#and i can finish my hw B) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

linnaealyn · 10 months

Text

Been working on again off again on a Xenogears portrait mod for two years now, started in Sept 2021 right before I actually finished the game for the first time. Some time ago I started adding upscaled (hand painted) versions of UI elements, so I guess its now a general texture pack I'm working on.

Its done through RetroArch's Beetle PSX HW core real-time texture replacer.

My goal with this is to make a texture pack that stays very true to the original look of the game. I don't want to redesign elements, impose too much of my own influence into it, and make the game look like it had an identity crisis. I still want it to look like Xenogears in the end, just upscaled, and where the portraits are concerned I want it to look as close to the original artwork as possible, with no scanning artifacts and low res quality- as if we actually had digital versions of Tanaka's original artwork.

Also, this isn't intended to be super high res 4k or anything, idc about that.

Figured I'd make a full post here going over everything I've done so far. I'm on the home stretch! Just a few more left.

⬆ Starting with UI. I replaced the red selection arrow, the red/grey spheres, save block icon, save/load text/bar, Walk/Gear icons (more about that one later), compass cardinal points (was unable to get a proper dump of the circular compass texture), and the dialogue diamond and selection diamond within menus.

I totally get it if someone wouldn't want to use something like the dialogue diamond, as you see it all the time right beside the pixelated text and it seems to stand out more in dialogue vs the one in menuing bc your attention is typically focused elsewhere while menuing. In the end, all changes are optional and to remove something all you have to do is move/delete the equivalent img file from the texture replacement folder. Within said folder I have a sub-folder titled "alternate portraits" where I keep alts and things I want to "disable" without outright deleting.

⬆ In combat UI I've replaced the HP/dmg numbers, the Time/AP/numbers, battle palette text (used for other text as well), the circle and tags of the battle palette, Time/AP/fuel bars, green Gear text and numbers, Gear attack level/♾ indicator, black Gear UI backgrounds, and combo icons. The red arrows have been replaced, but unfortunately the black arrows around the red cannot be replaced based on how the game does it; it is not a texture you can change, it is a triangular shaped box that the game fills with the black texture from behind Gear UI.

⬆ Menu/gameplay buttons. Also numbers/"points/fuel/cancel end" Someone mentioned playing with a switch pro controller or joy-cons so I threw an ABXY version together as an alternate button display option. Used the same typeface as the combo icons to keep some consistency with a typeface already in-use as well as for overall clarity.

⬆ Also, DB icons, EP/Fuel/Miss text, and "total damage". Unfortunately, the other DB icons (showing the △🞪☐ highlighted) cannot be replaced as far as I can tell. The battle UI textures (the 17 or so textures of the same thing in varying hues) shows them on it, but changing them in each one of these textures does not change the icons. It does not pull from these specific texture dumps, in other words; its just one of those that doesn't dump, like the circular compass texture.

⬆ In working on the Walk/Gear icons I wasn't sure exactly how I'd go about doing it because the original is literally just that tiny. So I had the idea of putting a little Fei & Weltall in it, outlined by the same grey. Thought it might be weird in the other party members' menus, idk, and I don't like changing things too much from the original, so I decided to just use Fei/Weltall as the grey silhouettes instead. Ill keep the Fei/Weltall one as an alt option if anyone wants to use it.

⬆ And the minimap. Kept B&W so that the colored dots (indicators of where all you can enter an area) aren't difficult to see. I do have a colored version as an alt, though. Credit to Adelinold for having ripped the 3D maps and made a bird's eye view "minimap" esque screenshot of the world map some years back because it is absolutely perfect for use here.

~~~~~

Now onto portraits, the main bulk of the work. This includes dialogue portraits, menu portraits, and gameplay portraits. I go through each one individually, find the highest quality version of the art, and clean it up manually, painting over it to get rid of any jpg rot, scanning artifacts, or print dots from scans while keeping it as close to the artwork as possible. In order to keep colors consistent across the board (because scans of the artwork can vary) I'm picking from the sprites. One portrait typically takes 2.5+ hours, not including testing them in-game. Each one needs to be tested in-game and edited to make sure semi-transparent pixels around the portraits don't result in black or white pixels in the area that should be transparent.

⬆ Direct comparison to the sprites. I'm not too strict about how I match how much of the art is shown, but in instances like this I like to show more of the character than the pixelated portraits allowed for. However, this wouldn't work for everyone as Fei's default portrait is also used when Kim is naked from the hips up.

For the Captain I specifically wanted to get his pipe within frame. Typically the portraits end just behind their ear, have the eyes at 1/2 to 2/3 height, and end just above the clavicle.

⬆ Some portraits like Kim and Elly have no artwork equivalent, but were pretty basic to make with the artwork of Fei & Elly that we do have.

⬆ Other characters have no artwork equivalent whatsoever, like Stein and Wel-Gear Hammer. For Stein I had to take the collar from Stone's artwork and paint something from scratch using Stein's sprite as reference. This one was more fun to do than I expected because its a special case, entirely different from all of the other portraits. For example, usually the artwork has 4 colors for skin- base color, shadow color, deep shadow color (usually seen directly under the chin, used sparingly), and a highlight color for on the nose or lip. But with Stein his skin had many different colors you could pick from the sprite and no equivalent artwork to limit yourself in how many there actually are. So in trying to get it looking just right it took something like 7 different shades of varying pink, red, and orange. It clearly has more dynamic shading compared to all of the other portraits.

For Wel-Gear Hammer... I did my best given what all I could see was even happening in the sprite.

⬆ I made a close eyed Elly portrait as there is no artwork of it and a bomb collar Fei and Hammer portrait using the bomb collar in Rico's art. Its fun playing around with them when there is no equivalent artwork.

⬆ Made an unsmiling Citan to mirror his unsmiling dialogue sprite vs his smiling menu sprites as well as alt Krelians to better match the expression of his mouth that the sprite has vs the artwork. (sprites are always a bit stretched compared to the artwork, btw. even when you rip them from the disc)

⬆ I'm also working on alternate versions, like a two-eyed Bart I did for fun.

~~~~~

It is finished! 1.0 anyway. Right in time for the North American 25th Anniversary! I just gotta get it uploaded somewhere.

I'll continue to work on the ones that I think still need more work, but for now even the ones that are in rougher shape are passable.

Ill have two versions of the mod- one with stretched and cropped portraits that work in 4:3 (much like the sprite portrait bmps in the base-game that end up looking fine in true 4:3. they kind of end up blurrier due to stretching the artwork) (with Crop Overscan set to None) and another version which isn't stretched or cropped so its as crisp as I could get them, but in order to get them to display the image exactly as they are in-game without squishing you need Crop Overscan set to Static (removes horizontal padding) which makes it just slightly off 4:3. Honestly, to the untrained eye its hard to tell it isn't 4:3. 🤷‍♀️ The only thing you might notice it really affecting would be the animated cutscenes.

I'll make a master post for the mod itself, separate from this. This'll end up being a bit of a time capsule for me.

#Xenogears #xenogears spoilers #Xenogears texture mod #texture pack #modding #Playstation 1 #PS1 classic #long post #oh cool this was my 100th post huh lol #updated 10/14/23

81 notes · View notes

boysplanetrecaps · 3 months

Text

Build Up Ep 1, Part 2

Hello! When we left off in my Build Up Recap adventure, we had just finished the first part of episode 1. In this post, we'll get through more of episode 1, and we'll learn why this man is making this face!

Let's do it!

A reminder on the color coding: blue is soul, orange is allround, green is unique, and purple is power.

We just saw Seongjeong the leaping lizard do his amazing intro.

Then of course it’s time for everyone to talk about who looks like who, as seems to happen at the beginning of every variety show like this, and as usual I don’t see most of them.

They say that Choi Suhwan looks like Onestar, and for this one, I guess maybe. (You may remember Onestar from his time as a vocal trainer on various Produce seasons.)

No one talks about how Hyukjin looks like Lee Yedam from Boys Planet/Onepact. (Or is it just me?)

Yedam, left, and Hyukjin, right.

Everyone says that Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T. looks exactly like Code Kunst. He doesn’t really, except that both of them have ears that stick out. Everyone seems to be talking about that, so he introduces himself as someone who wants to be as famous as Code Kunst.

Just then (at least in the edit), V36 starts to play -- it’s Rose Blossom by H1-Key, as performed by Bitsaeon. (I’d have to assume that the song played first, then he introduced himself by name afterward…?)

Seunghun from CIX starts dancing along as his new friend Hwanhee tries to place the song.

Everyone seems to like the performance, including me! He sounds great, and Sunghun from CIX interviews that their voices would harmonize well. Jay says, “aju nice!” when it’s done -- I wonder if he recognized it as Bitseon, since they probably know each other.

Bitseon gets 21 votes, and says he’ll prove himself to those who didn’t pick him.

Seongjeong the leaping musical actor says to his neighbor Joohee that there are a lot of idols here. That leads into a montage of performances from idol singers, all of whom are wondering, will anyone like my voice? (At least, the caption says they are.)

Seokhwa from WEi, V37

Hwanhee from Up10tion, V38 (Tomboy)

Geonu from Just B, V10

Donghun from ACE, V20 (Miracles in December)

Donghun interviews that he’s here as a main vocal, and he’s expecting to see many other main vocalists.

Every time I see Donghun in this episode, between his loosened tie and ill-fitting blazer and tired demeanor, all I can see is a beat cop in a police procedural who's ready to interrogate a subject.

Is it just me?

So, in honor of that, I'm going to call him "Detective Donghun" to remember him. As with all my nicknames, they're done to help us remember who is who and they're laced with love.

Kim Seoyhung says that he can’t sing stylish trendy songs, like the way idols sing. Yoon Inhwan interviews that all the idols sound the same, which is I think is unfair. Hwanhee, in particular, doesn’t sound like the others at all. Inhwan is mostly worried that their voices wouldn’t mix well, and I could say something like “I wonder if anyone’s voice would mix with yours, after you drank that gallon of milk before you sang?” But that would be mean. I try not to be mean, you guys.

All the idol main vocalists get relatively low scores.

Hwanhee gets 14, Seokhwa gets 15, Donghun gets 18, and Geonu gets 11. I wonder if Hwanhee’s low vote tally is as much to do with his sort of sharp vocal color? I love the way it comes through in Up10tion songs but I could imagine people worrying about his harmonizing. Or maybe they didn’t think he showed enough in his teaser, since he sang a pop song and had backup vocals.

Meanwhile, Seunghun from CIX is super nervous.

It seems like he and Hwanhee have struck up a bit of a friendship. Hwanhee asks him if he often gets nervous, and Seunghun is like, I really, really do. Even at the pre-tape meeting, he was shaking. Hwanhee is like, there’s nothing to be nervous about -- you already recorded your teaser, so you can relax, right? (“Plus, we don’t have to dance!” -- Hwanhee, probably) But Seunghun is just a bag of anxiety wearing a brown jacket.

When the voice says V1 will play, he reacts so strongly that it must be obvious that he is V1. As I said in my intro posts, I don’t think he was super successful in this performance, so I can understand why he’d be nervous. Like, you know you screwed up, and now everyone else is going to know, too. Aww, poor guy. When the song finishes playing, everyone applauds, but few had voted for him -- only 7. At the reveal of this low number, a bunch of the guys cover their mouth in shock.

Park Jeup, he of the powerful pussy bow, said he didn’t understand the low result -- in his opinion, this is a voice that would match with anyone’s. But Hong Seongjun from BDC, he of the white jacket with the mandarin collar, said it was “lacking.” Jay interviews that he didn’t vote for it or even really listen because it was in the ballad style, which wouldn’t match with his style.

Seunghun says, “I haven’t shown 20% of my voice. I will be the vocalist that could match anyone’s voice.” Everyone applauds. Fighting! Taehwan from Vanner says to Bitseon, “It’s a voice that could match with anything,” and Bitseon agrees. That’s sweet.

Kindly hyung Hwanhee reaches out to touch Seunghun’s shoulder. “Do you feel better now that it’s over?” Seunghun says, “I feel better, but it’s a bummer.” He says he knew that the competition would be tough, but he’s still ashamed of the result. I think he might be fighting back tears. Oh no! Poor guy. I think we’ve all been there -- it’s too late to fix it so you just have to ride it out.

After that, we jump straight to V07.

If you’re just reading the recaps and didn’t necessarily listen to all the teasers, be sure to check this one out. Just try to picture someone who’d be singing it.

The guys all react the moment it begins to play.

Inhwan likes it. I think. I guess? Not sure.

Seunghun likes it. I think. I guess? Not sure.

Ma Jaekyung (former Romeo) says, “oh, what a nice voice.” Bitsaeon (M.O.N.T.) says, “Wow, this is truly unique.” The vote tally immediately begins to climb. Basically, everyone loves it, even Dahee. Kim Seongjeong, our leaping lizard, says that this person has a monster talent. Jay says, “He was the one I wanted to work with the most out of all 40 people.” Sunyoul from Up10tion is like, just tell us who it is already!!

Park Jeup (former IMFACT), with his puissant pussy bow, leans over the red-suited Hyukjin (100%/Fave1) to point out Neon, wearing green. They think it’s him singing.

Side note: Google translate swears up and down that Park Jeup’s name is “Taxidermy”. Taxidermy is apparently 박제술, andJeup’s name is 박제업. So the first two syllables are the same. That’s unfortunate!

So, who could it be? Who could be the owner of this interesting voice that won 27 votes, taking over first place…? They expected someone with that voice to be kind of old, but it’s youthful, soft-voiced (when speaking) Kang Hayoon.

LTR: Lim Jun-hyuk, Woong, Sunyoul (in pink), Kang Hayoon in beige and light blue

He introduces himself with an anacrotic poem with the syllables of his name. “I’ll appeal strongly/ dear god, for me to debut/ please allow me.” Everyone says, “cyooo!”

Up next is V33, sung by Neon (the one wearing green). It’s Rush Hour. Did he get permission from Jay to sing this? And did he get permission to do what he does next, which is get out of his chair and say things like “make some fucking noise!” making it really clear that he’s the one singing...? It seems at least against the spirit of the rules, if not actually against the letter, but no one is stopping him, so he’s just going to do that.

A bunch of them get up to dance, including Woong and Sunyoul, both of whom seem ready to have fun here. I enjoy a joiner.

Choi Haram, in his houndstooth gray and white blazer thing, interviews, “I’m a big introvert, He looked so cool. I was jealous.” I’ll call him introverted Haram.

Neon introduces himself as an R&B/Soul singer-songwriter. He says he ran around to give them all energy. The running around thing was maybe a mistake, because a few of them say, “oh no, I was too busy dancing to vote!” He only gets 13 votes. Donghun from ACE would have voted for him, and I think Seokhwa would have too. Neon interviews, “Considering those who forgot to vote out of surprise, I guess I did ok.”

We find out that Woong from AB6IX has forgotten to vote more than once -- including during Pixar character Jo Hwanji’s audition with Swing My Baby. We see a bit of Woong’s pre-show taping interview, where he is wearing a denim jacket on top of another denim jacket on top of a hoodie. Do they not heat these studios at all or what?

He says, “It’s really hard to be the son of MNET. Right now, I’m the son of Rhymer from Brand New Music.” (AB6IX is under Brand New Music, and Rhymer is the founder.) “But I’m open to anything. I love you, boss MNET!”

So, how did Woong do with his singing? Let’s find out!

He’s V11. The on screen caption says “Unique and captivating voice,” and as you know if you read my episode 0 guides, I like his singing, though I’m not quite sure how trained he is. It just sounds good. Bitsaeon points out that V11 (Woong) does well with the rhythm, and that’s true, he definitely does. As Woong dances along to his own singing, everyone is voting for him. Lee Gwangseok says, “That was outstanding.” And getting a bit of Woong’s personality along with the voice definitely makes the performance… well… sing.

Even though everyone seemed to enjoy the performance, Woong only gets 14 votes, but he stays cheerful. Woong says, “the result is different form the response. I’m still happy with the result. I’ll seize my chance and become the son of MNET. Fighting!”

Woong center, in blue. In the foreground you can see the back of Hyukin’s head, Park Jeup’s head, and Kim Minseo’s head. In the suit to the left of Hyukjin, that’s Yoon Inhwan, then I think that’s Jo Hwanji the Pixar character, and Lim Junhyeok in white. Behind Woong is Sunyoul from Up10tion in Pink, Kang Hayoon in the cravat, Wumuti in the hat, and Lee Gwangseok/Kwangseok in the leather jacket.

Fighting! Also here is a picture of Inseok from KNK for my readers who love him. Also, why does Yeo One clap that way? That’s a weird way to clap. LTR: Yeo One, Inseok, and Ma Jaekyoung from Romeo.

Most of the guys laugh and clap for Woong’s enthusiasm, but Hong Seungjun is a bit more serious.

His group, BDC, was also from Brand New Music, but basically disbanded in August of 2023. BDC even went on Peak Time to try to stir up some interest first, but the group was eliminated in the first round. Basically, Seungjun has had a tough road and it makes sense that he might be a little, I don’t know... maybe "bitter" is too harsh a word, but I think you know what I mean. Like, he’s been through it. And it must be extra galling that AB6IX is doing comparatively well, being from the same agency and all that.

Seungjun voiceovers, “I thought it was odd. They’re still performing and doing pretty well. I’m wondering, what are they doing here? Especially Yeo One-sunbaenim from Pentagon.”

As if in response, Yeo One interviews, “I’ve been in this filed for a long time. I got 10 seconds, max 20 seconds in each song. I always had the third to sing for 10 years that can never be quenched. I’m here because I want to sing. I’m here to sing. I want people to watch me singing. That’s all I want.”

Then V40 plays -- it’s Yeo One. People seem to be enjoying it, and the vote tally creeps up. They like his expressiveness, which I can understand. Bitsaeon from MONT says, “I want to listen to that before I go to bed.” Personally, I put on a Jenny Nicholson video. Is that weird? Probably. Anyway, Yeo One gets 22 votes, which is pretty good. “I’m happy that people listened to me singing,” he interviews. Ok, Yeo One, we get it, sweetie.

Little Kang Hayoon is still in first place, and Seunghun from CIX is in last. Dahee asks Hayoon if he thinks he’ll stay in first place, and Hayoon is like, “Didn’t even cross my mind.”

But now it’s time for… V19. Will Hayoon be deposed? A rough, sweet, textured voice fills the studio. Everyone interviews things like “How can anyone even sing that well?” “It was such a deep voice. I was so surprised by it.” The vote tally is over the top -- it’s 32, leaving Hayoon in the dust. “It kind of poked my heart,” Hayoon says, of falling to second place. And whose voice is it? It’s Lee Gwangseok, the guy in the leather jacket.

It seems unfair to everyone that such a tall, good looking guy (his normal job is to be a model!) with no training at all can just sing like that.Well, that’s how it be, sometimes, I guess! Sunyoul from Up10tion interviews, “The world is messed up!” and laughs.

“I never majored in singing or learned it before,” Gwangseok says. I just was hoping I’d get more than 5 votes. I’m grateful they liked my voice. As someone who dreamed of becoming a singer, I’m glad.”

No one wants to follow that, but Jeup feels like it’s going to be him. We hear from a few of the contestants, including Hwanhee from Up10tion, that the “guy in red” (Hyukjin) and “the guy in the ribbon” (Jeup) are ones to watch. Sunyoul says that Jeup is a “monstrous vocalist”, that he’s so good that it’s like he’s cheating.

We get to hear some of V34, ie, Jeup. It is some serious technique on display. Everyone seems to respect what they heard, saying that it deserves a standing ovation and stuff like that. But the vote tally doesn’t quite reflect that. He gets only 28 votes, putting him in second place. Some of them find if very strange, including Jay and Hwang Inhyuk.

Geonu from Just B and Sunyoul from Up10tion both interview that they’re hesitant to team up with someone so good. “Because he’s so good, I want to work with him,” Sunyoul says, laughing, “but at the same time, because he’s so good, I don’t want to work with him.”

And that’s all we see of the Voice Check! Again, if you want to hear what I think of all 40 performances, be sure to check out my “episode zero” write ups for each grouping of voices.

Unique Power Allround Soul

Here’s the ranking, with the number of votes received, a brief phrase to hopefully help you remember them (what they were wearing, what they sang, their group, etc) and what category they were in (Unique, Power, Soul, Allround.) If their name is in italics, we didn’t see much of them so far, not even as reaction shots or interviews. Some of my notes to jog your memory may refer to my other write ups.

1. Lee Gwangseok 32 leather jacket U 2. Park Jeup 28 pussy bow P 3. Kang Hayoon 27 cravat cutie U 4. Lim Sanghyun 25 purple cardigan S Kim Seongjeong 25 leaping lizard S Taewoo 25 black shirt U Jung Soomin 25 Chicago S 8. Sunyoul 24 Up10tion U 9. Kwon Euibin 24 beige cardigan U 10. Jay Chang 23 Boys Planet S 11. Jeong Inseong 22 from KNK A Hwang Inhyuk 22 light red sweater A Yeo One 22 Pentagon A 14. Hong Sungwon 21 Desperado U Bitsaeon 21 M.O.N.T A 16. Kim Seohyung 18 light blue shirt U Donghun 18 A.C.E. (Detective) S Jo Hwan-ji 18 uniform/Pixar P 19. Ji Yeon-woo 17 suspenders A 20. Seokhwa 15 WEi S 21. Choi Haram 14 introverted Haram P Jeon Woong 14 AB6IX U Lee Hwanhee 14 Boys Planet/UP10tion U 24. Jeong Yunseo 13 red and black leather A Wumuti 13 Boys Planet U Park Joohee 13 white jacket S Yoon Inhwan 13 drank all that milk P Hong Seongjun 13 white jacket / BDC A Neon 13 green sweater U Kim Minseo 13 Rolling in the Deep P 31. Taehwan 12 Vanner A Ma Jaekyung 12 Romeo S 33. Lee Minwook 11 Newkidd/ vest lover S Geonu 11 Just B /pink hair A Choi Suhwan 11 Energetic A 36. Hyukjin 10 red suit P 37. Bain 9 orange-red hair S 38. Seunghun 7 anxious from CIX A Lim Junhyuk 7 former Day 6 P 40. Jang Intae 5 Missing You A

I can’t understand how on earth Kim Minseo was rated so low. I also think that Lee Minwook and Bain were much lower than they should have been. The fact that Yoon Inhwan ranked as high as he did is surprising to me -- for me, it was one of the worst performances of the teasers. I guess the guys and I have different taste in singers.

After the reveal of the rankings, we hear from a few of the guys about how they felt. We hear from Lim Junhyuk and Seunghun about how they feel about being ranked so low, but we don't hear from Intae, despite him coming in last. Ah, MNET. I didn't even have time to miss you.

Dahee announces the next mission: The “Prefour” mission. Bain says, in English, “What’s that?” (He’s sitting next to Jay and using it as an opportunity to practice his English.) It’s where they make groups of four and perform one of these songs.

And you’re sitting there saying to yourself “TOMBOY AGAIN?!” but no, it’s a different Tomboy.

The songs are:

Breath by Park Hyo Shin

Something Like That by Park Hwayobi

Beautiful by Crush

Delcalcomanie by Mamamoo

다시 사랑한다 말할까 (Shall I Love You Again?) by Kim Dong Ryul

Ditto by New Jeans

Don't Go, Don't Go by Brown Eyes

If You by Big Bang

Tomboy by Hyukoh, a huge hit from 2017

Every Moment of You by Sung Sikyung

It’s is a good reminder that for Koreans living in Korea, kpop is just part of their musical sphere of influence, along with ballads, trot, and other genres. Often enough on Korean top 40s you’ll see very popular ballads, mixed in with the kpop. I think some Western listeners also like some ballads, but I think most of us aren't as interested in them, so we can easily forget how important they are in Korea.

To be clear, I differentiate between a song that is slow and an actual k-ballad. I just don't like 99% of k-ballads. The arrangements are usually straightforward and they’re played on vibraphones with cheesy percussion. Also, the style of singing is just not my favorite. and are always delivered in the most overwrought singing style ever, with way too much vibrato. It can border on operettic but a lot more nasal. I am not saying, for example, that the singing in the original of “Shall I Love You Again?” linked above is bad. I just saying that it’s really not to my taste. But meanwhile, if you watch the clip, the audience is so into it. They’re like, in tears. So who am I to say that it's bad? This is a genre of music that just isn't for me. I will have to do my best going through this show.

Anyway, everyone’s a bit intimidated by the songs, many of which seme to be well respected classics. Detective Donghun from A.C.E. wonders out loud who would be able to sing Ditto because it has so much English in it. That must be a real issue for idols these days. Ditto is at least 50%, maybe 60%, English.

Speaking of English, my love Bain is speaking it still. When the guys find out that they get to pick the songs they want to do based on the ranking they got in the first round, Bain says, in English: “I wanna go home!”.

Dahee explains that though the song is a group challenge, they’ll be evaluated individually. A “top tier” contestant will be chosen from each group and will get a benefit. The lower ranked trainees are spurred to promise to try even harder.

We see a super brief clip of the guys running in all directions to choose the song they want -- I’m assuming we’ll see more of this later -- before we jump to… some time later.

And we'll pick up there in the next post, when we'll actually cover some of the performances! Thanks for your patience and I'll see you soon.

XOXO BPR Noona

#build up #mnet build up #bpr recaps build up #up10tion #a.c.e.#m.o.n.t.#vanner

9 notes · View notes

biffhofosho · 8 months

Text

RE: Neo Seoul Update

Hey, babe, rather than just answer in the comments, I figured I'd share it here since I have a few people who probably have the same question.

The short answer, @sandiegokpop, is haha, um, no, nothing definite... 🙃 LOL SORRY I AM FAIL.

The longer answer is "kind of"??? By the end of the year for SURE.

So, here's the deal. I made some mistakes when I first published Neo Seoul that I typically don't allow myself to make, but my muse, at the time, got cocky. She thought that because it was all planned in my brain already that it would be easy to get from A to B since it was only four oneshots. She was wrong. >.<

Typically what I do is write the entirety of a novel/multichap before I publish, which is why I can afford to do the weekly updates (PTT took 8 months to write before I even published the first chapter, and STS took over a year). I did not do that with Neo Seoul, hence all your suffering, I'm so sorry. 🤦‍♀️

Also, I am usually writing a half dozen things simultaneously so the muse stays entertained and does not leave me. I did a word count tally a few weeks ago, and I'm at well over 650k of MX smut... WTF IS WRONG WITH ME LOL. 🥴

So as I finish up the final installment for NS, I promise to keep entertaining you. I have a mammoth HW oneshot due out in the next couple of days, several October oneshots that I'm pushing for my spoopy series again this year, a Ki xmas exes-to-lovers fic, and a Kyun multichap and a HW multichap that we won't see until next year no doubt (plus, several other pretty far-along pieces that haven't even been discussed and could drop at any point the muse sees fit).

Like a real ding dong, I took that writing hiatus for a couple of months, and it super duper set me back in my scheduling. >.< It's never the plots that take me so long to write so much as it is the smut itself. I try my absolute best to make each experience feel fresh and unique to the characters, but that takes soooooooooooo much time omfg. I never want to bore y'all! I like to be different as much as I just like to explore because I want to have a little something for everyone.

Your interactions help me trust that I'm achieving my goals, so thank you for always checking in. Just know that I

ABSOLUTELY

POSITIVELY

WILL NOT

leave you hanging with Neo Seoul. There shall be no abandoned works on this blog.

There's no way I can cope with the enlistments without copious amounts of storytelling. I write almost every day since it helps me feel connected to them (and also, I'm a dope and a sap and a true delulu).

So I'm sorry I can't get it to you the way I usually do , but I will continue to work my absolute hardest to bring you something engaging and innovative and satisfying (and, hopefully, hot af, let's be real).

(Told you this was the long answer haha)

#neo seoul series #writing talk #writing process #upcoming fic #asked and answered #gee thanks

12 notes · View notes

foxgirlbeans · 1 month

Text

A Ninja's Guide to Eorzea, Part 3: Level 50 dungeons

part 1 | part 2

As we maintain our meander midst the microcosm of much-maligned mystic masking, we must meet the meat of the main game- the level 50 dungeons. coming into this, I assumed that since this was the endgame for quite a while, sneaking through enemies wouldn't fly here. while that is true for some dungeons, others were pleasantly perceptive to our plight.

that being said there are a lot of these things to get through, so forgive me for the lightning round.

DNF -Castrum Meridianum, the Praetorium, and the Lost City of Amdapor

the first two I'm simply not doing because I'm not sitting through an hour of cutscenes to double-check my assumption. they're almost certainly Ds though, the former practically forces you to fight every pull separately, the latter's a glorified boss rush. Amdapor, on the other hand was annoying. while I'm certain it will get a higher rating later, right now I simply can't kill the first boss with my ninja. I've gotten it to 1% multiple times too, it's very frustrating! I'll come back to that one after another level.

F -Amdapor Keep

everything and its mother can see through Hide here, and they can do it with 360 degree vision- that means it's actually harder to sneak past certain enemies with Hide than without it!

D- -Pharos Sirius

it's no worse than any other Ds, but I'm giving it its own rating bc it feels like you should be able to sneak in certain areas if only random crap being thrown at you didn't get in the way. very annoying dungeon. at least you can sneak between the third and fourth bosses.

D -Brayflox's Longstop, Halatali (Hard), Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard), Stone Keep (Hard)

nothing special about any of these, you just can't sneak worth a darn in 'em.

C- -Haukke Manor

it's mostly unsneakable, but there are a few sections you can wiggle your way through. wiping the floor with Halicarnassus is very cathartic after all the trouble it gave me in my zodiac book runs though.

B -Hullbreaker Isle

despite almost every objective involving fighting random enemies, you can pretty easily sneak past everything you aren't picking a fight with. again, definitely more rogue than ninja, but fun nonetheless.

B -Copperbell Mines (Hard)

I just had to give this dungeon its own section because *chefs kiss* what a glowup from the original. the spriggans throwing fire at you can't be avoided, but surprisingly the giant ambush can be if you break through the rock fast enough. I'm sure I'm inflating the score here purely based on how rough the original dungeon was, but it just felt good to get through this time around.

It actually took so long to get this part out I've finished the zodiac daggers and started working on the Anima relic, so I'll cover the level 50 dungeons needed for that (and the start of the HW dungeons) in part 4!

#ffxiv #final fantasy 14 #ff14 #final fantasy xiv #ninja #final fantasy #ffxiv ninja

3 notes · View notes

gillianthecat · 1 year

Text

It's over! This chemistry final is done! And, by extension, this whole damn class!!!

I put down an answer for every question, some I was confident in, others less so, but every answer was at least plausible.

So it's theoretically possible for me too have gotten 100% on this, but unfortunately even so I don't think I can get an A in the class overall. But I feel pretty confident that I got enough to keep my grade at a B, which is where it currently is.

I'm a little frustrated with myself about that (If I'd just turned in those two labs on time to get graded! If I'd just shown up for that quiz I'd missed! If I'd just turned in more of the HW!) but mostly I'm thrilled I finished the semester at all.

I started taking this chemistry class in Fall 2020. Four attempts and almost three years later, I finally made it through.

The content itself was challenging but doable, and all the professors were excellent, it's just that for the last three times halfway or three-quarters of the way through my brain balked and I could not force myself to keep doing the work.

But this time I did!

#gillianthecat goes back to school #living with adhd #the boring minutia of my gpa #chemistry #tw flashing

13 notes · View notes

twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat · 21 days

Note

ARIIIIIII LOOK WHAT I GOT IN THE MAIL 2DAYYYYYY my cutie patootie baby BOYYYY !!!!!! [suguru will b coming . in the future . maybe] i also made a prison box in my ceramics class JUST 4 him so im gonna put him in there when its finished firing :3 [also peep my cd player ,,, that has a bunch of stickers of satoru n suguru that my friend printed out 4 me on it el oh el]

ANYWAY . hai !!! hows ur day been so far ? mine was pretty great cuz i saw the solar eclipse ^_^ [RAHHHH U ! S ! A ! U ! S ! A !] and i was also able 2 finish most of my work in class which means no hw !!!!!!!!!!! yayyyyy :D

ASHLEYYYYY HOW DARE YOU 😭😭😭😭😭😭 breaking into my inbox just to make me jealous…… smh……………

I’M JUST KIDDING EEEEEEEE HE’S THE CUTEST 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 the cutest little guy!!!!!! he’s like a kitten…… doesn’t even bite………….. hhh i rlly am so jealous though . my go-to anime store has both him n sugu but i think they’re sold out T_T i neeeeed to have the sugu look up . (also his adult version but that one is CONSTANTLY sold out lmao wifey is in high demand </3) ALSO . you’re so cool. WDYMMM YOU MADE A WHOLE PRISON REALM IN CERAMICS CLASS….. i’m in awe of you. i do think you’re a little evil for that but . i think we can let it slide 🙏 box the little cutie patootie !!

anyway HAIIIII right back at you !!!!!! i’m doign well!!!! gonna go to a uni essay writing workshop later which is Kinda Scary but also fun :3 n then i’m gonna try catching up on my tbr…… we’ll see how it goes (i’m super excited hehe) ANDDD i’m so glad your day was great!!! and that you finished homework!!!!! i’m patting you on the back so lovingly. but gasp…… the solar eclipse 😔😔 i’m so jealous . i hope it was cool !!!!!!

#also the fmab poster….. i knw i could trust you 🙏#THE STICKERS R VERY CUTE!!!#no but i was fuming w jealousy when i saw this i fear 💔💔💔 my brother has three look up figures and i have . zero #I ALWAYS FORGET TO BUY THEM WHEN THEY’RE AVAILABLE :((((#sniffle i want adult gojo and geto and teen sugu. need them all #i thinkkkkk it’s super late for you rn ashley so. sweet dreams!!!! i hope you get lots of rest <33 #pls kiss toru from me :((#ask tag ✩#ashley !! ✩

5 notes · View notes

zwei-rhunen · 8 months

Text

I JUST CLEARED SEPHIROT EXTREME WTF

>be me, it's like 10pm, i'm on BLU, i saw a party in PF earlier doing a spell run, I've never done that before. I've only used PF like twice lol. I wonder if it's still up?

>it's not still up, ah well. but i still see a listing for Sephirot EX that i saw like 30 min ago - a someone requesting help to clear for their friend and there's like 4-5 roles filled already

>well. i like sephirot hard. i dont remember sephirot extreme. i probably cleared it once with @lucia-dartancours a long ass time ago, maybe. sounds like fun tho i'd like to help out. i'll probably remember some of it during the middle of the fight or smth.

>join, be upfront that i'm "not experienced with this one" and i'll drop if needed. im told its all good and we'll figure it out, cool!

>duty begins, and i get.... the cutscene???? huh??????

>oh. suddenly, a shadow of the past echoes in my ear. flashbacks flit across my mind's eye as i recall asking @lucia-dartancours to do sephirot EX with me, but we cannot, bc alas, it is one of the few that is difficult to solo and may require a party.

>ohfuck.jpeg i am about to act very clueless in front of strangers

>"i'M nOt VeRy ExPeRieNcEd-" hi sorry guys, by that i mean it as in i havent seen this AT ALL EVER IN MY LIFE LMFAO OOPS

>sweating.gif

>okay i've seen exactly ONE video and that was when @ was soloing it on WAR, and i probably had just finished HW, and knew fuck-all about trials. except that it was cool and flashy and looked fun and maybe someday i'd do it, when i got past all this dang MSQ.

>welp i guess it's "someday".

>get full party, do fight, our first ever attempt goes REALLY well. we managed to clear the first phase and wiped at maybe the second towers/right after the first towers? something like that.

>i have no idea what i'm doing and ngl i'm surviving off of sheer beginner's luck up until the very end of this first attempt lmao. idk how i managed to survive that long.

>... and i did not manage to recreate that again, up until the tail-end of that two hour time-frame.

>we try again a few more times, then the markers get broken out to divide the group up into 2 parties

>LMAO'ing because me and the other first-timer get the kindergarten shapes... xDDD

> the mentors/experienced people lay out the plan

>i understand half of what theyre saying, but i keep the mantra "green=hug, orange=spread out"

>idk what colors mean when they refer to that but i'll figure it out/i think it's similar to zurvan with the hot/ice debuff mechanic (i later figure out this is exactly what that is)

>tbh, at first that "color" meant the tether color. but now i think you get that tether if you stand close to Sephirot, regardless of your debuff color. And im MNK, so at first i thought i was always orange b/c the tether color is orange, and i was always getting that tether b/c i'm always up close as MNK. but color refers to debuffs, i figured it out.

>not me sounding like a lunatic everytime we get to the debuff phase, muttering "okokokokok, orange is run, orange is run"

we keep wiping in the first phase, but slowly learn and adapt and improvise and overcome our way to the second phase before the duty timer runs out.

lol

>it is 11pm. someone mentions they can stay on until the next duty runout, i'm like same (bc it's 11pm lol). one of the healers switches to SMN for shields, tank offers to do a discord call to do calls, no one takes the offer, so we continue on-wards

>about midway into the second duty attempt, i finally understand what people mean when they say "stack in front of green bubble for the flash to bait the (whatever you call it), and then spread out", bc i started noticing the flash, and at one point i had died early and was able to kinda notice what ppl were doing, plus short snippets from @'s video from 500 years ago are coming back to me and i'm starting to remember this part of the video)

>so i finally stop dying at that part (i always kept getting wiped out by his flash attack bc i kept forgetting that it takes up the entire side of the arena T_T)

>i keep dying at the 2nd phase, when he does the flash and then the first middle knockback fist, and im like how tf does everyone else keep surviving. oh, is it arm's length? and someone replies about positioning and i'm looking at the screen like "okay 1-130, i'll just stare hard at everyone else and follow them" b/c up until that point i was focusing hard about the debuffs and trying to make sure i was in the correct zone lmao

>AT SOME POINT, i dont die + the stars align for everything else + we have just enough people constantly alive and suddenly we survive phase two and we're blowing past the fist slidey part and now we're killing the air add and there's a flurry of pings going off in chat from the tank and now we're in the stack and the fist is going across the floor and THANK GOD the third phase is mostly a repeat of the second phase and LB3 gets hit and we trim off the last few HP on his bar and ITS OVER WE'RE DONE OH MY GOD.

15 minutes left to spare T-T we got out at 12:15am lol but shoutout to the person who stayed up till 1am to see this through

a few things:

> green debuffers are supposed to "pass the tether" to the orange debuffers. i still have no clue how to do that. I thought it'd be like, we run to them. but the green bubbles are always in the way, and i never saw people touch each other. so i have no clue how we pass on the tethers lmao

>tanks also take both towers in the second tower phase. but also, people with orange debuff must take towers? i am still confused on that part. I'll probably watch a video later.

that was really fun!

but also

i think i'm going to stay far the fuck away from PF extremes for a bit lmfao

#screaming #zwei writes #my eyes and feet hurt bc i've been standing the whole time and my left knee hurts bc i've been leaning too much to one side lmao

2 notes · View notes