#spiritofstars

[ruthlessnightsscans]

Tactics - V13 Side Story 1

Hello again,

I'm back with our first release of the other manga we picked up. This was something I wanted to work on from the beginning, but getting raws for it is very difficult. Fortunately, I find then for all the 15+2 volumes so here we are.

Please keep in mind that this is a very difficult one to translate; full of mythology and folklore things that I have to research so the releases won't be frequent even though most of the chapters are under 30 pages.

The following people seemed interested in this manga: @theobsidiandiamond @spiritofstars

I hope you'll enjoy,

H.

Download HERE

Please don’t reupload without permission and crediting us.

[celestialholz]

Welcome to Art (7).

Thank you for meeting me here today, friends, for our special extra credit class, 'The Art of Gay Lore'! Now, if you'll all follow me to the art room...

Now, Professor Hassel may or may not know we're here, so everyone keep this on the down-low k? It's a weekend, we'll be fine... everyone participating today will be wired some totally legitimate LP in thanks, which... well, maybe don't mention that to Professor Hassel either? He does work for the League after all...

Anyway, I'm Professor Mini Holz, and today's special class is on the topic of the classroom itself! Now, would anyone like to hazard a guess as to why this classroom is particularly important on our journey into deeper homosexual lore?

A) Art is especially gay in Paldea

B) There's some interesting shit going on here

C) Everything Hassel does and is connects to his own homosexual love story and general softness

Correct, random guy at the back there! That's right folks, there's no true answer, because the answer is yes. (Though you can have extra extra credit for C, you've clearly read my metas.)

Now, let's start over on the left, shall we? Your eyeballs are mine, caught in my meta web...

We start with several colour charts, which is fairly standard for an art room.

What's fun here is that this is the RGB colour wheel, which is not used really in art theory, but more to determine how colour is viewed in digital mediums. If you mix blue and yellow paint, you get green, not cyan. Likewise, the triple diagram beside it is for printing colours - cyan, magenta, and yellow. It's also the exact colour scheme of one of The Harvests in Artazon.

... Now, imagine a world where colour is used on a digital platform to create alternate meanings to those in standard colour theory, such as, oh I don't know, POKEMON TYPES. And then, imagine a scenario where a local and well-known artist does exactly that in his sculptures. What a wild world that would be, right? Insane...

Also, these are rainbow colours. Professor Hassel has two rainbow posters in his classroom. Let's carry on, it's too early in the class to lose my mind...

And as we move to the centre of our classroom, I need you to all just stand back for a second. That's right, against that wall over there...

The seats, guys. Those seats we sit on for every class are Grass, Dragon and Electric-coloured, much like that one Harvest that symbolises the unity between Professor Hassel, gym leader Brassius, and an Arboliva.

If you look closely and count, friends, you'll see that there's also six of each of them if we count the two Electric ones off to the left, which is how many olives orbit The Harvest. Fascinating isn't it, that there's such a clear reference to the harmony of Professor Hassel and his husband in the middle of our classroom, specifically where we're meant to relax? Almost as though he finds deep comfort in his marriage...

It's not the only thing evocative of those types in this room, though. If you turn to your right for me, and check out that curious little piece in the corner...

Mmm. A very familiar colour palette, I think we can all agree. Thank you to my colleague @spiritofstars for showing me this - she's already taken extra credit. This appears to be a kabocha, a certain type of squash, which a little research explains nicely:

... Well. Now, who could we possibly know who has been 'deathly ill', and who Professor Hassel might wish to see safely through the winter? Ah yes, that's right - Brassius, that same one who told us that very thing in Art (4). This is reinforced by the presence of blue cineraria flowers beneath the painting, which as my other colleague @someguynamededdie pointed out in its recent flower meta, mean something super cute:

You see how the Dragon blue is the background colour, the 'protector' of the kabocha? We live in a society, and that society is so gay dear Arceus. My dear little bro also notes that orange poppies, the flowers next to the blue cinerarias, symbolise health and regeneration, so...

So, what does all of that together mean?

A) Professor Hassel is a goddamn sap

B) Professor Hassel is soft and protective and he makes me want to sob

C) Professor Hassel is completely enamoured with his windmill-jumping husband

Mmm, yes, correct! It's any and all of them, thank you for listening. We have this concept of 'protector' also summed up nicely in the top right corner of the room:

Here we find a Jigglypuff - a Fairy type, something Professor Hassel's Pokemon are weak to. And in the middle, we find a mannequin - a model, directly in front of a piece about a man being haunted by his past - look very closely, and you'll see the ghost in the distant window, looming over the more confident man at the forefront. And it's beside the Grass-type seats. But you'll note the Dragon-type coloured lamp on the same desk.

Here, we see a man who could be weakened, who could allow himself to fall victim to the ghosts of his past, the family he ran from - but because of the Grass, because of his own light, he doesn't. He stays here, and teaches us, and loves his husband.

Perhaps Professor Hassel isn't the only protective one, and perhaps Brassius isn't the only one who finds hope and salvation in his love. It's very interesting, isn't it class?

And Brassius, despite being a very prominent figure in the narrative of this room, isn't the only person being referenced here. If we move to the centre of the room, we of course find this:

There's a whole narrative here about 'flying free' - if we look at Professor's Jacq's Pokedex entry for Staraptor, we see that:

That's exactly what Professor Hassel did, left his family because they were terrible! It's crazy, really, because as a protector, he must also be very sturdy! Trust me, I've defeated him in the Elite Test - he calls himself 'the dragon guarding the final fortess', and he means it. We also see Brassius fly free - quite literally as he jumps off windmills, but he's been freed from his own awful past, too... by Professor Hassel.

And who must a Staraptor remind us of? Well, gym leader Larry of course, Professor Hassel's friend and fellow Elite Four member... much like those poppies over there, which bring to mind our good little Steel-type sister in Arceus, Poppy. In fact, I think she might well be responsible for some of these drawings...

Note the Phanpy, there, which could represent Rika as a little Ground-type cutie. But what's fascinating about this wall is the selection of Pokemon here.

Gyrados is a big, scary Water type which people often confuse for a dragon... Ditto can be anything, but adapts to its surroundings, always keeping its own stats intact... Eevee can one be one of eight different Pokemon one day, and its evolution is a joint decision between trainer and Pokemon... Cacnea is a small, cheerful, spikey Grass-type, which reminds me an awful lot of a certain gym leader, and Dedenne - well, Dedenne doesn't evolve, and yet we have a larger, rounder one, and a littler, happier one.

... Huh. They're all relevant, aren't they? Dragons being confused by their own paths; Eevee, its own fate undecided as a youngster; Ditto, who shows us that however much we change, we're still the same within; our pair of Dedennes, representing size and shape and happiness, and a little Grass guy who looks like Brassius, all smiles and victory - he even has a little crown!

... Wow. Even I wasn't expecting to discover this much! I hope you're taking notes... now, I don't know if Poppy did draw these lovely pictures, but there's one here that show a pair of Rookidee, and she has a Corviknight. I reckon that if nothing else, she definitely is responsible for this one, and that's adorable. The one on the right even looks unimpressed, which might have had something to do with it worrying about the future of that Tinkatink she also used to have...

But I'd like to leave you today, class, with a final painting, this one right here in fact, with the colourful squares.

Now, this is right next to the colour charts we looked at earlier, but - well, when someone has no colour, all they are is white. And from nothing grows identity - Grass, Electric, Fire, Steel, Water, Dragon, if we follow the colours of types. And so we have Brassius - from a small boy who doesn't yet know himself, to a Grass-type trainer, to one bursting with the creative sparks of Electric and the passion of Fire, to one who must 'steel' himself against the hardships of life... through Water-y tears, and to Dragon. And if we do a little more research into squares...

... Well, class. Isn't that enlightening. A journey to trust and stability, showcased in art. You could even view it the other way around - if this is about Professor Hassel, he starts as a Dragon, and he dissolves into tears... he 'steels' himself to live alone, away from a family who doesn't understand him... he embraces passion in Fire, makes music and art... until he finds his 'spark' in teaching, in the Elite Four, through the Grass-type trainer. And white, of course, is not just absence - white is what happens when all the colours blend together.

Well, I do hope you've enjoyed extra credit! Expect that LP as soon as I can get hold of Pen - wait, Sir?

How long have you been standing here? Have you been here the whole time? What do you mean I ignored you because I was too obsessed with lore?!

Look, I can explain - guys, book it!

[lancercross]

COMMISSION OPEN [discount available] Hiroko Clan Attire Hi guys! It’s been a while. For a limited time, I'll be giving away a 30% discount on the digital painting tier and 5% on cel shade style commissions to help fund my move to a new apartment. It would truly help us if we can move asap as working/living conditions in our respective places are no longer healthy for us. Please send a note or chat to reserve a slot for your characters. For clients with ongoing commissions, kindly send a note and you'll receive bigger discounts + freebies as well within the allotted time for discounted comm slots. Any help, whether donating or commissioning would be greatly appreciated! Character belongs to SpiritOfStars Art by Lancercross

[asotin]

@spiritofstars Finally, another person of culture 😌 I only had a GameCube so I've been deprived of Eternia etc. and it kills me

I'm so glad not to be the only person seeing this! I figure you could almost argue that Tobirama and Hashirama are similar to Yuan and Kratos respectively, too, right?

Finding out ToS is on Steam means I've lost a further 700 hours of my life to completionism, and I wish I regretted that more

[dagnyart]

Commission  work for dear SpiritOfStars on DeviantArt My commissons are always Open ;)

[skyjynxart]

Ink commission for SpiritOfStars on DA of their @thearcanagame fan apprentice!

[eleanor-devil]

Comission for SpiritOfStars

Manga Cover with Hiroko Kyougoku and Kotetsu Hagane

[liubee-art-blog]

YCH for SpiritOfStars on deviantart

[atomicvampiricmetal]

spiritofstars replied to your post: I was a real asshole this week to someone I care a

This sounds very genuine. Everyone makes mistakes, even really bad ones. I don’t know what you did, but you seem to recognize whatever you’ve done and are working to improve, so you’re taking the right step. Hope it works out well!

thank you so much for your words. I feel fucking awful for what happened and I know I’ll keep beating myself up over this for a long time.

[aitaikimochi]

spiritofstars replied to your post “HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE...”

TBH someone from the club prob just googled it, saw your site pop up first, checked it out for curiosity's sake, and stumbled upon the pics. That's prob why they asked nicely to temp remove the pics instead of instigating legal nonsense. Who knows?

Yeah that seems to be the most likely. But the thing is, apparently if you google those words “uverworld praying run music video,” everyone gets different search results, so it is so weird that they would have found me lol. but yeah who knows o_O;;

[bookwormally]

apollosprophet replied to your post:tbh even as fab as that was the most exciting part...

Karkat “I’m so fucking done with this shit human music” Vantas.

Karkat can piss off because that music was FAB

spiritofstars replied to your post:tbh even as fab as that was the most exciting part...

YEAH IT DOES

OUR PRECIOUS ANGRY BABY PLEASE COME BACK

[prophecyte]

spiritofstars thank you!! I'm honestly really surprised

[trashboatprince]

spiritofstars replied to your post:Do any of my followers remember an anime/manga...

YES omg wow how long ago did that come out? My favorite character was the blonde scientist… Watari. (Thanks to Google for helping me remember his name after a decade.)

Oh my God! Someone remembers it! I think the anime came out in 2000 and the manga in 1996. I love Watari, but Tsuzuki is my favorite, he's such a huge sweetie, plus I've got a soft spot for people with purple eyes. (Well... most people with purple eyes, haha) 

[lateniteslacker]

1) DirkJake, 2) Pokemon AU in which Dirk and Jake don't know each other at first. Dirk has a Jolteon and Jake has an Eevee. In a Pokemon fight their Pokemon begin to like each other and refuse to continue the fight. And that's who Dirk and Jake become friends and then boyfriends~

You’re not sure what that sound is.  Something between a rumble and a screech.  It sounds like death and also somehow cute.

Maybe it isn’t cute at all.  Maybe it’s just the scene before you that has you baffled and the Pokemon trainer standing across the field from you that you find cute.  You’ve never seen him before.  He has dark hair, tanned skin, and thick rimmed glasses that make his green eyes pop out adorably.  He’s scratching the back of his head now, clearly perplexed by what’s happening.

“E-eevee!  What in the blazes are you doing?” he stammers.  “Use Quick Attack!”

But the guy’s Eevee does no such thing.  It only glances at him once before it goes back to rubbing its cheek against your Jolteon’s neck.  Both of them are making that sound again that you can’t place.  It both interests and frightens you.

“N-no Eevee!  Quick attack, not Captivate!” he attempts again.  “… oh bugger, are you trying to learn charm?!”

You make no attempt to stop your Jolteon as it bristles happily and starts rumble-screeching again.  Jolteon was your first pokemon and your favorite.  You’ve had him about as long as your triangle sunglasses, which you also adore.  You never leave home without both of them.

Instead, you chuckle, walking over to the guy’s side.  “Looks like they’re not into fighting today.”

The guy sighs. “No I suppose not.”

Then, as if he’s just noticing you for the first time, he brightens, holding his hand out to you.  “But goodness me, where are my manners?  The name’s Jake English!”

“Dirk Strider,” you say, shaking his hand. 

“It’s delightful to meet your acquaintance Dirk!  I have to say, Eevee has never acted like this before. Usually he’s so good and—” Jake tries to talk to you more, but the sound that your two pokemon are making is getting louder, easily drowning him out.  Jake looks over, and his adorable emerald eyes widen to comical proportions. 

“EEVEE!” He shouts.  “What are you doing?!!  Fuck!”

You nod in agreement, “I’d say that’s exactly what they’re doing.”

Jake starts to pull out his pokeball, likely to put an end to this, but you gently place your hand atop his.  When he looks at you in question, you shake your head and say, “I think they’re getting along.  No need to stop them.”

“Yes, I can see that.  They’re getting along a little too well!” Jake protests.

“We’re indoors in a gym.  No children around.  Why should we deny them love?” you ask.

“I don’t suppose we should, but still—” he begins.

“Would you deny yourself love?” you ask, far more bluntly than you think you’ve ever been in your life.

“What sort of a question is that?  Of course I wouldn’t!  No hero worth his meddle would ever do that!” Jake proudly declares in a way that makes you want to smile and melt at the same time.

“Good, now that that’s settled, all we have to figure out is where to go for lunch,” you say, grabbing Jake’s hand and pulling him toward the exit.

“Lunch?  What the—why are we leaving?” Jake stammers, and you swear his face flushes an adorable shade of pink.

“To get food,” you answer easily.

“But I’m not hungry yet!” he exclaims.

“You will be,” you assure him. “Pokemon mating rituals are a lengthy process.  And somehow I get the feeling you don’t want to be around for it.”

Jake flushes a deeper shade of red.  “Ah—quite right.  Lunch it is!”

As you walk down the street with Jake’s hand in yours, leaving the disturbing sounds of your pokemon behind, you think that things really could have gone a lot worse.  Jake seems pretty oblivious and probably won’t think this is a date, but if he’s this easy to convince to go out with you, it should be simple to find reasons to get together again. 

Like giving your pokemon a chance to love each other.

You have never been happier that you taught your Jolteon “seduce.”

*             *              *

LateNiteSlacker’s Notes:

I used to love Pokemon.  Like 15 years ago.  Really!  My first cosplay was Team Rocket.  Remember that, SpiritofStars?  XD

Anyway, this fic is for Chibiedo!

KEEP SENDING ME THESE ASKS PEOPLE!  I love them!

[marmolita]

spiritofstars replied to your post “You guys must all have active social lives or something because my...”

No big social life here! But on a related Trek note, I'm getting my hubbie to watch ToS for the first time ever... he refused forever, but is totally into it now that it's in front of him! Loading the next ep as I type this. :)

Hooray for getting hubbies to watch Star Trek!  Mr. Lita had seen TNG and some of TOS before I met him, but I introduced him to DS9 and Voyager, and to be honest we started watching Enterprise because he wanted to, and if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have made it through those first few ridiculous episodes.