#can't believe i've already made 50 of these posts

[walnutmistjamie]

fave Ted Lasso moments 50/? : Stop with all the fucking sightseeing shit, you twat.

[just-slightly-chaotic]

i need someone to poke me with a stick every 10 minutes and tell me to study

[treasure-mimic]

So, let me try and put everything together here, because I really do think it needs to be talked about.

Today, Unity announced that it intends to apply a fee to use its software. Then it got worse.

For those not in the know, Unity is the most popular free to use video game development tool, offering a basic version for individuals who want to learn how to create games or create independently alongside paid versions for corporations or people who want more features. It's decent enough at this job, has issues but for the price point I can't complain, and is the idea entry point into creating in this medium, it's a very important piece of software.

But speaking of tools, the CEO is a massive one. When he was the COO of EA, he advocated for using, what out and out sounds like emotional manipulation to coerce players into microtransactions.

"A consumer gets engaged in a property, they might spend 10, 20, 30, 50 hours on the game and then when they're deep into the game they're well invested in it. We're not gouging, but we're charging and at that point in time the commitment can be pretty high."

He also called game developers who don't discuss monetization early in the planning stages of development, quote, "fucking idiots".

So that sets the stage for what might be one of the most bald-faced greediest moves I've seen from a corporation in a minute. Most at least have the sense of self-preservation to hide it.

A few hours ago, Unity posted this announcement on the official blog.

Effective January 1, 2024, we will introduce a new Unity Runtime Fee that’s based on game installs. We will also add cloud-based asset storage, Unity DevOps tools, and AI at runtime at no extra cost to Unity subscription plans this November. We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user. We chose this because each time a game is downloaded, the Unity Runtime is also installed. Also we believe that an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share.

Now there are a few red flags to note in this pitch immediately.

Unity is planning on charging a fee on all games which use its engine.

This is a flat fee per number of installs.

They are using an always online runtime function to determine whether a game is downloaded.

There is just so many things wrong with this that it's hard to know where to start, not helped by this FAQ which doubled down on a lot of the major issues people had.

I guess let's start with what people noticed first. Because it's using a system baked into the software itself, Unity would not be differentiating between a "purchase" and a "download". If someone uninstalls and reinstalls a game, that's two downloads. If someone gets a new computer or a new console and downloads a game already purchased from their account, that's two download. If someone pirates the game, the studio will be asked to pay for that download.

Q: How are you going to collect installs? A: We leverage our own proprietary data model. We believe it gives an accurate determination of the number of times the runtime is distributed for a given project. Q: Is software made in unity going to be calling home to unity whenever it's ran, even for enterprice licenses? A: We use a composite model for counting runtime installs that collects data from numerous sources. The Unity Runtime Fee will use data in compliance with GDPR and CCPA. The data being requested is aggregated and is being used for billing purposes. Q: If a user reinstalls/redownloads a game / changes their hardware, will that count as multiple installs? A: Yes. The creator will need to pay for all future installs. The reason is that Unity doesn’t receive end-player information, just aggregate data. Q: What's going to stop us being charged for pirated copies of our games? A: We do already have fraud detection practices in our Ads technology which is solving a similar problem, so we will leverage that know-how as a starting point. We recognize that users will have concerns about this and we will make available a process for them to submit their concerns to our fraud compliance team.

This is potentially related to a new system that will require Unity Personal developers to go online at least once every three days.

Starting in November, Unity Personal users will get a new sign-in and online user experience. Users will need to be signed into the Hub with their Unity ID and connect to the internet to use Unity. If the internet connection is lost, users can continue using Unity for up to 3 days while offline. More details to come, when this change takes effect.

It's unclear whether this requirement will be attached to any and all Unity games, though it would explain how they're theoretically able to track "the number of installs", and why the methodology for tracking these installs is so shit, as we'll discuss later.

Unity claims that it will only leverage this fee to games which surpass a certain threshold of downloads and yearly revenue.

Only games that meet the following thresholds qualify for the Unity Runtime Fee: Unity Personal and Unity Plus: Those that have made $200,000 USD or more in the last 12 months AND have at least 200,000 lifetime game installs. Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise: Those that have made $1,000,000 USD or more in the last 12 months AND have at least 1,000,000 lifetime game installs.

They don't say how they're going to collect information on a game's revenue, likely this is just to say that they're only interested in squeezing larger products (games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, Fate Grand Order, Among Us, and Fall Guys) and not every 2 dollar puzzle platformer that drops on Steam. But also, these larger products have the easiest time porting off of Unity and the most incentives to, meaning realistically those heaviest impacted are going to be the ones who just barely meet this threshold, most of them indie developers.

Aggro Crab Games, one of the first to properly break this story, points out that systems like the Xbox Game Pass, which is already pretty predatory towards smaller developers, will quickly inflate their "lifetime game installs" meaning even skimming the threshold of that 200k revenue, will be asked to pay a fee per install, not a percentage on said revenue.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Hey Gamers!

Today, Unity (the engine we use to make our games) announced that they'll soon be taking a fee from developers for every copy of the game installed over a certain threshold - regardless of how that copy was obtained.

Guess who has a somewhat highly anticipated game coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2024? That's right, it's us and a lot of other developers.

That means Another Crab's Treasure will be free to install for the 25 million Game Pass subscribers. If a fraction of those users download our game, Unity could take a fee that puts an enormous dent in our income and threatens the sustainability of our business.

And that's before we even think about sales on other platforms, or pirated installs of our game, or even multiple installs by the same user!!!

This decision puts us and countless other studios in a position where we might not be able to justify using Unity for our future titles. If these changes aren't rolled back, we'll be heavily considering abandoning our wealth of Unity expertise we've accumulated over the years and starting from scratch in a new engine. Which is really something we'd rather not do.

On behalf of the dev community, we're calling on Unity to reverse the latest in a string of shortsighted decisions that seem to prioritize shareholders over their product's actual users.

I fucking hate it here.

-Aggro Crab - END DESCRIPTION]

That fee, by the way, is a flat fee. Not a percentage, not a royalty. This means that any games made in Unity expecting any kind of success are heavily incentivized to cost as much as possible.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A table listing the various fees by number of Installs over the Install Threshold vs. version of Unity used, ranging from $0.01 to $0.20 per install. END DESCRIPTION]

Basic elementary school math tells us that if a game comes out for $1.99, they will be paying, at maximum, 10% of their revenue to Unity, whereas jacking the price up to $59.99 lowers that percentage to something closer to 0.3%. Obviously any company, especially any company in financial desperation, which a sudden anchor on all your revenue is going to create, is going to choose the latter.

Furthermore, and following the trend of "fuck anyone who doesn't ask for money", Unity helpfully defines what an install is on their main site.

While I'm looking at this page as it exists now, it currently says

The installation and initialization of a game or app on an end user’s device as well as distribution via streaming is considered an “install.” Games or apps with substantially similar content may be counted as one project, with installs then aggregated to calculate the Unity Runtime Fee.

However, I saw a screenshot saying something different, and utilizing the Wayback Machine we can see that this phrasing was changed at some point in the few hours since this announcement went up. Instead, it reads:

The installation and initialization of a game or app on an end user’s device as well as distribution via streaming or web browser is considered an “install.” Games or apps with substantially similar content may be counted as one project, with installs then aggregated to calculate the Unity Runtime Fee.

Screenshot for posterity:

That would mean web browser games made in Unity would count towards this install threshold. You could legitimately drive the count up simply by continuously refreshing the page. The FAQ, again, doubles down.

Q: Does this affect WebGL and streamed games? A: Games on all platforms are eligible for the fee but will only incur costs if both the install and revenue thresholds are crossed. Installs - which involves initialization of the runtime on a client device - are counted on all platforms the same way (WebGL and streaming included).

And, what I personally consider to be the most suspect claim in this entire debacle, they claim that "lifetime installs" includes installs prior to this change going into effect.

Will this fee apply to games using Unity Runtime that are already on the market on January 1, 2024? Yes, the fee applies to eligible games currently in market that continue to distribute the runtime. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

Again, again, doubled down in the FAQ.

Q: Are these fees going to apply to games which have been out for years already? If you met the threshold 2 years ago, you'll start owing for any installs monthly from January, no? (in theory). It says they'll use previous installs to determine threshold eligibility & then you'll start owing them for the new ones. A: Yes, assuming the game is eligible and distributing the Unity Runtime then runtime fees will apply. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

That would involve billing companies for using their software before telling them of the existence of a bill. Holding their actions to a contract that they performed before the contract existed!

Okay. I think that's everything. So far.

There is one thing that I want to mention before ending this post, unfortunately it's a little conspiratorial, but it's so hard to believe that anyone genuinely thought this was a good idea that it's stuck in my brain as a significant possibility.

A few days ago it was reported that Unity's CEO sold 2,000 shares of his own company.

On September 6, 2023, John Riccitiello, President and CEO of Unity Software Inc (NYSE:U), sold 2,000 shares of the company. This move is part of a larger trend for the insider, who over the past year has sold a total of 50,610 shares and purchased none.

I would not be surprised if this decision gets reversed tomorrow, that it was literally only made for the CEO to short his own goddamn company, because I would sooner believe that this whole thing is some idiotic attempt at committing fraud than a real monetization strategy, even knowing how unfathomably greedy these people can be.

So, with all that said, what do we do now?

Well, in all likelihood you won't need to do anything. As I said, some of the biggest names in the industry would be directly affected by this change, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they're not just going to take it lying down. After all, the only way to stop a greedy CEO is with a greedier CEO, right?

(I fucking hate it here.)

And that's not mentioning the indie devs who are already talking about abandoning the engine.

[Links display tweets from the lead developer of Among Us saying it'd be less costly to hire people to move the game off of Unity and Cult of the Lamb's official twitter saying the game won't be available after January 1st in response to the news.]

That being said, I'm still shaken by all this. The fact that Unity is openly willing to go back and punish its developers for ever having used the engine in the past makes me question my relationship to it.

The news has given rise to the visibility of free, open source alternative Godot, which, if you're interested, is likely a better option than Unity at this point. Mostly, though, I just hope we can get out of this whole, fucking, environment where creatives are treated as an endless mill of free profits that's going to be continuously ratcheted up and up to drive unsustainable infinite corporate growth that our entire economy is based on for some fuckin reason.

Anyways, that's that, I find having these big posts that break everything down to be helpful.

[fuumiku]

Chilcille huh... ngl I was a little suspicious. like why would you do that, huh... hope youre not mischaracterizing anyone in your weird and wacky ship. a little weird. but then you said they both had flat asses and you know what? I salute you and your perfect characterization

The fact you seem to think you managed to not make this ask insulting is baffling. What the hell. Fuck off.

If you actually care to be open minded about the ship, I talk about marchil on my sideblog 24/7. Funnily enough I’m currently 4k words deep into an analysis of their character arc together in canon, but that’ll take some more days to get done. Some notable posts:

Of course without counting the analyses of Chilchuck on his own I’ve made, like my masterpost on his family situation. Or better yet you could also read my fics for them, see how weird and wacky they are here.

Wanna talk about mischaracterisation? They’re literally a comedic duo who interacts 24/7. Marchil is crazy bc ppl are like "did those shipper read with their eyes CLOSED?? They have no chemistry!" Meanwhile canon is like: "She’s obsessed with knowing everything she can about him and she reads him like a book." In her eyes he’s like that extra rare and hard and shiny unlockable dating sim character, that brooding mysterious character trope that’s thrilling to crack open and typically is at the center of the plot. The wife roleplay???? "Hey, did you know his type is blondes. Hey did you know he likes his women pretty and blonde. Hey did you know he likes her hair. Hey did you know that he teases her 24/7 and it’s one of the few things that consistently gets him grinning because he finds her reactions cute." Like a schoolyard bully pulling on the pigtails of the girl he likes.

It’s not like they have any thematic narratives or relevance. It’s not like she’ll live to 1000 and has existential dread about it while he’s logically gonna be her next friend to die at 50 and wether it’s romantic or platonic it’ll terrify her to lose him. It’s not like it’s fear of death x fear of rejection so they’re both obsessed with the thought of loss looming, past and ongoing. It’s not like it’s half-elf x half-foot and there’s an inherent journey that was and still is to dispel prejudices and truly come to see each other. It’s not like he’s painfully real and raw and flawed but still a good man, that he’s not the figure of prince charming that she’s always dreamed of while still being virtuous and worth fighting for. Or you know, her hair being golden and it being the epitome of beauty to him, and his hair turning silver and it being Marcille’s worst nightmare.

Just a weird wacky ship who means nothing but shallow things to people who have weirdo reasons for liking it. Like can you not. If you’re not imaginative enough to think of reasons why this ship may have an appealing dynamic that’s not my issue. But yes, yes, they’re both flat asses to me, thanks.

[smytherines]

Not to get too serious about something that was super fun and we all enjoyed immensely, but I keep thinking about the Mega Bastards headcanon video because the thing is...

in A1P1 Agent Mega is already shown to be drinking alcohol at inappropriate times (i.e. trying to escape a Russian weapons facility with his boyfriend). We tend to focus on Curt's drinking post-banana because of course we do. It's a traumatic event (even if it's his fault, ugh agent Mega) and definitely accelerates his drinking to the degree that he can't do his job for four years.

BUT he clearly already has a drinking problem at the beginning of the show. Owen reacts to him drinking out of the flask like this is a thing Curt regularly does, a thing Owen is at least somewhat concerned about. Curt even (very defensively) teases Owen into taking a swig himself.

So thinking about what Actor Curt Mega believes about Agent Curt Mega, that he regularly used to have to seduce women despite having no interest in women, it just makes the Mega bastards lore (as much fun as I've had with that) incredibly fucking sad. Like most things with SAF, first it's a farce, then it's a tragedy.

Curt Mega even uses the term "masking" (which definitely shot me in the heart as an AuDHD person), and while I personally headcanon Agent Mega as ADHD, there are still plenty of things that ADHDers have to conceal about themselves. A gay neurodivergent man in the 1950s-1960s would have to conceal so much about themselves that it absolutely could lead to substance use as a way to deal with it. Substance use is a pretty serious problem for ADHD & autistic (and queer!!) people precisely because we live in a society that is not built for us, that is often actively hostile to us, and we have to find ways to survive that.

Maybe this is too personal but I'm a chronic oversharer- my dad had alcohol use disorder. It destroyed his life. He passed away several years ago, and one of the hardest parts of my getting diagnosed with ADHD & autism as an adult was having to really reckon with the fact that he wasn't drinking because he was a bad person or because he didn't love me- he was drinking because he was born in the 50s and things like ADHD & autism weren't as well-understood, and as someone who was certainly autistic and possibly ADHD (there's a heavy genetic component there) he had to hide so much of himself. All the time. He was masking 24 hours a day. And I think he coped with that incredible pressure and physical and emotional distress by drinking. That drinking often made him defensive and petty and irresponsible.

Anyways, the more I think about the Mega bastards lore, the more heartbreaking it becomes. Agent Curt Mega's job requires him to have sex he doesn't want to have with people he is not attracted to. His life, safety, reputation, freedom all depend on nobody knowing he is in love with a man.

Actor Curt Mega kinda nailed it when he used the term "masking." There is really no part of Agent Mega's life where he is allowed to be himself, except for **maybe** when he and Owen are alone together, so when Owen "dies" and Agent Mega loses that one tiny place where he gets to be his authentic self, his drinking just goes over the edge.

As an Owen Carvour apologist I sometimes feel like the narrative doesn't really punish Agent Mega for being kind of an asshole in A1P1, but I'm sort of reframing it after the headcanon video, because it does make me wonder how much of that asshole behavior stems from his persistent alcohol use, his defensiveness when people point out issues arising from his alcohol use (Owen, Cynthia criticising his job performance), and the general macho tough guy affect Agent Mega has adopted to just survive living as a neurodivergent gay man in the 1950s.

I know it was just a fun unofficial kickstarter goal (and I got to make like six tinlightenment promo posts out of it so thank you for the promo content, sir), but it has legitimately kinda forced me to extend empathy to Agent Mega in a way that I didn't really do before.

Goddamn, this show has l a y e r s

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 80 (FINAL): Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

CCS Faaaans!!! Welcome to our last (?) monthly appointment with the analysis, commentary and list of translation differences for THE FINAL chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!!! 🥹🥹🥹

Aaaaaah, I can't believe that after seven years and a half of serialization, we're finally here!!

I still remember the strong emotions I felt when I had seen the pages of Nakayoshi for chapter 1 in advance, back in June 2016....it seemed like a miracle, to me. Like a "mirage". And back then I still didn't know just HOW MUCH of a precious miracle this sequel would've become to me!

So it's with shaky hands and a trembling, emotional heart that I write this post to you...I hope you can excuse the length of it (maybe take a break in between?), I'll do my best to highlight the translation differences (unfortunately we definitely got some for this finale, one in particular made me quite mad) so you can spot them immediately among the sea of words and feels I will inevitably pour into my writing...

The "Beaver Moon" was big and shiny just a few days ago, and like all the full moons at the end of the month, it brought us a chapter, a very special finale for this series.

And as I usually do, I really cannot skip this silly moment that accompanied me for so many commentary posts, so here you go, my dear readers, the last Gif Of The Month!!!

I had already decided that, no matter the content of the chapter, I would've used this, because it is my intention to give my congratulations to CLAMP for reaching the end of this wonderful story and also thank them for giving me a multitude of emotions over the years. I've been happy, angry, excited, teary-eyed, frustrated, confused, hopeful, in pain, in love. I'll always be grateful to them for changing their mind and deciding to give us a sequel of this beloved series, after so many years of dreaming of it, and for making me fall in love with the new characters, none excluded!

So, off we go, under the cut for this commentary of the finale!!

The Color Page

Oh my heart 😭😭😭 I really wondered if they would go for it, if they would shoot us with feels right from the first pages and they did, they paid homage to the color page of chapter 50 of the old manga!! ❤️ We can see the same bluebirds that were featured back then, still holding in their little beaks lots of ribbons coming from the pink roses bouquet that Sakura is preciously holding... And that also made me realize that these are the same birds that were featured last month for Akiho and Kaito's color page too!!! ✨ They definitely, definitely wanted us to get the message that all of them will be truly happy from now on. ❤️I actually appreciate even more that Mokona-sensei took care in including those birds for the color page of Akiho/Kaito too.

Back in the old manga, CLAMP had given a comment for the illustration of chapter 50, saying that it was created that way to give a sense of looking forward to the future, and the absence of the Star Wand here was a precise request from Ohkawa to Mokona, because Sakura would've tried her best from now on, without necessarily relying on her magic.

Here, in chapter 80, we can somehow see the same theme but Sakura isn't proceeding "forward" towards a specific direction, it seems more like she's floating comfortably, assisted by her loyal Flight Card, embellished for the occasion (it makes it look kind of "upgraded", right?). I get a sense of Sakura feeling way more comfortable with her natural gift than she's ever been.

The blue sky, the ribbons, the bluebirds, the bouquet of pink flowers, the presence of a flying Card, Sakura's bare feet and her beautiful smile are definitely elements common to both illustrations.

Here Sakura wears a longer outfit, more elegant, which of course makes her look more grown up, as it should!

The editorial text on this last page doesn't carry words of thanks like in the color page of the final chapter of the old manga (those this time around were printed directly on the cover of Nakayoshi), but actually "My invincible spell is....'Everything is surely going to be alright' "! I think it was a very nice choice to feature the Invincible Spell in the front page of this final chapter. ✨

Between this and the absolutely divine Sakura on the cover of Nakayoshi, I can feel my heart softening and filling up with lots of hope and comfort, helping me to cope with the imminent "loss" that I'm going to experience.

BUT! It's not time to let us be caught by those mischievous feelings that want us to cry at all costs, and so we're gonna proceed for the actual chapter!!

The Books In Fujitaka's Library

The final chapter starts with Sakura chatting with Eriol and Kaho in a videocall over the phone!! The thing that immediately stands out is that Sakura is still wearing the full-winter uniform, so it's apparent right from the first panel that rather than turning back, the events are proceeding forward from where we left them, exactly as Sakura wished.

It's still winter, spring is almost here and we're almost towards the end of the 1st year of middle school for Sakura & co.

Another thing that I, as a foreigner, couldn't help but doing is calculating what time should've been for Eriol and Kaho, since they live in Europe like me! 😂😂😂 Having followers and friends all over the world, it's just normal for me. Well, if this is early morning, it should be night for the Europeans, so maybe that background at the window should be black?? 😂😆 Who knows if sensei will fix it, in the tankobon?

But enough with the silly things, let's see what Sakura is discussing with these two.

The very first thing we hear is quite shocking: Sakura slept four entire days to recuperate from the insane fatigue after the last battle!!

When I've heard that, my immediate thought was going towards all kinds of realistic, very practical issues like "did they keep her hydrated, in these four days? What about the bladder? 😱" but come on, way crazier things happened in this finale and this is the last thing we should worry about 😂

Eriol sweetly says that everyone waited impatiently for Sakura to wake up (I can imagine that!! Syaoran and Akiho must have died of anxiety). In Japanese, his sentence is somehow left trailing off, it gives me the impression that he wanted her to know that she's cared for, but in a very polite manner and avoiding to make her feel guilty for it. Sakura, as the good girl she is, tries to apologize for making them worry, apologies that Eriol doesn't need, so she ends up thanking both him and Kaho for what they did for her (and we can see Kaho peeking in the videocall! I'm glad she recovered too! As usual she's wearing nice outfits, the transparent veil over the skirt is interesting!).

Kaho, with her usual "maternal" aura, says that seeing her in good shape and hearing her cheerful voice over the phone is more than enough to her, which makes Sakura happy.

Eriol then proceeds to ask a question about the books he saw flying away at full speed after Sakura removed all the spells and the graphics from the artifact (the huge book), which then transformed into said smaller books: he wants to know where they ended up to, and lo and behold, they're nowhere other than in Fujitaka's library, in the basement of Sakura's house! 😱

So we can see a flashback depicting a scene right after Sakura woke up (she's still in her PJs), and her father shows her a pile of ancient-looking books sitting on his desk and on the floor.

Yes, those are all the magical books that Akiho had read and (unknowingly) engraved on herself, which were about to crush her soul. There's really a lot of them, so I don't have a hard time believing that she was really on the verge of losing her soul forever.

As Fujitaka tries to explain himself, it seems Sakura worked so hard and in the end those books ended up landing right at their house!

And then, in a very moving scene, we see Fujitaka being just so happy because finally, after so many years (since 4th grade) of just watching over his daughter going through several hurdles and not being able to be helpful in any concrete way (because he didn't have magical powers, and even when magic was passed onto him, he didn't know how to use it), NOW he can finally be of assistance to her.

He then tells her not to worry, because he already got several "weird" books in his collection (hell we knew, the Cthulhu books were surely a surprise 😂), and that anything goes where it's supposed to go, when its due time comes. He believes these books, too, will reach their new fated destination one day, so until then, he will take care of them. ✨

By the way, you all saw it, right?? YES, it's there again. Fay's tattoo on that book! 😂CLAMP REALLY wanted us to see it, didn't they?

Is this insistence in featuring elements coming from Tsubasa a sign of something in the future...? Or are they just messing with us....?

I bet even this book one day will find its way to Celes country, to have that tattoo used in the way we all know.

Anyway, I REALLY loved this scene because it just shows CLAMP's firm intention to involve *all* the main and side characters in this collective effort to help Sakura solving Akiho and Kaito's situation (Fujitaka was indeed the one missing from the support group!).

It's just so good to know that a tiny frustration that Fujitaka expressed in this arc (how he couldn't be of help to his own daughter) was finally put to rest too, with this new task he took upon himself.

I strongly believe that Sakura, once again guided by her infallible instinct and empathy, subconsciously wished those books into her father's library, because she just knew that her father would be the perfect person to guard them and keep them safe for the time due.

The Cards

Back to the present, Eriol comments that Sakura's father is really dependable, and she can only warmly agree!

But Sakura's got questions of her own, for Eriol. She asks what happened to the transparent cards (note: even this time, Sakura keeps calling them with the japanese term 透明, "transparent", and never calls those cards クリアカード, the English term that gives name to the arc).

Eriol gives his own explanation: the transparent Cards were probably bound into the book of the guardian Sakura met (and not "befriended" like the ENG wrote), and as such, they became magical power used to activate the "forbidden magic".

About the newly created Remind and Blank Cards, Eriol guesses that the last magic that Sakura summoned thanks to those two Cards was so "violent" (the term used 凄烈 means "violent, intense, fierce") that it ended up exhausting completely the Cards' magical power.

Sakura says "so...they're gone", confirming that yes, even those two disappeared after being used.

Eriol asks about the Cards Sakura had from before, our dear Sakura Cards, and she releases them in the room to show to Eriol their current appearance: it seems like they have taken up some elements from the transparent cards, mixing up their designs! They look really cool and empowered, like this! Eriol attempts to explain this occurence as an influence of the fact that Sakura used some of them with her new Dream Staff, hence why their new appearance!

It seems like she'll be able to use all of them with that staff from now on, so this is a first hint to something that will be referenced in a stronger way in a few pages.....

Kaho gets closer to Eriol's computer and says "Don't worry, I can see they still love you all the same, Sakura-chan, there's no problem about it!" and then she spots Flight among the deck. Sakura confirms happily that it's still here and Eriol says "it's a testament to its perseverance!".

And then, Sakura wants to talk to Eriol about Akiho and Kaito too......but we're not allowed to hear it yet, because we only see Sakura nodding and "uh-uh"-ing at the phone and then Kero warns her that she's going to be late for school, so our girl hurriedly hangs up with her friends abroad.

Her dear small glutton guardian tells her to not push herself since she barely woke up yesterday, and when Sakura goes to pick the pin she wants to use today in the jewelry box (it's the pin Yukito gave her as a present in chapter 1!), she picks up the Star Key. And here, unfortunately, I have to point out the first concrete translation difference of this chapter in a scene that many were waiting for:

ENG: "This key....I wonder if it'll leave someday, too. To go to where it should be, to the side of the person it chooses to be with"

JP: "This key, too...I wonder if one day it'll go...to the side of the person it should be with"

Now, what irritates me here is that in their usual need to embellish the translation, they added an unnecessary "the person it chooses to be with", which is something they made up because there's no mention of the verb "choosing" or anything like that in Japanese, and so it makes it seem like the key will one day just go away on its own, on its own volition.

Now, this is a VERY important scene because we all know what this is foreshadowing, the transition of the Star Wand from Sakura Kinomoto to the Reborn Sakura Clone in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle through a dream, that cameo that made us scream all over the world in 2009. That scene was accompanied by a very beautiful and mature speech by Sakura Kinomoto herself, a sign that this "handover" was totally a well pondered choice of Sakura herself, not the key's.

The translation of this scene here in Clear Card tampers with the understanding of the events we got from Tsubasa and it really makes me wonder if the translator knows of this reference at all.....

Continuing on, Sakura goes downstairs and meets Touya having breakfast (and omg Kero goes to him!!! I still can't get used to these two interacting in the open), as usual Touya teases her calling her "monster", to which Sakura stiffens, but she shakes it off to thank her brother, to which he answers "no snacks for four days"!

Sakura at that point gets angry asking why, but he diverts her attention pointing out that she's gonna be late, so the girl bolts out of the door......not hearing her brother saying "that's the amount of days you haven't woken up, you silly!" (and Kero goes along with it).

Now, the ENG translation here interpreted this as a "payback", like Touya isn't going to make her snacks for 4 more days as a "payback" for making him worry like that, and initially I interpreted it like that too. But as I checked the Spanish translation, they interpreted it differently, as if Touya wasn't talking about the snacks that he won't prepare for the next 4 days, but actually the ones Sakura didn't eat during the period in which she was sleeping, and I think they're right because Touya calls Sakura "dummy, silly" so he might be referencing the fact that she misunderstood, here! Anyway, it's not a serious difference but I wanted to report it here anyway.

Sakura finds Syaoran out of her house waiting for her, and we see him all happy and embarrassed to go pick his girl up right outside her house to go to school together 🥰Syaoran got contacted yesterday from her (I don't know why in the ENG there's "last night", it's just "yesterday"), telling him that she was ok now, but of course that wasn't enough for our worrywart prince charming, so he's here this morning to escort her to school! Sakura can't avoid commenting "aw, you were worried about me!" and Syaoran honestly but embarassedly answers "that, and I wanted to see you as soon as possible". Omg these two...flirting like crazy in front of the audience even in the finale!! 😂(well of course!!). As one of my friends reminded me, this line was already said by Syaoran before, when he was revealing the whole truth about the Sakura Cards and was explaining to Sakura that he came back to Japan earlier than scheduled also because he wanted to see her sooner.

After a good dose of blushing which is always good for the health in the early morning, Sakura thanks Syaoran not only for walking her to school, but also for all the rest that he's done. She's clearly referencing the events of 4 days ago, and Syaoran answers that if he helped her even just a little, then he's happy. This vague reference to the events of 4 days ago seems lost in the ENG, as Syaoran casually answers that he's happy if he can help her sometimes (?). 少しでも means "even just a little", not "sometimes".

On the way to school, Sakura says that she already contacted everyone to say that she woke up and to thank them, but she seems to be wanting to go thanking Yukito directly at his house later, also because Nakuru and Suppi are there! As Syaoran adds, Sakura can see Tomoyo and Akiho later at school. Sakura says "...yes" with a slightly sad face because she already knows something about one of them.....

We switch to Yukito's house for the last look at our "snow bunny", still in Nakuru's company (when are they going back to England???) and wondering what kind of sweets should he offer to Sakura today, while Nakuru is hellbent on finally having Sakura call her "Nakuru-chan" today (I told you, she's like a 5 years old girl, she sees herself as a kid like Sakura 😂).

Then, turning suddenly serious, she says to Yukito: "Don't you dare doing anything else that requires a 'payment', understood?", which immediately made me realize that Nakuru remembers about Yukito's pact with the Tsukimine Shrine!! Then, they didn't just recover the memories strictly relating to Akiho!!!

Yukito, with a big smile, says "well...I can't promise you that" which understandably triggers in Nakuru a "Yukito, you're really stubborn!!" from the bottom of her heart! 😂

But there's a kitty sleeping on a cushion (or feigning to?), our dear Suppi who thinks to himself "All of you moon-aligned types are stubborn!!" and let me tell you, this arc showed us ALL the proofs of that! 😂(Yes, Kaito, we're looking at you! 😂😂😂).

Brand New World With You

Homeroom is starting in Sakura's class and Tomoyo makes sure that Sakura will take it easy since this is her first day back at school.

The teacher comes in, and she's already got a news for everyone (and here my heart already knew what it was): Akiho Shinomoto will be transferring away in one month! (Yes! it's Shinomoto again!)

The class is shocked, as Tomoyo is, but Sakura smiles and doesn't look surprised at all...

At lunch, everyone is so sad about Akiho transferring and Chiharu expresses how much she'll miss her, but also Naoko who loses a precious advisor for her scripts and a great actress since she wanted to cast her for the next play, seeing how wonderful she was in "Alice in Clockland". Tomoyo says that the chorus club will miss her too, and Yamazaki comments that Akiho lived in Hong Kong before transferring to Japan, so he asks her if she's still going abroad, even this time around. Akiho confirms, and then remembers that she needs to go to the teacher's room. Sakura insists to accompany her even if Akiho knows the way by now (and here we have a sweet, nostalgic recall to the same scene of the first chapter Akiho appeared in, chapter 7! Even the lines are almost the same). Of course, Sakura insisted because she wants to have a private chat with her....on their way there, she says she heard from Eriol that morning that she would be transferring abroad, but she would like to ask the reason why to Akiho herself.

Akiho says that, after all that happened, that same night she talked to Eriol (she calls him "Hiiragizawa-san" ❤️) for the first time.

He told her that he would be supporting her in any choice or anything she'd want to do from now on (the "anything I would choose" is missing from the ENG translation), and support her even with Kaito's circumstances.

Akiho was told by Eriol that Kaito kept hurting himself the more he used time magic, and that he shouldn't have been in a good condition after messing even with the "forbidden magic"....but apparently, Sakura managed to work a little miracle when she used Rewind on him.

When Sakura brought Kaito back to his original appearance, the pocket watch she used was almost completely repaired and its time stopped, and thanks to that, Kaito's time is stopped too.

I had already noticed that Kaito's life seems to be strictly connected to that pocket watch, as the more damage he took on his body, the more the watch broke. Sooooo in this scene we have some important information:

1- Eriol mentions the time magic Kaito used, how he kept using it and also the effect it would have on him, so it's legit to think that even him recovered the memories of the unrewritten timeline, not only the stuff strictly concerning Akiho.

2- Kaito's life is in a halted state (reminds you of someone?) and this means that his life is not flowing like other people's: he won't age, but his physical condition won't also get worse, as Sakura infers right after. The ENG translation suggests that Kaito won't be feeling any pain at all, but that's not the case: Sakura uses the words もっと辛かったり痛かったり, "more in pain and have a rough time (than this)", so he's still going to feel not so well from time to time, but at least his condition won't get worse than this.

Akiho confirms, and explains that because of this, they're going to look for a magic that will be able to heal Kaito and, in addition to that, a magic that would be able to make his stopped time move forward again. This won't certainly take short time and it won't be easy....but Akiho smiles beautifully while saying that she's sure that there is a book that carries those spells she's looking for.

And then....with a sad smile, she says there's another reason.

And here my heart sinked because I wanted to see her so badly and I got the confirmation she wasn't with them.......😭

I'm talking about Momo, of course, and Akiho agrees with me because the other reason they'll travel around is that she wants to see her beloved Momo and even the "Alice in Clockland" book.

This indeed sounds a lot like the resolutions of the characters of Tsubasa in their own finale, but after all, we've been saying for long time that Kaito and Akiho had many situations paralleling those of the SyaoSaku in TRC.

Akiho, with the most radiant and beautiful smile she's ever had, says that she's sure she'll find so many other books she's never read, beside the ones she'll be looking for.

"Because now I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, all by my own volition. Together with Kaito-san"

Sakura points out that books are, indeed, really special and important to her.

And really, Akiho's smile on this beatiful spread was enough to heal my heart from the disappointment of knowing that Momo wasn't with them, because Akiho really looks happy to start this journey with Kaito...she feels free for the first time ever.

No more clan dictating where she should go or what she should read, at her own expense at that, but also the situation between her and her beloved Kaito found its solution, with her stating loud and clear that even if he's her most important person and he did all of that for her, she's the only one who can decide her own happiness and change her own life. Akiho is finally free from all constraints, both from evil and from love, and honestly it's so comforting to see her so confident and happy.

My True Name Is....

And talking about Kaito, we switch to the Shinomoto mansion, where we see him in bed (he's still recovering - also we see his room for the first time!) and Akiho is telling him of how her friends took the news of her transferring abroad.

She was happy to hear that they're going to miss her, I bet this was the first time that people took any interest in her, so much to get to the point of saying "I'll miss you".....which totally explains why she's glad to hear that. She finally made true friends, here in Tomoeda.

Kaito is pleased to see her happy.

Akiho says that she's going to prepare dinner (my heart got warm thinking that now it's her the one cooking for him and he doesn't protest or anything) and she's going to make the no-fry croquettes that Sakura taught her (remember??? They had dedicated a chapter to that, and they were so important because Akiho learned them precisely for Kaito).

But Kaito kind of "interrupts" her, saying the thing WE ALL were waiting for him to say:

Kaito, JP (lit.): "I'm sorry. For having thought (all that plan) on my own and decided things without your permission. Even though I know that you're someone perfectly capable of writing her own chosen future on her own blank book"

Oooooooh. The feeling of puzzle pieces going to their right place, the sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction in reading these words from him. HE FINALLY UNDERSTOOD. And it took almost k*lling himself and causing to the very person he was trying to make happy an indescribable grief, to come to this point.

What a lack of self-esteem and underlying depression can do.

But thankfully, they all managed to save things at last minute and now he's learned his lesson. So the first thing he does when he's able to, is apologizing to Akiho. But not only that.

Akiho says Kaito's name, probably wanting to answer something in return, but he interrupts her again, saying something I've been dying to hear him say (lately I expressed here and on Twitter my wish to see precisely this scene in the finale):

"That's my alias"

Akiho is shocked at hearing that, and he says, with a serious face, "Can I tell you my true name?"

At this point, I was hollering, I won't really hide it or anything.

If you're CLAMP fans, you probably know how IMPORTANT and VITAL is an information like one's true name, especially for a magician. Yuuko in Holic said that if you give someone your true name, they can take your soul.

And I'm 100% sure that even Akiho knows how important true names are in the magic world, this is something that Momo already mentioned in one of the Drama CDs but here she confirms it herself, saying hesitantly: "Are you sure I should be hearing something so important?"

With the next thing Kaito says, I was almost calling an ambulance.

Heh, I know, this is me, what can I do? Their story got me by the throat and coming to this point is such an achievement, for me. 😅

"I want you to know it"

That あなた between brackets is so powerful. "You, above all".

In that "you" there's all the things he's not saying aloud, how unique and important she is to him. How much he trusts her with the most vulnerable part of himself. How much he's willing to give his entire soul, his everything to her, but this time in the correct way, without damaging anyone.

Akiho must be noticing all of this, because Mokona doesn't allow us to see her face, only her closed hand rising up, but from her ".....okay" I'm sure here she was quite touched.

So Kaito finally proceeds to reveal this secret that everyone was wondering about ever since chapter 51:

"Cristaux. That's my true name".

Cristaux is written with the katakana クリスト (pronounced kurisuto) which has already been misunderstood by many for "Christ" 😂, but thankfully CLAMP have put in the furigana the correct spelling in romaji.

Cristaux is a french word used to indicate crystals. Yes, plural.

So our crazy magician was named after crystals at his birth.

Of course, of course. Isn't crystals the overwhelming theme of this arc, after all? CLAMP made sure to feature some in many many color illustration they've done.

Also, while talking to a friend, I realized that now we might understand a bit better why Kaito made a very pensive face, disguised as Syaoran, when Sakura pointed out in Clockland (ch. 66) that the castle of the Queen had foundations made of crystal........

As usual with CLAMP, we've had the solution to the mystery under our nose the whole time! 😂This feels like Tsubasa 2.0, for real! 😂

It is surely an inusual name, but I mean, it seems many of the names CLAMP choose for their characters aren't that common, after all.

With this reveal, Kaito decided to start anew with Akiho, this time around from a basis of honesty and trust. He's never going to put up masks with her ever again (and even though it's confirmed they still talk in keigo to one another -which is something I've always imagined-, we've seen him using his true pronoun "ore" with her in chapter 78). This is the perfect foundation for a relationship based on communication and trust. Bravo Kaito, you did your homeworks.

Akiho places a hand over her chest, as if the precious name entered her heart, and says something that made me completely melt:

"I've written it on the most important page of my book. So I can never forget it".

This line makes me particularly emotional not only because it sounds SO SWEET, on the verge of flirting, but also because it seems to me like a callback to something that was said in a sadder situation.

Back in chapter 35, when Sakura ended up trapped into Akiho's artifact, she experienced Akiho's past on her skin. The day of the magic ceremony that turned Akiho into an artifact, some people from the clan/Association said "let's engrave all the magical books we can find into this girl's body, so she can never forget them. Just like a blank book".

Back then, these horrible words were used to abuse a poor child, but that child today turned them into the power to choose for herself.

She appropriates the same "book" analogy to turn it into a way for her to choose on her own. Kaito's name is a precious information that she chooses to write on her heart so she can never forget it.

It is a way for her to cope and have a catharsis for her trauma.

I honestly keep getting such wonderful messages from the story of these two characters, and I'll never thank CLAMP enough for creating them.

Kaito smiles softly at Akiho's words.

Then we go back to Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo, the "fab 3" who are going back home together, and we get some more information: it seems Eriol called Syaoran too (man, this guy called half the world to give explanations left and right 😂) and told him that he's going to buy Akiho and Kaito's house and look after it for them.

Sakura is really glad to hear that because it means that Akiho's huge collection of books will be safe and guarded in its library.

Tomoyo asks what they're going to do about Akiho's room at the Kinomoto house: in fact, if you look at the first panel of this chapter, you'll see that the additional portion that sprouted on Kinomoto house is still there: this means that Sakura gave everyone back their memories, but that magic didn't affect the discrepancies that arised from the rewriting of their world, hence why Akiho's room is still there.

Sakura talked about it with her dad and they decided they're gonna leave it untouched, as it is, so Akiho can always go back to it at any time. Did I cry at this? Yes, a little, because this is a sign that the Kinomotos will still keep considering her one of the family even if she'll be away, even if she'll have her life with Kaito, and I couldn't ask for anything better, for my sweet Akiho. It is so important for her to keep the bonds she created over time and know that now she's also got a network of people there for her. A second family where to turn to.

Sakura's having a real hard time accepting that Akiho will go away, and her smile becomes sad, before hugging Tomoyo and crying out "But I'll still miss her so much!!" 🥹poor Sakura 🥹I know, it's always so sad when someone that important to you leaves...

You'll Be Together Forever!!

One month passes by, and we can see some sakura flowers starting to bloom, this means we're at the end of March (and so we were in February before, just like I imagined). School year must be over pretty soon.

It's the big day, the day of departure for Akiho and Kaito, and Sakura+Syaoran went to see them off. Have you spotted it, on Sakura's scarf? Yes, that's the pin shaped like a teddy bear, the same Kaho gave her as a present and that she was wearing in the OG manga during the run at the bus stop to tell her feelings to Syaoran!

Akiho thanks Sakura for coming so early in the morning, and Sakura says she absolutely wanted to be there to see them off, actually she apologizes for making them delay their departure due to this meeting. Akiho is dressed with a cute outfit that is very remiscent of the one she's wearing in the color page of chapter 79.

A little separated from them to give their privacy, we see Kaito and his big suitcase, standing next to Syaoran. OMG it's so inusual to see them like that!!

Then, Kaito says "Time magic....I can teach it to you, if you ever want to use it". Syaoran is very surprised to hear that, and Kaito says that when he was still in the dragon form, he heard him apologizing to Sakura for not being able to use that magic because he hadn't learned it yet, remember?? 🥹

And Kaito just offered himself as a teacher, surely as a way to thank him for everything he's done to save him and Akiho.

But not only that: in a very sweet panel, he says he knows Syaoran won't use it in an inappropriate way, and I can totally hear that implied "as opposed to me". Oh yes I hear it loud and clear by the way this is phrased in Japanese. 😁

Then, he happily takes out his phone and asks him to exchange contact numbers, because they can be convenient for any occurrence! I feel like that was a good idea because they're surrounded by magic matters so much, it's always good to be able to count on the experience and knowledge of other magicians.

We see Syaoran being a bit perplexed at the request, but then reluctanctly (?) takes out his phone 😂oh lord his reaction is so funny....and this is also another proof that the characters remember what happened before, because Syaoran could have this reaction only for that reason 😂😂😂

While looking at them interacting so funnily, Akiho takes the chance to get closer to Sakura and whisper a very important information to her (it came!!! it came for her too!! I KNEW IT!! It's not WHAT I imagined but I've been saying forever that this would come 😂):

Akiho, JP & ENG: "My real name...is Cosmos"

What you guys can't see if you're reading the ENG version or any other language, is the duality of Akiho's true name here.

It's actually written in Japanese kanji, but the furigana that tells how to pronounce it are katakana for "Cosmos".

So it's like this:

Japanese name: 秋桜 (pronounced Akizakura, it's how Cosmos are called in Japanese)

Furigana (reading): コスモス (Cosmos)

It's not uncommon to find the Cosmos flowers being called directly with their katakana spelling, in Japanese.

All of this makes total sense for Akiho because her favorite flower is a specific type of Cosmos, the Chocolate Cosmos! They say they really smell like chocolate! So, just like Sakura, she's got the same name of her favorite flower.

But this duality of her name also allows Akiho to say what she's about to say:

Akiho, JP: "When we met for the first time, I was happy to learn I had one same character in my name as yours!"

I'm glad to see that more or less all the foreign translations did their best to explain the trick of the kanji, adding an explanation in the bubbles (they were big enough, thankfully). The ENG for example talked about "sharing a name" but Akiho here is meaning more "sharing a character" of the japanese name.

Sakura is of course really honored and happy to hear that, and thanks her for sharing such an important detail about herself.

And now, hahaha.....comes the part where I laughed SO, so much, because while to some it might sound strange for Akiho to do something like this, to me it isn't strange at all! Cause she's like that, her personality is far stronger than most think...

Our little mischievous Akiho here reveals to Sakura, still whispering, that she isn't going to share her real name with Kaito yet, because she's still a bit upset with him!! 😂😂😂

Oh lord, Akiho....oh dear....you have all the right to still be a bit upset, make him work hard to get such an important information from you!! 😂 I can't believe right now we have Kaito basically in Akiho's hands while Akiho, the one who seemed the most in love out of the two, is actually still withholding that from him! 😂😂😂 aaaaahhh trust CLAMP to always give you something interesting....this is totally in line with how I perceived her personality. 🤭I loved it!

Kaito needs to be really, really careful from now on! She's not gonna take any crap from him! 😂

And now I have to warn you because precisely as we reach the very last line Sakura will say in this arc, there is going to be another translation mistake, which I consider far worse than the other one I pointed out. I think getting it wrong precisely at the most important emotional point ruined a job that wasn't overall so bad, with this chapter (compared to others....).

Sakura, smiling, supports Akiho's idea, saying "Sounds good!", and then, utters the very last line of the arc:

ENG: "After all, we have a long future together ahead of us!"

JP: "After all, you'll be together forever from now on!"

I think you can easily guess why this translation mistake irritated me so much. I've checked the other translations and the Spanish one, the one I trust the most, agrees with me, just like the French one.

This translation is a failure for two reasons:

it failed to convey the fact that Sakura here is using almost exactly the same words she used in the OG manga at the end of volume 12, when she ran into Syaoran's arms, saying that they would be together forever from that moment on. I think iconic lines like these should be translated in the way the readers know them from the previous work, otherwise it's useless. You don't get the reference. In Japanese, back in volume 12 of the OG manga, it was "kore kara wa zutto issho da yo!" while here it is "kore kara wa zutto issho nandakara". And there is a reason for that.

this translation inexplicably made it about all of them, when Sakura was talking specifically about Akiho and Kaito instead. That "nandakara" at the end suggests that this sentence is strictly related to the one that came right before, "sounds good", as an answer to Akiho's plan to withhold her true name from Kaito for a while. Sakura here is simply saying that Akiho's idea sounds ok to her because those two will be together forever from now on, so she'll have all the time of this world to tell him eventually her true name, when she feels ready. Also, in Sakura's words, there's a deeper meaning: it's the last wish of happiness for those two, which comes from her own lived experience. At the end of volume 12 we saw Sakura uttering those same words, in her happiest moment of reunion with Syaoran...Sakura knows that happiness, the happiness of reuniting and be able to stay all the time with the person you love the most. This is the same thing she's wishing for those two right now, with these words. To be together forever and savor that same happiness she's living herself everyday. But if the translation makes it about all four of them, or even just about Sakura and Akiho, this underlying message, this last parallel between the two pairs is completely gone. Also, what's the sense in saying "we have a long future together ahead" if Kaito and Akiho are leaving?? It doesn't make sense to me. They once again managed to remove any hint of Kaito and Akiho being destined to be together for life, and bent the phrase to include everyone, just because they could. I find that quite disrespectful in my opinion.

Anyway, if you made it this far in reading the post, you now know how that line should actually be. I feel so embittered and disappointed that this happened precisely at the end...

But this time, as opposed to the OG manga, there's one more page to bring this arc to a closure: we can see the back of the new empowered Sakura Card (on the Card there's a mix of both the Star circle and the Dream circle), and the text reads:

JP, lit.: "When all the Cards are gathered, that's the beginning that comes from an end. A beginning to move on"

You have surely recognized it , this is exactly the same page that appeared at the very beginning of this arc, it's just that back then we had a Sakura Card's back, a more unsettling background, and lots of blank cards floating. Right now we have the back of the empowered Sakura Cards, a more serene background and instead of the blank cards, we have cherry blossom petals! ❤️

But most importantly, the sentence slightly changed too, communicating to all the readers that from the end of all the tribulations that our characters went through in this Clear Card Arc, they finally managed to move onto a happier life.

I think it's very beautiful how CLAMP decided to conclude this story, with a message of hope that not all endings are necessarily something bad, but they can simply hide behind them the beginning of something new and more positive.

Lord knows how much I needed to be reminded of this, in this moment of my life.

And surely this is also true for the end of this beloved series for many people around the world: after 7 years and half it's so hard to say goodbye to such a beloved story, but CLAMP want to give us one last present before saying goodbye to it for an indefinite period!

On the right side of the Japanese last page (this was not translated in the ENG one) we find the announcement that the April issue of Nakayoshi on sale on March 1st 2024 will bring us a special chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card! Precisely one month before the release of volume 16! There's no info about how long it's gonna be, but anything is strongly welcome to say goodbye in a more gradual way...I wonder what it'll be about? This can be literally anything!! I would love for them to feature a situation in the future, rather than in the past....

Beware, because I've heard that Anime News Network translated this as a "special arc" in their news and that caused a ruckus...I've already tried to warn people on Twitter that's not correct, "tokubetsuhen" is the same term they used for the special short chapters they have published till now.

And so...it ends. We've reached the end!! Omg! I still can't register it fully....🙈

I will write some short additional comments about the chapter here but you'll have to wait for another, separate post to have my impressions and commentary on the entire Clear Card Arc.

I just want to say that this finale didn't feature everything I hoped/wanted to see, but other things were definitely granted.

It's just impossible to make everyone happy so I completely understand that.

And even though I'm truly disappointed about Momo and the choice to make her leave her two kids like that, I feel overall this disappointment doesn't stain my appreciation for this finale.

The things I wanted to see and got, the general happy and relaxed atmosphere, seeing all four of them so friendly with eachother, Sakura's final blessing with those words are enough to make me feel still quite satisfied with the finale.

Also, this feels so much more open than the OG manga. A lot more open. There are tons of elements one could grasp to in case they wanted to make a spin-off, or feature some of these plot threads as a cameo in another work. Akiho and Kaito's situation in particular, with their travels around the world, seems to be screaming "you'll see us again soon". I don't know if I'm just delusional but I've seen so many people saying the same.

And I have to say that despite my first choice was for Akiho and Kaito to stay in Tomoeda, they gave me enough good reasons to justify them departing again. I did, in fact, predict that an eventual resume of their travels could be plot related (if they had to continue escaping the Squids' radar or if they had to find a way to fix Kaito's situation).

Plus, Akiho seems so happy and free. How can I rebel against that, when they depict her so happy of her choice?

Also, nice of Eriol to step up and help those two. He's the other poweful and experienced magician who can put at their service all of his knowledge.

And then, Kaito's character development. Even here, I felt like I would've wanted him to say more, but then I remembered that Ohkawa in a Space long time ago had already said "I would want the readers, once it's over, to re-read this trying to understand 'why this character acted in this way?' " and it was clear that she was referring to Kaito. So, not exposing in detail Kaito's heart and the motivations that brought him to this point is totally intentional. She wants us to get there on our own. After all, she gave us another huge hint in this chapter, by making him reveal his true name to Akiho. I can only be grateful for that, especially for how he worded it.

Cristaux and Cosmos...while I'm really happy they have the same initials, I'm still trying to get used to those new names! 😂even though I know they'll keep using their aliases so it's not a big problem, we'll keep calling them Kaito and Akiho!

(And yes, I'm a bit disappointed that Akiho's true name isn't Alice! 😂)

It was nice to see SyaoSaku blushing and flirting in this finale, especially now that Touya gave his blessing to Syaoran, he can go pick her up for school when he wants!! 😂 I'm sure we'll get more SyaoSaku fluff in the special chapter, as this finale was mostly used to wrap up other stuff.

As I said, I adored the few panels of interaction between the two Moon Boys, Akiho's mischievous prank to Kaito....yes, I still have lots to be grateful for, in this finale.

I think this post just won the record for the longest one, so let me just take this space really quick before wrapping up to thank all of you who have read my posts, shared them, supported me, chatted with me about the story, and overall contributed with interesting discussions in this little personal corner. I would've never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams, that the existence and content of this blog one day would've reached even CLAMP, and this will stay as one of my biggest gratifications, especially cause they seemed to appreciate the effort. I just wish their story was treated better by some official translations.

I tried to do whatever I could to spread warnings about heavy translation mistakes, in addition to my interpretation of the story as I was reading it and analyzing it, since I've seen it helped many people understanding the story better and coming to terms with frustrations they had about it.

Clear Card Arc is undoubtedly more complex and requires a lot more of attention than the OG manga.

But I'm positive that re-reading everything in one go might help A LOT in that regard, maybe keeping my translation posts beside you....so I urge everyone to re-read the story when you have time, because it's worth it. Really.

That said, I'm not going anywhere for the foreseeable future: of course I'll comment the special chapter, but I also have in store the "Clear Card Trivia" series of posts, a post with the timeline of the events and a master post about my own review of the entire Clear Card Arc. And then, there's the season 2 of the anime too! You can bet I'll be here to comment on it every week!!

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you again for your patience, for reading me till now, and I also want to thank once again CLAMP-sensei for the wonderful sequel they brought to us in these past 7 years. ありがとうございます 🙏

See you soon!!

[bookishfeylin]

this was a while ago (a couple months at this point i think) so i might be misremembering, but once in the comment section of an acotar critical video a commenter kept claiming that tamlin was never retconned (which... im not sure what else youd call one of his defining traits in acotar- being observant- suddenly disappearing due to trauma when he was still observant post-amarantha at the end of tar, or some of his values and opinions suddenly also changing in maf, but alright) because throughout the first book he was, according to them, manipulating feyre- specifically lovebombing her. they never specified which events led them to believe this, just that it happened. thoughts?

*sighs*

This argument is one that, unfortunately, I've heard many, many, many times over by now, and have made several posts about in the past. Because, truth be told, it's the best rebuttal they have when you point out direct retcons. The problem is that Tamlin manipulating Feyre, or even lying about his values, is disproven both in the book and in the sequels that follow, and this is because a lot of Tamlin's characterization is based on Feyre's observations of Tamlin, especially at times when he's not aware she's observing him (in contrast to Rhysand telling Feyre what to think about him every other page in ACOMAF).

A very good example of this was with the dying Summer Court faerie. Tamlin and Feyre care for the faerie as it passes away babies, and this scene is viewed by many as a good character moment for Feyre that establishes her kindness under a gruff exterior, but the same is not said for her other half, likely because all the Feysands who reread ACOTAR view all of Tamlin's actions as inherently manipulative. The problem here is that Feyre was never supposed to be present. Feyre was supposed to be asleep in her bedroom on another floor of the manor when Tamlin returned with the fae, and it's only through coincidence--her having a nightmare about killing Andras that wakes her up--that she's present to see Tamlin extend kindness and try to help the faerie in the first place. Ergo, Tamlin's action here can't have been an attempt to manipulate Feyre because Tamlin never expected Feyre to be present, and the kindness shown to lesser fae, and by extension, what that says about how Tamlin views individuals in lower socioeconomic classes than him, is a genuine facet of his character.

There's also a lot of background established about Tamlin that simply can't have been done on purpose by him to manipulate Feyre. What, did he start taking in refugees from other courts like Alis and her nephews because 50 years prior he had a psychic dream about Feyre and he wanted to make himself look really appealing to her? Did he treat them well solely so Alis could make him sound good to Feyre to convince Feyre to go UTM?

I also take issue with people arguing that Tamlin was love-bombing Feyre. It was already discussed before here by someone who's pro-Feysand who also picked up on this (and this ask is already getting longer lol so I'll just link it here and reblog it later) but the TLDR is that Tamlin demonstrably does not want to manipulate Feyre per another conversation she listens in on, and he decidedly chose to abandon the goal of making her love him when he sent her home. Every single "Tamlin never really love Feyre he was just love-bombing her and manipulating her" argument forgets that fact for some reason??? Like he sent her home before she could even do what she was supposed to. He sacrificed himself and his people to eternal damnation for her, without ever expecting to see her ever again. He offered himself to the woman he's known since childhood to shield Feyre from harm. So if you want to argue that, like the beast character he was based on, Tamlin originally brought Feyre to his manor for the purpose off making her fall for him to break his curse, then fine, but it's impossible to argue that throughout their relationship and by the end he was manipulating her and had no genuine love for her.

TLDR: it's a stupid argument that relies on selective reading and I hate it.

[anitalianfrie]

Only saw it now but ... please do elaborate on omegaverse rosquez 👀

and elaborating on omegaverse rosquez i will!

so, i've already talked about how their relationship starts, their first heat together and their scents. So we're going to their post divorce era baby, yuppie!! under the cut because boy did i get ranty

After sepang and valencia the absolutely do not talk, and after the press conference marc is deeply hurt. like, really. vale said some pretty horrible shit. Anyway new season new me, time to win at motorcycling once again, wearing blockers and staying as far from vale as possible :)

But then time passes (let's not kid ourself, by this i mean three months passes MAXIMUM) and marc misses vale even if he said horrible shit about him, and he believes a reconciliation is possible, so they kinda talk again. of course this doesn't work because they refuse to communicate properly and their solution is to have sex. But this can't be like, sex they want, they have to have another reason behind it, so they only fuck when vale is in rut which regularly happens during random weekends because that man refuses to regolate them. never during marc's heats because that's. too much for him. letting vale see him like that again after all he did. no sir, never again, they might be fucking sometimes but it's very much not like last time. also marc starts to suppress more of his heats because "they're taking off too much time from racing" (man you're on fucking holiday bffr) .they do a couple of years like this and then we arrive to argentina 2018. which is a shit show. and marc is too stressed and has suppressed one too many heats and it triggers a heat just before the race, but of course he's not gonna stop and he's racing anyway. and he basically plays bowling with the other riders and vale falls and. once marc gets down from the bike it's pretty obvious he's going into heat, everybody has noticed it, but he HAS to go and apologise to vale. And then vale goes to the media and says that marc is too dangerous to have on track and that people like him shouldn't be allowed to race and that it's scandalous he's racing in his condition and that he will hurt someone (which is pretty hypocrite of him since he's dome the same his whole fucking career) and that marc is still bitter about what happened between them in 2015 and that he's made him fall purposefully because of his evil and cunning omega schemes. yeah he basically sets back the view on omegas in motogp of another 50 years, because the first time wasn't enough.

and at this point marc is :) i'm never letting myself be vulnerable again :) which means he's never getting into heat ever again, starts taking heat blockers stronger than horse tranquilizers and the same goes for scent blockers, refuses to aknowledge being an omega and keeps stating he's just there to race, outright refuses to answer any question about valentino.

once marc and vale reconcile and marc starts taking less agressive suppressants and they spend all their heats and ruts together again, marc confesses to vale about him being his first alpha and the first person to ever be with him during a heat, vale does a bit of mental math and asks if there was somebody else during the years between 2015 and their reconciliation and marc goes no :) i didn't even had heats for a certain period :) and vale realizes that maybe he's fucked up even more than he previously thought

[bearhugsandshrugs]

Bearhugsandshrugs Update – April '24: Discord, beta reader match ups, WIPs, book writing!

Hey all, it's been a while since I shared an update!

TL;DR: Updates on fics, community things, and my life!

Last time I told you about the book proposal I wrote for my agent, and I managed to complete that and submit it! Even better news was that she liked it. So I will refine parts of the story I wrote to incorporate her feedback, and then in a month or so it'll go out to publishing houses in the hopes that someone buys it! Keep your fingers crossed for me so your girl gets published :)

Admin: Discord Server, Community, Pinned Post

In case you missed it: I launched a discord server where we hangout to talk about Gort and writing. Last week we finished the first writing buddy match up, where I paired six writers with a buddy so they can beta each other's fics. It made me super happy that the community came together in that way!

There will also be a super cool event coming soon that @littleplasticrat came up with, I'll share more on that next week when I have more headspace to give this the hype post it deserves. Just teasing a bit: it does involve Gorty and fashion :3

I also published a new lore & theory masterlist for BG3 and I'm working on compiling the drabbles and headcanon lists, too.

WIPs

In March I already told you that I was moving all WIPs to May, maybe even June. Since I'll be traveling in May, I might or might not have time to work on the WIPs.

Worthy Chapter 3: Structure is drafted. ETA hopefully in May

Folie Chapter 7: I scrapped the entire structure. While I'm motivated to write Raph and Haarlep again, I'm not particularly fond of my original idea so I have to redo the last chapter, ETA probably June

Durgetash series (concept linked) and Raphael series (concept linked): on hold for now. Neither of them grabbed my attention long enough for me to do more with it.

There's one fic/art trade I'm going to write for @tatterings and it's likely either going to be Astarion or monster fucking. So keep an eye out for that.

Series

Both MAD and Gorsimp are continuing! I'm sketching out Act 3 for MAD which we're about to enter. Due to life stuff I changed to posting schedule to every two weeks for MAD, while Gorsimp continues to update 1-2x a week (mostly thanks to @bloodlessbhaalbabe's incredible discipline on keeping us on a schedule).

And in more MAD news, I made a playlist for that fic! Give it a listen if you want to cry.

Other stuff

I'm slowly coming back online after a few really bad months of physical and emotional health turmoil. I'm okay for now and I've been taking care of myself, creating some distance from the fandom to protect my peace of mind, and I'll probably continue to take it slow for a while.

Last time I said I'd do another giveaway when I hit 1k followers. Since I've barely been on I haven't made much progress – it's about 50 followers or so away, but this blog isn't really growing right now. Guess I'm getting a much needed break from taking on too many WIPs :D anyway, I just wanted to say it's still on my mind, but I don't particularly feel the need to promote it because it'll happen when it happens.

Something cool to celebrate in the meantime: Folie à Deux hit over 1,000 kudos on AO3! Crazy to me!!! Thank you all so much. I can't believe that many people pressed the kudos button on my unhinged monster fucking fantasies <3 And to give you a peak behind the curtain here are the non-public stats for that fic:

Last but not least: If you do want to show me some love consider tipping me on Ko-fi? I promise for every coffee you buy me I'll share a pic of that beverage on here or the discord!

Hope you all take care of yourselves!

– Em

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Current Tag Game

I've been tagged by quite a few people now (thank you @twig-tea @colourme-feral @slayerkitty and @telomeke!) and in the past I've been too busy to complete these kinds of things but even though I'm still busy now, I figured I ought to do it this time...and if I don't do it now it won't get done. So, I'ma do it in 15 mins. Let's go!

Current time: 09:49

Current activity: I've just returned to my hotel room after having had breakfast. Hash Browns and Baked Beans ftw!! (<- How to tell someone you're British without telling them you're British 😂).

Currently thinking about: All the things that need to be done today - I'm away for work and I need to prep some stuff before leaving the hotel to go pick up some food for lunch because I won't have time to pop out later, and then I have to go to the location for today's work event and I basically won't stop until after it finishes tonight at 21:30 ish. (And somehow squeeze in Dangerous Romance somewhere there...maybe during my dinner break...or maybe I'll have to wait until afterwards when I'm back in the hotel again...but the internet is patchy at best - so if you don't hear me posting about it, it's because I won't be watching it until tomorrow evening 😭)

(Come on Lin, you gotta write faster!)

Current favourite song: This is so hard to pick just one! Okay, Until Then by Tilly Birds. I've known of the band since the Bad Buddy days but never really listened to their albums until Only Friends started airing and I discovered I'm Not Boring, You're Just Bored which made me go to their albums and now I'm a fan of more of their work.

Currently reading: I've said it before but I basically live in the Bad Buddy fandom on ao3. All other books are collecting dust on my bedside table, unread and unloved this whole year 😥

Currently watching: Not much actually since a lot finished airing recently. So, Dangerous Romance, Kiseki Dear to Me and You Are Mine. I've been waiting on english subs for the final episode of Love in Translation but it's been so long I might not bother anymore. And I paused I Feel You Linger in the Air before ep 9 and I'm waiting until the last ep has aired before I go back to it. I need to know if it's going to have a happy ending before I continue because it was SO beautiful but also SO heartbreaking and I was just scared all the time for the characters (someone tell me if it ends happily for all our couples!).

Special sub-heading:

Currently NOT watching and Sad About It So I've Had To Block The Tags: Shadow the series, My Gangster Oppa, and I Cannot Reach You (and maybe a few others I can't remember - I might not be able to watch Red Peafowl for the same reason) - all mainly because they're on platforms I don't subscribe to.

Current favourite character: I think Chen Yi and Ai Di (the Taiwanese Pat and Pran basically) - the one who realises his feelings late and goes ALL IN and the the other who has pined FOR YEARS and can't quite believe he finally gets to HAVE HIS DREAM. They own my whole heart.

Current WIP: My Thai Communal Wardrobe Advent Giveaway! Come request for a post about an item of clothing that has appeared in two or more shows to be dedicated to yourself or to someone else. I've only had about 10 requests so far - and I've already found about FIVE more, so the list I have currently stands at 50+!! There are plenty to go around 😁 Ask for more than one as well if you want.

Tagging a few who appeared in my recent notifications (and apologies if you've already been tagged, have already done it, or aren't interested!): @dimplesandfierceeyes @hsfavoriteworlds @belladonna-and-the-sweetpeas @quodekash and @aprilblossomgirl

[ohheyitsyouagain]

🛼, 🥤, 🔪, 🪲, and 🧩!! <3

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

sigh. to my fucking sorrow I've spawned in a new one very recently, so here you go... 💞🤝💖👑💍 it's funny, because in my head I consider this a Classic Damian Trope in terms of what kind of au it is, but I don't think I've ever posted this trope before? just daydreamed about it with every single fandom I've been in? (except fire emblem I guess, but it's kinda hard to make that kind of au with it because it basically is one already...) we'll see if I actually post this one I guess!

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

well YOU obviously bunni <5 okay actually Don't Bother Calling (I'll Call You) by FallacyFallacy is my favorite fanfic of all time. it's so good I don't even care that it's in first person, which would usually make me click off instantly. it's such a genuine exploration of being aromantic, how it feels to be perceived as allo when you aren't, it's SO SWEET it makes me want to cry every time I read it. which I do. a lot. even if you don't know shit about jughead jones it should be read by everyone 💖💖

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

bad question to ask me because I just forget shit allllll the time. hm... I guess I did do a lot of digging into appletinis relatively recently. I just needed to know about what kind of alcoholic drinks are made with apples for a totally normal reason.

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

you bastard. I can't believe you'd do this to me. fine, I guess I'll jot something down in that same wip from the emojis...

Because what else was he supposed to do? He certainly wasn’t set to inherit anything himself, being fifth in line for the throne. And compared to the younger two younger than him, Beel was the strongest fighter their kingdom had ever seen, and Belphie could weasel his way into foreign social circles like it was what he was born to do. And what Asmo was born to do was to act as a bargaining chip for the ones in his family that were actually competent and knew how to run a kingdom, and be a good little concubine to whoever would take him.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

hmmm, I could say all the easy stuff like no paragraph breaks or ooc-ness... actually, whenever there's something too sexual that the tags don't warn for. listen, I'm sex-repulsed, but I've accepted that most people who aren't me get a little into (read: horny about) the pairings they write. whatever. I'm not here to police how people enjoy media. sometimes I even appreciate it, either for the intended reason or because it's really funny! but the least you can do is give me a warning! if I'm warned, I at least expect it. nothing fucking shatters my soul more than getting super hyped over a story only to realize it's going in a direct that will make me genuinely physically nauseous if I keep reading it. there's a reason I don't buy actual romance books anymore unless one of my friends have vetted it first. ugh. that's a really negative note to end things on. but whatever.

[chocolatespyro]

Me learning to not give people the benefit of the doubt when they've been given the benefit of the doubt about 50 times already

(III 15 edition. Spoilers under the cut if you still haven't seen it somehow.)

EDIT: Took out the part about them not mentioning her disability since Bot does say that they wouldn't want Cabby to forget iirc, also about them not thinking kids would understand disability since I wasn't happy with those points and I feel they were inaccurate or somewhat off-topic. That's pretty much it though.

The more I think abt it the more I can see how the Bot apology sucks lmaoooo

Dunno if this was a point made on Twitter (I've heard there's been discontent there? I dont have Twitter tho but I'd LOVE to hear more from other Cabby fans abt what's going on there. u can leave comments on this post if u want or u can just rb and do it thru tags.)

Anyways, to my main points: Bot just says they're sorry for... forcing Cabby to get permission to use her files?

What about them lying to Cabby? I don't believe they ever really apologized for that. OR TOLD HER THAT THEY LIED??

Bot also doesn't really apologize for the other main points people were upset for I think?

I don't think bot ever really takes full accountability for judging Cabby either. No one does really. Like... at least an

"I'm sorry. I really screwed up, and so did a lot of the other contestants. We were too harsh and judgmental towards you for no reason, and our insecurities shouldn't have gotten in the way of you being able to remember. This was supposed to be a fun and welcoming environment and vacation... but it became a nightmare for you instead. I know this won't make up for all the damage done, but I hope this file is useful to you."

(maybe reworded some to fit Bot's personality better, but the apology shouldn't have just been this quick one-off moment taken to the side like in canon.)

To kinda add to the above, I also think it would've been nice if Bot fully noticed and acknowledged HOW other people haven't been treating Cabby very kindly too by giving examples of where nobody stood up for her. Lifering was a great supportive person in the episode, but Bot was there for some of the shit that was pulled against Cabby, ESPECIALLY in episode 7. I so wish that that was acknowledged here. And the fact that Test Tube went directly behind Cabby's back to do that. Where does Bot think Test Tube got those files from?

There's also the fact that Test Tube never approaches to apologize for judging Cabby for no reason. Like she just stares at Cabby and Bot hugging for a few seconds after Bot apologizes that's it. And she... doesn't accuse Cabby. That's the barest fucking minimum she could've done.

Also... the "inaccurate depictions" thing wasn't even true outside of Baseball's file... and that was a bunch of contrived bs. Like Suitcase literally had this whole thing where she stood up to Nickel and I guess... Cabby glossed over that somehow??? I can't suspend my disbelief this much sorry all. Idk where the "Manipulated by Balloon" shit came from. Correct me if I'm wrong bcus I haven't seen season 2.

The only reason why it was inaccurate with Bot is because Cabby thought Bot was Bow, something Cabby IMMEDIATELY corrected herself on. Bot coulda just... reminded Cabby that it wasn't her fault because she didn't know Bot and Bow were two different objects and told Cabby to just... start a new file like others said??? So that shit didn't make sense.

The apology just... kinda feels shallow. Cabby didn't do anything wrong here. She's beaten herself up over this shit. It just hurts to watch.

Bot only really apologized for a single thing and we don't get any acknowledgement towards the lying or the mistreatment or Cabby destroying Bow's file as some sort of garbage symbolism attempt.

Bot's apology was kinda supposed to tie everything together and top everything off nicely in a better and at least slightly more satisfying way than whatever the fuck 14 did, but it just... doesn't. It barely acknowledges the issues. They don't really show how seriously they screwed up with Cabby.

I wanna believe that AE has the best intentions here, but they're on very thin ice in my eyes. If they screw up any next steps with Cabby and/or never address Cabby's issues with Test Tube ever again, I think I'm done having any kind of faith in AE. Even Cabby winning wouldn't save it.

Yeah sorry this got really depressing, this situation is just sad

[mjsparkour]

rina fic recs

Okay so I've made a few recommendations for rina fics in the past and so much has been written for them not just post the finale but over the summer that I have to make a new one!

Here's a list of some of the previous recommendations I've made before:

For this list I'm gonna start off with some authors and the fics they've written for them recently (with their respective summaries). Then I'm gonna list out some other fics I don't think I've mentioned before. I would highly recommend checking out their other stories not just for rina but other fandoms as well because they're so talented!

peculiarblue:

Starting off this list with the author of the rina bible, the story of us, herself. Here are some of my favorites she'd written for season 3:

scary/not so scary: scary: realizing he's falling in love with gina porter, not scary: also, realizing he's falling in love with gina porter.

(or, ricky battles a monster of a read-through rehearsal with good friends, lists, and gina porter)

the rule of threes: gina porter gets three surprises when she arrives at camp shallow lake: a celebrity guest, the fact that she's at camp at all and enjoying it so far, and ricky bowen or, ricky and gina find their way back to each other during one perfect summer.

ways around the word love: a comprehensive guide by ricky bowen, as told by gina porter

(a love languages 5 + 1).

say yes: Ricky didn’t see Gina coming. Not when he stumbled into that HSM audition, not in the skatepark. Not in his car on the way home from homecoming and not when he showed up to Shallow Lake, guitar in hand. Definitely didn’t tonight, not now, walking out of the barn during camp prom.

(ricky tries his hardest to complete his bucket list before his birthday, with varying degrees of success -- a camp prom and opening night fic)

jadoresari:

RED STRING OF FATE: “i guess what i would say about rina is, i think the reason people go to their high school reunions, even 50 years later, is because you never really graduate from high school.” —Tim Federle

Ten years after the East High gang graduated, Miss Jenn decides to host a high school reunion for her favorite theater club class.

When two people with a long history finally see each other again, will old feelings resurface? “You never really graduate from high school.”

Or will they keep running away and leave everything left unsaid? “I’m safer when I’m on the run.”

The story of Ricky and Gina during High School and how they finally rekindled years after, because where there was fire ashes remain.

“i do think there’s a lot between those two characters that is very much still on the table, even if they’re not quite ready to see what that actually means.” —Tim Federle

SUMMERTIME SADNESS: EJ Caswell has been dating Gina Porter since opening night, but something's different now.

Ricky Bowen seems to be a usual topic of conversation and he can't believe this is happening to him again.

The story of how EJ Caswell witnessed his girlfriend fall for the high school skate rat.

Or maybe, she had already fallen for him and EJ was just now devastatingly finding out.

"She promised me the world, but promised him the galaxy."

BEGIN AGAIN: “—but there is something in this summer wind a moment to begin again.”

A summer spent at camp wasn’t in Ricky’s plans and neither was pining over Gina Porter all summer—though he can’t really say he truly minded the latter, he was too in love with her to care.

scoutshonour:

I've been blossoming alone over you: It’d been easy to look away from him in Ashlyn’s living room. But now, hours later, with no one around them, nothing but the piles of snow by their feet, and the handful of visible stars strewn above them - Gina can’t look away.

His mouth twitches into a moonlit smile and suddenly, she doesn’t have to try so hard to smile back. Her fake one slips easily into a real one without her noticing.

(Post 2x01. A late-night talk on Ashlyn’s lawn.)

happier than ever: “Gina,” it comes out strangled from Ricky’s throat but it feels like an exhale, like his first real one all day, all month, all fucking year. He strides towards her and remembers to stop just two feet from her. “I just wanted to make sure you were … okay.”

(or: Instead of Nini, Ricky’s the one who finds Gina crying after opening night for Beauty and The Beast.)

Now here are some fics I would recommend reading overall. I'd highly recommend checking out some of these authors' other rina fics! These are some of my favorites from post s2 and 3:

The Parent Trap by rinasawake: “You don’t quit on anything, but you can quit on me, huh?”

Divorced parents, Gina and Ricky, are living on opposite ends of the U.S. - dealing with an impending wedding, their high school reunion, and recurring flashbacks that make them wonder why they've ever broken up in the first place. But, after meeting at theater camp, long-lost twins Ellie Porter and Alex Bowen also engineer an identity swap, giving each other the opportunity to meet their missing parent - and bring the complete family back together.

What could go wrong?

2. the way that she loved you by iknowpIaces: [would you love her, the way that she loved you?]

Ricky looks over at her. She’s with EJ, which isn’t a rare sight these days. Those two are almost always together. It’s weird.

They’re whispering about who knows what, paying no mind to whatever Ms. Jenn is talking about. Neither is Ricky, to be fair, but hey, it’s not his fault they’re distracting him with their not-so-subtle whispers and giggles.

Seriously, how does Ms. Jenn not hear them?

3. wish we could be honest by steambend: When Princess Gina was betrothed to her neighboring country's Prince EJ, she had to uproot her life and move to the Caswell family palace, where Gina progressively felt more and more out of her depth. The only thing that kept her afloat was her assigned guard, Ricky, who Gina couldn't help but feel inexplicably drawn to.

Of course, her relationship with Ricky was only one of friendly companionship, and not at all romantic in any way. Right?

(this fic is an incomplete multichapter fic that is currently updating regularly)

4. collateral damage by Madkin: “What happened to not being a quitter? To not giving up on us?”

”You gave up on us!” She sees him open his mouth to protest so she lets the words keep spilling out. “When’s the last time you asked me how I was? How I felt being away from my mom? Living in a house that isn’t mine with a family I barely know? Getting another supporting role I don’t want?” Gina pauses as she tries to regain her composure. She meets his stunned eyes. “When was the last time we talked about anything except Nini?”

5. Everybody Talks by CanaryWidow: “We should get our cover story together and establish some rules,” Gina stated. “Like they did in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.”

Ricky furrowed his brow. “To All the What?”

Gina rolled her eyes. “Ok, we definitely need to do a movie marathon date, because you literally have no taste.”

Or, the one where Gina and Ricky fake date as everyone from their school watches their every move through an anonymous Instagram account known as Gossip Girl. (this fic is an incomplete multichapter fic that is currently updating regularly)

6. homesick (for you) by spider_eli: This fic starts in the summer following Beauty and the Beast and things between Gina and Ricky have never been weirder. Ever since Gina stood her ground at Carlos' Quinceañero, the pair haven't really been acting like friends. Gina's founds new friends in the other theatre kids (and more), while Ricky has spent his time figuring himself out. But they can't ignore that things feel unfinished between them...

title inspired by the avett brother's lyrics, "i have been homesick for you since we met."

(this is an incomplete multichapter fic)

7. A Little More of You by spider_eli: Gina Porter and Ricky Bowen have been at each other's throats their entire lives. The only thing they have in common is their best friend, Howie Lawson. But something changes when they start spending more time together.

Because I've been tearing through Dawson's Creek during the HSMTMTS hiatus and Joey and Pacey really set the bar. This'll just be little Jacey scenes but with Rina instead !! It's very dialogue heavy because if you've ever seen Dawson's Creek.... yeah.

EDIT 9/2021: while i’m no longer updating this fic, follow me on twt @spkderwylan

8. pluto projector by adhdsoras: "What… what is Gina to you, Ricky?" Red's voice was barely above a whisper, his hesitation clear as he stopped in his tracks, chewing on his nails, his eyes finding interest on his shoes. Ricky swallowed thickly, his heart pounding in his chest, confused and distraught by the question more than anything else. Silence grew between them as he struggled to find the right words, the air hanging cold and thick around them. He opened his mouth but no words came out, his foot tapping more intensely against the concrete wall.

"I have a girlfriend," He managed to croak out the words, finally, after minutes of struggle, "I love my girlfriend."

An exploration of Gina & Ricky's relationship, from (mostly) Ricky's perspective.

Starts during the events of season 2 episode 4, and diverges from there. (this fic is an incomplete multichapter fic)

9. please don't say you love me by adhdsoras: EJ rejected Gina's invitation to be her date to camp prom, much to Ricky's surprise. So, when Gina comes up with a plan to get back at her boyfriend, who's Ricky to say no to her?

He would do anything for her, even if it meant breaking his own heart.

10. waiting room by mariiposie: 'The first time it happened, she said, ‘I couldn’t sleep,’ and Ricky said, ‘Neither could I,’ and she sat down at the end of the boardwalk next to him, letting her feet make ripples on the sleeping surface of the midnight lake, and said nothing more. This wasn’t allowed to happen; so they said nothing at all, until the sun came up, and two of a kind, they found their way back to their respective cabins. And they did not say another word of it until the next night, when Ricky found his way along the gravel paths to Gina’s cabin, and she’d been standing there, and he’d said, ‘We could do it again, if you’d like.’'

11. Answer Garden by busyheadinthedark: A note in a locker. A message from a known stranger. A teared up book page with smudged handwriting. A sticky note found by accident— or was it? Different ways in which they were contacted by the same person but they all ended up the same way.

That’s how the story begins. (this fic is an incomplete multichapter fic)

12. Decline to answer by fandomwolfx: Gina must have walked around the whole of camp Shallow Lake at least three times now.

The tube of blue paint in her hand is starting to dry out from the relentless July heat and her boyfriend who insisted he wanted to wear some so that they could match is nowhere to be found.

Not that she should be surprised, EJ has been MIA for most of the camp so far too busy spending time with the other counselors which is… whatever.

Or, how did Ricky end up with that blue facepaint during 'It's On'?

13. plus one by bunnoon: after their individual breakups and years of on and off friendship, ricky and gina decide to team up and take on wedding season together by making a pact to be each other’s plus one to every wedding of the year. however, what they didn’t plan for was the feelings that arise along the way.

♡ based off the 2019 romcom by the same name

14. Of the Utmost Importance by goldenthread: Lord Richard Bowen is at odds with himself. After being confronted with an unpleasant truth (his mother’s adulterous behavior within the very walls of the estate) and his fiance since the age of five reminds him of their impending nuptials, he coasts. He finds himself on a writing retreat of his own design skipping out on duties as Lord and husband to Duchess Nini Salazar Roberts. He comes home to his entire world changing. Baroness Genevive Porter arrives in town and the world shifts on its axis again.

rina regency era fic no one asked for (bridgerton and pride and prejudice inspired).

(this fic is an incomplete multichapter fic that is currently updating regularly)

15. come home to my heart by goldenthread: Ricky and Gina spend the majority of the summer apart, choosing to take second chances on other people. The tangled web of miscommunication somehow worsens, and the two wind up hating each other all while starring in East High's latest production of 'Into The Woods'. Ricky thinks his senior year is off to a great start.

(this fic is an incomplete multichapter fic that is currently updating regularly)

[proxyedgy]

Would you mind sharing the document on the Ghost Terumi voice clips? I’d really like to see them please!!!

You mean the one from this post? I never thought anyone would want to see that! It's nothing much, but I'll put it here under a read more

(Just a reminder that all the voiceclips can be found on the Blazblue wiki (Search->Multimedia). That's where I got them!)

Well then, here's my BBDW Spirit Body Terumi .doc:

[0-99 Clearly some BATTLE noises]

00 "Heh" / "Ha?"

-> That is the cutest heh I've ever heard him say to this day

01 "Kikanee yo" "kiitenee ze"

"That won't work (on me)" / "That ain't working (on me)"

02 "guoh" "aa uzee"

"Ugh!" / "Ah, this blows!"

10 "uzee na" "jama da"

"So annoying!" / "(You're) in my way!"

11 "kuso ga" "hanashiagare"

"You bastard!" / "Let go of me!"

12 "?" "mendoukusee"

"Gh!" / "So annoying!"

13 "kono oresama ga!" "kaijo shiro ga"

"(To think that) I'd" / "Give me aid" -> you bossy sonuva

20 "kore demo" "Ora!"

"Still" / "Hah!"

21 "kurae yo" "shine ya"

"Take this" / "Die!" -> top 10 terumi quotes

22 "oora" "sora!"

"Hyaah" / "Hyah" -> extremely battle lines

23 "tsuburero tte!" "oitaa (?)"

"Get crushed!" / ?? -> what is this noise

24 "ora ora!" "namenna"

"Take this and this!" / "Don't underestimate me!"

25 "kono teedo ka yo?" "yokoshiagare"

"Is that all ya got?" / "Give it to me" -> his tone changes suddenly?

40 "hiehehehehehe" "Owarasete yaruze"

*laugh* / "Time to end this"

50 "shibiriyagare!" "naite"

"Get zapped!" / "Cry"

51 "sorayo" "seeya"

"Take this!" / "Huyah!" -> how do i even translate this i don't know enough english words for fighting noises people make when they're punching each other

60 "Temee wa iranendayo" "sasa to kutabachimae"

"I don't need you"/"die already"

61 "Kyou wa temee no meinichi da ze" "sono mama shindoke"

"Today marks the day of your demise!" / "And just like this, die!"

70 "Kore ga" "zannen datta na"

"This is" / "Really a shame" -> again very different tones but terumi's gotta terumi i guess

71 "Kami no tsurugi da" "Kore ga Kami no chikara da"

"The sword of God"/"This is the power of a God"

72 "Sasa to owasareru ka" "Karuku hineteyaru"

"Time (for me) to end this, huh?" / "(I'll) defeat you swiftly

73 "Shineyo" "kirisake... hyahaha"

"Die" / "Pierce... *laugh*"

80 "Aa uzee uzee" "shibaraku kyuuke shiteyanyo"

"Ugh, crap, this sucks" / "I'm gonna take a break for now"

90 "utsuwa to shicha, reiten ii ka da na" "arara, kowarechimatta ka"

"So (I) just gotta (do) the ritual to make (it) my vessel, right(?)" "aah, so (it) broke, huh?" -> a lil iffy on what exactly "reiten" is, terumi's terribly structured language doesn't help matters one bit

91 "Makemashita" "Aa maketa maketa"

"I LOST" "Ah, I lost, I lost" -> must you be a drama queen in the first one terumi

92 "omoshiree jan" "temee ga tsuyokunaru toka doo demo ii wa"

"Interesting" / "You getting stronger doesn't matter one bit"

[definitely not battle stuff]

100 – Gacha Summon Line

100 "aa? koko wa... temee, ore ga mieten noka?" "hiehehe naruhodo na. koitsu wa omoshiroi koto ni nattekiyagattaze" "yabee, choo gokigen daze oresamachan, hiehehe!"

"Huh? This place... Hey you, you can see me? / *laugh* I see. Now this is turning into something interesting / Damn, this rules, I feel great! *laugh*"

101 "Temee mo seizei riyou sasete morauze"

"You better work hard to be of use (to me) as well"

102 "'oresama ga nanimono ka' da? hehe, nna koto, temee wa shiranakute iindayo"

"'What am I?' Hehe, that's not something you need to know"

103 "kuso, maji de fuuen da na, jibun no karada ga nee tenno yo... oi, nantoka nannee no ka?"

"shit, it's really uneasy, the feeling of not having your body... hey, can't (you) do something about it?" -> he's saying fuen but i choose to believe he's slurring fuan because i don't think "failed marriage" would be of use in this context

104 "aaaa doitsu mo koitsu mo tsukaenee na. temee made ore wo shitsubou sasetekuren nayo"

"Uugh, every single one of them is useless, huh. Don't you disappoint me as well, you hear?"

105 "Tch, ttaku, itsu ni nattara te ni hairundayo. oresama no atarashii utsuwa wo yo!" "hee, shigoto ga osoi tte reberu janee zo, kuso ga"

"Tch, honestly, how long do I have to wait until I can get my hands on it! My new vessel!" / "Sigh, it's beyond the level of "late work", you shit"

106 "kedo yo, fumen nanoniwa kawarinee ga, karada ga nakutemo igai to yareru mon dana. kansokusha samasama tte ka"

"Though, although it doesn't change the fact it's still a shame , even not having a body, there's still lots of stuff (one) can do. (What am I) like our gracious Observer?

107 "warukunee warukunee ze hehehe. temeera no chaban ni tsukiyateyateru kai ga aru tte mon da. na"

"not bad, really not bad *laughs*. (Guess) This means there's worth to following you guys around. Right?"

108 "oi oi oi oi kanjigai sunna yo. ora wari to temee no koto kinittenda" "dakarayo sono me de shikari ore no koto mitoitekureyo na"

"Now now now don't misunderstand me. I'm just comparatively interested in you / therefore, make sure to observe me with those eyes (of yours), 'kay?"

109 "miroyo. mitekureyo kono aware na sugata wo. hone mo niku mo nakute muryoku na teashi wo yo" "kawaisou darou? dakarayo ore no kawari ni seizei hataraitekureyo. na"

"Look at me. Just look at this, this pathetic figure. Without meat or bone, these powerless arms and legs / ain't I a sorry thing? That's why, make sure to work really hard in my stead. Okay?" ->i'm dead

110 "hiehehehe. naa temeechan. oresama no koto zuibun okinimeshi janeeka" "nannara kono mama temee to ichirentakushiro te nomo warukunee" "otto sono karada wo nottorou te wake janee yo. anshin shiroya"

"*laugh* say, you. You look very pleased with me / Then, I wouldn't mind sharing this place with you / Oh, that doesn't mean I intend on taking over your body. Don't worry." -> bitch you already live inside my head how am i not to worry

120 "warukunee" "ii janee ka"

"Not bad" / "Fine (by me), then"

121 "Kihehehehe" "motto chikara wo yokose yo"

*laugh* / "Give me more power"

122 "ore wo tsuyoku suru nante... temee nani kangaeteyagaru"

"Making me stronger... what the hell are you thinking"

123 "oresama wo tsukaou nante nameta koto kangaeteyagarunda masaka kono teedo de owaru toa iwanen yo na" "masaka kono teedo de owari janee darou na"

"You even dare to think of using me, don't go saying 'this can't be all', then" / "(You) can't tell me this is all, right?" -> revise wording. he's basically just boasting, as terumi do

124 "Kihehehe warukunee"

*laugh* "Not bad!"

125 "*laugh* oioioi shouki kayo? temee no riyoukachi mo hanppa nee na. koitsu wa ii kibun daze" "oi oi shouki kayo? temee mo anadorenee na"

"*laugh* hey hey hey, are you crazy? You're quite the asset, too. Now that feels great" / "hey hey, you nuts? I shouldn't look down on you, huh." -> wtf he's actually complimenting someone who is this ghost

[130-131 likely main HUB lines]

130 - Package for you

130 "onimotsu desuyo. naninani puresento wa sugu ni akenai shugi"

"A package for you. What, what, you got a rule not to open presents right away?"

131 - Event

131 "ebento datte yo. nani boketohoutte yagaru tottoto ore no karada demo sagashi ni ike yo"

"It's an event, it seems. What are you lazying about, get out there and go look for my body already" -> he's actually talking about being slow instead of lazy, but the vibe is right i guess

[132-138 PERSONAL lines]

132 - Likes

132 "ima konna fukanzen na kuso mitee na joutai daga, ii koto ga hitotsu dake aru" "sore wa na... raibu wo tada de mirareru tte koto da"

"Right now I'm in this shitty incomplete form, but, there's one good thing about it / and that's... that I'll get to watch Live (Music Shows) for free" -> arson murder and jaywalking i see

133 - Dislikes

133 "Raicheru raicheru raicheru arukaado! aa munakuso warii. mezawari na kuso kyuketsuki daze maji de"

"Rachel, Rachel, Rachel Alucard! *frustrated noises* This sucks. She's one annoying, shitty bloodsucker, that's for real"

134 – Hobby

134 "oresama no shumi wa gitaa da. yoshi, temee ni mo oresama no chouzetsu tekku wo miseteyarou janaika" "to. iitai tokoro daga, kono zama ja porutegaisuto da na oi"

"My hobby is (playing the) guitar. Alright, shall I show you my amazing technique then? / Or, so I'd like to say but like this it'd be just like some poltergeist"

135 – Idle

135 "nani jirojiro mittendayo? iize motto mina. kakera hitotsu mo  nokosazu, sumi kara sumi made shikkari sono me de mitokke yo"

"What're ya looking at? Fine, look more. Not missing one piece, from head to toe, make sure to observe me with those eyes" -> OH YEAH I REMEMBER READING ABOUT THIS LINE

136 – (unsure, maybe small talk)

136 "kono joutai wa migaru de ii ga, ryoukou na ningen kankei wo kizuku niwa chotto bijuaru ni mondai ari daro" "maa temee niwa imasara bijuaru ga donogo no yuu ni hitsuyo wa nee na"

"It's great this form is nimble, but to build some favorable human relations, the visual part can be a little problem / Well, for you  it's not like there's any need to get worked up about the visual at this point"

137 – (unsure, maybe small talk)

137 "ano kuso uze amaterasu no yarou wa mo inee" "korede chodou ii utsuwa ga arya saikou dattan daga... ma benri na yatsu wo mitsuketa kara, toriaezu yoshi to shitoku ka"

"That damn Amaterasu is no longer around! / With this, if only (I) had a good vessel, it'd be the best... Well, I did find an useful guy, so I guess it's all good for now" -> ?!?!?!?!?

138 - Egg robot comes to give you something

138 "nda kono garakuta"

"What's with this machine"

[139-140 Battle Narrator lines]

139 - festival or maybe boss?

139 "naani ukareteyagandayo. odorasareyagatte, hehe"

"What're you so merry about, you're just gonna get manipulated (at this rate) *soft laugh*"

140 - You got a bonus!

140 "kihahaha atama made omedetee mitee dana"

"*laugh* Looks like even your mind is gullible" -> suspicious...

[141-152 Main Menu lines]

141 - Your Birthday

141 "aa? tanjoubi? temee no ka? soitsu wa medetee na"

"Wha? Birthday? Yours? Now, congratulations"

142 - Their Birthday

142 "ore ga itsu kara iru noka nante... mou tokku no mukashi ni wasurechimatta na"

"Since when I've been around... I've forgotten it a long time ago"

143 - New Year's Greetings

143 "shinnen no aisatsu da? nna mon ore ni wa iranee yo. ora, tottoto kaere kaere"

"New Year's salutations? I don't need that shit. C'mon now, go home, scram"

144 - Dark War Memorial Day

144 "kyou ga ano kuso darii tatakai ga owatta hi ka? Kihihi, kono oresama ga eiyuu to wa... tonda hiniku ni natta mon da na"

"Today's the day that bothersome fight ended? *laugh*, To think I'd be a hero... it's quite the irony, ain't it"

145 – Valentines

145 "barentain da? oi temee, ima no ore ga nanika mono wo kueru ni mieru ka? e?"

"Valentines? Hey, you, do I look like I could eat anything in this situation? HUH?" -> lol why are u so offended bitch do you even like chocolate

146 - White Day

146 "owaito dei ne? dousei nara shirotsunagari de, ore ni yude tamago demo kenjou shite hoshii mon da ze"

"White day, huh? Since it's all tied to white, I'd like to receive a boiled egg."

147 - April Fools

147 "nani? ore no atarashii karada ga mitsukatta da to? soitsu wa sassugu... AH? Apuriru de fuuru da?" "Nameta koto nukasetenjaneezo oi oi... korosu zo"

"What?! You found my new body?! Then give me it right a... AH? APRIL FOOLS?! / Don't you go around saying shit like that, hey... I'll kill you" -> glad to know we share the hatred for april fools pranks

148 – Halloween

148 "ima no oresama, chotto harouin pokku nee" "ano kuso kyuketsuki no tanjoubi demo aru rashishi, douse nara hadeni abaretoku ka. soryamo hadeni yo"

"This me right now, don't I look sorta halloween-y? / There's that shitty bloodsucker's birthday as well, it seems, so maybe (I) should go all out, after all. ALL out, of course"

149 - Blazblue launch day

149 "Hihaa! Misetearuyo ao no chikara wo na"

"Hyaha! Let me show you! The power of the Azure!"

150 – Christmas

150 "hai hai kurisumasu na. jinguru beeru tte ka. ha. yateranee"

"Yep, yep, Christmas, right. Jingle Bell and all that. Hah. Not interested"

151 - Thank you for one year of work

151 "aa? ichinen gokurousama deshita tte ka? hee, nonki de nani yori dana temee wa yo"

"Huh? Thank you very much for one year? Sigh, you really are one happy-go-lucky guy, aren't you"

152 - Black Beast Memorial Day (New Year's Eve)

152 "omiso datteyo, ano kuroki kemono ga shoukan sareta hi janee ka. eikou no ankoku taisen no makuake. he iya, ichidai supekutakuru datta ze"

"New Years Eve, huh? Now isn't that the day that Black Beast was released? That was the grand opening of the glorious Dark War. Heh. Oh, it was one hell of a spectacle!"

[300+ Other Character lines]

300 – Hazama

300 "Are ga reriusu no yarou ga tsukutta utsuwa ka? warukunee. warukuneen daga, doumou atsukaizurasou na utsuwa dana" "soreni ano kuroi nekutai, oresama no shumi janee na"

"So that's the vessel that bastard Relius made? Not bad. Not bad, but, it looks like a pain in the ass of a vessel to use / And besides, that black necktie, it's really not my style."

301 – Kazuma

301 "oo, reriusu no tsukutta utsuwa ga iru janee ka. koutsugo... janee na" "aitsu... ore wo ninshiki shiteyagaranee. somosomo jibun ga nanimono ka wakattemonee janai no" "majikayo. tsukaenee. tsukaenee na ano bonkura"

"Oh, isn't that the vessel Relius made over there? That's convenient... not / That guy... he doesn't Perceive me. In the first place, does he even know what he is? / For real. Useless. He's useless, that blockhead"

302 – Hakumen

302 "hakumen ka. aitsu ga tsukatteyagaru susanoo yunitto wa motomoto oresama no nandaga... kaeshitekure tsuttemo kaeshitekureru kanji janee na" "tsuttemo, teara no shudan ni dereba ano katana de mapputatsu da. yakkai daze"

"Hakumen, huh. The Susanoo Unit he's using was mine in the first place, but... Even if we ask, (I) don't feel like he'd give it back / And still, if (I) show up before him he'd slice me in half with that sword. It's too much trouble." ->why are we talking about hakumen even on my terumi clips sir can you feck off why must you pursue me hero of the past

303 – Relius

303 "Reriusu no yarou hatarakaseru no mo hitokurou daze" "aitsu, kyoumi ga nee to maru de yaruki dasanee karana" "aaa oresama te hontou maji de kurousho janee ka"

"That bastard Relius, making (me) work like this, he's such a slave driver / that guy, if he's not interested, he isn't willing to do anything / aah, I really am a pessimist, aren't I"

[dervampireprince]

hiii Prince!!! do u have any tips for someone who wants to start streaming??

also i was wondering if when i send u any anonymous asks if I could go by Anon-Red????

ooo okay well hmm i'm honestly not sure how helpful i'll be because when most people start streaming they're starting with 0 audience and followers. whereas i'd already been doing tumblr for years and had been doing youtube for 6 months so i already had an existing audience, some of whom came over to twitch. and i had made friends with a few streamers just by chance, i'd never considered streaming before i met these people and they inspired me, and they already had followings and gave me shoutouts so before i'd even started my first stream i had close to 50 followers and by the end of my first stream i had 50 followers (the amount you need to become a twitch affiliate). so i don't think i can give good tips on how to grow an audience because 1. i already had one prior to streaming 2. most of the followers i've continued to gain come from my youtube and patreon.

so the only tip i guess i can give for growing a following is to watch other streamers, be active in their chats, find other communities that you're comfy in and see what those streamers do, especially other small streamers, find people you're comfy with raiding, and maybe you'll make friends with some of these streamers (though no streamer owes you friendship just because you are active in their streams or raid them or whatever).

i don't know if you're wanting to face-cam stream or be a vtuber. i can't give any face-cam advice, but as for vtubing: don't let anyone make you believe you have to spend loads of money. there's models you can buy pre-made that you can start out with, you could try and make your own. you don't have to have a 3d or live2d model, and you never have to 'upgrade' to one. i hate this idea of 'you start with a png and then you upgrade eventually' because no, you don't have to. and a png is not lesser quality or a 'downgrade' compared to other models, it's just different. i personally have never liked 3d animation and thus also don't like hoe 3d and live2d models look, so i plan on always remaining a png/gif tuber (actually i want to change my model to 2d animated but there's not a name for that as i've never seen anyone else do that before i guess people would call it a giftuber?). there's so many assets you can get on etsy or ko-fi for free or for cheap, you don't need to spend 5k on a custom vtuber model. i didn't spend any money setting up streaming as the programs i use are free and i'm an artist so i made my overlay, model, alert animations, emotes and twitch bio banners all myself.

and then in terms of what i use for streaming

OBS Studio to stream.

veadotube for my png model that makes it react to when i talk.

streamelements to host my overlays in so i have scrolling text that shows latest followers, animations i made that pop up when i get new followers and subs and bits etc, custom chat commands so that eg when i type !shop a bot in chat posts my shop link, you can also have timers set so every 1 hour a bot in chat posts a link to my socials.

sidekick (previously called clippy) lets you add shoutout and clip commands so that when i type !so followed by someone's username a clip from their channel will pop up and play on my stream, and !watch followed by a link to one of my own clips to make my own clips play on stream.

triggerfyre for sounds and visual redeems, you can connect triggerfyre to your channel point redeems so that when someone redeems something a certain sound plays (almost all of mine now play astarion voice lines), or visual things like when someone redeems heatpats a gif of a hand patting appears on my head.

serybot as an extra security precaution, helps keep bots and hate raids out.

streamersonglist for karaoke streams, it lets people request songs and add them to a queue.

reactive by fugitech for collab streams, it allows you to have a friends png model appear on your stream while they're in a discord call with you, and it lights up or moves when they talk.

i no longer use sound alerts as i get jumpscared by them too easily, but sound alerts is an extension that lets people redeem or pay bits to play sounds in your stream.

OBS Closed Captioning Plugin which allows people to turn on closed captions on my streams, these captions are automatic and generated in real time so it's as accurate as it can be.

i think that's everything, and i figured out how to learn all of these things from youtube tutorials. it's basically been woah that thing on someone else's stream looks cool i wonder how they did that i wanna do that do.

overall though its cheesy, just have fun with it. don't go into it expecting it to be your new main source of income, very few can make streaming work for them like that. streaming for me was a way to try and promote my other socials and because i wanted to be part of this community of new friends i'd found and i continue to do it as it's massively raised my confidence. i'm quite and shy and still am irl, but on stream without face-cam i find myself able to talk to people and practise socialising.

that was long, i hope it was at least helpful, and i'm always fine answering questions about how i do anything on stream or how twitch works etc.

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

Genshin Anon here! It's been a while but I finally finished the Sumeru part of the main story and you know, I really haven't been this attached to a group of characters since the knights back in Mondstadt. They all felt much more connected to the main plot than the other two nations to me. However, the final mission is easily one of the best in the game so far. It really felt like a large scale plan happening all at once, which was cool. It was especially nice that it wasn't simply the traveler winning a fight or doing all the errands. I hope they do something similar with later nations.

Speaking of the traveler, I've stopped using mine for now. Maybe if a later element catches my interest, I'll grab her from the bench. For now, my team is Keqing, Tighnari, Chongyun, and Heizou, though Heizou may end up replaced. I like having swirl but he just doesn't keep up with the team. Kaeye made it all the way to friendship 10 before he was benched because I use too many swords.

I haven't been on tumblr much recently, so I haven't seen too many of your posts but it looks like you made it to Red? He's a strong trainer, it took me ages to win against him! -Genshin Anon

:00000!!!! HI AGAIN!!!! I was wondering how's everything with you since you last talked but it's good to know you're doing alright anyways! :D

maaan, already finished sumeru huh? i haven't made much progress since I stopped for a bit. the last thing I remember is talking to cyno in aaru village and that's it :') but that's awesome dude!! I'm so excited for fontaine!! also about the attachment part - I definitely felt the same. I remember reading somewhere that mondstadt was the only nation that felt welcoming because everyone wasn't against each other and you can see everyone knows each other like a neighbour. liyue was alright, but their connections were always very business oriented and its not too personal. inazuma is probably the most obvious as not even they like ei because of her decree. it's super oppressive and everyone is on edge. I think the only person who made us feel welcome was thoma and yoimiya (though that's more on when we hung out with her before sayu did her thing irrc) because I was definitely excited until I realized the severity of what was happening. (we literally had to wage war against kujo sara and her clan....) hard to say for sumeru YET, but I think I can get the general idea that everyone's too busy to have a friend as they're all scholars.

you have an interesting team comp! i really love elemental reactions with dendro so i can't help but smile knowing you have tighnari hehe, and chongyun!! i have a soft spot for chongyun so it makes me happy he's being used as well haha. im surprised heizou's going to be replaced because he's scarily cracked for a 4*, and anemo is an op element. but that's okay because it seems like kaeya had better usage than heizou did, hehe so go off! I believe any character is effective when built right C:

AND YES!!! oh man, I could be playing platinum right now but I really enjoyed the extra patch of gameplay after the actual goal (becoming a champion and getting rid of team rocket) and I can't stress how giddy I was to go back to Kanto, a small detail I really liked was how there are reoccurring npc characters that you can tell has grown up as their pokemon also evolved or improved. I remember in FRLG there was a girl with her slowpoke(?) she kept throwing commands at it but it didn't understand. later in HGSS I would see this girl with a slowbro now but it can follow her commands now! there's many more who does this, but she was the most memorable to me~

but anyways, yes, red.... I was so excited to battle red but I eventually remembered that he's SCARILY strong LIKE HIS PIKACHU IS 88 and my team only ranges at 50+ but because I am hardheaded and excited - I went on to see red anyways on mt silver and I was not disappointed 🥺 I admittedly wished I played as red when I played FRLG blindly but it was simply tradition for me to pick the girls lmaoao (but that changed now, the boy protags are much cooler for me) it just felt right that I experience the adventure as red, and then see him become a toughened trainer that i have to battle. your first and last enemy is yourself, perhaps.

I didn't beat him yet, I don't know if I can but I really want to, grinding is my least favorite thing to do in games so it would take me a lot of willpower and patience to do so, but I can simply shelve that game and come back to it later! I also don't feel like deleting it... it's my favorite gen so far haha

anyways, I also checked b&w! i had to play it in my computer since my phone is not too good with games in general and b&w really amped up in quality, it started off as "i wanna see what unova is like" (is obsessed with the music) HABSHDHHSHEHS I don't want to get too deep into it, but I'm very in love with the quality. I'm going to take a crack at platinum soon so you might expect me to post about it!

and lastly.... i started reading pokemon adventures/special. aka that manga that mr. satoshi would recommend to every fan. for the first time in forever have I been so facinated in manga - I thought it was just gonna be a clever story but it's HONESTLY more than that, it's so creative and innovative, not just the fleshed out pokemon battles but even the trainers are so colorful in their techniques! still in the early chapters but im just so happy I got to check it out ehe...

alrighty, that's all for now haha. thank you for coming back, it's so fun to talk to you! take it easy back there! 💚