#I listened to the soundtrack on repeat while drawing this

[momomallowart]

Come on Barbie let's go party~ ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔっ🎉

#I can't stop thinking about how they would react in situations in my life so I'm coping with art #I think often about the men in my phone #i think they would like barbie #i did #I listened to the soundtrack on repeat while drawing this #Zen is literally Ken change my mind (you can't) #I was so close to drawing Yoosung in Alan's outfit (still might) #the Kenough hoodie is iconic tho #this was a lot of fun to make tho #the posters in particular are so funny to me #If anyone has any better taglines pls let me know bc I struggled for some of these lol #mystic messenger #mysme #barbie #barbie crossover #my art

[sobs-groovily]

So, I grew up around dolls (that sounds so weird but a lot of my family collects them) which is probably why Jane is my favourite character tbh- anyway I really like the way dolls joints look so I gave Jane them :) I’m rlly proud of this tbh, should I do a coloured ver?

Edit: also did a version where she has cracks on her face like porcelain :D

Edit: Jane has colours now :D I rehlogged this post with the colours but I don’t think I did it properly so yay :D

#jane doe #jane doe rtc #lineart #rtc oc #ride the cyclone #jane doe ride the cyclone #dolls #I listened to the soundtrack on repeat while drawing this lmao #fun fact!: Emily room held her hands like a dolls the ENTIRE MUSICAL. it’s so cool #noels lament is playing while I’m writing this #oMG THE CHORUS IS SO GOOD #ANYWAY #I hope all of u are doing good :) #fanart #edit:73 NOTES :D #edit: 92NOTES?! #EDIT:100 NOTES SJAHEAJAN

[dragonairice]

🎶 Tonight we're all just gonna keep pretending That every story has a happy ending And even if we get some rotten weather We can weather anything together 🎶

- 'My Story starts with you' from The Two Princes

#Be More Chill #BMC the musical #Jeremy Heere #Michael Mell #Frost Draws #boyf riends #Yes I was listening to the TTP soundtrack on repeat while drawing this what's it to you /lh #Also thank you random google reference images they were so helpful for the posing here

[alackofghosts]

hehe kisski on the noseki

#ninski peale musiski is from the estonian dub of the 90s moomins anime :'3 now you all know #Alisaie Leveilleur #warrior of light #he'd do this in any universe ofc #Final Fantasy XIV #fanart #speedpaint #i draw sometimes #i was listening to isa tuli koju by metro luminal on repeat while drawing which is a hilariously sinister soundtrack to this #hei muumid

[herrscherofmagic]

Dear Honkai Tumblr,

I present to thee something which might be the weirdest character crossover you've seen yet: an HSR version of GGZ's Fire MOTH! Based on...

-> GGZ Fire MOTH Himeko & Houraiji Kyuushou,

-> HI3rd's young Cocolia (from the Second Eruption manga),

-> and HI3rd's Captainverse Vollerei (Red Seele)

details below

my mind works in mysterious ways, and today it decided to pair up these characters together.

it's hard to explain but I've kinda had bits and pieces of this idea already, just not put together in this exact fashion. soooo I just whipped up a sketch as a bit of a preview, just doddling based off of some reference photos. It took a bit under 40 minutes, but I'm satisfied with it so I'm gonna go ahead and post it now instead of burying it w/ the rest of my WIPs x-x

but! I would like to try and come up with a complete set of art, story, and gameplay features for these 4 in the HSR setting! Including character splashes, signature light cones, detailed abilities, etc.

While I still have a long way to go w/ this project, I do have some ideas to start with

This is my current rough outline of the story:

Kyuushou, Himeko, Vollerei, and Cocolia are a misfit band of survivors on an icy world that was struck by a Stellaron disaster (as usual). Himeko lost her family, Vollerei lost her twin (blue seele) & Bronya, and Cocolia lost Serval; but they were all united by Kyuushou, and together they fight in the ruins of their homeworld.

For their designs I'd like to try and start w/ the Fire MOTH uniforms but modify it to better fit HSR aesthetics. As for gameplay, I have the following as my sort of "first draft" for their kits:

-> Kyuushou as Imaginary(?) Harmony, wielding a blade and gun

-> Himeko as Fire Destruction, wielding her signature GGZ greatsword

-> Vollerei as Ice Abundance, using the life symbolism of the butterfly rebirth theme

-> Cocolia as Ice Nihility, using an ice lance much like the Architect's lance from Jarilo-VI (that Trailblazer now uses)

Reference images for the above sketches:

#honkai star rail #honkai impact 3rd #guns girlz #hsr #honkai 3rd #hi3rd #ggz #honkai fanart #seele vollerei #seele #cocolia #honkai cocolia #houraiji kyuushou #honkai kyuushou #murata himeko #honkai himeko #is that enough tags? lmaoo #anyways this is quite an idea #very weird ngl but i'm interested to see how it'll turn out #also i had Wildfire playing on repeat while brainstorming this #and listened to the whole Jarilo-VI soundtrack while drawing #they've made their choice and they're gonna fight against fate guys!!!

[yardsards]

rejoice! willuz be upon ye!

#eliot posts #my drawings #toh #the owl house #fanart #toh fanart #willow park #luz noceda #willuz #can you tell i just plain gave up by the time i was supposed to draw the background? #this took me Several Hours but half of that was re teaching myself art fundamentals #i might go back to this later and draw a decent background then but i wanna post NOW #i imagine they are having a picnic date #i was originally gonna go for a school dance dealio but soon realized i did NOT want to design formal outfits #i think they're listening to music on luz's phone #i drew the first sketch while listening to rumble at the rink from the homestuck soundtrack on repeat so that is the song i imagine

[undying-lilies]

okay the Alice in Wonderland ballet is officially one of the coolest ballets that has ever existed

#LITERALLY THERE IS SO MUCH TO SCREAM ABOUT #THE SETS THE LIGHTING THE COSTUMES THE A C T I N G #the fact that the Mad Hatter did tap-dance instead of ballet???? #the White Rabbit was one of the best characters hands down #he should get a prize for being the most exasperated third wheel ever #brb I’m gonna go listen to this soundtrack on repeat while drawing my favorite scenes #alice in wonderland ballet #I know I was already spamming my blog with this ballet but I actually finished it this time

[polarfarina]

I feel like Gorillaz shouldn't even be on my list, I've listened to one (1) song by them ever since they made NFTs earlier this year or whenever that was

#Spotify wrapped #ghostly posts #left at London #is SOOO good though her music is legendary #Graham Kartna and Oliver Buckland scratch my brain so well I have a combined playlist of my favorites from them #and I'm obsessed with the Everhood soundtrack SUE me #earth death is a song I listened on repeat while drawing something that took a long time #so really all those 63 plays are basically in a row.

[retellingthehobbit]

Here are some of the songs I listened to on repeat while drawing the latest chapter of The Hobbit comic adaptation! Consider it the chapter’s “unofficial soundtrack": The Shire music from the lotr films but especially "Dreaming of Bag End," a variation on the Concerning Hobbits leitmotif that was originally supposed to be "Bilbo's theme" in the Hobbit films before the the messy rushed production put an end to that:

Various covers of "Red is the Rose"/"The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond," a Scottish folk song turned Irish love song:

"How Come the Sun," covered by Mary Hopkins ("the sun just comes up out of habit, and goes down as quick as it can...")

This specific piano cover of "Always With Me," from Spirited Away:

"The Stolen Child," a song adaptation of the famous poem about a child being torn away from their home by the pull of the fairies:

...And also a LOT of episodes of the Magnus Archives, Jenny Nicholson's video on Evermore, Hbomberguy's four hour video about plagiarism, Dan Olson's videos about Memestocks, etc etc etc-- although that breaks the aesthetic, I think XD.

#retelling the hobbit #the hobbit #not chapters #Youtube

[betbeton]

✃ Slut for Pain

Kawata 'Smiley' Nahoya × Reader

Warning - Filming, Pain Play, Sexual Bullying, Safe Sex

18+ Minors DNI

·GN Reader·

·Gift·

・❥・ Masterlist

The bright flash of his phone camera was a stark reminder that every berating word spewing from his mouth was going to be captured on camera, as a lewd soundtrack to the soft gagging of him forcing you down harshly onto his cock determined to breach the confines of your throat despite the awkward angle. Stuffing a hand between your legs to toy with your own arousal you were stopped by a harsh slap to your cheek causing your teeth to scrape against the cock wedged between them. A lecherous moan, muffled by his cock, ricocheted within your chest the delicious pain of the stinging slap and his hand fisting into your hair harshly was almost enough to send you over the edge... almost. As your head was tugged back thick strings of spittle connecting your swollen lips to his flushed cock the sight dragging a whimper out of your panting mouth, resulting in a harsh chuckle ripping from his mouth devolving into a fot of laughter. Once his laughter had died down he squatted to shove his face into your own that ever present smile ominously taunting you before his words fully registered in your lust clouded mind. Though the moment he repeated himself with an angry lilt to his words you keened hips rocking against your hand wedged between your legs.

"Come on idiot, too cock drunk to listen properly? I said get on the bed or else I'm beating your hole up on the dirty floor."

With a little giggle he shoved your head away from his, the harsh grip on your head resulting in a pleasant sting before he full released you.

"I bet a freak like you would love that!"

Scrambling to stand on unsteady legs you debated internally whether or not to dink on your way to the bed that was only a little ways away. Though the pins and needles that had settled into your calves from the awkward position you had been in while he was fucking your face decided for you. Hobbling to the bed on unsteady legs you plopped down only to be met with another harsh slap, this time directed onto your thigh. The laughter that followed the blow was enough of a give away that he wasn't going to punish you for your hesitation moments earlier. As large hands grabbed your body manhandling you onto your stomach, a warm chest moved to press against your back as those perpetually smiling lips ghosted over your ear.

"Colour."

This was it. Finally things would be ramping up past the points you two previously would stop, finally you would be getting what you had wanted for so long.

"Green."

A soft 'good' was all you got before the warmth curling around your back was gone replaced by an open handed smack to your ass. The ring marring his ring finger leaving a new welt with each harsh slap of his hand ripping a laugh from him as loud moans spilled out into the air like a lewd symphony. There was a brief reprieve from the blows to your now welted skin as Nahoya grabbed his cock only to bully it into your warm hole with a pointed slap to the most painful welt, judging from the way he gently rubbed his fingers against it as he harshly pushed his cock against your tight walls the skin had probably broken. Though this was what you wanted for him to let go, release all that pent up irritation he no longer had an outlet for since opening the restaurant. And let it out he did the smack of his hard stomach against your bruising ass was enough to draw a squeal of pain from you, your body writhing to escape the pain only for him to harshly force you back into position. Keeping the brutal pace as he leaned back over you to whisper things that would normally bring you to tears over their severity, now though they only heightened you needy arousal as keening moans and squeals of pain left your mouth.

Your orgasm was almost as harsh as the treatment your partner was putting your body through, as was his if the harsh jerk of his hips with each dribble of cum filling your hole was any indication. Thrusting several times riding his pleasure into overstimulation Nahoya tugged his cock out from your now gaping hole with a satisfied groan, only to flop down onto the bed beside you. One of his rough hands rubbing at your back as he tried to catch his breath.

"Happy?"

Tear streaked face turning to face his perpetually grinning one you wiggled on your stomach over to plant a soft kiss on his nose.

"Very."

#tokyo rev x reader #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo rev smut #tokyo revengers drabble #nahoya kawata #nahoya x reader #smiley x reader

[willel]

ST Play Theorizing

Feel free to join in in the comments. I will be putting this under a read more because I am literally doing everything possible not to spoil anyone who doesn't want to know stuff.

A couple more hours have passed and as I listen to the Persona 3 Reload Soundtrack on repeat and eat ice cream, I have some more thoughts.

Henry

What I take away from Henry at this point is that while he's not a good person, he was also in a no-win situation. Henry was purposely and intentionally shaped into the person he is today by Brenner, the Mind Flayer, his mother, and himself.

I can't exactly fault anyone being influenced by a demon from an alternate dimension, but it's just that. Influence. His symptoms, while similar to possessed Will, doesn't seem to match. It seems like he's in the same position as non-possessed Will. Unlike Will who can just feel its presence and understand its intentions, it seems Henry can actually "hear" it.

From what we've seen of other possessed people, they are pretty much incapable of functioning like normal human beings after a while since the mind Flayer is not human. They also begin to look sickly and pale. Like zombies who stare off into space.

The Henry was saw in the lab in season 4 was not like that. Certainly he wasn't right in the head but I wouldn't classify that as a normal Mind Flayer possession.

No, there's something else here. We have two people so far who were in the Upside Down for an extended amount of time and SOMETHING was wrong with them that isn't exactly possession. They become connected to that place and change mentally and physically.

It's not just mental and physical trauma, it's something else.

Could it be simply breathing the air too long is enough to do this?

Could it be eating or drinking... whatever substance that can be found there is the culprit? What exactly is there that changed Henry and Will's nature?

Will was there for like..... 7-8 days I think? And they say Henry was there for 12. Could it be those 4 to 5 extra days caused the Mind Flayer to have more influence over Henry's Mind than Will's?

Anyway, to summarize, what I take away from Henry's story here is "No one is born evil, they become evil." He was probably once a normal kid and maybe in an alternate world where he was able to make some slightly different choices, he could've gone down a different path. Like most other humans.

But now he is the way he is, killing teenagers for power and revenge, obsessed with making the world his playground. Although his goals line up with what the Mind Flayer wants, I don't believe the Mind Flayer is the ultimate source of his "pain" so to speak.

Will's Disappearance

I haven't really found enough people describing Henry's disappearance. So I'll just draw the conclusion that Henry was out near the Nevada desert or something star gazing with his spyglass and accidentally got swept up in one of Brenner's experiments. We he just casually star gazing or was he an adventurous kids that came across a secret government facility and curiosity killed the cat? I dunno.

This disappearance I think we can for sure call an accident. I don't know how he got back to the real world, haven't read that either. But he did.

So this leads me to question Will's disappearance. For the longest time now, I've had the theory that Henry/Vecna kidnapped Will. I don't mean that literally, I mean Henry controlled the Demogorgon that night looking for El and Will got mixed up in that.

Whether he mistook Will for El for a moment, realized it wasn't her, but took him anyway OR thought it was her the whole time and didn't realize it wasn't until afterwards. Either way, I was thinking he controlled the Demogorgon.

Now after this play, I have two different minds.

It's possible that it was the Mind Flayer that took Will. Apparently the Mind Flayer has experience messing with little kids heads and making them into pawns. Vecna might not be able to survive outside the Upside Down, so a new vessel for the Mind Flayer is a given. So I guess Will was a suitable victim for their needs.

It still leads me to wonder if something particular about Will made him suitable for this. Surely Barb or those hunters or so many other people sitting in Hawkins would've worked? So why follow this kid around for a week when getting someone else would've been easier?

The other possibility is that it was still technically Henry/Vecna that orchestrated this. His goals are aligned with the Mind Flayer and his reasons for needing a vessel are the same. Plus, if there was a particular reason to take Will, Henry would have a better idea why since he can get into peoples minds and all. Maybe their similarities is what made Will the ideal candidate.

#stranger things #theory #spoilers #henry creel #will byers

[ctl-yuejie]

only friends ep 7

1/4

hmm...don't know how to feel about the hospital scene. felt like something was missing. no matter how drunk and drugged up rain was, sand seems a bit too chill for his own good.

wish we could have had cheurm and april waking up in bed being cute as a scene and then have mew knock at the door for emotional support.

top really isn't that clever isn't he? doesn't even consider nick as the perpetrator. however, that might fit with how little regard he has for nick as a competitor.

you know it is coming....but once again cheering for mark's acting here. neo and him really delivered this scene. interesting that boston seems to still want top...hmmm. probably the best thing for nick to be cut off by boston like this. might hurt but at least it's a clean cut.

2/4

hmmm...sand baby...really not sure whether he wasn't hurt by what ray said or if he has other things on his mind.

i actually really like how close ray and mew are and that we are getting heart-to-heart talks like this. the hand-holding was very cute.

i just love when boston raises his eyebrows like, yes, deal with me. maybe better than not meaning your apology, but i am cackling at how not sorry boston is. THE iconic scene from the trailer. perfect balance of someone could seriously drown and it looking very pathetic. particularly Boston's slap of the water in the end. love to see that cheurm (as expected) clearly is the leader of the gang.

when he yelled at nick, boston clearly knew he'd lose his friends but somehow still looked surprised when the whole group shunned him.

3/4

yes!!!! first and nick in a serious scene??? give me more. yes! you tell everyone nick, it's YOUR misguided call to make. (went into this series happy to see neo and mark in bigger roles, didn't expect to enjoy them this much). HOW is it so easy to baby Mark as Nick, he looks so sad and teary-eyed. Boston is a strong man to not hug a crying Nick despite himself. love the initial rejection of Sand hugging him quickly being won over by "please hug me, I am the most heartbroken person that has ever existed". i like that he sees Boston for who he is but also thinks he got close to Boston falling for him. maybe Boston being so hung up about Top gives him hope that that could be him (beyond trying to emulate his style, since Top is Boston's type)

fairly certain that while top might not be that much into mew, he certainly was hurt by his drawings getting burnt. i feel like it's one of the few times he made himself vulnerable by showing mew his hobby (i think there is still a struggle between him wanting to try something serious like this but uncertainty whether he want it to be with mew, or whether mew is the image of who he wants to be vulnerable with. vice versa similar projection onto top by mew in the earlier part of the series).

(again, the soundtrack is just all bangers. my week currently: ofts on saturday - sun, mo, tue, wed, thurs, fri: listening to the ost on repeat)

another unexpected combo? hmm..idk mew, not sure whether nick sees himself fully as the victim here. Ohhh, would Nick want to hurt Boston?? Ahhhh, Nick!!!! This is getting so dark.

Ahaha, I like how we can see that Mew is trying out to be "a villain". even re-using his accident with Top to deliberatedly approach someone this time. (everyone was joking about Neo single-series-ly getting to the top of the list of same-sex kisses in gmmtv, but I see Drake threw in is hat into the ring unsuspectingly). okay, Mew, let's whether you can get out of this in time. omg! he and boston really did a lot more that just what was shown in episode 1...the file is called boston69. p'jojo, please enlighten me.

4/4

ahaha, mew in his new fit is visibly so out of place in his own flat. i like seeing boston squirm. boston hasn't really much regard for himself. he is very egoistic but at the same time, his concern is about the consequences for his dad. not even the consequences for the realtionship he has with his dad. he even told nick, that he wouldn't mind it that gap hat recorded him, if it wasn't for his dad. (rotates boston in my mind for the next 24 hours)

it cannot be repeated enough how cringe top can be. and again, mew hates to be put on the spot. how has he still not understood that mew might let him into his flat to talk but will not tolerate him showing up unannounced overcompensating (possibly clear throughline to how Top's parents and everyone else around him tended to apologies to him). Wish we could have seen more of Cheurm hosing them all down before Top hit Mew.

Somehow they heard me and gave me another Mew Ray heart-to-heart? Khao is so good at making his long crush so visible whenether he is with Mew. Hmm...when will Nick realise that Mew might not have really helped his case (unless Boston approaches him to get rid of the videos for good).

(Oh god, Nick's outfit in the preview...after the kiss/marry/kill game I wait for each week to give me the episode when Sand and Nick hook up)

#only friends #only friends the series

[jekyllnahyena]

Have been rereading csm n waned to try n get a bit into the groove of paneling n actual composition for comics. Soooooo have these two nerds n the convo that in the end lead to it all. Sorta sequel to this

(I’ve been listening to the eeaao soundtrack on repeat while drawing this. I love ‘fanny pack’. This thing fought me tooth n nail but that might just be cause the past few days were exhaauuuustiiiiing ayayayayaya)

#simon ghost riley #commander ghost #juliette regard dione #commander regard #ajekyllsart #upload the second lets hope tumblr stops fucking about :')

[softlyspector]

Hello! Forgive me but this is gonna be long bc I have so much love to express.

I've been following you for YEARS and I have always felt too shy to message you even anonymously bc I just thought "there is no way I can express to this person how their writing makes me feel" but Blush made me feel so violently happy and content I literally had to go and take a walk in the sunlight while listening to the 2005 pride & prejudice soundtrack to properly digest how much i adored it. And so I've decided that I simply HAVE TO tell you how much I love your writing.

I think I first came across your blog when you had posted somewhere between like.. maybe 3-5 fics? And I've always been someone who reads for comfort bc there wasn't always a lot of comfort in my life. Reading was an escape. And as soon as I started reading what you wrote I just thought to myself "wow. This person gets it. Like they UNDERSTAND. I can't pinpoint what they understand but they UNDERSTAND" and I can safely say that I have read everything on this blog at least five times. I told myself that this message can't get outrageously long so I am just going to highlight a few favourites but just know that everything you write makes me go "how does she DO that? How does she have such a way with words???"

Okay so Hard Landings. Listen to me. Listen. Listen listen listen. For YEARS my friends have been trying to get me into star wars and I could just never do it. And then I read Hard Landings and fell in love and immediately had to watch the sequel trilogy. When i tell you that every word of that fic is poetry to me. When I tell you that I think about it constantly. To me, Poe Dameron is now just... yours. Like sorry to Mr. Oscar Isaac but Poe belongs to YOU.

Tales Untold. Every time a new chapter was posted I had to do a breathing exercise. I got so excited. Whenever I reread it I fall in love all over again. It's like watching a movie to me, every description is so vivid and beautiful. Hollywood could never.

Significant? Yeah this is a Hard Landings repeat bc my friends had also been trying to get me to watch The Mandalorian and I wasn't interested until you started writing Din. And then I fell in love. THE POWER YOU HAVE. Me, giggling and twirling my hair bc of your Significant-verse? It's more likely than you think.

AND THEN THERE'S HONEYED. Even when I reread, I have to put my phone down bc some parts just make me too emotional EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!! You are such an artist. I have felt understood by this fic in a way that I don't think I've ever been understood before. Feels like you shook my soul until coins fell out of its pockets with this one. In a good way. In a great way. In the BEST way.

I want to shower you with more praise but this feels like it is already obnoxiously long enough. Should I refer to myself as "obnoxious loving ranter" or something every time? Was this too much? Idk I was just filled with so much affection and gratitude it needed to be expressed. Have a great day. Enjoy your favourite beverage. Know that I am mentally hugging you if you would like that sort of thing. You're great.

Hi my dear there is absolutely nothing to apologize for 💕 I'm so so so flattered that you've been here, following along for such a long time. You've really been here through it all.

I'm so glad you liked Blush so much. I can't believe it was the one to draw you out and into my ask box! Honeyed is very special to me, so it means a lot. My words being the thing that made you feel like there was someone who got it? Who understood? I don't have the words to describe what that really means to me, especially because half the time I don't know what I'm going on about until it's on paper, living here with you all on this silly little blog. Sometimes I get replies and think, oh, this person gets it. I said something and they heard me, even when I didn't really know what I was trying to say.

Ahem, on to your looks into my fics. No, I'm not crying don't worry about it.

Hard Landings....my only Poe fic. I can't believe I'm what pulled you into star wars...twice! Poe is just such a little delight to write. He's such a fun and kind and wonderful character. I miss him a lot.

Tales Untold. My heart on a plate. Can't say much else about it. I loved the little community that sprung up around it. I'm still blown away by how strongly people reacted to it and felt about it.

Significant.... another of my beloved. I never thought it would get the reaction it did. I'm still floored by it. I just...I think every fiber of my being just loves Din Djarin. And that came out in that fic. It was also one of understanding. Of accepting someone as they are. Of holding up a mirror and saying, this is okay.

Honeyed. I'm glad you loved Honeyed so much. In a lot of ways, I was shaking my own soul around and seeing what would come out. I'm glad you could feel seen and understood in Joel and Honey's eyes.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this ask, and all the others you've sent like it, which I will get to. It wasn't too much, I'm glowing with love. I am mentally hugging you back, if you would like that sort of thing.

#bec talks

[smash-64]

2022 Game of the Year 1. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition Square Enix Nintendo Switch, 2022 (orig. 1999, 1996)

The rumors were circulating for a while, and I honestly didn’t believe that there would ever be a remaster of Chrono Cross. So it was a huge shock to me when it finally, truly came to fruition. I got it on day one, and even ordered the physical version from Play-Asia for the collection. The cover for the Switch version beats the socks off the original PS1 release, imho. Not that the PS1 version is bad, I just think they really outdid themselves with the new art.

Chrono Cross is a masterpiece, and the remaster is giving tons of new people the chance to play it, while keeping true to the original. Character art has been updated, with everyone getting a glow up that stays true to their original design.

3D models also got an upgrade, while still keeping all the original animations and movements. They look clean, bright, and vivid. I was thrilled to see that they kept the original PS1 feel, but made everything clearer. It’s a hard thing to do and many developers feel the need to make something that breaks too far from the original, but Chrono Cross stayed true.

One thing I was most worried about was the background art. Chrono Cross went with an impressionist style when drawing many of the backgrounds, which gave each location a timeless feel. I never cared for impressionist art before playing this game, and I have come to really like it because it is meant to be imprecise and left up to interpretation. As such, it has a sort of timelessness that isn’t tied to the inevitable aging of graphics. However, simple upscaling can give harsh lines where perhaps none existed. There are a few backgrounds in the remaster that suffer this fate, but I find them so few and far-between that it did not affect me in the slightest. Probably the only example I can find of one that stood out was how the railings of the exterior of Fort Dragonia look a little jagged in the remaster. Everything else was very satisfying.

Other backgrounds go full-on sci-fi pulp novel and it’s honestly breathtaking. I showed this one to a coworker and he actually gasped. It sounds a bit goofy, and he’s not a video game fan, but he loves old pulp novels and he thought it was perfect.

I can’t say too much about the combat that hasn’t already been said. I like the element system with its levels and single-use spells. I like the customization. I like the tiers of attack strengths. And I love the animations. It’s a great battle system, with really the only downside being that maybe it’s a bit easy, especially in New Game+.

The cast of characters is unwieldy and some suffer because of it, with very little development for them. However, you can mostly overlook adding characters to your party, should you choose to do so. There are a few tied directly to the storyline, and you’ll have to use them, so you’ll never be short on characters. Additionally, you can seek out lots of characters just for fun. My personal favorites are Starky, Razzly, Kid, and Harle. 

The soundtrack is possibly the best in video game history. From the heart-racing punch of Time’s Scar in the opening sequence (the one single thing that originally interested me in the game), to the smooth, comforting tunes of Arni Village and the sunny, relaxing bounce of Home World, Chrono Cross sets the tone of the early game very well. Your carefree existence will inevitably change as you begin the story, and each new area has a perfectly matched song to go with it. Ghost Ship. Hydra Marshes. Chronopolis. The songs alone will clue you in to what each world looks like and feels like. Finally, the credits song, sometimes called Radical Dreamers and sometimes called Unstolen Jewel, can still bring a tear to my eye even after years of listening to it on repeat. This is a perfect soundtrack. Only one game even comes close in my mind, and composer Yasunori Mitsuda also worked on that one.

Finally, this special edition of Chrono Cross comes with the Japan only game that eventually became Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers. It’s a text-based adventure game that shares a few characters with its eventual final version, as well as a few locations and songs. I think I prefer the final versions of all of the songs, but it’s great to hear them in their Super Famicom, proto-versions. It’s hard to really rate this game because it was essentially just a DLC game available exclusively on the Satellaview, an Internet-enabled Super Famicom add-on (yes, in the mid-90s), but for what it is, it is filled with charm. Kid is at her snarky, thieving best in this game and it’s definitely a must play if you enjoy Chrono Cross. 

Chrono Cross was the game that won me over to JRPGs as a genre; I still remember @boner-taunt​ in disbelief when I told him I was playing it. Replaying it in glorious HD was the highlight of my video game experience in 2022.

#chrono cross #radical dreamers #jrpg #yasunori mitsuda #masterpiece #game of the year #2022 #countdown

[kitkatsudon]

So. Today has been a weird day.

Rambles below, because I’m in my feelings but that doesn’t necessarily have to be your problem.

The first thing I saw when I woke up today was that Ice Adolescence had been cancelled. The second thing piece of news I received, within a few minutes of this, was that my Grandma had passed away.

The second thing is more personal, and I haven’t come here to talk about that - I suppose more than anything it’s to give context on today’s slightly weird vibe, and why I’m feeling perhaps more nostalgic than I would be normally.

Perhaps as a distraction, I want to ramble about YOI.

Though now I’ve sat down to actually do this… where do I start?

Though my internet presence is very TKEM-focused nowadays, since its release, YOI has always been incredibly dear to me. It came out just as I had found out that my family were going to be moving across the country (and ok, in the UK that’s maybe less of a big deal than if I lived in a larger country, but I was 14, and 14 is a horrible age, so it was still a big deal to me). YOI came out in late 2016, we moved at the beginning of 2017, and I joined a much smaller school with… let’s say less choice for the people I could make friends with.

I was, technically, adopted by a friendship group, but it took a long time, some falling outs within the group, and me learning everything there ever was to know about BTS despite having no real passion for music-based fandoms for me to really feel included. The friendship group I’d left behind was much more diverse in terms of interests, and we thrived on mutual sharing and acceptance of each other’s interests. This new one was more kind of “conform or fuck you,” and I never quite managed to conform properly.

All that is to say… while I didn’t really have friends, in 2017, I had YOI and its fandom. While I was dealing with the huge changes in my life, I was comforted through it by, more than anything else, lurking around the YOI fandom. I had my first forays into posting things online using Google+, of all things (my parents didn’t let me have social media, but I could access this using my gmail), and they were drawings I had done of YOI characters, even a hand-drawn anecdote comic thing, and just… it was rudimentary, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

It became what I was known for, in my new school. It became part of me. That summer, my family went on holiday to Orlando FL to do the theme parks, and despite that having been something that I’d been begging to do for years, what I ended up being most excited about was the opportunity to go to Hot Topic and buy the YOI merch that they’d recently announced. I bought a T-shirt, a blanket, and a backpack, and although the backpack’s strap broke after a year of using it for school, I still have the T-shirt and the blanket, and they’re still special to me to this day. Back then, listening to the soundtrack on repeat, I’d decided that one day I was going to perform a dance routine to ‘In regards to love: Eros,’ and at the end of my first year of uni, that was something I was actually able to do. Was it good? Not really, I’m by no means a professional dancer, but I felt like I was paying homage to my inner… not quite child, more like my inner angsty teenager?

My whatsapp background is still YOI-themed. I still proudly display my Funko Pops and my posters in my bedroom at home. YOI is still my comfort show, and though I’m not usually one for rewatching shows, it’s still the show that I’ve rewatched the most. Even my username is a relic of my ties to the YOI fandom - though I wasn’t really using it much then, it’s something I thought up during the days when I was deepest in it, and I thought to myself “if I ever am brave enough to really start posting things online, this is the username I’ll use.” So even though the first thing I ever posted under the name KitKatsudon was the beginning of a BTS fanfiction on Quotev on all places that I was writing with a friend of mine at the time, it has its roots in YOI.

It’s sort of funny - once upon a time, I used to semi-joke that I couldn’t die before the YOI movie came out. Don’t get me wrong, my mental health was never bad enough that I had actually realistically considered not making it to Ice Ado’s release, but every time I said it, I did mean it. No matter how shitty I felt, I had to keep going, because I was going to have my bum in a seat when it eventually released in cinemas. I guess what this means now is that, unless Ice Ado is picked up by another studio, I’m just never going to die 🤷‍♀️ you’d better buckle the fuck up, mortals, because MAPPA has just granted me ultimate power.

What am I trying to say? I don’t really know. Maybe thank you, to the YOI team, for being such a positive force in my life. You gave me something comforting to hold onto while everything around me was changing, while I was starting my sexuality journey, while I didn’t have the close support of peers to help boost my mood. I don’t watch the show so often nowadays, but that’s because I save it for instances where I really need comforting. Maybe like today.

The story of Ice Adolescence may be over, at least for now, but I’ll always be grateful for what we did get.

#tw: mentions of death #nothing really major but better to be careful #kitkat’s thoughts tag #yuri on ice #it’s just rambles about what that show meant and still means to me #spoiler alert: it’s a lot #rip yoi #you deserved so much better #little kitkat who ended her GCSE English presentation thing on queerbaiting with a hopeful message about yoi paving the way for better #would be so disappointed in mappa right now