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#thing is i do not have enough brain power to draw or play video games so im kinda just sitting here
yanderespamton78 · 22 days
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ARG addis voice headcanons because i have nothing to do with myself but i also feel like im gonna explode
Turnon - N from Murder Drones (might be biased since they act very similar but even so). also after hearing Turnip voice that lil animation i think Turnips voice fits him very well too
Addon - LOOK. HEAR ME OUT. Winter from The Nursery Nurse. Cant find a good example so no link
Slick - idk what the voice filters called but the voice filter on the spooky black dude in this animation. he looks a bit like slick too lol
Pinup - Ok this was how i read it in my head for the first few pin posts but i feel it needs to be updated, even so either the chikn nuggit dog or Crumb's (cuptoast's) voice. again i do think this has changed and i dont read his posts in that voice really anymore but that was my first thought lol
Clickon - i dont really have one for clickon i seriously just cannot think of one for the life of me idk. if i had to pick then itd be Alexis from Schitts creek tho that could be since i was watching it earlier. Or maybe David from Schitts creek hmmmm,,, idk heres a clip of them lol
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angellongtail · 8 months
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Demon King LMK AU pt.2
funky brain moment brings more rambles do enjoyy! This time just gonna generally share funky Traffic Light Trio things, and by that I mean info on all three of em in the least chaotic way that I can manage. Also here's a drawing of the DK!TLT. Also also, I will try to use multiple pronouns for Red Son.
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Everything is under the cut as usual!
Even after they got the mallet out, and promptly got it taken from her because of MK, for a whole year it struggled to come up with good enough plans specifically because she deprived thineself of sleep or breaks long enough. So eventually once season one's conflict is over, she promptly passes out and takes a whole month break.
MK! He/They
Mei: She/They/Xey
Red Son: He/She/They/It/Thy (in world, her primary pronouns change consistently, depending on the day, genderfluid Red Son ftw)
When Red Son was trying to take Jay's mallet out of the ground, no matter how hard he tries to pull it out with just gauntlet, he just can’t. So she pulls out much more power than they should have and suddenly gains a pair of horns, bull ears, a tail, and it's legs changed to make him walk on hooves, which is to say she is an unguligrade now. Eventually, they finally get it out, completely exhausted, and with a new look to boot. Nearly falling on thine butt once it finally got the damned mallet out, but he managed to keep his balance and he powered through it enough to jump off the little hill to walk over to thou mom Princess Iron Fan. She still has a sort of connection or link to the Samadhi Fire, one could say there's a small amount of unwieldable destructive fire within him, it's a very small amount within their body but it’s there.
MK, Red Son and Mei are all Youtubers/Streamers of sorts before, during and after everything goes down, they're all respectively pretty popular and they get bigger as time goes on and they all start collaborating.
MK handles artwork and vlogging, he does commissions and videos of packing up people's poster/sticker orders! He mainly does the artwork of Demon King merch but eventually does their own merch for his more heroic identity as the Daemon Kid! He does vlogs updating his fans about what they've been up to! Whether that be about his training or day-to-day civilian things! There were the early days when he was a kid that they'd infodump about the Journey to the West that Jay went through… he has since privated those videos because they feel slightly embarrassed about how poor the audio quality, editing, and thumbnails were, also the videos showed him before they're transition so he doesn't feel comfortable un-privating them… Eventually though, he might actually redo those videos, especially since they have much more information to talk about! He also streams, mainly for their viewers to body double for him so they can get things done! Either around his house or when they do deliveries! There are occasions where he does collab videos with Mei and/or Red Son, they all mostly game together but can be seen doing other things! Jay sometimes sponsors MK's videos even before MK gets the giant mallet.
Mei is pretty famous all over the internet, she’s constantly found taking selfies and doing live streams no matter the weather! Their videos can be anything ranging from lore videos about xir family's history or the ancient artifacts in her house, to working on their motorcycle! xey have a lot of areas of expertise! She is also the occasional V-Tuber when they don't feel like showing xir face. People love it when she does gaming videos, it's mostly because they collab with xir friends or is just genuinely playing games that she wants to! Their viewers always match xir energy, especially on live streams! She goes a funny type of feral when someone says they haven't taken care of themselves yet, and they always help motivate people into taking care of themselves! Xey also always makes shoutouts to MK and Red Sons channels even when she isn't collabing with them, They also advertise MK’s patreon when xey can.
Red Son’s channel, in the beginning, is mostly doing his evil thing, making tech, monologuing about some of her makeshift evil plans, and all of that. Though slowly as their redemption arc comes in, they hang around MK and Mei, and he starts going to therapy with their parents (forced really because of his mom). It does do some other things, ancient lore videos, gaming/movie critics and generally loosening up a little bit. Thou also secretly loves doing collab videos, especially when it comes to Mei, she’ll never admit that though… They also do cooking videos and although the super spicy barbeque videos are specifically designed for demons, he’ll try her best to make Spicy Barbeque for mortals. Mei and/or MK will taste-test anything Red Son makes, it's particularly funny to the viewers to see MK’s over-the-top reactions. Sometimes Red Son and Mei taste-test some spicy candies or foods just for the comedic value. Eventually, Mei and MK both get used to the spice levels as they taste-taste more spicy foods, although it isn't a constant thing they eat so it's more of a slow progression.
There are times during GTA like games that makes Red Son wonder how MK and Mei are heroes considering they both somehow manage to get the highest level of stars as possible in the shortest amount of time. Safe to say the gaming sessions can be quite funny and chaotic when they're all just spending time together.
Mei is more of a conductor of the Samadhi Fire in this world, She was a temporary host of the Samadhi Fire but even then Mei gains more Dragon features to adorn their body; tail, horns, claws, and sharp teeth. Since the Samadhi fire has the ability to destroy the universe, its power brings out her dragon features, and xir dragon powers/abilities. Before the Samadhi Fire, she’d usually summon a hologram dragon, but since they couldn't shape-shift before the Samadhi Fire. Since xey had more mortal blood in her body compared to her great great 1000 times great grandpa, Ao-Lie. Her powers would compensate for the lack of shape-shifting by releasing from their body and forming the giant holo-dragon. Xir dragon features while temporarily wielding the Samadhi Fire brought forth more of her celestial dragon blood. Also when the fire surrounded their body, her skin was temporarily covered in heat-resistant scales to protect their body from the very destructive heat.
MK as a kid always bragged about having two of the best dads in the world, and was very excited about learning things from them both, especially the legends of the great Demon King, and always asks Tang for stories and facts. They were even excited to take up the noodle shop when he gets older, and even drew up plans and troubleshooted them to Tang and Pigsy.
Mei and MK as teens snuck out a whole bunch to be classic rebellious teens. Tang has definitely said something along the lines of “they remind me of myself when I was their age” and he’d be very fond of them both, teaching them how to pick locks, and get out of handcuffs and he eventually teaches Mei how to hack things.
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galaxyhanart · 2 years
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Your Cabinet Man AU has made me WEAK
But really it's so cool! I was just wondering how you think your AU would react to the Ninja from the actual show? Like its a stupid thought but I always find crossovers, etc. interesting and whatnot
Also is Morro like apart of the Ninja team or more on the side and doing his own thing? Living his life(again). And for Seabound does Morro play a active role and have his powers acting up too since him and Nya are technically “not elemental masters” and are their own thing. I can see Morro feeling so guilty that Nya was the one that went and blaming himself, cause he isn't “needed for the team”(depending on how you're doing this of course and you seem to like angst as much as me). And where does he go when everyone seperates.
I'm just really into Morro’s part for this AU
(My brain has been going a mile a minute thinking about the differences between your AU and the show have and how yours has so much more angst)
WAHHHH THANK U THANK U I saw all your tags on my posts i'm glad you like the AU :DDDDD
I'm not one to think TOO much about how canon characters would react to AU versions of themself, but I feel like Canon Jay would be like oh my First Master is this guy okay (spoiler alert he's not)
Since they both hide their traumas behind jokes, they'd probably see through each other pretty quick and have a mutual trauma dumping session lmao
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i also decided that Skybound wouldn't get undone at the end of the season bc i Really Hate that plot point so Canon Jay (or at least how i draw him) and CM! Jay have different scars and I think it'd be funny for Canon Jay to be like "OH MY GOD THE SCARS FROM NADAKHAN ARE STILL ON YOUR FACE" and CM! Jay responding with "wELL WHY DOES YOURS LOOK LIKE A LIGHTNING BOLT SCRAPED DOWN THE SIDE OF YOUR FACE"
I think Morro would be like a temporary member of the team! He stays with them for a while to recuperate and get used to being alive again, but he does want to work out his own emotions and find a life and purpose outside of trying to be the green ninja. He has a room in the monastery and everything but he's only there like half the time. I DO think it'd be very interesting to have him play a role in Seabound, especially since wind and water would BOTH be affected by everything going down. I'm not sure exactly what that role would be since most of Seabound I was. Sobbing. And I haven't had the heart to rewatch it yet LMAO
Morro's biggest purpose in the AU so far is to help Jay, actually. The two become pretty close as Morro helps Jay go through the same issues HE went through in terms of coping with being an Alive Person again. This is partly self-indulgent bc I want Morro and Jay to be friends so bad so so so bad canon why did you take this from me they could've been pranksters together it wouLD'VE BEEN SO FUN-
also yes! my AU has much more angst than canon heehehehe I like the themes of hurt/comfort that angsty scenarios can provide, so I'm kinda fucking up Jay more than canon does heeheehehehe also it's kind of hard to make "trapped in a video game for half your life and not even realize you're a PERSON" not angsty
Skybound is 100% on me tho I looked at that season and went we did not see Jay suffer enough so it's on me to fix that and also fix the rest of the season too bc it kinda sucks i have a love-hate relationship with it
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lyraeon · 1 year
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at 20 I thought I was faking my depression and was "bad at life" and lazy like my family said. I still earnestly believed I was entirely straight and everyone knew girls are just nicer to look at. I still had a ton of ingrained racism and other bigotry from my Bush-worshipping family. My main dream of being an astronaut had been smashed by my anxiety and health problems, so I was trying to study Japanese because like every other weeb I thought I'd fit in better over there (lol), but I'd already flunked out of one college and been forced to quit another to get a second job. I was overdrawn constantly and often buying gas station gift cards at the grocery store so I'd only take one overdraft fee. I was dating someone horribly controlling who eventually earned the title "evil ex", dialed up my eating disorder, and traumatized me out of writing for 2+ years. I had several roommates because we all considered having the funds to go to anime conventions more important than personal space (and because back then we already thought $600/month was expensive). I spent any other free time half asleep at a friend's house cuz there I could play games and watch Intent videos. Half my meals came free from work, the rest were hacked together from stuff that worked out to $1/serving or so. The power or internet got turned off at least twice a year from non-payment.
at 25 I thought I was too depressed to deserve burdening others with my presence or existence. that I was a burden and purposeful downer and nothing would ever get better. I was still dealing with a ton of internalized transphobia, racism, and other bigotry that I had been taught was Just The Truth and still occasionally fall into. I was massively straight edge against weed and anything else (threatened to call cops on close friends) while also being a half bottle of vodka a day alcoholic just to get my brain to shut up enough to let me write or sleep. I didn't know how to have fun without alcohol, if at all. I had lost my ability to draw when I severely injured my wrist while i had no insurance. I tried going back to school, first for architecture then teaching, and flunked/dropped out of both. I was losing jobs every 6~8 months from being chronically late and being sick constantly. I manged to lose one on my birthday and wound up having to make some other tough choices because of it. I had only just reached the point where being overdrawn was a rare thing and I wasn't buying single gallons of gas with tip money. food was still often just ramen but I no longer had days where I didn't know if I'd get to eat, though I was often dependent on my then-bf. I had multiple teeth rotting and couldn't afford any treatment besides getting them pulled, and often not until they'd become infected.
by 30 I was finally on antidepressants and in therapy. I was on the road to physical therapy for shoulder and wrist injuries that had happened years earlier. I was pretty happy in my relationship. I held down one job for almost 3 years straight after getting medicated, then turned around and flunked/dropped out of college for the 5th time (Physics this time) because I was too anxious to take public transit reliably and STILL couldn't do homework anywhere but in class, so most projects never got done. I'd stopped being able to write (and am still running from the possibility my meds Took That from me because it doesn't come back if I stop them). Food had become a different struggle - I no longer had time, physical health, or executive function to cook reliably so I was spending too much on take out and causing wild fluctuations in my weight. I was hiding my eating disorder from my partner and my friends. I had begrudgingly un-estranged myself from my family to support younger cousins as they came out as queer. I had developed a healthier relationship with alcohol. I had accepted that, outside of addiction, drugs are a bodily autonomy thing and stopped being an ass to people about them. I had finally learned some damn etiquette around things like not accidentally outing people. I started streaming and making videos - stuff I had dreamed of since first watching Dead Fantasy and Red vs Blue and Weeblstuff in high school but had thought impossible after I lost the ability to draw.
I'm currently 35. This year I am living on my own for the first time (aside from 5 failed months at 18). I got divorced - a complicated, regretful process that was ultimately for the best but I could and should have handled better (and sooner). I've been in physical therapy long enough that I'm able to use chopsticks properly again and am thinking of trying to relearn drawing. It's also meant I can do the dishes and wash my hair on my own again, most days, so I'm relearning how to cook consistently. I'm reading (listening to) books again. I'm on year 8 of antidepressants and currently working with my doctor to fine tune what I'm on (and finally have a system to take them consistently). I've been diagnosed with ADHD and figured out I might also be autistic, and a lot of things in my life make way more sense when viewed through that context. I have appointments to get evaluated for ADHD meds, autism, shoulder surgery/other "PT isn't enough" treatments, teeth implants, and new glasses. my clothes have been put away 3 of the last 5 times I did laundry and I've learned that if I only own one dishwasher worth of dishes, the sink can't pile up. I've fully embraced that I'm polyamorous, pansexual, and demiromantic, and that I can be cis while also being "gender agnostic" - none of it really matters or processes to me, but I get that it does to others so I respect it. I'm seeing someone who makes me feel like I can do anything, is inspiringly ambitious themself, and is equally polyam, meaning I might also be asking out a cute girl soon and don't know where board game nights with the nice throuple I met might go. I'm having to do odd jobs and accept help from my dad to make ends meet, but I'm arguably a full time content creator now - something I literally didn't even let myself dream about when I was younger because it felt impossible, but which is fully worth the complications and budget crunching because it's so accommodating to my disabilities and uses so many of my talents. I'm still depressed, but I have hope that ADHD treatment will help cut through the remainder. Most days I just have hope, period. And more days than not, I'm genuinely happy for at least a while.
You'll find yourself.
It might take a while. There will be detours, mistakes, pain, tough choices, and a lot of hard work. But there will also be unexpected joys and more possibilities than you ever imagined.
Someday, you'll find yourself.
And when you do, it will be worth the wait, I promise.
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eldritchmochi · 10 months
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yeah I am pretty young lmao, I'll spare you from another playlist by just naming some artists that gave me inspiration for god knows at some point
first off you mentioned Hozier, which I kinda only mention because he released a new album recently. Arctic Monkeys and Father John Misty are kinda in the same boat as him. More like the same lake.
The Amazing Devil and The Oh Hellos never fail to give me some sort of D&D/character inspiration. Ghost does?? something??? as well with characters, but specific ones. Same with Steam Powered Giraffe.
other than that, Library Magic by The Head And The Heart is very Wizard, along with The Magician by Andy Shauf. and because I just can't go without mentioning it, Queen is my favorite band. :)
that's all! with any luck it'll end up being useful somehow lol
hozier is one of those artists who i dont listen to on purpose like ever i dont thinki could name a single song of his with confidence BUT i know his voice starkly as one i really lusted after pre-t. i saw he just dropped a new album and i HAVE to give it a listen to especially the video of sssomething or other (full album mv??? pLEASE) because it stars domnall gleeson and i am still horny for that man even after all these years (he's the actor for hux for context lmao)
queen is also one of my long time favs, though definitely a band i dont know in and out the way i do with a lot of more modern punk bands lmao. freddie has and always will be Gender (god the video for i want to break free was IT for me in like 8th grade right around when i came out)
ive seen spg live before!! they are *great* experience even if you're not deep into the lore (i had friends who were big lore fans). i have heard precisely One And A Half Ghost Songs and im keeping it that way on purpose because its just sooooooo funny that im not into them because aesthetically they are way up my alley (and one of my sibs, a number of irl buddies, and MANY artists i follow are all nuts for them)
ive some passing familiarity with the artic monkeys, enough that i can pick out a number of their more popular songs on the radio even if i cant name them (i am garbage at song titles tho so)
i'll have to check out the rest, especially good Wizards Songs 👀
in response!! further things to check out:
FUNKY.FM - playlist by alexmoukala who is one of my FAVOURITE video game composers. i know him primarily through twitter where he posts snippets of remixed or reimagined video game music... but FUNKY (this one is particularly relevant to u based of ur playlist shared w me)
ye old spooky club 1995 - playlist by unnerving governess who i am 90% sure is gothic charmschool. i know i got the link thru her but i thiiink she also made it (another playlist that may vibe w u based off your playlist)
creature feature, especially the album "the greatest show unearthed" (ookey spooky rock with a lot of vincent price era horror camp and a lot of really impressive technical skill. i want it to be halloween damnit)
the mind electric by the miracle musical (behold, the essence of the inside of my brain but in tangible form. it is. incredibly ominous. do recommend headphones for max goosebumps (includes a lot of records played backwards type sounds and other distortions))
dance monkey by tones and i (one of my big essek songs since i get a lot of that vibe where he's beholden to his station for *so much* that its a disservice to his growth as a person)
bottom is a rock by mother mother (my m9 as a whole song. the chorus has a line for each of them i stg and if i could reliably draw i would do an old school lyricstuck to it)
my verdict on ur playlist btw is that it is very solid and cohesive a+, but *just* to the left of my tastes, largely because a lot of it skews 70s/80s which just by nature of the beast lacks the bass i like (because it was mixed entirely different compared to modern music, which is better suited for sounding big when played digitally through smaller speakers. ive heard some of these bands on big sound systems and theyre MUCH more in line with my tastes then lmao)
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ghoultyrant · 2 years
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Other M: Less Terrible Than I Thought
So I recently stumbled across a video digging into Metroid: Other M's localization, which argues that the localization is a strong part of Other M's issues; that the original Japanese has nuance that is lost in the official translation, and the localization straight-up inserts problematic changes and whatnot.
And... they make a pretty good case on this topic, more so than I was expecting at the start of the video. Particularly striking to me was actually the video touching on Phantoon, who came across to me as a plotless bonus boss you weren't supposed to think too hard about, but actually the Japanese manual for Super Metroid has a bit where it asserts that Phantoon is Mother Brain's 'consciousness' in physical form. (Which I've actually read elsewhere years ago, though I'd forgotten before watching this video) So... a Mother Brain variant dies over the course of Other M's plot, and along comes a Phantoon variant. That's actually a very sensible easter egg! Too bad being able to make sense of it relies on a detail that official translation excised. Oops.
A similar point is the 'hell run'; in the official localization, we end up with... well, this:
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Whereas the video argues that the original intention is actually the player-as-Samus being led to deliberately subvert the spirit of Adam's orders: that he says basically "Restrict your search to places appropriately accessible with already-authorized upgrades", and then Samus/the player stays to the letter of this order (You can access the lava zone without the Varia Suit active, it's just a self-destructive idea) while violating the spirit of it. (Adam pretty obviously means "places that are reasonable to explore with your current kit")
Which... I actually buy? For starters, Fusion has pretty directly comparable elements, where eg the Diffusion Missile data gets sent, but the Federation has decided Samus is doing too good a job of killing things so they want to avoid her powering up enough to be able to kill their precious bioweapons so Adam doesn't mention it. And then the gameplay absolutely demands you collect it, at which point AI Adam tries to play it off like he has no idea what happened there. Fusion's story involves Samus increasingly getting, in-universe, 'off the rails' while her handler and their bosses are trying harder to keep her on the rails.
Alternatively, I could draw a comparison to Zero Mission, which has a standard Metroid linear route you're expected to take your first time, and then deliberately constructs all kinds of sequence breaks and item skips that an experienced player can figure out, emulating the kind of thing people have been doing in Super Metroid and Metroid Prime and so on for years. In particular, I'm thinking of the aspect where eg Metroid Prime's successive versions actively tried to close off such tricks, while players kept looking for (and finding) new ways to subvert the game's intended route, vs Zero Mission embraced players working to subvert the intended route. Samus 'sequence breaking' in the narrative and performing exactly the kind of 'hell run' sequence breakers do in other Metroid games is... very meta-appropriate in a way consistent with Zero Mission's handling.
In turn, this video led to me watching an alternate sub of Other M's 'movie mode' where this take on the translation is the basis, and... Other M's story does work better this way. I was surprised at how regularly stuff I found inane in its handling was due to the localization's handling: that for example I always found Furby-Ridley flagrantly suspicious to an eyeroll-worthy extent, and it turns out that's not 'the creators inexplicably expected you to be caught off guard when it turns out to be a threat' but rather is 'Samus herself is sure this thing is probably hostile/dangerous/suspicious'.
There's also a number of subtle implications that went over my head originally where I'm not sure how much of that is 'the localization directly butchered things such that it was hidden' vs how much is 'I was too busy reeling at the latest botched writing to be in the space for recognizing implications': that for example this time I caught that the narrative implies but does not actually spell out explicitly that Actual Madeline sicced the Metroid Queen on the traitor when said traitor came for her. (By a similar token, I caught this time that Melissa-pretending-to-be-Madeline fails to react to "Hi, I'm Samus Aran" while Actual Madeline is reassured that Samus is thus not one of the conspirators here to kill her: this makes sense! Melissa is an AI that's lived for, what, a couple years? On an isolated space station. Madeline is a regular human with a full life experience, so presumably she's heard of The Famous Samus Aran where Melissa might not have)
This isn't to suggest Other M has no problems in the original writing. The most glaring two are of course...
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... the sheer indefensibility of this encounter in particular being the one where Ridley's appearance causes Samus to break down. The video tries to argue the game tries to justify this in a way that got lost in localization, and while I don't think that's untrue, in the end I don't think it matters much: this was a busted idea that would never have worked.
The other issue is Adam Shoots Samus In The Back For Her Own Good, of course.
It's less terrible in this version. Adam is not so clearly presented as a heroic good guy doing a smart and good thing Samus should be grateful for. The narrative logic for why Adam thinks it's a bad idea for Samus to go into Sector Zero is more coherent. (And why Adam is going inside at all has an actual suggestion of a reason) Adam and Samus' relationship is presented as more complicated than 'she looks up to him to an unreasonable extent', where there's less a built-up assumption we're supposed to back Adam's view, and in fact there's a fair amount of evidence we're supposed to side with Samus against him overall.
But it's still really, really dumb that Adam shoots Samus in the back when there's a Metroid right there, and the writing is hampered by the fact that Adam is just assuming the Metroids in Sector Zero are immune to freezing while the game fails to depict freeze-immune Metroids. I at least caught this time there's an actual implication he's right on this supposition, where Samus, much earlier in the game, reacts to a corpse as "That looks like a Metroid killed it! Oh crap! Wait, no, this area is too cold for that, and also they're extinct. There's gotta be another explanation."
Buuuut there still should've been stronger evidence of Sector Zero Metroids being immune to freezing.
And also even if that was fixed, Adam shooting Samus in the back to stop her is stupid, and absurdly stupid when there's a Metroid right there that he expects to be unable to hurt. The alternate translation doesn't change these problems.
More subtly/generally, the vibe I get from this translation is that the core story person/people (Yoshio Sakamoto, going by how the credits present things, but... credits are always an incomplete picture, and can be very misleading) were too aware of the themes they were trying to write.
That is, in watching this version, it was a lot clearer to me that Other M has as one of its main thrusts be about parent/child relationships, and more specifically that it's trying to argue that, basically, being a controlling jerk of a parent is going to blow up in your face someday so please consider not doing that. And honestly, the bits that are just the story doing that tale work okay-to-pretty-good.
But then there's all the secondary signaling thrown in that largely doesn't add anything or actively detracts from the story: the (baby) Bottle Ship name, Nightmare being given modified human baby cries and its face animated to more directly evoke a crying human baby, and so on; lots of stuff that is consistent with 'this game is trying to make a point about human parent/child relationships', but which aren't actually contributing to the message and all.
At this point I do suspect that if Other M had been given a less borked localization, it would've gone over better, but by 'better' I mean 'more like Hunters, which people mostly don't actively hate but they also are largely pretty unenthused about it'. (I liked it, and I still totally understand this reaction) The baseline handling absolutely has a number of pretty big flaws (I'm not even reiterating stuff like the camera work focusing way too much on clearly-intentional titillating shots, for example), where even a different translation doesn't iron them out.
But I am glad to have watched these two videos, and I think they should be seen by more people.
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shmoofyscratches · 1 year
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I've tried to learn to draw almost as many times as I've tried to learn how to swim. And they have both ended about the same: with me feeling embarrassed like I'm drowning.
Over the years my little neurodivergent goblin brain has picked up hobbies and skills like some sort of magpie. I can play ukulele and bass guitar, compose electronic music, design video games, and write novels and short stories.
If you can't tell, I like stories. But something that's always held me back from being able to tell multimedia stories is the visual side of things. I used to draw as a kid, but I fell out of the habit and never gained mastery. Now I fumble to create anything visually appealing.
Then I saw this image by Brando Chiesa.
instagram
As a trans person, I so rarely get to see bodies outside the typical binary of busty babes and muscly cis men. I don't know what the intentions were behind this piece, but it made me really think about the power of images to normalize bodies of different shapes and forms. And I wanted to be able to do that myself.
Then I still didn't draw for a few days.
So here we are, making an online diary to track my progress and hold me accountable. Hardly original.
But it's my hope that one of these days I'll look back and have a record of how I started drawing so that if anyone is ever foolish enough to ask for advice, I can say how I got here. I think when we ask people who have mastered a skill for advise, they forget what it was like to start out. Hopefully this will help me remember.
So wish me luck. Crossing my fingers that I stay above water this time.
Take care.
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giantkillerjack · 11 months
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Jack talking to himself post for organizing thoughts about the day's energy allocation don't mind me:
Man, I'm tired in a 'deep brain migraine-threat full-body muscle exhaustion' kinda way. I guess that means I need to be extra careful with myself today. -- Even if that is... not an unusual status quo for me. (Even if that means I must simply continue strengthening my habit of being very gentle with myself almost all the time. Jokes on you though - doing so makes me even more powerful! I may be in a shitty situation, but it is already WORLDS better than where I was and it WILL get WAY BETTER still because I will MAKE IT SO NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES. And in the meantime - and in the warm golden future: gentleness, on purpose.)
Food will help. Food prep is high-cost when pain is like this. Esp in my inaccessible kitchen. But wife can help, and there is no use denying that I will once again spend a large chunk of the day's spoons just getting enough food in me. But some days there is no way around that. Food is essential, and as far as I can tell, it always will be as long as I am alive. And I want to stay alive and I want to thrive. And so i must eat when I am hungry, even when I rather wouldn't.
(This is basically just how I journal, huh)
I have a message from my physical therapist about scheduling. Seems like responding to that today would be a good idea. [Update: Task completed! Achievement unlocked: "Super Calendar Boi"]
Gods, i fucking love Adderall.
Okay so I have my next meal planned, and I can probably hang with my wife and dog and watch TV while I eat. That's good. I can't really worry about dinner until after that. One thing at a time.
I have taken my medication. I have nausea medication standing by if need be.
Pain management: I have stretched and showered, but cardio is still needed. I will use the treadmill. And maybe do some more strengthening exercises.
I may go out to a lesbian bar tonight and meet up with a cute boi. I don't know yet. It is so hard to plan. But my wife says we have the money for me to do a night out. She doesn't want to go, but wishes me luck. 👌
I think I will be a happier Jack if I go out tonight. Just have to make sure I actually eat enough before I go this time. I always forget to have dinner before I go and then I get there like oh fuck!!
I'm really trying not to take an edible today because if I take them every day to manage my pain, they become less effective, and that's not great. Also they cost money lol. But if that ends up the only way I can find relief, so be it.
If I go out today, that will use and stretch muscles that don't normally get used. That is definitely a good thing. I think I will go out unless my condition worsens. If only because then when I come home it will feel really good to watch TV and chill.
There are other messages and voice-mails to respond to. I may do one or two more today. Nothing too urgent, it seems. Just... a lot of things to keep track of. It is overwhelming.
There's nothing I can do today to make money. It's a shame, but I simply have to continue taking care of myself day to day.
There are many creative and fun things for me to engage in if I want to write or draw or play video games or edit video or organize my concept art files. None of those things have to happen today, but some of them will and that is vital.
Okay, so here's the plan: get dressed, get food, watch TV, light cardio, rest, play Dragon Age Origins, go out to be gay in a location with the big couches i can lay down on! And then! Probably more Dragon Age, baby!!!! And also Princess Weekes' YouTube channel she is so good at explaining things! Or maybe the Musical-splaining podcast! Let's GOOOOOOOOOOO 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🎆🎇🎆🎆😤😤😤😤😤
Achievement unlocked: "Journal Boi Ultra!"
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thiscrimsonsoul · 2 years
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1) love every single one of your writings 2)what are your headcanons about how Wanda interacts with each of her kids
{out of paprikash} Aww, thank you so much! <3 I’ll answer this under a cut because long post...
Well, it would definitely be difficult raising two boys with as different personalities and habits as Billy and Tommy have, but Wanda’s own parents (especially her mother) were very good about raising her and Pietro, so I think she would draw on what she saw her own parents do.
As far as generally parenting the boys together, she would be very careful not to compare them, to encourage unhealthy comparison or competition between them, or to let them get away with putting each other down. No one is better than anyone else, no one is more annoying or boring or dorky etc., no one is smarter or stupider, nothing like that. They are both unique and wonderful and loved. She won’t tolerate them picking on each other beyond what normal brothers do. If it goes too far, she will definitely talk to them about it.
For Tommy, she would see a lot of Pietro in him, not just with his powers, but with his personality and energy level. She may find that he has trouble concentrating and focusing like Pietro did, and this might make him feel “dumber” than Billy, which might breed some jealousy or animosity in him for his brother. But in dealing with her brother, Wanda learned that Pietro was very intelligent, he just learned in different ways than she did, needed more breaks, needed more outlets for his energy, and needed to be encouraged differently.
I think she would apply a lot of that to Tommy, helping him to learn in more hands-on ways rather than with books, and joining in activities that help him to release excess energy such as playing video games with him or sports or more physical games like charades or Twister. She would try to provide him with fidgeting tools and toys that may help him focus and would help him to balance things like homework time with other more fun activities when his brain has just had enough. Her biggest thing would be to make Tommy understand that he’s not dumber or less capable than Billy, he just learns differently, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
As far as his powers, she would help him as best she could with what she learned of Pietro’s powers. Although she never had them herself (not the extent that he did, anyway), she did listen to Pietro describe them and how they felt to him on many occasions, so I think she would try to impart that to Tommy as well as possible.
With Billy, she would very much want to encourage his sensitive and empathetic side, and would want to help him understand that being sensitive, crying, being emotional, and caring about the feelings of others doesn’t make him weak or a wuss or anything else other children or maybe even Tommy might call him. She wouldn’t tolerate Tommy saying those things, by the way, and would be sure to talk to him about it, just like she wouldn’t tolerate Billy calling Tommy stupid or annoying. Billy excels with book learning, he loves to read, he prefers roleplaying games to first person shooters or action games, and he loves to cook. Wanda would encourage all of that, especially the reading and cooking. Just like she would encourage Tommy’s sports, she’d want Billy to exercise his mind if that’s what he loved to do.
Billy’s powers are much easier for Wanda to understand, since they’re so very similar to hers, so she’d be able to guide him and help him learn to control what he can do. One of the most important things she’d try to do is help Billy limit and shut out feelings he didn’t want to feel. Not his own emotions, but being supernaturally empathetic can be very draining when you’re feeling the emotions of all those around you. Wanda would help Billy to not only filter out what he didn’t want to immediately deal with at a given time but also how to connect with those he does want to reach out to without damaging his own mental health. It’s okay to want to help people, but he has to be careful not to compromise himself to the point that his health suffers.
Generally speaking, she would want to encourage her boys’ strengths and unique personalities and to teach them tolerance for each other and others. Also, she’d want them to know that their brother can be their greatest friend and ally and that they should always stick up for each other. That was always something that her parents instilled in her and Pietro, that they should respect each other’s differences and that family supporting each other was very important.
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heauxzenji · 3 years
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could you do the nsfw alphabet for atsumu please? thank you :)
Aw shit, here we go again...
NSFW Alphabet: Miya Atsumu
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gn!reader focused
A/N: She hasn’t written in awhile but you know what I’m proud of it- lol be nice to me or I’ll leave forever jk I won’t but still be nice to me ily 💕 Atsumu is a menace I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Obviously nasty below the cut so if you’re a kid fuck off
𝕬 - 𝕬𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖊
He’s not the best, but certainly not the worst. He will take care of you, but… only after he takes care of himself first. Usually that just means he needs to take a shower. Once he does, he’s free to supply cuddles until you both fall asleep.
𝕭 - 𝕭𝖔𝖉𝖞 𝕻𝖆𝖗𝖙
He has abs so solid you could make a sharkcoochie board on them. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
𝕮 - 𝕮𝖚𝖒
When Atsumu cums… he cums hard. It’s like having an out of body experience- every nerve cell in his body is firing off as he tenses up, digging his nails into whatever flesh he can grab, and grinding his heels into the surface supporting him. He bites down so hard his teeth grind involuntarily as his face contorts in a strained statuesque vision. One low growl from deep in his chest comes out through gritted teeth as he sputters out mixtures of “that’s it,” and “don’t you dare fucking stop.”
The orgasm face of Atsumu Miya is one of the 7 wonders of the world.
𝕯 - 𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕾𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙
It’s not a secret per se, but he’s been exposed and clowned for eating ass… so he doesn’t wanna talk about it.
𝕰 - 𝕰𝖝𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊
So contrary to popular belief, I don’t think he’s that experienced... he’s just lucky! (Lmaoooo all of his experience is based on like 2 actual people that he maybe got to second base with (he says third but come on we know he’s lying) and then a litany of porn. Poor thing just wants some coochie I AM HERE KING and he has no trouble finding it, he just never seals the deal. He’s someone who just kind of, knows what to do naturally. He’s able to read someone’s body by touch alone, and so he knows what you like right off the bat based on how you react. He might try a couple of things at the start to see what really makes you squirm, but once he’s got it... holy hell has he ever got it.
𝕱 - 𝕱𝖆𝖛𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖔𝖘𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓
I hate to say how easy this was- but I KNOW Atsumu is a guy who prefers doggy. I see him as a hair puller, so this is perfect for him. I also could see him being into mirrors, and this is the perfect position to make you look at what he’s doing to you, especially while he’s pulling your head back by your hair. He especially likes gripping his thumbs into the smalls of your back (he crosses his arms bc saw it in a porn once and he thinks it makes him look cool), and when he’s INTO it, he likes to smack your ass to encourage you.
𝕲 - 𝕲𝖔𝖔𝖋𝖞
Is goofy by accident. Like will sometimes try throwing in something new with his normal dirty talk that completely throws you off. He hates when you laugh at him for it, but you find it endearing.
𝕳 - 𝕳𝖆𝖎𝖗
I’m gonna… say something so controversial yet so bold:
What hair?
And yes I mean that. Smooth. He waxes. Monthly. No hair. (Besides like… legs and armpits… yah he doesn’t touch those) Naked mole rat dick but fuck it he’s Atsumu motherfucking Miya he can do what he wants.
𝕴 - 𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖆𝖈𝖞
While he’s not the most... romantic in general per se, he does want to make you feel appreciated. He’s very eager to get his, but he won’t allow himself to unless you have already. It takes restraint, but he cools himself down by having you get on top, or by leaving lingering kisses anywhere he can, saying you’re the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid eyes on.
𝕵 - 𝕵𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝕺𝖋𝖋
When he’s away from you he loves to send you videos of himself or FaceTime you. He gets you worked up enough to join him no matter where you are. He just needs to see you, he needs you to see him stroking his cock to the thought of you- he can’t cum without you telling him to.
𝕶 - 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖐
I have to get this out but I KNOW he’s nasty. I imagine Atsumu as a huge dirty talker and also someone who’s into spitting. Both of those are just clear in my brain... like he would be pundinng you from behind, spit on your back, and then call you a slut all in 3 seconds flat but the way that you would cream? Ugh insanity he needs to be arrested he needs to be stopped
𝕷 - 𝕷𝖔𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓
Since he’s got money now- he’s a big fan of ordering Uber XLs or even just hiring a driver for a night on the town as a flex. But he especially loves telling his driver to put up the window partition while he annihilates you in the backseat. I just think he’s a fan of car sex in general- it just does it for him.
𝕸 - 𝕸𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓
Loves to hear his name. Whether you’re moaning it or screaming it like it’s the only word you know, he’s always going to ask you who you belong to, and the answer is always Atsumu.
𝕹 - 𝕹𝖔!
He totally eats ass. He’s just not gonna tell anyone bc he told Osamu ONCE and now his contact name is ASStumu and he lives in fear of that getting out.
𝕺 - 𝕺𝖗𝖆𝖑
Sloppppppyyyyyy. Loves giving ~slightly~ more than receiving, simply bc he loves the sight of seeing his spit dripping down your thighs while he goes down on you. Loves eye contact when you’re going down on him.
𝕻 - 𝕻𝖆𝖈𝖊
Though I wouldn’t say he’s super experienced, I know he’s relentless. He fucks. Literally just fucks. Not in the sense that he only treats you like a hole bc yikes, but in the sense that he just goes the speeds of fast or faster. There’s no slow with him.
𝕼 - 𝕼𝖚𝖎𝖈𝖐𝖎𝖊
Yeah. Lots of them. Anywhere, anytime. Particularly for him, a lot of them end up being in his car, simply because you’ll be out somewhere and the mood strikes. He’ll quickly take you out to the car for a few minutes, slut you out, and then return to the function like nothing happened. You’ve had many a quickie in a bathroom or closet in a party as well. When he wants you, he wants you, so he’s not afraid to take you.
𝕽 - 𝕽𝖎𝖘𝖐
Not as much of a risk-taker as people think. Mostly because he wants to protect you. He would hate for someone to see you in such a compromising position… but also, you’ve had your fair share of quickies in the bathrooms of various wedding receptions, so he’s lying.
𝕾 - 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖆
Can last a decent amount of time, if he spreads it out over multiple rounds. I’m general, he can probably go about 2 or 3 rounds without needing a break. More if you draw out foreplay with him. He’s a pleaser, so really how long he lasts is up to you. He’s got the power and control to hold off on is own release until he’s certain you absolutely can’t take anymore.
𝕿 - 𝕿𝖔𝖞
One of those mfs who gets you the mold of his dick as a toy for your birthday for when he’s away because according to him “you’ll be so needy while I’m gone”
I hate him so much but I would use that shit every day he knows what he’s doing I’m so upset
𝖀 - 𝖀𝖓𝖋𝖆𝖎𝖗
Speaking of being needy- he loves to egg you on when you are. He knows all the buttons to push, but he’ll never actually make the move until you’re begging. And of course he loves to turn that around in you, hitting you with that “god, ya just can’t get enough of me, can ya?”
𝖁 - 𝖁𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖒𝖊
He’s more of a talker than a moaner. Not necessarily loud in bed- but very, very vocal. Commanding of you in a good way, and will definitely show his appreciation through praise.
𝖂 - 𝖂𝖎𝖑𝖉𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖉
Actually has a Cosmo subscription bc he likes trying all the strange and obscure sex positions in the articles. Also likes taking the quizzes, and will casually have you do them with him at breakfast.
𝖃 - 𝖃-𝕽𝖆𝖞
he’s a little on the thicker side. Its probably a good 7 inches, so it’s enough to fill you, add in the stretch of his girth and it’s a good, mild burn when he first goes in, but he fills you just enough without it being way too much. He’s a shower, so he doesn’t get much longer, but you have a lot to work with. He also has a cute freckle on his left inner thigh.
𝖄 - 𝖄𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌
His sex drive is on the higher end, but really only when he’s in his off season. When he’s actively playing in games, he tries to curb his appetite a bit because he believes in the superstition that sex messes with players’ stamina on the court.
𝖅 - 𝖅𝖟𝖟
He’s gonna knock out, but not until he showers. He ALWAYS showers after. The water soothes his muscles and by the time he’s done it’s lights out.
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astaroth1357 · 4 years
Text
A Lazy Day with MC and the Brothers
I was just chilling one day and thought about how a lazy day in with our boys might be like… I like hijinks, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes we ought to slow down too, you know?
Check my Masterlist for more!
Warning: Slight NSFW-ish? I dunno how to tag innuendo...
Lucifer
First off, hats off for managing to convince the guy to just do nothing for any length of time. That’s some seriously impressive persuasive powers, MC, you sure you don’t know how to charm?
Lazy Lucifer=Sleepy Lucifer. He spends so many nights up late getting work done then follows it up by getting up early in order to wrangling his brothers. It's honestly like it all catches up with him... He’s sleeping in and he’s sleeping in HARD.
Might text one of his brothers to bring them in a late breakfast at some point (never mind the fact it’s practically dinner). Beel would be the one most likely to agree to it, but he also may just eat whatever he picked up on the way there so hopefully someone else is feeling charitable… Try Asmo.
Honestly, his entire goal is to not leave the bedroom at all. If he leaves, then he runs the risk of people seeing him… wait for it... relaxing. Oh, just imagine the scandal!!
Some classical music, a bit of conversation, and maybe a good book in bed would all sound like heaven to him. They may have to get up to make some tea to go along with it, just remind him that drinking coffee on your recharge days can have the opposite effect. The taste of coffee could always just end up reminding him of work anyway…
The evening can go one of two ways. Calm and peaceful or "stress relieving." If they chose the stress relieving option, best be prepared because he'll have a whole night's worth of stress to let out and he's going to need some help… 😏
Mammon
He’s going to want to be close to the MC the whole time, they can hold onto him or him onto them, whatever works. It doesn’t matter as long as there’s still some kind of contact happening.
A whole day with just him and the MC? And they don’t even have to be doing anything? Where can he sign up??
Cue a lot of doing nothing in particular with Mammon tangled up on them in some way: hugging their waist while he checks his phone, resting their legs on his lap during a gaming session, wrapping himself around them while they just have casual conversation. That kind of thing.
When they eventually get hungry then he might pop down to the kitchen and make them some instant noodles (I wouldn’t trust much else he tries to make since… well we know he kind of just adds whatever’s around to his food).
He might start getting a little restless part of the way through the day though, so they’re going to have to do something to get that energy out… 🤔
Use your imagination, I know this fandom can.
Leviathan
The reigning Prince of Lazy Days. Everything about Levi screams “goof off/game night buddy” (at least if the MC is a fellow otaku anyway).
He probably didn’t sleep the night before because he was playing/watching something so the morning will go down one of two ways: 1) He just pulls an all-nighter and begins to progressively lose his mind as the day goes on, or 2) He’s dead to the world until 2pm. Only one of those options is entertaining so you know what I'm going with.
Things will go pretty smoothly through the morning. They don’t have to go anywhere because his room has plenty of snacks so they can just chill out and watch anime or play video games.
Buuut stuff will get more dicey as the afternoon rolls around and his sleep deprivation sets in. He’ll start losing a lot of his filter and may ramble for even longer than normal with even less coherency. He’ll also get more um… "bold" than usual.
Or he may just want to cuddle with them while he babbles on about how much he loves them and how warm they are and how much they remind him of Henry, which reminds him have they seen the latest season of “My Life with Seven Demon Brothers Who All Love Me!” yet because the main character there also reminds him of them and-
He’ll pass out eventually, probably latched onto them somehow with his tail around them tenderly. Don’t bring it up to him in the morning because he will unsuccessfully try to deny it ever happened.
Satan
Not opposed to the occasional lazy day. It actually does good for his nerves since holding in all that pent-up anger can feel like stuffing an elephant into a tea kettle sometimes...
They’re going to want to get him out of his bedroom or the library if they don’t want to fight for his attention against whatever new book he’s eating through today. When the man gets engrossed then it’s like nothing else matters, the House could split in two and he'll only notice if he suddenly can’t reach his drink anymore...
May actually be advantageous to go outside with him, take a nice stroll around the House while having some interesting conversation. They could poke his brain about anything that suits their fancy while they’re out amongst the trees and nature.
If they don’t want to go outside and rather take their chances with the book then okay but the engrossment problem still applies. He may even forget to eat...
Best way to combat his lack of attention is to be a little brat that’s juuust cute enough not to piss him off. It’s a delicate balance. That means getting real close to him, like sitting on his legs, and just occasionally reminding him of their presence with longing looks while tapping, flicking, or messing with the book from time to time (yes, kind of like an attention-seeking cat).
Play it just right and they’ll get attention on them alright, but he may also be looking to punish his “needy kitty." Hope that’s what they’re aiming for... 🤷‍♀️
Asmodeus
Really? They want to do nothing? Nothing at all? Are they sure they don’t want to do him instead...? 😏
A relaxing day with Asmo is more or less like a day spent wrapped up in mutual worship and adoration. The guy wants all of their attention and love but he’ll return it and then some. As long as they treat him like the love of their lives it will honestly be like having their own day spa day in Heaven.
If the MC wants to relax, then he’s just the sort to know how to provide for them both. The only question is how do they want it?
The man can give them a full treatment, I mean, just look at his bathroom alone! A good soak in a hot bath, facial masks, back massages, mani-pedis, just say the word MC and he’s more than willing to bestow whatever their little heart desires. That’s his job, isn’t it?
Asmo may be a party boy, but if it’s a little TLC you need, emphasis on the T, then look no farther MC. He’s the guru.
On the flipside if they’re looking for a little release well… who better to ask than Asmo right? He’ll make sure they’ll never want to leave that bed again. 🤭
Beelzebub
As long as snacks are still involved then he’s all in, babe. He’ll do nothing with them all day as long as they keep him fed.
Two words. Couples. Cooking. They can’t skip a meal with Beel so if they’re going to spend lazy time with the dude then they better be planning on being a tag along to the kitchen.
It doesn’t have to be a super strict though, it’s not like they’re not cooking with Barbatos or anything, so they can goof off and make a bit of a mess together. Chances are Beel will eat the ingredients to whatever they’re making anyway so... 😅
A lot of lingering touches and just being close to each other as they go. He might want to hold their waist while they stir or they end up feeding each other in cutesy ways... Really it’s a ridiculously wholesome time.
At one point a food fight may break out and they'll cover themselves in flour, tomato sauce, or some other kind of messy food substance...
Careful, MC. Whatever they get covered in will likely only make them look more delicious to him and he might want to "clean them off".... They'll need to take that out of the kitchen, though, like what if someone needs a snack??
Belphegor
The reigning King of Lazy Days. Take notes, MC, for you are watching the Master at work...
Sleeping in and cuddling is a must. He will not let them leave the bed all morning for anything less than a Category Four Emergency (i.e. “I’m going to starve to death” or “I really gotta go piss”). He will pin them under his sleeping body if he has to!
Once they’ve thoroughly missed breakfast and half past noon rolls around he might call in takeout from Hell’s Kitchen for them to eat in the attic room. Expect some cheeky conversation, probably jokes at the expense of his brothers. Cuddling is still absolutely happening, of course, they cannot shake him off.
May borrow an anime from Levi to watch while they snuggle on the couch. He has all the best blankets in the House so they will be neither cold nor uncomfortable throughout.
His hands get a little grabby during these kinds of cuddle sessions, especially during tense moments in the show because he likes to give them a little jolt to make them yelp, the jerk... 😖
If he manages to not drift off during the show (flip a coin on that chance) the night will end in the planetarium, backs on a pile of blankets while they draw pictures in the stars… All hail the King. 😏
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thefanficmonster · 3 years
Text
Oblivious
Valkyrae (Rae) x Reader (Gender Neutral) ft. Corpse Husband
Warnings: None
Genre: FLUFF, Humor, RPF (Real Person Fic)
Summary: In the most desperate of times, we may or may not be used to hearing the phrase ‘Beggers can’t be choosers’ which is exactly why Y/N’s found themself asking the most hopeless of cases when it comes to love and romance - Corpse, for help.
Requested by Xara. Hi darling! Thank you so much for this wonderful request you’ve sent me - I love writing for Rae (excuse my bi excitement, I’m just a HUGE simp) and I can’t thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to do so. Sorry it’s been two months since you requested this but here it finally is and I hope it makes up for the wait. Love, Vy ❤
“Corpse, I’m in desperate need for help.“ I don’t even bother with a friendly or even polite greeting. Being best friends for as long as we have, Corpse and I excluded the politeness that comes with phone calls a long time ago, especially when calling with an emergency. Though, let’s be honest, if I’m calling him on the phone and not on video chat like I usually do, it is an emergency.
“Given that you’re asking me, I can imagine how desperate you are.“ He has the audacity to laugh in response, causing me to roll my eyes. 
Now, don’t get the wrong idea - I love Corpse with all my heart. Him and I have been through A LOT together considering we know each other since we were teenagers. However, there are some instances in life when he simply doesn’t get me. Not that he doesn’t try to, he does and does so very hard, but he rarely succeeds. Trying is what matters, of course. Given that he is my only close friend, I can only ever turn to him with my problems though I try my best not to bother him too much, but when things get REALLY tough, I can’t help but go and vent to him. Luckily, he’s always been very understanding, but it may be because he feels like he owes me for all the times he has turned to me with his problems. I’ve tried to explain that he shouldn’t feel such a way, but that’s rather hypocritical of me cause I feel the same way.
Alright, enough digressing, back on track!
“Desperate doesn’t even begin to summarize how I feel.“ I sigh, plopping down on the couch in my living room, kicking my feet up on the coffee table as I cover my eyes with my hand. “Brutally miserable is, I think, the correct term to use here.“
I hear Corpse let out a quiet ‘oof’, one I think he hoped I wouldn’t hear. “And what led you to finally give in and ask for help, not that I can offer you much?”
I can’t help but snort at that, a snort that serves as a replacement to slapping myself across the face. “Rae texted me yesterday asking if I’d like to play Minecraft with her and I took THREE HOURS to respond! Not on purpose, I just couldn’t think of something good to say!” I know I sound like a whiney kid, but I think I’ve passed that threshold LONG ago. Of course, this whiney kid version of me only surfaces around Corpse and Corpse only. No one else is allowed to see me like this or that would legit be the end of any sort of pride I may have left in me.
“You mean you couldn’t choose between ‘Sure, I’d like that!’ and ‘Of course, I’d love to!’? Please say yes.“ Corpse already sounds disappointed and he hasn’t even heard the worst of it yet.
“No and sit tight, it gets worse. I...“
He cuts me off, “Wait, no, don’t say it. Let me guess - you turned her down? Keep in mind if you say yes I’m hanging up on you.”
I remain silent, pinching the bridge of me nose and cringing as hard as my facial muscles are willing to allow. I can’t say yes, not cause he’ll hang up but because admitting it makes it more real, and the more real it is the more depressed it’ll make me and I will go back to being a self-deprecating mess that refuses to be productive or properly functioning - aka ‘Whiney Kid Maximum’.
“I’m hanging up.“ Corpse says after waiting five seconds for my response that only comes in the form of dead silence which is more than enough of an answer in and of itself.
“No, please don’t!“ I squeak out despite my agony, “I’ll never break the cycle if you don’t help me, Corpse! I’m a hopeless case!“
“You’re a hopeless case with or without me, Y/N.“ He states, angering me ever so slightly. “Not only cause you really are, but because I have nothing useful to offer you. Not even a single advice. Even if I did, giving it to you would by hypocritical when considered how bad I am on this field myself. Hell, the very person you’re head over heels for is my personal matchmaker. If anything, you should be asking her how to swoon her...“ He pauses.
So does my brain.
For a second we’re both quiet, the silence on the line suggesting big plans are being developed - well, not on my end but still.
“Now there’s an idea...“ He mutters more to himself than to me.
“No!“ I shriek fearfully, “Please, if you love me even the tiniest bit, Corpse, don’t put me in a situation where I have to be alone with Rae! Not IRL not in a Discord call - not in ANYTHING. I close up and end up seeming unfriendly and rude because of my inability to talk to her like a normal human being! I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I just can’t do it! So please don’t make me.“
I maybe can’t read minds, but hell if I can’t at least have a rough guess of what’s on my best friend’s mind - I know he’s already scheming and coming up with odd solutions to my problem - some of which will cause me more problems but let’s not even mention those. That being said, I need to prevent him from actually carrying out any of his absurd schemes, otherwise it’s game over for me.
“Hmm, ok fine, but only cause I wanna spare you your own awkwardness. Consider it charity.“ He sighs, the disappointment even more evident now.
I sigh too, but I do so in defeated relief. It’s bittersweet, to be honest. “Thank you.”
“Don’t.“ He says sharply, “Don’t thank me. It’ll make me feel like I’m encouraging your behavior.“
Well, screw my feelings, I guess. I’m left on this battlefield alone, aren’t I?
Corpse hanging up the call confirms that I am, indeed, alone.
                                                             *  *  *
“Hello?“
“Are you still in bed, for the love of God? It’s noon!“ Not only did he have the audacity to wake me up with his phone call, but now he has the audacity to judge me on my sleeping habits as well. Some darn nerve he has.
“What do you want, Corpse?“ I grumble out, groggy and now grumpy too. The last thing I need is the only person I can turn to turning on me. Especially not now. I don’t need his or anybody else’s judgement of me or my life, it’ll hurt too much.
“I want to know how long you haven’t showered, Y/N.“ He barks back, causing me to roll my eyes. “And when’s the last time you actually ate something healthy and nutritious and not just greasy takeout?”
“I showered last night!“ I straighten up and frown, feeling offended despite his questions being justifiable. I think that’s exactly why I’m pissed off, to be honest - he knows me and my habits too well. “And you’re just being hypocritical on the eating part!“
“Whatever.“ He mutters, allowing me to feel at least a tiny sense of victory for having proven him wrong, “Get your ass up and come play Minecraft with me, you need to be cheered up asap.“ He continues, much to my dismay. “And don’t even think about saying ‘no’. If you do, just remember, I have your address and a strong will to kick your ass into shape.“
“Into shape? We’re going to the gym or something?“ I’m honestly confused and intrigued now. Maybe the gym isn’t such a bad idea, I’m sure I could become really good friends with the punching bag.
Corpse sighs exasperatedly in a way I can basically hear him roll his eyes as well, “Not that kind of shape, Y/N. Just get on Discord, seriously, I’m worried about you.“ 
That sentence strikes a nerve. Something about that genuine concern in his voice reminds me that I still need to move on from focusing so strongly on just my failures, no matter how big or small, and keep pushing forward, if not for myself then for the people who care about me. For Corpse especially, seeing as how he’s sort of been my babysitter ever since my feelings towards Rae started to consume me whole and suffocate me. I don’t know how or when it happened, in fact I can best describe it as the Titanic: I was doing ok and then instead of hitting an iceberg the iceberg of feelings hit me and I started sinking. Corpse was there to offer me a hand to help me keep at least my head above the surface. He can’t pull me out of the water but he’s not willing to let go either. I’m afraid holding on like that will tire him out to the point of letting go of me completely, but I’m afraid of sinking too. You see my dilemma here, no?
“Ok, give me twenty minutes.“
I would have probably continued sleeping or just chilled on social media, refusing to get out of bed for at least another hour, but the debt I feel towards Corpse is stronger than the desire to be a slob so I motivate myself with every power my fragile mind can fish out of the void and push the covers off me, shivering at the drastic change in temperature around my body now that I’m exposed to the rather cool air in my room, my pajamas hopeless at providing me with any warmth.
Twenty minutes later sharp, I’m seated at my desk, in front of my computer with my headphones on, taking one last encouraging breath before entering the call where Corpse is waiting for me.
“Yo.“ I greet him half-heartedly, drawing invisible abstract patterns on my desk with my finger as if I’m avoiding eye contact with him IRL.
“Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of punctuality at least.“ He chuckles, sounding a lot more pleasant and a lot more like my friend Corpse and less like sergeant Corpse Husband who was speaking with me on the phone earlier.
“Very funny.“ I murmur in my now common brooding manner, “Anyway, enough about me, how are you doing? Anything interesting happen since we last spoke?“
“You mean in the past ten hours? No, nothing interesting apart from that I managed to catch a few z’s.“ He replies as I join the Minecraft server, managing to get a smile out of me.
“Hey, that’s nice to hear! Good for you, Corpsie.“ I say, honestly proud and happy for him.
“Yeah, and just so you’re not calling me hypocritical on the topic of eating, I’m currently cooking myself lunch.“ He points out, now just straight up peacocking, “On that note, I got a pot on the stove so you’ll have to excuse me for a sec.“
“Please go. Don’t set your apartment on fire the first time you cook” I snicker, leaning back in my chair and fetch my phone to kill the time while he’s gone to tend to whatever attempt at a meal he has prepping in his kitchen. I feel bad for his stomach, and his kitchen, already.
“Corpse? Hi!“
Oh no. No, no, no, no, no - tell me that was an auditory hallucination and I didn’t actually hear that just now! TELL ME!
“Rae?“ I blurt out, almost falling backwards out of my chair, eyes wide, jaw hanging slightly.
Just then I get a text from Corpse:
Consider me dead and carry the convo. I know you’ve got this, Y/N
Oh that prick is gonna get it!
“Y/N? Hi! Sorry, Corpse didn’t mention you’d be playing with us, but it’s so nice to be hearing from you! It feels like it’s been forever.“ Rae replies, cheery and enthusiastic as ever, just like the absolute sweetheart she is.
With Corpse absent from his position, without his metaphorical hand holding mine, I’m metaphorically sinking and drowning. Maybe the drowning part isn’t so metaphorical after all, considering I actually am drowning in all the thoughts produced by my mind at the moment. A mind that’s going completely haywire, might I add.
“Hehe, well, funny thing, he didn’t tell me you’d be playing with us either.“ I chuckle anxiously, already breaking out in a nervous sweat. I solemnly promise to kill Corpse first chance I get, that way he’ll at least be dead for real.
“He set us up, huh? What’s his game, where even is he?“ Rae asks, properly confused as she should be.
All on-point questions, hun. And I can’t answer any of them logically.
“Um, you know, he’s off doing...something.“ And there go my conversational skills out the window, I hope they send me a postcard one day.
“Whatever, enough about Mr. Ominous. Tell me, what’s been keeping you busy?“ Oh crap, this is the question I’ve been fearing. Mostly cause I’m not prepared for it. “Actually no, let me rephrase: Why have you been avoiding me recently?“
‘Oh crap’ squared. Tripled.
“Whaaat? Avoiding you? Where’d you get that idea?“ I’m aware of my high pitched voice, but it’s not like I can do much to tone it down. Every part of me is in critical panic mode and rationality has accompanied my aforementioned conversational skills out the window.
“I don’t know, Y/N. Ignoring my texts, leaving me on ‘Seen’ and then declining my offer just to accept the same one coming from Corpse - can’t really blame me for finding it shady.“ She replies, her words making me wince and hide my face in the palms of my hands as though it’ll shield me from Rae’s brutal honesty and forthrightness. 
“I’ve been...bad at replying to everyone lately, nothing personal, I swear.“ Yeah, that sounded convincing, good gosh-darn job, Y/N!
“Why’s that?“ Something about her tone suggest she knows I’m lying and is just humoring me and my agony. I don’t know if to thank her for it or wish she’d just rip off the band-aid and confront me head-on. In that case I’d have only one of two options: freeze up or spill my guts. Honestly, I don’t know which is worse. “I thought you’d reach out to me, given you’ve found yourself in a pickle.”
I frown, confused and wary like I’m walking on thin ice over a pool of sharks, “Pickle? What pickle?“
“Corpse mentioned you needed dating advice.“ She replies simply as though it should’ve been obvious and as if it’s the most casual, regular and normal thing. Little does she know...
“Um, yeah, I guess you can call it that.“ I murmur sheepishly, my cheeks reddening.
“Who’s the lucky girl?“ She asks, the excitement now replacing the previous suspicion she was fronting, making me nervous as hell.
My heart skips a beat, “How’d you know I’m crushing on a girl?“
“Uh...“ She stumbles over her words, pausing to collect her thoughts and formulate a response, “Corpse told me!“ When the reply finally arrives it’s as high pitched as mine was earlier, suggesting something ain’t right.
I stay quiet, my mind and heart racing which is quicker. My leg is bouncing, my fingers are tapping the keyboard rhythmically as I rack my brain, pushing it to put the pieces of this enigmatic puzzle together, connect the dots.
When it finally does, I’m left with a horrific end-result, a realization that makes me go pale as a ghost, “He told you who said girl is too, didn’t he?” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. I keep the tone low so she doesn’t notice how shaky it is.
It takes her a few seconds to reply, but when she does I kinda wish she hadn’t, “Maybe...”
My first instinct is to excuse myself from the call, pack all my kitchen knives and drive to Corpse’s house but with my limbs having lost any and all feeling in them that is practically impossible. So, I settle for my second instinct which is hiding my face in the palms of my hands as though they can shield me from the immense embarrassment Corpse has set me up for.
“Listen...“ I start, not sure where I wanna go with this, “You don’t have to say anything, I get the hint. No need to bother with a gentle reje-“
“I like you too, Y/N!“ Rae cuts off my rambling with a melodic laugh, “I’m sorry, but you can be very oblivious sometimes, and I just wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine for a bit. Sorry if I freaked you out.“ Judging by her tone, she’s not sorry at all. In fact, she’s one step away from bursting out into laughter.
“Trust me, ‘freaked out’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.“ I sigh, exasperatedly, sinking into my chair alike a deflated balloon. “You and Corpse are gonna pay for that heart attack you led me to the brink of!”
This time, she doesn’t hold back, letting out the laughter she’s been holding back this whole time, “I don’t know how Corpse will do that, but could I pay my dues with a brunch on Friday?”
My eyebrows shoot up, “Miss Valkyrae, is this you asking me out on a date?“ I ask teasingly - aka with more confidence than I feel.
Please say ‘yes’. Please say ‘yes’. Please say ‘yes’.
“I don’t know, what do you think, Y/N?“ She asks, tone just as teasing as mine.
“Hey, I’m not as oblivious as you claim I am!“ I argue light-heartedly, “Does 2PM work for you?“
“Any time works for me.“ Rae replies, a smile blatantly evident in her voice. A smile that unleashes a flock of butterflies in my stomach.
And just like that, I have a date with the girl I’ve had a crush on for the longest time. It happened so fast it’s practically a blurred part in my mind, but one thing I’m sure will be crystal-clearly imbedded in my mind forever is that brunch on Friday. Just then, I get yet another text from Mr. Schemer himself.
That wasn’t so hard now, was it?
Some nerve he has, I swear to God.
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0poole · 4 years
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I LOVE No Straight Roads
Honestly it’s hard to keep me away from a game with great visuals and even greater character design. I knew from the INSTANT I saw these characters that I was going to love it. I just finished it because it’s (unfortunately) pretty short, and even though I cheesed the final boss through it’s very lenient death mechanics (Instant respawn at the cost of a good rank) I actually appreciated that it wasn’t a pure cake walk. I’ve yet to rematch all of the bosses, but since I had genuine trouble with the later ones I’ll hold off on that.
But who cares about gameplay, am I right? I sure as hell don’t. I would’ve bought the game no matter what the hell it was. I wanted the characters (and the music, although I realized that second) and that was it. 
First of all, I love any world that is super fantastical but cheesy in its concept, ala a city powered by music, and battles between artists using music. Ideas like this only spawn from a mind that wants to create a fun atmosphere, if nothing else, and it was sure as hell fun. I genuinely love when someone goes so far into a crazy idea and doesn’t waste your time explaining it with real world logic. Wanna know how a city can be powered by music? Shut up and look at the cute virtual mermaid. Lord knows I did. Every once in a while, it does you good to just let the player/reader/viewer just revel in the idea without having to go out of your way to make things seem realistic. It’s not about “turning your brain off” or whatever, it’s picking your battles.
Also, I can seriously love a world with great background characters to it. Any game with the right situation to insert the random nobodies you find onto the streets into the art in the credits really played into the greatness of the world’s less important characters, and that’s always a good thing. It’s technically world building. But, since I always love to pick favorites, I’d have to say my favorite background character is easily Mia, the NSR infodesk assistant. It’s funny, because you can literally search “nsr characters” into Google and she’s the third image result. I love how jumpy she is when you first interact with her, since NSR probably spread the word about B2J suggesting they’re rock thugs who’d beat up anyone, so for all she knows she could die right then and there with a guitar lodged in her skull. She’s probably just some intern trying to pay for college. She don’t want trouble.
Also, I just realized that 90% of the characters in this game have the same body structure that I always love, that being having arms/legs that sort of fan out in width into relatively large hands/feet. It’s a kind of limb structure I fall into so much because it just really hits me right for some reason. I really can’t explain why.
Anyways, I gotta talk about the big boys individually:
Mayday and Zuke are an amazing duo. I’m always a sucker for a cute and crazy girl, but honestly Zuke hit so many of the right notes too. I will say it’s weird to pair the martian Zuke with the humanly-skinned Mayday, but honestly it doesn’t even matter because he looks so cool on his own. I love his weird blocky blue dreadlocks, and his weirdly shaped shirt which bares his chest in the weirdest way... And, oh my god, Mayday’s weird Spongebob background flower eyes? It’s little tidbits like that that really make me jealous. How could I have ever thought of that? It looks so perfect, and I don’t know why. And her little booty jig she does in her idle animation? Adorable. I played as her as much as was reasonable not only because I’m a filthy button masher with little strategy but also because she’s so damn cute. I can also appreciate how she has a tough-as-nails persona while still keeping a semi-girly attitude, like with her falling for 1010 and Sayu. Characters are so much better when they’re a perfect blend of characteristics, instead of being all one-note, like how Zuke is the quiet one but gets heated against DK West, and all. 
Honestly the voice acting for every character is great, but I love when Mayday’s VA’s accent shows through. It’s a perfect twang to accent (consider this the only acknowledgement of a pun in this post) her snarkiness. 
DJ Subatomic Supernova was going to be an easy favorite since he’s all space-themed. Also, I don’t know why I always end up liking the egotistic characters. Not in the sense that I like their egotistic-ness, but in the sense that I like everything else about them and they just so happen to also be egotistic. The same applied with Empoleon (maybe like my 2nd favorite Pokemon) and Rarity from MLP, probably among others. Either way, I’ll never not love space themes. Not to mention he’s got a funky disco theme, and I’m slowly starting to realize that I am in extreme love with techno-funk styles of music. The instant I heard his music he cemented his place into my playlists. 
As for design, I still have no idea what the fuck he is. Clearly AI is at human levels in this world, but if he’s a robot why does he still have hairy legs? But, if he’s a human, is that weird orb his head? Is it just some sort of puppet which he controls from inside his giant jacket? I know I dissed explaining things realistically but I actually want to know with this guy. Even the wiki doesn’t say. Either way, he’s clearly the logical extreme of “being at the center of your own universe.” Even his jacket depicts a solar system, with his hood being the sun. Didn’t see that until I tried to draw him. I really wish this guy wasn’t so tied to his DJ stand so I could reasonably draw him without it. I don’t want to draw his hairy ass legs. It is a great touch for his design though (although I prefer his beta look with pants and long boots, another design trait I tend to gravitate to) since DJs could reasonably not wear pants, since they’re always behind a table.
Sayu is my favorite. It’s so plainly obvious. It’s weird to say that sometimes, because some characters like Sayu are so clearly engineered to be as adorable as possible, to the point where they’re basically a parody of whatever they’re supposed to be emulating, but then they do that so well that they are still likable for what they’re trying to parody. Also, even though I’ve never looked into any vocaloid superstars myself, the fact that they exist and are loved in real life is absolutely perfect to be used as a character design in a world like this. It’s so weird conceptually, but we all know it’s normal and realistic. But yeah, she’s a giga-cutie whom I’ve already drawn and I’ve listened to her theme on loop on many different occasions. Favorite character, favorite track, favorite weapon of choice (What did I say about Empoleon?), which, and I wouldn’t have noticed this myself, looks like the USB symbol you see above USB ports on computers. How crazy perfect is that?
Even apart from my unbridled love for cute monster robot(?) girls, her boss fight is probably the 2nd greatest of them all, at least conceptually. She’s just a hologram, so you can’t touch her, but you CAN disconnect the artists which control her in order to defeat her. It’s the kind of concept for a boss fight that could only work for this type of character. I’m a sucker for the cute girl that provides her voice, but I love how the animator (video editor? the yellow one) actually attacks you with a mouse and lowers the brightness of the setting once he appears. Also, the mocap guy being the deeply-voiced type but still providing the adorable movements of her body. It’s such a great combo of characters, and their little extra art in the credits makes me like them even more. I just wish we could interact with them individually.
DK West was probably one of the most interesting characters visually, especially since I knew of every other NSR member long before the game came out, but I only just heard of him closer to the release. I wasn’t sure where he was placed, but I definitely assumed his gig was the weird shadow demon we saw in the trailers. When I finally saw him in game, I was shocked to hear him speak an entirely different language most of the time, which was really cool. Also, finding out he was tied to Zuke and wasn’t strictly an NSR artist really made him more interesting. You know, if his fucking shadow clone magic didn’t make him crazy cool enough. Even though I suck at his game and am not especially fond of his raps, the visual of him rapping with this giant monster behind him and dozens of weird shadow wingmen by his side hyping him up was probably one of the coolest in the entire game. The dark way they were hyping him up too gave such a bizarre atmosphere, especially since it parallels his seemingly chill and smiley demeanor. 
I definitely hope they’ll introduce new bosses as DLC in the future, and make them sort of in the same vein as DK West, where they aren’t the biggest artists ever, but they want to pick a fight with B2J. I’d kill for any extra content this game can provide.
Yinu is obviously special since she was the subject of the demo they put out for the game. Even though I knew all her bells and whistles, she and her mom still beat me a few times in the full game. Considering she’s semi-tied to story-ish spoilers I kinda want to go more into her in a separate section. It is worth considering playing the game first since it’s not hard (with the easy going deaths) and it’s short length.
1010 seriously grew on me as I learned more about them and interacted with them. I got their shtick when I first looked at them, but after seeing that animation of them touring the city on Youtube I was kinda falling for them. Then, I learned that they’re apparently repurposed navy war robots? I mean, maybe not them specifically, but it seems to heavily point in that direction, with the warship cars and “attention!”s and all. It took me a bit to get into their music too, but once I actually fought them and put their actions to the music I fell in love with it. I swear, Neon J’s weird dancing can has some of the smoothest moves in all of gaming. I don’t know whether they mocapped out those movements or got one of the greatest animators ever, but it looks so impossibly clean his part of the song gets me like 30x more hype than it would normally. 
Also, their little art piece of them looking at fan mail in the credits is probably one of the most adorable things ever. Even if they’re just Neon J’s puppets, that piece of art really makes it seem like they love every one of their fans. I’m not gonna lie, I might swoon a bit too if they picked me out and gave me some special attention.
Oh yeah, and the fact that Mayday was super sad in her showstopper against them was adorable and hilarious at the same time. The little tweaks they made to the showstopper for each fight were great.
Eve just has to be Lady Gaga, right? Like, an even crazier Lady Gaga. DJSS is Daft Punk (or any artist with a helmet persona, you know what I’m talking about), Sayu is Hatsune Miku, DK West is Kanye West, Yinu is a generic child protege, 1010 is a KPop boyband (just pick one) and Eve is Lady Gaga. That’s just how things are. But, again, this is the kind of boss fight that only this type of character could provide. It’s not just surreal imagery, it’s ARTISTIC surreal imagery. The fight is so mesmerizing in every way, especially by how it starts off so slow and calm and progresses to insanity, as well as the increased emotional investment in the fight making you feel so much more into it than just “That’s the boy band. Let’s fight.” Not only does it get you more invested, but it makes her artistic persona go deeper than just “she looks weird.” She is genuinely conflicted about her relationship with Zuke, and naturally that leads her to literally split him and Mayday apart. That mechanic specifically was the coolest, although I do wish they made it more obvious when you needed to switch over to a different side. I was getting pulverized by her fight too, since there were so many things to pay attention to. Her fight was definitely the best one. 
Tatiana and Spoilers:
Let’s be real with ourselves, the twist was so obvious. I do also think, though, that obvious twists aren’t bad if they’re just good reveals. At some point, a person just has experienced so many stories that “only pretty good” twists are easy to spot. It doesn’t mean that the twists are bad, it just means you yourself experienced.
I feel like her transition from rock to EDM was pretty understandable, even as a non-musician. She was so caught up in what she assumed was popular that it basically consumed her. It’s easy as an artist to want to forgo what you truly want to make in favor of what makes you popular, and clearly since her transition to EDM made her the CEO of the biggest company in the city (world?) that probably made her think she truly needed to change her outlook. Then, when she saw B2J try to bring it back, she sort of coined them as being as misguided as she was and knocked them down a peg. Plus, they were kinda being jerks about it.
It’s kinda like the Trolls sequel, where everyone pegs rock music fanatics as being too stuck up in their own heads to appreciate other types of music, which honestly seems more like the case than the alternative. When I first heard of the story of the game, I was seriously hoping they did put an asterisk on B2J’s ambitions because they were a bit sketchy from the start. 
That’s kinda where I want to talk about Yinu, because she was the true turning point in what they were doing. She’s literally 9 and yet she’s getting dragged into all this BS. When she said “I hate you all” at the end of her fight, and played a somber tune on her broken piano after the fight destroyed it, you kinda got a kick in the face to realize you’re kinda being an asshole to some of them. Sure, they fight back, but they wouldn’t fight in the first place if they didn’t have to. They are just people who play music under a joint name that B2J just so happened to get in hot water with. 
Then, of course, there’s Kliff, who also reeked of surprise villain, and who’s basically the embodiment of the bad side of B2J, where he just wanted to destroy for his own sake and not for the actual greater good. Once B2J realized their mistake, they backed off, but Kliff was so hard pressed to do what he planned on in the first place he wouldn’t stop. I kinda wish he got a bigger fight to his own since he’s clearly a big enough tech genius to divert a whole satellite into one specific building. Maybe the Elliecopter chase bit was his thing, but I do kind of wish he was there to fight against them too.
Even though Tatiana did kind of reform a bit quick, It’s still not too crazy to assume she could see that B2J was just misguided and the fact that they worked to revert their wrongdoings for her sake would make a pretty strong impressions. They clearly can hold their own, so it’s not like she wouldn’t want them to join NSR too. 
Oh yeah, and her boss fight was clock/time themed. If there’s a theme under space that I love, it’s clocks/time. 
And If I am to be respected by the internet, I must provide a negative opinion to balance out my positive one. I will say that the character model physics (like Mayday’s braids, DK West’s vest thing, Neon J’s fluffy neck thing, etc) got kinda funky at times. Especially DK West’s vest, which was completely messed up for every scene he was in... Also, even though the voices are mostly great, some lines felt a bit off. Just a bit. That good enough? Good.
But yeah anyway that’s another favorite game to add to the pile. Eventually I’m gonna have to compile a true list of my all-time favorite games/movies because I do kind of want to have a solid idea of what my all-time favorites are.
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pokelec · 3 years
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A Dead By Daylight Novice Reviews All the Killers' Trailers (and makes suggestions for what they'd change)
Reveal trailers are paramount for an audience's first look at new characters. First impressions are everything, so your trailer for your shiny new character needs to be perfect for what's in store for the video game! I started playing DBD a month-ish ago but watched all the trailers for the killers before I started playing, and watching some of them got me to thinking about how I would have changes some of the trailers. Some require no changes, while others I think need an overhaul.
Disclaimer: This is in my personal opinion, is not objective at all, and I'm only doing this because this is something I've been thinking about for a month and need some sort of release or else my brain will implode.
Under a read more bc this gets long.
The Trapper - The first trailer! For a first trailer, I think this one is pretty spot on. It follows a lot of beats of slasher movies, in terms of following a survivor that's gonna be killed, her encountering dead bodies, and the suspense of the killer looking for her. Considering Dead by Daylight is effectively a playable horror movie, I think this is a perfect intro to the game. As for what this means for the Trapper, aka our Jason substitute, I think it showed him off alright! We saw his bear traps and got a good look at him doing this thing. Pretty good, all things considered!
The Wraith - The Wraith, Hillbilly, and Nurse all features gameplay as the means of showing off what the killers can do. The Wraith's isn't too bad, since it does show off his Wailing Bell power enough for people to understand "This is a killer that can turn invisible, and you may not know he's right next to you until it's too late". I wish it has a more cinematic style, but I'll be forgiving here because DBD was still young when this was made. I also thing it showed the new map, Autohaven, pretty well. I'm not too big of a fan of ending the trailer with his mori, but that could be because I don't find his mori exciting.
The Hillbilly - Next is our Leatherface expy! This one feels shorter, still using gameplay to introduce our new killer but at least shows off his chainsaw wielding and hints at the map associated with him. I like the shot of him revving his chainsaw underneath the tree with the animal carcasses! I don't mind the ending with his mori here because even if it's off screen, getting cut with a chainsaw is brutal enough to leave a lasting impression. Again, I wish it had the cinematic style, but it's fine.
The Nurse - I think the Nurse's trailer is the weakest of the three gameplay-focused trailers. The text intro is... fine, but I honestly think it fits the Doctor more. It does an okay job of showing us her Blinking mechanics, but it also doesn't? Like we see her teleporting to Nea, but it feels lackluster. I do like the ending shot of dead Nea as the Nurse just blinks away. I'm not quite sure how to change this trailer to be more effective in my opinion, if I'm being honest.
The Shape/Michael Myers - Our first franchise killer, and a perfect trailer. The first second in, we hear John Carpenter's legendary Halloween score. Even non-horror fans will quickly pick up which killer this is. The suspense of Laurie see Michael, Michael coming up the stairs, and especially the shot of Laurie and Michael being on opposite sides of a door is *chef's kiss*. We see enough of the Shape to be satisfied and eager for his release. It's the perfect trailer for him AND Laurie imo.
The Huntress - Ah, the Huntress. She is my favorite killer to play as, and I probably have the majority of my playtime on her. Unfortunately, I think her trailer leaves a lot to be desired. It's the start of the 'let's look at the killer from different angles, have them turn around to the camera, and then attack the viewer' trend of DBD trailers. I call for a complete rewrite! Here's what I would have done:
The map is Mother's Dwelling. Two survivors (David aaaand idk Dwight?) are running and hides behind some trees. We hear the Huntress's lullaby get louder, and we see the bottom half of her and her axe as she walks past the survivors. The lullaby gets quieter, and the survivors take a sigh of relief. Then, a hatchet is thrown and lodged into Dwight's head! David screams and runs. We then see our full look at the Huntress as she picks up the body. Her signature lullaby continues as the trailer ends.
The Hag - The Hag's trailer also follows a similar formula to the Huntress' trailer. There is an animation bump, so we get to see the Hag's emaciated appearance in full detail. I'm not too mad about that, since the Hag's appearance is unsettling enough to cause viewer distress and curiosity more than the Huntress' would. However, because this is a DBD original killer, we need to see what her deal is with her trailer. Thus, I propose this:
On the swamp, Ace is repairing a generator but hears another survivor (Dwight?) get hooked. Ace goes to rescue him, but we see as he steps on a rune in front of the poor survivor. The illusion of the Hag pops up, jumpscaring poor Ace (and the audience) but disappears. Ace then rescues Dwight for real, but Dwight quickly runs away. Why? Because the real Hag is behind Ace and lunges at him, biting his neck. Trailer ends.
The Doctor - I now realize that my taste in writing DBD trailers is 'have the survivor do a thing, they think the killer is near, they then relax, and only then are they attacked by the killer'. It's a bit stereotypical, but again, we're dealing with a game centered on the horror genre, so that's why I'm okay with it.
I mention this because that's effectively the story beats the the Doctor's trailer follows. Instead of attacking Feng, however, the Doctor just looks at her run and stares menacingly. Even though we don't see the Doctor's shock therapy powers here, I think the long look at the killer is still effective because of his design. A first reaction I (and other reactors) experienced went from the initial "OMG the killer is here, run girl!" to "Why tf are his own eyes and mouth held open like that A Clockwork Orange scene?!". We also don't linger for too long on him either, so I think this trailer works well enough.
The Cannibal/Leatherface - Another franchise killer, this time good ol Leatherface! This trailer is a little different, using text to draw up suspense. I do like the reveal of "What is his mask made of? YOU.", but I would've loved to have seen some actual Cannibal action, or at least his in-game model doing his Texas chainsaw massacring thing.
The Nightmare/Freddy Kruger - Oh, c'mon, we got one of the most well known characters in horror in this little video game, and all we get for his trailer is some scratch marks and a 'killer does nothing but stand there menacingly and attack the camera' trailer?! I do like the detail that when we see him, it's DBD's version of the dream world, but we could've at least featured a survivor falling asleep and then seeing him for themselves.
(Also kinda sad it's the reboot version of Freddy instead of the Wes Craven version and the survivor is Quentin instead of Nancy Freaking Thompson, but I guess we should be happy he's in the game at all)
The Pig - Largely, I think this trailer is pretty good. I'm not too big of a fan of Amanda just standing there menacingly near Dwight, but I do like everything else. I especially love the security camera shot of the famous Saw bathroom and the cutaway when Dwight's reverse bear trap activates (but we still see a good bit of gore!). It feels very Saw-like.
The Clown - This trailer is pretty good! Even though we don't see the Clown in much action, we get a lot of visual storytelling with the bottles, the circus, and the ring of fingers, all leading up to the reveal of his face. The diagetic music from Kate is a nice touch, too.
The Spirit - This one is alright. There is a lot of focus on Adam, but it does build up tension to when the Spirit reveals herself. My biggest problem with it is the ending card that is used for her. Yes, I know that's traditional for the end of these trailers, but her pose and expression is kinda meh after the face she makes when she's about to attack Adam. Seriously, that couple of seconds haunts me (sorry) otherwise.
The Legion - My other favorite killer to play! It's so funny how I didn't like Legion when I first heard of them but now they're my favorites. I love how the trailer emphasizes that the new killer(s) looks similar to survivors and the brutality of when Frank reveals himself and stabs Jeff. However, the trailer does a disservice to the other members of the Legion. C'mon, that's their whole shtick!
My recommendation would be to end with a shot of Julie, Joey, and Suzie joining Frank (and obviously getting a good look at them) and surrounding Jeff right before they all stab him. This is a little disingenuous since you can't play as all four of them at once (unless you count that one Blighted skin...), but you also can't disguise yourself as a survivor, so... Yeah. They are The Legion! They act as one! Treat them as such in their trailer, dammit!
The Plague - The Plague's trailer is interesting. Even though we don't see her in action, I think it's fine because seeing her puke on people during her trailer might be a bit off-putting. Just a bit. We still get some storytelling with her whispered prayers, the candles and incense thingy, and, of course, her face. I think because the Plague's design is inherently unique among all the killers so far, she can get away with the 'let's just tease the audience by looking at the killer and nothing else' trend.
The Ghost Face - Not too much I can complain about with this one. I do like the wtf factor of 'wait, why is a DBD trailer at a modern day warehouse???', especially if you're watching a trailer playlist like I first did. It all makes sense when you learn it's Ghost Face, though! Also, justice for that poor cashier.
The Demogorgon - RIP Stranger Things DLC. I don't watch this series, but I really like the Hawkins Lab map and I'm going to be sad when it's gone. :(
I love this trailer! When I hear the Stranger Things music, it actually gives me chills. I'm legitimately so sad the DLC will be gone from the stores, but I do own them myself. I need to actually sit down and play Demo, Steve, and Nancy one of these days. Why am I crying? No, I'm not kidding, why is this trailer making me cry? Renew the contract, Netflix, please! I don't want this stuff to disappear forever!
(Is it weird that I've been nagged on for years to watch Stranger Things but it's Dead By Daylight that's actually convincing me to watch it?)
The Oni - This is an interesting case. The "main" theme of this trailer is the contrast of modern day Japan's Yui and her motorcycle vs the literal ancient samurai Oni. I think it works out, and again, I think the presentation makes up for us not seeing too much of the new killer.
The Deathslinger - Oh boy, do I love my cowboys! This trailer is nearly perfect. We establish the western setting quickly over the sounds of some poor bastard in pain. The reeling in of the chains and the closeup of The Redeemer is so great. My biggest complaint with this trailer is that we linger a bit too long on the Deathslinger's face at the end. Yeah, he's creepy with his eyes and his disjointed jaw, but you can only look at a horror for so long before you want to move on.
The Executioner/Pyramid Head - I like this trailer! I haven't played Silent Hills, but I'm at least somewhat familiar with the premise and Pyramid Head. I love the shot of him passing the classroom door window and the sword cutting a rift through the ground. Yeah, my lack of SH knowledge makes me unable to recommend any changes here.
The Blight - I have no changes to suggest. The Blight's transformation is super horrific, reminding me of the typical depiction of Jekyll and Hyde. Honestly, he is so much more terrifying in his trailer and in lore than in gameplay.
The Twins - No changes needed. BHVR is really starting to hit their stride with these trailers! Seeing Victor come out of Charlotte's body is amazing.
The Trickster - We depart from all of the other trailers by using an K-POP music video style. It does a good job at referencing some of his story beats (namely torturing/killing people, recording their screams, and using them in his music), but it doesn't really make me afraid of the Trickster. Sure, it fits with his theme, but I would have preferred seeing more of him, y'know, instead of just looking pretty and making faces? I still wouldn't change the art style of the trailer, though. It's fitting enough for him and a breath of fresh air from the doom and gloom.
The Nemesis - No change needed, mostly because I'm not too familiar with the Resident Evil series, but seeing Jill, the twink Leon, and Nemesis on-screen is a very cool moment. Also can we get an F in chat for Meg?
The Cenobite/Pinhead - This is a perfect trailer. We got the Lament Configuration, we got the chains pinning up Dwight, we got Pinhead himself! What more can I ask for?
If you actually made it this far, thank for reading? I don't think I really contribute anything to the fandom with this analysis, but DBD has been living rent free in my brain for the past month, so I may as well write something, eh?
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padmsanakin · 3 years
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Ladybug | Marinette
• can create shields and weapons out of pure energy
•healing powers, heck yeah
•the ability to speed growth of plants
•she has the power of luck on her side, meaning that by wearing the miraculous, she can survive impossible odds. previous ladybug miraculous holders have done feats that no normal person could do and come out without a scratch in situations that could killed a normal person.
•i think marinette’s powers work best when she has a clear mind. her power need quite a lot of focus for it to work properly. if she’s panicked or distressed, her powers won’t work with the exception of luck. this, marinette needs to learn how to regulate and calm herself down and focus on one thing at a time.
•this would be great since she’s usually scatter brained and jumps from one thing to another. this would help her to become for focused and calmer
•marinette has a green thumb, meaning she has a little garden in the balcony. she also has the talent for creating little trinkets and things to decorate her room. giving is her love language
•she is most at peace when she’s baking because it reminds her of her parents
•she absolutely loves classical music.
•as she grows older, she tries to learn a bit about her mother’s culture because she realises it is important to her mother and is a great bonding opportunity
•marinette also learns to go with the flow and think things through.
Chat Noir | Adrien Agreste
• cataclysm relies a lot on emotions. the stronger his emotions, the more powerful he is and more destructive.
•he has subtle powers as in messing up wifi signals on a bad day or causing things to fall off around him. another thing is that if he puts in enough focus, he can actually destroy poisonous gas in the air or poison in the bloodstream.
• he also has the ability to cast a curse to cause an illness that can only be cured by ladybug’s healing powers but the scriptures on how to cast a curse are destroyed by the guardians, scared if it lands in the wrong hands, it would cause total disaster.
•there is also the ability to just make a person disappear or disintegrate with a look although that power is very hard to summon and this is purely speculation on the guardian’s part and the last known use of this was during the age of the pharaoh.
•alternatively, the wielder can also create shields which causes the object to just disintegrate while it just bounces off ladybug’s shield
• wielders of black cat miraculous just have a higher fatality than others.
•most black cat miraculous holders are reckless either because they hounded the glory, thinking that they can never be knocked down until they do or some who just have a low self esteem and think they are expendable.
•adrien is very into anime, video games and books since they have kept him company since he was quite isolated since he was a child.
•adrien actually enjoys piano because it reminds him of his mother and continues to play it to remember his mother and he enjoys fencing because he gets to unleash his inner chat noir out.
• adrien sometimes has bad days where he want to totally just stay in bed and think way too much about his dad’s actions and his mom. sometimes, he hums the lullaby that his mom used to sing to him
•plagg is the only one who could make adrien laugh like emilie agreste did. while plagg may try to seem aloof, adrien knows plagg deeply cares for him.
•adrien’s favorite color is ladybug red.
•adrien is a space nerd
•adrien looks up to majestia
Rena Rouge/Furtive | Alya Cesaire
•she can visualise fanfics with her illusion power.
•her illusion power also allows her to quickly differentiate lies from truth if she has the miraculous at hand
•while she can’t summon shields, weapons out of thin air, she can summon energy which can temporarily blind her opponents or in a less serious effect, cloud their vision which gives her time to escape.
•this power also allows her interfere with the senses of her opponents which can daze or confuse her opponents. in extreme cases, this power can render the opponent immobile with multiple illusions
•akin to sandboy’s power, she can create manifestations of the people worst fears which isn’t actually real.
•diversion and confusion is integral to how her power works.
•she’s hardcore ladynoir shipper
•alya’s favorite food is pizza
•alya loves writing a lot since it’s a thing that connects her with her grandfather who used to be a head of the newspaper.
•alya also sketches and draws in her spare time although she is scared to show it to others in case someone will make fun of her.
•alya likes to host debates and livestreams in her blog.
•if alya is not a reporter, she would want to be a teacher and work with kids because she spends a huge portion of her time babysitting her sisters.
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alexbraindump · 3 years
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Night in the Woods & Optimistic Nihilism, Pt. 1: Constellations
“So I believe in a universe that doesn’t care and people who do.”
Night in the Woods manages to create one of the most realistic narratives I’ve ever seen crafted in a video game. And that’s a bold statement, one that shouldn’t be tossed around lightly. Yet I feel entirely concrete in saying it. It’s quite the diverse game, dealing with a range of topics so wide that it’d be hard to cover all of them in one single post. I hope to cover more of them someday, but today I’ll be narrowing in on one specific point that resonated especially well with me personally: finding purpose in an existence that is inherently devoid of it.
And it’s here that I’m going to say that, to anyone who hasn’t played NITW yet, stop reading this right now and go pick it up. It’s only $20 and with it comes an experience that remains consistently enjoyable and impactful throughout its entire runtime. I won’t be holding back from relevant spoilers for the rest of this post, so now’s your only chance. Go away. But come back once you’ve played the game. That’d be pretty cool I think.
~~~~~~~~~~~MILD SPOILER TERRITORY BELOW~~~~~~~~~~~
Now that the uninitiated are gone, it’s finally time to wrap back around to that quote at the beginning of this post. A universe that doesn’t care, and people who do. It perfectly aligns with the definition of optimistic nihilism, a term seemingly dubbed by a youtube channel in 2017. For those who are unaware, optimistic nihilism is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s the philosophy that the universe is inherently uncaring, that there’s no concrete meaning to life that we can grasp onto, yet we as human beings are uniquely capable of creating our own meaning without requiring some higher power or order to do it for us. We can choose to pursue what we wish for out of our lives, free to choose our own individualized path through the blank slate that is existence and draw whatever patterns we may choose from it.
As you read through that brief summary you may have already begun to understand exactly why I consider Night in the Woods to align particularly well with optimistic nihilism. The game is not exactly lacking in the theme of finding meaning within things that may be meaningless in the most literal sense. It’s been there since the very beginning, with NITW’s first supplemental game Longest Night. It’s a simple little game featuring Mae, Bea, Gregg and Angus identifying various constellations and making characteristically entertaining quips about each of them. Despite the game’s relative simplicity it acts as an early (over 3 years before NITW itself released!) establishment of NITW’s ever-present theme of establishing meaning in things that don’t have meaning by themselves by using one simple thing: constellations.
Constellations are a perfect medium to establish the philosophy of optimistic nihilism and it is evident that Infinite Fall were acutely aware of that from a very early point in the development of NITW. All constellations really are just patterns of stars we may see in the sky at night that people have assigned their own patterns and meanings to. Most stars sit so far away from the Earth that the human brain struggles to even comprehend how far away they truly are beyond a simple “Wow! That’s pretty far!” They’re balls of gas, unable to care about or even recognize whatever we humans see within them. Most of them have existed for longer than we have and will continue to persist long after we die. Yet the human race has taken it upon themselves to assign patterns to them and continue recognizing said patterns long after we’ve obtained knowledge about what the stars that form them truly are. In nature they hold no inherent meaning and have no rhyme nor reason to their locations relative to each other from our perspective, yet we have used our minds to instill meaning into them and draw patterns that can only be drawn from where we stand. The universe did not care about how it put them there nor how any living being may interpret them, but people cared enough to give them meaning.
Years after the release of Longest Night, Night in the Woods proper came out. And in it the usage of stars was far from ditched. Their function as being one of the elements perpetuating NITW’s optimistic nihilism was only expanded. Every two days in the game you are offered the opportunity to choose to hunt for dusk stars with a character named Mr. Chazokov. The interactions with him themselves don’t offer much in the ways of adding upon the pre-established theme of finding meaning within none, though their mere inclusion does help cement the theme as an important part of the game. The true point in which the theme is finally brought front and center is when the player can choose to go ghost hunting with Angus at Possum Jump. After some uneventful ghost hunting, Mae and Angus decide to rest at the top of a hill and do some stargazing. At this point the game essentially retraces (literally and figuratively) all the ground covered in Longest Night. Mae connects constellations together and Angus names them and gives a brief explanation for each of them. It’s a charming little moment that eventually evolves into Angus explaining the abuse he endured throughout his childhood to Mae. But what’s relevant to this specific analysis is Angus’s attitude throughout. He continually stays true to and loops back upon the fact that, while the stars themselves are very real and the stories given to them do very much exist, the stars really don’t mean anything by themselves. It all culminates with Angus explaining his tragic childhood to Mae. But what’s important to the overall narrative of this essay is Angus’s response when Mae asks him if he believes in anything.
It’s at this point that the game gives its most obvious addressal to its philosophy of optimistic nihilism. It’s like the pot finally boils over and it says “alright, time to finally talk about this.” As a response to being prompted about his beliefs, Angus explains his thoughts by using the constellations recently outlined as a convenient example. It’s here that the quote that spurred this whole essay on shows its head. “So I believe in a universe that doesn’t care and people who do,” is the final quote summarizing Angus’s philosophy on meaning in the universe. And if that isn’t the clearest possible representation of optimistic nihilism in NITW then I don’t know what is. It’s a simple little quote, yet it manages to single handedly encapsulate what optimistic nihilism is. Of course, it’s framed as the view of one character in the game, and a character thinking something doesn’t immediately mean that the entire work subscribes to that philosophy, but as you think about NITW and its various elements more and more it becomes increasingly apparent that it is indeed representative of the philosophy of optimistic nihilism.
And with that vague statement I’ll be leaving off the first part of this little mini-project for the time being. I do intend to come back to it at some point in the (hopefully near) future, as I feel that there’s a lot more that could be said about the themes of finding meaning in Night in the Woods. Currently I’m planning on writing about why I enjoy Mae Borowski as a character so much and see her as one of my favorite video game protagonists, so that’ll probably be done before any other parts to this essay come out. Keep an eye out if you enjoy what I’m posting and want to see more, and don’t be afraid to offer any feedback you may have. There’s a contact section on my profile if you’d like the most effective ways to get in touch.
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