Eluvianii

Green sour crunchy ones. Perfectly cooked popcorn or just slightly burned?

702. Not all rules are equal. Some of them will keep you safe and away from the action, some will turn you into an important side character, some will turn you into the protagonist. Heed the rules accordingly.

Given the subject matter of this story I can't fathom why I feel like this, but after taking a break and coming back to this I feel so cozy. The Ushiromiya mansion feels like home. Not the home you live in but the home your great grandma lends to the family for parties. The anticipation of exploring a familiar place I don't see very often with my sister and cousins. I could stare at the parlor and watch the rain beating the window for hours. Well anyway, first twilight done. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that's what was happening. Which means the people involved are in for a nasty surprise. So much for only affecting other fragments. Regarding Young Beato's weakness to mirrors. I'd like to tentatively keep my first theory, but it also seems she's only weak to Natsuhi's mirror? Maybe she just hasn't tried others, it did seem like it was the reflection that repelled her. Also, Natsuhi got a bit chuuni there "This mirror repels all evil!". That was cute. I have gained a cautious respect for Rosa's resolve. I just wish she wasn't spending all her energy on it. Maria should be the silver lining saving her from the hell her partner put her in, not the shackles chaining her to it. As for the partner himself. I swear, I won't even be surprised if he comes back like, embarrassed because he didn't make it big overseas. Didn't answer her calls because he couldn't face her, a classic case of a situation that would have been exponentially better for everyone involved if they just talked. That's just wishful thinking at the moment though, with current data he sucks. Ok, I did remember Battler had decided to be gentler with Beato. I did not expect however for him to find out she was fighting for his hand in marriage and immediately agree. Wonder how that'll turn out. I don't like this philosophy that if you lose at love you're miserable forever. As for layer 3 out of 4 in the story (aka human Ange and the writer), I guess the idea here is that if Beatrice just sent the truth out into the world, it would be immediately drowned in a sea of fake theories. So by turning the truth into a puzzle, one that prompts the people who solve it to create more variants, the realization people feel when they arrive to the truth is stronger than simply reading one theory among many. Therefore once enough people arrive to it, the real truth will overwrite every other version of it out there, and that's the reward for Beato's efforts. If so, that's really convoluted. I love it. Oh yeah, I wonder how much freedom you have in a locked room. Natsuhi started screaming really loud back there, wonder if that was "real", and therefore if someone heard it. Gosh, I can't believe I was looking at a hard magic system all this time. It just so happens that one of the rules is that you have to convince everyone that it's a soft one. Sneaky.

I'll be happy with either but probably animation for logistic purposes. If they go for the whole thing it will be a long process. Brandon is a machine and it will still take most if not longer than his entire life to write it. Can you imagine producing an adaptation? And some of the characters will appear for a large chunk of the thing (not to mention Hoid). People keep their voices longer than their looks so the same actor could keep the same role for potentially decades without worrying about age, and presumably less commitment than what would be a buffed up version of an MCU contract if it was live action. Plus, if any of them die, it's easier to find someone who can imitate the voice than someone who matches voice, looks, and acting. Bit worrying that we already know Brandon is of the opposite opinion but let's see how it turns out. You get a magic self-writing book. It knows you and your tastes, it can write a story you like, and it will write the longest, best, and most satisfying story you'll ever read. What's the genre? (to be less abstract about it, I guess the question is, if you have before you what is guaranteed to be your favorite story ever, and you know it's long-form, what genre would you like it to be?)

Well this is one thread I never thought I'd go into. Just bought the cheapest, most bootleg fountain pen I could find. It's still better than any other pen I've ever used.

Took me three years but decided to re-watch Akudama Drive, extended last episode this time. It wasn't what I expected but still managed to give more closure to the show than it already had. Also, as I'm now waaay over the honeymoon period, I can say it holds up as one of my favorite shows. It shouldn't be possible to tell this big of a story in 12 episodes.

Finished Persona 5 Royal at 144 hours. This is such a thing to get off my backlog. A rare case of a game I was obsessively following since before it launched, yet I only had the chance to play it now. My tastes have changed a lot since then, if I had played it on release it surely would have become my favorite game. Still, it was a great experience and absolutely worth the wait. Out of the Persona games I've played it's in an awkward position. It has the most engaging story, my favorite overall cast, great social links (or confidants I guess) that tell some stories you'd never get in the previous games, and it has without a doubt the best gameplay. However, for its current formula, the central theme is probably the most important aspect of a Persona game. P3 tells an immensely powerful message about death, and P4 does the same with the theme of truth. For P5 I could only take out the theme of freedom, or free will to be more specific. But uh... So yeah, I have only one issue with the game, it just happened to be the most important part of it. Still, it was good, it was fun, absolutely recommend it despite what I said and can't wait to tackle the spin-offs.

Edwin slumped to the floor, letting out a long breath that seemed to make the tension leave his body along with the Stormlight. Without its influence to keep him alert he could pay attention to other things, like the cold sweat covering his body, and the slight trembling of his hands. The contrast of it all made the sleepiness settling in hit that much harder. The others were already discussing a pursuit. Edwin thought he'd be terrified by the idea, but oddly enough he wasn't. Though he probably had just gotten too tired to feel the fear. He knew they wouldn't rest though, so he wouldn't either. What had even happened? Rob was one of them, what could possibly push him to do this? Surely he wasn't a bad guy. Some people have no choice. Or feel they don't. Twinkle said in his mind. No choice. And now they didn't have a choice but to go after him. Could they get him back? Edwin just wished there was a way out, for all of them. He wished he could help them find that way out. A single pulse like a second heartbeat replied to that thought. It was warm. "If you guys know where he's going maybe going physically would be easier. Although I guess then he'll see us coming." Thinking about the travel was a nice distraction. He didn't want to think about what would happen once they were there.

I'm 3, oh wait, while I was writing this it became 4. Ok, I'm 4 days late but still, I thought it was worth doing. Hi, in this post I'm encouraging everyone who reads this to remember all the music you listened to during the past year and think about any standouts you find. It can be a single song, a new artist you found, a top. If you're obsessed with lists like me it can be several tops. Even something more broad like a whole game or movie with really good music. Whatever works best for you. Remembering our year is I guess something everyone does in several areas, and with Spotify and Youtube Music doing their automated end of year lists, finding our favorite music of the year is something someone else does for us already. But I love music, I'm obsessed with lists, and I like choosing my own favorites because saying the song I listened to the most times is my favorite is just plain wrong. So here. If you have anything to share, please do so. I find that these places where everyone shares their own different tastes are a great way to find new things. I know I'm grateful for the Polyphia recommendation from last year. So I'm looking forward to see what you guys liked. With all that said, here's the songs I chose for this year. Favorite songs that came out in 2023: 1. Sleep Talk Metropolis - Mili (also my overall favorite song this year. It's really good) 2. Herald of Darkness - Old Gods of Asgard/Poets of the Fall 3. Idol - Yoasobi 4. Gunners in the Rain - Mili 5. Compass - Mili 6. U Feel Overjoyed! - Unlucky Morpheus 7. Hana ni Natte - Ryokuoushoku Shakai 8. The Greatest Living Show - Itoki Hana/Toby Fox 9. Metal Kingdom - Babymetal 10. REALiZE - LiSA Favorite songs that didn't come out in 2023, but I discovered in 2023: 1. Nan Nan - Mass of the Fermenting Dregs 2. Bullug Gegbug Ibgabiug Gixcure Dagabciea Fuic - Keygen Church 3. Aoi, Koi, Daidaiiro no hi - Mass of the Fermenting Dregs 4. Sleepless - Math Class 5. Extension of You - Mili 6. Nightmares - Static-P/LilyPichu 7. Asleep Among Endives - Ichiko Aoba 8. Ruler of Everything - Tally Hall 9. That band - kessoku band 10. Ogre - Utsu-P A long dump of themes I heard in soundtracks because I heard too many good soundtracks this year and trimming them down was impossible. Mind you, save for like one exception, this is all games: Melody - Umineko no Naku Koro ni Gens D'armes - Ys VIII Lapis - Trails into Reverie The Perfect Steel of ZERO - Trails into Reverie Patchwork Chimera - Umineko no Naku Koro ni Spring East Wind - Atelier Sophie Discode - Umineko no Naku Koro ni Weight of the World - NieR:Automata Fuscus the Vacant Colossus - Sword Art Online: Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night -{EDGE OF THE FUTURE}- - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Santai Saja - Ciel Fledge dreamenddischarger - Umineko no Naku Koro ni Happy Maria! - Umineko no Naku Koro ni Hilda Defends Link: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Ultrachurch - Ultrakill Versus - Ultrakill World of Shadows - Shin Megami Tensei V Allmother Narwa - Monster Hunter Rise Revolt Against Doom - Tokyo Xanadu Dropdead: postmortem - Faith: The Unholy Trinity Jaldabaoth - Persona 5 Ark - Persona 5 Keeper of Lust - Persona 5 Silent Desert - Ys Origins -[DEOXYRIBOSE]- - 13 Sentinels Aegis: Rim -(LEUCINE)- - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Brat Overflow - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Suzume - Suzume no Tojimari World Map - Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Discolor - Umineko no Naku Koro ni Bad Dream Invasion - Trails into Reverie Also should mention Yuke by LiSA, that strictly speaking I listened to in 2022, but didn't really pay it any mind. Until I rewatched the movie it was on this year. Every year I have this happen with at least one song. If I had to choose a favorite album of this year, it would probably be World is Yours by Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. Bands like this one are the reason I love youtube recommendations. There's no way in hell I would ever have found this by word of mouth, and it's becoming one of my favorite bands. Also favorite cover has to be Ludwig, the Holy Blade from Bloodborne by CthulhuSeeker. That was mindblowing. Well, this was a little haphazard, but there it is. If anyone wants to participate, I'll just leave it here.

Edwin was hiding in the kitchen. Whether they were just visits or new arrivals, introducing himself to that many people was intimidating right now. So he waited, his thoughts going idly from games, to the weather, to dinner, when he noticed Twinkle was looking at the ceiling. "Twin?" he called, curious. She turned her head slowly, and he could see worry on her face. Then he heard it. Someone was yelling. It sounded familiar but he had difficulty recognizing the voice. Was it... "Rob!?" He rushed to the entrance, Twin following as a ball of light, and saw he wasn't the only one with the same idea. The others were already rushing upstairs. He followed them to James' room. It was barely still there. The floor looked gooey, and it was stretching down. Edwin got to his knees and breathed in Stormlight. He tried pushing it into the floor. And it did nothing, the light leaving him and dissipating in the air. He knew it was useless, he could shape things, not make them solid. This was a job for a Stoneward, however... Rob was inside, but he wasn't right. He was fighting Shana. Edwin could tell this was his work, if he had done this then asking him to stop it would probably be useless. But was there anything Edwin could do? He'd been useless in every battle, was it going to continue that way? No, he had to do something, however small. Edwin needed to prove that even as a first oath he could be useful. He stood up and grabbed the door frame, then started pulling while pushing Stormlight into it. His powers were weak but slowly, inch by inch, the entrance was getting wider. It was crowded in there. He couldn't stop what was happening but he could give them a bigger way out, so the ones that were farther away could reach it a bit more easily.

Only two more arcs. This one has to end with something big, like people seeing the outside world and there's a super big threat outside, or maybe the world outright ends and then there's a surprise last arc to retcon it. Damn I'm excited.

I think ps5 games are supposed to be smaller than ps4 games? Something about a new compression technology, like the data is uncompressed only when it's being used, so the installation itself is compressed. Something like that.

More like 1. There was an ova years ago where they tried to summarize an entire game in two episodes. Didn't work out. As for Northern War, well it wasn't well received at all but, idk I liked it. If you eventually get the chance it's worth a try.

End of semester is an absolutely terrible time for this, but I've been having all my free time stolen by Persona 5 Royal. I remember watching the first teaser for this back in like 2015 and have been eager to play it since. My expectations aren't as stratospheric as they were back then but they're still high and honestly, it's delivering. I've heard things like how the story supposedly isn't as good as the previous games, but the gameplay and presentation are so much better that personally, any flaws in the story will probably be outweighed easily. This game is as addictive as 3 and 4, but in those much of it for me was grinding stats and social links waiting for events to eventually happen. They had an "I'll play just one more day" feeling but for me it was because most days nothing happened, and it felt like a waste to stop playing before seeing something. Here the amount of things to do and of scripted events make days feel a lot fuller, somehow. So still addictive, but having more fun with it. Having a blast so far.

Help, they're humanizing Erika, I don't want to feel sympathy for her. Ok, I have a bit of a confusion at the moment. What is younger Beatrice's role here? She's not needed in the game so she's just been sorta doing her own thing. Sure she goes into the board at times but it's always the sidelines where there's no plot happening. However, I was already a bit confused by how she's at Featherine's study while at the same time as being part of the current fragment. And now she just stepped into the spotlight by competing for the brooch. So she's the rules, she's Beatrice, she can interfere without the limitations of a piece right? But could this affect Battler's outcome? If she wins the brooch does that affect Battler's plot, effectively making her a third player? You know, it's disturbing to know that Battler's entire immediate family are all uhh, jerks, let's put it that way, but also oddly comforting. Asumu was cunning but otherwise was apparently a very normal wife and mother. Kyrie has an extremely worrying amount of negativity bottled up, but has the sense not to make a kid suffer for something he had no hand into. And Rudolph... let's put Rudolph on hold for now. Point is, discovering all these faults is kinda harsh, but it's not horrifying enough that it nullifies what good they've done in my eyes. I was kind of disgusted during the whole scene, but I think I still like Kyrie. It's a curious feeling. I think I'll hold off talking about the whole love tournament until I see all the battles, but I will say, I'm worried about Beato here. She's very much at a disadvantage, fighting alone and for an unrequited affair.

Finished 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. This is hands down one of the best games I've ever played, maybe even the best, I'm not entirely sure yet, and for sure one of the best stories I've had the pleasure to encounter in any piece of media. Telling a story like this and not completely screwing it up is such an achievement. If you had told me a summary of the plot before playing it, I would've played it just to witness the sheer ridiculousness of it. My first assumption would have been that no story could possibly drop that many plot twists of that big a magnitude and actually make sense. But somehow, it does. It's an incredibly ambitious story on an incredibly ambitious scale. It's pretty amazing how many seemingly incompatible tropes they managed to fit in here too. This also really goes all in with the non-linear storytelling, and it's one story where I'm pretty sure every player will get a unique order on. The particular rate you choose to alternate between battle and adventure with, how long you spend with each character, which order you choose to alternate between the 13 of them, which order you see the individual branches of each character's story in, there's a lot of variables here. Honestly, it's all so scrambled the timeline they include becomes absolutely necessary to orientate yourself at times. Which is particularly helpful after particularly impactful twists. And I can't stress this enough, there are a lot of those. The amount of times this story decides to challenge your understanding of events hard enough that it recontextualizes its very premise is, well, not advisable. At every point in the game you will think you know what it's about, and at every point you'll be wrong. The battle system is pretty interesting. It felt a bit alien to me, but with time I got used to its mechanics. But you do need to know what every character is good at, and that was a slow process with a party of 13. The characters are great, each has such a different tone to their story, if you just rotate doing a chapter from each one, the game never gets stale. And they did such a good job with their arcs too, a good third of the cast or so I wasn't very fond of at first, but now I am equally sad to see every one of them go. And sad I am. It feels so wrong knowing that there's no more to see. I want to load my game and see them carrying on with their lives, a sci-fi mystery turned slice of life, but there's nothing. sigh I can feel another story hangover creeping in. It's surprising really the game is long, somewhere around 48 hours, which is a lot when the gameplay is about 80% reading, but it still feels like it was not enough, I want more. That's not to say the story was underdeveloped, I think it's the right length and I'm extremely satisfied with the ending, seriously, it's a great ending. It's just, I want more. Don't wanna say goodbye just yet, you know. So that's my current mood I guess, I'm sad, and also tempted to start another game right away. It would be an interesting experience to see how the story feels once you know everything. Whether I go for it or not, I know this is a game that will be stuck in my head for life, and it's one I hope I can find the time to replay many times. Seriously, it's a masterpiece.

Definitely second starting out simple. The systems become pretty intuitive in most games, but they also sort of assume you already understand how they work. So it's better to play first games where there's not much to understand in the first place. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are good options, Dragon Quest's entire appeal is being simple. Aside from that, just whatever you pick don't overthink it and enjoy the ride. You'll find complicated guides and complex optimized builds for pretty much any game, which might trick someone into thinking such builds are a requirement, but these are still games that are meant to be enjoyed, they can be played by ear for the most part. You might share a party build with someone and be told it's a bad one, or be showered in suggestions to improve it but hey, if it gets you to the credits and you find it fun, who cares? Having fun is the goal here.

It's okay. Nothing too big anyway.

Ah, well see, I either didn't know or didn't remember that the younger one was weak to mirrors. If I had to guess though, it would force her to see something that doesn't look like the painting. The battle between Beato and Virgilia back in Episode 3 might have been all theatrics, but we're also told Beato put everything she did into the first four episodes for a reason, and all of it is hints to get the full picture. Meaning the fight is relevant, and at the end of the fight Virgilia came really close to revealing Beato's true form. Almost made her "remember what she once was". So I think Beato is or was real, she's just not this ideal European high class lady we're seeing. A mirror would either literally or metaphorically force her to see that.

Alright, if there's a single self-insert in this story, it's gotta be Featherine. She knows the answer to the mystery, she wrote at least half of it, and she enjoys watching others try to solve it. This gets more meta by the minute. "The power of belief becomes magic, and those who make others believe are witches." I don't know why but I really, really, really like this quote. It makes magic feel like something very mundane but also very special. Something that anyone can accomplish but few actually will. And of course something that is impossible to see without love. It's such a pretty definition for it.

Just watched My Neighbors the Yamadas. I was very wary of this movie because, well, Takahata. Instead this turned out to be the cutest Ghibli movie I've seen since Ponyo. Pure distilled slice of life, but like, actual "Heh, I've been there" kind of slice of life. Even though it's about a Japanese family the amount of scenes I could relate to was certainly something. I was laughing all the way through. I'm also catching up with 3 years of Doctor Who before the 2023 specials. Was kind of sad to see how little there was to catch up on, barely 10 episodes. Still, today I finished Series 13, aka Flux and this might be one of my favorite Doctor Who stories now. As much as I like the monster of the week format, I've always wanted longer stories, like the old serial format. This was exactly that. So many subplots, so many one-off companions which surprisingly were all great, and above all Weeping Angels are scary again. I didn't think I'd live to see that. I was kinda worried about having only Yaz left as a companion this season since, well, she's barely a character, but all the new additions made up for that in spades. Wouldn't mind seeing more longer stories in the future, but on a smaller scale. So far the whole universe needs to be at stake to keep the Doctor busy for more than two episodes.

Can't personally agree with the last bit, I think Lupin is at his best when he's only like half Miyazaki, but I'm still immensely grateful to him for setting the character on that course. Villain Lupin can be interesting, but this weird middle ground, mostly-hero-but-still-a-thief he has going on now is more fun.

Finished Nier:Automata, endings A through E (plus a few joke ones). That was, an amazing experience. While I think the story could have used more time, I think the repetitive nature of the game kinda prevented it from getting any longer. This game is depressing, it's hopeful, it's sad, and I wanted more out of ending E but it accomplished something wonderful that I think very few games can claim to have done. Also, the game wasn't perfect, but it definitely deserves commending for all the unique design choices it has. Gaming needs more of this, or at least I want more of this. Yes, I want my rpg to turn into a visual novel for a while, I want arcade shooters segments in 3d action games. I want to see the game's UI be used as a tool to drive storytelling. It's so weird and yet works so well. Sometimes nothing is explicitly happening with the story but you know something big is happening because the game itself changed its behavior as a software. I want more of this. 3 routes in a little under 46 hours, so rather short considering each time you're looking at a credits sequences before 20. I might extend that to do some ending hunting, look for the few quests I missed, get all the archives. I want to get all the plot I can out of this game before it's my turn to sacrifice. Heart-wrenching, beautiful game. Looking forward to the original Gestalt/Replicant some time in the future.

I remember the first time I watched Whisper of the Heart I was strictly expecting a romance, and I didn't love it. It would have been in the lower end of my ranking then. But at some point I read the movie being described as "the birth of two artists". I watched the movie again after that and I don't know if it was the comment or simply the years that had passed since the first time but from then on it became one of my favorites. It's a very sweet movie.