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retro-vgm-revival-hour · 1 year

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Games of 2022 For most of 2022, the video game industry was defined more by its controversies than its future. Microsoft desperately trying to acquire Activision Blizzard, a gaming company with its own set of controversies that involve sexual misconduct, and abuse towards its developers and employees, ultimately creating a toxic workplace; This also includes Ubisoft, is just One of the many things that stick out like a sore thumb when discussing anything involving the video games industry.

Although Some studios have unionized to combat crunch and toxic cultures, There were still various things that made this past year in the world of video games end with a bad taste in your mouth.

The google Stadia being Dead on arrival along with Babylon’s Fall, The controversy involving bayonetta 3 and its voice actress, Electronic arts and various other companies constantly pushing loot box gambling in video games, to the inclusion of NFTs into video games by square Enix just just a tip of the iceberg.

But that’s not what I am here for.

As much as negative this world can get, there are still some signs of hope and people who are out there creating ambitious, satisfying sequels of already established franchises to even creating engrossing, refreshing original titles that have been gracing our console of choice the minute we hit the start button.

Even with what is happening, the Nostalgia Roadtrip Network is dedicated to bringing you the best that we can do to bring a smile to your face by spotlighting these talented artist, composers, and musicians that have elevated our gaming experiences since we first learned to pick up a controller, hit a button on a keyboard or swiped across our phones.

This is why THIS STAGE of the Retro VGM Revival Hour is dedicated to the music from the various games of 2022….

Let’s get started!!!!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Game – Composer – Title⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1.) Sonic Frontiers – Tomoya Ohtani & Kanon Oguni – “Cyber Space 1-3 (Digital Cave), Cyber Space 1-7 (Time Flyer) & Cyber Space 2-6 (Transparent Highway)” – November 8, 2022 – Sonic Team/Sega – Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S

2.) Marvel's Midnight Suns – Tim Wynn & Phill Boucher – “Origins, One of Those Off-Off-Broadway Shows & The Strongest Among Us” – December 2, 2022 – Firaxis Games/2K – Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S

3.) Babylon's Fall – Aoba Nakanishi, Seiji Hotta & Hyun Kim – “A Triumphant Victory, Fierce Battle/General in Scarlet & A Rebel and a Hero” – March 3, 2022 – PlatinumGames/Square Enix – Windows PC, PS4 & PS5

4.) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion – Takeharu Ishimoto – “CRISIS CORE Theme/ Under the Apple Tree (REUNION Ver.), Wandering under the Moonlight (REUNION Ver.) & The SOLDIER Way (REUNION Ver.)” – December 13, 2022 – Square Enix & Tose/Square Enix – Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S

5.) The King of Fighters XV – Hideki Asanaka & Naoki Kita – “Fictitious or Real (Team Sacred Treasures), Resonant Objects (Team Oroch) & Absolute Denial (Boss-2)” – February 17, 2022 – SNK – PS4, PS5, Windows PC & Xbox Series X/S

6.) Marvel Snap – Christopher Alan Grabar – “Welcome to the Multiverse, Meet Your Match & Show Your Cards” – Second Dinner/Nuverse – October 18, 2022 – Windows PC, Android & iOS

7.) Horizon Forbidden West – Oleksa Lozowchuk & Joris de Man – “Whatever Comes (w/ vocals by Julie Elven & Melissa R. Kaplan), The World on Her Shoulders (w/ vocals by Julie Elven) & By Choice/by Fate (w/ vocals by Julie Elven)” – February 18, 2022 – Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4 & PS5

8.) Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Hirokazu Ando – “Running Through the New World, Invasion at the House of Horrors & The Ultimate Fight” – March 25, 2022 – HAL Laboratory/Nintendo – Nintendo Switch

9.) Capcom Fighting Collection – CAP JAMS, Capcom Sound Team & Matt Cab – “Akuma's Theme (HYPER STREET FIGHTER II), Pyron Stage (DARKSTALKERS) & HADOUKEN” – June 24, 2022 – Capcom – Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 & Xbox One

10.) Shovel Knight Dig – Jake Kaufman – “The Quenched (Boss Theme), Fully Furnaced (Smelt Works) & Pest Friends (Insect Hive)” – September 23, 2022 – Nitrome & Yacht Club Games/Yacht Club Games – Windows PC, iOS, Mac OS & Nintendo Switch

11.) Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope – Yoko Shimomura & Grant Kirkhope – “Battle of Beacon Beach, The Temple Under Siege & Midnite Ball (Left Turn)” – October 20, 2022 – Ubisoft Milan & Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft – Nintendo Switch

12.) Stray – Yann van der Cruyssen – “Secret Lab, Courtyard & Dead City” – July 19, 2022 – BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive – PS4, PS5 & Windows PC

13.) Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream – Daisuke Achiwa & Kazuki Yanagawa – “Dream Drop, Sew the Starlight & Ride on Moonlight” – February 24, 2022 – Gust/Koei Tecmo – PS4, Windows PC & Nintendo Switch

14.) Vampire Survivors – Daniele Zandara & Filippo Vicarelli – “Reincarnated Echoes, Vempair Survaivors & Forest Night Fever” – October 20, 2022 – Luca Galante – Mac OS, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android & iOS

15.) Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 – Ippo Yamada, Takumi Sato & Ryo Kawakami – “The Sprinting Yellow Garments Blade, Thunderclap Roar & Wailing Holy Night (Roar)” – July 28, 2022 – Inti Creates – Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

16.) Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin – Naoshi Mizuta, Yoshitaka Suzuki, Nobuo Uematsu & Hidenori Iwasaki – “Garland, Battle: Tiamat (Motif from "Flying Fortress") & Battle: The Suffering of Fools” – March 18, 2022 – Team Ninja/Square Enix – Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S

17.) Live A Live – Yoko Shimomura (w/ arrangements by Akira Iwata & Noriyuki Kamikura) – “Knock You Down!, Sancho de Los Panchos & Heroic Struggle” – July 22, 2022 – Square Enix/Nintendo – Nintendo Switch

18.) Elden Ring – Yuka Kitamura, Shoi Miyazawa & Yoshimi Kudo – “Formidable Foe 1, Invader & Old Warriors” – February 25, 2022 – FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Entertainment – PS4, PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S

19.) A Plague Tale: Requiem – Olivier Derivière – “No Turning Back, The Count & Unwilling Violence” – October 18, 2022 – Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment – PS5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

20.) Sifu – Howie Lee – “Martial Mastery, Blood is on Fire & Fearless” – February 8, 2022 – Sloclap – Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

21.) MultiVersus – Gordy Haab, Danny Elfman, Stephen Barton – “Batman: The Caped Crusader, Prepare for Battle! & Batman: From Shadow Reborn” – August 15, 2022 – Player First Games/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment – Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S

22.) God of War Ragnarök – Bear McCreary – “God of War Ragnarök, The Hidden Beast & The Hammer of Thor” – November 9, 2022 – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment – PS4 & PS5

23.) River City Girls 2 – Megan McDuffee – “Club Monsters, Ken + Dragon Twins & Marian” – December 1, 2022 – WayForward Technologies/WayForward Technologies & Arc System Works – Windows PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch

24.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge – Tee Lopes – “Panic in the Sky! (w/ vocals by Jonny Atma), A Few Screws Loose & It's a Pizza Party! (w/ vocals by Mega Ran)” – June 16, 2022 – Tribute Games/Dotemu – Linux, PS4, Windows PC, Xbox One, PS5, Android, iOS & Nintendo Switch

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artistjust · 2 years

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Gradius rebirth 3 loops

#Gradius rebirth 3 loops code#

Pokémon GO Spotlight Hour Times: This Week's Featured Po. Pokémon GO Community Days 2022: September Community Day. Talking Tom, Candy Run (not sure about this one, but it has vertical elements) There other vertical games, puzzle games, that use the touchscreen only:ĥ. I will mention just a few offbeat shooters: Johnny Turbo: Heavy Barrel (same deal, flips the wrong way) Johnny Turbo: Nitro Ball (flips the wrong way, but you can "flip" the FlipGrip)ġ6. Sasuke vs Commander (seeSNK Collection)ġ5. Namco Museum (Note: other game, PacMan Museum+ DOES NOT have vertical mode)Īrcade Archives has a crap load of shooters, and a bunch of non-shooters, I'm listing just a few of the non-shooters:ġ0. SNK Collection-Ikari Warriors, a few other (also shooters included)ġ1. Contra Collection- Contra and Super C (Beware: Arcade Archives versions are better but more expensive)ġ0. Capcom Arcade Stadium 2- Gunsmoke, Speed Rumbler, Hissatu Buraiken, Rally 2011, Block Block (also shooters too!)ħ. Capcom Arcade Stadium 1-Commando (has a bunch of shooters too)ĥ. Pinball FX 3-Williams Collection (22 tables!)ģ.Gunbarich (follow this games developer to a trove of vertical shooters)Ĥ. Let me highlight some games that are NOT shootersĢ. (Forced to be since Nintendo doesn't have a category for vertical games.)

Sat 30th Jul I am a bit of expert when it comes to the Flip-Grip.

Ra圜risis HD (2023) – A remaster of Ra圜risis. RayStorm HD launched in 2010 with additional elements and a 16:9 aspect ratio, but RayStorm NEO-HD includes the same content as the arcade version and retains a 4:3 aspect ratio. RayStorm NEO-HD (2023) – A remaster of the arcade version of RayStorm. Here's what you can expect in this Chronology (via Gematsu): It's a mix of the original releases along with some remasters as well. The Switch already has an amazing selection of shmup games to select from, and this new collection will bolster it with a total of five games. There's no word on a western release at the moment. Original Story : Taito Corporation and the retro specialists at M2 have announced they'll be bringing Ray'z Arcade Chronology to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 next year in Japan. We'll keep you updated as and when an announcement is made for the West.

#Gradius rebirth 3 loops code#

While Taito hasn't delivered any news on an overseas release just yet, anyone who pre-orders the game via Amazon Japan on Prime Day (12th-13th July) will get a code for R-GEAR, a previously unreleased sequel to Rayforce that was cancelled and replaced with Raystorm. It'll cost 7,480 yen, although there's a fancy special edition version with a Blu-ray, a two-disc CD set, a guidebook, and other printed goodies that will set you back 18,480 yen. Update : Taito has announced a Japanese release date for Ray'z Arcade Chronology - 9th March 2023 (thanks, Gematsu). ➡️ /xCdsKrAwFq- Strictly Limited Games July 30, 2022 Ray’z Arcade Chronology will be available for pre-order on One of the most iconic vertical shoot ‘em ups from the 90s which was created by TAITO is coming back with new features and in HD quality on Nintendo Switch and PS4! The physical edition of the Chronology will be distributed by Strictly Limited locally - with pre-orders opening on July 31st. There's no release date just yet and ININ will be handling publishing duties of both games digitally ( via Gematsu). Update #2 : ININ Games has confirmed it will release Ray'z Arcade Chronology and also RayStorm x Ra圜risis HD Collection on the Switch here in the west.

#Gradius rebirth 3 loops

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julystorms · 6 years

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Chapter 100: Falco’s Fate

I’m kind of surprised I haven’t seen a post like this, yet, but everyone seems to be really weirded out by this scene:

I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on, here! As a quick recap of the official lines, Eren helps Reiner up off of the floor, offering him his bloodied hand.

Eren then says: “I was right, I’m...the same as you. I think...we were born this way. I just keep moving forward...”

This is not the first time Eren has said something like this!

In Ch.98:

And hey, I know what Eren says here is under heavy debate right now, but I think it’s important to consider what happens immediately after he talks about moving forward...

The crackling, the light around Eren’s hand... Now, it’s possible that Eren showed Reiner a memory (as awful as it is, we can’t account for Historia right now/it’s been 4 years so who knows what Eren has learned), but I find that a bit unlikely.

What we do know for certain is that it is at this moment, at the end of Willy’s speech (text to the right is Willy’s, not Eren’s as I’ve seen it wrongly attributed like four times now)...is that Eren is about to shift.

And Reiner, realizing this, hurriedly pulls back his hand (something Eren allows him to do, by the way) and turns toward Falco. To protect him.

I don’t think Eren views Reiner as an enemy. If he did, he would have never brought him here and he certainly wouldn’t have taken his sweet time transforming. I think Eren was giving Reiner time to protect Falco, an action that would take Reiner’s full attention and possibly also keep him out of the fight. Yeah, he could have put Reiner down a pit, too, but there would be no way to protect Falco, then, and I think Eren truly does like Falco. This way, Falco not only learns the truth from the other side of things (something Eren feels he should know), but it also gives him a protector in the upcoming chaos. Remember, the Armored Titan is for defense!

For what it’s worth, this is a gamble, but Eren seems to believe that Reiner will do the right thing. I think it’s clear that Eren has his money on Reiner focusing on protecting Falco instead of fighting him.

Something else worth considering is this image here:

It nicely mimics Eren’s pre-bloodied hand before his transformation. Yes, it’s obvious that Eren’s enemy is actually Willy (this is more than foreshadowed at the start of the chapter), but I think this is intended to be a “one or the other” understanding--as in, the enemy Eren sought from this encounter to destroy was Willy, not Reiner and Falco. But notice that Eren hears them both out, first. This Eren has learned to make hard decisions carefully.

Which he does by taking his time transforming; by looking Reiner in the eyes while their hands are clasped; by letting Reiner take his hand back and turn to face Falco. You can almost see the movement in that panel, where the next step is Reiner throwing his arms around Falco and pushing him to the floor, covering Falco’s body with his own. I mean, we’ve seen Reiner come back from some pretty awful things, but Falco doesn’t have that ability and is relying 100% on Reiner to not die. The building collapsing probably means that Reiner will have to transform and stay over Falco to protect him; if he moves, Falco will die.

There could be something to be said about that door just behind Falco, too, but I find escape less likely an option.

It sounds kind of flippant, making Reiner choose between one person and many, but...this isn’t just any person, and Reiner has every reason to believe that Zeke, Porco, and Pieck are in the audience and ready to fight. ;) (This is why when Eren says he has friends with him, Reiner gets a little scared--because God knows what he means by that.)

Given that choice, knowing what he knows: he’ll protect Falco.

And hey, Eren knows the kind of person Reiner is. Reiner’s loyalty isn’t for Marley anymore. Reiner wanted to be a hero, to save other people. Here’s his chance.

IMO, it’s a reasonbly safe gamble!

Here’s the truly sad part: Falco still has a better chance of living than anyone in the audience, and that includes Gabi, Colt, Udo, and Zophia. Eren didn’t bring Falco there to terrify him or make him feel shitty, but to, well, kill several birds with one stone: he got to speak to Reiner and gain a better understanding of Reiner’s actions all those years ago, he got to reveal the truth to Falco, and he was able to ensure, hopefully, the life of the one person who was exceptionally kind to him during his stay in Marley while also keeping Reiner, the man who is “the same as” him, out of the fight.

I don’t think this panel is there for no reason:

Again, Eren took his time transforming. He could have done it in an instant and he didn’t. He was letting Reiner know what was about to happen.

Falco will be okay. Eren believes Reiner will keep him safe and hey, so do I!

#snk #snk meta #reiner braun #falco grice #snk spoilers #chapter 100 #snk hour with july #falcolives2k18

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transmechanicus · 6 years

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Summer winds have hit Seattle and it carries with it the scent memory of...so much...goddamn anime from middle school.

#to clarify: Seasonal scents have been connected in my memory to whatever media i enjoyed at the time #my stuff #Halloween literally SMELLS like Tokyo Ghoul to me #Early january is crysis 3 #Mid march is Titanfall 1 #May-> July is like 5 collective anime #August is...the fucking SNK opening #i looped it for 10 hours on a roadtrip

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neruto · 3 years

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Tag Games!

I’ve been tagged by a bunch of people to do a bunch of different tag games!! (thank you all so much!) and decided to just put them all together onto one post c: so here we go (it’s gonna be long)!

list my 10 favorite male characters from different fandoms!

tagged by: @wuatsui (thank you so much mandy!)

naruto (naruto)

levi (snk)

hinata (haikyuu)

izuku (bnha)

xie lian (tgcf)

lan wangji (mdzs)

jin mori (goh)

tanjirou (kny)

tetsuya (knb)

shion (no.6)

(as we can see...im a sucker for the main characters...sigh)..

spell out my url using songs!

tagged by: @stfudabi and @wuatsui (thank you nea and mandy again!!) here we go!

N: nothing helps by ONE OK ROCK E: epiphany by BTS R: remembering sunday by all time low U: UGH! by BTS T: TO THE BEAT by ateez O: outro: house of cards by BTS

this is just me showing im a bts stan...ahhhh ;;~;; there were so many songs i wanted to choose from sdjdjf

13 songs i’ve been listening to lately 🎵

tagged by: @niwas (thank you mars!! <3) this is in no particular order!

moondust by jaymes young

ultraluminary by phillipa soo (from the movie over the moon)

stay by bts

i can’t stop me by twice

wuji (instrumental ver.) (from the untamed soundtrack)

utter innocence by yu bin (from the untamed soundtrack)

inception by ateez

gurenge by LiSA

we didn’t start the fire by billy joel

we lost the summer by txt

wait a minute! by willow

already over by red

big girls don’t cry by fergie

i go through a cycle where i listen to the same like 20 songs on repeat for a month (if not longer) and then i dont listen to them again for a while (this playlist is all over the place dskfk)

Answer 30 questions and tag others

tagged by: @rumprich (thank you ananya!!)

name/nickname: alex

gender: g i r l

star sign: gemini

height: 5′3

time: 12:32

birthday: june 14

favorite bands: bts, txt, ateez, one okay rock, exo, all time low, fall out boy, wayv, etc...

favorite solo artist: lil nas x, the weekend, ariana grande, billy joel, khalid, halsey, etc. (i listen to more groups/bands)

song stuck in my head: radio ga ga .... i listened to it today and its been on repeat in my head since ;;~;;

last movie: over the moon (its so cute! and so good!)

last show: jujutsu kaisen. currently rewatching bnha.

when did i create this blog: july 2018~

what do i post: animanga, disney, things i find cute and aes

last thing i googled: moon phases for 2021 (i’m working on my bullet journal lol)

other blogs: lanszhan (my main blog that im mostly on), minsbutt (soft bts sideblog that im on occasionally), fytgcf (tgcf sideblog!)

do i get asks: uhm sometimes? not really...but only because i haven’t really been active this past year...but more recently i have gotten some! (thank you to all the lovely people who sent me some!)

why i chose my url: naruto is my show...and i’ve been wanting the url for a while and finally on the off chance i checked to save it and it was free...and bam now we are here :)

following: 165 (i need more blogs to follow tbh..)

followers: 900+

average hours of sleep: uhm it depends..i can run on 5 but i prefer to try to get around 6~8

instruments: piano and violin

what am i wearing: long sleeve navy blue shirt, some hot pink shorts, and christmas socks...(it’s sleepy time!!)

dream job: uhm im not the type of person to really have a dream job tbh..but maybe either opening a bakery or being able to sell my art

dream trip: south korea, japan, holland

favorite food: probably any kinda of pasta..

nationality: american

favorite song: hmmm...so far away by agustd

last book read: tgcf by mxtx

top 3 fictional universes i’d like to live in: a studio ghibli movie, atla, harry potter

tagging: all the people who tagged me (to do the ones they didn’t tag me in!<3) and @tanchirou, @ocarinnas, @natsutakashi, @omijime, @kirstein-jean, @sakaguchis and @hyakkimaaru (you can do any one that you want, you can do multiple or all, or you can also completely ignore this and thats fine too!! <3)

#this was fun ;;#sorry for how long this was but i figured this would be simpler than doing like 4 dif posts #thank you to everyone who tagged me in something!! i enjoy tag games ;; <3 im just slow at doing them sdkdfk #tag games

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snknews · 5 years

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dailymotion

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New Shingashina Trio Bronze Statue Crowdfunding Project for Hita Announced

A crowdfunding project to erect a bronze statue of Eren, Mikasa, and Armin in Isayama Hajime’s hometown of Hita has been announced!

Based on an Isayama illustration of the Shingashina Trio, the project hopes to raise enough funds for a statue to be placed opposite of Oyama Dam, which would serve as a real-life “Wall Maria” as the trio looks towards it. This is a commemoration of Isayama’s accomplishment as a mangaka as well as a celebration of the series’ 10th anniversary.

Donations from 3,000 yen to over 1,000,000 yen will be accepted starting on August 7th, 2019. For donors of 20,000 yen or more, limited reprints of the original trio drawing by Isayama will serve as a backer reward. For 110 backers who donate more than 100,000 yen or more, a special folder for holding the trio prints will also be provided. Other rewards include thank you postcards, reproduction prints of the SnK High School AU panels, tickets for the unveiling ceremony scheduled for April 2020, etc. The official ticket for the ceremony will be printed on a plate made out of cedar wood from Hita.

Prior to the ceremony, there will be a special autographing session with Isayama at Okuhita Onsen Umehibiki, which has held numerous other events with SnK/Isayama in previous years.

Update (August 5th, 2019): The project site has uploaded a progress video of Isayama sketching the trio illustration, as well as a photograph of the work-in-progress!

Update (August 8th, 2019): An additional video of Isayama sketching the trio has been added! Additionally, the website states that the crowdfunding project has already reached its goal as of 24 hours ago!

Update (October 4th, 2019): Isayama has shared a new sketch of Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Levi, and Hanji, saying “Thank you everyone for contributing to the crowdfund. Please come visit Hita!” For the first time, he even included a self-portrait alongside his chibi Mikasa signature.

In addition, a second crowdfunding project for a solo statue of Levi has been announced!

Update (July 19th, 2020): A new progress video featuring Isayama signing and putting final touches on the statue has been published!

#snk news #eren yeager #mikasa ackerman #armin arlert #isayama hajime #snk events #photos: isayama sketches #videos: other

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gluttons · 4 years

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MUNDAY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS .

BASICS

NAME OR ALIAS : rose

GENDER + PRONOUNS : cis female , she / her

ZODIAC SIGN : virgo

RP EXPERIENCE : 5+ years

FAVORITE…

MOVIE : predestination / kingsman / gravity / it / the conjuring / interstellar / the kings speech / railway man / imitation game / the danish girl .

TV SHOWS : hannibal , stranger things , sherlock bbc , nikita .

ANIME : bnha / detective conan / haikyuu / death note / snk / sao ( a problematic fave of mine yikes ) / orange / ame nochi hare ( this is a manga but shh )

BOOK : the great gatsby , life of pi , perfume : the story of a murderer , a thousand splendid suns , the lover ( dumas ) , the bartimaeus triology , the dark room ( seiffert ) , macbeth , the reluctant fundamentalist ( mohsin ) , the old man & the sea .

POEM : the mad girl’s love song / lady lazarus —— sylvia plath .

MUSIC ARTIST : peach pit , (g) i-dle , kehlani , marinna & the diamonds , uverworld , frederic ( フレデリック ) , ac/dc , bon jovi , florida georgia line , post malone , stromae , oh wonder , hippo campus ... ( too many )

COLOR : red , black . for clothing , earth tones : khaki , beige , tan , olive green .

NUMBER : 2

LAST…

MOVIE WATCHED : zodiac ( 2007 )

TV SHOW WATCHED : the witcher ( 2019 ) ; if this includes anime ... hq s4 !!

BOOK READ : consent —— leo benedictus / justice —— michael sandel ( the two books im reading atm ! )

THING GOOGLED : italy suicide laws .

SONG LISTENED TO : my oh my —— camilla cabello , ft. dababy

SONG STUCK IN HEAD : wya —— carlie hanson

WHAT I’M WEARING : grey sweater + bell pants !

HOGWARTS HOUSE : slytherin / ravenclaw

POKEMON GO TEAM :

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP : 5 - 6 on average .

BLOG

WHEN I CREATED THIS BLOG : july 2018 .

DO I GET ASKS REGULARLY : sometimes ? if my mains are active / if i reblogged inbox memes .

EXPLAIN YOUR URL : meph reaps souls & eats them . hence devour . tm was just an rpc fad —— nothing much to explain , i dont think hsdkfjskdfa

RPC / FANDOM MISCONCEPTION YOU HATE

GIVE SOME RPC SALT :

its 2020 , why are there still writers that try to control other ppl’s content ? let people write homophobic / sexist / racist / morally gray / insensitive characters if they want to. mun =/= muse . are holocaust fiction writers who portray nazi characters nazis themselves ??? no ??? i still don’t understand what’s wrong with writing problematic characters . they’re not self inserts . if you personally don’t want to see that shit , no one is forcing you to come into contact with their content. just block it , simple . at the end of the day, rp is a hobby for all of us & ppl on the internet come from diff backgrounds / cultures / circumstances . no need to shove your own standard onto everyone , just approach every conversation w respect .

cancelling ppl / vaguing / making a huge deal of personal feuds on dash & getting third parties to take sides . i understand that actual predators who endanger minors within the rpc may warrant a post of warning ( note : this does not constitute as callout culture bc shit like that is actually illegal !! ) , but stop magnifying every single piece of irrelevant drama. i’ve actually had ppl contact me personally & vague / bad-mouth other mutuals that i’m close with & i hated every second. fam , no one wants to get involved in the middle of your messes . grow the f up & sort the matter out privately between yourselves .

GIVE SOME RPC SUGAR :

i’ve been on tons of forums during my years of rp & tumblr rpcs are genuinely like no other !! tumblr centralises multiple plotlines around a single character & aims to explore character psychology / depth as opposed to focusing more on plot than character development , which i highly , highly appreciate / prefer ! also , people in rpcs are generally super friendly & willing to interact , & the quality of blogs on tumble are just absolutely fab . not only the writing but the amount of thought / planning put behind the backstories , hcs , verses —— it’s so heartwarming to see how much people care abt their characters + worldbuilding —— it makes me more invested in interacting w the muses around me & developing my own in tandem !!

i’m genuinely so thankful for everyone who’s shown interest in my character or even just enjoyed plotting / chatting w me !! i’ve made some good , long - lasting friends in rpcs ( like , i’m still in contact w mutuals i had in 2016 , goodness ... ) + even met some of them irl !! soo i’ve been super grateful that the rpc has allowed me to connect w so many wonderful ppl & make some wonderful memories ♡

TAGGED BY : @gctita ( ty !!! (∩´∀｀)∩ )

TAGGING : anyone who’s interested !

#welp #discourse tw #idk if ppl are triggered by this but like #i really had to say it #:^)#tagged pending.

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nephies-creative-world · 4 years

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Tag Game

Joining the tag game. Thanks @fenorange

RULES: Answer 20 questions, then tag bloggers you want to get to know better.

Name: -

Nickname: Nephie

Zodiac: Virgo

Height: 156Cm

Languages: English, Finnish, Arabic

Nationality: Palestinian

Fav season: Autumn

Fav flower: Red roses and daffodils

Fav scent: Red roses and scent of brewing tea

Fav color: Blue

Fav animal: Cats

Fav fictional character:

From SnK Levi, Eren, Jean, Erwin, Annie, Hange, Ymir.

From Detective Conan Shinichi Kudo, Kaito Kid, Hattori Heiji, Akai Shuuichi, Gin, Yamamoto Kansuke, Morofushi Takaaki, Miwako Sato, Takagi Wataru, Haibara Ai, Furuya Rei, Ninzaburou Shiratori, Kobayashi Sumiko, Jodie Starling, Rumi Wakasa, Vermouth

From Boku no Hero Academia Bakugou, Izuku, Todoroki, Eraserhead, Hitoshi Shinso

From No.6 Shion, Nezumi

From Naruto Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Temari, Gaara, Neji

From Kuroko no Basuke Aomine, Kuroko, Kagami Taiga, Furihata Kouki, Akashi Seijuuro

From Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth

From D.Gray-Man Allen Walker, Kanda Yu, Lavi, Tyki Mikk, Lenalee

Coffee, hot tea or hot chocolate: Hot Tea

Avg sleep: 6-8 hours

Dog or cat person: Cat

No. of blankets: 1 Electric blanket

Dream trip: I’ve always wanted to visit France and Japan. I’ve also heard that Turkey is really beautiful.

Blog established: This blog was established in July 2019. My first blog, on the other hand, was made in April 2014.

Followers: This one has 16

Random fact: I’ll give a few. I like horror, mystery, fantasy, romance dramas/novels/mangas/movies. I can’t sleep at night without being restless or having nightmares. I don’t feel comfortable sleeping if I’m not facing the wall. The prompts I come up with on my Ereri fanfic prompt blog are 40% random thoughts, 30% dreams, 10% shower thoughts, 20% other.

Tags: I tag anyone who wants to do this.

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somethingpoeticiguess · 4 years

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20 QUESTIONS TAG:

Tagged by: @ohshcscenerios (thanks for tagging me this was fun)

Name: ehhhhh not right now

2. Nickname: Tita (my little brother called me that before he could pronounce my name)

3. Zodiac: Virgo ♍️

4. Height: 5’0 (I’m short)

5. Languages: English and some ASL

6. Nationality: American

7. Favorite season: Winter (I love being in a cold room under like eighteen blankets)

8. Favorite flower: Sunflower (it’s my mom’s favorite too :))

9. Favorite scent: Y’know that smell when you first get in the car and the air conditioner smells nice. That smell.

10. Favorite color: Blue :)

11. Favorite animal: Kittie

12. Favorite fictional characters: Kyoya Ootori (OHSHC), Shouta Aizawa (BNHA), Ban (NNT), Levi Ackerman (SNK), Franken Stein (Soul Eater), Roy Mustang (FMAB), Olivier Mira Armstrong (FMAB), Koutarou Amon (Tokyo Ghoul), Gajeel Redfox (Fairy Tail), Keith Kogane (VLD)

13. Tea, coffee, or chocolate: Tea (I really like Nettle Leaf tea)

14. Average sleep time: 4-7 hours

15. Dog or cat: Kittie

16. Number of blankets: Three-ish

17. Dream trip: I want to go to Japan so bad (I’m actually going in June and I’m super excited)

18. Blog established: Uhhhh I don’t remember the exact date but I think it was some time around July of 2019

19. Followers: 214 (lol I didn’t think I’d get this far)

20. Fun Fact: I also do theatre :)

I’m tagging: @imagine-it-ouran @hostagine @ko-fanatic @fuck-yeahkyoharu @mommysveryangry and anyone else who wants to participate (I don’t know if some of y’all have already done it or not but I’m gonna tag y’all anyway)

#tagging game #20 questions

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peachymess · 5 years

Note

You never talk about snk anymore or answer asks why?

Saying I never talk about SNK is a stretch. I know what you mean, but it’s still a stretch. Also a bit unfair, I feel like...? I work hard on my fanart, does that only count half a point? I’m also writing fanfics despite barely any reader interest. I’ve been hyping up snk positivity week and participated. I’m looking forward to eremin week in October. Gonna participate there too. I manage a sideblog that posts snk content every day. Tomorrow, I am actually sitting down to make another batch to queue there.

The first thing I did after coming home from my trip to Japan, was write a looooong meta on the splash text next to Armin at the final exhibition. Then I wrote another meta about Isayama’s interview, and included video. I filmed the movies that were shown, I’m gonna post those as soon as I have time. I’m also working on a post about all the snk stuff we did in Japan. Honestly, I’ve just been SUPER busy since the end of July (right before I left). Next week is my first week with *some* breathing room, and it’s gonna be spent on stuff that you won’t see yet, but it’s going towards the fandom. I hope to be able to get to asks next week too.

Still, there is some merit to what you say. I do not write as much - not as many “small daily fanboying” type posts - as before. I don’t engage with the fandom or my dash as much. And I don’t answer asks as often.

The reason for the asks is that I’m not on top of things. I have a lot on my plate and asks get kind of sidelined. The longer and more in depth I see my answer will have to be, the longer it takes to find time to write it. I ususlly spend a LOT of time on my replies. One ask can take hours out of my day. And don’t get me wrong, I love being prompted to reflect on stuff, I love to engage and I love to answer asks. But I don’t have as many days free as I’d like, to do so.

Pro-to: if you ask me something off anon, I am more likely to prioritize answering quicker because now I have a specific person I feel I have to answer to. With anons, god knows, it could be someone who’s just passing through and isn’t impatiently waiting to hear from me. It could be my sister sending me every single ask, to make me feel like people care to hear what I have to say while in reality they don’t, etc. I don’t know the deadline or weight of anons, so it’s harder to gauge its expiration date. I still want to answer, I have a lot of exciting asks in my inbox. But I just... idk. What do you guys prefer, me answer asks or me making fanart? I do both to give to the fandom and to engage, but I don’t know what you’d prefer. I’ll still do both, but I’d love a pointer as to what order to prioritize things.

As for being less engaging with the fandom and story in general: I’m simply put very vulnerable. I have constant anxiety over how this story is going to end. At this point, snk is everything to me. Almost any content triggers my worry and nausea. I love SNK so much it is unhealthy. And I have had to take a step back to manage my health. What wouldn’t I give to be able to read metas, see images of Eren, talk with my fellow fandomers, without my mental health being noticeably wounded. I know that once the story is over, I’ll be able to digest it and I know I’ll want to dive back in. Once I know the damage. I’m worried the fandom will be dissolving once the story is over, but that’s another matter. Right now, I’m just in the waiting room, just trying to handle my nerves while I wait for the verdict. Speculating on how it goes, only worsens it.

I’ve spoken about my mental health and snk before so I won’t give the speech about how I know it’s bad for me to be this invested; the tl;dr is that it’s the lesser of two evils.

But it’s always been my goal and intention to answer asks and be here for the party. My energy reserves as just not *there* right now.

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toyotasoarer · 5 years

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21 QUESTIONS N ANSWERS

Tagged by: @luchiaketchum (thank you!)

Rules: Answer 21 questions and tag 21 people. (do I even know that many???)

Nicknames: Juli, Jub, July

Zodiac: Aquarius

Height: 5′7″

Last movie I saw: I rewatched A Silent Voice (if you’ve never seen it please watch it it’s so good)

Last thing I googled: fate arjuna :^)

Favorite musician: Danger

Other blogs: @gas-gas-gas (my cars only blog), @shingodaily (archive of where i posted an official shingo every day), some more URLs but that’s a secret hehe :))

Do I get asks: not a whole lot, i love when i do get them though!

Following: 379

Amount of sleep: 7-10 hours

Lucky number: 11 and 13

What I’m wearing: shorts, tights, SNK shirt, my red sukajan that i always draw myself in lolll

Dream Job: compositor!

Dream Trip: japan or france, japan for the arcades and food and FG culture and france for the music <3

Favorite food: spaghetti, hashbrown casserole, beef teri-don

Play any instruments: piano, oboe, vocals

Languages: english, lil bit of french, swedish, and japanese

Favorite song right now: Lemaitre - Rocket Girl

Random Fact: I have perfect pitch

Describe yourself as Aesthetic Things: cars parked at the top of the touge, people standing around, 90s anime cel-shading, fields of flowers, electronic music playing

I tag: hhhhhhhhhh idk whoever wants to do this, say i tagged you!

#is me #text games

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arlingtonpark · 6 years

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SNK 111 Review

Milkshake Duck Edition

“This subversive anti-corps organization shall be known as the Yeagerists.”

Dude, Eldian Freedom Caucus. That name is so much better.

So, the EFC really cares about Eldia. Cool. Here is why that’s racist:

First off, let’s establish here that Eren is basically a racist. He believes there are intractable differences between the races and that peaceful coexistence is impossible. What’s more, he seemingly supports restoring the Eldian Empire. This could be construed as supporting the restructuring of the global racial hierarchy so that Eldians are the dominant race again. That’s racist.

Racism is a commonly misunderstood term. Racism is a system of inequality built around the concept of race. It is not just prejudice. Racism is also an ideology. It is the idea that there are meaningful differences between groups of people (i.e. races exist) and that society should be hierarchically structured to reflect those differences. But racism also has another important component to it: power in society. Racism does not just hurt the dominated. It helps the dominators, the dominant race in society. In the United States, white people benefit from racism even as white people are occasionally the targets of racial prejudice. This is because the ideology of racism, which is pervasive in our culture, structures society so that benefits are accrued to them at the expense of other races.

Presently in the world of Attack on Titan, there is a globalized racial hierarchy that places Eldians at the bottom. But previously, the Eldians were at the head of an empire that dominated the world. But then, in a totally ridiculous chain of events, I’m sure, society was dramatically restructured basically overnight so that Eldians were at the bottom of the food chain. In this context restoring the Eldian Empire can only be understood as restoring Eldians to their former place at the top of the racial hierarchy.

That’s. racist.

The EFC is an inherently racist group fighting an inherently racist cause. Floch is a racist. Zeke is a racist. Grisha was a racist. That girl Mikasa saved and then threw in the slammer is a racist. They’re all racists.

And Eren has chosen to stand with them. He is a racist de facto if not de jure.

It is worth noting there are similarities between Eren’s view of race relations and the proto-racist views of the 18th century.

“Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which nature has made; and many other circumstances, will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions, which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race.”

-Thomas Jefferson, on why he rejected the notion of whites and blacks living peacefully together.

This was bullshit when Jefferson said it and it is bullshit when Eren says it. The races can coexist. Obviously. Things are somewhat complicated by the fact that there are real biological differences between Eldians and the rest, but even that doesn’t make things intractable. Eldians only transform under specific, inordinate circumstances. Widespread public advocacy can educate the public to this fact.

And unfortunately the possibility that Eren is not just pretending to support the EFC’s cause but actually genuinely believes in it cannot be ruled out. It is entirely believable that Eren is a racist person. The reason Eren would support restoring the Empire would probably have something to do with his dominance centric mindset. Eren sees the world in terms of the dominators and the dominated. As such he believes you have to be strong in order to protect what you care about because that’s the only way to be safe from the domination of others. In the case of the Eldian race, that means restoring the Empire and Eldian global hegemony with it. This naturally also means Eren believes conflict is inevitable and unavoidable.

In this way, Eren’s ideology would be no different from your typical racist asshole, from your racist neighbor all the way on up to Adolf Hitler himself: racial conflict is inevitable (indeed, the defining aspect of human history) and the only way to win the war of the races is to be strong and dominate others.

Eren has an insular, possibly racist, worldview. This worldview informs his belief in Paradis’ impending doom and because he views the Survey Corps as being “soft on Marley,” he commits an act of insubordination, murders innocent civilians in the process, and drags his country into war. In multiple posts I’ve called on the series to make it clear that Eren’s actions were immoral and now we know where the series stands on the issue.

Not only is Eren a hero for what he did, the series casts him as a visionary ahead of his time!

While everyone else was dragging their feet, he was the one who acted (because he’s a nationalist), he was willing to do what no one else was willing to do (because he doesn’t give a shit about human rights), and, as far as the series seems to care for, he got results (except not really).

I seriously hope I’m misreading things here because it seems the series is actually trying to legitimize the grievances of these racist assholes! The story is plainly saying that the racists are the ones who didn’t have their heads buried in the sand. Those people called for a hardline stance against Marley because of their racism, because they rejected the notion of peaceful coexistence between the races. Stories are constructed and Isayama has chosen to construct a story that says the racists were basically right.

Excuse me while I have a minor panic attack as the notion this series is a right-wing nationalist screed keeps getting harder to refute!

Even worse, the series seems to cast attempts to avoid the conflict as a waste of time! Suing for peace is never a waste of time and it is never too late to sue for peace. People die in war. Was it not worth it to try and avoid that?

As I am writing this, it is the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. That war started with the July Crisis, the rapid escalation of tensions between European powers that directly precipitated the war. But even at the eleventh hour, even as they were. Mobilizing. For. War. there were still serious, earnest overtures for peace being made. Can you imagine Eren even considering that? He thought suing for peace was folly before going to Marley.

Racial conflict is not inevitable and it was not a waste of precious time to make overtures of peace. In any other story Eren’s actions would rightfully be depicted as the work of a radical extremist, but here his opposition concedes the point to him even though he has no point!

The Military Police were planning on going ahead with Zeke’s plan, just without Zeke himself. Even after the stunt Eren pulled they were still planning to conduct experiments with the Rumbling. They never truly foreclosed on using the rumbling, but Eren had foreclosed on peace as a meaningful pursuit a long time ago.

Hange’s concession to Eren is so complete they even adopt Eren’s rhetoric on the matter. Hange frames the Survey Corps opposition to what Eren wants as them not moving forward. In prior chapters, Eren has framed his actions, the same actions the Corps opposes, as moving forward. By having the opposition capitulate and begin adopting their opponents framing, the story further emphasizes the point that Eren was right and they were wrong. That’s bullshit!

But things are even worse than that! Recall what I said earlier about racism being a system of inequality built around the concept of race. Well here’s the rub: the concept of race itself was invented by Europeans to justify their domination of the world. Because of this, the very idea of there being differing races is itself racist. This is why the story’s tackling of race will always be flawed at best. To frame racial conflict as being over legitimate differences is to not just miss the point, it is to concede the point to the racists.

(I really hope conceding the point to racists doesn’t become a thing with this series.)

Here’s a possible ending to the series: Eldians and Marleyans are unable to resolve their differences so they decide to self-segregate. All the Eldians are sent to live on Paradis and Paradis agrees to maintain an isolationist foreign policy. That ending would have a very pro-nationalist message, which is exactly why I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how the story ends. I don’t want this story to have a pro-nationalist message, but there is a ton of smoke right now.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

All that said, I can’t exactly blame them for deciding to negotiate with Eren. I just wish the story wasn’t written in a way that legitimizes the EFC’s worldview. Marley will be bearing down on them shortly and Eren has the titan shifter powers plus a small army of over 100 soldiers plus the advantage of being able to wage a guerilla style campaign against Paradis. Eren had a huge advantage and Pixis was smart to realize that.

This chapter can be divided into two halves. I just finished addressing the bigger one so that just leaves the smaller one.

It’s going to be hard for me to talk about this half of the chapter because of how difficult it is for me to read it. The whole sequence is like a black comedy.

Let’s run it down:

Nicolo is a total idiot, and I’m not just saying that because he’s racist. So this clown finds himself face to face with the girl who killed Sasha, you know, the good Eldian, and his response is to go in front of people and invite them to murder her?

WHAT AN IDIOT!

And yeah I know he’s acting in a fit of rage, but in a way that makes what he’s doing even more revealing. He’s not thinking so he’s acting on pure instinct, and what we see in this chapter is a man with the instincts of an asshole.

He’s so full of rage he’s totally cool with murdering Gabi. But what’s really revealing is his assumption that Mr. Blouse would feel the same way, when any reasonable person would just assume he wouldn’t. That’s why this whole moment plays out like a scene in a comedy, because of the irony of it. Nicolo thinks his dumb idea that Mr. Blouse will kill Gabi is a good one, meanwhile everyone else, including the audience, knows it isn’t.

The fact that Nicolo just assumed that they’d all be just as willing to kill a kid as he was speaks to him being a very closeminded person. He can’t fathom that other people would seriously object to his thinking.

The other reason is the sheer ridiculousness of it. Imagine being in Mr. Blouse’s position. You’re enjoying dinner with your family when out of nowhere the chef comes in with a knife and two bloodied children with him. Then he says the girl you’ve befriended is actually an enemy soldier who killed your daughter!

Someone give Mr. Blouse an award. There wasn’t a single trace of “What?” on him! All this crazy stuff is going on and he just rolls with it, even though he’s being asked to assume the veracity of things most people would at least question. I don’t know if I should call this a plot hole or what.

And then we get to the climax of the chapter: Mr. Blouse’s speech.

“Sasha was a hunter. I’d taught her how to use a bow and we’d go hunt food in the forest since she was a little one. Because that’s how we lived. But I knew the day would come when we couldn’t keep living that way. So I made Sasha leave the forest. Then the world got bigger. Sasha became a soldier. She went off to other lands, shot people, then got shot herself. Turned out, just when I thought she’d left the forest, the whole world was one big one. It was still kill or be killed. I think Sasha got killed because she wandered too far in that forest. We’ve got to let the children out of this jungle, at the very least. Or else the same thing’s just going to happen again and again. As adults, it’s our responsibility to shoulder the sins and hatred of the past.”

I will say this first: Mr. Blouse is a good man. The idea that he had to choose between revenge and forgiveness is a false dichotomy. He could have chosen to not forgive her while also not choosing to seek revenge. And he would have been well within his rights if he had.

The problems I have with this speech are about what it portends for the future. Mr. Blouse describes the world as being like a forest where you have to kill to survive. That’s basically how Attack on Titan presents the world as well. But Mr. Blouse rejects this as an untenable way to live. He got Sasha out of the forest because he knew that in a world where you either kill or be killed you were eventually going to be killed.

What he says next is key.

To break the cycle of violence they have to get out of the jungle. As far as the analogy is concerned, that’s true. If the jungle is a dangerous place to be in, the solution is to leave it.

The million dollar question here is, how do you translate that analogy into an actionable objective? If the whole world is a jungle, then how do you leave it?

The answer is simple.

You don’t leave it. You change it.

If you can’t leave the forest, you have to make it livable, and Mr. Blouse demonstrates this himself by forgiving Gabi. The world is a forest partly because people aren’t very forgiving. By exhibiting the virtue of mercy, Mr. Blouse shows how we can make the forest, the world, a better place to live.

But here’s another question: He shows how you can change the forest. But can you actually change it?

There’s still a good chance the series will answer this question with a resounding “no.”

Is Isayama hinting at how he intends to give his story a happy ending? Or is he showing us what he thinks people should do while planning to end the series with what he thinks people will do?

Isayama had Kaya turn on Gabi because he wants to remind us of the latter possibility. Kaya considered Gabi a friend and even she was filled with homicidal rage.

The message is clear: however warm and cuddly we may feel when we see Mr. Blouse show empathy for his daughter’s killer, there are always people who think and act in the opposite way and they could literally be anyone. If even a little girl can be driven to act and think in this way, can Mr. Blouse’s way of thinking really win in the end? Not likely.

So Mr. Blouse forgives Gabi, but what does he think of the act itself? It’s notable that he frames Gabi and Sasha’s actions as taking place in the context of a kill or be killed situation. Which unfortunately gives me chapter 100 flashbacks. My take away from that chapter was that both sides see themselves as being in a fight for their very existence and that they are simply doing what comes naturally in a situation like that. I also read an important statement about metaethics in that chapter.

The…exact reason why is hard to articulate, but ever since chapter 100 came out, one of my biggest fears have been that Isayama just doesn’t understand what he’s talking about. (see: smoke, lots of)

The series has made a point of emphasizing the humanity of all those involved in the conflict. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but what I fear is that the series will lose sight of the fact that you can want nothing but peace on earth and still be a fucking asshole.

“Eren isn’t a bad person, he’s just a guy with an opinion about what the right thing to do is and he’s not afraid to act on it.”

Do not make the mistake of thinking that being a bad person and not being a Saturday morning cartoon villain are mutually exclusive. They are not. If you think they are then you don’t understand morality.

This utterly revisionist version of morality, called student relativism (warning: PDF link) by professional philosophers, is pervasive in our society. It is not true that morality is “just an opinion,” as the above statement implies.

For many reasons.

Morality is objective.

Does Isayama understand that?

If the series does endorse a naïve moral relativism, then it is part of the problem. That problem is creeping nihilism.

Our society has been trending towards a bigger and bigger embrace of nihilism for centuries now. Friedrich Nietzsche very famously identified this trend in the late 1800s. This isn’t completely bad. It used to be in vogue to think that history was a march towards inevitably greater prosperity. Now it is recognized that greater prosperity is not completely assured.

But it is bad in other cases. The belief in the inviolability of “opinions,” as opposed to the unwavering truth of “facts,” is an example of that.

A big driver of this trend is the increasingly secularized nature of society. People in the West are conditioned to view morality as an imperative from God. Objectivity is conflated with divine command. But if God is dead, as Nietzsche famously put it, what happens to our notion of objectivity?

That notion falls by the wayside, even though it doesn’t have to.

There are many ways to get to an objective(ish) morality that doesn’t rely on the dictates of a god. Elaborating on those ways would be beyond the scope of this post (*cough* copout *cough*) but needless to say the idea that morality is in any way relative is a fringe opinion among people who study morality professionally. Almost no one defends it.

Which brings us back to Attack on Titan. The story does not shy away from showing the gruesomeness of the characters’ actions. But separate and apart from that, what is the series saying about the morality of those actions?

In chapter 40, Ymir and Historia (and some other people) are on a tower teetering towards collapse. Titans are swarming the tower’s base. At any moment they could be dead.

Ymir says something to Historia:

“I have no right to tell you how to live. So this is just a wish of mine. Live your life with pride.”

This is the first reference to student relativism in the series. We can’t tell people how to live their lives because that’s a matter of values and values should not be imposed on others because there are no correct values. When I realized what I was reading, my heart sank.

This one line completely ruins Ymir’s character. All this time she’s called for Historia to live for herself, but in the end she never truly believed in that. How can she? How can you think something is correct if you also don’t think it’s the binding Truth?

Ymir believes Historia should live for herself. “Should” implies “must” because if you should do something, you are obligated to do it. But if Ymir believes that she can’t tell Historia how to live then she doesn’t actually believe Historia should live for herself.

Attack on Titan, like all stories, is a work that tries to say something. But could it be that all this time it’s been “just a wish” on Isayama’s part that we agree with him?

If so, that’s very cowardly.

It’s cowardly because he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too. He’s trying to assert his opinion (and in a strong, high profile way at that) while also trying to dodge the liability that is inherent in making an assertion. He is trying to enjoy the benefits of partaking in public discourse (voicing his beliefs) while trying to avoid the pitfalls (the possibility of being wrong).

Saying that what you believe in isn’t binding truth is not only self-contradictory, it is a way of avoiding scrutiny. If we live in a world where there is no correct way of doing things then we live in a world where no one can be wrong; saying that, “No one can be wrong,” is just another way of saying, “I can never be wrong.”

That is the cowardice of student relativism.

And yeah, Ymir is a coward too for believing in this. I told you that line completely ruined her character!

…And it’s at this point I realize I’ve trailed off significantly from the point I was trying to make.

The bottom lines are these:

(1) Attack on Titan’s themes might be informed by junk philosophy ripped straight from the forums of 4chan; because

(2) The author might be the type of person who has to deny truth itself exists before he can make a claim in public; which would mean

(3) The story doesn’t truly stand for anything; and therefore

(4a) Reading this manga has been a complete waste of time

(4b) The corrosive trends that are undermining our society have been reinforced

(4c) The narrative is flagrantly self-contradictory and even hypocritical

(4d) Nihilism is the overarching theme of the story; and

(4e) In the end, Mr. Blouse probably does think the “kill or be killed” situation is exculpatory.

(it isn’t)

Ultimately what’s significant about this chapter is what it portends for the future. Attack on Titan has begun its final story arc, so the moment of truth is almost here: what does this series truly stand for?

#snk 111 #snk chapter 111 #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #spoilers

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famicomclub-blog · 6 years

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Crystalis ゴッド・スレイヤーはるか天空のソナタ

Release: July, 1990 | Developer: SNK | Publisher: SNK

It’s funny how growing up with video games can fragment your perception of them in retrospect. I vividly remember my mom picking up a game for me on her way home from work from Acme Video on a regular basis, and hastily grabbing the most visually pleasing box from the shelf devil-may-care, as she always did.

That habit led to my introduction to Crystalis, which I remembered really liking, but when the time came for the game to return to the store it fell away to new anticipation – would the next game to come home be another Crystalis, or merely a Captain Comic?.

Looking back at the game my appreciation for Crystalis has grown exponentially. Unlike my child self, by this point I had slugged my way through a fair (and financially reasonable) chunk of the Nintendo Entertainment System library, and suffice to say I now have a fairly accurate barometer of what is good and what is not when it comes to NES games – let it be known that Crystalis is exceptional.

I absorbed more of the story this time around, playing as an unnamed hero who regains consciousness after being in a cryogenic sleep for a century.

Even though he’s lost his memory, he isn’t long discovering that he was placed in cryostasis just prior to the onset of a global thermonuclear war. Players awaken to a world in which, due to the war, all technology has been lost and life has reverted back to a medieval state. The world is overrun with monsters and mutants, and primitive magic is the only powerful weapon man possesses.

You are primarily guided in your quest by four wise men, who believe you to be the hero from the past prophesied to destroy the evil Draygonia Empire – it seems the Empire has been using its military in an attempt to seize a mysterious floating tower. According to myth, this floating tower houses an array of weapons built by the early survivors of the apocalyptic war. Those who constructed the tower and its weapon system intended it to be used to prevent a future cataclysm, but it is Emperor Draygon’s intent to use it to dominate the world.

The only way to defeat the Draygonia Empire is to obtain the Swords of Wind, Fire, Water, and Thunder and combine them to defeat the power Emperor Draygon.

Confusing at times? Yes – but what 8-bit game isn’t when it tries to shoe-horn a cohesive story in amongst blocky character sprites and color palette limitations?

As you progress through the game you acquire different magic spells while accomplishing tasks and advancing your stats in typical RPG fashion – you receive these spells and abilities from the aforementioned four wise men, as well as various other NPCs you encounter along the way.

The overarching goal is to obtain the fore-mentioned elemental swords and their additional power-ups. The power-ups, when equipped, grant you special abilities when the sword is charged. These include the ability to use the Sword of Fire to melt ice bricks and use the Sword of Water to create water bridges over streams and rivers.

Crystalis can best be described as the perfect marriage between The Legend of Zelda and Ys: The Vanished Omens. Developed and published by SNK, Crystalis combined the frenetic pacing of Ys with the free-range, top-down vastness of Zelda. Much like Zelda, you battle enemies in real-time on a world map, but you can also enter towns in which you stay at inns, interact with NPCs, and purchase items and armor. Add to that an exceptional musical score and an elemental magic system that lends itself perfectly to dungeon puzzle crawling and you have what seems to be a mash-up of classic action RPGs.

Playing the game again was like finding a priceless painting in your attic – had it been here the whole time, right under my nose?

I still hold fast that Crystalis serves as the definitive old-school action RPG. It is the game that Zelda 2: Link’s Adventure should have been. The weapons, the magic swords and magic spells – it all works so well within the context of the ultra-fast if some-what repetitive combat system. Loose controls? They just take some getting used to and you’ll have no idea what you were even thinking an hour in.

The best thing about Crystalis, which can be said for very few Nintendo games, is that the story grabs hold and drives the game forward.

I ended up caring about these characters, these blocky avatars – intrigued by the mysterious ones, infuriated at the traitors and threatened by those most sinister.

I catch myself thinking about what will happen next when I put down the controller and pull back the curtain to my real life. After all; retro or not, 8-bits or true-to-life texture models, isn’t that what video games are supposed to do? Engage you?

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