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Guess it's been a while, huh? 2022's been a rocky year for me and things haven't been smooth for me but I manged to pull through. I've been more active on discord though I've been less active due to my depression and although I've gotten help with my current mental health problems I'm still dealing with my anxiety and it's been difficult for me to talk to people online. I will try to work things out this year but it'll take some time.

1. Silver Forest, huh? This one is a bit old and it's not hard to spot it however it's pretty decent (though i personally think that vocals could be much better in this one) that said. it's also quite lacks the progression (at least in my opinion) but that's not huge of a deal. overall i would give it about 6.8/10 2. ooo This is pretty nice, as expected of Iron attack they also of the few male vocals i accept (5150 though :p) overall i've always enjoyed power metal a lot, especially one made by Unlucky Morpheus. Last remote is also amazing theme on itself! easily 9/10 3. uhhh i appreciate stack's versatility but i really have quite enough of hearing to akatsuki records songs that isn't "KARMANATIONS". Don't get me wrong i like the circle and such but as said above i got burned out which says something (there are circles that i could listen to forever and not get bored of their songs) this also isn't my favorite style or anywhere near so. 5/10

4: Silver Forest - Keep the Faith The threshold. I simultaneously feel I have a lot to say about this track and nothing at all. It's a well-made remix, and has a few clever ideas in it (e.g., the filtered vocals in the background of the intro, and also in the interlude later). The instrumentation is also very good; the opening alone immediately set the standard pretty high. Yet, while I can praise all these little details, it doesn't seem to amount to anything especially extraordinary. There's very little movement in the first half, and while the interlude is good it doesn't feel led up to, and doesn't seem to lead into anything. Overall, I'm failing to perceive significant progression, and as such have limited investment in the piece. I didn't initially find translated lyrics, and I had some hope that they would provide progression through their meaning. In a way, this may be the case; the nature of the song is such that I'm having difficultly rectifying its lyrics with the musical accompaniment. If I were to take more time, I'd try listening through the song while reading along a couple more times, but I'm not convinced enough that it would result in a significant change in my perception. Sounds good, but not memorable (I'm saying that a lot, aren't I?). 7/10 5: IRON ATTACK! - Sturm und Drang Storm and . . . urge? Significantly better experience with this one! I'm a big fan of folk instruments in heavy rock songs, so there's an immediate increase in interest for that. The vocal performance is not only very impressive, it also blends perfectly with the arrangement. The instrumentation is perfect, as expected from a circle of this reputation. So overall, this hits every point for technical quality (though ironically this is the most compressed video in the round). To the more creative aspects: This is a proper arrangement, where the source motifs are integrated into the larger work rather than forming the entire structure; this is especially evident in the little ways the melody deviates from its inspiration, notes you wouldn't notice if you weren't familiar with the original pieces. I imagine it can be tempting in this genre to let the vocals do most of the work, but the best arrangements are always those which make the most of everything involved; while the song does rely on its vocal performance at times, there are plenty of points where countermelodies are shared into the background. This allows the instrumental interludes to flow with the rest of the piece, maintaining the progression. I do not normally expect a higher energy piece to have impressive progression, since there's very little to travel to. Nonetheless, it is possible, and the way this song accomplishes it is (in part) by initially skipping the chorus while retaining the lead-in. I've never heard this technique used before, and I can't get over it. On paper it should feel incomplete, leaving a gap that irreparably damages the progression. But somehow the piece is so arranged to lead out of the lead-in, and does so in such a smooth manner as to make it feel natural in the context of the song. This allows the chorus's later inclusion to becomes a part of the piece's progression beyond its normal function. For all I know this isn't that uncommon a technique, and it may seem like a small thing, but at this time it's completely flabbergasted me in the best ways. I could go into the lyrics, but aside from the unexpectedly high volume of English in the song (mixed surprisingly smoothly with the Japanese and German), there wasn't anything to impactful toward my perception of the piece. It's going to take something very impressive to top this for me. So . . . 10/10 6: Akatsuki Records - Gray Zone Irony. I know many have said they've grown tired of this or that circle/artist from overexposure, and a part of me is somewhat concerned about experiencing this burnout at some point, but thus far I can safely say I'm still as impressed with Stack's vocal talent as always. That being said, I think this particular performance detracts a bit from the arrangement. I enjoyed the bate-and-switch intro, and I'd like to be able to say more about the under-utilization of disco in Touhou arrangements, but the tone chosen for the accompanying vocals was difficult for me to appreciate. There are times it almost works, most notably in the chorus, but overall I don't think it blends well enough. For all that, it is at least a creative arrangement. I've gotten into the habit of listening to each piece before watching the video (a safety precaution adopted to avoid unnecessary bias), so I'd already considered these perceptions before seeing the lyrics to the song. To a certain extent, I can see how the performance matches up with the lyrics, but I doubt it would have suffered much from a different approach. Regardless, I can't say I appreciate the message at all. EDIT: A day later, I've been thinking a lot about this entry in particular, as well as coincidentally listing to some other Stack songs that I have in my personal collection, and I've become less "okay" with this song. I actually really like the arrangement itself, but the direction they chose to go in with Stack's performance ruins it. What bothers me is that I know she's capable of doing different styles that I believe would have worked much better (White Spirit, Ultra Red, for instance). Unique, but not in ways that appeal to me. 7/10 6.5/10

I don't really have many goals this year aside from general self improvement. But one goal is to get better at bullet hell games, at least enough to 1CC some games on Hard. I have baby reflexes, honestly. I also want to do more of what I want to actually do, which might seem simple but I'm one of those people that has things they wanna do, and then ends up laying in bed for a few hours instead. Every time. I would also actually like to read more. I enjoy reading but my ADHD riddled brain stops me from focusing, and sometimes outright stops me form finishing books I'm like 90 percent of the way through.

Getting rid of my number 1 opp @Astrum Remi he a hater cuh don't trust him cuh real crud cuh.

Happy new year everyone, please take these two remixes of LoLK's first stage to welcome in the year of the rabbit!