#and figuring out where and what soundtrack to use etc
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End Game 1
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Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, age gap, stalking, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.
This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.
Summary: Your gaming buddy asks to meet up but it doesn't go exactly as planned.
Characters: Andy Barber
Note: get ready for the hate.
As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.
Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.
I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖
The tunnel lights up ahead of you, revealing the cubic rock walls as you plant torches in your stead. The eerie soundtrack of night time and the ominous groan of zombies looming somewhere in the cave have you uptight. Silently, you press on, digging and mining mindlessly, fingers mashing the buttons on your controller.
“Hey, where are you?” Jacob’s voice startles you.
You nearly forgot you’re playing co-op. You sniff and shake your head, cursing aloud as your shock has you succumbing to the arrow of a sneaky skeleton. You sigh as your possessions scatter and you spawn back in your bed.
“Back home,” you say glumly, “just ate it.”
“Ah, damn,” his deep voice rolls in your noise-cancelling headset, “sorry, hope that wasn’t me.”
“No, I wasn’t paying attention,” you hum and sigh.
“Ah,” he accepts and lets silence linger before he clicks his tongue, “what’s going on? Everything alright?”
“Yeah, yeah,” you put the controller down, your avatar sitting on the geometric bed, “I just...” you stretch your neck and massage your scalp around the thick band of the headset, “got a lot on my mind.”
“Right. I thought you were all done exams,” he says.
“I am, but... packing. Going home. I called my old boss and turns out I’m not gonna have a job this summer. Gotta start over,” you yawn and rub your eyes, “what about you? Final exam tomorrow?”
“Uh... yeah,” he hesitates as if he forgot. You do wonder why he isn’t cramming right now. You could never play minecraft all night the day before a final. “Easy stuff. I’m not worried.”
You scoff. You wish you could say the same. All you’ve done is worry those last two weeks. Exams, getting home, getting a job. Your grandmother won’t very happy to find out you’ll be slumming it for a while. At least you tucked away some money through the semester.
“Hey, if you need a few bucks...” Jacob offers.
“What? Are you crazy? No way,” you exclaim, “really, no, I couldn’t. I’ll be fine. I just... I hate looking for jobs. You know how it is. Friggin awkward.”
“It’s not a big deal. My dad sent me my birthday money so...”
“Uh uh,” you deny him again, “that’s way too much. I couldn’t-- we haven’t even met.”
“Mm, yeah, about that,” he exhales into his microphone, “I, uh, got an extra ticket to this Con. I figured out that’s it like the midway point between us so...”
“A con? Oh, wow--”
“Yeah, but I get that it would be expensive so maybe I could pay for your trip?”
“Jacob,” you wiggle the controller restlessly, “I can't accept that. It’s so nice but... it’s a lot.”
“I wouldn’t offer it was too much,” his voice is soft, meek, and defeated. You feel bad but you would feel worse taking advantage of his kindness. “We’ve been talking all year. I just figured it would be a good chance to meet up. It would be in public and something we both like so...”
You scratch your neck as it speckles with heat. You don’t know what’s more insulting; yes or no.
“Can I think about it?” You ask thinly.
The line is quiet. You look at the screen and it goes dim from your idling. You hit the analog stick and fix your headphones.
“Jacob?” You murmur.
“Sure, think about it,” he says, his voice raspy and rocky. It’s strange. You’ve seen him in pictures and his voice doesn’t really match his appearance. He sounds a lot older than he looks. “It’s next month so lots of time.”
“I’m sorry,” you cringe. “I just wouldn’t want to waste your money.”
“Trust me, it wouldn’t be a waste,” he insists, “this last year has sucked. So much. You got me through it all.” His microphone scuffs, “studying, exams, all that stuff. It’s tough making new friends. Seems like everyone here knows each other from high school.”
“Yeah, totally,” you agree.
You’re not exactly the most popular person. You have people you know in each class but not too many friends you hang out with outside the lecture hall or library. So far, not too many people want to spend hours mining digital gold or racing cartoon characters around a rainbow track.
“Well, you should probably get some sleep,” you yawn, “you got your big exam and... I gotta keep packing. Gotta catch the greyhound tomorrow night.”
“Sure, uh, yeah, right,” his disappointment is potent, “hey, will you text me when you get home? Just so I know you made it.” He snorts, “god, I sound like my dad right now.”
“Oh, of course,” you chirp back, “I’ll try to remember. Might be late.”
“That’s fine. Just as long as you let me know.”
“Don’t worry about me,” you assure him, “not ‘til I have to face my grandma. Ha.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” he says, “well... er...”
“Good night,” you finish for him, “let me know how the exam goes too.”
“Will do,” his timbre gets even lower, “night.”
You sign off and shut down the console. Another yawn flows through you and waters in your eyes. You should sleep, you got a long day waiting for you, but you know it won’t be easy. Not with so much on your mind, not least of all, Jacob’s invitation.
🎮
You text Jacob as you get on the bus, to make sure he doesn’t worry. It’s so sweet that he does, even some of your girlfriends don’t bother that much. Not that you mind the ‘hey, bitch’ Janet sends you every now and again to make sure you’re still alive.
You fall asleep on the bus. You’ve never been one to sleep while travelling but you’re exhausted from a night of anxious tossing and turning. After spending all day packing up the last of your things and scouring your dorm room, you’re beat to hell.
It’s midnight as you get to your grandmother’s house. She’s up reading another Stephen King classic in her rocking chair. She’s always been a night owl and a voracious book hound. She grumbles at you but doesn’t bother to ask how your trip was.
“Hey, grandma,” you hike up your bag and smile.
She growls again, eyes not leaving the page. You should know better by now not to interrupt her. You shoulder on and head down to the spare room where you spent most of your high-school career. You shut the door gently as the old hardwood floors creak with your weight and you drop your bag on the squeaky bed.
You fish out your phone and plug it in as the battery flashes red with only two percent left. You leave it on the night table and stretch out, not bothering to change out of your hoodie and jeans. It’s not long before you descend back into the same dreams that marked your journey home.
You wake up to buzzing. Your phone shakes the nightstand, rattling it against the bed frame. You groan and roll onto your side, reaching blindly for offending object. You hit the side button to dismiss the call.
You blink away the bleariness and focus on the screen. Along with the missed call are several text messages. You squint as you expand the notifications. Jacob! You forgot to message.
‘Hey, you home?’
‘Checking in. Must be busy getting settled in. Just let me know when you’re safe.’
‘Not meaning to be weird but everything okay?’
‘Please answer me. I’m worried.’
You drag your thumb around the keyboard, letting it predict your words; ‘sorry! I was so tired. Home now and safe 😊'
Three dots pop up then swoop away. You frown as the same thing happens several times before a response appears.
‘Was really worried. Thanks for finally answering. Been up all night.’
You’re stunned by the terse response. Yeah, you forgot to answer but he doesn’t need to worry that much. You frown and shift onto your side.
‘Srry again. Tired. Talk in morning. Night.’
You turn your phone on silent and plug it back into the cord. You do feel bad but you’re too exhausted to let it keep you up. Besides, you need your sleep. You have lots of job hunting to do in the morning. Not to mention, your grandmother to face.
🎮
You let Jacob cool down after your return home. Rather, he doesn’t text and you’re too distracted to do the same. As much as you’d like to sit around and game, your grandmother was as disappointed as you expected with your employment status, even when you gave her the money you had left in your emergency fund.
After a week, you finally get a bite. It’s nothing special. There’s a seasonal ice cream shop in a booth shaped like a vanilla cone that needs a cashier on weeknights. It’s less than full time hours but it’s better than nothing. It will be strange working with high school juniors but you can’t afford to be picky.
‘Game tonight?’ The text interrupts your first shift. You don’t have a chance to answer as a family approaches the window to order.
You get them the soft serve and take their payment, bidding them a good evening with their vanilla points already drooping in the summer heat. You glance around at the mostly empty picnic tables. Soccer practice will end soon and you’ll be overloaded with eight-year-olds.
‘Srry. New job. 1st shift. Maybe tmrw.’
‘New job? Congrats. Why didn’t you tell me?’
You sigh.
‘Time got ahead of me.’
‘Same. Catch up tomorrow then. Minecraft?’
‘Sure. Tmrw.’
You slip your phone away. A mother and daughter approach and ask for a sundae and a banana split. As much as you love ice cream, working with it hasn’t tested your cravings very much. In fact, you might be falling out of love with it. The smell of vanilla and overly sweetened strawberries is kind of gross when it’s all you breathe.
As you watch the happy customers walk away, you smile. Maybe it will be good to get some mining done. It will take your mind off of everything else. Hell, it might even make you feel like you’re doing something useful.
🎮
“Shit, oh, sorry,” Jacob corrects himself. You always think it's kind of funny how he doesn’t like to swear. “My diamond armor.”
“Oh no,” you utter, “where are you? I’ll grab your stuff.”
He gives his coordinates and you turn around, leaping over the green blocks to make your way there. Despite your reticence at the beginning, you’re feeling better about the session. He wasn’t as tense as he seemed in his texts.
“So, uh, did you think about the con?” Jacob asks.
“The con? I almost forgot. When is it?”
He gives the dates and you hum. Your chest flutters at the thought still. You’re not stupid. Meeting people IRL is not like online, no matter how many hours you’ve mined together. As much as you enjoy chatting with Jacob, you don’t know about meeting up.
“I get it if you can’t get the time off but my offer still stands to cover the trip. If you wanna stay the night, I’ll even get an airBnB.”
“Oh, wow, that’s a lot. I’m working now. I could put in,” you offer.
“Is that a yes?” He asks hopefully.
“I don’t know... I mean, I’ll have to look into it,” you say evasively. “Talk to my boss and grandma and all that.”
“Right, right,” he tries to sound unbothered, “makes sense. Of course, no pressure. How about I send you the ticket either way? Haven’t got anyone else to bite.”
“Oh, well, hold off, I wouldn’t want to take it and not use it,” you collect his weapons and armor from the ground in the game.
It’s silent as you focus on getting every little thing.
“Sorry, did I freak you out?” He asks, “I’m really not trying to pressure you, just got excited thinking about it.”
“I know, Jacob, it’s not that, it’s just... a lot.”
“Totally get it,” he intones, “let me know whenever you got an answer. Uh, where are you? I’m tryna find you.”
“Just stay there, I'll come back to the house,” you assure him, happy to focus on the game instead.
Still, you can’t entirely lose yourself in it. You’re sure he’s a nice guy. From pictures, he’s less than scary, and he’s never been anything but friendly. It’s not like the other dudes you meet online who jump to asking about your bra size and all that. It just isn’t smart.
Well, maybe if you don’t show up alone. You know what con he’s talking about and Kara from Econ lives near there. You could probably convince her to meet up. Hm, that might work.
Just like you told him, you’ll have to think about it.
#andy barber#dark andy barber#dark!andy barber#andy barber x reader#fic#dark fic#dark!fic#end game#series#defending jacob
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i have not been on here in awhile life is busy O_o but anyway i started a utk/so fandub bc with the other games that are fully voice acted i listen to them a lot while sleeping and working and want to be able to do the same with the guilt adventures. my voice is unfortunately too girl coded to comfortably do like any character besides angie so if anyone is interested in just doing it as a fun exercise in voice acting hmu :3
#maru.txt#tc#trauma center#prob by no means be super great but i did finish like 90% of angie’s lines with the exception of some in operation dialogue#i’ll get that covered too but like vocal rest#also will do other takes too but at least laying the groundwork#and figuring out where and what soundtrack to use etc
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Aid for Palestine
It's been a hot minute since I put one of these together but since uh
checks notes
Israel seems hellbent on committing a genocide live on social media and propogandaing the hell out of it this felt important. I have cobbled some of these orgs and charity functions from bluesky and the site formerly known as tw*tter, you've probably seen some of them around! But some of the bsky things I wanted to be sure made it over. Anyway.
Cease Fire Today :: if you are an American and you're short on cash for donations, this site has other options (emailing, calling, where protests are happening, etc.). It's all pretty simple to use. Figure out what you have the means to do and get to it.
Jewish Voice for Peace :: Jewish anti-Zionist organization advocating for a free Palestine. They have a good FAQ to hit back on some of the regular questions/concerns that are rooted in propoganda about this war.
Al Jazeera :: I cannot say there's a better source for the truth of what's going on than Al Jazeera compared to a lot of American outlets. They're the state media of Qatar but also, look at what we're working with here.
United Palestinian Appeal :: UPA does a lot of work in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon, and in Gaza. Healthcare, infrastructure, education, and outreach. 98% of their funds go to programs.
Anera :: Anera's a relief organization who's been helping people in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan get emergency relief since 1968. At present they're trying to get food and hygiene kits into Gaza.
Palestine Children's Relief Fund :: Free medical care to ill and injured children lacking access locally. I do not think I need to say more.
Islamic Relief USA :: Organization that provides aid to help rebuild communities after a disaster, war, and also funds to help lift communities out of poverty. Currently fundraising for medical kits and food and water.
Baitulmaal :: Organization that specializes in emergency aid, poverty relief, and community development.
Medical Aid for Palestine :: Organization to provide medical aid for Palestinians, providing locally-led healthcare.
Prints for Palestine :: Art Auction going on until November 3rd to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestine. Take a look! Make a bid! Or buy something.
Games for Gaza :: 256 DRM-Free games itch.io bundle to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestine. Also has a few soundtracks, a couple of books, and some assets!
E-Sims for Gaza :: I think I also saw a tumblr post about this, but I'm linking to the live tweet thread because the op is keeping up to date on when cards run out/are restocked so folks can watch it if they have a twitter account.
#palestine#palestinian aid#full disclosure i am neither jewish nor palestinian#however#people don't deserve to be called human animals and murdered like this
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I wish Spike Chunsoft would just go full "Persona" with Danganronpa and milk it with tons of spinoffs.
I'd be there for every goddamn one of them on DAY ONE, you know. Pick your genre! The minute they figured out how to make a decent third-person DR action game with Ultra Despair Girls, that should've opened the floodgates wide IMO. In fact, if you take any given Persona spinoff, I can tell you how easily/naturally they could develop (and I could get super-hyped for) a Danganronpa equivalent.
Danganronpa Arena is SO obvious. It's the MOST obvious spinoff, and it has been sitting there waiting to be creating for seven goddamn years now. Ever since Kodaka said he wants a DR fighting game. Hey, remember that official DR3 Staff Book art that showed Nanami dreaming about it? Many of us have shared fan ideas for the story and/or for character moves. COME ON, y'all. What's the holdup?? DO IT! DO IT NOW!
Danganronpa: Dancing? FUCK YAS. I mean, there's already some wicked dance remixes of the game soundtracks in that Crypt of the Necrodancer DR content, so why the hell not?? And I recall that @dreamrlu did some great fanart (1) for how the (2) V3 crew could dress (3).
Danganronpa Q, a dungeon crawler? Despair Dungeon already exists, so it's COMPLETELY NATURAL. It's just a higher-quality production of that same concept! And if you haven't seen that fanmade version of the first "Persona Q" opening where it's the casts of DR1 and DR2 meeting up? It's AMAZING.
youtube
Danganronpa Tactica? Imagine leading squads from the Future Foundation (including DR1 and DR3 cast members) in missions against remaining Remnants of Despair. I've been playing a lot of tactical RPGs lately, and there's a lot of room to tell a ton of story in this format... plus it's not like you even have to make complex graphics to make it work, so SC doesn't have to worry about struggling with 3D renders if they don't want to. Just consider how Digimon Survive pulled this off with 2D sprite art!
Danganronpa Strikers is, uh, maybe the hardest to justify — but if you set it in the virtual world, that could make it easy! Since Danganronpa S already took place entirely in VR and contained a load of combat encounters, why the hell not do a similar setup for an action game? And if you prefer to keep in the real world, there are still a number of characters I could easily justify making playable in such a scenario — Genocide(r), Sakura, Asahina, Mondo, Nekomaru, Peko, Akane, Great Gozu, Seiko, Munakata, Maki, Gonta, etc. I can even picture some more-unlikely candidates such as Kimura slotting into the roster. I don't even like musou games that much, but ofc I'd play the SHIT out of this one.
Look: I know I'm an insatiable fan who just wants more precious content with these characters. But you can't convince me that these things wouldn't also SELL. The brand reached new heights of awareness and sales with V3, and they haven't really capitalized on that at all aside from giving us "Danganronpa S." We haven't even gotten a new anime since DR3, FFS! And I'm confident that any one of the ideas listed above would sell far better than a weird digital board game with RPG combat set inside VR, frankly. :P
#danganronpa#dangnaronpa spinoffs#danganronpa q#danganronpa strikers#danganronpa dancing#danganronpa dancing all night#danganronpa arena#danganronpa fighting game#danganronpa tactica#Youtube
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Argylle - A Breath of Fresh Air
**Spoilers Ahead**
I just got back from seeing Argylle with a friend. I knew I had wanted to see it because I like a lot of the actors in it, but I had seen the trailer so many times that I felt like I had already watched it.
That trailer couldn't have prepared me for the unadulterated fun I was about to have. Every other line out of Sam Rockwell's mouth was laugh out loud funny. What kept me drawn in, though, was the editing. The splices between Rockwell and Cavill was seamless. I know with modern technology, they easily could have greenscreened a lot of it, but it still must have taken a while to film all the same fight scenes in the same exact way to make the cuts as seamless as they were.
The score and soundtrack were brilliant. Between the funky tunes used for the fight scenes, and the dramatic notes used during what would be dramatic in a regular spy thriller, had me enjoying every minute. I will be looking up the soundtrack playlist on Spotify and listening repeatedly.
Henry Cavill is no stranger to playing a spy. In between Superman movies, Cavill starred in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The latter was another movie that didn't mind being silly and wasn't afraid to have its comedic moments. Because Cavill has played so many daring roles over the years, where he's been the hero or the brute or even just the eye candy, he was the perfect fit for Argylle. You can tell he was having a blast, and not taking things too seriously. The audience isn't supposed to take it seriously either. The Argylle books in the movie are a personification of how cheesy those sorts of books and movies can be. The eye-rolling puns, the use of a femme fatale, and crude jokes.
Back in the day, that's how most James Bond movies were. They had their serious moments, but Bond was a cheeky spy who liked to fuck and crack wise with his villains. He was suave and sure of himself and a badass. But there was a transition in the 90's when the Austin Powers movies started rolling out. Now, I'm a huge fan of Austin Powers movies, I'll watch them any time, any place. But those movies, being replicas of the old Bond films but with more humor, outlandish sex, and over the top puns, made it difficult for the new Bond films to be silly. Suddenly, they were getting more and more serious, with more and more over the top action scenes and explosions.
Argylle brought back the silliness and the goofiness, and the ability to laugh at itself. Suspension of disbelief, etc etc. Sometimes you just need to sit back and let yourself enjoy the ride. Throughout the film, as the layers kept being peeled back, I kept thinking, "What is this movie?!" I can usually figure out what's going to happen, but the twists and turns in this film kept throwing me off, and that kept me in my seat and having fun.
There's a scene where Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Elly, thinks she's seen her parents die in cold blood. Rockwell is driving her somewhere in the south of France, and he asks her if she's okay. Howard, astonished, asks, "Am I okay? Am I okay?!", and then she started crying. This made me lean over to my friend and say, "all of us @ Elmo the other day", and we burst into hysterics. (If you're unfamiliar, Elmo's X account posted asking how everyone was, and there was a surge of responses of people using memes to show how not well they all are.)
A little more than halfway through, we find out that Elly's real name is Rachel Kyle. She had gotten into a bad accident on a spy mission and had no memory. The bad guys brainwashed her into thinking she was someone else, and it worked. The Argylle books she wrote as Elly, were really just memories coming back to her. We were made to believe her books were predicting future events, but really, it was the past. Samuel L. Jackson explained that to her. Rockwell then had to calm Howard down and get her to settle into the information. Slowly, Rachel remembers who she is. She hasn't lost all of Elly, but she makes it seem like she has in order to complete the overall mission.
Rockwell thinks that Howard has double crossed her, but in a very Knives Out fashion, she explains that she knew if she shot him in the chest in just the right spot, he wouldn't die. We learn that the two were lovers back in the day. Not only did he feel betrayed, but he was heartbroken. Later on, she double crosses the bad guys, finds her cat, then finds a room with all the weapons she could possibly need to get out. Rockwell finds her there, and they're able to hash things out. She assures him that they're on the same side.
This leads into one of the most incredibly choreographed fight scenes I've ever seen. You can tell the actors were having an incredible time. Smoke pours into the corridor and the two come out shooting. While throwing in body rolls and other dance movements, they take everyone out. This also included Howard lifting Rockwell up, much like how Dua Lipa was lifted up during the beginning of the movie by Henry Cavill, spread eagle. The shots used every time there was a lift like this was not subtle. We get it, it's an innuendo for sitting on someone's face. And it was funny every single time.
Then the next fight scene happened, which gave Howard a moment to shine. They were trapped in a room that was slowly filling with oil, so they couldn't shoot their guns. She remembers she's actually good at ice skating, and puts together makeshift skates. She sticks a knife into a gun, then rushes out like a hockey player. I thought I was going to pass out from laughing so hard. It was the perfect mix of hockey style skating and figure skating. Were these scenes filled with CGI and body doubles? Yes. Did it make them less fun? Absolutely not.
Everything works out in the end because of course it does. Her ending is given to Argylle and Wyatt. Personally, I think Henry Cavill and John Cena should have kissed, they were clearly in love. I thought they would have since Rockwell and Howard kissed. All of the scenes paralleled one another, so why couldn't that one? I digress.
For one last big laugh, at the end of the movie, Howard is back to pretending to be Elly the author, and is doing a book reading of the final Argylle book. She's taking questions from the audience, and she calls on a man. He stands and knowingly smiles. It's Henry Cavill, only he has a curly mullet and a southern accent. What is it with British actors and doing southern accents that brings me so much joy? He says, "I don't have any questions, but I'm sure you have a couple for me", and winks.
There was a post-credits scene. It was supposed to be the actual Argylle book's first film adaptation. The scene takes place in a bar called The King's Man. An Easter egg thrown in by director, Matthew Vaughn, who has also directed the 2021 film by the same name. We couldn't tell if it was serious or not, but I'd love to see a movie based off the fake books. I think mostly because the writer, Jason Fuchs, and Matthew Vaughn, should definitely team up again.
Even though there were parts reminiscent to other spy movies, this is one of the most creative movies I've seen in a while. This is my favorite kind of satire. There are so many movies that are just remakes of remakes of remakes these days. It feels like there are no original ideas left. So, this was a breath of fresh air. It was so funny and so brilliant with a star studded cast. I bet this movie was so fun to work on, you could just feel that energy radiating from the actors. There were some slower parts, but that's to be expected. For the most part, my attention was kept. It was one of those movies where I left thinking, "I can't wait for this to come to streaming so I can watch it again".
I don't think Howard is the strongest actor, and some of the plot between the good spies and the bad spies was a little confusing. I found a lot of that hard to follow, maybe that was supposed to be on purpose. Most spy movies aren't always clear on what the main issue is.
Anyways, if you're looking for an escape from the cold, or an escape in general, this is definitely the movie to see.
#argylle#henry cavill#bryce dallas howard#sam rockwell#samuel l jackson#john cena#dua lipa#matthew vaughn#jason fuchs#brian cranston#bryan cranston#catherine o'hara#movie review#film review#universal pictures
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Finally watched part two of the Thousand year blood war arc : The separation
I'd been procrastinating w it because I wanted to watch it after it was fully released, the part two, but then I waited too long and yeah, i waited too long
And I finally watched it today
I had to watch the part one again because I didn't wanna play the guessing game about what's happening/etc, So I watched the whole thing again :3
....
The separation really separated us from Ichigo in this arc, didn't really get to see much of him.
But the battles, the soundtrack, the techniques, THE STORY, THE CONNECTION, THE ANIMATION, IT'S SO GOOOOD.
The mystery deepens about the connection between Yhwach and the soul King's relation.
Also the fight between the Squad zero and Yhwach and his sternritters, and Uryu (don't wanna count him w them tbh), THE FIGHT IS SO CRAZY GOOD🥹🥹🥹
Idk what Uryu is thinking but I sense a lot of plot twists in the future.
I swear I love watching Bleach. I can't wait for the next season to be released. And when it starts releasing, I'll have to wait again because I don't wanna watch episodes weekly(breaks down the rush I feel slightly)🥲
But seriously. The way it takes us on this unpredictable journey, it's crazy good.
The powers, the techniques, the portrayal of those techniques. Everything is so beautifully accurate, and so perfectly portrayed. LOVE it.
Also the BANKAI and the additional zones to them are 🤌🤌🤌🤌
Also also, I'm not okay with something happening to Hitsugaya🥲, Matsumoto, the musician guy (V cool Bankai), and Muguruma, I hope Kurotsuchi somehow heals them because in no way I'm ready for them to die.
Also it was so nice to see Urahara and Yoruichi🥹❤️ (I mean I know Urahara is there in every arc, and is a very crucial character, but it's just, I'm watching it after so long and it's so nice to see all of them, plus I didn't see Yoruichi throughout and she finally comes in the later episodes) and also Ukitake (I'm confused about the eye thing though, i don't remember that) (no one tell me, I'll figure out)
Also special mention to : Byakuya (loved the way he interacts with Rukia in the latest arc, love his Bankai), Rukia (she's so beautiful in that Bankai but that Bankai is dangerous fr), Renji (NICE, also when he gets complimented by that Sternritter about his pointy eyebrows and that he might have good taste, funny lol), Madarame, Ayasegawa (he got called fugly by that guy he killed in the ig and how he loses his temper again😭😭), Hirako (HIS BANKAI SO COOL, Ep 3), Kyoraku (I missed him), Zaraki( AHHHH I LOVE THIS GUY, his fight with the imagination guy was sooooo Cool), Akon (doing god's work in the tough times lol), Hisagi (the 69 guy, why they portray him so weak idk), Sajin(felt bad for him fr, but the Bankai was noiceeeee), Kon (for giving us those random snippets in the end, where they had to get undressed and Rukia can't help but get worried about Byakuya having to go through the same embarassment, cute lol, you know this means that Ichigo went through that too)
Also side note but I really like Nimaiya. He's so cool and unhinged and random. Is nice.
The only question I have honestly is why'd they dress up Orihime like this, like, it's just, weird. No hate, but what is this😭😭😭
Also, snippets of Ichigo because I've missed him soooooo much.
Ichigo blushing🤌☀️
#writeblr#tumblr#random#anime#writeup#anime episodes#anime recommendation#bleach#bleach thousand year blood war#bleach tybw#bleach toshiro#bleach ichigo#ichigo kurosaki#ichigo#kurosaki ichigo#orihime inoue#inoue orihime#uryu ishida#ishida uryuu#bleach yoruichi#kisuke urahara#bleach urahara#urahara kisuke#squad zero#oetsu nimaiya#genryusai shigekuni yamamoto#toshiro hitsugaya#yhwach#sternritter#soul society
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Carmen Week Day 5: AU
AWW YE HERE WE GO BOIS I HAVE BEEN SO HYPED FOR THIS ONE! Sorry its a bit late lol
Anyways--
Last Wolf is very near and dear to me, it was the first fic I actually had the confidence to write, but Thief's Guide is almost completely my own. It's not based off of another series, pretty much all the worldbuilding and plot is mine. Last Wolf still follows the timeline and plot of the original show (changed and added to of course, but the original show is the backbone.
A Thief's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is exactly what it sounds like lol. Carmen and her friends surviving in an apocalypse while on the run from VILE and ACME, complete with a dope soundtrack.
And Julethief of course :) because i love them
This is definitely an AU I wanna write down, I promise. Uhh maybe when I get this chapter of Last Wolf out I'll start??? Maybe. We'll see lol.
Feel free to drop me an ask about it! or last wolf too lol.
Dope soundtrack:
if the song came out during or before 1986ish, then its probably something the characters would listen to (namely Carmen, jamming to cassettes she scavenges on her Walkman). anything after that would just be soundtrack/credits music if it was a show.
uhhh story info under the cut lol
Around the mid 1980s, Dr. Bellum's unnamed predecessor was experimenting with a virus that, well, turned people into zombies. The test run soon got out of hand, however, and the virus quickly spread to the entire world.
Technology pretty much stays the same. Radios, paper maps, Walkmans, stuff like that. Music and TV obviously aren't getting widespread release anymore, so anything that came out past like, 1986 doesn't exist.
(Wow Fluffy that's so unrealistic there's no way people wouldn't quarantine themselves to stop it-- *looks at 2020* nevermind)
VILE uses it as a power grab, offering people shelter, food, etc. in exchange for joining. Fun.
There's incredible amounts of chaos and violence for the first decade or so, until late 1999 when VILE faculty member Dexter Wolfe is assumed to have been caught and killed.
Two things happen: ACME arises as a direct rival to VILE, and VILE acquires a certain Black Sheep.
ACME wants to find a cure. VILE wants the apocalypse to keep going so they stay in power. VILE and ACME are both much more well known.
Black Sheep grows up in a VILE compound, learning all her important thief skills of course, as well as the skills needed to survive the apocalypse: Firearms, bows, blades, living in the wilderness, etc etc. Pretty much anything you can think of needing to know in the apocalypse, Carmen learned when she was like six lol.
She officially enrolls at about 15, and escapes at 16.
Eventually she figures out VILE wants the apocalypse to keep going and escapes into the night on horseback, with Cookie Booker's stolen hat and coat.
She's on the run for a while and eventually winds up in Ontario, where she meets a recently orphaned 12 yr old Player. The two become fast friends and pretty much grow up together over the next few years. Carmen is very protective of Player and teaches him how to survive in case anything happens to her.
They make their way to Boston, pick up Zack and Ivy, and Team Red is complete! (for now)
Along the way they eventually acquire our favorite grumpy ninja, Carmen's favorite ACME agent, an aussie electrician and a couple more surprise people ;)
Carmen also discovers she may be the key to ending the apocalypse, but is ACME really what they say they are?
#fluffytheocelot#fluffy’s art#carmenweek#carmen sandeigo 2019#drawing#digitalart#procreate#carmen sandiego#art#zombie apocolypse au#a thief's guide to the zombie apocalypse au#julethief
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hey, if you could make your own nancy drew game, what would it be about, what would be the plot, and what would be like the fun minigame?
What a lovely question! Thank you, for asking.
Hmm, let me see. So many things I’m interested in, have already been done within the games!
That being said, I think I’d have Nancy visit somewhere completely new! It would be cool for her to go to Russia and search out some fabled Romanov treasure. She could play off her mother’s espionage legacy. Not quite as emotionally heavy as SPY (obviously, Russia is a serious place and the Romanovs are a tragedy), but something more diplomatic. Assisting the United Staes with foreign affairs sort of thing, via The Network (formally ATAC). Of course, the Hardy Boys would be helping, as Network agents.
I’d make the plot revolve around exploring the Russian palaces the Romanovs inhabited. Trying to find the treasure so the USA stays on Russia’s good side or something to that effect. A peace mission, if you will; return the treasure to Russia and, in return, smooth the ruffled feathers, between the two nations. There is trouble lurking about, though…whispers of a KGB rebirth that might threaten Nancy’s mission…
The tensions of strained relations, a murdered royal family, the infamous Rasputin, dark, mysterious, nighttime Gypsy camp visits, and possible fascist regime uprising add to the spook/goosebump factor in this game.
You could go to multiple a palaces with different clues and puzzles…because I can’t get enough of castles and old buildings, in these games! Each location would give clues, until you find the hidden treasure. Featured puzzles would include: A Russian nesting doll puzzle, a Romanov family portrait slider puzzle, a mystical trinkets puzzle in Rasputin’s hidden lair, a playing a balalaika (a Russian instrument) puzzle, a Romani/Gypsy tarot card puzzle (GET OUT OF HERE, RICHARD TOPHAM), etc. I’d also have Nancy do some crazy side task with a beautiful, intimidating, female, ex-Olympic figure skater (please, stop thinking about Yanni, this is different okay?), where you have to do a series of intricate taps, using your keyboard arrows, to land ice skating moves and gain her respect.
As far as a mini game goes, Nancy would have to to cook and decorate blinis (Russian pancakes), as her undercover job. She’s a history major exchange student, working on an internship and trying to fund her schooling (thanks for the hookup, Network!). This gives her an alibi for snooping, in historical areas.
I’d have the game set in winter, because I like the coziness of a snowy game and…WELL. IT IS FLIPPING RUSSIA.
You know the soundtrack would go hard, with some traditional Russian-inspired music.
Anyways. Just some thoughts, off the top of my head. 🇷🇺🌨️🪆
Annnnnd since I’m so visual…some inspo:
#why not have Nancy Drew stop an arms race? 😂#nancy drew#her interactive#clue crew#nancy drew pc games#the hardy boys#russia#Romanov#Rasputin
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THE GAME IS DONE aside from some art :)
free to play and yes i know its on google docs im sorry I had no idea where else to upload this to, it had too many files for itch :(
for those who don't know yet this is my mermay video game! just a game im trying to make over the course of mermay as a challenge thing me and a few of my readers are doing in the discord chat to make a cool creative concept for mermay. mines based on the prompt 'marine biologist'
In this game you play as a sort of go-between for merfolk and human relations at an aquarium that often helps merfolk in need in the area as well as doing other aquarium duties
Its a visual novel and it has a LOT of endings and I will state theres special endings and diologue you get based on whether or not you laugh at Nikko's jokes at the beggining.
It's my first full game and I admit its also the thing that got me trying to do backgrounds. expect later releases to include visual changes and better art as well as improved sprites
theres a lil game in there like dressing up your little guys (sadly i cant figure out how to keep them in the costumes you put them in but at least you can put them in cute outfits) (you later unlock more options as well as another character to dress up by the second time going shopping)
and lots of fun antics with the characters :)
you do have to go down every route to get all the lore
and unlike most dating sims you dont really have the usual setup for building character relationships its more so a chose your own adventure style dating sim
theres a platonic route thats fully fleshed out too and is meant to be just as compelling as the romantic routes and the game is ENTIRELY SFW though there is mention of murder and possible cannibalisim amongst merfolk. mention of large storms. but its mostly a chill game where you get to befriend merfolk and your human companions
theres nikko, the human marine biologist who loves puns and is trying his best to be your friend
Nanonari the moon jellyfish emperor of the waters who has lost all faith in himself
and ketsueki the strange black tipped reef shark terrestrial biologist and human researcher
he cries a lot please be gentle with him
If any other game developers or gamers know good websites for uploading your games (pay or for free) where theres an in browser feature especially id love that. I'm considering using GOG since I prefer their business practices (from what little ive seen) for things (if you havent checked out gog its just as legitimate as steam , ea games, etc. but it doesnt do the stuff with forcing you to be online to play, if i remember correctly its also the only place you can really get acess to the spore online services properly anymore (or easily? i think) and just generally feels a lot friendlier
things the game needs now:
more soundtracks
more sound effects (considering trying to record myself playing my trusty slide whistle for several, several things ketsueki does. that shark just will not stop moving-)
I really hope you like it, if you play please comment below on your thoughts!
#anime#manga#marine biologist#mermay#video game#indie game#black tipped reef shark#moon jellyfish#dating sim#datingsim#vn#visual novel#renpy#indie dev#game development#indiegamedev#mygame#new developer
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> Issues I have with you/occult / world < *long post* do not read if you don't want to waste your time < a subjective analysis of Astrology, numerology, manifestation, and a subtle exposé of my life
I got issues... but more importantly i got issues with you. I do a lot of research n i hate being told what to do/ and the occult gotta habit of telling me who tf i am.
and Im better at telling myself who tf I am.
THIs is who i am. <^> stop googly eyin me; foo
This is a fkn mess of a post > try your best to read; it was meant to be a story but im incapable > I just want you to have headache (me after reading this shit 20 times or whatever it is)
i;m tired. now go away. or read. or die in a hole. all the same to me.
astrology is a subjective subject. IDGAF how many books youve read or how many people you speak too; we are literally looking at a planet in space and are saying shit liek " oh im dat type of pretty (venus), im dominant over here (mars), and thats why my life sux (saturn) " meanwhile, the planet still just rotating and we like acting like we apart of its orbit.
Its objectively a subjective subject... > its objective only in your natal chart - where the planets are etc.... but interpretations > subjective
Sidenote-
Im obsessed with astrology.... because my life sucks. and i need to like feel productive somehow - stfu i know this isnt productive, but tell me what you doing? don't act all jiminy cricket on me, when your soundtrack is that of a cricket
beginning of rant
Also: the mythology and practise of intepretating planets and asteroids, and well the complicated drama that is greek/roman mythology. while there is plenty of overlap, the sheer concept of 2 different intepretations created upon from, 2 seperate cultures, creates different texts and slight differences inherent within each story. this initself creates a subjective intepretation of aforementioned stories > not to mention other cultures who likely put their own narrative of these mythos > it allows us to also intepret it in our own way > it is all just imagination at the end of the day. Whilst the themes are uncannily similar, the form is always different, and thats why I like to intepret it in my own way, and i recommend you do tooo (Alike everything in this subject) ; however we need some clear rules, and guidelines, to make this subject actually palatable, but i fear this community would rather keep it confusing so we can treasure the secrets of the occult on our own. and to that I do understsnd, however, anyone reading tumblr astrology, I believe to already be taking that leap into the occult and should be granted at least some introductory access.
and here is (1) problem
Astrology signs are the how, and the houses are the where, > yet you all describe 2nd house a whole lot like tuarus, 10th house lot like capricorn. I mean Ik its similar but yall acting like its different yet your intepretations aint all dat different from each other..... but if the how for you is the where for me, then how tf is it so hard for me to see the differences?… if there is such a startling difference like yall always claim..
to me the themes are so fkn similar whereby > i think its the same > degree, house, sign; same shit diff smell
This however made 4 years ago me, very insecure.:.. 😢I couldn’t figure out the difference and I felt dumb 🤧 but That was 4 years ago - I was noob…. made me realize things like:
we got an attitude problem today - we youngins always apologizing, trying to make others comfortable about our bullshit (Anxiety skill issue), yet the old fucks are hella comfortable telling us what to do (authority skill issue), like bro. you dont even know me, and im supposed to bow to you, just so your gonna bread crumb me with some bs self professed 'useful' advice??? if you talked to each other youd realize you all have the same advice... and you too old to keep up with my problems, so stop acting like you know.....
and so like uh, its not bold of me to say that; if your a legit astrologer you know you can just read people. yes everyone has free will, and other explanations to undermine the importance of astrology, but we know whats going on > try me > *sales pitch noise*<
Tumblr astrology is good but not proffesional, just: posts about random asteroids, random observations, random sexytime, and the occasional ‘official’ astrologers bread crumbing us to incentivize us to pay for a reading…. Now I got nothing better to do with my life (nor do you clearly) so we all on here fucking around> but I made da sacrifice > I spent real money
And these 'readings' > dog shit I tell ya > oh don’t worry none of them were from tumblr people. But people in my city and they knew less than what I knew (from reading your tumblr shits)
So it turns out you guys lowkey experts - we done a million random astrology observations - and if your a lurker, you lowkey know more than some pros; and da concept of analyzing people in your life with astrology has made you a *drum roll* > an average astrologer. your not average, if the experts are only 20% better than you (lets say).
so with this in mind your not that far off their expertise.. oh you cant measure it? tell me what i dont know < (tell me more) IM HUNGRY, MORE POSTS, MY FEED IS FUCKInG HUNGRY
Now however wasting my money > pissed me off… but its a blessing, becasuse i became >.....> not depressed!!! Finally I got my energy back >>> legs go...
So I learned to read astrology. I just kept reading these websites and interpreting them and well.. I think they overcomplicate a lot of things, and they say it like a report card, when obviously you and I are multiple planets, aspects, houses, degrees, house lords, persona charts, midpoints, asteroids, not to mention composite, synastry, transits solar return , and all da other fkn ones that I cannot be bothered mentioning. Yet there’s a whole fucking essay about one aspect… like bro you couldn’t make a summary? and im supposed to read each of my other aspects? (ofc i did) but like this is just trying to make me spend money (too much reading) and well Im a greedy little fuck so imma drain your resources and not give you a dime >t > SWIPER NO SWIPING <
and i hate watching people trynna act like they know shit yet eat their own words n adjectives like you aint a professional; you just labeled yourself one > wheres your doctorate at bitch? Had enough shitty readings to not trust another 'tarot reader', but its cool the 'psychologists' aint did much better > thank you mother for the birth of my existence but shi dis place a fkn willy wonkin fsctory - and its foul - most places that try to help you that is.... ' you need to be able to receive help' bitch stfu yall underestimsting my problems and overestimating your ability to make me feel better; BITCH I STFG you dont know shiiiiitiittttttttttt > and yall look happy dont you > "dont trust a bartender who dont drink bitch" - KanYe.
Numeroloy 'master numbers' > So many sites only use master numbers from 11 > 22 > 33... but wheres the 44? the 55? the 66??????
dont tell me yall didnt realize that every 'master number' still reverts back to each number (9). > 11 =2, 22 = 4, 33=6, 55 = 1, 66 = 3, 77=5..... bro god stsyed outta this mess clearly..... and its always the ones that be inventing new gods that fuck everything too 🤫
furthermore annoyances of numerofuckology - because they reduce the number back down.. .e.g. you have life path 89 > which is simplified to 17 > then to 8.... why not use 89? why we dissin 9 ????? let alone the complete number??? why not intepret both numbers together???? yall just wanna do 1 because your simple with it. and 9 getting left out fr... and yall always celebrating how special 9 is yet he always left out (magic of math - adding 9 - always reverts back to original) honestly - sometiems its so obvious why yall became numerologists sometimes......
Dont even get me started on ANGEL NUMBERS i could neva stfu
i mean yall still trying to test how true it all is, but if you throw a fish at a pisces they gonna go all googly eye on you. tell a scorpio that you intimidated and now your their favourite informant... read their life path number, and you know what they wanna be doing with their life.... i mean it really is a key, and yall locks are looser than you think... watch yo back.. i wouldnt trust someone who can help me (what do they even want), let alone get help from someone who is useless; why would you? dont act like you dont have trust issues, its like our way of relating to each other at this point.
your good at sex if you have.... what about the other person? i mean if you masterbate to yoself maybe.... but if a composite chart / synastry have say - chiron eros? pluto saturn? mars dejanira.... how much are you gonna be fucking yourself when you fucked a dirty fucka..... rip virginity - and rip yo self esteem - dangerous game to value your sex appeal as much as you do...... or maybe your living a fantasy on the internet, and that is healthier, but thoughts are manifestations.... oh shit what da fuck have i manifested oh shitttttttttt IM BEING SUCKED IN A VORTEX OF MY OWN SHIT, SOMONE CALL A MANIFESTOR AGHJH AGJJGH
please dont be offended, i do like this community; im just a devils advocate... sometimes 👹
you guys put too muhc importance on manifeststion, and i mean if you think its facts, look at what the people around you are manifesting.... OH thats why you isolate so much. so your manifesting loneliness.... oh you try to help people, so your just a trash can for a rubish person.... you see what i mean, manifestation aint so clear cut as you seem to believe. I believe in it, but Im so used to receiving crap, I learned to enjoy eating shit (we all did) and what is "one mans trash is another mans soap" - fight club
Oh and Pluto my favourite - every curse a blessing and every blessing a curse.... stop complaining > he gave you the sauce and the only way to show you was to make you cry > lil bitch > pluto profile pic winking at you rn
natal > persona > midpoint > composite > synastry > transit > return charts
this is the offical order governed by me-
so much more imporatnt to understand yourself over what the world got installed / what your partner doing - work on yo insecurities rather than be worried about something you have no control ova
hmmm thats all the issues i have for now.... just look at me as the boy who cried wolf. they aint a wolf here yet; but they gonna be, and im warning yall > why people dont get it...its because there are too many contradictions > but i fully believe, ive had so many spiritual experiences where if i denied them, id be drinking alcohol and pretending i aint a alcoholic. and i do love yall, but sometimes your an eye roll
29th post requires. 29 degree typa energy - YOlo MOfo
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A Comprehensive List of my Thoughts on Elemental (STILL WITH SPOILERS!)
So here's the rundown I promised of my feelings toward Elemental
SPOILERS BELOW PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
The Good
The music--I found it memorable and unique; the main theme had soft vocalizations that felt almost ethereal, like it was an ancient hymn. I also found the song that played during the montage of Ember and Wade's dates catchy and fun. It was pretty great soundtrack imho.
The design of the world--I really loved how they creators took into account how all these different elements would move and interact in the city. It made the setting feel, for lack of a better term, more "real" to me. It also set up some of Ember's conflict as a Fire element living in a city that wasn't made with her people in mind.
The designs of (most of*) the characters--for the most part, the characters looked unique and, even better, they looked like average people (for lack of a better term) to me; call me a sap or whatever, but I've always preferred characters that have all the "flaws" of average folks than the ones that look like some iteration of "perfect," they just feel more relatable to me I guess. I also found it fun to see how design features such as "hair" were incorporated in the characters and how those same features varied between the elements. If there's one thing I can consistantly praise Pixar for it's for not being afraid to play around with design.
The animation---I loved how the characters moved and interacted in the world. The felt like living things and I appreciated that.
Wade and Ember are adults implied to be in their mid-to-late 20s--This is probably just a me thing, but I find it nice when I see shows where the protagonists aren't adolescents or barely-18 young adults going through some sort of coming-of-age scenario; there's nothing wrong with those kinds of stories of course, I just find them a bit boring and over-done myself. That and whenever I see films like that it always feels like they're insinuating that people over XYZ age can't be protagonists, so I tend to avoid them these days. On a related note, here are some other reasons why I like that Ember and Wade are adults: a) They both still live with their parents but neither of them is shamed or mocked for it--I've seen waaaay too many "comedies" that pick fun at the "25-year-old-living-in-their-mom's-basement" so I found it nice to not have to sit through that kind of "joke" again, b) Neither of them have got their lives "figured out" yet--Wade's gone through multiple jobs, and Ember's just begun to understand what she actually wants for her life--as someone who's gone through multiple jobs, earned 2 bachelor's degrees and is in the process of getting a master’s, and is still trying to make sense of their life, I found their struggles extremely relatable; it's nice to see adult protagonists be allowed to struggle with figuring out who they are and what they want to be, c) They're allowed to have fun and goof off--in a lot of films I've seen, the adult characters are always depicted as being so serious and "boring" it's nice to see adult characters actually have fun and enjoy life.
Ember' relationship with her parents, specifically her father--I found the interactions they had very sweet and moving; it made Ember's conflict between choosing to take over her father's shop or pursue her romance with Wade all the more relatable, imo.
How Ember and Wade's romance developed--it wasn't a love-at-first-sight kind of thing; they actually had to spend time interacting and getting to know each other before they fell in love--and most importantly, they showed us on the actual screen how/when they started to fall for each other. They went on dates, opened up to each other, fought with each other, etc--all the things that normal relationships have; while sure, there's still an aspect of "forbidden romance" to their relationship, it's more subtle and in the background than the trailers implied it would be. It also doesn't end with marriage and kids--they leave together for Ember’s internship and it’s implied that they’ve moved in together but that’s all; idk I thought it was nice that they could just be a couple.
The Bad
1. The blink-and-miss representation LGBTQ+ representation--I've gotten reeeeeeaaaally tired of how LGBTQ+ characters are treated in films; to clarify, there's a scene where Wade introduces Ember to his family and he introduces her to his youngest sibling, Lake (who is described as being nonbinary in supplemental materials) and her/them girlfriend, Ghibli. Lake's identity as nonbinary is a bit ambiguous in the film (Wade does refer to them as his youngest sibling, but that's all we get--without the tie-in material it's to mistake them for being WLW). Further, between them Lake and Ghibli have at most 2-3 lines in the entire movie--like I appreciate that us LGBTQ+ are being recognized and put in films, but I'm tired of all our rep always being the side characters that hold no weight in the story; I think they can start making shows with LGBTQ+ leads now, thank you.
2. Wade's fake death--I'm not a fan of having characters (and the audience) go through huge, life-changing events only to have the events "fixed" and everything be all hunky-dory again--imo, it's a cheap trick to manipulate the audiences' emotions at best, and at worst, it's a disrespectful act that not-to subtly implies that the audience "can't handle" seeing the characters go through heavy stuff. I'm a firm believer that if you're going to have your characters go through something as serious as having one die on screen you need to commit to it--you need to take it seriously, pulling a 180 and undoing all that development is cliche to the point of annoyance. Now, I'm not saying I wanted Wade to die, I'm not even saying that I think he should have stayed dead--what I'm saying is that I don't think there should have ever been a "death" scene in the film at all--there are plenty of other ways they could have had Ember realize her feelings for Wade/be honest with her father.
Mixed Feelings Section
1. Ember and Wade's designs*--it's not that they're terrible or anything, but they are a bit generic imo. In comparison to their family members and the background characters, they both have that "typical protagonist" look that I find a bit cliche
2. Wade's family being 'good' rich people who don't mind that Wade's in love with Ember vs Ember's father who spends most of the film being aggressively anti-water--I'm kind on the fence with this tbh; on the one hand, if both sides had been against Ember and Wade's relationship, I feel it would have put too much emphasis on the romance and taken away Ember's story as the child of immigrants, and it's not like Wade's family weren't bigoted at all--they threw plenty of micro-aggressions at Ember when she first met them; that being said I do have to side-eye how they made the ones more accepting of fire people Wade's rich, probably-descendents-of-the-founders-of-Element-City family and made the one most aggressively against water people Ember's immigrant-built-his-family-a-home-and-business-from-scratch father. Idk, it feels iffy to me.
3. Most of the Wade and Ember's interactions takes place within a week--As much as I felt that their romance was pretty well-paced, I can't deny that they still fell for each other very quickly--I get that the main plot point had set it up that they only had a week to fix the broken water-spill doors, but I don't know why it had to be a week; why couldn't it have been a couple of weeks or a month? It would have made a lot more sense both for the romance and the main plot, but I digress, I still found their relationship adorable.
4. The experiences of immigrants is homogenized--The culture of the fire people draws on a lot of different types of immigrants, the Irish, different Asiatic groups, maybe some Middle Eastern groups, etc--and while I appreciate that the story was about immigrants and experiences they share in common I also felt a bit iffy about taking all these different cultures and merging them together. I feel it would have been better they made the fire people's culture more of a unique entity than a combination of cultures.
Like I said before, I highly recommend this movie; it's cute and tugs at your heart-strings.
#Elemental#Pixar Elemental#Wade Ripple#Ember Lumen#TNC analyzes animated movies#Elemental 2023 spoilers#Elemental spoilers#I don't know if there'll be a sequel or anything#but I think there's enough there that a potential sequel could work#if nothing else I can see these characters having a successful cartoon series or some shorts#I realize these aren't the first adult characters that Pixar has had as protagonists#Mr. Incredible#Mrs. Incredible/elastigirl#Mr. Fredrickson#Joe Gardner#etc#but it's still rare enough that I appreciate it when I see it
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Any favorite Car Games™ of yours? Forza, GT, Beam, Automation, etc.?
Auto/Beam are particular favorites of mine and also i have 10,000 hours logged between them
Since I wasn't a spoiled bitch, I can literally just list all the car games I had in my childhood. All for PC that is, because since I wasn't a spoiled bitch I didn't have a console. Okay actually there was NFS Carbon: Own The City and Herbie for DS but that was it. We were saying.
Colin McRae Rally 04
You've no idea what pain I brought to those poor little cars. Frequently I got to the end of one of those 2/4m stages with the car dying every 10/15 seconds.
Such a good game.
It also ran without having to insert its CD, which was very cool at the time, and very useful when I was gaming on the go on Father's Dell. idk if I also played it on his Toshiba but no such memory surfaces. Man I loved Father's Toshiba. I should try to retrofit it with new internals sometime.
Colin McRae Rally 2005
Liked that one too, but memories are hazier since at one point I was no longer able to play it for reasons I cannot recall so I just moved to 04 instead.
Test Drive Unlimited
Got it recommended and didn't like it much. In hindsight it was an absolutely gorgeous game structure, but I just didn't care because I didn't like the way the cars drove. It collected dust.
Race Driver GRID
For a long while, by far the latest racing game I ever had. Enjoyed it quite a lot! I even submitted an absolutely incredible gameplay clip to FailRace, though unfortunately it never did get featured. Bullshit, I say.
And yes, for the longest time, I think until like 2020?, I had one single game that was younger than '06. See the part about not being a spoiled bitch. <-absolutely green with envy
GT Legends
Played it a little during my youth, then tried to reinstall it years later to see if it lived up to my few memories of it and if I could get more out of it then by being less of a stupid baby.
It corrupted the entire operating system and made the computer unable to start. A solid "no" to both.
And of course, who could forget, the Need For Speed series! In their chronological order:
Need For Speed Underground
In my early childhood I didn't play it much, because I was still using the auto gearbox like a PLEB and you couldn't map controls in that game so when I got to the first drag race I couldn't figure out where the shift up key was nor could find it or remap it in settings and just abandoned the game. It should be noted as a child I was, in absolute, cosmically stupid. Later on I did pick it back up and see it to completion, loving it throughout (except for the part where you unlock the final boss' Civic you were neck and neck with on an R34 Skyline GT-R and they tell you it was stock. Sure honey now if you wait how did this bag of Fuck Off get here?). If only it had free roam, more races, a more varied environment, refillable NOS, the ability to have different cars simultaneously, and you get where I'm going with this don't you.
Need For Speed Underground 2
Man I loved this game since I started playing it at some ridiculously low age and I never stopped loving it and I was right throughout. I love love LOVE this game.
I know the map by heart, the soundtrack by heart, the circuits by heart, the upgrades by heart, the starter cars specs by heart, you have no idea. This has been my childhood. This is by far and away the one I played and loved the most, even though due to the needlessly convoluted and completely obscure progression mechanics that childhood never saw me finish it - although I guess that helped me keep playing it, as when I got stuck with no way to progress further I'd just start from scratch again with no clue what to fix.
I was able to pick it back up and finish it later on in life, through middle/high school, and later on still through the power of mods I squeezed and crushed and stretched that game like Tumblr did with Danny Phantom episodes. I modded it so much it crashed every ten minutes. I ran it off an iPod Nano. I messed the cars up so bad I'd essentially created new game modes. I managed to make a good desktop computer over a decade younger than the game itself run it at seconds per frame just by editing four wheel coordinates.
And now you spoiled bitches can download it for free on somewhere like MyAbandonware (dot com, of course) and give it a try. And I can't recommend it enough. Literally; because if I could, friend of the blog @demoness-one would have done so by now >:(
Need For Speed Most Wanted
The best Need For Speed game of all time, according to everyone.
Everyone but me.
I mean, I did go through it, but it looks bleak, the cars just seem to want to bounce from wall to wall, and I just don't like police chases - it's a game, why would I want a limited number of attempts? Also, they madly stressed me out, so, and here begins a funny story, I abandoned it when unable to rack up enough chase points to challenge the final boss. I picked it back up a while later to find out if it was just me being a baby, and no, I still didn't like it - but luckily I'd learned of the bug where if you park on a certain railing all the cop cars will pile up under you but never bust you, and decided to actually finish what I'd started so long before.
Those points racked up, I worked myself through the good hour of bullshit unfairness of the duel with Razor (I have to win every race to win but he can win any race to win? Understandable. hey the bag of Fuck Off's back), even quitting the whole shebang three races in over a wrong input and having to start again, until, after hours of unsaveable progress, I finally was able to win the last race. And did you know that after that, just when you think you're done, you get the biggest, most intense car chase of the whole game? :) Well, I sure didn't, because right after I finished the race the game crashed and I had to do all those five races over again. :) And then I did that and it crashed again and I uninstalled the game and watched the ending on YouTube. :)
Need For Speed Carbon
The takes get hotter still: I like this one more than MW.
The colors got fixed, I liked the handling better (while obviously not as good as the mighty Underground 2 OF COURSE), drifting, my favorite race mode, replaced drag racing, my least favorite*, and yes, the car chases, and I may even like the soundtrack better? Nah, that's bull, I don't remember much of those two soundtracks at all off the top of my head. But I saw this one to the end and enjoyed it very much.
*For the unaware, in every NFS game I played in my childhood, drag races did not give you steering control - to avoid traffic or obstacles, you tapped the arrow keys and the car would switch lanes. So you told the car to move out the way and if it did, good, if it instead took too long and/or had an unappealable loss of control and crashed automatically terminating your race, too bad.
There were also a couple other games there's not much to say about (Ford Streetracing, loved it, V-Rally 3, I think it had some issues and I never did play it, London Racer World Challenge, I recall nothing)... and now we move on to the car games I played since.
Assetto Corsa
I've only ever dabbled in it a couple of times, but it's very fun when it works. My hardware is limiting on this front and I think I've some config issues, but when I'll have time to solve those I will be very glad to jump into it - especially because I really love driving simulators. Where with other games you kind of need some external validation of how hard it was to win with the tools the computer gave you -because it's not inherently cool that you beat a game, it was made to be beaten from the start- proper simulators just chuck you into an experience where no accommodation has been made for you (short of the damage level set, that is) and whatever you manage in it is your own accomplishment, not something the game let you accomplish. And on that note...
Richard Burns Rally
This game is absolutely fucking incredible. "It's a 2004 game, how engaging a driving experience can it be" enough to make many still call it the best rally simulator out there and one of the best driving simulators period. Enough to motivate thousands of people to keep making a plethora of mods for it every day (which i've never been able to make work lol). Enough to make me seriously recommend buying yourself a wheel with force feedback* just to play this abandonware game (because using anything but a wheel for it is like using anything but a spoon for soup).
And to be clear, this game is HARD. It just gives you a brief but extremely good rundown of how to master the driving basics and then have fun around rally stages where, again, the road has not been widened for you, the ditches not been filled, the car has not been programmed not to roll over too easily… essentially, the main way in which they are substantially easier than driving them IRL is the luxury of trial and error. So when, through however many days of trial and error it'll take you, you finally glide through those bumps smoothly enough to wipe the red off that time delta, this commercial flop the dozen-people-team from the Animaniacs GBA game developed when RAM was measured in megabytes becomes the most exhausting, intense, rewarding experience a computer has ever provided me. And a computer has gotten me laid.
*I recommend the Logitech G25s, found for well under a dub, and the G27s, a small revision of the G25 with more buttons and a better shifter usually found for not much more (I found mine for 80!). They're from 2004 and 2010 respectively, and the wheel Logitech sells today is just a G27 with more buttons which says it all about how good a budget wheel it is.
TrackMania Nations Forever
I hate this game, I fucking despise this game.
"Alright, it's the same game we made two years ago with new tracks, and it has no story, opponents, traffic, cutscenes, or really any dynamic beyond checkpoints, a finish and a timer. But even still, there are so many fun mechanics to master anyway, like jump distance control, which you hopefully figure out you have because it's not like there is any tutorial to tell you! Or drifting, which is necessary to beat the best time in one of the last levels - you do it by pressing brake, accelerator and a steering direction simultaneously. Hope you randomly decide to do it autonomously to see what happens and find out that can be faster! And if you don't have a specialized keyboard with more than the normal 2 key rollover, hopefully something possessed you to map one of those controls to a completely different keyboard zone than all the others, or pressing all three will make only two register and you never will find this out!
But at least not making any tutorials or the likes and keeping the interface absolute garbage allowed us to have the driving on absolute lock! Well, except for that bug where if you take the fastest line through a corner your car may decide to ragdoll and fuck your run. Oh and also the one where if you land a jump on all four wheels you may randomly lose your speed. Good luck!"
I now get why they hate French people.
Unfortunately, as for a lot of destructive hatred of mine, it manifests in yet more determination to conquer the little shit.
I've gotten author times on every single one of the tracks except the last one, not because it's eight times longer than by far the second longest at an entire goddamn hour but because I wanted an effort that lengthy to be a special occasion and that never manifested. ...Maybe a stream?
Actually, I visited MyAbandonware to check the NFSU2 page and apparently they include a mod that puts the uncensored edits of the songs in the soundtrack and honestly I hella want to play it again just to hear that, so that could also be a cool stream idea if it wasn't a criminal deed to play copyrighted music on stream (I've not kept up with that whole mess, can you do it if you don't keep a VOD?). Or I could stream myself playing Richard Burns Rally and make you go "oh this is HARD hard".
Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!
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Please get started on lightning returns lmao
[sputters and laughs] This is the funniest ask I've ever gotten, partially because I don't think you know what you're uncorking here, anon. I do try to keep negativity off this blog nowadays, but I'll oblige you this one time.
Salt beneath the cut, click at your own risk, dead dove: do not eat, etc etc.
Naturally, given how central Lightning is to this game, most of my grievances are with how she was treated and written, though I'll quickly note my other problems with the game:
The fanservice obvs. :U
The combat. Why did we do things like replace the fully functional stagger gauge with the weird audio waveform readout? Seems like a strange choice when XIII-2 had actually made noticeable improvements in terms of accessibility during combat (larger health bars, more readable text, etc).
The incredibly discordant and hard-on-the-ears soundtrack.
I don't usually harp on graphics because I don't really care about how pretty or "realistic" a game looks, but when the dev company boasts that this game is the "most complete and polished" in the Final Fantasy series (not the trilogy, the entire series), and then we get... copy-pasted trees... well, let's just say that that's objectively not the case.
The fact that all of the previous main protagonists don't play more prominent roles in this final installment of the trilogy is abysmal, and this goes twice for Sazh whose "character arc" has been recycled twice now.
The fact that we lose this wonderful world we've spent the past two games exploring and growing attached to is also abysmal! I hate stories where we lose magic at the end, separate the found family, etc etc. and LR is guilty of all of that. It's such a kick in the teeth.
Here's what I did enjoy about this game:
Masculine outfits. They all look great on her. And even better is when you run by NPCs and half the time they can't figure out her gender! (Really furthers the enby!Lightning headcanon I have for this game in particular.)
The fact that you can have Lightning take a jab at Etro during Noel's main quest lmao.
The guy in Luxerion that sings the New Bodhum theme.
You get to pal around with Fang in the Dead Dunes.
...And that's it, that's all I enjoyed.
And now, what I really hate about LR and how they wrote Lightning in general is... Lumina.
Do not get me wrong. I don't hate Lumina for superficial reasons like her personality or aesthetics. If she wasn't inherently tied to Lightning, I think I'd find her rather interesting. Her voice actor did a stellar job with her!
Instead, to me, Lumina's existence is a really hilarious admission from the writers they didn't know what to do with Lightning's character post-XIII. Lightning—who was shown in the first game to be incredibly self-aware, genre-savvy, and emotionally mature—gets reduced to a character that needs to have her "emotions" trot out in front of her as a little girl that harps on and harasses her for things like, I don't know, allegedly pushing her friends away?
Friends that never offer to help her in the first place, I might add. If they really wanted to drive home the idea that Lightning was being aloof, they had ample opportunities to do so. But instead all we ever have is Lumina telling us what Lightning's intentions supposedly are. Lazy writing at its finest!
Lumina also accuses Lightning of trying to be "as cold as the steel in [her] sword," which is a notion later tied to Lightning "locking away" her heart as a child which is just... a really funny retcon when you once again consider how emotionally mature she becomes in XIII.
We did this character arc before. And we did it to much better effect! The whole Lumina/Claire fiasco is one of the biggest walk-backs I've ever seen for a character's development, it's insane.
(I've already spoken at length about how Lightning's character is not the self-sacrificial type, either; you can search my blog for the word 'sentinel' if you want those posts.)
It's just sad, because there are ways they could've played with Lightning's character that would have made sense and been in line with the things she'd gone through up until this point. If you wanted to mess with her emotions, you could've written her as bitter, exhausted, and traumatized after her extended stint in Valhalla. This could have been a natural and compelling consequence of her time as Etro's guardian. It wouldn't have resulted in a terrible rehash of her first game's character arc either lmao.
Anyway there's a lot more I could say but I'm just gonna end it here. LR bad but could have been pretty good with a little effort, the end!
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Buying Buddy Daddies media from Japan
I’ve been getting asked about where to get Buddy Daddies anime/ soundtrack, I’ll try to help here~
I’ll always recommend CD Japan, I’ve used them for years without issue (ships internationally, so all my aussie mates, we’re covered!) >>>
*Currently it’s only available in Japan as far as I’ve seen.
What’s included:
Anime: Currently, (5th April) BD is in the production phase of the individual limited volumes. Most animes do this, it’ll be two or three episodes, some bonus booklets/ CDs/ dramas etc. Buddy Daddies will have 6 volumes, around ¥7000 ($70) each. There’s also some extra character cards and goodies, check the Buddy Daddies site for more on each individual bundle!
There are no English dub or subtitles for this release.
Bluray is region free.*
Not complete series.
*Im basing this from CD Japan, I actually can’t find specifics on the box or the site so I’ll update this post with a definitive answer when I figure it out
Soundtrack: Three soundtracks exist. One for the OP by the artist, one for the ED by the artist, and one that is the ED by the artist plus a bonus track of Kazuki and Rei doing a “Lofi remix cover”
They’re a CD only.
No english.
First edition bundle of ED+Cover version comes with a mini print.
The disc case is cardboardish.
That last line feels important just cus, well , it’s not the most protective thing in the world I discovered.
English anime/ complete series: As of yet, neither exist. Mainly because the English dub is still underway. I’ve found that it’s the American release that’ll combine the entire series and a booklet of some content found in the Japan release.
Vol 2 will release by the end of April, I recommend looking at the site for the rest of the release dates!
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Hi barbatus I love your music so much and idk if you have an ask blog, but I was really curious where you draw your inspiration? I love your music because it has all the harsh noises I crave but it isn't just pure chaos. All the sounds truly work so well together and every song is such an AMAZING, exciting, and exhilarating listen. I love listening to your music by itself but sometimes I'll relaunch the TPOF for some of those songs specifically so I can also revisit the scenes because the music you made just fits each scene so perfectly. I'm totally enamored with your music!!!! Do you get inspiration from the world around you? And what helps you "get into the zone" to make music? Thank you!!! :'33
THANK YOU YAHOO im so touched!!!!!! hahaha gosh honestly im still stunned about my stuff being enjoyed so much!
im trying to narrow down where specifically my inspo comes from, definitely im drawing a lot from 80s and 90s skinny puppy, even going as far as to hunt down sounds from the s900 to try & make a replica drum machine (used brilliantly on the Too Dark Park Album! check out the opening track Convulsion, theyre wringing the greasiest sounds out of the s900) im still not as precise or inventive as SP (and frankly haven’t gotten around to implementing film/radio/etc samples yet) but they’re a huge inspo for me, i feel like if you listen to anything off of the Bites album the line of inspiration becomes very clear
another big one is the soundtrack to rockstar’s game manhunt, which grotesquery-wise was an inspo torch i carried for decades but now im thrilled to have the inspo shine through my audio endeavors too. manhunt is so good lol the older & grimier-looking it gets the better it is
what else uhhh, there’s a fair bit of nine inch nails & tyler the creator in my more melodic stuff ive been doing recently as im trying to get Actual Chord Progression in there. (still a work in progress lol i think i figured out some fairly beautiful stuff but i wanna step it up into a proper journey instead of just loops!) early hocico also is a big one by way of disgusting noise with interesting melodic stuff but i have No idea what machines they were using, & frankly i wouldnt wanna try & imitate their early sound perfectly cus it’s so distinct to hocico lol. aaaaand what else….. dreamcrusher, coil (!!!!!!!), author & punisher, театр яда, susumu hirasawa, front 242, joy division, and the entire discography of swans (tho idk if the swans influence is audible at all honestly lol)
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what’s it like making a soundtrack for a tabletop podcast you’re on, where you’re not the GM?
how it generally works is:
for character themes, I go to the player in question (if it isn't me) and I go "okay I'm gonna try and hit such and such vibes and include such and such samples from your eidolon's namesake." and then I do that and I show them the draft and if they like it and Luke likes it I go ahead. this is in some ways "the easy part" (because a character leitmotif is a more specific vibe than just A Tone) and in some ways "the hard part" (...because a character leitmotif is a more specific vibe than just A Tone)
for non-character themes it's basically just. Luke is like "okay I need motifs for X Y and Z" and then I do those and he gives me feedback as the draft progresses.
in either case, I like to fool around with leitmotif whenever possible - I really got wacky with this in season two, with various themes that reflected or drew on each other -- e.g. "Familiarity," which adds elements of Quentin and Virginia's themes to a remix of Chili's theme -- mixing multiple samples together into one song, etc.
other than that it's pretty much the same as any other commission but there's A Lot More of it because of the scale of the project. I'd say it's comparable to making the entire soundtrack for a mid-sized indie game.
the one thing that I'd say is Very Different about making a soundtrack vs. making a single song is that I have to keep in mind how the songs will sound in relation to each other. so far the biggest challenge on that front has been Ska; it's very easy to create different vibes within a genre as broad as "pop" or "rock," and Disco is a really broad and wobbly category in some ways (esp. if you factor in stuff like italo-disco or funk or house and early techno), but it can be tricky to create a song that's "ska enough" without hitting a lot of similar beats. eventually I just went "well whatever I'll just use a pretty broad definition" which is why you get stuff like Naomi's theme, which is... well it's definitely got elements of rock and elements of reggae but I dunno if it's what most people would think of when they hear the word "ska" lol.
all that being said: it's fun as hell. I love working on music and it's really cool figuring out how all this stuff fits together, how I'm going to craft a lot of different vibes while also making it all feel suitable as character themes, you know? thank you music.
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