Say Hi To Tired As Shit Mecha Software Engineer Ochre Stella On The Left And Energetic Dumbass Mecha

while I'm on a STGposting kick, here's some lesser-known Hellsinker. soundtrack trivia that I couldn't justify putting in their own posts, pulled partially from old blog entries and also just the game itself (dude trust me)

stuff below the break is written without trying to avoid spoilers, because otherwise it'd mostly just be a huge block of censored text

see below list for bonus notes on certain points

in at least one instance, hiranyon (the name TONNOR was using at the time) played with the idea of having the boss themes start in mono and then explode outwards into stereo after the boss entered the stage. in the end, he opted for the music to make use of hard L/R panning instead, to represent the boss entering through the centre

Segment 1L Boss (F. Rex Cavalier) was titled Keep your dignity, and if that phrase being the title didn't give it away, hiranyon outright confirmed the foreshadowing to be intentional in a blog post talking about writing the song

Segment 4 Boss (Rusted Dragon) was titled Fade away. apostate with an added explanation of the intentional ambiguity in the title, with the apostate (the translation he gives is 背信者) being decided by the outcome of the battle

there was an old track called shrine.ogg which notably didn't sound even a little bit like a stage theme, especially not a stage theme like Shrine of Farewell. the pre-release song which has the most in common with the Shrine theme proper is actually titled boss3.ogg. if you think about the Shrine in the context of being a boss (which makes a weird amount of sense, it just doesn't register as one because it's kind of free-floating), I guess it could come third?

people used to theorise about Aozora/Aoxola, the final boss from Radio Zonde, being Lost Property 771. I don't really believe this is true, but it's worth pointing out that Aozora/Aoxola's hidden phase theme is incredibly similar to Shrine of Farewell, to the point where I wouldn't blame someone for thinking the Shrine theme is a direct arrangement. I'm actually still kind of suspicious, myself

speaking of Radio Zonde callbacks that imply... something? the string section in Fade Away. apostate appears to be an arrange of Opaque Heart from Radio Zonde

there are cat sounds in a startling number of songs. the earlier in the game the song is, the more distorted the cats will be, but they're still almost omnipresent. the most obvious are in the second to last phase of the GARLAND theme where there's a constant choir of cats singing the melody, but you can also hear them in Segment 4 and 5 (both sides, stage and boss theme) if you listen carefully. hiranyon likes to bury them in sections with lots of other instruments

there are, generally speaking, two kinds of cat sounds that I've noticed pop up in the soundtrack. I'm going to call them the "cat piano" and the "meow pad" because hiranyon uses both of them pretty extensively, and it's really obvious what he's doing because he uses them most in songs directly associated with Lost Property 771

most people know this by now and I almost wasn't going to include it, but it feels weird to have a list of Hellsinker soundtrack trivia without mentioning that Past Rising Again (reprised as PAST RISINGS AGAIN) is an arrangement of the boss theme for early bosses in Radio Zonde. it's a distorted version of that theme because you're fighting a duo boss that's meant to resemble the old players, now having been distorted into prayers

the cat screaming in The Great Majority isn't a sound effect playing from one of the enemies. it's actually baked into the song. this probably isn't trivia to anyone who got into the game through the soundtrack, but I felt insane when I listened to the soundtrack and realised this

The Way of All Flesh, being the finale, reprises the game in reverse order. as an aside, all of Hellsinker is synced to the soundtrack (and hiranyon prides himself on this), but it really stands out here more than anywhere else. there's one especially notable bit where the screen flickers, displaying the text "Wherever did you put?" before

-

[1] hiranyon: 盛り上がる前のトコ　公開当初の時点では。音が中央に寄る（圧迫感）→ステレオに戻る（開放感）という　絵に同期した仕掛けを意図したものでしたが。後期のものは音を限界まで横に広げ中央を空けて、ちょうど画面上では音の逃げた跡の。真中手前にボスが迫る、という演出構造にしたつもりでした。

[2] hiranyon: 満身創痍になりながらもそれを気にかけず進む者・それに相対する敵。強くありたいが周囲に押し流されそうな危うさや　そうなりきれずともそうあろうとする姿

[3] hiranyon: そう言われている時点では、その場に居るどちらがapostate（背信者）かは不確定です。恐らくどちらかが膝を折った時、それは決まるのでしょう。

[4] shrine.ogg is REALLY short, almost like it was only expected to loop for a single input screen. this seems to imply that the Shrine of Farewell might have gotten its name from originally being something at the end of a run or stage, like the results screen theme in Radio Zonde, but afaik there's no actual information on this at all and I just like to draw conjecture.

[5] hiranyon being someone who likes motifs and also someone who has specific flourishes that he keeps unconsciously using when writing melodies makes it really hard to say anything like this for sure. he actually complained about his tendency to over-write organ sections in his blog post about about rewriting Fade away. apostate lol

[8] the first instance of the cat piano I can think of occurs in Segment 2b, although it's heavily filtered so you almost have to know what it sounds like in the final boss to pick it out here. the first instance of the meow pad, however, is in the first menu theme

happy anniversary

"I'm not even gonna look. I trust in my own sense of rhythm"

Okay ive let too much build up in my gallery without a full thing to accompany it so im just gonna post them in chunks..

My number one guy... The two halves to my user..

how i think the promo kids feel about each other because i can: the post.

veronika (ronnie)

on annie: we were...something in elementary. don't know what her deal is now

on yarr: cool dude. can clean the hell out of a weapon and is a good tableturf opponent

on steph: friends til the end. i help her, she helps me. i've only known her for a few months, but it feels like i've known her forever

cal: suuuper good cook and pretty skilled at chargers. i gave him the nickname cal and he really seems to like it.

on kay:

on hiro: he was the first person i met when i got to the splatlands. ever since then, we've had a pretty strong bond.

on tako: ...are you okay?

anenomeno1 (annie)

on ronnie: i will destroy you every chance i get and i hate you.

on yarr: you’re a nerd and a loser. also your glasses are stupid mine are better.

on steph: meh. (condescending)

on cal: you’re such a baby. i cant believe hiro put you as 2nd in charge. it should be me! IT SHOULD BE M

on kay: you’re so pretentious and i hate you. i hope your favorite thing gets as rating on some random rating site so you have to stop liking it.

on hiro: i just know youre a loser who pretends not to be. i know it. i know it. i could beat you up. (could not)

on tako: you get me. we’re best friends for life and forever. …maybe something even more?

yarrwhal (yarr)

on ronnie: i don’t know why she’s a casual player. she could totally rock the field with a just a jammed up splattershot.

on annie: …you can’t even see in those, dude.

on steph: 🤝

on cal: how is he so good at chargers? shouldn’t he be, like, in school? he’s like 12.

on kay: do not touch me do not look at me i don’t want to be associated with you sorry

on hiro: turf master to turf master—you’re cool. we should play in a tourney together.

on tako: the enemy of my enemy is my friend…? actually no that doesn’t sound right.

stephanie (steph)

on ronnie: yo!!!! it’s always so nice to see you! friends til the end.

on annie: you should get help. (well-intentioned)

on yarr: 🤝

on cal: you should cook for me us more often. please? please.

on kay: annoying.

on hiro: we could kill so many people together.

on tako: why do you keep staring at me?

c4l4m4r (cal)

on ronnie: i appreciate the compliment, but i’m really not good at either. luck, i guess?

on annie: hiro told me not to talk to you. sorry :(

on yarr: do you really think i'm that good? :0 you're way better!

on steph: ehehe i'm glad you like my cooking! i'll make sure to always make seconds for you! :]

on kay: (indifferent.)

on hiro: i'll do my best!

on tako: i am NOT a BABY!! :(

kayoss (kay)

on ronnie: oh, of course, the skilled spunky tomboy teenage girl who thinks she's 'just average'. sigh. boooring.

on annie: lol you'll like or dislike anything tako likes or dislikes, you shouldn't be speaking.

on yarr: ugh. i wasn't planning on getting near you anyway. you're stupid and i'm worried your stupidity will infect me

on steph: don't worry, i think you're annoying too

on cal: you're nothing but a baby. don't try and step to me.

on hiro: stop trying to be me. also ronnie will never love you back kthankbye <3

on tako: ugh. you again. get a life, girl

hirooooo (hiro)

on ronnie: hey girl are you. are you a girl because. are you you because. because i love you. i dont think im doing this right

on annie: no you could not beat me up and no i'm not putting you in charge.

on yarr: i agree. we'd make a good team. as long as i get to play with veronika...

on steph: true.

on cal: you're a natural leader! i know you'll go far in life, so don't ever think you won't

on kay: dude if i was you i would **** ******

on tako: what...happened to you?

takotruck (tako)

on ronnie: filthy casual not worth my time. you could never be me or compare to me, so stop trying 💖

on annie: you get me. it's kind of us against the world atp.

on yarr: don't speak to me. i do not respect you.

on steph: hey do you like girls. don't ask me why i'm asking.

on cal: you're a baby LMAOOOOOOO idk why hiro put you in charge

on kay: kys before i come to your house and do it for you.

on hiro: don't look at me. don't touch me. don't speak to me. i hate you and everything you and your little girlfriend stand for. i should kill you with my bare hands you fuc

my bugs<3

hellsinker's manual is intentionally obtuse, in part for thematic reasons, but also in part to emulate the experience of trying to read the manual after buying a new game in an unfamiliar genre and forgetting like 90% of it before you play

in this section, tonnor finds the single most complicated possible way possible to explain "you have seven lives. if you get hit, you will lose one life."

this is followed by the single line

cal just sitting

Oooo- could you draw C4L /Shady... 👀

Love this creature

The slim shady

cal