#but like 2020 is the year for fucking music bro!!!!!

[homunculus-argument]

25-year-old dudes in 2020s: [doing shit like making tiktok-videos of themselves climbing on the roof to party, chugging beers and blasting music with their bros, while making jokes about anime tiddies] someone in the comments: This younger generation is so childish and immature, Back In My Day people were already settled down and married with kids at that age! >:C 25-year-old dudes in the 70s: [doing shit like climbing on the roof to chug beers and shoot random passing pigeons as target practice, while his wife is standing on the yard telling him to get the fuck down from there and their three kids are running around trying to decide whether this is hilarious or deeply emotionally traumatising]

[pompompuriina]

Who are your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters each from Jujutsu Kaisen and Fairy Tail? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments each from both series? Thx :D

yippeee thank you for the askkk :3 here's my top 5 from jjk:

1. okkotsu yuta, fell in love tbh like i was reading the manga and watching season one in 2020 so when yuta was revealed in s1 (v briefly) i got interested and picked the manga up and ooh la la 😻😻 15 year old me was so captivated by this guy like wdym he's super strong, handsome and also an absolute gentleman??? he's literally my bf please 😕💔 i have a type and i'm not ashamed (dudes that are nervous and shy and look like absolute losers but could actually wreck your shit yes sir)

2. nanami kento; bro IS HIM HE GETS ALL THE BITCHES 😤😤 he's lit a gentleman, makes good money, strong AND he's got great looks???? mans cured my daddy issues INSTANTLY, and in season two??? i was going absolutely FERAL oh nooo season two nanami save me season two nanamiiiii

3. geto suguru, are you noticing a pattern here have you seem this guy, like bro was still him even after he defected wdymmm his high school persona is what got me tho 🤭 i can see why he was more popular than gojo, i like adult geto just as much thou because oh my ghee i need that hair routine

4. zen'in mai AND maki, listen bro, i fucking LOVE LOVE LOVEEEE THE SISTERS. idc. i'll stay defending mai, y'all just don't get her like i do y'all domt get her like iiii doooooo 😫😫 i may be a little more biased towards mai because liek i relate to her sm on a different level but hey, sisters. love those two. lit me.

5. mahoraga. i will not elaborate. all ima say rn is: hear me out.

for fairy tail here's my top five and why i love them sm :3

1. erza scarlet, queen is SLAYING. girl's power is literally to serve absolute cunt while beating the living shit out of you??? what's NOT to love about erza? she rightfully has the title as the fairy queen 🤭

2. lucy heartfilia, tbh she's up there because i wanted to spite the immature little boys in the fandom that hated lucy because she was "weak" (bffr my queen is NOT weak) but i actually grew to like her character a lot because lucy has shown herself to have amazing character development, like you go girl

3. jellal/mystogan, listen man i'm an absolute sucker for this guy, he has me on a chokehold 😞 "it was the color of your hair" sir please, sir PLEASEEEE NOTICE ME I HAVE RED HAIR (my hair is pink) (that's it, that's the reason he's so handsome)

4. zeref. ZEREF IS SO UNDErLOVED. when i said i liked guys who looked absolutely pathetic and look like losers i was NOT joking 💀 bro looks like he listens to pierce the veil or panic at the disco (their old music) and vent to the sadder songs but would absolutely fucking destroy you in one touch 😭

5. ok this is controversial...but acnologia. listen. listen. his human form?? just like mahoraga. hear me out. i will not elaborate.

i don't really have a top five moments from either show, unfortunately :( both are equally amazing to me and there's just too many scenes to pick from, i'd be writing an essay 😭 if i had to choose from one thou, from fairy tail is when natsu sees erza crying and absolutely loses it and jjk is actually in the intro of the first season, where itadori is recording everyone it's just so sweet :( the calm before the storm

#juju's.thoughts 💭 #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk yuuta #juju's love.letters 💌 #juju's.nonnies 💛 #yuta okkotsu #lucy heartfilia #fairy tail #crossover #cursed.talk👻 #fairy.talk👆 #erza scarlet #nanami kento #geto suguru #mai zenin #maki zenin #mahoraga #jellal fernandes #mystogan #zeref dragneel #acnologia #listen just hear me out #PLEASE PLEASEEEE HEAR ME OUT #hear me out #anime and manga

[icanseethefuture333]

Hello can u general reading on shawn mendes. He last released an album 2020 and canceled his tour in last year. There is much speculation about him joining a cult. There are also rumors that he met his new gf there. But I think they broke up now. Anyway, I hope you can read it because that boy's music had crazy numbers.

A reading on what happened to Shawn Mendes' "it boy" staus + the future of his career

The events leading up to his popularity decreasing

So I don't believe it had anything to do with him being in a cult. I heard "looking in the wrong places" so that could mean pertaining to love or overall opportunities for money. Shawn had a lot of potential for international stardom but his choices were very poor and thus his level of fame plummeted. Past controversies that happened on his youth affected his popularity as well (problematic behavior). His audience did not hesitate to move on after these controvervies came to the surface because they did not find Shawn to be anyone of significance yet (meaning he was not like Justin Bieber when it came to superstar status). He could have felt stuck dating someone during this time? Perhaps Camila Cabello with this Queen of Wands. People saw them for who they truly were and did not find them to be a couple that was likeable in anyway. Shawn could have went through depression during this time as well. It took a lot of his confidence away being in the relationship + being exposed for problematic behavior ("what you see is what you get").

The future of his career, will Shawn become popular again?

Lmfao bro is pretty much fucked 😭. This is a mess. So I feel like Shawn will try to work with younger artists or artists that are currently trending to regain his popularity because his popularity was technically almost over half a decade ago. He might even try to resolve things with his previous fans and be like "you know what? you guys were right I was wrong for what I did" and try to come up with a solution. His fans could feel left out in the cold basically and won't be as interested / have a hard time believing Shawn's statement. Shawn could actually go through a period where he is struggling financially. Most of the artists he will try to work with their fans will not support it or say they don't want them to work with him. If Shawn wants to be successful he needs to become an independent artist. He can't act fake about it or else people will dislike him even more. Shawn also can't hop onto other people's success to regain his own popularity. That's not how it works and it will continue to drag himself down. I see that if he has the courage to become an independent artist and come up with a new concept, he could have the potential to attract a new fanbase + a younger audience.

#shawn mendes #celebrity readings #tarot #tarot readings

[scrunkore]

Scrunkore Media "Thread" 2023: Part 6

the scrunko core has burned out, rebooting

63) Cassette Beasts (PC, 2023)

This is a really cool monster tamer RPG, it came up with a really fun type interaction system and there are are excellent designs in it especially with the eldritch-style bosses, that's super fun. Big fan of the setting and its unique vibe too, if you've played the game you'll know what I mean about that. Great indie I enjoyed my time with, though the romance feels tacked on and I thought the ending was just Fine. [4★]

64) Doctor Who, Series 6-10 (TV, 2011-2017)

Moffat's entire tenure with the greatest TV show in Britain, knocked out within the year, and honestly I think it was quite good. Plenty of flaws, like his messy ambitions, how weird he is about women sometimes, and how some episodes just genuinely fucking suck, but you get that with every era of the show really. The highs are damn high, especially with Capaldi's Doctor in episodes like Heaven Sent and The Doctor Falls, and I think that's enough to outweigh the bad. And I feel like series 10 in particular is often overlooked more than it should be, pretty strong one that is. No rating, but I love Doctor Who when it's good.

65) Mad Rat Dead (Switch, 2020)

MAD RAT MONDAY!!!! I played this game because of the soundtrack, which totally bangs and of course you need that in a rhythm game like this one. Fun one it is too, it has options to make it less challenging and the story is unexpectedly pretty cool. I'm not very good at it, but I beat it and I had a fun time doing so. Rats rule. [4★]

66) Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins (Switch, 2021)

This is apparently the only good Doctor Who game still officially playable, and yeah, I can see it. Immersing yourself in a mystery contained within a smartphone featuring an iconic monster and fun appearances from existing characters is pretty cool, though it can be kinda janky and there's not that much to it in the end. Certainly an alright experience though. [3★]

67) F-Zero 99 (Switch, 2023)

My only experience with F-Zero so far, the surprise announcement that jumpscared fans of the series before turning out to be a battle royale type game that's actually... kinda good? Chaotic fun with decently engaging gameplay, it's something you pick up and play for a bit before doing something else but don't play for hours once the honeymoon phase wears off. Sure helps add something to NSO, sure hope it doesn't get taken down in a year. [3.5★]

68) Sonic Superstars (PC, 2023)

A good new Sonic game! From Sonic Team! The series really has been popping off lately, and though some people complained about this one, I genuinely think it stands at least close to the classic titles it's following up from. Levels are fun and creative with the only real bullshit being in the optional postgame (which does kind of suck if you're not good), and though the soundtrack has plenty of duds it's still pretty decent overall. Cool cast of playable characters too, and it's great seeing Fang come back, with the new character Trip also being a fun addition. I don't think this is peak Sonic, but for me it was a good time that I enjoyed for the most part. [4★]

69) Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch, 2023)

Oh 2D Mario is so fucking back, this takes the formula that the "New" series was running with and gives it a super aggressive shake-up and an injection of creativity that it really needed. It has a really nice visual look, actually cool level design that is great to run through, fun powers, and a large roster of playable characters including Daisy finally. Not to mention it sounds good, the music is a great important part of it and the talking flowers in every level are honestly just fun. One of the best platformers on Switch right now, I like it more than Odyssey honestly. [5★]

70) Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon (Movie, 2019)

Bit of a silly watch this was, but in all honesty I'll always be a fan of Aardman's work and this is a pretty fun movie that all ages can enjoy whether they like Shaun the Sheep or not. It's animated as well as you'd expect, does some cute stuff, and honestly I kinda like the music in it too. Just a funny little adventure with that silly sheep and his weird cute alien friend. [3.5★]

71) Suika Game (Switch, 2023)

Suika Game.

72) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass (Switch DLC, 2022-2023)

Dropping a two-year DLC that doubles the track list and adds a bunch of new characters and balance updates to a Mario Kart game we thought was over was a fucking wild thing to do, but Nintendo did it and honestly it worked out quite well. Sure, it's clearly all Tour ports and a lot of them don't look too hot, but for the sheer quantity of it I don't think I can complain too much. They even chose pretty good tracks for the most part, with only a few favourites being left out that I can only assume will be remade in the next game and therefore end up better than ever. I think the game is actually done now, and I think it's probably the best Mario Kart at this point. Not bad at all. [4★]

73) PLUTO (Anime, 2023)

An anime that took ages to get made, and it shows all the polish that much time of production should have you expect (perhaps too much polish with all those unnecessary digital effects). It's a pretty complete adaptation of a much-praised manga about war, robots and consciousness, some strong science fiction with quite good writing based on an old arc from Tezuka's Astro Boy manga. It's pretty tragic how things turn out for most of the characters, but it's so good how it goes about things, and I think it was worth the wait. One of the best Netflix-distributed anime, I'd say. [4.5★]

74) Super Mario RPG (Switch, 2023)

Geno fans have not shut up for years, so how does his game hold up now that it's been polished up into HD? Not bad, honestly. It's a solid RPG experience with simple yet engaging battle gameplay that laid the foundations for other Mario RPG titles to come, and now it's all shiny and stuff. It's a fun journey through a whimsical Mario setting with the quirks you'd come to expect, apparently a pretty faithful remake with only a few new additions and script edits that it sort of needed. I don't think this game is really that special in 2023, but I liked it plenty. Funny that Geno is barely a character though. [4★]

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#scrunkore media 2023 #mario #pluto anime #sth #suika game #shaun the sheep #f-zero #doctor who #mad rat dead #cassette beasts

[lululawrence]

Back after two years, what have I missed? Is there a master list? I’m having trouble trying to figure out what’s been happening with Harry and Lou. Agh!

oh friend lmaooooo i don't know of a masterpost or anything that exists for the past two years. i don't know of anything that even summarizes the past few MONTHS lollll phew... okay listen. i'm gonna try to summarize and like... gloss over a lot of stuff while still pointing out the important stuff, but i will inevitably miss things so please don't think this is like the end all hahaha

okay. this gets long, so almost all of it is below the cut for obvious reasons. here goes!

2020

January • walls promo continues and ramps up • walls is released

February-March • louis continues to do promo leading up to tour starting • harry performs at the brits • harry films a couple music videos • falling is released as a single • louis gets to do the first two shows on his tour (madrid and barcelona) before tour shuts down

April-June • both lay pretty low outside of the sourdough bros (or something like that? i honestly missed this when it happened lol) and louis tweeting about people keeping safe • watermelon sugar is released and almost immediately begins to take over the world thanks to tiktok lol • we learn from interviews that harry got "stuck" in la during lockdown • we see louis and harry for the first time in photos of them attending BLM protest marches in la and london respectively

July-Octoberish • 1d 10 year anniversary comes and goes with... pretty much zero fanfare other than some spotify playlists lol • louis is seen in london with jeremy joseph who does his merch appaz (and who has a twin who just HAPPENS to head universal music uk lmao the confusion was large and funny), which i'm mainly mentioning because it was our first glimpse of him with long hair and it was glorious. lol listen it was a rough time, okay? we got our highlights where we could lol • louis announces he's leaving syco and it seems the entire industry who has ever had any contact with louis before celebrates (i'm not kidding, the sheer number of tweets were insane) • harry drives to italy with a full on 80s style mustache. yes that's big enough for me to include in this, thank you lol • harry films the music video for golden and gets papped a lot while there • things go back to being pretty quiet outside of the odd tweet here and there as well as the odd sighting of them in various places • rumors start surfacing about harry acting in a couple of movies, one a film with florence pugh and chris pine directed by olivia wilde and the other a film about a closeted gay policeman... i'm sure you know where this is going lol • i think golden was released as a single in here somewhere as well but i don't remember the exact timing lol

November-December • filming for dwd starts somewhere around this time • as to rumors about olivia and harry... and this is about all i'll say about this other than big happenings lol • louis announces his livestream and who all the proceeds of the merch and the livestream will benefit • he cuts his gorgeous long hair before the livestream, which was very rude, but it was still longer so i won't complain too much • his livestream ends up being the most streamed male solo concert up to that point, he might still hold this record? i haven't kept up on that tbh

2021

January-March • harry releases tpwk as a single with an excellent music video featuring phoebe waller-bridge • filming continues for harry and things do wrap up for dwd • harry opens the fucking GRAMMYS and then WINS ONE, all while donning the most fabulous boas known to man • we continue to get random sightings of both of them in various public spaces, with masks sometimes being worn. sigh. • louis starts with his cryptic 369 and faith in the future tweets

April-July • louis starts really ramping up his social media usage compared to what it had been • he is also seen traveling quite a bit with the most GLORIOUS long hair *cries in long hair louis* that said, we were really wanting to know what he was doing because he had charlie lightening following him everywhere • harry also started filming my policeman and the on set photos were *chef's kiss* • rumors have been heard off and on about harry possibly doing a marvel film and started around the same time as the rumors about dwd, but they really start picking up again around this time and everything points to the eternals • louis is seen EVERYWHERE enjoying the euros as well as nizam's wedding celebrations and he let his long hair flow in the wind and it's just so wonderful • he also did a fun video to help with marcus rashford's charity to help feed kids in the uk and teach them how to cook... louis is even more disastrous than i thought he would be lol • harry and olivia have that super private yacht time in italy making everyone rue the day yachts were invented for the gazillionth time in this fandom • louis also announces he is putting on a festival! the away from home festival with bilk and the snuts and it's free and entirely organized by him and it's a lottery system and i still cannot believe how amazing he is? • harry announces he will be keeping his dates in the us for the fall and calls it love on tour 2021

August-December • the festival has a livestream associated with it as well as a documentary all about louis coming up with the idea, organizing it, planning it, prepping for it, etc • we learn the eternals thing is legit and the photos start coming in proving he did this back in december 2019 and we didn't have a clue?? some secrets can be kept apparently lol • harry is seen outside a studio with mitch... recording hs3?? lol • harry kicks off tour in the us and teases us the entire time, only playing tbsl at the second night in the same city and medicine only for even MORE special shows lol • harry blows our minds at harryween, coming out dressed as dorothrry and a clown, proving to us once again he loves to leave us hints and clues we will never learn about until sometimes months later • i should mention that he gets increasingly saucy during tour and mentions edging? repeatedly? lol just a side note • louis talks about writing and being so excited for tour, but it still doesn't feel like it will really happen this time • louis turns 30!!! • harry announces love on tour 2022, at least in part

2022

January-February • louis preps and posts about being so hyped for tour and it is actually happening after TWO YEARS • louis' tour kicks off in the us and it somehow becomes a pride on tour, it's just incredible • rumors had been going about a single from harry in the first quarter, but nothing had really picked up or pointed to that as of yet, so we were just kinda... waiting to see what might happen

March-now • louis' tour continues, finishing up in the us and moving to europe • this weird account on twitter and instagram pops up called simply you are home, and these weird ads pointing to an empty website begin to pop up in various papers and magazines worldwide... i'm assuming you know what has happened since then lol • but the thing is, louis was already going hard with the larry shit on tour, but he goes CRAZY with the coincidences that just happen to keep pointing to or parallels harry/harry's music promo • and then harry seems to almost respond in kind, and it becomes a weird back and forth that we're still watching play out and it's kinda disgusting tbh lmao • harry announces he's headlining coachella!!! and later it's also announced he'll be performing at big weekend (radio 1) and the summertime ball (capital fm) as well • louis is also announced to be performing at a good handful of festivals around europe this summer as well! • louis BREAKS HIS FUCKING ELBOW doing sprints with his band after a show lmao

and honestly i'm gonna just stop there, because i feel like everything else from the past couple weeks is just... a lot but also easy to find the info about lmao

and that is what you missed on glee. hahaha

#summary #two fucking years man omg #you'd think with the world being in a pandemic there would be a much shorter list contained in here and YET #please know i'm the worst person to ask for massive things like this #i probably missed so many big and important things #and instead focused on hair updates lmao #you clearly see what i prioritized #asks #anonymous #i'm nervous to post this why #ugh anyway #here ya go i'm posting it before i can doubt myself and my horrible memory even more

[quaddmgd]

Happy Birthday, Crystal

So today (August 25th) marks one year since I started playing Cyberpunk 2077 and created Crystal. A year is a really long time for me to still play the same singleplayer game with no subsequent playthroughs. Things like that don't happen often, and Crystal means a world to me, so why not ramble for a bit about my memories, feelings towards the game and other stuff. Keep in mind, it's nothing more than a journal entry. Unless you know me a bit better than a typical mutual, you won't find anything of value here.

[VERY LONG POST AHEAD]

Long time ago...

I was really hyped about the game before its release in December 2020, my s/o even more than me. There were some signs that it's going to turn out disappointing, but we were keeping our hopes up. Alas, came the release date, the game hit headlines due to it's poor technical state and some broken promises. We were very upset, especially since all we had to play it on was Xbox One and low-spec by today's standards PCs. First updates showed that CDPR has much more to fix than we expected, so our hype has slowly died down.

Since then, I played through Cruelty Squad, Red Dead Redemption 2, multiple Yakuza, Devil May Cry and Resident Evil games, and I couldn't care less about the game at the start of 2022.

Why I got the game?

I only purchased Cyberpunk 2077 in May-June 2022, along with Kao The Kangaroo (2022) which, to be honest, was the main attraction for me. Both games were physical Xbox releases and I only was hyped to play Cyberpunk thanks my to lil bro, who has finished the game twice, and showed me this trailer with a beautiful cover of Never Fade Away - a song very in-line with my music taste.

Speaking as a seasoned video editor, the trailer was masterfully realized, with multiple great cuts showing off the diverse cast and some of the action. Editing, music and the scenes they chose made the entire trailer feel more like a tribute video - obviously this was made with love.

Now, I played The Witcher 3, and I knew that this game will require time and dedication from me - something I couldn't afford at the time. And despite hearing about the next gen patch (update 1.5) bringing the game to a state it should've been released in, I remained skeptical about it being good. No offense, but people (especially on Twitter) tend to overreact and talk about stuff they know nothing about. Even with recent title releases, folks just assume the latest patch made them better and fixed important issues. But then you sit with the game and a proper frame rate analysis is enough to prove such reports to be false.

My life in corpo

Before we get to August 2022, I want to provide some more context regarding the state I was in. I was working a piss-poor corpo job, which was gradually eating away my soul for longer than I'd like to admit. It wasn't fulfilling and it was (and probably still is) full of ungrateful pricks, that were coming up with issues to justify their payrolls, only to send QA on us to not detect any issues mentioned. To keep it brief, it was a very hostile work environment, that was treating people like garbage. But hey, at least they were smiling, right?

Come summer 2022, I was feeling like a shell of a human being, and I'm happy that fate decided that it's time for me get out and take care of myself. I'm not sure where would I be right now if I didn't.

So, my time at the job was coming to an end and I couldn't give less of a fuck about looking for another one. I needed some well-deserved vacation. I was supposed to work until August 31st and during these last few days I was trying to take it really easy.

Still the work was going as usual, so despite of having only few days left, my mental and physical state was as shitty as before. After each remaining day I was a walking corpse, drinking coffee at 10pm to squeeze these additional two hours from a day and try to enjoy some of my hobbies before going to sleep and repeating the cycle.

Starting the playthrough

My job is the reason why my memory is hazy on how I decided that it's time to start Cyberpunk 2077, but it's possible that it was my s/o that encouraged me to do it. She surely wanted to see the character creator with her own eyes, and was always interested in me creating OCs - something I wasn't doing often back then.

So, on August 25th 2022, I started playing Cyberpunk 2077, knowing nothing about the lore, with a sole intention of creating my character and seeing what happens. It was already late and my entire evening was sponsored by coffee, but whatever.

Crystal/Valerie/V

I'm not really sure how long it took me to create Crystal, but I spent an ungodly amount of time on perfecting her looks. I wanted her to look badass and beautiful, maybe end up being a cooler version of me. While I don't think I based her off my looks, my partner noticed that we have similar jawlines and hairstyles (well, I'm a natural blonde, which later I consciously reflected on her while creating her flashback version).

Needless to say, I instantly fell in love with her. And I know I wouldn't create a female character I wouldn't wanna date :>, but I really mean it. She was, and still is, simply perfect.

Her name was Crystal since the moment I was adding finishing touches (like makeup and tattoos), but I wasn't planning on giving her a standalone story. She was supposed to be V, with her name later revealed to be Valerie - a name I really like the sound of, and it fits her nicely. Still, in my mind her name was Crystal - and I have no idea why... she just looks like Crystal.

So here I was with my nomad V, ready to play through the prologue and possibly the rest of the game.

Playing through the game

My first evening of playing ended on me visiting Wakako (I don't even remember the reason you are supposed to go there tbh but if you played, you know these are still introductory quests) and photographing the hell out of C. My lesbian ass couldn't even be bothered to change FOV (and back then I couldn't really see the issue with default FOV screenshots - it took me months to adjust my eyes tbh) but she looked so badass. The photo mode, for industry standards, isn't that bad too, so I was really hyped to play the game, meet more people and shoot pics. While I already loved her friendship with Jackie and the way CDPR handled introduction to some of the cast, I wasn't sold on the story yet.

some of pics made on the first night :>

Then on the next day I went through The Heist and Love Like Fire, and learned that my actions as Johnny led to 2023 Night City Holocaust. Everyone who played through these quests know how full of events and emotions they are. It was 3/4am on Friday (technically Saturday) night, mind you, and I still was living mostly off coffee. That's a lot to take in for a tired mind and in some way it might have helped me immerse in Crystal's position even more. After waking up as her, with Jackie dead, and a parasite in my head that actively wants me to join him, I was just as clueless as to what the fuck happened. All I knew was that she/we need to survive. I can't let her/us die.

Let me tell you, waking up in her apartment, to the original version of Never Fade Away on the radio, was one of the most powerful moments in the game. To me, it has become a theme song for the rest of the playthrough. Leaving the apartment after getting some irl sleep was just as powerful.

the first time C left her apartment after Jackie's death and Johnny's flashback

The playthrough was going alright and I was hooked. I don't think there are many things worth talking about here. One thing worth mentioning is that I was starting to feel a strong connection with Crystal - something I've never felt to such an extent in any game. Maybe it's my background in corpo, which was only coming to an end. Or maybe I subconsciously designed her to help me with some of identity issues I had back then. I will never know for sure, but either way, she has helped me. She was exactly who I wanted her to be, who she wanted herself to be and was constantly brave and punk about it. I was feeling a growing mix of immersion and adoration as I progressed through the game.

And progress through the game I did! I finished plenty of gigs/ncpd jobs and all available side quests before starting the last mission chain (or so I thought - in the end I totally missed the vending machine one and the entirety of Kerry's questline lmao). During this time I was put out of misery of working my job, each day feeling more alive than the last, playing more and more hours of Cyberpunk 2077, shooting many pictures, enjoying my time in Night City and being Crystal.

yeah it might be using default fov but it's still one of my favorite shots

Last Tapeworm, Chipping In and dying

To me, Cyberpunk 2077 was at its best when it was focusing on the relationship between V and Johnny. Last part of Tapeworm was a very powerful moment. There's no way I'll ever forget the conversation she had with Johnny in that apartment. Going from a foe that actively eating your life away, to possibly the only person that's ready to sacrifice their life to save yours, Johnny and his redemption arc are some of the biggest highlights of the game.

The conversation was of course followed by a side quest sequence started with Chipping In, with another memorable scene at Johnny's grave. Seeing how far we've come together, how many people we met, how often we were agreeing with each other - it was like talking to a friend who was right by your side for every important event in your life. And to think that only few days ago I was watching him trying to smash her head against the window...

side quests really were the best part of the story

It's hard to say which moment was more impactful, but for me it all clicked just after the Tapeworm cutscene. If I remember it right, I spent a few minutes more in this apartment block, staring away at the sunset, listening to waves breaking Pacifica's silence. Not even sure if I'll manage to save Crystal, I wasn't ready to finish it anytime soon. I still had a lot to do and it took me an additional day to finish everything and start Nocturne OP55N1, but I was looking at the game differently than before.

It might sound dramatic, but I mean it. For the remaining duration of the game, each time I didn't hear any music, it was just silence of a big city dying from heatstroke and sandstorms, echoing conversations with people I met during my journey, and uncertainty, if I'll even make it out alive in the end. Unfortunately, I can't convey it any better, but it has to do with the atmosphere of this city and CDPR's natural talent for creating gray characters, which Cyberpunk 2077 is full of, and last but not least, my connection to Crystal.

Nocturne OP55N1

So the time has come for me to start the last mission sequence and I knew that it might go bad. The moment I was warned that it's a point of no return, I backed out and went for a walk around the city. Don't know if it was scripted, but the weather was overcast and NC was covered in fog. In my experience it's such a rare occurrence, that either I was "lucky" or it was planned. I visited Judy (VCrystal's sweetheart) for the last time, disappointed by the lack of new dialogues to start, and went back to Megabuilding H10 to see a cute heart made out of consumables by her. I went to sleep in my own bed, probably for the last time.

During my last journey to Embers, Major Crimes by Health started playing on the radio, and I got emotional. Not often games make me cry, but I really didn't want Crystal to die, or my journey to end. It really felt like I was saying goodbye to everyone and not going back.

just look at the weather - shot outside of Embers, before starting Nocturne Op55N1

In the end I managed to go through the Embers section just fine, but very stressed. Then, after suffering through heartbreaking moments at Viktor's Clinic, I got to the rooftop.

Now, I'm not really sure how much time I spent there. Seems like an eternity, looking back on it. No choice felt right (and in the end, none was perfect), but I had to choose something. Unable to decide, I did something I really hate doing - I looked up endings to see which one will let me live happily with Judy... or survive at the very least.

While I didn't know it yet, I chose the happiest ending of the bunch. All I knew is that Crystal will be able to leave Night City with Judy - I didn't know that it'll be impossible to remove the chip in Mikoshi and that there's hope of achieving it in Arizona. Yes, I chose The Star ending.

I still was on the edge of my sit and really scared for C, but deep down, I knew that I probably won't get another chance to mess it up.

The ending was bittersweet and I got an instant hangover. I needed some time to come to terms with it, and make peace with me not getting the happy ending. In the end I managed to create a brief scenario where that guy Panam knows somehow manages to remove the chip, and Crystal and Judy got to live happily ever after.

I beat the game on September 4th.

Feelings Feelings Feelings

See, there's a reason I'm talking about the ending and my feelings about it in such detail. I really fell in love with Crystal. After all, it's the first time I got so immersed into a character and I can't put my finger on why exactly.

Maybe it's because it's the prettiest character I have ever created, maybe I just saw parallels in our stories or feelings, maybe I subconsciously made up all the connections in my head. Meh, it's probably a bit of everything, on top of a really good story, even if most of it is hidden in side content.

The thing is, I was in the right place, at the right time and, like I said, it all just clicked.

Back then, I was tired, angry, feeling exploited and robbed of soul. She was there to help me stop thinking about it, get revenge in a way, even if on a fictional corporation, however dumb it might sound. And the more I was thinking about her, dressing her up in cool clothing (bra + edgerunner combo ftw), the more I strived to be like her. I learned to love myself a bit more, I started dressing up for myself again, putting some makeup on just to stare at the mirror and enjoy the end result, maybe even shoot some selfies. It's almost like, on top of everything I already said, I was trying to express myself through her, which has in return influenced me. I hope that makes sense.

Crystal Hartley

Now, it took me some time to create her own story and separate her from V. And I wouldn't probably do it if it wasn't for my s/o. She was already working on her OCs story, and after many tries she finally talked me into writing my girl. The last modification date of the document with the initial version of the story is February 25th - exactly 6 months after starting the game. Since then, I made some changes and the end result can be seen here. It helped me further resonate with her and she didn't have a deadly chip inside anymore, at the cost of her not getting to know Johnny. She remained a warrior, a true badass who's not scared of anything.

Honestly she was and still is inspiring me. Being it her as V or real Crystal I wrote a few months back, she suffered hardships, she had her all-time low moment not that long ago, but she recovered and she always stands brave against all odds - knowing that in the end everything will turn out just fine.

For now, C has got some closure. She's living in Night City, she has a loving and beautiful girlfriend she's thinking about all the time, they're still doing gigs and getting in trouble together <3 While she still recovers from what happened in her nomad family, she has Elegy, Misty, Claire and Saul to help her deal with it. She's in a good place right now.

Other girls

Some time ago I made EV, a girl that was originally a Cyberpunk version of my Evie from Red Dead Online, albeit I made her personality a polar opposite to Evie's. I don't have a lot about her, really - she's beautiful, photogenic, conveys vibes the best out of all of my OCs. She's probably going to end up as my canon V. She and Johnny are a match made in heaven... or hell. Actually if I put them together in the same body Night City might end up in flames.

Then there's Thalia. A girl I initially only mentioned as a friendly gang member in Crystal's mega lore post. She wasn't hanging around with Crystal's group of friends, but they got really close after getting to know each other during a party. Officially, she sacrificed herself to save Crystal and the rest when they got overrun by enemies. She did survive, with help of [REDACTED] and is looking for Crystal in Night City to reunite with her and [REDACTED]. Hopefully they meet soon! It'll probably bring some unpleasant memories back, but in the end Crystal will reunite with Thalia and, with Elegy, they'll make a dream team.

Some stats!

Why not wrap it up with some interesting data!

Since I started Cyberpunk 2077:

I got all the achievements and I intend on doing the same for Phantom Liberty

according to Xbox I played the game for 268 hours* **

I made 3405 captures, taking up a whopping 36 GB of space*

421 of these captures were made during my initial playthrough

* - at the time of writing ** - including time I was afk

Conclusion

So... I just wanted to post some thoughts about Cyberpunk 2077 and, especially, Crystal. Going from a game I wasn't even that stoked to play, to an ongoing hyperfixation, that has helped me through tough times and still influences me to this very day! I even made some internet friends!

When I was working on a standalone story for Crystal, I decided that her birthday is the day I first played the game - 25th August... today.

Happy birthday, Crystal <3

#oc: crystal hartley #text.qd

[wayfarer-orca]

not my 2 am ass waxing philosophical about the vgm jazz/remix scene (source: I’ve been a cellist and pianist for 10+ years and i like vgm. next slide)

when i was in high school it was nigh impossible to imagine video game music meaning much more than “silly haha chiptune” or “Brahms or Dvorak wannabe” (aka cinematic orchestra--think Halo, Uncharted, AssCreed, etc). chiptune i should mention has its own merits and real ppl not only being good composers but also working to find suitable leads or balance sound channels for that good ear-feel (Mega Man 2, Metal Gear 2, Chrono Trigger, OutRun, Street Fighter 2, this list has no end). I see a lot of parallels w/ how classical music “pros” in the mid 2000s/early 2010s treated old school vgm + how the bigwigs of warner bros view animators--the medium they accompany downplays their value to those “on top” who assign a niche’s value for all us peons on the bottom. thankfully for us, some stuffy old violin maestro telling us that Hades’s music "is derivative” wont stop Darren Korb from setting the room on fire (musically. though he might moonlight as an arsonist idk the guy)

but now in the 2020s there’s a full-blown out and proud community of video game rearrangers working to just melt minds with their breakdowns and solos. I’ve been listening to ocremix since middle school so we’ve been around, but with insaneintherain now working on original music for games, he joins the ranks of folks like Chipzel, Danger, + Lena Raine who have been avowed game fans and now work from that inspiration. almost giving back, in a way. Pat Bartley, Adam Neely, the Consouls, and the 8-Bit Big Band are a few of the names spearheading an increasing awareness for the goldmine of a source that is vgm, to the point where the 8-bit big band’s cover of Taking Over the Halberd won a fucking Grammy. you can no longer hold orchestra elitism (”true musicians dont play kiddie music!!”) over me because everyone can hear how good these guys sound. theyre skilled, driven, and by God do they love video game music. + if ppl insist that the Grammys are how we must measure musical worth, well, best of both worlds. they garner a reputation and the gamers get one! your awards shows don’t lie, do they...?!

like i know this makes me a corny ass fucker but passion has kept this scene alive, kept ppl championing for its representation in the wider media. I wouldn’t canoodle over 02′s theme from Kirby 64 if I didn’t love the source track, and insaneintherain wouldn’t make so much of his identity Pokemon jazz if he didn’t want to devote his heart + soul to what he grew up playing. from what I can tell this passion is insular--from and for fans. no head honchos telling us what racks up views or is truly meaningful, no. if we remix Snake Eater in this house it’s bc the original track makes me feel things, not bc my director says it’s valid for using a full orchestra or whatever (which it does, plus Cynthia Harrell’s voice makes me tap dance, but that’s not the point. the point is emotional attachment, something that a purely technical discussion about tone or timbre falls short of covering. nostalgia and passion, hand in hand)

anyway thanks for reading this love letter to the one true flame that’s kept me from throwing myself off this mortal coil. have this funk version of Corridors of Time. vibe with the breakdowns and pat’s face-melting solo. maybe do a little triumphant, cathartic crying? i know i might

#please please talk to me about video game music im begging you #especially chiptune and jazz remixes #and if youre going to magwest god DAMN i wish i could go with #misc #blabs #personal #vgm

[non-binary-laurie-strode]

Who cares about the Oscars? The most celebrated awards of the year are, of course, the Pink Bette awards!

The Pink Bettes are my own version of my film awards. I originally did this as a silly joke in 2020 for the films I had seen in 2019, so this is the fourth itineration of them. (2019's films, 2020's films, 2021's films, and now 2022's films.) Last year, I kinda just dropped the post and ran because I was feeling down about things, but I'm going to be pushing this one. (Sorry in advance.)

The rules are these: Any film that was new-to-me in 2022 is eligible for an award. Thus, Bound, a 1996 film, is eligible for these awards even though it is decades old; it's about when I saw them. I typically choose 5-6 "winners" to be designated My Favourite _____. This is done because choosing just one is silly when I can spread the love around; additionally, I call them "My Favourite" because it's about my emotional response to them, and honestly I would feel egotistical calling something the definitive BEST.

Anyway, here we go:

Some categories will have a little summary or write-up; others won't. There's only so many adjectives I can use to describe stuff, yknow?

For better or worse, these line readings gripped us. These all became meme-ified, in some way, between me and Mack.

"These are tortillas! Tortillas deliciosas!" - Hong Chau, The Menu. (Honorary mention to "You'll eat less than you desire and more than you deserve"—not a funny memed phrase, but the delivery. Chilling.)

"anD eNOUgh chamPAYNE... tFILL thNILE! *throws drink*" - Gal Gadot, Death on the Nile

The Trish Story - Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar

"Are you the LESBIAN?" - Idina Menzel, Kissing Jessica Stein

"He died?! *hand on heart*" - Tovah Feldshuh, Kissing Jessica Stein

All of these disappointed in some measure. Shame, shame, shame!

Netflix's Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The original TCM is one of the few horror movies to actually really get to me, with that ending being particularly nauseating. This new Netflix entry is a cheap and lazy attempt at continuing a franchise.

The Evil Dead, The Evil Dead 2 - The first time I encountered The Evil Dead as a property, it was in a college production of the musical The Evil Dead. The musical is, surprisingly, the best packaging of this property. These two, largely the same story but with a bigger budget the second time around, both completely fail to live up to the fun of the musical.

Men - I thought, after X and Pearl, I would like A24 horror more. Ha.

Bros - Enough has been said about this one, I think. Aside from a few jokes ("Like the bearded lady in The Greatest Showman, this is me."), I just didn't really find it funny.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man - John Carpenter, why the fuck is there a brownface scene in this one? You can do so much better than that, John.

The opposite of the previous category: These movies impressed me much more than they had any right to!

Marry Me - Featuring former musical theatre tumblrite Mason! For all of two seconds! Anyway this is so much fun and the title song is lowkey a jam.

The Lost City - Okay, aside from the fun of Sandra Bullock, seeing Channging Tatum's ass HUGE on a screen just... yeah. Yeah.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding - Okay, so, I used to think this one was like... a frat bro thing? I saw Greek and was like Greek life? But no, it's just Greek Greek.

The Batman - Here for the sole reason that it's a superhero movie that I came out mostly positive on.

Drive - Maybe I was just horny for Ryan Gosling. Who knows?

These four are 2022 releases that sort of came and went in theatres. I think they deserved better!

Three Thousand Years of Longing - Really, I just love Tilda so much. This is a modernistic version of the Thousand and One Nights with a clearly neurodivergent character at the front who finds romance. And it's so neat!

Umma - Sandra Oh in a horror movie. What more could you want?

Mrs Harris Goes To Paris - It's nicecore but it's still so lovely. When you think she won't get the dress is CRUSHING.

See How They Run - Saoirse Ronan in an Agatha Christie send-up comedy. Of course it's delightful! Though, at our screening, we had a gaggle of teens sitting across the auditorium, and they were being so loud and so obnoxious, and usually I am fine to let the youth be the youth, but girls... my blood boiled that day. I was ready to tear someone apart! Thankfully they left soon after.

Oh boy, here's where the graphic design is not my passion comes out. Anyhow. Supporting Performances. There are nine that I've picked out, with some honorable mentions:

Ke Huy Quan, EEAAO - He is so lovely and so wonderful and he deserves every single good thing that is happening to him right now.

Jamie Lee Curtis, EEAAO - My mother finally got an Oscar nom! I'm so happy for her. Deirdre is so ridiculous, and Jamie really commits to the insanity.

Stephanie Hsu, EEAAO - She is going THROUGH it in EEAAO. I almost put her in lead, but since she literally got a Supporting Oscar nom, I guess she can fit here.

Brandon Parea, Nope - Five stars, Angel, five stars.

Justin Long, Barbarian - When will he call me the f-slur? He's an ass but he made it look fun.

Billie Lourd, Ticket to Paradise - She has like one vibe across most of her performances, but she does it so extremely well.

Hong Chau, The Menu - Hong Chau, my beloved. I have only known her for two months, but she has completely gotten me in her grip.

Candice Bergen, Let Them All Talk - I don't actually have anything witty to say about her. She just Did Well in this one.

Hong Chau, The Whale - The moment where she realises he had the money the whole time and cracks? Ugh. Performance!

Honorable mentions: Tyne Daly, Hello My Name Is Doris; Tovah Feldshuh, Kissing Jessica Stein; Paul Dano, Little Miss Sunshine; Bill Skarsgard, Barbarian (RIP Sweet Little Meow Meow).

This is fairly self-explanatory.

Michelle Yeoh, EEAAO - "You can either lay there or you can come with me and change the multiverse." "I'll just lay here!" I used the opera picture because that's my favourite Lewk for her, but she's just so amazing all around. In all forms!

Sally Field, Hello My Name Is Doris - What really gets me with this one is when her therapist tries to clean up her house and she has a full break down. The way she speaks those lines just really hits.

Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading - God forbid women do anything. She's totally insane in this and is a complete wrecking ball. I love it!

Mia Goth, Pearl - That end credits face journey alone is worth a thousand awards. Just captivating!

Jennifer Tilly & Gina Gershon, Bound - Genders, genders all around. Of course the Wachowskis would make something so cool and sleek, and these two are the perfect ones to realise that vision.

Austin Butler, Elvis - Tom Hanks had a very "what the hell is this" performance, but really, the transformation for Austin Butler in this is super impressive. I am not immune to biopics!

Jenny Slate, Marcel The Shell With Shoes On - He Is Just A Little Boy and I love him.

Keke Palmer, Nope - Release the spin cut! (She has a spin in the trailer during her spiel at the beginning, and it's cut in the movie. That would have gotten her the Oscar nom, I'm sure.)

Kristen Wiig, Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar - The way this movie just radiates the energy of our friendship, I can't. Kristen gets the leg up on her co-star because she double dips on roles and I think I prefer her delivery.

Thandiwe Newton, God's Country - So, we saw God's Country on a whim because Mack liked the lead actress. And I totally get it. She's so strong and so unyielding in the face of those nutcases in this, and, though I know nothing about her and heard nothing about the film otherwise, she has stayed with me.

Cate Blanchett, Tár - That first long shot, where she's just talking as the camera is rolling? Electrifying. She had us hooked from moment one.

Ralph Fiennes, The Menu - Yes, Chef! We love you, Chef!

Honorable mentions: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye; Matt Damon, The Talented Mr Ripley; Emma Thompson, The Remainds of the Day.

Oh, good, we're back to reasonable category sizes. Anyway, though I am a horror queen, I feel as though the films I loved most in 2022 were not horror! But there were a few that rose to the top.

Scream 5 - It's Scream. It's good! "Trap? Yeah, it's a trap." Such a simple exchange, but it's my favourite moment in that one. I'm so excited for 6!

Pearl - Sorry, Paris. But I loved this. It's mostly a character study for a horror movie character until the final act, and what a final act it is! "I'm a star!" and the end credits face journey are just such great moments.

Nope - I liked it better than Us! But really, Jordan Peele is just consistently so good at writing horror.

City of the Dead - The way this is a dark horse pick for me. It just hits that spooky foggy creepy Halloween aesthetic that I love so much! And it's got great performances and a decent enough story. Plus, the Elvira inserts are fun!

Barbarian - This happened to a friend once, I think.

The Menu - Truly my favourite movie of 2022, coming in right at the end of the year. The mix between the comedy and the horror, the social jokes, Hong Chau... it's perfection to me.

Honorable mentions: Let The Right One In, Watcher, The Autopsy of Jane Doe.

Dramatique! To some extent or another; I don't think Before Sunrise counts as a comedy or a horror, so it kind of falls here even though it's just a romance.

Dramarama - This one hits me so hard that it hurts. A group of high school graduates, all very into theatre, have one last murder mystery party as a group, before they split up. And it's just so... if you weren't in theatre in high school, you won't get it, but if you were, this hurts.

EEAAO - Do I need to explain.

Bound - As explained above!

The Talented Mr Ripley - The schemes! The intrigue! The homoeroticism! I love it!

Before Sunrise - A tender, sweet romance in Vienna. All of one night, with the lovely Ethan Hawke, just wandering a sleepy city at night.

Tár - Captivating, electric, a modern tragedy of hubris. For me, Best Picture needs to be between EEAAO and Tár. There is nothing else. Honorable mentions: Pride & Prejudice, In The Mood For Love, The Remains of the Day.

2022 was all about comedy for me. There were so many just perfect comedies that we saw this year that it's hard to pick a handful to show off. Barb & Star is Mack and me spiritually, which means it is Beloved here, but all of these I look on so fondly.

Hello, My Name Is Doris - A old Sally Field tries to find love with a much younger man. She's very awkward, almost too much to watch at points, but she's soooo good.

Kissing Jessica Stein - We love people questioning their identity and then deciding if it works out for them or not! It's a fun time.

Burn After Reading - The relentless absurdity just kills me. The hair, the drôle situtations, it's all just SO much of a ride.

Little Miss Sunshine - That little girl deserved to win that pageant.

Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar - Again, this is just our friendship. It's so stupid, but I treasure these two ladies.

Glass Onion - "Did you think a sweatshop was a place where they manufactured sweatpants?" "Yeah..."

Honorable mentions: The Lost City, The Bob's Burgers Movie, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

But anyway. That's enough of the respectable awards. Let's have some fun.

We come to this place to celebrate men in film being hot, sexy, and/or slutty. Here are just some of the men that, ahem, piqued my interest. They are, of course, named after only the most beautiful man to have graced cinéma, Mr Keanu Reeves himself.

I'm doing these individually in case tumblr decides it doesn't like something :s (Also.... you've seen my graphic design skills.)

Dylan Minnette's shower scene in Scream 5. Not even a hint of ass! Cowards.

Nico Greetham in Dramarama just casually showing his chest around.

Girls...... seeing Channing Tatum's ass, huge, on a screen during The Lost City in a theatre. That was a MOMENT.

Félix Lefebvre in Summer of 85. We love blond French boys, huh.

Seeing THAT swinging on Kid Cudi in X...... You all know I'm an ass queen, but come onnnn.

When will Ryan Gosling Drive me around town? Huh? Don't I deserve that?

The cast of Fire Island as a whole. Or as a hole. Either way.

Speaking of beach boys, can we talk about the fuzz on Jude Law in The Talented Mr Ripley?

Ethan Hawke in Before Sunrise in such a simple look can be so hot. He's so sweet and tender and just lovely.

And then we have the duality of Ethan Hawke:

My commentary here will be reposting some letterboxd reviews of The Black Phone:

Thomas Doherty in The Invitation can turn me into a vampire if he wants, idc, I'd throw it all away. That woman was WILD to just turn that down so quickly!

And finally, Mr Thousand Shades of Grey himself, Jamie Dornan in Barb & Star. He's actually done a nude photoshoot but uh. I'll keep that one to myself.

Anyhow. If you made it this far, thank you for reading through the Pink Bettes! I'll be here again next year!

#the pink bettes #this is an extremely long post so i hope the read more works on every device lol

[huxianposts]

you finished royal 👀 thoughts?

I'm p sure i'll be parroting the same things that were echoed back when the FIRST round of p5r spoilers were circulating, so I'm going to put my thoughts under the read more just in case (also this is so long bc i have so much to say dslkfjasdlf). but yeah, while there ARE some positives, I'm warning y'all for the negatives-- so don't like don't read <3

1st thought: wow. so. That is ...a game, alright. Yeah.

2nd: how did a convoluted game become so much more nuts...?

3rd: I'm so damn sad lmao?

following the first thought: The UI was pretty neat and insane, I think the graphics were great and properly enhanced, the voice acting was PHENOMENAL, the music was pretty nice esp when vanilla was balls to the walls insane in its initial execution.

I was initially wary of the new characters, just bc it takes me a while to warm up to anyone new, ESP when it's from an already established game with its base plot and characters. I still wouldn't say Sumire/Maruki are my faves, but I also think if they were in any other game, I WOULD love them. I already think they're interesting, Maruki's characterization both vexes and fulfills me in the fact that the narrative really built him in a way that makes sense-- i was initially not a big fan of this guy bc he came off patronizing even tho he was clearly running away from his own pain-- BUT THE NARRATIVE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT and actually DID something about it, so honestly, yeah, that was fulfilling in the end just bc the bar is low and Atlus has dropped the ball so many times before lol I think Sumire is interesting. A lot of my initial wariness of her lied in the Kasumi-persona-- and when that was finally revealed that, hey! That's not really her! Yeah, I warmed up. Still think Atlus tremendously dropped the ball on her though, but I'll go into that in the second thought.

The new (needed) Akechi stuff was great. It was so fucking needed!!! That is the one area of this game that I will stand up and hoot for because it fleshed him out in a way that felt meaningful; I loved seeing his anger and the raw quality to his characterization. Not that there wasn't that in vanilla, but there was actually SPACE for him in this game, and that was soooooo good. He felt like a person full of literal depth that you can tangibly touch, rather than these flickers in vanilla that felt lacking. I was invested in his confidant in p5r, and while the 'feral' quality to him was kinda over the top in Maruki's dungeon-- his furious desire for autonomy was so in line with character trajectory from being manipulated and used by Shido-- like, wow, I AM OBSERVING, I AM SEEING, I AM LOOKING, I AM INTERESTED, I WANT BETTER FOR YOU. Yeah anyway, he was the one real good part in p5r, and that's why thoughts 2 and 3 are gonna be a thing.

going into the second thought: i seriously do NOT remember most of the spoilers from 2020, and I think that's a combination from naturally shit memory, 2021 being an extremely horrific year for me that impacted everything, and just the spoilers at the time being so insane I didn't want to truly believe it until I witnessed for myself. And well. I witnessed. Even if it took like, 2 years. lol. but how the hell did an already convoluted game become even more bloated and honestly... kind of unnecessary?

the trimester happened but IT DIDN'T REALLY? like, how roundabout do you have to go to just say, "nothing changed for MC in the end", like, bro??? I didn't spend an extra 30 ish hours just to end up back whence I came-- prison. The moment Lavenza said hey, all the work and pain and struggles you underwent will mean nothing because it WASN'T REAL IN THE REAL REALITY when you chose to fight the school counselor-- my god. My blood pressure. So. Akira still goes to prison. And now it's just, framed in such a nasty way of-- because everyone was essentially mind zombified by Maruki's tentacles (SERIOUSLY, ATLUS, SERIOUSLY?? I get he's a counselor BUT WHY), TECHNICALLY everyone and their mom left Akira to uh. Stagnate in prison. For almost 2 months. They essentially forgot him there. And yeah, I UNDERSTAND that everyone was mind zombified and weren't really acting in a way that was befitting of their care for p5 protag-- but how was it in vanilla, the moment the team finds out that Akira sacrificed himself, they spent the ensuing month advocating and finding evidence just to set him free!! Including his adult confidants!! And we somehow managed to set him free within 10 days of waking up in p5r??? It just feels shoehorned in, and again, kinda wtf bc Iwai's thing during Akira's imprisonment (if you max him out) is: "I have connections in the prison system that can ensure the teen that helped me can be safe and looked after." But uh. In p5r apparently, Akira doesn't get that protection for the apparent 1 ish months in prison. So. Again, I GET that Akira wasn't TECHNICALLY in prison the entire time, but reality bs aside where one's real or one's not-- it just leaves a nasty taste in my mouth about his situation.

going on the Sumire situation: why did Atlus. Do that. To her. In any other game, she would be my home slice, my baby girl, my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese-- but in this one.... what was her point? Besides being collateral for Maruki's story? It sounds really sucky of me to say it, and ofc no one has to agree with my opinions because they're just that-- but I am so resentful of the way Atlus utilized her. Like the OPENING scene where she somehow follows the team undetected into Sae's dungeon (not to mention, HOW THO, SHE JUST AWAKENED, SHE HAS NEVER REALLY PRACTICED, AND SHE'S FENDING OFF LEVEL 40-50 SHADOWS LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS??? BUT THEN GETS BODIED IN MARUKI'S DUNGEON? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE) and 'saves' Joker and then just. dips??? That scene.... did nothing for Joker in the end? He still gets captured, still gets the everloving shit beat out of him, interrogated, etc etc. And then comes Shido's palace, and the team. Just doesn't. Invite her along. Even though, JUDGING FROM HER SKILLS DEMONSTRATED IN SAE'S PALACE, she should be perfect for the Shido heist-- but bc Vanilla was so damn completed, Atlus couldn't bother to implement her meaningfully in that dungeon. And like, her confidant is honestly interesting-- I didn't MEAN to actually care about her, because again, it takes a lot for me to warm up to new characters-- I liked her exploration in grief, in being her own person, hell, I even GET her Minnie Mouse thing to Joker's Mickey Mouse. I get it. I just dislike Atlus implementing her in core scenes that narratively.... doesn't mean anything IF YOU DON'T ACCESS TRIMESTER.

And even when you do-- it's all about Maruki. His research. His powers. His own pain. Sumire was collateral in him realizing himself, his potential, his distortion. It feels like a disservice to her. Because if you take her out of the plot-- what impact was there? Joker still goes to jail. Maruki would've still distorted reality due to his own pains and Yaldabaoth giving him the juice to do magic hand wavey stuff. It just. Seems so ugh, and highlights Atlus pandering to dudebros wanting another 'waifu' to boost their self-insert's ego. And sure, Sumire ISN'T necessarily a phantom thief-- she doesn't identify as such-- but the way her everything is centered solely around interactions with joker feels aughhh, bc it's juxtaposed against scenes where everyone's involved and being friendly to someone they don't know/feel close to besides "oh hey, another student like us and she knows Joker so that's cool", I'm getting tone shift whiplash; it makes everyone feel somehow more shallow in their own interactions-- and that's painful bc for all its faults, vanilla at least emphasized the close energy the team had for each other (YES, AKECHI INCLUDED BC FOR ALL HIS ANIMOSITY WITH THE TEAM, TWAS KINDA FUNNY). For a character that was utilized in so many core scenes with no actual high stakes impact with her presence, the fact that so many of her scenes were unskippable made the pacing grating, because WHY. the one thing I remember the director(?) saying that royal was all about the new characters-- but damn, i didn't expect that to be true lmao. the cast was large enough, so how did adding more to the salad not make anyone think-- hey, this might be a bit much. esp if the things that happened to joker largely didn't change.

ALSO, AKECHI, MY FUCKING GOD. why did they DO that to him????? His confidant? fantastic. His increased presence in the game? Needed and also good. but then you end up with, "uwu he's actually still dead in reality.... or is he ;)" situation?? Like WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT. it feels so disrespectful, and I honestly do not understand the direction they went with this besides kicking the protagonist down even more with emotional damage while also spitting MORE on Akechi's second apparent demise, like how the hell was this okay. yeah, no wonder the bad ending was so fucking juicy in comparison to the 'true' ending. miss me with that shit!!! nothing apparently changed!!!! why!!!!!! HE WANTED TO HAVE A CHOICE!!! BUT NOW WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THAT REALLY IS HIS CHOICE OR A FIGMENT OF AKIRA'S WISH, AND I'M SO GRATED

there are also other little tidbits that made go "why", like, the increased Morgana-Ryuji friendship scenes. Which, HELL YEAH??? FRIENDSHIP IN MY GAME? but then it's juxtaposed against OG vanilla scenes where they fight and split-- and it's so emotionally jarring and makes no fucking sense because in vanilla, it makes sense why Morgana would dip-- he and Ryuji had an unstable friendship fraught with self-doubt and projection on each other with no immediate desire to try to understand the other-- Vanilla made those ugh moments a whole ass point of Morgana feeling like he didn't belong, and giving him reason to leave. Now, in Royal, they have more friendship scenes that emotionally feels good, but narratively makes Morgana and Ryuji seem more dick-ish and irrational in the break up sequence. like, WHY ATLUS

going into my third thought: yeah, i'm so emotionally sad? About Akira? I don't even know how to articulate this properly, but. Again, it feels so nasty to see this character continue to go through it™, but it feels nastier to see how now in the end, the adults continue to fail him, and place the onus of responsibility on his shoulders.

the trimester was about helping Maruki and saving him.

Akira still goes to prison, and he CHOSE it, but did he really when his environment and the adults failed him into having to make that choice?

He's going back to his hometown, but the stereotypes will still persist, even with the new evidence of innocence, but hey, he can handle it.

and so much more. It's all about how "oh, akira is strong, he can handle it, he can get through this, he got this", but it feels so gross. Because he started the game alone, and in the end, he... leaves alone. Physically and emotionally, too.

Like i both LOVE and hate how everyone splits their own ways. I think, yeah, following the reality theme-- that IS realistic, and goal-wise, feels fulfilling in that regard. But in the other sense: this is a game about manifesting your soulsona into punching shitty adults, why tf are we leaving our MC alone again??? What drew me to vanilla p5 was just. How inherently alone everyone felt. Everyone was so damn alone, so damn lonely. And then they found each other. THEY FOUND EACH OTHER. the whole world might be against them, but that's okay because they're together. So now in the true ending of p5r, there's this... resigned feeling. Of accepting and moving away, of reintegrating in an unfair society that would look away from the most vulnerable and harmed. and it feels 'mature', it feels 'realistic', it feels 'normal'. And I both love and hate it. I love it for its acknowledgment of wanting to grow more than just being a phantom thief, but I hate it for how in the end, everyone felt so emotionally distant. I couldn't recognize them the same.

Akira started the story alone, and he somehow leaves more alone and distant. And again, it's that piece of "nothing changed". Akira might've changed, and I guess, that is the most important part bc his situation hasn't necessarily changed-- but why did it have to feel so much more lonely this time around? You give this boy a group of people he loves and who loves him back-- and suddenly, everyone's fucking gone. It just feels so painful, watching him board that damn train, still wearing glasses and smiling. a hundred plus hours of this game... and for what? his story was about pain, and now he gets more pain? who approved of this message?

overall: I think largely, p5r further highlighted the weaknesses shown in vanilla, and how convoluted and kinda stupid the plot was, i.e., society remaining largely the same even after Shido. Nothing really changed, besides MC's perception of the world-- and yes, I guess that's fine, that's powerful too in its way. But for a theme about "Rebellion™", p5r didn't.... have to keep hammering the WHY DEVIATING FROM SOCIETY IS BAD ACTUALLY message. That's so gross, man. I think p5r was fun to play and revisit, but ultimately the experience made me feel like a clown and made me lowkey hate the cast, and i never want to experience that split second of hate ever again <3

#thanks for the ask! #asks #anon #huxiantalks #p5r #i'm gonna tag this as #negative // #just in case #i mean i guess it IS largely negative but more like this is coming from a place of confusion and grief man #like the message somehow comes off as a punishment to 'individualism' when the whole point of og vanilla (and persona 3 & 4 even) was that #connection matters and is your real power #but why did it end like that why were they all left alone #anyway these are my own interpretations so take this opinion piece with a grain of salt #to you anon that asked this q i am so sorry for how long this is faklsjfaksld #you ask for thoughts and i gave my whole confusion i am sorry

[garsideofthemoon]

KinnPorsche + Chuang 2021 but Kinn’s Lelush

thx to the ppl posting about kim!lelush I have been Thinking about kinn!lelush.

This got crazy long so the meat and potatoes is going under a cut. But BASICALLY I felt bad for kinn bc he didn’t get to chase his singer dreams in canon

ofc this makes negative sense on its face so how I justified it is kinn and his bodyguards sneak into chuang 2021 to see kim, who is legitimately there to compete. He’s a mix between mika and jing long (amazing singer, already signed/established, tends to sing slower songs, song went viral on tiktok) but slightly better at dancing lol. Chay is also there as a li louer/fu sichao type who got in on the strength of a killer audition tape and the fact that he’s studying music at anantarameka (he is a year or two older here).

Anyway porsche was not invited to Sneak but he tags along bc chay is there!!! he can see chay from afar!!! see his bro doing well!!!!! and ofc kinn is pissed etc etc

they get in by pretending to be staff or some shit. and kinn is like hi baby bro!!!! and kim does a gr8 impression of a wet cat

in the midst of all of this covid travel regulations change (chuang 2021 was filmed in late 2020/early 2021) so a bunch of ppl who were supposed to be in the cast can't come. Chuang 2021 was marketed as a super international show where contestants from around the world would create a global group.

So what does the production team do? they cast any and all sufficiently attractive available foreigners (this really happened on Chuang btw lol. If you remember that group of randos including princeton man and the ukranian guy w pipes that's how they got casted lmao).

Lucky for them there's a bunch of hot thai dudes!!!! right here!!!! who are already 'employed' by the company!!!!!

big is dead set against being a part of this mess. kinn knows he shouldn't but a part of him remembers how much he used to love singing. Porsche, who a) notices the look on kinn's face and b) is always in for chaos somehow finagles the group into agreeing to audition

they end up doing the league of legends song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heNs_uWbJVk) bc I think that would be fucking hilarious. Instead of real choreo porsche and big spar while kinn sings. kim is horrified and chay is confused. Ning Jing makes some cutting remarks about big's perpetual stankface. Porsche and Kinn get voted into the show while Big is relieved to be kicked out lol.

Chay and Porsche have a talk and Porsche explains that he got roped into auditioning w his boss but doesn't tell Chay about the mafia. The way choosing rooms worked in Chuang 2021 was that whoever got the most votes (I think from fans???) got to pick a room first. Kim is in the first tier bc his established fanbase. After that is Porsche, Kinn and Chay in that order. Kinn orders Porsche to get a nice room for him or some shit and they end up in a double. By the time Chay gets in the only beds left are the ones in the 8 person rooms and the other bed in Kim's room (Kim wasn't popular enough to get a single lol). So you have KinnPorsche and KimChay roommates.

In this universe Kinn hired Porsche right before Kim and Chay left for Chuang, so Kim is aware that Kinn hired a Suspicious Bodyguard but didn't get a chance to investigate Porsche so doesn't know anything about Chay. Chay is ofc starstruck. At first Kim has his Wik Persona(tm) up but over time he and Chay become songwriting buddies and get close ;). Kim asks Chay to be the unofficial director of his vlogs (fans could vote for contestants to film vlogs about their life at chuang etc) so between that and Chay writing songs for other people (like during the theme song challenge) fans get to see more of Chay and he becomes more popular.

MEANWHILE Porsche is glad to see Chay but is getting bored. Kinn is trying to surreptitiously manage Theerapanyakul Affairs(tm) while half-assing dance practice and singing his heart out. He quickly establishes himself as a Twink Magnet(c) so Porsche gets sexiled a lot. As a result Porsche ends up in a bunch of ppl's vlogs etc and gains a small following that way.

Thanks to their fanbases all four end up on an ep of one night werewolf which lead to extreme chaos. Kinn ofc wins by a mile.

The Chinese New Year celebration happens and off camera someone sneaks booze into the dorms. Kinn and Porsche get wasted and make out.

Then the first elimination performances come!!! Porsche is in the love me ready are you ready group and is Camp(tm) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjL12GZejYU). Kinn is in that one breakup song and wows the judges with his singing though they say he needs to loosen up on stage. Chay is in loverboy88 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZqmnvrsOL0) and plays the guitar. Kim either gets you need to calm down (kimlor swift!!!) or Lit (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkXRk_CCc0s) to 'show versatility' aka look like he's about to murder everyone.

Both Kinn and Porsche fully expect to get kicked off. Kinn ropes Porsche into helping him with his vlog where they open a mocktail business for a day or something. During this Porsche realizes he's gotten to see a different side of Kinn (joyfully singing! getting along with civilians! not being a bastard!) and has his oh fuck I've caught feelings moment.

Time to see who got eliminated!!! Porsche despite serving Charisma Uniqueness Nerve and Talent gets kicked off. Kinn is SHOCKED to learn that he made it through and is in the top 20. Kim is in the top 10 and Chay is in the top 30.

In the second elimination both Kim and Chay pick the group where you get to write your own song. They spend a lot of time together and are v much catching feelings. Kim is conflicted bc on the one hand Chay is the brother of mr sus bodyguard but also is v talented and has become someone Kim wants to have in his personal + professional life. Chay is living his best life working with his phi and idol.

Meanwhile Kinn is in a bit of a bind. Mafia things are ramping up back on Thailand and he's still stuck in the competition. Vegas is trying to make a move on the major family and there's only so much Kinn can do from afar. He starts asking fans to not vote for him and says he misses family etc. I'm blaming covid on why intimidating production doesn't work. Kinn decides to do the crab dance song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jQwpKM5-Eg) bc he figures it's not in his wheelhouse and he'll get cut.

Surprise surprise fans are endeared by his 'I want to go home and support my family' thing!!! He gets into the next round!!!! So do Kim and Chay (their song gets the most votes of the night).

Now Kinn is fully like oh fuck. He keeps being like please send me home to Thailand etc etc and turns into a meme in China (much to the surprise/amusement of the Chinese triads lmao). In the third elimination they have to sing with a girl so Kinn picks the least romantic song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VgNdVzYpDc). Unfortunately his fangirls go wow so cool!!! lmao

But anyway during all this Kinn is in his room with the empty bed that was Porsche's and thinking about how he felt so happy around Porsche etc etc, how he felt relaxed around Porsche and like his mafia side and the rest of him could coexist around Porsche or something. So now he's mooning about Porsche while fucking every remaining twink (much to Kim's revulsion).

Kim is doing his whole tortured love shtick and not communicating with Chay. They end up on the same group doing this song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrcjG2w69uM but with a lady in there somewhere). There's a lot of belligerent sexual tension going on and the producers make a meal out of Kim and Chay's ~~ falling out(?????) ~~~

Anyway all three of them get into the final. Vegas is doing shenanigans in Thailand while this is going on that Khun + the bodyguards are dealing with while Korn is Disapproving. There's a phonecall/video message thing before the final with Khun and 'Kinn's friends' (aka the bodyguards) including Porsche who says some shit about his time at Chuang (aka coded love message lmao). So Kinn is having Feelings. This turns out to be Kim's phonecall too when Khun breaks out the baby pictures lmao.

Kinn does some kind of ballad for the final and pours his whole heart into his performance. All the angst he's suppressed re wanting to be a singer and giving it up for the mafia, about wanting Porsche but not being able to have him, not living up to Korn's expectations etc pours out. It's a gut wrenching performance.

Kim performs why don't you stay. Chay performs his own song about Kim. They both get into the group but Kinn doesn't (thanks Kinn's fanclub!!!). Cue Kinn bolting out of there like Lelush did and Kimchay doing the Oscar+Yetao handholding thing.

Then Kinn hightails it to Thailand without catching covid somehow and deals with vegas + gets with Porsche

#this is so long #kinnporsche #what do I tag???? #kimchay #probably shouldn't tag chuang lmaoooo #but yeah god bless the ppl who were talking about kim!lelush #awakening all my love for chuang

[fayyet]

9 Games that Defined My 2010′s (pt. 2)

NOTE for 7/5/2023 - I sat on this article then never published it. 3 years later I figured just to preserve this article as it was intended to be read by me from 3 years ago. My thoughts & feelings have changed. The final 2 entries had little text & my memory is not strong enough to remember the context carefully enough to really add onto what was there.

4) Bloodborne (played on PS4)

Lovecraftian horror saw a huge resurgence in the 2010s, and Bloodborne was the first thing to show me that you could easily harness the author’s distinct sensibilities while avoiding all the racist/sexism/homophobic/pro-eugenics bullshit that informed H.P. Lovecraft’s worldview.  Bloodborne sidesteps these pitfalls entirely by merging the aesthetics of Lovecraft & Victorian-era gothic fantasy horror to weave a tale of politics, the abuse of power, and how those abuses destroy the lives of ordinary people.  Truthfully, so much of the actual story & sequence is so obfuscated that the only way to really grasp it is to dive into community-built Wikis, watch plot explainers, & pour through archived Reddit threads. Bloodborne’s world is horrific.  Chilling soundscapes, unsettling environments, and increasingly distressing monster designs evoke an almost nihilistic sense of doom.  I heard unseen NPCs cry out in pain and read descriptions about mass suffering, and it became clear that Yharnam was not only haunted by werewolves and aliens, but the despair.  ALSO, there’s a game you can play too!  Unlike Dark Souls, the combat loop revolves around aggressive play, leading to a faster, twitchier feel.  Even though I played Dark Souls first, I didn’t like it.  Bloodborne’s loop was super compelling, though years out, the setting still lingers with me.

3) Pokken Tournament DX (played on Wii U & Nintendo Switch)

In 2013, I was a frightened closeted trans kid that just escaped the Midwest, heading towards an unfamiliar city.  In my new home, I started developing interest for competitive Smash Bros: Melee thanks to the surge of popularity the game was having online.  I quickly saved up for a Gamecube and started I grinding Melee, but ultimately this first foray into competitive fighting games would be a lonely experience, as I struggled to find friends or local meetups. I dropped Melee and wound up neglecting the genre until around 2016, when I reluctantly tried out Pokken Tournament on the WIi U (BTW f--- 2016).   Picking it up initially was rather bewildering, as Pokken is just, fucking  WEIRD.  Matches constantly switch between a 3D arena-fighter arena with 6 degrees of movement, and a 2D state that plays like a traditional fighting game. Moves & inputs change across both settings, meaning that every character has 2 unique kits to learn.  Despite this curve-ball, I quickly came to adore Pokken’s lightning-quick pace.

Also, it’s deeply important to note that the game has Suicune, my favorite Legendary Water Dog.  Pokemon Crystal (for Game Boy Color) was the 2nd game I ever owned so YEAH, Pokken DID mine some unearned affection from me right out of the gate.  I’m ashamed of nothing. Solid fighting games were certainly common in 2016 (BTW fuck 2016), but, unknown to me, Pokken Tournament had something uncommon: decent online matchmaking. Even in 2020, Japanese-developed fighting games still implement delay-based netcode that doesn’t scale well from Japan to America, which infamously makes online play a struggle for many here in the US. With Pokken, online matches came quickly and felt responsive, even on my average connection. This ease of access allow me to spend 100-ish hours in the game’s competitive modes.  With hindsight, I was lucky super that my reintroduction to fighting games was so accessible and opened my heart up to the genre.

2) Tetris Effect (played on PS4 & PSVR)

I have two special interest that do not overlap: Electronic Dance Music and video games. This game merged those two things awkwardly, but in a way that helped me celebrate my love for commercial dance music.

1) Warframe (played on PC & Nintendo Switch)

I have ADHD & Warframe’s loops sucked me in. 600 hours and $600 dollars spent on a game that let me press buttons.

Is it good? Kinda. Narrative stuff is a bit Warhammer-y, which like, fine.

#pokken tournament #pokken #Wii U

[lord-radish]

2023 is going to be buttfuck insane for the fighting game scene.

If there are no delays - and delays are very much on the table - there are going to be 3 absolutely massive, blockbuster game releases. Like, titanic franchises making huge waves as they transition into next-gen.

The first one is Street Fighter 6.

If I had the tech to run it, I would buy Street Fighter 6 at launch. I'm not a Street Fighter fan at all, I've played some of 2 and 4 and I didn't like them - they're very technical fighting games and I'm a button-masher. Street Fighter 6 looks incredible on every front and I want to play it.

Not only is it a fighting game, it looks like there's an overworld hub with beat em up mechanics. I think you can create your own character too.

The game looks great visually, and it's the first time Street Fighter has looked fun for me. Not to mention, it's a massive main series installment of the franchise that arguably invented the modern fighting game.

The second release is Tekken 8.

I'm a fucking MANIAC for Tekken. I love the story. I love the music. I love the characters and the visuals. Street Fighter basically invented the modern fighting game, but Tekken popularised 3D fighters after Virtua Fighter invented the style - you're basically seeing the two biggest franchises in fighting game history get massive new installments back-to-back.

As far as lore goes, Tekken 8 is a massive step forward. I feel like Tekken games have floundered a little starting with Tekken 6 - Tekken 5 was a watershed moment for the series, and later games had a hard time balancing the ratio that Tekken 5 did. It had a great roster, the story was great, the presentation was flawless and it introduced the ranking system to the arcade mode.

In Tekken 6, the final boss is a crystal dragon and the story mode is a janky beat em up mode. In 7, the final boss - Kasumi Mishima - is a total misdirect and they canonise Akuma from Street Fighter as part of the Tekken lore for some reason. A lot of fun and crazy stuff happens, but Tekken 5 is the game that I look at and go "yep, that's Tekken".

Some aspects of Tekken 8 are genuinely strange and a little offputting. I'm not a fan of Law's redesign, nor do I really like how Paul looks. But everything else has been fantastic. Lore-wise? Jun Kazama is coming back in some form! Could totally be a misdirect like Kasumi was, I hope it's not. The game looks amazing, the team rebuilt everything from scratch because this is the first Tekken game powered by the Unreal Engine.

Jun is so important because despite only appearing in Tekken 2, she's the mother of one of the main characters and she was ambiguously killed off by the antagonist of Tekken 3, Ogre. A bunch of classic characters were either killed or put into comas due to Ogre, the god of fighting, going after them and stealing their power. Jun was the only character who wasn't in the original Tekken Tag Tournament (until that was retconned), and she was a late addition for consoles in the second one - her absence has been looming over the franchise since Tekken 3, and it's been assumed for decades that she's dead.

And now she's back.

Tekken 8 is an absolutely massive release.

And the third big release of 2023 hasn't officially been announced yet - but it has been leaked.

Some time this year, Warner Bros. plans to release Mortal Kombat 12.

(gif is from MK9)

This is the most likely delay on this list. Warner/Discovery merged and wrote off a bunch of shit for tax purposes, which was a massive shitshow. Netherrealm Games and the Mortal Kombat IP are owned by Warner Bros. The game hasn't officially been announced, and it also comes after a significant hiccup in Netherrealm Games's usual cycle - they tend to release new games in 2 year cycles, with an alternating set of Mortal Kombat and Injustice releases.

Mortal Kombat 11 came out in 2019, which makes the gap between releases 4 years. The pandemic happened in 2020 so of course stuff got delayed - totally understandable. 2 years is also a pretty tight turn-around time for a triple-A game in general. But people are clamoring for the next Netherrealm game - I'm super excited, I wanna see the new game.

The only reason we know the next game is Mortal Kombat 12 is because it got leaked in an investor meeting. Before that, there were two other popular theories - either Netherrealm were releasing a new Injustice game in-line with their regular cycle of releases, or they got their hands on the Marvel IP and were making a Marvel fighting game. The wildest rumor was a DC Vs Marvel fighting game, which I mean. fuckin IMAGINE

But at least according to that leak, MK12 is the next Netherrealm game and it's projected to release in 2023 sometime.

It'll probably be a pretty good game with some unfortunate design flaws, ala fatality and fight-skip microtransactions in MKX and grindable loot and gear in Injustice 2 and MK11. I'm really looking forward to it regardless - I didn't like MKX's time skip storyline, but I really liked the goofy irreverent time-warp storyline of 11. I'm very interested in seeing where Mortal Kombat goes next.

Here's my big unrealistic pie-in-the-sky prediction/most wanted outcome:

Back when the PS2 was getting phased out, the Mortal Kombat team put out a game with every single playable character in it called Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Armageddon was the eighth Mortal Kombat game, so there were like forty playable characters in it. It was basically their take on Tekken Tag Tournament, and it wasn't perfect, but it was really ambitious.

This is unlikely given the restraints of triple-A development and the pandemic shaking everything up, and the amount of devtime to create a triple-A fighting game with a roster of like fifty characters is truly heinous and unrealistic. There's no way on earth they're gonna make Mortal Kombat Armageddon 2.

But holy shit, can you IMAGINE having every single playable character in the same roster, in next-gen graphics, fully able to get pulled apart like shredded chicken? Even dumb meme characters like Hsu Hao and Bo Rai Cho. All of them with fully modelled and rendered intros, outros, fatalities and anatomy designed to get ripped apart in other fatalities.

And ALL THAT POTENTIAL is on top of Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 this year!!!

This is basically like if Banjo-Kazooie, Jak and Daxter and Mario 64 came out in the same year. 2023 is a huge year for fighting games.

[uprightbat]

I’m drunk, let’s talk about 2022. Here’s some random shit I enjoyed:

TV: I almost never watch tv shows, I just don’t have the attention span. But this year I did enjoy Our Flag Means Death, as well as the latest season of What We Do In The Shadows. Not sure I watched anything else new this year.

Books: I think I read two books this year. A Christmas Carol, thanks to user @warrioreowynofrohan and their Dickens December (a great time!), and If This Book Exists, You’re In The Wrong Universe by Jason Pargin, aka David Wong, the 4th book in the John Dies At The End series. This has been my favorite book series for over a decade now, and this new installment crushed it. If you’re not familiar with the series, picture a couple of 30-something fuck-ups in a poverty-stricken small Midwest town repeatedly saving the world from Eldritch Horrors because they’re the only ones who took Space Acid in high school and survived. Highly recommend if you enjoy comedy or horror.

Pro wrestling: I’m pretty much a grumpy curmudgeon when it comes to modern wrestling, but AEW was on a serious hot streak throughout the first half of the year. It kinda fell apart after the Punk All Out mess, and I hope it heats up again soon. I get that he’s a huge dickhead and everything, but I was way more invested in the show when it was centered around Punk and Danielson instead of Omega and the Bucks. Hopefully they recapture my interest in 2023.

Music: I also don’t spend much time listening to music these days, but I did discover a couple new bands I enjoy. Chiefly The Dahmers. Everyone check out The Dahmers, they’re rad. 2000s fuzzy guitar sound mixed with horror punk themes and vocals that sound like Cheap Trick. They hit.

Podcasts: As a mailman I have an Absolute Fuckload of time on my hands to listen to audio entertainment. My favorite new podcast this year was Bros B4 Prose, a comedy fiction podcast starring Josh Henderson, @jeffpennington , and Rich Masters. If you listened to Fantasy Fiction back in the day it’s a spiritual successor to that. Has me laughing my dick off on a biweekly basis.

Giant Bomb: I watch/listen to Giant Bomb all the time, so they get their own recap category here. I fuckin love the current state of Giant Bomb. 2020 and 2021 were crazy years due to the pandemic, shift to home streaming, and various departures, but 2022 has been a massive breath of fresh air. I look forward to more great content in 2023.

Video games: Didn’t really play much new this year. Neon White was the big one, but I also dipped a toe into Disco Elysium, and finished small indie title Super Kiwi 64. What I most enjoyed this year, however, was introducing my 4 year-old to Zelda. He watched me play Twilight Princess start-to-finish in the beginning of the year, and now we’re working on Majora’s Mask. I don’t talk about parenting much on here, but it feels so cool to share something you love with your kids. Can’t wait to play more.

And finally Real Life: I had another kid! Well my wife did anyway. I checked out the hospital snack machine while she did all the hard work. Having two kids is wild. I’m looking forward to 2023 because as he gets older he’ll get to be a whole lot more cool and fun. At this point he just poops and slobbers and sits there. You’re supposed to enjoy these years while they last, but just like the first kid I’m like “let’s speed this shit along.”

And that’s everything. If you follow me, thanks! Here’s a glimpse into my life. I’ll mostly go back to reblogging silly memes after this. See ya!

#our flag means death #what we do in the shadows #the Dahmers #AEW #pro wrestling #giant bomb #bros b4 prose #fantasy fiction #Zelda #neon white #parenting #Jason pargin #John dies #if this book exists you're in the wrong universe #a dickens december #christmas carol #happy new year y’all #here’s to 2023 #Youtube

[baekhvuns]

Miss Baek I forgot to include this in my previous message:

NOT MY DREAM but my friend who barely has any dreams was probably influenced by me talking about Hwa, so he showed up in her subconscious. This is what she sent me:

"I was camping on a beach in Alaska with some river guide, a few other random people and Seonghwa. The guide was trying to figure out how to feed us for the night so he slaughtered a giant whale. Hwa was mad that he killed something massive just to sink the rest of the body. We were also arguing over how he cut up the meat. I woke up in the middle of everyone arguing over why we killed the whale."

Sounds pretty awful ngl, they were also on a small wooden boat, BUT SEONGHWA HAD WAIST LENGTH BLACK HAIR 😭😭😭😭 how can I enter her mind I NEED TO PERCEIVE THIS SEONGHWA 😳😳😳😳

What about an AU... minus the whale killing maybe, but... lost somewhere on the sea with long haired Hwa. Rapunzel era Seonghwa when 😩 - DV 💖

hi !!

Baek?! Jwyeuusshahs was it a good dream?! 👀

yes☺️

Laundry boy Hwa my beloved <3 my brain is creating its own AUs every single night, lol

LMFAOOOO no bc same 😭😭 some of those scenarios id never put out omg 😭😭 i rmr having this one dream where i was in the sm practice studio? and u know the beginning song of that porn thing 😭😭 the one ppl did challenges too where they played it and see who’s head turned 😭😭😭 i did that in my dream where i played it fhfhf coincidentally baekhyun was there and he shot his head up and then i got scolded for it???? bRO U RECOGNIZED IT FBWMFJWK

I did take a photo of me giving the middle finger to SM's building, so it was the first step in my revenge, lmaooo. Gonna plan my next move soon... I really don't wanna give my money to any big company, but SM especially yet I can't stop cause Shinee and Taeyeon and Hyo and some other soloists... I bought Kai's and Baekhyun's albums too 😩 I wanna be free from SME so bad

YES YES OH MY GOD WHAT A ICON !!!!!!! there should be a trend to do that pose tbh,, but then sm would sue 😭😭 YEAH NAUR SAME but their artists 😩😩 not the new ones but the older one’s music is so 🤌🏼🤌🏼✨😮‍💨 i can’t help but do it,, sm rly has us fans on the slave contract for more than 10+ years

At least Hannah could still sing, right?! Feetless, but still slaying. And please don't ask about the head thing, I had problems okkk...

NO BATTERY 😭😭 no bc anon what the fuck were u and ur friend on 😭😭😭🔫

Damn the scent must be strong then :o omg do you know them?! https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51xurg7EyqL._AC_SY355_.jpg I had the 🍑 one also 🍒 and they were so cute plus smelled nicely, I carried them in my pockets

I DO BUT I NEVER EVER GOT THEM 😭😭😭 id get those glare eyes and a shake of head and i knew i wasn’t getting, do u rmr the chapstick phase 😭😭😭😭 LIKE A BOX OF CHAPSTICKS

I actually only like half of the Ep Fin 🙊 I had a change of heart and love Ep 3 now (Illusion is not my beloved, but it's bearable) I also revisited their debut back in 2020 and tbh no skip for me, love the tropical vibes. Still ZFP1 is my fave fave! I really can't wait for what they have in store I'm hoping for something hard-hitting and rock inspired, but from that little spoiler Seonghwa was giving I'm not sure...maybe he's fucking with us. Shit I almost forgot we're getting the JP cb soon, ROOOOOCKYYYYYY. Hopefully people don't abandon bodyguard Hwa in favour of boxer Hwa 😳

i would like to say, dazzling light superior >>> FBWMDHEK UR A WAVE GIRLIE ME TOO !!! no bc kpop needs more tropical music, we need winner back 😭😭😭😭 HEY HEY I WILL HUNT U ALL DOWN IF U GUYS CHANGE BODYGUARD TO BOXER 🔫 I WILL GIVE THAT SAD ENDING FHKWHDKW

Yes, ofc I interview myself, I argue with myself, I agree with myself kausiayshshwgdsh Kokobop omfgggg and Wave 💙 I do like fresh scents the most, fruity ones too! Not a big fan of flowery, many flowers make me sneeze. And pls don't steal everything or I will have to arrest you :(

YES YES 😭😭😭 and utopia! i feel like u give those vibes! some flowery scents r labeled as not strong but they are SO strong???? I WILL MAKE A HEIST AND ROB YOU RN ARREST ME 🔫

You're living my dream damn! Loverholic, robotronic, loverholic, robotronic 🤪

LMFAOOOO idk what sm was on during that era but truly so legendary along with snsd’s hypertonic supersonic 😭😭😭

Today I have this lil video to offer. I'm obsessed with it and it's back on my tl 😭 he's ao cute, Seyoung my baby. I mean that's just Hwa let's face it. 🥨 boy, pls give him all the pretzels in the world: https://twitter.com/hwalilac/status/1522602163494879232?t=FIDYL5wscxM0TUD3Vnh9sg&s=19

SCREAMING HES SO FUCKING CUTE 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 TAKE ALL THE PRETZELS TAKE THEM TAKE THEM

So I haven't been reading webtoons recently I seriously need to catch up on reading and some kpop content 😭😭😭😭 but I found a new webtoon called Long After The Ending and the plot is so interesting and pretty unusual!

👁👁 gonna go add that in rn!

Uhm also do you know those ASMR NSFW videos on YT? Sometimes when I search for MARS ASMR I get that one video called "ASMR Seonghwa moans" in my suggestions 😬 It's obviously not him, though some people in the comments genuinely thought so 💀 I never listened to it for longer than 10 seconds. But today I was showing someone his AMSR content and they were like "uhhh and what is THAT"

i DO! theres a what… 👁

And then my bestie reminded me of a cam boy Seonghwa and porn star Seonghwa fanfics. 🤚🏻 Jesus has left the chat long time ago... there's no hope for us - DV 💖

HDMWHDKWJDKW STOP BC THERES SO MANY GOOD ONES HERE PLS 😭😭😭

NOT MY DREAM but my friend who barely has any dreams was probably influenced by me talking about Hwa, so he showed up in her subconscious. This is what she sent me:

"I was camping on a beach in Alaska with some river guide, a few other random people and Seonghwa. The guide was trying to figure out how to feed us for the night so he slaughtered a giant whale. Hwa was mad that he killed something massive just to sink the rest of the body. We were also arguing over how he cut up the meat. I woke up in the middle of everyone arguing over why we killed the whale."

LMFAOOOO????????? SEONGHWA FISHER!AU?????? seonghwa titanic au…

Sounds pretty awful ngl, they were also on a small wooden boat, BUT SEONGHWA HAD WAIST LENGTH BLACK HAIR 😭😭😭😭 how can I enter her mind I NEED TO PERCEIVE THIS SEONGHWA 😳😳😳😳

he what.

What about an AU... minus the whale killing maybe, but... lost somewhere on the sea with long haired Hwa. Rapunzel era Seonghwa when 😩 - DV 💖

LMFAOOOO FHWKDHWK READER AS FLYNN RIDER AND HWA AS RAPUNZEL 😭😭😭😭 PLS IT WOULD BE A DREAM TO READ IT

#✉️ : ask #dv 💖 anon #i ANSWERED THE WRONG ASK fhzsfghfagjagw

[lukaimin]

#I CANNOT FUCKING WAAAAAIT BRO I CANNOT WAIT #THE FLAME THAT THIS MAN IS ABOUT TO DROP BRO!!!!!!!! #HE LOOKS SO GOOD IN THAT FUCKING PHOTO TOO MAN FUCK #i have said this before #but like 2020 is the year for fucking music bro!!!!! #yoongi #agust d #suga #bts #this is tew much #bts meme #yoongi meme #suga meme #bangtan #7k #ariel.txt

[gayemoji]

three cheers finally my top album of all time lets gooo

#last.fm #1145 plays #beating after laughter by two entire scrobbles lmfao #(al gets in all my playlists so i just listen to pool and rose coloured boy WAY TOO MUCH lmfao) #rose coloured boys still my top song of all time and i wouldnt have it any other way that song fucks <3 #also my chem finally beat top at top artist LETS GOOOOO #3457 vs 3422 i havent listened to top for like an entire year till last week IT TOOK A WHOLE PANDEMIC TO DETHRONE THEM lmfoa #music recs #personal soz #m #my chem #pmore #t #bro my stats for three cheers are so fucking funny #2016 - 2019 the smallest bars youve ever seen #and then 2020 is just the ENTIRE graph #2021s alsready like 1/3 - 1/2 of 2020s 😭 #three cheers my fucking beloved