#yeah this one might be a little meh compared to the others

[dulciedeleche]

Cute Pet Names/Nicknames (Octavo X Reader/Astor X Reader)

Waaaaaaah hi I did NOT forget about these X Reader headcanons I just have NO motivation and NO ideas and NO idea how to write these half the time lmao. So this next one is just gonna be short but sweet. Enjoy!

Octavo

Octavo has these he would call you:

- Darling

- Songbird

- Dearest

- My love/dear

Octavo appreciates whatever you would call him as well. And even though he’s very fucking cute, calling him as such flusters him. He likes “handsome” and “beautiful” better, but he doesn’t necessarily mind “cute” as long as you two are very close. He might even be like “no u.” He also likes “‘Tavo” and “Octy,” though he prefers the latter being reserved for his lover only. And well... You are his lover, so there you go!

Astor

Astor generally doesn’t really use pet names that much, but when he does, he may call you

- Beloved

- Dear

- Starlight

- My sweet

These all depend on his mood. Generally when he’s happy or feeling just a little bit SAPPY for you that day hehehe. It’s kinda the same for anything you call him. However, he might not believe you if you give him a complimentary nickname (other people might not either ‘cause like look at him ksjfhkshfd but whatever f them he’s your babygirl). SPEAKING OF WHICH, you can call him babygirl, probably, but he won’t know wtf you’re talking about. At the end of the day, he may just be like “...Please just stick to “honey...”

[adore-gregor]

my perception of grades totally changed since i started uni

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Floyd, Kalim: The Way of Water

I was wondering how the artwork would frame the sitting boys, but I guess having Floyd floating there on his butt is fine fjeviwgxkwjwhfoen I don’t know what the alternative would be…

It's nice to learn more about the land boot camp the Octatrio went to; Floyd's vignettes indicate that merpeople need passports and that they went to a zoo as part of the program.

A Tale as Old as Time.

Museums could be such snore fests sometimes. Sure, the place had an entire section dedicated to merpeople history, but it was nothing compared to what the Atlantica Memorial Museum boasted under the sea: the Mermaid Princess's silver comb, a replica of the Sea Witch's cauldron, bones of a sea dragon, a statue of the Sea King...

Here? All they had were some crummy paintings.

Floyd tilted his head back, taking in merman arriving in a dolphin-drawn chariot. He was an older man that sported bushy brows and a grand white beard that flowed in the water, his physique muscular and imposing. There was a regal presence about him, perhaps in how upright he stood, or in the glisten of the crown upon his head or the gauntlets cuffing his wrists. With his trident in hand, it was clear who he was.

The ruler of all the oceans. The waves obeyed his every whim, the sea and all its spoils bowing to his power. He, the Sea King.

Meh, what’s so great about him? So stiff and uptight. It’s be so much better workin’ for the Sea Witch.

Floyd's eyes flickered to the boy next to him, who seemed far more interested in the painting than he was. A steady grin crept onto his face, and he leaned in close.

Floyd pounced, hooking a long arm around Kalim's shoulder and yanking him over. The eel peered down at him, a single golden orb colliding with a pair of garnets. Leering, Floyd jerked his head at the depiction of the Sea King.

"Ne, ne, Otter-chan. What'cha think of this one?"

Any sane person might have been paralyzed with fear encountering Floyd in a dimly lit room, but not Kalim. No, Kalim was not sane at all.

The dorm leader greeted his peer with a smile so wide it could fill the horizon. "Floyd!! I'm so excited I get to see more of your history."

He blinked. "You actually like studying this kinda thing? Are you even any good at it?"

"Nope, not really!!" Kalim confessed (perhaps a little too easily). "I was looking at this painting and going, 'His beard's so impressive!' It reminds me of the one my dad has. I won't remember all the details later, but I'll always remember how cool the Sea King looks."

"It goes in one ear and out the other. Why bother then? Just dedicate your time and energy to stuff that actually interests ya."

"But it does interest me. It's fun learning about where your classmates come from! I heard humans and merpeople weren't always on good terms."

"Yeah. Back when the Sea King still ruled, there were tooons of rules forbidding merpeople from coming into contact with humans." Floyd held up a finger for each one he counted off. "No going to the surface world, no owning human stuff, no exploring shipwrecks... even no music at one point. You'd think Goldfishy wrote the lawbook."

Of course, even if those rules were in place, he would still totally disregard them. No one—not royalty, not his parents—could stop Floyd from venturing into the unknown.

"Whoa, the Sea King sounds like he was super strict and scary! I don't think I could live without music..." Kalim's face dropped. "He looks like such a nice person in the painting though."

Floyd rolled his eyes. "Cuz he lost his wife to a human ship. After that, he got all paranoid, thinking himans and merpeople are too different to coexist. He got especially protective over his daughters. The Sea King had seven of 'm and he breathed down all of their necks.”

"Ooooh!" Kalim didn't even bat an eye at the number (Floyd was sure it paled next to the number of siblings he had running around in his home.) "So the Sea King just wanted to protect his loved ones and make sure nothing sad like that ever happened again. He's a good guy after all!"

He now regarded Floyd with eager, sparkling eyes. "Wow, you know so much about this!! It's crazy thinking about how different things were in the past."

"Duh. It'd be boring if things stayed the same all the time." The eel smirked. He let go of Kalim and stepped back, giving a playful twirl, arms stretching out above him. "Ehehehe! Good thing the Mermaid Princess ended up opening doors for us to come onto land~"

Kalim beamed. "That's right!! She did! We wouldn’t be able to be friends without the Mermaid Princess’s help.”

The word gave Floyd pause, a rock tossed along his path as he brought his foot down upon it, snagging his step. Friend. He didn’t like spoken in that saccharine, trusting tone.

It was sticky and sweet, stuck in his teeth. Like cotton candy residue yet to be washed away by the waves, or sweat accumulated from summer heat. A gross feeling.

“You’re bein’ way too generous with your definitions again,” Floyd groaned, peeling away. “Cut it out, or I’ll get annoyed.”

Kalim (unwisely) laughed. Not at Floyd, but with him. “Oh, hey. When you think about it, we’re not really that different.”

“Mmm? What are you saying now, Otter-chan? Did all the sunbathing finally melt your brain?”

“In the Scalding Sands, waterways are really important. We use them for trade and travel. It’s the same for the Coral Sea. With all that water, it’s convenient for those sorts of things.” Kalim said matter-of-factly. “We’re using those same waterways now. We’re connected by water.”

“A good part of Twisted Wonderland is water,” Floyd pointed out. “You sayin’ everyone can be friends with everyone?”

Kalim nodded eagerly. “The Sea King was probably wrong. Humans and merpeople are actually very similar. I think the Mermaid Princess knew that too, and she wanted to help others recognize it.”

Floyd stared at Kalim, the moment long and hard. He wasn’t irritated anymore, only a little disappointed. Maybe mildly disgusted. “… Otter-chan, you’re so happy it hurts.”

“Thanks!”

“That wasn’t a compliment.” Floyd sighed. The energy and fight had been rapidly drained from in over the course of the short exchange, leaving him as wilted as a salted slug. “Aaaah, whatever. I’m tired of this already. I’m bailing.”

He turned on his heel and made for the exit and into the adjacent room. Already, Floyd could see a platinum frame of the Sorcerer of the Sand in the distance, bony fingers clasping a golden scarab.

“Wait up, I’m come with!” Kalim called after him. “I can teach you about my country’s history too!

That was how water was—always seeking to follow the flow. One body leading straight into another.

Floyd picked up his pace, arms pumping. (No running in the museum? Screw the rules.) Adrenaline deposited into his bloodstream, and he was hit with a rush.

Suddenly excited again, maybe a little interested in what a certain otter had to offer. A game, a chase, a thrill.

This is what he had come to the surface for.

Not rules or restrictions or a royal bossing him about. Not even friendship, as Kalim had suggested. Just fun, plain and simple.

It looked like he was going to get it.

Floyd grinned and shouted back, “Catch me if you can then!!”

And hurled right into the next room over.

Bless the Mermaid Princess.

[fritzes]

rank the m1000s 👀🙏

ooh okay, I’m not gonna do the ones that keep changing around (I’m sorry maria I love you but your 1000 isn’t getting on the list):

indian wells. for non taylor fritz related reasons I SWEAR (okay maybe a little bit). I mean, it's literally tennis paradise. no other masters can really compare to this in my opinion, there's something really magical about it. it's the first combined 1000 of the year, it is absolutely carrying the "sunshine" in sunshine double (we'll get to miami later), and did any other 1000 get its very own maya edit? I don't think so

monte carlo (don't kill me!). ok picking something to be #2 made me realize that the drop-off from indian wells is real, I had a hard time with this one. and as much as I dislike monte carlo as a place... that court has off the charts vibes. the 2023 edition might be one of my favorite tournaments ever, and I like the way it kicks off clay season. the vibes guys, the vibes!

cincinnati. tbh I'm surprising myself with this one because I've never reeeeeally been able to take cincy seriously because like. it's in ohio. it's known for having players hang out at an applebees. but jokes aside, I kinda love it. the place on the calendar is good, it's a nice warmup for the us open. also influenced by recency bias because the 2023 edition, both wta and atp, were so good. I don't know, I really like its place in the tour, it's just so solid

rome. if you thought cincy had recency bias, let me introduce you to the daniil-incudced overrating of rome. this kinda occupies the same space as cincy, being the real warmup tournament for rg, and same as cincy, I like its place in the calendar and the tour. except, unlike cincy, this is clay season so insanity galore. iga double bageling pliskova in the final that one time will always be iconic and of course, the hard court specialist himself winning this tournament will elevate it forever

miami. "but maya! miami is cursed! it's always raining! how can you put it so high?" two words: jannik sinner. yeah the jannik miami narratives strike a chord in my brain like few other player + tournament pairings do and it makes me so insane that I kind of learned to make gifs just because I had a jannik miami gifset idea. other than jannik, despite the nature of it being very much cursed, it does usually produce some really good tennis in the last few rounds

madrid. ah, madrid. if we were going off of tennis alone, this would be top 3 easily. back to back amazing igaryna finals, carlos' magical 2022 run, andy murray beating rafa in the final in straight sets somehow, ons' win in 2022. alas, there is more that just the tennis, and the organization of this tournament is genuinely horrible and so fucking sexist. a tournament like this does not deserve the quality of tennis it gets

doha/dubai. yes I know they're two separate 1000s this year but they've always flip-flopped in the past so as a 1000, it's always been one entity to me (and there's nothing that would put one above or below the other). there's always really good matches, obviously iga consistently sweeps doha and it's amazing, but dubai also gave us krejcikova's absolutely ridiculous 2023 run and this year's final was amazing. always a solid tournament with some great tennis

montreal/toronto. I feel bad for putting it so low, but it's always been kinda meh to me. 2023's chaos aside, this is the tournament where top players find their feet on hardcourts after wimbledon, and... I don't know. it's perfectly fine, but there's nothing really remarkable about it

shanghai/beijing. another one that I feel really bad for putting low, but there's something about that post-us open big tournament that just feels so bleh. the season is so long already and the players are just so exhausted. it doesn't usually take away from the quality of the tennis, it just doesn't have the same feeling as the stuff above it. I would say it feels a bit tacked on, but there's only one tournament I really think that about and that's...

paris. good god. there is something wrong with this tournament. I don't think an indoor 1000 is a bad idea, but the court and the lighting is just so bland, especially when compared to turin which is just two weeks later. at this point in the season, the top players want to be at the finals and anyone who isn't a top player just wants to be home and it just feels like an exhausted tournament. casper was right about one thing in his yap session the uts dinner: paris is easily the worst masters 1000

[variousqueerthings]

now haaaving watched the next three episodes of Cobra Kai

Pros:

while the going was good with Sam and Tory it sure was good. I do kinda like that their thing isn't related to boys anymore (not that it ever really was, but now it definitely isn't) (instead it's related to the plot psychologically torturing Tory beyond any other character) + Mary Mouser and Peyton List have chemistry out the ceiling. is that a saying? out the chimney. through the roof. out the window. defenestrated chemistry

I quite liked a lot of the training stuff as a general

I also quite liked Devon's plotline -- I like that she was ruthless in that way, she takes the lessons she learns at face-value + she's not great at Peopleing, I liked that (although... let's look at the cons...)

liked the Demetri and Hawk narrative, they were brought a little more to the fore and it was a realistic break that follows up on some threads I fully thought they'd just... forgotten. lol

okay this was actually in the earlier eps, but I like that the show had Chozen go "uh fuck you, Miyagi-do is a super important cultural space and you can't just come waltzing in and demand it fits your specifications" (altho it is a shame I feel like Johnny respects Chozen more than Daniel... this down in my cons generally about Johnny)

Cons below, but I will say I will say! there's nothing super unexpected down there. I am chill about this show, I'm just. noting it. I'm watching the show as wholly braindead, while thinking about what a non-wholly-braindead show could look like

Cons:

Gender Reveal Party. at least it was over with quick

Okay so like. the elephant in the room (shockingly not the fact that Johnny is having a baby and is woefully terrible at parenting) -- Miyagi's deep dark secret. I think it's not even like. That tarnishing, that's not exactly its issue. it's that it's such an incredibly boring idea compared to his actual backstory, which I'm trying to remember rn if the TV-show ever properly mentioned (not the Okinawa part of it, but the internment camp). There's really no need to create this drama, other than it seems like the writers can't quite figure out what to do with Daniel and don't understand what made Miyagi an interesting, flawed character to begin with and why Daniel might struggle with having him on a pedestal. That being said, I'm mostly just. meh. this might as well happen. Miyagi punched some guy in the face, stole something expensive, fled America for a bit to avoid the cops (?) and fought in the karate killer tournament I guess

I've gotta be honest withya. I just. no longer enjoy Cobra Kai's Johnny. he just ain't it anymore. he was increasingly not it as the seasons went on, but he is simply a merry-go-round of being a dick who is also never going to change, and it being ok by the plot at this point because he needs to fulfill some idea of masculinity and clash with Daniel. there were a fair few moments I could go on and on about buuuut. I'm chill about it. Fanfic Johnny: blows u a kiss. Show!Johnny: it's not on sight, but certainly it's a wide berth. u kinda suck as a person. you're like the dad that someone doesn't ever bring their friends round to see, because he's not a nice guy and it's embarrassing and they know he'll never change and so you drift apart over the years

which -- the show is still trying to make claims about Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do as Equal, while also showing that every kid who went through Cobra Kai (including Johnny) is Fucked Up. Kenny is traumatised and doesn't trust anyone. Devon is fucked up and doesn't know how to be with people. Tory is... my sweet angel who does nothing wrong ever. Hawk and Demetri's break started here. and it's like. Johnny you were a part of this! Take one accountability pls, ever

similar to many things related to Show!Johnny a lot of the kids dramas came outta nooowhere. I can buy Demetri and Hawk's, I actually think that worked (see above), but Robby getting at Miguel for needing the win more? I mean. Yeah? the stakes are higher? be a bro about it? clam down? help your guy get into university? what's the problem here? similarly Sam's "I've just got to prove myself for... reasons." it's a struggle with balancing stakes I think

Chozen is still in love with Kumiko I guess *siiiiiiiiigh*

There's just. everything with Kreese taking over Korean Cobra Kai further eroding the whole idea of the original movie, in tandem with the Miyagi-plotline, we're just off on a whole other journey at this point vs earlier seasons where it was like. "got the spirit." the spirit has left the building. there's definitely a sense of either "we think we can do Better than the original" or "we completely missed the point of the original in the first place." a mix of both I imagine

I noticed how Carmen and Amanda appeared almost only to push the Johnny and Daniel into their arcs. there are things one can do with it ofc, one can build on the crumbs. Carmen questions how Miguel and Robby might be at odds with one another if having to fight -- and they sort of are, and it's the thread again of Carmen bringing up Very Reasonable Concerns, Johnny waving them off and... then she's right, but nothing happens. I think Carmen deserves compensation at this point. vs Amanda who gets one neat bit with the hospital calling her to reveal that Tory's mother has died (suggesting she's continued to support Tory between seaosns), but otherwise she's like "oh look a Miyagi Mystery. Daniel are you thinking about the Miyagi Mystery again? how do you feel about the Miyagi Mystery?"

I'd say they did my boy Kenny dirty, but I'm waiting to see where they go with all of thiiiis. but they did. that was really really cruel and the show doesn't always know what it's saying about bullying and Kenny has been hurt more than most by other characters (including Anthony who didn't do that to him, but does laugh about it... my guy...)

they really do have Tory in a whole other narrative, she's got a thousand yard stare!!!!!!

Mike Barnes homophobia moment (Twice). Me @ the writers: listen, I know "cream puff" is a thing that was iconically yelled in the first movie, but I think your including it here says so much about how you're all about referencing Cool Moments without caring at all about like. the plot of the original film/s. like a big example of everything this show is

[themaskstayson]

Part three of the Wyll origin run

Ah man, this is a lot. I haven't had Gale so excited to talk to me since my first playthrough 500 hours ago it's kind of cute ngl

I'm thinking about Wyll being emo during the party cause the little scene is one of my favorites, and trying to cheer him up from his body dysphoria(?) but I also really, REALLY, enjoy the idea of Wyll stuffing his feelings down to make everyone happy since he can't be emo by the river since he's the party lead. Wyll is trying to keep the team morale high and then when he's alone in his bed he just cries to sleep. Cause, let's be real, no one is mentally capable to help each other when the player is the therapist.

Also, his funny lines are pretty good and I have been picking every single option to have Wyll just laughing the pain away.

So, we saved Karlach, asked her if she had any advice on horn care since I feel like that's a WAY better route to go instead of Wyll being depressed during the party when you are Tav amd makes more sense since Wyll is gonna mingle.

(Side rant: People say Wyll sucks because he's insensitive but like, come on. He's a DEVIL not tielfing! I think he's allowed to express how he feels uncomfortable in his new DEVIL body. "But tielfings have horns!" yeah okay but they straight up saw Wyll as a human like two days ago, they know something is fishy with the sulfer smell coming off him. You gonna say there's no difference??? Now THAT is insensitive /hj lol)

I also went to the Rest and Counsellor Florrick asked what the hell happened and once again Wyll joked that he was running with the wrong crowd. Unfortunately that backed fired and she said she knew since his father informed them which damn. Ulder is talking mad shit about his own son, that's crazy. Felt bad and then she had the audacity to demand my help???? Like I was gonna give it but damn.

Anyways, I was hoping to get to level 5 before the Goblin Camp but I didn't. So, we gambled it. Had Gut give me the sleep potion and got assistance for that. Knocked Minthara out cause I'm STILL trying to get that girl without being a bad guy. Then fought Ragzlin which.... that was rough. Gale did die but luckily his deas body did some damage to a goblin and Ragzlin. I usually cheese the fight but idk I decided not to this time around for some reason.

STILL not sure who imma romance. Flirted with Gale at the party, which was cute. I am leaning towards him cause I gotta stop romancing Astarion and Wyll all the time. And despite being a huge wyllstarion fan, Gale is doing something to my current need for a cute romance. Plus my other game I am romancing Astarion and Wyll (two Tav game yippee) so I should romance someone new. Karlach did not try to put the moves on me and I am not putting the moves on her so rip. First time ever Shadowheart and Lae'zel are meh about me, which is weird. I'll figure it out the next time I play but might be joining the Gale/Wyll club. I should find some fics to get into the mindset.

Also if anyone is reading these I should mention this is a modded custom game. Meaning I am using the mod honor feature unlock so i can have the playstyle with multiple saves, playing in a custom game that I cannot see the NPC HP, gave the NPC 100% more HP compared to the game 30% more. I want the multiple saves for story stuff cause I'm still trying out new lines but also I need the combat to be harder.

Honour Feature Unlock

Tactician Plus (best for party limit begone tbh this file I'm doing just 4 to a party tho but in other files with everyone, I use the 150% HP)

[mrslittletall]

I finished The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom today. That final boss was cool! Really enjoyed it. Now what are my thoughts? Especially compared to Breath of the Wild? I first want to say what I liked more in TotK.

The main dungeons and the boss battles. Those were such a glow up compared to Breath of the Wild! The dungeons actually looked unique from each other, had fun mechanics and the boss battles, holy shit, the stupid Deathblights are getting soooo boring easily but ToTK has four very distinct bosses which you actually beat with the help of your companions and wow! I loved them so much I was fighting the underground variants all the time! Caves! Oh god that was the BEST idea! Zelda always did have caves and they were sorely missing in BotW. I loved going delving in this game! The caves were amazing! That is one of the things I might come back for to find all the caves I missed. I also enjoyed the wells for the same reason. The sky! That was FUN! Everything being so disconnected meant you had to get creative to get from island to island. And they had a lot of clever puzzles up there, especially to make shrines appear. And the things I liked less? Shrines. Yeah, sorry, TotK. BotW actually gave me really thought out shrines designed around the four main abilites, cryo, stasis, bombs and magnesis. ToTK had one shrine. BUILD! And yeah there were different mechanics in it but it got old quick. You just always were building. The naked survivals were pretty nice but only after you got a couple hearts or they were brutally difficult. I also don't like how many shrines just had to be found. No clever overworld puzzles, just find the cave and the shrine. Done. The ones in the sky sometimes had overworld puzzles so they were more fun ^^ Stuff I am pretty neutral about: The story. It was perfectly serviceable and the Zelda stuff made me weep but I get the criticism of the ancestors being completely bland characters and Ganondorf being a one not villain without depth. Because that is 100 % the case. But some of the new characters are really good, like Rauru, Sonia and Mineru, really fun characters and I liked that we got more an emphasis on the champions of the present, BotW seemed to have a lot more emphasis on the champions from the past who were long dead. And also completely gone from this game. I guess they moved on after Calamity Ganon died? I don't really remember BotW's ending in full detail. In conclusion, this game is BotW 1.5 with some great ideas and some things that feel a little meh. I had my fun with it though.

[karouvas]

🔥 + anything tvdu!

this turned more originals centered since Ik I talk about it the least so less of my opinions are recorded/known so that tracks.

I generally enjoy (the girls) no humanity arcs despite their messiness

my ranking of Klaus popular ships that are some level of canon at this point is probably Klayley>Klaurora>Klaroline>>Klamille, I ship the former 3 to different degrees although none is necessarily otp levels.

I’m really neutral on Camille overall I think she’s unfairly hated but I also couldn’t get properly interested in her, she and Davina are probably the two major female TVDu chars that interest me the least even though I don’t have anything against them but I connected to Rebekah Hayley Freya and Aurora all a lot more (even if I find some of the changes to characterization re: the former two from TVD to TO less compelling esp Rebekah I think we agree on this).

I do think Aurora x Camille served a little

Freya and Klaus had at least top 2 most interesting Mikaelson’s relationships to me (Klaus and Rebekah’s best hits are more insane but I probably liked the arc for him and Freya better).

I sort of bounced around on how I felt about MG x Lizzie while legacies aired I liked them most in late s2 when they had some scenes I thought served but everything before and after was meh and the get together in s4 was embarrassing.

Josie x Rafael was underrated and could’ve been good… they’re like Margo x Quentin for me in that it’s not a ship I’m mad about but it was good and compelling esp compared to canon ships and I think it could have saved us from worse things had it been considered seriously. Anyway that siphon kiss moment goes hard 

This is barely about TVDu but reading the locked tomb has given me ideas for how insanely good the merge storyline could have been if the writers knew what they were doing and (I love the Saltzman twins dynamic this is well documented) how great the Saltzman twins dynamic could be if it was more like Ianthe and Coronabeth…. Like society one of the twins had siphoned the other twins love interest or someone they cared about deeply and ended the merge that way and then the other twin was jealous of not being siphoned from/killed. The s2 not merge is like even more boring to me now that I have this comparison point

I enjoy Elena and Caroline about equally when I’m watching the show or who I gravitate towards more depends on the storyline or part of the show but I tend to find Elena more interesting to dissect when I’m just thinking about the show and also Caroline’s fandom can be… yeah so I think that leads me to gravitate towards Elena more recently/currently.

maybe less unpopular now based on that poll but s2 is the best TVD season. I love a lot of things in s3 and s6 but both also have more issues s2 is when there was a good balance.

TO s3 was definitely the most engaging TO season for me it’s no secret that I actually struggle to be engaged by TO the most out of the shows, at different points I’ve definitely mused in the tags about why that is but ultimately I think it might just be a me thing without deeper reasoning lolz. But s3 was where I was most entertained. (less sure how popular or unpopular this is since I don’t see a lot of ‘season’ discussions like I do for TVD)

thank you for the ask! might come back and add to this when I’m in a more *yapping about tvdu* mood than I’m in rn.

[fantomette22]

16, 7, 13, 19, 26, 29 and 49 for ask game!

Ask game here

16. Favorite starter class?

Well I literally have 2 hunters so far so I didn't test much. Lucen is lone survivor bc it was the first time I played a soulsborne game I wanted health XD but I think my 2nd hunter is the professional (lot of skills & endurance!) so this one more.

it remind me sometimes I like imagining from which "class" characters & npc are from. Even if well they probably gain points for sure but I can easily imagine a couple of characters being a mixt of some.

7.Blood Beast or Milkweed?

Hm... beats I think? I didn't played much with those but yeah beast bc it's either to obtain and beast claw is actually very cool with it XD

13.What's the most fashionable coat in the game?

Well I wanted to say the main hunter coat (without the cape) that I wear all the time but Maria's coat is kinda peak too. (I forgot to mention yesterday as well but crow garb and freaking cainhurst's armors are amazing I love the armors so so much!!!)

19.Favorite Old Hunter?

Now that I think about it I think this question is more about npc who help in battle than lore characters. So if Gehrman, Maria, Ludwig etc don't count Valtr because he saved my ass do many times 😂

26.What's your favorite covenant rune to equip for solo play?

Either the hunter of hunter's one (more stamina) or even more, the executioners' one (because it restored more health)

29.Least favorite weapon?

Hm 🤔 I don't use many weapons or use the other like 5mins jrfcznklr so least favorite?

I love the chikage but draining health is meh. Not a fan of the poor reiterpallasch moveset. I found the stake driver hard to master too

Well I love Kos parasite in lore (so many horrible headcanons) but you legit need to equip the rune too. And you need high arcane but it is cool too

So hm Logarius wheel maybe? XD It's a huge thing you move around I prefer quicker weapons. (Logarius I know why you did that with the symbolism and all but wtf you thought it was a good idea?!)

49.What's your favorite thing about Bloodborne?

Oh well. Almost everything?!

I just... I love it. (I can't choose shit don't ask me guys for my fav thing XD)

Gameplay is amazing, fast and fluid, interconnected area is so nice, despise so little weapons variety & outfit you can still have unique built. Bosses are hard at first but it's nothing compared to dark souls hell sorry 💀 The victorian-gothic more modern aesthetic, Lovecraft inspirations but also werewolf and monster hunt. The ennemies, the techniques to have etcThe ambiance the cryptic shit, the characters, the dialogues, the MUSIC, the goddamn puzzle lore it took over my brain since 2 years it's over now

(My least fav thing might be farm to buy health materials & bullet lol but well it's a gameplay choice)

This game is so unique and incredible in so many point. It's a master piece/

[nyaheum]

My Annual Eurovision List - 2023

Completely based on music videos until we actually see some staging. Don’t come at me.

37. POLAND

Solo – Blanka

LMAO fuck TVP. Jann would have been my winner.

36. LITHUANIA

Stay (ČIŪTO TŪTO) – Monika Linkytė

Bleh. I know some people really like this song, but...bleh. There’s nothing here that sticks with me. The song was over and I forgot what it sounded like. I don’t know, I’m used to more from Lithuania.

35. IRELAND

We Are One – Wild Youth

This is the point where I feel like too many bands are hurting this year. They would have been fine any other year, but comparing them to the other bands this year, they’re quite weak. I also expect them so sing “We are Young” every single time...what is fun. up to anyway? (hiatus, apparently.)

34. AZERBAIJAN

Tell Me More – TuralTuranX

Uh...it’s a song. Their name reminds me of Duran Duran. Remembering the name of Duran Duran was the main thing I did while listening to this song. I abolutely HATE spoken word, oh my god. And apart from that, this sounds like one of those songs from an average to slightly bad romcom. Not even the ending song, but the one from the middle, the part where the producers knew that they wanted to convey the passage of time so they simply chose to do a montage.

33. ALBANIA

DUJE – Albina dhe Familja Kelmendi

The guy singing in between is absolutely taking me out. Definitely would’ve liked this more if the chorus hit harder, like this it’s just...kind of sad? But not the good kind, the melodramatic kind (which I can appreciate, to a certain extent, but not to THIS extent.)

32. CYPRUS

Break A Broken Heart – Andrew Lambrou

Did you know that Andrew actually wanted to participate for Australia in 2022? Yeah. I googled this while listening to the song because it has nothing that pulls me in. It’s fine, don’t get me wrong, he has a great voice, but...eh.

31. GREECE

What They Say – Victor Vernicos

Why is he a child. I like the chorus, kind of, but that’s pretty much it. Very meh.

30. LATVIA

Aijā – Sudden Lights

Another song that really takes its time to build up to nothing noteworthy, which is a shame, because in its basics, I quite enjoy it. It’s just a little...frustrating when the chorus comes and goes and nothing in me has changed? Idk lmao.

29. SWITZERLAND

Watergun – Remo Forrer

This is my grandma’s favourite song this year, yay? For some reason I keep reading his name as Ferrero Rocher. The letters barely match, I think it’s just because this is Switzerland. (yes, ferrero is italian, idk.) Oh, the song? It’s fine. It’s not his fault he’s not Gjon.

28. ICELAND

Power – Diljá

It’s fine. Feels very generic, but doesn’t hit hard enough to justify it. Specifically considering it’s Iceland sending it.

27. ARMENIA

Future Lover – Brunette

Surprisingly good in theory, but in the end I only actually like the middle part. The beginning is well sung but a little too slow for me, and I don’t really enjoy the end in general? I’m very unsure with this.

26. NETHERLANDS

Burning Daylight – Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper

I don’t find any joy anymore either, dude. We’re so in synch, damn. Why does the first chorus do that thing where it teases a nice build up for half a second just to drop immediately? And then the second one doesn’t even properly redeem it. Ruined the whole song for me, genuinely. Not that I liked it a lot before, ehem.

25. DENMARK

Breaking My Heart – Reiley

I listened to this and kept thinking that it sounds like a song I already know, but...turns out it was just this song the whole time. Apparently someone at my local radio station really likes it. I don’t, really, I feel like I might be too old for this type of music. Talking about this...you’re telling me Reiley is OLDER than me? What the hell.

24. ITALY

Due Vite – Marco Mengoni

Second year in a row where Italy doesn’t really do it for me, damn. At least it’s a lot better than whatever was going on last year with Brividi. I still liked Supereroi a lot more and think it should have won. Meh.

23. SAN MARINO

Like an animal – Piqued Jacks

Certainly a song. All I could think about while watching this is one Youtube comment simply saying “He is a little hot” because...they’re not wrong? The song itself just doesn’t hit – but I have the fleeting suspicion that this might be fixed by having the sound mixing done by literally anyone that ISN’T San Marino. I don’t even dislike it or anything.

22. ESTONIA

Bridges – ALIKA

I know that everybody loves this, okay? It’s good enough. Perfectly good ballad. It’s not her fault I dislike most ballads. I do like the last minute though, it picks up a lot, I enjoy that.

21. AUSTRALIA

Promise – Voyager

I love how Australia is really going through the classic Eurovision evolution. My right ear also likes the song. I watched the music video, and I think the left one just didn’t get invited or something. It’s actually REALLY off-putting.

20. SLOVENIA

Carpe Diem – Joker Out

Please don’t come for me, but why does everyone love this SO much? Like, I like it a bit too, but not as much as everyone else seems to? I genuinely feel like I’m missing something here.

19. BELGIUM

Because Of You – Gustaph

This is so groovy, I don’t know why everybody hates it. (I mean, I DO know, but apart from that...it’s not that bad.) It’s not the best thing I’ve ever heard, and the aspect ratio of the official music video freaks me out, but it’s very camp – which is a good thing, obviously this is Eurovision after all!

18. UNITED KINGDOM

I Wrote A Song – Mae Muller

I had no expectations for the UK, mainly because I missed all of the teasing they did, so I’m completely fine with this...it just feels like a lot of songs this year sound similar to this? Maybe I’m going insane. But it’s nice to listen to. I wouldn’t turn the radio off if it came on.

17. GEORGIA

Echo – Iru

Imagine how much more this could have slapped if it was in Georgian. Just imagine. It’s fine like this too, and I’m sure it will be elevated by the staging, but...just imagine, honestly.

16. ROMANIA

D.G.T – Theodor Andrei

Okay, let’s ignore the performance for a bit, and just judge the song. I quite like it, actually. His voice is nice, it’s absolutely something different, and I always give a native language bonus.

15. MALTA

Dance (Our Own Party) – The Busker

The revamp did good things for this song. I like a good saxophone, and I feel like this is quite underrated in the community. It’s fun(ky), I think they will be great live, and the music video is definitely worth a watch while you’re at it.

14. SPAIN

Eaea – Blanca Paloma

I feel like I shouldn’t talk about this song without my lawyer. It’s growing on me, very slowly, but there’s still only select parts of the song that I really like, while the rest is just something I have to go through to reach them. Like the salad you get when you order a steak with fries. (I also just liked Agoney a lot more.)

13. PORTUGAL

Ai Coração – Mimicat

After a song I absolutely couldn’t stand last year, Portugal absolutely delivers again. Feels very authentic to Portugal, I really like her voice, it’s quite fast-paced, I really enjoy it.

12. SWEDEN

Tattoo – Loreen

It’s a song. I don’t know, I don’t care about it, it’s good, sure, but it’s absolutely not a winner for me. Also, the pre-chorus sounds so much like another song I know, but I cannot figure out which one and it’s driving me insane. (I have to admit though, rhyming pain and rain IS true lyrical genius, and whoever wrote that part should win an award.) I like the studio version more than the live version by the way. Yes, even with the performance. Don’t ask me why.

11. MOLDOVA

Soarele si Luna – Pasha Parfeni

I love that as long as we have Moldova, Eurovision will never be boring. This is genuinely nice, too, and fills the void Fulenn left in my heart last year perfectly.

10. FRANCE

Evidemment – La Zarra

C’est très...French. Obviously. Good French, but French nonetheless. Groovy, though. I can appreciate that it’s not really a chanson chanson.

9. UKRAINE

Heart Of Steel – TVORCHI

It’s completely fine. Quite good, even, but I just don’t think that it lives up to the songs Ukraine sent the past decade or so...which is understandable, not only because of their situation, but because the song sent by the winning country never really is. I still really appreciate it for it’s modern tone and the bass. (still preffered fiinka though sorry)

8. CROATIA

Mama ŠČ! - LET 3

This is my absolute guilty pleasure this year. I even rather like it musically, I quite enjoy it away from all the chaos. Of course, the chaos is the main reason I like it. What would Eurovision be without these songs, seriously? BRRRR, TRAKTOR.

7. ISRAEL

Unicorn – Noa Kirel

I know people don’t like this because it sounds like three songs mashed together, but I quite like it. Why? Probably because I listen to K-Pop, I’m used to the mashed-together-sound, and I quite like it. Apart from that I enjoy the song, of course, although I’m purposefully ignoring the lyrics.

6. SERBIA

Samo mi se spava – Luke Black

I listen to music like this quite a lot, so I obviously enjoy it...I’m just very afraid that it won’t really land at Eurovision, not with the juries and not with the televote. But I’ll be optimistic and delude myself into thinking that there’s no way it won’t at least make it out of the SF. (And I would absolutely believe it if it was in Semi 2 instead of Semi 1.)

5. NORWAY

Queen of Kings – Alessandra

She, Queen of the Hype! For good reason though, this is GREAT. Very Eurovision, very European in general, I love good party music.

4. CZECH REPUBLIC

My sister’s crown – Vesna

PLEASE PLEASE LET THEM BE GOOD LIVE. I can’t take another Austria 2022. This is SO good. I love it musically, I love the mix of languages, I might have a small crush on their rapper, please let them be good live. Please. I beg you. (I have a bad feeling, though. Especially the chorus just seems very hard to replicate life. I’ve seen the NF, I know.)

3. GERMANY

Blood & Glitter – Lord Of The Lost

I’m still so...in awe that we’re actually sending something good this year? Like, how did this happen? Who did we sacrifice for this? (Answer: Electric Callboy.) This kind of music just feels very German, even if they’re singing in English. My only critique is that I want him to growl more, but if their Eurovision stage is anything like their winners performance at the NF, I’m not worried.

2. AUSTRIA

Who The Hell Is Edgar? - Teya & Salena

No, seriously, who is Edgar? I only know Teya & Salena. This is such a bop – WITH a message, damn. Easily moved into my Top 5 immediately after it came out. Probably my most listened to song this last week. It’s REALLY addicting. What the hell, Österreich? Not both of us going through change right now, aww.

1. FINLAND

Cha Cha Cha – Käärijä

This song came out, I heard it once, and decided it’s my winner this year. Only Gladiator could have possibly challenged it, but we know how that went, so this is my undisputed first place. Please, juries and televote, do not rob our small king.

[tblsomedoodles]

Oh no Dee and Leo would be sparky as all he'll to each other!!! What I think would change tho is the context! Leo would stoll tease and make fun fo Donnie but he would never joke about things like getting rid of Donnie, kicking him from the team, or running away form him unlike his canon counterpart because he did lose his twin once and once was more than enough in Leo's book.

So like in the episode where Raph superglue everyone together with some sort of foam adhesive and Dee begins ranking about science stuff Leo won't make a joke and might even be listening intently because by then Dee would still be new and the fact that his voice can even be heard is a novelty. Or he'd still take that Crack at Donnie in the library and throw a book at Dee or in Smart Lair he's still tease hin about making screw-ups and grab st his remote but he would alps check in on Dee afterwards to make sure he knows he's jsut joking.

I think Leo would be jsut as scared of losing Dee again as Dee is of not fitting in with his brothers.

Yes exactly this! They pick on each other a bit b/c they're both snarky brats and that's how siblings are sometimes (trust me, i still tease my sibling about how they can apparently set oven mitts on fire and they pick on me about how i keep a life size plastic skeleton in my closet (his name is Napoleon and is the perfect boyfriend-question deterrent lol).) Like yeah, there's some things you just don't pick on them about, but Leo and Dee would have learned fast what those things were.

and i definitely agree. Leo would probably be terrified of loosing Dee again since he knows how that feels and does not want to feel that again.

Thank you!

Not really? I mean he's pretty close with Leo, but the only thing connecting Leo with Dee's twin was the fact Leo wore Blue's color. (the boys hadn't been given names beyond their colors at the time he disappeared so there really wasn't much to compare.)

He's mostly close with Leo b/c Leo is his primary sensei for ninjutsu and b/c they like watching sci-fi movies together.

Thank yoU!

Pretty much, though it is a little different. Where Angie acts more like a big brother to them (being protective and the 'responsible one'), Dee would just join in on the chaos those two are causing.

I think i mentioned it before, but b/c Marie would have grown up with another techy person around that uses said tech in direct combat, she would be a lot less 'meh' over learning tech stuff. Dee and Marie would geek out over possible ideas, often brainstorming together and resulting in the weirdest weapon ideas known to man ( some of them terrify the adults sometimes.) it became a rule that they weren't allowed to actually build these ideas unless Uncle Don approved it after they almost blew up the garage while trying to modify a paintball gun to shoot firecrackers. Basically Dee and Marie are the ultimate techy murder duo, even as kids.

Jackie just likes to hit things with sticks (preferably hockey stick but she's willing to compromise) and Dee also likes hitting things with stick (high grade titanium sticks.) so those two do spend a lot of time together hitting things with sticks. She sometimes joins in on the brainstorming sessions, but her contributions are more akin to 'you should paint it yellow,' or 'make it shoot hockey pucks.'

thank you!

[goldenfox3]

Personal rambling lmao

It feels a bit...silly to be posting this right after posting an art and recently after posting an art positivity post but I've always flip flopped between feeling great about what I make and feeling like. Meh. It's out there I guess. I know perfectly well notes/kudos aren't everything and you should make stuff (especially fan art/fic) for yourself first and foremost so I wouldn't say I've ever like...posted anything I didn't want to make.

But there are times when I feel like...I drew something that I knew would be more well-received over something I wanted to draw more. Or I drew because I put pressure on myself to make something to hit that high of attention. This is partially what the Blood Falcon in water vent art and the Stewart hanahaki sketch was about. Choking, drowning, the imagery is a bit dramatic but yeah. It sounds ungrateful to even say it when I have so many lovely people supporting me and what I do but maybe it's the anxiety talking when I say I feel isolated sometimes. Sometimes that's not necessarily a bad thing! I have fun vibing with my homies in my gay little corner of FZ fandom!

But sometimes I do wonder if the charas or ships I'm most interested in would be more popular if like...I could draw better or push myself to interact more (that one is more related to twt) or had more followers here/on twt or even if it wasn't a gay ship (sounds silly to say I know but FZ twt has a diff vibe). It's not that there isn't anyone else interested and that no one supports my misc ship ramblings (I love and adore those of you who do) at all I just feel greedy and want to do more than shouting into the void I guess lmao. Spread it to the world or whatever. There's no need to feel down about that like getting to spread my love for a ship into the world should be a positive thing so???? Ironically enough I think twt may have made it worse bc though I (usu) get more interaction there it also becomes easier to see when the art I put the most love into (anything Falcon/Stewart or Andy/Robert) gets very little attention compared to art I put less effort into that I made more for others or randomass pieces where I'm like ???? why that one.

I know this is common and that you can't predict what people will like and funny or general pieces usu do better than hyperspecific niche ship pieces but even though I intellectually know that it's still like :( Sometimes I catch myself thinking things like "should I make this piece more gen because if I make it too obviously gay/shippy the people will be turned off". It's not like I don't make things for myself! I have tons of material I've never published lying around just because it makes me happy and sometimes I will polish it and turn it into something presentable because it makes me happy to do so. But again there's also this like...internal pressure (that no one else put on me it's just me being dumb lmao) to keep pushing out content to get my ships out there because there's very little of it (or none of it) otherwise so I feel like I have to keep pushing pushing pushing even though literally no one is pushing me but myself. Or to make things that aren't really the thing I wanted to make because it will get more attention even though attention isn't everything I know, I know.

None of this really matters in the grand scheme of life and it really sounds like I should go touch grass or something but I'm stuck inside for now because of work and school and physical pain so yeah lmao. It's that kind of situation where I think people would advise me to take a break from socmed and creating things since I do still feel happy when I go out with friends or family but to bring up the burning star analogy again, I feel that I'm burning up as I make things at a fever pace but I also feel like I'm burning up if I don't make things so. I might as well make things so I can be temporarily euphoric upon seeing what I made. It's not like I don't have other interests or people to socialize with it's just...a vague feeling of discontent about. Fictional characters of all things. Why lmfao

I know these feelings aren't uncommon for artists and envy towards other creators/putting yourself down in comparison is a common problem so it's like the conundrum of I know exactly what's wrong with me I just can't defeat it with logic lol. It's not my intention to sound ungrateful for anything I already have or to go hashtag first world problems or to like....guilt anyone or sound entitled or begging for attention or what have you...I just felt like it would feel, if not better, at least something from trying to make sense of my illogical thoughts by dumping it out somewhere.

[queen-of-elves]

Okay so I finally saw the first episode of The Last of Us and here is sort of review lol?

I have watched the gameplay of the games when the came out and yes, I am not much of gamer but I enjoy watching people play, and I like to think that especially if you are going to make SHOW out of GAME it doesn't have to be the same, you can change it a little bit to fit better the format. Not in like: Oh lets change this character and let's change the lore completely lol haha cause we don't care about the source material, if you know you know what show I am talking about. I basically hate when they also take source material and make a complete copy of it into another media without even slight change,

Spoilers ahead and I might compare it to the videogame but as stated before I like when the show is little different and gives u like extra scenes for the world etc.

I absolutely adored the first scene in the tv show, like that thing was phenomenal, I didn't have to get angry like in Don't look up about the host not caring but this one looked actually scared for his life cause he understood what was REALLY said.

The intro is so pretty

Scary old lady with her mouth :o

I don't mind the whole set up where you see like helicopters etc and their higher frequency in the day - it shows nicely how the situation got worse

I find the change of the neighbours (in game their name was Coopers, I think) and Sarah going to them and finding them like that really good

I could write a poem about how poetic the burning house is in the game to me lol (in games Luis farm)

THEY EVEN SHOWED THE FAMILY WITH KID TRYING TO GET A RIDE T-T (I love that they used SO FAR max out of the source material)

I think in the show they portrayed the panic in the city much better, it was messier and with people actually running in different directions so you didn't really know whats the source of the panic etc.

I think it still would be better to be a car crashing into them instead of plane or wtf that was (it was bit too much? like still ok)

when I saw the soldier I KNEW WHAT WAS COMING T-T, both of the actors played it well, Pedro's expression while holding her in his arms was something amazingly haunting

AND right after that the burning scene?! aaaaaah parallels

have to say the safe zone part was interesting but kinda boring(?) like Joel selling pills was meh, I think the burning scene and people having simple jobs there was nice showcase of like... a small part of the world but this felt slightly unnecessary but I understand why they can't use the story in the games (Joel used to trick people to rob them and other nasty stuff to survive) plus I understand they have to estabilish the world a bit before we see Joel adventuring

just the first look at Ellie and I am like: Yeah, thats my girl, her kicking the plate was such a Ellie thing hehe

but so far it looks great, the show looks like they know where to cut and where to add to style it for a different format of media

[kimyoonmiauthor]

The restaurant that didn't exist... ever.

So I had a weirdass day yesterday... and I know this isn't generally, so what is this person up to, but meh. I thought it might be entertaining. I'm debating if it would make good fodder for stories.

So, I've been trying to learn different African cuisines, by region, tribe, etc.

I thought I might try to learn the proper flavors, and ran into someone who was Nigerian through the internet, and happened to see a Nigerian restaurant.

The first one was good, etc.

So, he recommended I try Fufu with Egusi.

I was like, OK.

I found this reestaurant on Yelp and then on the internet, and then also on large commercial menu website.

So I tried large commercial website, but it returned a PHP login error when I tried to login. (They still haven't fixed it, BTW, though I attempted to report the error).

I looked up the address of the place and it was reportedly close. Fine. Whatever. I'll physically go to that place.

The thing is I'd never seen a sign for it before, but I thought maybe it was new or something. I went around the building about 5 times, looked for the address and could not see it. I thought maybe the place had closed, but the place it should be was not a restaurant, and usually restaurants take over for the place of restaruants because that sh*t is expensive.

Looked it up on a website, and found there was this other location. Fine. I'll go to that location. Also not that far. I went to that location but it's literally another apartment building, not a physical restaurant.

What? And it's these posh white ass apartment--i.e. where richer white people live. I checked the address a few times before being really confused. I brliefly thought it could be one of those "portal" restaurants from Japanese anime. (It was hot so my brain was wandering).

So, OK, this restaurant NEVER existed in the first place since neither lead to physical locations which is against the law, BTW, despite the pictures of signs and fake reviews that amount to 50. (Which is WTF).

I felt catfished. I told the Nigerian guy and he was like tax evasion.

So I went online and tried the restaurant I tried before, but the egusi was underspiced from what I thought it should taste like. What the hell? (I kinda have a weird ability to see list of ingredients and imagine the approximate taste. Sue me. It's part of my HSP thing. And I also have mild synethesia.)

But the fufu was nothing like describe online. And I checked with the nigerian guy and he said, not supposed to be like that, these people must not be Nigerian. WTH.

It was filled with black pepper and garlic??? And I was like, is this supposed to be fufu, and the guy online said, no, that's not fufu. I was like, this is like mashed potatoes, and he's like certainly not.

Fufu is supposed to look big doughy and fluffy. It's supposed to be chewy and make your mouth feel full.

The good stuff from the restaurant was more like fusion, but yeah... that's not authentic Nigerian.

The only good authentic place in town has odd hours and apparantly only opens when they want to, so you have to plan and coordinate ahead of time, but the hilarious thing about this restaurant compared to the last two, is that you can call ahead, and say that you're coming and they can say they are open and then you go and they aren't open which makes people pissed off because they can not be open for HOURS compared to their regular hours.

This isn't a reflection on Nigerians, BTW, because some of these people probably aren't Nigerian in the first place, but this is what I have to work with and really, I don't mind a little inconvenience if I can experience authentic food. It's a piece of hell though to find anything besides Ethiopian food. Makes me want to go to Africa and Nigeria and find what it's supposed to really taste like.

(Yeah, hyperfocus is odd like that).

[dausy]

ok so I finished Xenoblade 3. Though I have the DLC, I think, and I haven't started it yet.

I will say that, while I'm tempted to get Octopath Traveler 2 now, I am telling myself to hold off and wait for August because theres a new Legend of Mana game coming out but its on the PS and not the switch. My husbands been a bit of a playstation hog recently....but I told myself I have 4 books in this household that I started and need to finish and I have kinda told myself that I need to just binge read some stuff and get them out of the way before I go and get distracted again.

But anyway, Xenoblade 3. I was enjoying that game a lot more than the other 2 for a while. It had a weird major twist in that back end that I think distracted me from the final 2 chapters. Those were some massive cutscenes and I think my brain read that as "this is big enough to be a finale" and then I sort of lost interest, even though it wasn't a finale. Then the finale kinda made me go "meh". After 120hours, I was just tired. That one "group" photo was ODD too, ifykyk. What kind of weird man fantasy was that?

It also made me realize that I don't remember XB1 at all. I played it maybe a year and a half ago now and I do. not. remember. it. Listen to me sitting there saying "wtf is a shulk?" and I had to look it up. ITS THE MAIN CHARACTER. My memory is 1. bad. 2. I didn't care for that game THAT much because it felt very Chore-y...I might have skipped all the cutscenes and just don't remember skipping the cutscenes. But I must have. The thing is, is I remember the game locations. I remember doing the tasks and exploring the dungeons but I could not tell you character names or what they looked like. I rewatched a play-through of it on youtube last night so I can remember a bit of that story and its like..nope..only the dungeons were familiar. I can tell you about my struggles climbing up the nopon tree and getting murdered by level 90 monsters in level 2 areas..that I remember. Don't remember the story. MY BAD.

but I did have to rewatch that story so that I could try and made XB3 story make a bit more sense.

I am glad that I played XB2 even though everybody told me not to. While it wasn't a great game, I do feel like I would have been lost playing 3 and everybody assured me that the previous games were not important. I disagree. I do think 3 was a superior game though compared to both. I really liked the familiarity of the voice actors and I thought they did a good job.

One thing I did kind of miss though was exploring cities. While there was one city and you could visit little colonies, in my RPGs, half the fun is getting to the next city or castle. It just felt like a lot of open land with occasional people. I get that that is the story. So I'm hoping this new Legend of Mana game is going to give me whatever RPG feels I'm missing.

I am really chasing that feeling I used to get with games when you'd first turn on that big blockbuster novel of a game. I think the last time I got some sort of Feels was probably the first Ni No Kuni. I'm ignoring FF7 rebirth because its a remake. But that smell, that feel, that sense of wanting to explore and then a huge story unfolds..like I don't think I'll ever feel that way that I did with FF7, or 9, X, 12, kingdom hearts even..so yeah..

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Agust D - D-2

Wikipedia says that this album is intended to contrast with Agust D, and I can totally see that. It’s much more mellow, and it deals a lot less with his past and a lot more with present issues. I think I preferred it lyrically, too; the more introspective themes hit home a lot better for me. Musically, same as Agust D, it wasn’t particularly interesting, but that’s also not the point. The music here isn’t the focus; the music is intended to set a stage for the lyrics. I likely won’t listen to many of these, because I don’t speak Korean, but listening to the album as a whole with the lyrics was a great experience. Dear my friend was definitely my favorite song on the album in that listen, although he did do a few interesting things in other songs. Plus I love birdsong. Average score of 8.1 which feels about right compared to Agust D. This album felt a lot less raw, a lot more controlled, and I think he was able to better develop the themes that he wanted to explore because of that. But again, I wouldn’t compare either of these albums with any of the other stuff; I’d compare them to each other.

- I know Daechwita, and that’s it.

Moonlight

Woah, way more mellow than we expect from Mr. Agust D

Okay, there’s the beat

Okay

Three years have passed, alright, he’s referencing himself

Actually this is great, how casual he is

He believes in god

This chorus feels super poppy

8/10

Daechwita

I’ve listened to this song like three times today already by the way

And to be totally honest, I think I might prefer Haegum? They are very similar songs and MV’s

Although there is that one scene in this MV which goes SO hard

Haha he references TikTok, I didn’t realize that. I know Haegum references YouTube

Yeah this scene, where he dances as he’s about to get his head chopped off

And all the dudes in the background too

8/10, I know people really love this song, but it does feel a bit lacking for me

What do you think?

Lol okay that’s a funny way to start the rap, telling me you don’t give a shit

Bleeeeeep

He loves to talk about flexing huh

8/10, I liked the lyrical themes of the song a lot, even if the music itself was meh

Strange (feat. RM)

Oh okay, SUPER mellow now

“If there’s a god”, okay, maybe he doesn’t believe in god

7/10

28 (feat. NiiHWA)

Oh this is a weird vocal tone for him

That bass

7/10

Burn It (feat. MAX)

Ooh a little spooky now

Mmmm this is powerful, love the soundscape here

Not convinced by the lyrical content here, it does feel a bit shallow

But the guitar is just So good haha

8/10

People

Oh this is super cute instrumentals, what are these? Bells?

Something percussion

Oh we getting super introspective

9/10

Honsool

What is a honsool?

Woah, floaty soundscape

DEEP VOICE

8/10

Interlude : Set me free

Birds!!

Mmm guitar, crunchy

8/10

Dear my friend (feat. Kim Jong Wan)

Music box

Oh a proper singer? I’m sensing a pattern in the album structure

Damn this is like, really sad

10/10, same as the one with Suran. It’s not a perfect song, but it is the perfect way to end the album