#There are always pros and cons to there being more users

[yukipri]

Having been here since Tumblr's Golden Days and having watched its slow decline into a graveyard (albeit one with a pretty active infestation of chittering goblins), it's been fascinating this past week.

Blogs that have been silent for years, that I'd assumed long dead and abandoned and among the many graves that litter this hellsite...are suddenly come back to life.

I'm not sure if it's more like seeing critters come out of a very, very long hibernation blinking around at how everything's a wee bit different from what they remember—or perhaps something a bit more timeless and undead, like vampires kicking open their coffins or zombies bursting out from the graves where they'd laid.

I hope the time has come for Tumblr's zombie reawakening.

Welcome back, y'all. Welcome back.

[howtofightwrite]

Hello there! What are the pros and cons of using naginatas as a weapon specifically? Is it fairly similar to the ones for lots of other polearms? Or is it it's own unique thing? (Trying to get an accurate idea of how it would feel to use one in combat for some writing I want to do.)

Thanks!

Pros:

Firmly encourage people to maintain social distancing.

Slice people you haven't even met yet.

Slice people riding horses or standing on low roofs.

Add ribbons and streamers as fashion accessories.

Easy to carry.

Can always find one at the right length for you.

Better leverage for your blade than if it had been mounted of a katana.

Never need to explain that you're overcompensating for something.

Amazing looking duels with fellow naginata users.

You can use it on horseback.

Try to impress the Onna-musha.

Cons:

A little bit claustrophobic.

Not great in a mosh pit.

Doesn't like going indoors.

Not good against people who refuse to social distance.

No one will respect you for being a samurai, and may still make fun of you.

Still a delicate razor blade.

Fail to impress the Onna-musha, they know all your moves, are probably better at them than you, and are more interested in making jokes about the length of your shaft.

So, the naginata is basically the blade of a katana mounted on the end of a long shaft. This doesn't make it inherently bad. But it does inherit some of the weakness of a sword, combined with the range of a polearm. That said, keeping them intact is quite doable, you just need to be careful about how you strike.

As mentioned above, and as with almost all polearms, it shines in situations where you can keep enemies at range, and becomes a lot less appealing if you can't keep them off of you. This means it works really well in phalanx-style applications. As with all (or, almost all polearms), it has serious value as an anti-cavalry weapon, letting you dispatch riders.

As for it being its own unique thing, yes and no. It is a different kind of polearm, and you can probably some surviving manuals on exactly how to use them. And there is a modern martial art based on the original form. However, I don't know how much of the original Naginatajitsu martial art has been lost. As far as I know, there were at least a few decades between the, “death,” of the martial art in 1868, and it's revival sometime after 1889. Also, when it was revived, it was as a physical fitness regimen, and not as a martial art. That's enough time, to lose a lot of the technical detail, and meant that if it was preserved, it was done so quietly, which increases the risk of elements being lost.

As polearms go, the naginata is pretty light, ranging from about 3 to 8lbs. (Specifically 1.5 – 3.5kg.) Which does make it a bit more agile than you'd expect from a polearm. It's not clear how much of the flourishes you'll see from modern martial artists were actually part of the original martial art or just spectacle, but you can get some solid movement out of them. And even in its day it the weapon's agility was noteworthy. (Though, to be fully honest, I'm not sure how much of that was in the contemporary literature, and how much is from modern analysis. I do suffer from not being able to read the primary sources in this case.)

Naginatas were a very egalitarian weapon, used by the samurai, monks, peasant footsoldiers, and the Onna-musha (women warriors.) That last category has become one of its more enduring cultural associations. In fact the physical fitness revival was specifically targeted as exercise for young girls. (This is part of why the weight range is so wide, as there's a massive variance in shaft length. Anywhere from 4 to 8 feet in length. (Specifically 120-240cm.)) As a polearm, that's kinda short, but the blade itself adds another 85-100cm. This puts the total length at between 6'8” and 11'2”. And, yeah, a three meter polearm is not a joke. Even if there is an unusual amount of blade on the end of that shaft. It's part of why the naginata is immediately distinguishable from other polearms of similar sizes.

The short answer would be that it is a specific weapon, with its own identity. Some of that is a function of physics and some is cultural.

-Starke

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[jayflrt]

𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄 50. epilogue

JUNGWON’S HEART WAS POUNDING.

He swiftly evaded the arrows hurtling in his direction as he ran through the dense forest. He could hear the taunting laughter of his pursuer getting closer. The sound was almost overwhelming, nearly drowning out the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. Jungwon had hope, though; if he could just get past the—

At that moment, the screen faded out with the message: You died!

“Aw,” you cooed in that sugary voice of yours, “you were so close, Won.”

Jungwon’s cheeks darkened. “Shut up, Y/N.”

“And, there you have it, guys,” you announced to your Twitch audience that was currently totaling 44,507 users, “Y/N kicks Jungwon’s again.”

Life went back to normal after Jungwon and his friends had their little mishap in the Paris Catacombs. Sure, he needed to see a therapist for a while, but at least he was better off than Jay, who was currently weighing the pros and cons of having a Satan worshiping girlfriend. Jungwon couldn’t see how there were any pros to this list, but he supposed it didn’t matter as long as Jay was happy.

That, and his YouTube video: I Cuffed a Hot Satan Worshiper?! (NOT CLICKBAIT) hit a million views. It was a win for Diamond League’s joint channel.

Sunghoon and Jake were still as ambiguously in love as ever. Although, it so happened that Jake was the one being more forward than Sunghoon lately. He was apparently enjoying how easy it was to get Sunghoon flustered over the little things. Sunoo and Riki were still roommates, though they bought a bigger house to live in so that they could flaunt their new wealth. However, Sunoo had begun complaining about Riki’s dodginess when it came to chores.

Heeseung was the same as ever. His mother profusely apologized for not being able to pick him up from the Paris Catacombs, so he was spoiled more than ever. However, he ended up moving out to his own place, saying that he needed to be alone when “all his side chicks came over.” Jay later confirmed that he was, in fact, playing video games all day.

As for Jungwon and you, there was a lot of rekindling that needed to be done. Jungwon spent months making up for his lack of communication, and that forged a stronger flame between you two. He was satisfied that you two were finally at a comfortable point in your relationship, and that you were able to get past Jungwon milly rocking to Shostakovich. (You had, in fact, started milly rocking with him.) Post-catacombs Jungwon became a whore for classical music.

Joining college, though, had started a new feud between you and Jungwon. Albeit lighthearted, Jungwon still found it cute when you were aggravated.

When you two said your goodbyes and ended the stream, you pouted. “Someone called you their boyfriend on the stream.”

He bit back a smile. “Yeah?”

Jungwon was completely oblivious to his popularity until college started. He always thought his fans saw him more as comedic relief, but apparently being a loser translated into “boyfriend material.” It was quite shocking how much attention he got from girls now.

You, on the other hand, were not happy with this. Although you were getting used to the idea, it was still strange that your boyfriend got so much attention. Jungwon tried extra hard to make you feel more secure because of that.

He opened his arms for you to crawl into his lap when you went in for a hug. You buried your face in Jungwon’s chest to avoid looking him in the face.

“You’re my spring chicken,” you muttered. “I procured you.”

As always, you had a way with words.

“I’m your spring chicken,” he agreed, although he had no idea what the fuck that meant. “You procured me.”

It was 11:56 P.M. and the moonlight was illuminating your features. Jungwon wanted to turn the lights on, but that meant pushing you off of him, which he didn’t want to do.

More importantly, there were four minutes left until your birthday.

You were insistent on not going live or making a video for your birthday, which Jungwon completely understood. He wanted to spend the day with you, away from all the cameras and social media. Considering you were Jungwon’s first girlfriend, he was racking his brain over how he wanted to make your day special. He heard around the grapevine (read: Nishimura Riki), though, that you wanted something discreet and thoughtful. You weren’t one for glamorization.

“Are you excited?” Jungwon asked.

You shook your head. “I don’t wanna be old.”

Jungwon snorted and pressed a kiss to your forehead before reminding, “Two minutes.”

“I’m gonna blow up your base,” you threatened.

“Chill.”

But Jungwon knew that you were anticipating the clock striking midnight. He could see it in the way you kept peeking at his phone, the way you stiffened up when there were hardly seconds left until the hand reached twelve.

And when it did, your breath stilled.

“Happy birthday, Y/N,” Jungwon murmured with a smile.

You grinned up at him. “Thanks.” Your expression morphed into one of shock when your boyfriend reached over the arm of the couch to pull out a bouquet of pink flowers. He handed it to you, and your eyes widened. “What’s this?”

“Peonies,” he answered, and you had to narrow your eyes at him for him to elaborate, “I thought they were pretty, and peonies symbolize good fortune, too.”

“You think I’m good fortune?”

“Not really. You kind of have shit luck.”

“Hey!” you exclaimed, though there was a hint of a smile curling at your lips.

“But,” he continued, “you’re my good fortune.”

You sniffled once. It was endearing until you continued sniffling, wiping your eyes as tears started streaming down your cheeks. Jungwon smiled and tried to wipe them away with his thumb. You were just too cute in his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting emotional already,” he cooed. “This is only the beginning of what I had planned for your birthday.”

You blinked away the tears that welled up and gestured to the flowers. “I’m allergic.”

Oh.

Jungwon knew that. On your third or fourth date, he took you to the Conservatory of Flowers because he thought you would be amazed by the beauty. Instead, you had a sneezing fit and could hardly see anything because your eyes were far too watery.

“It’s so pretty, though,” you tried to say, mustering up the energy to hold the flowers up and smell them. Your voice broke when you tried to hold in your sniffles. “W-wow, so nice.”

Jungwon laughed and took the bouquet from you, setting it aside. He cupped your cheeks and wiped your tears properly.

Just like that, he leaned in slowly, leaving you frozen on the spot. Even though he was initiating such an intimate moment, Jungwon felt like he could hardly breathe. He opened his eyes to look at you before your lips met. His nose barely brushed yours, and he looked a touch bashful with red tinting his ears.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked.

You nodded, and Jungwon sealed his lips over yours. Your lips felt like slow, heart-tugging music that made his brain turn to mush. He was sure that you could pick up on how Jungwon had been waiting to do this for the longest time.

Jungwon didn’t believe in soulmates. He thought that each soul was unique to the individual, that no one needed another soul to complete them. With his hand intertwined with yours, however, he agreed that you two fit together. Souls could never match, but it was clear that yours and Jungwon’s filled out each other’s spaces.

There was nothing anymore. It was just you and Yang Jungwon.

“Ew,” a voice called from the hallway. “Get a room, you two.”

And Lee Heeseung, apparently.

“This is my house!” Jungwon exclaimed.

You stared blankly at Heeseung before looking back at Jungwon. “What’s he doing here?”

“Well, he was supposed to bring out the cake,” Jungwon grumbled. “I don’t know why he’s just standing around.”

“We didn’t know how to turn on the lighter,” Heeseung explained, “so Jay’s still working on it in the kitchen.”

“Wait,” you interjected, stopping him with one hand. “You guys were here the entire time?!”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

You turned to your boyfriend and whined, “Jungwon!”

“It was a surprise!” he defended.

“Happy birthday to you,” Jay started singing, and then the rest of Diamond League joined in at an awkward interval. All of their voices were at different pitches, making the whole song sound off. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Y/N, happy birthday to you!”

To Jungwon’s delight, you seemed to get over the fact that Heeseung witnessed your private moment once you saw the cake they made for you. You scooted off Jungwon’s lap to sit in front of the coffee table as Jay set the cake in front of you.

“Blow out the candles,” Sunghoon encouraged, “or I’ll blow—”

“Sunghoon,” Jake warned. He reached over and ruffled your hair, making you snicker. “Happy birthday, Y/N.”

Sunoo cupped his hand behind the flame of the candle so that you could blow it out, and everyone clapped for you as soon as the flame went out.

(“Blow game weak,” Riki coughed out and promptly got punched in the shoulder by you.)

“What’d you wish for?” Jay asked.

“I can’t tell,” you replied, “or it won’t come true.”

But Jungwon sort of already knew what you wished for because he was thinking the same thing.

With the way your eyes were shining as you looked up at him and all your friends, it was clear as day that you wanted this moment—this friendship—to last forever. Jungwon couldn’t agree more; there was nothing he wanted more than these precious moments with his best friends to continue.

He had no doubt that they would last forever.

(Spoiler: They did.)

END.

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ EPILOGUE SOOOO OVERDUE but it’s here !!! thank you for sticking around for this ending and thank you so much for reading diamond league <33 it’s so dear to me and i’m really glad you guys liked it :’) all the asks and comments i’ve gotten about it have always brightened my day so thank you for all the love! s/o to everyone who asked to be part of the tag list, it meant so much to me !! i hope you guys enjoyed this ride as much as i did & jungwon lesbian ♡ 

SUMMARY ▸ in which lee heeseung creates a minecraft server for his friends and all sorts of chaos ensues, including the budding romance between you and yang jungwon.

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[tangledinink]

Hi! I just have a little comment on your use of sign language in the carol side fic. I in no means mean to be rude! I’m not a professional! But I do use asl commonly, and I would like to say that the grammar structure is different, especially in newer users (like me!). So when Donnie asks Carol to make his hair like hers and April, it would probably end more like “can, have, hair, like, April, and, you?” Like I said, I’m not a professional! But it is something I noticed.

Good luck!

This is absolutely correct! Thank you! When I was learning ASL in college, my professor (who was Deaf,) would describe it as "caveman-style grammar" to us to help try to get a grasp of ASL sentence structure, as sort of a 'cheat-code' way of thinking about it when we were first learning.

I went back and forth about it, but I ended up deciding not to do a direct translation of ASL grammar in my work. I don't think there's anything wrong with writing it that way, and I think there can be a lot of merit to it, but it just feels a bit odd to me? When translating Spanish to English, for example, we typically wouldn't say, "the cat white," even though that would be the direct translation from, for example, "el gato blanco." We would expect the grammar to be a part of the translation process-- the white cat in English. Obviously, there's a difference between a spoken language and sign language, but it's always sort of felt a bit strange to me, to treat ASL differently from other languages, and only 'translate' it halfway, I guess? (Especially given that a huge part of ASL is facial expression, so you risk leaving a lot of details or nuance behind if you choose to use ASL sentence structure but don't consider user expression in your writing as well.)

Perhaps that's just me being lazy and not wanting to restructure things in my fic, lol. But while I think there are definitely pros and cons to either method and that both are valid options, a complete translation is what I went for in TMWN-- similar to how subtitles are done when a character signs in a movie or a TV show. I want the characters' signed dialogue to read smoothly and retain their voice and personality. I want it to flow the same way it does when they speak in English or in Japanese. Signing is totally natural to these characters! I don't want the reader to slow down to translate grammar, or to draw attention to the fact that it's 'different,' because for the characters it's a totally nbd-everyday thing, and that's not what I want the reader to focus on in this case.

That being said! I am not Deaf, nor fluent in ASL (my gOODNESS have I gotten rusty,,,) so! Take my opinion with a grain of salt and if I'm, like, totally out of line, I'm open to hearing about it, lol. I hope this makes sense? Sorry I went off so hard and wrote so much lmao I just spent a lot of time thinking about it and going back and forth when I first started writing the fic.

[maspers]

Ranking the Miracucast by how they'd react to being chosen as the next holder of One For All

Marinette: She would scream and cry and do everything in her power to avoid becoming the next Symbol of Peace. She would then proceed to be one of the most beloved and powerful Heroes the world has ever seen. 9/10

Alya: Depends on when she gets the Quirk. Early Seasons Alya is all about fame and branding, and she'd be loved by the populace as a hero but make a decent amount of rookie mistakes. Late Seasons Alya would be way more competent as a One For All user, but she also knows how to keep things subtle. I can see her becoming an Underground Hero like Eraserhead. Either way, 7/10

Adrien: Yes. 10/10

Nino: He would be very confused as to why he's being chosen, but if his friends were in danger he'd do it. Would much prefer to focus on his music than hero work, and as such would be known for the former more than the latter. 3/10

Chloe: She would try so, so, so hard to be the ultimate superhero that everyone loves. Unfortunately we saw how that went down in canon. She has the potential to great things, but motives will always be a serious problem for her. 4/10

Sabrina: Getting One For All might be what it takes to get her out of her shell. She'd never reach the fame and reputation that All Might and Deku have, but she would treat her powers with utmost respect and very few people would have bad things to say about her as a hero. 7/10

Mylene: She would be very confused, and very scared, and honestly would probably reject the Quirk outright. If forced to take it she'd be great, but I just can't see her wanting to hold on to it. She prefers to change the world in other ways. 3/10

Ivan: Everyone would doubt him due to making assumptions, but he would surpass them all and come into his own as a beloved and respected hero, albeit one that's pretty intimidating. He wouldn't really focus on quirks other than the super strength, but hey, it worked for All Might! 8/10

Rose: Be afraid. Be very afraid. 6/10

Juleka: Guaranteed to be more of the Underground hero type. Possibly might go full vigilante. She would use the Quirks very differently than most would expect, so people won't make the connection to past One For All holders. She does not want to have a body count, but definitely has one. 6/10

Kim: Kim is a total doofus who would immediately gain a rep as a reckless hero who causes lots of collateral damage but makes up for it by just trying really hard. Deep down he will feel unworthy and self-conscious. Local Himbo has internal turmoil and Does Not Deserve It. 5/10

Max: Would reject the Quirk outright and only accept it in the most dire of circumstances. Max does not want a messy complicated Quirk like One For All. Max likes simple and efficient, stuff he can manipulate from the get go. One For All is not simple. Give it to someone else. 0/10

(side note: while Max does not want One For All, Markov absolutely does, and finding a way to give Markov One For All would make for an interesting challenge. But Max still isn't taking it.)

Alix: Would politely decline taking it. Because she's already received it (and passed it on after engaging in brief shenanigans with it) in the future, and knows it is not her battle to fight in the present. Alix/10

Nathaniel: Please let this poor boy have some sleep. He is very tired and very angry and accepted the Quirk on impulse and really doesn't want to do this. Eventually manages to figure out his niche being a artist/spraypaint hero (Alix helps), and may or may not accidentally trigger the downfall of a corrupt government. 7/10

Lila: She obtained it under false pretenses and we are all doomed. There's a slim chance she'll do some hero work for the sake of her image, but like. The cons will definitely outweigh the pros. This was a mistake. 1/10

Luka: Accepted One For All during a time of great need, and knew the moment he received it that it was something Important. He puts on a front of being chill, but treats his work as a Hero with the utmost of seriousness and will do what has to be done. Like his sister, he would actively strive to not have a body count, but definitely would have one. 9/10

Kagami: She's a superhero with a sword. Awesomeness is the default. She will have no idea what she is doing but like. She has a sword. Stuff is getting done. 7/10

Marc: Look, you know Worm? You know Legend? One For All Marc would be like Legend except less hunk and more bishonen. The fangirls and fanboys will rejoice. Marc does not want all the attention, but he has it anyway. 6/10

Ondine: Kim accepts his role as the ultimate trophy boyfriend. Ondine would be competent, but she would also create even more collateral damage. 5/10

Aurore (New!): If there's one thing she knows, it's branding. She may not be known as a particularly powerful hero, but her branding would be top notch. When people figure out she's the latest successor she will OWN it and turn it into more branding. 5/10

Felix: Was likely offered One For All by someone who thought he was Adrien, and accepted it under that pretense. Would do a good job as a hero (and would give Adrien the credit in the process) but would figure out how to use all the Quirks very quickly and have a gig as a vigilante going on under a different identity, using different quirks to keep people in the dark. Very sus, Felix. You can be better than this. 2/10

Zoe: Look the populace would pick up on the fact that she's blonde and associated with America and immediately assume she's related to All Might. That's just going to happen. All Might will basically have to end up adopting her, if he's still around. She does not like this, but makes it work. 6/10

[mzminola]

Because something superhero comics, noir, and fanfic all have in common is leaning into soap opera convolutedness, @alexmaybe & I have come up with the Bruce Wayne Spawn Shell Game AU, in which the middle kids are all biologically Bruce’s.

(Dick really is John & Mary Grayson’s, and Damian is Talia’s direct clone.)

No one finds this out until Batman!Bruce & Robin!Damian are fighting a magic user who has heard rumors that Robin is Batman’s son (rumors started by Damian’s not so quiet comments about being The Blood Son). The mage gloats that they’re going to use a “teleport everyone with X trait to me” spell to yank Robin over, and use the disorientation of teleportation to take him hostage. “I will summon Batman’s direct blood descendents! Mwa ha ha ha!”

Cue Damian staying firmly at Bruce’s side, while Cass in street wear with bubble tea, Jason doing gear maintenance, a random college student studying for exams, and Tim in his pajamas pop out of the ether all within a yard of the mage.

The mage regrets their life choices.

~

Now, how did we get here?

Firstly, during the years Bruce is doing his world tour of Learning Batman Skills while still swinging in and out of Gotham, Bruce is seeking physical activity to make his brain shut up, and also seeking intimacy but keeping too many secrets to let himself actually get close to people, so he is sleeping with Even More People Than In His Batman Years. He remembers condoms but always doesn’t use them perfectly.

Bruce meets Sandra & Carolyn Wu-San at their dojo in Brooklyn. Some time later when David Cain coerces Sandra into reproductive sex, she seeks out every male martial artist she vaguely respected or thought had potential to sleep with them too as a Fuck You to undermine Cain’s scheme without openly breaking their deal.

Bruce has a one-night stand with pre-transition Willis Todd, both of them just giving their first (legal) name, no contact info. Figuring out several months later that he’s pregnant but no clue how to find the other father, Willis, who does want kids someday, weighs the pros and cons of “having trouble making ends meet right now, can I support a kid?” with “everyone says pregnancy would be harder later in transition,” and opts to have Jason now.

Sheila Haywood is either a friend or a bribable hospital worker (or both) who agrees to put her name down as the mom so Willis can legally be his kid’s dad without any complicated paperwork. Willis and Catherine never got around to telling Jason before both of them died. When Jason showed up at the camp thinking Sheila was his bio-mom she rolled with it, figuring she could get details of why he thought that later, and then unfortunately [canon ensued].

It won’t be until the spell incident happens that Bruce puts together one night stand Wilhelmina with Why do the pictures of Willis Todd look kinda familiar? Because he definitely never slept with Catherine or Sheila.

Bruce meets, befriends and sleeps with Janet Drake while going on an archaeological research binge. He’s also still having a lot of random bar and nightclub hook-ups.

Some months later, while Jack is out of town on a business trip, Janet complains to Bruce that Jack really wants a son, but the latest ultrasound shows a female fetus. Janet really doesn’t want to deal with pregnancy ever again, but Jack isn’t open to adoption, and ugh if only Janet could just swap this one for a male infant. It would be so easy to nudge Jack into an archeology dig closer to the due date, he’d never have to know!

(No, neither Bruce nor Janet have thought maybe Bruce got Janet pregnant instead of Jack.)

“You’ve got this knack for finding odd things at just the right moment, Brucie…”

Janet knows it’s a long shot, and dubiously ethical because adoption records exist for good reason, and if they can’t find a baby that works she’ll just have to dig her heels in with Jack against trying for a son, but if Bruce could find a baby…

Bruce makes no promises other than keeping an eye and ear out.

Anyway, Bruce isn’t Batman yet, but he’s home between tutors on his World Tour and venturing into the city in various disguises to learn more about Gotham’s underworld, and getting into trouble. So it is Bruce Wayne with a fresh concussion, not a drunk Brucie, who stumbles into an alley to vomit and finds a baby in a dumpster.

It’s a very full dumpster, one half of the lid broken off. An orange cat (who may or may not be Teekl returning a future favor) is curled around the newborn baby boy. The infant has a shock of hair as dark as Janet’s.

Concussed Bruce walks all the way to the Drake townhouse marveling at the tiny hand gripping his finger so tight.

Janet schedules a C-section. Bruce forges Timothy Jackson Drake’s birth certificate and arranges the adoption of Janet’s daughter by a family in Oregon. He keeps tabs on them over the years, preparing a Wayne Foundation scholarship to the college of her choice someday.

~

Back to the magic incident: Nightwing and Batwoman were on their way there as back-up when the mage cast the summoning spell, so Dick is able to hug Damian as the kid bluescreens about Not Being The Blood Son.

Bruce awkwardly explains that yes, he ran Damian’s DNA when Talia dropped him off, but when he realized Damian was Talia’s direct clone, he also realized Talia was taking steps to ensure her child escaped the League of Assassins, by attaching him to one of the few people on the planet who can go toe to toe with (and even defeat) her father. Bruce opted to go along with Talia’s choice.

Kate has gotten popcorn from somewhere, munching on it while Bruce desperately thinks back to his Mega Ho Years to figure out how everyone else happened.

Cass is feeling a vindictive sort of smugness about not being David Cain’s bio-kid. He’s still her dad, but he only got part of what he wanted from Shiva.

Jason is pissed at Bruce for not figuring it out earlier, but kinda relieved that Sheila wasn't actually his mom.

The freshman college student from Oregon is really annoyed, she was at study group and she CANNOT fail this class!!! Now she’s on the entire opposite coast???

Tim is having some feelings about how fucking soap opera his origins turn out to be. Bruce slept with his mom Janet, but also she wasn’t his birth mom, he was adopted and no one told him??? Who the heck is his other birth parent??? What were the odds of his apparent bio-parent Bruce being the one to find him??? Wait, was finding baby Tim in a dumpster why younger!Bruce suddenly had Wayne Enterprises put money into improving and proliferating Safe Drop-Off Sites in Gotham???

(He is Not Thinking About his complicated relationship with Jack.)

~

Tim, when things are just starting to quiet down: “Wait, so does Talia have XY chromosomes, or does Damian have XX? Because I’ve done a lot of of cloning lab work, and—”

Damian: “Don’t talk about my mother’s chromosomes, dumpster baby.”

Tim: >:(

Bruce, very tired: “Damian, don’t call your brother a dumpster baby.”

Damian, indignant: “But you just told us you found him in a dumpster as an infant!”

Freshman college student: “Dude, it’s still fucking rude? Like how would you like being called a test tube baby?”

Damian: /draws sword/

Dick, pushing sword back into sheath: “No drawing weapons on civilians. Or calling Tim rude things. Tim, I think any chromosome questions are Talia and Damian’s personal medical business, so please don’t speculate on them.”

Tim, sarcastically: “Sorry, I forgot medical privacy exists after how you all reacted to the spleen thing.”

Freshman college student: “Spleen thing?”

Tim: “Don’t worry, it’s not genetic. Speaking of, B, you’re gonna have to update, like, all our medical history now.”

Bruce, even more tired: "Hn."

[rinofwater]

Yo, I legit want to hear your data disk theory bc I was kinda thinking the same thing? Except I figured that if they really are magnetic hard disks then they'd be even more fragile than DVDs/CDs since even a stray magnet could screw up all the data? I am but a lowly software person so I don't exactly how storage mediums work all too much lol. Also, if the old world was really DA FUTURE(tm), wouldn't their computer storage be more in SSDs than HDDs? There might be an economic reason to stick with HDDs but if their computing tech was at the level of sentient AIs and stuff they hypothetically would have the faster, more compact storage in those...

Reminds me of the deep dive I did to figure why the hell telegraphs in the My Time world are called telegraphs if they're supposedly wireless (short answer: it's probably primitive radio? i have no idea how the hell transmissions can work at distances up to cross-country tho)

Oh boy, I'm so glad you asked! I've done IT infrastructure repair work for a couple years now, and my last job actually had me working with a lot of storage servers in particular for the latter half of my job, so I have Opinions(tm) on this small detail lol. And those are all really good questions too. And hopefully I don't get too technical trying to answer it, but I make no promises (and it's DEFINITELY going to be long and rambly so bear with me)

So starting with it being The Future(tm), there are pros and cons to going HDD versus SSD versus NVMe today, but did you know that not only is tape storage still in use, but it's actually still considered a modern, practical solution to archival storage with the technology still being upgraded and developed, even right now in 2023? Archival in this case being the sort of data you need to hold onto for 20, 30, 40 years or more without a constant need to have read/write access to that data. The tape servers have a cool robot arm in them and everything to move the tape cassettes around. A lot of this technology isn't actually aging out because it has its niche, it's just being modernized to settle it more in that niche

So with HDDs versus SSDs, they are becoming fairly comparable to each other today, HDD was winning out for a long time because SSD was a lot more expensive to get ahold of at the same storage capacity as HDD. That's great from a regular end-user perspective because you can get that upgrade more practically and reap the benefits of not having to rely on physical moving parts to access your data. Swapping it out on a server level is going to be a much larger and more expensive project, though, without seeing a lot of additional benefit for going that direction. A lot of the benefits that you would see for swapping to SSD on a regular computer have already been accounted for in existing server designs for a while now, in the form of RAID technology (Redundant Array of Independent/Inexpensive Disks; fancy way of saying "get a bunch of drives to take on the work of one drive and then replace any drives that break along the way"; being able to share the data load across multiple drives improves efficiency and then you can also replace broken disks on the fly without having to worry about the integrity of the overall storage system as long as you don't sit on too many dead disks for too long)

Not to say that SSDs won't still overtake HDD eventually, as new servers are installed in datacenters and closets, they're increasingly having SSD as the supported format, but there's not a good enough benefit to rush through fading out HDD at the moment when they're still about comparable to each other and the weaknesses have largely been accounted for. And even then, there are always going to be legacy servers that get passed up for upgrades either because nobody sees a need or it's too important to the overall infrastructure or any number of reasons, at which point they're still almost definitely going to be sticking with HDDs even in The Future

So that's the long-winded justification for why I think it's plausible that there would still be large enough quantities of HDDs kicking around even in the future for them to end up in ruins of that future

As for the justification of how you'd be able to get enough usable data off of them given the notorious fragility of those disks, I chalk it up to a matter of quantity. When I was installing brand-new storage servers for a customer, one drawer could hold up to around a hundred hard drives, and there were often four or five drawers slated for install with one server. If you figure that your average HDD has about three to six platters, multiply that by 100, and then multiply that by the drawers, and then the number of identical hardware setups that are also set up around it, and that number just keeps going up by orders of magnitude. Most of those platters are absolutely going to be shattered or wiped or otherwise damaged in a way that renders them useless, and the percentage that make it out in-tact enough is going to be very small. But if you take a very small percentage of the ridiculously large number of platters you can expect to find in a datacenter (even the smaller ones) is still going to give you the chance of finding enough usable platters that you can pull something off of them. Like, we're talking millions or billions of platters just in one place, if you take .01% or .001% or even .0001% of that kind of number as your chances of finding something in tact you're still looking at a fairly decent pool of workable salvage to sort through*

(*In theory, anyway; in practice, you usually need all the platters that are associated with an HDD to be able to put the data together into something usable given the way data's distributed across them...not that it's impossible to grab information off of a single platter but it would take A LOT of extra work to figure out how to reverse engineer it into working versus having the full set. It could still be possible but that factor drags the already small percentage down even further. But then, I would be surprised if Pathea has given it NEARLY as much thought as this, so after a certain point, there's kinda just the shrugging to say "video game logic" lol...but before reaching that point I'm going to have my fun spending way too much time trying to figure out how it *could* work)

With the quantity argument, as well, you're also way more likely to see that kind of overabundance of HDD than you would DVDs or CDs; DVDs just aren't scalable in the same way, both in terms of the amount of data they can store and the amount of read/write flexibility they have. You're also a lot less likely to find the sort of information on a DVD that you would find in a storage server; DVDs are more useful for executable programs than they are for data storage, and even that purpose is superceded by a usb thumb drive a lot of the time. There wouldn't be nearly as many to account for in an apocalypse situation and that means the statistics are going to hit them much harder

Anyway, yeah, that's my nerdy ass supposition for this headcanon, thanks again for giving me an excuse to ramble on about it and I hope it makes sense lol

[felassan]

BioWare blog post: BioWare Community Update - All By Design

02/23/23

Welcome to the first Community Update of 2023!

As promised in our last BCU, this time around we’re discussing what our game designers are up to. The responsibilities of a game designer can differ from studio to studio, so we’ll first jump into how our team is handling the design work for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf™. Let’s get to it!

When we use the term “designer,” we aren’t referring to someone who visually creates outfits or environments, as you might expect from a fashion or landscape designer in the real world. In game development, those would be our artists. Our designers help craft, balance, and conceptualize the player’s journey—working with artists, programmers, writers, and more to build out the game in a highly collaborative process.

In this blog, we’ll look at a key RPG system and how three distinct types of game designers are involved in making them.

- Systems Designers work on a variety of features across the game, like skill trees and difficulty levels. Their goal is to create a vision for features that will directly impact the player’s experience. - User Experience (UX) Designers, collaboratively with systems designers, take the vision and explore how players will interact with it by creating mock-ups and early user flows. - Technical UX Designers then build it in-engine, working with the systems and UX designers in a constant back-and-forth, keeping the player’s experience and usability in mind at all times.

There are many other kinds of designers, too! Gameplay designers focus on creating and balancing the moment-to-moment gameplay, technical level designers create the building blocks for level designers to map out the player’s journey through locations, technical UI designers tailor how information is clearly surfaced to the player, cinematic designers craft scenes for the best storytelling experience, and narrative designers make sure the story’s flow of information to the player is a cohesive experience.

Now that we’ve gone over the basics of being a game designer, we’re going to talk about how they’re working together on Dreadwolf. Past Dragon Age™ games have all handled RPG systems, such as the player’s progression, differently, so naturally, we’re being just as experimental on Dreadwolf, taking the learnings of the past while also trying something new.

Skill Trees are a fundamental part of a deep RPG experience and give our players the ability to customize how their character functions in combat. A key belief on the team is that when a player invests a skill point, it should have a clear, tangible effect on the game, such as an ability or impactful perk. What those are and how they’re implemented in-game is handled by multiple designers, starting with a Systems Designer!

Luke Barrett: "Whenever we're envisioning something new, we're always presented with a Problem Statement we're trying to solve. Sometimes, especially for larger systems, they are very high-level, such as “The Player needs meaningful choices as they progress through the game,” or “The Player needs to feel more powerful as they progress through the game.” Together, these combine into a variety of different ideas as there are many ways to solve those problems, so it helps as a general rule to start introducing constraints and Player Statements to narrow things down. A Player Statement might be something like, "As a Player, I want my choices to matter.”" "Through the use of working sessions and brainstorming meetings, we narrow down what type of solution we want to pursue and then move on to doing competitive analysis. In this case, we made a vision board with pictures of skill trees, talents, etc. with a list of pros and cons. We also counted how many unique nodes existed and how far the player could realistically invest."

Intro of original design doc for Skills

Luke, cont.: "We take all of this information and write up a vision doc (sometimes called a 1-pager, design doc, or brief) that’s intentionally very brief and digestible and pulls together all of these problems, constraints, and user statements. It encapsulates our goals for how the design will solve them. Here is an example of two of our original statements and some bullet points under them:"

Luke, cont.: "We really wanted to have something that allowed the player to character-build in a way that allowed them to reach their “player fantasy.” And because we're supporting so many choices, we've designed something that can be customized widely, as opposed to a more linear progression system."

Initial design goals following the Player Statements

Luke, cont.: "Once we have enough constraints and player statements together, then we (finally!) start building the design. This is where we start doing prototypes and work with UX to flesh out ideas to see how a design may feel, both as its own entity and how it works with the rest of the game. Fun fact: I built a very early prototype in Excel for one of the ways we thought about solving the Problem Statements using a lot of buttons and scripting. (Important note: Designers aren't programmers! :) )"

Very early prototype for skill tree functionality exploration—names are placeholders

And that’s just the beginning! Once a game designer like Luke has established the vision of the feature to address the Problem Statement, it then moves over to one of our UX Designers to start exploring how our players might interact with it.

Bruno Porrio: "As a UX designer, my job is to approach design in Dreadwolf from a player-experience perspective. Our team partners up with other devs across the project and through ideation, prototyping, iteration, research, and feedback we help shape the vision for how players will interact with the game—from in-world signs and how the player affects the world to user interfaces and interaction design." "Let’s use the skill tree as an example. We take what starts as an early vision from the systems design team and poke holes, ask questions, and start developing what the feature will look and feel like (in this case, through user-interface design). We usually start with sketches, interactive wireframes, mock-ups, or in-game prototypes and validate them through testing and multiple rounds of feedback. At the end of the day, it’s a process where the system informs the experience design, and the experience design helps shape the system."

Initial class specialization skill tree wireframe—node total & layout subject to change

Bruno, cont.: "After multiple rounds of iteration and validation, we landed on the finalized design of the skill tree (which we can’t wait to show you). It was very important to us that the fantasy of playing a certain class and the customization options would come across clearly and at a glance without overwhelming the player. It was key to our team to take something that is usually complex and make it accessible and simple to read." "Overall, I love the skill tree. Not only because it’s an intuitive, fun part of our game, but because it’s also a great example of how the Experience Design team can help craft the vision in partnership with the systems design team."

From there, another designer jumps in to take the vision and mock-ups and turn them into something tangible in the Frostbite engine. We call those devs our Technical UX Designers. Game Designers, UX Designers, and Technical UX Designers constantly work together, providing back-and-forth feedback on each other’s work all the way until a feature is completed.

Kelsey Wicentowich: "Once the design is in a good place and the system has been stood up, it's passed over to a Technical Designer (like me!) for implementation. Technical UX Designers are actually a relatively new position at BioWare. The first ones were originally brought on a few years ago to help bridge the gap between the UX designers, programmers, and artists as UI (user interface) technologies changed and advanced."

In-engine mock-up—not representative art

Kelsey, cont.: "We use mock-ups provided by the UX Designer as a starting point and build out the UI in-game, including the general layout and navigation of the screen. Every UI is a collaborative effort between the XD (Experience Design) team and other pillars of the game team. We go back and forth with programmers and other game designers to figure out how to gather the data we need to display to the player. Larger features, like the character screen, really come alive once you start pulling in even more departments like character design and lighting to bring it all together." "But the work doesn't stop once the feature is functional in-game. It's at this point that we can truly start to evaluate how it feels and how it reads to a player. Does the navigation work well? Is the information overwhelming or confusing? Designs change and iteration continues until we find the right balance between the designer's vision and the player experience."

From features like the Detailed Stats page that cater to RPG enthusiasts to hand-crafted locations you’ll come to explore and more, design is a topic we could talk about endlessly. It’s a subject we’ll likely touch on again in the future, too, when we talk about other parts of game development, so keep an eye out!

Every week, we see so much amazing community artwork from all of you. It’s always a delight to share some of the incredible pieces here! Seeing you bring these characters to life in unique styles is such a wonderful treat for everyone on the team. [click here to see the art and art section]

This year, we also wanted to provide you all with a direct way of asking us questions. Now, we can’t answer every question, but we’ll try to answer what we can in our upcoming BCUs. There will undoubtedly be some that we’ll have to save for later, though.

Questions like “when will a big reveal trailer drop?” or “when does the game come out?” are things we’ll save for official announcements. However, if you have questions about a BCU’s topic (including past BCUs), games we’ve made, or other relevant questions that come to mind, please feel free to ask! You can even just ask a fun question you want devs to answer.

We’ll be keeping an eye out on Twitter (#AskBioWare), community subreddits, and community Discord servers for questions you all want to have answered. We’re looking forward to answering some!

Thanks for giving this a read! We hope you learnt something new and better understand how we’re crafting Dreadwolf. Everything we do is in hopes that we can make something great for you, and getting to talk about that is something we’re eager to do. We have a lot more we want to talk about, too.

As always, please let us know what you think of these blogs! We love hearing your thoughts—it really helps us when we’re deciding on the things we want to share.

Until next time!

—The BioWare Team [source]

[lightningthunderstorm]

My problem with Sarada’s timeskip outfit

I wasn’t going to do this but with the number of times i have seen that outfit on my FY page on other platforms, I kinda wanna gauge my eyes out.

But I’ll refrain from that and explain why I don’t like it. If you like it that’s your thing.

I won’t be too mean so let’s get to the Pros first.

- This is Ikemoto’s own flare and I respect that. Kishimoto did encourage him to do this own thing rather than copy his style, and he’s doing it, so that’s a plus.

- It helps separate Kishi’s and Ike’s work better.

- It’s kinda cool and fashionable once you get use to it. The outfit is also a continuation of her pre timeskip ( which is also problematic for me)

However, for me the Cons outweighs the Pros about 3 times at least

1. It doesn’t suit Sarada as a person.

She’s quite level-headed and practical since the beginning of the series. Sarada also doesn’t express her emotions openly. She’s not much of a fashion gal who needs to dress cute and sexy all the time as well.

She’s also a responsive and active girl.

As we know, outfit is a big part of character design, it shows the readers part of the character’s characteristics, and we can understand which vibes they gonna give off.

Heels and loose jackets don’t help indicate the activeness, maturity and seriousness that Sarada has.

The jacket and the shoes being big and heavy don’t indicate a powerful taijutsu user who has Chidori ( a technique that is speed based) as one of her arsenal.

Various accessories don’t show a girl who is efficient and analytical right on the spot.

So a drippy and ngl sexy outfit doesn’t help showing what kind of person she actually is.

2. The design doesn’t match the world building

Yes this is peace time, yes it is also a fantasy world, but Naruto character designs have always been more functionalities oriented. Tell me you look at a basic jounin outfit and say it doesn’t scream life bulletproof jacket.

However it’s still a fantasy so not everything has to 100% be functionalism because if that’s the case then they’ll all wear bulletproof jackets.

If you see the main designs of each period you can see how it evolved over time: from samurai-ish armor to bulletproof style jacket and lighter version of it in Boruto time.

This problem comes in 2 parts

- It hinders Sarada’s very own power

She has her mother’s strength and her father’s ninjutsu, which requires her being fast and active. A big bomber jacket which is always fallen on one shoulder ( and stay there with all of her movements smh ) doesn’t help her very physical fighting style.

And you better tell me how this kind of sleeves does not hinder her hands’ signs, esp the thumbs.

- The design contradicts a very crucial element of Naruto’s clothing design: Maneuverability

This one is quite a controversial and people have screamed left and right about this so I’ll just argue some stuff they said

1. Heels are not a problem. She can fight in heels since there were other women in Naruto did that.

Yes and no.

Yes theoretically she can. However Sarada as an active teen Chunin won’t do that.

The famous examples of women who fight in heels were Mei, Tsunade and Konan. However Konan often turns herself into paper and she floats/ flies a lot so she didn’t even need her legs as much lol.

Mei and Tsunade are straight up Kages, they don’t have to fight that often. And when they have to fight, it’s either ambush or a sudden wtf thing appears out of nowhere.

If you look at every Chunin girl designs, none of them fight in heels. Especially those taijutsu specials aka Tenten, Hinata and her mom!

2. There are ppl who wear long coats but still can fight so can she. ( aka the Akatsuki and Hinata)

The coat is part of the character designs to help gives off a cool, dangerous and mysterious vibe for the new villain, so that the readers can be hooked and keep reading.

Still the coat is quite easy to move in even when it’s zipped up.

The lower part ( idk what to call it ) can still split apart after that.

Hinata has a big jacket but it’s to show her shyness and introverted nature, and she zips that shit up wtf.

Summary:

I guess my very main problem is that it doesn’t suit Sarada’s very own character, the others are just favour to the main dishes.

Thank you for reading till the end. I’m also happy to hear other takes on this.

[farewell-superiors]

I’m having so many thoughts about @ammstify’s persona 6 idea for it being about nature and being based on Arthurian legend but as more of a spin-off but I’m in the “pacing while brainstorming” phase which means that I have too much energy to sit down and actually write down my ideas so I may as well start a post that’s like… just a bunch of ramblings about ideas. Have so at least it’s WRITTEN DOWN and I won’t forget anything. If I think enough I might even make a fanfic in the style of steal the truth (which you should absolutely read btw it’s genuinely one of the best video game adaptations with how well it integrates persona’s calendar mechanic and social links into its story structure) but that would require a lot of foresight and planning (hence why u want to WRITE SHIT DOWN)

Anyway here goes. Spoilers for something that I just made up but might make into an actual thing in the future I guess lol

The themes are about growth (there's LOTS of plant imagery), moving on, and how it gets better (the sun will always rise, darkest before dawn, etc. (there's a lot of day/night imagery as well)), and it looks at the relationship between humans and the environment.

The setting will probably be Kyoto, or at least some city, but I'm undecided about whether the characters are high school or uni students. Both have their pros and cons and I just have to figure them out. I'm leaning towards Uni?

The actual persona elements take place in the sea of souls, although it's more accurate to say the field of souls, as it's an undending field of grass, flowers, and the odd tree/hill, with every bit of flora representing a life. Select people will travel to the sea of souls in their sleep, but sleeping in the sea of souls won't get you out, so if someone is there without a way out, it looks like they're in a coma. If they happen to die in there (haven't completely figured out shadow mechanics yet, don't know if day/night cycles in the sos would be over a few weeks (to represent the collective unconscious) or over a characters journey (because it's cool imagery)) the body will start growing vines and leaves as their pulse slowly fades.

One way to get out is through the velvet room: In the sea of souls there is a battlefield, with velvet blue warbanners rising amongst the bloodstained foliage, and in the centre is a familiar long nosed man sitting on a particularly comfy looking rock, with a warrior clad in a deep blue leather armour brandishing a spear and shield. As neither protagonist is a wild card (whoops spoiler) Igor doesn't act as the guy who fuses your personas, he's like a guide both through your journey and on your way back to the real world. Maybe belladonna and nameless are also there, who knows.

Persona users have a body part wrapped in foliage, vines, flowers, and the like (the location can be thematic, it’s as if wrapped in chains), and when summoned the foliage chains break and rapidly grow into the summoned persona.

Protag A (who I shall refer to as Sun because that’s their arcana) is a kind young man who was diagnosed with cancer. This diagnosis comes shortly after moving to a new city to start university, so he rightly is in a lot of turmoil and feeling alone. One of the way he copes is by having a fairly dark cynical sense of humour, contrasting with his kind and caring personality. I’m not set on a subject he does, I’m thinking natural sciences, it’s got a wide range of topics and, most importantly, MATHS (this isn’t a joke). His starting persona is Arthur, his second awakening is Arturus Rex, both of the sun arcana, and his ultimate persona is Excalibur, of the world arcana.

Protag B (who I shall refer to as Moon) is a standoffish young woman in the year above sun. An abuse survivor, her father (her only living relative) recently was jailed for what he did, but she still holds a deep contempt for humanity who she thinks has failed her. Initially forced to interact with sun because of a scheme where second years help first years, she stays with him because of a shared goal once they enter the sea of souls. Her story arc is about growing to care for others, learning to see the good in people, and stopping seeking revenge. Her starting persona is Lancelot, who evolves into white knight, both of the moon arcana, and her ultimate persona is Galahad of the world arcana (I’m intentionally hiding some things but oh well lol. The personas are thought out, I’ll tell you that).

I’ve not settled on social links or party members, I’ve got a few ideas, like Sun’s maths professor (who would either be magician or hierophant) and the Lovers arcana, but nothing concrete.

Getting into real endgame spoilers now, the premise is that two gods, Pendragon and Morgan le Fay, are arguing over whether humanity should suffer or not. Pendragon thinks they're a stain on the world and should be wiped out, while Morgan le Fay thinks they should live in eternal bliss. Given that the themes are about moving on and growing, neither is very good, or rather, life is a combination of the two. They're represented by the moon and the sun in the sea of souls, when Pendragon is "winning" it's night, when Morgan is "winning" it's day. towards the end of the story the party beats Pendragon without realising that now Morgan le Fay is able to act unchecked and so the regular course of life grinds to a halt. During the course of the story each protagonist holds one in themself, Moon with her contempt for humanity holds pendragon, and Sun with his wish to live with his friends forever holds Morgan, but once Moon starts to see the good in humanity her mind boots out pendragon (hence why they fight him), and once Sun accepts that a life in stagnation isn't a life living at all, his mind boots out Morgan (hence why they fight her). Basically, I really really really like the ideas of third semester and am doing something similar lol.

At the start Sun and Moon are visited by a Doctor informing him of his cancer diagnosis and a chief prosecutor "congratulating" her about her father's loss in court respectively. Both talk about their fascination with/contempt of humanity, and end with "do you agree?", a cloaked agreement to a contract that makes them their champion, for these are Morgan le Fay and Pendragon in human forms. A side effect of tricking them into agreeing to a contract, however, is letting them into the velvet room, a mistake that would lead to both of the gods' downfall.

Ah shit I haven't even tackled how dungeons and stuff work. I know at least the last one is gonna be called Avalon.

I think I'm just gonna go ahead and post this for now, I might edit it later so uhhh stay tuned I guess

[jasdiary]

“Do you wanna play? Take a nap? Ooh! What about a snack??”

Name : Kisumi Inuzuka

Nicknames : ‘Sumi, Kiki-Chan (Miriam • @sakuramidnight15 ), Pudding (Hoshiko and Hikari • @starry-night-rose ), Goldie (Che’nya), Little Lady (Prince Rielle)

Jp Va : Ryouko Maekawa

En Va : Jackie Lastra

Age : 17

Height : 168 cm(5’6)

Homeland : Land Of Pyroxene

Birthday : April 16th (4/16)

Zodiac sign : Aries

Species : Human…?

Hair Color : Cyber Yellow

Eye Color : Gingerbread Brown

Gender : Female (She/Her)

Sexuality : Pansexual

Family : Adoptive Mother and Adoptive Father

Occupation : Student at Royal Sword Academy, Member of the Sanwaii dorm (By @twsted-princess !!)

Twisted from : PomPomPurin (Sanrio)

More info and PNGS down below!!

School Year : Second

School Year : Second

Class : 2-A (no.3)

Best Subject : Animal Languages

Worst Class : Flying

Club : Cooking

Dominant Hand : Right

Favorite Food : Pudding, anything soft!

Least Favorite Food : Nutritional foods

Likes : Her friends, napping, eating snacks, taking people's shoes???, animals, Hanging out with the Itsuki twins

Dislikes : Staying in one place, Being told to stay still, Insensitive people, being ignored

Hobbies : Taste testing Miriam’s desserts, making friends, baking, practicing giving her frowny face, coloring

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

Personality :

Kisumi is just a really happy girl! She's always smiling, almost never seeming upset or angry. Kisumi’s always seen talking to people as she loves making friends. She’s very energetic so that tends to drive some people away. She’s trying to calm herself down though! Her brain just moves at 180 mph. Kisumi absolutely CANNOT stay in one place for long periods of time. All in all, she’s a very sweet person who would do anything for her friends. She's just ur local golden retriever!

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

Unique Magic :

Turn That Frown Upside Down!

The user can control anyone’s emotions if they touch them for more than 3 seconds. This usually affects the other person in terms of control and focus, depending on the user's emotion. In order for a person’s emotions to be controlled, the user must feel those emotions they wish to have the other person feel. Angry, Sad, Happy, all of them have their pros and cons. If used too much or to its extent, the user’s emotions will go haywire and become uncontrollable. This will usually last from 2-3 hours depending on the usage.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

Backstory :

Kisumi’s biological mother died when Kisumi was only 8 months old, leaving her to spend her childhood in an orphanage. Despite her situation, she always kept a smile on her face and saw the bright side to everything. Until one day, a couple came into the orphanage looking to adopt. Almost instantly, they noticed this bright, smiley girl coloring with a plate of half-eaten pudding next to her. The then 5 year old Kisumi had been approached and rejected many times so she was almost comically shocked when two adults came up to her, asking about what she was coloring. Kisumi and the couple spent a long time talking and playing, they knew she was the kid for them. When the couple asked how she would feel about being adopted, her smile fell. At that point, no one has seen Kisumi without her smile. She believed she was dreaming, until the older woman gently pinched her cheek. This was real. She would have a family and a home she could call her own. Then, she bursted into tears. Kisumi is forever grateful for the life she has and continues to be the smiley and happy person she is.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

Random Trivia!

New dorm members usually get warned about Kisumi’s little…shoe hiding problem.

She’s extremely good at making friends, she just talks to someone and voilà! besties!

Kisumi isn’t just blindly optimistic. She knows when people are being rude and mean to her, she just chooses to ignore it because they don’t matter!!

She is oblivious to people who have crushes on her tho LMAOO

She’ll defend the fuck outta her friends. Or anyone tbh.

If you become friends with Kisumi, there’s a high chance you’ll be napping together

She’s a hugger. But if someone isn’t comfortable with hugging or touching, she’ll respect that and give them affection in a different way!!

She’s friends with Kalim Al-Asim from NRC! They’re similar so it was a given HAHSJSH

[cyberstudious]

hi, im an high school sophomore interested in computer science and im also new to your blog. i was wondering if you would recommend conputer science and what have been your strengths and pitfalls with the field? thank u so much for your time.

Hi! Welcome to my blog, haha thanks for stopping by and sending an ask!

My path was self-taught game dev/web dev -> CS degree -> cybersecurity, so that's the perspective I'm writing from. My current job is basically just writing code for cybersecurity-related things (which I really like!). I do enjoy computer science and I think it's a great field to get into because you can do so many different things! I listed out my personal pros/cons under the cut but the tl;dr is that CS is a good field if you like constantly learning things, building things, and knowing how stuff works under the hood.

things I like about computer science:

so many options and things you can learn/specialize in

having programming skills and knowing how computers work gives you the foundational knowledge to succeed in a lot of things, both practical and theoretical/research-based. if you don't really like programming, there is plenty of theoretical math stuff you can do that's related to CS (this is what my partner is going back to grad school for haha)

lots of info available online for self-guided learning

do you want to learn how to make X? someone has almost certainly already written a tutorial for that and put it online for free. there are lots of open-source projects out there where you can read their documentation and even look at the code to figure out how things work!

there is always more to learn

tech evolves and you have to keep your skills up to date - that means there's always something new and interesting happening!

being able to build things

do you want to make an app? a website? a video game? a quick script to automate some annoying task that you do all the time? you can do that. all you need is a computer and some time! once you have some skills, it's amazing when you realize you can just Make Stuff literally whenever

understanding how things actually work

in a world of apps & operating systems that actively try to hide the technical layer of how they work in favor of "user friendliness", there is power to understanding what's actually happening inside your computer

problem-solving mindset

this kind of goes hand-in-hand with being able to build things, but eventually you get the hang of looking at a problem, breaking it down, and figuring out how to build a solution. this is something that I knew was an important soft skill, but I didn't really have any concrete examples until I started working with some technical but non-programmer coworkers. knowing programming & how to build things really does just help you solve problems in a concrete way and I think that's pretty cool.

things that can make computer science difficult:

programming is a cycle of failing until you succeed

programming is not something you get right on your first try - there's a reason that patches and updates and bug fixes exist. this might take some getting used to at first, but after that it's not an issue. failing constantly is just part of the process, but that means that solving those problems and feeling great when you figure it out is also part of the process!

there's so much to learn, you will have to go out and learn some of it on your own

a CS degree will not fully prepare you to be a professional developer, you will likely have to learn other languages & frameworks on your own (this is kind of a good thing btw - the average college probably isn't updating their curriculum often enough to teach you relevant frameworks/some professional coding things).

there is always more to learn

this is the other side of tech always evolving - sometimes it can feel like you're constantly behind, and that's okay - you can't learn literally everything! just do your best, explore a bit, and figure out the subset of things that you're actually interested in

lots of screen time

there are tech jobs where you can be active and move around and stuff, but I work from home and write code most of the day so I spend a ton of time in front of my computer. this isn't a huge problem, I just make an effort to spend time on my non-computer hobbies outside of work. something to note when you're looking for jobs, I suppose!

occasional toxic culture?

I'm thinking of "leetcode grindset bros" here because that was a common character at the college I went to - just ignore them and do things at a pace that feels comfortable to you, you'll be fine

on a related note, in my experience there will always be some dude who has been programming since like the age of 5 and seems to know everything and is kind of an ass about it, ignore these people too and you'll be fine

things are getting better, but CS is still very much a male-dominated field. however, there are plenty of organizations focused on supporting minority groups in tech! you can find a support group and there will always be people rooting for you.

that got kinda long lol, but feel free to reach out if you have any more questions!

[eemcintyre]

My (possibly controversial bc the "Top Gun" films aren't there) list of favorite TC films and why:

**There will be a wealth of spoilers below, if that’s something you want to avoid**

P.S. I still enjoy the Top Gun films every now and then, but they’re not really my jam as much as a lot of his other films/characters :)

Jerry Maguire

Pros: So funny but also so inspiring and wholesome; his performance is so intense and sweet and entertaining too- my man was robbed in the awards category as ALWAYS >:( I also find this to be his most relatable character, as I too am constantly teetering on the edge of sanity and everyone is mildly concerned, I enjoy talking to little kids, and am also struggling with what to do with my life and petrified of commitment. Everyone’s roles, even the smallest ones like Marcy, Laurel, Ray, and even the divorced women’s support group are crucial to the experience, and Ray in particular is simply the cutest. Additionally, I love “Shelter from the Storm” and Renee Zellweger's delivery and the fact that she is constantly serving fits. A bit of everything for everyone- we have romance, we have comedy, we have drama, we have sports for lord's sake

Cons: ummm… it ends?? Literally nothing?

2. Far and Away

Pros: I ship it so hard; all the good tropes are there, as another Tumblr user pointed out- enemies to lovers, there’s only one bed, class differences, etc. The vintage aesthetic goes hard, the John Williams score goes even harder; all the fight scenes with a sweaty, rosy-cheeked, bloody, shirtless Tom Cruise, and all the humorous moments I love to quote in my equally poor Irish accent: “That’s in about five hours”; “You came back from the dead to tell me that I’m odd?” The only Tom/Nicole collab that I enjoyed, but I enjoyed it so damn much.

Cons: ummm… same goes for this one- it ends? The first time I watched it too, when I thought he was going to die at the end I was unbelievably pissed and drowned in unfathomable sorrow, if that counts?

3. Cocktail

Pros: So many laughs (most intentional, some not lol, we can all be adults and admit it gets mildly ridiculous, but this movie is meant to be enjoyed not overanalyzed), the under-appreciated goddess Elisabeth Shue, Tom’s floofy hair and baby voice, and something for everyone- a bit of romance, comedy, drama, coming-of-age, etc. Little moments like the part where he flips two bottles and sticks his tongue out, the part where he says “the orgasm” and bends to kiss a girl’s hand, oooooohh boy it’s cold shower time. I also never knew bottle flipping could be so sexually charged. Is that a kink?

Cons: Brian is not the brightest a lot of the time and his excuses/rationale for doing things can be very frustrating (we all know what I’m talking about- if sOMEONE DARES YOU YOU’VE GOTTA TAKE A DARE are we TWELVE??); I also find quite a few of the characters irritating- Doug, Kerry, Bonnie, Coral… I know they’re supposed to be, but STILL, a girl can only take so much

4. The Last Samurai

Pros: Tom’s glorious mane and his character being such a sweetheart and redeeming his honor; everyone’s subtle but extremely expressive performances, the gorgeous scenery, the cute lil children. The inspirational quotes about "finding the perfect blossom" and "life in every breath", and the power duo Nathan and Katsumoto; the bros, the buddies, the besties, if you will

Cons: that almost everyone frickin DIES??? Also poor Tom gets hit with sticks a lot

5. Knight and Day

Pros: Incredibly funny and we need more movies like this that don’t take themselves too seriously. My mom almost choked to death on a Perrier water the first time we watched this. The chemistry is good. Roy Miller is incredibly wholesome, enthusiastic, and full of romantic whimsy. “Private Eyes” by Hall & Oates is always a banger. A fun and cheery comfort movie.

Cons: literally none if you don’t overanalyze it and just enjoy a fun movie the way it was meant to be enjoyed

6. American Made

Pros: Fun, artsy directing style, intriguing story that I couldn't guess the plot twists of; very different character from what he usually plays in terms of mannerisms and voice (lord take the wheel the things that the Louisiana accent does to me) and he is serving so many fits; the soundtrack is full of bops, and I forget just how very funny it is, especially scenes with Lucy. Lucy is a wonderful character and God bless Sarah Wright for pushing to give her more screen time.

Cons: …he dies? The end makes me v sad tbh. Also, the brother-in-law character was irritating and unnecessary as hell, imo

7. Mission: Impossible franchise (esp. 1, 3, 5, 6)

Pros: just Tom being Tom. Benji, Luther, Ilsa, and Julia are all wonderful, the theme is fire, and don’t we all just want to participate in a heist while in our best designer formal wear

Cons: we D O  N O T talk about MI 2; I could also personally use a bit more character development, but at the same time I know that’s not the kind of movies these are

8. Valkyrie

Pros: love a good anything about WWII; everyone has a favorite historical period and that is mine and idc if it’s BASIC. I can’t believe I never heard this story before, and it was so fascinating and exciting (even tho you know what's coming the whole time, you somehow still think "y'know, maybe they're really gonna do it"). I'm also not afraid to admit that he looked fresh as hell with that hairstyle and the eyepatch and in uniform. Good soundtrack too.

Cons: light on the character development and interaction; it’s pretty much just *down to business* from the beginning. And sure, you know this going into it, but THEY FAIL AND EVERYONE FREAKING DIES

9. A Few Good Men

Pros: love a good crime/legal drama, love a good autumnal aesthetic; Demi being a girlboss icon who has Been Through It and is just so done with anything and everything, lots of entertaining humor; Jack Nicholson is always a plus.

Cons: The guy from Twin Peaks annoys me, Daniel Kaffee is kind of an annoying lil bitch too a lot of the time, and I wish Demi and Tom would have kissed, just o n c e

10. Minority Report

Pros: another John Williams score, Agatha must be protected at all costs, the scene where she tells John and Lara about what Sean could have grown up to be like TEARS ME TO SHREDS. Very exciting overall, and I love a good free will vs. determinism debate. I’m also glad it ended happy and for once the dystopian hellscape was defeated.

Cons: It gets pretty slow and boring from time to time, I don’t care about most of the other characters (particularly the wife), and I am not a fan of that type of filmmaking where all of the colors are washed out and lighting is scarce

Thank you for coming to my TED talk; fare thee well

[haliteatiger]

What are the drawbacks and pluses of your werewolves?

Oh gosh, it's been a while since I thought about this...

Pros:

Advanced sense of smell and hearing in both forms - better transformed, of course

dark vision, better low-light vision at least

easier to get into shape and maintain it, stronger and more resilient than average in human form. Higher chances of survival if gravely injured by anything other than silver.

No diet restrictions, in fact, you can probably eat more of what you love and still burn it off very quickly as, even in human form, a werewolf's metabolism is very efficient

Genetic hair loss, what's that?

Heal quicker than a human - a cut can take a day or two to completely heal over, immediately if they transform. More devastating injuries such as a broken limb can still take a few weeks, but almost half the duration of a normal person, even less if they transform regularly. (Barring complications such as if the bone is set wrong or the damage was initially catastrophic enough to do extensive nerve damage. Werewolves can still suffer long-lasting effects of catastrophic injuries and cannot regrow limbs completely.)

Weirdly more resistant to higher doses of radiation - although of course it will eventually cause damage or kill them. They can also be sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, which is believed to be tied to their strong sixth sense and some werewolves' abilities to communicate with the dead.

As mentioned above, more sensitive to the spirit world - some more than others, but generally all werewolves can sense an unnatural or unusual presence. I suppose this can be both a pro and a con.

Resistant to most forms of magic, but can generally only cast their own brand of magic, which is both innate and also draws on the (spiritual) power of the moon. All werewolves have the ability to even unconsciously cast low-impact spells that help them to maintain their autonomy from the rest of the world. So things like being able to momentarily slip between dimensions to avoid detection, intimidate someone without any apparent reason to be intimidating, influence someone enough so that they may not even remember your face and barely their interaction with you. This draws on the same sources that can cause them to transform, however, so if they are a learned magic user, can overspend themselves enough to restrict transformation. Subtle ones like those mentioned above don't seem to impact their energy as much, if at all.

Increased tolerance for pain and cold resistance, especially in were form.

Can be an embarrassment and not care, because you're a ferocious fuck-off werewolf.

Seemingly endless stamina.

Extremely long lifespan.

Cons:

Advanced senses can cause migraines, especially in younger werewolves. Also be a huge distraction as your sensitivity to noise and certain smells can be pretty severe.

Advanced healing = more severe pain and incredible amounts of itching during the healing process.

More sensitivity to bright light

Reduced color vision at the cost of better darkvision. Werewolves are mildly colorblind, more severely so in were form. Being a werewolf may only improve the quality of your vision through the subtle changes made to your eye over time through subsequent transformations. This phenomenon is referred to as "Transformation Drift" and can happen to any part of the body, for better or worse.

Repeated transformations too quickly can have some very annoying side effects such as migraine, body aches, nausea, and a feeling of numbness or "static" under the skin and in appendages. Can also result in hair growth that may not fall out even in human form and may take a few more transformations more evenly spread apart in order for it to go away for good.

Transformations can become quicker over time, but will always hurt. Werewolves tend to adapt to this, however, which results in an overall increased pain tolerance.

Transformations are mandatory and must be done at least once a month to maintain good health and prevent a spontaneous transformation. Resisting transformations can result in restlessness, irritability, mood swings, insomnia, severe hunger often followed by nausea and vomiting, fever, tremors, migraines, brain fog, dissociation, and depression. Not necessarily all of those at once, however. Fortunately, there are concoctions made by witches and the like that can treat these symptoms and stave off transformations, but it comes at a high cost.

More prone to certain conditions such as depression and various forms of cancer. May also suffer dementia later in life and "formlock" - the inability to transform.

Can come into direct conflict with their more bestial aspects, especially during certain times of the month when their "Other" or animal instincts are strongest. Some describe it almost as a separate entity entirely that has influence over them, others feel it more as a natural and integrated part of themselves. Particularly those who are natural-born (granted Bittens practically do not exist in this setting, except for Denholm, but that's a whole other basket of worms.) Discipline is required to keep this in check, otherwise the consequences can be disastrous. In more severe cases, this "Other" can manifest as an entirely separate personality.

Sensitivity to silver, albeit this can be mitigated through repeated exposure.

One must live with occasional feelings of paranoia - whether because they feel they have given themselves away or because they're sensitive to the presence of spirits.

Werewolves are strongly drawn to one another, being pack animals, and with their instincts being closer to the surface of their psyche than humans, will feel the need to be close to other werewolves in a community. Not all of them feel this way, however, and there are those - like Autumn - who seem content to be on their own - or are just at the very least much pickier about who they hang out with because reasons. But, for those that require it, it can be a very lonely existence as werewolves are quite rare, and it's never a guarantee you'll get along with the ones you do meet.

Animal instincts can make you seem impulsive and can cause trouble if you're too reckless.

Metabolism may be more efficient than any other animal, but it still requires a steady intake of calories. Werewolves can easily starve themselves, although their bodies will transform as a reflex to resisting death. This can have counterintuitive effects, however, triggering going full beast mode and becoming mindlessly ravenous until sated.

More dense anatomy = poor buoyancy. (Although, there are stories of werewolves simply having walked across the bottoms of lakes.)

Your life will revolve around your transformations, and you will find yourself making a lot of preparations in the event your bestial instincts get the better of you. Stuff like hidden supply caches in typical roaming spots, being sure to take out the garbage on full moons, no wearing tight clothing if you're at risk of transforming, someone just gave you a beautiful silver necklace and expects you to wear it all the time, groceries are expensive, and you need a lot of them, better become good at mending your own clothes, it's going to take way more than one or two beers to get you feeling drunk, etc.

Extremely long life span.

I think that's just about everything. Hope you enjoy this book I just wrote for you, Anon. ^^;

[switchcase]

Im in my twenties and after an accident i need mobility aids. I dont know where to start so ive been reaching out to people on tumblr ( googling just gives me ads and its so frustrating). I was wondering if you have any recommendations on canes and wheelchairs

So this is going to be hard to hear but I really cannot give an outright recommendation to you without potentially causing you long-term harm. It depends what conditions/difficulties you have basically, and using the wrong mobility aid can cause long-term physical damage to your body to the point of it being another injury you need PT/aids for. It is always best to discuss with your dr and OT what is best for you. Even if you get the right aid, you still need to talk to an OT to make sure you're using it correctly (including correctly for you specifically). Using a cane wrong for example can cause shoulder damage.

Canes are for light/moderate mobility issues and are best for if you have balance issues or one single bad leg/the side that is bad switches but is not both sides. Canes can be purchased from most drug stores (CVS, Walgreens, etc).

Single point cane -- not really for putting weight on, just for balance.

3 or 4 point cane -- more stability, can put more weight on but not a lot.

Rolling cane -- less arm motion.

Crutch -- more stability, can put a LOT more weight on, can be in pairs so if both sides are bad you can get help with both sides.

You didn't ask but walkers are good for needing more weight on something while still retaining mobility in standing upright/walking. Walkers can also be purchased from drug stores.

Knee walker -- you put your knee on it if you have one bad leg and then roll.

Standard walker -- no wheels, you lift it like a cane, has good support for weight

2/3/4 wheel walkers -- they roll, less arm motion or ability to lift the walker. The number of wheels just makes it lighter if there's less (for lifting into cars and such).

You also didn't ask but there are mobility aids that are for the specific purpose of rehabilitation, if your injury is one where you might recover. Such as rehab walkers.

Wheelchairs are custom fit to you, everything from the center of gravity to the height of the backrest. If you have the wrong center of gravity you might fall a lot for example because your wheelchair is too tippy or you might not be able to go over a curb because it's not tippy enough. If I went over all the various customizations for wheelchairs we would be here forever but there is everything from standing wheelchairs to sports chairs to ones that lean back to reduce pressure sores etc. Do NOT get a transport/hospital chair as a permanent chair unless you have someone to push you because a transport chair especially if used often/for long periods will completely destroy your shoulders. They are not meant to be pushed by the user, they slow down when self propelled. Common brands of chair are TiLite and Quickie but there are several others, which mostly work with insurance but some do not (ex: hands on concepts doesn't take ins at all).

Manual chairs come in rigid and foldable. Both have pros and cons that will simply depend on your activity level and specific conditions. Manual chairs are for if you can push yourself with your arms and shoulders. You can hurt yourself very easily with a manual chair that doesn't fit properly. They also make power assists for manual chairs for people that can push themselves but fatigue after a while etc. Here's a link to some differences between rigid/foldable: https://www.passionatepeople.invacare.eu.com/folding-vs-rigid-manual-wheelchair-frames-decide/

Power chairs are for those who aren't able to push themselves/push themselves for long. There are a lot of variations of power chair that is specific to the condition, and lots of little add ons to help with daily functioning.

[theharrowing]

hi harrowing!!!!! if this is annoying don't feel like you need to answer but if someone wanted an entry point to your amazing stories, where would you suggest they start

˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

DANA, HELLO!!! 😍🥰

this is now annoying at all!!! i am so flattered that you asked!!!

soooo, i write both reader insert and member x member fics, and my answer depends on which you prefer. since tumblr users tend to prefer reader insert, then i would recommend these two, to get a sense of my style:

What, now? | oneshot, 13.6k words, ☆ ❣ Jungkook x Female Reader | ♡ ☽ ❣ besties to lovers, requited unrequited, porn without plot ⚠ drug use (weed) ↳ For as long as you and Jungkook have been friends, your feelings for him have been unrequited. Or have they?

Devil with the Mint Hair | oneshot, 3.4k words, ☆ ❣ Yoongi x Female Reader | ☽ ❣ brother’s bestie, enemies to fuckers, porn without plot ⚠ drug use (weed) & dub con - see fic warnings ↳ You get way too high and finally have sex with your brother’s best friend—and your sworn enemy—Min Yoongi.

they both contain weed smoking; hopefully that is okay!

if you want to dive straight into a series, then Collateral is the way to go, but it is mafia and poly, and it gets very intense and a little violent at times!

Collateral | series, 21 parts, 171k words, ✎☆ ❣ Yoongi x Female Reader x Namjoon | ♡ ☽ ☁ ❣ Feat. MxM Ships, Jungkook x Reader ❣ strangers to lovers, mafia au, poly ⚠ drug use, graphic violence, dark themes - see fic warnings ↳Your ex-boyfriend gets in over his head working for the local mafia, and Boss Min has come to collect his payment: You. But was it simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or has he always had his sights on you?

if you enjoy member x member, then i highly recommend these two, but have a lot more to choose from, as well:

This Sordid Place | 2 parts, 27.4k words, ☆ ❣ Namjoon x Jungkook | ♡ ☽ ❣ strangers to lovers, dating app au ↳ Namjoon breaks down and installs Grindr after his friends complain he is “terminally single,” despite never really being into hook ups. Jungkook is an old pro at the hookup app. Their connection is instant.

Arcade Concessions | oneshot, 14.4k words ❣ Jimin x Taehyung | ♡ ☽ ☁ ❣ idiot friends to loves, requited unrequited, the angst is light ↳ After listening to Jimin whine one too many times about needing to get laid—and feeling the need himself—Taehyung sets the two of them up on a double date with two others. However, over the course of the date, the two of them realize that the feelings they thought were unrequited for the other are, in fact, reciprocated, accidentally third-wheeling their dates in the process.

let me know if this helps!!!!! my list is very long, so if there is a certain person/ship or trope you like the most, i might have something!!! 💜