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Trans megathread for the week of September 30th to October 3rd - Sacred Echoes posting!

When I decided to host the mega again a bit ago, I had no idea what to make it about (of course). So it fell between two topics: a post on the importance of sleep, or a post on just how much I love Fire Emblem: The Sacred Echoes. Well, I felt like the importance of sleep was well-known, and could always wait for the next time I host a mega. I wanted to make sure I hit the Sacred Echoes iron while it's hot, because I've almost finished my play through at this point, and it might genuinely be one of the best games I have ever played. Sacred Echoes feels so polished, considering it's a fan-made romhack of Sacred Stones, with the goal of bringing the 3DS game, Shadows of Valentia (SoV), to the GBA. Everything about the game aesthetically is very well-done, from the portraits, to the battle sprites, and literally anything else that could be thought of about a game. This includes new character writing, which helps the game in areas where Shadows of Valentia was a little, well, off. That's what I want to go over first, and although I've made a post before, I had only played a little bit of the game. Being at the end, I've noticed more things, and grown to appreciate this game even more than I already did. Let's start off with the relevant (and interesting) bits: Sacred Echoes actually does a really good job at representing a variety of backgrounds, while also being diverse in a way that doesn't feel like it's simply to have a token character. This game doesn't suffer from the cracker curse, for example. Although most of the characters are white, there is more than one person of color () . In terms of LGBTQ+ representation, it's even better. There are many gay/lesbian characters, whose sexuality actually plays a role in the plot and how they interact with others. There's also an aroace character, Lukas, who goes through a whole arc of self-discovery in his support conversations (support Python). It's good stuff, and not things I would normally expect from a Fire Emblem game. I hesitate to bring up the (possibly) only trans character in the game, Jesse. HOLD ON, NO HESITATION AT ALL! I just decided to do more research, and I wasn't just projecting. He is 100% trans, and it's in supports, and it's relevant to his plot and backstory, so it's just like the rest of them, thank goodness, I was worried he was a token. So yeah, support Clive and Jesse. Good stuff, and good luck getting to the end of the game so they can actually meet, one fights for Alm and the other for Celica... This is Jesse  Here's some dialogue between Clive and Jesse, in the context of a will: Clive: Only the following will be yours - your mother's wardrobe, her jewelry box, and all corresponding contents. Jesse: Urgh. Even from halfway in the grave he's trying to tell me what to wear. So yeah, he's still the same tyrant he always was. Hasn't changed a bit. In terms of character background, it's more diverse than one would think, and it addresses the issue of feudal class. Not all of the characters are nobles, and one of the main characters is a commoner from a random village. The plot regularly deals with the fact that nobles and commoners do not get along. However, it does not try to redeem most nobles. If they aren't proving themselves with their actions, they're probably shitty. Even if they are supposedly "one of the good ones", there's usually some underlying prejudice that comes out when you might not expect it. I love it so much, and I am extremely impressed that the plot doesn't try to redeem nobility as a whole, but rather allows the noble characters within the cast to have character development that feels less like justification and more like re-education. Pictured is the class traitor Lukas absolutely destroying Fernand   For other details about the story, I'll link my [original post](https://hexbear.net/post/3320608?scrollToComments=false). I don't want to drag this on too long, and I mention most of the improvements there. It also includes where to find the patch for the game, and how to play the game for yourself. If you enjoy SRPGs, or are new to the genre, I recommend this game. It has an easy mode for the newbies, and hard mode for those of us who hate ourselves (/s), and a normal mode for everything in-between  The Echoes cast is amazing, and I love how they interact with each other and the world. Each character stands out, and they feel unique in their relationships with the other characters. Even characters that suffer in SoV, like Faye and the Masked Knight (has a name but it's spoilers), benefit from the Sacred Echoes writing, making them actually enjoyable characters. The villains of the game are also great. I don't want to go too deep, because I don't want to spoil too much, but they aren't just pure evil, and for that I applaud the SoV writers. Berkut is probably the highlight of the game, being the heir to the throne of the empire. I am once again asking you to play the game, because IT IS SO GREAT, and I would not have expected these good of villains to pair with Alm and Celica, as well as their armies. Pictured is the Masked Knight being a gay little guy. The other guy (Saber) is threatening his life...  Everything about the game design is also amazing. It's GBA Fire Emblem, so the animations are peak and the pixel art is stellar. The maps are improved from the original SoV maps, and they are definetly much better, and much less repetitive. Classes in the game are fun in how they work, each character being able to promote 2-3 times. Mages also work really uniquely and well in this game, with spells costing HP to cast. They learn spells as they level up, rather than by purchasing tomes, which makes for (in my opinion), better gameplay. Sacred Echoes also adds the GBA weapon and magic triangles! All in all, Sacred Echoes is a great game, and even if you never ending up playing it, you now know of its existence. It stands out as a great romhack, as well as a great Fire Emblem game, AND it has the gay. Can it really get better than that? If you want my original (and more in-depth) analysis, check out my [original post](https://hexbear.net/post/3320608?scrollToComments=false). It's mostly about what Sacred Echoes improves upon the original Shadows of Valentia. Hope you enjoyed my little nerd-out session, and have a good week everyone!  DOWNLOAD SACRED ECHOES: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/o9v75blehaid1re2i8qou/ALhV8LN1A59jdFIP6HYRH3c?rlkey=d7fl1m8qh9gl7ztmnim33euu1&e=1&dl=0 PATCH TO AN EXISTING SACRED STONES ROM: https://www.marcrobledo.com/RomPatcher.js/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join our public Matrix server! https://matrix.to/#/#tracha:chapo.chat As a reminder, be sure to properly give content warnings and put sensitive subjects behind proper spoiler tags. It's for the mental health of not just your comrades, but yourself as well. Here is a screenshot of where to find the spoiler button. 

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recommending music until i stop, day 6: The Hidden Words by Fellsilent

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Remember yesterday, when I posted about the We Are The Foundation EP? This is similar to what could have happened had Monuments continued with the style. 2 vocalists, vintage djent, Monuments and TesseracT in one, raw but good production, bass (kind of)? It's all here. It took me a bit to find this. I don't believe it's on Spotify or any other streaming service, and unless someone recommends the album, it's not very discoverable. So you could say that the words were indeed hidden. Anyway, this album is really great, and extremely unique. Now, I say this every time, the artists I listen to are all different, but this album is *different* different. It's aggressive and simultaneously atmospheric and melodic. This can probably be attributed to the John Browne (Monuments) and Acle Kahney (TesseracT) combo, and they write really well together. Of course, Neema Askari and Joe Garrett also write really well, with their parts playing off of each other, similarly to Neema and Greg in the Monuments EP. Although I think that Neema and Greg are definitely better in this regard, Joe does provide a different feel on vocals with his deeper screams that contrast more with Neema's iconic whatever he does. So what happened to Fellsilent? They died. TesseracT was beginning to get popular, and Acle probably liked working on his own project rather than working on Fellsilent, so he left the band. Following him, the drummer and Joe left as well, leaving just John and Neema. That was pretty much it. John already had Monuments, so he began working on the project he had established, and Neema hopped on (only to be kicked off). Just like that, Fellsilent was done, and while it would have been really interesting to see where they had gone, The Hidden Words is a great album, and we now have TesseracT and Monuments (well, Monuments might be done now) to carry Fellsilent's legacy. Oh wait, you might want singles. Immerse is really good, as is Double Negative and Age of Deception. Now go listen to the album!

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recommending music until i stop, day 5.5: We Are The Foundation EP by Monuments

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I'm back pretty early, aren't I? I believe I've posted this EP before, but this time I'll give the lore drop and analysis. Greg Pope and Neema Askari were a set of vocalists on Monuments that joined after Fellsilent (pre Monuments + TesseracT) fell apart. Neema was on Fellsilent, but Greg was new. This is mostly irrelevant though, as when Monuments released this EP and opened a live show for Periphery with this lineup, it was clear just how well their voices worked together, and how well their (albeit unique) vocals fit over the music. Getting into rumor and/or I'm not sure territory here, but they were both under the belief that Monuments was over, so they "left" the band. Clearly the band wasn't actually done, and they picked up another vocalist (Matt Rose). This led to a song being cut (Memoirs) which they actually tried releasing, but Neema and/or Greg threatened legal action due to the iconic chorus. So, we got Gnosis, with completely re-worked vocals, and Greg and Neema were nowhere to be found. So where does that leave this EP? Well, it was only released on myspace, so the compression and mixing is kind of raw garbage. Not even good raw, if it wasn't this good I would not be listening to it. But it IS that good. It's catchy, the vocal style is unique and executed well, the riffs are Gnosis riffs so they're good. What's bittersweet about this EP is, this is what Gnosis could have been. This music with Gnosis mixing would have been an amazing debut album, rivaling The Amanuensis. Instead, most people prefer the instrumental version of the album, and rank it lower, if not the lowest, out of all of the Monuments albums. Before I leave yet again (no I'm not listing singles it's only three songs), I want to discuss lyrical themes. They sound left-wing and political, something that did happen on Gnosis (a bit more vaguely), but just completely died after that. ::: spoiler Let's first look at Admit Defeat: It's time to open the curtains Think of our time tonight as uncertain Anything, everything can happen Just open your minds to a new plan for mankind We got a new vision for the future A new formula to suture If you live your life by fake laws and lies There'll never be a future Why the fuck do we fall to our knees For the corporations? Refuse the system because the system will re-use you We are the foundation Tear it down If you do one thing, just think of consequence Of your life The answer's inside and now we'll stand together There's nothing different about me (Everyone in this life is linked by forces unseen) And your whatever you see is skin deep There's nothing to gather (Fatal lies, just so you feel secure inside) Just take a look around and you'll get the picture If we do nothing we can be sure of one thing We'll refrain; fall into shade Question your life Why are we here believing nothing else? Rise from the system Into a visions free, free your mind and soul We got this far just believe we can let go Why the fuck do we fall to our knees? Why are we here believing nothing else Rise from the system into a vision free from this ignorance We got this far, just believe we can let go Now let's start digging deeper; uncover what we know Falling from madness, we'll break through as one I can tell you this great deception must have an ending We can make it stop Everybody's gonna reach out from distress at take some action We'll restore the features that each of us choose to reap from We say monuments are the future Remember your way, just in case our light fades away Remember your way, just in case our light fades away Why the fuck do we fall to our knees For the corporations? Refuse the system because the system will re-use you We are the foundation ::: Like, this is explicitly anti-capitalist. When I heard this I went nuts. Gnosis was vague, but this was much better, especially lines like "Refuse the system because the system will re-use you" and even just "We Are The Foundation". ::: spoiler Next, Memoirs. This song is sad, I've cried. We can't control our lives We can just take things one day at a time Don't look back at our mistakes, We don't learn from our mistakes I dare you to open your eyes, You'll realize it's not the first time We're here to change, educate not to compete but to put things straight And we're advancing at a rapid rate And we refuse to be brainwashed, By a world that's shaped. We've wasted time, restrictions on our minds, And what have we got to show for it? Mislead from nature, Tainted with pictures and shaded by our fears Break through this blind obstruction Built on lies, Enslaved in the cycle, Tainted with pictures and shaded by our fears Surpass the souls we lost I'm sick of you You're not living your livid and you're being used You're not willing to make a valid point of view You're the reason that we're here, Weak people like you are holding us back from this breakthrough And if the reason we're here is to perpetuate and build What we haven't got yet and what we, hope to fulfill Then money is irrelevant, a *removed* on our path to realisation Here's something to build and use, A life once told in religious views if what we're fighting for is money, Then we're better off with nothing What the fuck are we gonna do? Regain our goal We can begin to patch the worlds abrasions after all this We're better off with nothing I dare you to open your eyes The world is decaying its loosing its shape, We're all on a mission with a brand new vision Mislead from nature, Tainted with pictures and shaded by our fears Break through this blind obstruction Built on lies, Enslaved in the cycle, Tainted with pictures and shaded by our fears Surpass the souls we lost ::: This one is sadder to me, because it hits close to home. I thought I knew it all, thought I knew what actually had to be done to help people. Then I learned how the world really works, how things are done intentionally with the knowledge that people are hurt and exploited. Even if we manage to fix a world that's actively decaying, what of the souls lost along the way? What of the souls who we lose every day to the system, the cycle? When will enough people see past the brainwashing, the propaganda, and realize these things, that money is irrelevant, that their worldview is likely built on lies? Something else lost with Greg and Neema was songwriting. The themes were good, the lyrics themselves were good, just everything about this EP and this band had so much potential, not just to be a good band, but to spread a message. That didn't happen, though. So I'll sit here, still listening to this EP, thinking of what could have been, while appreciating what happened. Gnosis is still a great album, as are The Amanuensis, In Stasis, and Phronesis (except for lyrics on Phronesis, they're really bad). Enjoy this EP, it's quite the gem, even if the mixing is mid.

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recommending music until i stop, day 5: Gnosis by Monuments

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When I first found this album, it was an instrumental version, and for a month or two I thought that was the only version of the album. As nice as instrumentals are, I am a vocals person at heart, so I didn't listen to it. After burning myself out on The Amanuensis and In Stasis for the first time, I found it again and decided to give it a shot. Then I heard vocals, and I was confused. Turns out it did have vocals, and I just happened to get the wrong version . So what makes Gnosis stand out, and why do I enjoy it? Well, I'm glad you were totally asking that question. This album is raw, especially compared to other Djent albums from the time. Yes, P1 and One were both more raw than P2 and Altered State, but Gnosis is another level of raw in it's production and style as a whole. The guitar tone is something that really stands out, and yes I say this like half of the time, but listen to it and you'll see what I mean. It sounds like a machine, and it definitely works for this album. Also, AUDIBLE BASS OH MY GOSH!!! Obligatory "bring back bass". The vocals are also really interesting and uniquely raw. Monuments has always had a vocalist issue, which meant that they have music with like 5 different vocalists out there. This album was done by Matt Rose, and while some people don't like his vocals, I think they really work on this album. The raw mechanic guitar tone combined with his harsh screams is something you have to hear to really understand what I'm describing. So, what's the issue with this album*? I'll leave that for the day 5.5 post on the "We Are The Foundation" EP, becuase there's a bit of Monuments lore that needs to be gone over. Long story short is that the album was supposed to be done in a different style with different vocalists who were maneuvered/deceived out of Monuments. Either way, this album is still really good, and definitely stands on its own. If you need singles, listen to Admit Defeat, *removed*, and Regenerate. As always though, if you have the time listen through the whole album. It has quite a unique sound, one that never got returned to, and likely never will.

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recommending music until I stop, day 4 - Periphery 3: Select Difficulty by Periphery

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Alright, I'm feeling quite tired today, so you all are getting the rapid-fire round this time. What I like: Vocals are great, up like an angel, down like a wounded ox. Guitars are great, as is usually the case with Periphery. It djents, its great, it has its super harsh moments on songs like The Price is Wrong and will have you emotional by the time you've finished Lune. What could be improved: Where's the bass? I heard that bass play-through of Prayer Position and the bass line was so good, why can I barely hear it in the mix. I'm not asking every band to sound like TesseracT, but at least take notes in terms of mixing an album. Other than the lack of bass, this album has amazing mixing. What do you all think of this album? It took a bit to grow on me, but I grew to like most of the songs on it. While always liking Lune and The Price is Wrong, the rest of the album got better and better to me the more I listened to it. Especially the Habitual Line-Stepper to Flatline to Absolomb, the whole second half of the album is probably my favorite.

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Welcome to the Continent of Luminae

Long ago, the world lived in a relative peace. Guided by nature, the people lived off of the land, paying their respects to the gods that assisted them in their daily lives. Then, the Divine arrived. Its light blessed all, allowing for great prosperity in exchange for the Luminae people's devotion. Declaring the unified Holy Kingdom of Auran, the Divine maintained a more physical presence than the gods of nature that came before it. The Divine could be seen, could be talked to, and could be felt. It was by all means their leader, as well as the arbiter of their salvation, as they saw it. 30 years ago, the Auran Federation broke out into war. Now a nation ruled by a parliament and a president, corruption and exploitation had greatly expanded, especially in the magic-rich province of Iberia. As a result, the people of Iberia began the Iberian Revolution, overthrowing their provincial government. A declaration of independence was made official, and the revolutionaries formed the People's Republic of Iberia. Outraged at this aggression, the federation declared war on the new nation in order to reclaim it. The Iberians by all means should have lost. However, they re-discovered a long dormant power that hadn't been used since before the era of the Divine. Earth magic is a classification applied to spells that use the caster as the source rather than a god or patron. It requires years of study, years that the Iberian revolutionaries had spent reading through ancient texts that were forbidden by the federation. They had waited to rebel until this magic was mastered, and it was exactly what balanced the scales. Earth magic was not only unaffected by the Divine like elemental magic, but could counter the power the Divine provided to its followers. The war was still one that was devastating, on both sides. The Divine Church therefore had a decision to make. Keep the war going, or try to restore peace and become a mediator. So, they organized talks between both Iberia and Auran, and they came to a decision. Iberia would maintain all of their land, but not reach past their boundaries. Auran would cede the two provinces bordering Iberia to the church in exchange for an end to the war and the promise of a pacified Iberia. The church then took the provinces it had received and formed the Divine Caliphate, a church turned nation. After five years, the fighting had finally ended, and the war was officially over. A few things happened with this resolution, though. Things that would change the course of Luminae forever. The Divine had strained itself during the war, giving greater powers and boons to the nation it had created all those years ago. As a result, it seemingly dissipated, fading out of physical existence like the gods of nature had done before it. The Earth magic the Iberians had used in the war also vanished, which was not at all expected. How could something they seemingly controlled just dissapear? The answer is still not known today, though the People's Republic has dedicated many resources to uncovering the reason for its disappearance. Other than these occurrences, the world moved on from the conflict. Auran and Iberia even began to trade with each other, seemingly putting behind them the wounds of conflict. Behind the facade was a bitterness, though. The ruling class of Auran didn't like having to pay full price for resources from the magic-rich lands, while Iberia never forgot the other provinces of people they left behind. As for the Caliphate? It maintained the Divine Church in the two nations, while also having the Caliphate act as a buffer between them. People of one nation could not reach the other without passing through the Caliphate, after all, and the church had managed to put themselves into quite a powerful position. This brings the world to the present day, a day where people continued to live in a tense peace, a peace that would not continue for long... It would be really cool if I could find out how to make a map, wouldn't it? Sure, I could use existing maps and put my nations over them, but wouldn't it be so much better if it was more original? The world itself is something newer to me. I haven't really considered a fantasy setting, even though I love fantasy, though the idea of a conflict and world that goes into its politics is something I've wanted to do for a while. Nothing here is concrete or final, and I'm open to suggestions and feedback, but I needed to make sure I have some sort of groundwork, some sort of world that the story I want to tell can take place in. I also want the characters I'm writing to feel like they live in a world, in a context, and so making sure I don't end up with a Fire Emblem 7 kind of situation is pretty important to me. Let me know what you think! Should names be changed? What should the names of cities be within the countries? What should the Earth/Dark magic be called? I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.

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recommending music until I stop, day 3: Mariner by Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas

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Wow, okay. I didn't know I had a cult until a few months ago, and they actually make really good music. W Cult! I remember making a post about a track on this album, but I think it's time for the whole thing, don't you think? Where to start. I found this album when I was looking for prog metal albums with female vocalists for the sake of voice training purposes, and what I found was quite the gem. I had never listened to "post-metal" or Cult of Luna before, Mariner was quite the departure from my djent. I really enjoyed it on the first listen through though, and it's now one of my favorite albums. Julie's vocals are great, I was not expecting what she would do on this album but it really makes this album. I actually don't know the band members for this band, but whoever does the deeper screams is also really good, and the two of them sound really well with each other. The instrumentals are also great, and in a way they create a feeling of immersion with patterns and powerful riffs. The riffs will often take their time, letting you take the whole thing in before its gone, and I love that about this album. Everything just works well together! Also, there's no singles today, I guess you could listen to Chevron or Cygnus but this album is best experienced in its entirety. That's going to be all for today's rec. Let me know if you enjoy/enjoyed this album or not, and feel free to give me some recs as well. I'll be back tomorrow 

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recommending music until i stop, day 2: Themata by Karnivool

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Hi everyone, I'm back with another album (of course). This one was recommended to me a few days ago by [@vovchik_ilich@hexbear.net](https://hexbear.net/u/vovchik_ilich), and I've really been enjoying it! If I had to describe how this album felt the first time I listened to it, I would say nostalgia. It really tickles my nu metal and 2000s alternative rock senses, in a good way. The guitar tone is really good, I've always been a fan of these kinds of tones. In addition to guitars, the vocals sound amazing. Not only do they get angelic (I love angelic vocals), but the vocalist does a lot of different things with their voice both pre-production and post-production. It's also proggy, of course, and that's what really makes this album for me. Yeah, nu metal and alternative rock could both be good, but add prog and it ascends. This album has its heavy/harsh moments, its calm and melodic moments, and its proggy moments. I really enjoyed it, and hopefully you will too. For individual tracks on this album, check out Themata (this album in a nutshell), Cote (for 2000s nostalgia), Sewn and Silent (clean melodies), and Scarabs (for heavy proggy guitar goodness). That's going to be all, hope you enjoy, and thanks again for the rec vovchik_ilich! P.S. If you don't end up liking this album, just listen to "Omitted For Clarity" on loop 

25 years ago, the Iberian people began a revolution, toppling their provincial government. Following this initial conflict, they declared the People's Republic of Iberia and began to defend their newfound gains from the remaining provinces within the Auran Federation. Luna witnessed this all, not only partaking in the revolution but leading it. Her face, as unique as it was among the people of Lumine, became a symbol of hope and freedom from the boots of the oppressors. In battle itself, she was a legend. From this point onward, the Auran people knew her as the Pale Demon, her unmatched skills in dark magic feared by all who opposed her. She was a force to be reckoned with, and once that certainly played a role in the successful revolution. Then she lost her magic. 5 years after the revolution revolution started, and the Divine's armistice was signed, dark magic vanished. It could no longer be produced, nor could it be felt. Luna had lost everything that had made her a competent fighting force, her studies now rendered useless. She still had her mind, though, and as such she saw it fit to enter a position within the new nation's government. As soon as she brought it up, the people didn't take long to place her as the figurehead of the new nation. Just like that her life was taken from one battlefield to another. She was ready to serve the nation she helped build though, and she did, and has done so for 20 years... After receiving news of invasion plans from a Caliphate bishop, Luna entrusted her to Elio's group, who were to escort her to the archbishop of the Divine Caliphate. Things went on as expected after that, with the nation preparing to defend itself from the potential invasion. They would not lose what they spent so much to gain. Then, she felt it. She could feel the magic again, and upon performing a spell, magic once again heeded her command. Now combat-ready, she left the politics behind, following the returned magic to its apparent source... I actually quite enjoy writing these, but I really need to finish the initial world-building post. Without it, these characters only exist in a vacuum, with events being referenced and the magic system not fully being understood. It's not the worst scenario, though, as writing out stories for the characters make it so that they exist in a context of all in which they live and what came before them. The post is almost ready though, there will be a max of 1 more character before I post it, that's a promise. It's quite interesting how Luna became the leader of Iberia. I had a background story for another character, a village girl who studies dark magic, and I was originally going to use this design for her. However, I hadn't come up with a leader for Iberia yet, I had kind of just automatically assumed it would be some generic politician. That didn't feel right for a nation of its kind, so I gave it Luna's face. Considering dark magic is what got the nation created, it makes sense that someone who can use dark magic played some sort of role in the revolution. Pieces started falling into place, and I ended up with this! Some names have been changed around compared to the initial setup, so I might have to redo my bishop post (I'm finding a new name for her, someone else that made a lot more sense is getting her name). I hope you enjoyed reading this, feel free to ask questions or provide world-building/writing tips!

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recommending music until i stop, day 1: One by TesseracT

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I think I'm going to recommend an album each day as I begin to upload music to TankieTube. Considering I've never made a post on One, I thought it would be best to post this on day one of this posting spree. One has to be one of my favorite albums. It takes a sort-of ambient tone, which then is interjected with harsh guitars and vocals. The guitars do Djent, and the riffs are pretty satisfying. One thing that was hinted at in One was bass. It's the most quiet bass in any TesseracT album, and yet it can still be heard, something that was more common at the time (Monument's Gnosis, for example). However, while most bands decided to lower the volume of the bass, and flatten the tone, TesseracT leaned into it, with a rich and audible bass in all of their future albums. Dan Tompkins is amazing on this album. His voice can go from a angelic, but sad-sounding cleans to the harsh pitched screams of an inner conflict. I once saw someone come up with a comparison between Dan Tompkins and Ashe O'Hara (Altered State) that really sums it up well. While the way Ashe sings demonstrates that same melancholy emotion followed by understanding, Dan takes that and focuses more on the moments of struggle. For this in action listen to both Ashe and Dan's versions of Perfection (Dan's is on this album). He's very flexible and versatile on this album, and although he's a bit low in the mix sometimes, it's not so jarring that it's felt for the whole album. The only bad thing about this album for Dan as an individual, was that he wrecked his voice. He was never quite able to pull of the same kind of vocal performance until War of Being, meaning that the harsh vocals that felt pretty iconic were used sparingly in both Polaris and Sonder (Ashe didn't scream, so Altered State has none). This is not a jab at any of these albums, and I feel like the harsh vocals they did use in songs like Messenger (Polaris) and King (Sonder) worked really well. I don't seem to be talking about one a lot in this rec, and it's because it feels like such a unique album. If you've heard TesseracT at all, many of the sounds they built upon in future work started with this album. This album stands on its own though, and it's still probably my second favorite TesseracT album. Concealing Fate (All 6 parts) is amazing, and tracks like Lament, Nascent, and Eden are just as amazing (I've just listed most of the album). So, before I go, let me provide some single songs you might enjoy. The best part about One is that, like Altered State, you can pick anything. Love harsh vocals? Nascent and Sunrise. Beautiful cleans? Deception and Perfection. A bit of everything? Lament or Eden. Like all of these? JUST LISTEN TO THE FULL ALBUM AT THIS POINT! That's all from me, if you read this I appreciate it, and enjoy the album. A tip for streaming from TankieTube: The website can actually be connected to through Newpipe's PeerTube option, so you can play the album in the background like you would on a streaming service!

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TesseracT: Altered State

tankie.tube

Altered State 2, on TankieTube too! ::: spoiler original post It's about time I did a definitive post recommendation about this album. A while back I recommended the first two "movements" of this album, "Of Matter" and "Of Mind", though I have since deleted the account and it's posts, so here's the album. This time, it's the whole thing. Every "movement" (I don't know what else to call them), every song, all here. You may have seen me go on about this in the old posts, or in the trans mega, but this album is absolutely a must-listen for anyone. There's something in this album most people can enjoy, and many people enjoy everything about it. I truly believe it is a musical masterpiece in terms of songwriting, mixing, and atmosphere. The bass is present, the lead vocals and the harmonies are well-crafted and angelic, the riffs are catchy and attention-grabbing while also lending themselves to, and creating, the atmosphere. Even the saxophone on "Calabi-Yau" is great, and feels like a natural continuation of the movement it closes out, while being pretty amazing in it's own right. Listen to this album through, or pick a movement. Of Matter is a great opening and is probably still my favorite out of the four. Of Mind is also great, Nocturne and Exile are amazing tracks, and they will both appeal to different types of listeners. Of Reality is definitely listened to best following Of Mind (all movements benefit from album order, but Of Reality especially), though if you just want to hear the saxophone this may be the route for you. Of Energy is a great closing track, and you can really feel that it's the end, especially with Embers being the kind of closing track that it is. Really, Of Energy should be treated as one track, and it stands well on it's own to listen to as a single. HOWEVER, you really should just listen to the album through. If it's not your cup of tea, whatever, at least you tried, and you felt a taste of what Luna of Hexbear's favorite album is. You now know me just that little bit better. Obviously if you enjoyed it you got that out of it, right? ::: Yeah, so my review still holds up, this album is still probably one of my favorites, its great to get back into, and I still think it is a masterpiece. Is there anything more to be said that I didn't say? I love this album, and now it's in a location where people can listen to it, in its entirety, without worrying about YouTube BS or streaming service tracking or anything else. If you didn't see the original post, or don't remember what was said, give it a read! Its especially good if you're on the fence about listening to this album. Reading it again, I was in a different place at the time. I had just started my transition, and this album was on repeat for me. It played when I buzzed my legs for the first time (no, I didn't shave at first) and I still sing the songs, or hear them in my head, whenever I shave anything. I used the shaving as an example, but this album really is linked to the gender euphoria I felt when I first did those things, and if there was any album that would be my "transition album", this would have to be it. I'll probably always be a bit sad that Ashe O'Hara left TesseracT, and the band never really returned to an album like Altered State. I do think it was overall not a bad thing, because I've really grown to appreciate Polaris, Sonder, and War of Being, but none of them will ever be as special to me as Altered State still is. I can really appreciate Dan Tompkins though, after really getting into Polaris and War of Being I can hear just how amazing his vocals are as well, and I've grown to love his newer stuff too (I used to only like One). That's all from me this time, and no, I do not think there will be a third Altered State post. Maybe I'll do an in-depth post on Polaris or One at some point.

music Luna • Now • 100%

TesseracT: War of Being

tankie.tube

Yeah yeah yeah, I know I'm eating my words from a bit ago, again. I said that I could not really get into albums like Periphery's P5 and TesseracT's War of Being. I was once again wrong, at least about one of them. Sorry P5, you'll have to wait until another time, where I may or may not like you. Anyway, War of Being post *before* an Altered State post, what's wrong with me? Well, I already did an Altered State post, although I might do another when I upload it to TankieTube, because it is just that good and absolutely deserves two posts. But we're not here to talk about Altered State. I left War of Being playing, and I made sure to sit through Echoes, which eventually did grow on me, but it was holding me back. The Grey, Legion, and War of Being are all amazing songs, and the rest of the album definitely holds itself up pretty well too. While it does flow well, I do feel like this is more of an album made of "heavy hitters" rather than the one really amazing album flow that Altered State has. *Stop comparing it to Altered State!* Going into this, I thought the production was pretty flat, and that's because it might be, but it also might not be? I'm kind of struggling to hear it, but there are moments that definitely could have been mixed better, and there are moments that live up to TesseracT generally having good mixing. You have to realize, bad TesseracT mixing is like Monuments mixing on a good day, so it's not the end of the world. There are so many places where the bass rips and is just so present, I love that this band does this with their bass instead of just making it low in the mix or pretty much just muting it (I'm still salty about AJFA, even though I don't listen to Metallica too much anymore). I also need to talk about the vocals, because Danithan Tompkins went over 9000 with this album. He's always been a great vocalist, but this album marked a bit of a style shift and a return to One's harshness. One sounded great, but I believe it may have not been good for his voice. He manages to bring that energy and more to War of Being, hopefully in a healthy way this time. Now to talk about riffs. War of Being feels like its own thing, but I can hear bits and pieces of other albums at times. Sometimes, I hear One. Others Altered State. Others, I can hear Altered State 2 (Polaris). I even hear a bit of Sonder. Its nice to see that they didn't just mush the sounds together though, you can hear it for a moment if you catch it, and then its back to being War of Being. Some of these riffs though, and the guitar tone, almost remind me of a modern djentified and progiffied version of Trivium's Shogun. The Grey has a riff like this, and so does War of Being. If you've listened to Trivium's Shogun, you'll know what I mean when you hear it. In fact, IF YOU WANT SPECIFIC SONGS TO LISTEN TO, PLAY *THE GREY* and *WAR OF BEING*. Now that the people in the back have heard me, I wanted to say that I absolutely love the riffs, and I want more of this. ::: spoiler i went off, but i do want this I want a full album of this. I want Shogun taken to the highest level with vocals done by both Ashe and Danithan, hell, let Ashe write and Danithan sing. I really enjoyed Shogun, and it made for a really good metalcore/thrash metal album with some proggy elements. If anybody could make a Shogun-like album, incorporating that lovely guitar tone with their own amazing bass tone, I would be a happy girl. I would probably pay for a CD in fact, because it would probably be one of my favorite albums of all time. ::: Anyway, I've gone on long enough. Enjoy War of Being, and don't worry, I'll post Altered State tomorrow.

libre Luna • Now • 100%

GNOME 47 got released!

release.gnome.org

Now, I have always loved GNOME, but I spent the last few months in KDE. That was until I switched back to GNOME a couple of weeks ago. I know it's disliked by a lot of people, but some of these changes, like accent colors and the libadwita file save/open interface, really solidify *this* desktop my favorite.

music Luna • Now • 100%

TesseracT: Polaris

tankie.tube

I was talking about music the other week in the trans mega, and how I couldn't really get into the newer TesseracT stuff. So that was a lie... If you want specific songs, I have four words for you: Tourniquet and Seven Names (although if you're looking for higher-energy, do Dystopia and Messenger)

music Luna • Now • 100%

Spiritbox: Self-Titled EP

tankie.tube

I've really been enjoying Spiritbox lately, so I thought I would share alert you all to this EP's presence. Additionally, I have ended my friendship with HexReplyBot. TankieTube is my new friend, thanks TankieTanuki!

main Luna • Now • 97%

amazing tagline, why couldn't i get it yesterday?

We love our taglines, folks 

Raised in the church, Inara has always had a strong love of the Divine. She trained in the art of white magic from a young age, and eventually decided to go a step further and add divine magic to her studies. Inara loved the church... After the Iberian Revolution ended, Inara felt disgusted at the church's actions, completely disagreeing with their decision to form a Caliphate and negotiate territory of their own from the ashes of a bloody war. She did not voice this disgust, though, as she still had great respect for the church that raised her and the Divine that guided her. It was 20 years later, however, when she discovered that multiple high-rank figures within the Caliphate were helping the Auran cabinet create an Iberian invasion plan. Enraged, she fled her quarters by night, making no stops until she crossed the border into Iberia. From there, she warned the Iberian People's Congress of the coming invasion. With her reputation and status as a Bishop, as well as fairly strong evidence, they did not question her, and began to prepare for war. Following their meeting, Inara was sent to a small town at the suggestion of the Congress, where she was to meet a small group of escorts. They would travel with her to the Caliphate's capital, where she was to warn the Archbishop of this invasion plot, and alert him to a potential traitor within the ranks of the Caliphate's leadership. This is where she meets Elio (protagonist), and where her story goes from here... I wrote most of this up just now, and I'm aware I'm releasing this before I released the worldbuilding post. I wanted to give a taste of what I had thought of for one of the starting characters. It's not meant to be a super-complex story, she's not a main character, but she does trigger the first part of the plot, so I thought Inara would be a good way to start off the story-posting. In terms of gameplay, she serves as a Jagen unit. For those unfamiliar, Jagens gain EXP really slowly, and usually don't gain many stats from leveling up. They do, however, have really high base stats compared to many of the other characters at the start of the game. I figured that with the weaker and more accurate light magic, Inara would be able to chip at tougher units that could be finished off by other units that need EXP at the start of the game. Where Inara differs, however, is that she also uses staves/white-magic, meaning that she doubles as the team's healer. My hope with this is that she would be able to retain some utility, and not simply fall off after the beginning of the game. As a light magic user, she would also serve as a weapon triangle counter to anima magic (I plan on reversing the triangle to suit the story), demonstrating the fact that the weapon triangle exists for magic as well. The only other mage at this point is an anima mage, so without another type of magic user, the triangle could feel like it appears of out nowhere. This was Inara the Bishop, Whistleblower and Certified Jagen. Let me know what you think, and feel free to give me constructive criticism. This is really my first go at writing a complete fictional story, as well as my first attempt at creating my own game (well, romhack), so it's really appreciated. Look forward to my initial world-building setup post, as it's probably coming next, and I'm excited to see what you all think! I will also make sure to develop character portraits before doing these kinds of posts in the future. I'm still trying to get a windows VM working, because of course the software doesn't work through wine 

askchapo Luna • Now • 100%

What character would you like to see in a story/game?

I'm starting to work on creating my own Fire Emblem game as of recently, and I thought it would be a great idea to ask you all what kind of character you would like to see. For those who don't know already, Fire Emblem is a fantasy setting. I should definetly be able to add humans and dragons (manaketes) to the game, though anything beyond that isn't guarenteed. If you have any ideas, please put them in the comments. A submission (sounds way too formal but idk what other word to use) should have a name, species (human or dragon/manakete), a gender (or specify agender), race, and a class. If you want to, get creative with the classes, as long as I understand what you mean, I should be able to get them to work within established FE classes. If you want to get really creative, come up with a physical description, and/or even a personality! I'll turn on upvotes temporarily once post traction slows down, and whichever character has the most upvotes will be added. This means that, even if you don't want to design a character, you can support your fellow hexbears who created characters that you like. If there's a lot of submissions, I can pick the top few and do a recount, and then add the winner of the recount. If I have the space in the ROM, I could possibly even add multiple characters. If you end up submitting, thank you, and I look forward to seeing what you all come up with.  I forgot to add, if you are interested in any established details about the game/story, feel free to ask. I would honestly love to talk about it!

music Luna • Now • 100%

Lord of a Dead Empire - Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia OST

Imagine you're pretty much at the end of a pretty tough game. The war is almost won, and for it to end you have one obstacle left in your way. A giant fortress in the north, buried in snow. Waves upon waves of enemies. And boss enemy that has the potential to wipe the floor with your team. Then listen to this. The Shadows of Valentia composers really cooked with the soundtrack, in fact, the soundtrack is so good that I might post a few of the songs here, they're honestly good to listen to when playing other games. I turned off music in FE: Blazing Blade just so I could listen to these songs. I've already heard the battle themes in that game, and I'll probably turn it back on when it's an important battle with a potentially unique song, but DAMN. While Sacred Echoes mastered the gameplay aspect, as well as improving upon the writing and the battle animations, the original Shadows of Valentia has the aesthetics of the amazing art and soundtrack. Honestly may upload a couple of the Three Houses songs, becuase many of the people who worked on Shadows of Valentia's soundtrack also worked on Three Houses!