#Some Mistakes to Avoid

[cozypxls]

it's a soft girl summer, the boys get dumber ✨

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[loopyarts]

Shouma Ginzaki, I have so many thoughts on this little guy. That I wish to ramble about him for a bit. Mostly about things that I find interesting such as his character design but also my thoughts on him so far.

For context I am going off from just the demo alone, so I don’t have the full picture of what he will be like in the full game.

First off, the red marking on the characters foreheads seem to have some inspiration in both a red dot called a bindi and traditional Japanese kabuki theatre make up. A bindi has ties to Buddhism and is linked to the Ajna Chakra which is also known as the "third eye" or "inner wisdom". And if you’re an anime fan you might have seen at very least one character with a red dot in their character design. So there might be some pop culture aspects to the inspiration as well. Which is why some of the characters have such dot markings in their battle ready designs.

Another thing worth noting is that the colour red in Japanese culture is a pretty prominent and versatile colour with multiple layers of symbolism. Such as being associated with protection, joy, and strength, but also with passion, power, and even danger etc.

Finally, with Shouma and Mako they both have two dots markings above their forehead. It kinda look similar to geisha dot eyebrows or Hikimayu (引眉). It’s probably just a coincidence but I thought it was worth noting.

Shouma number is nine but interestingly enough it is written in upper capital Chinese Hanzi instead of Japanese Kanji. which is probably on purpose because in Japan the number nine is considered an unlucky number because the pronunciation (苦) (ku) is similar to (苦) (suffering). The association with hardship, pain and ties to bad luck/misfortune overall contributes to the negative reputation behind this number. Similar to how the number 4 similarly avoided in Japanese culture.

While in Chinese the number nine has the opposite reputation with it being associated with good luck/good fortune and can also mean long lasting and represents the maximum level of martial happiness and longevity. I just think that is a nice subtle detail in his uniform and weapon design overall with his number being nine and all. 

This probably means nothing but nine or more correctly eight phases of the moon can spiritually is often associated with cycles of growth, release, and renewal. Also the number Nine is symbolically represented by change and having a very empathic and compassionate soul. In numerology the number nine is usually linked to things such as completion, idealism, and a strong desire to help others. Which mostly fits Shouma personality in terms of his ideals and morals.

Also his star/zodiac sign Pisces is often associated with compassion, empathy, creativity, imagination and strong intuition but also a deep connection to the sub conscious. But also the weaknesses of the sign is being indecisive, sensitive, prone to escapism and their own inner turmoil. And melancholy behaviours feelings of sorrow and poignance; where they would rather go through and meditate on deep emotions such as despair/sadness rather than have no feelings at all.

Overall, the zodiac sign Pisces is very emotional driven sign and I don’t think it is a coincidence that Shouma as a character is written to be very driven by his strong emotional feelings and thoughts.

Anyway, this line of dialogue stuck out to me while playing the game demo. There seems to be a bit of a moon theme going on here? Or at the very least I think that the moon might be an important plot beat for this game story.

Which also lead to me noticing Shouma’s mecha also has some moon imagery on its design via the shoulders pads. Another interesting thing is that the chest of the mecha is designed with a Shiba Inu face notable a black one.

Shouma’s dog is probably not a literal black shiba ha ha. Although, his weapon having the chest be of the head of a black dog reminded me a bit of the Chinese mythology of the black dog called Tiangou/the heavenly dog. Which in the myth Tiangou either eats the moon or sun causing an eclipse but the moon is more notable one. Which could have inspired some design aspects to Shouma weapon perhaps.

Real quick, I will say that I haven’t looked too deeply or check to see if other characters have a subtle moon theme to their designs. Also, if you look closely on images of the other characters weapons they also have an although I will say a more subtle animal theme going on in their weapon designs as well.

Now onto his character design. First off, his backpack resembles a Kame/turtle shell get it because he’s hiding in his shell and need to slowly come out of it. Man, you gotta love the creativity Rui Komatsuzaki puts into his character designs overall.

Shouma’s boots also have a bit of a turtle-like pattern and with them being green, it looks like he has little turtle feet. His boots also partly resemble wellies, which are commonly associated with children at least in fiction giving him a childlike feel to his design. Plus they’re also outdoor boots and are usually quite popular with dog walkers as well.

Finally, his cap in terms of shape resembles either a frog, bear or hamster which adds even more to the animal theme to his overall character design.

I’m honestly curious with how Shouma’s dog, which is most likely a Shiba Inu and Sirei are connected somehow and it’s also interesting how he’s the only one that didn’t technically fight. Like there has to be a reason for it right? I also think Shouma is more important than he gives himself credit for, although I may wrong who knows. 

I don’t know if others have noticed this but Shouma to me seems to be a very peacemaker type of character. He doesn’t like conflict and always puts others comfort and needs first before himself a far good amount of the time. Plus, the way he talks about his dog in optional dialogue. Makes him appear to have a selfless and kind hearted soul underneath all the self esteem/self deprecation issues of course. 

I also think Shouma appears to be pretty good at reading the room and how others might be feeling. On the rare occasion he chimes in, he has some pretty possible ideas and theories on what might be happening in the current situation. But given how many times he’s gets shot down or told he’s stupid for thinking or saying anything at all.

Which probably breaks his confidence to where he feels he shouldn’t have said anything at all. Which is why he’s just accepts it and doesn’t push against it. Because he truly believes he can never be right on something but also insists on being a peacemaker making him unable to truly take on conflict.

Overall, from what I’ve seen so far, Shouma seems to be a very gentle soul. Who is way too harsh on himself but I do have faith that he will develop as a person as the story progresses. It probably won’t be perfect and I don’t expect his self esteem problems to just magically go away, that takes time. Honestly, Shouma so far is very relatable to me as someone who has gone through similar hardships as a teen.

Shouma has so much potential to be such a lovely and compelling written character overall and I look forward to see what the writers have in store for him in the full game. (He’s so autistic coded to me but that could just be me projecting a little onto him ha ha…)

Lastly, gameplay wise Shouma has the potential to be pretty op as a unit depending on how his abilities and moveset functions in the gameplay mechanics. 

He is a counter defender and his ability shut-in gives 1+ attack with every emery that hits him. Which could have potential to be stacked if his ability can get even stronger. Reflecting back attacks is his key, so Shouma ideally will probably excel being throw at enemies head first and focus on crowd control. 

Shouma will probably work best with the more frail units. Leading the enemies onto him while doing chip damage and letting heavy hitting units dish out the big hits. He’s also will probably have good synergy with the healer/support units as well but overall. I think he will probably be one of the better units in the game due to his ability to do crowd control in a game, where crowd control is key. Also depending upon on how his ability works he could also be quite a decent boss slayer as well. 

Anyway, that concludes my little slightly mentally ill ramble on him. OvO’)

[sirensoul-min]

oh? i just saw that pic on twt and then got a notif of a wverse post from him; didnt know he was already addressing that there. uh oh. ya know what, this is why it's important to follow politics and just be aware of what's happening around you, no matter who you are. yeah, life can be hectic sometimes, but that's not a pass for being so unaware of things that actually matter. (i'm looking at you, tae.) everything is political. get out of ur bubble sometimes.

[ihavevisions]

I’m losing my mind. 2000s style Vat7k website. Custom cursor, area for character bios and fun facts (sorta like the character bios for EAH), quizzes and mini games…. Can someone hear me out

[laugtherhyena]

Silly fish

[wildsaltair]

today’s topic for discussion: what on earth did Maximus’ soldiers think when they found out he was “dead”? like, their beloved general who fights like a god and is adored by everyone is just… deceased? kicked the bucket? gone on to a better place?

and what did Quintus even tell them to make it believable?? that Maximus died in his sleep of the same “natural causes” Marcus Aurelius died of??? he had an accident with his sword???? he wandered into the forest and never came back?? like what could you possibly tell Maximus’ men that they would believe??

[killerpancakeburger]

Been srlsy into the idea of writing more, explicitely fat Reader. Not sure how to tags it thought.

[celine-song]

i remembered i can use this blog to vent so here goes. i'm working with a kid who i'm pretty sure has adhd and i've implemented a reward system that i specifically said is for good behavior - for finishing a task without getting distracted. i didn't want to make it about getting things right and not making mistakes because that's something he can't really control, but since he's so into the rewards (for now) he keeps bargaining for more stickers and he wanted to get one for memorizing a set of words. except then he couldn't memorize all of them and got really sad :( i did my best to reassure him and i ended up giving him a sticker anyway for how hard he was trying but i still feel bad because i know i should've been firm about how this system works. he would've still been frustrated about being unable to remember the word, but missing out on the sticker made it worse i'm sure

[rui--kamishiro]

– @flame-loving-kamishiro

Rui...? Are you in your room...?

Unfortunately, the doctors think I should stay overnight 💔

I should be back home in the morning !

[softlypaintedseafoam]

for the anon i had just now asking about fanfic being on pixiv

i should also preface with the fact that while there might be fic that's in other languages, it IS dominated by japanese so if you want to read the stuff there you need to already know some japanese or use a translation tool

but hey if you're learning japanese, it's a great tool for learning new kanji. you can easily copy and paste kanji you don't know into tanoshiijapanese's dictionary

comment on the fics too ofc but i also wanna say that the western way of saying things like 'i hated this😫this made me throw up' or 'omg i hate you so much for this' and stuff like that affectionate is NOT the same in japanese comment culture. they will take it as if the comment was meant to be hostile and mean so i just want to get that out way now

that goes for art, fic, etc

[mars-ipan]

wake up. check tumblr. a 30yo is yelling at me bc a personal post i made on my personal blog and explicitly stated was not super planned out was not phrased sensitively enough and flat out says they refuse to be polite to me

[magiefish]

Earthshock had me yelling "No!" at the screen despite already knowing the ending and that's how you know it's good.

[twisted-in-underland]

Idk why this suddenly popped into my head but I feel like if we put Alois in TWST for a few months or something he would probably chill out. Like he obviously wouldn’t magically heal from his trauma, but I feel like Alois spending literally any amount of time away from Claude and co. would probably chill him out a little bit.

On an unrelated note I just have this strong feeling that Alois and Kalim would hang out and it would cause Jamil so much stress. Like Alois hates to be alone and Kalim is such a welcoming and physically affectionate person that I don’t think Kalim would have any problems with Alois hanging around him all the time. Jamil would be stressing out the entire time 🤧

[ghostdnfie]

does anyone know a cure for dream rsd. it feels so dumb but like what am i supposed to do when it hits me and makes me feel gross 😭

[the-casbah-way]

i know i’m demo/aro and to some degree romance repulsed but i go through these weird phases where one moment im really into affection and the idea of a relationship (not a romantic one but something close) and then i wake up one day and feel grossed out by the concept so i’ll start talking to someone and flirting and shit and then suddenly i have no feelings for them and i can’t understand why i ever wanted to talk to them in that way. like what tf is that. it’s so annoying because it probably comes off as if i’m lying or leading people on but i genuinely just lose feelings so quickly for no reason and it has happened to me in every talking stage or relationship i’ve ever had

[silentsialia]

The amount of hate Lando is getting is kinda concerning. This time last year people were starting to rate him more because of his consistency. A month or 2 later he was consistently getting podiums and a lot of praise for turning his season around. Now I go on twitter and see a Lando hate post get 100k+ likes. Yes I know it's sports and you're supposed to dislike and root for your athlete but I'm scratching my head like "damn I would feel some kind of way if everyone turned on me like this".