Thank you both!!

Almost forgot to make my monthly post here oops fsljkfjsdkf

I'll be moving into my college dorm soon! Kinda nervous honestly, my roommate seems really nice so far but it's quite a bit of a change. I really don't feel ready for college lol

I don't think I've ever heard anyone who's 100% ready for college. It always feels like we all are getting pushed into adult territory :')
That being said, good luck! I hope you'll adjust well, and quickly!

-Galaxian-

actually out of pure curiosity

what do you all think I'm studying 

Vectors

-Galaxian-

Basket Cat wrote:

pain

true!!!!

GalaxianExplosion wrote:

Vectors

also true!!!! (unfortunately)

Time wrote:

I couldn't put my finger on it... but something in the stem field

I think I remember you writing about coding or something stem like.

yes lol it is stem

this is almost like 2 months late but the answer is engineering (with 5 question marks behind it because for the life of me I cannot decide between electrical or mechanical or aerospace. was also thinking of tacking on cs or math as a minor or second major but that makes my schedule hell)

oh my signature is burning my eyes because of the lighter textbox I should change that

it's been almost half a year! hello! I am still alive on discord mainly but my semester just started again so it's questionable how alive I will be in a few weeks time

recently (as in, in the last month) I watched Revolutionary Girl Utena for the first time, and finally finished Umineko: When They Cry. bizarre combination of works that have no obvious relation on the surface -- one is a kind of a magical girl anime and one is kind of a murder mystery visual novel -- and yet have so many shared themes that I could talk about for a while (the "kind of"
I absolutely do recommend both (I'd also love to talk about them if anyone is interested) but if you do watch (in Utena's case) or read (Umineko) please please please look up content warnings for both because oh boy do they both have some heavy subject matter and can be hard to stomach at certain points, especially if you go in blind

:D would be glad to

You're correct! RGU aired in the late 90s -- its art style is very indicative of that era. As for Umineko, (I had to search this up), the games came out in the late 2000s. (Though the worldwide releases were from 2016-2017). Admittedly I did not play Umineko myself (I used this playlist to read) but I think the steam version uses the original set of sprites while the console releases use a newer set of sprites have a "cleaner" style. 

as for Revolutionary Girl Utena:

It's about a girl who wants to be a prince; about kids who want to break out of their coffins; about reaching an upside down castle in the sky. If that sounds strange, it is! Don't worry! Utena is very abstract at times, it's chock full of symbolism, and is absolutely brimming with subtext -- it is so, so rich, and that makes for a very mind-bending experience the first time you watch it.

More plainly, RGU follows Utena Tenjou, a girl who tries to emulate a "prince" from her past, as she is dragged into dueling members of her school's student council. The winner of the duels, it is said, will "get engaged" to the Rose Bride, a girl named Anthy Himimiya. It is said, that whoever Anthy is engaged to, they will gain the the power to bring revolution to the world. What does that mean? Who knows! (I mean..... I do. But learning the meaning behind the duels is a major part of the story.) Anthy and Utena's relationship is a huge part of the show (spoiler: they're lesbians), with how they grow as people, and learn to break free from their respective pasts through each other. It's arguably more nuanced than that, but through its characters the show tackles themes of gender, abuse, and what it really means to "save" someone.

as for Umineko: When They Cry:

It's a murder mystery.
It's also a story about witches and demons.
But it's a murder mystery.

On an island named Rokkenjima, 18 people are gathered for the annual Ushiromiya family conference. The Ushiromiyas are wealthy - insanely wealthy. A typhoon rolls around, isolating the island from the rest of the world, and then the family receives a letter from "the Golden Witch, Beatrice," who claims that if the family does not solve her mysterious riddle, then she will take everything that belongs to the family, including their lives. At first, it seems like a prank -- but then the first corpses are found. Umineko follows Battler Ushiromiya as he tries to solve the mystery behind his family's murder and the witch Beatrice.

It's impossible for me to say more than that, because I don't want to give too much away -- the best Umineko experience is to go in as blind as possible. Part of the fun is to theorize as you go -- who is Beatrice? Is she really a witch? Why is she doing this? No, no. witches don't exist. So then it's a human? No, because why would family members kill each other -- etc etc.
People love to call Umineko "peak fiction." I don't want to call it that, because "peak" is a term that feels limiting, and everyone has different opinions. It's absolutely a powerful work, but rather than seeing it as some sort of insurmountable work of fiction, I see it more as something that enriches your experience with other works because of how it constantly encourages you to think, and never stop thinking. 


I was about to continue with my rambles but I've realized I've already typed too much, so I'll leave it at that for now! 

SpecterTheGreat wrote:

Wait is Umineko the one from which the tape screenshot thing came from? I have a vague memory regarding that lol

I love looking at recommendations even if most of the time I end up putting them on a to-watch list haha. Those two seem very interesting, and props to you for explaining them in the most spoilerless way possible 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

YES HAHAHA Umineko is exactly what that was from! Even if you don't ever get around to reading/watching them I'm glad I at least piqued your interest <3 

Also forTime, if you're curious about what the duct tape screenshot was:

@Time: I'm glad it interested you enough to put it on your backlog! Also that's entirely fair -- I knew RGU was going to be a harder sell because it's really hard to talk about without delving too deep (and at that point, depending on your preferences regarding spoilers, it might ruin the experience). Admittedly I'm not much of a romance person either -- it was a friend of mine who convinced me to watch it, and the show is more a coming-of-age story than a romance to be honest. Umineko is absolutely a blast, even if it does make you go "what is even happening" every 15 minutes (fair warning though, the VN is... very long. It took me 2 years to read because I kept taking long breaks, but the VN is definitely the ideal way to experience the story your first time.)

Time wrote:

Wait, it comes in more forms than just the VN? Does it have any adaptations?

It does -- mainly, the manga and the anime. I haven't seen either yet, but general consensus is that the anime is bad (it also stops midway through the story and supposedly makes one of the main mysteries unsolvable rip), but the manga is supposed to be pretty faithful and a good adaptation

Also, yeah, exactly. Sometimes things are more about the experience; RGU and Umineko are both good examples of that

GalaxianExplosion wrote:

I'm more familiar with Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni but I love Bernkastel's design and theme song so much. (I'm not contributing much to this conversation)
Gonna add that the anime OP for Umineko is really great though xD
It's nice as always to see you drop in, Autumn!

-Galaxian-

Ah, Higurashi.... I started it a few months ago but then took a break from it. I was planning on getting back to it after I get through the first month or so of this semester (basically whenever I have the time to pick up a new thing to read) but whenever I do I will probably restart from the beginning (I was nearing the end of the first arc iirc but I don't remember most of the details)
And Bernkastel! She's an interesting character alright. I agree, her design + theme are really fitting
But also hey! Glad to talk to you again too Galaxian :D

DID SOMEBODY SAY PROJECT SEKAI