beanbottles

this official picture from the pokemon center site is amazing

hehe look at this freak of nature

i actually quite like a few pokemon from the 7th generation (i like the apple and the teacup/pot quite a bit too), but dreepy really takes the cake for me. what a young man. what a little guy. not only is dreepy's design goofy as hell, but it's also a dragon/ghost type. my favourite type, and a type i very much like :) it likes being launched from its parent's cannons, and is just a little worm. what's not to love

Where to even begin with TEA. The Epic Throwdown With My Boy Alexander (Ultimate) is my favourite instance in FFXIV. The only other instances that come close are maybe Seat of Sacrifice (the Extreme version), but only when I was (somewhat) blind progging it in PF a few months before Endwalker. Not to say that other fights aren't fun; I am a huge fan of most Savage content (I think P10S is one of the best fights in the game), but holy hell TEA is without compare.

I feel genuinely giddy when thinking about the fight and Alexander, to the point where I literally have to let out the fluttering in my chest with creepy giggles. That's the sign of a good time right there.

Alexander has always been my favourite primal in the game. He's a robot. He's a god. He's a robot god, operating at such a rate that he can accurately predict the future and is a danger to the world due to how much power his processes require. Also he's Catholic. He's not even a 'he' but he's a 'he' to me u feel. As cliche as the whole "robot can't compute emotions and they are its blindspot" thing is, it worked so well in the Alexander raid series. He sees potential in an unknown and uncalculatable future, and he tests you, giving you a chance to go back in time and change the past. Now multiply that by 59 hours of prog time.

The music, of course, is insane. I never got and never get tired of listening to Locus, no matter how many times BJCC sent our asses back to Living Liquid, and the payoff of hearing the orchestral theme start in all of its grandeur during the final cutscene...man. I am a fan of orchestral music, but sometimes it sounds quite generic, especially for a final boss theme. Moebius is great though, keeping the "happy" and triumphant "final lap" feeling that the end of the fight should have; Alexander, seeing that you are truly great enough for his true form, not a sad moment in the slightest--and the music throughout the entire fight reflects it.

The attack names Alexander has (while very fitting of his nature and the nature of the fight; see "Catholic" (slash j)(not slash j)) are so fucking funny. They work so well with the theme of Holy Justice, but...having to resolve debuffs that are called House Arrest and Restraining Order will never not be funny. Me when I get hit with Defamation (in FFXIV) bottom text. Something something Aggravated Assault.

The enrage gets an entire section for itself...because they made an enrage so perfect that it'll probably never be beaten. I'm a fan of soft enrages (even when the word "soft" is used so loosely that the enrage may as well be a 10 on Moh's scale), such as Halicarnassus in the Omega raids using the puzzle mechanic of the fight, but simply making the solution impossible to achieve, or Ultima Weapon (Ultimate) taking your party members one by one and placing them into the Pain Sphere for the whole raid to see. Alexander's enrage goes beyond all of that...it doesn't even deal any damage. You simply run out of time to fight him. He just freezes the party members one by one in time, until finally all of you are sitting, frozen in time, unable to do anything but listen to the final bell toll (and then listen to Locus again because ur ass just got sent back to living liquid, baby!!). Impeccable tbh.

Okay, finally, I'll actually talk about the fight itself. There are some points that are negatives to the experience, for me: the Jagd dolls and their very touchy health make for annoyances, even with playing consistently, and specifically the moment when Cruise Chaser's plasma shield comes out and you have to use a GCD and some oGCDs on it feels quite clunky, especially when the game's wonderful and critique-proof always-working targeting system acts in its usual, ""Passable"", way. However, it is definitely only these two points, for me. The entire rest of the fight...impeccable. Even redoing Living Liquid feels smooth, especially once you get your rotation down to a science that you've had to read several peer-reviewed papers on (aka The Balance and its guides lol), and the last phase of the fight being relatively simple so that you can focus on the music and the stress of staying alive...man...

Anyway, everyone should do TEA!! It is not easy, simply because although everyone can definitely learn to do it, it takes a long time and a group of people to do it with. If you're ever in the place where you can do it...do some Savage fights first to get comfortable with your job lol, but then definitely do TEA please and thank u

my number one favourite fruit, persimmons! my beloved!

ever since i was a kid, i've always liked them more than any other fruit. always glad that my parents basically forced me to eat a few even though i, in my youthful naivete, thought they looked kinda too-soft and gross lol. little did young-me know, my life would change that day.

luckily (or unluckily, i guess) persimmons are one of the only fruits that are the same price in australia and japan (aka expensive in australia and relatively cheap in japan :skull_emoji:), making them an easy bulk buy once a week when they're in season (which is now, when i'm writing this (october to november) (though i'm not writing this from october to november) (i'm booed off stage)! yippeeeeeeeee). banger fruit. my favourite colour, too :)

if you haven't tried them, firstly: strongly recommend. secondly, i'd describe them like...honey-ish? slimy? but the skin is kinda hard? doesn't seem very appealing, i know. anyway, if you do ever get some, make sure they get all old and a little squishy before eating them, or you will have a gross banana-skin potato-peel-chalk feeling in your mouth, which ruins them tbh.

the word for letting them go bad so that they taste good as hell is bletting, by the by. a fun word and a fun wikipedia search that was.

10/10 fruit, i just peel off the leaves at the top (which are dried by this point, of course, because the persimmon has been sitting out to go a bit bad) and then bite into it as-is; i hear some people peel the skin off or cut it, and to them i say skill issue, dude. what am i, a little baby who needs pre-cut food? i got my knives right here in my mouth babey!

jk it's probably better to slice the persimmon up tbh unless you want to run to eat it over the sink once you get to the last few bites and the juice is running down your hands ~~like a health-food version of boku no pico~~ anyway. good fruit! would rec! please try!!

We gather here, in loving memory of...

...the old gamma levels of Minecraft.

What is there to be said, about the new Minecraft gamma levels, that has not already been said?

I could mention how unnecessary the change was, that they made, in the Caves and Cliffs update. How there already was an option, bestowed upon the player, to make the game more "immersive" and "challenging", via the "Moody" brightness option.

But I will not.

I could mention how difficult it is to see the game, for one who doesn't always play in a dark, dank room. How even the slightest bit of sunshine, as it caresses the dust-kissed screen of one's laptop, makes the already-dark game even more difficult to parse.

But I will not.

I could mention how, as a crude replacement, and out of the desperation that comes with loss, many have turned to simply removing darkness levels from their game altogether, creating a far flatter and blander environment.

But I will not.

I will not, because we are here to honour the memory of what was once a beloved feature. Perhaps one that was taken for granted by those whose lives it touched.

Instead, in this belated celebration of the old gamma levels of Minecraft, let us tell of the good.

Let us tell of being able to see while exploring caves, being able to squint and see the surrounds, the beacon-light of a torch being a stalwart companion, rather than an enforced leech.

Let us speak of appreciating the beauty of the night, the darkness colouring the world an ephemeral blue, while exploring the untamed—and unlit—wilds.

Let us, in this moment, remember what we once had, and cherish it as deeply as we once should have.

...However, let us not forget what we yet have. In the absence of our beloved old gamma levels of Minecraft, life yet thrives.

It would be honoured and endeared to its successor, a wonderful tribute to its name. The Better Brightness Slider mod—while perhaps an unkind name— continues its legacy for those who have not yet found the salve to their grief in the far inferior Fullbright.

And so, let us end this gathering. Let us end it in a quiet joy, rather than in grieving. The caves and the nights still await us, and we still must walk forward to face them.

Even without the warm and caring embrace of the old gamma levels of Minecraft to catch us when we stumble, we must keep walking regardless.