#i need ideas for an ii version tho

[infinite-ticking-clock37]

I wanna write an Inanimate Insanity version of one of my favorite Christmas stories aka A Christmas Carol

Silver Spoon would be Scrooge obvi

The otherss idk

[mirixmoya]

hello friends welcome to GRADING TORTURED POET SOCIETY SONGS BASED ON HOW EASILY I COULD TURN THEM INTO A HAYFFIE FIC (PART TWO) i hope u enjoy.

(you can find PART ONE here, for anyone interested!)

i. the black dog: 8/10. excellent directly-post-war hayffie song. captures a moment when they haven't quite re-connected yet, but they're both dying without eachother. "my longings stay unspoken, and i may never open up the way i did for you" "six weeks of breathing clean air, i still miss the smoke" is all very them. a really effective illustration of how the world feels like a different place in heartbreak, it's desolate and aching, which is all very very hayffie.

ii. imgonnagetyouback: 9/10. this song is bananas crazy, but so is effie. so it fits. it reeks of the turbulent, on-again-off-again, boundaryless, situationship parts of hayffie. once again, i think this could be a VERY good directly-post-war vibe. "i can tell when somebody still wants me" "you'll find that you were never not mine" "even if it's handcuffed, i'm leaving here with you" are all crazy thought processes which i can 100% imagine effie having.

iii. the albatross: 7/10. i know everyone is really stuck on this being a lucy gray / katniss / snow parallel song, but i see the hayffie vision! i think it would be a good song to juxtapose all of effie's relationships with capitol men against her relationship with haymitch. how is she made to behave by love? how does her fame + position loom over her relationships? effie is mythologized by the men in her life, almost made unreal by their perceptions of her, and it's haymitch who makes her real again. if any of that makes sense.

iv. chloe or sam or sophia or marcus: 8/10. EVERYONE HEAR ME OUT ON THIS ONE, but i have this vision of really angsty post-canon hayffie where they try to make a proper relationship work, they really do, but they just... can't. but there is an ache to this failure. a regret. they thought that they would always be able to come back to this, to eachother, but they discover that life is actually a series of closed doors. things change over time. they're forced to grieve this past version of their relationship that they simply don't have access to anymore. "you turned me into an idea of sorts, you needed me but you needed drugs (ALCOHOL) more" "could it be enough to just float in your orbit?" "if you want to break my cold, cold heart, say you loved me" ... yeah, the angst potential is endless.

v: how did it end?: 7/10. ONCE AGAIN, excellent bones for an angsty post-canon 'well, it didn't work out' hayffie vibe. good general thg imagery with "lost the game of chance, what are the chances?" + "the empathetic hunger descends" etc etc. "we were blind to unforeseen circumstances" very very them.

vi: so high school: 5/10. i feel like i could twist it to be hayffie if i tried really hard. like maybe a post-canon movie-verse traumaless fluff vibe where everything just falls into place. "no one's ever had me, not like you" is a very good line for hayffie tho.

vii: i hate it here: 8/10. excellent potential for a pre-canon / during-canon hayffie where effie uses their relationship as her refuge from the rest of the world, it's the only place she can truly be herself. the precocious child stuff, the debutant stuff, "i'm lonely but i'm good, i'm bitter but i swear i'm fine", all feels veryyy effie. this song would also be a good framework for effie being incapable of articulating her relationship with haymitch to other people, the magic of it is lost on them, it comes out clunky and awkward. but SHE knows it's real.

viii: thanK you aIMee: 2/10. not a hayffie song. but i feel like i could make it about effie & The Other Escorts if i really tried.

ix: i look in people's windows: 6/10. listen, this album is just an post-canon hayffie gold mine. "i had died the tiniest death" (the war) "i'm afflicted by the not knowing" (her relationship with haymitch) "what if your eyes looked up and met mine, one more time" (they can try again, can't they?). the anxious, almost neurotic ruminating is very effie to me.

x. the prophecy: 10/10. THE HAYFFIE SONG! if you saw the twitter edit before it got taken down, you KNOW. "don't want money, just someone who wants my company" "i'm so afraid i've sealed by fate" ... devastating. i think the illusions to prophecy & fate & this lack of control all play into her role in The Games really well. the idea that she's being punished for her sins by this lack of love. so much of effie is controlled and precise, i think the fact that this one thing (her relationship with haymitch) is sooo out of her control would drive her insane. perhaps insane enough to beg on her knees...

xi. cassandra: 4/10. not really hayffie focused, but good potential for one of my more politically focused fics. maybe the year of the 75th, leading right up to the rebellion. cinna & portia strike me as very cassandra-coded.

xii. peter: 1/10. not hayffie. maybe seneca & effie relationship study, but def not hayffie.

xiii. the bolter: 10/10. PERFECT EFFIE SONG! NO NOTES! SHE IS THE BOLTER! a precocious child with a "quite bewitching face" who is "splendidly selfish, charmingly helpless"??? welcome back effie trinket! the chorus is very hayffie to me. i'm thinking pre-canon early affair vibes. we get all the fun contrast between her relationship with haymitch and her relationship with the capitol "trophy hunters". the bridge could not be more effie if it tried, "hearts are hers for the breaking, there's an escape in escaping". she falls through the ice (the war) but don't worry folks, she comes out alive!

xiv. robin: 0/10. i genuinely have no idea what i could do with this song. sorry.

xv. the manuscript: 3/10. potential for post-canon living-happily-ever-after hayffie but with effie reflecting on her past relationships with capitol men. there's lots of illusions to grooming and the imprint that age-gap relationships leave behind that i think could really work.

[kasmis]

Thanks so much for posting your thoughts on Death Mark II, really informative and has made me even more excited for the game! I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what was the one line they changed for Mashita in Death Mark that you mentioned?

Hii of course I'm so glad you read and enjoyed!! I really enjoyed playing it so I'm super excited that more people get to play it soon.. Fall 2023 needs to come faster 😭😭

Oh my god.. I'm going to stick my answer under a read more just in case people are concerned about DM spoilers in 2023 (?) and also because I accidentally went off and wrote a super long response LMFAOOOO. But I realize this is something a lot of overseas fans don't know so I hope you don't mind that I'm tagging my response!!

So.. in Chapter 2 of Death Mark, it's possible to trigger the Live or Die where you close the beehives with any partner character. And every partner character get a unique line of dialogue as soon as it starts right. In the translation, Mashita says "(last name)! Get away from there!" But.. in the original.. he says "(first name)! Run away!"

Here are screenshots comparing the two with the default "Yashiki Kazuo / 八敷一男" name:

Trying to figure out the reason they changed this has like haunted me to this day LOLLLL I just don't understand it!! At first I thought it was because the localizer might be worried overseas audiences would get confused at the sudden name switch, but then in Chapter 6 Hiroo calls Yashiki by his first name when she's possessed. So I don't know why they kept her "Kazuo" while removing Mashita's!? Like it's possible they made the decision to keep Hiroo's after they had already finished translating and localizing the earlier chapters, but I still like. Idk. It makes me mad to be honest LOL I think it's such a good and cute Mashita moment and the change is truly unneeded.. I'm holding back from going off on another tangent but you get the idea 😭😭

In general I have several other issues with the quality of the translation and localization of DM overall but also like. IIRC the AKSYS team was literally just one translator and one localizer so I try to be understanding. I just really hope that for Death Mark II they give them more resources because there's plenty of stuff that I think will be difficult to carry over accurately and if the team is stretched thin it might not live up to its full potential. That's why I said before that I was a little nervous about how they'll approach some things in the new game looll..

Anyway. If it wasn't obvious I'm like very interested in comparing the differences between the JPN and ENG versions of the game and I have plenty to say but I feel like I've already made this way too long.. I'm always happy to discuss the other things they changed and my opinions on the changes tho so like. As an open invitation to anyone else reading ig if there's anything else ur curious about I'm happy to chat!! Thank you for asking this and allowing me to ramble 💖

[polizwrites]

WIP Update - 15 Feb 2023

Another ridiculously productive week!  I touched 8 fics ( 4 WIPs & 4 new works) for a total of  4008 words! 

On Ao3, I posted the final chapter of  Come Down From Your Fences  (And Open the Gate)  to finish off my Stony Western AU with a happy ending.                I also posted   Thimbles and Acorns  - a pre-war  Stucky ficlet featuring love confessions courtesy of Peter Pan.

On Tumblr I posted: Tensegrity -  MIT-era Rhodey discovers his feelings for Tony at an inopportune time. The Words Engraved Upon Our Souls - Soulmate AU featuring post CA:WS Stucky and a supportive (and slightly pining) Tony.  A Decision at Sundown (continuation)  - the next scene of my Rhodey POV Western AU that finally brings Tony into the story. The Fist, Defeated - a double drabble about the fight between Isaiah Bradley and the Winter Soldier (as referenced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) A Secret Garden - Part II   - a continuation of my Tony/Bucky hanahaki ficlet. The Steward of Brookline Manor -  a remix/outsider POV of  To Tame a Werewolf

I have  15 active WIPs  with my current  deadlines being the February Ficlet Challenge, Bucky Barnes Flash Bingo 2023  and the  Tony Stark Bingo (all ending 28 Feb)

See below cut for what I’m working on/planning to work on - arranged more or less by bingos/challenges/etc.  As always, feel free to send me prompts or plot bunnies as well as asks regarding any of these projects  or any other WIPs I’ve got out there.   Interaction really helps feed the Muse and keep me motivated!

 Bucky Barnes Flash Bingo 2023  [BBB_F23] (Ends 28 Feb)

The Bucky Barnes Bingo team (@buckybarnesbingo​) is running a flash bingo this month - pick one of 5 premade cards (each with prompts starting from the same letter of his name)  and create some new content to share!  

I picked the U card  and I’ve filled 3 squares so far, with a WIP and a Vague Idea to finish the card.    

* Undone - Filling this with Chapter 2 of    Make My Heart Come All Undone  - No Powers AU featuring surfer!Tony (with a secret) and  amputee!Bucky.  I got a good start on this thanks to the  FFF23 Day 1 prompt: Wave and have since finished up a draft of Chapter 2  (Tony POV) at 565 words and Chapter 3 (Tony POV)  is at 493 words.  Planning to post Chapter 2 on Friday. 

* Ultimatum - used this in combination with the FFC23 Day 9: Soulmate AU prompt along with my Stucky Bingo  Stark Tower prompt  for  The Words Engraved Upon Our Souls  -  a Stucky Soulmate AU ficlet with supportive  (and maybe pining, just a little) Tony.  

* Underdog -  combined this with last week’s Flash Fiction Friday prompt  . [#FFF189 Who Are You]  for a double drabble:  The Fist, Defeated.   The plan is to add on more (possibly present day) to also fill my ACB  Isaiah Bradley square.

Tony Stark Bingo - Round 6  [TSB_R6  (Ends 28 Feb)

22 fills with two bingo so far and three WIPs at the moment -    with Vague Ideas for almost every other square.   I am gunning for a blackout, tho will probably have to pull my Adopted squares in to make that happen.  

S5 - James “Rhodey” Rhodes –  a FFC 23 prompt  “This is the last time I bail you out!” combined with my  AvB  Vulnerability square gave me the inspiration to finally write  Tensegrity .   I’ll get it posted to Ao3 before the end of the bingo.

* T3 - Pepper Potts/Rescue -  some sort of remix of/inspired by sabrecmc’s  Indecent Proposal  from Pepper’s POV.  At this point, I think I need to re-read the fic & take notes …   may need to scrap this idea & try something else.  

* T4 - KINK: Concubine - was going to combine this with  SRB  E4 - Mental Bondage but still may write up the idea I had - potential titled  My Voice the Chain that Binds You.

* A1 - AU: Regency -   finally cracked this with an outsider POV (Phil Coulson) of the events of To Tame a Werewolf.  The Steward of Brookline Manor  is currently sitting at 483 words, with that version posted on Tumblr  to fill Day 13 of the  FFC23 challenge. I will probably add another scene or so before posting to Ao3 and claiming it for this fill. 

*A5 - Scott Lang  - 27dragons shared an interesting plot bunny during the Sept TSB Discord party that I may end up using; that or a follow up to A Piece of the Action

* K2 - Secret Admirer -  carried this over from last round so I could try my hand a remix of Seeds of Love  (WinterIron hanahaki fic by the super-talented @hddnone).  Got inspired by last week’s Flash Fiction Friday   [#FFF188 Where Secrets Lie] and wrote up A Secret Garden  as the hopeful beginning of a longer piece.  It’s sitting at 296 words at the moment and will crossover with my AvB Unrequited Love square.

* K5 - Protectiveness – posted the third chapter of  Come Down From Your Fences  (And Open the Gate) to wrap up my  Stony Western AU WIP.    

February Ficlet Challenge [FFC23]  (Ends 28 Feb 2023)

I’m participating in the @februaryficletchallenge, where two prompts get posted each day.  You’re supposed to write a 200+ word ficlet within 24 hours and share it to the collection -  I’m ending up using these as prompts for longer works to fill bingo squares, but am posting each ficlet to Tumblr as I complete it.   

I’ve completed ficlets for the following prompts: (10 of 14 days)

Day 1: Wave;  Day 2: Caught in the Rain, Day 3: “What’s up, Doc?”;  Day 6: Pirate AU  Day 7: Carnival/Amusement Park,  Day 8:  “This is the last time I bail you out!”;  Day 9: Soulmate AU;  Day 10: “Wet your whistle”;  Day 12: Secret Admirer,  Day 13: Vampire and/or werewolf AU.

Stucky Bingo Round Four [SB_R4] (Ends 31 May 2023)

Twelve fills and one WIPs with a couple of other vague ideas.

* B1 - Mutual Pining -  no specific idea, but it’s so On Brand for me I’m sure I’ll come up with something!  (maybe  the Centerfold fic idea I’ve been toying with)

* O2 - Stark Tower -  See BBB Flash  Ultimatum above.

* O4 - AU: Supernatural - got inspired by a dream to start a Stucky fantasy AU (magician!Steve/ensorcelled!Bucky) that @bill-longbow  is collaborating on with me. We’re currently sitting at 1640 words  (984-ish of which are mine).   Will probably continue on this sometime in February/March.   Current Last Line:  "My men will accompany you back to Brookline in the morning.”

I also adopted the Writing Format: Remix one of your fics  square  – am thinking of taking one of my Stony or WinterIron  No Powers fics and adapting it to a Stucky pairing – if you have any requests - hit me up!  

WinterIron - No Powers AU  –  Stony No Powers AU

Avengers Bingo Round Four [AvB_R4] (Ends 2 June)

This time around the card is a 3x3,  so am looking at writing different pairings for my two favorite Avengers - Tony and Steve.    I have 2 fills completed and two WIPs, with a couple more ideas in play.

* A1 - Vulnerability - see TSB James “Rhodey Rhodes square above

* A3 - Kissed to Keep Quiet - I combined this with the FFF23  “ What’s up, Doc?” prompt  for a Tony/Stephen fluffy ficlet  that cale in at 330 words -   A Visitor in the Library

* B1 - Unrequited Love -  see TSB Secret Admirer square above.

* B3 - Mistaken Identity -  I’m planning a third chapter of my Tony/Rhodey  Western AU  Decision at Sundown   based on the ficlet I wrote to fill the “Wet Your Whistle”  FFC23 prompt.   The expansion will make both this square (and probably the fic itself) more explicit.  😁

* C3 - Dog Tags - seems like a good  Steve/Bucky  (or Steve/Sam?) square.

All Caps Bingo [ACB_R1]  (Ends 30 Sep 2023)

This new bingo focuses on Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson as its main characters - paired up with each other or anyone else!    I’ve got three  completed fics, one WIP and two different ideas for the One Fill, One Bingo Challenge - see this Tumblr post for details.  

* B2 - AU: Fugitive -  I combined this with the FF23 Pirate AU prompt to write  Flying the Flag of Freedom.   I plan on expanding it to bring Sam aboard (so to speak) but need to do some more research first.  

* G1 - Isaiah Bradley -  see BBB Underdog above.

* O1 - “This is payback, isn’t it?” -   combined this with the FFC23 - Day 7: Carnival/Amusement Park prompt for Recollection of Anticipation - Steve  revisiting memories based on Bucky’s comment about the Coney Island roller coaster.   It came in at 541 words and will be posted to Ao3 before this event ends.

* O3 - Pararescue Sam Wilson - may try to squish this into an expansion of  A Rising Star -  a previous Flash Fiction Friday fill.  

————

On other creative fronts:  I have a Hulk Stuffed With Character figure in progress -  still working on the figures/props for my three Marvel Trumps Hate  auction winners as well (7 of 8 done so far) – thanks so much for your generous support!!  Finally, I am prepping for a superhero con in March  and another con in June  so am pretty well booked up through spring/early summer.

That said, if you’re looking for one of a kind gifts for birthdays or other celebrations later in the year, check  out Stuffed With Character   over on Facebook for a full list of my designs (now over 100!).   They’re  mostly Marvel and monsters, but I have some Star Wars, Star Trek, DC   and Disney figures as well. Plus I love to take custom design  requests  for any fandom!

[maddmuses]

Ship Wish List

(Not all Romantic, specifying when a dynamic I want isn’t)

Conner Kent -Young Justice Members (Friendship) -M’gann M’orzz -Cassandra Cain -Cassie Sandsmark -Teen Heroes in general to relate to -Clark Kent (My boy needs his father blz) -Lois Lane (he needs a mom in his life too) -Basically any Kent (family vibes, and to meet his daughter)

Martha Kent -Other kids of JL members (Just connections bls) -Witchy vibe gfs would be great in general please she is known magic strong-girl -Pretty much same on Superfam and Kentfam as Conner

Caroline Kent -Other next-gen Teen Titans plz (all kinds) -Pretty much same on Superfam and Kentfam as Conner

Cassandra Cain -Other Batfam Sibs (Family, please she needs these) -Bruce (Give this girl her dad dammit!!) -Conner Kent (#1 Boyfriend tbh) -Stephanie Brown -Rose Wilson (-confused bi noises-)

Peter Parker -Other Spider Folxs (Spider-Verse what what?) -MJ Watson -Felicia Hardy -Cindy Moon -Gwen Stacy -Kitty Pryde -Mayday Parker (I need him to be a dad or meet an alt-timeline version of the daughter he could have someday) -X-Men (I like this in general, I definitely like the idea of him being connected to other ostracized superhumans in general)

Rachel Summers -ATTENTION ALL MUTANTS (Here she is, right there) -Kitty Pryde -Mayday Parker (future timeline gfs ftw :3) -Laura Kinney  -Logan (I need surrogate dad vibes, lbr her current dad leaves things to be desired)

Gwenpool -If it’s chaotic I’d love to have it

Ty Lee -Fuck me up w/ your ATLA muses (Ty Lee needs interacts) -Also Azula ofc :3

Mina Ashido -Ochako Uraraka -Nejire Hado -Momo Yaoyorozu -Honestly I just want her to interact w/ other hero muses in general (Var.) -Could give her some adversaries in the form of villains too tho (Var.)

Isane Kotetsu -Kiyone Kotetsu (She needs to interact with her little sister!!!) -Other 4th Division Members -Rangiku (”>////////////////<” -- Isane Kotetsu (19XX-20XX)

Rukia Kuchiki -Ichigo Kurosaki (A variety of dynamics are desired but romantic too yes) -Renji (Frenemies but actually Frenemies) -Byakuya (She requires her older brother) -Orihime (Besties but also gfs???? 👀👀👀👀) -Tatsuki -Ask me about my Rukia ship tier list it’s p good -Gotei 13 (What if The Office, but it’s samurai ghosts????) -Her gf from when she was in the Shinigami academy

Byakuya Kuchiki -Same as Rukia reg. Gotei 13 (Just need coworkers tbh) -Renji (Obviously he needs his main subordinate to bully) -Kenpachi (Battle Boyfriends???? 👀👀👀) -Same as Rukia I have a ship tier list ask about it

Isshin Shiba-Kurosaki -Masaki Kurosaki -Basically any Kurosaki he needs his kids lbr -People he knew early in his time in the living world -Various Bleach muses for various reasons

Goku -Chi-Chi >:3 -His kids kindly (My Goku is still not best dad but he’s peak Goku-style dad) -ppl to fight???? -Also his besties/squad

Goba -Other Son family members -also ppl to fight -Time Patrollers to train with -also ppl to date -Hot Saiyan Girls™ 👀👀👀👀 Mun: *slaps Goba’s hands* OFF MY COMPUTER BRAT!!

Broly -Look I’m not picky here???? -Raditz might be nice -So would Cheelai tho

Itachi Uchiha (My main verse is him as Hokage) -Basically anyone from konoha should get to interact with this delight -Sasuke (he needs to make sure his brother doesn’t turn to the dark side) -Akatsuki members fs -idk about romantic ships but I’m down to clown -other Kage

Sakura Haruno -Naruto Uzumaki (besties) -Ino (😳) -Hinata -Karin -Temari -Tenten

Yuharu Kaiba -Honestly she’d love to interact with almost anyone from DM or GX, possibly even 5Ds

Toru Caushan -The Strawhats (though lbr they aren’t a crew he goes after hardcore) -Nami (I miss the old ship w/ him and missvvave but definitely open to exploring it w/ other Namis) -Kaido -other Mythical Zoan users -Any other Marine canons or OCs

Korosensei -Just give this man students plz? -Superman (I think they’d be wholesome) -Aguri Yukimura

Donovan Greyback -Lily Potter II (They’re besties your honor) -Era-dependent but honestly Donovan would love to interact w/ anyone

Hermione Granger -Other Golden Trio and GT-era Hogwarts characters -Ministry of Magic characters -Luna Lovegood (<3)

Sora -I picked him because he can interact w/ literally any verse -Could definitely go for other Destiny Island and FF chara tho

Roxas -Axel (Besties) -Xion (Also Besties) -Org XIII muses and just generally other Nobodies -Other Keybladers tbh

Vanitas -Just anyone for him to torment tbh -Wayfinder Trio -Other Villains -Disney characters who can possibly redeem him (🥺🥺🥺🥺)

Zack -Aerith -Cloud -Angeal (mentor pls) -Tifa -Basically any party member or SHINRA character

Cloud -Honestly I would like more variety but also will never say no to a Tifa or Aerith ship -Just like all kinds of ppl please

Tifa -Aerith -But also just give her gfs -Clouds are also likely ye from me -Patrons of her bar

Dante -Lady -Trish (But like, they’re brother-sister vibes) -Vergil (let him annoy his big bro) -Nero (also let him annoy his baby nephew) -Like just let me throw Dante at you

Ahri -She needs victims -Sona (Romantic/Seggsual) -Sett (Romantic) -Akali (Romantic/Seggsual/Bandmate) -Evelynn (Romantic/Seggsual/Bandmate) -Kai’Sa (Romantic/Seggsual/Bandmate) -Seraphine (Romantic/Seggsual/Bandmate) -Lilian (Prey/Romantic/Seggsual) -Neeko (Prey/Romantic) -Wukong (Prey/Playmate/Bestie/Seggsual) -Irelia (Rival/Enemy/Prey/Seggsual/Romantic) -Xayah (Rival/Romantic/Seggsual/Throuple) -Rakan (Seggsual/Teasing/Throuple) -Kayn (Romantic/Pining) -Teemo (Victim) -Gwen (Romantic) -Viego (Hateship/Complicated/Pining) -Miss Fortune (Seggsual/FWB/Romantic) -Fiora (Fling/Hateship) -Garen (Hateship) -Lux (Rival/Romantic/Seggsual) -Ashe (Rival/Romantic/Seggsual) -Nidalee (Honestly sorta OTP) -Katarina (Hot/Hateship/RWB) -LeBlanc (Hot/Seggsual) -Riven (Rivals/RWB/Romantic) -Rell (RWB/Romantic/Seggsual) -Samira (Hot/RWB) -Taliyah (Rivals/Playful Rivals/Romantic) -Sivir (Romantic/Tension/Seggsual) -Renta (Enemies/Hot/EWB) -Zeri (Rivals/RWB)

Settrigh -Hey, does anyone want to work for a criminal? -Also could use interacts w/ his mum because he loves his mum

Luffy -Nakama (for crew-related reasons) -ShiraCrybabyhoshi (for shipping reasons)

Nami -Luffy (Her Ride and Die) -Usopp (Her Ride but not Die) -Zoro (lbr frenemies) -Sanji (GBFF) -Hina (Hot Marine GF) -Tashigi (Hot Marine GF The Sequel) -Just Hot Marines of both genders to date tbh -Boa Hancock (”Could be us baby”/Ship)

Ty Lee -Azula (Her First Love)(Toxic) -Suki (Her Second Love)(Wholesome) -Sokka (If I Had To Pick A Dude) -Mai (Eagle 2)

[cemeteryxdriven]

two paragraphs edited, now I’m burrito’d in three blankies with my plushies. my elbow is still killing me and I keep bumping it. hopefully I’ll crash in the next half hour, either way I have an alarm to get up and make food/continue writing. I’m a fucking goblin over these word docs rn. I’m thinking if I can get the first parts of daddy ‘verse ii and pet ways rewrite out by new years, I may see if I can get in on the bandombigbang for the first time ever, because I’ve never been one for deadlines, but maybe…

I wound up taking the teefs out for the psych session and it was a good thing bc I was talking about enough wack ass shit today that I think the teeth might’ve made me look like I’ve lost it entirely.

apparently she’s proud of me tho for being real frickin blunt about my boundaries with my ex’s (fuck I hate that word it doesn’t sit right) sibling and stepping back from tiktok bc it was getting unhealthy with the amount of hate I was copping. she said coming back to tumblr was a really good move. here I can exist and I can talk about everything that is me instead of a watered-down, censored version of myself that still cops nothing but shit.

and next year I’ll officially be starting arfid treatment too. for the first time ever I’ll be getting therapy specifically aimed at the eating disorder that’s had me by the throat since I can remember. that is a fucking terrifying idea to put it v mildly, but like. I know it needs to happen.

but for now I’m gonna take a nap on my blankie burrito because I’m fuckin d e a d

[ntshastark]

MAWS liveblog: part 5 (1x07)

Episode 7

happiest day of his life, hands down

==

yeah

==

ugh this is making me think of their first meeting in smallville, which was also in a cornfield

man i miss smallville, really need to finish watching it

==

THEY'RE DANCING WHILE FLOATING THIS IS TOO CUTE I LOVE THEM SO MUCH 😭😭😭😭

this screenshot looks weird out of context tho

==

and people say superman isn't relatable. i, too, am insane about lois lane

==

i love him so much

==

HEY THAT TALKING GORILLA IS MY NEW BEST FRIEND

==

soulmates

==

oh my god

(he looks like a dbz character and his voice is so much deeper than you'd think???)

==

aaaaaaaaaaaa

==

there's a tumblr and/or elizabeth ii joke in here somewhere

==

oh man, speaking of deep voices

==

it only lasted for that single phrase though, rip

==

LOOKS LIKE I HAVE A NEW FAVOURITE SUPERHERO TEAM

==

this episode probably would've been so much better if i wasn't a hack and a fraud and had already watched the other superman animated stuff

==

HELL YEAH

==

ah yes, time to play the time-honoured game of watching comic book adaptations: easter egg or chekov's gunn?

==

NOT COMET THE BESTIALITY FIEND

==

sorry, i appreciate the effort with the arm, the scars and the fashion sense, but being from an evil!superman reality automatically makes you lame ://

==

listen, when i said i wanted more of lois being mean to clark this is absolutely not what i meant

==

hey guys i just had a really cool idea for the fortress of solitude, i'm sure clark's gonna love it

==

Her Ass Is Not Sleeping

==

genuinely, why does the fact that there's some evil clarks out there in the multiverse matter???? there's literally infinite earths, everything is possible, there's evil versions of everyone

==

yeah

[madewithonerib]

This song just landed 2months later! [13:45] It's about Psalm 25

2. [3-5] A plea to the GOD WHO helps

Indeed, 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗯�� 𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously with out cause. Show me YOUR ways, O LORD; Teach me YOUR paths. Lead me in YOUR truth and teach me, For YOU are the GOD of my salvation; On YOU I wait all the day.

a.] Let no one who waits on YOU be ashamed: The       idea of waits on YOU isn’t of passively doing       nothing; rather, it is of an active service.

      The idea isn’t of a waiting room, but of a waiter       attending to every desire and need of the ONE       𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱. David included himself among       those who wait upon the LORD, but also knew       that others did – and wanted all of them to be       vindicated publicly and unashamed.

      i.] “This is not a petition, as the King James’              version rendered it, but an affirmation              of confidence.” [Morgan]

     ii.] The Biblical idea of ashamed is not primarily              embarrassment [tho sometimes it is used              that way]. Primarily “𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻              𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻              𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀              𝘂𝗻𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁.” [Boice]

             This is especially reflected in passages              such as Romans 5:5 and Isaiah 49:23.

I love the Praise & Worship from this week so powerful, everyone so touched of GOD. Thx Jess & Noah for being led in this way! [32:33]

[dashiellqvverty]

hmmm okay asoue was Very Good as a tv show HOWEVER im not sure i like it as an adaptation, specifically in terms of what they did with the great unknown

[cagedcats]

Alright so a Redux Iterum idea I had of… Starkit’s Prophecy… yep.

Including SP! Blackstar, Dawnsparkle, Flamepelt, Lakepool, aaand Stargleam. Or my idea who they would be in the Redux-iterum world.

@warriorsredux-iterum gonna @ you to see your thoughts and maybe get a little help regarding a suffix. Sorry sorry you’re free to ignore

Just gonna add more under readmore

Name changes and thoughts

Blackstar -> Blizzardstar

Change appearance to an all white cat, and rename him to Blizzard-. Suffix doesn’t really matter, he’s for sure not a -claw. He lost to a freshly made apprentice for Pete’s sake!

Dawnsparkle -> Dawnspeckle

Honestly I wanted to keep Dawn- so bad, I really did. But I was unsure as to whether it could apply to a tortoiseshell and white cat. So after debating amongst the prefixes I did settle on Lichen- reluctantly, though I am still very much attached to Dawn- I tell you. She gets -flower because of plot idea I had. There’s not enough of her in the materials to actually give her a suffix, but she does seem… protective? Concerned? For Starkit I at least. Same from source material she is from ShadowClan originally (she just isn’t in a relationship with Jayfeather or the replacement I’ve made for him).

*edit returning to the Dawn- prefix, and changing her suffix to -speckle. I think the normal suffix is -speck, but this is farther in the future and I’m taking creative liberties here. Especially since -speckle sounds similar to -sparkle. Or enough for me to use it.

Flamepelt -> Leechpelt/Emberpelt

I could’ve kept her appearance the same, and made her Fire-. But I had the idea of Starkit I being a black or grey cat and I wanted to keep that. So she’s made into a tortoiseshell and just to shake things up I give her some white as well. So she’s in for a prefix change, and Leech- feels ShadowClanny and it fits. Now as for suffix… there’s not much to go off of. She doesn’t seemed skilled anywhere tbh (not smart, doesn’t know her way around, can’t fight). She does seem calm compared to Starkit I, but that isn’t saying much. So she gets to keep the -pelt.

Edit- Going to possibly change her prefix to Ember- since it’s a similar element to Fire-, and it helps keep her connected to original version.

Lakepool -> Rainflower

Lake- isn’t a traditional name tbh, and Rain- is perfect for a ShadowClan cat as usual. As for -flower I kind of gave it to her because of how quickly she decided to take in Starkit II. And she continues to raise her even though the kid hates her, her mate, and their relationship. She even goes as far to speak on her behalf even after all the bs Starkit II has said to her. She alongside her mate are just good moms, so she gets -flower (and Redfur might become Redcloud not sure yet).

Starkit I -> Nightclaw

Starling- was a good replacement for me. Had the Star in it, but also just Starlings in general. You ever seen a murmation? That’s a lot of starlings. Almost enough to block out the sky… :)

As for her suffix… yeah that I’d need help on because of how she’s written. She is perfect in almost every sense of the way. She’s a good fighter and Hunter, good at tracking (at least in one chapter), every cat seems to find her attractive, she’s got a moral high ground she refuses to stray from.

So that gives us… -fang, -nose, -face, aaand -heart. I almost threw in -dusk because of how fast she became leader though that’s more so being diligent then leadership material (tho I guess she is, she accomplished everything she tried). Heck if she was a seer she’d probably be up for the -leaf suffix as well with how much she hangs out with StarClan.

I guess with the hierarchy of names she would be Starlingfang more then likely, but I like the idea of Starlingheart since that’s what she’s super notable for is just how steadfast she is in her beliefs, or even Starlingdusk just because how expected it is she’d become leader.

I don’t know which is why I need some help for what sounds best for this lovable protagonist.

Now Starkit II is of course a -storm because she quickly changed her stance on something’s Starlingstar (just gonna call her that for now) and she herself once preached. She’s not here, but I may try to draw her later

Edit- finally settled down and changed her to Night- to keep elemental the same, and gave her -claw since that’s the key point in her skill that she’s a skilled fighter.

-

Now as for plot? Basic idea is that Nightstar is gonna bring the end of the Clans as they know it. She’s a pseudo-cult leader in my mind. Probably messiah complex. (She’s a Moses figure, she’s also Jesus according to the Christmas special, and also God according to the Ten Commandments she brings to the Clans)

She’s introduced a new order to the Clans. A new way to honor their Ancestors. Which more so honored her, because in this new way she was the closest connection they had to StarClan. She knows how to honor the Ancestors properly. Without her the Clans would be lost to darkness

This is of course aided by the fact she makes friends with the current Seer (who was an Outsider and never truly spoke to the Clan’s Ancestors) who supported her words. Actually it’s possible she was supposed to be a Seer if there had been someone else in the position of deciding. And it’s possible he knew she would start this (Since he’s SP!Jayfeather imma rename him… Cuckoocloud. Cause Cuckoo thing and also because in the story he was surprisingly okay with everything Starkit did).

And with some friends willing to follow her, and some others who were somewhat disillusioned with how things were going in the Clan she starts spreading her words and guidance. It’s just luck that she (and the Seer) manages to convince enough cats to listen to her. Of course we eventually get some who… don’t want this.

But they’re dealt with :) after all, if they refuse her and her words, clearly they’ve become overcome by dark spirits in this world. And that needs to be punished.

I’d say though it’s mostly ThunderClan surprisingly that falls under this, with a few stragglers from other Clans that also start following her words. It’s just unfortunate that she’s in ThunderClan… and that she views anyone that doesn’t follow the words an enemy that needs disposed of.

By some point she is a… spiritual leader of sorts to the Clans (she goes to the Gathering in the fic and is referred to “Leader” by cats outside her own Clan, she basically runs the joint at that point in the og fic).

Since ShadowClan is always considered “evil” I’d say they’re the last of any of the Cats to be influenced by her words. And thus deemed the most dangerous by Nightstar and her loyalists.

Of course she’s not the only protagonist, but by the time we get to Starkit II or Dovepaw/storm it will be in the Clans that Nightstar has molded, and navigating it. And presumably trying to keep it alive (and presumably failing, after all this would be about the Fall of Clans).

-

Is this a bit much for a presumable troll fic? Maybe, but I had a lot of fun thinking about it. Of course if I did write it out, I’d probably make another blog for it. StarkitsIterum would maybe be the title of the blog. That’s if I do write it out. But I’ve had fun regardless thinking of all this and wanna share the idea a bit.

Also they’re all a… little healthier looking then what I imagine the Redux-iterum ShadowClanners, but they are around the Lake. And I think the Lake may be a slightly better environment then the Forest territory they had. Still small tho- we can’t leave that behind.

[baebeyza]

Rating evil Primes

Note: Talking about the shows + movies Gotta rate them evil versions of our homeboy Prime, worst to best, say GO!

6. Armada Nemesis Prime

This dude was sexy and feral and so damn threatening, but sadly he was part of an episode that said "we got five new toys to promote, lets add this filler episode that contributes absolutely nothing to the plot except give some characters new paint!"

Nemesis Prime didn't even make sense, like I guess he was Sideways the whole time or just a toy of Sideways???

But they never explained why Sideways would do any of this or how?

What was the point except "new toy" indeed.

Also

What the fuck is wrong with your fucking neck, why is your head so far off your body, are you a giraffe???

5. TFP Nemesis Prime

How can I give this dude a good rating, it's just a suit??? No character of its own, just Silas controlling it.

It was a nice episode but this Nemesis Prime just wasn't a character. Only reason I put it above Armada is that its existence is actually plot-relevant.

Though it could have been any robot or mobile suit, it didn't need to look like Prime.

4. Bayverse Nemesis Prime

He is sexy and I love the whole Quintessa idea, but they just didn't go into any depth with this man, a fucking disappointment.

On paper this whole concept is still damn dope tho - I especially love the face colouring and the fact that this Nemesis Prime isn't a clone or something, it IS Prime! Just brainwashed!

Lets appreciate how it happened:

Hehe, bitchslap-

3. RiD01 Scourge/ Car Robots Black Convoy

The accident love child of Optimus and Megatron, Black Convoy comes as an evil Prime clone who is relevant to the plot, is badass, has agency and handsome to boot!

Babe even tried to betray Megatron, that is always a good quality to have! :D

His bromance with Dolrailer was pretty nice to watch too ~

Yeah, he is a good evil boy and he'd be even more epic if he wasn't in a kids show

2. Prime Wars Trilogy Rodimus Cron

Never said this is only about evil Optimus Primes-

Rodimus Cron deserves a high place on this list because he caused me massive amounts of internal pain by killing people when I knew full well that the normal Roddy would never do any of it-

His design was epic (except for that beard?), he was strong, badass and damn I even liked his dynamic with Overlord. Just one massive asshole serial killer and his short lil possessed babu, whats not to love? :3

1. Beast Wars II Black Lio Convoy

This evil copy is in one episode only, but damn- he got so much class, sass and personality! More than all these other evil Prime's combined.

I mean just look at him - he's flirting with Lio Convoy, holding that flower!

Babe just said "fuck you, I'm taking over with my honey sweet mouth" and tried to fuck everything up, whats not to love???

Dude even got some evil rubs from Starscream of all people-

Really wished they did more with him but damn, he left such a big impression!

And for good reason - he's the original evil Prime copy :D ~

[felassan]

Some DA trivia and dev commentary from Twitter

There’s a lot of different tweets, so I’m just pasting and linking to the source rather than screencapping them all or making several different posts or something. Post under cut for length.

User: Was dragon age 2 your favourite in the franchise?

David Gaider: DA2 was the project where my writing team was firing on all cylinders, and they wrote like the wind- because they had to! Second draft? Pfft. Plot reviews? Pfft. I was so proud of what we all accomplished in such a brief time. I didn't think it was possible. [source] DA2 is, however, also where the goal posts kept moving. Things kept getting cut, even while we worked. I had to write that dialogue where Orsino turned even if you sided with him, because his boss battle had been cut and there was no time to fix the plot. A real WTF moment. >:( [source]

Mike Rousseau: I remember bugging that! And then being told it wasn't a bug, and being so confused. Doing QA for DA2 was an experience. Trial by fire. [source]

DG: So I think it's safe to say DA2 is my favorite entry in the DA franchise and also the sort of thing I never want to live through ever again. Mixed feelings galore. [source]

User: (I personally blame whoever it was for ruining most romance arcs in other games for me; they don't live up to Fenris's romance storyline)

DG: I wrote Fenris, so uh - me, I guess? Or maybe his cinematic designer, who put in the puppy dog eyes. [source]

User: If DA2 had just been an expansion, do you think it would have been better received? There was a lot of great stuff in there, and I think my initial dislike of it was because of the zone reuse. If it hadn't needed to be a full game, would that issue not have arisen?

DG: Hard to say. It was either going to be an over-scoped expansion or an under-scoped sequel. If it had stayed an expansion, it might never have received the resources/push it DID get. [source]

User: I'd love to visit the universe where you had an extra year or so to work on it. You did a very good job as it stands, but it definitely had rough edges. Not just the writing team either. The whole game had hit and miss moments, that just a little more dev time could have fixed.

DG: On one hand, DA2 existed to fill a hole in the release schedule. More time was never in the cards. DA2 was originally planned as an expansion! On the other, if we had more time, would we have started doing that thing where we second guess/iterate ourselves into mediocrity? [shrug emoji] [source] 

Jennifer Hepler: This is what I love about DA2. Personally, I greatly prefer something that's rough and raw and sincere to something that's had all the soul polished out of it. Extra time would have helped for art and levels, but it would have lost something too. [source]

DG: Right? I think we could have used some time for peer reviews (and fewer cuts), but I think the rawness of the writing lent a certain spark that we usually polished out. [source]

JH: Definitely. I think the structure (more character-driven) and the tightness of the timeframe let each individual writer's voice really come through. Polish can be very homogenizing. [source]

DG: I should add I'm not, by any means, against iteration. Some iteration is good and necessary. The problem that BioWare often had is that we never knew when to stop. Like a goldfish, we would fill the space given to us by constantly re-iterating on things that were "good enough". [source]

Patrick Weekes: I appreciate your incredibly diplomatic use of the past tense on "had". :D [source]

User: DA2 was my gateway into the series and I’m so happy it is. I love the game the way that it is. It’s one of my favorites of all time. But I am also aware of everything that was said here. If it were remastered, do you think it would change?

DG: I'd be surprised if it was ever remastered. If it was, do you really think they'd change things? Do remasters do that? No idea. [source]

User: Both sides got undercut as I recall. Didn't that whole sequence also end with the mage leader embracing blood magic? It was very much "a plague on both your houses" moment, at least for me.

DG: Yep. Orsino was supposed to have his own version of Meredith's end battle, which only happened if you sided with the templars. That got cut, but the team still wanted to use the model we'd made for him. So... that happened. [source]

DG: I would personally say that DA2 is a fantastic game hidden under a mountain of compromises, cut corners, and tight deadlines. If you can see past all that, you'll see a fantastic game. I don't doubt, however, that it's very difficult for most to do that. [source]

PW: I love DAI with all my selfish "I worked on this" heart, but DA2's follower arcs and relationships are probably my favorite in the series. [source]

User: As I've expressed many times, I love the game, especially it's writing and characters but, for me, the most impressive aspect of it, in consideration of it's lack of time for drafts and revisions, is the 2nd act with Arishok.  What amazingly complex character and fantastic duel

User: Just played it again and I have to agree. Though he is bound by the harsher tenants of the Qun, he makes valid points about free marcher society. Though it is obvious that he and Hawke will come to blows eventually, the tension builds gradually and understandably

DG: Luke did such a fantastic job with the Arishok I found myself sometimes wishing the Qunari plot had just been THE plot. [source]

User: What do you think would have changed, story wise, if you had more time for DA2?

DG: I would have taken out that thing where Meredith gets the idol. It was forced on me because she needed to be "super-powered" with red lyrium for her final battle. Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that. [source]

User: I deeply lament that there wasn't/couldn't be some sort of DA2 equivalent of Throne of Bhaal's Ascension mod.

DG: I'd have done it, if DA2 had allowed for anything but the most rudimentary of modding. ;) [source]

User: I mean, and I think I understand where you were trying, but how much legitimacy did the Templars and her as top Templar have after they're keeping the mages locked up against their will in the old slave quarters? Feel free to not reply.

DG: I think it's the kind of discussion which requires nuance, and which discussions on the Internet are not prone to. [source]

User: Was a compromise that the quest lines don’t branch? It felt like it was supposed to be that way but then you end up in the same place later regardless of what you pick. Like I hoodwinked the templars so good to help the apostates escape but in Act II they were caught anyway.

DG: I remember us having a lot more branching in the initial planning yes. Most of this got trimmed out in the first or second wave of cuts, in an effort to not cut the plots altogether. [source]

DG: "If you could Zack Snyder DA2, what would you change?" Wow. I'm willing to bet Mark or Mike (or anyone else on the team) would give very different answers than me, but it's enough to give a sober man pause, because that was THE Project of Multiple Regrets. [source] I mean, it's the most hypothetical of hypotheticals. It's never gonna happen. I wouldn't be surprised if EA considered DA2 its embarrassing red-headed stepchild. We'd also need to ignore that in many ways DA2 was as good as it was bad BECAUSE of how it was made. But that aside? [source] First, either restore the progressive changes to Kirkwall we'd planned over the passing of in-game years or reduce the time between acts to months instead of years... which, in hindsight, probably should have been done as soon as the progressive stuff was cut. [source] I'm sure you're like "get rid of repeated levels!" ...but I don't care about that. All I wanted was for Kirkwall to feel like a bigger city. Way more crowded. More alive! Fewer blood mages. [source] I'd want to restore the plot where a mage Hawke came THIS close to becoming an abomination. An entire story spent trapped in one's own head while trapped on the edge of possession. Why? Because Hawke is the only mage who apparently never struggles with this. It was a hard cut. [source]

User: I would LOVE to hear more details about this! I don’t suppose there’s any chance of a short story?

DG: I don't even remember the details of the story, sorry. There was a fight, and you caught the bad guy and then realized none of it was real and woke up idk [source]

DG: I'd want to restore all those alternate lines we cut, meaning people forget they'd met you. Or that they knew you were a mage. Or, oh god, that maybe they'd romanced you in DAO. So much carnage. [source] I'd want to restore the Act 3 plots we cut only because they were worked on too late, but which would have made the buildup to the mage/templar clash less sudden. Though I don't remember what they were, now. Some never got beyond being index cards posted on the wall. [grimace emoji] [source] As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd want to restore Orsino's end battle so he wouldn't need to turn on you even if you sided with him. And I'd want an end fight with the templars that didn't require Meredith to have red lyrium and go full Tetsuo. [source] Heck, maybe an end decision where you sided with neither the mages nor the templars. Because it certainly ended up feeling like you could brand both sides as batshit pretty legitimately, no? That was never planned, tho. No idea how to make that feel like an actual path atm. [source] Maybe an option to go "umm, Anders... what are you DOING?" 👀 [source] And, of course, a Varric romance, because Mary took that "slimy car salesman" character we'd planned and did the impossible with him. I can feel Mary glaring at me for even suggesting this, tho. [source] Lastly, the original expanded opening to the game which allowed you to spend time with Bethany and Carver BEFORE the darkspawn attacked. And, um, that's about it off the top of my head. Zack Snyder, WHAT PANDORA'S BOX HAVE YOU OPENED. [source] Shit, I remembered two more things: 1) Restore the "Varric exaggerates the heck out of the story" at the beginning of every Act, until Cassandra calls him on it. Yes, that was a thing. 2) Make DA: Exodus. Yes, I am still bitter. [source] God damn it, I meant "Make DA: Exalted March". The DA2 expansion, NOT Exodus since that was DA2's original name and makes no sense. Because the expansion ended with Varric dying, and that will always be on my "things left undone" list. [source]

User: Whaaaat?

DG: Well, you know that scene in Wrath of Khan where Spock goes into the dilithium chamber because he's a Vulcan? Well, imagine that but with Varric and red lyrium and because he's a dwarf. ;) [source]

John Epler: I distinctly remember referencing the bit from MGS4 where you crawl through the microwave corridor in the split screen, while cinematic battle rages on the other half. [source]

DG: It would have been glorious, John. Glorious. [source]

JE: I don't think I've ever been so certain what a shot should look like as I did Hawke coming in and finding Varric in the broken throne, just like when he was telling Cassandra his story. [source]

DG: It would have come full circle! Auggghh, it still kills me. [source]

User: Lord, you folks are a little too good at this.

JE: The true secret behind videogame narrative is knowing how to make yourself seem a lot more clever than you actually are. [source] 'Oh, we TOTALLY planned that.' [source]

User: Ok, this thread [the DA2 regrets thread, which is the big chunks above] but Inquisition.

DG: My regrets about Inquisition are, more or less, the normal kind. Nothing so dramatic, I'm afraid. [source]

User: You can keep your Varric romance, I want a Flemeth romance goddamnit!

DG: I would allow for one flirt option, and then a recording of Kate Mulgrew laughing for three minutes straight. [source]

User: I had a hypothesis about the repetitive caves in DA2. They're repetitive because it's Varric telling the story and he didn't consider them important.  They're like sets in a play.  (Okay, I really suspect it was a time/money/resources thing but I like my fake explanation better.)

DG: Hang a lampshade on it, maybe? Cassandra: "But that's the exact cave you were in last time?" Varric: "Whatever. They all look the same, I'm not THAT kind of dwarf. Can we move on?" [source]

User: that makes sense, hypothetically to make Varric romanceable and keep his arc—that had to happen for the main plot—I imagine you would have to make double the content (or more)? which would've been a tall order given the time/budget constraints the game was under

DG: Right. When it comes to "romance arc" vs. "follower story arc", we generally only had time to do one or the other. Never both. Romancing Varric would have meant not getting the story of his that you did. [source]

Mary Kirby: The one exaggeration I really, REALLY wanted, that we never got to do was Varric narrating his own death scene with Hawke weeping over him, then cutting to Cassandra's pissed off glaring at him. [source]

DG: Haha! The one I wanted was Varric's plot where he takes on the baddies single-handedly, sliding across the floor like Jet Lee, action movie-style, until finally Cassandra gets irritated and he has to admit Hawke & the rest of the party showed up to help. [source]

MK: We did that one! (He didn't do any Jet Lee moves, though.) Jepler gave him letterboxing to get The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly showdown vibes while he shot a ton of mooks single-handed. [source]

DG: Wow. Shows how much I remember. [source]

JE: I found it! I remember seeing this sequence as my treat for doing a bunch of much more challenging work. It was fun to see how far I could push our limited library of animations. [link] [source]

DG: Heh awesome. I could have sworn it was cut, honestly. I think I was even in that meeting. [source]

User: no disrespect but that’s surprising and rich of Mary “Hard in Hightown” Kirby to think DA2 shouldn’t have had a Varric romance when she wrote an entire book of Varric’s self-insert character pining over his Hawke insert character… HIH is the reason we had VHawke Summer 2018

DG: I can't *really* speak for Mary, or how she feels about it now compared to back then. I only know how she felt about it back then, and I'm not sure it was as much the concept of the romance but that Varric's entire story would be bent to "romance arc" ...a very different thing. [source]

JH: I remember pushing to have the first DLC start with Hawke having an option to ask Varric, "Did you tell Cassandra about us?" and if you picked it, Varric would answer, "Of course not, baby. I told her you were sleeping with X..." and then proceed as if you had had a full romance. [source]

DG: I still wonder how that would have gone over. x) [source]

JE: Okay, one more DA2 thing. Putting together the cinematics for this scene was a blast. [link] [source]

MK: These lines are my greatest legacy. I want "Make sure the world knows I died... at Chateau Haine!" inscribed on my tombstone. [source]

JE: I was so glad no one said 'no' to the crane shot. [source]

MK: It needs that crane shot. It's the perfect icing on that cake made from solid cheese. [source]

DG: The designers were all "we need more combat" and I think we were all "I think you underestimate just HOW interesting we can make this dinner party". [source]

JE: And finally. I think @SherylChee wrote the one-liner. I think we had a collection of like, 20. [link] [source]

Sheryl Chee: Yeah! Something like that! I remember submitted a whole bunch and Frank said you only needed one. Wish I'd kept the other fifteen. [source]

JE: A random chooser where, each time through the scene, you get a different one-liner. [source]

JE: DA2 is the project I'm the proudest of. I also absolutely get that it didn't land for a lot of people. But I don't think it's inaccurate to say that, in a lot of ways, DA2 defined my career. [source]  Everyone spent a year working at their maximum ability. I was a fresh cinematic designer and was given all of Varric's content, as well as the Act 1 Finale mission. It was a lot for someone who had been doing the Cinematics thing for literally 6 months. [source]  There's some stuff in there I can't look at without wincing. And there's some stuff I'm genuinely proud of. Not to mention, it was my introduction to most of the writing team. Several of whom I'm still working with today! Albeit in a different capacity [source] Also, weirdly, one of my most enduring memories of Dragon Age 2 is how much Bad Company 2 we'd play at lunch. It was a LOT. [source] Every game I've worked on has a game I played attached to it. ME2 is Borderlands. DA2 is Bad Company 2. DAI is DayZ. I, hmm. There's a progression there. I don't know how I feel about it. [source]

User: Is DA4 going to be tarkov then?

JE: I've kind of churned out of Tarkov for now. Probably Hunt Showdown, at least right now. [source]

User: I think people also don't take nuance into consideration -- like I FULLY acknowledge the flaws in my favorite games and will openly criticize them, but that doesn't mean they're not my favorite games anymore??? You can like and thing and still be critical of it.

JE: A lot of my favourite shit is deeply flawed! I acknowledge it and I think it's interesting to dissect the flaws. [source]

User: I still wish Justice was an actual character in DA2 rather than a plot point.

DG: There was a moment during DAI where we *almost* put in you running into Justice with the Grey Wardens, and he's all "Kirkwall? I never went to Kirkwall" [source]

User: Does that imply that Justice was shoehorned in to DA2?

DG: Nah, it was an in-joke where we thought it'd be fun to suggest that "Justice" was simply some demon that tricked Anders in DA2. Wooo those tricky demons! We didn't do it, though. [source]

User: [about templars]  except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

DG: I don't doubt that many people agree with you, and yet people can and do argue on behalf of the templars as well. My place isn't to pick a side, but to provide evidence that players can interpret for themselves [source]

User: Can you shed some light for us on how DA was able to do multiple same-sex romance options for different genders but the Mass Effect team treated them like the plague? What process existed for your team that just wasn't their for the other tentpole franchise?

DG: Different people making the decisions, almost different cultures. I don't know what it's like now, but for many years the Mass Effect team and the Dragon Age team were almost like two different studios working within the same building. [source]

User: It truly boggles the mind. Kudos for doing demonstrably better on consistent queer representation than the ME teams. Y'all never needed us to make petitions to try to get the studio's attention and ask them to do better by us. That's the fight we're once again embroiled in now.

DG: Honestly, I don't feel like tut-tutting the Mass Effect team. They did their part, and if they were a bit later to the show than the DA team they certainly did more than almost every other game out there -- and willingly. [source]

Updates begin here

User: So what was the reason for naming Dragon age 2 "Dragon age II" and not using a subtitle?

DG: As I recall, that was purely a publisher decision. I think they wanted to avoid the impression it was an expansion. [source]

User: Is there no chance of ever remaking DA2 under better circumstances? -Somehow remove the repetitiveness of gameplay by making changes and updating the tech and adding much more to the storyline. It could almost be a new very exciting game.

DG: I'd say there's zero chance of that. Let's keep our hopes up for the next DA title instead. [source]

User: I am a little confused here, help me out here please! How exactly was the cut boss battle with Orsino supposed to work out? How it would've kept him from turning against the player?

DG: It means that, if you sided with the templars, the entire boss bottle at the end would have been against Orsino and the mages. No fight against Meredith. The end decision would have been more divergent. [source]

User: I do remember that one of the reasons going around for that, was that resources were going to the transition to Frostbite. I'm still not fully sold on that having been a good choice. I felt that more time should have been given for that transition considering it was made for FPSs

DG: We didn't transition to Frostbite until DAI. Given our time frame for DA2, I don't think we *could* have transitioned to a new engine. [source]

User: Since your talking about the what could have been for DA2. Could you say what your script was for Anthem? Cause I remember reading that you wrote the plot on that game.

DG: I created a setting for Anthem and scripted out a plot - but, as I understand it, almost none of that ended up being used. So it's a bit pointless to talk about what I'd planned, as that'd be for some completely different type of game. [source]

User: [in reference to the exchange above where DG said “Being "crazy", however, robbed her side of the mage/templar argument of any legitimacy. I hated hated hated that.” re: Meredith] except, I don't think it had very much legitimacy to begin with. keep in mind, we interact with other characters with the same argument. The one that comes to mind is Cullen, a sane templar in power. The templar's side of the argument is inherently flawed.

DG: I don't doubt that many people agree with you, and yet people can and do argue on behalf of the templars as well. My place isn't to pick a side, but to provide evidence that players can interpret for themselves. [source]

If I missed a tweet, got the wrong source link or included a tweet twice, feel free to let me know and I’ll correct.

Edit / Update: Post update 22nd April

[scalproie]

what I am most interested in for dmc6 if they let us play as the Sparda twins is devil arms tbh

Like for once I wouldnt mind Dante to start with all of his weapons available (but without upgrades of course). It would make sense, he went to hell with all of them at the same time, maybe they can make an excuse for why he would miss some: like kalina ann mark II is out of ammo or they broke King C or something... OR dante shared some with vergil but I wouldn't see that happening. and maybe they would meet a new demon npc that would grant them access to a goddess of time statue for upgrades or something.

But Dante having all of his weapons or almost all of his weapons would be interesting in contrast to vergil

Playable Vergil in dmc6 would be the FIRST CANON gameplay of vergil, as of yet vergil hasnt had a single canonical gameplay, he's always been a (really fun) bonus. So first time canon Vergil, what would be his gameplay? He only has one weapon right now: Yamato. Maybe mirage egde would be available but we would need a canon explanation as to why he would even do that in the first place. Beowulf is LONG GONE but since it's so essential to his gameplay, a punchy devil arm would be needed to be acquired fast, which brings me to my next point: what if Vergil was the one to get devil arms this time.

Like the beowulf replacement would be taken from one of the earliest bosses? Goliath-like? ORRR I kinda do like the Urizen gauntlets idea I've seen around a bit, it would be a neat parallel to World Of V (tho WoV is also a completely uncanon ability). But anyway, a punchy devil arm would be the first one Vergil would theorically get.

Now Vergil also kinda has the the same gameplay for over 3 games now so him getting A NEW gimmick would be welcome and increase his combo potential in all honesty. This is purely personal because of my love of polearm weapons but I vote for him getting a lance as a new devil arm. Like an better version of that one form of King C.

[coldcanadianwinters]

SPOILERS FOR LITTLE NIGHTMARES II AHEAD UNDER CUT - THEORY WITH MAJOR SPOILERS

Okay so I wanted to propose a theory to y'all but it's got heavy spoilers about the end of the game, so I just wanted to make sure y'all were well warned lmao, so from here on out SPOILERS. Now then, those who are left, we've all seen the end of the game, Six drops Mono and he becomes the Thinman. Fucking massive bombshell, we're all shook. However, not very many people have heard of the secret ending. It comes around when you get all the glitchy child remains from all the chapters, and I'm kind of assuming that many people just kind of watched someone else do it rather than do it themselves based on the percentage on the Steam achievement. In it, we see Six pop on out of a television, assumably fresh out of the Signal Tower, then a glitchy dark version of her appears before her, then looks to the side where a poster of the Maw is thrown aside on the ground as 'real' Six's stomach growls. MOST PEOPLE are probably gonna take this as meaning LNII is a prequel and Six heads to the Maw now, BUT HERE'S MY THEORY AGAINST THAT! I mean honestly, these games are at their core about subverting expectations in the most grandios way possible, so why shouldn't there be the expectation for theories and potentially the actual plot line to be something most people don't expect? First thing's first, some fact checking, I swear to every fucking thing that I read from the devs somewhere that LNII was designed to be a sequel, and besides that, in the comics (which I am using as canon because I think that just makes sense with this stuff) Six is FORCIBLY TAKEN TO THE MAW by the Ferryman, as every other child on the Maw has been. How the fuck else would she have gotten to the middle of the ocean? Anyways, that's just fuel to my actual theory, which is this: IT'S BEEN AT LEAST A DAY, which I think is partly if not mostly proven by the weather and lighting throughout the game, AND SIX IS HUNGRY BECAUSE SHE'S AN ACTUAL HUMAN BEING WITH BODILY NEEDS, INCLUDING HUNGER, BUT SHE ASSOCIATES IT NOW WITH THE HORRIFIC HUNGER SHE HAD ON THE MAW, AND NOW THINKS THAT EVERY TIME SHE'S HUNGRY SHE'S GOING TO KILL. In other words she lives with INTENSE FUCKING GUILT, and the shadowy glitchy Six is a part of the corruption that the Tower gives off basically as a remnant of her short time as a monstrous creature and enforces the idea to her that she's still a monster and must survive by eating others. Basically, shadowy glitchy Six is a figment of her mind, a part of her that wants to demonise herself like how self-destructive people will, that is come to life through the evil power of the Signal Tower's twisted broadcasts. Now, Six must survive probably getting out of the Pale City and going further inland, most likely running from her own demons as she tries to find some way of coping with her new life and self-hatred, and trying to get away from the glitchy shadow Six so that she can try to learn to love life again and want to stay alive. I bet you that if they ever make a third game or some sick DLC, if Six gets a companion that companion will have to help her fight an invisible force inside her mind and show her that she doesn't need to kill another kid to eat and survive, that she can be a normal human being instead of the evil that she's seen all around her. Anyways them's my thoughts, take them how you will and if you want tell me how wrong I am, I'll probably write a fic on them tho, and I'll see y'all in the next one. Peace!

[japaneseadventures]

“National Tournament Report” Tezuka and Fuji Version Part V

INDEX: [Part I] [Part II] [Part III] [Part IV] Audio commentary from Prince of Tennis OVA: National Tournament Arc, FAN DISK White heat Remix, translated by me. It's finally the last part!! Part V is Tezuka and Fuji’s commentary on Echizen vs Atobe match. Audio linked in the Content Source below.

Fuji: It’s finally the last match. Tezuka: Yeah. Fuji: I was convinced that you wanted to have another match with Atobe. Tezuka: Atobe and I know each other’s cards too well. That’s why I wanted to try placing my bet on Echizen’s potential. Fuji: Hmm... Tezuka: What? Fuji: That’s not the only reason you chose to have him play Atobe though, is it.  Tezuka: Hm? Fuji: If you get him to play against Atobe, Echizen’s skills would definitely grow. Wasn’t that why you placed him in Singles 1? Tezuka: Ngh. Fuji: Right on the mark, huh. I can tell how big your expectations are for him from that. Tezuka: I think of this year’s tournament first and foremost, of course. But this year isn’t the end of Seigaku Tennis Club. I’m the captain. I have a responsibility to make sure the club 2-3 years from now will be strong. Fuji: *laughs* Tezuka: What? Did I say something funny? Fuji: No. I just thought of how I liked that part of you. I’m really glad you are the Seigaku Tennis Club’s captain.

Tezuka: Is that so? Fuji: But to be honest, it’s not the club’s future I’m interested in; I just want to see Echizen climb higher and higher. That’s it, really. Tezuka: I too want to see where Echizen will end up. Fuji: *laughs* So that really is the reason you had him play against Atobe. Tezuka: Developing one’s skills is best done in real matches. There’s no better way to learn than fighting someone strong. Fuji: That reminds me, Inui said something similar in his memo. He wrote that there’s no better training than playing matches with someone strong. According to one of Inui’s sources, before the tournament, Atobe apparently went to Rikkai  Dai Fuzoku alone to have a match against Sanada and the others. Tezuka: Did he really? Fuji: He got the info from Yanagi of Rikkai Dai Fuzoku, so it must be true. Tezuka: Inui’s childhood friend of sorts. Fuji: How surprising. Atobe seems like a cool-headed guy at a glance, but he’s actually pretty passionate. Tezuka: Atobe is the passionate type. Fuji: Oh? You really understand Atobe very well, don’t you. Tezuka: No, I don’t. That’s just the feeling he managed to convey when we played. Fuji: I see. Speaking of which, was Atobe not offended when you told him you’d be absent from today’s meeting?  Tezuka: No. He called to talk about how the meeting would progress, and when I told him I wouldn’t be coming, he said, “You weren’t invited in the first place.” And quickly hung up.  Fuji: I think you should be more concerned about that... Tezuka: Why? Fuji: He’ll resent you for that.

[Atobe in video: Even here you’re still getting in my way, Tezuka?!]

Fuji: *laughs* Look! He’s mad. Tezuka: But that was clearly a move Echizen pulled off with State of Self Actualization. There’s no reason for him to blame it on me. Fuji: I guess that’s just how much everyone is affected by you. Tezuka: I still don’t see how it’s my fault. Fuji: Around this part, they started pulling out all their skills, and it became more of a battle between their stamina and mental strength. Tezuka: They were very evenly matched. Fuji: When one side gains a point advantage, the other side is quick to change the tide. Neither of them yielded, did they. Tezuka: Mm. Fuji: Your match with Atobe was pretty fierce too, but this was also a great match. Even just rewatching it in video gives me chills.

[Lights fall during Atobe-Echizen match]

Fuji: Oh, this moment unsurprisingly made my blood run cold. Tezuka: Mm.

[Atobe: Tezuka! Seigaku’s going to lose because you let a little first year become Seigaku’s pillar!! Tezuka: He's not the pillar yet.]

Fuji: But you always give a proper reaction to what Atobe says, don’t you Tezuka. Tezuka: Mm. Fuji: Tezuka? Tezuka: Mm. Huh? Oh, I was… I apologize. Fuji: You were thinking of something else again. Tezuka: I can have-- Fuji: 10 different thoughts at the same time. Tezuka: You have a good memory, Fuji. Fuji: Out of curiosity, what exactly is going through your mind right now? Tezuka: Listening to you. Fuji: And? Tezuka: Analyzing the video. Fuji: And? Tezuka: Whether Oishi is holding up well. Fuji: And? Tezuka: Having to collect the club budget by tomorrow. Fuji: And? Tezuka: Needing to get the book I reserved at the library. Fuji: Get it then. Tezuka: This year’s sweetfish fishing season started early. Fuji: Is that really relevant right now? Tezuka: I’m planning on climbing the Southern Alps next. Fuji: Shall I lend you a map? Tezuka: loga aᵇ=? Fuji: b. Tezuka: Ich liebe dich. Fuji: When exactly do you plan on using that line? Tezuka: Lastly, answering your question. Fuji: *laughs* I see. Tezuka: Mm. Fuji: Say, I tried to be like Inui and collected some data. Tezuka: Oh? Fuji: The truth is, the real reason I called you out here today was to show you this. Tezuka: How intriguing. Fuji: Look at this. Tezuka: What is this piece of paper? Hm? I see a lot of tally marks. Fuji: I tried my best to count it all while watching the whole video. Tezuka: Sounds tough. But what for? Fuji: What do you think? Tezuka: I’m sorry, but I have no idea. Fuji: It’s the number of times you ignored someone else’s comment. Tezuka: Ignored? Fuji: When you watch people’s matches, you only ever listen with half an ear, even when someone’s talking to you, don’t you. Though you may not be conscious you’re doing it. Tezuka: What’re you talking about? Don’t tell me this is the problem you mentioned earlier? Fuji: Honestly, it’s just like you, not to notice. Oh, right! There’s something I need to do after this. Tezuka: You’re leaving? So did you find a solution for your problem in the end? Fuji: Sorry, but I have to leave the cleanup and lockup to you, Tezuka. See ya! Tezuka: Oi, Fuji! Fuji! Fuji! He left… But what exactly did Fuji want to say? I don’t understand. I’ll at the very least clean up and lock up before I leave… But what exactly did Fuji… What…. Need to lock up... Fuji: Tezuka sure is interesting!

♔ Tezuka, after Fuji presents him a tally of the times he ignored someone: So what was the problem????       Gee man, I wonder what.😂 ♔ It’s been more than a decade since I studied about logarithms, and I didn’t even study how to do math in Japanese, so this was interesting to say the least lmao. I had to read about log identities on Wiki and double check with a similar question on Quora, no big deal I guess.🙃🤣 (It’s correct, right? Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong😂) Honestly I had to look up wild plants, mushrooms and fish for Dokidoki Survival and that was funner than this lmao. I kind of hate Tezuka now for making relearn math and science (in Part I).😂 ♔ I wonder if Tezuka meant the Southern Alps in New Zealand, or the Southern Alps in Yamanishi prefecture, which is also the second highest mountain in Japan. I guess its more likely the latter tho, since that’s what first comes up when searched in Japanese. ♔ Every time Atobe addresses Tezuka while he’s having a match with Echizen, everyone’s just like... who exactly is he having a match against?😂

[rigelmejo]

6/28 I DID A LOT

WOOH

WOOH

I talked in chinese today! For around a half hour!! AHHHHHHHH

ANYWAY

AHHHHHHH

IM SO HAPPY I WAS UNDERSTANDABLE AHHGGHGSIUSJAJEJDJEEJIE

So first of all I practiced with Google translate today beforehand (lol yes machine translate isn’t perfect). I clicked the app, clicked transcribe, spoke in chinese then saw if the English translation it was producing was close enough to what I was trying to mean to say. (Also I learned chinese transcribe will need to process for a few moments if you play Chinese audio like from a podcast because at first it will give you a sucky transcription lol and then correct itself). Anyway so I did that and quickly learned: Google translate WILL fucking think I am speaking sentences when I’ve only said a couple words of my sentence because I pause “too long” so when I tried thinking of tones or grammar I spoke too fucking slow for the app so BAM I had to speak faster for the app just to comprehend me. So I did not practice Thinking about how the fuck to say things right much, just how to recall words on a fucking speed time limit lol. So uh that was an experience. I’ll definitely say that my 学习普通话 app is way better for me actually practicing pronunciation with any success, because Google just will NOT tolerate me speaking slowly goddamn.

Anyway so then tonight I spoke with my language partner. Well

WELL

good news: I was understood, I was told I sound pretty standard and they can tell I maybe imitate some peoples phrases and words from shows I watch (which in this case is a compliment since they said weeks ago when I asked how they improved their standard mandarin accent for a speech competition that’s what They did and the kind of shadowing they suggested I try doing more for accent work).

My grammar and word choice was understandable (I KNOW I wasn’t perfect and there were fucking mistakes Especially just notable spots where I forgot common words and tried to talk Circles around those words to describe them since I know Enough words to kind of “explain around” and come up with a more word description of a simple word I forgot sometimes but fuck is it probably awkward to listen to. Like I forgot “back then/at that time” so I said “the time when I was in high school” or “in high school I..” just because I couldn’t say “that time” on the spot, also fucking I forgot how to say “also” and “or” in certain ways and just had to figure out a different way to make my point like “this is like that” or “not the same” ToT).

Anyway regardless it’s a real big accomplishment to me. Reasons being: 1. I’ve never talked in chinese that long straight or to someone else communicating, or telling stories about my life and asking questions and actually testing my fucking communication abilities past small talk. Even talking alone to myself it’s just phrases or small situations where if I forget a word I just stop, so this was huge for me. 2. I did not have time to think about tones period while talking today with my language partner so like being comprehensible is!!!! GREAT. Considering I tried speaking to a language partner simple common word tone pair examples or very simple small talk at 5 months into learning and remember being incomprehensible like 50% of the time. Versus me now a little under 2 years in so being able to simply not be constantly thinking about tones and still know I might be understood (and in this specific case was understood) is nice to know. 3. I did better at winging vocabulary and talking my way around words I didn’t know than i thought I could. 4. REALLY simply tone and grammar being comprehensible is blowing my mind on its own - I know there were many mistakes (I personally could hear my 3rd tone not always sounding right to my own ear, and know I heard a few grammar mistakes I heard after I’d made my point lol). But just being comprehensible enough for someone understand my points even if I made those mistakes was really cool. 5. I’m hoping this means all the things I’ve been doing lately: the Listening Reading, the watching shows with English subs this month while repeating some of the Chinese lines to myself, listening to audiobooks and repeating many of the lines to myself, and the weekly language exchange I’ve been doing, have all been helping to some degree. Improving production skills is not something I’ve tried studying before and so basically all that I’m doing is flailing around trying stuff and hoping something is useful. It’s nice to see something must be if I’ve managed this.

Anyway it was just very very cool to be understandable. ;-; At this time last year I was absolutely assuming it would take years to get even a little understandable. Also for now idk this proved to me to maybe just stick to shadowing for a while and Not specifically thinking of tones While actively speaking. For a while I thought of them actively which made me clearer and I think was important and helped, at this point currently I think sometimes i overthink and trying to speak from memory/more shadowing practice might help it become a bit more automatic? And then I can go back to some corrective work where I’m messing up specifically or haven’t internalized certain words/phrases tones maybe.

—

IN OTHER NEWS

today I ALSO played 4 hours of Kingdom Hearts II in Japanese WHICH WAS AN EXPERIENCE

AN EXPERIENCE IVE NEVER HAD BEFORE LIKE FUCKING THIS

So 1. EONS easier than last time I studied Japanese. For context at 2-2.5 years into studying Japanese I played the opening of KH2. I remember it was brutal, I used my phone constantly to look up words, but I got through like the opening portion to the first save point after the haunted mansion (so like is that day 2? Basically what’s usually .5-1 hour of play or less that took me a few hours back then). It was doable, kinda brutal, but also I have kh2 near to my heart so I could play it without reading when I felt drained. Now?? I had over a year break from Japanese study (maybe 2-3 years break idk). I reviewed Japanese in I think March-April 2021 this year. April/May to June (now) I’ve been studying some new material. The biggest new material being some more Nukemarine memrise decks, and Clozemaster as of this month. So like... this Eons of improvement is after a long ass gap of no study, a cram review, and some just beyond last-times-progress kind of new study. It is a HUGE difference to me in how it feels.

I did not use a dictionary at all this time. I did not play slow either, I read at a speed much more bearable, I comprehended most sentences totally (understanding words because of a mix of knowing most words, knowing the context for the words since I know KH2 WELL, knowing Hanzi from chinese, and thanks to Clozemaster of all things feeling a lot better/quicker with Japanese grammar comprehension), and a few sentences I knew the overall gist because of recognizing the Hanzi (tho they were being used in words that aren’t similar to Chinese), the grammar overall (the rough intention of the sentence), and knowing KH2 well enough to remember the main idea of th English sentence. So it was overall a much more pleasant, easygoing experience this time around playing! It was something where I COULD play 50 hours of Japanese KH2 now.

This kind of showed me some things: first that knowing a basis in chinese (for me) makes a huge difference. Kanji now make words easier for me to learn and guess. I can now recognize when some pronunciations are somewhat similar to Chinese words. I can recognize when some kanji are used to mean Different things from Chinese (since I know the English context too). I can also now actually Like and Appreciate that KH2 specifically uses kanji in some speech bubbles and scenes then hiragana for the same words at other times - it gives me a chance to use context to see both versions of the word and learn both the pronunciation and kanji a bit more. Now I have katakana English like words and kanji (in the sense of their similarities to Hanzi) and my basic grammar grasp to rely on to parse sentences which makes all of it much easier. For me chinese was just easier, and that’s now paying off also in making Japanese easier in some ways than it was before.

I also appreciate now why “prior context” and “comprehensible input” are encouraged so much. My effort level is comfortable and NOT draining, so I could’ve kept my playing for hours and I did not need a dictionary for new words because I had TONS of context. Part of this is KH2 being a game I know super well (so even back at year 2 it was doable if draining when no other video game probably would’ve been doable at all). So it makes sense now it would be the first comfortable feeling one. It is VERY comprehensible input for me, especially now with some of the Japanese improvements I’ve made.

Whereas I tried to play crisis core a month ago (doable but DRAINING in part because I knew the game so comprehensible but I didn’t HAVE the game remembered by heart like KH2 so I had to slow down to read everything slowly and figure out words much slower with no prior meaning in my head for many parts), and persona 3 (which was doable but DRAINING in part because I have little prior context compared to cc or KH2 and in part because it has so much reading). Also KH2 is easier to read than cc or persona 3 - kh2 is obviously meant for age 10+ and so the amount of text I’m required to read is shorter, a lot of conversational stuff and not layered (cc had a lot of technical paragraphs of directions for missions and persona is aimed at older teens and has much more like “think about it more long term” conversations which I struggle more to parse). Also just persona 3 has so much dialogue I started speed reading just to get to a save point which felt Draining. Whereas KH2 the reading is comfortable so I don’t read too slow, and so it doesn’t feel as draining since it’s not slow nor do I have to rush at lower comprehension to get through it - I can just read and comprehend everything as much as I can at a reasonably non draining pace.

Also I DO think Clozemaster (so kudos to u app) is actually helping noticeably. I’m doing Clozemaster Japanese by common word tracks (still in the 100 most common words sentences and almost done). I’ve been doing listening mode and then reading sentences after. I can TELL it’s helped me already with the following. I’m doing better at recognizing some grammar structure particles/words/conjugations in various forms and levels of politeness. I now have much less issue telling how to separate sentences into word/grammar functions - it makes everything just much easier to start being able to segment my sentences as I read so I can just pinpoint WHAT parts I know versus don’t know and what their rough function is (and since in KH2 I know the English lines usually it makes it way easier to guess what words mean roughly what English translation). I also read some manga during this past month that’s also helped with this skill. I noticed Clozemaster also is just helping with it a lot since in Clozemaster the politeness level varies and stuff so I’m forced to practice guessing and figuring it out more with Clozemaster sentences over and over. The listening mode has helped because I can tell that some of the most common words I can hear more instinctively now and read aloud at a more normal pace now. I still CLEARLY read over listening when the subtitles in KH2 are there if I don’t know a word, so my listening has HUNDREDS or likely thousands of hours to go (my Chinese is much much better). But I can already notice the sheer fact Clozemaster listening question mode is forcing me to 1 HEAR Japanese more (and I need like what 2000 hours listening) and 2 start recognizing more easily at least recognizing words I’ve learned when I hear them (whereas before I would struggle to hear certain words even if I’d studied just because I’d read-studied a lot but not actually heard much of those words much). Now this all isn’t a huge help with new words in KH2 since I’m learning to read them from the game but my listening isn’t picking them up or Parsing them well. But as far as IN Clozemaster: yes the constant audio word drilling is helping me recognize words by sound which is great since thanks to Chinese kanji recognition is now not intensely difficult, it’s the sound recognition and match up to spelling that’s now the major confusion for me. I mean grammar is also confusing.. and will take years... I do think Clozemaster forcing me to practice interpreting the grammar somewhat with nothing to help me is helping me at least feel less drained by the grammar. I used Clozemaster before for french and chinese at the stage between graded readers and actual native speaker material, and I think for Japanese it’s also Good for this purpose. Clozemaster is good for a lot of immersion-like sentence reading practice, with tools to make it easier like a translation and mostly words you know in each sentence. Making it a bit easier than just diving into the deep end into a random novel. I do think it helps with preparing you for less learner-tailored materials a bit while still being easier than native speaker materials so you can practice without feeling youre drowning.

anyway ahh. WOOH I PLAYED KH2 in japanese today!!! I HAD FUN

gonna do it some more.

kh2 is maybe THE original reason i started trying to learn japanese. its really fun playing it now.

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And finally, while I’m at it: I am ALMOST done with the Sundial arc in Guardian Listening Reading wise. I’m on chapter 17. I have like 2 days left so who knows maybe I can manage to finish the sundial arc we’ll see.

What I mostly did this month was Redo L-R chapter 1-12 with a second audiobook, read the novel print version up to chapter 12, read chapter 1-2 in the traditional print version, also read maybe 4 chapters of other random things, listened to audiobook files of stuff overall idk 20+ times while repeating after a lot of lines, did a small amount of Clozemaster chinese (mostly just Radio mode), did 30 min - 1 hour writing or speaking language exchange sessions once a week, and watch a bunch of Chinese shows with English subs this month while repeating after a lot of lines.

As you can tell my reading Amount lowered significantly since the past couple months. However, I think I’ve pushed up my listening amounts a little.