uno(IOSYS) - #Fairy_dancing_in_lake by fanzhen0019

something that many mappers understand intuitively, but many mappers (and most players) apparently don't: there are two ways of playing a map. you can play a map with your hands--the usual way--or you can play it with your eyes. playing with your eyes is different from just watching a map. you can watch centipede or fanzhen bbkkbkk, but you can't play them; there's nothing to play. but with your eyes you can play pretty much anything else, including xeroa and the double streams on rustbell circus galop. but you can't play with your eyes unless you have experience playing with your hands, because although they both operate on the same principles, one is an abstraction of the other.

are maps for ONLY for playing with your hands, and nothing else?; an age-old question posed by players and misguided mappers that operates on the assumption that the only worthwhile experience in the game is as a player. the fact is that both ways of playing offer different things, and a map will yield different subtleties depending on which way you choose. rainshower is maybe a little ass to play with your hands depending on your skillset, but in the editor it's a treasure trove of wonders.

at any rate, most mappers do know how to map in a way that "plays well," because we were all players at one point. the former #1 global who created atomosphere and and new astronomas isn't clueless as to what satisfies players. but we've since lost interest in rejecting out-of-hand one-half of all mapping possibilities...mapping is deeper and richer than merely what feels good to hit with a cursor. it feels strange to verbalize what is so obvious, but i guess to others it's not obvious.

anyways, the funny thing about this map is the kiai approaches the upper limit of what you can play with your eyes. unless you slow it down, it's hard to even hear what each slider is corresponding to. it's such a silly map, it's difficult not to fall in love. throwing the high-pitched squeaks in the corner 00:17:415 (2) - 00:20:795 (2) - is delightful, and of course the 1/16 NC spam is incredibly gratifying. 01:09:277 (1,1,1,1) - is more casual fanzhen genius, and the 01:16:248 (1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1,1) - counterclockwise 4s into the clockwise 5 is classic fanzhen rhythm structure.