#i enjoyed it mainly because i love a male character being hurt. also it’s visually a beautiful movie. but im aware im easily pleased | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

frickingnerd · 10 months

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RWBY for the fandom ask game?

answers for the ask game under the cut!

(also my brain is mush rn so i apologize if i sound stupid while explaining anything here :') )

3 male characters I love:

my three favorite male characters are jaune arc, oscar pine & james ironwood! jaune took a while to grow on me (because of reason i'll elaborate on further down), oscar is just a sweet guy and ironwood... i might not agree with everything he does, but he's a very interesting character (just not always a good person :') )

3 female characters I love:

my three favorite rwby gals are pyrrha nikos, yang xiao long and weiss schnee. pyrrha is just such a sweet character and she deserves the world! yang is a character i kinda just vibe with, i can't quite explain what i like about her, only that i do like her. and weiss has great character development and an interesting background!

3 romantic ships I love:

i have to defend myself first and say that i'm a multishipper, so i pretty much vibe with most ships. but my three favorites have to be blake x yang, oscar x ruby and jaune and pyrrha. pyrrha x jaune is a ship i mainly like because i love pyrrha and jaune would make her happy (even if i feel like she's out of his league–). blake and yang... well, i saw the scene where they got together in volume 9 before even watching rwby and even without any context, i cried because they were just so cute 🥺 and ruby and oscar... honestly, i just like both of those characters and i haven't quite settled on what my fav ruby ship is, but i do want oscar to be happy, so he gets the silver eyed girl for now 😌

3 platonic dynamics I love:

this one is hard because i've got so many pairing that i like as ships but also don't mind as friends. like i could list the same pairings above, because i'd love them even if they were just friends. but i think i'd have to go for... sun x neptune, jaune x ruby and yang x weiss. i like all three of those pairs but also not enough to really ship them. they all have a very lovely dynamic though and always enjoy seeing them together!

3 favorite moments in canon:

my absolute favorite moment is the bumbleby kiss! the music, the visuals, the voice acting... just everything about that scene is perfect! by far my favorite moment in canon! the other two are tricky, but i think that scene where jaune / team jnr see pyrrha's statue has to be one of them. it was really sad but also some nice closure that i hadn't really felt until that point. and the third scene would have to be ruby's confrontation with neopolitan + all the people that died so far. just being able to see pyrrha again or roman was so nice! and absolutely heartbreaking to see them fight ruby & co. :') (plus billy kametz voiced roman in that scene which only hurt even more...)

3 favorite headcanons:

i don't really have a lot of headcanons for rwby, but i highkey headcanon james ironwood to be a yandere. he already isn't really a good person and he did not hesitate to shoot a guy, so he wouldn't hesitate either if someone was flirting with his partner 👀 another headcanon would be that rwby likes oreos. i can't explain it, but she gives me that vibe. i could also see her and yang (+ maybe the rest of team rwby) argue over the correct way to eat them. and lastly, i headcanon that nora's favorite pokemon would be pikachu.

3 least favorite things about it:

the thing i hate most about ruby is how some people in the fanom portray jaune. i absolutely hate jaune x his harem with a burning passion. everything i see about it feels just so out of character for jaune, yet i see way too many people portray him as this overpowered beast who can't help but fall for every woman he meets & have them fall for him as well. i disliked jaune for quite a bit when i started watching rwby, before slowly realizing that it's not canon!jaune that i have a problem with but fanon!jaune.

another thing i don't like about rwby is how soon they left behind beacon academy. honestly, i loved the first three seasons because of that setting and i'm still a bit sad we didn't get to see more of them during that time. school/college settings with a twist are really fun, like what my hero academia has. i kinda miss beacon but i also understand why they aren't going back to it. (i'd still like to see them at least go back once when rwby ends)

and the last least favorite thing about rwby... probably the art style in the earlier seasons. it's kinda nice in a way to see the show evolve over the years, but i also can't help but wish we got to see certain scenes or characters in more polished models.

#rwby #ask game #ask frickingnerd

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meekotheshibainu-blog · 7 years

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A Shiba Inu and a First-Time Dog Owner

I once fell in love with the foxy-look of a Shiba Inu. My desire grew when I watched a YouTube video of the truly intelligent Shiba named Yuki. Growing up, my parents never would allow a dog in the house. So, when I moved out on my own, I felt the urge to adopt my long desired companion. I wanted to do my research before I made a final, potentially life changing decision. I got the book titled “Shiba Inu-Comprehensive Owner's Guide” written by Andrew De Prisco. I searched the internet and everything I read basically said “Good Luck” .... “First time dog owners should not choose this breed” “They are practically untrainable” “Aggressive to everyone but their owner”. As you can imagine, I really began to worry. However, I started to put together the character-traits: stubborn, cleanliness, cunning, independent....they sound like a CAT! I am actually more of a cat person than a dog so this really intrigued me. I decided to take a chance ended up driving 5 hours to the Pennsylvania Dutch Country to pick up my full-bred, male Shiba Inu, and you know what? It was so worth it, I instantly fell in love.

I named my 4-month-old puppy Meeko which means little mischief in Native American, fitting I suppose. Here are pros and cons that I have experienced with him:

Cons

Stubborn When called, Meeko sometimes comes and sometimes will not, it’s really whatever he feels like. A treat almost always makes him come, though.

Master of escape I have just become a bit more confident with his being off-leash at the age of 2. But both incidences were in situations where no one else was around. The few times he got loose from me he bolted and thought it was a big game when I was chasing him down. Again the word treat helped.

Impatient When teaching him tricks, he lost interest very quickly. If I have a ball in my hand and am getting ready to throw he will try to steal it out of my hand or jump on me.

Cunning He is very intelligent in a manipulative but playful way. He clearly understands the word no but will often time refuse to listen the first time around. It takes some repetition to get him to listen. He will toss a toy or ball on my body repeatedly because he knows I will get so annoyed, I will throw it. While being potty trained, he would urinate on my carpet next to, not on, the puppy pee pad I had out.

Potty Training It took a while for him to learn but in his defense, we were initially living in an apartment and it was more difficult getting him out frequently. It was a frustrating process but he eventually understood.

Puller In his first year and a half he pulled the leash all the time having a hard time sticking by my side and sometimes yanking so hard at it that I thought my arm would pop out of the socket. With treats, praise and a harness, this has been fixed.

Jumper This is one thing I have worked hard on stopping but unable to see a light at the end of a tunnel. I think this is really common in dogs especially friendly ones. He means well but not everyone loves having a dirty-pawed dog attacking them.

Power Chewer I lucked out in the sense that he does not chew on furniture, shoes, ect... he chews mainly on the toys I provide for him. So there is a pro but the con is that he chews through toys at, sometimes, astonishing rates causing me to have to constantly clean up debris from the toy and buying new toys.

Pros

Loyal This is number one. He is truly a momma’s boy. He stays by my side and seems to enjoy my company as much as I enjoy his. He is such a great companion, helping me get through stressful days.

Active He is quite active but he seems to have a good sense of balance meaning he is not always hyper or desiring rigorous, constant activity. He has actually helped me get into better shape by going for walks every day. He even helped me discover a new love of hiking. It has been really fun exploring with him in the outdoors which I am not sure I would have done without him.

Social Playful and kind with other people or dogs. He knows how to play gently enough not to hurt anyone. He rarely bites and when he has it was during play and he immediately releases when he realizes the accident. He only ever snarled once at a Chihuahua with its yippiness, but I can understand that. He is great with kids, as well.

Cuddler He is a great snuggler. He sleeps the whole night through cuddled up to me.

Quiet He barely barks. Dogs bark at him and he doesn’t bark back. When he does bark, it is done quieter than most dogs

Entertaining With how smart Meeko is, he knows how to get silly. For example, If I say no to him biting something I do not want him to touch he will snap at it or get close waiting for my response by looking at me through the corner of his eyes. When I ask him where is ball is I watch him look around vigorously until he finds it and returns. He will make silly faces or contort his body clearly to get a reaction out of me.

Tricks He quickly learned all the tricks I trained him to do; High five, shake, sit, lie down, crawl, come, leave it. Treats are, again, highly motivated.

Grazer When it comes to food, he does not scoff it all down like many dogs do. Therefore, I am able to leave out a big bowl of food that he picks at as he pleases.

Independent Meeko easily entertains himself, he is a pretty low maintenance when it comes to play. Sometimes I have a lot to do and can’t be spending hours entertaining him but I don’t need to feel guilty since he appears content playing by himself.

Size A Shiba Inu is a medium sized dog meaning he is not too small not too big, he’s just right! He was fine in a small apartment but even better in my 3 story condo. Either way, he was happy.

What I Have Learned Overall

It is important to socialize your puppy at an early age to prevent unfriendliness and aggression towards others.

It is key to establish who the alpha is which can be hard to do with a Shiba but it is possible.

Early intervention with training is also key, repetition is very helpful.

Dogs in general thrive to please their owners. To see their owner disappointed teaches the dog to discontinue such behavior and good behaviors are more likely to occur if praise and a visual of your happiness is received.

Be patient, it is worth it in the end!

I hope that if you were as unsure about adopting the breed as I was while researching about the negatives of owning a Shiba Inu, you now feel more confident about your decision. I, for one, am glad I did not listen to the reviews because I now have a fantastic companion. Feel free to comment below for any question or your own personal experiences with a Shiba Inu, I would love to hear about it!

Miss HarleyKait4

To come: Shiba Inu Facts & How I Trained a Shiba

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advancedpottery217x2 · 5 years

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Tears to Tiara II: Haou no Matsuei Review

A post was initially planned to be a /r/visualnovels WAYR post for Tears to Tiara II: Haou no Matsuei (TtT2) but I wanted to say too much so it expanded to become more personal and contain my thoughts on the series as a whole (including Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi (TtT1) and Tears to Tiara Gaiden: Avalon no Nazo (Gaiden)) in addition to my feelings towards the main scenario writer Marui Takeshi).

Have you ever encountered a piece of fiction that conformed to your tastes exceedingly well and seemed to be what you were looking for your entire life? After finishing TtT1 (and Gaiden) last year and 2 half a year ago, I've found myself thinking about why I love this series so much, and what I’ve been looking to get out of visual novels and fiction as a whole.

First, my thoughts on TtT2. For reference, here are thoughts I wrote on TtT1 last year.

Some parts will contain spoilers written in white text and placed in brackets. [Like this.] Tread carefully if you are reading this in an environment where you cannot highlight text.

Story/Characters

失われた女神と覇王の物語

As the tagline above suggests, the story is ultimately about the growth of the protagonist Hamil and the heroine Tarte; there is a much smaller focus on the side characters compared to TtT1. Although this made me feel disappointed, the increased amount of focus on Hamil/Tarte versus Arawn/Riannon made me enjoy the main pair much more than I initially expected and became one of the highest points of the game for me. In this case it more than made up for the otherwise loss of enjoyment from decreased side character events, but it in no way erased that loss. I think whether or not you will enjoy the game depends on this point.

Like TtT1, the plot can be summed up with the word 王道, as an adjective as well as a noun. I liked how Hamil’s struggles finding his place in the world amidst the expectations placed on him seemed to be a natural extension of what Arthur went through in TtT1. The existence of Melqart “within” him and the added contrast with his lineage/surroundings supporting his 覇道 side made for more interesting character growth. This is only enhanced by Matsuoka Yoshitsugu's incredible performance as Hamil (true gap 燃え). I really appreciated how his relationship with Tarte felt more equal and mutual than the one between Arawn and Riannon in 1; while the latter are still a very solid couple, I enjoyed the feeling that the former gave off of being two people struggling to sort out their feelings towards each other while also figuring out themselves and the future of Hispania. 初々しい少年少女という感じで大変可愛いであります！！！ Tarte is a heroine with clear motives who is ready to dedicate herself to Hispania and Hamil (for reasons made clear later in the story) while also not afraid to be harsher to push him in the right direction, a position not unlike Arawn towards Arthur in TtT1. The actual reason that I like these two better is probably because they have more イチャイチャ scenes. They can get ridiculously adorable in one scene and then be deadly serious for the next, which is my ideal for fictional couples honestly.

While the plot developments were also very 王道, I was even able to look over the more overbearing ones due to how they fit in the narrative and/or the atmosphere of the series as I understood it. ...Except for [reviving Monomachus. I can see needing a spear unit, but this was just way too convenient. The case of Tarte in the final chapter had build up (along with that fantastic CG parallel) when compared to Monomachus just... coming back.] In the grand scheme of things, that's my biggest complaint about the game.

There is also a clear divide between the first and second halves of the game at the end of Chapter 6. I've seen reviews saying the second half is lacking (and I can understand why), but I honestly think the game kept up my interest more after the middle climax until the story starts moving towards the end then TtT1 did (although I did think "ah... I guess it can't be a true TtT game without a 闘技大会 stage..."), which is something I can praise 2 for.

The distinctly lower amount of events focused on everyday life made me disappointed a little, as these were a large part of what made me enjoy the cast of 1 and made me see them as a family. Dion being the butt monkey of most of the jokes also got stale after a while, although I didn't expect [for him to get all those events relating to Simon, which gives him a great role which makes him more than that at least]. In terms of my overall opinion of the cast, 1's is much higher but in 2 Hamil and Tarte are just very, very good. Some of my favorites this time around other than the main pair were Kleito, Elissa, [Hasdrubal, Ishtar], and Izebel.

System/Gameplay

The system/UI functions are mainly the same as the previous two games (which also means the one line backlog is still present..,), although I was pleased to find that the possible characters for the system voice-like things you hear when you select an item in the menu in the base screen expanded from just two (Limwris/Ermin) to all the female party members (and the male characters on the map screen). It’s fun hearing all the characters telling you you’re about to save (or be disappointed when you back out of it). Not being able to check your items/character stats at the mid-story save points anymore was a downgrade, though. I also felt that there were less of those save points than in 1, which hurts during some of the longer story segments.

The battle system keeps/expands the elements introduced in Gaiden (item synthesis, traps, magic circles) and reworks what was formerly the changeling system into the Quadriga. While I’m happy about not being forced to use the latter unlike the former, sometimes the Quadriga just goes down too quickly... (´・ω・`) taking all the units inside down with it... (´・ω・`) But luckily in this game there’s a rewind feature that can send you to the start of a turn!! No more fucking around with save states While not as good as the one in Utawarerumono 2/3 (although I can’t complain too much seeing how this came before them), it gets the job done speedily.

Another new feature is the ability to use animals as party members, whether buying them as units from the shop or having Charis charm an enemy animal in battle. I didn’t actually use this that much, except for putting Charis on the gryphon you can buy for better mobility or the boar you can buy for better defense. The elephant that pulls the Quadriga is also a great tank so sometimes I put Charis on her too I guess. I also didn’t use the Melqart/Tanit transformations much, mostly because I didn’t feel like dealing with the decreased stats after the transformation wears off, although the increased stats during the change saved my ass a couple of times. Not being able to use chain attacks is also a marked con, but I guess it’s a price that must be paid to be OP. (´・ω・`)

In terms of game difficulty, I played on Normal and felt that it was harder than Normal in TtT1 and around the same level or higher than Easy in Gaiden (although I did get the all bonus and overall S rank trophies on my first run, which may influence this impression). I don’t know how someone who plays this as their first game in the series would feel though, as I was making sure to avoid common mistakes (not paying attention to element cycle, not using skills, etc.) early on. As the game goes on, spending an hour on a stage becomes commonplace rather than an exception. However, I found myself having fun figuring out strategies to clear every stage so sometimes I wouldn’t even notice how much time I was spending. Except the second fucking dragon stage in the main story fuck you ("ah... I guess it can't be a true TtT game without a BS dragon stage...").

The 50 stage (versus 100 in Gaiden) dungeon in the post-game is where I really felt the pain as everything is just out to get you (and there’s way more dragons). I just decided to grind everyone to level 99 halfway through, which made things easier until you reach the point where you can’t just go around whacking things into submission without thinking. The rewind system is not available for use which factors into the difficulty, but there is a poverty substitution in the suspend save feature. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the plot(?) surrounding exploring the dungeon was much more serious that what Gaiden had, although it was still pretty bare. The ending was nice and sweet as someone who did TtT1 but there was no credits roll like Gaiden had. My only real complaint is that it wasn’t voiced. (´・ω・`)

I bought all the DLC units after the main story and Arawn and Riannon were lifesavers due to their attributes more than once; if you end you playing the game I recommend getting these two if nothing else, especially because the chibi Riannon model is very cute (although Arawn is now 100% an ossan). The other units got some use (except for Beard who is mostly used for MP/CS boosting and/or memes) but they had cute models and level up lines so no regrets.

My main frustration is with how low the drop rates for items are, especially since now I’m looking to synthesize the OP weapons which require some of the rarest drops. Taking an hour to get one item is a bit much. (´・ω・`)

Visuals

Why is this game so pretty!!!! Seriously, everything from the backgrounds to the OP movie to the UI to the character sprites to the character cut-ins to the CGs are extremely pleasing to look at. Honjou Tatami’s character designs go way too well with the Aquaplus coloring team, and this game boasts some of my all time favorite CGs. The character sprites are also quite varied, although I’d have to say Tarte is my top pick in this regard. I also liked the character designs themselves in this game much more than the ones in 1, if only for how much more ｙａｂａｉ they are, especially Tarte and Izebel. It kind of feels odd comparing them to the simpler designs in 1, but at the end of the day I love the designs in both.

I think the 3D models worked well in translating those designs to a smaller size (although I can’t help but wonder about the gap between the models’ feet and the actual floor...) and don’t understand the people who were disappointed that they’re in chibi proportions. They’re cute!! I don’t know enough to say anything about the quality of the 3D maps/areas, but the greater location variety is a big plus; for some reason I really love the wheat field one.

The backgrounds have the soft, almost painting-like feel I’ve come to appreciate in Aquaplus games (thanks Kusanagi). There were even some surprise background appearances from 1 which made me smile.

My only negative in this category is that there are simply too few CGs for how long the game is. There is no excusing this point.

Music

How does Kinugasa keep doing it???? I had taken notice of Kinugasa Michio as a composer who does songs right up my alley (even among all the Aquaplus composers who generally hit that sweet spot) after realizing he composed Remote Viewing for Routes, and greatly enjoyed his work in Utawarerumono 2/3, especially 麗しき世界. The fact that Utaware 2/3 came after TtT2 could never prepare me for the ultimate nut awaiting me in this game: 君の前では少年のまま. This song encapsulates the relationship between Hamil and Tarte through very passionate guitar, Sutani Naoko’s wonderful lyrics, and Suara’s vocals. This deadly combination has led to this becoming one of my top two favorite Aquaplus songs (the other being 星座 from Kusari). I had some worries about the transition to the ED as this transition in 1 was one of my favorite parts of the game but those scattered quickly when I reached that point. The catharsis contained in these moments in both games is unreal.

The game’s soundtrack as a whole is quite good at expressing the idealistic and gentle, yet realistic and tenacious nature of the game and series as a whole. There are a few tracks from 1 with new arrangements and they either made me love a track even more or vastly improve my opinions on it which is a great accomplishment. I also enjoyed the new tracks very much, and the combination of these two elements make for a satisfying music experience on the whole, the amount and variety also being a positive factor. The increased amount of comfy tracks makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

The vocals songs were also to my taste with all of the new ones having lyrics about the Hamil/Tarte relationship being extremely up my alley. 🙏 thank you Sutani Naoko 🙏 I appreciate the fact that Suara, Uehara Rena, and Tsuda Akari are all in the soundtrack as this has not happened in an Aquaplus game before or since. The returning songs have arrangements befitting of the story and still hold great emotional weight. Except Until which somehow gets even more ずるい how the fuck do the lyrics fit so good every single time it plays how the fuck does it get me every time god I could write a whole new post on this song alone.

However, what elevates this to being my favorite game soundtrack at this point of my life is the usage. The amount of times that I have felt that playing a certain song during a certain part of the story was simply ずるい is not much, but the majority of them are from the Tears to Tiara series. The ずるい level in TtT2 manages to surpass the already high bar set by 1 by refining the art of layering the ずるい , leaving me staring at the screen in shock multiple times. Even in moments not as clearly defined, I generally liked the length that each each track played. I distinctly remember thinking in Chapter 1 that it was cool that the BGM changed whenever I felt like certain songs were beginning to overstay their welcome, which is pretty refreshing. I definitely feel that this game has the best use of music among all the Aquaplus games I’ve played (yes, this includes Utawarerumono 3).

Voice Acting

Someone please stop Matsuoka Yoshitsugu before he loses his voice!!, is a thought I held many times when listening to Hamil’s screams throughout the game. After reading the very interesting blog post by Mochizuki Yuutarou (voice recording director for Aquaplus) about some of the game’s voice recording and how he initially thought about having an additional person voice Hamil, I find it more incredible how Matsuoka managed to handle everything. The contrast between the soft spoken and reserved side of Hamil (his soft laugh is so good) and his hot-blooded and unrelenting side in the context of the story feels very satisfying to experience; the point where he snaps in the climax of Chapter 1 is a scene that has still not left my mind.

While Hamil is definitely the star performance for me, Kugimiya Rie as Tarte and Saitou Chiwa as Izebel were some of my favorites among the lovely voice cast. There were quite a few voice actors that I have since started paying attention to thanks to this game. On the negative side, I think a lot of the mob characters were too monotone.

Final Thoughts

Tears to Tiara 2 is a game that carries the spiritedness and positivity (:elatedsquirtleface:) of the first game and takes it to a logical next step while improving pretty much every part of the experience for a long (79 hours for main story on Easy without skipping voices), emotional journey. This is most of the reason I rated this a 10 on VNDB; the overall experience is very polished and it was the most fun I’ve had with a game that I can remember. There are definitely flaws, but I feel that what I gained from TtT2 was enough to overpower those shortcomings.

Next Post | Tear to Tiara: A Return to One’s Roots →

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