Lurker > MariaTaylor

might listen to a few albums from this topic tonight, but it'll be during a time period where I won't be able to stop and write about it. if I do end up picking an album or two from here rather than my own personal favs I'll go ahead and give them a proper write up tomorrow or something.
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~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

to complicate matters further I'll go ahead and reveal there is something special about this vote, beyond just writing in the direction of the highest tally.

oh one more thing. if your character is already dead you can suggest a name for a new character. I will pick the best one out of the results.
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

Tetsuo & Youth was about what I expected. I've listened to a bit of Lupe Fiasco in the past. Probably in the realm of 50 times total combined between his older albums, though that is just a rough estimate. I actually didn't think Lasers was too bad. I totally get other people saying it's not as good as some of his other stuff but I do think it's a bit weird when people say it's really bad or something. Not sure if that opinion is still around or if it's still popular, or maybe people were just disappointed at the time it came out. That being said, Lasers is the last one I listened to so there may be some kind of connection there. It theoretically might have been bad enough to make me stop caring about his new releases, even if subconsciously.

Anyway uh this had some good parts but I will say that the songs which caught my attention were generally toward the first half of the album. This is a bit different from me complaining about getting tired of the musical style or whatever the longer it went on - that's not what happened here. I just think based on my first impression this album seems a bit front loaded. Anyway Lupe isn't my favorite but he is an artist I can listen to again and again when I'm in the mood for it. Surprised I hadn't gotten around to listening to this album yet... and I saw there was a newer one he released or something, as well.

I definitely wouldn't feel confident giving this album an 8 but it's probably the most confident 7/10 of the topic so far. It's good. It's just good. There isn't really any other way to say it.

.

Also for those curious I am more the type who likes to use the full rating scale, and honestly my own personal preference tends to look something like a bell curve with almost everything I listen to falling on either a 5 or a 6. Things have to start being notably good or bad to fall above or below that range. So a 7 is actually a good rating from me, and I haven't given anything in this topic a bad rating yet. That being said I doubt we'll see anything below a 5 just because I won't bother listening to anything that I know I'd rate that low. And, with music in particular, I like just about anything well enough to give it a listen.

If anyone does want to try for a higher rating I guess I can say that I'm generally a fan of more catchy stuff, but I particularly like other genres which blend in pop or more upbeat elements. Though I still like pop, by itself, more than most other things. Music has to catch my attention and be pleasant to listen to. After that I start thinking about how complex it is. If it's boring, it usually can't hold my attention for very long.
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

As the blood filling the room began to rise up to her ankles, the liquid grew deep enough that it overtook the burning candles. One by one those flames were snuffed out as the blood swallowed them from below. It kept rising, too. Gods above and below it wouldn't stop raining and it wouldn't stop growing any deeper. This swamp of misery and death that she was now standing in.

"Lastly, I'll tell you this," Avel de Contelard's voice was punching her in the brain.

The walls melted away into color. Greens and purples. Wandering phantoms seemed to claw at the edge of reality and try to eat the oxygen in the room. They wanted so badly to get inside of those walls which no longer existed. But even they didn't exist. Yet she could hear them and see them.

They fell, one by one, disappearing into clouds at her feet. Jen was rising now. Higher and higher. She kept climbing and the ground kept getting further and further away.

"This life is nothing more than a dream."

Jen looked up and she saw the truth. It was... watching her.

[The End]

22. Owen seeks out an ally.
A. Leone
B. Enoch
C. Kidd

.

Valter, the Chained Knight - decider

Lancer Aaron - FB
Torin Gemmason - Mana
Jamison, Inspector - maniac

Enoch the Wanderer - crazy
Owen the Coward - stan
Beastkin Zephyr - ermine

Leone the Cat - CPU
Jen Lowell - pk2k
Gunslinger Kidd - drak
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

"You don't even know that wolves exist, much less where they reside," Avel concluded. "And so I'll leave you with this..."

"Yes."

"I control the beasts who stalk these lands."

The lightning flashed bright and loud. And in the corners of the room, shadows were moving. Curved and sharp hands, pointy teeth, tall dispositions of hunger and barbaric violence.

"I serve Cain and his family. And they are not all dead."

Jen felt her heart pounding fiercely in her chest.

"And, my friend... you are not the only one who has made Contact."

There was a cracking sound as two small, buglike antennae pushed their way out of the now broken skull of the old man. His smile seemed to spread to the corners of the room as his form faded away into the darkness. Then there was a bright flash before the room grew completely dark.

Jennifer jumped in place and clutched her arms close to her chest, trying to make her breathing and her heart slow down to a normal rate. When the lights came back on she was standing in a passage. Alone. No, she wasn't a lone. Something touched her on the back.

She spun, screaming, only to see Leone standing there behind her. His hands were outstretched, both of them, and he seemed to be reaching for her.

Jen raised her own hand in return, seeking to touch his. "Leone...?"

Then, at once, his body split in half. The skin was torn off of him and his form was cleaved in two. It was pulled out, stretched, and plastered across the walls. As his skin covered them, they turned a crimson red color. Blood began to rain down from the ceiling. Then the red pelt, the inside of Leone's split skin, crawled up the walls and covered the ceiling as well.

It began to rain down, pouring heavy, until Jen was drenched in blood. Her heart swelled and felt like it was going to explode. She drew her sword but had no idea what to fight or what to do in this situation. Her eyes darted back and forth... but never found anything.

Jen stood in the center of a long passage that felt like it extended into an endless black hole in either direction. She heard footsteps at the edges of her sense. Something out there was moving. Not toward her. Not away from her. It wasn't approaching or fleeing. Rather, they seemed to be circling her on all sides. Even as those shapes moved, the passage itself seemed to twist and turn. Jen was standing still and yet the space around her was rotating.

Leone's face appeared in the ceiling above her, twisted into an expression of anguish.

She closed her eyes as tightly as possible. Rather, they felt so heavy, she couldn't keep them open. Why were they closing on their own?! As her blood began to pump more fiercely Jen found the strength to fight back.

Even as her eyes snapped open, flames burst into life all around her. Nameless candles lit themselves. The floor was now covered in wax and they were burning at her feet. The room was large and round and empty now. Streaks of blood were running down her face still but the smell of death and torn strips of skin was gone.
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

... Well, it certainly didn't make him feel safe around this Avel character. "I have heard about you," Torin replied. "Though I didn't expect I'd still find you here. This place has become quite dangerous over the last year. Tell me, how did you survive?"

Avel smiled back at him then turned away. He began to walk toward the window. Gods above and below, why did the lamps seem to fade? Why did they keep fading? "Yes I expect -they- must have told you all about me. Though I doubt you could even begin to understand what I've been doing here, and what great heights we hoped to accomplish," Avel told him. "Still, I'm happy that you're trying to approach things diplomatically."

"Of course." Torin walked over to the table and paused beside it. Close but not too close. "There's no reason to resort to senseless violence. If we can work together to clean this place of monsters, all the better. If we seek to understand each other... then maybe... maybe I could understand what you're doing."

Torin drew his cane forward and set it on the ground in front of himself. He leaned forward on it. "I'm willing to listen."

"Yes, it's so fortunate for me that you're willing to listen," Avel agreed. "This only makes you all the more vulnerable. For, you see," He seemed to have no care to the fact that he heard Aaron behind him making moves. Rather, Avel was fully calm and in control of this situation. "You see... I have no intention of answering your questions. It's a simple blessing that you managed to disarm yourselves."

It only kept getting darker, till Jen lost sight of Aaron. Hadn't he been moving forward to attack? Where was he now?

Enoch moved into position beside Torin and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, something is-..." His voice seemed to fade away just as his form did.

Torin turned to the side. He looked for the man who had spoken to him but he didn't see anything. Yet somehow he got the sense that they were, each of them, in their own little world. Not lost... but... it was like they couldn't help each other anymore. Avel had done something to them. Was doing something to them. That much was clear.

Even as the frames of his glasses burned against the only light now shining in through the windows. Even as lightning flashed from the outside and the sheets of rain came down like spears.

"Was any part of you curious at all, I wonder?" Avel mused. "Did you come here for riches, or for fame? Did you think you were doing the right thing...? Or is there some part of you that wanted to know the truth of what happened here?"

"Is it worth it to die just to learn the truth?" Avel inquired.

Jen felt herself panicking. She looked to her side, trying to find Leone, but he had vanished into the darkness. Even Torin was gone now, though Jen was sure he was still somewhere near the table. All she could see now was Avel de Contelard. And that was the only voice that could still reach her, here.

"I still want to know what's going on," Torin called back, shouting into the black space. Even if no one else could see or hear him, he didn't think it was futile. "But if you're saying you want to fight then we are prepared to fight you, too. Whatever your role is here... you're clearly not a good man, or a sane man."

"You'll fight me? You think you're prepared? HAH!" Avel stepped away from the window and swung his arm to the side. Now there was a mad look in his eyes. "How could you be prepared to face threats which you cannot even perceive?! How could you call yourself ready when you are more blind than lambs being led by dogs."
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

Then, sitting there, an old gentleman in robes. There was an open book on his lap and a pipe burning softly in his other hand. While his leading hand touched the paper and turned to the next page every so often. His glasses hung almost off of his face as he sat in this lazy, curious posture.

His gaze turned toward the door as the group appeared before him. A silhouette of adventurers from a far away place who had come here to clean the place up. And they must not have expected to ever find an old man living in a run down nest full of monsters. Especially not in a room that hadn't been touched at all by the horror around it.

"Just what is this...?" Enoch blurted out loud.

"-This- is my sitting room." The old man answered almost without hesitation. He closed his book, setting it on the table. Then he stood up from his chair and turned fully toward Enoch and the others. "And -you- must be my long awaited guests."

Rain began to fall outside. Jen saw the clouds collapsing into bullets of moisture which slammed into the windows on the far side of the room. For some reason it felt so odd to her that it would begin to rain like this, at a time like this, in a place like this. It hadn't looked or felt much like rain had been coming, and yet here it was.

In fact... was there ever a window in this part of the estate before? Weren't they closer to-...?

"Don't make any sudden moves," Aaron said, cutting through the quiet calm. If that man's intention had been to disarm them with kindness, here was one guy that wouldn't work on. "I don't know who or what you are, but there's no way I could trust someone in a situation like this."

Torin glanced at Aaron and stepped forward with him. Then his gaze went back to the other old man. He massaged his beard with a look of suspicion. "I must admit, I find this whole situation curious. Just who are you?"

"Yes, I must tell you at least that much," the man agreed. He gave them a deep bow, his robes sagging down, his pipe spilling ash onto the floor. It seemed to glow a red hot orange against the floor which was steadily and slowly turning black even as the light from the lamps began to fade. "My name is Avel de Countelard. I am a friend of Lord Cain and a servant of his family, here."

"I hope you realize how absurd that sounds," Aaron responded. "They've all been dead for quite some time."

Enoch turned his head, studying the old man. "Forgive me but I don't recognize you. You must not have been here when last I visited."

"Well I could say the same to you," Avel responded with a huff. He narrowed his eyebrows, casting an accusatory glare at Enoch. "Who is to say you aren't some imposter? I've long been a friend of this family and I don't remember ever seeing -you- here, either."

Jen thought that sounded like an odd argument to make in this situation. Beyond that, he had simply ignored the other, more pertinent remarks... about Cain and the others being long dead. Wouldn't that be more important?

"Perhaps time and circumstances never permitted it, Mr Contelard," Torin cut in, smoothing the disagreement over before it could become one. Though, at the time, he was thinking of other things.

Torin wasn't stupid. He remembered what Maria and Goetic had told him. She might have run off with Dismas and his cursed band -- who knew if they were alive or dead at this time -- but she had told him about this Avel character and that information stuck with him. Combining that with some of the other things they had seen or found since coming here...
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

Jen went to stand by Leone awkwardly as they waited for Aaron to lug the chest back downstairs and stow it away on the wagon. She found herself bouncing back and forth on the bottoms of her feet, wobbling in place with an uneasy balance that somehow calmed her nerves. And at that defining moment where her heart felt steady she just might open her mouth as if she were going to say something. Then as Leone noticed he was being watched and gifted a weak smile, Jen felt her heart freeze and remained silent.

Torin decided to scan the study room and the secondary research hall which had already been turned over. They didn't find anything else of note in here besides what Leone had already discovered earlier. And, the ambitious Leone, who had been very aggressive in searching the place due to his curiosity, seemed to have fallen into a more relaxed and quiet position by this time.

Perhaps it was the fact that his curiosity had nearly gotten the cat killed, or maybe it was something else. In a way it almost felt more like he was watching the others rather than watching for threats. Was he worried about what they might find if they kept looking here? Jen didn't know why but she got the sense that Leone was probably thinking something like that. Maybe every person here except her all had brought their own secrets with them. Maybe they were playing some kind of game that she didn't understand.

All she wanted was to make sure that Leone didn't get hurt again. Did that simple view of the world preclude her from participating in the more complicated events that were transpiring around her...?

At the end of the hall they found a door which had been barred shut from the inside. It looked to be in suspiciously good repair. And, beyond that, there seemed to be a light shining from between the cracks in the door. Zephyr didn't hesitate to point out this fact.

"Let me take the door," Leone offered. He gave Aaron a glance that told the big man to stand down. Aaron had looked almost as if he wanted to ram the door down without hesitation. "I'll do it quietly."

He was forced to use his elbow against the door, steadying himself, and holding the lock in place while he worked on it with one hand. But for the time being Leone was determined to use that hand as much as possible. It was the only way to adjust. It was the only way to account for the fact that he only had one now. If he wanted to be able to keep doing the same things, with the same level of efficiency, it was important to begin practicing now as much as possible.

Jen frowned watching this display. Leone seemed weak and feverish. Perhaps no one else saw it, or they didn't care, or maybe they knew there was nothing they could do about it. But someone who had just lost a hand probably needed to spent more time resting and recovering. Yet, still, here he was. Pushing himself to lead the way forward.

There was a soft click and the door popped open.

It was as if the lock itself was the only thing holding the door in place. Once the lock had been picked the door opened all on its own. The heavy portal swung inward with a slow measure of tempo. Leone, however, had been anticipating this. He touched the handle lightly with the tips of his fingers and guided the door so that it would open as slowly and quietly as possible.

What awaited them on the other side... they could not have expected.

The door beyond led to a sitting room in good repair. The paper on the walls seemed fresh compared to the rest of the place. The floors and the ceilings weren't so rotted or dirty. The tables weren't covered in dust. The lamps here were burning softly with comforting light.
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

Things hadn't turned out the way they wanted and yet they kept going anyway.

Looking at that... Zephyr couldn't help but smile ever so faintly. Maybe talking to Owen had made him feel better, in a way, too. Even if he hadn't said much. Zeph always had his own thoughts. And those had brought him something which he wouldn't have found sitting and sulking by himself. All he could do was hope that Owen felt the same way.

"Hey, you two!" Enoch came over to them. The tall man had his hands on his hips and walks with a very casual stride. "Looks like the ramp is ready. Shall we go?"

"Of course." Zephyr said. He stood up straight and tall for the first time in a while. Then he bounded off in the direction of the others, who had already begun to form up into a party and start moving. It was impossible to know what the future held. But he would continue to face forward from here on out.

The balcony area was easily secured once the full party had made their way up there; Aaron led the party with Torin at his side, offering guidance. Zephyr found himself wandering to the front of the column in order to help with scouting. At the same time, Leone lingered near the back of the group. It was hard to say if he was simply sticking to his own style or if this was meant as a way to scan for threats that might approach from behind.

The middle of the group was made up of Kidd, Enoch, Jamison, and Owen.

Jen had started off somewhere near the middle but she ended up lagging behind and likely wanted to stay near Leone for comfort's sake anyway. Her entire body was sore at this point, she was hurt and tired, and rest had only brought on a subtle pain which was caused by her muscles regenerating from the strain of the last two days. That didn't even get into the burning sensation on her back and shoulders from the deep raking cuts that had been placed there by monsters.

She looked to Leone and thought about what she might say. But there wasn't anything that came to mind. Or, rather, she didn't know how to say it. Or maybe she just didn't have the courage. Some time, long ago, she had tried to say something to him before... about how things were, and maybe how things might be. But Leone had said they were better as just friends. Did he still feel the same? Would he always feel that way?

... and was she fine with that? Up until now things had been going that way for quite some time. Maybe part of her felt happy and safe just having Leone around. But one day it felt like something was going to come between them. What if he fell in love with someone else? That would hurt a lot. Jen wasn't sure if she was prepared to deal with that. Leone might think they were better as just friends, but Jen didn't know if she could handle that kind of conclusion. Things would inevitably head toward something that hurt her.

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. Maybe a year from now or even five years. Then again, if she didn't focus on the present, they might not live past today. She figured she may as well push those thoughts to the back of her mind for now. Leone seemed very focused on studying his surroundings. Maybe she should try to be more like him.

The two side rooms on the outer edge of the balcony were opened and examined hastily. Aaron ended up dragging back a trunk full of riches from one of those rooms. It was filled with silver and porcelain objects of varied designs and, ironically, these seemed to be the 'extras' that were stashed away at some point. The finery that was left out had all been destroyed when the monsters ransacked this place. Only this locked trunk full of unwanted treasures had survived -- and it was specifically because it had been put away in some closet and forgotten.
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

Owen put his hands behind himself, balancing his torso, and leaned back. He found himself looking upward at the section of the balcony, where the railing had been destroyed. "Not sure if I deserve it, really. I've never had a high opinion of... well, anyone that wasn't human." He was forced to look away from Zephyr as he admitted something that he didn't really need to admit, but maybe it felt nice to get it off of his chest. "Abnormals have always freaked me out and I felt more than comfortable treating them as less than... than, I guess, the rest of us who I considered normal."

"And..." Owen hesitated.

"You're not the only one who wouldn't trust me," Zephyr said, "just because I'm an animal."

"Well... You're..." Owen became flustered. "You're not just an animal, though, are you? You're something else?"

"You've probably heard already that most Beastkin don't even know where we came from." Zephyr thought about that as hard as he could, and yet it felt like a part of his memory had been burned away. It was like he was born to forget his own origin. It was said that it was the same for all of his kind. "I can't tell you anything else. That's all I know."

Owen just nodded. There was some part of him that still didn't know if he believed that explanation, even after everything that happened. It just seemed too convenient and it was too easy to dismiss the opinion or the claims of anyone who looked different from himself ."Well, anyway, it's ironic that it turned out like this. Now I'm the one who isn't even human anymore... and now people are distrusting me."

"Did I learn something along the way? Some lesson?" Owen was staring off now, not seeming to really care one way or the other. "No. Probably not. I guess in the end we all just wander around and do our own thing. People... probably... don't change or grow all that much, do they?"

Zephyr thought of his own past, and yet from here it all seemed like a great black hole. He could look down there all he wanted but he'd never get to the bottom of it. "I don't know," was all he could say. However, as long as he was here, he could at least listen to what Owen had to say.

Sensing this, Owen decided to continue. Maybe he was ranting a bit, or maybe he went off on a tangent here, but it just felt nice to sit down and talk for a while. He had his share of woes and the sense of being able to unload them was difficult to resist. "You know I was supposed to come here as a photographer. I don't even remember how or when I lost my camera but I'm sure it was destroyed already by something."

"Everything else going on became so much more important when I realized what we were really in for, you know?" Owen just shook his head thinking about that. "Honestly, it's not just me, either. I think no one really understood just how insane this place was going to be. We all thought it would be much more simple, much more safe, even after reading the notes of Cain."

"Think about it... they actually invited someone like me here to take pictures of their great triumph."

Owen frowned. "What kind of hubris did it take to lead them this far, with those thoughts in mind?"

Zephyr's tail began to sway lightly as he considered those thoughts. The speech had an overall negative tone and it was difficult to conclude if it had any truth to it or if Owen was just becoming more and more mentally fragile. Could anyone else other than these prideful humans have even made it this far, and kept going?

He looked over at those at the stairs. Some of them looked more beaten, more worn down, more defeated than others. Yet, despite all that, they were still working hard. They were doing difficult labor in order to make sure that they could go forward into a more dangerous place.
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

Entry 22: Trust and Truth

Based on the information discovered by Leone, of which he was mostly very forthright (barring anything which may have implicated his brother or himself), Torin decided that the group should make efforts to move to the upper levels of the mansion and search out whatever Enoch had heard up there before the monsters attacked. The damage to the stairwell meant that it would be impossible to move the wagon up to the balcony. And, realistically, that was likely never going to be an option anyway. Torin knew at some point they would need to leave the wagon behind. That was the reason why he and Aaron had been organizing things during the downtime.

With everything in order they were able to take in bundles what they might need to carry with them. Torches, tools, supplies, and spare weapons were loaded onto those who could carry them and the group made ready to depart. The process of repairing the stairs to the point where they could be easily and safely climbed by everyone here took a bit of extra effort.

It was during this downtime, when the stairs were being repaired using the tools and wooden planks carried on the wagon, that Zephyr decided to investigate a matter which had concerned him to some extent. Someone of his size couldn't help much with construction or repair anyway. And, as coincidence might have it, the guy he wanted to talk to was off to the side as well.

Perhaps Owen also thought that he was too weak or too useless to help with repairs. Maybe he was content to just sulk after what had happened that morning. And, realistically, it seemed like no one wanted to pressure him into doing work once he had separated himself from the rest of the group. This provided the perfect situation for Zephyr to approach him and discuss some matters in private.

"Do you have some time?" Zephyr asked. "I'd like to talk."

Owen, who was sitting down on a battered box, studying one of the nearby statues, glanced over and then down at Zephyr. "Sure." His head titled to the side slightly, almost as if he didn't have the fortitude to keep his neck upright anymore. As if he had completely given up on things.

Perhaps the experience with Aaron had affected him even more than Zeph would have guessed, but that wasn't what he came here to talk about. Well, it was somewhat related to that. Specifically, something that Owen had said at the time.

"I feel like you must have lied back there, but I don't know why," Zephyr told him.

Owen turned his hand over, examining the back of it. "And what do you intend to do about it?"

"Nothing. I don't know." Zephyr glanced away and then back at him. "I just remember during the battle yesterday when those bees attacked, Punch grew those things on his head... the same as you. Maybe no one else noticed, since things were really chaotic, but... I don't think you could be the only one who turned out like this."

"No, not really." Owen shook his head. "It was me, and Punch, and Tristan. But they're-..."

Zephyr thought about Matsuda and the others who had died getting this far. "It's complicated. I get it."

"So..." Zephyr moved a bit, getting into a more comfortable position. "So you just didn't want to talk about it? Or were you worried they wouldn't trust you?"

"He was ready to squish my brain already," Owen said, sounding both annoyed, angry, and scared at the same time. "I didn't want to agitate him any further."

"Well you're lucky," Zephyr observed. "I came to you instead of him."
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

material control was pretty good. I have heard of glassjaw before but I don't think I ever listened to them. might have heard a song or two while riding in the car with friends like... when I was a teenager or something. definitely wouldn't have listened to a new album they released in 2017. anyway I didn't have any songs that I really liked or really disliked in this so it was overall consistent I guess. that being said I did start to feel a bit worn down by the end of it, and this didn't have the same excuse as the talking heads album. I just felt like by the time the last song started I was ready for the album to be over. I could see myself potentially liking this one more on repeated listening, but I also don't really see myself going out of the way to put it on ever again. 6/10

Dragon66116 posted...

Tetsuo & Youth (Lupe Fiasco)

going to play this next because I want to listen to something different than the other recs in the topic so far and I'd say this one is the most different. I'll go back and hit some of the others later on.
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

Glassjaw - Material Control

starting this now
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

https://imgur.com/JXGI7Wi

slowly but surely I'll get all of them done

in the meantime, chapter hype for later today (maybe more like TONIGHT)

[22. Trust and Truth]
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

there are some people who like it

I am not among them lol
---

~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

Underleveled posted...

Talking Heads - Little Creatures

ended up going with this next. I wasn't particularly in the mood for 80's but once I started playing it I figured I'd just let it keep going. Little Creatures by Talking Heads was probably the most catchy of the three I listened to in this topic so far. it definitely wasn't possible to just forget that it was playing in the background. that being said it was also the most 'simple' of the entries for me, with a lot of the songs sounding a little bit too much the same, and me getting pretty worn out on it by the end. it ended up being dull and boring not because of the slow tempo or boring musical arrangment -- more just because I had already heard the same exact style of singing, instrumentation, etc. for 30 minutes straight already. I know, I know, this somewhat contradicts what I said about Mitski but there's really a balance you need to find somewhere in the middle... and this wasn't it for me. anyway I'll say this was about a 6/10 for me.

also in fairness to Talking Heads I just checked again and apparently I listened to a 54 minute version, with a decent portion of the end of that including extended cuts and other versions of some of the same songs I had heard earlier. so this is probably why the end started to sound very same-y to me. it was literally the exact same as what I'd heard already lol
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~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

persona Q tried to appease persona and etrian odyssey fans but ended up with a final product that didn't satisfy either. it's "fine" but it's really not a good etrian odyssey game. I think persona fans might like it more just for the fun of seeing characters interacting, but then again I've seen some persona fans saying they didn't like how all the characters were really gimmicky and simplified into their most basic personality traits.

4 has dumpster tier customization so it sounds like your friend knows what he's talking about.
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~* Now I only see your dull imposter ~*
https://imgur.com/tdhOSKc

finished Be The Cowboy, by Mitski. it was fine. very much all over the place. it's cool that there were many songs each with a varied sound, but in a weird way this idea has been done so many times before that it doesn't even impress me anymore. it's hard for me to put into words what I mean but hopefully you guys know what I'm talking about when I say this is definitely a 'style' of artist or band where they just have a bunch of songs that all try to incorporate different musical elements, usually with a more slow and drawn out tempo for most of the album. there were parts and melodies that caught my attention but they were normally proceeded or punctuated by more boring elements that had me ignoring the sound going on in the background and just focus on what I was doing. 5/10. nothing wrong with this album but it's just not the kind of thing I enjoy listening to.

I'm not putting anything else on right away but I will likely listen to one more album tonight, and I guess I'll pick something from this topic since a few more people have posted and I don't have any personal favorites that I'm really in the mood to put on yet.
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you can always suggest more stuff! different is definitely better. I'm definitely not gonna be in the mood to listen to another mitski similar thing after I finish this so I'd probably skip julien baker for now and maybe come back to it later.
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finished Permanent Waves by Rush. I already like Rush and I have listened to a decent amount of their stuff before. I have listened to at least one full Rush album, but it wasn't this one. anyway I would say that this was good, and I ended up liking it more than I expected. not in a dramatic way where I thought I'd hate it and I ended up loving it or anything. but I've always thought of Rush as a solid 6 or 7 for me, and this album was more like a 7 or an 8.

mcflubbin posted...

Mitski - Be the Cowboy

just started this one. doesn't really sound like my style but I'll keep it going in the background for now anyway.

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

alright I'll try something a little different if you get back to these

Julien Baker - Turn Out the Lights

funny that you say this. she's actually suggested under similar artists to mitski!
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I think the answer varies planned on the characters. some of those arcs I have a clear idea in mind, others will depend on the choices you guys make along the way for how to develop them. and, of course, characters who get killed off won't be able to fulfill their dreams even if they did have noble goals for the endgame.
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Bane_Of_Despair posted...

White Pony

I can really only listen to deftones for so much at a time, and I actually listened to this album a month or two ago, so I'll pass on this

Reg posted...

Permanent Waves

I'll admit I'm not the HUGEST rush fan or anything but this is better than having no noise on in the background so I guess I'll go with this

REG IS WINNER

you guys can keep posting stuff if you want, I might look for other recs to listen to later depending on how fast this topic purges. I generally listen to around 3-4 albums a day, but I'm not always looking for recs so it just depends on how my mood is the next few days.
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I'll take the first suggestion that sounds appealing to me
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PrinceKaro posted...

did he build a wall around your house and make you pay for it?

you might not know this but tazzy's house is actually built of walls

*x files theme plays*
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yeah one thing I love about this series is that party composition is super important and status effects are actually useful. making a party that just spams strong auto attacks usually leads to you hitting a wall eventually.

this is something even 4 got right to some extent.
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better poll who is interested in seeing marigold's dream come to fruition, even if fakeru isn't the one to go back and do it?
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refinements don't automatically make something better. most would agree that classic sonic is better than modern sonic.

if dungeon crawling is your thing then there are very few games that can offer anything that competes with the greatness of EO1 and EO2. on that short list of titles are EO5 and EO3, as well as some games from a few other select series.

if he's not even interested in playing a dungeon crawler than I'd say probably just go do something else.
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1. before the ACHSHUALLY brigade shows up yes I know EO2 had the ability to create a Beast to put into your party. we all know this is different from having elves and hobbits running around you dipshits.

2. wang is a very bad human being for recommending 4 to any person. especially not as their first game.

3. you can go back and play 3 later if you end up liking the series. it's still a good game but it's not kind to new players at all, plus there are three games in the series (1, 2, and 5) that are just flat out better anyway.

4. since koala is the one who tagged me initially I actually thought I was responding to him in this topic lol whoops
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this is a really difficult question to answer because they have pros and cons that are very heavily subjective. someone who hates the first two games might love the later games. someone who likes the later ones... will probably still be able to go back and enjoy the earlier games, I would think, but maybe not.

anyway uh

I still think EO1 and 2 are probably the best constructed games in the series due to their simplicity. 2 is especially a standout for me because it improved the game balance of EO1 without screwing anything major up. both of these games have remake versions called Etrian Odyssey Untold 1 and Etrian Odyssey Untold 2. these polish things up a bit and add an optional story mode if you prefer to play the game with a story, but you can also choose to play without the story if you want to play the original way the game was intended (with a minimal story that revolves directly around the player stand-in exploring the dungeon).

Etrian Odyssey 3 is a very good game but I think it lacks the simplicity that EO1 and EO2 have. It's very, very common for first time players to stall out at a certain point in this game because of the 'outside of town' features and the overwhelming amount of choices the game dumps into your lap when subclasses are added. the ability to do these subclass mixes is cool, but the game doesn't really give you any indication of how you should do it or why certain builds work. this often leads to players making really bad party compositions and losing interest in the game as a result, or, worse, you can stumble onto broken combinations by accident (or just by looking them up, they're fairly well known) and just ruin the game for yourself by making it piss easy.

Etrian Odyssey 4 is hot garbage and I really don't like the fact that this game gets any love at all. I did replay it recently and my opinion of it improved slightly but I would NEVER, EVER recommend this game to anyone under any circumstances. they stripped out everything that made etrian odyssey great by simplifying the class skill trees. now I know I said the simplicity of EO1 and EO2 were great, but those had skill trees that forced you to make choices. this game -- does not. you simply go in a straight line and pick up the relevant skills in an order that the game director decided for you. fuck this fucking game. flying the airship around outside of town is also something that maybe sounds cool but it's actually incredibly tedious. every other game allows you to warp directly into the dungeons and that's a billion times more convenient considering how often you need to do it.

Etrian Odyssey 5 is a true return to form. it reminds me of EO1 and EO2 in many, many ways while still bringing a ton of new features to the series. I think this was done incredibly well. while it does make me sad that there are many, many different things in this game that don't "feel" true to Etrian Odyssey for me -- I kinda hate the race based system and yearn for the older games which just had humans -- everything else in this game is so good that it makes up for it and still leaves me thinking it's on the same tier as the first two games, if just below them. it has the dungeon design, class balance, and simply enjoyment that I love about this series.

tl;dr

EO1 or EO2 are the absolute best choice, and you can buy the Untold version to experience them with a fresh coat of paint. among those I think EO2 is definitely better and is almost certainly where the series peaked.

if you must play one of the newer games, EO5 is the better choice among them by far... because it's the one that actually returned to the features that made EO1 and EO2 great. it does have some points that I think are lame, but everything else about it is so well done that I wouldn't hate you for playing this game first.

EO3 I would say stay away due to accessibility issues

EO4 I would say stay away because it's garbage
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Maniac64 posted...

Should Maria summon The Bot?

A. Yes
B. No

I'm not outsourcing cheap canadian labor anymore, sorry guys

votes B
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I used the auto bump feature in one of my previous topics and the topic purged due to the system messing up

so yeah, not trusting that system again. rather just bump things myself.
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just bumping stuff randomly because I don't know when things purge
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ClyTheCool posted...

I hate to go all r/iamverysmart here but I can only imagine those opinions if you were put off by the character and didn't really understand what you were watching.

I like their criticisms and critiques in a general sense but I do always remember just being annoyed when the review deviates into some random comedy tangent. it was like, I'm thinking, okay can we just get back to the review? the thing I came here to watch?

I guess I can see where those people are coming from in that sense.

anyway I watched this review around when it came out and I thought it was a really good one. I also agree with people saying the episode on The Force Awakens felt kinda forced (heh) because in all likelihood the RLM guys didn't dislike the movie all that much. they spent way too much time talking about the star wars phenomena as a whole which I guess was interesting, but had nothing to do with the movie itself.

this one for me actually went into and addressed a lot of problems with the movie itself which was really good. also wondering just how serious they were with that 'boycott' message at the end, considering the title is the last plinkett review. kinda makes it seem like they might actually just not watch or review the next one.
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this is probably a BOLD PREDICTION but I don't think caverns below is gonna get nerfed again.

I agree prep is a bizarre problem but it's one that is not easy to fix. akira is pretty much on the money here. the entire balance of the rogue class is built around the prep card existing. changing that means that every spell in their arsenal is fundamentally changed implicitly. trying to balance how to do that properly is just a nightmare that I doubt blizzard wants to attempt.
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https://imgur.com/qMABE2M

second promo image done, it's the one where jen kills the fish monster and ignael first meets maria

I wanted to convey maria being a REALLY weird character so I had her standing outside of the frame
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AheadOfTheCurve posted...

Does this guy make any post that isn't trolling?

yes, sometimes

AheadOfTheCurve posted...

Christ this dude is immature af

but also yes, I don't disagree with this at all lol
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bryans7 posted...

People have made the suggestion that the FF should be time-displaced in a way. Like they took off in the 60s and are just now returning all changed and superpowered.

But that feels too much like a retread of Captain America to me.

I'd be fine with that if it was done well. FF needs a weird or sort of bizarre plot in order to make it work. just trying to give them generic superhero plots where a big bad guy makes a doomsday device is really stupid.

I'd like to see one good fantastic four movie made at some point in my lifetime but welp
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huh

I can't say if there's a legit reason for this but I did enjoy that quite a bit more than the actual scene in english.
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who would win

- tenacious bastard
- well trained
- doesn't make mistakes

or

- one mothy boy
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GenesisSaga posted...

Like I might not have agreed with giving up my dignity for a save, but I never would've mocked the people that did- and there were a lot that contest. Fun times...

definitely one of the best long cons I ever pulled off. it might have been weird and only sort of funny at the time, but now whenever I look back on it I can fondly remember people giving up their dignity for a few free saves. and in retrospect it's way more funny.
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FunnyBusiness posted...

Thought things were fixing to go down there, glad it didn't get to that (yet).

you guys will have to thank Torin for that.
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GenesisSaga posted...

Blue is the best but all the other eyes are OK

counterpoint

https://imgur.com/dTKHvMn
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kidd better go ultra super saiyan god if he knows this smile is waiting for him when he gets home

(and yeah she's an abnormal like goetic or ignael, that's why she has purple hair)
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KamikazePotato posted...

Pretty much everywhere you go (Bloodborne)

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oh and today's fun foreshadowing bit

Only one had stayed back with him, the girl Fakeru, whose lady had recently perished on the wagon trail. Jamison felt a bit bad for her but wasn't sure what to say. However, at that time, he noticed the Honeyflower growing on the side of the dirt road. It was odd. Fascinating. Curious. This place had not been tended to for many months, but the flower was still growing on its own -- a perfect defiance of the darkness which had swallowed these lands.

Jamison finds the first signs that the estate was still being tended to, signifying that there was still someone living here and taking care of things. however, despite his detective background, he somehow missed the significance of this important detail at the time.

this was as early as chapter 2!
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I wonder if we'll ever see Susal

oh and I definitely didn't forget that you guys voted to go after the guy who has been running the research hall up here. torin/leone's exchange early on was a nod to that. just a matter of needing to resolve this situation first and requiring a full chapter to do it -- hence my statement about needing more chapters. otherwise I'd need to leave the moth powers as simply a thing like 'this is what they do, it doesn't really matter where they came from or what the implications are.' and to me this is a lot more interesting to have it tie into some meta narrative, world building, and relate to events from other character backstories.

btw fun little trivia every time it says End or The End, this indicates that Xetni was watching the party during the events of that chapter. not all chapters have them, but you can be sure that The God of The End will always be there when things come to a close.
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Eddv posted...

Would it have been fair for X Death to go out because my save got eaten by the site going down?

yes, because we don't like you...
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v_charon posted...

No one would this. Didnt ever happen bwfore. Not the first time this has happened. This was without precedent and against previous handlings of this.

yeah but I just said that we can all agree so that means it's true
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guffguy89 posted...

I think we can all agree here that the right thing that shouldve been done was to just let it go as is. Treat downtime as an act of god, etc.

I think we can all agree if lefty had done that people would still be complaining, they'd just be instead complaining about the people who lost votes in the downtime
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imagine being me, complaining about bullshit overpowered taunts for like a year and a half straight, and then they print giggling inventor

haven't played hearthstone very much since the boomsday...
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