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monty-glasses-roxy · 1 month

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24 (What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?) for Roxy

Thanks for copying the question here buddy I appreciate that a lot (I can't load the post on my phone or my own blogs at all still)

Uhhhh honestly, Roxy's pretty different to a lot of my usual other blorbos. I could compare her to Labrys from Persona 4 Arena in a sense that they're both robots with horrible trauma that have been forced to do things they wouldn't dream of doing otherwise, but that doesn't feel like a great comparison ngl

I could compare her to a lot of blorbos though. Like Bracken from Ni No Kuni 2, Unit #024 and Labrys from Persona 4 Arena, for being chronically underutilized by the devs. Maybe PURL from Kuni 2 but PURL feels more... Like an opposite to Mimic? The first attempt at sentient AI in that world, determined to answer the question of what colour is the sky for herself... Only knows a few things, a child her closest friend, and accidentally takes over the wholeass factory in her attempts to see the sky again after like a decade of being deactivated. And also because the devs couldn't think of anything interesting for a new Broadleaf area so they wanted to make sure you did the wholeass factory again for some fucking reason.

Ohhh then again, I was watching those clips last night and Toothless and Hiccup made me think of Roxy and Cassie in an AU kind of way. Mostly because of the dogisms I like to give Roxy and because of several AUs that are more in line with How to Train Your D/ragon... (Put a slash in it to make extra sure I don't end up in any searches for that) So maybe Toothless? Maybe not?

Honestly I don't think I've ever liked a character that has shown much interest in their appearance before. Maybe Erza from Fairy T/ail? Looks cool and could kill you but has zero braincells whatsoever? Also very traumatised? Koromaru from P3 cause his persona is Cerberus and Roxy is the Cerberus to Mimic? And I can see her running around with a knife in her teeth? I dunno man that's a tough question

Ohhh there was also Blaze from the Sonic games! Not because of Roxy specifically, but because in coming up with a horse for her, many of the ideas for it was giving my Blaze vibes lmao. She has a horse in the Olympic games and it's pure white with light purple tack and possibly eyes I don't remember so yeah that kept popping to mind in coming up with a horse nsjsdj

And I suppose my OC Zephyr somewhat reminds me of her. That whole universe I made was started when I got so deep into a Pupcakes/Roxica Pirates AU that I decided to make it a whole thing and Zephyr is who Roxy in the story became. I like Zephyr she's very cool and has become very distinct from Roxy, but her roots are still there, ya know? I'll always remember where she started.

Jsisjsi I could associate Roxy with Disney's Bolt too just cause he's a superhero dog and a funny lil guy. And for some reason one of the OST tracks for the DS game will plague my mind for the rest of my days. Even though I'm thinking of every track but that one right now. It's the one for Bolt's part of the... Something Temple level. Bolivia? Belize??? I think it has a B in it... But anyway yeah Superdog! Hooray!

P03 from Inscryption too but mostly because it's tech themed, and I had that old AU where I drew her as the Scrybe of Technology. Inscryption is incredible btw I fucking love it. I suck at it apparently though. I got to Act 2 and played a fucking beefed up Ouroborus in the first stage of P03's fight like "oh I've got this fucker now!!" No I did not. I absolutely did that. Stoatal misplay. Could not have fucked that up more lmao anyone that's played or seen this game will know exactly what ended up happening there nsjdjdi I FORGOT okay?? I forgot!!!

BACK ON TOPIC yeah Roxy's a pretty different character to the norm for me. Genuinely can't think of anyone that might be similar to her enough for them to remind me of her if I saw them again. Maybe if I went back and watched the old My Little Pony from the fucking 70s or whatever, but it would just be the standard stereotype of "all girls care lots about their appearance and gasp in horror if you dirty a pretty dress" probably. You know the one. I do my best not to humour that shit in my own Roxy interpretation but it's hard to forget that's absolutely where her written personality stems from :/

#pop rox answers #long post #sorry i kept going off on one I've just had my meds and it's ramble forever time #yeah i fucking. hate that stereotype so much #like with an actual burning passion. maked my skin crawl.#i was a little autistic girl once and i hated it then #fucking. wisteria or however you spell her name from one of the old mlp movies did it best #it was the trope of a princess has to be pretty and a princess has to be prim and proper and a certain way #and she just fucked off to roll around in the mud and made everyone else a princess at the parade too because FUCK you lmao #i remember that film remarkably well lmao #the other one i remember was rarity from another film or at least i think that was her name. early 2000s pink unicorn #from the one where the colours are disappearing from the world. she was a lil shit i could relate lmao #okay i lied i remember all the ones i saw this shit was my thing as a lil kid lmao i remember when the schmooze was ourple #and made by three witches in a castle over a cliff and only the flutter ponies could stop it and there was this random girl for some reason #meghan and two kids i never cared for. north star i miss you. you did nothing i just thought you were neat #fucking BURGER SURPRISE!!! little shit!!!! literally saved the day by being an ass!!!#they had fun names ngl #anyway. i don't remember what i was talking about imma just post and hope for the best sorry or whatever #my blog my rules you're gonna suffer my meds with me hand in catdrugdeal hand

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miriamundertale · 9 months

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hi heres my current reading list for manga. still being updated. post is very very long so under a readmore. images are only if i have specific screencaps to help the big spam

Berserk

I guess it goes here now wtf. Curious where it goes but im not upset if it turns away from what i like. The last miura chapter was an ok open ending for me

Black clover

i originally started reading this due to it feeling like a good example of shounen as a genre with the good and the bad, and for a while was going to say its my "if you want to understand the genre just read it" rec but one piece has been here. just here 4 fun now

Bocchi the Rock!

Ill be blunt just watch the anime. I enjoy reading the manga but its pretty classical mid. mainlining shots of kikuri until the spinoff lands jokes on you im already blasted

Bocchi the Rock! Gaiden: Hiroi Kikuri no Fukazake Nikki

Hiroi spinoff This woman is too pathetic for her own good [redacted for public safety]

Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu

Im caught up, rough start but very fun overall and good horny art. hard to complain

Boku wa Kimitachi wo Shihai suru

This is one of my "this is blatantly porn" reads but its got some good fucked up elements that make it fun. i also pr it so woo

Boy's Abyss

i fucking love this. Its about to hit its head climax wise and the degree of fuckness in it makes me excited for every release also chaco is impeccable

Bungou Stray Dogs

its pretty ok so far. i think its hilarious its made people go back and read classic lit

Chainsaw Man

God i love act two. Asa is the best possible followup to denji and seeing her and denji interract is going to make the inevitable fujimotofication of the story even more fun

Hazure Skill "Kage ga Usui" o Motsu Guild Shokuin ga, Jitsuha Densetsu no Ansatsusha

Yeah ik long name. its an isekai lite aka the whole "this is an isekai in all but including the start of an isekai" genre thats popped up lately. its very charming and gorgeously drawn

Heavenly Delusion

in terms of post apocalyptic stuff it stands out and winds up pretty fun. the art isnt something wild but stands out with its own charm

Henjo

Henjo is hornybait with fucked up age gap, so a very boring and tread upon category, but the target audience is clearly less the horny 20 year olds hunting high school girls and more the high school girls who think they can pull. An important part of the manga ecosystem.

The Summer Hikaru Died

the art style is really evocative and i do love me some weirdly fucked up yaoi. good recent pickup

Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon

kinda slippin on this one. it feels like a bit that they abandon quickly but i do love my vampire media

Houseki no Kuni

gems

Isekai Meikyuu de Harem o

I read this out of this fucked up interest in how the mangaka spends the majority of this horny isekai not worldbuilding but game designing the rules of this isekai. Its such a weird focus of priorities

Ishuzoku Reviewers

fun concept fun art horny is fun fuck you

Jahy-sama wa kujienai!

Jahy is going to abolish capitalism

Ka「」Ku「」Shi「」Go「」To「

Please someone pick this up again please if you need an editor i will fucking do it just reach out

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

This manga is fuckin gorgeous tbh. I think its close to its endgame and im excited to see how it goes

Kagurabachi

fuck you shut up fuck you i thought it would be funny. its pretty ok shounen. needs more homoeroticism though

Kemono jihen

Its a fun read and i like a lot of the character designs. It holds me pretty solidly at least

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon

Dramaid is watching someone with immense talent at writing domestic slice of life work REALLY hard at learning how to draw tits

The vampire dies in no time

I thought this was gonna be yaoi but instead its nothing but pathetic characters i absolutely love. Really good stuff

Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete

This is an arguably porn read but is fun and is fucked up yuri so am i really at fault for reading it?

Mieruko-chan

How is this not more popular. Great concept. Really striking art. Solid writing. I barely see anyone talk about it. Might be due to the really uninteresting anime adaptation

My hero academia

i just want to see this train crash

Natsume Yuujinchou

I love the show and the mangas no exception. Really enjoyable and yuki midorikawa's style is pleasant on the eyes

Noss and Zakuro

this is insanely cute on every level. you agree.

One piece

Its fucking real lads

One Punch Man (webcomic)

Welcome to gremlintown (we got an update :D)

One Punch Man (Manga)

thank god were free from garou arc

Onimai

goated.

Oshi ni Amagami

i like my funny vampire stories and this is a fun vampire neet one

Oshi no ko

i am committed to this idc about the outcome

Ousama Ranking

IMPLYING ANYONE EVER DOES 70-155 LMAO SORRY I LIKE READING THE MANGA cant believe you made me watch the anime. tl the missing chapters please

Please Give Me Your Blood, I Will Serve You In Gratitude

Miriam "Trashy Vampire Manga Fan" Undertale

Record of Ragnarok

i needed something trashy and fun and this does it

Rent a Girlfriend

my least defensible read. its garbage. i hate it. its horrible trash and i read it purely out of some weird revival of the author attempt to understand miyajima innately and emotionally through his work

Sakamoto days

Im sorry it took me this long to hop on. I wasn't familiar with your game.

Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi

This manga gives me severe dysphoria and yet i keep reading it. well not rly because its kinda gotten mega boring

Shingeki no Eroko-san ~Hen na Oneesan wa Danshikousei to Nakayoku Naritai~

Continuing her streak of having the biggest mind ever, yoshiru konogi pops off with the manga targeted towards pathetic 30 year old women who want a high school boy to a massive degree

Shojo null

Art is cracked and the energy is utterly hogwild. I love the "no actually please torture your oppressors" vibe so far

SHY

im so happy im getting updates again. anime was good despite low budget. excited for s2 yes yes yes

Skip and loafer

The art style is so lovely and its a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of the romance ive been reading lately

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru

Its fun fuck you. The seasonals in 2022 had a great selection of source materials and bisque doll slams it out of the park

Sousou no Frieren

the severe nature of how much this goes will never be beat.

Spy x Family

Its good and thats Fine. no clue whats going on with the manga it feels like i get maybe an update every 5 months

The Dungeon That Kills All Adventurers

another dowman sayman banger who could have predicted this

To Your Eternity

TYE is enjoyable though i think its kinda suffering from jojofication. i think it deserves an ending soon

Usuzumi no Hate

i refuse to believe this is this mangakas first work. this is fucking incredible. gorgeously drawn with an incredible concept. read now

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You

the type of peak that could only exist to those willing to brave their own doubts. a work of art that will only exist for those strong enough to resist their hearts saying "cringe"

The Case Study of Vanitas

who could have predicted gay vampires are good

VERSUS

Why are we once again in a world where people are not translating kino by one

Vinland Saga

Man this grew on me fast. I picked it up not expecting a lot and got the world with it

Witch Hat Atelier

At this point it feels like im very obviously drawn to pretty stuff but honestly its a really good read. Qifrey and olruggio should kiss already

Yorashi Ni warau

I cannot get over the art still, fucking gorgeous, the story hasnt really gotten stuck in my craw like some other things but the art genuinely makes up for it

Yotsuba

Yotsuba is one of the mangas of all time

zom 100

this is one of those "i saw the start of a genre trending and assumed one of the main firestarters would be bad" stories and im glad i was wrong. it's very charming in a kinda fun childish way

#miri post #big and long im SORRY I READ TOO MUCH SHIT #if you want specific recs u can dm me or just read call of the night #in fact read call of the night

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goldie-claws · 2 years

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I’ve been not online much bc I’ve been VERY fixated on replaying Ni No Kuni II again bc it gives you the option to build your own kingdom from the ground up and of course, if you give me a game where you see visible changes in the overworld then I’m all over it.

Also it’s funny to think everything in this game happened because some lego man looking ass wanted to see his monster girl waifu again.

#ni no kuni #cross worlds give me depression bc fucking nfts so im replaying the games that are actually good #the horned one has been summoned the world is ending but give me five more minutes doloran #my castle NEEDS to be the highest level possible #goldie speaks

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aquanutart · 6 years

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@nazcaa I quit at the part where you have to use the poison apple spell partly because I ran myself out of MP and items getting there, and partly because I found it kind of unnerving to watch a small child do something to himself that causes him to collapse and then everyone starts celebrating that he’s dead, or maybe it’s just me?

#ni no kuni #wrath of the white witch #swaine #oliver (ni no kuni)#esther (ni no kuni)#aquanutart #I got the idea the dialogue at this point was supposed to be whimsical and funny so it was just kind of jarring to me #I know it's a silly moment in a game with a very childlike atmosphere but maybe that's partly why it was more jarring haha #thank you for understanding about the battle system; I'm glad it's not just me! I'm playing on normal so I'm sure that doesn't help #I would feel so cheap if I switched it to easy though haha let me keep some shred of pride #I actually find the bosses easier to deal with because there's usually only one enemy to focus on and learn the patterns for #so when I beat it at least I felt like I knew what I was doing but I really lose patience grinding the hordes haha #I do expect I'll go back and try to get past this at some point but I didn't see a save point up ahead #so I just didn't see myself getting much farther after I used up my supplies to get there

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miomediator · 4 years

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Homestuck - Heart and Mind

Inner self and outer self

Content/trigger warnings: Heart: blood, decapitated heads, flashing colors, eye strain

Mind: flashing lights, repetitive looped gif

Very veeeery long thread!

Heart

I’m going to be honest, this is the more head-scratching (ha!) symbol of the 12, in my opinion. While the others immediately (or take a moment to) make sense, this one confuse me. Sure, it’s a cartoonish representation of a pink human heart.

The problem isn’t the main shape, but the right side of it. Beside the fact that it’s more original and eye-catching than a filled heart, why this gap, this wiggling line? But let’s proceed in order and take a more general approach first.

It’s a pink heart on a darker purple/pink background. The left side is filled, while the right side looks like a tail that coming in or out the shape. We’ll get into it a bit down below.

In pop and universal culture, people has always been show this embodiment of the heart. While many theorise about when and where it came from, a stable origin was registered during the Middle Age, as a pear.

Here’s an exempt of the theory:

“Historically speaking, the first known depiction of a heart shape, which can be vaguely considered as a symbol of love, was made in the 1250s. It appeared in a decoration of a capital letter “S” in a manuscript of a French romance called “Roman de la Poire” (Romance of the Pear).

This miniature depicts a kneeling lover who offers his heart to a lady. This heart shape is similar to a pine cone, and it is held upside down (not in the usual position of the heart shape that we know today). Researchers only assume that the pine cone-shaped object is a heart because its part held by the lover is hidden. The name of this novel is “Romance of the Pear,” so the object may also be a pear.”

The earliest depiction of a heart symbol as a symbol of love in a manuscript of the “Roman de la Poire.”

[Mio’s note: Roman actually means novel in french, and isn’t necessarily romantic. Though I guess it is in this context.]

It is interesting, in this paragraph the heart is both referred as pine cone-shaped and pear-shaped. The latter is extremely funny, has it reminds me of a famous fanon HS meme “Well this has gone completely fucking pear-shaped”, attributed to Dirk and the decapitation joke. He, in fact, never really said it in Canon.

If we indulge this banter, the pear-shaped heart would symbolise things that took a disastrous turn, and so negative and stressful elements such as anxiety, adrenaline (negative in this case, positive in others), heart pounding, leaving a weird and unpleasant sandy taste on your tongue.

But I digress.

What we actually need to focus on is that:

A fruit, the pear, has been associated to a love gesture, like a gift to express romantic affection to someone.

The pear is upside-down, as the text point out. Which is curious and worth mentioning.

“the pine cone-shaped object is a heart because its part held by the lover is hidden”. So what is important it’s what is inside it, and so inside your heart. Which perfectly echoes with my subhead: Inner self.

The article continues, with Guido whom also depicted his version of a heart:

“Guido da Vigevano, a 14th-century Italian physicist, made some anatomical drawings of a heart that are very similar to the descriptions made by Aristotle. These depictions, along with the presumption that the human heart is connected with emotion and pleasure, transformed the heart shape into a symbol of medieval love.”

After this, a picture shows Charity incarnated as a woman, giving her heart to Jesus. While I won’t dwell on the religious implications, it is a metaphor of showing care and compassion to someone. Giving them a bit of your time, patience, and heart. In an extreme case, being completely devoted to someone in a strong way.

Heart-bound fellows, despite the fact that they are concerned about themselves, are very people-oriented. They deeply want others to feel well and happy. Hence the expression being ‘kind-hearted/big-hearted’, and ‘work you heart out’. They put a lot of themselves into their hobbies, which they are passionate about.

After this, the article introduce the playing cards, implying that Guido had an influence on the decision to show a heart among the symbols:

The playing cards are even more relevant to this analysis, as their modern symbol are present in Troll romance. Here, the ‘clover’ is an acorn, the ‘spade’ a leaf, perhaps ivy, the heart is even more like the one we know nowadays, and the ‘diamond’ surprisingly is a small metallic bell. This set is dated from ~1540.

[Sources: this site about the origins of the red heart]

That was a (very) quick look at the evolution of the heart symbol.

I could go on and talk about Valentine’s Day, but it would be paraphrasing the site, and we have much more content to focus on. I invite you to take a look at said site and do some research of your own if you are interested about this peculiar bit.

Let’s go into more direct Homestuck content.

During the adventure, we are introduced to three Heart-players. Nepeta Leijon, Dirk Strider, and Meulin Leijon, in appearance order.

They all have interests related to feelings and love.

Nepeta has a shipping grid of her own friends on her cave’s walls and seems to be proficient in moirallegiance, a quadrant that require to be invested and devoted to their partner feelings. She had a crush on Karkat that she never confessed. Karkat knew but never worked the nerve to do something about it.

Dirk is engrossed by romance and smut, unashamedly draw his friends getting frisky (in a borderline-obscene way), is passionate about the projects he works on (work his heart out, sometimes literally). He was (and still is) madly in love with Jake. But by being overbearing and socially inept their relationship crumbled (while not being the only reason it didn’t work out).

[I love talking about Dirk, but I’ll do my best in this analysis to properly and equally split the content between Nepeta, Meulin and him]

Meulin not only love shipping, she also gives directly advises to her friends, and acted as a matchmaker. She shipped several of the alpha trolls but according to Aranea, she focused on how cute a couple would be, instead on how and if their dynamic would work out. Her matespritship with Kurloz was cut short when he yelled in his sleep, deafening Meulin in the process.

Meulin talking about shipping the human teens, transcript from the Openbound game, part 2

The most obvious element they share is that they are zealous and unlucky in love. One would say it depends on the class, personality or aspect. They seem all correct assumptions to me.

Nepeta was the first to be presented as a Heart-bound character, the Rogue of Heart. So, logically, the design of the Heart symbol could be inspired by her.

How, you ask. Let’s take a look to Nepeta’s sign.

The ‘Leo’ sign, in human culture represents the constellation of the lion, with the circle as their head, and the loop as the body and tail.

Now looking back and forth to Leo and Heart: Heeeey! It’s quite similar. Can you see it?

Alright, that’s a good start. So the right side is like a tail. Let’s dig and look around Heart/heart. Heart is synonym of soul. Its symbol is a pink blood pusher. For humans it represent romantic love, our only ‘official’ quadrant. A red lover for trolls is called a matesprit. Sprit comes from esprit, which is the french word for spirit. So matesprit is a soul mate. But this term is used for another concept in Homestuck. A spiritual guide during the player journey: a sprite.

The link between the Leo and Heart sign is getting stronger. The circle as the head, the wiggling line as the body and tail. The sprite is a living spirit, a floating soul present in the physical plane. So the right side, the tail, is bound to the left side, the head. Meaning the soul is bound to the body. Oh. But what if it was detached from it? Yeeep, you know, I know, they know. This is why and how decapitation come into the picture.

Beheaded Dirk and Roxy hit in the stomach, from the [S] Dirk: synchronize

Jasperosesprite^2 prototyping Nepeta’s decapitated head in Jake’s kernelsprite

A kiss on the lips, which is seen often as a romantic gesture, is one of the resurrecting mechanism within SBURB/SGRUB. It transfers the soul from the ‘original’ body to the dream self, turning the latter into the main body. Separating the head from the rest of the body amounts to take away the soul, while throwing the head back (or any part of the corpse) into a kernelsprite recreate the link between the two.

A kernel is:

“ a computer program at the core of a computer's operation system with complete control over everything in the system. It is an integral part of any operating system. It is the "portion of the operating system code that is always resident in memory". It facilitates interactions between hardware and software components.””

Source: Wikipedia

It’s a brain that bound the soul to the body, and is the core of the system, controlling it. So basically, the digital mind made in SBURB. One display among the several ones of the Heart/Mind duality.

So wait, if the head in this case is the soul, and looking back at medieval picture at the beginning (dude kneeling in front of a lady offering a heart) then Dirk sendificating his head in [S] Dirk Synchronize/Unite is really a romantic overture toward Jake (sacrificing a part of his self then Hal prompting him to kiss Dirk’s lips). Same for Jasperose resurrecting Nepeta by using her head. Damn. You two are smooth operators in the most disturbing way.

Another personal theory in my mind, is that pink ‘tail’ could represent how a person use and interact with their aspect.

Nepeta, as a Rogue, remove or give personality, passion and feelings to someone.

For example she could appease a friend by removing their frustration. In contrary she could also give passionate feelings to someone who needs them. Such as in Ni no Kuni! In which the protagonist Oliver takes a piece of somebody’s soul (what is called emotion or virtue) to give it to someone who needs it. Those people are referred to “brokenhearted”.

So the wiggling tail would be something introduced or take away from the soul.

Dirk, as a Prince, has shown having the power to completely remove someone’s soul from their body.

And for that, he doesn’t like his abilities, exhibiting him as a ‘cartoonish villain’ like Voldemort (splintering his soul into horcruxes) or Xehanort (putting part of himself in the Organization members). Though he could remove and grab one of his friend’s soul to save them from a close death. See the fan comic Double Death of the Author by The Lifetime Channel on MSPFA, and the fan fiction Defragmentation by Katreal on Ao3.

In this case, the tail would represent the soul being slowly removed.

Meulin, as a Mage, have an understanding of people’s strong feelings, especially romantic ones.

Her ability is to read, feel and use her knowledge to help her friends figure out who is better suited for them. Meulin’s powers are similar to a diviner, allowing to form or break a couple. Perhaps with practice and reaching the God Tiers, she could even perceive red threads of fate which bound two lovers regardless of the location and time. The manga Bound Beauty (sorry, no english Wikipedia page) features a young lady with the ability to see those strings, usually invisible to the eye. She uses it at her advantage to coach her classmates, in exchange of money.

In this case, the tail would represent the red/pink thread of fate, coming not from the pinkie, but directly from the soul.

Heart-bound recommended Lyricstuck: What do you want from me by Pink Floyd

Mind

Watch as I make as much Mind puns as possible :p

This one is easier to read, which is also why it will be difficult for me to write a substantial section about it. Let’s start with the obvious.

It’s a vivid teal on a bit darker green background. Same as the Heart aspect, it’s more likely that the palette has been inspired by the first revealed character related to Mind: Terezi Pyrope, from the Teal caste. The shape is composed of an orb surrounded by three hook-like tails connected to the center. What effortlessly come to mind (ha!) is an organic cell, from the brain.

Picture source: https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/784048616363923971/

Neurons allow and facilitate informations to navigate in the brain.

It’s:

an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses.

Source: Wikipedia

Information goes from a neuron, through a synapse to another neuron. An idea leads to another, connecting bits that turns into the big picture. The Mind aspect seems to share the concept of data with the Light aspect. The differences are that Light focuses on the most fructuous parts, ones that lead them to victory, while the Mind-bound works with choices and a mindset, in a more wide range, then narrowing the paths.

Terezi using her vision to s33 what action leads to which outcome, searching for the most fitting one.

Rose insisting that Kanaya come along the 3 years ride, while explaining and guiding Kanaya to make her narrowing her vision of “victory”.

So both Seer treat information, just not in the same way.

The outcome still remains ”I want to advance toward a certain reality and I help others to reach it as long as they follow my instructions”. The inconvenient blind spot (sorry for the involuntary pun) is that they hardly can use those abilities for themselves. Either we don’t witness it on-screen, or they barely do it in the first place (a good example is the retroactive continuity during the GO timeline).

But let’s end the Seer detour here. Back to the Mind aspect itself.

We have a whole system going on in our own head. When I try to look for something, if I don’t find it directly, then I turn to something related to said information. Like an indirect research on the internet. If we don’t pay attention and don’t try to understanding our mind, as well as others’, we just end up being frustrated and lost.

The thing is you make your own world, with every action, decision, it creates a new path full of possibilities. The words you say or keep to yourself, acting or staying put, it all matter. Grasping and managing to own it, and you’ll have a better grip on your reality. It’s not my Aspect, I do have trouble making decisions and take responsibilities, however everybody needs to go through it.

The within interacts with the without, the mind to the outside word. We are always worried about how others perceive us, what kind of depiction of the self we convey. So we desperately put filters to the point of exhibiting falsehood of a personality. While introspection is observing ourselves, extraspection is perceiving things that are outside our mind. Hence the outer self, complementary to the inner self.

Terezi perfectly get how people work, and can manipulate them with ease, in contrary to Vriska whom doesn’t want to and go for mind-controlling them. Joke’s on her, her ‘mind’-control is proof that she fails in this peculiar category, since Terezi doesn’t need any psychic powers to convince someone to do and give the info she desires.

The big contrast contrast between Vriska and her, is that Terezi looks and determine what matters or not, while Vriska force the odds to be in her favor, shamelessly stealing fortune from others. She doesn’t even want to understand or try, she is a cheater and proud of it.

That was the link and differences between Mind and Light.

Let’s take a look at the Heart/Mind duality again. Both seem to share a connection with electricity.

Terezi gazing at the sky of her planet, the Land of Thought and Flow

It’s no secret that the connection between neurons are often compared to electronic chips. Cables canalize and facilitate electricity’s flow, to power devices, to link ideas and data. Or just used as raw energy.

Brain-not-so-ghost-anymore Dirk trying to rip Aranea’s soul

Lightning seen from a building roof on Dirk’s land

While the electricity for the Mind symbol refer to synapses, for the Heart/heart, also called blood pusher, would allude to cardiac nerves.

Bec Noir preparing the Red Miles to be thrown at the Genesis Frog

Instead of thoughts, it’s blood that navigates in the ‘roads’.

For the Heart-bound, the lightning represents the chaos that are emotions and sensitive intuition. While for the Mind-bound the lightning is order, reasoning and cold logic that strikes to bring justice, whether said justice is deem fair or not.

Let’s talk about a famous movies series in which among the core themes resolve around the Mind/Heart duality: The Matrix

Each building, tree, person are made with an inimaginable amount of lines of code

The Matrix spoilers ahead!!

If you’re not familiar with this trilogy (or haven’t watch it in a while), here’s the plot:

//Thomas A. Anderson is a programmer for a big software company, and in parallel is Neo, a hacker that illegally provides contraband programming. Agents in black suits caught up with his activities, but in truth approached Neo because a renowned hacker, Morpheus, enemy number one according to Agent Smith, contacted the programmer. After offering to clean his criminal record in exchange of helping catching Morpheus, which Neo refuses, the agents violently implant a snitch in our protagonist.

Neo wake up in his bed, believing it was all but an awful nightmare. Appearances are deceiving, as ‘dream sequences’ are layers on layers on reality. The resistance group calls him again, setting a rendez-vous under a bridge to help him and answer his questions, if he is willing to cooperate.

After a lot of hesitation, snitch removal, and the insistence of one of the member, Trinity, he finally accept and follow the group to go meet Morpheus.

There, Neo is given a choice, The Choice if we’re going with Homestuck comparisons:

"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."

Morpheus, Matrix (1st movie)

By choosing the take the red pill, Neo accepts to unplug himself (literally) from his ‘reality’ and see the truth: the world he lives in is all but an illusion, a huge program that is the Matrix, blinding humans to a make-believe 1999 year, used as living batteries, harvested and enslaved by the machines. Humanity is in ruins, and a war between people and machines has gone for a whole century.

Morpheus tells him that they believe he’s ‘The One’ and he has the power to stop the war. From the real world, Neo will train to reinforce his mind, going back into the Matrix and fight different enemy programs. While constantly being undergo introspection, looking for what to believe, who he is, questioning his values and acts.\\

From there I’ll go back and worth to Homestuck and the movies to point out the similarities and support my choice.

I’ll begin with the Mind aspect first:

Millions of human beings are plugged, treated as programs that have a function, along with providing a great amount of energy to the machines. Stuck and having their body atrophied, their brain is connected to the Matrix. The program control everything of their life and vision, from their status in society, to their physical sensations.

"What is real? How do you define real?" asks Morpheus to Neo. “If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." As I quote farther above, reality is something that isn’t there, but rather something you make. With Morpheus’ quote, my interpretation of the Mind symbol being neutrons and synapses is consolidated.

After being blinded by Vriska, Terezi way of ‘seeing’ shifted. Slowly, her perception of things changed and she grasped on a new light her reality.

She didn’t need eyes, but expanding her mind and freeing herself from the vision that clouded her. Navigating inward and outward, understanding what she felt, her inner self and outer self, back and forth. But it wasn’t perfect, no, she had and still is working on it, as she can be blinded by either cold logic or passionate feelings. Neo and her have the same weakness, they both are in love and it obstructs their mission. The dilemma is exhibited in [S]: Flip, where she has to choose between letting Vriska go, exposing the whole team to Jack, or killing her to protect her friends.

Terezi, on the path she let Vriska go

Vriska in her ancestor outfit, fitting Jack in one reality

A painful sacrifice is needed to be able to go forward, a reality in which most of them survive and has a chance of winning the game. A necessarily path that she regretted.

Neo with the Architect in the secret room, the screens displaying the different paths his reactions could take (Matrix: Reloaded, second movie)

In Matrix, Neo has to reach the source of all the program to reinstall the previous version of the code. The first time, he has a small range of opportunity, only a few minutes gap to access a secret room that would allow him to reach the source, among the city of machines. There, he encounters the Architect, a program whom function and personality is based on the creator of the Matrix, and have a chat with him.

Six others chosen ones preceded him, and all failed to accomplished this mission.

Why? “Choice. The problem is choice” answers Neo. Because unlike the Architect, Neo is a flawed human being. He can’t just brush off his feelings, he’s in love with Trinity. The latter despite asked not to join him plugged herself back into the Matrix allowing him to get safely into the secret room. With that, she exposed herself to an inevitable death. And so Neo took the door that lead to his lover, enabling within him a miracle that resurrected Trinity.

Here was a couple of paragraphs about the dance between duty and love, cold logic and passion.

I’ll continue with the Heart aspect:

I talked about love and romance until now, but let’s take a look at another side of the Heart. The identity.

After taking the red pill- Neo turns his head and gaze at a mirror.

It’s shattered. The symbolism here shows that he’s lacking a part of himself, something that scratch him without being able to put his finger on it. Soon, right before his eyes, the mirror mends itself. Because he chosen the truth, the path that would lead him to understand and find himself.

The mirror is of course, a reference and call back to Alice, mentioned shortly before by Morpheus. No no, please forget about any cartoon, especially Disney’s version of the story. And focus about the sequel book: “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There”. It’s a curious, deep and tricky book. I would know, I read it twice and I’m still confused.

But I’m sure of one thing, the adventures of Alice has always been about introspection. First in chapter 1, Alice imagines for fun that the mirror in the living room lead to a parallel world. Like Neo, she touches the mirror and engages into a journey. In chapter 3, in order to cross a giant life-sized chess board (UH HMMMM UNCANNY!) she takes a train.

“There she forgets all nouns, including her own name. With the help of a fawn who has also forgotten his identity, she makes it to the other side, where they both remember everything. Realizing that he is a fawn, she is a human, and that fawns are afraid of humans, it runs off (to Alice's frustration).”

Source: Through the Looking-glass (wikipedia)

[going through the book itself would have been too long]

The train might symbolize the course of life, or a part of it, in which an identity crisis occurs for Alice and question what is and what does it means. I’ll even say that this temporary memory loss put aside all differences and precedences, perhaps reflecting a class hierarchy, between Alice the human and the fawn, or the rich lady and the poor.

Back to Matrix.

Later in the movie, our programmer encounters a woman called the Oracle. She can see some events according to her grasp on human psychology, but never beyond a choice that she cannot understand, not even hers. The Oracle isn’t here to predict the future (even if she can), but to assist and guide those who picked the red pill. She does sound like a Seer of Mind :]

Upon meeting her, she asks him “do you think you are the one?” to what he respond “honestly I don’t know”. She then point behind him, toward a mantra hanged above the threshold: Temet nosce, which means “know thyself”.

The introspection will continue through all three movies, a wild tango between certitude and doubts, self that leads to a choice, from a choice which leads to who he is, the two are intertwined and indivisible.

In Matrix: Revolution (third movie), the final battle between our protagonist and his alter ego take place. Rain is pouring, thousand and thousand of copies looking down at him, the sky is dark, and Agent Smith step away from the crowd, so the fight begins.

Remember the paragraph about the lightning? The sky in this scene is quite reminiscent to Terezi Land’s electric atmosphere, and even more Dirk’s, has his planet is covered be countless empty green buildings in ruins.

The scene portraits perfectly the confrontation between order and chaos, good and evil, selfless and selfish. I could go on and on but I think y’all got the concept, and I nicely fill an even bigger word quota, with the two aspects balanced.

Source for the screenshots: Fancaps.net, here and here

Mind-bound recommended Lyricstuck: Dog days are over by Florence and the Machine

#Homestuck Universe #HS theory #SBURB aspects #heart aspect #mind aspect #analysis #nepeta leijon #dirk strider #meulin leijon #matrix series #movies #through the looking glass #and what alice found there #book #neo #morpheus #trinity #the oracle

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hi-i-love-u-bitch · 5 years

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Excuse me! But where is my Sanders Sides Gamer AU???

Voices in my head: Gee Bunny, it seems you have no problem writing a lot of other fics and stuff yet you still haven’t even finished the next chapter of your Spiderverse fic???

Me: SHUT THE FUCK UP DISEMBODIED VOICES IN MY HEAD!!! IF YOU WANT THAT FIC DONE SO BADLY TELL MY LOGIC AND CREATIVITY TO GET THEIR ASSES IN GEAR AND GIVE ME SOME GOD DAMN INSPIRATION!!!!

Voices in my head:.....

Me: Yeah, that’s what I thought! Anyways, idk if I just missed a memo or something but I haven’t seen any Gamer AU of my boys and that is a crime in and of itself! Like, how dare! But fret not, I am here to provide content (Read: headcannons) that you did not ask for! Let us begin! Or should I say start!

(please note that I am not a gaming expert so feel free to add or correct stuff)

NOW WITH A PART 2!!!!

MAIN SQUAD

Roman Rosewood

Obviously loves RPGs! Anything with a good story line really! Or has medieval fantasy aesthetic!

Skyrim, Diablo, Undertale, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, Undertales, Dragon Age, God of War Dark Souls, Assassins Creed, Earthbound, etc.

Played West of Loathing just so he could rip on it but actually ended up loving it and spending way to many hours playing. Then he found out there was a game called Kingdom of Loathing by the same creators and went down that rabbit hole as well.

He was iffy about getting into JRPGs but then Virgil convinced him to play Persona 5 and he absolutely fell in love with the music!

All the music in his phone is either from musicals or Video games!

Also really likes choose your own adventure games like Detroit: Become Human, Life is Strange, and Telltale Games

So much video game merch! Usually figurines because he likes to make little shelves and display cases for them.

He also really likes multiplayer games because he’s a social butterfly and likes to play with his squad.

Sucks at first person shooter games but still willingly plays Fortnight or Call of Duty or Left for Dead with his friends because he doesn’t want to be a drag and complain. But also they sometimes die in game in the most hilarious ways and it just leaves everybody wheezing.

Virgil Dante

Horror games, obvs!

All about that dark aesthetic!

Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Fran Bow, Sally Face, Resident Evil, The Witch’s House, Amnesia, Little Nightmares, Bendy and The Ink Machine, Alice: Madness Returns, SCP-Containment, Pony Island, etc.

Yes, he’s played all the Five Nights At Freddy’s games. It’s a good series and it isn’t his fault the fandom is bat shit crazy and full of ten year olds! Fuck you Roman!

Every time the Walking Dead comes out he knows he’ll end up crying by the end of it. He and the squad make and event out of it.

Japanese horror games are usually his favorite because they deal more with the psychological aspects of horror instead of the jump scares

So, yes, he’s also a fan of Corps Party and Fatal Frame

Also really good at first person shooters because he has a really steady hand (you usually have to when playing horror games least you want to restart the level) and it pisses Roman off to no end every time Virgil randomly headshots him.

Usually likes to by merch in the form of posters, t-shirts, or beanies. He only buys figurines if it’s a game he really, really likes.

At first didn’t know why people kept bugging him to play Doki Doki Literature Club but then he finally caved and...oh...that’s why.

Logan Mill

My boy loves puzzle and strategy games yo!

Legend of Zelda, Portal, Tetris, Unravel, World of Goo, Inside, Limbo, Pokemon, Shadow of the Colossus, StarCraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empire, Heart of Iron, World of Warcraft, etc.

He likes Overwatch but doesn’t like playing with people online so he usual solos or asks the others to play. But that too usually ends in chaos.

Hates rage games because he gets frustrated easily and has broken at least four keyboards and two controllers

He still plays them anyways because he can beat it damn it! Just give him a minute!

Enjoys the God of War series despite all the mythological inaccuracies

He plays a lot of Minecraft to relax or destress and has build beautiful works of architecture and sometimes entire cities.

He thought it was stupid and childish and was embarrassed about it for a long time until the squad came over to his house one day uninvited and caught him playing. He was getting ready for them to make fun of him but they instead gushed about how AMAZING everything looked and how TALENTED he was for building all himself.

Logan ends up showing them how to play afterwards and they work together to make weird sculptures and complex tunnels underground.

He likes practical merch like backpacks, coffee mugs, pencil holders, notebooks, ect. as well as a few t-shirts and novelty ties.

Yes, he does collect Pokemon cards!

Patton Adley

Silly dating sims, farming games, and any cute game really! Plus a few side scroller games!

Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Slime Rancher, The Sims, Dream Daddy, Animal Crossing, Kirby, Monster Prom, Hatoful Boyfriend, Scribblenauts, Night In The Woods, Ni Nu Kuni, etc.

Big Nintendo fan!

He made the mistake of playing Doki Doki Literature Club without reading the warning tags and regrets it immensely...still a good game though.

He did the same thing with Huni Pop but that one made him laugh more then anything and he kind of got addicted to it. Then he found out there was a sequel called HuniCam so he went down that rabbit hole too.

He likes a lot of phone app games too like Cut the Rope, Neko Atsume, and Candy Crush.

Loves trashy dating app games, he thinks they’re so funny and cheesy

He was addicted to Mystic Messenger for a long while

Just because he has his preference doesn’t mean he won’t try other games too, Logan got him hooked on World of Warcraft (though really he did that to everyone), Virgil showed him Hollow Knight, and Roman suggested he play Undertales.

Prefers merch in the form of plushies and key chains!

He likes to bake and decorate cookies, cakes and pastries in the form of his favorite video game characters.

RED SQUAD

Duncan [Deceit] Adley (Patton’s twin)

A lot of first person shooter and combat games!

Doom Series, Super Smash Bros, Mortal Combat, Halo, Fortnight, Grand Theft Auto, Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Half-Life, Team Fortress, Destiny, Wolfenstein, Bio Shock, Splatoon, PUBg etc.

Patton was the one that introduced him to Splatoon and he won’t admit that it’s actually super fun.

Doesn’t mind story driven games and RPGs but he really just wants something he can zone out to and relax

He likes to troll people online, mainly assholes picking on little kids who just want to play.

He once teamed up with a group of kids on Call of Duty solely for the purpose of collectively kicking the asses of this groups of so called “real gamers” that were being jerks.

Has memorized all the combos! He doesn’t have time to sit and look up a cool finishing move, he needs it now!

Always mains the weakest/most useless character in fighting games and still manages to kick everyone’s ass.

Doesn’t have a preference in merch and usually grabs whatever he likes be it figurines, t-shirts, posters, plushies, or whatever, so long as he likes the game it comes from.

Has several tattoos from his favorite games

Emile Picani

Classic retro games, cartoonish games, and Nintendo are his jam broham!

Mario, Classic Sonic, Paper Boy, Transylvania, Spyro, Pac Man, All the Saga Disney games, Duck Hunt, Mario Kart, Galaga, Mega Man, Donkey Kong, Secret of Mana, Banjo-Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, etc.

Absolutely fell in love with Shovel Knight when it came out!

Remy got him into all the indie pixel games: Towerfall, Terraria, Owlboy, Hotline Miami, Papers Please, Celeste, One Shot, etc.

Duncan was the one that introduced him to Cuphead and the usually play it together and see how far each of them can go without dying.

The game is difficult but the art is still so breathtaking!

Likes the occasional psychological thriller game

Bet Virgil showed him Alice: Madness Returns and Doki Doki Literature Club (after he’s played it of course)

Likes plushies and figurine merch with the occasional poster and coffee mug.

Likes to doodle a lot of his fav video game characters and cartoons and is actually really good at it. He helped design most of Duncan’s tattoos.

Remy Knightly

Likes a lot of indie games and old online flash games!

The Stanley Parables, Oxenfree, Inside, Firewatch, Super MeatBoy, The Binding of Issac, Donut County, Henry Stickman series, Impossible Quiz, Crush the Castle series, Hyper Light Drifter, etc.

He always gets everybody hooked on one game or another

He convinced everyone to play Undertales so for like a month they all went through a HUGE Undertales faze.

Was the actual, ACTUAL one that showed Duncan Cuphead because he knew the dork would be reminded of Emile because of the animation and would want to show it to him and play multiplayer (*cough* subtle matchmaker *cough*)

(Do not be fooled, he is a pinning boy himself)

Is up to date in all the gossip of the latest games and consuls, indie or mainstream! He’s in the know, know and if you need to know something chances are Remy probably knows it.

Weeds out through all the indie horror games for Virgil and recommends what he thinks are the best ones.

Same thing with Logan and his puzzle games, he’s usually is able to find very strange ones and Logan seems to likes those best.

Obviously has a lot of merch in coffee mug and thermal form as well as a few key chains.

Occasionally streams on Twitch with Duncan and Emile (sometimes inviting the main squad too), they’re commentary is usual hilarious.

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #remy sanders #sleep sanders #deceit sanders #sympathetic deceit #emile picani #red #prinxeity #logicality #(kind of mainly in my head)#video games #gamer au

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supergenial · 4 years

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[translation and lyrics] 一対半の狂爭曲《カプリシオ》〜絶対に渡さない〜 by ななひら, mega and nayuta

youtube

This track is composed by Camelia which means it is automatically great. This time it’s a song about a love triangle between three, uhh, less than respectable folks (to say the least). It’s pretty fun though and they also got nayuta to chip in and be the third voice. Very vivid and fun little track, it’s got love, conflict, Super Smash Brothers, everything you could want. Lyrics down below and see you soon.

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一対半の狂爭曲《カプリシオ》～絶対に渡さない～ (ittsuihan no <capurishio> zettai ni watasanai, half-paired capriccio , I absolutely won't hand her over)

vocals: nanahira and nayuta and mega music and lyrics: かめりあ

ai wo (ai wo) motometeru kimi ga (kimi ga) erande okureyo kono te no toru chigiri wa watashi- anata? watashi- anata? aa yuragu capurishio

if it's love what you desire, then what will you choose hold this hand of mine and promise that you and I? that you and I? ahh, we’re drowning in these whims

[watashi ga hime moraun dakedo! hanashite! baka! aho!] [watashi no mono ni kimatteru janai! kii!] [mou watashi no tame ni arasou no wa yamete~!] [[dochira ni fusawashii ka... kecchaku wo tsukeyou]]

"I'll be getting the princess so step aside! let go! idiot! fool! "She's gonna be mine it's already decided! ahhh" "Please, stop fighting for my sake!" "Who's truly worthy... we'll settle it right here"

osuka hiku ka no (kakehiki yori mo) akai ito wa sakuzatsu (mou tokenai no sa) musunda koyubi ga itamu kurai hikarete erabenai no kai? (ka yowai Answer) watashi dake no mono (watashi wa shinai yo) tsuki to hi no aida meguri meguru rondo

as we tug and pull (in this struggle) the red string that connects us (seems to be fading) but it's surely binding us and bringing us closer you can't decide? what a weak answer you're mine only (No I am not) and so we're back and forth on this rondo another day and night

mou me wo mite nante irarenai (naze... naze erabenai no...) toraware no PRINCESS tsuredashite ageru (okane ageru yo! kingin! zaihou!) akuma no koe mimi wo fusagu no (niku to sushi! karee ni torokeru chiizu!) saa namae wo yonde

you just need to look me in the eyes (why... why can't she choose) I'll take the captive princess with me (I'll give you all my money! and gold! and treasures!) Don't listen to that devil's words (meat and sushi! curry and melted cheese!) now call my name

ai wa (ai wa) amaku toke negau (negau) mariaaju wakare michi ga tokeau yoru (sasou damasu agaku) Rendezvous... kase wa (kase wa) hodokisute kimi ga (kimi ga) sabaite kureru kai erabenai no kotae wo watashi- anata? watashi- anata? aa jireru capurishio

love is thawing out this petition of marriage and so our paths may part away in this night (of invitations, lies, and struggle) in which we Rendezvous our ties come undone as you judge me so harshly but you still can't choose and say that you and I? that you and I? ahh, we're burning in these whims

(ha!! fu! yaruna... seiyaaaa!) (fu! sokoda!! teya!!! ha!) (futari ga watashi wo megutte kettou wo... mou yamete! futari tomo, sonna...) (n?) (nani?) GAME SET (ee, suma[bu]ra jan...)

"take this!" "not so fast!" "If you two keep fighting over me... stop! you two! "eh?" "what?" GAME SET "ee, is this smash bros?"

koi no kao shite amaku hohoemu futatsu narabetara kuroi ai no Chocolat kakushita hitomi ni kanashimi ga nijinde "bonjour mon cher" ubu na kao shite "douzo kochira he to" sasoi komu Dreamland yon tsu no te ga maneku hakuyamu no sonata

with such a lovely face and such a beautiful smile we've both lined up for the dark chocolate that is your love as your eyes try to hide away the sadness in them "Hello my sweetheart" I say to that innocent face "Come here with me" I say inviting you to my Dreamland and both your hands take me to a sonata in a white dream

tameiki wa netsu wo obite (watashi no karada wa hitotsu shikanai no ni...!) soutsui no PARADISE nukedashi mashou? (jaa jouhanshi mo~rai!) ohimesama kochira koso deguchi desu (ee gehanshi!? yabbbba!!!) saa namae wo yonde

I let out my passion with a sigh (My body is only one, this can't be helped...!) why'd you escape this paradise of us two? (well guess I'm ok with just the upper half of it) Princess! the exit is over here (ehh, no, wait, maybe I should keep the lower half?? even better!) now call my name

ai mo (ai mo) mayou hodo atsureki (atsureki) paradokusu marude hatameku akai chou nerau tsukamu nigeru Labyrinth arasou (arasou) ai no tame kimi ga (kimi ga) azayaka na sei sa tsumi na hito dato nante watashi- anata? watashi- anata? aa nageku capurishio

it's love that births confusion and gives way to this paradox like a fluttering red butterfly i'm (targeted, trapped, escaping) in this labyrinth fighting for love because you're worth this pain despite me being so sinful will you and I? you and I? ahh, I'm being thorn apart by these whims

(anata ga... watashi no...) (hime... watashi koso ga anata ni fusawashii mono desu) (pajama wo kigaete kite kudasaru? hai tsugi!) (hime... watashi nara anata wo shiawase ni shite mise masu) (soshage ni kuni no shisan kakin shinagara iwanaide! hai tsugi!!) (hime! watashi koso!) (nande cheinmeiru nano!? tsugi!!) (hime! watashi nara!) (tenjou made kokusai de hikanai! tsugi!!) (hime~!!) (owa~!!)

"Are you... my..." "Princess... I am the most suitable for you" "and yet you came here in pajamas? next" "Princess... Only I can make you happy" "How exactly if you keep spending all your money on gacha games? next" "Princess! pick me!" "Eww, you're wearing chain mail? next" "Princess! do me!" "So I can take your exceeding debts for you? Next!" "Princess~!!" "owaaa~!!"

ai wo (ai wo) motometeru atsui (atsui) serenaade futatsu hoshi no aida ni saku (ubau nusumu mogaku) Destiny... uso wa (uso wa) chigiri sute kimi ga (kimi ga) erande okure yo kono te no toru chigiri wa watashi- anata? watashi- anata? ai ga ai ga ai ga kuruu watashi- anata? watashi- anata? aa moeru capurishio

Expressing my yearning for your love in this serenade Between our two stars bloomed (and was stolen, robbed and trampled) our destiny Cut away the lies and tell us who you choose make your promise and take my hand and say that you and I? that you and I? love, love, your love is driving me insane that you and I? that you and I? ahh, we are burning in your whims

ittsuihan no <capurishio> aa...

your whim of being only half a couple

ah....

“Wait a minute, you skipped the previous track didn’t you?!” ok you got me, this song had too much net slang for me to properly translate every line in it, sorry bout that one. I commented on that link with the lyrics for the song (with no translation) but if you’re curious what it’s about: The title is something like “the song of not losing to normies on halloween” and it’s about a hikkikomori being troubled by fucking normies on halloween night. It’s actually pretty funny but some of its terminology flies over my head ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also for what it’s worth I thought mega absolutely killed it and did a much better job covering nanahi’s song than nanahi covering one of hers, good for her.

Might as well write this down too since I already overextended with the previous paragraph. The title of this song says ”狂爭曲《カプリシオ》”, the first 3 characters are not a real word while the ones between parenthesis indicate how it’s actually supposed to be read, this is easily backed up by the actual lyrics at the end plus it’s fairly common practice in japanese media to do these silly made up words. Based on it’s kanji 狂爭曲 would mean something like “song of a mad struggle” if it was a real word. HOWEVER, my dumb ass initially assumed the reading referred to Caprice(french word for whim) since the song has a couple of french lines in it.

Then however I found out Capriccio is an actual music term for a very free-form piece, however I’m still leaving it as whim since it perfectly fits what is going on and was probably intended to. Also “burning in this free form style of composition” doesn’t sound as good as “burning in your whims”, so yeah, there you have it.

#一対半の狂爭曲《カプリシオ》〜絶対に渡さない〜#ななひら #mega #nanahira #ittsuihan no capurishio zettai ni watasanai #translation #lyrics #doujin music #denpa #ななめが王国 #nanamega oukoku

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doubleddenden · 5 years

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So the Direct in Review:

Overwatch for Switch: meh. Nobody really asked for this.

Luigi's Mansion 3: I'm honestly excited for this one. Let's the hope the individual floors aren't just tiny boxes. I'm definitely looking forward to the pirate ship level. I do hope I have some cash around Halloween

Super Kirby Clash: it's alright I guess. Seems weird to have 4 Kirbys and not Dedede or Meta Knight but whatever

Trials of Mana HD: I kind of want it, but I never played the others.

Return of Obra Dinn: eh. It's been out on PC a while I think.

Little Town Hero: ima be real, I'm a bit sour at this game because they definitely took time away from SwSh to work on this, and it definitely shows because it does look good. More info is needed tho. Tobyfox was just hanging out with Nintendo I guess

Banjo in Smash: don't have smash, but I do love Sakurai's laid back approach to explaining Banjo and Spiral Mountain. Tobyfox kicking Sakurai's ass in Smash is hilarious to me. Now if only Microsoft showed as much love to Banjo as Sakurai did. Hmmmmm.

Terry in Smash: okay? Funny trailer, but I don't really care much. Maybe they'll add girl Terry for another skin for shits n giggles.

More Smash DLC: Byleth is definitely coming at some point, as is a pokemon character or Little Town Hero character. Gotta get that promotion in babey.

Link's Awakening: cute

DQXIS: y'all can't do this to me I ALREADY BEAT THE GAME ON THE PS4! You can't just add new story and essentially an entirely 2d remake of the game on a new system! My wallet hates you. Maybe they'll actually add the reorchestrated music this time around.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions:#FE: I do want this. I've very much been wanting this. I just haven't gotten it yet because I knew it'd be ported to Switch with more shit in it AND I WAS RIGHT. Also "See-ah-da"??? I thought it was "ky-ay-da"?

Deadly Premonition 1 port: neat

DP 2: I was JUST talking to my friends about a New Orleans trip around Halloween. Like WTF. Kinda neato but hopefully they can escape the uncanny valley from the first

Divinity, Original Sin 2 Def Edition: eh... ok?

Doom 64: someone needs to tell mister Beth Esda to shorten his speel. Just say Doom 64 for Switch, BAM, move on. Your speech ain't that important and neither are your weird hand movements

Rogue Company: as much as I like the idea of customization, its literally the same as Fortnite or any other fps released in the past 10 years.

Pokemon SwSh: I've got sour feelings at Game Freak and The Pokemon Company International for the mistreatment of their franchise, but I do like Camp and Cramaran, plus whatever that weird fish is. I am delighted to see customization improvements, and there's definitely enhanced animations: but not for for the pokemon. The player looks lively af, but the pokemon still rotate so stiffly. The currydex is... interesting. It does look delicious anyway but I would prefer if they just kept the simple Refresh feature from SM. Decent overall, but they need to show more improvement by next month to change my mind. Also... Polteageist... no. I do not want to drink your bodily fluids.

SNES ports with Rewind functionality: decent idea. Where's Earthbound?

Tetris 99: booooringggg

Mario & Sonic: okay look, when they first started this for the Wii, pretty much all fans agreed this wasn't the crossover we wanted. So why are we still doing this? Why not an actual cross over game with Adventure 2 and Odyssey gameplay to keep things simple? At the least, the 2d stuff is original.

Daemon X Machina: actually looks fun. I really want it.

Jedi Knight 2: so weird, but cool.

The Witcher 3: nothing new but impressive, moving on.

Ass Cred Rebel: Ass Flag and Rogue Ass: decent. I wonder if Freedom Cry will be included? 4 is definitely the best

Dauntless: interesting, if only it weren't just online.

Just Dance: look, another party game for friends I don't have.

GRID Autosport: meh

Farming Simulator 20: we're still doing this eh?

Ni no kuni: Wrath of the White Witch: shit yes, I actually want this.

NBA 2k20: boring just like every other crappy ea sport game, next

Call of Cthulu: interesting I guess. I wonder if this will have Labo VR or 3d rumble compatibility?

The Outer Worlds: neat

Devil May Cry 2: okay, I know there's probably a reason, but why is Nintendo glossing over 1's in favor of their sequels? I guess I get it if the first ones were bad but still. Neato tho.

Vampyr: this was kind of underwhelming to the point that I don't remember it at all

AC New Horizons: oh to be an AC fan. I wish I could get into these games. They look so appealing from the outside. I just don't handle non combat games that well. But hey, I know plenty of friends that will love this.

Xenoblade Chronicles def Edition: also another one I knew was coming eventually. Hopefully they include Japanese audio.

A thank you to @nickshutter for his guide to sort of help me remember these

Out of all of these, Luigi's Mansion 3, Ni no kuni, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, Daemon X Machina, and Xenoblade Chronicles interest me the most.

I'm finding Pokemon is TRYING to grab at me, but I'm still not even 70% sold on it and they have to announce some changes or proper information on Home before I change my mind.

Incidentally, Missing from this list but also coming to the Switch in a month or so: Digimon Cyber Sleuth 1 AND 2. Really good, check em out.

Also missing: Metroid, FE 3 Houses Expansion Pass info, BoTW 2, and a rumored Mario Odyssey thing I heard a vague rumor about.

Decent direct overall.

#nintendo

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derpyslurpy-da-derp-master · 5 years

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I just got through the proposal scene in Ni No Kuni 2, and these are some of the wonderful responses of characters in game;

Li Li shipping it on Leafbook then being disappointed it wasn’t real

Boddly wanting the deets

Literally half the entire kingdom is now obsessed with Tani and Evan

A happy little boy that’s literally overlooking and staring at the crew’s ship saying ‘The one to whom you proposed is very... Lively, is she not?’ yes child she is and we all love her

That same child saying he’s got a crush on a girl who reminds him of Tani

where is this girl can we have her and Tani join forces in complete savagery to roast everyone in the land

I literally talked to every npc after this so I wouldn’t miss anything I ship them that hard and find this entire thing this cute and funny

#Ni No Kuni 2 #Ni No Kuni Tani #Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum #Slurpy Derps Around #Slurpy Derps Around In NNK2 #Original

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enchantment1385 · 6 years

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I was tagged by the gorgeous @sassylavellen and the equally stunning @elevanetheirin thank you, you lovelies! <3 <3 favorite game from the last 5 years? Oh wow! ummm... (checks online for release dates of games I love) Mass effect 3, Dragon age inquisition, The wolf among us, Tales from the borderlands, Oxenfree, D4 - Dark dreams don’t die, Injustice: Gods Among Us. All damn good games.

most nostalgic game? Final Fantasy IX. Now, I know a lot of people don’t like FF9, but... I did, and still do. I must have played it at least a dozen times, just because it makes me smile. Vivi... He’s just so adorable!

game that deserves a sequel? Shenmue! Oh wait, that’s happening already! Most of the games I like have sequels planned or are part of a bigger project anyway! But, there are two DS games called hotel dusk: room 215 and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, both following the same character which were AMAZEBALLS! But we never got to see the conclusion of Kyle’s backstory.

game that deserves a remaster? Other than the very expected Dragon age/ Mass effect answer? Discworld (1995), because Eric Idle voicing Rincewind the Wizzard (yes it is supposed to be spelt with two Z’s) is just the absolute definition of awesome.

favorite game series? Dragon age, Mass effect, Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, Sam & Max, Batman: Arkham Asylum & Arkham City (Personally, I think the third one can piss right off...) Pretty much all of the Telltale games.

favorite genre? RPG / Adventure / Action / MMORPG. Big bloody games with huge amounts of character customization and story if possible.

least favorite genre? @EAsellingyoursoulstothelordofdarkness -

MULTIPLAYER,

because people are dicks who seem to forget that we are,

A, Playing a GAME and B, When did that STOP being fucking fun?! Also, I have no friends, so stop mocking me!

favorite song from a game? Kingdom Hearts Dearly Beloved

youtube

FFX - Otherworld

youtube

favorite character from a game?

Alistair, Shale, Dorian, Hawke, Isabela, Varric, Wrex, Garrus, Tali, Mr drippy, Yuri Lowell, Raven, Sam and Max, Handsome Jack, Fang, Bigby wolf, Vivi, Auron, Kefka the clown, everyone in FF crisis core, Kyle Hyde, Rytlock Brimstone, Canach, Neloth, and all of my of my own OC’s...

favorite ship from a game? Yuna X Tidus, Alistair X Warden, Shepard X Garrus, Hawke X Fenris, Inky X Dorian... Kinda.., Inky X Bull, Inky X Cullen, I mean, I love all the bioware romances, but considering they all in potential heartbreak and/or death... I’m going with Zidane X Garnet from FFIX as the winner - BECAUSE IT DAMN WELL ENDS HAPPILY! Unlike this shit, my poor son had to go through...

favorite voice actor from a game? Dameon Clarke, Adam Harrington, Keythe Farley, Brandon Keener, Brian Bloom, Mark Meer, Jennifer Hale, Ramon Tikaram, Steven Barr, Steve Blum, Courtenay Taylor.

favorite cutscene? Blitzball - FFX Leaving Earth - ME3 FFVII Crisis Core - Genesis and Angeal VS Sephiroth Inquisitors chambers at the end of the main game - Dragon age inquisition

favorite boss? To fight? Probably the reapers, just because they are scary on so many levels, and when I shoot the shit out of that reactor at the end... I feel like, ‘You may have tortured me for 3 sodding games, but in the end, it’s me who gets the last laugh you piece of shit...’

first console? Super Nintendo

current console or consoles? PS4, Xbox360, and my darling, noisy as hell laptop!

console you want? I don’t... I want a new laptop...

place from a game that you’d like to visit? The citadel or maybe The grove from GW2 because that place always looks stunning!

place from a game that you’d like to live in? Kirkwall, because it houses Varric, Hawke, and Fenris...

ridiculous crossover that would never happen but would be super fun? Dragon age ~ Kingdom hearts = Dragon heart? Kingdom age? ... That would just be the best!

Book that would make a good game? Thud! Is one of my favorite Terry Pratchett books, and I think it would make a brilliant, and funny game!

show/movie that would make a good game? The crow.

games you want to play? Witcher 3, FFXV, Until dawn.

have you gotten 💯% completion in a game? Tales from the borderlands

have you 😢 over a game? Oh yes. Mass effect 2, Mass effect 3, Dragon age origins, 2, and inquisition, FFX, FF crisis core, FF IX, The walking dead season 2, GW2, Ni no kuni....

what power-up or ability would you want in real life? Magic / biotics... Failing that, a FF summons?

Tagging @keeperscompanionsdai @heraldofwho @andrastini @queen-of-the-crows @dovahgriin @inquisitorsmabari @princessvicky01 @tessa1972 @gugle1980 @dreadhobo @hoehoehoelt

#loooong post #sorry #i seemed to have ranted #tagged #gaming #gaming meme

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utanotranslations · 3 years

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Blog Post Translation: December 13th, 2020: 712* The First JinZIN in a Year!!!!

Enjoy, and please don’t repost without credit!

Yaa This is Satoyoshi Utano

Thank you very much for the comments and likes yesterday as well! * I read all of them *

Today!!

We did the "BEYOOOOONDS FC EVENT 2020 ~Christmas no JinZIN~"!!!!! * <3

Yaaaaay!!!!!

It's been one year, and this was the first and last JinZIN of 2020......! :O :O :O

This year, the theme was that we were fairies who are helping Santa, So to go along with that, we had a segment where we had to help with things that were quite hard!! Lolol

I could get to know about aspects of the members that I hadn't seen yet and On the other hand, I might have found out that what seems normal for me, isn't normal at all......! :O Lol

It's been a while since I danced to "Kanojo ni Naritai!!!" and "Oheso no Kuni Kara Konnichiwa", And we played a shopping game with sweet scoring...... Lolololol

I think that it would be good if everyone could feel our usual fuffly and fun feeling

It's been a while since all of us did an FC event, and the way that the this is BEYOOOOONDS! jumped out was really funny~!!!! <3 :) <3 :) <3

I'll put the setlist here too (Be aware of spoilers!!)

Setlist

1: Jingle Bells / All 2. Winter Story / MiyoHonoUu (Show 1) Samui ne. / CHICA#TETSU (Show 2) 3. Nigiyakana Fuyu / Ame no Mori Kawa Umi (Show 1) Pittari Shitai X-Mas! MiyoHonoUu (Show 2) 4. Seinau Kane ga Hibiku Yoru / CHICA#TETSU (Show 1) Aitai Lonely Christmas / Ame no Mori Kawa Umi (Show 2) 5. Santa no Saxophone / All

That's it~!!!!

A Christmas song I've always wanted to sing!

The last part of the Winter Story chorus And the "Santa-sa~n!!!!!" part of Pittari Shitai X-Mas, I was really happy to be able to do the phrases I've always wanted to <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Today's photo with Miimi!!

Today too, her smile is ridiculously cute <3 Fuu

And!!!!

There was also a surprise announcement!!!!!!!

It's been decided that next spring, we will be starring in our third play

I'm tooooooo happy T_T T_T T_T T_T <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I love doing plays, so I'm really, really excited <3 :) <3

And! The title you're interested in is......

"Nemureru Mori no BEYO"

(The photo shows the fairies who collapsed at th etitle)

It's not "biyo", it's "BEYO"!!!!!!!!!

Again, there's a sudden BEYO lolololol

I think that I want to make it a play that is BEYOOOOONDSlike, which many people can enjoy!!!

We don't know anything about it yet but, I think that later, I'll be able to talk about the details Look forward to it, okay!! <3

It's a little bit early, but it feels like I had plenty of Christmas and now we're at the end of the year lolol

I hope everyone who came also had fun......! *

BEYOOOOONDS will continue to fly in 2021 too, so I'll be happy if you look forward to it!!

Well then! I'll do my best tomorrow, too! Enjoy the Christmas show, too! Okay! <3

See ya!

#satoyoshi utano #beyooooonds #hello project #blog post translation #december 2020

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bmaxwell · 4 years

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Best Games of 2013

In 2013 owning a tablet was new and exciting. Were the games better? Mobile gaming feels like a cesspool filled with endless in-app purchases and diarrhea. Everything was better before, right? I mean, it’s 2020 so that’s actually true right now. Anyway videogames.

10. Nimble Quest

Remember that Snake game people used to play on their Apple II or calculators or whatever? What if instead of a snake, you had a string or RPG dudes like wizards and knights and archers, and you were dodging monsters and stuff? It would be good.

9. 868-HACK

I like roguelike gameplay quite a lot. I like the cyberpunk wireframe hacking aesthetics less, but you play as a smiley face so it’s a net good.

8. Little Inferno

Little Inferno is about ordering things, waiting for them to arrive, then burning them in a fireplace. The gameplay itself is pretty simplistic. There are combos named like “Someone Else’s Combo” for example, and you unlock that one by burning someone else’s credit card with someone else’s family photo. Mostly, it’s about spending money on crap you don’t need at all while the outside world seems to be burning down. IT HOLDS UP SURPRISINGLY WELL

7. Papers, Please

Speaking of existential dread, Papers Please is a game about working at the border of a fictional communist country called Arstotzka. You checking passports against ID, and allowing or denying access to your country. Some cases are straightforward, some require strong attention to detail, some are funny, some are heartbreaking, and some are very uncomfortable. You need to process them as quickly and accurately as possible, because your pay hinges on the quantity and quality of your work. It’s a very dystopian game where the videogame-y parts work surprisingly well. When I played, I did not earn enough money to pay for rent, food, medicine, and heat at the end of the month. I opted to go without heat and a family member got sick and died. It’s well-done and I don’t want to play it. It does a good job of making the player think about situations that they may have the luxury of never worrying about in real life.

6. Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch

The Playstation 3 was kind of a forgettable console for me. I got it very late in the console cycle and didn’t play many exclusives that really stuck with me. Ni No Kuni was a breath of fresh air, a dorky old RPG with art from Studio Ghibli. There were party members to recruit, monsters to collect and feed, and a sprawling world to explore. The combat was real time with pauses, so that was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Still, I have good memories of this game and will play the remaster at some point here.

5. The Stanley Parable

The Stanley Parable is smart and funny in a way that is exceedingly rare for a video game. It breaks the fourth wall, pokes fun at you, itself, and video games, and is just a bizarre, clever joy. It still holds up. Go play it. Play the demo too.

4. Rogue Legacy

Die, funnel your money into some minor improvement, die again, repeat. Rogue Legacy also has the twist of letting you choose from some character traits in the guise of the game’s family tree of descendants. It’s a neat premise, the gradual growth in power feels good. The movement and combat feel right. Rogue Legacy is a very Good One of These.

3. Don’t Starve

I have a lot of feelings about Don’t Starve and Don’t Starve Together. I love the personality of the game. The art style, the dark humor, the music are all a joy. Playing a session with friends where everyone has a job to do can be really satisfying. The ridiculous ways it all comes apart are likewise terrific; I remember dying and needing to be escorted back to my corpse after insisting that I could make it through this huge field of bee hives and killer bee nests. I remember our buddy being chased back to our base by a treeguard - we set both on fire. I remember playing a the mime Wes and making balloon animals and doing mime hijinks while my buddy was starving and getting attacked by tallbirds.* I love the emergent stories that come out of the game, I just wish the multiplayer had a little more direction. It feels like it’s always winding toward a tragic end, which bothers me here more than in most games.

2. BioShock Infinite

I played it way back when and didn’t finish it. I know that the discourse around this game turned from being initially praised as a classic and a work of art, to being criticized for its clumsy mishandling of race. My wife played the game to completion a couple of years ago, and I enjoyed watching her and discussing it. I ended up appreciating it for what it is, and being critical of the shitty parts. I am very tired.

1. Gone Home

Gone Home is a masterpiece of environmental storytelling. I won’t say much as I’ve written about it before on here. It’s a very special game.

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crystalnet · 6 years

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State of the Art: JRPG Spotlight-

Issue #1- 2017 at a Glance- A quarterly or bi-annual journal on the JRPG at large, focusing on recent releases, trends, quarterly reviews/analyses and upcoming release hype.

The other night I was getting yet even deeper still into the freshly minted minor-masterpiece that is Xenoblade Chronicles 2 when it dawned on me just how good 2017 was to the quaint little genre known as the JRPG. I knew all year while it was happening that some special games were getting released with a certain regularity, but now that the dust has fully settled, we can look back and be conclusively impressed by such a stellar stretch.

3 or 4 years ago I think people were getting ready to pen their moratoriums on why big developers and JRPGs should soon plan on never intersecting again save for small-scale handheld releases, and now here we are and Japan is seemingly back on top as far as role-playing goes. That return-to-form didn't always seem so inevitable as it is now that it's fully underway, especially after a somewhat shaky stretch for the genre during the 7th generation. Indeed, high-definition graphics and devs who catered to Gatorade-guzzling gamer bros seemed to not be the boon to the genre that old-school role-players really needed, and even the first couple of years of the 8th generation saw the genre to still be on slightly shaky ground, without a ton of great titles to point to from those initial years.

But then throughout the 7th gen a little franchise called Dark Souls (a JRPG in spirit, though not quite in practice, in many ways) started to build a little following, generating new interest in things like difficulty, customization, and innovative diagetic story-telling. As of the middle of this decade though, the genre still doesn’t have all that much of a presence compared to the late 90s heyday of JRPGs. Cut to 2016 though and Square drops FFXV which is a solid, if not-perfect realization of the 30-year-old standard-bearer of the genre, (a herald of sorts, if you will) and BAM. 2017 begins and in quick succession Nier Automata, Persona 5 and Breath of the Wild drop, all to stunningly positive reception. Now BotW, like Dark Souls, is not as much of a JRPG as the other 3 releases I hope to focus on, but Zelda has always had it's toe in the same waters as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, borrowing and simplifying elements of role-playing games from an action-adventure perspective, and in turn, also influencing those very JRPG franchises it seemed to pay homage to.

This wasn't just a coincidental blip of releases though, proved largely by the fact that all the way at the end of the year, Xenoblade 2 would also drop, and show yet again how the JRPG can be fresh and vital, and can be a Nintendo-exclusive at that. Indeed, I hope to demonstrate my thesis that it was a particularly strong year by triangulating my discussion around Nier A, Persona 5 and Xenoblade 2. Not only are these three very strong titles, they are also all pretty vastly different styles of JRPGs, which I think displays the health and potential of the genre even better than the fact that they are so individually good. First of all we have an industry veteran and mad-hatter in Yoko Taro finally coalescing a fully-realized vision of action-JRPG greatness by collaborating with Platinum games to make something as heady, and intellectual as it is well-designed and fun to play. That game is something like a Hegelian Philosophy PhD driving a Lamborghini in terms of the amount of stuff going on with the writing and character development, all while sporting a super classy luxury sports-car, six-cylinder engine. For long-time fans of Taro, I don't think this direction could have ever been predicted, though they may have secretly dreamed of such a fusion of form and function.

The best thing about how simultaneously weird and playable Nier A is for me is the way it hearkens back to the golden age of PS2 JRPGs for me personally. Without pinning it to a single PS2-era title, it gives me the same feeling that games during that console could consistently deliver on: a fully realized fantasy/sci fi world, a deep-yet-approachable combat system, a weird and very-Japanese, but also deep-as-hell plot, and a certain functionality that games like Kingdom Hearts 2, Rogue Galaxy and Final Fantasy XII delivered on back then. I don't mean to say it's derivative or stuck in the past, it's just that, the highlights of the PS2 days are my go-to precedent for what a good modern, post-16-bit JRPG is, since that equally sweet ps1 era can only be reasonably emulated on smaller and/or handheld retro-style releases. And while the story’s depth and esoteric nature recall the plot’s and worlds of PS1 and 2 greats like FFX, Xenosaga or Vagrant Story, the combat itself feels as fast-and-furious as hack-n-slash classics from then like Devil May Cry.

So while Nier had action-(j)RPG style gameplay covered, Persona 5 was there for all the turn-based devotees, and oh boy were we there for it also. That game was a huge victory lap for Atlus, who has built up a deep fanbase over the past decade, largely because of youtubers (at least in the west we can thank the cult-y presence of its fans online for the slow-burn development of an army of Atlus acolytes, whereas P3 and 4 were only barely noticed in the States back when they actually first came out.) And they finally capitalized on that hard-earned interest by finally following up P4 after nearly a decade, and while they were at it, they also showed everyone that fully turn-based (not even slightly active-time) systems can still melt faces, please crowds and feel fresh, which is no mean feat at all in a world where some question if turn-based is officially dead save for retro-homages.

And while Nier captures a kind of ethereal PS2-esque quality, Persona very literally pulls some of the PS2-era goodness into the future by updating and refining the awesomely deep and OCD-enabling systems of the now holy-grail-level PS2 era Persona games. Yes, wandering around Shinjuku, going on supportive dates with classmates, building up your relationships in general, and working a part time job between study breaks has been fully realized for the modern gamer, and it is glorious to behold.

And that takes us to Xenoblade which out of all the titles I might be most surprised by. Being a bit of a Xeno-noob, I wasn't sure if the release was going to be a major or minor event for role-players, especially given Nintendo's spotty track-record with the JRPG, usually sporting all of maybe one or two truly notable ones per generation, as well as their tendency to censor and/or smother developers. But alas, Xenoblade is fully-formed, proper, brimming-with-life and as deserving of the title of new standard-bearer to the genre as any of the other fantastic JRPGs released that year, many of which I won't even get to.

As is the case with the others, it seems to draw on PS2 era greatness in someways, by building on battle systems like the ones in FFXI and FFXII, while also being an actual descendant of the Xenosaga series that rocked that console, and also still draws on PS3-era titles that were successful (though smaller in number there were some good ones!) like Ni No Kuni and the Last Story. This is a round-about way of saying the combat system is an excellent take on the free-moving active-time auto-battling-but-with-real-time-triggers-style combat that started to show up towards the end of the PS2's life-cycle just when people were realizing the days of pure turn-based role-laying may be limited. And it also delivers on all those other check-marked boxes that any truly great and special JRPG must deliver on including: emotionally stirring and unique soundtrack, a deep and rewardingly complex story with all sorts of specific and detailed lore, a really nice visual style, and some incredibly beautiful locales. Okay that last thing isn't even a thing JRPGs usually have to deliver on, but it sure is a highlight. Some of the locations you move through during your travels in this game are breathtaking, and even more impressive than the similarly psuedo-cell-shaded style of Breath of the Wild, whose open-world Monolith Soft also worked on (though you can't climb all over these areas I should say).

I'm as blown away by the suddenly addictive combat (once it fully kicks in and you are given full control over 3 blades around the 15 hour mark) as I am by the surprisingly moving, funny and immersive story. I can be a little skeptical sometimes when approaching JRPG stories, but by all three of these aforementioned titles, we were treated to surprisingly mature and complex narratives, with refreshingly grounded and/or thoughtful characters. Indeed, with this many games firing on all these different cylinders (I didn't even mention the soundtrack to Persona 5 or Nier OMG), you know something special is happening.

So there you have it, three wildly differently styles of JRPG, only unified by their consistent top-tier quality. An old-school turn-based lite-novel hyprid, a full real-time action-RPG for philosophy students, and a MMO-style combat fantasy epic. And on top of all that there's myriad other fantastic releases, or even re-releases like the Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age remaster of FFXII, one of my favorites and oft-forgotten FF titles that I think got overlooked slightly upon initial release precisely because of the way it showed other developers the way forward from pure turn-based combat.

And then the behemoth that is Breath of the Wild saw a tried-and-true franchise get fully revitalized in a way that drew on the weapon system of Dark Souls as much as it did the food system of Odinsphere of all games. And like I said, though not a true JRPG, it shows that role-playing adjacent titles are also showing a come-back. Survival components in video games were always the more practical, realist cousin to role-playing/stat-grinding after all.

So where do we go from here? Well 2018 will show us whether 2017 was a stand-out year or just the beginning of a trend, but all signs seem to point to an ongoing upward trend if releases like Monster Hunter World are any indication. Ni No Kuni 2 is due out soon, Octopath Traveler, which should make good on the idea of a retro-JRPG, and Kingdom Hearts 3 at the end of the year all help to paint the picture of an equally formidable year. Alas, Nippon is poised to continue its domination in coming months. All in all, fans of the genre should be very pleased, and if you haven't checked out one of the aforementioned titles get to it, because all of them are excellent, even if Xeno takes about 15 hours to truly get rolling and Persona takes a whopping like 20. All good things come to those who wait, after all.~

#xenoblade chronicles 2 #xenoblade #nier automata #nier #persona 5 #persona #jrpg #state of the jrpg #role-playing #role playing #role #playing #ps4 #switch #turn-based #combat #real-time #state of the art

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