more romance stuff, but for the most part-- she's pretty much being defined as "Invincible on her own" which also... yeah. It's true. The strongest moments for Sara are those moments when she's on her own, and away from the Tadeo drama... or even when she was used to motivate her Dad's actions in the first movie.

Which... actually makes me circle back to something that just... doesn't fit.

"It's been the most amazing adventure. All these days with you. I wouldn't trade that for the world. I... I love..."

WHICH LOOK

Isn't Sara supposed to be the expert on the whole of what this movie is about? King Midas' Collar and Golden Touch, this was her long term project. So why is it that in this scene she's forgotten all that she's supposedly studied and why they're even here? Like does anyone else get death confession vibes from this, which... considering Sara should know this is supposed to be reversible?!

Because forced romance plot.

I mean, I have more to say, but honestly... at this point I'm running out of ways to properly articulate my points. But in the end... what can I say about Sara now that I'm at the end of my rant? You know, beyond FREE HER FROM THE ROMANCE PLOT....

Well, actually a lot more than I expected or thought at the start... And that's because now I've been through and watched with focus on her. Although some of it still had to be informed and given to me.

Which yeah--

Sara is an expert in her own field, supposedly anyway. Which, let's be fair, that's not her fault, that's plot mandated information failures.

She's Peruvian, which, I think is established in the first movie, that's her home. And where she's grown up, but it's really not made clear in either movie. Or at the least, not as clear as it should be. PLEASE GIVE HER MORE PERUVIAN PRIDE I SWEAR--

She is clearly much, much more impressed by Tadeo when he's being humble and honest. Like just damn. Those are the traits she respects and what's to see.

Sara actually respects and listens to other people, she's patient with them and hears out what they have to say. And this... isn't just with Mummy in that scene, but also she's patient with Tiffany and-- I do have more to say on that... but again, another post.

She is definitely in this for knowledge and awareness than necessarily results. She's not chasing fame.

Honestly, she shines so, so much better when there's NO ROMANCE, and really is a strong women on her own. Doesn't need anyone.

Has chased after her father's recognition, in the same field, to having the same issue of leaving behind those she cares for... Time is limited you know.

Which yeah... okay. Sara, definitely deserves better!

[queen-scribbles]

(Art’s by hes-per-ides, edit: link to template by spell-struck)

Abigail Eliza Jenings November 13, 1992

5′8″ slender/athletic build

 mid-shoulder blade curly red hair, dark blue eyes

----

INFODUMP:

*She’s Irish by heritage, mostly from her dad’s side. And since she looks stereotypically Irish--crazy curly red hair, blue eyes, freckles EVERYWHERE--kids in school(especially secondary school, but junior wasn’t kind either) used to tease her to see if they could get a rise of the stereotypical temper, too. They called her “Abby the Red” both for her hair and how red her face would go trying to ignore them. Bonus round, called her “Gabby Abby” when she talked too much.(there was a really low threshold on “too much”)

*As a result, she has iron-clad self control. Even if no one’s given her any crap for anything like that since secondary school, she’s careful to always be polite, professional, not slack off from any assignment--school or work--she has to complete, etc. 

*Also hates the nickname ‘Abby’ as a result of said teasing, not super crazy about ‘Red’, either. No one gets away with the former, only her college roommate(so far; Felix miiiight turn out to be another exception) has gotten away with the latter.

*Despite not having a choice a couple times, she doesn’t swear. Like, ever. If other people want to, whatever, she’ll roll her eyes but deal with it.

*Doesn’t really drink much, either. This is not to counter any stereotype, she just doesn’t like how most alcoholic stuff tastes. Tina can, occasionally, coax her into a single fruity drink that she then nurses for approximately six hours before finishing off.

*She and her mum have a really good, close relationship, despite how often Rebecca’s away for work. There’s lots of phone calls etc even if they can’t talk for long and Rebecca can’t really say anything about work.

*Loves cats. She had a grey and white one named Rascal until a few months pre-game, but the poor thing was old and she had to put her down. She’ll probably get another cat eventually, but she’s not ready quite yet. She’d had Rascal since she was about ten, she needs a little longer to grieve before replacing her.

*Absolutely, totally 100% shot Adam. Both regrets it and doesn’t. (Hey, she warned him.)

*Quickly moving toward being besties with Felix, which is good; she needs a friend like him who gets her to loosen up and let her sarcastic side out to play more often. Tina tries, bless her, but since they work together, AJ’s still reluctant to completely let her hair down.

*Cares about people, always quick to offer comfort or leap to the defense of others, whether physically or otherwise. Empathetic almost to a fault.

*She has a couple old flannel workshirts of her dad’s that she wears to be comfy when she’s lounging around her apartment. They have his initials sewn into the inside of the collar. Since his first name was Aiden(purely h/c), that means his initials are her initials and it’s always made her feel closer to him. Wearing those shirts feels like she getting a hug from him, and she’d give up every other article of clothing she owns before parting with one of those shirts.

*Loves to read.

*Coffee fiend; likes just a little flavored creamer in there so it’s sweeter but she can still taste the coffee.

*Is allergic to strawberries

*Her apartment is extremely cozy, comfy furniture, lots of pillows, and one whole wall in her bedroom is bookshelves.  They’re full, with books laid on top as well as lined up like they’re “supposed” to be.

*Has a frankly ridiculous and yet still-growing collection of throw pillows. She loves them, and really, it’s partially Tina’s fault--she keeps giving them to her as birthday/Christmas presents. AJ’s favorite, though, is the one her mum gave her as a house warming present when she first moved into her own apartment. It’s blue with a hummingbird embroidered on the front and is the perfect size to cuddle when she’s reading or watching tv or whatever. 

*Despite their very limited interactions, Bobby makes her skin crawl and she hates people who exploit others’ pain/misfortune for their own profit, so she thinks he’s a weasel and a snake(no, wait, that’s an insult to weasels and snakes everywhere) and he’s one of the very, very, very few people she’s not sweet as apple pie to.

*Will kill for raspberry chocolate muffins.

*Has a ladybug tattooed on the inside of her left ankle

*While when given the choice she tends to wear button-down shirts(usually solid colors, but occasionally patterned), nice jeans, and a waistcoat--sorta nice and professional but still casual--she sticks to Doc Marten boots for shoes. She has two pairs, one’s black and the other very dark blue. She’s had the blue ones since she was seventeen or eighteen so they’re very, very beat up but still going strong.  She’d probably call them her favorite shoes. (three guesses what she was wearing when Murphy grabbed her, bc I am that mean) She likes them for the durability and comfort, sure, but also bc the soles are thick enough it gives her another inch of height, and there’s something about that magical shift from 5′8″ to 5′9″ that makes people take her more seriously.

*Wears an Italian charm bracelet, with links for her birthstone(orange topaz), each of her parents(a gladiolus for her dad, a white carnation for her mum), when she joined the police force(squad car) and made detective(a badge), her interests(a cat and a book), and Tina bc they’re friends(Gerber daisy). She adds a crescent moon between Book 1 and 2.

*Always has a hair tie around her wrist, even if her hair’s already up, bc you never know when you’ll need another one.

*She loves photography and has a really good eye for it. It’s never been more than a hobby, but it was a pretty serious one for a while in college, and she still looks at everything through that lens(pun intended :D) (also she’s just artistic in general, but more on that–potentially–later >:3)

*After photography,her primary artistic outlet is pencil sketches. In recent years it’s been largely limited to doodles in her notes when she’s bored or stuck working her way through a problem, but she’s still pretty good.

[xenobladehistorian]

One Lenten Season Later…

(Sorry for the hiatus, I took a break from Tumblr for a while.)

I CHECK NEWS ON NINTENDO ALMOST EVERY DAY AND THEY HAVE TO DROP THIS MINI DIRECT WHEN I DON’T CHECK?! 

And suddenly I get an email saying, “This is what you missed from the 3-26-20 Nintendo Direct Mini!” and I freaking lost my—

The shockingly not-spoiling trailer analysis time!

Alvis

Let’s not beat around the bush—Alvis has a core crystal necklace. He is Ontos. This is officially confirmed. You can’t hide that from me, Nintendo!

I’m expecting this to be one of many subtle changes to the game to match Xenoblade 2, and since they have Adam Howden for the epilogue (more on that further down), I wouldn’t be shocked if they re-recorded the Klaus experiment scene or reused VA lines from Xenoblade 2.

Gameplay

Nintendo talks about the game having smoother combat and UI. They also mentioned making quests easier to keep track of. This could mean a lot or a little, specifically, one thing—the little blue line leading to the exclamation point on the map.

“Fashion Gear” is something brought in from Xenoblade Chronicles X. That is where you can choose one set of armor to wear for appearances and another set for the actual stats. I had to look that up, since I didn’t get too into X to realize that was a thing. I think it’s a nice addition, and this forum user nicely sums up my feelings on it: “Finally I don’t have to make Sharla look like a stripper to optimize her!”

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/272738-xenoblade-chronicles-definitive-edition/78508768 

And since this falls not really under any category in this analysis, I’ll note it here. XCDE won’t have amiibo compatibility or the Collection Mode from the New 3DS port. 

Major Things (VA, Music, Art)

Voice acting is the same. I synced up a couple of lines from the scene in the trailer where Shulk grabs the Monado from Dunban. I didn’t need to do much comparison to draw that conclusion, so we’re good, they’re not doing a redubbing. :)

A thing I noticed though was that we didn’t hear Melia’s voice in the epilogue sneak peek (again, more on that later down). I’m guessing they’re still trying to get her VA on board, or her lines aren’t finished being recorded yet. Or they were forced to get a new VA. If they did, don’t hate on this VA, please. She’s got huge shoes to fill.

If they haven’t gotten the lines recorded/finished being recorded yet, this may be why the funky captions were added into the epilogue to give bigger teases to the story without revealing the fact that they miiiight not have gotten all the voice acting down yet. I really hope this is the case, and it’ll match the rest of the game’s cutscenes. The funky text is strange. I’ll find the font name for anyone wanting it for some reason.

What’s not the same is the music, and before they even directly stated that 90 songs are being remixed/rerecorded, I knew they remastered the music. I have listened to the soundtrack every night for years, I know when it’s different.

And when they say 90, they mean literally every song in the game. The official soundtrack has 91 songs, and “Hope” was cut from the game, so that makes 90 songs redone.

Based on how it sounds, I’m actually thinking these might be live orchestra like Xenoblade 2’s. In Iwata Asks’ interview with ACE+ and the other composers, they talked about needing to pick one program to use as a group instead of multiple composition programs. And after listening to the special live orchestrations of some of the music, I think Xenoblade’s soundtrack was synthesized digitally. I’m not saying that’s bad at all, it’s just one way to make music. But I am thinking they used a real orchestra for DE.

You guys remember my post on how Xenoblade’s official character art were all retouched 3D models? Well, here are some preview pages from the art book that I found off Nintendo of Japan’s website for XCDE. Absolutely gorgeous art in a 250-page art book. We now have weapon designs, concept art of locations, new outfit/armor turnarounds, Scuba Shulk(TM), and new official character art—3D models! Lol.

As a note, the Mechonis art on the front of the special edition art book is exactly the high-definition art of the Mechonis in the Monado Archives, and the Mechonis’ texture in the game looks pretty darn close to this art. I think they modeled the remaster/remake Mechonis model off of this art piece, and the same goes for the Bionis’ Monado Archives high-definition art.

Yes, the epilogue, Future Connected. I saved it for last because I genuinely stopped the Direct after the main trailer not realizing there was more.

So I realized the promotional images had more that I didn’t see, so THEN I watched more of the Direct and saw this.

I’m torturing you all.

You get to wait until Part 2.

I’ll be posting next some high-definition images of some in-game locations I pulled from Nintendo of Japan’s website for the game. I felt like a hacker, using Inspecting the Elements in Google to get these. They make great desktop screensavers. I love my grandiose shot of the twin statues of Soltnar and Khatorl.

Honestly, I’m so grateful and thankful Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is being made.

Part 2: Future Connected (facts and theories) and images of in-game areas from the Japanese site for XCDE.

[inke-ri]

It’s a little weird how Spirit Riding Free actually did a better job convincing me of why setting your animal friend free is the best choice for both of you than HTTYD 3. I’m going to reiterate that I don’t think Dragons 3 did it wrong, it’s just that SRF did it better. (Yea. I can’t believe I said it myself).

Allow me to explain.

In Spirit Riding Free, we learn from the beginning that Spirit (well, supposedly Spirit’s son, also called Spirit, really, that connection doesn’t matter, it’s just a wild west girls-and-their-horses show) is a wild horse. He doesn’t bond well with humans, he’s fiercely independent. The one person he befriends is Lucky, the human who:

1. Allows him to be semi-wild and live with his herd whenever he wants 2. Respects his needs when he doesn’t want to be around humans 3. Rides with him without a saddle, bridle/reins, or rope. Yes, it’s unrealistic for a city girl to learn to do that right away, but thematically it’s a very strong thing 4. Understands his strong responses to people who try to dominate him and never holds it against him 5. Doesn’t try to keep him cooped up in a stall

Throughout every. single. season, it’s stressed that Spirit is not a horse that enjoys being tamed. So (spoilers for those who watch it) in the latest season, possibly the final one, Lucky is supposed to move to a boarding school, a place that would require Spirit to adapt to being fully tamed, needing to sleep constantly on a stall, needing horseshoes, et cetera. Lucky finds that she can’t take Spirit away from his homeland, his herd, or try to make him conform to being a domesticated animal. She chooses to let him go.

Of course, it being a kids show, they don’t have the guts to have the season/series end with the two apart, but up until the last two minutes they really felt like they were going to do it. It was so well done I even teared up a lil bit.

Now, back to HTTYD:

Unlike SRF, Toothless isn’t shown to be a wild animal all the time. It’s partially the fault of him being very anthropomorphized. In Dragons 1 yes, he felt like a wild dragon. In D2-3…. Not so much. He accepts a saddle. He accepts living in the viking world. There isn’t a single scene that shows Toothless struggling to adapt or needing to be wild. In fact, GotNF directly squashes that notion when it has Toothless set free but his only concern is not dragon-ness, it’s just getting Hiccup’s helmet back.

So I think my point is just the implication that dragons are wild creatures that must remain like that, or that (very very beautiful) deleted scene with the bird, doesn’t quite work with HTTYD’s universe. It’s not like Toothless is a wild bird who will fly away the moment he’s released. Every time he did, before D3 anyway, he came back. It was his choice, the lifestyle that made him happy. It’s like if Spirit found that, with Lucky, he wouldn’t mind a saddle or a bridle.

And (sorry for hammering this point in yet another post, but the tv series really reminded me of it), it again boils down to not dedicating a lot of time to explore WHY Toothless should leave, to the point that many fans, despite understanding the reasoning behind the characters’ choices, struggle to accept them regardless. With SFR, alongside all the consistent character points that Spirit is a semi-wild horse, the episode before the finale’s runtime is split between Lucky’s shenanigans and, yes!, Spirit finding himself in a big city! He can’t handle the noise and the stress and people trying to pet him and someone trying to rope him and tie him to a hitching post, or how people whip their horses (as he gets protective). Lucky is forced to grab him and run back out of the city so he can relax.

In the finale we see Lucky indeed clinging to Spirit and trying to convince herself everything will be fine (something I personally don’t think HTTYD showed us- no, Gobber. Hiccup wasn’t clinging. He was just being his usual self and worrying about his friend, as he has every reason to given what happened just a year before), going as far as to try to get him used to the noise and the people. But he can’t. He’s, at core, a wild horse.

While I maintain that D3 could have been fixed with just a few scene tweaks, I think (given the bird deleted scene) if they had this sort of view in hindsight, of Toothless always being a wild animal and a small part of him always struggling with blending with humans, it’d make the finale even more poignant. The point of HTTYD 3 is that Toothless can’t go against his wild dragon nature even if he wants to, that he found his place and that Hiccup’s and Toothless’ friendship helped them both grow immensely but it was time to say goodbye. So to always portray it as if someday they miiiight just have to part ways would make it a lot more emotionally heavy, and wouldn’t lead fans to question if Toothless and Hiccup staying away from each other was the best choice for them.

Y'know, if Dragons 3 was a direct sequel to Dragons 1 (with minor adjustments like swapping Valka for Stoick and removing Eret/giving his lines to the other riders), it’d be a perfect ending :’D Because Toothless in Dragons 1 did feel like he’s semi-wild, and the idea of “taking care of him till he’s ready to fly away on his own” would match better.

Hopefully this doesn’t come out as negativity or even heavy criticism, it’s not really my intention here. I honestly just couldn’t stop thinking of HTTYD when watching the final season of Spirit Riding Free and couldn’t help but draw comparisons between the two :’) It’s more of an analysis than a vent or rant post.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Worm asks

Have you tried to give D&D alignments to The Travelers yet, and if not how would you classify them?

Hmm.

Trickster: True neutral

Sundancer: Neutral good

Ballistic: Chaotic neutral

Genesis: ???

Noelle: Lawful? good

Oliver: Chaotic nerd

Gurer’f abguvat vaqvfchgnoyl njshy tbvat guebhtu, ohg V’q qrsvavgryl yvxr gb frr yrff uvagvat znxr vg guebhtu gur fperravat gb Xevk

Sharks: Fher guvat. V’ir orra ehaavat bss gur vqrn gung vs vg’f va gur sbezng bs na ubarfg dhrfgvba, va beqre gb nibvq nabgure Fpragyrff Zna vapvqrag, ohg V pna svarghar vg vs crbcyr jnag?

As usual, translate here.

While you’re checking out all the Simurgh fanart, you should listen to this theme someone made for her: (google Simurgh Husr, first result. Hopefully sharks can just replace this with the actual link) Same person who made that Leviathan theme linked way back.

https://soundcloud.com/user-371879520/simurgh

This was really nice. I like how it does sound like a good melody while at the same time exhibiting some of the pattern-defying nature of the tune. 🙂

I think you miiiight have jumped to conclusions from an ask that simply asked you if you could list the Traveler’s cape and civilian names. Miiight have. Also, I’m pretty sure most of them where refered to by their civilian names in previous arcs.

It’s certainly possible.

It’s not so much that I jumped to the conclusion as that the ask opened my eyes to the possibility of it, which I hadn’t considered before. From there, I had to reevaluate things and consider how things would change if it turned out I had gotten the two mixed up. Ultimately I think I’d prefer for Cody to be Ballistic, but I’m still not sure either way (even with this ask heavily implying it’s Luke).

As for names, most of their names did show up (all the more reason for an ask about matching names to capes being kind of odd if it wasn’t trying to set me thinking of something), but I can’t recall Ballistic’s being one of them. But you know how my memory can be.

That smurf song you posted definitely says “dab dab dab” several times, despite the video being uploaded to YouTube in 2009, and the song supposedly being from 1978. So that’s suspicious as hell.

I… think that has to be the bits where it actually says “tramp, tramp, tramp på en smurf” (“stomp, stomp, stomp on a smurf”).

Either way, now we’re all forced to consider the concept of the Smurfs dabbing, so thanks for that. 😛

“Dragonberry” was Scarfgirl’s old character on City of Heroes, a MMORPG with a superhero theme that no longer exists. I know you’re not reading the chapter comments, but if you ever go back to read the early ones, you’ll see that quite a lot of the early readers were City of Heroes players who had an interest in superhero fiction. That’s why Scarfgirl’s art is signed “Dragonberry”, because it’s how people knew her back then.

Ah, interesting. Fun to hear a little about the fandom’s early history. 🙂

I’ve had many names, myself. Once upon a time I used to make a different name, if not more, for just about every site I was on. One of the names that stuck with me the most was Elementarion, which I used in the game Godville and a few other places (not every Elementarion that comes up on Google now is me, though), because I found long-time friends while using that name.

Though for some reason I wonder why 😛, nobody seemed to want to type it out every time they wanted to mention me. I’ve been called almost every short form of Elementarion there is. El was the most common (made watching Stranger Things kinda odd the first time around, even though I’d long abandoned the name), but I’ve been called Ele, Elem, Eleme, Elemen, Element…

A couple other highlights I remember were Hiatus (in a browser game I don’t remember the name of), OldHeavens (NewGrounds) and Barbute (ArmorGames).

It wasn’t until I came up with Krix Jace, later Krixwell Jace, that I started stabilizing my name.

1. Do you think people ever submit misleading questions just to fuck with you?

Some, probably. And that might be a good thing — if there are some asks that deliberately imply things that are wrong, it makes it harder to trust accidental implications of things that are right.

2. Have you ever noticed that Danny and Eidolon have never been in a scene together?

Hmmmmmm 🤔

Still no Travelers interlude… do you still think you’ll get one, or has this dashed your hopes?

Ahaha

Yeah, no, I’m counting this as everything I asked for and more. 😛

Sharks:

http://www.nospoiler.com/y/WenCYI_Bn7I

Sent in by “ewerwqer”. “Simurgh Scream” by person257 Don’t… Open it with headphones on. Trust me. Don’t.

I’m scared.

*disconnects his headphones*

…not as bad as the description sounded, but yeah, probably a good idea to not use headphones. It’s a well put-together bit of mind noise, nice work. 🙂

Worm fanart

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By Winkle92

Oooh, there are more of these? Awesome! They’re all going in my backgrounds folder.

I love how Behemoth just kinda peeks around the corner of the image border. It’s okay, don’t be shy!

(Also I just discovered I can do slideshows. Neat.)

K6BD ask

My favorite part is the Master of Aesthetic saying “she is an idiot, and a loathsome schemer!” and YISUN is all “YEP, YOU GOT THAT ONE RIGHT 😀 😀 :D”. With Aesma standing right there.

YISUN is the type of person who has “precious trash babies” in every fandom they’re in. 😛

I feel like you all need to know, even if you don’t care about MLP:FiM, that the final episode of the show proved us all wrong.

The show’s resident Skitter is not Queen Chrysalis, the villainous, scheming ruler of a hive full of insect ponies.

Nor is it Twilight Sparkle, the mainest character and socially awkward brainiac who leads a team of five other main characters and always does her research if she can.

No, because of this one episode, it becomes clear:

It’s Rarity.

…

Okay, that’s just a joke, Twilight is still the best fit among the Mane Six, but Rarity using spiders for her fashion did immediately make me think of Taylor.

Twilight – Taylor

Applejack – Brian

Rainbow Dash – Rachel

Rarity – Lisa

Fluttershy – Alec??

Pinkie Pie – Aisha??

(Spike – Shatterbird??????)

K6BD patron comments

1. “What happened to Hansa” is addressed in the Prim story so that’s still out there if you want to know.

Ahh. That would explain why it was left unexplained in Aesma, aside from acting as a noodle incident if you haven’t read Prim.

2. As you observed, the word “demon” has appeared very rarely in the comic, outside of epic title drops & an instance where drunk Allison used it in place of “devil”. It’s used in some of the bonus texts but without a clear definition. Can you speculate further on what it might mean?

The priests seem to call Aesma a demon in the sense of a being of evil, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a definition that’s relevant to the comic’s title (and what appears to be Allison’s “name” in some sense, though the Demiurges do seem to have misinterpreted other parts of the prophecy and Zoss didn’t unambiguously use it as a name). It may be more about inner demons, Allison killing her fears, doubts and insecurities as she grows into the role of a king/queen of the cosmos. Six billion might be hyperbole, in that case, but still.

Alternatively, the prophecy and name might actually refer to Zaid, who could easily end up being the final villain of this thing even if he’s not actually Zoss’ intended successor. In that case, “six billion demons” might refer to humans, if Zaid gets really nasty with his own species. We know very little about Zaid’s base personality beyond “kinda sleazy boyfriend”, so a lot of developments are plausible on that front.

Though there are other parts of the prophecy, as well as illustrations, that do fairly clearly indicate Kill Six Billion Demons is Allison and will be flanked by White Chain and Ciocie, so it referring to Zaid is unlikely.

3. I think the author once said that there are still Aesma-worshippers active in Throne. What do you think they’re like and what would she think of them?

(Somehow the flesh sellars come to mind.)

Well, clearly they’d be Slytherins, if they understand her teachings. Aesma might treat them as ants, if she were still around, but bask in their adoration.

4. Kalpa — a Hindu / Buddhist concept meaning a really fucking long time. Besides in the story you just read, the term has also appeared in the comic at least once so far.

Good to know. I think I kind of just assumed it was Throne’s equivalent of a year, however long it might be.

5. Panopticon — a prison design envisioned by philospopher Jeremy Bentham, allowing all prisoners to be observed from a central point.

Makes sense. When I read it in Aesma’s story, the word’s construction was clear enough that I figured out what it was immediately, before I finished reading the sentence. It very clearly means a place from which to see everything.

6. Root — penis.

Yeah, I figured that one out. 😛

7. To offset the unfortunate scarcity of Cio in your life lately, here’s some of the old concept art:

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(The quantity of arms was somewhat uncertain.)

Oooh.

Her arms and legs look so spidery here. I suppose that might be why she was introduced with the Coat of Arms.

Can Skitter control her?

8. Not related to K6BD but Abaddon has also been working on a tabletop mecha RPG and here’s the very nice cover art:

Ooh, you’re right, this looks very nice. It kind of gives me a K6BD x Steven Universe x Star Wars vibe. And a little bit of RWBY with that one guy that reminds me of Tyrian. I can definitely see the resemblance between this an K6BD in terms of character design style, despite the genre shift.

I particularly like the blonde in the lower left.

In the interest of transparency, I should also mention that the patron has said he probably won’t sponsor full liveblogs of any of the other bonus texts, but has sent me a few recommendations and links to some of the ones I’ve passed (besides Prim). I might read some of those on my own time, though, especially the second Aesma story. If I do, I will of course let you know and discuss any particularly notable observations.

Between: PB7

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S3 Ep 1: Can We Just...Ignore the Apocalypse? Let’s Just Ignore the Apocalypse.

Ah guys, we’re back, it’s a new season! Sort of! It’s a filler arc that probably won’t make a huge difference on anything in the plot but bro has promised is hella weird so lets dive into it.

Remember all the stuff we were talking about last season, and how I had to like basically carry around a notebook and take character notes like for the first time since my High School English class when we read Shakespeare? Remember how freakin complicated everything got?

Well the writers for this season decided to do a soft reset on all of that mess. Apparently they’ll get back to that crazy stuff we spent a whole season building up but with a new season they’d get a new audience of viewers, and maybe they didn’t want them to be confused. Because, lets be honest, nearly all of the latter half of S2 would be unwatchable if you did not know what was happening.

They also knew they had a problem, especially since they were waiting for the manga to catch up to the show at this point so they couldn’t accidentally step on the manga’s shoes and invent things that later negated the manga entirely. They had to edit. They had to stay as far away from the manga points as they could. And they did it in the most ridiculous way.

Y’all don’t even know this blog was *almost* a SeaQuest DSV blog. But it was pulled. So then it was almost a Kolchack the Nightstalker blog. But that got pulled. Yugioh was my third choice. Much like my dating life.

That’s right, we’re going to do a soft reset by adding a whole new set of characters! A whole new plotline to keep track of! To show us this tantalizing view of Kaiba island and then just.......detour.

It’s honestly, a welcoming thing for me, a reviewer, because I was getting hella lost and now it’s back to basics. Although, there are certain things they just...didn’t even address.

Cold as ice, Yugi. Cold as freakin ice, like way to appreciate your most interesting friend. Like maybe put that house fern where Bakura died or something. Anything.

What teenager finds out their other teenage friend freakin died last night and is like “well...that happens” and of all teenagers--especially Yugi Muto. Yugi is usually so freakin extra but he doesn’t really...seem to be freaking out. I’m so used to this kid having a melt down so often, that when he’s not having a melt down, I assume there’s something absolutely wrong with him.

Yugi kind of glazes over the more complicated parts of Season 2 in some flashbacks, and then the blimp starts shaking violently to get us right off course in both location and plot.

(read more under the cut)

We did not get a peek at anyone’s mirrors to see if the giant mystery purple bottles are still around. A shame.

Also, guess what time it is, just by looking at this image. Just guess in your head, knowing that all these people went to bed at like 3AM last night.

Yeah it’s canonically 5 AM. In grand Yugioh tradition, all these kids, mostly a bunch of really gross boys, who are still in clothes from the day before, who miiiight not have showered, are now going to continue their adventure, just piling on the gross as much as possible until this season ends. It’s like every little kid’s dream honestly.

Anyways, we’re gonna fly right into a plot dump that is maybe one of the most insane dumps this show has ever dumped--and y’all we’ve had some nuts dumps--but this one is especially weird because it actually makes sense within the continuity.

Just remember when you hear this that we are in Season 3. It is Season 3 and this has never once come up, not even once before. That one guy on the writing staff who really, really, REALLY stans Seto Kaiba apparently walked into work the day when they were making this episode and was he like “wow, everyone called in sick to work today and no one’s here but me and I can go home or I can finally just go NUTS.”

So this entire time, the Kaiba’s were basically the Patriots. OK.

I mean, it actually makes so much more sense as to why these children know how to ride a helicopter and why Seto randomly knows CQC. I never thought I would ever get a proper explanation for this but here it is. Kaiba was being honed to devote himself to the...war economy...but then he said “actually nah, because that’s too effed up even for Yugioh” and then to spite his father replaced every weapon with trading cards.

And then...accidentally weaponized trading cards in the process thus turning into his own Father. 

I guess that’s why people are legit dying in this tournament and Seto and Mokuba are like “Yeah? This is what happens?” since they were literally raised by some Hideo Kajima mini-boss. They probably have no idea what children’s games are supposed to be like, so when Yugi loses his nut and starts Shadow Realming they’re like “hm. Is this what kids are into? I’ll go along with it. See Dad? I am blending into kid culture real well. Really good at kid stuff.”

Like, it’s a good layer of irony that these two decided to bring peace and harmony to the whole earth by replacing weapons with games you’d play with children--but then they chose the one game that will absolutely end the Earth quicker than a weapon of mass destruction. Congrats. You did it.

This show, man, sometimes I’m not sure what it wants Seto Kaiba to be. Because, yeah, Seto just showed us a very nice thing he did as he randomly does--he’s basically won a Nobel Peace Prize by default--but he’s still a complete asshole. Like did he just feel like he has to show up Yugi again for saving the Earth last season by reminding us that Seto has already done that before this show ever started? That he dissolved the freakin Patriots before this show ever began?

Like Seto single-handedly fixed the entire plot of Metal Gear. Like this is the child that ended how many wars with getting rid of the ammunition? This is the child the writers chose? Seto freakin Kaiba?

And then he turned around and essentially put cards into a bunch of guns and you wear them on your wrist what the hell is even going on with this kid?

But don’t worry we won’t get even five seconds to register this plot dump, much like that time they told me that Seto freakin Kaiba has a dead soulmate from 5000 years ago who is now four separate playing cards and also probably his Great^nth Grandmother.

The Seto lore is rapidly getting more complicated than the Yugi lore and Yugi Muto is two people. Just saying.

Anyway, lets meet our new villain.

So the theme of this arc seems to also be a theme that the writers are currently wrestling with. You got Yugioh which has a very--INTERESTING background, it’s this horror manga turned effed up anime turned much more tame child’s anime and it’s like, that’s a lot of pressure for this team. Kinda feels like every time they try to do Yugioh there’s going to be people that are pissed off because it wasn’t like what came before it. And so this whole story of Kaiba trying to get out of his problematic Father’s shadow is almost like the entire writing team at this point just begging us to please let them do a thing without having to do 158 on-screen murders.

(JK, they’ll murder off more people in this very episode.)

And so this arc they decide to make this character who, as bro mentioned, is a throwback to Season Zero Kaiba, but with better hair. Sort of. Honestly, I mostly only see the white shirt as a reference but I can see what bro is getting at, especially since their hair shape and eyes are like...VERY Kaiba-ey. Anyway, I called it right away before we saw this kid that he’d be a distant relative here to claim his cut of the Kaiba inheritance pie so, because his hair is Mokuba blue-green, we’ll just make him a Season Zero green. Because it looks like no one else’s font color.

Honestly, hopefully that won’t get too confusing if he and Mokuba are speaking at the same time but I have changed Mokuba’s font color once already and now I might have to change it again...

They’re already kidnapped, right? Like all of these people on this blimp have absolutely been kidnapped by Marik and are at this moment at his mercy? (mercy meaning “he just doesn’t feel like it right now”)

So yes, Noah kidnapped them, but at the same time he’s just borrowing hostages from Marik for a little while. He’s just babysitting some other person’s kidnapees from how I see it.

Also, his name is Noah and he lives on a very big ship. That’s uh...a little on the nose there with the naming conventions, Yugioh. As far as villains go, at least this kid doesn’t live underground and get tortured with back tatts. But, with the way this show is going, I would not be surprised if all the Kaibas got Agent 47 serial codes on the back of their heads.

*I love a good Star Trek tractor beam, don’t get me wrong, but never in my life did I think I’d see a sci fi tractor beam being used on a freakin party blimp*

Marik, PS, is still standing here on top of this blimp saying “this will be very interesting to just let another villain waltz in here on my territory while I just chill on the couch for a little while. I am tired.” which was...actually pretty true to Marik. This kid will let anyone else do his job for him if given the opportunity. Such a lazy villain. In a show where all the villains have been pretty lazy.

Now, Noah insists that everyone get the hell off this blimp, but Seto was like “Really, honestly, I just want to keep one secret today. Just any secret. Lets just have this conversation in private and everyone else, please don’t mind my family issues. No need to call the cops, it’s just a light kidnapping, no big deal. Family, amiright?”

So because they’re getting shot at, they stubbornly get off the blimp.

And then Marik wrote himself right out of this arc. At least according to my bro.

So, in honor of blimp, lets give that blimp a good send off. One last time, for blimp

I will miss you, blimp.

So, down a hallway and in a room of so much bloom they run into...these guys?

I had to like really think for a while to remember who the hell these guys were, it feels like 10 years ago since that one-off MMO arc that I figured would never come back.

Apparently time doesn’t work the same, much like in Narnia, so the Big 5 are just straight up insane now. Got it. Really glad I get to try and keep track of the names of 5 new people, don’t hold me to it, I’ll absolutely forget the name of every one of these mini-bosses. Anyways, while they were strapped to Kaiba’s game for 2 months, they freakin died.

Yeah, what?

Wow Yugi killed 5 people and it’s not even Season Zero! Like this is a Yugi kill, right? Like Yugi did this entirely? Like that whole game would’ve been a lose if Kaiba wasn’t told exactly what to do by Yugi and Pharaoh? Nice.

And then they got...the digital version of Shadow Realmed.

Ah the digital space. We can go anywhere here. Any environment. Anywhere. lets see where they go.

Man this show and it’s obsession with island climates.

I say that, forgetting they’re all from Japan.

Apparently every season of Yugioh contractually has to have at least one reference to Tristan’s enigmatic ass. Thing is--assuming they’re all hooked up to sensors or whatever---is there just one that covers...farts? Like there’d have to be, right? Google, stop whatever weird self driving car glasses you’re making and get on that.

After Kaiba proves that you can’t actually touch anything in this universe, Tea immediately sees a great opportunity and just starts touching all the stuff that she can’t touch, too. So she goes over to the bushes and sees this looking back at her. From a bush.

This still doesn’t answer the question of why the hell there was a clone in the bush!

Anyway, apparently Kaiba has made hundreds of clones of himself so he could play cards since he had no friends growing up and that wasn’t even the weirdest Kaiba plot dump this episode. Kaiba and his Clone Wars just feels so tame now.

So they go over rules--it’s a lot of words all right. Whatever, we don’t go into duels here, but overall they have to choose a mascot whenever they play to act a King in chessboard. So if their mascot card dies, then they lose.

Honestly they could just kill everyone straight up but youknow, it’s Yugioh so we’re gonna throw some honor into this murder by making it card murder. It’s fine. Don’t think about it.

Ishizu just slept through everything, right? Like she looked outside, saw all this go down and was like “NOPE” and then went right back to bed? I mean...that is also sort of what she did for half of last season.

And no, Yugi never ever once mentioned that Bakura freakin died last night. Amazing.

[korkrunchcereal]

WoW Q & A

We’ve seen more choices/player agency this expansion. How important is it to the team that these player agency choices happen for both factions, and how important to have repercussions?

Can only happen if there are repercussions. Not worth it otherwise. Have to be careful with the amount done and what’s chosen. Do I want to back the banshee queen or Saurfang? Interesting choice. Testing the waters with this.

METZEN! - When is the Horde getting its true Warchief back?

May be a job oppportunity coming up for a new Warchief. If so, we’ll call you.

20% auction fee hurting players. Did you have other ideas for it, and when will it be removed if so?

Only applies to select stackable trade goods. It’s a bandaid, would require a fundamental rework of the auction system. Limit to amount of population is collapse of the AH. Working on it.

Will the items in WoW classic be put in as tmog for the live WoW? For unobtainable items.

Important to keep the ecosystems separate. Separate the two completely. Playing classic BECAUSE you want to play classic.

Update on Class Relics?

Miiiight have jumped the gun. Tried to infuse it into a few systems since that time. Difficult to actually put in. Actively working on it. Prob see in heritage armor / individual armor as opposed to wholesale solution.

Character progression, specifically leveling not rewarding. Wouldn’t it be better to implement a level squish? More rewarding feeling.

Not satisfied with what lvling has turned into. A level squish is a big ordeal, and some psychological concern. Agreed that something needs to change. It’s not attainable to keep upping level without adding reward behind it.

What steps to address toxicity in public chat channels?

Values: Everyone have a good time. Better to lose the negative person then the group they’re affecting. Listen to reports, not always good at telling you they are. Lot of behind of scenes work to investigate. Going to be instituting technology in other blizz games to handle such. Much more thoughtful and better, but active.

Why is there so much RNG in the game, and do you have plans to move away from the amount of RNG? 

A concern heard often. Completely deterministic. Had to get a drop, and grind certain emblems/badges in the past. Could mark on a calendar when you get pieces. No excitement or reward on the way. Not the world they want to do, but the flipside is nothing is predictable/certain. Been part of WoW. Putting in small fixes, but swung too far in pure randomness. Working towards a middle ground. 

Smart loot system on mythic caches?

Def. randomness feeling there. A fix for azerite system was on M+ system. Would be great to have streak breaking protection, not so much bad luck support. Example: You get boots, don’t get another pair.

Information on future of Azerite gear? How does team see azerite gear improving and evolving?

Tides of Vengeance gets improvements rolled out. Multiple choices in outer rings of azerite. 3x as many pieces of gear that has trait you want. Continue to add new traits, replacing lack luster ones. Continue to do that through BfA. Beyond ToV, looking at ways to improve system. More depth and choices in Heart of Azeroth similar to artifact weapons.

Are you going to pull more things off of GCD?

Looking at offensive CDs, example of monks having around 10 abilities off the GCD. Pulled way way back, took feedback and put things back off GCD. ToV, ignore pain off GCD. Pretty satisfied with offensive CD of it. Don’t think taking off GCD fixes issues of needing to press 3 buttons to deal dmg. Reduce the buttons / need to push that many. Movement is big focus. Taking Movement abilities off GCD in ToV.

Color wheel/dye?

Comes up frequently. Big answer: Not for everything existing. Tinting contradicts how blizzard paints its armor. Very similar to oil painting. Going back to do everything would have to change all colors to grey, then doing color shifting. BC tried tinting, “clown era”. System would have to be isolated; one armor system so they can hand craft each color.

 Took off niche abilities over time. If it resulted in homogenization of abilities, would you go back to MoP style?

Look at those abilities separately. Not averse to adding abilities where it makes sense. Mist and WoD abilities/talents were just used to shore up weaknesses. Would rather focus on strengths and give class identity. Feeling of “Man im glad we have an X” instead of “one of 6 specs to fill a hole.”

With CRZ and phasing off for classic WoW, how will you handle servers in classic with low pop realms / caps?

Not always seeing each other in the classic beta. Sharding at the moment, but demo is every char in the exact point in the world so without sharding would be broken. Some casual players, some hardcore. Concern is what will it do to realm communities, especially as realm populations fall over time? Using sharding in very limited ways. Understands its antithesis of classic, but necessary. First few weeks, plan to use limited sharding to beat initial launch problems. Further on, healthy population and single world.

Mechagon announced. Goblins and Gnomes; any development of background of Gallywix. How has being part of the larger horde affected him as a leader? Is he just a 2 dimensional money grubbing character? Any development of Gallywix and his attachment to his people?

3 dimensional money grubbing character. When pleasure palace can become pleasure palace, really experience goblins as they are meant to be; skyscrapers etc. Until then, we’ll look into it. 

If we’re getting Azshara, will we get the cannon?

We’re gonna fire that cannon.

Can tmog restrictions be lifted / more freedom?

Kind of a one way street at the moment. Loosening some restrictions, notably heritage armor. Heritage armor the example. Tides of Vengeance: Can tmog over fist weapons with 1 handed. Can’t fix wands, wands are weird. 

Differentiating between Sylvanas and Garrosh?

Stories not done. Much left to discover and explore. If I was Sylvanas and looking at Garrosh, i’d say Garrosh is an amateur. 

Set up as Horde vs. Alliance. Warfronts, Island expeditions. Why if we’re in either one, are PvP talents not activated?

Because you’re not fighting other players.

Announcement of BG’s with island AI. Will PvP talents activate then?

Not sure. Probably turn on talents because PvP brawl. AI is literal reconstruction of players; frost mage using actual player abilities. 

Do you encourage island expeditions to level?

yes. Buffed exp. Account bound unlock flight path item in Tides of Vengeance.

Will there be revamped M+ keystone leaderboard?

Sort of. Leaderboard still functions as a leaderboard. Challenge is only window of character progression. By Tides of Vengeance, add to the armory profile to see best times of week/season. 

Low performing specs get bad reputation that persists long after buff. Anything to buff shamans, spriests and ferals?

Yes. If you keep getting turned down, you don’t have fun and you’re justified in blaming blizzard. Have to overbuff sometimes to get them better attention. 

Any plans/considerations to bring back tier sets/gear related to give definition of class identity?

Trying something different in BfA. Gives a chance to get a set of gear that feels like that raid; naga raid give naga aesthetic gear. Class themed armor sets prob come back in the future. For now, cool to see varying designs. 

Classic: Staying on patch forever, or eventually get its expansions?

Right now, focus on restoring classic WoW. Once it’s out next summer, go from there.