music Luna • 18 minutes ago • 100%

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 • 4 hours ago • 100%

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 • 7 days ago • 100%

We love our taglines, folks 

Raised in the church, Delfi 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. Delfi loved the church... After the Iberian Revolution ended, Delfi 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, Delfi 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 Sol (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 Delfi 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, Delfi 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 Delfi 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 Delfi 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 • 1 week ago • 100%

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 • 2 weeks ago • 100%

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!

games Luna • 3 weeks ago • 100%

One of my favorite Fire Emblem games has to be Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Shadows of Valentia is a remake of the second game in the series, Fire Emblem: Gaiden, and though I have not played the original game and probably never will, Shadows of Valentia itself was developed really well and could have probably stood as it’s own release in the series, which it essentially ended up doing. So when I heard that someone re-made Shadows of Valentia for the Game Boy Advance, it really piqued my interest. Fire Emblem: Sacred Echoes is a demake of Shadows of Valentia, but it’s not just a GBA port. Rather, Sacred Echoes improves upon the original remake, improving many aspects and adding many of it’s own additions that make it a great experience, one that is better than Shadows of Valentia itself. Feel free to skip parts you don’t care/know about, I just want to go over a few of the changes. If you do not know anything about Fire Emblem or Shadows of Valentia, you may not get some of what is being said. In that case, the TL;DR is to try the game, it's really fun and it's approachable from almost any level of skill and experience. I left instructions on how to play at the bottom of the post. ::: spoiler Characters and Story (minor spoilers): The story remains the same as far as I have played*, but what has changed is some of the characters. Support conversations have been added to fill gaps that existed in SoV (Genny no longer has only one support chain), and dialogue has been improved in many of the supports, and even in the story for some. Faye, for example, is not changed as a character. She still likes Alm, and is caring of him. The difference is, she is no longer psychotically obsessed. She cares for other people now too, in a non-romantic way. It makes her a more reasonable and likable character, without changing her too much. This change helps to balance out Alm’s companions as well. With the added dialogue, it makes it seem like Gray and Tobin aren’t the only ones actually existing. Additionally, many characters have also had sexuality and/or gender changes. This does not change their core character or their actions in the story, but it does change how they interact with other characters. Jesse is now transmasc for example, and it adds another layer of context to his story. Fernand is gay, and rather than liking Mathilda, he likes Clive. This is better because gay, and he has more interactions with Clive. Also adds a dynamic of being back-stabbed while also being heartbroken. There’s a few others I don’t remember off the top of my head, but you’ll know if you check out the game. Characters also have more depth to them. One example, when Leon talks with Valbar, the small talk is still there, but issues of trauma can come up, and are not simply avoided, especially when characters are as close as these two are. * Cutscenes and flashbacks are integrated into the story, rather than being collectibles that can be found and viewed with the timewheel menu. Doesn’t change the story, but I do think this is a better way of doing things. ::: ::: spoiler Game Design (no spoilers): The game makes many changes in it’s design, most of which I think improve the quality of the game. Obviously it is a GBA game, and I really like the aesthetic of the GBA FE games. Most of the animations are new and fresh compared to the 3 official games, and the interface is clean and minimal without being cluttered. Clutter wasn’t much of an issue with SoV, but it did have 3D graphics for combat, and while some people prefer that over the 2D combat, I actually prefer it 2D. I think it allows for more flexibility with animations, making them clean, flashy, and entertaining. The soundtrack is also ported over completely with GBA versions of the SoV soundtrack. This is great, and I think the devs did a great job with it. This is where an issue comes in, though there isn’t much to do about it. Tracks like “The Scions’ Dance in Purgatory” and “Lord of a Dead Empire” do not shine as much as they do in SoV. It’s hardware limitations, and it is not felt with most of the soundtrack, but these two specifically have vocals and an orchestra. It’s two battles, so not that much is lost, I just wanted to mention this as these are great tracks you should totally just listen to if you get the chance. There are many changes unrelated to the fact that it’s a GBA game. The weapon triangle is added, for example, though it doesn’t apply to the basic weapons. Each character still starts off with an unbreakable basic weapon, but weapons like iron and silver will break now after their durability runs out. This was not present in SoV, though the game accounts for the fact that weapons will break. I actually don’t mind this change, as it adds another aspect of resource management to the game, without punishing the player too much as to leave a unit unarmed. Map design is also improved by a lot compared to SoV. SoV had an issue where many of the maps were ported from Gaiden without improvements. Gaiden was released in 1992. Many of these maps may have been interesting then, or been forced due to hardware limitations on the NES, but they got boring and repetitive in SoV. Many maps were fields/swamps with some trees/bushes and a bridge. This is not the case in Sacred Echoes. Maps have gotten an overhaul, and while they still resemble the ones seen in SoV, there are more buildings, obstacles, walls, locked doors, treasure chests, etc. Overall, the maps are more interesting, and can make the game more challenging, but also rewarding and fun. In a way, it also allows for more strategy, as players can arrange units around walls and obstacles rather than move them in a block towards the enemy’s block. This wasn’t always the case in SoV, but it was easy to tell when it was, so the fact that this is gone is great. Maps also now have houses and villages to visit, giving the player more objectives. In terms of win conditions for these maps, SoV only had ones involving killing the boss and routing all enemies (and killing the boss might have been one level). Sacred Echoes adds more objectives, like seize, defend, and survive, while also adding more boss kill objectives. This means a player doesn’t necessarily have to wait for that one unit out of the way to either approach or force the player to move all of their units toward it. It also makes gameplay more interesting, as the objective isn’t the same every time. Sacred Echoes still features the world map, and players can control where the character moves. The level count is more streamlined, especially in the first two parts of the game, which were a little bloated in SoV in my opinion. Players no longer have to do filler levels with no story. There are some levels that are repeatable, which are not only useful in grinding XP but for classing up units. While SoV had 3D dungeons, Sacred Echoes turns them into ordinary combat levels. On these levels, class-up statues and stat fountains are objects that can be interacted with during combat. This simplifies the experience, and while the dungeon exploration was somewhat interesting in SoV, it is understandable how it could not be ported to the GBA, especially considering Sacred Echoes is only a romhack built on the Sacred Stones engine. I also don’t think I really miss the dungeons, as while they were interesting, the Sacred Echoes experience just feels cleaner to me. One thing I think the devs should have done with the world map is removing the respawning enemies on the map. While it is not as bad on Sacred Echoes due to how levels work, it is still just annoying to have to fight an enemy that respawns every time I move if I need to go back and do something. You don’t really have to move back in Sacred Echoes**, but it was something that seemed pretty pointless to me in SoV, and it would have made the experience cleaner if they had just been removed. ** This is as far as I have played in Sacred Echoes. When I had reached the point I currently am in Sacred Echoes, I hit a point where I had to do the same battle many times due to map navigation. ::: This is just a small bit of what Fire Emblem: Sacred Echoes has to offer. If you haven’t played it, I would extremely encourage checking it out, even if you have never played a Fire Emblem game before (though FE: Three Houses might be a better if you are completely new to grid-based combat). Even to players of Shadows of Valentia, I suggest you check it out. I played through Shadows of Valentia, and I am really enjoying Sacred Echoes. Well, that’s all I’ve got for today! Thought I would share a game that I have really been enjoying, a game based on a game that I really enjoyed, and a game that is playable on most hardware. In order to play the game, you must obtain a copy of *Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones* and download the [Sacred Echoes](https://feuniverse.us/t/fe8-sacred-echoes-v1-1-complete/4523) patch. You must then use [this](https://www.marcrobledo.com/RomPatcher.js/) to patch Sacred Echoes to Sacred Stones. Plug the file into an emulator like [MGBA](https://mgba.io/2024/01/07/mgba-0.10.3/), and you will be all good to go.

music Luna • 4 weeks ago • 100%

Reddit thread links to Instagram post which goes into detail. Monuments is probably one of my favorite bands. I slowly shift into new music as time goes on, but they have always been in my listening rotation. I feel like every single one of their albums are really good, even their newest one, and it's going to be sad to see them probably leave the scene forever. They had lost a lot of band members, and it was pretty much down to one original/core member. This member had to step away from the project (and it's definitely a good decision health-wise), and with the foundation of the band gone, they really had no choice. I know that the vocalist is already touring with other projects, and will probably end up leaving the band since he has so much on his plate already. Going into hiatus also means they likely won't be looking for new members, so it's probably over for them. I was excited to see what they had in store for their next album, and they are probably one of the only Djent/Prog/Core bands whose newer albums really interested me. Honestly if this were TesseracT or Periphery I don't know if I would feel as bad as I do about this, I just can't get into their newer albums. Idk I just wanted to vent and let possible fans know about what's going on with the band, and why the album they were writing will likely never release. 

traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns Luna • 1 month ago • 98%

::: spoiler SALUTE I have barely watched Breaking Bad :::    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.  Let's have another good week everyone  

badposting Luna • 2 months ago • 100%

Ok the boss is going to get a hit in, this is fine, (instert important character here) is at full health. Look, the boss doesn't even do a lot of damage. (Insert double attack or crit here) AAAAGGHHH  THEY DOUBLE THEY DOUBLE!!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!! 5% CRIT CHANCE WHAT ARE THE ODDS!!!

music Luna • 2 months ago • 100%

www.youtube.com

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? If you want a nice album to follow up, though with a harsher and more raw feel, check out [One](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHTo__bpnlYUbcPsw7Vj_b4MldZiviIKz) by the same band. Vocals are very different (different vocalist), and it will definitely have a different feel, but I love this album as well, and you may too! As per usual, here's the band credits: - Vocals: Ashe O'Hara - Guitars: Acle Kahney (lead), James Monteith (rhythm) - Bass: Amos Williams - Drums: Jay Postones

badposting Luna • 2 months ago • 100%

Synthesis:

music Luna • 2 months ago • 100%

I don't even know what Genre to put this under, though it probably falls under the Prog umbrella (based). Found this while I was trying to expand my music listening beyond just Djent and Progcore (that's what I'm gonna call it). Not the kind of thing I thought I would like, but the riffs are just amazing. Rather than being fast and complex, they take their time and really make you feel the weight. In combination with great (and extremely unique) vocals, this album (Mariner) is definitely going to be on my music rotation. If I could find music similar to this, I would be a happy girl . It just hits different, in a good way, and it feels great to enjoy a (somewhat) different genre of music. Listen for the riff at 4:20 it's EXACTLY what I'm describing above. I see you! Don't forget to use those privacy front-end links  (There's literally so many people on this project, here's the band wikipedia page, album (Mariner) was released in 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_Luna)

music Luna • 2 months ago • 100%

I was just going to share "Fractured", but you know what, this whole EP is only 20 minutes and is just . I already said why I loved it on the Delimiter single post, and I explained some things in the 7/8-7/14 trans mega if anyone wants to see a more elaborate explanation. For now, just enjoy the tunes, they're really good! I shouldn't have to remind you to use the privacy front-ends by now, right?

music Luna • 2 months ago • 100%

My search for female vocals in prog/djent bands, in addition to leading me to Destiny Potato, led me to The Ralph. These bands have a habit of adopting strange names. They're extremely small and no longer have a woman on vocals, but I can at least enjoy this EP they released that could honestly have better mixing. I like the music either way, riffs are catchy and the vocals are also great (better than the new guy  i'm not mad I swear). Enjoy, and for the record, I have no idea who is in this band and I struggle to find any accurate info! If you want it you'll have to look for it yourself, sorry :( Don't forget to use the privacy front-end links!

music Luna • 2 months ago • 100%

www.youtube.com

I've been listening to "In Stasis" again; it's the album that got me into Monuments. Forgot how good Mick Gordon's mix is, as well as how good the riffs are. I feel like I can't enjoy modern Djent a lot of the time, specifically "Periphery's Djent is not a Genre" and Tesseract's "War of Being", and I can't quite understand why. In Stasis, and some of the tracks (like this one) in particular are really enjoyable in comparison. Maybe it's all Mick Gordon, and I definetly wouldn't listen to this album if I wanted something like Monuments' "The Amanuensis", but it is still really enjoyable, punchy, and aggressive. Also this track has Neema Askari on it, so vintage djent brownie points for this track specifically. - Vocals: Andy Cizek, Neema Askari - Guitars: John Browne - Bass: Adam Swan - Drums, Samples: Mike Malyan Just realized as I'm doing credits that this band has almost no original members anymore, and all of the newer ones are really new. Swan and Malyan are no longer in the band, and Cizek joined relatively recently but has now almost been their longest-lasting vocalist. I honestly have no idea where they're (Monuments) going to go from here but it will probably be interesting, they've (Chris Baretto really) only been disappointing once. ::: spoiler crappy inside joke Chris Baretto really did not care when writing lyrics for "Phronesis", and no, I do not remember when the world was just a fact. :::

askchapo Luna • 2 months ago • 100%

I just switched back to vaporwave-dark becuase the larger text is unironically easier for me to read and I like the rounded boxes.

music Luna • 3 months ago • 100%

www.youtube.com

Another Destiny Potato banger. I enjoy this song for similar reasons as the rest of the "LUN" album, so I won't talk to much. Enjoy! Not quite sure the credits, information on this band is a bit scarce Vocals: Aleksandra Djelmash Guitars: Dusan Vanja Andrijasevic, David Maxim Micic Bass: Bojan Kvocka Drums: Milan Jejina Yeqy Programming, Synths, etc.: David Maxim Micic (I think)

chat Luna • 3 months ago • 100%

I made a comment on the lemmy.ml world news comm saying it would be funny if the DNC had Bernie and Hillary debate for the candidacy (as a Biden replacement). It was downvoted (later upvoted, probably by left-wing .ml users) with .worlders leaving comments like "We need more radical (as in Bernie or AOC) candidates, or no to Hillary but yes to Bernie. The funny part comes in where a shitjustworks user comes in saying " It's her turn". At first I thought this was ironic (as it should be) so I sent this emoji (🤣). They downvoted my comment (the only interaction with that comment so it was most likely them). They *UNIRONICALLY* said it was her turn. I'm way too used to Hexbear and the Lemmygrad/.ml users that are willing to interact on it, I was not ready for the pure liberalism and reddit vibes that awaited me on .ml (not even .world). TL;DR, someone on .ml said "it's her turn" unironically, it's funny if not a bit strange, and every time I see someone coment or post about "saving american democracy" all I can think of (not say, I don't want to get banned) is Death to Amerikkka.

music Luna • 3 months ago • 100%

youtube.com

I found this band while looking for dent/prog vocalists I could potentially voice train to, and now I have another band I think I'll add to my rotation. The vocalist is really good, and I love the style of vocals that is done over the instrumentals (which is rare for me, it's why I can't quite get into a lot of the djenty-metalcore stuff). The instrumentals themselves are also great, with drums I could never hope to play along to, djent guitars, and the prog feel that really makes the djent "genre". Also for some reason a certain portion of the main riff reminds me of Periphery's "Icarus Lives" so I'm sharing this song first, though they have another one that I will likely share in the near future due to how good it is. Not quite sure the credits, information on this band is a bit scarce - Vocals: Aleksandra Djelmash - Guitars: Dusan Vanja Andrijasevic, David Maxim Micic - Bass: Bojan Kvocka - Drums: Milan Jejina Yeqy - Programming, Synths, etc.: David Maxim Micic (I think) Also this band is Serbian, so Serbia has been mentioned; Yugoslavs and Serbs rejoice (i'm not serbian lol)