#less polygons would make me feel better i feel

[honeyteacakez]

wishing i was low-poly rn

#less polygons would make me feel better i feel #retro graphics are a need not a want #but like #its me #im only 6 polygons #and free

[green-loaf]

Disney Plus’ Willow isn’t canceled, just paused for at least a year, says producer

Jon Kasdan says reports of the show’s death are greatly exaggerated

“The truth is less splashy [than cancellation],” he writes, “but here it is: A decision was made last week to release our main cast for other series opportunities that may arise for them in the coming year. With all the tv and movies in production around the world, it feels unfair to limit an actor’s availability without a clear sense of when you’re going to need them again.”

According to Kasdan, season 2 of Willow is, if not completely written, significantly planned out, and some characters with small roles in the first season, like Annabelle Davis’ Mims, will have much larger ones in the new. But since their initial contracts didn’t include so much season 2 work, they’re now busy with other projects.

“Due to forces much larger and more intricate than I would ever pretend to fully understand,” Kasdan says, “production of streaming shows is slowing down across the entire industry, and Willow won’t resume filming in the next 12 months. But here’s what’s equally true: with the enthusiastic and unwavering support of Lucasfilm and Disney, we’ve developed and written what we hope is a brain-meltingly fun, richer, darker and better VOLUME II, which builds on the characters and story of our first eight chapters (The Wyrm survives!).”

The Wyrm is the shadowy evil force worshipped by the Crone, the ultimate antagonist of Willow’s first season. Though the Wyrm didn’t make any direct appearance in Willow’s first season, Kasdan clearly had a solid idea of it in November of last year.

“[The Crone is] the emissary of something much greater and darker and more powerful [...] I loved the idea that to whomever [the Wyrm] is, we are ants barely playing on the cement, and he needs to only reach out and crush us,” Kasdan told Polygon during the Willow press tour.

“[The Crone is] the spokesperson of that voice and ends up being really representative to me of, weirdly enough, more of a worldview and of a philosophical view, than she is an out and out villain,” Kasdan added. “There’s nihilism at the core of the Crone that I really wanted to explore. And I think that even after her story ends, the influence of that philosophical point of view is going to leave a permanent impact on our characters.”

In the Twitter thread, Kasdan went on to talk about the themes of season 2 — including courage, desire, acceptance, comedy and beauty in the darkest places, “the enemies we must inevitably confront, both without and, often far more insidiously, from within. But, above all, it’s about the ineffable and enduring magic of friendship.”

So, is Willow canceled? No, according to its executive producer. But do we know if it’ll continue? That’s hazier.

“I have total confidence that, if an appetite for more Willow persists, Disney, Lucasfilm and this amazing cast will satisfy it,” Kasdan wrote in his thread.

#willow 2022 #tanthamore #kit tanthalos #jade claymore #kit x jade #willow series #willow show

[irregularbillcipher]

the one thing i do genuinely miss about that "irregular client illegally eloping with a regular line" storyline that i had to cut is kryptos' part in it. the general idea is that andy just completely throws himself into this client's wedding, and bill and clem just do. not. get. why

they're pretty blunt and in bill's case, almost cruel about the fact that what this client and his girlfriend are doing is practically a suicide pact. they won't make it, they won't elope successfully, they'll get caught -- hey, we'll make them the dress, we'll make a tux that fits him, sure, money is money, but andy, you know that they're not actually gonna get a happy ending, right? like, we know you're not stupid, you know this isn't gonna work, you're more familiar with all the laws to stop this guy from getting married than we are. these two are gonna end up in a jail cell, at the very least

but andy just keeps pushing it and pushing it. it'll work. it'll be fine. they can get a happy ending, you guys just need to shut up and let me them have this! the circles won't find out about them and they'll have a ceremony and they'll sneak away to a less strict district or they'll hide out somewhere-- in the forest, maybe!-- and they'll be safe and happy and good and i'll help them pick the flowers for the reception :)

and idk if bill or clem ever really figure out why he's so desperate for this to work, why he's so bullheadedly insistent that this is gonna have a happy ending. admittedly, i hadn't quite decided whether they pick up on his feelings, or how much they really get what's going on, but throughout the chapter it becomes very clear to the audience with what he's saying and how he's acting and how angry he's getting at bill in particular for being such a jackass about all this that oh. oh andy is starting to realize he's gay. he's projecting

and like yeah, this isn't a gay couple, but this is a couple that the circles and even the average citizen of flatland would absolutely not want to be together, who have hidden their relationship for years. and andy is close to irregular anyway, and bill is irregular and he's the first crush andy has ever had, and he's figuring himself out and coming to the realization of what being gay means in a society like flatland and he's just... scared. he's scared! even if this couple isn't exactly like him, they're close enough, they understand enough, and he just... he needs this to work for them. he needs that reassurance that even if the circles fucking hate you and don't want you to be happy you can still manage it. you can make it work

for anyone curious... it was going to be open ended, how the elopement goes. the irregular young man, (eddie,) is lucky enough to have a mother who cares very deeply for him, (and a dad who cares enough about his mother to care about his well-being for her sake.) his class status, (he was a low polygon,) and his mother (and, a little more begrudgingly, his father,) have protected him for most of his life from being killed, and he trusts his mother well enough to let her know about his girlfriend, and she was trying to help with the planning and the actual elopement. they do end up disappearing with all their wedding garb, and with at least one family member on board, supportive, and trying to help them, they have better chances than most would. nobody ever hears from them again after they disappear, but maybe that's a good thing. they like to think it's a good thing

#personally i liked to think they genuinely did make it somewhere but i wante dto leave it up to the audience #this ended up being cut because a different storyline covers some of the same ground #and that one is more narratively important and involves more important characters... but i do miss this specific storyline sometimes

[typhoonvash]

*sneakily steals this and runs*

SHIPPING INFO //ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSES SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

(I'm not tagged and I'm not taggin' anyone, I'm gonna slap a special tag on this and hold onto it for reference)

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)?

Vashwood is my main ship, but i also really like Mashwood, Mash, and the polygon of vash/ww/meryl/milly.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

Well. First off. Vash is old as fuck. So jot that one down. Basically, for an 18-22 yr old I think mid to late twenties is fine. 23-25 is still babie to me but like, you do you as long as it's not predatory and weird. Over 25 I think is when I'm like "yeah date whoever you want." So it's really just based on the dynamic I guess.

Also stampede woowoo is weird because accelerated aging, so if you want to ship your s!woowoo with me please let me know that he's you know. ACTUALLY of age (I headcanon him to be at least 21).

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFW?

I think once the touching becomes touching is when I'll read more it. When you know they're hungry for each other, yeah? Or when you know it's about to go there.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

Selective to an extent. Canon relationships (in the case of Trigun, everything is platonic atm since nothing is confirmed but youuu knowww) exist and they make it easier for me to ship with you. If it's a rarepair or anything else, we have to build a foundation first and get to know each other before I trust you with my boy's heart. </3

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH?

I'm open to most ships, healthy or unhealthy. The only hard stop for me is plantcest/knivesvash. I'm also a bit weird about shipping with Roberto? I dunno I see him more as a dad or drunkle as woowoo put it in the show. I don't know if this would even be an issue, but yeah.

I have a soft spot for the cross-universe ships too, like mix and match stampede/98/max. Vash/Vash (cross-universe/AU) is interesting to me, and I'm open to the idea, but I'm never gonna be the one to push it if that makes sense.

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

Hey, if things happen in a thread and start going somewhere naturally, you're welcome to make a move. I'll read your rules to make sure it's okay if I make a move in the moment, but for the most part I'm more of a feels type of shipper.

If you want a thread to for certain go somewhere, then feel free to ask me! And I always appreciate you asking for permission anyway. I will probably say yes.

ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?

I do love ships, but I also love strong platonic relationships with other muses too! Plus we can always friends to lovers slow burn it and torture everyone, so that's fun.

Anyway shipping is fun and cool. I'll also do breakups, fights, etc, anything that a relationship naturally goes through. I want it to be as realistic as possible.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?

Absolutely 100% vashwood. It's my favorite, I'm obsessed with it, but I really like the big four's dynamic as a whole. I loooove mashwood/mash as well, I think throwing stampede woowoo at stampede meryl is hilarious.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

Hi, I'm an idiot and I also have social anxiety. Me asking to ship something is as nerve-wracking as asking someone out (obviously, this comparison is not how I actually feel, I can separate ships from mun relationships don't worry).

You can either initiate it in RP, a meme, an ask, or shoot me a message. Vash will respond with... Vash Responses, so if you want a for certain answer then message me here or ask for my discord!

Also if there's anything here I didn't answer, again, feel free to message me. I am a silly lil idiot with social anxiety and sometimes I'm brave, but most times I'm sitting there cheering you on from the sidelines instead of actually participating. I'm trying to get better about it!!

#//ooc// #[puts this in my pocket] #[shipping rules] #i don't know if anyone wanted to see this but if you did here you go

[unclerippuascension]

Fixing Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Combat

So far I have been enjoying PL:A, its a solid 6/10; but the combat is very lumpy dumpy for no disernable reason and as somebody whose been playing the series since I was 10 back when DPP came out I wanted to come up with some fixes to make battling more fun. I brought up the combat in a previous post, but it bears repeating on what needs to be fixed.

Bring back abilities: I will never understand why PL:A got rid of a cornerstone of Pokemon's gameplay. Ever since Gen3 abilities have been a neat way of making your pokemon feel more like individuals. You could catch two Shinx and they'd be more unique compared to the other because of their differing abilities. Gen5 also introduced hidden abilities which were harder to get but were often way better than the standard abilities. Why not keep those? It would naturally encourage players to catch multiple Pokemon, and the game could even keep hidden abilities by having Space-Time Disortion Pokemon or Alphas have a small chance of having their hidden ability. The only reason I can fathom Game Freak nixing abilities was due to their being no PvP but that is a flimsy excuse at best if that is the case.

Keep old move/status effects: A lot of the moves and status effects have been changed, and again I don't know why. Moves that previously hit multiple enemies don't anymore, moves that lowered or buffed a certain stat are much more vague, and the status effects of sleep and frozen are now just palette swaps of paralysis and poison. This makes combat a matter of elemental rock-paper-scissors where you occassionally make your attacks hit harder and slower or softer and faster; and if multiple enemies gang up on you, you just have to take a beating until your turn comes and that can be really unfair. If they kept the way attacks used to work in older games there'd be no issue, have Bulk Up raise attack and defene instead of 'offensive and defensive' stats, have Bulldoze hit multiple enemies, and have Hyponsis actually put the opponent to sleep.

Let Pokemon hold berries: Your Pokemon also can't hold berries, there aren't normal held items in this game but there are berries and it makes no sense that your Pokemon can't hold them. It'd give you a leg up if your Pokemon had the chance to heal themselves with a berry, especially when wild Pokemon can just use a strong style move and wipe out half of you HP. Yeah berries are mostly used as lures in this game, but that's no excuse. If I have a bajillion Sitrus berries its because I want to give them to my Pokemon so they can heal themselves during a battle. If I wanna lure a Pokemon over to me I'l use a cake lure.

Actually have friendliness do something: Aside from making certain Pokemon evolve, friendship does fuck all in this game. Friendship has gone from "oh some Pokemon evolve and two moves do more damage" to "Your pokemon will survive 1 Hit Kills, dodge moves, and shake off status effects because they love you and want to return all the TLC you've given them." and for PL:A to get rid of that feels very wrong for a game about building the very first bonds with Pokemon historically. Yes this one is minor, but I remember a time where Game Freak played along with the idea that these hunks of polygons and code were real living breathing creatures; and if they didn't bring back Pokemon Camp they could at least keep the updated friendship mechanics. Maybe even have it so you can take a Pokemon out of its pokeball to walk with you through the vast open enviroments and have that increase friendship faster. The game lets you have them out of their pokeballs but they just sort of sit there, you can't even pet them! Why have an NPC who checks friendship when friendship doesn't even bloody do anything that it didn't already do in Gen2 like 20 years ago? Return and Frustration aren't even in this game! PL:A is doing less than Gen2 and I don't know why!!. They should have kept the current friendship mechanics, lile everything else they should have kept but didn't for reasons unknown.

But yeah those are my thoughts, PL:A isn't terrible but it also isn't great and 90% of that is due to the crippled combat system. If Game Freak has more Legends games I hope they fix the combat to make it fun, because in the probably paraphrased words of Reggie Fils-amie: If its not fun, why play it?

#pokemon #pokemon legends arceus

[twinklestarsprites]

Go play EGGCONSOLE

The Switch has basically turned into a game historian's dream come true, with classic titles getting ported, remade, remastered and localized for the first time all over the place. From Hamster's weekly Arcade Archives, to M2's fantastic as always work with Sega Ages, and Nintendo's own library available via their online service, there's no shortage of great titles for anyone who wants to revisit their own childhood, or just dive deep to better understand the past.

What I definitely didn't expect was for classic Japanese computer games to start ending up on the console, much less in North America. For a long time, these games have kinda had a forbidden fruit appeal for Westerners, a last frontier of games that was difficult to navigate due to the language barrier, the aging hardware, Windows cannibalizing all other operating systems during the 90's and of course, few of the games being exported over here, but it's gotten a lot better in recent years, mostly thanks to D4 enterprises.

They started with Project EGG, ostensibly Japan's equivalent of GOG, and after a few other ventures on various platforms, they've decided to port their most classic titles to Switch under the label of EGGCONSOLE, including, as I mentioned earlier, on the Western eShop. This seems odd at first, but considering the vintage of these games, they don't have that much Japanese text to parse, and often using joysticks and controllers back in the day, rather than keyboards, meaning they transfer to typical console controllers rather easily (you can still use an emulated keyboard in-game, if you wish).

As you can imagine, not all of the games have aged super gracefully; the action titles are straightforward enough, but the adventure games or RPG's with more complex systems and labyrinth-like levels are a bit too incomprehensible, though the releases have a lot of effort put into them to make sure you can see what they're all about, from level selects, to savestates to rewinds.

The three titles I've definitely put the most time into are Thexder, Silpheed, and Relics. Relics is definitely the most stymieing of the three, but it's so cool I keep trying to slog through it; it's got a body stealing mechanic which is always great, and a cool biomechanical aesthetic way ahead of its time.

But the two titles that are the easiest to get into are sort of a duology that compliment each other, as they're both by Game Arts and insanely impressive on a technical level; Thexder and Silpheed.

Silpheed is insane. I was aware of the Sega CD release before, but I didn't realize it was a sorta-sequel, sorta-remake of the computer original, and that it was basically Star Fox running on an 8-bit computer. I dunno how they got wireframes and polygons like this on the PC-88, but it's insane. The actual gameplay is pretty good, nothing compared to other shmups of the era and especially now, but the level design is pretty good and the weapon loadout select is pretty great, and adds a strategic wrinkle.

Thexder is a sidescrolling mecha-action title, and again, the technical prowess on display really steals the show. The animation on the robot as he lethargically strides forward, then turns into a plane blasting enemies down with an Itano Circus-type laser really makes the whole experience and feels really satisfying, even if the enemy layouts are a little too insane, at times. It's also nice to have a perfectly emulated version on a console since the Famicom version, developed by pre-Final Fantasy Square, was a bit of a disaster, and the PS3 remake (which included the original) is probably gonna be delisted soon.

It really does fill me with a glee that these titles are so much more easily playable now; you can really see how some of them shaped and molded more accessible contemporaries (such as the streamlined RPG's on the Famicom) while having their own identity that would never really be replicated. I'm super excited to see what other titles they rerelease down the line, though I'd really like to see titles from other platforms, like the PC-98, MSX or X68000. Looking at the upcoming titles, they seem to be sticking to PC-88 for now, but there's always hope for the future. For how much we (kinda rightfully) complain about game companies not doing enough to preserve the past, you gotta pay due respect to the few that are, to serve as a blueprint of what we need more of.

#eggconsole #pc-88 #silpheed #thexder #xanadu #hydlide #project egg #switch #nintendo switch

[lyssafreyguy]

i have thoughts about YIIK. nothing crazy deep it's just that i'm almost 13 hours in now at chapter 3 level 21 and i've been spending this whole time ragging on the game? deservedly so? but i also have some positive and mixed opinions towards it too and i wanna write them down in no particular order! (full transparency: i'm playing vers 1.25, with assist mode on so i can use the game's slow down mechanic whenever i want in battles, i have the sort of elemental weakness/resist system added in 1.25 turned off, and i'm sure some of the things i have to say will have to do with whether or not YIIK had the proper funds and time to achieve what i think could be done better but i have no knowledge on how that shit works. what do you want from me.)

i like the sort of low polygon/flat textures plastered on lumpy geometry/choppy frame rate style of the game's overall aesthetic and the character art for the different talk sprites is generally pretty well done (could've maybe used less gradient tool tho)

going off of that tho: the game's start menu has a references page that lists media that YIIK might either directly reference, make homages to, or have been at the very least inspired by and while that's nice and makes sense with the game's pseudo-retro feel i have this feeling that there wasn't that deep of an understanding about what makes of the media they listed like. good? and impactful? it just feels kinda surface level.

the music is also pretty alright! like i said i'm only at chapter 3 (so i've been to Flag Town and met up with Claudio and Chondra) but so far i haven't really heard a piece that i didn't at least passively enjoy (fun fact: there's different battle themes and one of them is done by Toby Fox! i've known about YIIK for a couple of years now but didn't actually know this until recently and i'm delighted to report that you hear it and go "oh yea that's Toby.")

voice acting is alright. it's passable. no particular character that i felt so far has been way better than all the others. like i said before tho sound mixing and levels and mic quality vary between characters and sometimes even between lines of dialogue? also Alex's internal dialogue (infamously) goes on longer than it needs to be a good chunk of the time considering this is an RPG and not a visual novel but also there would be pauses of up to like 5 seconds between lines on autoplay?? and it felt like the most awkward pause ever??? i haven't noticed that happening since chapter 1 ended tho so who fucking knows. i'm playing a pirated copy who gives a shit i guess. (on the Alex Doesn't Know How to Shut the Fuck Up point: this version of the game gives you an option at the beginning to play the game with reduced monologue but the original cut option is described as "ideal for those seeking a deeper understanding of the storyline" so like. FUCK your players who don't wanna hear Alex whack his own dick I GUESS.)

there've been a few lines of dialogue so far where i hear them and go "what was the fucking point of you saying that?"- same goes for some sections of player interaction (Alex talking amongst multiples of himself in his head after certain cutscenes not just being an automated event being the biggest thorn in my side)

i LOVE Rory being a tank character. his default pacifism "attack" making him a human shield along with his skill that lets him swap his HP and SP for when his health gets too low while defending the party is genuinely such a good combo. i'm looking at the vers 1.25 announcement made on steam and this is apparently a result of them improving Rory's "usefulness in battle" so you know what? good on the developers. i gotta tentatively give it to em on that one.

i don't mind everything in battles (from melee to skills to dodging) being QTEs but i don't like that there's never a window of time or a tutorial when you first go about using them so that you can get a feel for how they work ESPECIALLY for skills that require you to hit multiple buttons/sections and ESPECIALLY at the very beginning of the game. i think the game could've also benefited by having some accessibility settings.

speaking of i like that there's 2 separate QTE minigames for dodging - for attacks to only target one character and for attacks that target multiple characters - but in my experience the former is a lot hard to get a full on dodge rather than a defense buff without the slow down mechanic and i honestly don't know how to feel about it. like i'm sure that some players out there have a much harder time with the former or have an equally hard time with both but. still.

[doodledrawsthings]

Oh The Humanity! AU  Masterpost

Hi! Making a masterpost for this AHiT AU so y’all have one place to just find all the important bits that I and other folks in the fandom have done for this AU! Everything will be under the read more

AU Premise: Snatcher steals a time piece from Hat Kid and Bow Kid to mess with them. He tries to use it during one of the Death Wish fights, but turns out the particular time piece he stole was faulty/ something was up with it/ he broke it in a weird way that really messed it up. Because of this, when he broke the piece, instead of rewinding time back a few minutes, it sent his form back about 300 years, returning him to human form, but with all his present memories. Now, he’s stuck as a human as and has to wait for the Time Traveling Alien Kids to fix the time piece and return him to normal, while also being forced to confront his past.

You can find most of this in the tag #oth!au. I will also be updating this as new stuff gets added or if I find that I’ve missed something. Let me know if there’s something I missed that you’d like me to add, cuz boy howdy i didnt realize how much is stuffed into this AU, and I dont remember what I’ve already said and what I’m saving for future stuff:

Significant Events in the Main Timeline story (these are kind of in order and kind of not. There’s more to be added, just not yet):

this au has a bunch of different endings thanks to the lovely ahit fandom’s contributions.

This all happens sometime after This comic. So, by the time OTH!AU happens, Moon and Snatcher are at least on“awkward acquaintance” terms with eachother and snatcher is trying to be nicer to him. He’s still got his moments of being rude and snappy tho, but thats just because he’s snatcher.

The first actual post i made In regards to this AU+ @positive-polygons​ comic interpretation of the beginning of the AU. He breaks a weird time piece he stole and he reverse ages back to being alive again. : Link Link1 Link2 Link3

Snatcher asks moonjumper to watch over Subcon while he’s stuck like this Link

Bow takes him to Nyakuza Metro to get new clothes. He trashes the Prince get-up as soon as possible. Link

Arctic Cruise Arc Link1 Link2 Link3 Link4

Some comics, they learn his name is luka at some point

Moonjumper is taking care of Subcon. They do things way differently than snatcher but they’re trying their best. 

Cooking Cat comes by to cook and help out. She’s very motherly to everyone. She’s taken Mu on as an apprentice, so she’s usually there with her whenever she drops by.

The birds are wrapping up a collab movie. The main cast are invited to the premier party, as Hat and Bow acted in the film. Snatcher gets to wear a nice suit and he has some interaction with the conductor and grooves. Link Link

at multiple points, MJ checks in with snatcher for status reports on how subcon is doing. This is usually where their bonding moments happen and they become less and less awkward with each interaction.

At some point around mid to late story, they find out that Subcon is starting to freeze over again. Snatcher was the only one who could melt the ice so this now gives them a time limit.

The Mirror incident Link Link  second fic by @greentrickster​

as snatcher gets along with the kids more, they remake his mailman hat so he can use badges and equip him with his own umbrella. Link Link

at some point snatcher realizes he doesn’t wanna go back to being a ghost.

Main-timeline ending is a Boss battle with Vanessa. Link

General Headcanons:

Almost everything you need to know about moonjumper and the prince and vanessa’s relationship Link

Snatcher and Vanessa have known eachother since they were kids. Their marriage was arranged, but they were good friends

OTH! Snatcher is aroace 

about snatcher’s feelings on defeating vanessa (*human!/final boss vanessa ending) Link1 Link2

This fic has a really good interpretation of the horizon that I’ve pretty much adopted, myself. Link

regarding snatcher’s expression of empathy and emotion both as a human and as a ghost Link1

Snatcher gradually takes on a fatherly role towards the girls. He is constantly trying to deny it as he comes to realize it but eventually accepts it. 

he’s actually pretty graceful with the umbrella  Link Link

Hat kid’s a good leader, but she can often be reckless and stubborn. Significantly more chaotic of the two space gremlins. She’s a lot like snatcher in a lot of ways, and because of that they are constantly butting heads but they get along better as Snatcher both gets used to being human and grows fonder of the two girls. She’s a bit closer to Snatcher, having been the most adamant about being his friend (initially out of spite but yknow) and they have a lot in common. 

People frequently mistake snatcher for being Hat Kid and Bow Kid’s visiting father. They usually comment on how much he looks like he could be HK’s biological dad. Both are in denial of this throughout the main timeline of this au. It’s a running gag. Link

snatcher is sometimes completely oblivious when he enters Dad Mode sometimes

Bow, on the other hand is generally a bit more shy and careful than hat kid is. She tends to take the passenger seat, taking on a more supportive role. She’s also way more polite. In this sense, she has more in common with moonjumper, and gets along with them quite well and she frequently goes to visit him the most often, on her own.

 Her and snatcher’s relationship kind of parallels snatcher’s relationship with MJ. Snatcher, having once been a big jerk to these kids, is now trying to teach bow to take more of a leading role and be more confident.

as this au takes place not long after the Clearing Incident comic, Snatcher and MJ’s relationship is a bit awkward in the beginning. Over the course of the AU their relationship would build up to be more brotherly.

the subconites like moonjumper but they miss their boss. MJ spoils them tho, which they appreciate and occasionally take advantage of Link Link

moonjumper learns to stand up for himself, snatcher learns to be more vulnerable

moonjumper is the badgeseller. Only hat, bow, and snatcher know this. 

snatcher very much enjoys feeling warm, its one of few saving graces he clings too in the stressful early part of the story.

snatcher doesnt like looking at himself in this AU. He’s very self-conscious about his “pathetic human body.” He doesn’t like being pitied and he doesnt like being seen as weak.

snatcher frequently has nightmares about his past.

after recieving the mailman hat, people start refering to him as The Mailman. Link

his voice frequently cracks a lot, especially in the beginning, since he keeps trying to use his Loud Ghost Voice, which can do a number on human vocal chords. Link

the kids bully him constantly Link Link Link

his arc is that he learns that it’s ok to be human and it’s ok to be vulnerable and to open up to people, and he learns to accept his past and who he used to be

the girls accidentally call him dad sometimes, which freaks him out at first, but he gets used to it eventually. Link

he adopts them, for sure, it just happens post- whatever ending.

beard. Link

Spin-off AUs, Alt Endings, and Fanfics, Oh My!:

That ending where habijob kills moonjumper  Moonjumper goes to fight Vanessa, alone. In one version they win, and in another, they lose, and snatcher has to return to ghost form to retrieve them from the horizon. by @habijob  Link Link Link 

From The Horizon fic by @greentrickster Link

@lindendragon‘s hypothetical endings where snatcher is captured by vanessa Link Link

@fedoraspooky‘s spinoff au where the timepiece takes him back even further and turns him into a kid Link Link

@positive-polygons‘s Vanessa Spinoff Link

@doodleimprovement‘s Royal ending Link

@erekiosuncreativeideas​‘s fanfic, Being Human, her version of the au’s story in chronological order starting from when he breaks the timepiece Link

@lemonadesoda​’s Fanfic series, And I Don’t Think You Hate This As Much As You Wish You Did, fills in and expands upon the ideas in  my comics for the AU Link

#a hat in time #ahit #the snatcher #the prince #bow kid #hat kid #moonjumper #ahit headcanons #oth!au #Oh the Humanity Au #oth!au masterpost #good lord i didnt realize how much this au had #but i think this is good for now #i'll add more as i go #i know for sure that theres more fics to add but i'll do that later i just wanna put this out #added some stuff

[kimjihyun-archive]

(it’s still me) I ask for 14 with jihyun please 🥳🥳 (I am prepared mentally to die)

desperation | jihyun kim

WARNINGS: mentions of rika, and stabbing, they’re in the hospital, she’s a lil angry for a moment, kissing??? idk 

WORD COUNT: 1.8k (a doozy baybee)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: i’m so sorry for this. i love writing soft v with all of my being, but i think there’s a point where the patience with him has to wear thin and he has to be told that this, though understandable, is wrong and he deserves to think better of himself.

She decides tonight, that she hates hospital rooms. 

Whether it be the white walls, or the lingering scent of alcohol, or the way the machines whirl around his chest—it makes her sick—a night in the room feeling disturbingly like an eternity. She already can’t sleep—her eyes trained on each breath that spills from his lungs, something sinister in her telling her that it’ll be his last, but the stark white color that swallows the room makes it almost impossible. 

Her fingers have been twisting his for almost an hour. She traces shapes into the back of his hand, haphazard polygons that follow the grooves of his knuckles. She doesn’t know if he can feel it, but, god, she can. 

She can feel the way his hands have carried so much for him. Every callous, every freckle—every long day in the sun and prickling of evening air. Something lingers below his skin that she’s never felt in anyone before—perhaps she simply never wished to. 

And she could kill him for this. 

When she pleaded for freedom through hushed phone calls and he whispered words of escape, she never expected this. When he promised to take her away from that room in the middle of the mountains, to save her from his faults, she imagined being snatched away in the night—a quiet affair that could never be detected. 

She should’ve known better than to think things could lean so far towards her way. She should’ve known that Rika, bathing in the light of the forest moon, silver knife in hand, would never let them go so easily. She should’ve known that escape could only lead to jagged scars, and rushed surgeries, and the plaguing smell of this room. 

There’s a flash behind her eyes then, a bright red, the only one that could possibly counter the whites of his sheets. It’s the red that soaked through his jacket as she stumbled upon him in the grass. It’s the red that stained her fingers as he crumbled in her lap in the car. It’s the red that she clawed at under the soapy water of the dingy sink in the bathroom until her hands grew raw. 

This room is too white, its floors too clean, his breaths too mechanically settled. It’s too calm and too quiet and everything in her head is screaming for him to wake up. She wants to shake him, to dig blunt nails into his shoulders until his eyes grow wide open—until she can spot the vibrant blues the flicker at his irises. 

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. 

And yet, V’s eyes remain closed—the lids are slotted so softly over what she yearns to see. The gentle mechanical hum that bellows from his chest is still there, as strong as it was a moment ago. The room remains still—no matter the efforts of her pounding skull, no matter how much she wills him to feel the aching breath of life, it’s quiet. 

A part of her, some small, cynical part, wishes so badly hate him. He claimed to never be one for theatrics but this is the kind of dramatization that clings to her skull so tightly that it no longer feels real. And yet, this reality that sits in front of her is much too strong to deny.

She can’t verbalize how she wishes to hear his voice again. How she yearns for the smiles so small that she’d rarely catch them—his denial of meriting each one so clear. The words tug at her vocal cords but something halts them in her throat. Perhaps the worry that they’d fall upon deaf ears. Perhaps the fear of admitting them at all. 

Instead, her fingers continue to run across his knuckles, each breath tangling in her mouth. Her eyelids fall heavy—not with exhaustion, but with a sudden, disgusting compliance to the room. She leans forward in her chair, her forehead resting against his arm with a delicacy she’s never quite felt before—with a need for something, anything, that resembles him when he’s alive and well. 

Then, a groaning of the mattress. 

She lingers for a moment, too afraid that the only sounds in front of her are a new gasp of the equipment, but when she opens her eyes and his expression is contorted, the air is knocked from her chest. 

She doesn’t dare speak a word, the stirring presence of him enough to leave her body tingling and numb. His eyes are closed, but there’s a lively flutter behind them, one that seizes the will for life that she clung to so heavily earlier. 

Her grasp on his arm tightens and the muscle sputters. It’s the most she’s seen from him since he was wheeled into the operating room and, surprisingly enough, it’s the most she needs for heat to bloom within her chest. 

Her name is the first thing to consciously stumble from his lips, a morph of word that’s not quite right but not quite wrong either. It’s quiet and clumsy, but also the only thing she wishes to hear. 

“V?” Her voice echos off of stark walls and slowly, his eyes open. They’re duller than she remembered—bloodshot and heavy with the tug of unconsciousness—but they still pool vibrant blues and soft cerulean together—an unmistakable liveliness deep beneath the surface. 

“You’re okay,” he says. 

Ease seems to settle within his shoulders at the sight of her and something within her aches to laugh. He’s worried about her—even in an entanglement of wires and tubes—but of course he is. He’s always worried about her. 

“I am,” she replies through a chuckle. “But more importantly, so are you.” The machines still buzz in a way that tears at her ears, but there’s a smile stretching across his cheeks and an unmistakable warmth bellowing throughout her chest. 

Her fingers halt in rubbing his hands, but with the most energy he can muster, he’s quick to snatch her wrist. The dead weight of his hand was comforting while the hum of machinery was the only hint of his liveliness, but it’s nothing compared to this. His fingertips are calloused, and yet so soft against her palms—the pads of his thumb tracing each line etched into her skin. 

“I should call Jumin and let him know you’re awake,” she mutters. “He’s been pacing around here for hours, but I told him to go home and rest for a while. This room can drive you insane.” 

His face seems to fall at the sound of that, but she keeps her gaze heavy on him in an attempt to make him feel a little less burdened. 

No, no, this was easy—watching your body rise with breaths that were never your own. Please, don’t worry about me—or Jumin either. He’s fine too; he was only trying to call every doctor in the country if it meant keeping you alive.

 She tries to shift from her chair then, but his grip tightens. 

“Wait, can you—” There’s a desperation in his voice, one she hates that she recognizes. “Can you stay for a little while?” 

The last time he spoke that way, he was curled into scratchy cotton sheets of the cabin, begging her to let him give himself to RIka. 

“She’s not going to stop until she has me,” he’d pleaded. 

“She’s not going to stop, period, V,” she’d retorted, lips drawn tightly into a frown. 

She hates to say that she was right, but glancing at the bandages wound around his chest and that sorrowful gleam in his eyes, god, she was. She hopes he knows that too. That maybe the cotton-wound stitches and smell of rubbing alcohol are enough to show him that Rika craves so much more than revenge. 

“Yeah, of course.” She settles back down into the chair, scooting it closer to the bed, the knowledge that one Jumin Han might very well kill her for making him wait dull in her mind. 

V’s chest rattles and he sucks a breath through his nose, his thumbs making their up way up her wrist. Half of her wants to curse him for making her head spin at his touch, but the other half, the better half, leans into it. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.” She laughs, a snide little sound that pours from her lips, and his mouth hangs open in curiosity. 

“I just… I just wished you would’ve listened to me for a second.” Her voice is poison dripping off of her tongue, but the gentleness behind it is still so evident that she hates herself for it. She hates that she can’t stomach scolding him. She hates that she understands. 

“I know, I know, I let you down and I let the RFA down and I should’ve handled it mysel—” The chair slides out under her, squealing against the tile, her fingers holding the side of his face and suddenly— 

She kisses him. 

Her lips find his with a heaviness that neither of them had expected. A passion she’d never felt before burns in the back of her throat, and though his skin is nearly frigid, her entire body grows warm. 

His shoulders grow stiff, but he never pulls away, never hesitates to kiss her back. Something terribly needy grows between the two of them, but there’s an encasement of wires and tubes that halts her there, so she pulls back—breathing so intensely that the air burns into her lungs. 

“V.” She doesn’t bother to move away, their faces so close that she can feel his breath dotting her neck. She can see that brilliant blue now—the one that she’d pleaded so intensely for. His eyes are blown wide, a redness blooming at his cheeks, but his irises are still speckled with striking cerulean—a contrast so disgustingly bright against the whites of the room. “Please.” 

She doesn’t have to say any more before he nods, his lips falling shut. He gets it, god, she’s thankful that he gets it. The room still lingers with that recognizable hospital smell, leaving a pricking at the bottom of her stomach, but he’s here and he’s safe and she can feel the tingling of his lips on her own. 

She hates hospital rooms. 

She hates them when she pushes the chair back into place. She hates them when she dials Jumin’s number, and she hates them when she watches the guilt settle so deep into V’s chest that it burns. But he smiles at her, so kind, and bright, and sorrowful that she can’t find it in herself to leave him, no matter how much he urges her to. 

So, she takes his hand and kisses his knuckles, and hopes to god that this last time she has to be here. Hopes to god that he, after everything, will remember the startling silver of Rika’s knife and the ache in his chest, and he’ll listen. 

#jihyun kim #jihyun kim x reader #v x reader #jihyun kim x mc #v x mc #mystic messenger #mysme #mysme fanfic #hunterelys

[sheabuttyr]

plumbbae asked: [IM SORRY IF this sent twice!! tumblr is wack and didn't give me the page where it says it did. ;/] -- > Hey babe. Is there a place where I can DL your old cc/sets? [specifically the Monopoly one.] If not, or you don't feel like answering, totally ok! Regardless, thanks for taking your time !! xx

Hey Love, you can find all of my old CC HERE

sosophia26 asked: Hey Girly!! I love your cc in and out. But the daija dreads cause my game to crash. I removed all my mods and tested it with only this and to figure out the cause. I was wondering was it working on your end and just my computer cant handle all of the black girl magic for it.

My hairs in game works fine and I haven’t heard anything from anyone else or my patrons. Try redownloading it. I’ll be on the lookout if anyone has any problems.

1jadelove asked: Hi! Can you tell me which eye preset do you use, please?

Hi Love, You can check my resource page.

smilingcrybaby asked: Hey, I love your cc & I'm so happy you're back. I wanted to know if you'll be converting your adult hairs to kids or if you'll ever consider making child hairs?

For the foreseeable future I don’t see me converting any children's hairs. If you are looking for some children's conversions of my hairs @dbasiasimbr is wonderful at conversions for children and toddlers! 

thesobaboba asked: how do u get ur sims to look the way u do? i love ur style of sims sm and wish i could make some have certain traits urs do.

Hi Love, You can check my resource page.

gussini asked: Heyy, I wanted ask what the color # of the brown you use for Mobile?

Here is the hex code love #71412c

queenwilluna asked: I've been looking around for some mm Bantu Knots and everything I find has been removed, do you plan on making some anytime?

Yes I do plan on re-uploading and making more! 

violeteyestokyoj asked: I cant find the hasina dreads anywhere does the file still exist?

Hey Love, you can find all of my old CC HERE

forthesimculture asked: Will you also be creating future hairs for male sims? I loved your previous additions and use them every time I play. Hands down the best in the community!

Thank You So Much! and Yes I do plan on making more masculine frame hairs very soon! Be on the lookout!

rootivy asked: hello!! I love your cc so much, but I was wondering if it's possible for you to label each of the hairs in your big collections you put out like for example the braids or afros with their names? Because sometimes I only want a couple and I am never sure which is which since they have names but it doesn't say which! Thank you so much! Have a great day!

Hello Love, I list the hairs in the picture order and from left to right like it says listed in the collections. These are just older hairs that have been updated with the swatches and minor fixes. So it shouldn't be too hard to navigate. 

sofiekinggorjusse asked: WCIF THE CURLY HAIR FROM YOUR COTTAGE LIVING PLAY THROUGH POST?! 😍 it’s so beautiful

Here you go! You can find this hair HERE! It is by the wonderful serenity-cc!

humansinthesky asked: just want to say I'm so glad you're back, my game wouldn't be the same without your content! looking forward to both your updated and brand new creations 💙

AWW, Thank You Sooo Much! I am happy to be back and making new creations for you all to enjoy! 

lithops93 asked: Hi! <3 Could you please tell me where to find the female hair here? /post/657575448480563200/here-are-some-sims-for-my-cottage-living

Here you go! You can find this hair HERE! It is by the wonderful serenity-cc!

nekochan-simmer asked: Hi, I want to firstly say that I love your cc and I'm glad you are back posting. That said, could you perhaps make your hair less poly? I checked the afro puffs for curiosity and they were 48k poly, it is insanely high for hair. I want to be able to use your hair but with each hair being so high poly I really can't keep a lot of them in game, and I'm lucky that my computer and game are able to support at least a small bunch of them, there's people whose specs don't allow them to install such heavy content. I honestly can't see a reason why a maxis match hair is so high in polygons.

The reason why some of the hairs are on the higher poly side of things is because some if not most elements are made from scratch and also I make more intricate details and I decimate the meshes as much as I can without trying to compromise the integrity of the initial mesh. But this is why I always preface the people downloading and the patrons who pledge to me to check the specs of your computer. Not all of my cc is high poly but sadly If i want my content to look the best It comes at a smaller cost of vertices and poly count. 

girlalmighty666 asked: Hi! I love your cc ❤️ and your model sims are TO DIE FOR! Would you ever consider sharing them for download? Pretty please 🥺

I don’t see me uploading my sims in the future but I can make a default sim for you all to download if you’d like.

detectivemogeta asked: just wanted to say thanks for everything you create, it really makes my game experience better :)

No, The pleasure is all mine! I am so glad you like my content enough to even download it.

#inbox replies

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

I want 8, the hand-kissing, because I am in some respects extremely predictable :D

(I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you.)

8. Laying a gentle kiss to the back of the other’s hand

In the polygon of morning sunlight on the floor of jingshi, Lan Wangji is three lines.

One is a headband: straight and steady, a wall of rules made of silk, pale and hard as ice; a horizon—a divider of things—Heaven above and Earth below.

One is a guqin string: the first finger of his right hand hovers over an A as it shimmers and evaporates like morning dew, passing from the “is” into the “was.” Such is a language that can speak to the dead.

And the third… The third only Wei Wuxian has seen.

Beneath five layers of white and a sun-shaped scar, a muscle beats steady and slow. He’d dug them out of the raw earth, carved talismans right into ribs, and seen them in their natural state, rotting inside scrimshaw cages. “Keep me alive that I may kill,” he had intoned, his mouth dry with terror and thirsty for revenge as bones popped and sinew creaked and muscles moved anew.

None ever beat, less so like this one. On a mountain of corpses turned to soil, none were solid ground. None raced to look at him or pulsed when he muttered a name.

“Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji keeps playing but meets his gaze without hesitation. Wei Wuxian realizes he has no statement or question to follow with; none was really intended, and he fails to contrive one instantly. The thrill of knowing that he can garner Lan Wangji’s full attention with such ease is still overwhelming, and were Lan Zhan really made of thin jade, the whole world, too, could see that muscle picking up speed.

‘May I have the honor of a glimpse from you?’ He had once asked.

It has been a string of hazy early mornings and quiet afternoons since he returned to The Cloud Recesses. Overly quiet. As if something was waiting to be said.

From Wangji rises gentle pops of color: a golden A, the soft green tincture of E, the purple query of G. Sometimes they are soft as rain, sometimes they are momentary fireworks.

There is no end of notes; they spring up like weeds.

But neither had there been an end of corpses.

It was at Nightless City that he had first seen the third, the line that runs from the right hand all the way to the heart, reaching at right angles against the other two down the face of a cliff to catch him, to anchor him to the world when he did not want to stay.

“Let me go, Lan Zhan” he had said.

Now it had reached across 16 years...

“Indulge me, Lan Zhan,” he says. He rises, crosses the room, and drapes himself closer, balanced on elbow and hip, back to the guqin on its low table, and punctuates with a single spin of Chenqing.

Lan Wangji’s hands do not miss a note. “For Wei Ying, always.”

Wei Wuxian purses his lips and worries Chenqing’s tassel, twisting it around his finger. “Shizhui told me something interesting the other day.” He pauses and lets the silence sit between them for a moment. “He said that when he was younger he used to hear you playing Inquiry late at night, and that’s why he asked you to teach him: because it was ‘the saddest and most beautiful thing he had ever heard.’” He spins Chenqing again, suddenly introspective. “I don’t think of Inquiry as beautiful, but then… I suppose that would depend on who’s doing the asking… what is being asked… who it is being asked to.”

He does not need to look: he can feel the sudden and subtle electric tension. “Lan Zhan, were you—by chance—playing for me?”

He had never answered when Wei Wuxian asked about burning money, but the guqin has gone silent, so Wei Wuxian waits, the thrill of expectation rising. Then Lan Wangji plucks a solitary note: E flat.

E flat?

Yes.

Ah, so this is our game!

Wei Wuxian rolls excitedly onto his stomach in front of the dias, beaming, his hands clasping Chenqing under his chin. Lan Wangji’s gaze is demurely downcast.

“Lan Zhan, tell me the truth: did you burn money for me?”

Yes.

Wei Wuxian practically giggles with delight. “When I left this last year, did you miss me when I was gone?”

Yes.

He’s going to hurt himself grinning like this. “Did you truly miss me when I was dead?”

Yes. But the note is plucked harder than it should be and it quavers.

“But you find me so boring! Really, how long would it take you to get tired of me?” He crawls up onto his knees and plops himself into a sitting position at the table, guqin between them.

“I know I don’t have much core to speak of,” he pats his abdomen gingerly, “and I’m working on that! But let’s say we both became immortals, would you get tired of me then? 16 years is one thing, but 160? 1600? 16,000 years? Imagine how boring, Lan Zhan!?”

Lan Wangji is silent.

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian leans in close and low, trying to catch his eyes under those lashes. “May I have the honor of a glimpse from you?” Lan Wangji looks up at him, and the gaze is so intense that Wei Wuxian feels suddenly vulnerable. “What on Earth did you want to ask me back then?”

Lan Wangji is quiet for long enough that Wei Wuxian starts to think he has no intention of answering, but then...

“If the lotus seeds were ripe. If you thought the day was pleasant. If you heard the birds singing near Cold Pond, and if their song reminded you of the past. If you could forgive me for having only bitter soup for dinner. If you could see the kind young man A-Yuan was becoming. If you could divide for me the black from the white. If you knew the name of the song. But now… Wei Ying, now I think you do; I no longer need to ask that. So I will ask something else.” He swallows suddenly and Wei Wuxian could swear he’s trembling. “May I make this Wei Ying’s home? Will Wei Ying bear the early mornings and quiet hours and bitter soup and cold winters? Will Wei Ying allow me 16,000 years of Inquiry?”

Wei Wuxian is struck dumb. He sits back, slack-jawed and broken open. What can he say? How can he say…? Did he really wake this morning or is he dreaming still? He feels sloppy, wholly inadequate; his lips are clumsy things, his limbs an awkward pile of angles. How can he be worthy of the look on Lan Zhan’s face? Tears well up and surely he will combust.

But there is no end of tears. Tears spring up like weeds.

And there will be no end of corpses. But he is not a corpse. They are not. No, far from it.

Wei Wuxian fumbles with Chenqing and raises it to his lips where he plays a messy and solitary E flat. In truth it is more than that: a polyphonic note in a contrapuntal song that he’s sure only Lan Wangji can hear.

Gently, he reaches for Lan Wangji’s right hand, the one that had reached for him 16 years ago. Pale as a lily, the nails kept long to pluck the strings of his instrument, he wraps it in his fingers as delicately as he has seen Wangji handle his rabbits and brings it to his lips, and if some of his tears mar that perfect skin he has a feeling Lan Wangji won’t mind. The kiss is soft but is not the tickle of joss paper waiting for the fire; it shudders with his breath but is not the brush of a moth’s wings. It’s tender and reverent and warm with the promise of days and kisses to come and is very much—so very much—alive.

“16,000 years of Inquiry… We should get started then.”

He lays the palm of the hand against his cheek. His smile erupts without warning, and to his delight, Lan Wangji is not prepared.

“My dearest Lan Zhan, what would you like to ask me?”

———

In January gifs and meta about The Untamed started rolling across my dash. As interesting as it looked, I was determined not to watch—just no time for that. And then I saw you posting meta about it, and well… you made it sound very good, and I figure you know what you’re talking about. Add to that one particular gif you reblogged: the moment in the opening scene when LWJ’s arm, clothed in bloody white, reaches across the frame towards WWX as he falls. That was the first image of this show that really seared itself into my brain. So, I offer this with thanks for inspiring me to watch this amazing show (and with endless congratulations)!

Notes:

OK, admittedly it’s not a sun-shaped branding iron in The Untamed, but I like the sun shape better.

E flat is what “yes” sounds like to me during Inquiry in the man-eating castle, but I’m also the last person anyone should consult about music.

Still incomplete associated fanart HERE (color illustration on right).

[update: finished fanart can now he found HERE]

#my fic #the untamed #cql #mdzs #wangxian #chen qing ling #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #my writing #fytheuntamed

[shou7]

Some disjointed thots on (PW+ML+AA) (single mix and everything else is just bloat to convince fans to buy copies so they don’t exist to me)

1. This is everything FP should’ve been. CB technology-related themes, nostalgic Game synths, ⊿ naming sense, the chic otona-pop of JPN, experimentalism of LEVEL3, world/concept-building of CE. Whatever Nakata was talking about back then about how everything Prfm does is future pop, and how their next work is gonna be their best.... THIS is what he should’ve been referring to. It took us 3 extra years but FUTURE POP is finally here...

2. What I really love about these new tracks is that they all have multiple layers of melodies that build on one another, and the tracks all go Somewhere, instead of feeling copypasted and one-note. But also not in a cheap lulz im so random and QuIrkY! way like in 7iro with an entirely different section that pops out of nowhere, never to be heard from again in any form. That new bridge in PW is a masterpiece (dare I say on the level of SOL’s). ML has this dissonant backward synth which sounds really out of place at first, but is eventually incorporated together with the rest of the song and resolved. And it does a really good job in creating tension in the song. The guitar from AA’s intro returns during certain sections of the song, as well as the outro (unlike PMU’s acoustic guitar).

3. And so I actually think this is Prfm’s most effortless and inspired-sounding release post-2013. Like... Nakata actually sounds like he enjoyed making these tracks, instead of trying to churn out commercial jingles and THEN extending them for release as soon as possible (to mixed results). The new tracks all have these flourishes and melodies and details added to them that’s been absent for a very long time (especially the distinct bridges!!!!). The lyrics actually have depth to them, and the tracks all have the required runtime to evolve and fully-realize themselves. Literally none of that uwu uwu DISPLAY DISPLAY DISPLAY x 16. So shoutout to the CEOs of Tully’s and Levi’s for rejecting Nakata jingles two times each. We could not have done it without you....

4. On a related note, apparently Nakata has finally had an actual discussion with Prfm wrt music direction for the first time in almost 20 years. And the benefits are clear. These songs were tailor made for them, as they are NOW. No infantile tiny baby chipmunk voices. And no continuous throwing of shit on the wall (future bass, retro, Japamyu leftovers, other assumptions of what a US/global audience wants) to see what sticks.

5. Nakata’s mentioned several times that he doesn’t like looking back at his past works, and I assume being forced by his label to remaster his old tracks played a part in helping him recapture his spark. Covid probably also helped with getting him to stay tf home and reflect instead of getting high while DJ-ing at clubs. 

6. It’s hilarious how TW was released a year ago and yet the rollout of this single is still evidently rushed af. From the whole audio to video production timeline it’s all a hot mess lmao. But what’s new?

7. Wrt the video, it’s boring. The capsule references are cute but that’s it. Everything else is just dark. I think the dance set has the same issue with Everyday’s. A full CGI set from Rhizomatiks would have worked better and looked less cheap. But PW suffers even more because the set is so dull and static. At least Everyday had flashing and moving clouds, and flying and whatnot. PW had nothing lol. They should’ve just gone full vaporwave acid trip aesthetic like in the P Cubed tour interlude.

8. The Prfm budget being slashed is probably another major factor as to why their videos have been pretty tragic Saisei onwards. Their pull on the general public has been on a decline (being the most well-known girl group or whatever in Japan doesn’t matter when girl groups as a whole aren’t doing very well). So from a company perspective it makes more sense to invest in live shows over music videos. And they definitely are continuing to make money off their tours considering that every tour has seen an increase in ticket pricing...!!! Sad for their music video legacy but oh well.

9. ML>PW>AA

10. FUTURE POP tracklist from another timeline: 1. Mugen loop 2. Android and 3. Polygon wave original mix 4. Time warp 5. If u wanna 6. Let me know 7. Tokyo girl 8. Houseki no ame 9. Mugen mirai 10. Toumei ningen 11. Everyday 12. Saisei

#prfm #how long has it been since my last prfm related post lmao #and YES i am clinically insane

[aire101]

Ferrum Ch. 6

Link to Master Post

They were being over run.

For every monster Peter took down, two more took their place.

This was a mistake— they never should have come here. And it was all his fault.

“Peter! Get out of here!” yelled Tony from across the room, where he was dealing with his own hoard.

“No! I’m not leaving!” Peter yelled back.

“Damnit Kid! We can’t beat this on our own! You’ve gotta go!”

“I’M NOT LOSING YOU AGAIN!” screamed Peter as he slashed through the last monster in his immediate vicinity. He needed to get to Tony, something was about to happen, he just knew it.

He spun around seeing Tony faced off with two monsters. He was smiling a pain-filled smile. Almost like when—

“You’re not losing me kid, because I’m—”

Tony’s eyes widened as a blade ran through him from behind, where another monster stood hidden in the shadows.

“I’m… Iron Man.”

Peter couldn’t breath.

He tried to walk forward but his feet wouldn’t move.

He needed to move. Tony hadn’t disappeared yet. If he could just get there before…

Tony fell to his knees, his hand held up in front of his face, which was contorted in confusion. As Peter watched, lines of burning energy began coursing through Tony’s body.

“Why Peter… why didn’t you tell me…? Why didn’t you help…?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I tried!” sobbed Peter as he too fell to the ground.

“It’s ok, Peter,” came a familiar, soft voice from beside him.

Peter slowly looked to the side, and there knelt Aunt May.

“Aunt May, I tried… But I couldn’t and he’s gone. I can’t…”

“It’s ok, baby,” she said, her hand gently running through his hair. “I know you tried. It’s just that everyone you love dies. That’s just the way it is.”

Her words were like a knife directly to his heart. They hurt. More so because they were true.

All around him stood his loved ones— Ned, MJ, Happy, Mrs. Leeds and Angie, his parents.

Uncle Ben.

They stood there with sad smiles on their face.

Until they shattered into polygons.

“Why?! Why do they leave?” cried Peter.

“You know why Peter… Everyone leaves,” said May, before she too shattered into nothing.

—————

Peter woke with a start.

Waking from nightmares was always an awful experience, but now that he was regularly sharing a room with someone it was especially stressful. He couldn’t let Tony know how bad his dreams were. If he knew that, he’d press into what they were about.

And he couldn’t explain that. Not without admitting to a lot of half-truths and lies.

So he just laid on his bed while his nerves and emotions roiled. Experience told him trying to go back to sleep was pointless, but getting up risked waking Tony—

Peter looked towards the other bed, only to sit up in confusion when he saw the bed empty.

Where was Tony?

Peter checked the lower left corner of his display for the Aincrad local time… definitely the middle of the night.

Concern about questions related to his nightmare was replaced with concern over Tony’s whereabouts, so Peter slipped on his shoes and stepped out into the hall of the inn.

Despite the late (early?) hour, the tavern down below still held a decent amount of people. A handful were slumped over on the table, obviously looking for a warm place to sleep but unable to afford a room. Others sat together over glasses of ale talking amicably into the night. But he found Tony sitting over by the hearth alone, helmet on and nursing what looked like a cup of that coffee drink they called ‘kaf.’ After their trip back to the Town of Beginnings a few days ago, Tony had gone asking around about where he could get his hands on the ingredients to make the stuff. Turns out getting the ingredients was the easy part, actually making a decent cup of the stuff required some points in the cooking skill. Despite that, Tony continued to make and drink his awful concoctions.

For a moment Peter considered just going back up to their room. But the thought of going back and lying restlessly in bed was as unappealing as sleep itself.

“Hey, you know that stuff won’t actually wake you up, right?” said Peter as he plopped down in the chair across from Tony.

“Just like the alcohol can’t make you drunk,” said Tony. If he was surprised by Peter’s appearance he didn’t show it.

“Wonder what the point is in incorporating them at all then,” said Peter.

“They’re habits. Good or bad, people depend on habits. Just another thing to lull us into a sense of normalcy. If we’re in here long enough, people will probably start to forget that they’re trapped in a digital prison, and begin to wonder why we’re fighting to get out,” said Tony, before taking another sip.

“Hmm,” hummed Peter, before settling into quiet, staring into the flames of the fireplace.

They sat there in companionable silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts, before it was broken by Tony’s voice, soft with question.

“Are you sure about this Pete? Word is a good two thirds of the dungeon is explored already, but several hundred have died in the last few days doing so.”

Peter didn’t answer immediately. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure about it. In typical form, his hesitance had little to do with his own safety and everything to do someone else’s.

The memory of his dream and a creature running Tony through with a blade from behind returned.

No. Peter Parker wasn’t sure at all.

But Spider-man… Spider-man knew what needed to be done, and he did it.

He had managed to keep Tony from taking any hits so far, he would just have to keep doing it. He would get better. Faster. Stronger.

He would get them out of this game, and then he would find their answers as to where Tony was and how he had come to be in this game. Did Ms. Potts— er, Mrs. Stark know he was still alive? If so, why hide it?

“Considering our uh… RL life choices, there’s a pretty good chance of us dying on any given day,” said Peter, trying not to choke on the words, memories of blood and stones and ash rising. “I’d rather die doing the best I can to help others than sit around watching others die instead. It’s what I’d do in the real world, so its what I should do here. We’ve talked about this. All the way to Tolbana, in fact.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Tony, in the same uncharacteristically soft tone.

“How about you? Just because I’ve decided to work on clearing the game doesn’t mean you have to. I could probably find a clearing party to join up with. I’ve heard a few parties talk about setting up guilds even,” said Peter, with mixed feelings. On one hand, he really didn’t like the idea of letting Tony too far out of his sight. On the other, if he stayed back Peter would probably worry less about keeping Tony alive and could focus more on his own battles.

Tony scoffed at the idea though, so Peter guessed that was out.

“There’s no way in hell I’m sending you off into that labyrinth without me,” Tony replied.

“Well, guess that settles it then,” said Peter with finality.

“Right. Well, I guess I’ll go and check our equipment before we head out, since we’re both awake. Unless you want to try and go back to sleep?” asked Tony, standing up and slipping down his visor.

“Nah, I’m awake. So we can head out whenever. You did sleep some, right?” asked Peter as he stood as well.

“I slept as much as I need to,” answered Tony evasively.

Peter rolled his eyes. Tony’s sleeping habits in the game were as bad as they were outside of it.

“Ok, I’ll go pack up then.”

—————

The floor one labyrinth was a cavernous maze of halls and chambers crawling with Kobold Troopers— the first humanoid monsters they had come across in the game. Unlike the previous creature types, they could use sword skills like players and NPCs. This made Peter's 'don't let Tony take any hits' job far more complicated than he had expected.

"Damn it, kid! Stop taking my hits! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"No I won't, I'm careful about keeping an eye on my HP," responded Peter as he swallowed down a potion.

"You wouldn't have to keep such a close eye on your HP if you would just stop throwing yourself into hits!"

“Well, if you would stop getting yourself into positions where you’re going to get hit, maybe I wouldn’t need to! You’re not in an impenetrable armor anymore,” Peter grouched back. But as soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them.

He couldn’t see most of Tony’s face through the helmet’s visor, but he could tell by the tightening in his posture that the words had hit harder than he had intended.

Peter sighed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not the reason I’m getting hurt. But you really do need to stop leaving your back open. You can’t take hits in a fight like you’re used to, and there’s no FRIDAY to keep an eye on it. Just me.”

For a moment Tony didn’t answer, but eventually he nodded.

“No, you’re right. I’m used to having a margin of error in a fight because of the strength of my armor or FRIDAY having my back. I’m not used to being so squishy when I fight. Rogers used to gripe at me about the same thing,” said Tony. “Which was pretty hypocritical on his part considered how he threw himself into things— I guess I’m not too surprised about that at this point— but the fact still remains true. Sorry, I should be better at this than I am—”

“I don’t want an apology. And I know habits are hard to break. Just… try to keep more of an eye on it?”

“I will, but I also want you to stop taking all the hits. We’re both about the same level, so I can take a few as well, you know. I won’t shatter on contact,” chuckled Tony, though Peter could tell it was forced.

The visual of Tony shattering into polygons wouldn’t leave Peter’s mind.

“No promises, so you better keep up your guard,” muttered Peter, before he started walking further into the labyrinth.

From behind him he could hear Tony sigh in exasperation, but he followed along at Peter’s back.

In every RPG Peter had ever played, when you ‘entered the dungeon’ you traveled down through floors until you found the boss room. In SAO’s labyrinth it was all an up-hill journey with no definitive floor levels, plenty of trick rooms, and not a soul to be seen. He had snagged the map data from a large group of Clearers he’d met in the pub their first night in town, but even with four more days of exploring it, there were still massive chunks of blank spaces. One of which they were mapping out now, and five hours in they had yet to stumble on another player. All Peter could say was that they had to be nearing the top of the column soon. Or at least he hoped so. Enough people had died in here already.

The halls were mostly silent as they trekked through the labyrinth passages, the only sounds Peter could hear was the soft echo of their footsteps.

Eventually they came upon a turn into another hall, and as soon as Peter saw what lay beyond, he froze.

It was the Boss Room. It had to be. Rough hewn stone walls were replaced with smooth slate, and the double door set into the wall before him was like nothing they had seen in the labyrinth yet. Three times the height of an average person, ornate lattice scroll work ran from top to bottom down the middle of each door, with a central metal push plate featuring two intertwined serpents.

Tony came around to his side and gave a relieved sigh before pulling up his map. “Finally, I’ll update our map data with a notation.”

Peter nodded absently feeling lightheaded. They had actually done it. They had found the boss room. Just a little longer and they would move to the next floor…

And once they had proven they could… Maybe things would get better.

Peter smiled and turned to ask Tony if he wanted to head back to town now…

That’s when he heard it. The faintest sound of the shuffle of feet from the darkness.

“Mob!” shouted Peter, drawing his sword just as the first Troopers rushed them from the shadows.

Tony quickly switched into fighting stance, drawing his two-handed sword and parrying a Trooper’s slash away.

As Peter jumped into the fray, he tried to do a head count.

One—two—three…

Four—Five—Six…

Definitely outnumbered, but so long as he kept an eye on them it should be fine.

Vertical— horizontal— slant—

The trooper burst into polygons. From the corner of his eye he could see Tony disperse of another trooper.

As they fought, on habit the two of them drifted together until they were back to back.

A well placed sword swing shattered another kobold, only for another to take it’s place, its barbaric hand axe coming in for a hit.

Peter wasn’t quite quick enough and the hit landed, taking some of his HP down with it. Peter would not give the kobold another chance at a hit, and in a few moments it was dispersed just like the rest.

Over all, the kobolds were not especially difficult. But for every one Peter felled another took its place…

Then another.

And another.

This was far more than the six he had originally counted… they just kept coming.

Just like his dream…

He couldn’t think about that. He couldn’t. It was just a dream.

‘Everyone leaves.’

His next strike hit a little harder than he meant, causing the kobold he was fighting to shatter but also causing him to stumble forward away from Tony, allowing a kobold to step into place between them.

Fear froze him as he saw the kobold raise it’s axe overhead, coming in for a direct hit on Tony, who was turned away, unawares.

“TONY! BEHIND—!” screamed Peter, trying to get to Tony.

It was like slow motion. Tony turned, but the axe was nearly on him already. He wouldn’t be able to block. He wouldn’t be able to move.

No, no, no… he couldn’t do this again, he couldn’t—!

“DON’T TOUCH HIM—!” Peter cried, as he slashed his sword wildly.

He couldn’t reach him in time!

The axe struck true.

But it was stopped by a purple polygon with an identification tile that read ‘Immortal Object.’

For a moment Peter’s mind went ‘blue screen’ while it tried to compute what he was seeing.

Tony on the other hand didn’t seem to pause for a second, rather he threw himself with abandon into the throes of the fight, no longer bothering with attempts at defense, letting each hit bounce off the strange shield that apparently kept hits from connecting.

Peter pulled himself together, swallowing down a potion before returning to the fray. After a few more rounds the waves of the mob tapered off until only Peter and Tony were left standing.

Well, standing was relative. As soon as the mob was finished Peter sunk down to the ground, his head in his hands as the mental fatigue of the battle along with all the ones before it came crashing down on him.

Immortal Object.

“Come on kid, we need to get out of here. There’s no telling what the re-spawn rate is this close to the Boss Room door,” said Tony, putting a hand under Peter’s arm to pull him up.

Peter stood up and followed along as directed, keeping one hand on Tony as they went. Every now and then they would come across a pair of Troopers, but Tony easily dispatched them and they continued on their way.

Peter wasn’t sure how long they had been walking, but at some point he realized he could hear the sound of voices up ahead.

As they turned a bend a party of players came into sight. The player at the head of the group was a man with blue hair, dressed in bronze armor with a longsword at his hip.

“Hey!” called Tony, waving them over.

Most of the group eyed with some suspicion, but the blue haired one walked over, a small but amicable smile on his face.

“Yes, do you need help?” he asked politely.

“Nah, we’re alright. You’re part of one of the larger clearing parties, aren’t you?” asked Tony.

“Yes, in fact I’m the leader of the group. My name is Diavel,” he answered.

“Good. Look, we found the Boss Room up ahead.”

That certainly got their attention. Diavel’s eyes widened for a moment and his face lost its politeness and settled into a more serious gaze. He glanced at Peter, who knew he was showing obvious signs of exhaustion.

“We didn’t open it so I’m not sure what’s inside, and we were swarmed by a large Trooper mob right afterward,” Tony said, answering the unspoken question. “If you open your map I’ll give the info to you.”

Diavel nodded, opening up his map. A few taps later and the exchange was done.

“We will go back quickly and start gathering a raiding party this afternoon. Should I expect to see you there?”

“No, I don’t think so. Just make sure this info gets out,” said Tony, a hand Peter’s shoulder as he starts to move away.

“I will see it done,” said Diavel, with a nod. “Everyone, lets hurry back to town! There’s work to be done!”

And with that the group turned and ran, presumably back towards the entrance to the labyrinth.

“Alright, that’s done. If you need to stop we’ll stop, but otherwise we’re going to keep going until we’re back at the inn. Don’t worry about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other, I’ll take care of rest,” said Tony, as they began to walk in the same direction.

Peter did as he was told, and put one foot in front of the other.

Step, step, step…

Immortal Object.

Step, stumble, step…

“I can’t remember things passed a certain point…”

“The last thing I remember is the meeting with Kayaba…”

What did it all mean…

Step, step, step…

“I’m thinking of skipping on meals for a while. I’m kinda curious how long it takes to actually start feeling hungry in here.”

Put one foot in front of the other, Parker. Almost there…

“I slept as much as I need to.”

Immortal Object—Immortal Object—Immortal Object—

AI Development

Peter stopped.

Peter couldn’t help but wonder… Was she aware of what she was?

No. No way. No fucking way—

“The problem was that in order to do further development and testing it would require me to deep dive into their systems, and for reasons I’ve discussed with you earlier today I was entirely unwilling to open myself up to that.”

“Peter… Hey, are you alright?” asked Tony, a worried crease in his brow that was so familiar. “Are you still with me, kid?”

Was it even possible? Who was he kidding, if anyone could figure it out it would have been him. But then how did it— he— end up here?

“Ok, now you’re really starting to scare me kid.”

Unbidden, the memory of the mural from the night he entered SAO came back to him.

Slowly, Peter started to take steps again.

“Good, that’s good. One step at a time and we’ll get there,” said Tony.

Peter did as he was told, and he slowly made his way out of the labyrinth while trying to come to terms with a fact he couldn’t look away from.

Mr. Stark was dead. He always had been.

Tony was an AI.

#fanfiction #marvel cinematic universe #sword art online #mcu/sao #crossover fanfiction #tony stark #peter parker #post endgame #not far from home compliant #shifted timeline for sao #irondad #spiderson #ai tony stark #tony stark has a heart #tony stark acting as peter parkers parental figure #protective tony stark #protective peter parker #peter parker needs a hug #anxiety attacks #aire101 writes #ferrum

[ystk-archive]

I know it's a hallmark of his music, but have there been any moments you've thought ystk's music to be *too* overly constructed, thought-out, detailed, etc? I gave Mondai Girl a re-listen, my opinion on it hasn't changed (kyary's voice is annoying, pre-chorus is amazing, chorus itself not so much). I do wish he'd show some restraint arrangement wise, kill his darlings more often. Hard when your basal instinct is to add.

My short answer is “yes and no” lmao. I generally agree with what you’ve said about Mondai -- I forgot how much I loved the pre-chorus on this -- but my umbrage with the actual chorus has nothing to do with the arrangement being "busy" and everything to do with the vocal melody just sounding extremely corny/trite to my ears (if I was some kind of music nerd I could probably identify whatever it is about the sequence that gives it that kind of vibe to me, but alas, I speak in 感じ only 😔) which is a composition issue.

I find it kind of challenging to identify either composition or arrangement as a “problem” in his work because they kind of go hand-in-hand though. For example, I think my issue with Polygon Wave (yeah, yeah, I know) is a bit of both. You've got this, like, fantastic French house-esque groove going, it's simple but completely effective, the melody is very tempered and moody and a little mysterious, there's small flourishes and details and enough punch that it's not too mellow...and then everything suddenly nosedives into that shrill synth whine, it turns into this chaotic jumble of vocal modulations and drama. Like I enjoy this section separately as its own thing, it sounds like a manifestation of how I feel about the rest of the song (if that makes any sense), but I think it's completely out of place in context. It’s an emotional outburst of music irrespective of the setting -- it seems to be trying to hearken to Polyrhythm’s polyloop bridge but that track does something “right” in the lead-up to it that Polygon just doesn’t for me. I’m gonna cut him a lot of slack for it though because when the radio version debuted I kept wondering where else he could possibly take it and my only idea was "whatever just do a crazy synth solo I guess!" and lo and behold, that’s what he thought too apparently. I also can’t imagine he’s done tooling with it, it’s probably the fact that it has to be a pop track that holds it back, it should be like a 7+ minute long house piece... The remix was sort of trying but there are also things about how it alters the vibe that I don't care for (do absolutely love the main motif getting highlighted and expanded on from 1:32~1:50 with that NIGHT FLIGHT sort of synth though, it adds this nice introspective element).

Since I don’t think this answer is long enough I’m also gonna add that one of the reasons I didn't like his material between 2016-2020ish was he was conscientiously trying to temper his arrangements. I can't remember which interview it was I skimmed but he said he would literally try to see what he could take out of a song to render the most base core skeleton. Which since we've all established that a large part of his musical appeal is in his ability to write and perform complex ~impressive melodies and layered synth soundscapes, this obviously goes against all sense, and as of this year it seems he's reneged on that approach... But generally speaking I don't listen to something by him and think "this would be better if it was less busy.” I think where he is lacking artistically is in an absence of subtlety but you can’t render subtlety through just removing ideas and tempering creativity in production. He seems to enjoy making music that's loud, not only in how he mixes and masters it, but in the emphasis or way he literally plays the piano/keyboard. I don't know if I'm still making sense at this point lmao but that's where I see a heavy-handedness that can detract from what he creates, so I guess a different aspect of arrangement rather than in there being a glut of details.

But that’s just all my opinions that I’ve said while not being a piano player or a musician myself!

#messages #whew this was a lot

[bubblewrapjunkie]

okay so here is the thing: i am not upset WITH bdg for leaving polygon. i am sad that he’s leaving on a personal level, and it has a lot more to do with what could have been than what actually has been, particularly for the last year or so. unlike most of the polygon fans on here, unraveled isn’t my favorite series. i have enjoyed them a whole bunch, but i honestly feel like i’ve gotten a lot more out of pat’s “everything is...” type of videos for quite some time (probably because he really wants to make them). now y’all know that i’m a pat gill stan first and, like, a human second, but i swear that’s not the reason i feel this way. it has felt like brian would have liked to do other things than unraveled since before quarantine, but it has eaten up all of his time. and polygon in general has moved away from goofs and silly short things (particularly featuring more than one video producer at a time, which was a trend that started wayyyy before covid) in favor of more “serious” content with a few jokes thrown in here and there. the ratio has been off for a long time imho. you don’t get the cast cracking up behind the camera because it’s all so polished and scripted and respectable and... not very weird? or like, a compromise between weird and respectable which leaves the creators in limbo a lot of the time. and it saddens me that this is the note that bdg goes out on. the charity stream was a really good step in the right direction but it’s a very particular and very energy consuming thing to do (and sadly not very indicative of the content polygon have been putting out there over the last, to be fair, two years or so). i feel cheated of the content that could have been, but probably only in my mind, if that makes sense? anyway, this is just me rambling and trying to sort my thoughts and most likely compartmentalising quite a bit to make myself less sad. it’s the end of an era, and i hope this means better and weirder things for both bdg and polygon in the future.

#brian david gilbert #polygon #i wanna say that what i’ll miss most is pat making him laugh while his whole face is stuffed with food #but that hasn’t happened since the e3 streams back in 2019 so instead i’ll go with his wonderfully weird noise reads of acronyms #fly high baby #fly high

[antagonistchan]

god damn

Mass Effect 2 has always been my least favorite of the trilogy

i still love it, but not as much as i love 1 or 3

and honestly

this is even more true in the Legendary Edition. the Legendary Edition widened that gap even further.

like, with each game, the Legendary Edition’s upgrades get more and more subtle. in ME1, they’re the most visible; in ME3, they’re the least. but that’s not the entire story.

the original ME1 had absolutely garbage graphics. that’s just the baggage almost every game from 2007 has, 2007 fucking sucked for game graphics. it could look good on occasion, but just from the sheer strength of having a good enough art style to make up for the garbage graphics. most of these occasions were when you were looking at something that was clearly supposed to wow you, like the view of the nebula surrounding the Citadel; otherwise, things tended to be fairly unimpressive. and it wasn’t just the graphics that were a problem. certain aspects of the gameplay were extremely clunky and awkward, and the UI was okay at the time but our understanding of good video game UIs progressed significantly over the course of the late 2000s.

in the Legendary Edition of ME1, this is no longer true. the entire game looks spectacular. ME1′s graphics have been fully updated to modern standards. i think the polycounts are still ultimately the same, but by the time ME1 came out we’d already basically gotten as far as we ever need to with polycounts. there are only so many polygons you actually need before increasing the polycount just becomes overkill. on top of that, the UI has been fully revamped to be more like ME2 and ME3′s UI, and the vast majority of the clunky gameplay issues have been resolved. the Mako in particular controls so much better. LE1 is the game ME1 was always meant to be, with all the junk wiped off. the junk had its charm, and i still absolutely intend to play the original on occasion, but overall, removing the junk made this amazing game shine even brighter.

the original ME3 was already a fucking spectacular game graphically. not only did it look amazing when it came out in 2012, but i honestly think it holds up today. it still looks very modern. and ME3 never had ME1′s problem of “junk obscuring the quality of the core game”- ME3′s flaws have always been more in the core game itself. i absolutely adore ME3, but i’ll admit, it’s an extremely flawed game and fixing those flaws wouldn’t be possible just with a remaster. so, when its flaws can’t be fixed with a remaster and its graphics still hold up amazingly well today.... i was extremely afraid that LE3 would be underwhelming.

thank god i was wrong. in the Legendary Edition of ME3, the game overall looks the same. again, the game already looks good by modern standards, why fix what ain’t broke? so they didn’t. but yet, while the game overall looks the same, it looks noticeably better, SOMEHOW. the longer i play LE3, the more and more subtle improvements i find myself picking up on. for instance, the way Husks and Cannibals get more and more visibly damaged as you hurt them (burning and emaciating when you set them on fire, chunks of flesh flying off as you shoot them, etc.). or Anderson’s clothes looking slightly more detailed. on the final Mars scene, Dr. Core seemed more visibly damaged. etc. and i’m sure there’s also a ton of stuff that i haven’t noticed yet, but has still contributed to this general feeling of “this looks better somehow”.

the graphical improvements of LE1 feel like making ME1′s garbage graphics finally good. meanwhile, the graphical improvements of LE3 feel like taking ME3′s already really good graphics and adding subtle and refined improvements that result in a game that looks the same but better, somehow. i really love these two improvements. too bad now we have to talk about LE2.

the original ME2 was an okay looking game. it was good by 2009 standards (and graphics from 2009 do not suffer the same curse as graphics from 2007; 2007 wasn’t a general sign of the era, it was just a particularly bad year because the industry was having trouble coping with the jump to HD), but it hasn’t aged nearly as gracefully as ME3′s graphics. but the graphics weren’t as garbage as ME1′s either. it was okay.

and the Legendary Edition of ME2 feels just about the same. the graphical improvements in LE2 are more drastic than they are in LE3, yet somehow they’re less noticeable. most of the time, it doesn’t really feel like i’m playing an improved version of ME2, it just feels like i’m playing ME2. LE3 and ME3 look almost fucking identical and yet LE3 still feels like a massive improvement somehow because the few changes they did make are so good; ME2 and LE2 have tons of extremely noticeable differences and yet it just feels........ the same. and actually, in some ways, LE2 is a little bit of a downgrade. for instance, the lighting on the Normandy. in ME1 and ME3, the Normandy was pretty darkly-lit; by contrast, the Normandy was brightly-lit in ME2. i prefer the dark lighting, but i always found it cool that ME2 did contrast the others in this way. and in LE2, the Normandy is still more brightly-lit than the other two games, but noticeably not as much. but that’s just one minor thing- the bigger and more consistent issue is that LE2 can feel really sloppy a lot of the time. there are so many assets that i can tell they haven’t changed. a few models that are egregiously low-poly (i said earlier that polycounts have mostly been solved since around ME1′s era, and yet...), a ton of video and picture files that clearly haven’t been updated (any video or picture of Anderson looks really weird, because in LE1 and LE2 Anderson uses the ME3 model, but in the original ME1 and ME2 he looked a bit different, and because all the pictures and videos are unaltered, any pictures or videos you see of Anderson.... look like the old Anderson), textures that are really low-res (especially weird because from what i understood the entire LE project started off as just a texture upscale?), a number of other things that i can think of but won’t list because this list is already so long....... LE2 just feels like a pretty sloppy improvement overall.

in the end, this isn’t that big a problem for me. the improvements to LE1 and LE3 are strong enough that i can put up with the comparative weakness of LE2. but it has widened the gap that already existed between ME2 and ME1/ME3 even further.

#antagonist originals #AW: Mass Effect #mass effect