#the game of thrones soundtrack gets me through
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69
69. One More Drink Before The War — Ramin Djawadi
#he was my 2nd most listened to artist this year#the game of thrones soundtrack gets me through#asks#spotify wrapped
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Permission Playlist!
So I‘ve tried to put together the songs which inspired me the most or that I remember vividly listening to, while writing chapters!
A lot of them just served to put me into a certain mood, so the lyrics don‘t necessarily match up, but the lyrics of most of the songs played a huge role. You might recognise some of them even 😋
Here’s the link: Permission Playlist
And if you haven‘t read Permission yet, here‘s Chapter 1.
Other than that, I want to give a little direction here, that you know which songs belong to which parts of the story, since sometimes they guided me for a whole chapter, sometimes a whole song for just a short moment! Sometimes the songs describe y/n’s point of view, but sometimes Sukuna’s too!
I’ve been writing Permission for over a year, so I probably won’t remember everything, but these were the most important ones I remember! I also tried to put them into order of when they fit into their moments or chapters:
(in-depth description (-ish) under the cut)
Song 1-15 (Wicked Games - Jenny Of Oldstones)
I listened to those songs mainly when I was planning the whole story. To give me moods, themes, emotions that I want to convey. I listened to the Game Of Thrones Soundtrack a lot in general, but those songs I listed in there were the ones who inspired me the most!
Fun fact here: Mado Kara Mieru from Christopher Tin was the one which gave me the most inspiration for how Sukuna’s melody would’ve sound like.
Song 16 (Serj Tankian - Rains of Castamere)
Basically my Soundtrack for Chapter 13 and especially the throne room scene, when the new girl arrives and Sukuna invites her in.
Song 17 - 21 (Obsessed - Entitled)
Those songs guided me from the moment when Sukuna saves y/n from the curses until the end of the camping arc. I don’t recall listening to music a lot during that time of writing, cause I acquired that skill only later 🌝
Honorable mentions here:
Zandros - Obsessed was for me the moment y/n sees Sukuna standing over her after killing the curses, seeing the snow flakes crash against his body. Idk this song carried the mood for me.
Adin - Somebody Else was one of the few songs that I connected with Sukuna’s pov.
Song 22 - 23 (Crash and Burn - Breathe)
Those songs described for me the moment when they return to the shrine and long for each other, before y/n gains the courage to knock on his door in chapter 24.
Song 24 Max Richter - On The Nature Of Daylight
I don’t remember clearly, but I think I listened to this to get in a sad mood to describe y/n’s pain when Sukuna left for war and she misses him dearly.
A good song in general to get a fucking sad mood tbh.
Song 25 - 27 (The Way - Violently)
Oh those were the songs I listened to when y/n follows him into the war. Chapter 29 & 30 all the way.
Zack Hemsey - The Way was perfect to listen to when she realises, she’s close to Sukuna and the war is starting. This remix with the sirens was perfect for me to visualise how she’s running over that battlefield, dodging the bombs, fighting her way through. It’s still such an epic scenery in my head which I hope I could convey!
Jayme Deville - Right on Time kinda gave me slow motion pictures in my head, for when Sukuna approaches her during battle.
Mira - Violently is such an incredible song for me. It describes her whole journey and emotions so so good. I listened to it when I wrote the kissing scene, but it grew to be a super important song for their whole relationship, that’s why I would choose it for a rolling credit song hehe.
Song 28 - 31 (The Shadows - Take Me Back To Eden)
Those were all the songs which inspired me for the Sex Scene when Sukuna returns from war in Chapter 32.
Honorable mention here:
Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden just IS the moment for me when y/n notices, that Sukuna stayed in her room and he opens his eyes to her.
The lyrics
My, my, those eyes like fire
I'm a winged insect, you're a funeral pyre
just describe the effect that Sukuna (and his gaze and eyes) have on y/n (and on me tbh) so perfectly, that I needed to add that to the rolling credit choice as well.
Song 32 - 33 (O Saki Saki - Lahu Munh Lag Gaya)
Heh! Chapter 33, the festival! I actually planned to have a dancing scene with y/n and other people from the festival, kinda Bollywood style, to impress our Lord and Saviour Sukuna! 😆
However, since that requires A WHOLE OTHER LEVEL of writing skill, I decided to leave it. The Songs still served me perfectly well to get in the mood for a cool ass festival atmosphere for a cool ass King!
Song 34 Clann - Her & the Sea
Chapter 35, when Sukuna and y/n talk on the bridge. Just that moment and atmosphere.
Song 35 - 36 (Timeout - You Thought)
Mood Songs for when y/n is gonna find out that Sukuna fucked around when he was in war. No particular moment here, but served me to get into her emotional state.
Song 37 - 41 (Ecstasy - Luscious)
Again mood songs for sex scenes after Sukuna’s confession in Chapter 36.
I think I listened to Ecstasy and All I Need by The MXXNLIGHT for the Throne Sex in Chapter 25 as well.
Song 42 Clann - She Loves The Rain
I think this one explains itself…Dancing in the rain with Sukuna in Chapter 44.
Song 43 - 44 (Fatal Attraction - Obsession)
Again mood songs for their overall relationship, that represent how knee deep y/n is in love with Sukuna.
Song 45 Mira - Thorns
Oh Mira, how I love her music. That song was published a few chapters before I was ready to write Akiko’s murder, but it described y/n’s reaction regarding Sukuna’s apathy so perfectly in Chapter 45. My heart ached so much when I listened to it the first time!
Fun fact here: The moment when Sukuna reveals that he was pushing the maids with motivation, was actually planned to be directly after Akiko’s death. I noticed in the early draft of that chapter, that it doesn’t work out and decided last minute to completely change that plan and to write that moment into the finale of the story.
Song 46 - 48 (Blood Code - Cold Blooded)
My soundtrack for y/n’s killing spree in Chapter 46 😆
Song 49 Zandros - Look What You’ve Done To Me
Mood Song for the aftermath of Sayako’s death and y/n’s feelings about coming a monster in Chapter 47
I think that‘s it. I hope you enjoy! <3
#permission#permission playlist#permission chapters#sukuna#true form sukuna#jjk#jujutsu kaisen#sukuna smut#jjk smut#jujutsu kaisen smut#true form sukuna smut#fanfiction#sukuna x reader#sukuna x you
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I Am Hers, She is Mine: Neyetam Sully
Avatar Masterlist
word count: 1.3K
description: Neyetam has always been yours, just as you’ve been his whether you realize it or not.
a/n: Listen to I Am Hers, She Is Mine from the Game of thrones soundtrack.
*A YEAR AGO*
It was Neyetam's official coming-of-age ceremony that would mark him as the future of the clan, he only had two rituals to complete, find a mate and fight anyone who dared challenge him for the throne. Rumors began to swirl that Neyetam had already found a mate but no one knew quite who it was, including you his best friend. Part of you was glad that you didn't know who it was then it saved you from facing the reality that Neyetam would never be yours, no matter how much you wanted it.
"Papa I have to wear this uncomfortable corset?" You asked your grandfather as Kiri tied you up.
"Yes, you do my dear, unfortunately. But I must say you look absolutely beautiful in it, it reminds me of the first time your mother wore it." He said giving you a soft smile.
"He's right. Neyetam is gonna probably fall at your feet even more once he sees you in this." She said making you roll your eyes.
Soon enough you and your grandfather were standing there alongside Neyetam's family who was basically an extended family as well as the other villagers awaiting Neyetam and Jake's arrival.
"y/n you look so pretty." Tuk said to you making you smile as you thanked her.
Soon Jake and Neyetam arrived and god did Neyetam look good in his ceremony outfit which wasn't helping you move on from him. You listened as Jake and the other leaders explained what was happening today and then it came to the part where anyone could challenge Neyetam for the throne.
"If anyone would like to challenge Neyetam please come forward now." One of the leaders said.
You slowly walked forward earning a few gasps from the crowd as Jake and your grandfather shook their heads not all surprised at this behavior.
"This corset is really uncomfortable, so could please wrap this up and go home?" You said as Neytiri pinched your side and drag you back over to where she was standing.
Neyetam couldn't help but laugh at your antics, that was one of the many reasons he had fallen for you and chosen you as his mate not that you knew yet. You two had been childhood friends since your moms were best friends, so more often than not, you were with the sully's growing up as your dad left you and your mom and you were an only child. Neyetam knew around when he was 15 he wanted to be mates with you and once he was sure of his decision of wanting you as his mate, he went to your grandfather and ask his permission to mate with you knowing how important it was to you, and your grandfather gave him his permission and promised to keep it a secret until you were ready.
*CURRENT DAY*
It was currently the day before your ceremony and you were an emotional wreck between the ceremony planning, your grandpa getting sick, and missing your mom. You were currently sitting by your mom's grave crying and wishing she was here, and praying that she and your ancestors would keep grandpa alive until you completed your whole ceremony when you saw flowers placed on her grave, before an arm wrapped around you as you leaned into their chest.
"Are you okay?" Neyetam asked you.
"Yeah, it's just a lot....between grandpa getting sick recently and her not being here." You said as he ran a hand through your hair.
"I understand...She may not be here physically but she's here with you in here and all around you..." He said pressing a hand against your heart.
"I know I just miss her alot....being able to hear her voice...to see her smile...to hug her...I miss her hugs the most." You said to him.
"I know you do and I wish that you could have those back sweetheart, I really do." He said to you as he squeezed you a little harder.
As he sat there holding you, he silently prayed to Ewya that she would let him be the one like he always dreamed of to take care of you and be with you throughout life...it scared him to think that you could possibly want someone else to take care of you like this because he knew no one who would care for you and love you as he did.
Today was your ceremony, and you were silent as Neytiri helped you get ready for it You honestly just couldn't wait for this to be over, as a kid you were excited about it but now it was just another day to you.
"Y/n, my child can I ask why you've never mated with Neyetam?" She asked you as she finished up your hair.
"What do you mean? Neyetam has mate does he not?" You asked confused.
"No, he doesn't. A year ago he came to us and told us that he wanted to wait for you, and then he went to your grandpa and got approval, so that if you choose him then he would have your grandpa's permission. He's been in love with you for ages, there isn't anyone else for him." She said leaving you speechless.
"I'm scared." You said quietly.
"Scared? What are you scared of my child?" She asked you grabbing your hands.
"Not saying that Neyetam would do it, it's just that I'm scared that Neyetam would leave me and our possible family as my dad did to my mom." You said to her.
"Oh sweetheart, you know Neyetam would never do that because I would kill him first all, but that boy has been in love with you two forever, I've seen the way he looks at you and cares for you, there is no one else for him." She said squeezing your hands as you smiled.
"Just talk to him after your ceremony, and explain to him what you feeling, but trust me my son will understand and still love you as much." She said.
"Thank you, Neytiri. For everything." You said hugging her.
"Of course ma y/n, your family." She said squeezing you as your grandpa came to get you.
Neyetam felt his jaw drop upon seeing you in your ceremony outfit, you were so beautiful, like a goddess. As he was watching the ceremony happen, he couldn't help but notice that two braids that framed your head used beads in his favorite color which gave him hope. After your ceremony, he watched as you made your way over him.
"Hey, can we talk privately?" You asked him softly reaching for his hand.
"Of course." He said as you two ducked out of your ceremony and walked to your favorite spot.
"So what's going on sweetheart?" He asked you.
"I just wanted to talk to you about why I guess we haven't mated yet." You said making him look you in the eye.
"Sweetheart, I don't want you to feel pressured or anything, it's just that I feel that maybe you aren't interested in me which is fine if you are but I just would like to know." He said making you sigh.
"Trust me Ney, it's always been you...I've had a crush on you for god knows how long..." You said as a smile spread across his face.
"Really?!" He asked you.
"Really, there is no one else who cares for me or his family the way you do and so much more. But I've just been scared of what could happen when we mate." You said playing with his hand.
"What do you mean sweetheart?" He asked you.
"I'm just scared that you'll leave me like my dad did to me and my mom which I know isn't fair to you but that's why I've hesitated on completing the mating ritual with you." You said as realization hit Neyetam.
"Oh sweetheart, I promise you that I would never leave you like your dad did, what your dad did was a cowardly move, but I swear to you that I've been yours whether you realized it or not, and I will prove that you every day if I have to. I love you so much." He said cupping your cheeks.
"I love you too Neyetam. I'm ready to give this a try if you are."You said looking into his eyes as you felt him press a kiss to your lips.
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waiting game | daniel ricciardo
pairing: daniel ricciardo x you
summary: in which you switch your phone with daniel's without knowing
tags: falling in love; chatting and messages; kind of enemies to friends to lovers
warnings: insecure reader; f!reader; dumb people
chapter: 3/?
(you: blue/ daniel: orange)
✧.* tag list: @bloodyvalentine93 @organasith @verstappens-hat @idkiwantchocolatee @landhoe @theplobnrgone @iamasimpingh0e @chiliwhore @buendiabebeta
chapter 3 - secret
You enter through your apartment‘s door and lean against it when you close it. You feel tired - more like drained - arriving home late at night. You had to use all of your social skills with these drivers that you usually aren’t close with. Max and Lando were one hundred per cent okay, but who kept messing out and annoying you was Daniel.
He noticed that you were a bit stiff around him, not really distressed about being in his presence, but he wanted to make you get used to being around him. Daniel made jokes with you, about you and your best friends, debated with you about the world's economy even though he didn’t say anything that made sense at all and you were sure he was describing the plot of Game of Thrones without noticing. He dared you to take some shots and you only did two and fooled him into thinking that you drank more than that.
Daniel was drunk and at some point you got comfortable with him. He made you laugh when he wasn’t being a pain in the ass and discussing with you about which racing movie was the best. Cars was the only option for the spot in your opinion.
“Listen up, the soundtrack is amazing, McQueen character development is amazing, his friendship with Mater is wholesome and in Cars Two there’s Lewis Hamilton, what’s better than that?”
You sound as drunk as Daniel when you start to state your points. Maybe being around him makes you as silly as him. You even stopped being so concerned about your surroundings while talking to him.
“The lack of a character based on me is what doesn’t make Cars better than Speed Racer.” Daniel answers you with a grin.
“Why would they put such an annoying character in their movie?” You smile at him sarcastically when he looks offended, feeling like you’re winning the discussion “Okay, Speed Racer is a good movie, but the cartoon is better. There’s no discussion here.”
“Exactly!” He shouts jumping from the couch “Now we are speaking the same language, cupcake.”
Without noticing, he steals another genuine smile from your face, turning it into a giggle.
Only when you left Max’s apartment, it’s when you realize how out of energy you were. Daniel got all of your attention and you didn’t notice that your phone had completely died out of battery too. You didn’t touch it during the whole night.
You groan as you head to your room, searching for your charger. You connect it to the energy and use your time to get ready to bed. It’s when you lay down that your phone lights up and comes back to life.
You watch the messages pop up on your screen and notice that your phone has been off for way too long.
buttercup said: daniel is so drunk
buttercup said: do we need to save her from him?
bubbles said: if she needs help she would’ve texted us about it
bubbles said: she’s just fine i bet
buttercup said: he’s telling her about his monaco win he loves to brag about it
bubbles said: he talks so much omg
bubbles said: we should wait until their conversation is over so we can leave
bubbles said: max is so wasted too
buttercup said: yeah
buttercup said: when she’s finished with daniel we can go
You slap your face almost too hard, because they could’ve saved you from the misery of listening to drunk Daniel, about things you didn’t care about because you were already annoyed about Daniel himself. But no, they decided to wait for you to come ask for help, as if they weren’t your best friends since forever and didn’t know when you were struggling with something.
blossom said: yes fuck face, i didn’t send you a bottle with a rescue message inside of it because my cell phone ran out of battery
blossom said: but i was asking for help with my eyes for you to save me from daniel
blossom said: i hate you two
After letting a snort out and closing your group chat with Pierre and Charles you go through your older notifications. There’s a couple of messages from your mysterious boy, and as you read the notifications, your face warms instantly. Your cheeks are red and your ears are so hot they even feel sensible to the touch.
You read again, making sure your eyes didn’t fool you.
hot stuff said: well
hot stuff said: i ahve a lingerie kink
hot stuff said: does thsi count as a screet?
Your phone is on top of your bed and you stare at it, your hands landing on your hips as you sit on the bed to take a breath. You try to think about what you would answer to hot stuff. You aren't very familiar with these kinds of things, but you probably have an idea of what a lingerie kink is, and just thinking about it makes your cheeks red again.
Hot stuff likes to see people in lingerie, right? Well, you don't understand it very much, but he probably doesn’t enjoy seeing EVERYONE in lingerie, only certain and specific people. People he has second intentions with. You can’t even think about this matter without almost bursting with only the thought of it.
You need to be very sure of yourself to agree to be only in lingeries in front of another person. It’s too vulnerable in your opinion.
You try to think about yourself showing a part of your body to someone else like that. Maybe your torso? Or your legs? Your chest? You couldn’t do it. No, no, no, no, no. Your body isn’t something you think others would like to see. Not even with beautiful lingerie on.
Would hot stuff be turned on if you showed up to him with lingerie?
No.
Jesus.
Scratch that.
You shake your head, because your mind is going in a certain direction you don't want to think off. You shouldn’t think about it because hot stuff isn’t even a close friend of yours, why would you jump into something else like this?
But… you wonder what is hot stuff’s type.
You look good in dark blue…
Before you can continue on thinking about things you shouldn’t, your phone lights up with a new message. Your heart rate increases without noticing, it could be anyone, but from where you are, you can kind of see the “hot stuff” stamped on the notification.
You watch it for a few seconds, when another notification pops up, startling you. You decide you should answer it, at least show hot stuff you're there and didn’t disappear after he said something like that.
hot stuff said: well sorry for these messages skdjfng i think this was a very intimate secret for me to share
hot stuff said: i’m really ashamed right now that i’ve come back to my normal senses. i was a bit drunk and
hot stuff said: i-
You let a soft laugh escape, you could imagine hot stuff getting nervous from telling you about his kink out of nowhere. If he’s as anxious as you, he’s totally freaking out at that moment.
ma fraise said: no worries! i found it amusing that i think i can totally imagine it being your preferences
You shake your head. Why would you imagine it being his preference? You don’t even think about these kinds of matters. You’re getting nervous too.
ma fraise said: but also it made me intrigued by it
ma fraise said: so that’s why i didn’t answer
ma fraise said: it had me thinking i guess
ma fraise said: are you still drunk?
You wait, but the answer doesn’t come very fast.
hot stuff said: what were you thinking exactly?
hot stuff said: no just took a shower and only embarrassment is left in my body
There’s two options here: you could simply end this conversation here and go to sleep, or you could answer hot stuff’s question. Even if you feel like this conversation is going in a different way than you imagined, you have nothing to lose here. It won’t hurt to chat a little with someone you enjoy the company of, after a horrible night.
ma fraise said: don’t worry we all get drunk sometimes xD
ma fraise said: well i was thinking about how different people are
ma fraise said: i tried to think about what makes that your kink, and i think i figured it out, but that’s a very strange concept for me
hot stuff said: why is it strange? i think it’s a very common kink
hot stuff said: i mean…
ma fraise said: it’s not a very common thing for me about enjoying people using lingerie
ma fraise said: actually i wouldn’t know if i enjoy or not because i never thought of it
ma fraise said: what’s the basic criteria for your kink?
hot stuff said: be someone i have an attraction for like any other kink i guess
hot stuff said: i don’t crave on seeing everyone using lingerie - don’t get me wrong
hot stuff said: binotto for example i, not in a million year, will want to see him wearing lingerie you know
hot stuff said: he’s not my type
You have a small smile on your face, because he mentioned someone he’s almost sure you know since you let out by accident that you’re a Ferrari fan. Sometimes you think that hot stuff is very caring in your friendship and you feel like you’re growing more and more into trusting and enjoying having his company with you.
Maybe switching your phone with a stranger wasn’t the worst thing after all.
hot stuff said: but you i would be interested in seeing
hot stuff said: even tho i have no idea what you look like
And you throw your phone away from you.
(prev chap // next chap)
#daniel ricciardo#f1#daniel ricciardo fanfic#f1 imagine#f1 x you#formula 1#daniel ricciardo x reader#daniel ricciardo x you#abi#f1 fic#awriting#weird to put blossom as blue but it’s reader’s color ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#a little shorter but i hope it’s good!
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a very long post about opinions on the OT2 character themes
> disclaimer: these are the ramblings of someone who has not formally studied music or music theory and is just going off of the vibes that they got from listening to the character themes over and over. so uh please take these opinions like the opinions that they were meant to be
> also MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD, PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
OCHETTE
Ochette, the Hunter
- I love this theme. The first time I heard the samples on the Octopath website I fell in love instantly and was convinced that Ochette was going to be my starter just because of how EPIC it sounded. When the full version came out, my feelings on it being epic did not change one bit because it captures the spirit of going on a grand mission SO WELL, and the theme itself feels like it represents Toto'haha as a whole more than just Ochette, reminding us every time of the gravity of their situation. Of course I have maybe too many problems with her actual story but damn if it doesn't do a great job at being cinematic. You can just tell the dev team had so much fun making scenes with the scale of the Legendary Beasts in mind
- also I'm not the only one who hears a slight choir in the background right.
In Pursuit of Legends
- easily one of the best pre-battle themes in the game - the high wind instruments just send chills down my spine no matter what situation Ochette is put in, and when we hear it for the last time in Ochette 3 - oh BOY does it feel incredible. Speaking of Ochette 3
The Journey for Legends Ends
- Out of all the Journey Ends remixes Ochette's version of it is undoubtedly one of my favorites - easily cracks the top 3. In my first run of OT2, I saved Ochette 3 for last, and having it be against the fight against the Darkling?? The high wind instrument sounded like WAILING and I can't get over how fitting that is given everything that the Darkling had gone through until this moment. The whole island is at stake but our attention is all on the Darkling's suffering and honestly? That whole sequence made me forget about the problems I had with Ochette's story and got me to cry a bit because holy shit
CASTTI
Castti, the Apothecary
- I don't have too many strong feelings about Castti's theme, but I dearly appreciate how subdued and somber it sounds. It fits Castti's journey of finding her memories so well and I just generally have no complaints.
- HER LEITMOTIF HOWEVER - the theme used in every flashback sequence incorporates it so well that I cry every goddamn time that it's used. THIS IS THE THEME THAT HER CHAPTER 3 ENDED WITH. IT'S SO SAD AND LOST THAT IT JUST AKSJAKS WHAT DID NISHIKI INJECT INTO THIS THEME???
In Pursuit of Memories
- I love For Succor from the first game. Easily one of the most cinematic-sounding pre-battle themes. In Pursuit of Memories takes everything that made For Succor amazing and TURNS IT UP TO 11 AND WOW THOSE TRUMPETS ARE SENDING CHILLS UP MY SPINE. Castti's leitmotif messes up my brain a lot it's great
The Journey for Memories Ends
- As much as I wanted Castti's rendition of this song to crack the top 3 my god the renditions that DID just made me feel way more BUT HECK IF THIS DIDN'T MAKE ME FEEL A LOT OF THINGS
- Having her theme be up against Trousseau feels incredibly triumphant. Like she's being backed up by Eir's Apothecaries as she fights like Jesus they went SO HARD
THRONE
Throne, the Thief
- I'm probably going to get a lot of flack for this but. I especially don't have strong feelings about Throne's theme. I like it enough, I'm a sucker for strings and I think it suits her well, but I feel like it blends too much into the rest of the soundtrack. It could be the instrument choice, it could be the chords? I promise I like the strings. I also love how it played in her ending. I feel nothing but happiness for Throne when I see her endcard I love it so much
In Pursuit of Freedom
- To be completely honest I have to strain my ears to actually hear Throne's motif in the pre-battle theme but I don't have a lot to say about it - definitely blends in too much with the violins.
The Journey for Freedom Ends
- OKAY THE LOW ELECTRIC GUITAR RIFFS IN THE BEGINNING OF THE RENDITION? GOD-TIER - FOR SOME REASON I ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE AND THEY'RE REALLY GOOD BUILDUP
- As for the rest of it it's fine I guess? Like I like hearing it and battling with it but I think the first time around I was way too confused with the bombshells that Claude dropped on us for me to properly appreciate the music
OSVALD
Osvald, the Scholar
- At first I thought this was a pretty generic somber theme that REALLY loves its cellos, but in my second playthrough I grew to appreciate it a lot more. Without changing a single note, Osvald's theme goes from somber to triumphant over the course of his story and it's kind of insane to me?? Like it fits way too well with the bittersweet ending that he has but has so much room for hope and somehow his character theme captures that so well??? Gods bless you Osvald
In Pursuit of Revenge
- Gotta say - I don't have a lot of feelings on this either. Other than to say that it's badass and imposing as all hell
The Journey for Revenge Ends
- OKAY I HONESTLY DID NOT THINK THAT THIS THEME COULD EVER FIT A FUCKING. DRAGON BALL KAMEHAMEHADOUKEN DUEL BETWEEN HIM AND HARVEY BUT THE ELECTRIC GUITAR MELODY PROVED ME SO WRONG. THIS THEME GOT ME REALLY HYPED UP
- Honestly the fact that I was maybe rooting for Osvald too hard to just kick Harvey's ass because he hurt Elena probably helped BUT STILL AWESOME THEME
PARTITIO
Partitio, the Merchant
- God. The moment I heard the electric guitars I was already sold but then the SAX kicked in and it's like 'YO ALRIGHT WE'RE BALLING'
- this post really started out with me describing actual feelings. Don't worry we're still going to talk about feelings but I don't have much to say about Partitio's theme other than it's awesomea and that people should play it in bars
In Pursuit of Happiness
- man this game is really giving me a great appreciation of the power of electric guitars. I see the appeal now. I especially see it in Partitio's leitmotif cuz man it really makes me want to end poverty. Unfortunately I don't have Partitio's business acumen OR his exuberance so I like. The most I can actually do is look into charity and volunteer work but this theme reminds me that that's good effort too
The Journey for Happiness Ends
- Gotta say? I don't have a lot of strong feelings about this rendition. Like I love Partitio and his story's ending to BITS but I think the fact that we're fighting a whole-ass steam-powered war train had the more staying power for me in this fight. Not that his theme was bad by any means because MAN that electric guitar solo goes bonkers
AGNEA
Agnea, the Dancer
- HANDS-DOWN MY FAVORITE OF ALL THE 8PATH2 CHARACTER THEMES - IT JUST SOUNDS AMAZING NO MATTER WHAT CONTEXT YOU PUT IT IN. I also love that it just ends up existing in-universe as full on diagetic noise for Agnea's encore at the end of her story? HELL I ALREADY SAID I'M A SUCKER FOR STRINGS BUT AGNEA'S THEME JUST SOUNDS SO HOMEY AND WHIMSICAL AND IT ACTUALLY MAKES ME REALLY WANT TO DANCE. AND I SUCK AT DANCING!
- Gil's piano version also just flat-out brings me to tears. God bless you Agnea motif. Why is it so good at being emotional. The evolution of this song throughout Agnea's journey just hits me on so many levels. Music and dance as a form of human expression and communication is fully on display with Agnea's story and her theme reflects that perfectly
In Pursuit of Hope
- how do I gush over Agnea's leitmotif even more without just repeating myself. it's just so good. it's so hype even if the situations themselves are relatively low-stakes. like she's just having a really intense talk with the manager of the theater and the battle theme goes HARDER THAN IT SHOULD
Song of Hope
- HONESTLY WHAT CAN I EVEN SAY ABOUT SONG OF HOPE THAT HASN'T ALREADY BEEN SAID. SONG OF HOPE BEING THE FINAL FORM OF AGNEA'S THEME LIKE IT'S A SUPER SAIYAN HAVING THEIR POWER LEVELS GO OVER 9000. THE FACT THAT IN-UNIVERSE IT'S ACTUALLY HER SINGING IT. THE FACT THAT THIS IS THE SONG THAT BEATS DOLCINAEA LUCIEL. THE FACT THAT THEY'RE BOTH SINGING IT ACTUALLY IT'S SO GOOD
- man I wish sometimes that whenever Agnea uses her EX Song of Hope we got like. a little jingle of her theme and her singing the lyrics. I love Song of Hope so much it's my second-favorite Journey Ends theme. Yes I know it technically doesn't qualify but come onnnn
TEMENOS
Temenos, the Cleric
- okay now I'm REALLY going to get flack for this. I actually don't like Temenos's theme. There's specific reasons for this and most of them have to do with his story. It was already one of the character themes that I felt relatively neutral on when I first heard it, and my first impression was that 'mmmm okay. what's throne's theme sound like-'. The demo came out and gave us Chapter 1, and suddenly it makes sense why it sounds so funky - it represents his character from Chapter 1 so well! It tells us a lot about Temenos - that he's lackadaisical, full of doubt, and that there's more to him than meets the eye. It's true to his character as a detective who likes to mess with his assistant sometimes
- But then Stormhail happened, and it's like. The whimsical tones of his theme really didn't suit the tone of the rest of his story OR his character going forward. Crick's death has dramatically changed the feel of his story, and from that moment on it's pretty clear that Temenos is out for revenge more than he is out for truth - but his theme doesn't reflect that. In fact it feels like it's acting in defiance of the tone shift, feeling almost dismissive of the emotional plot points of his story. On a meta level I think it's interesting how it reflects Temenos's state of mind, sticking to his pursuit in order to avenge everybody he lost and keeping his emotions bottled up. Emotionally however it feels incredibly dissonant - especially when it plays over his endcard.
In Pursuit of Truth
- Honestly for how much flack I gave his character theme I have to give it to his leitmotif for being incorporated in incredibly interesting ways for his battle themes. I did NOT think that the Celestas?? Glockenspiels??? Whatever those brass instruments were - they were INTENSE
The Journey for Truth Ends
- Same words that I have for In Pursuit of Truth like oh my god I didn't think they could make his funky-sounding leitmotif sound so badass but they DID and it felt immensely satisfying to kick Kaldena's ass as the music played. Savor that satisfaction because my god the rest of his story arc does not have a lot of that
HIKARI
Hikari, the Warrior
- I'm partial to Eastern instruments and chord progression! Hikari's theme sounds incredibly regal and it tells us a lot about his character - he's noble, kind, and a great leader. It's a theme that's fit for a king and honestly what more can you ask for?
- also when the bridge plays with the peaceful tones of high wind instruments my heart is just. It is at ease. All is right in the world. tHEN IT'S BACK TO THE INTENSE PARTS WAHOO
In Pursuit of Kingship
- OKAY BEFORE THE GAME CAME OUT I WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO LISTENED TO THE LEAKED SOUNDTRACK OVER AND OVER BECAUSE OH MY GOD HIKARI'S LEITMOTIF GOES SO HARD - I literally SCREAMED when I first heard the leaked version and honestly through the choppy audio and the chunky part of the video - you all know the one - this theme was the one that convinced me that Octopath Traveler 2 was going to be something special. I screamed out loud to several people I knew that this? Seamless transition into Critical Clash II?? It sounded like Latin Honors.
The Journey for Kingship Ends
- So, picture me on my first run, intending to finish the second game this time in reverse OCTOPATH order, meaning I started with Hikari's final chapters. Sure I switched Temenos and Throne around for the order but that was fine, I'm in Ku, and we're about to finally kick Mugen's ass because I fucking hate Mugen. The chapter begins with Kazan literally summoning a sandstorm to open the gates of Ku. I am already so hyped. Then Clan Mei arrives. I am even more hyped. THEN WE FINALLY GET TO KICK RITSU'S ASS, AND HEY OCTOPATH 2, WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IS A BOSS RUSH??? I get to Mugen. I beat his first phase. I fight Hikari's intrusive thoughts and win. Mugen does some eldritch shit. AND THEN THIS FUCKING THEME KICKS IN AND I WAS JUST THROWN BACKWARDS INTO MY SEAT
- IN MY OPINION THIS IS THE BEST RENDITION OF THE JOURNEY ENDS REMIXES - THE MUSICAL PROGRESSION FROM THE FIGHT AGAINST RITSU, THEN A TASTE OF FOR THE DAWN WITH MUGEN'S FIRST PHASE, THEN CONQUERING THE SHADOW, AND THEN THIS - IT WAS SO GOOD?? AND IT SOUNDS SO TRIUMPHANT LIKE - HIKARI IS ON THE CUSP OF VICTORY AND PEACE IS AT HIS FINGERTIPS. KU WILL FINALLY SEE THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY. THAT IS WHAT THIS SOUNDS LIKE AND IT'S THE MOST AMAZING THING AND I LOVE IT
so yeah i'd love to hear you guys' thoughts on the character themes. feel free to disagree with my opinions! I welcome it!
#octopath#octopath traveler 2#ot2 spoilers#octopath ochette#castti florenz#throne anguis#osvald v. vanstein#partitio yellowil#agnea bristarni#temenos mistral#hikari ku#this is a long boi#feel free to disagree with me in the comments#i welcome it all
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the people (i am the people) need to see your playlist for the golds!!
IF YOU INSIST :3
I added The Golds portion to my AHFOD playlist on Spotify. Like I did for the Daemon’s Handbook portion, I will ramble about my song choices for The Golds.
Moments: The Golds theme song, leaning more towards Aegon. Lyrics fit him to a T.
But Daddy I Love Him: Added at the suggestion of an anon (it replaced another Swift song, Style). If “Moments” leans more toward Aegon, this one leans more toward Jace.
Love Me Like You Do: For their happy newlywed/honeymoon period.
Here Comes The Sun: They find out about the baby~
Perfect: Aegon has some inner turmoil in Chapter 2, but overall this is how he feels about life and marriage with Jace.
Surface Pressure: Jace is a workaholic, and on top of being newly pregnant, she’s reaching a breaking point.
Vienna: When Jace spends time with her sisters and has a heart-to-heart with Rhaena in Chapter 3, she finally slows down a bit.
Oxygen: Aegon’s behavior is suspicious and Jace starts to get worried. Then the kerfuffle with the madam arriving at the castle happens, and Jace breaks down a bit.
Solid Gold Love: Jace and Aegon have their conversation through the door, and then Aegon climbs up the balcony to break into the bedroom. Jace is upset (understandably, based on the information she has), and he’s determined to straighten things out. Bonus points for having “gold” in the title.”
Native of the Northlands: Of course I had to include Sleep Walking Animals!! This song’s lyrics have a poetic and abstract feel, so my interpretation might not necessarily be correct, but it’s giving vibes of a man who thinks he isn’t good enough for a woman as she “settles on her throne.” Which is Aegon.
Shed a Light: Jace is so busy that Aegon feels she has no time for him anymore 🥺.
Run: This encapsulates Aegon’s more youthful and immature desires to just run around the city and have fun. Those desires are part of the reason he so eagerly investigates the murders and kidnappings, and he’s so distracted that he forgets about the very important feast.
Ritual: Jace and Aegon make up, and he makes a lot of religious/blasphemous comparisons 😳.
Young and Beautiful: Jace is worried that Aegon won’t think she looks as pretty as before, and he assures her that would never happen. This is also their peaceful period of several months before the Big Drama happens.
Seven Devils: The Tyroshi attacks the girls at the sept, so the number seven seems especially appropriate. Overall the song lyrics fit the occasion.
All the Kings Horses: When Aegon (and Aemond) searches for Jace.
Safe & Sound: Aegon finds Jace, but she’s not OK emotionally/mentally.
The Cure and Standing With You: Both songs are for the recovery period as Aegon helps Jace try to find a new normal.
An Impossible Choice: This was on the HOTD S1 soundtrack for Aemma’s death, so I’m reusing it for Jace giving birth since she and Aegon face the same choice.
Mercy in Darkness: It’s hard to find a song for “little girl does blood magic to save her sister’s life” but I think this one works.
Game of Thrones Theme (Lullaby Rendition): A Cheeseball is born!!!
Yellow: Jace and Aegon and Cheeseball have their happy little family bonding, and Aegon debuts the lullaby he wrote.
Ghostly Presence: Again, it’s hard to find a song for “little girl temporarily gets possessed/goes insane after using blood magic” but here you go.
Demons: Jace finds out that Aegon and the others have been hiding info from her (about the Baratheon betrothal), and she’s very upset. But Aegon explains why he did it, and he and Jace are able to come to an understanding.
Dance Laura Dance: More Sleep Walking Animals, and this is my favorite of their songs! This song has a theme of recovery and finding joy again, which is perfect for our Gold family as they spend several blissful weeks on Dragonstone before they have to go back to their normal life in King’s Landing.
Reign of the Targaryens: Dramatic music as the Targkids fly back to the capital and land at the Dragonpit. Aegon has his Lion King moment with Elenar.
Light: This song is literally about a parent promising their newborn baby to do their best, which is exactly what Aegon does at the beginning of Chapter 10.
Hey Brother: It’s a song about brotherly love and support, which is an important theme in the final chapter.
The Green Dress: I was torn between several songs in the HOTD S1 soundtrack to use for “Aegon learns about the fostering arrangement, blows up at the king in public, and confronts Otto later.” I ended up picking this one not just because it was Alicent’s “I’m in a new era and I want everyone to know it” theme song, but also because the instrumentals had that tense, dramatic (but not melodramatic) vibe that I wanted.
Say You Won’t Let Go: I was looking for a song to go with Aegon and Jace’s final intimate moment when he’s like “I would burn the world for you” and she’s like “I know.” This song doesn’t really capture that particular vibe, but I do think it fits their overall relationship well, so I wanted to slide it into the playlist.
Spectrum: Aegon unionizes the Egg Council and they riot.
Gold Skies: Ending/“After Credits” theme. Bonus points for the word “gold” in the title. I picked this cover instead of the original, because the cover has a more bittersweet tone that seems appropriate with Aemond’s departure at the end of the fic.
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tag nine people you'd like to know better
I. favourite colours: This answer changes all the time for me. Currently my favourite colour is green, followed very closely by white and blue.
II. favourite flavours: Intense! If the recipe asks for 1 garlic clove no it didn't it wants the whole damn garlic — I love curry dishes especially, anything with strong flavour has my whole heart (I think that comes from a childhood of the saddest bland foods imaginable haha).
III. favourite genres: High fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery. I think that sums up my general interests.
IV. favourite music: If it reminds me of my blorbos I'll listen to it. I have playlists on my phone so I can listen to character-inspired bops on the go. Ashnikko, AURORA, Cloudy June, Elle King and Stela Cole get honourable mentions. I also love soundtrack music. Final Fantasy XIV soundtracks by Masayoshi Soken are top rated, and I know I was once pretty obsessed with Ramin Djawadi's work on Game of Thrones.
V. favourite movies: The Lion King and The Mummy for nostalgic reasons. James Cameron's Avatar franchise for showing me what cinema could be. My favourite of all time is a tough one to choose, probably Princess Mononoke.
VI. favourite series: Beef, Brooklyn 99, Community, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Game of Thrones, Midnight Mass, Samurai Champloo, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Glory, The Haunting of Hill House / Bly Manor, The Last of Us, The Witcher.
VII. last song: ENDWALKER: FINAL FANTASY XIV Original Soundtrack — Flow.
VIII. last series: The Fall of the House of Usher. Carla Gugino is absolutely my celebrity crush.
IX. last movie: It has been so long since I last watched a movie, I think it was Barbie back in August of 2023. It was okay at best, wouldn't want to spend the money on a ticket if I knew what I was walking into. Disappointed because I thought it was going to be a silly little time from the trailers, it looked like something that would be fun and quirky with more humour in the plot (especially since it seemed marketed as something kids would love to come watch too) but its attempts at existentialism and feminist commentary fell flat for me.
X. currently reading: Nothing currently, unless RecipeTin Eats cookbook counts. Dinner by Nagi Maehashi has been an absolute winner for me.
XI. currently watching: At the moment I'm only really watching things on Youtube, specifically Charlotte Dobre and Gab Smolders.
XII. currently working on: The bigger and more meaningful things are weight loss and keeping up with a skincare routine. Next on my list is a new makeup routine but foundation is far too expensive for me to replace right now. I'm also finishing off abandoned videogames, I blasted through Breath of the Wild (and desperately want to chew on Tears of the Kingdom now) and I have Resident Evil 4 sitting there and taunting me.
tagged by: @stingslikeabee 💖
tagging: @cyberpawn @enokvirkow @flamesofrebirths @hautevaux @kunselxsoldier @mystiic @noblehcart @poeticphoenix @tsckcyomi
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Cat's Go-To Cozy Games
Screenshot by the author.
I'm one of those people that might best be referred to as "high-strung." I'm constantly obsessing about my work, my chores, my family, and all the other moving parts of my life, to the point that it gets a bit difficult to relax.
So, of course, I turn to video games. Specifically, I tend to play a lot of cozy games - sims, worldbuilding, low-stakes survival, that kind of thing. It makes me happy to create a little virtual life with low-stakes adventures I can enjoy at my leisure without the pressure of competition or timed events.
If you, like me, are looking for a way to wind down, I've got a couple of recommendations.
Stardew Valley
Screenshot by the author.
Stardew Valley is the classic cozy game. It's got everything: cutesy retro graphics, a little town, a customizable farm, cute animals that you can name and pet, magic and mystery, and sprinklings of romance.
I've played well over 300 hours of this game in the last few years and I'll happily play 300 more. I still haven't found every secret! On top of that, this game has one of the most helpful and welcoming communities on the internet, which is lovely.
Slime Rancher (1 & 2)
If you're a fan of self-guided adventures with adorable characters, Slime Rancher (both the original and the sequel, which is currently in early access) should be your go-to. It's a game all about taking care of precious little blob creatures with different themes. The soundtrack is incredibly relaxing, the story is bittersweet and relies on exploration, and the mechanics of the game are simple to pick up and consistent across games.
My personal favorite character is bOb, and no, I will not elaborate beyond saying that he likes chickens and that's the best thing ever.
Minecraft
Image from Mojang.
Yes, it's a meme. Yes, it's totally worth it. There's something ridiculously relaxing about wandering through a cuboidal world, making a little house, interacting with villagers, digging through caves, getting pet cats, and seeing what else the game has to offer.
For the ultimate relaxing experience, I recommend playing in peaceful mode and simply building a massive farm.
Travellers Rest
Screenshot by the author.
Love the idea of a business sim, but make it fantasy? Then Travellers Rest is the best possible game for you. It's a low-stakes fantasy game where you run the tavern that adventurers go to between adventures. You can cook food, brew drinks, rent out bedrooms, and craft interesting new furniture to make your tavern even better. And there's a cat!
The game is still being updated and created in early access, so if you jump in now, you get to influence how the game is created, which is just awesome.
Armello
Image from League of Geeks.
Armello is a digital board game with a cool fantasy premise: you're playing to take the throne from a king corrupted by evil magic called Rot. You play as a variety of cute (and sometimes a bit spooky) animals from various houses each with different abilities and powers in the game.
It's low-stakes even when playing against your friends, the music is beautiful, the art style reminds me of the Redwall books, and it's perfect for people who love board games in person.
Cozy Games Rule
I know there's a stigma about girls only playing "cute" games, but the truth is they're perfect for anyone and everyone who wants to take a little time to chill. Cozy games are meant to be comforting, so why not let anyone enjoy them if they want to? I think we could all use a little comfort nowadays.
#gaming#cozy games#stardew valley#minecraft#slime rancher#armello#travellers rest#women in gaming#mod cat
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Final Fantasy 16 Review!!
Good god, what a game.
All review is going to be under a cut since this is a new game and limited to a single system so not everyone has the chance to play it yet. I'm also gonna break the review down from like least spoilery to most spoilery. So if you're on the fence about it you can read the less spoilery parts to get a feel for if its your thing or not. Each progressively more spoilery section is going to be divided with BIG warning letters so you have the opportunity to flee.
This is gonna be a long one.
SPOILER LEVEL: NON-EXISTENT (BASIC GAMEPLAY)
First let me just give a generic gushing about this game. This is absolutely my pick for GOTY. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the game play, I LOVED the music.
I do not typically play action games, like ever. I have old lady reflexes and usually they feel really difficult to me, and then I get frustrated and then I stopped having fun. This game did everything in its power to appeal to people like me as well as people who enjoy suffering. I played this game in story-focused mode which (I'm assuming) has a lower difficulty. It didn't feel braindead simple by any means. It still felt challenging enough without making me mad.
There were also a ton of accessories to help with gameplay if you're having trouble. Accessories that heal instantly for you, or give you a pop up with a prompt to dodge, or one that does auto combo's for you. I didn't end up using these, because I felt I had enough grasp on how to move and dodge that I didn't need them but they definitely offer a lot of accessibility if your like me and inexperienced (and old).
If you like the challenge and suffering there is an action-focused mode with (assuming) a harder difficulty mode meant for people with more experience. They also have challenges in the game where you can replay the "levels" at increasing difficulties.
My first playthrough was about 75-80h. I did all the side quests but I skipped a lot of the challenges. There's a NG+ mode, and like I mentioned a lot of challenges of increasing difficulty so I think your time/dollar value in this game is well worth it, even at the $70 price.
Also if you're ever lost in the story (or if you're just a huge lore nerd) there are "live" lore points available at any point in the game that can provide a quick recap of what's relevant to where you are in the story at any given moment. There's also a loremaster you can visit anytime that holds a compilation of ALL the information in the game. And about half way through the game you get another character that can break every moment down in a timeline that shows you what you've done so far.
AND THE GRAPHICS. My god, they really made use of that new gen tech. The characters were so lifelike in some scenes. I cant even tell you how amazing it was to watch their faces make the most minute twitches, subtle movements that just really brought them to life and it was incredible to see how far tech has come.
THE MUSIC. Oh my god. Soken is really a genius. And the way he managed to marry a lot of FF14 music into some of the fight music really felt like being in on a secret. Idk it was a very epic soundtrack that didn't disappoint.
Also you can pet the dog. As much as you want. And he's the goodest boy.
SPOILER LEVEL: MINOR (CHARACTERS MENTIONED, MINOR PLOT DISCUSSION)
I had high expectations for this game as an FF14 player. I had total faith Yoshi P (producer) would not put his name on anything that would be disappointing. I was not let down.
First I could not get over how much of a world they managed to build. Sometimes it was almost staggering how they managed to not just create a world with various environments and people but fleshed out that world with history, political turmoil, a class system, rebellion, secret organizations... It was like playing Game of Thrones (fun fact, it was an inspiration) with how much was going on and how deep the world building ran. There were times I really just paused the game and went "My god they created a literal universe here".
It did have some plot holes. At then end while my boyfriend and I were exchanging our thoughts, we both had kind of a few "uh weird how they never mentioned ____". I feel like sometimes the game just expected you, the player to suspend disbelief. That aside though, it was a beautifully told story, and while I was playing, none of the aforementioned did anything to detract from my enjoyment of the story as I went.
If I did have one complaint for the story and the lore though, it's how overwhelming and immersion ruining the side quests can get as the game progresses. At the start there's not many side quests. You finish and arc and there is maybe 2-3 side quests available after. But towards the end of the game? You finish a single quest and theres 7-10 side quests to do. The side quests added so much to the game for side characters and lore and world building so I didn't want to skip them. But at some point it also started to feel tedious and distracting to have to do them.
It was VERY MUCH a JRPG. I heard a lot of people saying it didn't feel like an FF game and that it lost the spirit of the franchise but did we even play the same game? This was every bit a JRPG that was very true to its roots and it was the breath of life this franchise frankly needed.
The CHARACTERS. First let me just say:
A CANON GAY?!?!? IN MY FINAL FANTASY?!?!? AND HES NOT A JOKE?!?!
When Dion kissed his lover I fucking screamed and cried. And that the game didn't make him like... stereotypical? He wasn't overly flamboyant, he wasn't used as the butt of any jokes, he wasn't predatory. He was actually an incredible character, very complex, very good hearted. (Also beautiful to look at but they all were.) and when I mentioned minute facial movements earlier, I was specifically impressed by Dion. I feel like they told so much of who he was through just his face that it was stunning.
On the negative side though, I was really unimpressed with Jill's character. There were a lot of interesting and strong female side characters, but some how Jill stayed so flat the whole time. I felt like she was nothing but Clive's girlfriend and they didn't really develop her a whole lot beyond that? Even her entire arc just kinda felt... incomplete? Cobbled together at the last minute and rushed through? I think if there is one super critical thing I have to say about this game its Jill.
Oh and did I mention all the characters in this game are "old"? Like 30s, 40s, 50s, a few in their late 20s. Unheard of for an FF game but it really made a difference.
SPOILER WARNING: MAJOR!!!! (DETAILED CHARACTER AND PLOT DISCUSSION)
Let me just do a little character gush break down:
Clive: Absolutely the best FF protag ever. Like they built him like some meme edgelord but actually he's a cinnamon roll. I am actually so heartbroken for Clive because he had a troubled life from the very start with a mom that absolutely hated him, being the first born but not being the Dominant of the Phoenix, carrying the guilt of killing his brother around with him for 13 years. My heart actually breaks for him
Joshua: Baby boy. Sweet sweet baby boy. I sat in fucking suspense about this boy the whole game. From the moment he was revealed (adult him anyway) I fell in love with him and then spent the rest of the game saying "please don't kill Joshua please don't kill Joshua" I bit my nails down to nothing every fight sequence. My one criteria for not quitting this game on the spot was if he died before he reunited with Clive. If that had happened, there wouldn't be this 3000 word review rn.
Jill: The most disappointing character. I couldn't even hate her, because I didn't feel like there was enough to her to hate. She loved Clive. They worked in the whole deal about her feeling guilty (suddenly) for all the death she caused as Shiva but then as soon as Clive won the battle for her she didn't feel bad at all ever again? Idk I feel like they just didn't really care about Jill but needed a female lead so she was made?
Cid: Daddy. Cid was a great character that wasn't with us nearly long enough.
Gav: GAV. G A V . I LOVED Gav. Like from the moment he appeared I genuinely thought he was going to be a pretty minor side character and I was sad because I really loved him right from the start. But then we got to spend more and more time with him and man I LOVED him. He was such a ray of sunshine, big golden retriever energy, loved this baby boy so much. There was one point in the game where the party was Clive, Joshua, Gav and Torgal and I said to my boyfriend "they have such potential to ruin my life right now". Anything happening to Gav was my other condition that would make me stop playing the game lmao.
Anabelle: Listen. I have never hated a character so much. This bitch ruined her children's lives with a smile on her face. This bitch massacred bearers for funsies. And at the end she got to commit suicide ezpz? There really is no justice in the world.
Dion: I think I gushed enough about Dion up above but man I can just do it again. I don't know how they made me love a character that was like, barely in the game so much but they did. They made him bear all the guilt and pain and deny himself anything good and become a martyr and they just made me love him.
Now about the FIGHTS. I said the combat system was fun but I didn't even mention the Primal fights. That fight with Titan Lost? FUCKKK. It was so epic my blood was bubbling. The fight with Bahamut? CHILLS. I thought Primal fights were gonna be kinda gimmicky and cinematic and to some extent they were (VERY cinematic) but they felt so high stakes and fast paced it made your heart pound, even if you were only minimally participating during a cut scene. The devs kept saying they really wanted to give the primal fights a sense of enormity and they 100% accomplished that.
SPOILER WARNING: BIG BIG MAJOR!!!! (ENDING DISCUSSION)
The fucking ending. This fucking ending.
First of all when I say this was every bit a JRPG, I mean it so literally. The formula is all there. Pick a human trait and then fight god about it. In this case human will making them prone to destruction means god, Ultima, should take back what he gave them. And then it all cumulates in to this end fight where Clive is powered by friendship and punches god in the face lmaooo.
But it was good. Even recognizing it was cheesy at all get out didn't make it less good. (I mean ffs he says "The only fantasy here is yours. And we shall be its final witness"). It made me giddy tbh. It was an exciting fight, and epic battle, and I felt so nostalgic because it felt so classic at the same time. It was beautiful (even if I really sucked at it and forgot to get pots beforehand lmao).
And then the fucking end. Listen. Listen. Was that flashback of Clive meeting baby Joshua really necessary. Was any of that flashback really necessary? Trust the writing and dev team that killed Haurchefant to throw that in there and make sure my heart was thoroughly crushed.
I already said I was biting my nails about Joshua dying but I really wanted to believe they were gonna some how rez him and everything would be fine but no they just left him there dead. And then they also killed Clive? I did not see that coming at all. I saw Joshua coming, I dreaded it the whole game for a reason but killing the main protagonist?? I never saw that coming.
And I sobbed. Like a baby. From the moment Ultima was finally defeated until the end credits I literally just sobbed (quietly to myself so that my boyfriend who was a little behind me in the game wouldn't hear). In fact I cried so much I'm pretty sure this whole review is a grammar and typo mess because my eyes are sticky. It left a hole in my chest.
I DID read a comment that said they both lived because in the post credit scene there is the book Final Fantasy written by Joshua Rosfield and I understand that but idk it didn't feel like they lived? Aside from that book being there nothing about the end really confirmed anything? Idk it was a weird post credit scene or maybe I'm just dumb and didn't understand. SO if you finished the game and actually sat through my garbage so far, you tell me what I missed.
I'm sure I will come up with another 30 random things to gush about when I post this and I know I didn't cover everything I even wanted to talk about before I started, but this is like, way too long already for a review. Basically, in conclusion, I really loved this game. I really highly recommend it to anyone and everyone that can play it.
#final fantasy 16#final fantasy xvi#final fantasy 16 spoilers#final fantasy xvi spoilers#easy as pie#pie plays#game reviews
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I finished my first bg3 playthrough and just need to ramble about act 3 things specifically (spoiler-heavy, don't read this)
There's so much about this game that's great. But so much of act 3 made me go from :D to :/ like people were not kidding about how unpolished it feels. There's some positive thoughts here, but there's also a LOT of critique sooo don't read this probably fr fr.
The amount of bugs are egregious in act 3. I normally have a high threshold for bugs in games. They happen. So long as I don't lose gameplay hours over them, I'm pretty fine. But omg, I finally found my threshold. Just so much that distracted and detracted from cutscenes, from character moments, from the immersion of it all. It's hard to praise Larian for showing up the AAA studios when they turn around and actually do much the same as them: rush an unfinished product to launch. BG3 should've been worked on another year at least so the poor devs wouldn't have to go through the crunch time they are as I type this.
Acts 1 and 2 feel very tight and cohesive, act 1 especially (and I swear, act 2 was the shortest, easy, and yes, I did everything), but in act 3, you start to see so many holes, so many quest lines abandoned, rewritten, and unfinished. Quick question: why was Cazador's palace attached to a random guard wall in the Lower City when he's as upper echelon as they come? Oh, because we cut all of the Upper City from the game but still needed to resolve Astarion's storyline? Got it. What was the point of me tracking down the bomb factory in the fireworks shop if there are no repercussions for either destroying it or leaving it alone? Oh, just a reason to connect Rivington to Baldur's Gate, same as the Dribbles quest? Cool.
Speaking of Dribbles, I almost couldn't even finish the damn quest because I stole the clown's hand from the kobald and the game didn't acknowledge it because a cutscene didn't trigger. I had to do the most roundabout series of tests and finally figured out I had to put the hand in a pouch marked as wares, sell the wares to the kobald, steal the pouch back, drop the hand in front of him, and ensure he caught me stealing it.
That being said, there is nothing about the Circus segment itself I would change. Pure confetti all the way down. Enjoyed being turned into a stinky wheel of cheese.
I love love love the Auntie Ethel quest line. The only thing I could've asked for in relation to it is even more fae shit.
On that note, loved Valeria. Loved how Normal a miniature flying elephant detective was.
The Emperor's sex scene? Delightful. So glad I got to experience that through a friend. Can't wait to be a freak like that someday.
The House of Hope was Hot AF. I died at the Haarlep part; it was everything I wanted: a Raphael """romance""", a terrible deal, exhibitionism, companion-wide disapproval, body and mind violation. Honestly, Larian DOES get full points for that. (Now, make it a true possibility with Raphael, cowards. Let me ride that pillow princess.) Can't WAIT to fully go through with this deal someday with a different character because Riven wasn't the one.
The Raphael fight was honestly incredibly fun (the soundtrack lol A+++) and I didn't find it that challenging in Balanced mode. Like, I thought it was going to wreck my shit, but it was easily one of my most favorite parts of the game. Getting to the room to go through with it, however, was a trial and a half.
Act 3 also had two, if not three, of my least favorite quests of the whole game, tbh. And when I say least favorite, I mean they were just plain not fun to play. At all. Top of mind is the Free the Artist quest with the haunted house, which should've been fun but was just an incredible pain in the ass the whole time, and the Iron Throne quest, which I had to do no less than 8 times to get the exact results I wanted because bugs would thwart me at every turn. NPCs not dashing because their pathways were somehow blocked. Characters getting stuck up the ladder, not allowing anyone else to climb it. Having a character physically move to pull a switch to lock a door behind them only to get them permanently stuck on the wrong side of the door. Did I mention this quest was also a timed trial? lol lol
Kept expecting for my betrayal of the Zhentarim in act 1 to have Repercussions when I reached the city, their stomping ground, in act 3. lol lol
With the flood of companion interactions and cutscenes I got in act 1, it's a shame how much those dried up in act 2 and were practically non-existent in act 3. Their personal quest lines are all you have, and once they're over, you'll maybe get one final cutscene and maybe a romantic one and that's it.
Karlach barely feels like she had a real arc. You do a few things to keep her infernal engine from exploding, but then there's nothing more you can do and she resigns herself to death, refusing to go to Avernus. She and Dammon stop interacting, and the game gives you no other avenues to explore besides a confrontation with Gortash that went about as well as I expected. Just dissatisfaction after dissatisfaction with her. Which is a shame because her VA killed it the entire time! The best I could do for her was take her to the House of Hope for a few hours of relief, but not even an archdevil's home has anything more to offer her.
And it's wild because her death scene was super emotional and touching. I was ready to burst into tears until Wyll ran up and begged her to come to Avernus with him, to live. Then, I wanted to cry for another reason! (My Wyll lost his warlock powers but saved his father and became the Blade of Avernus.) This made so much sense to me as an option for Karlach a long time ago, that I was both relieved and frustrated that this was The Solution the whole time.
I gave Karlach the option to choose what she wanted, and she chose to go with him. What has all this been for, then? So much of Karlach's narrative and the tragedy of it hangs on her absolute refusal to return to the place that tortured her so badly just to live—but that turns out to be only solution this whole time? Why couldn't we just go to Avernus and find something that actually helps her then?
Karlach and Wyll got short-changed in many respects to their arcs, which is wild considering all the touchpoints they have with each other. I'm still frustrated that I, not Wyll, had to choose between severing the pact and saving his father. Even though I achieved both, Wyll should've been given the option to make that decision based on how you interacted with him throughout the game, same as every other character gets to make. At least he gets to choose between becoming a city official and the Blade of Avernus. But it's wild that we have two characters here who were used and enslaved by devils, and that's either not really addressed or resolved (Karlach) or it's only passively handled (Wyll).
And god, I loved the final scene with Wyll and Karlach in Avernus! How Karlach accepted that she would live, how she appreciated both the horror and the opportunity that Avernus presented, and how she wasn't alone anymore. I loved how confident she gets, assuming the role of the experienced expert/hunter in this place. And then Wyll. Who has also hunted and explored Avernus before. Doesn't even get to speak. Just smiles encouragingly the whole time, silent. This scene is so clearly written for Karlach with a Tav, and it's. Frustrating. Wyll and Karlach should be straight-up talking shop together right now. If this is the resolution of both of their arcs together, then it should be written for both of them together.
I'm a Wyll fan who loves the character he is, but I also resonate with folks who are frustrated losing the EA Wyll I never got to meet. I love what I've seen of his romance arc; it's his character arc that has me scratching my head at times, just because I see where they could've done a lot more with more time. The Ansur quest was... interesting but feels very tacked on at the last minute, and the twist that occurs from it isn't even about Wyll. And it matters for all of two seconds and then is never brought up again except to remind you to never speak of it lol what?? At least the lesson Wyll learns is one I knew all along, which is he's the hero Baldur's Gate needs and deserves.
And Gale! I'm honestly not even counting his arc as resolved. That was a joke. The crown falls into the lake?? And based on how you talked to him, he decides whether he's going to fish it out or not??? And I don't even get to see it??? For me, Gale decided to leave it alone, not giving it to Mystra or using it to become a god, which is. Wild. Considering my Tav, Riven, was very much Team "Fuck Mystra" and didn't discourage him from the god path. I was expecting a whole moment like what Astarion got between completing the ritual or not, but nope! You've gotta be joking.
I think the only arcs I'm satisfied with are Lae'zel's and Shadowheart's, even though I still don't know how and why the latter dyed her hair white lol. (I mean, symbolically, I get it, but I'm half-convinced her hair's not even supposed to be white because her portrait never changed hair color and the other characters only commented on her bangs like is this a universal bug that everyone accepted and Larian doesn't want to own up to?)
I also wish that if Halsin, Jaheira, and Minsc are going to be companions that they would've given them proper arcs, too. Halsin especially since he comes along earlier. Jaheira gets more of a pass since she's older and a legacy character and I love her, but I could take or leave Minsc tbh. Haven't gotten Minthara yet, so opinion's still out on her.
I loved Jaheira's little adopted family. A shame I never saw them again or got anymore resolution! (More on resolution in general later)
I guess I'll talk about Astarion's arc. I loved so much of it, but I'll be honest; I was having the most fun with him in acts 1 and 2. The sex repulsion thing, while key to his arc, also seemed to dry up all the romantic chemistry he has between himself and your character. Part of that might be because his arc turns so hard into obsessing over the ritual. But part of it is a Huge Missed Opportunity between exploring the difference between Sex as a Means to an End and exploring with him what actual intimacy looks like. Sure, you get the hand-holding and the hug, once, which can easily turn into a Just Friends thing. But where was learning what easy sensuality and intimacy looks like with a partner who won't pressure you into making it about sex? The graveyard scene was great! Sure wish there was more where that came from!
Astarion's romantic arc became a lot more about what Astarion wanted versus what you both want, argue with the wall. Sure, he wants it to become something real and wants to take things slow, but at what point is a Tav who was used for protection through sex allowed to be sexually frustrated and not shamed for it? The only time that's even acknowledged is if Tav considers a poly relationship with Astarion and Halsin, and we're supposed to feel bad on Astarion's account and not Tav's. Well, I'm sorry, but for Riven, Astarion would've been her first sexual partner and relationship, and he knowingly turned that switch on to make her obsessed and pliant towards him. It's unrealistic to just. Expect her to not be sexually frustrated, to grin and bear it, just because he's finally acknowledging his own automony. Part of that autonomy means taking ownership for what he did as an exploitive sexual partner; I'm not saying he needs to get her off or anything, but this is where displaying actual intimacy could've helped while they were taking a break from sex. Instead, the game really does have Astarion cut her off cold turkey with no further romantic scenes outside of the odd line here and there while discussing the ritual, and p e r s o n a l l y, I take Great Issue with that as a woman with some fucking self-respect.
Considering how hard this romance goes on the front-end with sex, flirting, and banter, Astarion's romance arc feels very foreplay-heavy with a very dissatisfying finish, which I'm not impressed with, okay? (And yes, my last romantic scene with him was bugged all to hell, so I didn't get to experience it as a cutscene, just fragmented lines in a box of a room. In fact, a lot of his romance lines throughout act 3 would either get cut-off or there'd be other buggy things happening that detracted from the scene.) At least he stays an asshole and not this uwu baby that so much of the fandom wants to pretend he is lol
That said, and even though I haven't done it yet, I am so sure that it'll be Ascended Astarion >>>>>>>> Good End Astarion for me lol. Give me the dark, fucked-up ends forever, thanks.
I didn't even get one of the biggest payoffs from convincing Astarion not to Ascend. I had Shadowheart cast Daylight as an orb and not on an object, so when the other spawn got free, they took damage from the spell and ran away, disappearing forever. Cazador's staff was nowhere to be seen because it was tied to a cutscene with those spawn, so now??? The ~7,000 spawn trapped in those arcane cells are just going to be driven mad as they starve to death, which we know from Astarion being held in solitary for a year is going to take a very long time. Meaning the more humane thing to do would've been to just. Let Astarion go through with the ritual, damning himself to save them from a fate worse than death. Great storytelling, Larian, we didn't test that Daylight spell at all, did we? Good thing I made a save with Astarion post-Ascension, tbh.
(Which, the fact that you still have to convince Astarion not to go through with the ritual, despite your high approval, romance, and all the things he's seen getting there, fascinates me. So many other characters will do the right thing if you've planted the seeds and give them the chance to make the choice themselves, but Astarion is determined to see the ritual through by default unless you roll real good. It's Big Sexy of him.)
On the one hand, this game has SO many more companion cutscenes and reactions than past rpg games like this. But on the other, it doesn't balance them well throughout the game. It doesn't help that I played the version with approval thresholds being lower than they should've been. But it goes back to how much of act 1 was written, built out, and tested in EA, and how much the rest of the game was... not.
Also what was the point of Yenna besides being nice to an orphan kid? Why did she disappear from camp for days and days that was never acknowledged? How many more bugs with kids did I experience in this playthrough, the Mol quest also being fucked sideways?
Gortash was so hot and SO underused and for what??? Jason Isaacs, b r u h!!! Oh well, more reason to play Dark Urge at some point.
I also never got the option to Find Familiar my owlbear and he stopped moving in the camp in act 3, and I'm sad, okay? He does somehow become fully grown?? for the final battle and armored up, but you're joking if you think I'm risking my baby boy like that
That said, I did like how the final battle played out, how you could summon your allies to help fight. (Zevlor redeemed himself and survived, baby!) I liked the various stages of it. But omg... the audio problems. A whole area where background music didn't play for over 20 minutes. Where characters had dialogue but no audio track. The immersion was in tatters for me, and given all the character arc resolution problems I discussed above, yeah, no WONDER I'm fucking frustrated. All this build up, to just trip at the finish line?
It was also wild how. Abrupt. The ending is. A series of cutscenes with a few final choices here and there, with random companions interjecting their opinions/perspective, but. There's no goodbye tour. There's no talking to everyone for the last time before the FINAL scenes happen and the credits roll. No "what will you do now?" discussions besides Karlach and Wyll's abrupt leave (made even worse by Astarion's abrupt leave for Reasons). I've been traveling with most of these people since the first hour of the game, and I can't even say to them "goodbye and thank you"??? We've poked fun at Bioware throughout BG3's launch, but they beat you there, Larian. Muchly.
The ending cutscenes were also not edited together cohesively, which might be why the Astarion romance scene bugged out. It's possible it's out of order, but it either goes: Companions talking about celebrating, Astarion getting scalded by the sun and running away, Karlach's engine catching on fire, Wyll convincing her to save herself and the two running off, the narrator showing you the city and proclaiming you a hero, Astarion romance scene in a black box, Wyll and Karlach in Avernus, end credits. OR it goes: Companions talking about celebrating, Astarion being scalded and running off, Karlach's engine catching on fire, Wyll imploring her to live but you convince her to die, the narrator proclaiming you a hero, Astarion romance scene, credits. And that switch to the credits, both times, is a fast and hard switch.
Also okay FINE I'll be honest! How determined this game is to turn you illithid finally pissed me the fuck off! The whole game, I played a character who would Not Eat the Damn Tadpole for anything but who would still abuse her compulsion powers now and again. (Which, a shame that power went away in act 3, that was fun roleplaying.) The whole game, she decides and is given the option to decide that her own strength and those of her companions would be enough, and guess what? It's not lol. Someone still has to become illithid and eat Orpheus's brain. Picture it: I had Astarion, Gale, and Lae'zel with me, the latter two who still need their arcs completed, hence why they're here. And the choice I'm given is either: give the Emperor the stones and have him eat Orpheus' brain; turn myself into an illithid and eat Orpheus' brain, or free Orpheus and convince him to turn himself into an illithid (or have myself or a dying Karlach do it, and guess what? We'd still have to eat his brain). All but one of these choices will either have Lae'zel hate me forever or permanently end my Astarion romance. The only viable option, meanwhile, is depressingly anticlimactic and uninteresting. Yeah, I'll say it: BOOOOOOO!
I have so many characters I want to do different playthroughs with, but act 3 and its ending, man. The taste of it is not horrible but it's not great, either. Kinda torn between taking my time in the first two acts and giving the game a break, see if they fix the most annoying bug issues first. I don't hold out much hope that storytelling issues will be fixed, but god, I wish they would be. Gonna just hold it in and die until I can talk to any friend about it.
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🚨My Official Expansion Rankings🚨
Stone Cold Locks of the Century...of the Week:
And by that I really just like these because they are relevant to my writing interests.
I'd be interested on seeing everyone else's expansion rankings (after your done throwing bricks)
Vanilla/Classic - Questing is fulfilling and the world is never richer than it is in this expansion. The classes feel flexible even if they have severe restrictions. It has flaws (the pvp ranking grind), but I think the positives outweigh the negatives. Also, has Naxxramas which is the best raid of all time
MOP - In my opinion the best ‘story’ driven expansion. Pandaria is awesome and well realized and has one of my favorite raids, the Throne of Thunder.
Cata- Probably the most controversial placement. But Cata is interesting to me because it signifies a change in the status quo for the world. Has some really interesting questing zones with Stonetalon and Hillsbrad. I think all of the ‘Lordaeron’ zones were fairly strong, including the worgen starting zone. I also love Uldum, I think all the Harrison Jones stuff is very fun. Does have issues, I think it marks the beginning of the ‘casualification’ of the game for good or for ill. I only seriously raided during the Dragon Soul, and never really did Firelands but I know it is a popular raid.
Wrath - Save your bricks for later. Wrath is nice. I dislike the nexus war plot and I hate that we kill Malygos. Has Ulduar and overall a great expansion soundtrack. I would consider this the first 'story' driven expansion, however the way it is implemented is weak. I feel like you really only get the impression that you are at total war with the Scourge for the introductory quests in Borean Tundra and when you are questing in Zul'Drak. I'm excluding Icecrown because it sucks except for the two quest lines that don't suck (more on those later). No one quests in Icecrown since its end game content and most of that is spent doing dailies and getting stuff for raid night. Trust me, I'm a loremaster. Anyway. If we are fighting the lich king everything should work towards that goal and it doesn't always feel that way. Ulduar is *kind of* a non sequitur. The Tournament is goofy and bad even if for some reason I like doing all of those dailies. The Nexus war is a blink and you miss it thing even though its KIND OF a huge deal.
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Honorable Mention
Warlords - Really? Well, this one is more of a conceptual Like. I did not play much WoD at all & I saw it as a cynical cash grab that they coincided with the movie’s release. Also, the premise is contrived and stupid. But, I really liked the lore about the ordering of Draenor and the struggle between the titan creatures and the botanie. I also think it is interesting that they have a whole other ‘element’ (spirit) on Draenor that they do not have on Azeroth. So there are some ideas that I like to incorporate into the background of my AU.
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Stuff I don’t care about for whatever reason
BFA - Home Tree Burning? Interesting. Loyalist/Rebel? Also interesting. Class Warfare- gettin' spicy. Drustvar having 16th century witch trials but also accepting aid from my worgen death knight? ......no. Blizzard also has no idea what to do with Jaina post MoP. Would have been more interesting if they focused more on the Azeroth part of Battle for Azeroth and treated it like a new Cata. But no. They didn't do that.
TBC - I’ve quested through here a million times. I played it back in the day and it was okay. But after no lifeing Classic and going to TBC it just has a brutal grind. Feels like it has very little lore that ties into later events. I do like the Kirin Var quests and Sabellian's quests, they are actually some of my favorites in the game. But, overall a boring expac. Hate all the raids except Kara (and I don’t even like that one that much) which should have been a raid in vanilla. I will say it has some very satisfying questing loops, so if you like efficiency it is not that bad.
Legion - You may now throw bricks at me. I think I just hate fun. Which whatever. I don’t like the artifacts. I hate that the whole thing was able to start because of Draenor. I think its really funny that the high mountain Tauren and the Shal'dori join the Horde and then the Horde turn around and burn down home tree.
Dragonflight / Slands - The amount of bending over backwards, lore wise, is crazy. Sorry to all my mutual who exclusively write SL fics. And then on Dragonflight- the time of the dragon ended.
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What are the GOOD Sonic games?
It's a matter of perspective. "Good" is subjective. However, if I didn't know the person and I wanted guaranteed safe recommendations, I'd say:
Level 1: Safe, Universal Recommendations
Sonic 2 - The classic crowd pleaser. Sonic 1 is rough and full of levels that are still figuring themselves out. Sonic 2 is it feels like Sonic truly becomes established. We get the Spindash, we get Tails, we get the Death Egg, and we get the first appearance of a version of Metal Sonic. The main bummer is that the last quarter of the game (Metropolis-Sky Chase-Wing Fortress-Death Egg) kind of sucks. Unnecessarily difficult or gimmicky or both.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles - If Sonic 2 established Sonic, then this is where it feels like Sonic was truly defined. We get Knuckles, The Master Emerald, and the Floating Island. We get the elemental shields, introducing the bounce attack and ring magnets. Big huge levels, with character-specific routes and lots of exploration. Again, not all the levels are winners (Sandopolis) but it's shocking to think this game was the most frantic, rushed Genesis Sonic, because it is such a heavyweight.
Sonic Advance - It's not a life changer but it's basically Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Good artwork, decent music, just a little bland. But safe. A solid 7/10 experience.
Sonic Colors - I personally am a little cold on this game, but I acknowledge a lot of people like it and it was once considered where Sonic "bounced back" after Sonic 06. I will accept I am maybe too hardcore of a Sonic fan for this game, but maybe I also have a video about this in the works. But for, uh, "normies" (for lack of a better term), this works.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - One of the few legitimate contenders to the Mario Kart throne. Stands toe to toe with games like Crash Team Racing and Diddy Kong Racing. Nearly everybody loves a good kart racer.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed - The sequel is as good if not better than the first one. Depending on the day of the week, I might say this is better than Mario Kart in some aspects.
Sonic Generations - Probably the most all-around modern Sonic game (still). Almost everybody loves this game. I love other games more, but it's not about me, and I can't deny the universal appeal of Generations. It's telling that the two games to follow this one were equal parts trying to recapture the magic of both Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations (and failing miserably).
Sonic Mania - You can't go wrong with the highest rated Sonic game since 1994. A celebration of Classic Sonic like no other.
Level 2: For the Curious
Sonic 1 - It's not a great game, but if you graduate from experimenting with liking a Sonic game, it's worth looking at once. But it's very difficult, weird, and if I'm being honest, not very memorable. Everything done here was done better in other Sonic games, but you don't get those without starting here first.
Sonic CD - Some people really love the slower, more methodical pace of this game. There's a reason its earned a reputation for being this amazing classic, even though it really isn't. It's easy to be hot/cold on it, because it truly has some fantastic style and great ideas.
Sonic Adventure - Pretty ambitious for the era and the thing that established the tone and candor for so much of 3D Sonic. Been through a cycle where people loved it for its ambition, hated it for being busted and weird, and now love it for being a nostalgic ugly duckling. They definitely don't make games like this anymore.
Sonic Adventure 2 - Almost a necessary chaser to SA1. You gotta see how things evolve between these two games and how much they were willing to ditch. Also a prime example of Sonic's tendency to have 3D games that are described as "When it's good, it's amazing, but when it's bad, it's the worst game on earth."
Sonic Rush - Just barely makes it in to this category for being an extremely difficult game (as in, I almost put it in level 1). But it's got a killer soundtrack and invented the boost mechanic that is so important to a lot of future Sonic games. You just gotta stick with it and be willing to optimize routes.
Sonic Rush Adventure - A kinder, more gentle version of Sonic Rush. If you bounce off that game, give this one a shot. It doesn't have quite as much audiovisual style, but it's still a heck of a great game. I almost put it in to the first category, but I feel like its tied to the first Sonic Rush and both games have to move together. Can't play one without playing the other.
Level 3: For the Sickos
Sonic Unleashed - I almost put this in level 2. We would not have Sonic Colors or Sonic Generations if this did not exist. I love this game deeply, but the parts that turn people off really, really turn them off. Like rage-quit inducing. You gotta be extremely dedicated to see the credits roll on this. I've done it twice, almost three times.
Sonic R - This game has a reputation for being a nightmare to control. It's also comically short -- once you master the odd controls, you can blow through the whole game in about fifteen minutes. But you can't deny it is jam packed full of a certain type of charm.
Sonic Advance 2 - In a similar vein to Sonic Unleashed, we would not have Sonic Rush without this game. And like Sonic Unleashed, the people who hate it truly hate it. Very much based on twitch reaction times and memorizing level layouts.
Sonic the Fighters - FGC people hate this game for its shield mechanic, but it was made by AM2 during the peak of their output. I think it's a great game, with a fantastic visual style and a uniquely energetic soundtrack. FGC people are just afraid of what they don't understand.
Sonic Battle - Another Sonic fighter. This has a weirdly deep story mode but it eventually turns in to a difficult grind that most people won't see through to the end. Has, or had, one of the greatest stories in the entire Sonic franchise. I loved it at the time, but I can't bring myself to ever replay it. I don't know if it holds up.
Sonic Riders - This is an overly-complex racing game where everybody (including Sonic) races on hoverboards. If you can break through its learning curve, I think it is great fun. But a lot of people bounce off of it because it can be rather unforgiving to newbies. Later Sonic Riders games completely redesign the mechanics, too, so this is the only one that plays like this, and the only one that I personally think is any good. You just really gotta dig to find the fun.
Knuckles Chaotix - This is one of those games where the music, art direction, everything about it is great... except the part where you have to play it. It sucks to play. But it's easy on the eyes, easy on the ears and easy to imagine all this stuff being used in a better game.
Sonic 2006 - If you're ready to dig in to the depths of Sonic the Hedgehog, this is the one turd everybody has to smear on their forehead. It's almost a rite of passage at this point. It is Sonic's "The Room." Try to play it with friends, because you're going to want an audience to make fun of it. Trust me. Misery loves company.
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it's time to play tag games again! today we're putting the "on repeat" playlist on spotify on shuffle and listing the first ten songs that come up. i was tagged by @quensty and i am tagging @prongs1997 @corazonlicantropo @bandedbulbussnarfblat @enterprisery and @holodeckprotocols as well as anyone else who would like to talk about the music they've been listening to lately!
Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) - Fall Out Boy: This is the only song I actually like off MANIA. "I-I was - I was - I was gonna say something that would solve all our problems, but then I got drunk and I forgot what I was talking about" is an incredible note to start on and it only gets better from there. Fall Out Boy is my favorite band and I am out of my mind excited to see them in Chicago.
What Is Dead May Never Die - Ramin Djawadi: I'm actually surprised it was this one and not The Throne Is Mine. One thing about me is that I like listening to classical music while I read, and I was rereading A Song of Ice and Fire recently. Thus: the soundtrack for Game of Thrones. Also, Ramin Djawadi is a fantastic composer. Loved what he did with Westworld and Person of Interest.
I Am Hers, She Is Mine - Ramin Djawadi: We're back on the Game of Thrones soundtrack. Now I'm worried this list is gonna be all GoT. Anyway: I love sad and/or emotional strings. Probably my favorite section of the orchestra.
Daylight - David Kushner: I was listening to this much more recently than the others. "Oh I love it and I hate it at the same time / You and I drink the poison from the same vine" gets me every time. I love daylight imagery, as evidenced by my obsession with the way it gets used in Black Sails.
Warrior of Light - Ramin Djawadi: I'M BACK IN THE FUCKING BUILDING AGAIN. I'm gonna have to start skipping these if I want to have any discussion of my music taste at all. Anyway, when I was rereading A Song of Ice and Fire this time I started paying a lot more attention to Stannis and the whole arc with what I'll call "Team Dragonstone" (so, him, Selyse and the other Florents, Davos, Melisandre, etc.) and I thought it was a really interesting look at what could have otherwise been a very boring character but because we see him exclusively through other people's eyes, he becomes layered. To me anyway.
End Titles - Irwin Koshner: This one is the end of The Sound of Music! Which is something I have loved for years, but I recently started revisiting it because of Ted Lasso (and a fic that I'll never finish) who said that.
My Favorite Things - Julie Andrews: See above. Also I had a HUGE crush on her about a year before I figured out that I was bisexual which was a really interesting time in my life. I still do, but I used to too. Top 5 compliments I've ever gotten in my life was about ten or twelve years ago when a family friend told me I sounded like her.
Anna - The Menzingers: My sister just introduced me to this song about a month ago! It's so fun and sweet. Listening to it reminds of reading The Name of the Wind (because she and I did that together as well, right after she showed me this song) and driving around our hometown looking for books and a Mother's Day gift for our mom. "This place ain't the same without you Anna" INDEED
Climb Every Mountain - Peggy Wood: I think we'd all like a dream that will need all the love we can give every day of our life for as long as we live. Enough said.
Kyoto (Copycat Killer Version) - Phoebe Bridgers: This was another one that my sister introduced me to. This song has everything: sad emotional strings. Deep connection to younger sibling. "I wanted to see the world through your eyes and then it happened / Then I changed my mind". You would not believe the number of Succession edits I've seen with this song in the last couple of weeks.
That was fun! I should do it again when I'm fixating on something that isn't a TV show soundtrack. And speaking of, the finally tally of of GoT season 2 skips was: 1. This is what I get for falling asleep to it so much.
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1657
Most hated childhood nickname:
I was fine with the handful of nicknames my family gave me. What I hate is being called Rob which for some reason many people I speak to for work have automatically decided to call me. I never even introduced myself as Rob???? I hate it so much :((
Age you were when you hit your current height:
I was either 10 or 11. I had a massive growth spurt that also stopped nearly as soon as it started.
Speaking of height, how tall is your crush/sig other?
I don’t have either.
Your first favorite color, and how old you were when you liked it:
Purple. I was around 7; I liked it because it was my great-grandmother’s favorite and she had a lot of purple elements in her home.
Favorites
Favorite kind of cheese:
Feta, brie, mozzarella.
Favorite TV show you love to hate:
Glee, Game of Thrones, the last few seasons of The Big Bang Theory.
Favorite kind of hot beverage:
Ooh I dislike hot beverages. I find it soooo uncomfortable to the throat and I don’t like how hot it’d feel in the stomach too. When I order hot chocolate or am stuck with hot coffee, I always wait for them to get lukewarm first hahaha.
Favorite chord (I’m a music major, I had to put this one in):
I’m not, and have no idea what to name.
Favorite musical instrument:
To listen to – piano, violin, saxophone.
Favorite brand of toothpaste:
Eh, just Colgate is fine.
Favorite kind of sandwich:
Monte Cristo will always be my favorite.
Favorite method of travel/transportation:
By airplane, just because I don’t get to experience it often and it always makes me excited to travel :)
Favorite means of expression:
“No way” and the many spin-offs I use for it hahaha. Like “stop it,” “shut up,” “shut the door,” “you’re kidding” etc.
Favorite Broadway musical:
I’m not a fan of musicals but I do hold a soft spot for Miss Saigon. I was virtually raised listening to the soundtrack on cassette.
When’s the last time you…?
Ate something you hate?
Well I don’t really...make myself eat things I already know I hate. A month ago I had empanadas that annoyingly had raisins in them, but I took each piece out in between bites so I didn’t have to deal with the taste.
Did someone a favor?
Last night; I just bumped Angela’s tweet offering a trade for our Yoongi ticket so that a new wave of people can see it.
Felt like you’d really accomplished something big?
It’s been a while. I guess when my friends and I booked our Airbnb and plane tickets to Thailand; it helped give me a sense of purpose and reward especially after working as hard as I’ve had over the last two years.
Missed your parents?
Well, I miss my dad everyday.
Spent longer than two hours talking to the same person?
Wednesday when my friends and I went through a third wave of ticket selling (and still ended up unsuccessful, lol). We were on Messenger updating each other in real-time for like an hour straight, then spent the next hour crafting our game plan going forward.
Wrote/recieved an actual letter (not a bill, not an email)?
Christmas 2020.
Felt like everything was going really really well?
Hm. Maybe my birthday trip to Zambales last year? That was a great time where I allowed myself to just let go of work entirely and stay in the moment and focus on me and my friends.
Felt like you’d failed?
Sometime in mid-Feb when I handled a commercial shoot for one of my clients’ upcoming product launches and a bunch of miscommunication that I couldn’t control between the client and the prod house happened, forcing the shoot to go overtime by nine hours. We ended at 3 AM and the output ended up being fantastic, but it didn’t feel like an accomplishment at all. It was something I just wanted to laid to rest as soon as it finished; I never even ordered the damn thing during the entire period of its availability. Just so traumatic.
Stopped to smell the roses– literally?
Nope.
Spent way too much money on something totally dumb?
That hasn’t happened since the time I used to spend on my ex.
Enjoyed doing homework?
2020, I guess? It was my final semester in college and I was taking a course on social history which I was genuinely enjoying, and I had lots of fun every time we had essay homework.
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tagged by @alicentsgf yes ma’am
RULES - List eight shows for your followers to get to know you better.
1. Avatar the Last Airbender - this was the first show I ever remember watching in its entirety, and it’s also probably the show that has had the most impact on me. From the way the world, the cultures, and the magic are all entwined, to the purely unapologetic spirituality that runs through the whole thing, and especially the fact that the main character Refuses to compromise his beliefs in the face of the entire world telling him not to - that’s my shit right there. I have this show memorized, episode for episode if not line for line sometimes.
2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - the first anime I ever watched (besides the pokemon and bakugan episodes I vaguely remember from 8am TV at age 5 or whatever) and boy does this show fuck. It would be good enough if the only thing it was concerned with was the main character’s loss of innocence and quest to find a reason to live (main characters, I think Ed and Alphonse both deserve that title), but it also gives you that delicious well-written political maneuvering through the lens of my boy Roy, who is possibly my favorite character ever based purely on how good his writing is. I could - and will - talk about this show for an unacceptable amount of time, so beware asking me about it.
3. Game of Thrones - I know this show has a lot of baggage surrounding the later... lets say half of its runtime, the first four seasons reminded me why I fell in love with fantasy as a kid. I didn’t watch this show until 2021 (a disgrace that I regret to this day), but between GRRM’s masterful plot and character writing and an incredible amount of dedication to making a fantasy show that looked as good as the images the book conjured (again, for the most part - we don’t talk about Casterly Rock in this house), I couldn’t help myself. This show and the books it comes from have consumed me. I hope I never get out.
4. House of the Dragon - everything I said above, but with better camera work, more gays, more dragons, and sadder (which is fucked up honestly). There’s only one season of this show out as of making this post, but to be honest if it were cancelled tomorrow I’d still feel incredibly lucky for getting to watch it as it premiered. I am so normal about the characters in this story.
5. Hawkeye - I think this is my favorite marvel property. I don’t know why. I’m an MCU enjoyer, and I wasn’t particularly excited about this show when it was announced, but boy was I wrong. Low stakes, good comedy, and Hailee Steinfeld and Florence Pugh are there. Also, shockingly good camerawork and pretty good action considering it feels like an afterthought by Disney. I want more of these characters. Fortunately it’s the MCU, so surely I will get them in more of their toy-selling glory.
6. Arcane - fuck this show. I hate it. It’s too good. Every single one of the 9 episodes of Season 1 (all we have for now) makes me cry every time I watch it. Multi-layered tragedy, lesbians, class war, a frankly illegal soundtrack, and some of the prettiest animation I have ever seen in my life. And it’s all about characters in a world I was already kind of obsessed with. If you haven’t seen this show, please give it a shot. You might hate me for it, because this show is NOT nice to its characters, but you will also fall in love with them. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
7. Neon Genesis Evangelion - I’m including the Rebuild movies in this, because fuck your rules. The 26 original episodes of this show, combined with the End of Evangelion, are an incredible experience that I think everyone should see at least once. When I watched this show for the first time, I only meant to watch a few episodes before bed but ended up staying awake the entire night and watching the whole thing in one sitting. That was emotionally devastating enough (because this is not a particularly happy story), but when I finally got around to watching the Rebuild movies, it felt like someone had pried my brain open and made a movie about what it felt like to be in there. Particularly the fourth movie. I would say on average I cry at least an hour of its 2 and a half hour runtime, every time I watch it, and I’ve seen it easily 5 times by now. This story broke me in the best way possible.
8. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - gay. Gay gay homosexual gay. If you’ve ever thought “man, I wish scifi didn’t always look like Halo” then you’d like how this show looks. It is absolutely bursting with life and light and energy, in a way I’ve never seen before. And that’s not even talking about the characters inhabiting this absolutely beautiful world. They’re all quirky, unique, and way too god damn easy to get attached to. It’s not as happy-go-lucky as it might sound or appear, but it does a phenomenal job of tackling some pretty intense issues, from parental trauma to grief to reconciling friendships. Also, it’s gay. Did I mention that?
Tagging @cuteinfodumpster, @queenwillowisp
#these are in no particular order#also i will talk about any of these for hours if prompted#they've all made me cry more than once
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GET TO KNOW THE MUN.
what’s your phone wallpaper : My kitty, Molly. The sweetest and best girl, true princess of the household. She's also my lockscreen. She's seven years old and for the first six months of her life, she was a feral kitten. I'm so grateful she was able to be adopted! She likes watching the electric kettle, sitting by the window, watching British TV shows, getting her whiskers smoothed back, quiet, and cat grass. She dislikes noise, people (especially loud people and children), other cats, any food meant for humans, and all of the cat beds I've bought for her (sofa and my bed are superior).
last song you listened to: 6 Underground - Sneaker Pimps (Cruel Intentions soundtrack, anyone?)
last movie : Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and the Super Mario Bros Movie. Both were...okay? I've never played the Mario games beyond a few rounds of Mario Kart so the lore was lost on me.
last show : Queen Charlotte, The Great, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, XO Kitty, Succession, and a rewatch of the entire Endeavour series are at the top of my recent watch list. I'm also slowly rewatching the original Trigun in order to watch Stampede during the summer. There's also some K-dramas I've started and have yet to finish, but I'm gutted that Mrs. Maisel, Succession, and Endeavour are all ending this year (with two of them ending this week on US TV!). I'm confident they're going to end well, though (no HIMYM ending, or something similar). I watch a lot more TV and read more books than video games and movies these days!
what are you wearing right now : Midi skirt with a 90s/ditsy floral print, silk blouse, light wool cardigan, and my favorite slingback heels with minimalist jewelry. I may be on Zoom calls but I'm still working, and have a few errands to run later. At home though, probably athletic wear as I work on restyling some wigs later tonight.
piercings / tattoos? : Just one piercing in each earlobe! I don't want multiple piercings or any tattoos. Especially at my current job, they are frowned upon. I do use hair color though, mostly as my natural shade isn't that flattering on me and I'm an An Age where I need to start covering the greys. Darker hair just suits my complexion better!
glasses ? contacts? : Neither, and I'm shocked I don't need them (yet). Both of my parents wear glasses. I should get tested again, but mostly my interest is to attempt wearing contacts again for cosplay. And I hate wearing them: I will put myself through various amounts of physical discomfort for my hobby but I tend to draw the line at contacts.
last thing you ate? : Protein bar...yesterday. I do Intermittent Fasting most of the time (though it's nearly time for me to eat again!), alongside some other dietary necessities in order to try to keep myself healthy. I may not need glasses but I've got enough to deal with. I did drink plenty of water and tea so far today, however!
favorite color(s) : Blue! Sapphire blue, navy blue, sky blue...blue. My favorite color as a child was purple and my husband's favorite is green, so we appreciate a cool-toned palette in the house. Otherwise, I'm drawn to colors like burgundy, blush pink, mint, lilac, powder blue, black, white, and cool-toned tans and beiges. I tend to dislike yellows, oranges, and warm-toned browns: autumn colors, mostly. Which is funny because autumn is actually my favorite season: I'm just not a fan of the colors on me or in my home.
current obsession : A Court of Thorns and Roses/ACOTAR (and Crescent City, and Throne of Glass...SJM-verse in general) and Bridgerton, hands down. I absolutely love books and while I need to branch out and aim to start reading some Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo finally, I keep coming back to these two authors/series/fandoms (though Julia Quinn is an okayish historical romance writer. Overall, I liked other HR writers more!).
In short: talk to me about ACOTAR and Bridgerton and I will not shut up.
Otherwise, I'm into: What We Do In The Shadows (SEASON 5 SOON!), a lot of British crime and historical drama shows, mostly old anime, luxury and plus size fashion, cosplay (my main hobby outside of this blog!), skincare, having an entire bar in my house just for tea, historical/horror/romcom movies (I have a few things in common with Sonia, yes), fixing my health issues/healthy lifestyle/staying active/losing weight, cats, fashion and travel vloggers (especially if they visit Europe. it's very niche but there's a few Japanese lifestyle and travel vloggers I love because they don't spend the entire video talking and it's just...more ambiance with subtitles, I guess? Super soothing!), and traveling in general. I miss traveling so much and am slowly starting to plan my honeymoon for 2024.
do you have a crush right now? : My husband, my cat, and whenever it gets finished, the custom closet and the custom cosplay room that will be built in my house. We did my husband's new computer and video game setups first so it's my turn for house upgrades and I really need a separate closet: what came with this house only fit my husband's clothes so my wardrobe is all folded in baskets or hung on rolling racks right now and it is driving me crazy.
We've saved for the past few years in anticipation for this but it's still stressful to get a designer in to measure, chat with us about needs, get the plans approved, etc. And I still need to purge some things just for my own sanity.
No human kids, just two adults with a cat and plenty of hobbies
favorite fictional character : Rude question, how dare you. But I'll try anyway. Sybil Crawley (Downton Abbey), Nesta Archeron and Bryce Quinlan (Sarah J. Maas books/verse/etc), Penelope Featherington and Francesca Bridgerton (Bridgerton), Endeavour Morse (Inspector Morse/Endeavour), Misato Katsuragi (Evangelion), Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Fujiko Mine (Lupin III), and Sonia Nevermind (what, did you think I'd forget her?).
That's such a small fraction of my faves but it's a mix of older and newer ones at least.
tagged by: I absolutely stole this from @dcviated for Munday purposes.
tagging: Steal it. I wish I had something witty for this but between work, replies, and getting convention ready I've got nothing.
#more-than-a-princess musings#(My contribution for Munday this week!)#(I want the weekend to be here now but I also need a lot more time than I currently have. The struggle.)
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