#i gotta say. i think my japanese improved

[mejomonster]

Idea: I'd drastically improve my chinese and japanese if I listened to my audio study files when playing Final Fantasy XIV.

Aka me trying to justify the amount of hours I'd sink into that game if I started it

[totallybakedcake]

Imperfectly perfect

Sypnosis- You overwork yourself and your boyfriend freaks out. Pairing- Hoshina x fem reader

Huff, puff,huff,puff. It was now a normal thing for you to gasp for breath and just hold your polearm till it formed bruises in your arms. You were just thinking about your training, nothing more.

You stopped as you heard Okongi say, "Kikoru Shinomoya, release force 70 percent."

"Platoon leader name released force 80 percent. That's the most release force recorded for a platoon leader. Platoon leader name, platoon leader name, can you hear me? Can you hear me?" Okongi spoke, trying to get you back to your senses. Concern was starting to take over her, as you could hear her practically start yelling your name.

"Name!" You felt like you were slapped back to reality. Looking up, you saw Kafka, Leno, and Kikoru looking at you with a look of almost desperation. Kafka was shaking your shoulders while the rest were calling out to you. "Did I zone out?" You spoke as a mere whisper as you felt a wave of pain coursing through your body. Leno spoke, "Platoon leader, name. We were all training with you, but after training ended, you were on the floor, zoning out. It had been 5 whole minutes until you finally responded back to us. You should definitely have a look in the medical room. This has been happening ever since we joined you in training."

"Sorry to bother you guys so much. I am going to go to the medical ward soon, just being prepared after it was said that Kaiju No. 8 was a daikaiju, and just stressing all over. I'm sorry, you gotta get going now."

The trio watched as you hurriedly walked away. I was trying to calm Okongi down as she scolded you. "The platoon leader should really take care of herself. Even if she has great abilities and all, she should start taking care more. Has she even told Vice Captain Hoshina about this?" Kikoru and Leno nodded in agreement before walking away for lunch.

You love Hoshina more than your own life, but sometimes you really cannot show your true self to him. Down the whole mask of an understanding and cool person you try to be. There are many things that are hidden deep inside your heart. There are some things that you cannot express to your dear Hoshina.

Name was taking quick strides to get to a place. She was trying to cover herself so no one could see her, but then she arrived. A traditional Japanese estate, it was adorned with lamps and cute statues. The doors and windows were huge when you turned to the left; there was even a pond in the whole area. You went towards the backyard to see the preparations already done.

There he was, Mr. Hoshina. The current head of the Hoshina clan, as well as Soshiro's father, He was already in a kimino with a katana in his hand. He looked towards you and said, "Let's start, name."

Flashback

"Soshiro, it has been almost a month with no improvements." You slumped against the wall, burying your head in your arms. You would cry at any moment. It had been almost a month, and your release force was just decreasing. You could lose your position as a platoon leader if this continues. Soshiro had been a witness to your breakdown. He tried many times to calm you down and motivate you, but now he needed a new method. He went towards you, gently placing you on the sofa as he kissed your temple and said, "Oh cupcake, why do you worry about your pretty head so much? It makes me feel upset too. How bout' I tell you a great plan that will work surely?" He was rubbing your back in a comforting manner as you peered up with puffy red eyes.

"Tell me." You spoke just like a sad child, glimmering with hope. Soshiro grinned. He loved this particular trait about you a lot. He leaned down and spoke in a teasing manner. "For that, calm down." Showing him a pout and a glare at the same time, he grabbed your hand and spoke. "My father is great at polearming and close combat too. How about you train under him? It will surely prove results." He spoke in a promising tone that made you obviously agree with it.

Back to reality, it really worked. Your capabilities as a platoon leader skyrocketed. You were so happy—too happy, in fact—that you almost suffocated the vice captain himself in a tight hug. He was just glad that you were back to your usual persona, nothing more.

But things started to go downhill after that. You started training a lot more. After all the new Kaiju threats, you had to. You would overwork yourself to the point that even drinking water or getting proper rest was a second priority now. You just wanted to be strong and protect Soshiro and others with your strength, nothing more. Did you tell Soshiro about this? No. Will you? Absolutely no. He will stop your training as a whole and will be extra protective of you if that happens.

You tried your best to hide all the exhaustion and pain your body had started to accumulate, and you showed signs of overworking, but still you tried to cover it up. No matter how hard you tried, Hoshina was destined to find out about it.

It was evening, and you were still training. You were still training and training before you felt pain in your nose. It was a nose bleed, the sixth this week. You just wiped it off with your hand before getting in a position where you could fight, but you felt someone grab your hand in a firm grip. "Name, that's enough." You looked to see Soshiro; his eyes were wide open, looking at you. You were sweating buckets as blood was smeared on your face. Small cuts and bruises were peeking through, which was making Soshiro more concerned as the seconds went by.

"Let's go home." Soshiro spoke in a demanding tone as he grabbed your hand and started to walk.

You, on the other hand, felt really dizzy; your head was spinning, and the moment you moved your body, it ached. Feeling all the energy drained out of you, black splashes appeared in your vision as everything went black. Soshiro's eyes widened as you fell into his arms, his body going completely limp. "Name, this isn't funny. I don't like this prank. Please wake up." He shook your body, but no reactions came from you. He cussed; he knew you were training hard, but to the point you passed out because of it was something he never imagined. If only he had been faster to catch on, this wouldn't have happened.

He scooped you up in his arms, cradling your exhausted form. He just wants you to be okay.

Fluttering your eyes open, you groaned in pain. Your head throbbed, your entire body was feeling different types of pain, and your eyes felt heavy. "Yer awake, how are you?" You turned your head to see Hoshina coming close to you, as he had a tray with soup. His voice was much quieter and calmer, the opposite of his normal cheerful self. His eyes were wide open, and you could see the bags under his eyes.

"What happened?" Was the first thing you said.

Hoshina's expression turned grim as she placed the tray down and sat beside you on the bed. "Name, you passed out from exhaustion. You've been pushing yourself too hard."

You tried to sit up and get closer to him, but dizziness fell over you as Hoshina pushed you back down, his grip on your hand getting tighter. "Promise me, promise me you will never overwork yourself like that ever again." He held out his pinky finger and looked at you with a soft gaze.

"I promise." You interweaved your fingers in his as he pulled you closer for a deep kiss. The butterflies were flooding your stomach as heat rose up to your face.

"I have forcefully given you a week to recover, so no arguing now." He grinned as you let out a scoff and pulled him for another kiss. "I wasn't planning too."

Soshiro fell on top of you as he wrapped his arms around your figure, trapping you in his embrace and peppering you with kisses.

Let's just say he spoiled you rotten this night.

Note- Aah I did it I uploaded this thing. It was super fun to write this. My next kaiju no 8 fic might take a while as the next thing I will upload is a windbreaker fic. I watched the whole anime 4 days and completed the manga very quickly too, exams are now coming and just school is just too much now so no new fics maybe.

Have a good day!:D

[wisyhana]

These are some pages that I made as fanart for a fanfic i Really Love. It's something rare that I look back and actually kinda liking the result- 😂 I've been trying to improve my panels flow(?)/pacing And the Lettering- adding words in comics is pretty hard 🥺 if you had some insights, pls let me know ❤ or just give me what you think... Thank you so much!!

Hi! Thank you for waiting this long hahaha

First of all I love your Yugi, is so freaking adorable, big fan over here aaaaaa.

And okay we're gonna talk about comics. Oh boy. It's not a topic I dont like talking but it's something I get way too.... intense, even if I feel I don't have much to defend with. Anyway I'll try to not be so detailed and serious about it so I can bring a decent commentary!

Disclaimer that I have a lot of issues with the use of thought bubbles, but that's a me thing. Myself I try to avoid them so I can focus on a "show more, talk less" type of flow. So if I start talking about them it's because of that, not that you'r doing a bad thing or anything.

I like how you use the panels, by themselves and ignoring the dialogues, they work perfectly fine! I think my thing with the pacing is that I'd draw a 3-4 pages comics instead of 2 for this scene alone. It's a pain I know, but I think for this type of scenario adding a little more of time could help to appreciate some details, like Kaiba being notoriously angry, the moment he touches Yugi's forehead, etc. But this is also a very personal opinion because I'm a sucker for very sloooow interactions, so all this I'm saying is for the sake of a slower pacing. Sadly you gotta draw more or write less if you want to get that effect, also you can get in a situation where things end up vague and ugh, what a pain hjdfhjhds.

I have a serious problem with dialogue bubbles, I never know where to put them Dx. I always feel they're on the way or that they hinder the reading or that they look straight up ugly hahahaha. I think you use a good space for them! they're not in the way of the faces or important scenes, but I can see you needed to add arrows for the conversation to work. In my opinion the dialogue works perfectly without the arrows. We all know there are two people talking so having only the faces on the bubbles was enough to understand who was talking and what order follow.

Now, if you want to work on bubbles without using the faces to show who's talking and don't lose the order in the way, I could recommend something like this:

Sorry if it looks way too clumsy! But a thing we artist have to deal is how the order of the bubbles affects on the flow of the dialogue. Specially when we don't have a specific way to show how the person talks (for example japaneses have many ways to show character's expression so it's easier for them to identify it.) So we need to focus on the flow.

A wonderful person who talks TONS of this matter is the motherfucker Scott McCoud!

This is just an example of how dialogues can contribute to the time and spaces and how the order affects the reading. This is not the exact example for what I mean but Scott is a badass of the comic and the complexity of it.

Understanding Comics The invisible Art is a masterpiece, I blame him for making me doubt is I'm doing a good job or not.

Okay before I go way too into this, one last thing and this is personal opinion. I love white background but you gotta be very careful to not make it look like lazyness. You don't need to draw a full background but maybe adding some shading can help to make the illusion of space rather than having a blank space. Of course this is just my opinion.

Anyway, I really like how you work! my huge recommendation would be to simply take your time on it, I feel it shows a bit of impatience or nerviousness, but that's just my idea. So far you're going a good way on creating comics and I'd love to see more of them :3

Hope this helped you in some way! And as always don't forget to have fun drawing your beautiful bois!

this is me everytime I draw comic and find a inconsistency.

[liesmyth]

After the immigrant food post and the dick sucking Italian husband I have to ask. What do you think of Italian American food. And also American pizza which I consider a distinct thing.

OKAY SO my answer to this is twofold

I cannot fault my long lost brethren across the sea for going to a new country far far away where there was meat everywhere for cheaper and MASSIVELY redefining comfort food

However, sometimes u gotta admit you can't improve on perfection. You don't need to put meatballs into pasta. What's wedding soup. Why do you put ricotta in lasagna. Alfredo sauce is soso bad but I can't fault the Alfredo guy for making a fortune from basic-ass pasta al burro

I've never actually had pizza in the US! Unless you count, like, Papa John's. I WILL say I've had pineapple pizza in the US and it sucked BUT I've also had pineapple pizza in Italy (on a trip to Capri with a French friend who really really wanted it) and it was delicious. It's all about 🤌 the balance of sweet and savoury and IMO the idea in theory isn't bad! It's just that it's too fucking loaded. TO ME

I think fusion cuisine in general is brilliant and interesting and tells you a lot about where / how certain dishes originated. But it's probably always gonna seem "weird" to people who are intimately familiar with the original cuisine. Like, I would not take a Japanese friend to an Italian sushi restaurant.

Also, about the bread... the whole time I live in the US I went CRAZY looking for, like. What I'd think of as normal bread. Her

It was always pre-sliced packaged soft bread? Although that probably depended a lot on my circumstances – I was studying abroad with a host family and was very reliant on them for grocery shopping + we were in a small town. I feel like if I'd had access to a deli / any tiny "ethnic grocer" kinda store I would've been happier

[amelias-zelda-calamity-quintet]

MoaH Dungeon Design Principles

I know I talked about this over on Wattpad, but I haven't talked about it here. I'm gonna copy paste a chunk out of the post-GoS update I did on why MoaH is absolutely massive first, and then I'll add more.

Ok. So. I might have been a little overly ambitious with MoaH. When I first drafted MoaH's arc, I was trying to offer a response to BOTW's dungeon design, which I, as a classic LoZ enjoyer, did not think lived up to reputation. TOTK also didn't really address this problem in my opinion, but was an improvement, that came out after MoaH was on hiatus. I have a lot of thoughts on how classic and Wild duo dungeon design differ and why I prefer classic design, but to summarize those thoughts, BOTW/TOTK design focuses on the world as an interactive landscape, classic design focuses on the importance of location. I felt like a reasonable compromise to the shrines vs dungeons discussion was to have a number of shrines working together to explain a dungeon's core puzzle before you did that dungeon, along with the smaller number making the dungeon locations more integrated into the settings they were in, bridging both location and landscape. The BOTW/TOTK tutorial sections do this and the Ballad of a Champion DLC also does this, and those were the elements I applied to MoaH's dungeon design. I also, quite frankly, wanted to see if I could do a bigger setting than BOTW, and now, TOTK.

I do want to expand on the nature of MoaH's dungeon design though because when this is being written, the second "shrine" is going out for book 1. And I want to discuss that some more. And I promise this isn't going to be a shit on the Wild duo hour, but I am gonna be critical of the design for a bit.

To expand on my thoughts on BOTW/TOTK dungeons, I know a huge part of why they are the way they are is because of asset limitations. Nintendo made 120 shrines and then the dungeons, and there's only so much memory the Switch can handle. And in looking at the Wild duo by design, so much of those games focus on the concept of "Ma," which is a Japanese concept on the appreciation of empty space. And that's so much of the Wild duo. Navigating the Wild duo is about experiencing the wilderness of Hyrule. In an example of the exploration of landscape, of the appreciation of nature and Ma, it excels, in spades.

But. I think that comes back to why it feels so strongly off from classic design. Because classic Zelda dungeon design is about the importance of place. About how this location being cursed/taken over directly impacts the world, on multiple levels (grand quest, regional quest, personal quest). To which you might say, that's there too in the Wild duo, and you're not wrong but the framing is different. Let me provide an example:

In Wind Waker, the first full dungeon you go to is Dragon Roost Caverns. Progressing through and solving the issue in Dragon Roost hits all three. Grand quest, you gotta get Din's Pearl. Regional/local, Valoo being upset means that the local Rito can't get the scales they need to get their wings. And then there are multiple personal levels in which that affects; Komali getting his wings, Medli being an attendant, and the relationship between the chief and his son.

Let's compare that to the regional quest in TOTK with the Zora. Seems like it would check off the boxes: need to get to the temple to find Zelda (grand), get the sludge to stop (regional), and help Sidon uncover his role as a Sage (personal). But, there are two other elements that I think these stories fail on.

One, the temple itself isn't impactful to the world because of how removed it is. This is better with the Divine Beasts, but they're still not quite the same kind of impact. The rain and the sludge negatively impact the Zora, absolutely, it's a hazard to them. But the loss of Dragon Roost Caverns impacts the Rito's culture, part of their identity. The temples in TOTK are all so ancient there are barely stories about them. Dragon Roost Caverns is part of the Rito's ongoing lives. It doesn't have that same impact. I get a few temples being like that, but all of the dungeons are like that in the Wild duo, removing some of that connection between the two. It makes it feel too game-y and less connected narratively.

Two, in making the games open world in the way they are and taking out the metroidvania of Zelda games, it also takes out the interconnectedness of the world. One of the joys of Zelda is getting new items and then going back and seeing an area recovered. Better, it's seeing how the people once affected are engaging with the world now. Less in big identifiable NPCs, more in "Oh, we fixed the Dodongo Mines, now the Gorons are scattered around the map." The Wild duo made the peoples so regional that, outside of Lookout Landing, we don't see them interacting with each other as a kingdom. It made sense in BOTW why that would be. By TOTK, it made less sense. It also removes the impact of you as the player's successes in overcoming the dungeons. And personally, because I wasn't faffing with Korok seeds, after I got the shrines in a region, I found very little motivation to go back to areas because of how big the world was. The size of it all actively made the world feel more disconnected and there was no real reward in the world that made completing the dungeons unite it more.

Look, again, I'm not saying that it's bad design. I am saying that it is a hard shift from pre-existing Zelda design. And the series has done more open world settings before without this being an issue (both Wind Waker and A Link Between Worlds I think are better examples of open world Zeldas). I said this before, and I feel less strongly about it now, but if you took out the Zelda names, how easy do the Wild duo maintain their identities as Zelda games? How easy would it be to change them to a new IP? That doesn't make them bad games. It does highlight I think that the jump from where the franchise was to where the Wild duo games took it was a huge leap. All of that to say, this is where MoaH's dungeon design starts its iterations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Break because that was a lot. I said in the earlier blurb that I thought a good bridge to that design choice was something halfway: a handful of shrines that teach the mechanics of a dungeon OR a bunch of buildings connected together to collectively make a dungeon. I'm leaning towards the former because of MoaH's scale and that would be tedious if it were gameplay for the setting.

I know technically this is spoilers, but also technically going into a Zelda game one will assume there are dungeons. The fun of it is seeing what they're like. The Hyrule arc/book 1 has three shrines, a dungeon, and a bonus dungeon/shrine (scale here is smaller than a dungeon but larger than a shrine). The three shrines (Farore's, Nayru's, and Din's) all serve as examples to the puzzle mechanics that will be in the main dungeon (for now, Hylia's Temple). For book 1, easy puzzles, it's the first dungeon. That's where we get to explore more in the further books.

I also wanted to change how the characters interact with puzzles as they go through the world. That's why each of the shrines has a mini boss and an item (side note, MoaH Link is gonna be kitted to the nines, there are over 40 dungeon relics planned, not counting ordinary items he gets too like the bomb bag and lantern). The expanding arsenal changes how the party is going to be able to tackle problems. I imagine that, fitting for the D&D comparisons, each of the characters have two item slots for relics they can easily carry on top of their own weapons. So the dispersement of that kit across the party changes how the characters are going to be able to confront puzzles and monsters moving forward as they get more. But more kit, more problems, bigger monsters. This is why the moblin comment is in the early chapter. I had to watch my power scaling early. Moblins are serious threats in this Hyrule.

You will also note that most of the shrine arcs are proceeded by chapters on how the situation in the shrine is troubling the locals. And there are always local named "NPCs" affected. Further, NPCs come back. Book 2 has an arc resolution that requires a character from book 1 to come back. The stories of people being affected are not forgotten for the main quest. Now, MoaH also has to balance the party's interpersonal stories as well as the three levels I already outlined, that's why some of the shrine arcs don't all have very in depth NPC stories, they're going on setting assumption that there is a monster there that needs dealing with (and they're right). But all of the temples are still attached or are places that losing directly affects a local area.

On top of all of that, I can't keep this stale. You'd assume after a bit, three shrines, one dungeon, bonus dungeon, that's the formula. You'd be wrong. Not only does the order need to change, but the number of shrines changes when we get into the local religions and how they choose to honor the pantheon (now that 40+ number is adding up).

Further, original mini bosses and bosses for every single one. My creature creating has never been more flexed. And so far y'all have only seen mini bosses. I'll let you ruminate on what that means for bosses.

Look, I'm not trying to toot my own horn here. I'm not saying MoaH is the perfect response to this problem I've outlined. It is a response, and I don't have asset limitations like a console does. But this is the basis for which MoaH design begins. I'll leave the rest for y'all to discover. That's part of the adventure too.

[silentstaresfanficandfanart]

what fueled you to write that fast?

I would need that help too

endless love ENDLESS LOVE FOREVER AND EVER

that is tos ay i write what i love and i love what i write and i try my very best to enjoy the process and have fun

do it often and youll get faster

have a rough plan in place or even an outline if you can

and you know that rush you get when you imagine your characters doing stuff in an amv or when you chat about them with a friend? you gotta jump into thew riting while thats still buzzing if you can!

plus it helps to have lovely pepole to encourage you, while its also VERY important to make srue not to prioritize ao3 comments or peoples attention over your enjoyment, as long as you can take that part in without working FOR attention and love you'll do great.

think of it like, Wataru

Wataru is doing his acts and all his amazing things for praise

as lovely as wataru is , hes very very sad and he's just trying to be loved <3 so even if he does an amzing job at everything he does, he's not happy unless someone else enjoys what he does! and that can trap you in trying too hard to gain others aprooval and forgetting what you yourself do!

another thing is challenging yourself, if you doubt yourself doing something big and scary like nanowrimo or actually completing an entire book can make the big scary thing not so bad. The important thing there to remember is that anything that can bleed, can die. That is to say, if you can 'cause damage' to somethings hp bar, you can defeat it as long as you keep attacking it! eventually it will fall.

you can write an entire book just fine, if you just keep writing it.

But you gotta give yourself an hp bar for the thing or it can feel overwhelming. personally i go with a "ask a question, answer it, and ask another question" style usually when im writing

usually i would say a good chapter length is about 5,000 words max, and then writing out an outline

for example

Eichi feels ill, why is eichi unwell?

reveal: Eichi is turning into a horrrible magical monster and keito has to become a magical boy to save him

resolution: keito becomes a magical boy and saves eichi!

question: what's going on and how is keito going to save the world from these aliens

(in this case the question kind of sets up the overarching primary plot point- having at least one can help a lot in storytelling but theres so many different ways to tell stories. i like personally really like the 'no conflict narrative' that some japanese stories have, not that they really lack a conflict but its great for slice of life things and can kind of be stretched a lot of ways i think its called Kishotenketsu

but you know, find a method that works for you but the most important rule for writing a lot fast, is to just have fun and be self indulgent, the hardest thing to do when it comes to writing a lot, is make yourself write at all after all, as long as you actually are writing something you REALLY enjoy and like writing, you'll want to keep writing. stay true and honest to yourself and if you hae ONE big scene in mind you freaking LOVE and dont erally want to write the rest you are tottaly allowed to do that. The difference between talent and skill is often passion.

Oh and NEVER. EVER. INSULT YOUR WRITING.

DONT BE HARSH. DONT BE CRUEL.

AND DONT JUDGE YOUR WRITING UNFAIRLY, INF ACT, TRY NOT TO JUDGE IT AT ALL ,JUST ENJOY IT. SURE ITS OKAY TO STUDY AND SEE WHERE YOU COULD IMPROVE AND GROW, BUT DO THAT BECAUSE YOU ENJOY WRITING AND WANT TO WRITE BETTER NOT BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU'RE BAD do it because you love writing and you want to love it even more and show it how much you love it by getting better <3 compliment yourself and your creative projects often

tldr: Do what you enjoy, never insult yourself, and remember to not push yourself to conform to others expectations and praise, but do praise yourself lots and lots <3 source: a lovely writer who enjoys it very much and can truly say they love writing

personally i got stuck in a huge rut by the way a few years back when my mom told me she struggled to get into my writing because i never finished anything and it took me a long time to finally work past that though she never meant anything harsh by it. It took facing nanowrimo to suddenly kick my love of writing back into gear. completing and sucessfully writing an entire actual book proved to me i could.

also on that note one more tip

writing an entire book actually isint that big a deal, its super exciting sure! you should celebrate it! but it's something we put on a pedestal which makes it seem superhuman to complete, but...it's really not. now ive written several books since nanowrimo last year, and you can really see just looking at my fanfictions how heavily beating that helped me. writing is FUN

writing can BE fun

the biggest thing ive ever seen stop writers is fear, shame, and doubt. Same with artists, or anyone else with any skills. love, love , love~ <3

just keep writing, keep loving it, and you'll find that even if you only write a little a day, youll eventually get your goals done <3 any mountain is climbable with patience time and love!

[therollinkaagenda]

Well I can't just NOT make a post during pride month so... Rollinka Time shift AUs, why not.

Maverick Hunter Roll/Navigator Kalinka au (X era)

-exactly what is says on the tin

-they are both adults in this au

--either the two have been steadily dating as long as anyone has known them, or are just married in this au, I can't decide

-Roll would give mavericks a chance to surrender, but only one (I liked how Archie's Roll was more skeptical and less forgiving than Dr. Light and Rock, that carries over here)

-Roll uses a lance-shaped Saber as her primary weapon, but also uses improvised weaponry when applicable

--Kallinka uses a broom, as a callback to Classic Roll

-both are very knowledgeable about robots in general, and give advice about how best to deal with enemies when navigating

-Kalinka has her father's notes on hand and will refer to them when needed

--Kallinka seems to be the only one who is able to read the notes (apart from, presumably, Dr. Cossack himself), due to the combination of messy handwriting, disorganization, and mix of Russian, English, and Japanese they are written in

-they work best as a pair, and are considered difficult to work with when appart

-Roll is a B rank hunter, it could be far higher but she has a lot of disagreements with other hunters- including her superiors- and doesn't particularly care to improve her rank anyway

_____

Destruction Deity Roll/Cyber Elf Kalinka au (Zero era)

-Roll is revived during Copy X's reign of terror, and Kalinka is there to watch over her girlfriend while she kicks Copy X's self-righteous arsenal

-see, given that Zero is considered the god of destruction in this era, and Roll is the Classic series equivalent of Zero, She is, by extension, a destruction deity.

--before anyone tried to argue with my perfect gay prosecutor logic, I already ran a Tumblr poll on my main to check this. I love democracy

-how is Kalinka a cyber elf, you may ask? I mean I guess technically she isn't, she is running off the life extension tech Dr. Cossack made for himself (I mean both Light and Wily did so that's not a stretch) but couldn't quite finish so he gave it to Kalinka instead

--But functionally she's like the elf in Zero 4

-Roll lost her memory like Zero did, but don't worry, Kalinka remembers everything so she's not completely in the dark

-gotta love the mental image of Neo Arcadia losing their minds over the resistance reviving ANOTHER destruction deity

-and don't think Roll is about to be proven outdated tech so easily, because not only is the broom a timeless masterpiece of a weapon, but she has a bunch of Classic era weapons to fall back on

--most of them aren't nearly as strong as what Neo Arcadia's forces can dish out, but they are still stronger than the lemon shooters that have become standard, and the variety can be used to more effectively exploit weaknesses and design flaws, and catch foes off guard

---there's also the fact that many of these are forgotten, or their equivalents in this era are unrecognizable. For instance, shields that both protect from all directions and can be used for offense, screen clearing attacks, and especially stuff that freezes all enemies like the flash or time stoppers are practically unheard of. It really can add up to a death by a thousand cuts, and Roll, much like Zero is a relatively small target that's more than good enough at dodging to make up for her comparably small health bar

----Yes, there is a Sans joke to be made here, and the joke is on Copy X

-Kalinka is very much her guide similar to Cyber Elf X, but also stays by Roll's side and buffs her like the Zero 4 elf

-once Roll does get her memories back, she begins to take Copy X's actions personally. She does NOT take kindly to what he did with/too her "baby brother"'s good name

-famililal relationship with guardians status: very, very complicated. So they are each a piece of X's soul, right? Does that make them X's children or his siblings? Or some other third thing?

--Either way, Roll can't bring herself to actually kill them - She already has two and a half dead brothers too many at minimum, forget whatever the number becomes if you could ALL of Dr. Light's robots as her siblings.

-because of their backrounds, they are quite good at crafting items and can be found helping develop weapons when they aren't on missions

-Smol Kalinka, very cute

--i know Cyber Elves aren't necessarily the size they are shown to be in game, but I also don't care. Kalinka is smol anyways

______

Mega Man? Kalinka/biometal Model r au (ZX era)

-A role reversal, or should I say a ROLL- *gets shot*

-Model r was a third party hired by Tomas's unwieldy attempt to create a new biometal without Ceil's research or model W, using a soul of beyond ancient and unclear origin because a large amount of mysterious (justice) energy was detected in it.

-however, Model r was unable to Mega Merge with with anyone, even the ones with Albert's DNA- and all telepathy could tell them was cryptic hints as to the one person who could

--Determined not to let the project be a failure, they would eventually revive Kalinka without her memories - only the knowledge (well, feeling) that she could, and should trust Model r, and together they break out of the lab

- Model r is not the strongest biometal, and since Kalinka isn't actually a 'mega man', isn't compatible with the other biometal's either. She does, however, have the variable weapon system, and a broom.

--given that the Psudoroids are complete [YouTube]s, I think that will be enough

-certain memories can be found by going to certain places - the met theme park and e-tank shop, for instance

-Roll does remember everything - her memory wasn't wiped because of the aforementioned search for Kalinka - but she doesn't tell Kalinka all that much because... Well, she's sorta 'not supposed to be alive' right now and it would be difficult to explain that everyone Kalinka cared about is dead, and the one exception, her, is the reason she has to live with that

--and then Tomas tries to use that to make Kalinka doubt Roll and give up right before they fight and it works about as well as the last two times a ZX villain tried that, who would have thought

-the male alt ZX has for some reason is either Rock/Bass or Protoman/Tempo, take your pick.

[junpei-iori-ace-defective]

what's your opinion on the whole akihiko characterization discourse going on. also get well soon man!!

Ty homie! Also I have a lot of opinions on Akihiko!

Let me preface this with, I don’t think it’s Alejandro’s fault. I’ve met him before, he’s super chill! He’s a great voice actor! I think with better voice directing/writing this issue could have been completely avoided.

Spoilers/Full Opinion under the cut bc, oh boy do I have a l o t to say.

So. First things first I do agree that Aki’s new voice is waaaaay too deep. Like. I understand wanting him to sound a little more mature but he did not need to be THAT deep. Bro should not be lower than Shinji. However, I don’t think that is Alejandro’s fault.

In stressful scenes, when Aki’s voice gets a little higher, I was literally screaming in my brain. “THATS IT THATS HOW HE SHOULD SOUND!”. I think the voice director was so focused on trying to make Aki sound more mature that they were pushing Saab too far in the deep direction.

Also I don’t know how they broke up the recording sessions, but I could tell a BIG difference in the voice acting for the whole cast when the Yakushima trip happened. Like they all sounded so much better. Especially Aki and Yukari. I can’t tell if it was just me getting used to the new cast, or if it was a new session, but they did sound better. While still being deep, Aki did sound more like himself and Yukari had some of her bite back.

Aki also improved writing and voice acting wise for his second awakening and after. To quote from the live blog I did on discord “no more damnit shinji. But goddamn Alejandro put his whole soul into that.”

I think with better voice directing Alejandro could have really made Aki shine. Idk if it was just. Miscommunication or smth bc the rest of them sounded fine. But I still don’t think it’s on Saab. I know he has the range. It seems like a direction issue to me.

Now on to the writing/characterization. Whooo boy it is r o u g h.

Every. Single. Fucking. Word. Out. Of. This. Mans. Mouth. Was. Protein. They flanderized my boy sooooooo bad.

I’ve been told they wanted to make him closer to the japanese version and the arena games but like. I don’t think it was this bad????

I honestly think it was Atlus’ attempt to add more comic relief to the game. Which I understand, but I don’t think it was needed.

Part of the charm, for me at least, is how depressing Persona 3 is. Like. Of course the game is depressing as shit! It’s about death, destruction, doom, gloom, despair, ect. It’s supposed to feel so hopeless because that’s how it really hammers home it’s main point. In the last act, you, S.E.E.S., and other characters realize even though life is depressing and cruel, that there’s hope in the end. That the bonds you have forged will save you AND the world. Like you gotta hit rock bottom to get back up!

So trying to add more comedy just feels. Off. Especially choosing Aki of all people to be comic relief. Junpei has always been the comic relief TM but his character is done so fucking good that even though he’s the comic relief TM, the moments where he does get serious hit so much fucking harder.

Unfortunately with Aki, it does not work the same way. Aki is such a serious character that it’s hard to make him comic relief without ruining his character, which is exactly what fucking happened. All the serious scenes, especially with Shinji, just felt so weird bc the game sets up Aki as mr protein workout man. That when he is serious, it feels like a completely different character.

Like with his video recording that you can watch in the meeting room. What makes that funny is Aki is such a serious character that seeing him be an absolute idiot and fumble IS the humor.

I think Aki is just like. The worst choice to make comic relief. Like everyone else has funny bits and quirks, which makes them so realistic and likable! And Aki does too! But turning his whole character into work out protein work out is just a massive disservice to his character.

It did seem to taper off towards the back half of the game. Especially after Shinji’s death, and progressing through his link episodes. But all of the flanderization did hurt his character really bad. I hope Atlus stops trying to add humor where there doesn’t need to be any. Because honestly it doesn’t make shit funny, it just makes things not make sense.

(Side note, I think thats also what the other persona games suffer from too. Is Atlus being worried about the games being too dark that they add humor where there doesn’t need to be any. Which leads to weird plot things/mischaracterization)

Long story short, Do better Atlus lmao. I still love Reload. It’s literally the best remake I’ve ever seen/played. And I think all game studios should look at Reload and take notes. But it has its issues. And so does this version of Aki.

[aeoki]

Phantom Airship - Beyond the Imaginary: Chapter 1

Location: ES Sky Garden Characters: Sora, Hiiro, Aira & Tatsumi

TL Note:

In Japanese, the phrase Aira used for “doesn’t count” (ノーカン / “no-kan”) is a borrowed word from English (“no count”). This is a new word/phrase for Hiiro so he doesn’t know what it means.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< The next day. ES Sky Garden. >

Hiiro: …………

Tatsumi: The weather is beautiful today, Hiiro-san. But are you looking up at the sky because you feel melancholic and homesick?

Some people went home on their off days at Seisou Hall as well. You haven’t been back home in half a year, right?

Hiiro: …Yeah. But at home, I talked with my older brother on a “device”. If I had to say, I suppose I feel absentminded after “SS” ended.

Tatsumi: Hmm. “SS” Burnout Syndrome, I take it. Now that you mention it, I also felt somewhat out of things ever since the new year began.

Perhaps it was due to exhaustion from “SS” or the holiday mood. Everything was so busy during the end of the year, but it has all calmed down now.

Hiiro: Hehe. The holiday mood, hm. Tatsumi-senpai, you get like that too, huh.

But even though it was just two months, it was a very fulfilling period of time. Thanks to that, it seems the town scenery before and after “SS” changed in a blink of an eye.

It felt like I was staring straight at a bright light – As if it made me realise that the peak of being an idol is still very unattainable.

The powerhouse units like “fine” and “Eden” were especially amazing. It felt as though they drew the entire venue into a whirlpool of excitement and emotions – it was full of magnificence, beauty and fun.

Tatsumi: I know exactly what you mean.

Actually, I still think the scenery we saw that day was a dream.

Because of my injury, I thought my life as an idol would come to an end, but never would I have thought I would have another chance to stand on such a grand stage.

I thoroughly enjoyed performing with “Crazy:B” as well. I’d love to perform like that again after some rest. I hope we can stand on our next stage with a new and improved version of ourselves.

Hiiro: Yeah. Tatsumi-senpai, we’re still seen as a novice unit, but I’ll do my best so that we can make a great leap forward this year.

Aira: Whaa, I’m so late~!

Did I make it on time!? Or didn’t I!? …It’s right on 1PM – I’m safe!

Hiiro: You haven’t changed even though it’s a new year, Aira. We’re not meeting up for work, so I don’t think anyone will blame you if you’re a few minutes late, though?

Tatsumi: Hiiro-san, I think Aira-san made a promise to himself that he would do his best to be punctual, so he didn’t want to be late.

After all, this is the first time “ALKALOID” would be meeting after the New Year.

Aira: Yeah! Even though we’re newbies, we haven’t been called to take part in any New Year TV shows, though. 

On the other hand, it might be the last chance for us to enjoy the New Year too.

We’ve gotta work hard so that our schedules are full to the brim next year ♪

Hiiro: Hmm? But we went on a shrine visit during the New Year together after “SS”, didn’t we? Was that work in your eyes, Aira?

Aira: That doesn’t count. Don’t nitpick things right from the get-go.

Hiiro: Hmm. The shrine doesn’t count numbers?[⁎] I wonder what that means. Can you explain to me in detail?

Aira: Oh, geez. I’m getting myself swept up in your pace and it’s only the beginning of the New Year… I’ll tell you later, so keep quiet for now!

Anyway, I don’t see Mayo-san, though… Did he go to the wrong place?

He was the one who sent us a message and asked to meet up. He rarely does that. Did he make a mistake because he’s not used to using “Hallhands”?

Tatsumi: It’s hard to imagine Mayoi-san being late when he was the one who initiated this gathering… Perhaps something unexpected cropped up.

…Oh? This sound is…

Is that a radio controlled device?

Aira: No, it’s a drone!

Hiiro: Radio controlled device? Drone…?

Aira: Uhh, a drone is a toy which can be controlled using a programme and there should be someone nearby with the controller…

Hiiro: Hmm. I’ve never heard of those words before. Is it like a small plane?

Aira: Wait, this shouldn’t be the time explaining everything to you, Hiro-kun! Why is there a drone here…?

Aira: Ah, is there some kinda shoot happening now?

Yay! Filming from the sky on a drone is very cool ♪ I wouldn’t mind letting them capture me at any angle!

Tatsumi: Hmm. Someone is filming from the sky? The camera seems to be only focused on us despite that, though.

Either way, communication is important . Let’s say something to the drone.

Hello, person controlling the drone! What on earth could this be about?

If you have business with us, then please tell us!

Sora: “HaHa~♪ Did you call?”

Aira: Wait… what!? Harukawa-senpai popped out from the drone – he’s floating in midair!?

Is anyone else seeing this? No, I’m scared to hear your answers so wait a minute!

I’ve been working with Harukawa-senpai a lot recently, so maybe I’m just seeing things…

Hiiro: Aira. Don’t worry. I can see him too.

I don’t know how it works, but I don’t sense his presence. I can tell his actual person isn’t here.

Sora: “HiHi~♪ Good guess! This Sora is a hologram and the real one is observing everything nearby!”

“Good day and hello, ‘ALKALOID’! Sora has come with a job offer for you all!”

Hiiro: All right. We’re always looking for work.

But answer my question first. Why are you here, Sora-kun?

Tatsumi: Indeed, this is a rather coincidental meeting.

Mayoi-san contacted us via “Hallhands” so we gathered here. Despite that, Mayoi-san is nowhere to be seen, but you have appeared instead, Sora-san…

Sora: “HuHu~♪ That’s because Maste–”

“Oh, Sora is the “facilitator”, so Sora can only mention specific things.”

“Dark Onii-san is in another place! If you’ll all agree to take up our work offer, then Sora will tell you where he is~♪”

Aira: Umm. What’s this “work offer”? This looks like a lot of work just to tell us about it and I’m getting a weird feeling…

Don’t tell me your work offer entails something crazy?

Sora: “You’ll find out once you accept! …Well, I’ll get a warning if I said that, so Sora will spill a little bit~”

“This is a special job that only the members of ‘ALKALOID’ can do!”

“You guys shall be the passengers of the ‘Phantom Airship’~☆” Aira: “Phantom Airship”?

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[wishing-stones]

Hoo boy - anxious about overstepping but willing to give a matchup request a go anyways. Feel free to let this sit if you’re busy :)

Burnt-out overachiever. It’s not uncommon for me to pick up other people’s slack at work (science teacher) even if it means 14 hour days without lunch. Defining trait: “is nobody else going to do this thing that needs to be done” (doesn’t wait for an answer.)

It’s not that I … want, necessarily, to do it? If someone offers I will HAPPILY work out a fair distribution of labors. It’s just that I’m good at Seeing things that need doing. See things that could be improved. Notice gaps and Care enough to say “ah fuck it, add it to the list.” There’s just… a whole world to save and damnit if it’s not going to save itself then I guess SOMEBODY’s gotta do it.

Personality wise, my default is Little Miss Sunshine. High-energy, singing in the halls, enthusiasm x100, energizer bunny. Sometimes I joke that I’m an EduTainer more than anything else, and I will freely admit that I kill myself off trying to keep up with it all, but by god I will figure out what gets results or die trying. The trade off is that by May I‘ve burnt the candle at both ends until I’m nothing more than a stump and need a solid 2 weeks of “don’t talk to me” to recuperate functionality, and the rest of the summer to slowly rebuilt the backup battery that lets me run at 200% energy for 8 hours at a time nonstop for 300 14 year-olds.

Off the clock, I’m more into the humanities. If I have the energy for it I love painting, drawing, writing, cooking, baking, crafting, crochet, sewing, etc. 👀 Still, uh, a bit of a busy bee there too. I’m learning Spanish, French, Greek, Latin, & Japanese. The world is just….. it’s so full of magic, you know? Like I might be 17 kinds of physically and emotionally exhausted (if I sit down I might literally fall apart at the seams ngl) but how can a person sleep when there’s so MUCH out there? Places to see, things to learn, mittens and hats and brownies to make for people so they know I still love them even if I forgot to answer their text and now it’s been long enough that’s it’s awkward…. lol.

"Fine, I'll do it myself," is definitely a trait that attracts Blue. He also enjoys improving things he thinks need improving. He similarly is happy to work out an even workload, and will gladly split the work evenly with you so neither of you wind up too worn out. That way, you don't have to save the world by yourself! He's here to help!

Despite outwards appearances, Blue does occasionally struggle with genuinely being happy-- he figures if he makes other people happy, he'll be happy, too, but it doesn't always work out that way. Having someone else around that matches his energy and vivacity helps this immensely. He's also game to help grade tests or prep courses, and delights in learning what you're up to. (If he knows the coursework, he knows how to correctly help grade things!) Besides that, he's got a little more than a passing fancy in science. He pursued a career in the Royal Guard, sure, but before then, before he had to drop it to take care of his little brother, he was a science major with his sights set on a doctorate.

But, having the summer off means he gets to spoil the living daylights out of you during the nicest months of the year! He loves to be outdoors, so you can bet he'll take you to the beach, or a lake, or to go hiking, or just sightseeing. Maybe even some destination vacations! He's of a very similar mind, and is eager to learn and see everything he can! There's so many amazing things in the world, and he wants to see and do as many of them as he possibly can. He'd also gleefully learn those languages alongside you.

...And also help you when you finally do sit down and fall apart.

I'd have said Baggs initially, but I think the high energy would tire him out quickly. He'd be great in short doses, though! You're welcome to have coffee or tea with him and chat for a while.

[golden-hibiscus]

Almost a month late here I am!! Thank you @spookyspiderboiii for tagging me! I love these so much!!

tea or coffee: I drink a lot of iced tea, but if we're talking about hot drinks I prefer coffee. dogs or cats: Cats! I like dogs too but I'm a cat person :) can you play an instrument? Not a single one :( what’s your sign? Rising 🤌 Sun 🖖 Moon ✌ favourite lyrics that pop into your head? Don't know why but "I took a sip of something poison but I'll hold on thight" always speaks to me... do u have any tattoos? Nope, and it's not really my thing... Although I often think about hypothetical tattoos I could get, just for fun... I would get tired of them the moment they are done, I just know that xD favourite place you've ever traveled? Gotta pick London, I loved it! what's the last movie you watched? Shazam! Fury of the Gods!! I know it bombed hard and reviews say it's kinda bad, but I really really enjoyed it ❤⚡ (I'm also very biased towards this cast and characters so...) what languages do you speak? Italian and english. My french is embarrassing even tho I studied it in school. I'd love to improve that and learn japanese or spanish! do you have any hobbies? Baking and painting, but I haven't done either in years... Also writing, but I generally stress a lot when doing it because I am a perfectionist and I'm never up to my own standard. you can hang out with one fictional character for an hour, who do you choose? I'll go with the Eleventh Doctor my beloved! compliment yourself: Every good trait I have and try to write down seems like I’m flexing and I hate that... xD I’m good at noticing small details and inventing stories, there.

no pressure tags: @knuspamaul , @castiel @queenerestor and anyone who wants to! :)

[friendshapedplant]

Kanae's streams really are amazing~ For me it's worth the effort of waking up a bit before 8am, since I have to wake up early for some of my classes anyway. I can't believe it, Len'en Project is making me wake up early.

Of course, these aren't the only types of streams Kanae does, as I'm sure you know. Kanae also does chatting streams and gaming streams on the weekends (right now they're on Saturday and Sunday respectively).

I love using Kanae's streams to attempt to improve my Japanese skills. I also like the productivity streams because I get to focus on something for an hour~ It's actually helped me complete a couple fics so far, not to mention assignment (some of which are of course Japanese, actually a lot of them now that I think about it).

Anyway whoops I was autistic in your ask box.

No worries cus now its my turn on the autism >:)

I can't wake up at 8 but I do like to put on those weekday productivity VODs whenever I get around to working on homework! Very effective for body doubling and not having to worry about getting distracted by the other person (Except for when I'm watchin the silly Len'en ball drop go and making sure my blorbo is in the lead (rip Sukune clay had a good run)). I just hope this strat lasts for me cus I seem to run through different studying strats way too fast and keep pickign them up and dropping them. This one being tied to a SpIn might help tho :D

Unfortunately I work on weekends w little to no free time, but perhaps I'll go and watch a VOD of one of the game ones sometime. I ain't know shit for Japanese other than some hiragana so I dunno how much I'd get outta his chat streams other than his fun voice and laugh and vtuber model (which are great. is that weird to say idk)

Also gotta say Love it when your SpIn shapes your life in positive ways like this, hella good shit thank u Kanae Tabinoki. <3

(If anyone else wanna rant/infodump bout things they love at any point without any prompt my inbox is open 24/7 for this shit I wanna see what people love!)

[asterlizard]

2022

This year kinda breezed by, but I'm glad to say that this December was better than last December (looking back at previous years, autumn seems to be a rough period for me for some reason) I ended the year feeling excited and full of art ideas that I can't wait to share with y'all in the new year!

Anyway, accomplishments and updates:

KalChi: The next chapter is coming along, and after dealing with writer's block in autumn, I just finished my latest draft, and will hopefully have it published early in the new year (and hopefully I can finish more chapters sooner instead of releasing one a year)

Job hunt: No luck this year, and some people I know also find it odd that I don't have a job by now despite my efforts, so hopefully I can get that sorted in the new year. If a lot of time has passed, I may return to school to get a Masters degree, but that's kinda my last resort at this point. In the meantime, I'm managing through zine work and dogsitting.

Speaking of zine work, I contributed to 4 of them this year! (simultaneously too, which is my limit!) -Serenity: A BNHA Self-Care Zine -Together In Unity: A Hetalia North American Bros Zine -IidaTenBros zine -First Steps Haikyuu zine

I also think I’m getting a better handle on drawing dynamic and fluid poses, so my next goal will be improving backgrounds

I’ve had quite a few art posts that got pretty popular, but my silly crow doodles was definitely the most popular at 4K+ notes (also I’m enjoying reading people’s replies to my art posts)

I started keeping a health journal

And I’m trying to fight boredom in the meantime

And the resolutions:

Language learning: I was getting tired of not being fluent in a second language despite my enthusiasm for foreign languages my entire life, and I think I finally found a routine that works. So far I’m using it to improve my Japanese, but I want to try and apply it to the other languages I’m learning too

Now that I’m fully vaccinated, I’m starting to feel more lenient in going outside and visiting places more (still avoiding crowded spots though)

More image descriptions: the year kinda ran away from me and honestly I forgot to do this, but I did get one finished! (I will just continue to bug myself about it until it's done) Although now that alt text exists, I think I’ll be using that from now on.

More cleanup: I’ve saved a lot of links and resources over the years due to my curiosity and I never really looked at them until recently. So I gotta be more ruthless this year to not add to the pile of things to do or look at later

Relaxed schedule: Try to not give myself too much to work on at once if I can help it. I suffered a bit of burnout earlier in the year, likely as a result of wanting to do too much in a small amount of time.

And of course keeping up socializing, which I feel I've been slacking on this year (I need to talk to people!)

I've also been slacking on watching anime/reading manga until autumn, and I want to continue with it in the new year (send me your recommendations)

Also I haven't done this in a while, but I wanted to see what good things have happened this year, since my positive outlook had taken a bit of a beating this year: [Link 1] [Link 2]

I’m excited for 2023, hopefully it will be a good year for you all too! 💕

[javerend]

勉強ログ ー 11/30

Monthly reading summary for November! Also finished up the "Read every day challenge Fall 2022" on the wanikani forums today. Managed to read at least 1 chapter of manga every day for all 61 days of the challenge! (I actually started early, so today was day 72 for my reading streak) Still going strong, no plans to stop now.

Japanese goals for December are mostly in-line with what I've been doing: read at least one chapter of manga per day and enjoy what I'm reading. The only thing I'm adding is that I'm going to start reading one NHK easy article per day, to try to get some variety in style and formality levels (eventually I want that to turn into harder non-fiction: japanese wikipedia/actual news, but gotta start somewhere) I think finishing ホリミヤ before the end of December is a reasonable stretch goal, so I'll be shooting for that.

Read:

よつばと！chapter 23 - this was the first chapter I read during the fall challenge, and at the time I considered it to be the hardest chapter of the series that I’d read so far. I thought it would be fun to go back and do a direct comparison after an extra 2 months of extensive reading. Now I’d say it’s definitely easier than most of what I’m reading. Grammar is noticeably simpler, and I picked up on some parts of the conversation that totally went over my head 2 months ago. In short: remarkable improvements! Good Words: 養殖 「ようしょく」 ー aquaculture 飲み込む 「のみこむ」 ー to swallow, to gulp down

ホリミヤ chapter 14 - Good Words: 無断 「むだん」 ー without permission 拍子 「ひょうし」 ー tempo, beat, rhythm (here metaphorically) 塞がる 「ふさがる」 ー to be closed up, to be healed

Watched/Listened:

Tips for Beginners #1-4 (Shogi Harbor) - some good eng introductory shogi strategy and tactics stuff. Liking this channel a lot. Almost all the high level shogi resources are in japanese, so it's good to learn some vocab while also learning the game (I also want to read 3月のリオン so i need to know some of these lmao) Shogi Words: 穴熊囲い 「あなぐまがこい」 - bear in hole, badger in hole, defensive castle structure

[hoennislands]

I have so many thoughts about everything going on in NJPW and The Boyz My Bestiez but I am so behind with the shows and I just don’t feel like watching wrestling 🥲 and I don’t really want to give my opinions until I see the Ospreay match and the WTL matches because I think it’ll change them but my thought from watching results and reactions are:

For what I’ve seen at least, it seems that Ren was playing sidekick for Shota for a while now and out of the 3 of them it was Ren who didn’t really have much going on with him like Shota and Yota. Ren’s also the only one who didn’t get an IWGP US match w Ospreay. I was always thinking I felt kind of bad for him because he’s just there and he’s always catching strays from fans (can’t speak for Japanese ones though).

The turn makes Ren very interesting to me, I can’t wait to see what happens next for him. I think he’s very well suited to be a heel and I think he’ll do a great job with it. House of Torture is controversial and I usually skip their matches (I guess I can’t anymore rip….) but Ren doesn’t feel like someone who will play the heel the way HoT are. He can be the more serious/“straight” man out of them idk. I’m looking forward to it all

As for Shota… lol, my boy has been TAKING A LOT OF L’s lately. I did say in a previous post that Ren and Shota hate each other and they will continue to and the beef will be generational (in the end I was right!) I was surprised when the Best of 7 Series ended in a tie and everyone shook hands. And I was anticipating that these would be their respective teams at their tag leagues (right again!) and they would go on to win or at least be in the finals (lol). Then Shota challenged Ospreay which… confused me? As he’s already lost to him 2? 3? Times? I never expected him to win or to challenge Mox at WK because I don’t believe he’s ready for that. I don’t think it’s his time. There will be a time he wins that title and/or go Over Mox but it’s not now.

To my opinion, Shota has quite a ways to go. And I knew that Ren and him were going to be at WTL which he couldn’t have done if he won. As I said before I haven’t watched the match but after many saw it, it convinced them that Shota is the future (which is amazing for him! I’m happy about that). I think he has great potential! Some deep conditioner and getting rid of that ugly ring gear and less corniness on Twitter and he can be unstoppable However, he’s still carrying Mox’s jacket, he’s still playing the role of the goody two shoes, while showing a bit of edge in the ring. He needs to improve and figure himself out and they need to settle on who he wants to be rather than Mox’s protege, next Tanahashi, etc etc. He is being hyped up and heavily promoted which I can understand but, he needs more for himself. I did predict that Ren would take the win over him in Best of 7 which would give Ren some confidence and send Shota (who is a bit entitled ngl) into a spiral but alas….

From Royal Quest to WTL, Ren has been playing secondary to Shota. It’s been Shota Umino… and his partner. It’s a disservice to Ren! I can understand Ren being frustrated about that! And then seems that Shota was pinned and it “cost” them the chance to advance. Shota was upset and felt he failed Ren who reassured him. And then Shota thanks ELP/Hikuleo for taking him out to eat? No Ren was right to be upset!

I’m just scratching my head at the outcome of all of this. They tie at the best of 7 and shake hands so this means they’ll be tag league partners. Shota challenges Ospreay again with an excellent performance but loses? So now he will move onto the Tag League with Ren. They get a fireside chat video with a splash of queerbait and fanservice. That means they gotta make it right? Apprently not…. They lose. Shota is upset but surprise! Ren betrays him. One of my guesses would be that one would betray the other. Not by joining HoT though…. So what’s next? How do we move from here?

And personally lol, I’m a bit sad if this means Ren will be the Heel of the 3. Yota being a dark ace? I have no idea what will happen with Yuya. But that leaves Shota as the babyface? I really want Shota to lean more into a meaner side of things. I want him to show more edge and attitude and entitlement he does it well. But with the Ren turn… I don’t know if this is still a possibility 🥲

I’m still holding hope that Yuya will upstage him and he’ll be mad about it but we shall see. We’ve got like…. 30 years of them <3 (cue internal panic as I’m the same age as Ren and Shota)

And also in regards to movesets, I know that Shota has been diversifying and adding new things since the Ospreay match which is great! Love that for him! But god I saw the word “Blaze Blade” and I rolled my eyes. *shaking Shota by the shoulders* Please do something other than ripping off other wrestlers PLEASE IM DESPERATE. Or else I’m deflecting!!!!!! I wonder what this means for WK. Ren v Shota singles? I think it’s unlikely we’ll see.

And also Ren being evil will be hot. We love a bad boy. Look at Sho. I’m aware of how people view HoT. I don’t really have much interest in them tbh. But I like Ren and I’m going to support his wrongs! This will benefit them both. I hope this makes Shota strive for more and gives Ren a good change <3

[adobe-outdesign]

I was looking through your old asks and I found a Spamton Pokémon Rating and I gotta say, it's a shame that most people only know him through his Deltarune cameo. Kinda like how people only know Ridley from his Metroid cameos rather than his original appearances in Pokémon... speaking of which have you done Aerodactyl yet? That’s the first Pokémon Ridley equivalent that pops to mind lol

Aerodactyl is okay—though I'll admit, it never did all that much for me. I think it's just because I feel like I've seen this kind of wyvern-style pterosaur dozens of times before, and it's just not as interesting as actual proper pterosaurs (though granted, the Japanese word for pterosaurs is "winged dragons", so that might've been intentional). I'll get into this later, but IRL pterosaurs were some of the weirdest prehistoric creatures out there, and I would've loved to see that worked more into this design.

I also feel like the colors hurt it a bit. There's nothing wrong with the purple, but when the entire palette's monotone with no real markings it ends up not really having anything to make it pop. Even just a different color for the wing membranes instead of just a slightly darker purple would've been something.

And just to clarify, what we got isn't bad; I think the head's a bit too big for its own good, but its otherwise serviceable. I'm also always a big fan of correct membrane-style wings (correct in the sense that they're anatomically plausible; IRL pterosaurs had rounder wings and no thumbs), and the arrow tail is a nice touch. It's just that, at the end of the day, it feels less like a unique prehistoric creature and more like Charizard 2.0.

I'll give mega Aerodactyl this: It does at least attempt to fix some of my issues with original Aerodactyl. The colors are slightly improved—using the addition of black to add some much-needed contrast, darkening the wing membranes, and even making the eye color more vibrant. It's also more of a unique design, feeling like it has something to differentiate it from other dragons/dragon-like pterosaurs.

However, I can't say I love the rocks, either. First, they create some visual awkwardness; the ones on the stomach aren't needed (a dark underbelly to match the wing membranes would've worked fine), and the "beard" only makes the head look even more oversized. The ones on the wings, back, tail, and hind claws look fine; if they had just stuck to those ones and maybe the ones on the ears, it would've looked a lot less messy. Also, why is the tail flatter?

But secondly, those rocks bring me to my second point: mega Aerodatyl doesn't really have an interesting direction. It's just regular Aerodactyl, but Pointier(TM). There's almost something interesting going on with these 'dex entries:

None of the fossil Pokemon are properly reconstructed, as emphasized by most of them having rock-typing. The idea of mega evolution restoring a fossil Pokemon to its original prehistoric form is perfect. The problem is that the idea presented here for Aerodactyl's original form is... rocks. Even if we assume Aerodactyl was always rock-type and that wasn't a side-effect of it being resurrected from a fossil, its true appearance just being the same thing With Rocks is just... not that interesting, or at least as interesting as it could be. (Plus it raises some logistical questions. Like, why does it have proper wing-hands it can walk on in the improperly restored version?)

I point this out because, if you didn't know, pterodactyls are extremely weird:

Look at that. Equal parts ridiculous and terrifying.

My point is that I would've liked to see mega Aerodactyl lean more into IRL pterosaurs for inspiration if that's what they were going for. Give it a more elongated face, rounder wings, longer neck, etc. And some pterosaurs were quite colorful. Adding in some red and blue accents and darker stripes would've been a great way to really make the original purple palette pop:

Anyway, overall, original Aerodactyl is fine, but it feels somewhat generic, and the monotone colors make it feel washed out. The mega attempts to fix a few things, but ultimately creates more problems and doesn't really take full advantage of its concept.

Also, final fun fact that I found out while researching this: There is an actual IRL pterosaur genus called Aerodactylus that's named after this Pokemon. Because scientists are as nerdy as the rest of us.