All art is at once surface and symbol

I'm playing through Indigo Disc, but I also have Super Mario RPG Remake to finish, and oof. I beat Undertale Yellow on Pacifist Ending! It's my favorite fangame since LISA: The Hopeful. It gave me the same magic feeling I got from when I first played the OG Undertale, and that made me really happy. ;; I want to watch the Genocide route eventually, but I'm not sure I'm ready to get my heart shattered into pieces yet. I also spent a really long time playing Mew Mew Love Blaster until I finally beat it. :P

I'm getting writing jitters and it suuuuuuucks. D: I'm working on this humongous LISA fix-it fic (where Brad and Terry also get together in the end because I want them to, dammit) and it's like "Oh fuck, what if I never finish this? What if my writing isn't up to the expectations I have for this story?" I'm being the biggest chickenwuss ever and I hate it and uggggggh.

I feel like I have a million thoughts but now my head is drawing a blank, but I can't sleep. This suuuuuuuucks.

One of those million thoughts is Father Velasco and Brad Armstrong share a lot more in common than expected. Like "My Medea" heavily reminding me of them. Yeah.

I can't stand the live-action Disney remakes as much as everyone else (The Jungle Book being the ONE exception), but a few of the exclusive songs deserve to be in much better movies. For example, "Evermore" from the disappointing Beauty and the Beast remake is a perfect Friskriel song. And I just realized "Speechless" from the Aladdin remake is amazing for Lillie standing up to Lusamine from Pokemon Sun/Moon. I wonder if I'll have enough clips from the Pokemon specials and the anime for an AMV.

Dear Rare Pair Slasher,

Welcome to the party! I'm so excited for you to make something for me! :3 Art and fic are happily accepted, and despite some fandom sections having more description than others, I’d be equally happy to have anything for all fandoms listed. I’m going to be copy-pasting from previous letters from other exchanges to save us time. The sooner we get to create, the better!

When it comes to art, I'm good with traditional and digital! No 3D/hyper-realistic models please. Don't worry about making a picture "shippy enough"—just seeing my requested ships hanging out or general acts of friendship counts. ♥ Hell, if you’re stumped, have them share scarves or dress up in various costumes. I’d be thrilled. :D

All of my writing suggestions equally apply to art~

( Likes )

( Dislikes )

( Kinks )

( Non-Kinks )

( Ships allowed for noncon and dubcon )

Important: If you're going to do smut with my ships involving kids or teenage characters (ex. Asriel, Ness, Ninten, etc.) please please please please please please please age them up, especially if it's a ship with a wide age gap! While I don't mind teenagers experimenting together, I'd rather not see anyone below 15 being sexually active. For age-gap ships, please no "grooming" and only have the older person reciprocate his feelings when the younger person is old enough to consent.

( Cuphead )

( Mother 1 | EarthBound Zero | EarthBound Beginnings )

( Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound )

( Undertale )

( Revolutionary Girl Utena )

( Pokemon )

( Crossovers )

Once again, thank you so much, and happy slashing!

Your Recipient,
Puri

I'm not going to miss this year. At all. Thanks to politics, it's pretty much been one long endurance run where the extinction of important species and even the apocalypse feels like one executive order away. Two states (including mine) got flooded, and Puerto Rico is without power while our fucking government sits on their asses with their ears plugged in the hopes everyone on the island will die off soon. Don't get me started what's happening to Net Neutrality, and I pray to god Ajit Pai and the FCC are successfully sued.

That said, I'm knocking wood due to events that happened which makes me cling to hope a little. Like...

- Exposing Harvey Weinstein and the following arrests of predators who have gotten away with their shit for WAY too long. I'm crossing my fingers that the #MeToo movement is more than just a trend, and we can FINALLY get overdue laws into place once we kick out the 45 Administration. The toxic systems in Hollywood and workplaces in general need to be overthrown, not called out for several months before things return to the status quo. They must be gone for good.
- Doug Jones' victory over a homophobic racist pedophile. I know we can't rely on black voters to always get white people out of our messes and we can truly thank them by electing more black people (especially black women) into powerful government positions, but I'm grateful all the same. I'm glad "keep fighting" isn't just an empty mantra under Unholy Orange Hell.

It's been pretty big fandom-wise.

- My best friend and I have been RPing a big Charasriel (which later became Chariskriel) AU we call The Scars We Choose. This AU has kept us sane throughout the whole year, and it's what kept me active in writing. Even if I barely got much done in fic this year, I've been VERY productive regarding TSWC. We have fanmixes, art, and everything. TSWC has just been so cathartic for us, it's incredible. I'm proud of the work we're doing for it. ;;
- After suffering and dealing with the worst of Undertale fandom for so long, I finally got invited to a few Discord groups where I felt welcome and safe. I missed the warmth, love, and creativity of that side of UT fandom so much, and I'm glad I got those spaces whenever I'm down.
- This is the year I also went to PAX San Antonio! I got to see my TSWC partner there and it was the first time I got to meet an online friend IRL. ;; Realmscon was also magical because I GOT TO SEE FUCKING VOLTAIRE. Hands down the best concert I've been to. It's like hanging out at a campfire with an old friend who happens to be a gothic rum-loving skeleton raised by bats.
- Much to my surprise, TCM did a showing of rare cult classic Belladonna of Sadness (NSFW) (the movie that inspired Kunihiko Ikuhara into becoming an anime director) and my parents recorded it for me! I didn't know what I was going to think about it coming in. But holy fuck. I loved it. Considering I watched it right on the heels of the election of the Orange Führer, a movie where a wronged and traumatized woman makes a deal with the devil and gains power, and whole village respects her and they give a giant Fuck You to the so-called "righteous" church monarchy terrorizing them, it is SO satisfying. Even with the ending, it clearly shows that the revolution is Not Over. Needless to say, you can see why Ikuhara likes this movie. :P The movie is definitely Not For Everyone (rape, explicit sex, violence, exploration of witchcraft and witch hunts, Nightmare Fuel up the wazoo, TRIPPY AS BALLS ANIMATION) but goddamn, did it hit all the right notes for me. Not to mention there's the gorgeous watercolor art and TRIPPY AS BALLS ANIMATION and an awesome 70s soundtrack. 8)
- I finally got around to playing OneShot. Perfect timing too, because the Solstice update came out this year. omg omg omg it's so good. ;; It's interesting to compare with OFF and Undertale (though one of its primary inspirations is Hyper Light Drifter, which I still have to play. ;;), but it's very much its own thing and does crazy shit with your computer that serves a purpose WAY beyond gimmicks. The game is smart without being smug, and it has a warm heart at the center of it all. ;; Niko is the biggest cinnamon roll in the world and I love them so much, aaaaaaaa. I won't spoil anything at all, let's just say a certain scene between Niko and the Entity legitimately made me cry. ( Solstice spoiler snippet for one line of dialogue. ) Also, I recommend after you get one of the two original endings of the game that you listen to Yin / Yang: A OneShot Concept Album. Hell, my current icon even comes from the cover. :o My favorite track would definitely be the first one, "A Distant Prayer (Ending)." The vocalist even reminds me of Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation. ;;
- My family and I got to see Coco for Christmas (and we mercifully were spared of the 22-minute Olaf special). Congratulations Pixar: you made the second movie to reduce me to tears (the first was Inside Out). Like, my relationship with Pixar films has been like this:

UP: teary-eyed near the end, but didn't cry.
Toy Story 3: Touched, but didn't get teary-eyed.
Inside Out: Cried near the end.
Coco: Cried twice in two different scenes near the end.

So... Coco. A++

Hurricane Fanmix Progress: I haven't forgotten any of you at all! Progress is just really slow, aaaaaa. calliatra, your smut inspiration mix is almost ready! I got all the songs I need, I just need to make the cover and the write-up post. I hope this'll be worth the wait. ;;

Happy New Year, everyone. Let's not blow it on 2018.

Ugh, I've had this Undertale rant in my head, one that I made on plurk again and again. I guess I better elaborate on LJ/DW? Because... this is driving me crazy. It's about a certain character at the end of True Pacifist. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE BEATEN UNDERTALE. SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING INCLUDING TRUE PACIFIST, GENOCIDE, AND NEUTRAL.

( Unpopular Opinion Time! It's about a certain serial murderer. )

So, I think I have enough songs for a fanmix (we called 'em "FSTs" in the ol' days of Livejournal) so I'm checking out how 8tracks works to see if I can get one ready. Which leads me to a rant about something that annoys me about 8tracks.

The biggest problem I have with 8tracks is I can't see the tracklist. I have to listen to the entire fanmix first, and I'm only allowed a certain number of skips. What if there's an artist I don't like? I wouldn't know they're there until it's too late. Sometimes I want to look at what other songs people have for Frisk, Chara, etc. So that I, a fanmixer, don't end up using the same songs everyone and their mother already uses and associates with Frisk, Chara, etc.

I don't have time to listen to entire soundtracks. JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN TRACKLIST AND I'LL DECIDE IF I WANT TO LISTEN OR NOT. This is what I really miss from the FST days on Livejournal. YOU HAD A DAMN TRACKLIST. At least some 8tracks fanmixes are advertised on tumblr posts with a tracklist included, saving me a lot of time. Still, it's extremely frustrating.

"But Puri, the whole point of 8tracks is to discover new music! You can't do that if you have immediate access to tracklists!"

DON'T TELL ME HOW I SHOULD LISTEN TO MUSIC.

Sometimes, if I see artists I like on the fanmix? I may be encouraged to listen to the others. And I haven't heard every single song by my favorite artists, especially if they've got a HUGE library like say, Tori Amos or The Beatles. So finding songs that remind me of a character or pairing by an artist I like that got buried beneath Archive Panic is a cool thing. Ex. I hadn't registered "For Good" from the Wicked musical as a Friskriel song until someone pointed it out and sang a cover for it. Even if it's a song I already have, I could agree with the fanmixer's choices and I'd want to know what else they've got. Back when fst was still active, I used to comb the archive for FSTs that had at least one song by an artist I liked, such as Patrick Wolf or AniDiFranco or Bjork. That's how I got into their music, from little trickles that people would include on FSTs. Didn't matter if I didn't know the fandom. I'd look up, see they have a song by Garbage or Say Anything I hadn't heard yet, and pounce on it like a cat with a new ball of yarn or a laser pointer dot.

And this way, I have something to associate the song with to remember it by, as opposed to aimlessly wandering iTunes. Ex. I have this gorgeous male cover of "I Hope You Dance" (done by Ronan Keating) I got it off of some random shippy Iruka/Sakura FST or something. I wouldn't know anything about the fandom or pairing at all, but I'd go, "Oh hey, I got that song from a random Naruto FST! :D"

Hell, I can tell you the FST I was introduced to Patrick Wolf from. It was for Ken Ichijouji from the second season of Digimon. Looking through the tracklist, I saw "Magpie" along with a few sample lyrics. I thought, "Hey, that looks pretty" and downloaded it. I was blown away. Like, from the first note.

( Reaction .gifs? Oh yeah. Required. )

Where was I? Oh, right. I can't really do that anymore on 8tracks. I'm forced to go blind with the exceptions of a few artist names in the tags instead. THANKS 8TRACKS.

With all the bullshit that still gets flung at the LGBTQ community, I grow more and more grateful that Undertale exists. Like Earthbound--the game it was inspired by--this game is so important to me on so many levels.

( Talk of UT spoilers and depression and hope. )

Happy Easter, btw. :)

Trapped behind the barrier and fearful of further human attacks, we retreated. Far, far into the earth we walked, until we reached the cavern's end. This was our new home, which we named... “HOME.” As great as our King is, he is pretty lousy with names.

…

Fearing the humans no longer, we moved out of our old city, HOME. We braved harsh cold, damp swampland, and searing heat... Until we reached what we now call our capital. “NEW HOME.” Again, our King is really bad at names...?

…

Inside NEW HOME is the largest academy of the Underground. But what really makes the school stand out is there's a private club that the Student Council members go to where they pull swords out of magic and duel each other. But for what purpose? That place is called...“DREEMURR ACADEMY.” As expected, our King is atrocious with names.


485 words today for Rosetale!

So, uh... here's a list of all my Undertale ships!

( Shipping and friendships, nomnomnom. )

Buggerpantx ran outside on his mop and said everyone we need to talk.

"What do you know, Buggerpantx? You're just a little MTT employee!"

"I MAY BE A MTT EMPLOYEE...." Buggerpaintx paused angrily. "BUT I AM ALSO A SATANIST!"