#ys so you have to choose another one. you like that thing but it's not for you You're Not Allowed. yknow

[privatelife]

whats the opposite of hyperfixating cause i do that tbh. if i get really into something i force myself to do something else because i dont wanna focus my energy on One Thing, it has to be Many Things In Different Intervals or else im not winning. do you know what i mean

[twitteringthings]

Chapter 56. Whose Inner Monologue?

Now, having my wits back about me after the sneak peak drop yesterday, I want to discuss the “I want a reason to stay by your side” and “This person has been suppressing his emotions” dialogue on the cover. I want to believe they are coming from Y but I believe that it could go either way after having read other interpretations/views. So I’m going to make an argument for why the inner monologue could be coming from either of them.

Doumeki

• He is the one who came back, - without having a reason to - Yashiro didn’t chase after him. So maybe he’s going to confess and make it known why he returned without obligation.

•The “this person has been suppressing his emotions” would make sense for D to say because he is the one looking down at Yashrio in a pretty vulnerable position, kind of with a analyzing gaze. Y is probably being perceived by D in this moment.

•He just found out about Ys impotency so now he knows for sure that he only reacts to D’s touch. He’s probably figured out by now (if he hasn’t that would be wild) that the Y Inami talks about and the Y he made love to are completely different people. So it would also make sense for him to say that Y has been suppressing his feelings because now he knows the truth about Ys sexual encounters and sexual state.

• It’s hard to imagine Yashiro being so open with his thoughts when we haven’t really seen him be completely honest with himself thus far (and put his feelings so plainly). Probably excluding his “I’ve constantly been searching for the old you” and “is that why you didn’t hold me like before?.”

•As I said in a previous post, D wanted Y then and he still wants him now. This time is a little different since it seems D won’t fully give himself to Y until he hears some form of emotional reciprocity. But D can’t handle completely leaving Y alone just because his boss told him to back down. So I could see this as a “last chance to tell me how you really feel” encounter.

•Obviously D knows he’s been holding back in every encounter with Y, so maybe he’s acknowledging that here? I’m not sure if the exact translation is “I’ve been suppressing feelings” or “this person.” So for this idea I’ll assume it’s the former.

•Last one haha. Y looks vulnerable on the cover, and his back is turned. What if the inner monologue is coming from D while he is looking at/imagining Yashiro?

Yashiro

•After the stoic way D has been acting, and after he came back suddenly without cause, Y has probably pieced together why he’s there hence “this person is holding back feelings” (But idk though because Y is terrible at reading Doumeki). I don’t think Yashiro was even be able to tell D was suppressing his emotions during their time together because he just assumed D acted that way because hated him, lol. Yashiro thinks that the old Doumeki is gone.

•Maybe Y was conjuring up a way to become entangled in Doumeki’s group drama to be close to him again (hence finding a reason to stay by Doumeki’s side), but idk that seems out of character for Y. He can’t stand the Yakuza.

•Annnnd I ran out of solid evidence for Yashiro… (I really don’t want to give up on my boy though ugh!). I want Y to be honest with himself in this way but once I started to collect my thoughts, there was way more evidence that points to the inner monologue coming from D rather than Y.

ALSO, It’s so interesting that this time it’s “I want a reason to stay by your side” and not just “I want to stay by your side.” Does this imply that the reason they both need this time around is a confession?honesty? If these are D’s thoughts, I believe he’s thinking “it’s not enough that I want to be with you, I need you to choose me and tell me that you want me too” and that would be his reason to stay. If they are Y’s thoughts then maybe he’s looking for the same thing from D. I can imagine his subconscious saying “I need to know for sure, I have to know that my heart is safe with you. This can’t be another unrequited love. Do you really hate me?”

I swear, Yoneda Kou is such a TEASE.

[bonefall]

Lizardstripe Continued: The Fading Echoes Scene

I'm not done, actually. I just finished talking about how Yellowfang's Secret villainizes Lizardstripe SOLELY on being a woman who didn't want children, with there being no direct evidence of physical abuse because of Sagewhisker forcing Yellowfang to stay away from them. Even Brokenkit says nothing about specific instances of being hurt or insulted, but mentions overhearing Lizardstripe talking to Amberleaf that she feels he is stealing milk from her other children.

But we do have ONE place where it's said that Lizardstripe bit Brokenkit; Omen of the Stars Book 2: Fading Echoes. A book released in 2010-- two years before Yellowfang's Secret.

Yellowfang's Secret was released in 2012 and gives us the FULL backstory, so it's safe to assume that any inconsistencies should be ruled in YS's favor... or at least make you question, "If this was so important, why did they choose to change it?"

The scene in Fading Echoes happens on page 292.

Jayfeather enters Yellowfang's memories, and sees this;

These are supposed to be Yellowfang's memories, with Jayfeather living through her paws and feeling her emotions.

But we see in Yellowfang's Secret that she never saw any biting or nipping. No one ever mentions it in Yellowfang's Secret, not Sagewhisker, not Brokenkit, no one. The ONLY thing that we see is that Lizardstripe did not want children and felt trapped in motherhood.

So,

How does Yellowfang have a memory of this, if there's no way she saw it?

In Yellowfang's Secret, why was it not shown? Why did Brokenkit cite Lizardstripe talking to Amberleaf for why he feels Lizardstripe doesn't like him (and thus will not stop his littermates from bullying him) over actually being bitten and starved?

Why did the writer believe that Lizardstripe being vaguely "ambitious," resenting her unplanned pregnancy, and having another child she didn't want forced on her would be evidence enough of abuse, to the point of not having to show real cruelty?

This covers all of Lizardstripe's canonical interactions with Brokenkit so far, except for the 2007 field guide which is just a beta version of the Yellowfang's Secret scene. For the 20 years this character has existed, there has been ONE scene that states she hurt him "as punishment for being born," retconned out of existence 2 years later.

[ochrearia]

Welcome to I use promises of RGBFverse drabbles to convince Keyy and Karl to finish their BF refs. Keyy did it so this was the result LEL

BFs in this drabble: fc!BF (Boyf, Keyy's), Yourself

“So… you been doing well lately?” Jesus christ, how was he being awkward with his literal self? Every time one of them came to visit his mysterious and intimidating front only crumbled more. But what the fuck was YS supposed to say? Out of all of them he felt like he’d talked to Boyf the least. And it was still begrudgingly anxiety-inducing to talk to him after that one issue. It didn’t feel very fair, the other had done his best to apologize. YS was trying his best not to be so nervous. Guilt still liked to taunt him though.

“I didn’t take you for the kind of guy to try too hard. That’s what my Pico is for.” Boyf thought teasingly, looking at him with a smirk. “Yeah, better than when you’d first popped up in my mirror at least. Still a lot of things to work on. But, better.”

“That’s good then.” YS replied, rubbing his thumbs over each other awkwardly. Fuck, he really was trying too hard, and it was painfully obvious. So much for giving the vibe he knew everything. None of them were going to respect him when he was acting like a bumbling idiot. “Sorry, not really sure how to hold a conversation when I’m not giving out advice.”

“Well that’s obvious. Most of us aren’t extroverts anyways. Talking isn’t really my thing either. You can hear why.”

YS sighed, rubbing his arm with a hand. Embarrassing and nervous. Was this really what these idiots reduced him to? He used to be commanding and tough. Scaring people into listening to him. Who the fuck was going to listen to an awkward and anxious slenderman wannabe?

“Dude, you’re thinking so hard I can hear the sparks flying out of your skull. Chill out, I don’t bite! Well, I don’t bite mostly. Different story for a person named Pico.” Boyf grinned, seemingly elated that Yourself was almost scared of him.

YS narrowed his eyes, knowing he was being messed with and there was little he could do to contest it. It wasn’t often that he found himself wordless but one of the biggest situations he’d had while the other BFs were around involved him going completely nonverbal in the first place. Maybe he just didn’t want to mess up again. It wasn’t easy to undo the ideas a toxic thought could put into your head. Always in the back of his mind, that being around the others was only hurting them. Being originally rejected by your own selves had to be an entire can of worms he was going to have to unpack eventually…

A frown settled on Boyf’s face as YS continued to think in silence. He turned to face his body properly in the taller’s direction, tilting his head a little before extending his arms after a few seconds. “Come here you dumbass.”

Yourself blanched. “Uh- huh? Why?”

“Because I am not as stupid as everyone thinks and I can recognize the fallout of my bad choices. You’re still nervous around me because of what I said and I don’t want that anymore. I’m showing you it’s okay. Now get over here.”

YS’s skin prickled with regret at the first sentence, remembering with a static shock that that was another thing with this instance. Still accidentally hurting them even if it was mild. Though since when did he have such a high standard, believing he had to be absolutely perfect? Oh right, after she’d-

He was pulled into a hug. He’d taken too long to respond, again. He tended to do that lately, so lost in thought with things out of his control. Boyf was determined though, choosing. Making his own decisions. Good for him. Though it was still puzzling for YS as to why Boyf was choosing to forgive him, considering he hadn’t even forgiven himself for still existing.

“I know the magic used to let me hear your thoughts is gone this time, and you’re just using the magic you have to hear me. But I can take a guess as to what you’re thinking right now. Shut up, by the way. I don’t care about your ‘advice’ on how to handle my opinion of you. Mainly because it’s fake. You clearly still think I hate you when I never actually did.” Boyf continued, wrapping his arms around the other’s back tightly. “Obviously an apology wasn’t enough to convince you. I get that, I see more value in actions too. Saying something is one thing, especially if the person saying it doesn’t change their actions. Goes both ways.”

Yourself sighed. “When did you idiots get so smart?”

“None of us are smart. We just know each other because we are each other.”

Well, he couldn’t exactly argue with that. YS let himself succumb to the hug, returning the sentiment of wrapping his arms around Boyf’s back. Warm- oh, stop it brain. What the hell was his deal? He really was getting incredibly soft and it was the fault of his other selves. But… ah, there was just something so nice about hugs. Getting them and giving them too. He let himself tighten his grip slightly, leaning his face into the other’s shoulder. Hah, at least this instance wasn’t completely short. Still shorter than him but not as much as some of the others. He wouldn’t have to break his neck to lean in closer.

“Has anyone told you that you give really good hugs, actually?” Boyf thought out suddenly, leaning heavily into the hug as if he hadn’t been the one instigating it. “I was supposed to be comforting you, why can I only think to get closer? This is some weird magic shit isn’t it?”

“I sure hope not.” YS blurted honestly. “I don’t want people to like me because of magical persuasion. Almost as devastating to me as doing damage when I just want to help…”

“I won’t joke about that again.” Boyf decided on the spot. “You commit to remembering the things that make me uncomfortable. It’s clear that being rejected and liked for invalid reasons is something that makes you uncomfortable. Got it.”

“Talk about trying too hard.” YS deflected, which probably wasn’t the greatest choice of response. Nothing about this was what he was used to. People, caring about him? He was built to care about people. “But… thank you. I’m not used to this.”

“We’ve all turned into a weird family of self-brothers, dude, none of us are used to this. Dumbass move to insist you’d have to know everything.” Boyf insisted knowingly.

“Alright, all of you have gotten too comfortable with calling me a dumbass, I should've put my foot down before this got out of hand.” YS grumbled, but it was instead playful. “I should push you right back through that damn mirror myself.”

“Hey! That’s not very nice.” Boyf replied indignantly. “You wouldn’t actually, would you? I kind of want to keep this hug going for a bit longer…”

YS snorted, gently shaking his head. “Nah, I wouldn’t.” He punctuated his promise with letting his arms get a little tighter.

[nonclassyparty]

from an objective point of view i do think san is a bad person. or at least was! having an explication for it doesn’t make up for the fact that he knowingly hurts people and manipulates them for his benefit. also, at what point do we stop calling it self sabotage when it includes hurting everyone around you in the process?

sure he has been clear with from the beginning that he doesn’t date. but he knew she loved him and chose to keep on hurting her and stringing her along for an entire year just so he could keep his “favorite girl” by his side, which she only was because she was the rich and unreachable pretty girl and he managed to have her wrapped around his finger. he watched her go through hell and he didn’t care, let her be insulted by yeosang on a daily basis and never once stood up for her while she took it and stayed quiet because she loved him so much. he called it friends with benefits but never took an interest in her on a personal level and basically treated her like a sextoy. obviously yn should’ve walked away at some point but i think san is also to blame. telling girls “i don’t date” at the beginning of the arrangement doesn’t opt you out of treating the girls you sleep with as human beings with feelings who deserve respect.

and then going back to her after he broke up with that girl because he knew she would just cave in and take him back, then acting like “well maybe i shouldn’t have c come to your house but you shouldn’t have let me in”.. like knew she would let you in and fuck you because you know she loved you and couldn’t resist

and what he did to yeosang was just so fucking sad. how can you call someone your best friend and then go and knowingly use their feelings so you can manipulate them and get what you want? i’m glad yeosang finally put his foot down and stopped talking to him. i think he told san that he wasn’t worth the effort it takes to love him? and as cruel as it may sound he was right… san needs to go to therapy and grow up. i understand he has daddy issues and that your trauma isn’t your fault but the way you treat people is still your responsibility

i really hope he’s coming back as a better person after these two years!

hhmmmmmmmmmmm those are all great points but they're from y/n's point of view and not an objective one 😭

he fucked up with yeosang (besides betraying y/n's trust and telling her secrets to his friends, thats his other fuck up imo). it was a horrible thing to do, there's no further explanations or defenses there. him betraying her trust in the end and using ys' feelings to his advantage at times are the worst things he did in this story but is he a bad person with no redemption possible for it? would that mean that people aren't allowed to fuck up? 😭

"sure he has been clear with from the beginning that he doesn’t date. but he knew she loved him and chose to keep on hurting her and stringing her along-" lets stop right thereee 😭 "he knew she loved him" and what? if yunho told y/n he had feelings for her while she considered sleeping with him just a fun silly little thing would that make her responsible for his feelings? no, bc they're both consenting adults who know what they agreed on. it sounds harsh but objectively, thats just the way things are. "choose to keep hurting her" when? if anything he was keeping his relationship with boyoung a secret from her bc he was trying to not hurt her and just let her down gently by ghosting her😭 even tho yn deserved to know the truth, he thought he was doing her a favor bc knowing u got dropped bc he actually decided to commit himself to another girl despite saying he doesnt date would hurt a lot more. "stringing her long" when? when did he ever genuinely give her hope that their relationship could grow into something more? "let her be insulted by yeosang" hmm yea that is shitty, even if he doesnt care about her it would've been nice to defend her bc hes the one that brought her to their table in the first place. "never took an interest in her on a personal level" bc friends with benefits is always just tiptoeing around what the relationship is actually about, which is SEX. they agree on being actual friends much later and after that they actually DO begin to learn about each other and with that his demeanor towards her begins to change.

when he's standing at her front door she literally says something like "if i told him to leave i know he would" because their relationship was never san trying to keep her tied to him but it was her latching onto HIM. a nice guy would've probably said "ok u have feelings for me which i dont reciprocate, lets end this bc u are hurting yourself" but san said it himself, he never deemed himself an honorable guy so in his head its like "even after telling u i wont ever love u and that u should've slammed the door in my face bc getting back together is a bad idea, you STILL want to fuck me?" that was on y/n. he's not the bad guy but just a guy thinking with his dick 😭 can he really be blamed for playing off of her decisions? it was always on y/n to decide when to finally let go of him and that was not something he could do for her because at one point she was so far up her delusions that even if he said "hey lets break this off" without boyoung in the picture, she still wouldn't have given up.

san will always be a bad guy if we look at him through y/n's eyes but if we detach ourselves from her feelings a little bit.......😭

[ddwardiswriting]

Chapter 15: Conspiracies

We sat in the Witch and the Willow, a public house that managed to straddle the line between noble and commoner. Fiona had suggested it. It didn’t demand membership or reference from another member. The walls had extensive mahogany paneling. The game designers had placed decorative ceramic tiles between the panels. Somebody had painted a wide array of subjects on the tiles. The pub was lit by lanterns, and the gloom was only somewhat banished as a result. The smell of oil smoke mingled with the smell of spilled beer. The crowd was not yet raucous, but well on their way, and volume was rising. 

In Moonlight Hearts the player could go on dates with the suitors. Each suitor had a list of preferences, things which they liked or disliked. By giving liked gifts and choosing liked locations, the player could raise a suitor’s interest and respect. I knew Fiona’s likes and dislikes well. This pub wasn’t one of them, it was one of Vincent’s favored locations. I assume she knew of it from Vincent.  

A half empty glass of red wine sat in front of me. Fiona and Amy hadn’t touched their wine yet.

“So now what?” Fiona asked, “We have to do something. This is treason.”

Amy drummed her fingers on the table, “We don’t know what the deliveries are yet. We don’t know what Hyperborea is doing. It might be something else.”

Fiona nodded, “This is true. Amy makes a good point. We do not know. We can only speculate. It might be smuggling. And it might be treason. It might be smuggling and treason.”

“Whatever it is,” I said, “I plan to find out. If we can expose this, then Lynn won’t marry that abusive monster. A monster who also happens to be a werewolf. I’d honestly prefer we just kill him.” 

Amy raised her hand, “But that could spark a war. As a psychometrist, the government would draft me to the front lines. The military uses psychometrists as trackers and such. I don’t want that. I’m not cut from material suited for battle.”

I shivered at the thought of Amy forced to fight on the front lines. Of the three of us, she felt the most fragile to me. And my feelings for Amy made my brow furrow as I considered the consequences of war with Hyperborea. Fiona and Amy fighting on the front lines was a mental image I couldn’t stand. I felt my heart beating in my chest. I took several slow breaths to calm my heart and tamp down my worry. Then I realized that Fiona was speaking.

“We could use what we find as leverage,” Fiona said. “I doubt Hyperborea would want Ys to expose them like that to other nations.”

So, we find out what is happening. And then what do we do?” Amy asked.

“I would prefer that we expose them to the house of Lords.” Fiona said.

“Can you expose them in secret?” I said, “That way the council can use the evidence we find to put pressure on Hyperborea.”

“The subtleties of politics are wasted on me,” Fiona said. “But that does sound like the way politics work.”

“You’re a countess. Politics are your job.” I said.

Fiona nodded, “And I am infamous for my leaden touch in negotiations.”

“So, we’re giving the council of lords blackmail material?” Amy asked.

“If we can, yes.” I said. Then I stopped talking. Something was wrong. The room was spinning.

“Ladies? Is the room spinning for anyone else?”

“You are two and half glasses of wine in,” Fiona said.

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Amy grinned, “My lady can down a bottle herself, without any trouble. It shouldn’t be the wine.”

“Whatever it is, it’s getting worse.” I said.

“Are you going to become sick?” Fiona asked.

“I think I’m going to pass ou-”

And then darkness. I felt the darkness as well as saw it. A light bloomed before me. White roses bloomed in a circle, and within that circle of flowers, I saw a small stone house in a city. The architecture looked Yssian. Around the house several hundred soldiers massed, with flintlock rifles and sabers. My vision moved inside the house. Lynn stood in the house, surrounded by ten men in common garb, tunics and trousers. Although I noticed that they wore good Hessian boots. A strange body half covered in fur lay in the center of the floor. I noticed a pile of blood-spattered bones in the corner. The bones looked human. 

The soldiers were about to come down on the house like a hurricane. What had caused this? Why wasn’t I protecting Lynn, where was I? And my vision pulled back in both space and time. 

I saw myself standing before my father. Yellow roses coiled around the edge of my vision, their petals wilting before my eyes. I caught wisps of conversation.

"...everyone who gets caught pays the price..."

“You’re one of them, daughter. It gives me no pleasure to do this, but... ...You will not be welcome back in Castle Octavian until you come to your senses..."

“Then I suspect that somebody should escort me off the premises…”

“Is she breathing?”

“Yes. But the breathing is irregular.”

“Her aura is reaching out. But I can’t tell where it is reaching.” 

I coughed, my chest felt tight, and I found myself scrambling for air. 

“Something is wrong! She is panicking!”

I felt as though I were struggling underwater. I tried to kick to the surface.

“Hold her legs! Hold her legs!”

That was Amy! And the other voice, Fiona! I was having a vision. A real vision! I was hallucinating. Oh god, I could be hurting them flailing around like this. I needed to calm down. I focused on loosening my muscles. I willed myself to relax. 

“She’s calming down.”

I felt my vision returning, the interior of the Witch and the Willow swam into focus. Amy and Fiona knelt above me. I was laying on the rough wooden floorboards.

“Are you alright? Lady Ren? Are you alright?” Amy touched my cheek, gentle as a summer breeze. 

“I’m alright,” I said, “I’m sorry for the drama. I haven’t had a vision quite like that before.”

Fiona raised an eyebrow, “You had a vision? Your precognitive gift?”

I pulled myself up to a sitting position, “My gift. My inconvenience is more accurate.”

“Are you well?” Amy asked.

“What did you see?” Fiona asked.

“Show some concern for her health! Um, your excellency.” Amy stammered. 

Fion grinned in response, “I have as much concern as you do, but you already asked after her health. I did not want to duplicate our efforts.”

“There’s that warm Fiona touch,” I said with a smile.

“Was that a joke? Fiona asked, matching my smile.

“A little bit.” I said, “I’m fine Amy. Thank you both for your concern.”

“Yes. But what did you see?” Fiona said. 

“I saw a horde of soldiers surrounding Lynn and ten strangers. The soldiers were preparing to attack. And I asked why I hadn’t helped her? And then I heard my father casting me out of the house.”

“The vision was about Lynn?” Amy asked.

“That does not sound hopeful. Was there any hope in the vision?”

“When they cast me out, I took it like a badass. Does that count?”

“Perhaps.” Fiona said the word as though it had three syllables.

“Sorry, that’s all I’ve got for you.”

“Whose uniforms were the soldiers wearing.” Fiona asked.

“They were Yssian. They were Marine Infantry.”

“Why would Yssian military attack Lynn? Why especially would the navy do so? Leon would rage like a lion if that happened.” Fiona said.

“Then we’d better be ready for a lion,” I said, “Because visions are never wrong. Incomplete yes. But never wrong.”

I grasped the table and tried to stand up. But my legs gave out, and I stumbled. Fiona and Amy stepped in unison and caught me on either side. I looked around and realized the entire pub was watching. 

“Happy to put on a show folks.” I muttered. Louder, I said, “Thank you ladies. Could you help me get home?”

“Of course, Lady Ren.”

“It would be my pleasure Ren.”

- - -

By DD Ward and Margaret Lovelace

ddwardiswriting.blogspot.com

[veebs-hates-video-games]

I'm trying to stay on top of things while they're still fresh in my memory, but sometimes brain no worky. I'll get a couple out of the way quickly that won't take long because I didn't last long with them though.

Fate/EXTELLA LINK was probably the most unpleasant experience I've had with a game in the past six months at least. I kept seeing people say how if you like Musou games it's a pretty decent one, so I eventually gave in and tried it when it was on sale. Bad move on my part.

I could maybe have stuck with it a bit longer to see if I could get used to the kind of wonky UI (why can I do the same thing in like three different places, and why is so much of it uglier and harder to read than it really needs to be?) or if the unbearably long recovery lag on basic combos gets better with upgrades/unlocks or there's some way to cancel out of it, but the writing is insultingly bad and made me quit out of the game pretty quickly.

The premise is...fine? Whatever? I guess? Nothing super original, but they could do something fun with it...except they can't go five seconds without pandering to their target audience of horny guys simping for their waifus. I can tolerate a little bit of that even if I don't like it, as long as there's enough other stuff to like and it's not the main focus of things, but this is just ugh.

I will give it points for unintentionally having one of the more confusing perspectives on gender I've seen recently. It lets you choose your player character's gender at the start, but as far as I can tell from the little bit I played that affects literally nothing other than the character model it uses. You can be standing there looking like a teenage girl while someone very vigorously calls you their husband, because the dialogue doesn't seem to change at all.

That could actually be really fun if it were on purpose and it were a femboy malewife situation or a non-transitioning trans man or whatever, but instead [see above about not being able to go five seconds witout pandering to etc.]. It almost makes me want to start yet another sideblog to post about crimes against gender I see in media.

And then the other one I abandoned fairly quickly was Inscryption, which is sad because I was really looking forward to it after how much I liked Pony Island. After like 20-30 minutes though my main reaction was bro, I am straight up not having a good time. It probably does something interesting eventually, but I'm not going to find out because I'm not willing to suffer through playing any more of it to see what happens next.

The UI and controls are annoying, quite possibly deliberately, but that doesn't make me feel any better playing it even if it is on purpose. I don't really like the general aesthetic or tone much either. I don't think there's necessarily anything horribly or fundamentally wrong with it, it's just really not my thing and kind of grating for me. Oh well.

And then I'm behind on a couple things I did play all the way through and had a good time with but haven't said anything about yet: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Totally coincidentally they're both things where I really didn't like the early entries in either series much at all but was convinced to try a newer one by the sheer number of people saying how good they were, and for a change I actually agree with them.

[rakumel]

Raku Plays Her Faves, Ys VIII: Chapter 1, Part 3

Last part of Chapter 1 today. We made it!

So last time, we kicked that dino’s ass with the help of...

...this guy. Meet your third playable character, a fisherman named Sahad Nautilus. He’s a powerful character with a big smashy makeshift weapon. (And no, I don’t know how you accidentally hit a big-ass dinosaur in the face with a broken boat anchor.) Controlling him takes a little getting used to, as he’s slower than the other two, and his special moves take longer to come out. (I’ll get into the difference between regular combos, special moves, and extra skill moves later.) 

But personality-wise, I like this guy. He starts off as kind of the comic relief - he belches and farts, is upbeat almost to a fault, is portrayed as dumb in certain situations. As the game goes on though, even though Sahad basically stays a simple guy, we learn he’s that way for good reason. Someone put some thought into him; he’s not just the goofy dude with the comical “bwuh?” reactions to the weird stuff that happens, although he will do that a lot. And if he gives off Big Dad Energy, well, there’s a reason for that too, which we’ll learn fairly soon.

Back to the story, Sahad believes the dinosaur is dead, and gives it a “we sure showed that thing!” pat on its scaly hide.

NO NO NO NO OH FUCK YOU WOKE IT UP WHY DID YOU TOUCH-

Luckily, this time the dinosaur decides not to mess with them, and just stomps away. Thank fuck. I did NOT feel like fighting that thing again immediately.

Adol and Laxia bring Sahad back to their meeting spot, where it seems the captain has also found another person.

WALLCRUSHER IN THE HOUSE, BABYYYYY

Yep, Dogi is also alive, well, and still rockin’ those purple glam rock pants. He good-naturedly ribs Adol for always dragging him into these life-threatening kinds of adventures.

I just had to leave these dialogue choices in. You’re welcome, shippers.

Actually, now seems about as good a time as any to explain about Adol’s dialogue choices across the entire game. In short: they don’t matter much. The game does say something about Adol’s actions determining the course of the story, and he does have an approval rating that the game keeps track of, but choosing what he says doesn’t affect that. Even though Adol’s the main character of all the Ys games, he doesn’t have much of a personality aside from being a hero and having chronic wanderlust. So you can play him straight, noble, rude, or dumbass as much as the game allows.

Adol’s approval rating does determine what game ending you’ll ultimately get; the highest range gets you the true ending. It’s very easy to do, though, and you shouldn’t sweat it - you have to deliberately ignore everyone and do the absolute bare minimum to get the other two endings. The first time I played through this game, I made a very big mistake, and still managed to get the true ending.

Speaking of the castaways, and getting back to the story, it’s been a long day for all of them. It’s getting late, so they build a fire, rest, and compare notes.

After some discussion, it’s decided that Adol, Laxia, and Sahad will continue to explore the island and search for any more survivors of the Lombardia. Meanwhile, Dogi and Captain Barbaros will stay and work on turning this rocky area into a proper base to collect supplies and serve as a meeting point for both the people who have been found so far, and anyone else they rescue. As the captain says in the screenshot, they’ll also be making barriers and other fortifications to defend against any beast attacks. (Spoiler: that’s going to become a thing.) 

This nicely sets up your goals for a majority of the game. In fact, one of the things I love most about Ys VIII is that the storytelling and gameplay wonderfully complement each other. The game evolves naturally from events that happen in the story, as well as from your actions.

For example, I don’t think it’s any great spoiler to say that you’ll be spending a lot of time finding other castaways to rescue. It makes sense to do so for story reasons - it’s difficult to see nowadays, but humans have always grouped together for survival, and besides, our characters so far aren’t complete assholes, so of course they want to find and help out as many survivors as they can. But it’s also how the game gradually introduces its mechanics without either feeling shoehorned in or piling too much information on you at once. 

Most of the castaways that you bring back also give you an in-game benefit. You can forge better weapons, for example. Or bring back seeds for another castaway to plant and grow while you’re away. Or make accessories to equip that raise defense or protect against poison. You get the idea.

The search for the castaways itself is also how you explore and map new areas of the island. Some areas of the island are blocked off by natural debris like a large tree or a landslide until you rescue a certain number of people to help clear it, which feels way more natural than just an invisible barrier that says “You must be Level 29 to go here”.

It’s a great system, and a good way to get used to playing the game, because Chapter 2 is when both the game and the story get a lot more complex. So yeah, stay tuned for that!

[bmaxwell]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

I’ve been an RPG dork my entire life, but a few series have escaped my notice. Breath of Fire. Ys. Secret of Mana. Until this year, Xenoblade Chronicles. I didn’t own a Wii U, and I wanted to wait for a deep discount to give the first game a try on Switch. That’s not a thing that happens for a lot of Nintendo titles, so when I saw how geeked the fan base was when XBC 3 was announced, I caved and bought the Definitive Edition of the first game on Switch. 

I loved it, and promptly bought and finished XBC 2 a month before the third game in the series was released. I’m pleased to report that I have liked each entry in the series more than the game before it. They are standalone games with callbacks to earlier titles in the series (more overtly in XBC 3 than XBC 2). They share some commonalities such as overly complex combat systems centered around positioning and cooldowns, and worlds built upon enormous, defunct titans.

                                              Sena is the girl with the gall!

The premise of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is that people in this world are “born” as young adults and live for only 10 years before being returned to the source to be reborn again. The world is divided into colonies in the two warring nations of Agnus and Keves, so that 10 years of life is spent in conflict and seeing the end of it is not guaranteed. In fact, they hold a big fancy-ass ceremony to celebrate you being absorbed back into the source if you live the full 10 years. And the queen herself is there!

Each colony has an ever-draining flame clock that fills by absorbing the spirits of dead enemies, and if the flame clock ever runs dry then everyone in that colony perishes. So, to sum up:

- Everyone lives for 10 years max - You stay alive by killing other colonies

It’s pretty fucking bleak. With so much killing around, it’s not surprising that every colony has what is called an “off-seer.” They mourn the fallen on the battlefields by playing a solemn song on the flute, which is more moving than it sounds here.

You play as Agnus’ off-seer named Noah and you, along with your himbo buddy Lanz and your friend Eunie, who is pretty cool despite having the dumb wings on her head...they’re not her fault and they don’t make her a bad person. FUCK I don’t like that look though. Anyway, the three of you get up to some shit with people from the enemy kingdom of Keves, and you all end up as outcasts together. Anime happens, and they end up being able to fuse souls/bodies with their Kevesi counterparts, forming cool mech things called Ouroboros. Even in the world of Xenoblade, that’s weird. 

Predictably, they all get used to one another and gain a mutual, grudging respect and eventually a deep friendship. You might say “It seems pretty fucked up that people have 10-year lives as soldiers and then die” and I would agree. It seems obvious that everyone would question it, but then again if that is the only life you know, maybe you roll with it. Like people do every day. For example, we have enough resources to feed and shelter every person, but we don’t. Someone looking in from the outside might go “Huh, that makes no sense. It isn’t believable.”

Anyway, the video game is great. 

I hesitate to call Noah the main character, because Xenobalde Chronicles 3 has a wonderful ensemble cast. Your three companions from Keves are Mio with her cute cat ears, the socially awkward tactician Taion, and sporty girl Sena. The aww-shucks optimism of Sena in particular stood out to me. The game has all of the anime melodrama and the triumph of friendship against impossible odds that I have grown to love in these games. 

The combat system, once again, is overly complex. It requires a great deal of patience to master, and it’s incredibly rewarding. The battle system takes place in real time with 7 party members (the main cast of 6 plus one hero of your choosing) and revolves around positioning and cooldown management. To the uninitiated, it’s an overwhelming nightmare of icons and meters. 

The game has job classes for the first time, each falling under Attacker, Defender, or Support roles - familiar to anyone who has played MMO’s or MOBA’s. The way new job classes are acquired is by finding heroes in the world and completing their quests. They join up with your group and you gain access to their class. Similar to Bravely Default II, this kept me engaged with the game’s side quests and helped drive me through the story - not that I needed it. 

The game’s world is massive and gorgeous. It feels like an MMO world, in a good way. After nearly 100 hours in the game, I was still finding new spaces in areas I had already explored. I was engaged with the main quest and side quests, the combat is fun, the soundtrack is fantastic, my only beef with the game is the villains. They look like Power Rangers baddies*. They frequently show the big bad in an actual empty movie theater, watching the events unfold on a screen. Which I found goofy at first, but the longer it went on the more it grew on me. 

 I fell in love with the crew, and there is plenty of banter between them. I also dig the camping - the game is full of campsites, and the wide variety of background animations does a lot to flesh out the relationships between the group. I spent a lot of time doing optional side quests because they creators gave me a world I wanted to luxuriate in, and characters I wanted to know better. The game had some genuinely funny moments (Mio debating whether to keep her long hair out of respect for a certain character, then blurting out “It’s such a pain in arse to wash!” and some genuinely touching moments, like the group learning about childbirth and seeing an infant for the first time.

The story goes some interesting places, putting its characters in interesting scenarios and forcing them to confront some harsh truths, and seeing their growth over the course of the story is a delight. The story gets up its own ass in a way I appreciate. Of all the heights this game reaches, the most memorable might be the ending. I’ve played a lot of JRPG’s. The journey is often better than the destination. Few endings have really stuck with me over the years. Persona 3. Dragon Quest VIII. Final Fantasy XV. Xenoblade Chronicles 3′s ending is up there with the best of them. It felt like a beautiful, melancholy culmination of everything that led up to it. Every facet of the game is a winner.

This one will stay with me. 

*I never watched Power Rangers.

[garmmy]

garm’s video game wrap-up 2021

i started this last year (garm’s video game wrap-up 2020), just as a way to do some doodle fanart at least for the games i enjoyed throughout the year!!

through my life i’ve been mostly a portable console player, but thanks to being stuck at home these days i’ve been able to play some of my console/pc backlog. i’m glad!!

as with the previous year, these are just some short (spoiler-free!) thoughts on the games that got me through 2021.

- trails into reverie: technically started last year. super glad to revisit the crossbell gang! and i love the kind of 'sky 3rd' formula. and tbh it's still pretty amazing to see all the chars get together..if i had to choose a most "fun" trails this would probably be the one🤔

- persona 5 royal: i love persona games so it took me long enough to get to p5 😅 i love it!! the presentation is so well-polished, and i got really attached to the phantom thieves as characters..probably my 2nd fave persona game now after p2ep~

- 13 sentinels aegis rim: i think nothing needs to be said, it took over my brain and still hasn’t let go..... the visuals/music are sooo good, i love the characters so much, the story is crazy in the good way. and met some cool people through 13s too so thank you for my life!!

- ai the somnium files: another crazy game that twisted my brain around, i had a blast with zero escape trilogy and aitsf was no different! what a ride!! and i always love these mystery-solving puzzle room things. i need time to regrow my braincells for nirvana initiative...

- stellaris: my first time playing a 4x game (i am so bad at it), i wish i had more timeeee to play it but i enjoy seeing your little aliens expand out into the universe! and the space vibes(?) music is SO good as relaxing/work bgm..faster than light🎵

- ys viii: finally! i think ys8 is a lot of people’s fave ys game so i was excited to get to it? i can see why, the music is amazing, the island exploration is so fun, and...dana 😭😭  ys9 is still my personal fave but this was such a fun adventure i loved it!

- great ace attorney 1+2: i had just started (finally) playing it on 3ds when they announced the localisation T_T anyway i love all the ace attorney games so far and gaa is no different!! gaa2 especially kept me on edge the whole time (still can't top aai2 for me though 😆) 

- mass effect 1: after 1000 years of rotting in my steam library!! i think i was always scared off because shooting game, but i'm so glad i finally got myself to play it. baby's first western rpg..i LOVE space+alien+worldbuilding stuff and this game is everything i ever wanted...

- fuga melodies of steel: another group of kids to adopt and protect 😭😭 i'm so happy it's out, it was worth the wait and it's such a fun little game..i looove the aesthetics and music (i did with solatorobo too) and i really enjoy the gameplay loop this time!!

- a short hike: what a short and sweet game!! i'd love to play more relaxing exploration games like this where you just talk to npcs, do fun stuff without worrying about dying or resource management haha. amazing style and music, i love it ;w;

- night in the woods: a very relatable story to the ‘depressed 20yo dropout’ phase of my life 😂 sometimes we’re always lost but it feels a bit better to be lost with friends. the mood set by the wonderful music and aesthetics is absolutely amazing O: and the dialogue!! love it.

- detention: baby's first(?) horror game😭 i have no reflexes so admittedly those parts are hell, but that aside the aesthetic/sound make a truly amazing atmosphere i really love!! it's set before my time but even then the settings evoke a lot of nostalgia for me;;

- mass effect 2: cries i love this little alien(+some humans) gang...i missed being able to converse with your squadmates anywhere, but i LOVE the loyalty missions and how they flesh out each character, i feel extra attached to this gang. i'll miss exploring the galaxy with them!

- kuro no kiseki: still on chapter 1, but looks like 2021 was a 'start with trails, end with trails' year 😄 i'm rooting for van and friends' gourmet adventures🥞finally i'm done with my 2021 wrap-up, can't wait for new adventures in 2022!!

[sometimesiwrite]

Essi Daven Headcanons

Spoilers ahead from “A Little Sacrifice” in The Sword of Destiny

My theory: Essi is descended from the lost city of Ys

She tells Geralt she grew up by the sea, which explains why she knows so much about the tides and the ways of the ocean. Yet Jaskier also says they practically grew up together and he is utterly useless by the water. So what gives?

She speaks fluently and effortlessly to Sh’eenaz in her own language, an Elder dialect used by sentient sea-dwellers.

It’s implied, at the end of the story, that Essi has convinced Sh’eenaz to accept her legs in order to help dissuade Agloval from waging war against the Ysians.

Her seemingly rash, naive, and desperate love for Geralt is not unheard of in other lore of mythical creatures falling in love with humans, in fact it’s quite common, particularly among the Fae, but also other entities that don’t immediately come to mind.

The story consistently refers to her “large blue eye”, and while this can serve to create a wide-eyed affect for a young, naive character, it’s also not too far of a stretch to believe it’s due to her being part-Ysian, since the creatures that attack Geralt on the Dragon’s Fangs also have “large fish eyes”.

When they leave the seaside and head farther inland on horseback, they "...still [have] the scent of the sea in their nostrils, and in their ears the roar of breakers, and the piercing, urgent cries of seagulls (ch. 9, pg. 1, pgph. 2). I have reason to believe that Essi brings that with her a little bit wherever she goes; it lingers because she is with them.

Related ideas/theories:

The eye she hides behind her hair is a different colour than her other one if you look at it for long enough. 

Like the Aen Seidhe, the Ysians have intermingled with humans over the generations, though in far fewer numbers.

Their presence is not detected by Witchers’ medallions.

Essi is eighteen, but she has inherited certain memories of past generations; this means she has a deeper knowledge, understanding, and wisdom surrounding certain things (language, the location of Ys, the nature of the ocean, the history of her people, a psychic connection to other sea beings/fellow Ysians, etc.).

Though she’s an Old Soul with regard to her Ysian heritage, having a human form means holding more in a smaller vessel—emotions, understanding, thoughts, knowledge, sensations, intuitions... This is why she equates her love for Geralt to sickness. Obviously, this again could easily be Sapkowski writing a lovesick, impulsive, over-feeling poet... but where’s the fun in that?! I choose argue that she feels with the intensity of the ancients, but her human body was not built to hold it all. As much as she has “experienced” through her memories, she is still young in her own lived experiences). She is a living contradiction which leads to a certain level of tempestuousness. 

She is alone in her experiences, like a witcher without any brothers to share the intensity of living in a heightened reality. There are very few land-dwelling Ysian descendants, if any at all, and surely spread far and wide if that is the case. I believe she, like our witchers, longs for kinship and a sense of sharing something, but being a child of the water, her emotions live very differently in her than the witchers, and poor Geralt finds himself quickly at a loss for what to do. 

She’s in Bremervoord because of the pearl divers:

I have reason to imagine, based on my above musings, that Essi is not in Bremervoord to play for an engagement banquet. Rather, I choose to believe she is there because she knows about the disappearance of the pearl divers and is there to facilitate an unsuccessful investigation, thus protecting Ys from discovery and preventing further bloodshed.

BUT she doesn’t really have a plan

Until Geralt comes along. 

She intends for Geralt to find Ys, knowing that a witcher (specifically Geralt), having uncovered a lost and ancient civilization, would do everything in his power to protect it.

She knew the Ysian soldiers had found and injured him. She tells Geralt she heard that they had brought him, bleeding, onto the shore, but that news travelled awfully quickly, didn’t it? She gets there before Dandelion can finish fish-hooking his arm closed.

While he’s recovering, Essi opens Dandelion’s blue seashell and finds her birthday pearl; she asks Geralt over and over again if he’s content to part with it, knowing how much money it’s worth. Again and again, he insists that she keep it. This is how Essi knows that she can fully trust him not to exploit the new-found city. 

This was all sparked by a conversation with @rawrkinjd a little while ago, followed by another chat with @pressedinthepages and I haven’t gotten Essi out of my head since. Thanks for reading!

[dcviated]

@psychcdelica​ sent: aannndddd what's the best way to win Dogi's heart :3cc

Damn you Bubblez.

So, it’s more or less a series joke that all the women in Ys have their eyes on Adol while Dogi is the ever present bro sidekick who gets along with everyone else. We see it called out explicitly in Oath in Felghana and see what he gets up to with the townsfolk and survivors in Lacrimosa and Monstrum Nox. There’s a couple gags, but pretty much universally he’s not given a second glance by the ladies.

So you could say that getting his heart could be as easy as choosing him? Like for someone to see him (and Adol) and be like yeah, I think I want that one to be my friend and to hang out with. Because Dogi is social and likes meeting people. It’s hard to say one way or another how attractive he is outside of being a big muscly dude, but I thnk some of his reasoning behind changing his style so often is to see if that helps his image a little more around the ladies. He’s a gentleman... or tries to be. But he definitely gets eyes for a girl. For better or worse.

Other things you can do to catch his attention are praising him. Giving him food. And expressing interest in the things he does better yet suggest doing things together or going on adventures.

[uwumessenger]

Can you do RFA and Saeran confessing to MC just in time? Like the feelings are there on both ends but MC grows tired of waiting and is about to give up but then they confess and end up together (maybe with the help of one or two other members) :)

awe this request is so cute. hope you enjoy! i apologize in advance for all the cringe you may experience while reading this.

Yoosung:

yoosung thought he’d be more confident about it

and he’d always try to find the perfect time to tell you he likes you

...but he gets so nervous...every. single. time.

and you’re usually so patient but now you feel like he doesn’t think of you that way

so you start becoming more distant to him

bby yoosung is hurt by that :(

it pains zen to see how downhill it’s going so he decides to invite yoosung over to pep talk him

yoosung, pal, it’s almost been two years. don’t you just wanna go for it?

and of course he does!

zen motivates him by telling ys to imagine you with someone else

he starts crying decides it’s time to confess

like. right now.

he meets up with you at a park near zen’s place and immediately bear hugs you

MCilikeyoualotandimsosorryittookmesolongidontwantyoutobewithsomeoneelsepleasedontbemadatme c ries

when he lets you go there’s a moment of silence

before you hug him again and tell him that you’re glad you waited :’)

Zen:

EVERYONE, including jaehee, is cringing at how zen can’t communicate his feelings

he’s usually confident so what’s stopping him this time?

initially zen wanted to confess to you at the party but he was always caught up in other conversations with the guests

since he’s naturally a very flirty person no one realized he liked you until they saw irl interaction

you keep trying to pry it out of him but he would shield it off by saying something about himself/his looks T-T

one night he has a psychic dream

the first being him with you, awe, so cute!

but he sees another guy come in and....sTEAL YOU???

he immediately wakes up and panics

it’s 4AM, but he sees that you’re online chatting with jumin

when he sees the chatroom close he immediately calls you

i hate to do this over the phone, but, i have a confession.

well, you did it just in time. i’ll cancel my meeting tomorrow morning with tom

meeting?

wait who’s tom

it doesn’t matter anymore B)

Jaehee:

did not expect you to like her

you’re surrounded by all these good looking men

why would you choose her?

she was always super oblivious to your hints which was so frustrating

one day during lunch break jumin goes into jaehee’s office expecting to see you

he asks jaehee if you had left and she says you never came to visit her

jumin does the tsk tsk thing

jaehee is like wat

you’re very smart, jaehee, but for some reason you can’t detect a person’s feelings for you

light bulb goes off

luckily you hadn’t gone very far, and she tracks you down

what is this a kdrama? yes.

she calls for you and you stop in your tracks

you dramatically turn around

i like you, MC. please come back before my break ends and i have to return to work

run to jaehEE!!! RUN!!!

insert perfect kdrama kiss <3

Jumin:

he wants the confession to be perfect

but he’s so caught up with work that he unintentionally cancels on you numerous times

this eventually gets tiring and your expectations drop drastically

you get really sad and it SHOWS

logging in less frequently, dry texting, etc etc

contrary to popular belief the person who helps him is not v or seven or jaehee

it’s...yoosung.

yoosung reaches out to jumin after noticing how upset you looked when you were helping him study for a history test

he knew it was because of JUMIN

jumin mainly needed reassurance that his confession didn’t need to be out of this world

but i have to top every other confession to exist, yoosung.

no you don’t, jumin.

after some bickering jumin straight up cancels all his work plans later in the week

insert yoosung coaching jumin montage

jumin pulls up to your place with elizabeth the 3rd

awkwardcough hey, elizabeth said you have something we both can’t find

what is it? :/

my heart

:)

yoosung watching from the bushes like a proud father HUH????

Saeyoung/707:

always dodging that conversation

you’re pretty much the one who’d be confessing soon

but everytime your feelings start to show he avoids it

so you start to think he’s rejecting you subtly

you start growing distant and now he thinks you’re rejecting him subtly

it pains all of RFA to see this so they reassure you that he does like you

they show you as many screenshots as possible

you’re like yeah okay but im not gonna wait like this my entire life

you guys are their otp so they do everything in their power to get him to confess without going into sicko panic mode

all it took was a scary lecture heart to heart talk with jaehee that really touched him

at the next RFA meeting everyone was at the edge of their seats, waiting for seven to make a move

gave a powerpoint presentation on why u should date him

cringe the entire time but u know u love it

Saeran:

you are extremely patient with him. knowing everything he’s gone through

but you start thinking that maybe he sees you as a protective sister instead

when saeran invites you over to watch a movie you decline, not wanting to further your feelings for him

seven is always watching

he’s obviously SAD so he just sits down and stares at the wall

seven hacks his radio to make sure his radio turns on and you’ll never know by ariana grande starts playing

he doesn’t notice at first but he realized it when seven was looping it on purpose it kept glitching and replaying

before breaking the radio in half for being annoying he listens to the lyrics...

you’re right radio...you’re right...

he zooms on over to your place

intense knocking

i am so thankful for you and i can’t picture my future without you. can...can we say we’re going steady like it’s 1954?

yeah tattooed heart came on after that

relief set in and you give him a lil kiss, and invite him in for a proper movie night

[zabreti]

the time has finally come for me to start expressing what i have been overwhelmingly feeling for the past week, since i started to properly listen to this sunshine of a woman named joanna newsom. i want to- actually, i need to vent a little about the album ys, since it’s the one i first listened to. plus my initial contact with joanna’s work and thoughts that came with it

even though i only found out about her a few months ago, i guess everyone knows her(?); if you don’t, you should. there’s not one single moment in which i’m not mad at myself for not finding her sooner. so fyi, she’s a harpist, pianist, singer and songwriter from nevada. according to some sources, she may be the most famous harpist alive today; i really don’t know about you, but it really sounds quite badass for me.

i started searching for her stuff after watching her husband’s - andy samberg - multiple interviews, where he would be sometimes asked about their marriage. i’ve been binge watching random interviews with people i like for the last weeks, and i found myself actually watching some interviews of hers before i even got to listen to her music.

btw, look at this fucking adorable couple. just look at them for a second.

first of all, what a lovely woman! each answer, each laughter, each little thing she did on camera caused an admiration for the idea of andy and her together to grow strongly; i wasn’t even sure if it was ok for me to feel so strongly about someone else’s relationship. my curiosity grew when i started to read the comments on these videos on youtube, pretty much 100% of them being about her intelligence, her talent and how her music sounds angelical, mystical and perfectly constructed. (let it be said that it only grew more and more as i watched every single interviewer asking both andy and joanna about how different their works are, and how different they appear to be as individuals; not only was suggested that andy would probably not rise up to such an intelligent, serious taste as to fall in love with her (he doesn’t even need to say a word for anyone to realize how passionately in love he is with joanna and her entire work), but also said that no one could believe she was actually able to be a goofy, easy-going, good-humored person because of the lyrics she writes. ok, i could spend hours listing the unnecessary questions i identified in these interviews, and how i get easily annoyed by these famous hosts assuming stuff or trying to create an uncomfortable environment; and don’t even get me started on the fact that most of the interviews she was invited to would revolve around her relationship with andy. i’m choosing to let this feeling pass for now, since it’s not my focus today.)

i couldn’t help but start by saying all this since i truly adore andy’s works, and nothing feels warmer than realizing two amazing people are in love and have a family together by choice.

i mean..... ??????? c’mon. greatest couple alive. try and fight me on this.

another interesting thing i found out was that she dislikes streaming platforms similar to spotify, which probably (?) justifies the fact that i never came across her songs, since i use spotify on a daily basis and have been using it to find new artists for the last years. call me ignorant, it’s fine, truly; but i haven’t heard of similar opinions coming from artists, and it made me even more curious to know what this woman was expressing, creating, thinking. she actually told larry king: 

“spotify is a business model. it’s not good. it’s based on the idea of circumventing the payment of artists. (...) i’m not opposed to streaming. i understand that the world is shifting and that the way music is valued and monetized is shifting, and i’m ok with that. and i’m even ok with people not paying for music (...), i just wish that there was a better way to do it that didn’t only pay a company. (...) i haven’t heard of one [alternative to spotify] that seems built the way that i would prefer it to be built.”

one of spotify owners (owners or directors, idek and idec) even replied to her many critics, but she never changed her mind or retreated from defending even her honest, harsh comments about how spotify is “like a villainous cabal of major labels”. for me, that’s a badass woman. not only for expressing herself without giving a damn about anyone who might be offended in this process, but also for choosing the path that felt ethical and worthy, and being recognized all over the world for her talent while following her own ways. i know, right? simply awesome.

there i was, reading the endless comments on her interviews’ videos and wondering what the fuss was all about. there was nothing left for me to do other than to actually start listening to her songs. i could have done it by looking up her discography and starting from her first project, but somehow i stomped into the ys album, which was released in 2006, in youtube itself.

first of all, would you look at this freaking cover?

i found it absolutely gorgeous in each detail; in fact, i really wish to know if there are meanings in the little specific parts of the painting. maybe there aren’t any and i’m just trying to create a more complex joanna in my mind? sure, sounds like me. or maybe there are lots of ‘em and she already said it on camera and i simply missed this video? sure, sounds possible. i won’t lie, i spent so much time thinking about this cover... maybe way too much time. alright, on we go.

there are 5 tracks on the album: emily, monkey & bear, sawdust and diamonds, only skin and cosmia.

at first, i didn’t quite understand what i was listening to. and i’m not talking about the lyrics, i’m talking about the whole idea of the album, the artist, the genre. the conjunction formed by her high pitches and soft, delicious vocal variations, surrounded lovingly by the harp and the violins was very mysterious to me. at first, i wouldn’t be encouraged to keep listening to her. but something kept me there, seated, staring at the screen and paying attention to each second of it. it was an experience. a real transportation. i searched for the lyrics on genius, and anyone that would pass by my bedroom’s open door would see me completely enamored by what i was listening to, like a concentrated kid being told an epic, adventurous, huge, beautiful and complex story. that is exactly how i felt: in the middle of a field, picturing each image she described in the song; each figure, each feeling. she described it all in a way that made me wonder how can someone describe a dream so vividly, how can someone describe anything so perfectly, so fully, and not sound redundant, not sound at all boring. the way the melody and the lyrics fit together, as a gift perfectly wrapped and tightly involved in the most beautiful way. i repeat: it was an experience. it is an experience. this is not something you can listen to at any given time, at any given place; i would not dare to not pay attention each time i would plan to listen to it. this is how seriously submerged i felt by joanna in that moment; in that entire day.

all of this, all of this immersion, all of this dream-like state in which i found myself in, kept growing its roots in me throughout the entire album, in a way i needed to show someone - anyone - joanna before i even got to finish the five songs; and the first one that came near me happened to be my mother. while listening, she actually found it quite pleasing, “like some old movie’s soundtrack” when listening to emily, “like an 1960′s melody” when listening to sawdust and sand, and on she went about the entire album. and this got me thinking about how i would describe her genre; of course, after following her on bandcamp i found out i was actually listening to some folk/pop/avant-garde/baroque pop/chamber folk/indie stuff. sounds about right, but at the same time not right at all, for some reason. i believe it’s fair to say that joanna has a magical, rare quality to her music that makes it different to each one listening to it. i’ve said it too much and i’ll say it again: it’s an experience, a complete, true one. it ressonates with deep, personal places. and, strangely, it makes many people describe the feeling that urges to grow inside their hearts as “home”; and i share this exact same sensation.

i really don’t know if it makes any sense, but see: i cherish my alone time probably more than anything in the world. i have learned to be my own best friend in many ways, and being by myself in some quiet days, at my house, reading, listening, watching and creating is when i can truly be myself. with that said, listening to this album, i felt at home. it made me feel even more alone, and i mean it in the most loving, warm, hypnotizing way. 

the ys album is a relatively quick production to be heard, even though it feels like you’ve been gone for hours, days, weeks on end while listening to it. the amount of literary, historic and philosofical references in the lyrics is magically overwhelming; i simply wasn’t able to snap out of it for a long time, and i have, to this day, re-listened to the album about 5 times. still reading the lyrics again and again, still grasping at some expressions faintly but amazed, still finding out about hidden and not so hidden meanings behind each track. still defining it, every single day.

i hope for the great discoveries i feel like pursuing from her work, and the diverse new singers, song-writers, harpists, pianists, violinists, chellists and musicists in general i’ll try to find, understand and support from now on. i’m thankful for finding out how much i love the mix between an orchestra-like atmosphere and a sweet, honest voice ringing in my ears; and how the words assembled together feels like a psychography.

i thank the universe every single day for the opportunity to discover people like joanna newsom.

[aspoonofsugar]

What are the parallels that can be drawn between the Yorknew and Chimera Ant arcs, both in terms of characters and themes?

Hello anon!

Sorry for the wait!

Generally speaking I think that both the CAA and the YS arc have more parallels with other arcs and they specifically parallel the current arc.

That said, I think there are still interesting considerations that can be made about these two arcs.

GON AND KILLUA: A COMPLETE INVERSION

When it comes to Gon and Killua, the CAA basically deconstructs and messes up what the YS arc establishes.

For example, let’s consider this scene:

Here, Gon is basically accusing the spiders of being hypocrites because they can feel love for their comrades, but still choose to attack other people and to kill them.

In the CAA Gon ends up in this situation:

He told the Spiders that they should use their empathy and realize that other people have bonds exactly like them and that they are people too. However, when Gon has to face an opponent he hates he struggles to see them as a person with their own loved ones. Gon is so shocked about Pitou’s humanity that he is about to refuse it altogether and to kill not only them, but Komugi as well.

In short, Gon uses the same line of thought he had criticized the Spiders for.

Generally speaking, we can say that Gon in the CAA strongly parallels Kurapika in YS. Both characters are driven by revenge and are suppressing their own sense of empathy in order to kill the person they hate. They end up being helped by their friends’ actions which manage to stop them from losing it completely:

What is more, in order to obtain their revenge both end up using a vow and a limitation:

And end up paying the price for it at the end of the arc:

In short, it is as if YS is an arc where Gon is seeing and disapproving of his future self:

As a matter of fact he is so worried about Kurapika that he hopes he won’t meet the Spiders ever again.

He realizes better than anyone else how toxic Kurapika’s current mindset is, but when he finds himself in a similar situation he fails to use Kurapika’s experience to learn and has to spiral himself before he can be saved and helped.

As far as Killua is concerned, the YS arc is where his dynamic with Gon is fully established:

Gon is the reckless one who runs ahead and Killua is the one who stays behind and cleans the mess.

Killua is happy about this because he feels he can be useful to Gon despite his flaw of running away. Basically, he admires Gon for his ability to jump into action and to do so for both himself and for others’ sake, but Gon manages to give value to qualities Killua himself has. However, in the CAA Killua wants to show that he has improved and wants to be able to face challenges together with Gon rathen than simply being the one taking care of the cleaning-up:

In short, the CAA shows the limits of what is firstly said in the YS arc.

What can we make of all this?

it is interesting that Killua and Gon are not the main characters of the YS arc, but Kurapika is. Killua and Gon play a supporting role in that arc and they see their older friend struggle, they worry for him and try to help him. Because of their “innocence” they manage to see things in an unorthodox and clear way and overcome problems in an original way.

In the CAA they both grow and so they lose a part of that innocence. They find themselves prey of more complicated passions and what seemed obvious in YS becomes muddled in the CAA. In YS the beauty of their friendship is not under discussion, but in the CAA hidden tensions and problems pile up. Similarly, in YS it is clear that Kurapika’s behaviour is unhealthy, but living a similar ordeal makes them understand why exactly Kurapika had so much struggle avoiding it.

SPIDERS VS ANTS: CHALLENGING AUTHORITY

Both the YS arc and the CAA has one group which challenges authority.

I will be quoting myself from the metas I linked above:

So far every great theft the spiders have organized has been against a group holding some sort of power (the mafia and the country of Kakin). Both times they are acting against an established system and are willing to completely ignore the rules said system is based upon.

That arc (CAA) started with Meruem basically stealing a country from its ruler and trying to create a different power system.

The Chimera Ants were an example of a “different" which could not be accepted by society and this is why it was eradicated by making use of a “different” which on the contrary had been previously integrated:

No matter how much Meruem were to change, the world would have always rejected him because it couldn’t be sure that it had the ability to fully control him.

In short, both the Spiders and the Ants challenge authorities and are able to stand up to extremely damaging systems thanks to their power. As a matter of fact the Spiders manage to kill the Injus and the mafia dons, while Meruem and the Ants kill Ming Jol-ik (the fake one).

Both groups do not act out of a sense of justice, but are simply lashing out against systems they do not recognize. At the same time, they also have a fundamental difference.

On one hand the Ants are trying to create a new system where they rule on humans and Meruem is at the top.

On the other hand the Spiders are not interested in creating new systems and simply enjoy mess things up because of their fleeting desires.

I think that this difference is well shown in the war between the spiders and the Ants which happens in Meteor City.

At that time, both the Spiders and Zazan’s group find themselves without a leading figure. As a matter of fact the Ants lost their queen and as a result they separated and each one of them tried to create their own reign. Similarly, Chrollo was in no position to interact with the Spiders and they lacked a boss as a result. That said, they remained united.

Moreover, the way the title of Queen/Boss is treated by the two groups is completely different:

The Ants treat it seriously and their competition over it is real and harsh. The Spiders instead are not really concerned and treat it as a game. They decide that whoever finds the Queen and kills her is going to become the new Boss. However, the title is only a temporary one and it is definately not something official. This much is made clear by the fact that the group is not even complete when they make the bet. What is more, when Feitan is hurt, Phinks asks him if he wants to be subbed out. In short, none of them took the whole matter seriously and they simply enjoyed a little competition. After all, even if Feitan kills Zazan he is never treated by the others as a leader:

In a sense it is telling that the only one among the Spiders who takes the whole matter at heart is Kalluto aka the newest member. Kalluto himself comes from a hierarchical family, so it is not a surprise that he tries to climb the ranks higher, but what he fails to realize is how casual these ranks are.

Another interesting comparison is the one between the leaders of the two organizations:

Chrollo explains that his life must not be considered special, but that his orders must be obeyed.

The same can’t be said about Meruem. As a matter of fact the King is considered the pinnacle of evolution and the Royal Guards are ready to die for him. However, even if they try to follow his orders, they do not hesitate at disobeying him in order to do what they think is best for him.

This is why we end up with two characters facing a similar dilemma:

Both Pakunoda and Pouf are ready to disobey their superior’s orders for their superior’s sake. However, their motivations are opposite. Pakunoda does so even if it means to betray the Spider and she makes this choice because he values Chrollo as a person and gives him the humanity he negates to himself. Pouf is instead so obsessed with the wellbeing of the species that he refuses to see Meruem as a person despite Meruem’s arc being about him finding his own humanity.

These are the main parallels I could find between the two arcs. I hope it helps!

Thank you for the ask!

[vldaera]

task .002—

with special thanks for, and featuring, @vldareum​—

JEON AERA ✉ ⇢ manager yes ys i kniw JEON AERA ✉ ⇢ manager ill addition 4 fanny pack outing later :P JEON AERA ✉ ⇢ manager i’m bussy rite now tho ;)  it’ areum time MANAGER ✉ ⇢ jeon aera Busy doing what?! What’s Areum time?! JEON AERA ✉ ⇢ manager s MANAGER ✉ ⇢ jeon aera Aera TT MANAGER ✉ ⇢ jeon aera Aera, why did you send a winky face? Is Areum okay? MANAGER ✉ ⇢ jeon aera Aera please I do not have time for this you are so aggravating JEON AERA ✉ ⇢ manager ;) ;) ;_   MANAGER ✉ ⇢ jeon aera Aera!!

Aera’s not so mean that she leaves their manager on delivered when she knows she’s probably gonna bust a nerve; no, she chooses to leave her on open, instead, so she knows she’s at least alive. Because for tonight, she has planning to do.

Phase One of Operation: Surprise the Socks Off Areum is long since over and was a huge success. Phase One is the simplest part: text Areum to come over tonight for another Star Wars marathon. They never got to the sequels.

Phase Two is the thick of it: cook a fancy dinner fit for a princess, hire a masseuse to pamper both of them in— ahem— Aera’s brand new(!) apartment, turn on absolutely any movie of Areum’s choice, give each other mani/pedis, and then end the night with giving her sister a woven bracelet that Aera personally made for Areum herself.

Phase Three: catalogue every second of it on her phone and watch the look on her sister’s face.

Ha. And Areum thinks it’s just going to be Star Wars.

It’s a bit of a thank you, in a way, for her sister to know that Aera really appreciates her, and also to let her know that Aera’s doing just fine, thank you very much, living alone. Sure, it gets lonely sometimes, but besides Areum, Naeun comes over! And Saeun! And Hamin! And... that’s pretty much it...

Clowns! One time Aera hired a clown to come and entertain her while she cried on the sofa over a stupid romantic comedy. It was sorta funny to watch how obviously uncomfortable the clown was ‘cause she paid him double to leave a kid’s party early to keep her company. He wasn’t expecting one of the members of one of the nation’s top girl groups to be sprawled out on the floor with a bottle of wine, she doesn’t think, but whatever. As you can see, she’s having the time of her life.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

Step One of Phase Two (that’s right, she’s that organized) is to go figure out what to eat. After their excursion to Tokyo, she’s thinking some miso broth ramen and spicy tuna rolls, so she makes a quick stop by the market to go pick up some seaweed and fish. She has a plan and everything; she’s gonna cut up some seaweed to say “I Love You, Areum!” and stick it in the broth like alphabet soup. It’s gonna be so cute—

Hey, what’s that? Bunnies for adoption??!! Ohmigod no way!!!

Aera hasn’t ever whipped a car into a parking lot so fast. Ten minutes and 40,000 KRW later, she drives home with a bag full of seaweed and fish and the newest addition to the family, John Brad Crumb. She’s pulling away when she realizes 1) she made a HUGE typo on the iPad, 2) both “John Brad Crumb Jeon” and “Jeon John Brad Crumb” are stupid names, and 3), though it came with the intention of paying homage to her fans, with Aera’s Earthshine nickname being John Area, she’s effectively just named a rabbit after herself.

But hey, the adoption certificate says John Brad Crumb, so that’s what he is.

She pulls into her apartment and the elevator dings to the top floor. It’s only recently that she managed to unpack, so she unloads all the groceries into the fridge and puts the rice in the cooker, then gets to work dedicating a sizable corner of her living room for John Brad Crumb. One could call it John’s area.

One thing to note about Aera is that what can go wrong, will go wrong, but it’ll go wrong with a flourish and probably fireworks, too. The cage is actually pretty well set up, and she wants to do this cute thing where she gives Areum her bracelet by wrapping it around John Brad Crumb’s neck like a collar, and she’s in the middle of doing so when she smells something. Umm... what’s burning?

She rushes to the kitchen and smacks her head when she realizes that she forgot to put water in the rice. Now what?

Aera stands there for at least a full solid minute watching the rice as she wonders what her reaction should be. She wonders if it’ll catch fire.

Um, duh.

Fortunately, she keeps a Brita filter in the fridge, and so she begins pouring water on the flames. Really she lucked out, because she manages to put the fire out without the help of the fire department, but her rice cooker is, like, totaled. That’s fine! She’s adaptive. Instead, she decides to cook it manually. She definitely won’t forget the water this time, she thinks smugly as she fills the water almost to the top of the pot. After adding the rice, she returns to the living room...

...only to find that John Brad Crumb has all but gnawed the bracelet to pieces.

“John Brad Crumb-ah! Are you serious?! You are so unaware.”

She lifts the bunny and picks the dangling threads from his mouth, pouting as she witnesses the shreds of what she made with such love and care. Luckily for Aera (and also for John Brad Crumb, whom she’ll forgive eventually because he already means the world to her), it seems to be salvageable? Maybe?

John Brad Crumb fits in the front pocket of her hoodie, so she puts him and some rabbit food in there and returns to the kitchen where the rice has, obviously, boiled over. Cursing, Aera cleans up the mess and tastes the rice that was saved. Well... it’s not bad.

Putting the ramen to a boil, she checks the clock and sees that she’s got a little over an hour before Areum’s supposed to arrive. She fortunately had the hindsight to buy pre-made tare and simmer the broth this morning, so it’s not like she has to simmer things for three hours. but it’s still kinda crunch time.

You know what she just realized? She totally forgot to buy one of those bamboo rolling mats. Printer paper should work... right?

“Let’s do this, John Brad Crumb-ah. For Areummie!”

HHHHHHHHHH OHHHHHH MY GOD ROLLING SUSHI IS SO HARD is what she’d say if there was anyone around to hear her, but there’s not. It’s written clearly across her face, though. The rice is too mushy and also the printer paper keeps falling apart, so it’s kinda... papery rice? Wrapped in nori? Yuck.

It’s kind of a disaster, so she decides that it doesn’t have to be pretty and abandons the paper in favor of trying to hand roll the sushi, which naturally doesn’t work as the sushi falls apart. The result is, like, this weird sushi salad thing that honestly works in the same way that a poke bowl does. Whatever; it’ll have to do. Twenty minutes till Areum gets here.

Turning around, she spoons some noodles into a pot and tastes the broth that she made. Okay, what...? That’s actually super good. Pleased with herself, she dumps in the sauce. But again, this is Aera, and what goes wrong is that, facepalming, she realizes that what she thought was chicken sauce was actually chocolate sauce... ugh...

The whole thing has to be tossed now, so Aera does so quickly and checks the clock. Ten minutes till Areum gets here.

In a last-ditch effort, she throws some instant ramen on the stove and bounds into the kitchen to comb out and rebraid Areum’s bracelet, when her phone pings.

SEOUL THERAPEUTICS ✉ ⇢ jeon aera Jeon Aera-ssi, this is Kim Daeho, owner/operator of Seoul Therapeutics. I am texting to inform you that your masseuse has fallen ill and will be unable to arrive tonight—

(Somewhere, on the other side of town, Kim Daeho, owner/operator of Seoul Therapeutics, feels a chill run down his spine.)

—and, as all other masseurs are booked, I have issued a refund to your account. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Well, she tried. She really did. Sorry, Areum, she really wanted to throw you a big thank-you dinner, but turns out Aera’s actually going into hermitage instead. Would you like to come visit her cave? Oh, please do make yourself at home, don’t mind those scorpions crawling on her bed made out of twigs and sadness...

She stands in the kitchen, contemplating the best mountain beneath which to move all her things, before deciding that she just moved and it would be too much of an inconvenience. The weird chocolate ramen is in the trash. That salad thing is on the counter. The movies aren’t rented, the nail polish isn’t bought, and the bracelet is wearable, but ugly. The instant ramen is literally what they ate everyday for years, and also the weight of John Brad Crumb on her hoodie is starting to hurt her neck. One minute until Areum—

Ding dong!

“Gah! John Brad Crumb-ah, we can’t let her see us like this!”

With a certain kind of determination that only Jeon Aera possesses, she decides to make her grand escape. But the reason it’s Jeon Aera name-brand determination is because it wouldn’t be Aera’s if it wasn’t tinted with just a little bit of recklessness, ‘cause in her attempt to escape the embarrassment, she tries to escape out the front door, where Areum is standing.

“Areummie!”

Her face flushes bright red and she wonders what Areum thinks of the sight before her: Aera, in a hoodie, with a rabbit in her pocket and a ratty bracelet in her hand, covered in chocolate stains and mushy rice and her hair falling out of her bun.

It’s then that she realizes that she probably does know what Areum’s thinking, and that’s why she loves her twin so much in the first place. There’s no one else she’d rather go on this adventure with. No one else would so easily deal with her. Of course her sister wouldn’t judge her for the disaster that was Aera’s poorly planned surprise. Just seeing Areum makes the embarrassment wash away, and Aera gives her a smile. Thanks for being there for me. Thanks for smiling when I’m ditzy instead of rolling your eyes. Thanks for supporting me through thick and thin. Thanks for being the best sister a girl could ask for.

“Thanks for coming, Areummie. Let’s order in some takeout. I’ve got the craziest story to tell you.”